User talk:Hassocks5489

Hi, can you make a comment about my new project Encyclopine.org

hi, Hi, can you make a comment about my new project Encyclopine.org?

Phone number for public phone box

Hi, Hassocks5489.

I was pleased to see your photo of the K6 phone booth outside St. Mary's in Shoreham. Would you happen to have a phone number for it (if it indeed remains a public phone box with a number)? I am setting up an Easter Treasure Hunt remotely, using Google Earth, and would very much like to enable a small boy to cause the phone to ring. I'd be grateful f you could reply to gordonink at gmail.com before April 2nd, 2015.

Thanks in advance for your attention to the above,

Gordonink

Brighton Aquarium

I've added what I can about the Florida rooms and also added a bit about Missie and Silver being released. For the last I did use a blog as a source but I believe it to be a reliable one rather than a personal one and so think it fits with wiki guidelines. Fork me (talk) 06:14, 18 June 2024 (UTC)

Thanks for adding me as co-author. I appreciate it. Fork me (talk) 07:21, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

DYK for Sea Life Brighton

On 30 June 2024, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Sea Life Brighton, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that when Brighton Aquarium (entrance pictured) opened, it had no exhibits? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Sea Life Brighton. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Sea Life Brighton), and the hook may be added to the statistics page after its run on the Main Page has completed. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Z1720 (talk) 00:02, 30 June 2024 (UTC)

Nice, it's the first one on the main page as well, right at the very top of the section with the image.

Well done for doing this. :) Fork me (talk) 08:52, 30 June 2024 (UTC)

Well done, gents! I was there for the first time earlier in the year. Great day out with the family. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 16:11, 30 June 2024 (UTC)

@HJ Mitchell: Cheers Harry – it was an article that needed some TLC. It's years since I last went: some time during the Dolphinarium era, definitely. I also have fond memories of the legendary Pirates Deep!! I wish I could find a source for when it closed: the best I can find is a passing mention in a newspaper which implied it was still open in 1996, which sounds about right (my "era" for visiting it would have been 1987–1992, I would think). Hassocks5489 (Floreat Hova!) 13:22, 3 July 2024 (UTC)

It was a whim for me. Laura wanted to go and they were offering discounted tickets for residents in BN postcodes at the same time that we both had a weekend off. There were some weird protestors outside calling one of the turtles "Britain's longest-serving prisoner". HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 14:46, 3 July 2024 (UTC)

DYK for Wellesbourne, Brighton

On 1 July 2024, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Wellesbourne, Brighton, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that the Wellesbourne, Brighton's lost river, stopped flowing in 1889? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Wellesbourne, Brighton. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Wellesbourne, Brighton), and the hook may be added to the statistics page after its run on the Main Page has completed. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

RoySmith (talk) 00:04, 1 July 2024 (UTC)

cheeseburger!

big fan, been reading your stuff for awhile. :3 Stal8 (talk) 06:34, 31 July 2024 (UTC)

Brighton meetup

I think we're overdue for another meetup in Brighton. Or maybe Portsmouth. I like the idea of alternating between the two. Brighton might get us more Londoners (especially east London) and anyone along the Thameslink route plus Kent and East Sussex and Portsmouth might appeal to people further west. Anyway, my August is pretty much fully booked (just back from Wikimania and I'm off to the Midlands next week!) but September looks mostly open. How's your availability? HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 19:55, 12 August 2024 (UTC)

@HJ Mitchell: Greetings! Just back from a photo-taking expedition – coincidentally, to the Midlands – so apologies for the delay in replying. I'm certainly up for that, in either location: September is looking a bit full (although oddly enough I am passing through Portsmouth on the way back from the IoW on Monday 23rd September), but other than the second Saturday of October all Saturdays beyond that look good at present. Cheers, Hassocks5489 (Floreat Hova!) 21:42, 15 August 2024 (UTC)

Oooh, what are you doing on the IoW? I love it there! How was the Midlands? You were in Warwickshire weren't you? My September weekends are filling up now. How about we pencil in Saturday 19 October and 16 November and do one in each location? Hopefully that won't clash with football or anything else! By the way, Wiki Loves Monuments is running next month. I get the impression Wikimedia UK are keen to do some sort of in-person event for it but they don't really know what; I was having a conversation about possibly doing something in Brighton (for engagement purposes mainly; we probably don't lack photos for many listed buildings/scheduled monuments in Brighton, largely thanks to you!). Also by the way, I've just noticed that most counties have lists of public art but list of public art in West Sussex and list of public art in East Sussex are red links; we could probably justify a list of public art in Brighton and Hove. Further by the way, if you fancy a pint some time before mid-October, you have my number. I've changed jobs so my schedule is more erratic but more flexible these days. Best, HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 19:39, 25 August 2024 (UTC)

Was looking for a little lightweight project and used one of your photos: Royal Sussex Memorial, Eastbourne! I have a few photos on my phone I need to get round to uploading but if you have any more I'd appreciate them. Would also appreciate hearing what Pevsner has to say on it. Might have a rummage on my bookshelves and see if I can flesh it out a bit more but if you have any good sources on Eastbourne architecture, I'm all ears! HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 21:53, 26 August 2024 (UTC)

@HJ Mitchell: Morning! Would you believe I had forgotten that 19th October is also out of commission unfortunately – I have to be in London all day – but beyond that every Saturday is still good. Shall we say 16th November for certain? I'll check football kickoff details later!

I'll keep an eye out for WLM updates. Might be a good opportunity to make some progress with uploading more of my photo backlog to Commons. I've made a start on Bournemouth-area churches in recent days; if I include the rest of the Dorset stuff I photographed when I was there a couple of years ago, that will be over 2,000 pics for that county alone – many of them listed buildings. I'm doing a lot of category work behind the scenes as well to make sure listed buildings all have the correct template and categories. If any face-to-face event does go ahead locally and I am free, I will try to make it.

Good idea on the Lists of public art, and I would recommend having a separate one for B&H. I might start putting together some notes in a sandbox. I'll have a look at other lists to see what stuff "qualifies". The Pevsners will be useful for this. Keep an eye out in my sandboxes and feel free to edit! Nice work on the Eastbourne statue; I'll have a look in Pevsner in the next few days (plus any other Eastbourne books I have: I think there are one or two somewhere) and update what I can.

IoW is a long weekend doing transport-related stuff: looks like a good itinerary! It is a Transport Ticket Society "activity weekend"/jolly, involving walks along disused trackbeds, trips on the Steam railway, talks, visits to the bus museum, and a trip on a vintage bus looking at disused railway infrastructure. I will be taking plenty of photos...! Not sure exactly where we're going, but if you need any particular infrastructure pics for Commons I'll see what I can do. West Midlands was very productive: lots of photos, mostly of churches as ever for me. I also visited a village just outside Bhm which is essentially being cut in half by HS2 works, which were interesting to view.

I can recommend a visit to the Watchmakers Arms micropub in Hove – not just because it's my local, but because it's one of the finest pubs in Sussex! Very close to Hove station as well. I'll be in touch probably before the IoW trip (I go on 19th Sept). Cheers, Hassocks5489 (Floreat Hova!) 08:24, 28 August 2024 (UTC)

How about the 26th then? WLM is definitely a good time to make a dent in your backlog—might as well upload them while there's a contest on, and it all helps someone's metrics somewhere. I'm thinking I might set up a very lightweight session because of the short notice, probably getting Wikimedia UK to rent a room in the Jubilee Library and having a drop-in session with tea and coffee where people can come and upload photos to Commons and we can send them out with target lists if they need a bit of inspiration. Probably a Saturday in September but we'll see what we can get.

I think you're right about a separate list for B&H; it would probably overwhelm an East Sussex list. I have Public Sculpture of Sussex to hand and a few other books on public art/monuments generally. Nothing like a complete catalogue but it's a start. I hate fiddling with tables but if you start something in a sandbox I'll chip in with the sources I have.

The IoW trip sounds like a lot of fun. I don't think there's much in the way of transport infrastructure that's notable in Wikipedia terms but there are plenty of war memorials and other interesting things on the island. And I'm always open to pub recommendations. Who knows, I might even be able to get the mother in law to babysit and I'll drag Laura along. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 11:05, 28 August 2024 (UTC)

No details yet but I'm doing some sort of wiki photography-themed event in the Jubilee Library on 21 September (a week Saturday). HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 20:22, 10 September 2024 (UTC)

@HJ Mitchell: Unfortunately that's the weekend I'm on the IoW. I'd be interested in seeing what comes out of the event though. Hope it goes well!

That's a shame. Do you have a hitlist of buildings that need photos? The aim is engagement more than the photos but it would be nice to get people off the beaten track a little bit—we probably don't need more photos of the pavilion or the pier or even the station but Brighton (& Hove) is not short of listed buildings and I suspect some of the less touristy/further inland ones aren't as well covered, especially if we go further out of the centre. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 10:19, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

@HJ Mitchell: I'll put together a list later today or over the weekend, probably on the meetup talk page. Hassocks5489 (Floreat Hova!) 09:34, 13 September 2024 (UTC)

DYK for ABC Cinema, Brighton

On 31 August 2024, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article ABC Cinema, Brighton, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that a casino, a bar, and formerly a restaurant occupy what was once one of Brighton's most important cinemas? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/ABC Cinema, Brighton. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, ABC Cinema, Brighton), and the hook may be added to the statistics page after its run on the Main Page has completed. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

—Kusma (talk) 00:03, 31 August 2024 (UTC)

Middleton Press books

I've added the Middleton Press books I own to WP:UKT/S. Please add your eight books to the table. If you own a book already listed, just add you name to the second column. Mjroots (talk) 08:15, 13 September 2024 (UTC)

Help me out?

I've been looking through listed buildings in B&H and I've come across this bridge. Biddle's Britain's Historic Railway Buildings thinks it's listed but I can't find any trace (I feel it should be, given its age and size, despite the later modifications). Biddle calls it "Lewes Road Bridge" but that name belongs to the demolished bridge on the Kemp Town branch. From his description, it's definitely the extant bridge at Moulsecoomb and the write-up is good enough that the bridge would comfortably meet the GNG with just a little bit more detail from other sources. Do you have anything on it, or on the history of the area? A reliable source for the name and its origin would be good! HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 15:09, 16 September 2024 (UTC)

@HJ Mitchell: Hi Harry – I've certainly got some sources which can help with this. Can't do anything today as I must get some off-wiki stuff done and finish some Commons uploads, but I may have a window of opportunity tomorrow: otherwise it will be middle of next week after I'm back from IoW. Anyway, its official name is Hodshrove Viaduct, named after an ancient but vanished farm nearby (I have info on this); Lewes Road Bridge is given as an alternative name in the Encyclopaedia of Brighton (the other one further down Lewes Road was the Lewes Road Viaduct). It's definitely not listed or locally listed. I'm sure I have a source detailing the concrete brace that was added to the western arch; it's just a case of finding it. I'll look into it some more tomorrow. Ping me if you start an article/sandbox and I'll contribute directly. Hassocks5489 (Floreat Hova!) 18:44, 16 September 2024 (UTC)

Interesting. Thanks. Biddle obviously got that one wrong. I still feel like it should be listed; have you ever tried asking B&H council to add something to their local list? I asked Solihull MBC once and they were receptive but they were in the middle of overhauling their process. I might put it on the back burner for now but I'll definitely come back to it. Have fun on the IoW! HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 19:19, 16 September 2024 (UTC)

Cheers! Just starting the IoW planning now: looking at bus timetables for the (limited) spare time I have... Back in 2015, B&HCC decided to combine the former Local Lists for Brighton Borough and Hove Borough, and put out a call for new submissions. The process did require interested members of the public to do quite a lot of research, but this didn't put me off: I made 7 submissions, all of which were accepted. I didn't think of Hodshrove Viaduct, though. There was another update a couple of years ago, although I don't think they were taking public submissions on that occasion. I have the relevant webpage in my favourites and keep an eye out every so often for changes or any further "calls for submissions". Hassocks5489 (Floreat Hova!) 19:53, 16 September 2024 (UTC)