Never Mind The Rowlocks

Yes, That Is How It's Pronounced
I think we all know what controversial 1977 record I refer to, which I'm not actually going to name, as we here at BOOUJM! treasure our SFW status.  It's a bit frightening to realise that NMTBHTSP is over 40 years old, and that the members are liable for claiming a pension.

Er - except for Sid

     Anyway, none of that has anything to do with PIEZO-ELECTRIC ORGANIC CRYSTALLOGRAPHY! which I'm not going to go into either.  It may not even exist as I made it up on the spot.  Aren't I creative?*
     No, instead I wanted to ponder on the subject of rowlocks, as they came up in a music video by Camera Obscura: "Let's Get Out Of This Country", which got played in the warm-up for the PSB gig I attended last month.  Herein the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMJNITiy90A

     Of course I played the Youtube video that accompanies the song, which ends with the band mucking about in rowing boats on a lake.  If Art can be prodded out of the septic sump to provide an illustration -

That's a rowlock, just above the "Settings" icon

     I don't believe that the band are consummate sailors, so it made me wonder how difficult it is to row competently from scratch?  The oars rest in rowlocks, which allow them to be effectively pulled backwards and forward by the rower. Perhaps another illo -

Thus

     I'm pretty sure there was a rescue boat alongside the filming boat, so our chums were never in danger, regardless of how hopeless they were at rowing.
     Rowlocks also feature in that comedy classic of the Edwardian era, "Three Men In A Boat", where our hero describes an outing in a boat with a pair of delicate hothouse flowers, who shudder with fear that they might get splashed thanks to his rowing.  He goes to infinite pains to 'feather' the blades, careful to keep any disturbance of the river waters to a minimum, but they still recoil in terror.  The narrator's bluff friend is far less considerate and later had these delicate ladies lying on the muddy grass to wash dishes in the river, which the narrator is sure was only a coincidence.  As am I.**

Note both rowlock and dog

     
Cruel And Unusual Punishment
To you and 99.99% of planet Earth's population, certainly, yet your humble scribe is positively delighted to be perusing his hard-copy files of "The Emma Gees: a History of the Canadian Machine Gun Corps".

The sigil of the British Americans

     Here an aside.  In a previous occupation I used to end up on duty at the end of a Friday evening, all alone in the office.  Typical of offices the world over, everybody else vanished at 4 post meridian, leaving Conrad alone with the office printer, access to the internet, and voluminous official Canadian documents from the First Unpleasantness.  I allow you to draw your own conclusions ...
     I recently went through my copy of the War Diary of a Canadian machine-gun company, which is one unit of the many that composed the Canadian MG Corps.  Initially each Candian infantry division (there were 5) had an MG company for each of it's 3 brigades and another at HQ, making a total of 20 in total.  These were later 'brigaded', as the term went, into a single large unit for each division.  So, some of the recollections will be familiar in relating to the 6th, but most won't be.  I look forward to going over the whole thing in detail. 
     I may report back on it, but not so often or enough that your brain glazes over.

A Brodie-pattern helmet.  Before you ask, the large brim was to protect the neck and shoulders.

Ladybower Reservoir
I'm not entirely sure how I got there, yet last night I was looking at pictures of Ladybower Reservoir, a water feature in Derbyshire, and more specifically the overflow system there.  This takes the form of two huge circular stone inlets, normally well above the water level.  Art?

In summer

     If there is heavy rainfall, then the reservoir fills up, and these 'plugholes' allow excess water to drain away, and prevent the dam from being breached.  When in full spate, the drainage process is quite terrifying to behold.  Art?  Stop quivering like a pudding and get a picture!

With valve tower in background for scale

     The water goes down the inlet and into a long tunnel that meets the other inlet's tunnel, and this single tunnel continues down to the river Derwent.
     It's not really sensible to abseil down the inlet, and I doubt the authorities would allow such a harebrained thing even in dry weather, but you can get in at the termination of the single tunnel and walk back up to where the inlet's vertical mouth empties into a subterranean chamber.  Human nature being what it is, of course people have done this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqXGM_L7Zp0

     This sounds more dangerous than it is, as the only risk is if the water level is high and rain is due.  Still, it is NOT something your humble scribe can recommend!

*  Creative, demented, there's a thin line between them.
**  But I do have my fingers crossed ...