Famous for not being able to walk in a straight line.

Below the King George the Fifth bridge, the north side of the Clyde is bounded by Broomielaw quay. This was the main Glasgow terminal for passenger ships and it was from here that the World's first commercial paddle steam ship started in 1812. In later years generations of Glaswegians took their holidays "doon the water" by taking a steamer from the Broomielaw to the Clyde resorts. Now it is the

Staedtler Noris HB

It's about time I posted about pencils again so this latest post is about the Ford Mondeo of the pencil world: the Staedtler Noris HB school pencil.  Looking around, I see the Noris being used frequently; it's probably the most common pencil in England.  It helps that this pencil is cheap and widely available, often in supermarkets. 

It is used a lot instead of carpenters' pencils.  Back in September 2010 I went to a green woodworking demonstration near my home.  One of the bodgers was using a Noris to mark the wood for turning into a bowl.  In addition to marking materials of all kinds, the Noris is also commonly used for jotting shopping lists or making random notes; it is commonly seen in musicians' instrument cases, for writing on their printed music parts.

I suppose I should continue here with a series of sub-Proustian reminiscences about using this pencil, which has armed generations of schoolchildren here in England.  The trouble is, I don't have any.  I think I used Noris pencils when I was a boy growing up in west London in the 1970s and 1980s, but I have no clear memories of this.  I do remember using the more up-market tradition pencils at school, but when it comes to the humble Noris there's a big blank at the centre of my schoolday memories.  This could be a sign of the sheer ubiquity of this design of pencil that I have no memories of it at all: an object so common it literally faded into the woodwork.

In an effort to make up for temps perdu lost time I have been using a Noris HB at work.  For a child's school pencil, this is remarkably over-engineered; to be honest it's just too good to waste on children.  I have a variety of made-in-Germany and made-in-GB versions here before me, many of them chewed at the end by my eldest daughter (see photo).  There are some variations - on some this is described as the "Noris school pencil", on others, simply, "Noris".  This is a pencil aimed squarely at the lucrative educational market and is a tough, no-nonsense product.  Sculpted from light, porous European wood (no cedar here) and with one of Staedtler's durable graphite lead cores, this is equipped for the rigours of the school day (namely being dropped from a desk, having the tip snapped off when drawing a circle in maths, writing a graffito in the back of an exercise book, illustrating the water cycle in the Ice Age, poking a classmate and being dropped from a desk etc).

The overall appearance is as would be expected: a yellow-and-black striped pencil, topped off with a painted endcap in a variety of colours in its non-eraser tipped variant, Art. Nr. 120. The eraser-tipped version, the 122, can be found in stationers' such as Rymans, but is much less common.

The Noris is manufactured in five grades: 2B, B, HB, H and 2H.  In the wild, the most common sub-species sports a red endcap, this being the HB variety.  I have two blister-packs of these common birds, in a multipack option offered by Staedtler in supermarkets, probably with the start of the school year in mind.  Here, a pack of ten Noris HBs, bundled with a Mars eraser and a functional Staedtler sharpener, is sold in my local Tesco for the bargain price of GBP2.50.  In my local stationers', the eraser alone is a quid. Tesco also offer a pack of five assorted Noris grades for GBP1.40, and a three-pack of 2Bs for a pound.  All offer astoundingly good value for money.

The lead is fairly dark, though not as dark as the tradition's HB.  It is slightly harder than the tradition as well, probably to enable less frequent sharpening.  On the paper, it leaves a slate-grey line which allows the user to vary its width.  I found that I could write for a long time between sharpenings.  At one point I managed to sharpen a Noris successfully with my KUM Long Point sharpener.  This was good news, but turned out to be a one-off only; when I tried to use the Long Point again, I found my old problem of broken leads had returned.  After three or four attempts to sharpen with the Long Point, I abandoned the idea and went back to using my standard KUM sharpener, which left me with a three-inch long stub and a pile of yellow-and-black sharpenings.

The lead smears a bit on the paper, though less so than the tradition HB lead.  I have not tried using any grade of Noris other than the HB, so I can't report how those perform, but the HB certainly does a fine job of writing, drawing or marking as you require.

All Greatness Stands Firm in The Storm.

Downstream of the suspension bridge we approached the Glasgow Bridge (or Jamaica Bridge because it is at the bottom of Jamaica Street). It was built in 1899 by Blyth and Westland.

It replaced an earlier bridge built by by Thomas Telford in 1833 and is of similar design but some 20 feet wider. The Telford bridge replaced an earlier bridge built in 1772.
 
There were unexpected arches through the

Sea kayaking the River Clyde: Glasgow Green to the Merchant City.

On our voyage down the tidal River Clyde by sea kayak from Glasgow Green, the first bridge we came to was the riveted wrought iron Albert Bridge, built in 1871 by Bell and Millar. Through the arches, the next one downstream is the City Union Railway Bridge built in 1899.

Just downstream of the Albert Bridge, the Glasgow College of Nautical Studies is appropriately situated right on the south

Airborne Speedway - East Coast Snocross

East Coast Snocross Headed to Plattsburgh For immediate release                            AS-121610-1 Plattsburgh, NY – Hundreds of snowmobile competitors from Canada, New England, New York and Pennsylvania will be in Plattsburgh January 8-9, 2011 for the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino races.

 

Airborne Speedway is facilitating the two-day event, which is round two of the East Coast Snocross Series presented by Woody's Traction Control and Amsoil. The action will unfold at the Crete Memorial Civic Center on a winding course with large jumps constructed on site. The East Coast Snocross Series is the nation's largest regional racing series. Snowmobile racers will compete in Pro Stock, Pro Am, Pro Open, Semi Pro and amateur classes. Della's Motorsports and Casella Waste Management are co-sponsoring the event. Quebec veterans Mathieu Morin of Val-d'Or and Danny Poirier of Saint-Theodore split the Pro Open finals at the season opener at Burke Mountain Ski Resort last weekend. Parity among manufacturers was evident at Burke, with Polaris, Ski-doo and Arctic Cat all on the Pro podium. "We're proud of our relationship with Airborne Speedway and we're looking forward to the Snocross Series event," Akwesasne Mohawk Casino's Ben Herne said. "Their help and Marketing Mgr. Sherm Hamel's tireless efforts keep joint ventures like this fun and exciting." Tickets can be purchased at two Plattsburgh locations - Della Motorsports near the intersection of Rte 3 and Rte 190 and Aaron's on 327 Cornelia St. Single day ($15) and two-day ($25) tickets are available. Free admission for children ages 7 and under. Vendor space in the Crete Memorial Civic Center is available - contact Airborne Speedway 518-561-3208. Contact: Tom Herzig 802-882-8131

 

Sea kayaking from a dear green place.

The following kayak posts are about sea kayaking from Glasgow Green, in the heart of the City of Glasgow, down the tidal River Clyde to Port Glasgow at the head of the Firth of Clyde.

This morning we met at the Newark Castle car park in the upper Firth of Clyde. We then ran a shuttle on the M8 motorway into the heart of Glasgow, the "dear green place".

We were bound for Glasgow Green, the