Month: May 2025

York Model Railway Show 2025

by
A photo of a model railway where an old fashioned British Rail diesel passenger train is travelling over a level crossing

This is the last of a series of blog posts about what we did over the Easter weekend, which included Knowsley Safari Park, the National Centre for Birds of Prey and Ampleforth Abbey. On Easter Monday, I went to the York Model Railway Show with my Dad and our nine-year-old.

The last time we went was, I believe, 2017, when our nine-year-old was only 2. I remember it not being a particularly enjoyable experience for them so we hadn’t been back since. But they seemed keen to go this year, and enjoyed it. The last time I blogged about it was in 2016, so maybe read that first.

Compared with previous years, I noted that most layouts now use Digital Command Control for operating the model trains. This allows modellers to control individual trains directly, rather than by selectively powering the tracks. It also allows the trains to have sound effects that react to their current operation (so sounds get faster as the train speeds up). Indeed, one layout seemed to be operated by tablet computers, rather than traditional handsets.

I also felt like there was more variety this year too. Certainly, there were more layouts set in modern times – it wasn’t steam engines all the way down. But it was also nice to see some non-British settings, including an interesting Chinese layout. China, apparently, was still using steam engines in revenue service as recently as the early 2000s, which seems hard to believe when you consider it’s now a world leader in high speed electric train services.

The other thing I noticed was the impact of 3D printing. Indeed, there was at least one 3D printing demonstration there. Being able to 3D print your own parts, model buildings and even model locomotives must be a big step forward.

The York Model Railway Show takes place every Easter at York Racecourse. Seeing as our nine-year-old enjoyed it this time, we may well be back next year.

Separating the art from the artist

by
A photo featuring a Harry Potter book and DVD, and the books Scrap by Guy Bass and Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

I suppose a lengthier title of this would be: “how to consume Harry Potter content without its transphobic author benefitting financially”. Because this is what I’ve been grappling with of late. This blog post therefore comes with a trigger warning about transphobia.

As regular readers of this blog will know, I am the father of a nine-year-old, albeit a nine-year-old with additional needs and who struggles with reading. We have had the odd conversation around Harry Potter, but so far there has been no desire to read the books, watch the films or engage in the fandom. This, of course, could change.

We have had some discussions with our nine-year-old around JK Rowling’s transphobic views, and why they’re bad. It helps that we can contextualise the situation, as one of our close friends is trans. But if all of their friends suddenly decide that they’re into Harry Potter, then we might need to handle this sensitively.

Whilst JK Rowling’s transphobia has been public knowledge for some time, the recent Supreme Court case around the definition of ‘woman’ was financially supported by her. In other words, if you’re spending money on Harry Potter books, films and merchandise, then you’re supporting transphobia. What I’m attempting to do is outline ways that you can do so without your money going to transphobic causes.

The books and the films

It just so happens that Christine already owns all of the books, and I have many of the DVDs of the films, so if our nine-year-old wants to consume them then they’re already there. If you have a child who wants to engage with the books and the films, but don’t already own them, then the best thing to do is buy them second-hand. That could be from a charity shop – even better if it’s for an LGBTQ+ positive charity – or on a site like eBay. Just make sure that you’re definitely buying a used copy.

In the UK at least, authors are recompensed when you borrow their books from the library. And whilst that’s generally a really good thing, it’s not helpful this situation. You also don’t want to be streaming the films on Netflix either.

When it comes to problematic authors from the past, the situation is a little different. For example, HP Lovecraft held views that we would now consider to be racist. However, he is dead, and therefore he can’t actively fund legal action against marginalised groups. And, his oldest work is now out of copyright anyway, so you can download some of his work from Project Gutenberg for free. This is also an argument about why you should boycott Tesla, and not other car companies like Volkswagen who may have supported fascism in the past, but not now. At least, as far as I’m aware.

The new Harry Potter TV series

Just don’t watch it. Indeed, if enough people don’t watch it, they won’t make any more, and it may indicate how toxic the Harry Potter brand is becoming.

Merchandise

Again, buy second-hand if you must. Also, there’s no shortage of unofficial ‘teenage wizard’ merchandise and fancy dress outfits that you could consider. Maybe avoid the dubious tax-avoiding ones that have cropped up all over London though.

But also, consider having the difficult conversation with your kids about the nature of Harry Potter and its writers’ views. Parenting is hard, and trying to go against peer pressure and your child’s desire to fit in can be harder still.

Alternatives

You could steer your child towards other books, films and TV series that are less problematic. We recently read Lee Bacon’s ‘The Last Human’ (sponsored link) which is a really good book and aimed at a similar age group. Others have said good things about Tomi Adeyemi’s ‘Children of Blood and Bone’ (sponsored link), which is the first in a three-part series. I have the Kindle edition of the first book, but I haven’t read it myself yet. Both of these books have film adaptations in the works. Currently, we’re reading SCRAP by Guy Bass (sponsored link) which is also very good, and there are the ‘junior’ Discworld books by Terry Pratchett as well.

Byland Abbey

by
A photo of Byland Abbey

One thing we’re not short of in England is ruined abbeys and monasteries – Henry VIII had a lot to answer for – and one that we visited a few years ago was Byland Abbey.

Byland Abbey is in North Yorkshire, a few miles due east of Ampleforth Abbey, and we visited on the same day in 2019. I say visited; we pulled up, I took a few photos, and then we carried on. Compared to other ruined abbeys like Fountains Abbey, there isn’t much of Byland Abbey left now. However, you can see from my photo that it would have a large rose window in its heyday, and this inspired the rose window at York Minster.

Nowadays, Byland Abbey is managed by English Heritage. It’s free to go in, and if you wanted you could probably spend 30 minutes to an hour there. In the summer months, you can see an interesting tiled floor in the old church.

Just be aware that there’s only a very small car park at the site, and bus services through Byland are very infrequent with just three per day from York. There’s no visitor centre, so if you need the toilet, you’ll need to ask nicely at the local pub.

No more Google Nest themostats in Europe

by
A photo of our Nest thermostat with the heating set to 19 C

I’m a little bit late on this, as the news came out a couple of weeks ago. Google is dropping support for its oldest Nest thermostats, and will stop selling the newest models in Europe, once its stock is depleted.

This is relevant for me as we had a Nest thermostat installed nine years ago. Now, as far as I can tell, it’s not one of the models that’s being dropped. However, Google and Nest haven’t made it massively straightforward to check.

There is a ‘How to tell which Nest thermostat you have’ help page, but the information is different depending on where you are. Compare and contrast the UK and US versions:

The reason for the discrepancy, and the given reason for withdrawing the product altogether from Europe, is that:

“Heating systems in Europe are unique and have a variety of hardware and software requirements that make it challenging to build for the diverse set of homes”

However, when I’ve looked, I appear to have a third generation thermostat, but a second generation heat link. The heat link is the rounded-square white box that is wired up to your boiler. I’m hopeful, therefore, that I do indeed have a third generation thermostat. I haven’t had an email about it yet, that’s for sure.

If it does transpire that I have an older thermostat, then it’ll only work locally. That means that it’ll still control the boiler using the schedule set up on it, but users won’t be able to use either the Nest or Google Home apps to control their thermostat. And features like Home/Away assist will also stop working. In tandem with this, the old Nest app is being retired altogether, with all functionality moved to the Google Home app.

I assume that this will also apply to anything that uses Google’s APIs, so users won’t be able to use Home Assistant as a workaround, for example. The change takes place on the 25th October this year.

Compensation

As well as notifying affected users by email, Google is offering money off its newer thermostats for those who want to upgrade and keep their smart features. Of course, as Google is withdrawing its thermostats from Europe, European users are instead offered 50% off a smart thermostat from Tado, which costs €199 normally. The same kit is currently £149 from Amazon (sponsored link) but I’m guessing the discount code will only work for direct orders. Tado smart thermostats will work with Google Home, and with Home Assistant, but they’re still cloud-based like Nest’s thermostats are.

And this is the concern I have. I’ve trusted Nest, and later Google, to provide a cloud service, which they’re now taking away for some users. Whilst this (probably) doesn’t affect me now, further changes in a couple of years could mean that my thermostat becomes unsupported as well. And if Tado decides to do the same with their thermostats, users could be inconvenienced twice.

Google has been killing off a number of its smart devices recently. In March, the Google Nest Protect was discontinued (I also have one of those), and I’ve recently blogged about the removal of Google Assistant from Fitbit devices. And it’s not like Google hasn’t got form when it comes to killing off products. Killed by Google lists almost 300, and it actually hasn’t been updated in a few months. Indeed, I’m still bitter that Google Reader was killed off 12 years ago.

Finding alternatives

I think what’s worse about Google killing off its older thermostats is that they’re not so easy to replace. A thermostat needs to be professionally installed. It’s not like a phone, or a smoke alarm, or a smart speaker, where the old one can simply be unplugged and replaced. And they’re not cheap – I paid £250 for my Nest thermostat back in 2016. Even with the discounts, you would still have to find someone to install it for you.

In time, we’ll be replacing our gas boiler with a heat pump, and when that happens, I’ll look to replace to Nest thermostat with something else. It won’t be Tado, as outlined above. At the moment, I’m leaning towards Drayton Wiser. It works with both gas boilers and heat pumps, and supports smart thermostatic radiator valves. It can also work locally – indeed, the Home Assistant integration (installable via HACS) doesn’t require the cloud at all. Others who I’ve talked to in smart home communities recommend it, but I haven’t experienced it myself.

I suppose, knowing Google’s history, that I should have been more wary about relying on Google hardware for my heating.

Ampleforth Abbey

by
A photo of Ampleforth Abbey taken on Easter Saturday in April 2019.

Following our trip to the National Centre for Birds of Prey, we drove a little further to Ampleforth Abbey, a church and monastery to the south of Helmsley. Unlike many monasteries in the area, this one was built in the 19th Century and so was long after Henry VIII disbanded them. It’s currently home to around 40 monks.

The church is open every day, with regular services that are open to the public. There’s also a new visitor centre, which opened last year, giving the history of the site and offering some activities for children. There is, of course, a tea room.

Ampleforth Abbey Cider

Nowadays, Ampleforth Abbey is probably best known for its cider. The monks have been growing apples on site since the monastery was founded, and now has the largest commercial orchard in the north of England. The cider is produced on site, and is one of my favourites – the visitor centre includes a shop which sells it by the bottle. Alas, whilst tours of the cider mill and orchard used to be on offer, they’re not available at present.

If you’re not the cider-drinking type, non-alcoholic apple juice is also available, as is a beer that’s brewed over our neck of the woods by the Little Valley Brewery, near Hebden Bridge.

Whilst I wouldn’t make a special journey to Ampleforth Abbey, it’s worth stopping off if you’re passing.

No Mow May

by
No Mow May logo

If you want to encourage wildlife in your local area, you can pledge not to mow your lawn this month, as part of No Mow May.

Allowing your lawn to get a bit longer allows wildflowers to grow, which helps pollinators like bees and butterflies. May is a peak month for wildflowers, and so it’s a good time to put away your lawnmower and let your garden be a bit more natural for a few weeks.

We’ve ‘done’ No Mow May for a few years. We only have one small garden and don’t actually own a lawnmower, but we have put our strimmer away for the month of May. I can’t say that this has always been a conscious decision; I’m not at all green-fingered, and Christine tends to be too busy to manage the garden on a regular basis. So sometimes we’ve not mowed the lawn at all in previous Mays just through pure laziness. The fact that we’ve probably helped the local wildlife in doing so is a nice side-effect.

No Mow May is a campaign by the charity Plantlife, and they have plenty of resources on their web site if you’re interested in managing a wild lawn all year round.

If you don’t have your own garden, there are other ways to get involved too, including contacting your local councillors to ask for public green spaces to be mowed less often. Leeds City Council has ‘relaxed mowing areas‘ alongside major roads to encourage wildlife, although the cynic in me reckons its partly a cost-saving measure too.