Trips from SimonCox.com

Scotney Castle visit on a cold day

Simon Cox — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 24:00:00 GMT

We are life members of the National Trust so try and get out to see as many locations in a year as possible. One of the highlights that always brings us back to make repeat visits is the Christmas decorations - different in every house each year but also different between each of the great houses and often reflect their individual histories.

We wanted to visit Scotney Castle before they took down the decorations on the 4th January, as we had not been able to get there before Christmas. As always with Scotney Castle we had to book a slot in the car park - they do this to keep numbers down else I imagine it would be over run.

What we were not expecting is that the lake around the old castle would be completely frozen over giving it a magical extra edge of otherworldliness.

We had a fantastic afternoon out and highly recommended!

Old Scotney Castle from the hill above.

Old Scotney Castle from the North West side with frozen lake.

Wide shot of Old Scotney Castle from the North West side with frozen lake.

Zoomed look at Old Scotney Castle from the North West side with frozen lake, tower, house and ruins.

Old Scotney Castle from the first island looking to the tower and lake on the west and south sides.

Old Scotney Castle fortified house with bay windos and joined to the tower. The larger house ruins to the left.

Looking from the East from inside the ruins of the old house at Old Scotney Castle.

East wall of the old ruined house at Old Scotney Castle.

looking back from the west side of the outer island leading to the Old Scotney Castle island.

Old Scotney Castle Boathouse on the outer island.

Old Scotney Castle boathouse door.

View of Scotney Castle from the footbridge over the lake from the western most point of the lake.

Old Scotney Castle from the south with New Scotney Castle in the background to the left up on the hill behind it.

Old Scotney Castle from across the lake from the east with a massive oak bare of leaves on the island in front of the old ruins.

Scotney Castle ice house - a conical heather cover brick vault with sky blue wooden porch and heather roof providing access. Ice taken from the lake could be kept here for a year or more.

New Scotney Castle which was built in the 19th Century as the old castle was damp and decayed.

A Winters Day Trip To Rye

Simon Cox — Tue, 11 Mar 2025 24:00:00 GMT

Winchelsea Beach

We have decided to get out a bit more this year and go and see places we have not been to before or for a while.

I plotted a route through the Kent and East Sussex back lanes down to Winchelsea Beach, along the coast road through to Rye Harbour and into Rye itself. I had planned to stop at Mary Stanford Lifeboat Station and eat our packed lunch on the beach.

When we got to Winchelsea Beach, we discovered that the coast road is now shut, except for access, as it forms part of Rye Nature Reserve. Great for a long beach walk, but that wasn't in our plan for this day trip.

So we ate our lunch on the beach at Winchelsea. There were a couple of other people around waling dogs and doing yoga type things but it was really quiet. Last time I was here was in the early 1970's with the family and cousins and there were swarms of people and swarms of wasps – that's all we remember about that trip, wasps! There were no wasps this time but there was a flock of about 20 small seabirds.

It took me a while to identify them but confirmed when I got home that they were Sandlings and Small Auks. Perched on the first ridge of wave swept pebbles, about two foot from the seas edge, they were sunbathing. It was a glorious sunny winters day without out a cloud in the sky. Out of the sun though it was quite cold in the gentle breeze.

Rye Harbour

I did consider walking to Rye Harbour, about an hour, and then onto Rye, 50 mins more, but it was the walk back that put me off! So after lunch we left the beach and drove to Rye harbour, parking next to Martello Tower 28. The tide was very high, must have been a spring tide, so the river Rother was full and bristling at the banks.

We popped into the William The Conqueror pub for a beverage. Not had a pint of Shepherd Neame's Master brew for a while so that was good. Got chatting to a couple of people who, thinking we might be locals, asked us if the height of the tide was exceptional – which, we all decided, it was.

The town of Rye

From there we drove into Rye itself. I used to come here with the family when I was young and have a lot of fond memories of the place. Little has changed, though I could not find the shop that had a model of the Battle of Rorke's Drift in a side window. I am sure it was not Soldiers of Rye as that didn't start up until 1987 and this was back in the 1970's. This a very unspoilt small town and oozes a unique character as it is built on a small hill and has stunning views of Romney Marsh, the English Channel and the surrounding countryside.

We parked down in the market, which I remember being full of sheep and cattle many years ago, and wandered up into the town for a good look around. Rye bookshop is still there, but now part of Waterstones, and this is where I bought my first Dr Syn book as a child. Happily I found the full set of Inspector Sonny Russell mystery books by my friend Chris O'Donoghue, good to see them supporting a local author.

The building in Rye have some wonderful whimsical quirks you don't find in modern housing stock.

Lamb House

We chanced upon Lamb House, a National Trust property, and ear marked it for another visit until we realised it was actually open so spent the next hour exploring it and the secluded garden. Home of Henry James, the author, and later E.F Benson, also an author, and neither of whom I remeber reading so I must rectify that at some point.

What a splendid day out and we will return to Rye in the future as there is so much more to see.

A steam trip on the Swanage Belle

Simon Cox — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 01:00:00 GMT

A trip on a steam pulled train from London to the coast.

An early start to catch the train

I got up up with the sparrows at 5am on Saturday 15th October 2011, mainly because Paula had to do her hair properly as we had planned to dress in a 50’s style to look the part on this special trip. Paula had purchased a genuine 50’s dress in Brighton and I had got hold of a Harris Tweed jacket on the internet, which was a very good fit at very reasonable price. I topped this off with a cravat and a tweed hat, but I forgot to take my pipe (I don’t smoke anymore, so I didn’t miss it).

Catching the local train at 6:44, we met our good chums Nigel and Marianne on board, also dressed for the 50’s day out, and made our way up to Victoria where we were meant to board the Swanage Belle but its departure had been moved to Euston. I was quite worried by this as Euston tends to point North whereas Victoria points South which is more in the direction of Swanage. However, a quick peek at Google maps of London shows that you can whip round to the West and South — London is still full of interesting railway routes and connections despite losing miles of trackbed over the years.

Euston station

At Euston we had a cup of tea — Paula was quite interested in getting something to eat, I had not told her about the details of the day as it was a surprise, but we got a cup of tea and waited for the train indicator to tell us the platform which after a while it did, and we strolled over to platform 16 to find a rake of old maroon coaching stock with a magnificent mainline steam locomotive at the front — Oliver Cromwell.

Swanage Belle by Simon Cox - Sat, October 15, 2011: Euston
Paula with Paula

Up at the end of the platform we had a good look at the locomotive and took a few pictures, as were many people. Looking around there were a few well-dressed people but no one else had done the step back in time look! Then we went and found our coach, B, and seats. The coach was beautifully panelled in wood and the seats finished in a rich red moquette. Our table was already laid out for breakfast and the seats were more like armchairs with four of us around one table, then the passageway and a table for two next to the other window. Each table had its own lamp and the carriage was divided by panelled and windowed screens.

Swanage Belle by Simon Cox - Sat, October 15, 2011: at Euston with Nigel, Marienne and Oliver Cromwell

Swanage Belle by Simon Cox - Sat, October 15, 2011: at Euston, me, Paula and Olvier Cromwell

The Swanage Belle sets off from Euston

At 08:32 the engine whistled. With a series of massive chuffs slowly pulled forward and out of the platform to a throng of photographers and people waving. I have been on quite a few steam pulled trains in my time but this was the first time from a London Terminus station on the main line and there really was something quite thrilling about the experience. It was a step back in time to travel before the 1960’s.

Each rotation of the massive wheels brought a couple of gentle pushes to my back to remind me that we were being pulled along by steam power. I am sure the locomotive crew are quite gentle with these old locomotives but it was so very much slower than modern train to accelerate up to a running speed. Sometimes I think we forget how much more reliable and quick are modern(ish) trains are.

Breakfast on the Swanage Belle

But I didn’t have long to bathe in the thoughts of the past as the Pullman trained and badged waiting staff descended on us like a flock of sparrows with copious amounts of breakfast food like the fireman upfront shoveling the coal into the firebox, tea, coffee, porridge, melon with honey and yoghurt, grilled Manx kippers, baked beans, sausage, hash brown, grilled tomatoes, fried bread, mushrooms, fried egg and toast, clackity-clack, down the hatch. (Apologies to Betjeman — only with continuously welded rail we were missing the clackity-clack rhythm of the rail joints but enjoying the tea spillage-less smooth ride all the same!)

Swanage Belle by Simon Cox - Sat, October 15, 2011: On the Swanage Belle, Paula and Marianne at breakfast on the Swanage Belle

Swanage Belle by Simon Cox - Sat, October 15, 2011: On the Swanage Belle, A hearty breakfast

Breakfast was cleared, and we relaxed back into the seats as the morning sun streamed in through the window.

Leaving London on the train

Coming out of London Euston does not have the most endearing views of London — whereas Victoria gives stunning views over the Thames next to Battersea power station — which would have been nice. However, once we were past the various scrap yards, new build flats and industrial warehouses we started to be routed through the interesting network of routes around Willesden to join up with the main South West routes.

Stains and Woking

Our first stop at Stains where quite a few passengers got on, then Woking and then we made a stop for about 10 minutes at Winchfield for the locomotive to take on water — we got out to have a look. There was a large truck with two large fire type hoses that were connected onto the tender just below platform level, and we could hear a large pump whirring away from the truck pushing the water in as fast as possible. All the way down the railway line there were people strung along fences like migrating birds, hanging out of windows and standing on balconies waving to us or taking photographs. You can hear a big steam locomotive a couple of miles off especially if it’s blowing its whistle!

Stopped for water by Simon Cox - Sat, October 15, 2011: Winchfield, Oliver Cromwell takes on water

Refreshed the train moved ever onwards, and we enjoyed the views of the countryside on a clear blue sky day. We rumbled through Southampton Central a few minutes late and then cracked on to Bournemouth and Poole. the sea estuary views were spectacular. We stopped at Wareham for a crew change and then a mile after the station branched off on the old Swanage branch line. This was closed to passenger traffic in 1972 and has only been used for occasional goods trains to the oil depot a couple of miles down the line.

Two more miles down the line from that the Swanage preservation railway. starts and the track between the two has been restored for these charter trains. A temporary road crossing consisting of steel crowd barriers and lots of men with red flags protected road users as the mighty Oliver Cromwell gingerly made its way over the road and onto the Swanage Railway tracks where we were met by big crowds of people all waving and taking photographs.

Lunch

A light lunch of sandwiches, scones and tea was served which was just right after the hearty breakfast earlier in the morning.

A photo opportunity quickly revealed itself to our right as the magnificent Corfe Castle ruins appeared as we went around a curve — again lots of people about on the castle or in the surrounding fields taking photographs and waving and soon we were pulling to a stop at the terminal station in Swanage. I was intending to take a couple of photos of the engine at Swanage but the crowds of people already on the platform meant I couldn’t get anywhere near!

A walk around Swanage

Gathering our bits and strolled into Swanage for the two hours we had — the railway station is at the top of the main shopping street and it’s a 5-minute walk down that to the beach.

Swanage by Simon Cox - Sat, October 15, 2011: On Swanage promenade
Paula, Nigel and Marianne at the seaside in Swanage

We had a lovely perambulation along the front and to the end of the pier to walk off breakfast and lunch! Next we visited the local museum., wandered around Swanage which is a lovely little town, and then we went and found Chococo the Chocolate makers Paula buys from on the internet. We then ambled back to the station where a new engine, Tangmere, had been attached to the front of the train for the journey back at 16:20.

And back to London on the Swanage Belle

The journey back up was very similar to the journey down. Tangmere must have been doing over 60mph at times — you couldn’t hear the individual beats of the engine and it was absolutely flying. the Timetable we had stated that we would pass through Southampton at 18:25:30 — yes — 25 past 6 and 30 seconds. And we did! My 21-minute commute in the mornings isn’t that accurate on timing!

But the main difference was the food — a four-course dinner and plenty of wine to accompany. As the sun set, we were treated to Smoked Salmon and prawns on a bed of wild rocket followed by fillet of Scotch beef in a whisky and peppercorn sauce with scrumptious fresh vegetables.

Evening dinner by Simon Cox - Sat, October 15, 2011: On the Swanage Belle Evening dinner on the Swanage Belle

Pudding and sunset by Simon Cox - Sat, October 15, 2011: On the Swanage Belle Sun sets over the coast

Steam puddings!

This was then followed by a forest cheesecake with raspberry coulis and double cream and then a selection of cheese, grapes and biscuits. We worked our way through some champagne and a very presentable bottle of shiraz followed up by a passable merlot and tea and mints. The sun went down, the table lamp came into its own and time flew by. We did have time for three games of Bananagram, all of which Paula won — words are her thing (v good at scrabble — tip: never play her for money).

After dinner by Simon Cox - Sat, October 15, 2011: On the swanage Belle
Having gone through four courses it was time to relax

And we found ourselves in the suburbs of London stuck for 20 minutes on a dark line waiting for a signal — someone may have nicked some copper wire! Considering how fast Tangmere had made most of the journey this last stop was uncharacteristic but after a while, we pulled into Kensington Olympia and disembarked.

Whilst we waited for our local train connection to Clapham junction an old diesel pulled the train backwards to its dept — a wisp of steam drifting from the chimney of Tangmere as it wheezed its way backwards off to the shed for a rest.

That has got to have been one of the best days out I have ever done. Wow.

And there is more...

I have been asked several times who we booked the trip through, and I am happy to give them a shout out: The Railway Touring Company.. I had some issues with their online booking function so do check that you haven’t booked 4 times, but they are very nice and helpful people on the phone — ring them if you have any questions.

EEUK11 report from the 2011 ExpressionEngine conference in Manchester

Simon Cox — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 01:00:00 GMT

The first UK ExpressionEngine conference

I first considered going to the EEUK11 conference when it came up in a discussion at one of our LondonEErs meetup sessions. I had seen a few tweets about the possibility of a UK conference following the superb EECI event in Leiden in 2010 run by Robert Eerhart but I honestly didn’t think it would amount to much. I am very pleased to have been proved wrong on that first assumption as the EEUK event was fabulous. I bought my ticket, booked a hotel and after checking the prices for travel realised that a first-class advanced booking seat on Virgin trains was only a few pounds more so went for that as well. As it was I got to use the Virgin Lounge at Euston and Manchester Picadilly including their WiFi and power. On the train, I also had free WiFi, power at my seat, a sandwich, biscuits, plenty of tea and a refreshing beer. That all set me up in the right frame of mind when I arrived at Manchester where by chance I met @MarmaladeToday who was staying at the same hotel so we wandered into the centre of Manchester.

On the train on the way to EEUK11 by - Thu, August 25, 2011: Updating the EEUK11 'Tweets From' page using my ipad and bluetooth keyboard

I have never been to Manchester before and the Victorian industrial visage they opened up before me was a delight. Street names such as Whitworth (key mover in industrial revolution standards — and hence a forefather of modern web standards — kind of) resonated with me. I felt comfortable despite the recent riots (though I was travelling up from Croydon). The hotel was good — nearby to the venue and in the middle of Manchester. As we walked into reception there was Robert Eerhart relaxed on a couch tweeting away waiting for the others in the hotel.

@RobertEerhart by - Thu, August 25, 2011: Twittering before EEUK11

After checking in we popped out for a swift beverage in the Waterhouse (Wetherspoons.) up the road where we were joined by the delightful ‘nut bag’ known as Mrsflinger, and John Henry. then we set off for the night’s venue — Dukes 69. This appeared to be a set of old warehouses surrounded by canals. It was a lovely venue but was packed with Manchester nightlife — I'm not sure I agree with 6-month-old babies being in a noisy wine bar even if their mums do want a night out. Despite that we had a good time — pizza was consumed along with White Witch beer. The speakers decided they would go back to the hotel at about half nine as they had all had ideas to further enhance slides — mainly jokes at the expense of each other, so I tagged along as I fancied an early night. We met several groups of EE’rs on their way down to the bar and pointed them to where the remaining contingent were located.

After a good night’s sleep and hearty breakfast, I arrived at the venue which is absolutely awesome. Manchester Town hall is a gothic masterpiece and well worth a visit if you ever pass by Albert square. Badges were collected, goodie bags picked up — with a We are Hippo sponsored T-shirt, pen and Pixel and Tonic coaster in an EEUK11 bag. Tea and coffee were waiting in the anti-room with many old and new friends to chat to. It is always great meeting up with people you follow on Twitter — though I am always a little awkward at first! Then we moved into the main room for the conference. I regret not having taken my camera as the conference room had a gothic fireplace with minstrels gallery above it. Ian kicked off the show with a big thanks to the sponsors and I will repeat them here as they all deserve some link love:

Pixel and Tonic.
Solspace.
Made by Hippo
Brand New Box.
Better Workflow. (Electric Putty)
and of course, DesignKarma. who put the show on.
Here are my fuddled notes of the conference:

So first up and opening the conference:

Joel Bradbury: 101 ways to skin a cat

There is a tendency to learn ExpressionEngine by diving — usually in due to time scales /deadlines / enthusiasm / ADS or not wanting to read the manual.

Anecdotes of really badly built site using PHP to do base EE functions — done by someone with good PHP skills but had not read the EE manual.

Suggestion by Joel is that we need conventions to build sites which we do for HTML and content but perhaps neglect the build part.

Joel mentioned the dry style templates garnered from the John Wells blog post on template “partials”.

Variables

put some structure into variable names
news_body
blog_body
page_body

Strict style

{cf_news_body_en}
type marker, channel marker, field name, language marker
only real flexibility is the field name

strict prefix examples

cf_custom variable
sn_snippet
gv_global variable etc

All in all an excellent talk and got everyone thinking about how they name elements in their builds

Leslie Flinger: Freelancing as an EE Developer: Tools of Success

175 pro members
598 directoree listings
1,000 sites at showee
20,000 members at the ee forums

The EE community is really good at helping each other

How people are making EE work in their business
Most EE agencies < 5 people <20 sites per year

1 top business software — freshbooks

Mac Freelance — Flinger preferred

2 Budget and scope

phone, face, Skype and always email follow up, always.
Contract and scope sent
Final approval

3 begin work

Ways to cost
per template
per hour — estimate and Flinger preferred — time tracker shows you how long you take
per task

4 typical hours estimated

CSS and 5 template html build = 15 hours
EE back end set up (channels fields etc) 20 hours
template integration 8 hours
content — 10 hours
Browser testing — 3 hours
John Henry adds a shopping list to the quote for extras — new channel, new firm etc.

5 contracts

depends on a detailed proposal to act as the legal agreement.
always ensures written approval via email before beginning work.

6 tools for production

7 when is it done
Snag lists

use the scope provided
Offer a stage /phase 2
Shopping list
written confirmation that you are complete
provide a number of revisions on the agreement
offer a maintenance package/retainer

Final advice

find a niche
don’t start a project without a deposit — freelancers — not agencies because of short term relationship (normally)
communicate with clients often
Invoice often
learn to say no

Great talk as ever by MrsFlinger — she knows her stuff.

John Henry talked about an unusual aspect of ExpressionEngine builds that I don’t think many of us have had experience with — or have needed to understand so his talk about multifaceted ways of navigating content was very interesting.

Users searching for an item — all facets of that item are a potential entry to the item.

Not aparametric search (users specify search terms)
amazon is a good example of faceted.
categories, author, published dates etc.
well-formed-data.net/experiments/.

use when you have good meta data, when content naturally forms facets, when users understand facets, when you have large amounts of content.

duplicate content is a big issue — crawl depth is important and shows only single URL for each item piece of content.

Cruft free URLS

template-group/template/URL=title
/template-group/URL/title is preferred -

mentioned switch — new article on EE insider last night.

Solspace Super Search. a very complex way of doing search.

Complex talk by John Henry and I don’t think I understood some of it completely!

Then we had a superb buffet lunch in the anti-room all laid on in the ticket price and a good chat about what the talks that morning. Electric Putty gave a demo showing their yet to be released ExpressionEngine add-on — Better Workflow. I have already seen a couple of early demos of this at LondonEErs and this is the extension that I think will potentially take EE into the corporate realm. Authorization and workflows are a big must have for any CMS that wants to be used by corporate’s or even SME’s where they need structured approval loops in their work procedures. Ian then produced a toy bingo machine to call out some numbers for prize winners — each of the 82 delegates had a chance of winning one of the 67 prizes (think I may have been one of the unlucky few!).

EEUK11 Bingo! by - Fri, August 26, 2011: Ian draws some prize winners for Better Workflow

More Bingo! by - Fri, August 26, 2011: And more prize winners drawn using the latest up to date bingo machine

Then back to our seats for the afternoon’s talks:

Stephen Lewis: Commercial Add – on Development for Clients

Profitable Add on development

do an environmental check list
Apache or IIS
PHP versions
Mysql version
EE version etc
3rd party add ons

Add ons requirement check list

MSM
external events
admin reqs
resorting reqs
data export

Client competency list

Does the client know EE from a hole in the ground?

Write the documentation first — rather than a tech-driven spec.

describe how to use the add-on
exposes missing requirements
Done when it works as documented.

Build an Add-on builder

pkg.io: ok but very generic and needs tweaking
custom templates and scripts: difficult to manage
Custom Add-on builder: Custom fit hits the ground running but more upfront effort.

Addonis add-on builder (his programme)

Sets up all the base files you need for an EE plug in — can be loaded up into EE as an extension and all set up ready to go — then you just need to build the plugin inside it!

@monooso by - Fri, August 26, 2011: Stephen Lewis giving his sophisticated talk about making more money in less time.

I don’t build commercial addons but I might need some building for me in the future so this was interesting stuff as its obviously really easy and quick to build add-ons so they should be dirt cheap.

Lodwijk Schutte: Parse Order Pro

expression engines parse order PDF — quite famous apparently.

Parse Order
Takes document and basically find and replaces markers and values (variables, tags, data)

Early v late parsing

Input before tags
output after tags

Variables

Global — parsed early (Snippets, config variables and segment variables)
-Parsed late (user-defined global, standard global variables))

Regional variables

Parsed easily

Local Variables

Passed during tags
more complex
variable parameters

Conditionals

types
simple (only work with early pass variables, one per and, without if:else
advanced (anything not in simple — parsed after the tags) Most conditionals are advanced.
special (parsed during and by the tags)

Tag types

module or plugin
single or pair
example — he has recently rediscovered preloads.
{preload_replace:pre_title=“By Category”}

Low is one of the mad EE Dutchmen, lives on a barge and drinks pear cider (it wasn’t Perry) that smells of cough drops. He really knows his stuff about the parse order of EE templates. It’s something I have only ever had issues with once on an EE site and I think I avoid these issues by designing the content in ways that I know will work in the first place — most devs don’t get that option.

Carl Crawley: Structuring your EEcms build — Creating your optimal build

Carl showed us a slowed down video of a shell script that updated an EE site in less than a minute. I think a lot of people want that!

build this — zip it up and keep it safe
elements:

Images
CSS
JS
HTML
templates
uploads
otter elements (snippets etc)

All go into his assets folder
They move the dbase and config out of the core system to version control it and edit.
Create new config files that have 1 line of PHP pointing to the config file in Assets.

remove unwanted add-ons — everything non-essential.
set security and press — user tracking etc
define your default Snippets and Vars
set your upload folders

docs, files, images, videos.

Version control — they only version control the assets folder — hence the config is on there. System files don’t need it.

Absolutely no add ons on a standard build! dealt with on a per build basis.

.net article Optimise your EE site
Joel’s tool/plug in — Graphite — the graphy thing for seeing what takes time in page rendering.

upgrading EE and SHELL.
A shell script.

on upgrading Carl uploads new directories with _version number after it — so themes_222 then runs the script and the folders get renamed leaving back up folders of the old ones.
A script will be available on Git.

need to execute shell scripts — engine hosting doesn’t do this.

This was Carl’s first ever Conference speech and he was rather nervous beforehand but came good on the day. Carl, I applaud your efforts! Not sure I truly have the bottle to do it myself due to the nativity incident when I was 10…

Garrett Winder; Going Mobile

Huge surges currently in Mobile web usage PayPal changed their predictions twice this year

Problem is that users are increasingly using mobile devices to visit websites.
need to rethink the way we build websites

dedicated or responsive design?

dedicated; pros — user given option to browse either. more control of resources. not same front end. cons — 2 (or more) websites — more time to manage, duplicate content.

I didn’t really take enough notes on this. Garret is from Texas and recently joined Erskine Design — this was a good talk about EE and responsive design which is big on everybody’s agendas at the moment. I have recently read that the majority of mobile internet access is actually at home so making your site only show certain content based upon location (i.e. if you were a restaurant your mobile site might only show the menu) might not be a very good idea! I had a long and good chat with Garret about this at the after party.

Strangely there was not one Englishman speaking. Two Americans, Three Welsh and a Dutchman — that’s how we roll in EE.

After

Then we went off To Sam’s Chop House for the evening’s party — more EE talk. One thing that ExpressionEngine has that is so special is its community. Those words have been bandied about a lot over the past few years but it is true. Years ago I watched the Movable type community dissolve into thin air after the $20m funding and direction change and that’s what brought me into the warm grasp of ExpressionEngine. It is events like these that really cement the community together and although originally we did have official representation from Ellis Labs in the shape of Mrs Flinger, and no disrespect to John Henry, but it would have been good to see the CEO there as Europe is an important Market. I suspect they are concentrating on EECI11 in New York, but all the same, we had the same complaint last year in Leiden. However, the evening in Manchester was great fun. Friendships were made and cemented, one or two deals were done, beers were consumed and everybody had fun. Some may be a little too much. I bailed out early (for me) at about 01:30 but there were tweets going on till about 03:00. Splendid!

Hopefully, this event will happen again. Ian did this basically by himself, with some help from his lovely wife Ali, and I suspect he will need a bit more support next time and I am sure there are plenty willing to help if he asks. Next year should see EECI back in Leiden and perhaps a UK event every other year would not be too onerous. I hope to be at the next one and if you use ExpressionEngine I hope to see you there as well.

And there is more...

Ian Ebden of Design Karma. has published his report on the event — always good to read about these from the organiser’s view!

The Flickr stream for the event:. https://www.flickr.com/groups/eeuk11/.

Vintage tractors

Simon Cox — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 01:00:00 GMT

At the Shakey Super Pull

We had a great day, between rain showers, watching the very loud, very fast, very powerful and very smokey tractors competing in the BTPA points event — recommended fun day out for next year. During one of the breaks, I found a line of vintage tractors on display to the side of the beer tent and luckily had my wide angle lens handy for some close-up shots.

In the line were several Fordson’s, the ubiquitous and classic small tractor of my childhood but a Blue Fordson stood out amongst them as it had a bright red grill on the front. I was able to get a shot just after it had rained with the dark ominous clouds in the background which gives the Fordson tractor a gritty industrial backdrop. Next to that was a beautiful dark red late 1940’s, Field Marshall. Again quite a small tractor but this looked more powerful than the Fordson but it had not been restored to showroom condition and though clean was showing signs of wear and tear — which I prefer in a hard-working machine anyway. The last image is of a canary yellow Caterpillar tractor showing signs of rusty distress through its faded paintwork. These vintage tractors looked far removed from the monsters that were racing only a few yards away but they share a common ancestry so it was good to see them at the show.

Vintage tractors Gallery

L V Nelson tractor in monochrome

Side View of red L V Nelson tractor

Red front grill of a blue Fordson tractor

Front of bonnet of a rusty yellow catapillar tractor

Medmenham walk

Simon Cox — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 24:00:00 GMT

Sunday circular walk by the Thames

We have been looking forward to getting back into doing Sundays walks after Christmas and today we completed our first one of the year. It was a circular walk starting and ending at the Dog and Badger in the village of Medmenham.

As soon as we arrived at the pub and start point we went and booked a table for when we had finished the walk — always a good idea a we didn’t know how busy it got. The walk was only 3.5 miles but we gave ourselves two hours to complete it anyway. Booted up, hats and scarves on we crossed the main road and walked down through the village, some very nice houses — one with field guns in the front garden. Further down we passed the old Abbey which is now private residences, we are led to believe, where an Ocado van was delivering. A far cry from its days as the infamous meeting place of the Hell-fire Club a few centuries past.

At the end of the road is the ferry slipway where we meet the majestic river Thames. Here we turned right and followed the river. Wildlife was limited to ducks hanging out at the ferry, a few swans taking it easy and a lot of geese wandering around making a fuss. There were a lot of Geese droppings on the grassy banks which made walking slow. There was quite a bit of flood water slightly inland from the river but this didn’t stop progress and was fully iced over.

After a mile or so we turned right having progressed as far as you can along the bank and headed inland. The path gets a bit lost at this point since the farmer has ploughed up the fields but we finally realised where the footpath was meant to be and started our long trudge back through several fields of mud to Medmenham (now know as Mudmenham to us). After a change of foot ware we took our table in the pub and had a delicious Sunday roast with sticky toffee pudding to follow. Bliss.

Medmenham walk Gallery

Amberley Steam Gala

Simon Cox — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 01:00:00 GMT

Loxley Barton Falls had its first (and only so far) invite to attend another exhibition during ExpoNG2005 from Gerry Cork of Amberley Working Museum, to their Railway Gala weekend June 8th and 9th 2006. So the past couple of weeks have been a complete panic as I got the layout ready!

The first thing I wanted to complete was a stand - at ExpoNG it was too low for proper viewing on the table top. I designed a box for it to stand on - there will be a separate article about this later on. The box completed I decided to turn my attention to the couplings. I had used Bemo type couplings for the ExpoNG competition as they were quick to put on althoughI wanted to use Greenwich couplings as they were meant to be much better and it was their show! After winning the Cubic Challenge and having met the members I actually joined the GDNGRS and of course I had no excuse not to use the Societies own couplings so built a enough sets to convert all the rolling stock I was planning to use at Amberley.

I also decided that I would need a handheld controller so that I could operate and talk to people at the same time. Leaving it to the last minute I rang Kent Panel Controls and ordered an minimum feedback Fine Control Exhibition standard hand held controller and the parts to build a transformer. The hand controller was built and arrived by post on Wednesday - so a big thanks to KPC for the really fast turnaround!

I had a look at the wiring under the layout and cannot understand how it actually worked at ExpoNG! So I stripped most of it out and rewired it all including a new lead and plug for the controller and then build the transformer - which was much easier that I thought it would be. However I did drop my electric jigsaw in my leg when I was putting it away and had to go to hospital for 4 stitches... Fortunately it was unplugged at the time! Te really bad news was that I lost three hours Thursday night which meant making up time the night before the exhibition! The wiring was all finished off Friday night and everything tested perfectly. The speeds I was getting on the controller were comparable to DCC tests I have done – very impressive. At least one visitor to the exhibition asked how I got such slow running without the use of the black arts…

We arrived at Amberley on Saturday morning and the weather was glorious. We had a table next to Annie Winter’s Lazy cottage; Andrew Neal’s book stall on the other side (that was expensive for me!!) and Meridian models were behind us with Dave Brewer spending most of his time with his clockwork train set!

Most of the time the layout performed perfectly but did require a really good clean every few hours because of smoke, soot and fumes from the nearby full size exhibits.

The atmosphere was great and I will be back at Amberley next year – if not with the layout then certainly as a visitor. Loxley Barton Falls at Amberley 2006

Muse Shepherds Bush Empire 28 June 2006

Simon Cox — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 01:00:00 GMT

Wuhooo! Just won a pair of tickets for Paula and I to go see Muse at the Shepherds Bush Empire next Wednesday, 28th June 2006! Its a special small gig with only a few lucky winners going - going to be fantastic because the new album, Black Holes and Revelations, does not come out till the 3rd of July. The show is going to be filmed by MTV and broadcast by XFM!

Update!

Wow what a gig. One of the best I have ever seen. The Shepherds Bush Empire is a small venue - not what you need for Muse really - my ultimate Muse concert must be them on a satellite/space station playing to the world - their sound is big enough for that!

So we got our wristbands and tickets and adjourned to a very nice bistro around the corner and over the road where we ate good pizza and drank good wine while watching the queue go right down the road and around the next corner. This was at about 5:30. We left the bistro at 7:30 having had our fill and watched the que shrink to nothing and preceded into the venue where we picked a spot at the back where Paula could see everything and I went to the lav. Upon me return, only a couple of mins later, Paula had made friends with two people standing next to us - who were great - so hi to Jim and Karen from Bury St Edmunds.

I thought Muse were going to concentrate on their new album but no! Every other track was a Muse classic interspersed with the new albums tracks - this may not be what you get on the tour as the band were trying things out but it worked really well on the night. The whole of the crowd at the front were going for it - and I had a look round at the back and Jim and I were right behind the Back Mosh Pit as Paula and Karen went for it big time - good girls! And the trespassers onto our elevated step did not last long (long story).

And I have come up with a theory useful for newbie Muse fans (there will be loads): If Chris , the bass player, is bopping his head big and proud, then the track you are listening to is a Muse classic - that's the criteria.

So the new material. It's very good - possibly more mainstream than the core fans are used to but it should bring more fame. Recent comparisons to Radiohead are wrong (probably from journo's that think Franz Ferdinand are great and are the new Queen - you are sooooo very very wrong...) and I still believe there is no one quite like Muse at the moment.

Purchase the album when it comes out but if you ever get the chance to see them somewhere big then sell the family silver and get yourself there because this is one band you must see once in your life!

If anyone has a set list please let me know what was played as I did not know the new songs.

OKGO - so we did…

Simon Cox — Thu, 04 Sep 2003 01:00:00 GMT

Paula and I went to the OKGO gig at the Electric Ballroom in Camden tonight courtesy of Xfm - I won the tickets on the Adam and Joe show last Saturday.

We missed the first band entirely having sat in the pub for too long, but arrived just after the Webb Brothers had started their set - and we are sooooo glad we didn't miss it because it was the highlight of the night by a long long way. I thought I had not heard of the Webb Brothers before but they played one song that I have certainly heard on Xfm. Their set was wild and varied with three of the guys singing in harmony - shades of the Beachboys but so very different. Several songs reminded me of early Floyd - and that’s a massive complement from me. Their slow songs were extraordinarily tight and built into crescendos that reminded me of the Muse. This is a band that have massive potential and could go a long long way. They have an album out on 22nd September preceding it with a single on the 8th. We will buy both.

And so on to OKGO. Big crowd that loved everything they did, but for us there was only one song that shone - Get Over It - and we did, quickly. Sadly we think they are a one song band, despite friends in the business who think they are 'well good'. Paula wanted to go home halfway through the set but I managed to persuade her to stay and if it wasn't for that we would have missed Get Over It which was the highlight. It got better but we didn't stay for the encores.

The highlight of the evening: several songs by the Webb Brothers though which one to choose I couldn't say…!!!

Apologies to OKGO for not becoming fans!

The next gig we are going to is The Darkness at Folkstone Leas Cliff Hall in October - with the Webb Brothers supporting. Very very exited about that!

Dinner next door

Simon Cox — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 01:00:00 GMT

We have been invited next door for a sumptuous dinner - great we don't have to cook!!!

The wine has been flowing well tonight! Perfect end to the Easter weekend. Done loads seems like a whole month off.

New Forest break

Simon Cox — Sun, 20 Apr 2003 01:00:00 GMT

We have been away, walking for a couple of days in the New Forest staying overnight at the The Mailman's Arms in the High St at Lyndhurst in Hampshire. We had a fantastic time visiting many local places and sampling the local brews. Excellent!

On Friday we drove down to Beaulieu and walked to Bucklers Hard along the Beaulieu river had a pint and watched the river traffic go by. We then walked back to Beaulieu and had a cream tea. We then drove to Calshot where the Schneider Trophy Air Race was held in 1931. The water out to the Isle of White was full of yachts and inshire the sailborders and more dramatically the kite surfers were literally flying in the strong winds. On to Lyndhurst and the Pub. More later!

Pittock Reunion Schedule of Events

Simon Cox — Thu, 17 Apr 2003 01:00:00 GMT

TUESDAY 24TH JUNE 2003

Arrive Waterside Hotel Bath, where you will be welcomed and receive program details and badges.

6.30 for 7.00 pm. Buffet Reception and Get-together in the hotel’s Willow Suite. Cash bar available.

WEDNESDAY 25TH JUNE 2003 “Take your pick in Bath.”

Stroll into Bath centre along the waterside path for a day in the city. For the energetic there will be a walking tour of the historic city led by a “Mayor’s Guide”. All day sightseeing by bus for everyone. Hop on and off as you please at the famous sights.

MAKE YOUR OWN CHOICE OF VISITS AND DINING ARRANGEMENTS.

(No meals arranged for this day) There are plenty of good pubs and restaurants in the City for you to choose from. If you wish to dine at the hotel, you must make your own reservations.

THURSDAY 26TH JUNE 2003 “Bristol and Wells”

9am. Coach leaves hotel for Bristol Maritime Heritage Centre where we will have a guided tour of the SS “Great Britain” the first Ocean going iron hulled liner and we hope, the “Matthew” a replica of a 15th century vessel in which John Cabot sailed and discovered Newfoundland in 1497.

Coach then leaves for the famous town of Wells, stopping en-route for a pub lunch at the Kings Arms (reputed to be haunted) in Litton, a small village in the Mendip hills.

Arriving at Wells there will be a visit to the Cathedral and the Bishops Palace. There will be time to explore this charming old town where William Penn preached from an upstairs room in a local pub.

Back to Bath by about 5pm. You will be on your own for dinner.

FRIDAY 27TH JUNE 2003 “Stourhead”

9 am Coach leaves hotel to drive through the countryside to “Stourhead” an 18th century mansion with beautiful Palladian gardens,now owned by the National Trust. Choose your own lunch at the restaurant or the pub in the grounds. We expect to leave about 2.30pm for Bath where you will have free time for last-minute shopping etc..

Friday Evening, Farewell dinner in the Hotel function room at 7.15 pm. As before, there will be a cash bar available.

SATURDAY MORNING Check out, and farewell until 2005.

Please send your completed Event Booking Form, together with payment , to Bill Pittock by March 31st. 2003. We have to firm up the bookings with cash deposits at least 2 months in advance.

With grateful thanks, Ken and Barbara, Chris and Janet.

Pittock Reunion events info

Simon Cox — Thu, 17 Apr 2003 01:00:00 GMT

There is so much to see in and around Bath and we hope we have found something to suit everyone.

To begin, on Wednesday, join us for a 1 ¼ mile walking tour with the Mayor’s Corp of Honorary Guides. In groups of 15 or so, we will be taken to see the medieval centre of Bath and the famous 18th Century city. Highly recommended, these tours are said to be “Chatty, gossip-filled joy - essential for your understanding of the Georgian Scene”

Follow that with a City Tour by open topped bus. Staying on the bus for the whole ¾ hour ride, will take us all around the city and to the hilltops for some panoramic views. The City Tour Guides will tell us about the history of the city, it’s buildings and some of the famous people who lived here. Get on and off the bus as you please, at any of the 16 stops en route, as often as you wish. Your ticket will also give you concessions at some of the sights and museums.

Eating places are many and varied in Bath, so you should find something to suit your taste.

On Thursday we will go by coach to Bristol’s Great Western Dock to visit the “ SS Great Britain” in the place where she was built in 1843. Long distance voyages made in wooded sailing ships were hazardous to say the least. Sea travel took a great leap forward when Isambard Kingdom Brunell designed this iron and steam masterpiece. Now undergoing a £10m development, the ship is being restored. Hopefully the replica sailing ship “ Matthew “ will be in dock nearby for us to see.

The coach will then take us through the Mendip Hills to The Kings Arms in the village of Litton, for a generous pub lunch. (Bring doggy bags). Litton was mentioned in the Doomsday Book in1084, and the pub is thought to be one of the oldest buildings in the village. Charles II is reputed to have hidden in the inn, and it is said to have 2 ghosts, a noblewoman and an unknown gentleman.

We go on to the delightful city of Wells, England’s smallest city. Granted it’s Charter in 1201 by King John, Wells has a famous Cathedral with a C14th mechanical clock. Nearby is Vicar’s Close, also built in the C14th, Europe’s oldest complete street. The Bishop’s Palace and Gardens, home to the Bishop of Bath and Wells, is open to the public and is a moated house which contains the wells after which the city is named.

Back at the hotel at about 5pm you will make your own arrangements for dinner and the evening.

On Friday morning our coach driver will take us, via one or two picturesque Cotswold villages to our destination, Stourhead. Built in early 1720’s the lovely house was home to the Hoare family, owners of Britain’s only surviving independent Bank. The contents of the magnificent interior were once family possessions, and include an outstanding library of 5000 books, 482 paintings as well as the lovely furniture.The Garden, created in the C18th is a masterpiece of landscaping and a model for the growing English Landscape style. A self contained and timeless paradise.

We should be back in Bath by 3pm so that you may have time to shop, continue to sightsee, or simply crash out until dinner time.

I know that some of you intend to hire a car for your visit especially if staying longer that the reunion. We are looking into the various ways of travelling to Bath for those of you needing public transport. Costs and timetables for the summer are not yet available, but we will send details as soon as we can.

Pittock Reunion

Simon Cox — Wed, 29 Jan 2003 24:00:00 GMT

For those of the family looking for news on this years Pittock Reunion, I will be putting a new section up on the site shortly especially for this years event in June.

Hopefully Mum and Dad will provide some copy for me to use although the newsletter they sent out a couple of weeks ago may provide some good material.

Bit of an exciting weekend

Simon Cox — Mon, 24 Jun 2002 01:00:00 GMT

Had a bit of an exciting weekend. Went to our friends FB and Lou's for Lou's birthday party in the very large, very old barn to the side of their cottage. A most excellent party eschewed. We rescued some poor lass from the clutches of the loo floor. Long story and she won't remember - unfortunately for her we do. :)

Simon Boden and Minako Hommas wedding

Simon Cox — Mon, 10 Jun 2002 01:00:00 GMT

Our friends Simon and Minnie got married at Oaks Farm.

Simon was properly dressed in frock coat and cravat along with the ushers including me. Minnie, her bridesmaid and her mum wore the traditional Japanese kimono and obi.

It the first wedding I have been to where the Registrar was the first to cry! A fantastic day and we wish them every happiness for the future.

Oaks Farm is right in the middle of Croydon but is surrounded by golf courses and is in a valley. We couldn't believe how quiet and tranquil it was.

Leith Hill walk

Simon Cox — Tue, 07 May 2002 01:00:00 GMT

Pete, Paula's brother and I went down to Leith hill near Dorking on Sunday morning for a five mile walk. It was very misty on the way down - which made the scenery going into Coldharbour all the more dramatic.

The walk up to Leith Hill Tower was hard going for a few minutes but is do-able by all but the very unfit. We had a very welcome cup of tea, cake and fudge at the tea concession in the tower. On route we saw fantastic views of cottages, ponds with swans, waterfalls, rabbits and heard dozens of different birds. One outstanding point is the cricket pitch half way up - highest in Southern England - with the most amazing view.

The local pub - the Plough - in Coldharbour is excellent but got very packed not long after we arrived. The food looked excellent and the range of beers was very good. Recommended for anyone with a couple of spare hours (+ pub lunch).

Japan 2002

Simon Cox — Mon, 22 Apr 2002 01:00:00 GMT

Paula surprised me with a holiday in Japan for my birthday. We went on the 6th April and arrived back on the 18th and it was absolutely awesome. It has been my favourite destination ever and there is so much to take in.

The written language - I can't read it and i have absolutely no idea what anything says. I don't speak French or German but if I see signage in those languages i will have a rough idea of what's going on – a place name perhaps. With Kanji I don't have a clue, and I love that as I really get the sense that I am somewhere unfamiliar and exciting. And yet there is so much that is familiar in Japan - the people's mannerisms are so different to the English and yet so familiar - there appears to be a lot of synergy going on, perhaps because we are both island nations – and respect, there is a lot of that in both countries.

We travelled around by train stopping at local inns and hotels for a day or two, all pre-booked. Our luggage as sent on from each hotel to the next and was there in our rooms when we arrived - fabulous service. The food was fantastic - though I am unsure what on earth some of it was but I liked everything!

What a fantastic trip. If you ever get the chance to travel around Japan - do not hesitate!

Family visit

Simon Cox — Sat, 30 Mar 2002 24:00:00 GMT

Mum, dad, Conor, Lou and Steve are up for the day visiting - if you have been looking at the web cam you may have seen us! Dad is snoozing in the sun at the moment and I will have a post lunch nap myself in a moment. :)

Flying Visit to Deal for Phils 40th

Simon Cox — Sat, 16 Mar 2002 24:00:00 GMT

Down in Deal for a little drink with Phil and Vicky for Phil's special old man birthday. Big hi to Steve because it's his birthday actually today!

Trips from SimonCox.com

Scotney Castle visit on a cold day

A Winters Day Trip To Rye

Winchelsea Beach

Rye Harbour

The town of Rye

Lamb House

A steam trip on the Swanage Belle

A trip on a steam pulled train from London to the coast.

An early start to catch the train

Euston station

The Swanage Belle sets off from Euston

Breakfast on the Swanage Belle

Leaving London on the train

Stains and Woking

Lunch

A walk around Swanage

And back to London on the Swanage Belle

Steam puddings!

And there is more...

EEUK11 report from the 2011 ExpressionEngine conference in Manchester

The first UK ExpressionEngine conference

Joel Bradbury: 101 ways to skin a cat

Leslie Flinger: Freelancing as an EE Developer: Tools of Success

John Henry Donovan: Faceted navigation for expression engine

Stephen Lewis: Commercial Add – on Development for Clients

Lodwijk Schutte: Parse Order Pro

Carl Crawley: Structuring your EEcms build — Creating your optimal build

Garrett Winder; Going Mobile

After

And there is more...

Vintage tractors

At the Shakey Super Pull

Vintage tractors Gallery

Medmenham walk

Sunday circular walk by the Thames

Medmenham walk Gallery

Amberley Steam Gala

Muse Shepherds Bush Empire 28 June 2006

Update!

OKGO - so we did…

Dinner next door

New Forest break

Pittock Reunion Schedule of Events

TUESDAY 24TH JUNE 2003

WEDNESDAY 25TH JUNE 2003 “Take your pick in Bath.”

MAKE YOUR OWN CHOICE OF VISITS AND DINING ARRANGEMENTS.

THURSDAY 26TH JUNE 2003 “Bristol and Wells”

FRIDAY 27TH JUNE 2003 “Stourhead”

SATURDAY MORNING Check out, and farewell until 2005.

Pittock Reunion events info

Pittock Reunion

Bit of an exciting weekend

Simon Boden and Minako Hommas wedding

Leith Hill walk

Japan 2002

Family visit

Flying Visit to Deal for Phils 40th