Room 101

[Gray]

To be honest, I wouldn’t even know where to start…

And a Somerset accent would tell us it was you 😉

 

[woodbar]

And a Somerset accent would tell us it was you 😉

Yere my dere- wos this bout zumerzet accent?
I hav wun as well!
Used to be "pure bristle"

Could that be classed as a racist remark?

 

[Angle Poise-Lamp]

Yere my dere- wos this bout zumerzet accent?
I hav wun as well!
Used to be "pure bristle"

Could that be classed as a racist remark?

As you’re local, it’s ok!

I have family in Oldham and, they tell me the Zumerzet accent is strong in me. @woodbar, which part of Somerset are you in? I’m out in tne west, beyond Taunton.

 

[woodbar]

Yes I know, sometimes when I hear myself on a voice recording I think is that actually me!?

I am in a little village just on the northern slopes of the Polden Hills - looking towards the Mendips (and its gaping quarries) not far from Street and its retail village (or as I call it the Clarkes Factory Outlet con trick!)

 

[Al ears]

As you’re local, it’s ok!

I have family in Oldham and, they tell me the Zumerzet accent is strong in me. @woodbar, which part of Somerset are you in? I’m out in tne west, beyond Taunton.

is there life beyond Taunton?? 🙂

 

[Al ears]

Yes I know, sometimes when I hear myself on a voice recording I think is that actually me!?

I am in a little village just on the northern slopes of the Polden Hills - looking towards the Mendips (and its gaping quarries) not far from Street and its retail village (or as I call it the Clarkes Factory Outlet con trick!)

Is Clarks Factory still going?

 

[Gray]

Could that be classed as a racist remark?

In today's world yes.
Any word, no matter how common and innocent it may once have been - if it offends one of the many people queueing up to be offended, then yes, it could be regarded as racist.
(If today, my old Mum went out in the street and called her black cat in, by its name, she would now be arrested).

 

[Gray]

Yere my dere- wos this bout zumerzet accent?
I hav wun as well!
Used to be "pure bristle"

My mate moved from here in Essex to Watchet 20+ years ago.
He retained his accent (so locals regard him as a gangster).
But his son, even though born in Essex, definitely sounds like a cider drinker with some of his words.

 

[Angle Poise-Lamp]

Is Clarks Factory still going?

Nope, just the company HQ , the shoe museum and warehousing, in Street now, as far as I'm aware.

 

[Angle Poise-Lamp]

Yes I know, sometimes when I hear myself on a voice recording I think is that actually me!?

I am in a little village just on the northern slopes of the Polden Hills - looking towards the Mendips (and its gaping quarries) not far from Street and its retail village (or as I call it the Clarkes Factory Outlet con trick!)

I know where you mean, been through that village a few times and, up and down the A39 many times. I know the Mendips much better though, I grew-up in Priddy.

 

[Angle Poise-Lamp]

is there life beyond Taunton??

Absolutely, perhaps you could inform the government, all flavours seem to forget about the southwest. Even the Tories didn't pretend to notice, by launching a Southwestern Powerhouse...

 

[woodbar]

In today's world yes.
Any word, no matter how common and innocent it may once have been - if it offends one of the many people queueing up to be offended, then yes, it could be regarded as racist.
(If today, my old Mum went out in the street and called her black cat in, by its name, she would now be arrested).

Exactly, especially if you inhabit so called "social media" - should be renamed anti- social as far as I am concerned! Lots of "influencers" who are likely on the payroll of various companies and then we have "celebrities" that no one has ever heard of etc. etc.
Plus the queues of people, as you rightly say, just looking for something to complain about or be offended by and actually taken seriously. I have many times been offended by certain things on TV, especially some adverts and news articles but as I am part of a majority native English sector, at least for the moment, it seems I can not be offended! Actually my ancestors, a couple of centuries ago, came from Brittany!

That's another thing that confuses me, apparently you are not allowed to use "coloured" anymore, as it can cause offence, and should use "black" or "white" of course - but there are an awful lot of colours in between so where is the transition point? I must make the point here that I emphatically don't care what colour, race or religion anyone is, I respond to the person only.

 

[woodbar]

I know where you mean, been through that village a few times and, up and down the A39 many times. I know the Mendips much better though, I grew-up in Priddy.

Aha, you must have frequented The Queen Victoria then? One of our previous venues for lunch /evenings etc. especially when we lived at Axbridge. Have not been there for over for well over a year but during the Covid debacle they installed several multi coloured gypsy style caravans (traditional wood style - not the huge 4 wheelers they all seem to have now) so you could have your food and beer served but be segregated - very cosy in the cold weather and the beer was pretty good.

I must admit latterly we rather changed to frequenting the Castle of Comfort on the top road not too far away from the QV - good helpings of very reasonably priced and good quality food.

Absolutely, perhaps you could inform the government, all flavours seem to forget about the southwest. Even the Tories didn't pretend to notice, by launching a Southwestern Powerhouse...

It's an absolute joke, and of course SCC is not getting the full funding package because they have been naughty boys and girls although it's surprising what they can afford to do if it's in their own interest.

I think we should all move to the South East or the Greater London Area and see how that then holds up!

 

[Angle Poise-Lamp]

Aha, you must have frequented The Queen Victoria then? One of our previous venues for lunch /evenings etc. especially when we lived at Axbridge. Have not been there for over for well over a year but during the Covid debacle they installed several multi coloured gypsy style caravans (traditional wood style - not the huge 4 wheelers they all seem to have now) so you could have your food and beer served but be segregated - very cosy in the cold weather and the beer was pretty good.

I must admit latterly we rather changed to frequenting the Castle of Comfort on the top road not too far away from the QV - good helpings of very reasonably priced and good quality food.


It's an absolute joke, and of course SCC is not getting the full funding package because they have been naughty boys and girls although it's surprising what they can afford to do if it's in their own interest.

I think we should all move to the South East or the Greater London Area and see how that then holds up!

I drank in the Queen Victoria many times, especially as I lived just across the road. I left the village at 25 in 1989, the Queen Vic has changed a lot since then. When I was frequenting it, it was just a simple country pub. Back in the 50’s, the brother of my mother’s adoptive mother, ran the Queen Vic, for the Courage brewery. My best friend at the time (1980s) and I, sometimes played bar billiards in there. We also used to go in the New Inn and empty the quiz machine. Go to the pub, have a couple of pints and, make a profit!

 

[Cricketbat70]

All this talk of Somerset and scrumpy has got songs from a certain group banging round in my head
"I am a cider drinker I drinks it all of the day......etc etc"
I tried Scrumpy once from a shop in Chedder Gorge. Rach and I were on honeymoon in that corner of the world, we went to Chedder Gorge for the day and I bought a bottle of Crippled **** Scrumpy. Just cheap tourist muck I think, instant headache after just a little drink of that. I don't think I even finished the bottle. The kitchen sink plug hole got more of the scrumpy than I drank.

 

[Angle Poise-Lamp]

All this talk of Somerset and scrumpy has got songs from a certain group banging round in my head
"I am a cider drinker I drinks it all of the day......etc etc"
I tried Scrumpy once from a shop in Chedder Gorge. Rach and I were on honeymoon in that corner of the world, we went to Chedder Gorge for the day and I bought a bottle of Crippled **** Scrumpy. Just cheap tourist muck I think, instant headache after just a little drink of that. I don't think I even finished the bottle. The kitchen sink plug hole got more of the scrumpy than I drank.

I’m not really a cider drinker but, the best I have had, came from farms with their own orchard.

 

[Gray]

I have many times been offended by certain things on TV,

I know the sort of things you mean 🤨

But whenever the announcer says "some viewers may find the following upsetting / disturbing"....I never do.

Yet there is no warning before showing 2 males snogging -it's regarded as normal. I know that, by today's standards, I am old fashioned, but it makes me shiver - I can't look away fast enough - and I know for sure that I'm not alone.

Room 101 for 'progressives'.

 

[woodbar]

All this talk of Somerset and scrumpy has got songs from a certain group banging round in my head
"I am a cider drinker I drinks it all of the day......etc etc"
I tried Scrumpy once from a shop in Chedder Gorge. Rach and I were on honeymoon in that corner of the world, we went to Chedder Gorge for the day and I bought a bottle of Crippled **** Scrumpy. Just cheap tourist muck I think, instant headache after just a little drink of that. I don't think I even finished the bottle. The kitchen sink plug hole got more of the scrumpy than I drank.

Yes, it is a bit of an acquired taste.
You probably had a very clean U-bend under your kitchen sink after that because it can be very acidic!
Why I can't drink it now - similar effect! 😳

 

[woodbar]

I drank in the Queen Victoria many times, especially as I lived just across the road. I left the village at 25 in 1989, the Queen Vic has changed a lot since then. When I was frequenting it, it was just a simple country pub. Back in the 50’s, the brother of my mother’s adoptive mother, ran the Queen Vic, for the Courage brewery. My best friend at the time (1980s) and I, sometimes played bar billiards in there. We also used to go in the New Inn and empty the quiz machine. Go to the pub, have a couple of pints and, make a profit!

Never been in the New Inn. Courage Brewery, a rave from the past, at least they don't seem to be around much these days. Some used to say you needed courage to actually drink Courage! Never liked it much myself but I suppose Directors was just about palatable.

Just looked it up, Marston's bought the rights to Courage brands in 2017. Their original large site by the river near the centre of Bristol is now office/commercial blocks and apartments I believe.

That was very convenient, living opposite the pub. Unfortunately, we don't have a PH in the village, used to have a PO which went years ago, just a cricket pitch really, not much else other than residences obviously.

 

[woodbar]

Yet there is no warning before showing 2 males snogging -it's regarded as normal. I know that, by today's standards, I am old fashioned, but it makes me shiver - I can't look away fast enough - and I know for sure that I'm not alone.

Room 101 for 'progressives'.

Well I am afraid it's different standards for many things now where we seem to have an almost "anything is acceptable".

For example, there seems to be so many programs on TV where, in the dialogue, each and every sentence contains two or more expletives or if it has a medical or injury narrative, Silent Witness for example, then there is excessive gory detail, why? We all have imagination, else why would we be watching and maybe enjoying and getting into the plot of fictional drama, some things are best left to the viewers imagination!

I think that probably everyone uses a few expletives from time to time - I do, when I miss the nail and hit my thumb with the hammer or when I need a 4ft length of scaffold pole to give added leverage to slacken some wheel bolts on the car that were last tightened, apparently by a Gorilla, when I had the tyres changed! Even one of our previous female vicars was known to slip into the vernacular and even tell very raunchy jokes - not in the pulpit of course, I am told.

I think the broadcasters really hit rock bottom (pun intended) with their Naked Attraction series, which I did not watch but have seen excerpts from on a couple of occasions! Did not realise there were that many different shapes and sizes of various bits of anatomy, with the participants gladly showing their all on national TV. Then the producers played their trump card apparently and had some gay versions!

No, I don't think we need imagination now certainly as far as TV is concerned.

 

[Cricketbat70]

Well I am afraid it's different standards for many things now where we seem to have an almost "anything is acceptable".

For example, there seems to be so many programs on TV where, in the dialogue, each and every sentence contains two or more expletives or if it has a medical or injury narrative, Silent Witness for example, then there is excessive gory detail, why? We all have imagination, else why would we be watching and maybe enjoying and getting into the plot of fictional drama, some things are best left to the viewers imagination!

I think that probably everyone uses a few expletives from time to time - I do, when I miss the nail and hit my thumb with the hammer or when I need a 4ft length of scaffold pole to give added leverage to slacken some wheel bolts on the car that were last tightened, apparently by a Gorilla, when I had the tyres changed! Even one of our previous female vicars was known to slip into the vernacular and even tell very raunchy jokes - not in the pulpit of course, I am told.

I think the broadcasters really hit rock bottom (pun intended) with their Naked Attraction series, which I did not watch but have seen excerpts from on a couple of occasions! Did not realise there were that many different shapes and sizes of various bits of anatomy, with the participants gladly showing their all on national TV. Then the producers played their trump card apparently and had some gay versions!

No, I don't think we need imagination now certainly as far as TV is concerned.

Pretty much why we don't watch much modern stuff on TV. Its mainly ITVX and watching blasts from the past like The Champions, Space 1999, Foyle's War (that we didn't watch when it first aired) Count Duckula 🤣.

 

[Angle Poise-Lamp]

Well I am afraid it's different standards for many things now where we seem to have an almost "anything is acceptable".

For example, there seems to be so many programs on TV where, in the dialogue, each and every sentence contains two or more expletives or if it has a medical or injury narrative, Silent Witness for example, then there is excessive gory detail, why? We all have imagination, else why would we be watching and maybe enjoying and getting into the plot of fictional drama, some things are best left to the viewers imagination!

I think that probably everyone uses a few expletives from time to time - I do, when I miss the nail and hit my thumb with the hammer or when I need a 4ft length of scaffold pole to give added leverage to slacken some wheel bolts on the car that were last tightened, apparently by a Gorilla, when I had the tyres changed! Even one of our previous female vicars was known to slip into the vernacular and even tell very raunchy jokes - not in the pulpit of course, I am told.

I think the broadcasters really hit rock bottom (pun intended) with their Naked Attraction series, which I did not watch but have seen excerpts from on a couple of occasions! Did not realise there were that many different shapes and sizes of various bits of anatomy, with the participants gladly showing their all on national TV. Then the producers played their trump card apparently and had some gay versions!

No, I don't think we need imagination now certainly as far as TV is concerned.

Certainly agree about the tripe on TV these days, neither or or my wife watch much. As for vicars, if you think she was bad, my wife used to work in a hospital, North Cornwall in Bodmin, as the chef, nutritionist and dietitian. She used the same changing room as the nurses and, says the nurses had a very “earthy” sense of humour, probably part of the coping mechanism, given what they have to deal with every day.