In which we discuss our plans to re-enact the classic spy novel ‘The Riddle of the Sands’, following the route of Carruthers & Davies day by day through Germany. This week we’re concentrating on October 2 in Kiel, with our heroes waiting to go through the Holtenau Lock. They pass the time with stocking up on supplies including:
spare ropes and blocks […] German charts of excellent quality; cigars and many weird brands of sausage and tinned meats […] a great pair of seaboots of the country, felt-lined and wooden-soled, and both of us got a number of rough woollen garments (as worn by the local fishermen), breeches, jerseys, helmets, gloves; all of a colour chosen to harmonize with paraffin stains and anchor mud.
We also experimented with two live streaming tools: Twitter’s Periscope and Google Hangouts On Air. Since this was our first time with both tools, things were a bit sketchy, so thank you to the Club members who put up with it all and tuned in. We promise to do better next time. We don’t promise to be completely sensible.
DON’T FORGET – you can support this project by pledging to pay for access to the live web adventure in the autumn, and acquire a beautiful Handbook Edition of ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ which we are threatening to write.
For full details go to: http://www.unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands. Spread the word. We can’t go on our adventure without you!
In the podcast we discuss: the shopping list (01:23); differing opinions about what we will be eating on the real adventure in the autumn (02:16); Lloyd tells us about the state of the Kiel Canal (3:06) and the existence of a short ancient British film of the canal opening (05:46); our own plans for filming & live streaming (07:44).
Tim on our approach to ‘dressing up’ (08:47); clothes shopping (09:36); the uselessness of old sea boots (10:10); secret messages in sweaters (11:46); Lloyd eats sausage and tinned meat (aka brawn or ‘head cheese’) (13:29); a musical interlude from Die Toten Hosen (18:50).
Club Business – Tony on his experience of going through the canal (23:50); Patrick on a trip through the canal 50 years ago on his way to Finland (25:26); Martin on his painting of the Dulcibella, which he’s going to bring to Film Club night on July 2 – join us! (26:52); Kevin points to an old picture of steamers in Flensburg harbour (28:07); Patrick has an excellent system for rating difficult boat tasks (28:38); Kevin reveals the existence of a railway to Juist – in 1898! (29:26); Kevin goes into fantastic detail about the clothes we should be wearing, including, maybe, a ‘Dollman’ (30:49); Ian has a job which is made easier by ‘My Lady Nicotine’…? (34:01).
Missions for next week – members assistance required.
The vast plain of Holstein: We’ve talked a lot about Schleswig. What do Club members know about Holstein?
‘He’s a fine fellow that Emperor’: It’s time we got to know the Kaiser a bit better. Will it be OK to mention him on our trip?
Naval reserves: Anybody out there ever been a naval reserve? What does it entail? How do you sign up? And what’s the point of a naval reserve?
Two days on the canal: What can we do to pass the time?
The Curiously Specific Book Club 
I’ve found a few more links. A blurry movie, no less, of the Juist Inselbahn going out on the pier over the sea, link on this (German) page :
and some slightly clearer photos at :
.
More Friesland railway stuff on :
And a 2009 ferry photo, which is very ROTS, IMHO, about 4/5 of the way down this page:
LikeLike
Sorry, links seem to have vanished. I’ll try another route.
LikeLike
There’s a guide book (in German) on the railways, with historical photographs – available on Amazon, search for “Inselbahnen der Nordsee”
LikeLike
Holstein: The Kaiser married Princess Auguste Viktoria…eldest daughter of Duke Friedrich ..von Schleswig-Holstein…,who had succeeded nominally as the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein in 1863, but never formally took power. Before it became Schleswig-Holstein, Frederick had the premier claim to becoming Duke of Holstein, but the wars between Prussia & Denmark & the Schleswig-Holstein question put an end to that.
Separately & tenuously Holstein Friesians are known in Europe as friesians, and in USA as Holsteins. At: http://extension.psu.edu/animals/dairy/documents/polled-holsteins-history – there is a detailed essay on “polled holsteins”,polled meaning without horns. There was apparently a breeder of Holsteins, George Stevenson who was so fanatical about polled Holsteins, that his friends called him “Hornless George”. Also the last American Presidential cow was a Holstein, owned by WilliamTaft, & it used to graze on the lawns of the Whitehouse.
LikeLike
Two days on the canal – in the book, wasn’t this the first time that Carruthers became aware of a female presence in Davies’s recent past? Maybe now is the time to ponder spatchcocking in more detail?
LikeLike