The following is an extract from the Winter Festiniog Railway Magazine penned by me. Blanche aka Ricket is very dear to me (both as in close and expensive). It used to be that I referred to Blanche as “the other woman” though Annie now says she’s the other woman as I’ve known Blanche longer. 

My first footplate ride was 0n Blanche in 1977, I learnt to fire & Drive on Blanche. I ran the first RicketRescue [RR1] in 1992 & 3 to get her overhauled and back in traffic for the Hunslet 100 celebration. Since then we’ve done RR2 & 3 at 10 year intervals. Now its time for RR4.  The following article explains the current situation, plans and opportunities to help.

RicketRescue IV update

Blanche remains available for traffic and can run into next season on its boiler ticket. Mechanically you might not want to do that! The joke at Boston Lodge at the moment is that its friction free and that it couldn’t run a bearing hot if it tried as nothing touches anymore!

Three seasons ago it was declared that, with the return of Linda, Blanche would be the low mileage engine. Didn’t happen. Linda was later into traffic than planned and Blanche did most of the Quarryman service for an annual mileage of 4230. She didn’t really take it easy in 2024 with a mileage of 3317. Finally this year she did with 860 miles to mid November with possibly another 50 to be added with coal trials although as Matt commented “Having now written that no doubt some crisis will occur and it will end up doing 1500! “

This season Blanche has mostly been running trials with a different coal type which, if we can get the engines happy with it, offers potential for smoke reduction and consistent supply. She, of course, ventured out for the 70^th weekend and during Bygones doing a lot of double heading with Linda. In October she stepped in for nearly a week of Quarryman’s when Linda decided she’d had enough of living at Glan-y-Pwll (failed tender bearing). You may have seen her with “Blanche’s Begging Bucket” on the smokebox. The bucket also had an outing to The Greatest Gathering at which we offered a free ride but placed the bucket on the exit with a QR code upgrade for electronic contributions.

Whilst at the `The Greatest Gathering’ I received the comment, “I’m waiting for more on donation incentives” so hear goes.

The return of the replica Name & Works plate reward. In 2004 a significant amount towards Blanches new boiler was raised by offering `replica’ name and works plates cast from moulds taken off the originals fastened to the loco. They were taken from the fireman’s side nameplate and the driver side works plate, the one with the crease down it from an altercation with Wales.

We still have the patterns so;-

• In return for a donation of £2k (minimum) you will receive a reward of a cast brass nameplate.
• In return for a donation of £1k you will receive a cast brass works plate as a reward

Just to head off the most regular comment from last time we did this, you aren’t buying a plate you’re receiving one as a thank you for your donation. A minimum quantity is required to make this viable and the rear of the plates will be numbered and marked as RicketRescue IV.  If you really want to be generous I could be persuaded to set about Linda and do a set of Linda & Blanche plates but, remembering the faff of doing the moulds for Blanche you’d need to be generous!

Other things? Here are a couple of suggestions that I am not going to put a price on. Make an offer and see if it gets us grateful enough to do it: –

• A day on the Footplate. Spend a full day with the crew on Blanche prepping her, working passenger trains, disposal and the afterworker in Spooners.
• A guest driver day. Spend a day on Blanche with your own train and get to drive. Share it with someone to maximise the donation.
• Before & After. It’s the day on the footplate but twice. Once in 2026 so you get a guided tour of all the bits that bang, rattle and may not last the season and again after the overhaul to see how good Boston Lodge are at mending them. If you are a regular in Wales we might throw in a personal tour of BL whilst its in bits.

Some T&C’s will apply (able bodied, work attire etc) but I’ve largely just made these up and am open to suggestions backed by £££££. As a guide the above would need to have four digits before the decimal point to fly. In the summer I asked the boss if I could offer these sort of options and he said. “go for it” and right now the Ops Manager is probably going, “ you offered WHAT” as he reads this.

With all this talk of big money donations I should add that any donation is welcome as explained on this webpage https://www.ffestiniograilway.org.uk/full_article/blanche-appeal or use the QR code

Please contact me with your suggestions and offers of suitcases of untraceable notes on pmartin@ffwhr.com

Me driving the best double engine past the photographer house. Credit David F Boughey

Its been too long since I added anything to this blog for reasons I’ll explain during what may turn out to be a bit of an epic update if the mood to write persists.

The last post included my forecast roster for bygones and the following  week with a caption that said, “lets see how reality matches”. Well, I am pleased (amazed) to say the entire week went as advertised. I was going to say “a highlight” but I’ll settle for just “memorable” was the Friday anti-gravity to Dduallt. This was the weekend of storm “Amy” and Friday was Amy’s’ peak day. The AntiGrav involves pulling the slate train up to its starting point with a double fairlie, David Lloyd George, for it gravity return, this day it was to be Dduallt siding, waiting for a slot to push it off down the hill then waiting for another slot to return light engine. The hour waiting for the gravity trains slot was bleak with gale force winds driving rain that varied between deluge, monsoon and biblical.

Thankfully the wait for the light engine slot was only as long as it took the gravity train to get through Tan-y-Bwlch to where we made our way to then double head a train that was ridiculously short for a double fairlie and a single fairlie. By the time we were heading back to Boston Lodge with the empty train the wind and high tide combined to have waves breaking across the track.

Actual highlights were driving Merddin on the Thursday for what was my last time before it was withdrawn for overhaul and driving Blanche double heading with Linda on the Sunday. When double heading the Ladies I usually let Linda lead as it usually has some Linda fanatic with some misplaced belief its the superior one while I sit behind them on Blanche and push them to Blaenau with old reliable. This time the timetable mandated that Blanche lead and Linda had a driver new to double heading with the Ladies. He was full of nervous questions before we started but by Tan0y-Bwlch he was declaring it was the most fun you could have with your clothes on.

In a normal year of volunteering on the Festiniog Railway I would drive more then a 1500 miles. Our post Covid timetable has reduced the daily mileage from 56 to 44 but a 1000 miles is still what I would normally do. This year, as I have documented my wonky leg prevented me for starting the season in April when I normally would start driving.

I started driving this year at the end of June once a self care option for the wonky leg was available. I may have put some pressure on the medics as I was determined to drive at the 70^th Anniversary event. From then, until the Bygones Week end via a long weekend in Derby driving Prince at The Greatest Gathering I tried to catch up but only made it to 917 miles for the season.

So, now with the driving season done, my leg looks like this again. As someone said to me, “bit I thought it was mended”.

This is sort of extended maintenance. If you look back to http://One Step Forward – One Step Back

Continue reading →

Its Bygones Weekend in Wales so its a week and a bit of driving trains for me. There is a cunning plan. No, actually, its a complicated and interlinked plan for the three days of the event with trains all over the place. Service trains mixing with Vintage Passenger trains, freights and Gravity Train.

The plan. Lets see how reality matches it

The plan for me as I type this 2 hours before it all starts is…..

Pretty much as I finish typing this I book on the drive Merddin Emrys on what could be considered the first train of the festivities as its an extra to Blaenau to connect with the Conwy Valley service delivering visitor for the weekend. Merddin comes out of traffic on Sunday for a major overhaul so this will probably be my last drive of it for now.

Friday I take over DLG from its first crew and then work an anti-gravity train to get the slates up the hill and then we do a trip to TyB (for cake). I get a day off on Saturday and then on Sunday it’ll be fun as I am driving Blanche on a Linda & Blanche double header to Blaenau and back.  The following week is four days of driving service trains as the season winds down.

This is probably my last fling if driving for this season as the medics have something unpleasant planned for me when I get home. Missing half the season has been a pain (in the leg) but I have been trying to catch up since the 70th anniversary weekend. In a normal season I drive over a 1000 miles, my efforts to catch up have got me to 730 so far.

The catch up has meant that not much has happened in the EDM Models workshop but I make no apology for that really. At 65 and with a wonky leg there will come a time when I can no longer drive trains so I am going to do whilst I can.

Once this week is done its back to the model workshop to get on with projects there.

My Folly – well one of them.

Many moon ago in my early model making career, we’re talking 1980’s here, I set about trying to build a model of all the BR Standard classes in 4mm scale. Easy peasy you might think judging it by todays model availability. Not so then. Your options were, butcher some Hornby models, convert and Airfix kit or the kits by DJH and Model Loco.

Some examples: –

BR Standard class 2 78xxx 2-6-0. Then take a Hornby Ivatt LMS 2-6-0. Bin the valve gear and replace it with that from a K’s 2-6-2 kit. New motor and gears. Scrape all the moulded detail off the boiler and replace with wire and castings. Rebuild the cab. Saw about 15mm out of the tender body and mount it on a chassis from a Millholme Models Ivatt 4MT.

BR standard Class 4 76xxx. Take an Airfix kit and a Kemilway Chassis kit. On the body, scrape off all the moulded detail and replace with wire. Build the chassis and expend a lot of swear words trying to get the convoluted tender motor to loco rear axle drive to work. Remember, back then the height of a motor upgrade was to replace the Hornby 3 pole XO3 with an equally large 5 pole  motor. No can or coreless motors then. I eventually got it to work but it always sounded like an angle grinder used on a dustbin.

BR Standard Class 5 75xxx 4-6-0. The BR standard version of a Black 5. Take a DJH kit and rebuild the valve gear so it actually works like valve gear and then build and detail the kit with quite a lot of extras. I used to set the valve gear so it was actually in a direction rather than mid gear. On my DJH 9F lots of people noticed it was in gear but no one ever commented that it was in back gear.

The piece de resistance!

BR Standard Class 6 72005 Clan MacGregor. A Model Loco limited edition kit arrived as a Christmas present. This was a revelation with an enclosed gear box driven from an enclosed can motor via a silicon tube. I added a sound deadening foam motor mount. As its origins were the DJH factory I rebuilt it valve gear to be in forward gear. This was silent in running and if entered in our local club modelling competitions it either won or came last. Why the chalk and cheese reviews? Having done the fully lined out livery I weathered it. Back in the early 80’s that was a heinous crime with some modellers so it just depended on who the judge was.

It looks a bit dated now but it still runs silently once the tube becomes supple again. I have a kit and a load of detail parts in my stash to recreate it in 7mm scale one day. All the above and the other standards are, or have been, available ready to run from Hornby or Bachmann.

So, my current folly…..

A Lionheart BR Standard Class 3 Tank 82010 with DCC & Sound

Yesterday (14th June 2025)  EDM Models did its last trade show with the full trade stand at the 7mm Narrow Gauge Association Exhibition and AGM in Burton Upon Trent.

End of an era for us really as it brings to a close around 25 years of attending shows with our trade stand.

It was a cracking day and, as usual, a chance to catch up with a lot of old friends plus we did reasonable business for the day. It was even poignant that the weekend broke our usual format of a social weekend staying with friends with a model show thrown in. Instead it was an early evening drive to Burton, a pleasant beer or two with Mr Garlic Bricks, a night in a hotel and then a drive straight back to York after the event.

It is the end of this, which I’ll miss a bit
It is the end of this, which I won’t miss at all
But there will be more of this

I was asked more than once yesterday how I felt about this being the last show, would I be sad, would I miss it.

• The decision to end trade shows was made not long after the York show at Easter.
• Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed the day it was hard to motivate myself to get ready (and on Sunday afternoon its all still in the car)

One question I was asked was, “was I comfortable with the decision?”  Nail on Head. I am comfortable with it.

It remains for me to say thank you to all who have helped lug the stock about, in and out of shows, and helped run the trade stand. Its all been greatly appreciated.

Bristol O Gauge Show

On June  14^th EDM Models will be trading with our FULL trade stand at the 7mm Narrow Gauge Convention in the Town Hall in Burton upon Trent.

This will be the last outing of the full trade stand

NO, WE’RE NOT CLOSING DOWN, GOING BUST, RETIRING or any other conspiracy theory that might be invented.

READ ON…….

A full van

At the beginning of May I was 65 years old. My wonky leg has been well documented on here. Its not a new thing but it is a thing that will affect me in some form or another for life. A while ago Annie suffered a stroke, thankfully not debilitating but it was a sign to make changes. We’ve decided we don’t want to be lugging stock in and out of vans, cars and exhibition halls anymore.

A show on a Saturday starts disrupting the business on the Wednesday before and continues to do so into the following week. We used to fill a rented van for most shows and sell plenty to cover that and make a profit.

Hope I left room for the driver

The economics of that have eroded year on year. For the last 15 years [ish] we’ve just used an estate car.

That has been a squeeze at times!

Does this mean EDM Models is closing    NO!

What’s happening instead?

• Our ngtrains.com website will continue as it is now. So Web & Mail Order Sales will continue as now.
• Over time we may refine the ranges we sell.
• Again over time either the current website or a new one will concentrate more on our own products.

What about shows? Will we still see you?

EXPONG – a full van load

I enjoy doing shows and I enjoy meeting people. Every Easter I do a demonstration table at York Model Railway Exhibition and similar thing at a Festiniog Railway event each May. Each January we have our Trent Valley Group open day. At that I have had my trade stand and have done a demo, in the future it will be more demo or a rare outing for my layout, The Brymston RR.

I enjoy doing the demos and I enjoy teaching techniques. See me doing a demo and say, “ I wish I could solder” and you’re likely to find yourself sat down, soldering iron in hand having a go.

If anyone is involved with organising a show and wants someone doing a demo with some very limited sales of my own products or demo related stuff then get in touch.

What about new models?

New Lilla chassis prototype

There are loads in the wings getting closer to being launched. I’m hoping to concentrate on these and get new models out to the market throughout the rest of the year. If you follow my newsletter and blog (https://ngtrains.com/blog/ ) you’ll have seen me accumulating parts made by CNC machinery to produce our own wheelsets. With the demise of Markits there is a further impetus towards self sufficiency for our loco kits.

There are at least three loco kits that are not that far off release once the parts they are waiting for get made. First off the blocks will probably be a new Lilla kit considerably up dating the current kit in the Agenoria range.

10,000 Tyres

Tyres in different diameters being the main thing needed. They may only cost 24p each but when the minimum order is 2000 its quite a chunk of money to add each size to the range.

The new wheel range will continue to expand and to that end we’ve just had a delivery of 10,000 tyres having used up 2000 since Christmas. This will allow new centres to be added to the range although sadly not in time for the 7mm NGA show in a couple of weeks.

Transport Options

Mondeo Estate

We used to hire vans in the past but then in 2010 we switched to using an estate car. For many years it was my trusty Mondeo.

This was a star purchase, bought cheaply with high mileage as a stop gap when its predecessor failed to come home from an MOT to solve an immediate need to get to Wales for a driving turn.

It was very high mileage when it succumbed to a needing a lot more spending on it than it was worth.  I was very sad to see it go as it was economical, comfortable and went like a rocket. I suspect it went to be made into bean tins but if it found a home with someone happy to work on engines it’s still be going. It needed new injectors on the diesel engine.

Volvo estate – rocket powered comfy chair

I was dreading the car shopping experience as I have a low tolerance of the car salesman BS. In the end, after a tip off, I bought the first car I looked at. Its a Volvo V70 2.4D 163 SE Gtron Auto6.

Its built like a tank, drives like a tank and being an auto has my left leg thinking its been made redundant. Its got lots of toys on it and I am still working out what they all are. It may only be two years newer than the Mondeo but its got considerably less `experience’ with just 77k on the clock. Oh, and it goes like a rocket!

Loads of room

Here’s the real reason it got chosen, a cavernous load area. I even turned up to view it with the display boards to make sure they fitted. As you can see further up this post you can cram a lot in the back of it.

Whilst I have no immediate plans to change it, not carting the full trade stand to shows will allow a wider choice of vehicle although it will have to go some to better it as its like driving around in your comfortable arm chair.

Conclusion

Embryonic Brymston RR

Not sure conclusion is the right word as its not the end, its the start of different and its not that big a step as we’ve cut the shows we do back each year now to just a handful anyway.

You never know I might actually get to exhibit my layout (got to finish it first) which is something I couldn’t do when I’d have a trade stand at the same shows the layout would be appropriate for.

If any one thing helped me decide on this new plan it was York Exhibition at Easter. Unsure I would be able to do it because of the wonky leg I was ganged up on and told I’d be there. I took only the display layout and modelling demo stuff. It was one sack truck and two handfuls worth. The show closed at 16:30 and we were in The Fox at Holgate with a pint as 16.55. This stance was validated in mid May at the Porthmadog show with an even quicker show to pint performance. 

I guess all the above summarises that I want some more time for myself as I get older. Once my wonky leg is sorted (again see blog for the saga – it is now on the mend) I want be driving steam engines in Wales. Realistically I am probably not going to be able to carry on with that past 70 so until then I want to do as much as I can.

I doubt I’ll properly retire as I am always developing some new idea.

This time last week were just having a well earned pint in Spooners once we had packed up at the end of the Festiniog Railway 2025 Modelling day.

This year an electrical fault at our usual venue precipitated a move up in the world to the Ganolfan just by the harbour and, of course, Harbour Station. This was a big move with a bigger hall to fill and a much bigger rent to cover! I am please to say it was a roaring success, rent covered, small profit made and the same hall booked for next year.

There will be a gallery of general photos at the end of this piece. I was doing my usual sort of demo with a number of tasks to complete. I had my demo and display setup with me. The tiered stand features the same loco in three scales (16mm/ft, 7mm/ft & 4mm/ft) to try and explain the difference between scales whist the layout has things running with the added amusement of lap counters.

On the workbench was the usual untidy mess featuring electric gravity trains, loco chassis and a 7/8 scale diesel.

Some freehand jig saw work on a bit of old baseboard back at Phil’s sorted the cutting fixture and ground plane and Phil’s brass solder was where he actually thought it was.

Day 1 was spent doing a lot of talking so the lack of progress didn’t really show to the casual viewer. The chassis I intended to build was all prepped and taped together ready for solder and the slate wagon parts all marked out ready for cutting.

Of course Day1 ended with a pint in Spooners. Well it would have been rude not to what with it being just next door.

The 3 ton etched slate waggon had a hole cut through its floor to allow the electric gravity simulator to be installed. The test drive unit is only 9mm gauge but it was standing in for the 14mm gauge unit currently being made.

I decided not to try the bending up of the etches at the show as the order they’re done in is critical and needs concentration.

I have since bent it up at home which validated that decision as it required extensive use of the “Fitters Phrasebook” and a fair bit of panel beating to get it to look half decent.

For those with a fear of soldering there is a plastic version with the drive fitted to a Chivers Finelines 3 ton slate waggon. Again the 9mm gauge drive is used as a demonstrator.

These slate waggons will have a resin cast load with a hollow cut into it to hide the works and a weight whitemetal brakesman sat on top to add a bit of weight

The other project for the weekend was to build one of my own Agenoria kit chassis for the Penryhn Port Class Hunslet [Gwynedd, Lillian or Winifred). I wanted to solder it up using my resistance soldering unit hence the need for a ground plane.

Further up you saw a piece of wood butchered for the job.

Here its been covered in kitchen foil with a piece of etch cast off and a clamp holding it in place at the top. The was to hold the foil in place and give a good electrical connection with a rigid bit to clip the wire to.

Resistance soldering is done by passing an electrical current through a joint that has been prepared with a little solder and some flux. The advantages of it are that the foil provides one contact on a flat surface whilst a carbon probe holds the bits to be soldered together. Nothing happens until you press a foot switch. When you do current flows, the joint heats up and the solder melts. Take your foot off and it cools with you still holding it together with the probe.

As the solder only melts in the join its a very clean finish. The only messy bit on this are the ends which I soldered with a normal soldering iron.

The reason for building a chassis was to inform the planning of an upgrade to our kit.

The show was a success and we’ll be doing it again next year. The dates are 16-17th May 2026

The following photo gallery consists of photos taken by Roger Dimmick and first published on the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways Facebook page

Rather than just go to Wales for the weekend as I hadn’t been since November I stayed over a few extra days to catch up with friends and to sort out the EDM Models Porthmadog Office.

No, we’re not relocating but as I spend a lot of time at Phil’s, previously with a laptop set up a computer upgrade elsewhere has allowed me to cascade some kit to Wales that saves me squinting at a laptop screen.

Then the best bit of news and, to some extent, what the extra days were about, I passed my FR Drivers Medical and will be driving at the June event.

–* this is a little predictive in that all of me bar my wonky leg has passed but the improvement is such that I will be OK by late June subject to a telephone conflab with the FR Doc

I’m not particularly thrilled that my blog is all about my bad leg but as it currently dominates my life and friends and customers keep asking how I am doing this is the easiest way to keep them posted.

We left the wonky leg looking much better last Tuesday immediately prior to it being placed in the next round of compression bandages and feeling a lot more confident it was getting better as the improvement in three weeks was remarkable.

In the background I had been on a course of antibiotics, the fifth since this kicked off, which finished on Easter Saturday and would have been working their way out of my system by the good news Tuesday.

By Friday it had all gone horribly wrong! My leg was bleeding and that was sticking to the dressing. The pain had gone from not hurting on Wednesday to can’t bear to stand on it by Friday.  Initially, I was blaming the nurse that did the dressing as only a few are trained to do it and this was different (we do have a league table -the others are all amused that the boss is bottom of the table). I phoned to try and get an appointment that day (stop laughing) but was told to cope and they’d see me first thing on Monday.

Annie & I get a rating as we had to reassemble it all on Saturday using recycled components!

When I took the dressing off it was clear it wasn’t just crap dressing but that the infection was back with some force. By the end of Saturday the other leg was joining in.

Its fair to say I was pretty despondent that such good progress had been wiped out.

This morning was bedlam at the surgery. I had two appointments on different floors that overlapped. In the end I was in one room having Tanya doing the dressing done whilst the nurse for my INR test, Jade, nipped into stab me for that plus the duty doctor, Dr Forrest, was called into see my leg.

The despondency has turned back towards a bit of optimism tempered by my leg still hurting like hell for the moment. There was an immediate restart of the anti-biotics, a swab taken to check they’re the right ones, and advice as to which of the GP’s its best to see to talk about longer terms treatment. Even then at that point I was thinking, “yeah, I bet that’s three weeks on Thursday at the earliest.” Then Tanya played a blinder, bypassed the receptionists and booked it for 11:15 tomorrow. There’s a reason she’s top of the league table!

Hopefully, we’ll be on course for improvement again.  The nurses that do this compression bandaging have additional training. Rachel, in particular, its her specialisation and set up the original compression care plan.

There is a bit of conflict between the nurses and doctors at this point. The wound care and compression treatment can increase the risk of the infection as, basically, its squeezing the bad stuff out of the leg. The treatment plan indicates that a longer term course of a mild antibiotic may be warranted to stop this happening. Trouble is the nurses have to get the Dr’s to sign the prescription and they’ve all had the memo about antibiotic resistance without the specialist knowledge that in this case mandates it and won’t sign the chit.

I’d argue that six courses of flucloxacillin does more for compromising antibiotic immunity than a long low dose of a milder one.

Rachel failed but Sharron last Wednesday got somewhere and sent me a message to make an appointment to see a Doctor to discuss.  The trouble with that is that, like many, you can end up with a random doctor. Our surgery has 20 Drs and 3 sites. I’ve never seen the one that is my nominated doctor.

The other slight advantage of this mornings medical mobbing was that Duty Doc Carolyn was able to say “you’re best seeing Dr Vanessa for this issue” and Tanya made an appointment bypassing the receptionists.  [should add that the receptionists are generally very good but are up against it with too many people for too few appointments]

My earlier blog posts at the beginning of the month referred to Hopalong and the limitations of that for the then upcoming York Model Railway Exhibition. Now that the show is over and I’ve had another visit to the coven an update is warranted [and because its good news]

I’ll report on the modelling aspect of York show in due course but I had a great time. After the leg pain misery of the last three months causing me to miss both Narrow Gauge North and a Ffestiniog Railway thing I should have attended getting to the show for all three days, meeting and chatting to folk was a real tonic.

Whilst there was an element of “its 3.5miles from home, if I can’t make it to this one I really am screwed” but I am really grateful to Adrian & Phil for making sure I got there and helping with the things I couldn’t manage. All three of us actually got some modelling do as well.

Just to recap. This wonky leg has been acting up since before Christmas and the treatment was for a long while grin and bear it and stick a new dressing on it. At the beginning of April I started a new regime of treatment that was initially very painful as it consisted of my leg being bound in tight compression dressings.

In this form my wonky leg is bound from my toes to knee. It applies constant pressure to the skin and forces blood to the surface to facilitate healing. Each Wednesday its applied I’m in it until Tuesday night when I take it off and have a long soak in the bath before its done again the next morning.

Flag Delta – navigating with difficulty

I was walking with a stick as I needed it initially. I now use it sometimes if going somewhere crowded as much for the fact it advertises  “Keep clear of me; I am manoeuvring with difficulty.” As the bound leg, wearing the only shoe I own that fits over the bandages doesn’t always go the direction intended!

As well as the ulcer all the surrounding skin has been damaged and its all be leaking into the dressings. My initial thoughts as to why they wanted me to take it all off at home was so they couldn’t hear me scream as the dressings pulled all the scabbing off the wounds. There as also an issue that by the weekend the wounds were getting a bit smelly to the extent I was wishing that I had longer legs!

The lot I took off last night, the third lot, came off without the screaming but it all still looked a bit horrible prior to a good soak and a scrub before it was covered up for the night.

All the photos I take of it seem odd as the leg appears upside down from my perspective so I got Nurse Sharron to take a picture. The results are excellent, the main ulcer is virtually gone, the secondary one (doesn’t really show in the before pic) is also nearly gone, the rest of the skin surface is mending and the whole leg doesn’t look anything like as inflamed.

I am now in week 4 of the compression but there is progress and I can see an end to this plus a discussion has started about ongoing practicalities for carrying on with life and stopping this happening again.