@athelstone
Active 50 minutes ago-
Athelstone posted a new activity comment 4 years, 2 months ago
I wouldn’t want you to go to any trouble, but if it’s easy to ask then I’d be grateful. My MC is recounting a time when his foster-mother gave him subs to go to scout meetings, but he stole the money. This would be around 1991. I’d like to be able to say what he used it for.
-
Athelstone posted an update 4 years, 2 months ago
Den people, writers, denizens, does anybody know how much it cost in subs to be a scout (in the UK) in the early 1990s?
-
I know somebody who might know if you are still trying to find an answer. Would you like me to ask?
-
I wouldn’t want you to go to any trouble, but if it’s easy to ask then I’d be grateful. My MC is recounting a time when his foster-mother gave him subs to go to scout meetings, but he stole the money. This would be around 1991. I’d like to be able to say what he used it for.
-
I did ask MrsB, who used to be a Beaver Scout Leader, and she said there was no set amount handed down from above (that is, the Scouting Association) but that each group decided how much to charge, so you’ve got some latitude. Unfortunately, she couldn’t remember how much her own group used to charge thirty years ago.
-
Thanks Richard. Yes, thinking back to my brief spell as a scout, a couple of years in the mid-60s, I vaguely recall differing amounts depending on what activities were planned. I did suspect that it might vary from troup to troup, particularly as some are linked to schools and other organisations.
-
-
My friend was a scout leader at the time but not involved with the finances. He reckons he knows someone who will know and is asking. Will pass on any further info I get.
-
Thanks Bella
-
-
-
-
Only just seen this. My family was involved in the scouts from the mid 80s to date, and my dad was group scout leader of the 4th Dovercourt during the 90s. I’ll ask him if you like, though I can’t say if he’ll remember or not
-
Thanks, daeds. As with Bella, I wouldn’t want you to put yourself out for this. I can always “write around” the point.
-
-
Fwiw I just spoke to my mum, who was also a leader, who thinks that by that time subs were collected annually rather than per meeting, and that it would have been about £50. I get the impression that before that it would be a case of a parent or guardian handing over 50p or a quid when they dropped off the child at the beginning of the meeting,…[Read more]
-
-
Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly Competition- May 2022 in the forum Monthly Competition 4 years, 2 months ago
Well done all of us, especially Knicky. A great read. And well, done Seagreen. Worth waiting for.
-
-
I think I may have suggested it, some time ago. But still “Hurrah!!”
-
I’d noticed it! A very good change.
-
-
-
Athelstone replied to the topic New short story competition from former Cloudie in the forum Competitions, Open calls and Writing Opportunities 4 years, 2 months ago
Wow! Looks interesting. Thanks Daeds.
-
Athelstone posted a new activity comment 4 years, 2 months ago
Apparently, dormer windows only appeared throughout the UK in the C16th, which suggests that they may have been a way to make more use of storage space and mezzanines. They became a popular architectural feature in their own right soon after. We added a roof-length dormer to our chalet-style house a few years back. I would have liked an “eyebrow”…[Read more]
-
Ah, I feel like an old man. Don’t have a smartphone, never used any messaging apps. Guess I’m stuck in a twenty-or-so-years- ago time-warp.
-
-
Athelstone posted a new activity comment 4 years, 3 months ago
Sounds wonderful!
Although, if I’m honest, no phone signal. Hmmm. I know myself. That said, if you’re posting this then there’s internet.
Sounds wonderful!-
Yes, it’s a bit odd. No phone signal, and even radio reception is dodgy, but the wi-fi is really good.
The cottage itself is a bit lovely too, though if you’re tall (I’m not) you have to watch your head in the bedrooms. The Scots are heavily addicted to low roofs with dormer windows.-
Apparently, dormer windows only appeared throughout the UK in the C16th, which suggests that they may have been a way to make more use of storage space and mezzanines. They became a popular architectural feature in their own right soon after. We added a roof-length dormer to our chalet-style house a few years back. I would have liked an “eyebrow”…[Read more]
-
Ah, I feel like an old man. Don’t have a smartphone, never used any messaging apps. Guess I’m stuck in a twenty-or-so-years- ago time-warp.
-
-
-
-
Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly Competition- May 2022 in the forum Monthly Competition 4 years, 3 months ago
Under the Yoke
The security guard didn’t notice the elderly woman by the checkout. She noticed him. She noticed as his arm shot out, shielding the aisle so that the distinguished visitor could walk by unimpeded. The distinguished visitor, his blond hair carefully disarranged, smirked as his eyes slid, unseeing, across her face. He had come for t…[Read more]
-
Athelstone replied to the topic Microfiction published in the forum Coffee Shop 4 years, 3 months ago
Fine writing. Compact and perfect!
-
Athelstone replied to the topic It sounds wrong. But is that enough? in the forum Blogs 4 years, 3 months ago
The trouble is, it’s easy to get used to odd phrasing or vocabulary when I’ve produced it myself.
There’s definitely something in that. It’s a similar issue to writing something which doesn’t make sense on its own because you know all the back story that your audience is missing. You know what a turn of phrase means and it’s something of a sur…[Read more]
-
Athelstone replied to the topic It sounds wrong. But is that enough? in the forum Blogs 4 years, 3 months ago
Re the bee in your bonnet. My comments about commas were not directed at you. Commas are wonderfully useful and under-used.
-
Athelstone replied to the topic It sounds wrong. But is that enough? in the forum Blogs 4 years, 3 months ago
No, I don’t worry too much about rules. Most of the rules are inventions of over-educated elites designed to reinforce the idea that how the aristocracy spoke and wrote was the correct way*. That’s how we end up with such nonsense as split-infinitives and pointless debates about whether there should be a comma prior to and in a list. Seeing as…[Read more]
-
Athelstone replied to the topic It sounds wrong. But is that enough? in the forum Blogs 4 years, 3 months ago
Crossed with your reply Kate.
Yes! It is creepy. I have been discussing it offline with another member of the circle. We thought that ‘against her hair’ was perhaps one of the worst possible adjectival phrases.
-
Athelstone replied to the topic It sounds wrong. But is that enough? in the forum Blogs 4 years, 3 months ago
I did think of a comma and I agree that it helps. What still interests me is whether the construction actually breaches any commonly agreed grammatical rules.
I take your point about common speech tags being transitive, although several are actually ambitransitive e.g.
It was necessary to answer. John answered.
I agree that ‘against’ is a poor…[Read more]
-
Athelstone started the topic It sounds wrong. But is that enough? in the forum Blogs 4 years, 3 months ago
There are oddities in the English language that are never expressly taught. I have in mind things such as the order of adjectives, by which I mean that a native speaker will (usually) prefer my big, green, timber, house to the alternative my timber, green, big, house. There are rules, or what purport to be rules, derived from how native speakers…[Read more]
-
Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly Competition – April 2022 in the forum Monthly Competition 4 years, 3 months ago
Super story @seagreen. Positively inspired and a worthy winner.
Thanks for the comp @knickylaurelle. I enjoyed it in spite of it bringing back a few awful memories.
-
Athelstone replied to the topic I Remember in the forum Blogs 4 years, 3 months ago
I went to his funeral a few weeks back. Still a bit raw for everybody but I’m glad I went. He came from a BIG family with ten brothers and two sisters and it was very interesting to meet some of them. Did have one amusing incident. I spoke with the wife of the eldest brother who told me that she always found the brothers, including her husband, ‘a…[Read more]
-
Athelstone posted a new activity comment 4 years, 4 months ago
Not sure how the spare apostrophe sneaked in there, but ‘Hey ho.’
-
Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly Competition – April 2022 in the forum Monthly Competition 4 years, 4 months ago
That Conversation
‘Frank want’s the self-appraisals by Wednesday, remember.’
Colin’s words cut through my frantic attempts to pull the KPI figures together. No, I did not remember. I did not remember Wednesday figuring in any of the discussions.
‘But nobody has even started because we were told not to. The training doesn’t begin until Thurs…[Read more]
-
Not sure how the spare apostrophe sneaked in there, but ‘Hey ho.’
-
-
Athelstone posted an update 4 years, 4 months ago
OK, tiny announcement. I’ve moved the chat feature onto the sidebar. Actually, since it defaults to being in-view, it actually sits down in the bottom right corner. Don’t panic if it opens up and covers the window you want to look at. The minus (-) button will minimise it back into the corner. The plus (+) will open it again. Opinions? OK, horrible?
-
Ah, I was wondering what that was. Not yet tried it with anyone.
-
- Load More
I did ask MrsB, who used to be a Beaver Scout Leader, and she said there was no set amount handed down from above (that is, the Scouting Association) but that each group decided how much to charge, so you’ve got some latitude. Unfortunately, she couldn’t remember how much her own group used to charge thirty years ago.
Thanks Richard. Yes, thinking back to my brief spell as a scout, a couple of years in the mid-60s, I vaguely recall differing amounts depending on what activities were planned. I did suspect that it might vary from troup to troup, particularly as some are linked to schools and other organisations.
My friend was a scout leader at the time but not involved with the finances. He reckons he knows someone who will know and is asking. Will pass on any further info I get.
Thanks Bella