A couple of tips for the "Defrost-and-go" style of stolen quickie session: Get some good bread (Warburtons); preferably unwrap and stale it in the fridge overnight. Cut the crusts off, and soak both whites and crust strips awhile, (till floppy and wet all through)then gently press out as much water as you can without tearing the bread, lay each slice between a few thicknesses of newspaper and press under a board - a pan/kettle of water is a good weight if you can leave it a few hours; if you stick it between box and (waterproof) cushion, then tackling-up time should suffice. Do the same with the crust strips, but use a heavier weight. Unwrap, peel the paper away from each slice and wrap it in cling-film before freezing or fishing. Do the same with batches of crust-strips.
Now the cunning bit: if you can only get bites on the white slices fishing so deep that you keep fouling the bottom, slide your tell-tale shot down to about an inch above the hook and use crust - it should float above, and slightly lift, the tell-tale and avoid snagging, while giving the fish no visible clue as to its attachment to the line, which is coming up to the bait rather than down.
A slice of white and a half-slice equivalent of crust should be enough for a three hour taster session; take a second slice if chub or carp are liable to move in.
Sorry to say your punches and press are best kept as conversation pieces; without slots for the hook, the punch heads will quickly blunt them, and the Lesney does nothing the finger and thumb (and maybe a pair of scissors or a table-knife) can't; they were made to sell rather than to use. Yes, even back then.
I have a set of those punches ("Abbey"?) and keep meaning to Dremel slots into them, but the Drennan Flake punches are so good I've never bothered. Usually, though, i just pinch or thumbnail a bit off and use it ragged.
