YOU'LL have already put your clocks back, I expect, but as I write this, the coming weekend is the time when it happens.

Provided I'm reminded, I usually try and get all the clocks done at once, although there always seems to be one which dodges the column. Come the day, I repeat to myself the old mnemonic which gets me in the right direction. Autumn, which to those in the USA and Canada, is 'fall', seems to have prompted this and I can only assume that 'spring forward, fall back', originated at that side of the Atlantic. Anyway, ever since someone told it to me, not very many years ago (prior to that I could never remember), I have relied upon it completely. Having fallen back I am already looking forward to springing forward again - aren't we all!

Interestingly, British Summer Time, which also includes EU Summer Time, but I try not to think about that lot too much, coincides with Daylight Saving Time in the USA and Canada, so it seems they go through the same rigmarole as we do. I seem to recall that we had a Daylight Saving Time here in the UK, probably during the war. Didn't it alter things by two hours?

International airline pilots and navigators have to be very much 'on the ball', as flying by Greenwich Mean Time they have to be prepared to adjust to the time of the country to which they are flying, which suddenly changes by an hour. No room for error in that transport system.

I had to puzzle for a while to recall the word used earlier 'mnemonic' as it was somewhere in my mind along with 'abbreviations' and 'acronyms' as well as 'code names' if you happen to have memories of military days. Trying to remember some of those long-lost terms can be an interesting exercise and so follows a mixture of them all for you to test your memory: FAP, EWS, ARP, LDV, EGBDF, FACE, HGV, ICE, ACV, ammo, APO, Oxon, WRAF, GB, Fred's, LBW, Overlord, WAAF, OAP, ETA, AM, PM, RSM, WPC, SOE, HMG, LMS. That's enough for today!

A letter from Graham Schofield of Birstall reminds me of an earlier chat we had in Town Talk about goosegobs no less. Our Malton office receptionist Linda recalled the word as 'goosegogs' and we began to wonder who was right. Graham tells us that a 'gog' was the name for a taw or marble in the game of marbles, of Yorkshire origin. Also used to describe a gag for the mouth, when, in the old days of witch-hunting, folk were feared to "oppen oor mows fer feer of a gog". The spirit supposed to protect orchards was known as "Old Goggie", invented no doubt to make children frightened to go and help themselves to fruit. Graham reasons that as a large gooseberry can be a 'gag' in the mouth (gob) to a child and Old Goggie confirms its connection with fruit, there seems to be a valid affinity between goosegobs and goosegogs. There the case rests!

Malton War Memorial, which is currently undergoing repairs following slight damage to its base, as well as a general tidy-up, prompts a question from David Barnes of Malton who, with a friend, has been discussing its origins. Thought to have been erected in the '20s, he wondered if this was so, and was it by public subscription, or did the local council foot the bill? He wonders if the land was a pinfold prior to being designated for the memorial. So far I've drawn a blank as far as written history is concerned, but I dare say it will be 'somewhere'. Hudleston says "The War Memorial was unveiled October 30, 1957" and I suspect this refers to the list of names of those who lost their lives in the Second World War. I do remember, as a child, looking at the WWI field gun, possibly a 6pdr, as well as the Sebastopol Cannon which stood there as long as I can recall, until the local council thought the metal ought to be sent for scrap for the war effort. A shame, as two artefacts of history were immediately lost for ever, and I was told that the quality of the metal was of little value. Strange how little we know about things close to us and I also would like to know more.

Spotted also in Hudleston was an entry about Castlegate, Malton, Now I don't remember this as a narrow street, although I have a very vague memory of my mother talking of it being widened, which indeed it was. The record says: "3rd Feb, 1930. The doubling of the width of Castlegate was begun. This was done by cutting back the bank on the north side." Seems about time for another go at doubling, doesn't it?

Germany is making new generation trains for Britain and is desirous of testing them 'in British conditions' before they leave Germany. So what are they doing? Building a track of second-hand Southern Region-style 750V DC third-rail equipment to replicate the conditions the trains will encounter when they arrive here. A second-hand power supply is being installed to supply unsteady current, as exists here, and trees are being planted to see how their rolling stock performs when there are 'leaves on the line'. It all makes me wonder which century WE are in!

On travel. "In America there are two classes of travel - first class and with children." Robert Benchley 1889-1945. US humourist.

Updated: 11:01 Thursday, November 08, 2001