Would I buy one? No. Should you? Probably.

My thanks to Jeanne for filling in for me whilst I was away enjoying myself, and in fact the enjoyment continues, as on Wednesday afternoon I left for Liverpool. A long weekend to see my brother Jim, sister-in-law Babs, Ben, their youngest, and various members of the family and friends.

Liverpool is the northernmost outpost of my Riedel glasses; others include Birmingham, Stratford, Cirencester, Bath, Cambridge, and Crewkerne, as well as a number in the Reigate / Redhill area.

This, I’m sure you will understand, puts my mind at rest, as I know whoever I visit there will be a suitable wine glass available.

A little later I’ll tell you about one of our best selling ranges of water bottles and coffee mugs, but before I get there, I’m going to share a little of what I’ve been up to whilst away.

The first week was my annual pilgrimage to the Missenden Modellers' Summer retreat. Sadly, Missenden Abbey, where these retreats have been held for the last 20 or 30 years, has now been sold, so our three intrepid organisers had to find a new home for us.  More than thirty rather nerdy railway modellers, many of whom indulge in real 'hair shirt' modelling, putting painstaking details in a loco or coach that once placed on the track will never see the light of day again.  

Despite this Herculean task, our three did well when they alighted upon, of all places, the home of "The Chartered Institute of Marketing" (who knew..?) at Moor Hall, Cookham, Berks. More of the place another time, although suffice to say we had a rather splendid time.

If you're unfamiliar with this newsletter, you may not know that I'm very slowly (12 years and counting) building a model of the Great Western station of Yeovil Pen Mill, set in the early summer of 1922, in 4mm scale (16.5mm gauge - 00 to the uninitiated), although my model is in the more accurate gauge of 18.2mm (or EM) . And my aim was to convert three of my locos from 00 to EM. This is a bit of a laborious job for an increase of just 1.7 mm, but I managed it.  On top of that, I made a fair fist of building the chassis of a fourth loco (a Dean Goods 0-6-0), if you’d like to know and are interested in such obscure details.

The reason for this frenzied activity is that I am getting perilously close to the layout being able to run a train after all this time.

So, I came back pretty pleased with myself, and it’s given me a real shot in the arm to keep up the momentum, which I do find I can lose over time.

During my second week off, I capitalised on my results from the previous one, but also went to the Summer Exhibition at the RA (Royal Academy), the world's oldest and largest open arts show. I went two years ago for the first time since I was a child, and loved it.

I don't know if 2024 was just a brilliant year of entries, or if I wasn't in the mood this time, but it just didn't seem to capture my imagination in the same way....not quite up to scratch somehow? That said, it was a lovely day out, and I shall go again next year, hoping for something better. I met a friend afterwards who’s a Friend of the RA and she and I had coffee and sticky bun (actually a large slice of cherry cake) that almost made up for the disappointment.

I popped across the road afterwards to Fortnum and Mason's to see if they had one of the spectacular fruit cakes that Martin Turner, our Riedel account manager, gave me at Christmas. The place was heaving with customers, and eventually I left empty handed. I shall have to hope he reads this email and takes the hint... only 119 shopping days to go Martin.....

My little brother and me in the Northern fastness with, alas, a tin mug not a Riedel glass.	My workbench at home, where great mess progress is happening.  From left to right: 1854 Panier Tank, 1854 Saddle Tank, 4-4-0 Bulldog , Dean Goods Chassis and tucked at the back a 2-6-0 Mogul
A small section of the RA's Summer Exhibition.	Probably the most self-important sellotape dispenser in the world!

Having spent twelve years building a railway station in miniature, and being the sort of person who can get excited about a 1.7mm difference in track gauge, I’m probably not in the strongest position to question other people’s enthusiasms.

However....

To product

This week I’m going to be talking about one of our most successful brands, and one that I find a puzzle, and frankly don't understand.

And that is Stanley.

This isn't because the quality is questionable, it's not because they're ineffective and it certainly isn't because they don't sell .... because strangely they do.  Indeed I also get on very well with Nick at the importers, Burton McCall.

But Stanley produce, for instance, huge water “bottles” with strange names, like IceFlow, that hold over a litre of water and require a small truck to carry when full. And the mechanisms that open and reseal them? Secure, but possibly a bit clunky, to my mind.

But what do I know?

Clearly not a lot, because we sell loads, don't have any issues with quality (they are very solidly built), don’t even get people returning them complaining that they’ve put their back out carrying them.

And, I will credit them with one more quality, they have some lovely colours.

Would I buy one. No.

Would I mind you buying one? No.

Sticking with Stanley, there's also the Everyday Suburban Mug (0.71L), which I have slightly fewer objections to. Same double-wall vacuum trick as the bottles, so it keeps drinks hot for 2.5 hours or cold for up to seven, more with ice, and the drink-through lid means you can sip on the move without the palaver of removing a cap.

A sensible, if still slightly large, everyday mug, in other words, and I say that as someone who doesn't hand out that compliment lightly.

And in fact as a treat, and to show you how broad minded I am, this weekend you can have 20% off . So for example your 1.06litre (removal truck) IceFlow Water Bottle that would normally cost you £50.00 you can buy for £40.00, or you can get a Suburban Mug  for £32.00, using code STAN20.