Baby, it’s cold outside.

“In the bleak mid-winter” that’s all I know of that particular ditty, not even sure what it is, a song or a hymn ? I am having one of those days when my knowledge files seem to be off-limits, hence why the title is ‘Noggings and Dwangs’ and I have the first line of a ‘whatever’ in the first paragraph.

Maybe it’s the fog that does it to me, below is the sight that greets the tired eyes when you step out into the world where I am, in the deepest, darkest part of the UK.

Foggy weather where I live

Actually, I may be giving you the wrong impression, I am not in a dour mood, far from it, in fact, my default mode is one of ‘abstract flamboyance’, yep, pick the bones out of that one.

Try as I might I haven’t been able to get into a routine of writing regularly and that has frustrated me somewhat. It’s not as though I have been flagrantly disregarding my duties, I am mad busy at the moment but that’s no excuse.

In the recent past, I was well used to writing an article a day for months on end, it’s just that since I stopped doing it I haven’t been able to get back into it. I will persevere, just have to get on and do it.

Back to the beginning as I can see you’re eager to find out the truth behind the title. Let’s forget about ‘In the bleak mid-winter’ or the word association that goes with it (‘Bleak House’ – Charles Dickens, I hope).

If this were ‘back in the day’ then you would be reading a hand-written letter from moi and I would now be able to draw a picture for you that would quickly explain the meaning of ‘Nogging and dwang’. Alas, that is not the case and I haven’t tried to find an image.

Actually, I have found an image but I wanted to give you a brief explanation and also add a footnote that there are different types of ‘nogging’ for different purposes, just in case you were wondering or about to dispute my accuracy.

If you were to build yourself a wall (or you could tear a big chunk out of one of your bedroom walls so you could see how it was constructed) out of timber, then you might start with a base plate and then put some uprights on it. They can be fixed at the top and the bottom but without some added reinforcements they would be a bit ‘wallowy’, so you need to put in some horizontal pieces and they are called ‘noggings’. Now you can have a picture.

Picture of a stud wall with noggings and dawgs

 

Now, the interesting part, which I know you have been wondering about, is where does ‘dwang’ fit into all of this ? A fair question and one that I will endeavour to explain forthwith.

‘Dwang’ is merely the preferred term, for the same support piece, for those in Scotland, simple as that. I have just had to correct myself as I had written ‘dawg’ all through the post, not sure what was going on there. Also, while we’re on ‘confession 101’ I have to admit that I have no idea why I have been thinking about noggings, shall we move on ?

I was going to go on a word ramble and thought better of it, we’ve got enough down to entertain without outstaying my welcome. I just needed to get back on the horse, so to speak. I’m not sure how long it takes to create a habit especially when it’s something you’ve done before, certainly more than a couple of days, that’s for sure.

Well, the evening is drawing to a close and there’s still much to do. Still feeling a bit rusty so I’m hoping things will improve the more I get into my stride.

So, I’ll close off for today and plan to make an appearance tomorrow. Have a good one.

Twack Romero