Winter Gauges

The Battle Of The Gauges

Patricia Fara | History Today | 3rd March 2022

The piecemeal growth of the railways across Britain as different entrepreneurs expanded their networks resulted in two different track gauges and a lot of passengers changing trains unnecessarily. The two rival campaigns came to represent much more than just metal rails: "Which should have priority: technological progress, private profit or public safety?" (1,920 words)

On Winter

Matt Dinan | Hedgehog Review | 2nd March 2020

The choice to live in a place with regularly inclement weather forces a counter-cultural way of living — more cautious and risk averse. With climate change upon us, this tradition is valuable. "Winter, perversely intensified by hotter summers, is good practice for a coming age of constraint. Snow forces literal slowness and uncertainty on a culture focused on the quick and the sure" (1,781 words)

Video: Piano’s Darkest Secret | Musical Basics. Pianist documents his attempts to find a concert-standard piano with slightly narrower keys to suit his hands and escape classical piano's "deadly curse" of the small handspan (19m 12s)

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