Tours Testimonial

Hi Tim

 

We've been on your tour of Combermere Abbey this afternoon and really enjoyed it - thank you.

 

Thanks again

 

Jean & Stephen Evans

14th December 2012

Does the TARDIS have an engine made in Crewe?

Catching up on Doctor Who with my son before the Christmas Special, I noticed something which points to the TARDIS having a  hitherto perceived connection to the historic rail town of Crewe.

In "The Angels Take Manhattan" the Doctor ends up back in New York in 1938 having to work out of his way out of a seemingly unbeatable conundrum with those most terrifying of enemies, The Weeping Angels.

Shortly before emerging from the TARDIS, the Doctor remarks to River Song (outside) about having a few preparations, then grooms his hair using the reflective surface of a panel. The camera changes focus, blurs out the Doctor's reflection, then some text on the panel shows:

'TYPE FD 12 MK VII
MANUFACTURER ROLLS-ROYCE MOTORS, CREWE, ENGLAND'

Other text does show, but obviously this is the significant bit. The TARDIS is a living machine, that much we know. Its interior changes for each successive regeneration. Given it's a panel from an engine, is it saying the TARDIS has one of these engines? Is it a seldom used component? Or a mere piece of reflective junk?

Whatever the truth, it's good to see Crewe's quality manufacturing history, the Best of British and an icon of superlative work ,associated with the Best of British TV fiction.

The picture shows the moment from the episode; the time index is 20 minutes, but is actually about 18 minutes in.

The main year in the episode is 1938; this is the year Rolls Royce moved to Crewe with the production of engines commencing late in that year. The most famous engine from Crewe, The Merlin, went on to have about 27,000 units made from the town over the course of the Second World War.

Crewe's a proper Victorian town, its station brought into being a couple months after Queen Vic came to the throne. Let's hope the Doctor Who Special delivers a proper Victorian Christmas treat. The portents are promising!

Playlist for 7th Country Roads Show 6th December 2012 - On RedShift Radio

Country Roads - An hour of country music with Tim Prevett on RedShift Radio, Thursdays 9pm.

15 Tracks

John Denver - Thank God (I'm a Country Boy)

Gretchen Wilson - Redneck Woman

Carolina Chocolate Drops - Country Girl

Jim Reeves - Distant Drums

Jana Kramer - Why Ya Wanna

Jeff Carson - Santa Got Lost in Texas

Miranda Lambert - Fastest Girl in Town

Don McLean - American Pie

Little Big Town - Pontoon

Craig Morgan - Corn Star

Brad Paisley - Rainin' You

Loretta Lynn - High on a Mountaintop

Garth Brooks - The Dance

Alison Krauss and Union Station Band - When You Say Nothing At All

The Tractors - Computer Controlled

Thankyou Sir Patrick Moore

I've just taken a look out at the Night Sky with tears in my eyes and on my cheeks. Orion, The Pleiades, Venus instantly recognisable to me. An amazing wondrous spectacle to marvel at.

Thanks to Sir Patrick Moore's correspondence with me about 30 years ago, my childhood love and amazement of astronomy grew and became sustained into adulthood. I am very saddened by his passing today.

As someone 'off the telly' who would send short typed letters back to me, it felt so pleasing, so encouraging to have him reply in such a sincere manner. From days before internet, with just 3 TV channels, he was the closest thing to an astronomer engaging social media for that day: the letter.

Thankyou Sir Patrick, you brought the heavens a little closer and better illuminated my understanding of astronomy. You'll be missed.

Playlist for 6th Country Roads Show 29th November 2012 - On RedShift Radio

Country Roads - An hour of country music with Tim Prevett on RedShift Radio, Thursdays 9pm.

17 Tracks

Frank Ifield - I Remember You

Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman

Garth Brooks - Shameless

Bellamy Brothers - If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body

Wynonna - Let's Make a Baby King

Hayseed Dixie - Ace of Spades

Shania Twain - Still the One

LeAnn Rimes - How Do I Live?

Kenny Rogers - She Believes in Me

Patsy Cline - Crazy

Wynonna - Girls and Guitars

Loretta Lynn - Country Christmas

Soggy Bottom Boys - I am a Man of Constant Sorrow

KD Lang - Constant Craving

Merle Haggard - Orange Blossom Special

Brad Paisley - I'll Take You Back

Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together