Round Yorkshire With A Knife: The Wizard’s Quest Part 8 - Here, There Be Monsters

[screened porch]

Man, I thought you were on to something, when they said "we don't have any on display". Maybe there's a secret password.
Maybe somebody should advertise that he'll pay cash for old knives. Maybe you'd better use "cutouts', though (another Modesty Blaisism).

 

[CoffeeCat2112]

Well, I clikcked on the Wikipedia link for the cathedral. I have now found myself looking up bellringing jargon. Does anyone know what a "Surprise Maximus" is? There are examples of them being played available on youtube, but exactly is one? I have no clue how to read bellringing scores, but apparently they contain a lot of notes...

 

[Jack Black]

Thanks for another fine chapter of the quest Jack. Be careful out there, you might wind up on a wanted poster..."deranged man looking for dangerous pocketknives"
As always, a most pleasurable read :thumbup:

Ach, I ken see it now, Scotland Yard Special Branch out hunting for the "blade man of Yorkshire". Why, they're libal to raise the hue and cry!

Kid Cutlery on the run!

Thanks for the links. Now I can subscribe to this one and I will have them all.

Well written fun adventure threads with plenty of knife content. Who could ask for more?

Thanks a lot Frank :thumbup:

Jack, once again you've written a great travel log. I truly enjoyed my visits to your island, but your descriptions make me glad I went over when I did. I cherish my little collection, picked up in an antique store on my last visit, more and more as I read your quest diaries. Wishing for the best on your future efforts.
Charles

Thank you Charles, glad you were able to visit, and very glad you went in that antique store, your collection is wonderful :thumbup

Another very enjoyable read. Thanks for sharing the details of your quest.

Thank you

 

[meako]

Already got one and it is a most satisfactory knife.I feel you are close to the prize.I'm intrigued by the ivory or something else completely kitchen knife.Was that one on the field pricewise?
Love the photo of Wakefield Cathedral sunlit in front of a moody looking sky.
I made some excellent Scotch Eggs last weekend for a canoe picnic we went on in Kangaroo Valley (yes.it is as beautiful as it sounds. No didn't see one.)

Sorry to hear of a less than fruitful excursion. Nothing Ventured,Nothing Gained as they say.
Ironically you could probably get a functional shank from the collection they undoubtedly have in the Prison Warders mess room at Wakey Hilton.
Cue searchlights,baying bloodhounds and 1950 sirens slicing through the rainy wind torn night.
Cut to police radio operator announcing"Calling All Cars, Calling All Cars!Be On The Lookout For Jack Black !This man is armed and peckish!."
Cut to close up of a bail of newspapers being tossed on to a footpath revealing headline"JACK THE KNIFE ON LOOSE".
Curtains are drawn ,children hurried in doors by nervous mothers.A "closed" sign is flipped on the door of a charity shop and an old woman peers anxiously through the venetians.
A scotch egg vendor pulls down his shutter with SOLD OUT slurred across it in thick paint.

De venatione Prosequitur

 

[festerfromnzed]

I can see it Meako !....Curses on that Jack Black for messing with our Bingo night!!.....shameful progeny.....FES

 

[meako]

Well, I clikcked on the Wikipedia link for the cathedral. I have now found myself looking up bellringing jargon. Does anyone know what a "Surprise Maximus" is? There are examples of them being played available on youtube, but exactly is one? I have no clue how to read bellringing scores, but apparently they contain a lot of notes...

I imagine the score would be specific to the church for which it is written -number of notes would be governed by number of bells as they only have one note-i think they are termed tintinabulations.

 

[Jack Black]

Man, I thought you were on to something, when they said "we don't have any on display". Maybe there's a secret password.
Maybe somebody should advertise that he'll pay cash for old knives. Maybe you'd better use "cutouts', though (another Modesty Blaisism).

These were in their sixties, they must have grown up when virtually every man and woman carried some form of pocket-knife. Hard to believe people can be brainwashed so fast.

Well, I clikcked on the Wikipedia link for the cathedral. I have now found myself looking up bellringing jargon. Does anyone know what a "Surprise Maximus" is? There are examples of them being played available on youtube, but exactly is one? I have no clue how to read bellringing scores, but apparently they contain a lot of notes...

Sounds like a whole other world Blaine!

Already got one and it is a most satisfactory knife.

I thought you might have :thumbup:

I feel you are close to the prize.

I'll know it when I see it. I've got a fe ideas, but maybe I'll come across something quite different The good stuff won't come out until April or so.

I'm intrigued by the ivory or something else completely kitchen knife.Was that one on the field pricewise?

It was quite nice, I was thinking of going back for another look. A big old table knife, with a rounded tip, and a chunky rectangular handle, a dark tobacco brown in colour, probably bone I reckon. Mid 19th Century according to the ticket. There was a similar early 19th C fork. You could just imagine some bearded old patriarch sitting at the dinner table with them gripped in his fists!

Love the photo of Wakefield Cathedral sunlit in front of a moody looking sky.
I made some excellent Scotch Eggs last weekend for a canoe picnic we went on in Kangaroo Valley (yes.it is as beautiful as it sounds. No didn't see one.)

Great pic, looks like a lot of fun

Ironically you could probably get a functional shank from the collection they undoubtedly have in the Prison Warders mess room at Wakey Hilton.
Cue searchlights,baying bloodhounds and 1950 sirens slicing through the rainy wind torn night.
Cut to police radio operator announcing"Calling All Cars, Calling All Cars!Be On The Lookout For Jack Black !This man is armed and peckish!."
Cut to close up of a bail of newspapers being tossed on to a footpath revealing headline"JACK THE KNIFE ON LOOSE".
Curtains are drawn ,children hurried in doors by nervous mothers.A "closed" sign is flipped on the door of a charity shop and an old woman peers anxiously through the venetians.
A scotch egg vendor pulls down his shutter with SOLD OUT slurred across it in thick paint.

De venatione Prosequitur

I can see it Meako !....Curses on that Jack Black for messing with our Bingo night!!.....shameful progeny.....FES

I'm in a cold sweat already! From what I hear though, they hit each other with handbags in Wakey Nick*, rather than shanks. Fes is probably closer to the truth!


* Having said that, there was a case 30 years ago where they put a bloke in a cell with two paedophiles. Probably not the best idea as he was in jail for killing one already. He killed the other two in the night, then supposedly went down to the office in the morning, and told them "There's one on the bed and one underneath" before going off to get his breakfast. Still in prison I believe.

 

[scruffuk]

Monster Mansion? Curious. I have never heard that one.

Good read, given the subject matter (and that's coming from a local lad, for those of you that don't know )
Its not surprising to hear you crapped out for the quest....but good to see you rescued another old boy from rust and ruin.

Better luck next time!

p.s. Did you not have time to visit the Hepworth....soak in some culture?

 

[Jack Black]

Thanks Scruff :thumbup:

Monster Mansion? Curious. I have never heard that one.

I've only ever heard it used in Wakefield. Apparently on New Year's Eve, it's a local tradition for drunken women to assemble outside the jail at midnight and hurl abuse at the nonces!

culture?

Que?!

 

[scruffuk]

Que?!

Thought you'd like that!

 

[Jack Black]

Thought you'd like that!

I suspect that this (below) is more what passes for culture in Wakefield than the Hepworth!

Apparently on New Year's Eve, it's a local tradition for drunken women to assemble outside the jail at midnight and hurl abuse at the nonces!

On one of the very few occasions I've ventured to Wakefield after dark, we came across a very strange gathering in a pub, a group of middle-aged people, some of whom had clearly gone to enormous trouble to look like celebrity nut-case Charles Bronson (a long-term resident of HMP Wakefield), and who they were in some way celebrating!

 

[Jack Black]

Sorry, I've only just remembered to take more pics of the reverse tang stamps. Not very clear I'm afraid. Could the second line begin 'Cutlery'?





I also forgot to take a pic showing scale.



Oh, and here's the cheese dish!

 

[jon_slider]

The sensible ladies I had been speaking to about decorating had become a pair of idiots before my eyes. And to them, I had become a monster.

Scotland Yard Special Branch out hunting

Great Read!
I suspect the sensible ladies were on the look out for the Men in Black, a Special Undercover Pen Knife Eradication Unit from Scotland Yard.

Figuring you were investigating shops selling contraband, they tried to tell you they had already taken care of the Eradication of Pen Knives in their establishment.

Next time, maybe bait the hook by showing them some of your own contraband, so they know youre one of them, and not Johnny Law. Maybe offer to share your mince pie, while innocently whipping out your folding prybar. People become much more agreeable when they've got a belly full. It seems obvious to me that they took you to be a representative of the Cutlery Enforcement Division.

 

[pmew]

What a great episode, thanks for that Jack. Scrap indeed, typical!

 

[hunter s thompson]

Very well written as usual Jack, of course now you have me wanting a mincemeat pie.

 

[Jack Black]

Great Read!
I suspect the sensible ladies were on the look out for the Men in Black, a Special Undercover Pen Knife Eradication Unit from Scotland Yard.

Figuring you were investigating shops selling contraband, they tried to tell you they had already taken care of the Eradication of Pen Knives in their establishment.

Next time, maybe bait the hook by showing them some of your own contraband, so they know youre one of them, and not Johnny Law. Maybe offer to share your mince pie, while innocently whipping out your folding prybar. People become much more agreeable when they've got a belly full. It seems obvious to me that they took you to be a representative of the Cutlery Enforcement Division.

You might be onto something there Jon!

What a great episode, thanks for that Jack. Scrap indeed, typical!

Thanks a lot Paul

Very well written as usual Jack, of course now you have me wanting a mincemeat pie.

Thank you very much. I have to admit a fondness for mince pies. They're usually only available here at Xmas, but I'd scored a short-coded box of 18 for less than $1! Which is why I had a couple about my person (just as well in light of the lack of decent fare in the centre of Wakefield)!

 

[meako]

Jack -the butter dish has the look of Meakin pottery about it. Alfred Meakin or J&G Meakin were famous Staffordshire potters -don't think I'm related although my Dad worked in ceramics for many years with NSW Tech and art school.

 

[Jack Black]

Jack -the butter dish has the look of Meakin pottery about it. Alfred Meakin or J&G Meakin were famous Staffordshire potters -don't think I'm related although my Dad worked in ceramics for many years with NSW Tech and art school.

Aha! I'll have to start and look out for pottery! :thumbup:

 

[screened porch]

Well, I clikcked on the Wikipedia link for the cathedral. I have now found myself looking up bellringing jargon. Does anyone know what a "Surprise Maximus" is? There are examples of them being played available on youtube, but exactly is one? I have no clue how to read bellringing scores, but apparently they contain a lot of notes...

Try clicking on change-ringing. The tuned bells are rung in series and the order slowly changes on mathematical principles.
I think that would be the right ball park.

 

[Arugess]

Jack, I think you're right about the engraving being "cutlery". Actually I think it says "cutleryworks".