Monday 28 July: The current testing system for prostate cancer is failing too many men

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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532 thoughts on “Monday 28 July: The current testing system for prostate cancer is failing too many men”

  2. Good mornging Geoff and chums. Only just made Wordle today.

    Wordle 1,500 6/6

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    ⬜🟩🟨⬜🟩
    🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩
    🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  3. Good morning Geoff and all NoTTLer chums, here’s another pair of Monday Chuckles with an Irish theme. Next Monday’s offering will come (DV*) from near Bordeaux.
    *For those who don't have 'the Latin', DV stands for Deo Volente or God Willing.

    A policeman was called out to a farm in County Kerry where the farmer had reported losing 2,033 pigs. The policeman took down the details but when he got back to the station to enter the theft onto the police computer, he decided to double check the exact amount with the farmer. “Mr O’Flaherty,” he said, “are you absolutely sure that you lost 2,033 pigs?” “Oh yeth, dat ith right,” said the farmer. Satisfied, the policeman put down the phone and typed: “Farmer lost two sows and thirty-three pigs.”

    Paddy went onto the TV programme The Antiques Roadshow, where experts value items brought in by members of the public, and placed a large metal box on the table. “Where did you find this?” asked the antiques expert. “Oh, it’s been in the attic for years,” said Paddy. “Have you got insurance?” “Why do you ask?” “Because you’re going to need it – that’s your cold water tank.”

    1. Good morning RC/RH. Enjoy your trip to Bordeux on Tuesday. (Good morning, btw.)

      1. Thanks EB (and good morning of course).
        I was interacting with The Tellygraff website yesterday and forgot to switch back to my customary nom de NoTTL this morning.

        After a few days near Bordeaux I'm going down the coast to Bilbao in Spain, to visit the newest Guggenheim Museum. I've visited the other two, the original in New York City and the Peggy Guggenheim in Venice, so this will completes the set.

      2. Thanks EB (and good morning of course).
        I was interacting with The Tellygraff website yesterday and forgot to switch back to my customary nom de NoTTL this morning.

        After a few days near Bordeaux I'm going down the coast to Bilbao in Spain, to visit the newest Guggenheim Museum. I've visited the other two, the original in New York City and the Peggy Guggenheim in Venice, so this will completes the set.

  4. The current testing system for prostate cancer is failing too many men

    I have been offered the test but haven't had one,
    My contention is that they will most probably misdiagnose it and if it is positive it will worry the life out of me while I sit on a very long waiting list and when I did eventually get treated it will most probably be done wrong.

    1. But won't you spend the rest of your days worrying yourself silly if you do nothing, Bob3?. Ask your GP when you get to see him/her if it might be BPH (Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia). There are non-invasive tests to check if this is the case, and if it is the case then it can easily be cured with just the prescription of a single tablet. A friend of mine had the test which confirmed BHP, was given a single tablet to take daily and reports a wonderful change in his routine.

        1. Except that worrying if you did or didn't have the covid jab is worrying but no more. Doing nothing about potential prostate problems would not only be a worry but also excruciatingly painful every time you attempt to pass urine.

          PS – A belated Good Morning, btw.

    2. But won't you spend the rest of your days worrying yourself silly if you do nothing, Bob3?. Ask your GP when you get to see him/her if it might be BPH (Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia). There are non-invasive tests to check if this is the case, and if it is the case then it can easily be cured with just the prescription of a single tablet.

    4. The PSA is merely an indicator. Many other tests follow on from its readings.

    5. Never had a Covid test never had Covid. Less deaths from it than first thought, what next.?

      1. Morning, Johnny.
        Two interpretations of the response to Covid:
        1. Over-reaction and panic amongst the high hiedyins
        2. Part of the global domination attempt.
        or 1 followed by 2, I suppose.

    6. I had the PSA test a couple of years ago, when I turned 70. The reason I decided to have it was because my father died of prostate cancer, and although I was totally symptomless (is that a word?), I thought it would be prudent to do so. The result came back as 0.47 ug/L. That put my mind at rest.

      2. Hi Phil. Everything seems to be ripening very early. There are blacberries ready for picking in the forest. That is a month early. The gorse and the rhododendrons flowered very early also. Does aluminium oxide accelerate growth?

        1. In small amounts it can accelerate root growth in acidic soil but larger amounts are toxic.

          My magnolia is flowering for the second time this year.

          1. Mine too and it did the same last year.
            Oh dear! It’s AGW.
            We will all go together when we go (pace the late great Tom Lehrer).

  6. Morning all 🌄 cloudy today. We will have the plumbers here this morning to replace our hot water cylinder.

    1. I went to see Tom Lehrer in Bristol in 1958. Superb! RIP indeed.

      Bought his Song Book and learned most of them, which stood me in in good stead when I had to sing 'The Hunting Song' at a Rotary party.

      Here it is: https://youtu.be/MQyoSLOlglw

      1. I have a CD in the Noddy car.
        "And We'll All Go Together When We Go" is a favourite in traffic jams.

  8. Good morning all.
    Back to a bright start with clear skies. A pleasant 15°C outside when I got the milk in.

  9. Good morning, all. Blue sky (sort of). Dry. Off to have hearing test shortly.

  10. Morning, all Y'all.
    Sunny, but fresher. Promised 8-10 degrees cooler than last week, so comfortable, then.

    1. Even so, von der Leyen still had to wait until the American president had spent most of the day walking the greens..

      Pah, Theresa May had to wait in the lobby on a stool.. for the terms of The Surrender Treaty.
      She did manage to grin like a Cheshire cat though.

  14. Good Morning!

    In Should I stay or should I go? Graham Bedford asks the question many have pondered on; should we flee police state Britain, while giving his impressions of various continental countries following his recent motorbike tour. He asks where would you go, and readers who do live abroad, where they are and what it's like.

    A double-header from Paul Sutton on the subject of the day, uncontrolled mass immigration. In THE GLOVES ARE NOW OFF ON IMMIGRATION Paul looks at the righteous anger of the British people in what the Establishment is doing and, in his THE DRENCHING ARMS series, tells the story in fine prose and poetry of the woke degeneration into serfdom and deracination.

    Energy Watch: Over the last 24 hours: Britain's electric power was sourced from Gas, 22.6%; Solar, 6.8%: Wind 21.2%; Imports, 25.2%; Biomass, 4.6%; Nuclear 17.5% and Miscellaneous, 2.1%. We are, idiotically, importing more electricity than from any other source, over 25%, while our gas power stations run on half load or less.

    freespeechbacklash.com

    1. Redwood answers his own question.
      And I'm not convinced Starmer and his crew of wreckers are any better.

    3. The EU aren't as bad at deals as Starmer – the man who gave away British territory and paid someone else to take it; who gave away our fisheries to the EU in the hope [Bob and none] of getting something back, who …..

  17. Good morning all,

    Hazy morning , Moh up and about very early before 6am , preparing for golf competition now .

    I had a terrible sleep , probably four hours , that's it .

    We have placed mouse and rat traps in both the lofts , eaves cupboards and everywhere else ..

    Despite the visiting cat bringing us live presents , we think there is a presence elsewhere in the house . We are so close to fields, the local hardware store is doing a running trade with locals needing traps and other such devices .. some of the traps are enormous , and so are the rats , huge things , nearly as large as a squirrel .

    I have stopped feeding the birds , sadly , so no food to tempt rodents, but….what else can we do?

    4. Try to find where they are coming in and block it so that they can get out, but not in again?
      We have the same problem, the lass at our local hardware shop says there are loads of rodents this year.

  18. Good morning, all. Sunny.

    California's high-speed train project. Looks and sounds familiar, including the timeline, doesn't it?

    https://x.com/wdunlap/status/1948111511848927349
    Grok:

    AI Overview
    HS2: What is the route and why is the Manchester link …
    HS2 was initially proposed in 2009 by the Labour government, with the formal case for the high-speed rail line being made in 2010. The project was initially planned to connect London with Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, and other cities, with construction starting in phases. While Phase 1 (London to Birmingham) was legislated and under construction, the northern legs (Phase 2) faced delays and ultimately cancellations.

  20. Roger Hirst, the police and crime commissioner for Essex demands an urgent meeting with Yvette Cooper to seek the closure of the Epping asylum hotel at the centre of recent protests. “It’s costing hundreds of thousands of pounds. It’s a lot of police overtime. This is not what we need to be happening on a regular basis in the town."

    Meanwhile the Labour-run cash-strapped Birmingham council is offering small boat arrivals of undocumentated British Citizens hefty discounts through a leisure scheme including theatre tickets.

    It's a Win Win.
    Done deal 500-1,000 per day.
    .
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ec9840b3df3ed42f5ea543d584f08fd4d41489f94a5232d227e26cc3bf1da103.jpg

    1. The difference between Gaza and the other two is that we expect better of Israel. Call it racism if you will.

    2. I seem to recall that the 500,000 include Attila the Hun, and a variety of other dead celebs? Maybe they are looking at the Democrats who voted for Kamala??

  24. I live alone, so nobody would be too bothered if I died of prostrate cancer. More room for more deserving hardworking families.

    Like the author of this piece, I was palmed off with statins and those things that are supposed to regulate the waterworks, but do not work. Any notifications are sent to my mobile phone, which is usually turned off, or I have to access via an app, where I must agree to my personal data being passed to undisclosed third parties, including Google, with only political assurances it will not be misused. The only way I can contact my surgery is by going there in person and banging on that little perspex screen that separates the public, for its own safety and convenience from a bustling and increasing community of hardworking female staff, a few of whom are medically qualified, or at least have passed their exams in "inclusion" (i.e. shutting the likes of me out as much as the rules permit them).

    I am having to give up morris dancing because I cannot get my feet enough off the ground. It's probably the prostrate stiffening things up, but who cares?

    1. Morning Jeremy

      NHS is a bit ageist , but please don't feel dismissed .. Have you got a minor injuries unit , cottage hospital near you … or Google private examinations for your area .. roughly £120 for a PSA +

    2. Good morning Eeyore, and everyone else.
      Every Nottler could give you some advice, but would you listen?
      1) Google etc take your info and they bundle it up and sell it to firms who need anonymised data in order to help make decisions about products and services. In return you can access the worldwide web, which is 24/7 and more convenient than the local library.
      2) buy or make some shelves and get some boxes, sticky tape and marker pens; tidy up your thousands of pieces of paper and one day you can scan them or give them to a hungry bonfire. Attempt to clear up one room at a time.
      3) make a will
      4) doing useful tasks will improve your mental and physical health.

        1. Friend oop north had an RTA. Car was a write-off, she broke a wrist. Obvs, I visited her. She showed me the number-plate she'd retrieved from the wreckage, so we had a chat about number-plates. Next time I looked at my phone, there was an ad. for personalised number-plates. Later, she announced that she would buy a plug-in hybrid. Bit of a chat about them, next time I opened my phone, there was an ad. for plug-in hybrids. But this was far from being an isolated incident!

      1. A Hohner Pokerwork! Mine looked like that when my parents gave it to me as a wedding present in the 1980s. It’s had a hard life since, out in all weathers and very many dance-outs, and is as battered and aged as I am these days.

        I find it the best box for dancing out. The Castiglione produces a nicer tone, and is better for sessions, but the brightness of the Pokerwork carries well outside.

        I have the second largest surviving organ maker in the next village to where I live, and went on a tour of the factory earlier this year. It was lovely to see at least somewhere proper British craftsmanship can survive without being taken over and asset-stripped.

    1. I must admit I was losing all hope of our ladies winning as the referee seemed to be trying to assist Spain by handing they so many free kicks for their efforts of the pathetic on pitch diving they were so good at. Then the first penalty was disallowed as well. Well done ladies. 😊🙂🤗

        1. Something went wrong.
          2003 in Sydney when the French referee kept awarding penalties to Australia. And with less than 30 seconds to go Johnny Wilkinson made a drop goal. And England won the cup.

  26. I am a bit gloomy today. Sometimes work just gets you down – i am in the middle of a couple of fighting factions and have lost the will to live. But my role is to help solve problems in organisations, so i have to find ways round.

    1. Look on it as a challenge, LiR. An opportunity to develop a new and creative solution – even better, if you can involve colleagues to fine-tune the implementation of that solution.
      I love that stuff – analysis, propose solutions, select, and bullet-proof.

    2. Rainy days and Mondays get me down as well.

      Except it is sunny.

      Your mood will pick up in a while as you go through your own routine ..then you will pick yourself up, dust yourself down and start all over again ..

      So sorry you feel like that , but have strength , and a hug !

  28. SIR – How I loved your article on beach huts (Features, July 25). I have lived my whole life of summers in Sheringham in Norfolk attached to a beach hut, beginning with my parents in a canvas one erected for six weeks on the shingle. These were eventually banned by the council and we moved up to the promenade.

    Every morning at eight o’clock friends would (and still do) gather for the morning swim to see the rising sun, and in the evening swim into the sunset. The beach hut provides shelter, fun and friendship for the whole day.

    My love is apparent – but £450,000 for a hut seems a bit steep.

    Jane Burgass
    Nottingham

    Only the irredeemably gormless and the irreparably stupid would squander £450,000 on a garden shed with no land attached!

    Just down the road from me — for precisely the same asking price — you can buy this sumptuous property (below):

    https://www.hemnet.se/bostad/villa-3rum-hagestad-ystads-kommun-ostra-kustvagen-1705-21578165
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3354913cfc6e6399ed6674f04e8fb95c909f789c488b9296f40a79391a1f368f.png
    26 photographs showing it in its full glory are accessed under "bilder".

    1. Morning, Grizz. Who'd be on the beach on the East coast to see the sun rise at 08:00? That's pretty well Christmas time! Brr!

      1. To be fair, she writes, "to see the rising sun", which happens from sun rise until noon.

    2. Fascinating! BTW, is there any desire in Sweden to join the euro? If it's such the good idea that we were once told, why don't the sensible Swedes go for it?

    5. My aunt and uncle had a beach hut in Dawlish. It’s probably worth a small fortune now.

  30. Captain Hindsight
    2h
    So one for all the Remainers tonight, EU tariffs to the US 15%, UK tariffs 10%.
    We managed that without really trying, now imagine what the UK could do if we actually had a government that wanted to make success of Brexit.

    We might achieve growth, rather than collapsing into recession in order to align with a failed political project.

    1. Rather depressingly I believe the intent is to ensure we decline and become ever more impoverished. This totalitarian socialism seems to be the hallmark of the last 30 years.

      It simply should not be like this. Every decision made has been the wrong one, deliberately, spitefully – more state, more tax, more waste.

      Look at this monitoring and control unit Starmer wants: it's a response to the public not wanting their children to be raped by gimmigrants. The state could solve the source of the problem, massive unwanted criminal invasion but instead it sets about destroying those who speak out against state policy. It's absurd. It's draconian power abuses to continue a damaging policy. Same for 'climate change' and the WFA.

      The state refuses to address the cause, but uses it as a ratchet for ever more oppression and suppression.

    1. Perhaps the beginning of the needed uprising could begin in the same building.🤗 🤞

    2. Lackeys and Donors like Lord Ali, Lord Boateng, Lord Falconer and Lord Hermer, Lord Kinnock, to name but a few. Oh, wait …

      1. Countless unionists. Starmer just doesn't like not getting his own way. He's a fascist.

    3. Return to just hereditaries would be a start.

      (But how on earth was the hereditary Stansgate title reactivated on the death of Tony Benn who had renounced the title to get into the House of Commons? His elder son, Stephen, the brother of the equally odious MP Hilary Ben, came into the title on the death of Tony Benn – surely the title title should have been completely scrapped as soon as it had been renounced)

    2. Katie Lam should resign from the Conservative Party and join Rupert Lowe.

  33. Morning all 🙂😊
    High cloud bright and breezy low twenties.
    Perfect.
    The government and the health service don't really care about the health of older generation, they have already uploaded replacements.
    But of course all of them in Wastemonster the Lords, Whitehall etc will all have on expenses, private medical insurance to rely on.
    Nice people eh……not !

  36. Macron forgets that Hamas does not want peace
    As Europe makes pointless grandstanding gestures, America grasps that the terrorists have no interest in a deal
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/27/macron-forgets-that-hamas-does-not-want-peace/

    We must not forget that Yasser Arafat was offered a Palestinian state but he turned it down.

    A Palestine State could only come at the cost of the end of the State of Israel and the extinction of the Jewish race.

    Far too many politicians seem to think this would be a price worth paying.

  37. A bit of tittle tattle from Neil Sean.. he's heard from his sources that the Govt will be cross checking council band tax rate & bedroom occupancy.. then bribe occupiers to take in an migrant.
    After background checks.. LOL.
    .
    https://youtu.be/F4fiwXHNnHQ?t=117

    1. 410257+ up ticks,

      Morning KB,

      In prior post's I have said mandatory
      lodgering and rogering will be linked.

    2. Suggest to move any in here and I'd hang the swine. There'd be a constant series of accidents as they fell into the hedge trimmer.

      1. I drink alcohol in large quantities and we eat a lot of pork products. Be thin pickings for a mudslime staying with us.

    1. I have no idea what Starmer thinks. I don't honestly think he cares a damn for this country. His voter block doesn't as they're all foreigners and wasters.

      He's pandering to those who put him in place. The UK can burn for all he cares. It's just a matter of using force to get his own way.

      I genuinely, honestly wonder if he does think. Beyond the 'he's a moron, a Lefty' I wonder what he does think. Is he so desperately consumed with politicking he cannot see the problems? Does he not know how to address them? Can he not see what he is doing is wrong? That the side he is on is the problem? Or is he thinking 'it'll go away, we'll just stop people being able to talk about it'?

      What is wrong with the useless man? Does he want to destroy the country?

    2. Citroen1, shouldn't we try and display a teensy-weensy bit of compassion for the, In-His-Own-Mind-World-Statesman-Prime-Minister, that is blighting our green and pleasant land?

      What's this FOFF thingy? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

  40. Lord Farquard
    1h
    I guess letting unknown numbers of T*leban fighters into the country living off our taxes means the government doesn't do what it says it does.. Can we, the overtaxed consumer, have our money back please
    Home Office website

    What we do. The first duty of the government is to keep citizens safe and the country secure. The Home Office plays a fundamental role in the security and economic prosperity of the UK.
     https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2c26f573843b8b45c377cb3a847253d6375c377a6bf8b04b7dc8e65bb1421db6.png

    1. 410257+up ticks,

      Morning C1,

      Practical uses,

      You could get 20 nooses on each turbine blade, comfortably, deck out, use, dismantle, there will be enough
      …………. for starters.

    2. Econmic prosperity? You ignore burglary and shop lifting. You arrest innocent people. You let off the criminal.

      You have not failed, as that implies you tried, but wilfully perverted the department and should be shut down and your officers tried for a laundry list of crimes both industrial, civil and criminal, let alone war crimes, specifically genocide.

  41. Yo and Good Moaning to you all, from a warm(ish) and Sunny C d S.

    I feel a little that I have wasted my life: 40 years working in the Defence of UK, and Starmer is just opening De Gates wider, to let let an invading army in and ensuring that they are fed and watered

    1. Yet the hard Left oxymoronic socialist worker crop up wherever these decent people go and cause trouble. The fascist Left know they're wrong because they are hiring thugs to protect them so who is funding these vicious, putrid fifth columnist Lefties?

      1. 410257+ up ticks,

        Morning W,
        In the main I would say the tax payer via the political overseers.

  43. The Online "safety" petition or whatever is now at 333,802! And, still rising!

    1. The online harm bill will never be repealed. It is part of the ratchet to control what you can and cannot do on the internet. Eventually there will be censorship enforced, VPNs forbidden and compulsory registration so the jack booted thugs can see everything and everyone – that's what they'll put AI to work on.

      The Left love themselves an authoritarian control system. They're hateful, evil people.

      1. 410257+ up ticks,

        Morning N,

        A wary look I would sa,y understandable when viewing the past fighting like cat and dog.

      2. Yeah… that right paw is coming up something rotten. When we had Beast he would mostly ignore Mongo. Yet if Mongo wanted to go where Beast was, he'd just lumber on through.

      1. 410257+ up ticks,

        Evening C,

        Then again, with a little bit of effort on either side they could be firm pals.

  48. When the King’s horse triumphed in the Derby https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4f91cfc39245dd1159ae2d6633f47db250a6f93d0060b337da796860b92f594e.png I was interested to read this in today's letters……..

    A relative of mine – first cousin of my grandmother – Fanny Barker of Binfield in Berkshire won a substantial sum as she bet on Minoru to win the Derby in 1909.

    She won enough money to buy a house, and she called it Minoru. Her two blacksmith brothers both retired in their early fifties. Fanny never married but she was an astute businesswoman and when she died in 1961, at the age of 92, she was the owner of several properties which she had rented out. She left her money to a nephew, Henry Skipper Barker.

      2. Wrong way round; what you need is a head like a lady’s maid and a bottom like a cook😀

  49. I wonder what bad news cursed harmer & co will release today under cover of the women's shirts.

  52. Well – that was a wasted hour. The Envy of the World told me that I could get a referral to the NHS Hearing Clinic by going to Boots (or Specsavers) for a test. Booked apptmt. Turned up. After waiting half an hour, the woman told me that Boots did NOT do that. So I took my hat and left. Went to Specsavers and they said they DID – so have an apptmt there for the test on 19 August. I wonder if they are telling the truth… Time will tell.

    The young man at SS was very efficient – but, even though I told him I was 90% deaf – spoke very quietly…..!!

    The Envy has come up trumps with the other issue. Having seen GP on Thursday last week, am to be scanned at the NNUH on Tuesday next. Can't complain.

    1. Boots boast that they do hearing tests. Shame on them. The Envy have their good points. I had an ultrasound scan of my neck last week, to check the arteries that take blood to the brain. The arteries are good. Not sure about the brain. I'm at HH again at 1 pm today for a lung function test, which should only take 30 minutes.

      1. Oh they DO do hearing tests – but only for those who end up buying their hearing aids. They DON’T refer people to the NHS.

        1. OH got taken in by Boots a few years ago – paid a fortune for hearing aids and promptly lost one a few months later.
          Last week the "frailty nurse" Jude referred him for NHS hearing tests.

    2. They closed our NHS audiology clinic a few years ago and Specsavers now do it on NHS terms, totally free. I recently needed an upgrade to my aids and Specsavers told me to go to my GP and get a referral. Which worked very well, arranged via receptionist who passed on to one of the GPs and a few days later just had to choose a Specsavers appointment direct from the NHS site. Hearing test and new aids issued at Specsavers a few days later. And yes, Specsavers ask you in a very quiet voice what you had for breakfast to check that the aids are working.

      3. We haven't seen you on the forum recently. We sent you birthday greetings on 6th May

        1. I visit most days, occasionally post and made a few quite recently. I responded to your birthday greetings on the day, guess you missed them.

  53. Busy up the garden again getting ready to put the cement mixer to use again.
    5 small builders buckets of soil dug out from where I plan extending one of the earlier walls I've built and a bloody great outcrop of limestone to get rid of.
    I'm putting the dug out soil into a mini-bulk bag for back-filling later.

      1. You can now be locked up for stating the truth, having an opinion or asking a rhetorical question.

      1. 'Bracknell’s ‘monitoring officer’, Sanjay Prashar, said in a letter to Councillor Edwards: ‘I do consider there to be a case to answer.’

        The police say they have received no such report/complaint.

        Yet another lying fucking wog.

        1. Well, he might have thought there was a case but then done nothing about it, perhaps to placate the bilge spewing complaining Lefty?

      2. I was a moderator of a group a while back. In there were the usual fanatic miserablist Lefties who constantly reported and deleted the posts of others – saying perfectly factual things.

        Thus the people constantly being reported and attacked by the Leftists formed their own group and carried on saying and doing what they like there, safe from the predations of nasty petty Lefties.

        However, the Leftists were not happy with this and set about, desperately trying to get in to the group, complaining it had no moderator (it did, me) and when that failed trying feverishly to shut it down completely.

        They simply cannot cope with someone having an opinion that differs from their own. They're utterly bonkers.

    2. That's not nature – it's exploitation. Leopards would never mate with lions in the wild.

    1. Won't access to Pornhub give them graphic ideas about the virtue (or lack thereof) of (mostly) white women?

      Afternoon Michael and all

      1. There's a sudden leap in enquiries about VPN access. We've an interesting one about VPN and DNS over VLANs at the mo.

        This isn't about children's protections. It's about controlling people. It's very simple and again, entirely the fault of the state: it has massively expanded welfare so parents no longer do their jobs. The welfarists just dump it all on teachers. Thus the brats are feral savages who treat each other badly.

        Welfare parents shirk their responsibilities and don't properly manage and protect their children. . Having created the problem, the state then uses this as a lever to apply draconian, unnecessary controls to everyone. It is simply an excuse, a weapon used to further ratchet up the control on people.

        Junior has parental controls on his telephone. It's not hard to set up.

          1. I'd rather say 'shut down the entire farce of government. Sack them all. We don't need or want them. Repeal countless legislation and make this country better.'

          2. Repeal all the race relations acts as they are the CAUSE of our problems not the solution.

        2. Saw a heartwarming sight when walking the dogs this morning; one of my neighbours was walking with her grandson. They came to the road to cross and she made him stop, look right, look left and look right again before he was allowed to cross. Good training that could save his life.

          1. I remember in primary school, a local copper would come in and give us all talks on road safety.

            Sadly, at big boys" school, one of the younger pupils who cycled to school, turned into the school gates in front of a Ribble double decker. At the next morning assembly, the head read us all the riot act on road safety.

            Counselling? Nope – just a hard lesson for us all.

          2. Same at my grammar school. We lost a pupil in similar circumstances. Reaction was the same.

          3. Wish somebody had taught yer Norwegian that. They think that the pedestrian having priority on crossings means the traffic WILL stop, regardless of how much notice there might be. Like some kind of force-field. Nearly had an old lady on the bonnet of the car last Friday when, without warning, she suddenly stepped in front of the car on the crossing just at the exit to a roundabout as I was driving by. Nearly crapped meself, so I did.

          4. I could never get used to the Canadian rule that pedestrians had right of way. I dithered on the pavement until I was sure the car would stop.

          5. Best way to do it, Conners.
            It's no advantage to be in the right if you have been hit by a vehicle and are dead or seiously broken.
            Safety first & look out for no. 1.

    1. Massive uncontrolled, unwanted gimmigration is an insult to those who have moved here legitimately, who work and contribute – in any form. To those immigrants. hi, hello, thank you.

      To the ones who hate this country and treat it like a doss house? Sod off.

        1. The fingers holding the placard didn’t look quite right in the original photo, with the placard itself appearing too pristine, so it led me to suspect a photoshop job. If it is indeed genuine, I stand corrected.

  58. Back home for 24 hours after a fine week of boating. By popular request a few photos:

    The middle pound of the first flight of 7 locks showing a mass of yellow water lilies:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3e057deea37cdda0966d31409f3dbb59f7219c3209d7d4b51f03ceeab600707d.jpg
    Early Friday evening moored near Rowde facing the Caen Hill flight of 22 locks that took 5 hours to ascend into Devizes:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/681a32568daa54223814391f143a46ded87b2fa2b6dd1efd4dccee0dd84cb22b.jpg
    Have just read "The Blood in Winter' & 'The Killers of the King' & 'The Brothers York' – all well researched books which mention dozens if not hundreds of beheadings, I couldn't but help photograph these sculptures made by a retired joiner who first mades a lifelike clay model and then a silicone mould which is then used by pouring in High alumina cement. He told me that the models were all boaters (and for the avoidance of doubt there isn't one of me!!!)

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/379a81f350013d63d32a9a4f65f1f672876250c9ac7e6d72ec1885f645aaabf4.jpg
    Back to the boat tomorrow…..

    1. Those heads are a bit gruesome!
      The yellow water lilies are apparently a very invasive species. Even if they do look sunny.
      Glad you've had a good trip.

    1. I spent my weekend getting friends and family on VPNs. It's infuriating how these fools think. Of course, the next step will be to ban those.

      The Mother in law is, secretly (she told me as she needed a lift there) going to a place that can help her stop, or at least reduce her drinking. She can't get to their website any more without verification and doesn't want to give it.

      I hate these fools. This nonsense bill should have been burned along with the MPs who pushed for it.

    1. Crikey, he really must be fuming. I bet he's hoping they said 'up da pallywhacks!'

  62. Afternoon All
    Steyn
    " It's a good basic axiom that if you take a quart of ice-cream and a quart of dog faeces and mix 'em together the result will taste more like the latter than the former.

    I see this is known to some as Steyn's Axiom, so perhaps I have not lived entirely in vain. A generation back, I was referring to the United Nations, but the principle is of more general application. Certainly, it holds in societies that decide to go all-in on diversity: in case you haven't noticed, if the state is ever more hostile to lofty abstractions like freedom of speech and practical realities like the safety of schoolgirls, it's because the authorities are assimilating with the immigrants. Starmer understands this, and intends to accelerate it. What's happening in Britain and Europe is not, as many deluded types still think, the accidental consequence of well-intended policy – "cock-up, not conspiracy, dear boy," as Tories used to drawl. Rather, it is, as Eva Vlaardingerbroek says, "all by design".
    https://www.steynonline.com/15492/britain-on-the-brink

    1. Government: What a shame. Never mind. We clearly need stronger controls over people's internet access.

    2. The problem is the state – because it knows of no other approach – will simply use ever more force and punishment of the innocent, those it has dumped responsibility on to: the companies.

      Then it will go for Alex Armstrong and only when it is done publicly destroying him, his employer then the kid who got around it. What it will not do is admit it has passed flawed legislation where the lie couldn't spin past the truth: that the hard Left just want to control, report on and punish everyone.

  65. How red squirrels are fighting back against their grey cousins

    Resurgence in predatory pine martens has greater effect on grey squirrels, study finds

    Joe Pinkstone, Science Correspondent
    18 June 2025 8:23am BST

    Red squirrels are staging a comeback after being almost eliminated by their grey cousins, a study has suggested.

    A resurgence in pine martens, the natural predator of squirrels, has had a greater impact on the greys, which are not native to the British Isles and do not know to fear them. Red squirrels, which evolved alongside pine martens for centuries, can easily avoid the predators and become more wary when one is nearby, the study found, making the "predator naive" greys easier prey.

    The reds have started to thrive as a result, despite increasing numbers of wild squirrel hunters [?]. Red squirrels are native to the UK but have suffered significant population decline in recent decades because of the arrival of the larger grey variety from the US in the late 19th century.

    They have been reduced to small populations in parts of the British countryside such as Scotland, Anglesey and the Isle of Wight as their shared habitat was overtaken by greys, which are indiscriminate in what they eat and able to reproduce at a faster rate.

    Pine martens have also suffered a catastrophic population decline in recent decades, but efforts to protect, reintroduce and nurture the species in Britain and Ireland has assisted red squirrels.

    The study by the University of Galways laid wildlife cameras around the Irish countryside to monitor activity at feeding sites and discovered that red squirrels become wary in the presence of pine martens. However, greys were more unaware of the signs and were therefore more likely to be killed.

    Dr Emily Reilly, the study's lead author, told The Telegraph: "Red squirrels would rarely even eat any food if a pine marten had been there in the last eight hours. They slowly became less cautious but you could still see the effect even days after the pine marten visit. The grey squirrels do not have this response. This is most likely why their numbers have been decreasing since the pine marten has made a comeback."

    A total of 491 squirrel visits were recorded in the study, compared to 226 pine marten sightings detected by the cameras. The data collected in western Ireland will probably apply to Britain, where pine marten numbers are also increasing, Ms Reilly said.

    The study said: "Following a pine marten visit to a feeder, red squirrels displayed a typical anti-predator response, exhibiting increased vigilance and decreased feeding. There was no difference in the duration of the red squirrels' visits to a feeder, meaning red squirrels did not display a flight reaction in response to recent pine marten presence."

    The study is published in Royal Society Open Science.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06/18/how-red-squirrels-are-fighting-back-against-grey

    I hate to say it but Countryfile has been on the case for a while. Meanwhile, down in the woods…

    Squirrels that cause £37m damage to forest should be 'eradicated'

    Repair costs caused by invasive rodents largely falls on the woodland owners across the UK, including farmers and the Forestry Commission

    Aaron Newbury
    24 July 2025 4:18pm BST

    A Conservative peer has called for the nationwide eradication of grey squirrels, branding them a "menace" to the countryside.

    Lord Roborough, a shadow minister for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said Natural England needed to protect "our green and pleasant land" from the "vermin" grey squirrels that cause millions of pounds of damage.

    He made the call while tabling an amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which, if passed, would require Natural England to remove invasive non-native species, such as the grey squirrel, from protected environments.

    Research by the Royal Forestry Society (RFS) suggests that grey squirrels' habit of stripping tree bark causes about £37m in damage per year, with the majority of costs falling on the owners of woodland across the UK, including farmers and the Forestry Commission.

    Lord Roborough called the species, first introduced to Britain in 1876 as an ornamental curiosity, "rats that live in trees". He added: "They are killing millions of native broadleaves every year as they enter their prime and threatening the survival of red squirrels. It is time Natural England finally took responsibility for eradicating these vermin and other menacing invasive species in order to protect our green and pleasant land and the native creatures that call it home."

    The population of grey squirrels is now estimated to be around 2.7 million, with the invasive species competing for food and resources from the native red squirrel. They are blamed not only for displacing the red squirrel, whose numbers are now reduced to fewer than 300,000, but also for causing extensive damage to Britain's forests, by stripping tree bark.

    They often chew away the bark on trees, removing the outer layer and leaving them weakened, in some cases killing them. RFS estimate that as much as £13.5m of the £37m estimate could be in damage to timber, with a further £9.2m in lost carbon capture. A further £14.1m was estimated to have been lost through damage mitigation costs, with £0.2m potentially spent on replanting damaged trees.

    The Countryside Alliance said it has estimated that 15 per cent of broadleaf area and 5 per cent of coniferous forest area are damaged by grey squirrels. Johnnie Furse, a spokesman for the Countryside Alliance said: "We need to get serious about the importance of protecting native species and effective wildlife management".

    He called for their numbers to be "controlled urgently", and praised the work of dedicated conservationists who have ensured Britain's dwindling number of reds remains.

    In 2021, the King, the then Prince of Wales, marked Squirrel Appreciation Day on Jan 21 by personally thanking volunteers who work to protect red squirrels. In 2014, he ordered the "humane and lawful control of grey squirrels" across the Duchy of Cornwall, and later backed proposals for the mass sterilisation of greys.

    Awareness of the rising threat of grey squirrels appears to be growing, with an increasing number of wild food advocates, including Welsh hill farmer Gareth Wyn Jones, calling for Britons to consider eating grey squirrels as a sustainable meat option.

    On Good Morning Britain in 2023, Mr Jones called for the mass consumption of the grey squirrels, saying they were "causing our red squirrels to be taken out of the equation, so every one of these grey squirrels we're eating is going to give room for the red squirrel".

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/24/squirrels-damage-forest-eradicated

    1. Let’s hear it for the pine martens! Now all we need is the equivalent for other invasive and destructive non-natives.

    2. At our old house, we had tons of grey squirrels. THe black ones started to move in – and the greys started moving out.

      Grey flight?

    3. We have a walnut tree on each side of our garden and one red squirrel lives in one and another red squirrel lives in the other. We don't have any grey squirrels in our part of the world.

      1. I had to do a quick search to see if greys were in Europe. They are, and they're in northern France. How far from you have there been sightings?

  66. Afternoon, all. Great news (for me, anyway)! I have got back in the saddle on the 17.3hh mare! I did think I might not make it because I only have short legs and a dodgy sacroiliac joint on my left side, but once I was in the plate it was as though I hadn’t been away. Rein back, shoulder in and leg yielding- it all came back. I even managed to get off without falling over. Can’t wait to do it again now. In the event it wasn’t as difficult as I had feared. Clearly it was all in the mind.

    I am not quite sure what it is about the current system that’s failing; we can get tested at events set up by the Rotary as well as the NHS.

      1. Sorry I don’t have one. I didn’t carry anything in my pockets (in case I fell off and landed on it).

          1. I would need to lose some more weight before I could. He had a bad back, which is why he bucked me off.

          3. True, but it’s Catch 22. I can’t exercise so it’s even more difficult to lose weight and get fit.

          5. Worked for Firstborn. No carbs, and a slow but certain loss of weight and wobbly parts.

          6. Worked for Grizzly too. He only eats meat and no weeds. I eat a lot less bread than I used to.

          9. I haven’t done anything drastic – I find a reduction has worked well. I just eat less generally now as well. But plenty of meat and fruit.

          10. If you want to go full keto, yes. I found it was easy to shift half a stone just by cutting down a bit.

    2. Wonderful news, Conway! Good for you and I bet it was a great feeling! 😁

          1. I certainly did to get in the saddle! I had difficulty bending my knee and hip enough to get my foot in the stirrup.

          2. Yes, the whole process of mounting and dismounting without falling over also most impressive

      1. Well, I’m still walking, which is good 😀 I discovered I had run out of Radox, which was less good.

        1. Epsom Salts, by the 25 kg bag if you can afford it. I have a great supplier…

      2. I think, Bill, the most insulting thing about his lies is that that cannot be arsed to even try to convince. Qv the famous Solzenitzyn quotation:

        “We know that they are lying, they know that they are lying, they even know that we know they are lying, we also know that they know we know they are lying too, they of course know that we certainly know they know we know they are lying too as well, but they are still lying. In our country, the lie has become not just moral category, but the pillar industry of this country.”

    2. I do like Trump. Starmer is just a pathetic non-entity we need rid of.

      If he fiddles with his cuffs as a desperate displacement activity any more they'll wear through.

  68. Laurie Wastell
    The state will do anything but fix the migrant crisis
    28 July 2025, 6:00am

    Migrant hotel protests are erupting across the country, as ‘tinderbox’ Britain catches fire. What began with a series of protests in Epping, Essex, over the alleged sexual assault of a teenage girl by a recently arrived Ethiopian migrant, has now spread, as Brits air long-standing grievances about asylum seekers they have been forced to host in their own communities.

    Demonstrations have so far been reported in Bournemouth, Southampton and Portsmouth, Norwich, Leeds and Wolverhampton, Sutton-in-Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, Altrincham and even at Canary Wharf in London. With years of unaddressed anger rapidly making itself felt, the police, pulled in all directions, are struggling to keep up. ‘Local commanders are once again being forced to choose between keeping the peace at home or plugging national gaps’, admits the head of the Police Federation.

    Still, it seems there is one thing the government is more than happy to devote resources to: trawling the internet for anti-migrant sentiment. The Telegraph reports that an elite team of police officers convened by the Home Office is set to monitor social media to flag up early signs of unrest. Working out of the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC) in Westminster the new National Internet Intelligence Investigations team will ‘maximise social media intelligence’ gathering in order to ‘help local forces manage public safety threats and risks’.

    If this new division was just about intelligence-gathering that would be one thing. It’s true that social media is in invaluable resource for following events on the ground at such gatherings, while local Facebook groups are often where grassroots protests are organised.

    Yet we know that when it comes to the British state and social media, censorship and punishment for online speech is never far behind. Ever since Sir Keir Starmer repeatedly linked the Southport unrest last year with social media, the idea has firmly taken root in Whitehall that the best way to stop unrest is to aggressively police the internet. Ofcom, the broadcast regulator, already takes this view, and the link has even been drawn in Department for Education guidance on how to talk to schoolchildren about the Southport disorder. In a recent report, the police inspectorate said that forces must be ‘better prepared and resourced to monitor, analyse, use and respond to online content’, which it argues was a risk to public safety. This general zeal for social-media policing is why Big Brother Watch believes the new unit is very likely to infringe on free speech. The investigations team is ‘Orwellian’ and ‘disturbing’, says interim director Rebecca Vincent, creating the possibility that it ‘will attempt to interfere with online content’ as other government bodies are known to have done during Covid.

    As if there weren’t enough threats to free speech already. This week age verification provisions in the latest stage of the Online Safety Act (OSA) kicked in, meaning that some footage of protests is now inaccessible on social media for many users. Not even parliamentary privilege is safe from the censorship regime. Katie Lam’s searing April speech on the rape gangs, in which she quoted court transcripts and survivors, could not be watched on X without age verification.

    We are beginning to look like North Korea with rainbow flags: for the public’s ‘safety’, footage exposing grievous failures of the British state now cannot be viewed in the UK. Little wonder, given the OSA explicitly earmarks content relating to ‘child sexual abuse’ and ‘illegal immigration and people smuggling’ as the ‘kinds of illegal content and activity that platforms need to protect users from’. The Conservatives, who bequeathed us this blank cheque for digital authoritarianism, certainly need to take a long, hard look at themselves. The claims that the OSA is merely about restricting access to pornography have been exposed as a mere fig leaf.

    And still things could still get worse. As the Free Speech Union has noted, shortly after last year’s riots, the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a pro-censorship lobby group with ties to Morgan McSweeney, ‘hosted a closed-door meeting under the Chatham House rule to discuss the role of social media in civil unrest’. In attendance were officials from the Home Office, the Department of Science, Information and Technology, Ofcom and other organisations. The CCDH proposals that emerged included amending the OSA to ‘grant Ofcom additional “emergency response” powers to fight “misinformation” that poses a “threat” to “national security” and “the health or safety of the public”’. This would give Secretary of State Peter Kyle the ability to directly flag unapproved content to be taken down at a time of ‘crisis’. Should the unrest continue this could well be coming down the track.

    What all this illustrates is just how ill-equipped the people in charge are to deal with Britain’s problems, as The Spectator’s Madeline Grant noted earlier this week. A powerful tendency now exists in the British state towards displacement activity. Spin doctors ‘manage’ the news. Police surveil social media. The government shuffles asylum seekers from hotel to hotel, or to HMOs, or even to privately rented accommodation (which it uses your own taxes to outbid you for). For his part, the prime minister has been tweeting about the women’s football. As the unrest grows, leading politicians continue doggedly insist that Britain remains a ‘a successful multi-ethnic, multi-faith country’.

    In reality, there are answers to the asylum hotels crisis, it’s just that the government simply lacks the will to act. Large numbers of illegal migrants need to be deported, while those that are here should be placed in a secure holding facility somewhere remote.

    What is surely obvious by now is where they should not be: in hotels, in an Essex market town 500 yards from a school; on the Bournemouth beachfront; in London’s financial district; in a Leeds suburb right next to a shopping centre. As it is, however, it seems the regime will try anything and everything before addressing people’s real concerns.

    ***********************************

    Steve
    8 hours ago edited
    If they are not going to get rid of them then put them in the Whitehall offices that aren't being used. Put them in the MP's second homes. Make them live with the Human rights lawyers, the Police Superiors and the Green Councillors. Put them right beside the offices of this new social media monitoring unit. Stick them in tents on Downing Street. Hell, stick them in Buckingham Palace. The rest of the country is done with it all.

    Skeptopia
    7 hours ago
    Left-wing intellectuals — and anyone still clutching their Guardian (i.e. everyone in our institutions) — will tell you this is all overblown, stoked by a cottage industry of right-wing grifters and culture warriors. But that’s a desperate obfuscation. What it really reveals is how little they grasp the source of the anger: not “the far right,” but ordinary people pushed to the brink.

    These are the same people who ignore the Islamist nightmare smuggled in under the banner of compassion — grooming gangs, hate preachers, sectarian enclaves — and then call you a bigot when you notice.

    We now have a state that doesn’t govern by consent but manages dissent. It censors footage, polices feelings, and gaslights the public. It can’t last. The reckoning will come — gradually, then all at once.

    1. At every step, the state creates the problem then enforces legislation to suppress dissent about that policy.

      Does Starmer think child should be raped and murdered? Does he think this is an acceptable trade off to the catastrophic rape of this country by massive unwanted criminal invasion?

  70. RIP Tom Lehrer – One of my great heroes gone.
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2025/07/27/tom-lehrer-musical-satirist-poisoning-pigeons-nuclear-war/

    Tom Lehrer, wickedly funny musical satirist whose subversive ditties caused outrage and delight
    His songs were banned in US schools after protests by Roman Catholics over The Vatican Rag (‘Two four six eight/ Time to transubstantiate’)

    My brother-in-law had this LP in his collection when he was up at Oxford and I came across it in 1957 at the Christening of my niece, Susie, when I was 11 years old. My parents were not best pleased when I kept trying to listen to it.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5a22ad9725ad3078af8e3113ed1e7d25eac3b4d883f93ff32107824424898ef9.png

    1. My son gave me a box set of cds – must dig them out and listen again. I didn't really appreciate his humour at that time.

  71. Freddy Gray
    Starmer’s disingenuousness on free speech won’t fool Trump
    28 July 2025, 2:15pm

    It’s often the rotator blades of Marine One that blare over Donald Trump’s voice as he stands near the helipad on the south lawn of the White House. In Turnberry, in Scotland, it was bagpipes. Trump, playing host to the Prime Minister, performed his now familiar ingratiation ritual as he welcomed Sir Keir and Lady Victoria Starmer to his golf course. ‘Our relationship is unparalleled,’ he said, above the din. He flattered the PM’s wife and even suggested, in his delightful nonsensical way, that she is a well-known figure all over the United States.

    Finally, the bagpiping stopped and the world could hear as Trump and the reporters rattled through the news-points. Somebody fired off a question about free speech. ‘Well, free speech is very important and I don’t know if you’re referring to any place in particular,’ replied Trump, turning impishly to Starmer. ‘We have had free speech for a long time so, er, we’re very proud of that.’ Which is exactly what Starmer said when JD Vance brought up free speech in the White House in February.

    Starmer’s disingenuousness on the issue of free speech in striking. You can keep arrogantly insisting that Britain has a long history of free speech when that tradition is being broken, in various ways, by the government you lead. But you probably shouldn’t.

    Another entertaining moment came when GB News asked Trump about the ‘small boats crisis’ – and Trump had no idea what that story was about. Starmer butted in to say ‘it’s about the boats crossing the Channel and we’ve taken a lot of action…’

    ‘Well I think immigration is a big factor,’ said Trump, leaning into his timeless classic of a routine on borders. ‘You know other countries don’t send their best. They send people they don’t want…’

    ‘Europe is a much different place than it was just five years ago, ten years ago,’ concluded Trump, sententiously. ‘They gotta get their act together…This is a magnificent part of the world, we cannot let people come here illegally.’

    Trump praised Starmer for taking a stand. Nobody mentioned that, under Labour, small boat crossings have increased by 48 per cent. Oh well. Diplomacy is lying, only for a better class of people, as Terry Pratchett once wrote.

    At one point, Starmer had his arms crossed as Trump boasted that ‘if I weren’t around, there would be six major wars going on.’ The Prime Minister realised that looked awkward so began clasping his hands instead. Lady Starmer looked strained, despite (or perhaps because of) Trump’s earlier praise.

    Before they walked into the clubhouse, Trump promised that he and Starmer would address the Gaza situation. He also added a threat to Russia over Ukraine. ‘I’m disappointed in Putin, very disappointed in him,’ he said. ‘I’m gonna reduce that 50 days that I gave him because I think I already know what’s going to happen.’

    We’ll have more hilarity this afternoon, no doubt.

    1. She is not “Lady Victoria Starmer” she is Lady Starmer. He’s a knight not a peer (yet).

        1. "Lady Victoria" would be an Earl's daughter. Maybe she is – anyone know? "Victoria, Lady Starmer" similarly, sounds impossibly grand for this humble sponger-married-to-an-apparatchik and that would also be an honorary title amongst the high aristocracy, in the recent past. Who knows what is what with this lot of self-aggrandizing chancers and grifters now, though?

          I do find Freddy Gray, though cute, a tad louche and a sycophantic greasy-pole climber.

          1. I like it that we don't have the same level of aristocracy bs in Norway. Subject to comment by Grizzly, I believe there's a lot more in Sweden.

        3. No. That would mean she has her own title. She is the wife of a knight so it is Sir X Y and Lady Y.

  73. Got back from the hospital at 2.30 and though lunch finishes at 2 pm, the canteen staff kindly fed me anyway. Lung function test today and the results were good. Spent longer in the pharmacy collecting injections to be self-administered for 4 days prior to the op. Never done that before but the nurse assures me that it isn't difficult. Famous last words. He's given me some spares. Just in case.

    1. Had to self-administer insulin a bit earlier this year, for a PET scan that requires guaranteed low-ish blood sugar.
      Despite the shaky hand (I HATE needles), it actually went OK, and didn't hurt.
      So – courage, ma brave! And hugs too, as backup.

      1. I used to have to do that twice a day – never had a problem. Which reminds me I have my annual diabetic check tomorrow with the lovely practice nurse

    2. Had to self-administer insulin a bit earlier this year, for a PET scan that requires guaranteed low-ish blood sugar.
      Despite the shaky hand (I HATE needles), it actually went OK, and didn't hurt.
      So – courage, ma brave! And hugs too, as backup.

  75. Just done an hour of ivy grubbing & bush trimming…..the plumbers are busy plumbing…….

    1. My dirty mind wanted to comment about you trimming your bush and the presence of plumbers being apparently typical Pornhub story, but then I decidde that it would be in poor taste.

        1. From this esteemed site:
          "A Scotsman, Englishman and an Irishman were drinking at a bar.
          "As good as this bar is," said the Scotsman, "I still prefer the pubs back home. In Glasgow, there's a wee place called McTavish's. The landlord goes out of his way for the locals. When you buy four drinks, he'll buy the fifth drink."
          "Well, Angus," said the Englishman, "At my local in London, the Red Lion, the barman will buy you your third drink after you buy the first two."
          "Ahhh, dat's nothin' ," said the Irishman, "back home in my favorite pub, the moment you set foot in the place, they'll buy you a drink, then another, all the drinks you like, actually.
          Then, when you've had enough drinks, they'll take you upstairs and see dat you gets laid, all on the house!"
          The Englishman and Scotsman were suspicious of the claims.
          The Irishman swore every word was true.
          "Did this actually happen to you"
          "Not meself, personally, no, admitted the Irishman, "but it did happen to me sister quite a few times… "

      4. The real problem with pornography is that it gives young people a wholly unrealistic view of life – I mean, where can you get a plumber to turn up short notice and on time??

      5. From Count Palmiro Vicarion's Book of Limericks published in Paris by the Olympia Press before the Lady Chatterley case. I acquired this from my brother-in-law when I was a schoolboy

        There once was a plumber from Leigh
        Who was plumbing his girl by the sea
        She said: "Stop your plumbing,
        There's somebody coming."
        Said the plumber, still coming: "It's me!"

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1a6aeb8a59424e1c2a6a87d729d76b526aaf6a54b08a7a1db136983f54b827dd.png

      6. From Count Palmiro Vicarion's Book of Limericks published in Paris by the Olympia Press before the Lady Chatterley case. I acquired this from my brother-in-law when I was a schoolboy

        There once was a plumber from Leigh
        Who was plumbing his girl by the sea
        She said: "Stop your plumbing,
        There's somebody coming."
        Said the plumber, still coming: "It's me!"

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1a6aeb8a59424e1c2a6a87d729d76b526aaf6a54b08a7a1db136983f54b827dd.png

      8. It would be in very poor taste! We’re old people here! Old people – dry old sticks…….. No sex please – we’re past it!

  76. Just back from delivering leaflets in the village. Those BLOODY letterboxes with "teeth". Do postmen have a gadget to force the teeth apart, I wonder?

    1. We have a letter box on the side door – which we use most as it opens into the kitchen, not the hall way. Most folk can't find it, but our postie had help in the form of three large bears surrounding him and walking him to it.

    1. With friends like The London Mayor or Starmer who needs enemies or enemas.

      1. It made me very nostalgic and sad. How easy it has been for them. We gave it all away.

          1. I rather think we did. We didn't complain except some of us in a desultory fashion to each other, and then we got on with our lives. We mostly all buckled down under the 'racist' taunt, the lack of manners and standards in school, and a host of other things. We let the governments do it because we weren't organised, we didn't care enough to be organised, it wasn't convenient. And it is that desire for lazy convenience that will be our final undoing in the form of ID and CBDC. I am speaking in terms of generalisations, of course. I will never comply, and there are many who won't either, but will it be sufficient?

          2. It's the British/English way. The French – always street demonstrations, the Brits, polite and discreet coughs.
            But to be fair, there's not been much experience of the government being against the People in the UK, so it's not in the DNA.

          3. I agree we've not had much practice. I could see where this was going decades ago, though, so why couldn't others who were older and had been through WWll? I think there was too much resting on the laurels of victory after 1945 'the price of liberty is eternal vigilance'.

          4. Denial – "I'm sure they wouldn't do that…"
            We left in 1998. A mix of opportunity and poor view of the future in the UK.

          5. Because we, being decent, couldn’t believe that governments, supposedly working for the good of the nation, could be so harmful.

        4. What always strikes me about such films is how well dressed people were. No slobbing around in tracksuits, tee shirts and shorts, pyjamas etc.

    3. Things changed after the end of WWII with the onset of immigration from the Commonwealth, but it all stemmed from WWI. Had that conflict not happened (and it was perhaps inevitable), it would not have led to WWII and Windrush and mass Pakistani immigration, which is the real cause of our problems in the UK. Moslems would have been kept in their box in the Middle East, with no resulting 'refugee' crisis. Europe would have looked very different from how it appears today (and how it will be in 20 years' time).

      1. I think the big mistake was issuing British passports to people who lived in the old "colonial" countries. It was not until there was panic about "hordes of Chinese" arriving from Hong Kong on its reversion to Chinese rule, that the right of abode in the UK was added for actual citizens of the UK.

        By then it was too late, and in fact an influx of hardworking entrepreneurial Hong Kong Chinese would have been no bad thing. Instead the country chose to become a repository for the orts and lees of the 3rd world.

        That video showed pretty much how we brounght our two up in England before we exited. And my daughter's three had a similar family centric upbringing.

        1. We did have an an influx of HK Chinese British overseas citizens a year or two ago. I don't think they've caused problems.

          1. So much so, our Beloved Starmfuehrer was talking about sending them back last week. And no, you couldn’t make it up.

    4. Hubby thought we should watch some TV together and we saw a programme called “Ridley” with Adrian Dunbar (think the Sunday Terriblegraph had an interview with him, maybe Saturday’s, anyway he was on my mind and I loved Life on Mars).

      After about 20 minutes, on came the gratuitous sari-clad Asian, who proceeded to snog her lesbian hWite partner.

      I thought, I don’t need this shit. So I am in the bath instead.

  80. Madeline GrantMadeline Grant
    Does Trump prefer Starmer’s wife to him?
    28 July 2025, 2:53pm
    https://www.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/GettyImages-2226734380_d607a2.jpg
    The Trump Golf Course at Turnberry in Scotland looks like a middle-ranking complex for assisted living. It is all plastic double glazing, unfashionably bright flowers and ornamental balls. It was to here that Ursula von der Leyen and now Sir Keir Starmer had been summoned by the president to pay homage during the Donald’s golfing tour.

    Mr Trump appeared on the steps of his plastic palace, while Sir Keir and Lady Starmer emerged from their Land Rover to the sound of a piper. I can’t say what he was playing. Traditional options include the Skye Boat Song or – appropriately – Cock o’ the North. Knowing Mr Trump it might well have been the YMCA.

    As soon as the Prime Minister and his wife arrived, Mr Trump turned his attention to Mrs Starmer, over whom he practically slobbered.

    ‘She’s a respected person over all the United States’, the President said, in one of his trademark mad reveries. This conjured the image of the Prime Minister’s wife being afforded that same respect across the United States. All Hollywood is a-chatter with tales of Sir Keir’s Missus. New York cab drivers affix a miniature of Lady Starmer on the wing mirrors. Drifters across the great truck routes of Appalachia tell tales of her beneath the stars. On the remaining reservations of the Rosebud Sioux in South Dakota when they rise to beard the new dawn, they do so by saluting Victoria, the Lady Starmer.

    The leaked email that blows apart the BBC’s impartiality claims over Gaza
    Questions came from the press. What did Mr Trump think of illegal immigration? ‘We are, er, stopping the boats’, interjected Starmer, trying to seize control of the question before the Donald committed him to gunboats in the Channel. He spent the interview wringing his hands, every inch the Fleshy Grima Wormtongue next to the Mad Orange King.

    Next came an even trickier question from Bev Turner of GB News – about the importance of free speech. ‘I don’t know if you’re referring to somewhere specific’, asked Mr Trump.

    Until now, the PM had kept up a solemn pout into the middle-distance, while the Donald did most of the talking. Suddenly a look of blind fear swept over his face. ‘We have had free speech for a very long time so, ermmmm, we’re very proud about that’, he stammered.

    Just ‘had’ might have been more appropriate, given the advent of Sir Keir’s Interweb Gauleiters to crack down on whatever it is the government thinks is ‘extremism’. There was a squeal of piggy panic in the PM’s voice. He knew exactly which country the question referred to, even if the President affected not to.

    He needn’t have worried. Mr Trump answered the questions he wanted to hear rather than the ones he was asked. A question about Israel became a list of other wars. Cambodia, Congo, and, crucially, the India/Pakistan conflict. This allowed Mr Trump to do his own bit on how nuclear fallout works. ‘We’ll get nuclear dust, you’ll get nuclear dust’, he said, turning to Sir Keir. Come friendly bombs, indeed.

    ******************************

      1. straightshooter
        1h
        Trump:
        “Who are you with, because you’re asking such nice questions?”

        Bev Turner:

        “GB News, I’m with GB News.”

        1. Beebsplaining
          49m
          Starmer's modus is laid bare, to talk vague double meaning b0llocks to whoever he is buttering up, regardless of the truth , and so that it can be denied later if it turns to dust🤔
          All to cover for his own incompetency and failure🤔

          A more duplicitous rancid individual would be harder to find ,😡 but the British people have found him out and the media have it on record here.

          I would not like to be in his seat when the Donald realises 2tier was trying to take him for a patsy🤔 https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1d3786fa5a8fd7493577da5bbf0c4a8dc335afaf8d10379dcf1c36ea96a45e87.png

          2. I do hope so, Sue. Sometimes it is hard to tell with Trump (of whom I am a big fan, btw)

          5. It's Superficialkieristicduplicitousoafyes
            Even though the sound from him is something quite atrocious
            If it's said loud enough he'll always sound precocious
            Superficialkieristicduplicitousoafyes
            Um-do little-um-dittle-I
            Um-do little-um-dittle-I
            Um-do little-um-dittle-I
            Um-do little-um-dittle-I

            Because I was afraid to speak when I was just a lad
            The Police gave my Tweet a tweak, told me I was bad
            But then one day I learned a word that saved me achin' prose
            The biggest word you ever heard and this is how it goes

            It's Superficialkieristicduplicitousoafyes
            Even though the sound of him is something quite atrocious
            If you say it loud enough he'll always sound precocious
            Superficialkieristicduplicitousoafyes
            Um-do little-um-dittle-I
            Um-do little-um-dittle-I
            Um-do little-um-dittle-I
            Um-do little-um-dittle-I

        2. Pity he couldn’t hoik him out of the water and leave him on the bank to flop around gasping for air. Maybe Labour might realise there are more things than trail hunting to consider regulating.

    3. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I get the feeling the writer is not a Trump fan.

  81. The Manchester airport fracas jury is now deliberating.

    Place your bets.

    If not guilty how quickly will the compensation claim be made?
    How much will be demanded?
    How much will be received?

    If guilty how long in prison?
    Actual or suspended.

    Reasons given for any non-custodial sentence?
    Racism
    Previous good character
    Police brutality and over-reaction.

    How long before at least one PC loses their job?

    1. That woman PC should be prosecuted. She broke her nose while attempting to head-butt the suspect's fist.

    2. non custodial sentence for previous good behaviour.

      That’s pretty bad but not guilty will cause the powder keg to explode and racism/police brutality as an excuse also. We have all seen the unredacted video.

    1. It is the Scottish genes in evidence, a Scottish look; not necessarily related in the sense we understand today, but they could be 20th cousins 30 times removed sort-of-thing..

      1. Wouldn't it be something if he replaced Charles on the throne and made royalty great again

    1. Don't forget obits are written years in advance – as TL was 97, that one would have been written years ago when the writer didn't have to be so circumspect as now.

      1. Entirely agree, Jules. As I read the obit, I thought that it harked back to the era of Peregrine Worsthorne.

      2. Father in law wrote his own obit when he was at the Telegraph. – naturally before his death.

  85. Wordle No. 1,500 4/6

    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
    🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Wordle 28 Jul 2025

    Sharp-witted Par Four?

    2. Same here – I could see 3 answers and guessed right (remembering it is a US site) – I was due a bit of luck!

      Wordle 1,500 4/6

      ⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    3. Me too.

      Wordle 1,500 4/6

      🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
      ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    4. Everybody has par?

      Wordle 1,500 4/6

      🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜
      🟩⬜🟨⬜⬜
      🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      2. I wish.
        I have spent hours counting my divots
        Wordle 1,500 6/6

        🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
        ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
        ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
        🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩
        🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩
        🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  86. Online safety act – here's the government word salad response that was due days ago "The Government is working with Ofcom to ensure that online in-scope services are subject to robust but proportionate regulation through the effective implementation of the Online Safety Act 2023." Petition now at 355,309!

    1. For “robust “ read “draconian” and “proportionate “ means “we’ll be as heavy handed as we like to suppress dissent “.

    2. p.s. We will bang up all you Far/Extreme/Hard Right gammons merely for the crime of breathing.

  87. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi eat your heart out.
    Puts toddlers dipping into the dog bowl in the shade.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/07/28/toddler-bites-cobra-snake-to-death-india/

    Toddler bites cobra to death

    Two-year-old treated in hospital after eating part of venomous snake in India

    Govinda Kumar grabbed the snake when he was playing at home in the village of Bankatwa, India Credit: Times of India
    in Mumbai

    A toddler in India bit a venomous cobra so hard that he killed it.

    Two-year-old Govinda Kumar was playing in his home in Bankatwa, a village in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, when he spotted the three-foot snake and grabbed it.

    The snake then coiled itself around the toddler’s tiny hands, but instead of screaming, the child put the snake’s head in its mouth and clenched his jaw, according to Mateshwari Devi, the boy’s grandmother.

    Govinda was knocked unconscious after ingesting some of the venom, but was treated in hospital and has since been discharged.

    The snake died on the spot.

    Ms Devi said: “I was moving firewood near the house and the cobra came out. The child perhaps saw the snake moving and caught hold of it.

    “We rushed towards the boy and saw he had taken the cobra’s head into his mouth. We then separated the cobra from his mouth and hands.”

    She added: “The cobra died on the spot, while the child fell unconscious.”

    The family rushed him to a nearby health centre for treatment. He was later transferred to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) Bettiah for specialist care.

    Doctors at the paediatrics department of the GMCH Bettiah said they receive five to six snake bite cases every month during the rainy season but this was the first time they have seen such a “highly unusual case” where a child has bitten and eaten part of the cobra.

    Cobras are highly venomous snakes, with their bites capable of causing severe tissue damage and potentially death.

    Dr Saurab Kumar, associate professor in the GMCH Bettiah’s pediatrics department, told The Telegraph: “I received the child active and alert but his mouth and face was swollen because of the reaction to the venom in the oral cavity.”

    “We were surprised and cross-checked with his parents multiple times to ensure the child was not bitten by the cobra to rule out that venom had not gone into his bloodstream. They told us he bit the cobra and the snake died on the spot.”

    He continued: “The child had eaten a part of the cobra and the venom had gone into his digestive tract, unlike in the cases where the cobra bites the person and venom goes into blood and triggers neurotoxicity.

    “We gave him anti-allergy medicine and kept him under watch. As he didn’t develop any symptoms for 48 hours, we discharged the child on Saturday.”

    Dr Kumar said the cobra had died apparently because of the trauma to the head and mouth from the child’s bite.

  88. Phew – the plumbers have finished and gone so we should have hot water again in the en suite from the new cylinder.
    Then we found that we only had power in that part of the house and not in the old part.
    So J gets up on a chair and has a look in the fuse box – there are several different circuits and he labelled them all when we first moved in here. One had tripped and knocked out the rest…….. all ok now and internet is working again. We used not to have internet and computers – how on earth did we manage without them?

    2. If one circuit tripping can knock out other circuits, that box needs a hard look. That only normally happened when something is cross connected.

      1. Hi, Jack. UK distribution boards (ie fuse boxes) usually have MCBs* rather than fuses. (*Miniature Circuit Breakers). And RCDs (residual current devices / earth leakage circuit breakers).

        Sometimes, if one circuit trips, it's necessary to turn all of them off, before restoring power, then switch them back on, one by one. No idea why, but that's my experience…

    3. We used to write letters and telephone people. If we wanted to know something we looked it up in an encyclopaedia.

    4. Yay! Let's hear it for J… 😊

      In not quite five years here, I've had only one electrical problem (despite having added several sockets into the ring main – not by adding spurs – 50mm Paramount partitions make it easy to introduce cables).

      But one Saturday evening, everything collapsed. I was able to trace the fault to the main switch in the 'consumer unit'. No point in contacting the Landlord, so took a bus to Screwfix. New module ordered and collected. Slightly 'squeaky bum' time while I disconnected the CU from the live mains, breaking a lead seal on the meter tail in the process.

      I've since been 'persauded' to have a smart meter , and no repercussions re. pulling / unsealing the main fuse…

      1. We were conned into having a smart meter – they told us the signal would be switched off in June so the off-peak one (for the one storage heater in the hall) would no longer work. Anyway we put the silly display unit back in the box and at least he hasn’t had to send in monthly readings now so we’ve not noticed anything untoward. Wait till they bring in ‘surge pricing’ or switch us off at busy times……..

        1. I had no choice about having a smart meter. My original one stopped measuring the amount of electricity used and they no longer did anything but smart meters.

  89. That's me for today. Irritating morning but it ended better than it started.

    This morning, after I had made the NNUH apptmt for 5 August – another department rang the MR to fix for her to have treatment for which she had been referred – FOR THE SAME DAY and half an hour different from mine. Complete coincidence, of course, but slightly spooky!

    Have a jolly evening

    A demain.

    1. "…I assume there's a thing going on between you and Nigel…"

      Much chortling in the shires!

    2. Trump – like him or loathe him, he does at least say what he thinks, not what he thinks you want to hear.

    2. I doubt whether The Idiot King is aware that Trump is very much brighter than he is but he has a natural instinct that Trump will run rings around him.

    3. All Charlie needs to do is keep his mouth shut – and pretend to like this country and his subjects as well as Christianity. I fear it may be a bridge too far.

    5. Trump is over two years older than the Idiot King but he is far more alive and has far more zest for life.

      1. It's the repetition of energy that gets her. It is gas. Fracked gas. A technology the EU forbids because it would far prefer energy rationing.

    2. "Trump is truly the master of masters when it comes to negotiation. This deal will be studied for ages to come.

      He got every single point he wanted. Ursula got nothing. You could even see it in the press conference – she looked like she had just been raped by one of the migrants she allowed to invade Europe and was in a state of PTSD."

      Trump exposes the fact that there has never ever been a negotiator worse then Starmer who always fails to get anything that benefits the UK in any way.

      1. No wonder Trump appears to praise Starmer – he realises that the PM is a pushover.

      2. Starmer didn't care if a deal benefitted the EU. His aim was to further undo Brexit.

    3. Speccie

      The euro is on track for its steepest one-day drop against the dollar since May, as investors see the EU-US trade deal as likely to hurt the European economy.

  94. A propos my grumble earlier, busy day. Packing up work, will take me an hour to get home and looking forward to catching up on all your news later.

      1. “Holidays” with my mum and dad (which I love, but ain’t no holiday) or with my husband and his mistress (RELAX! It’s the blooming boat). My real idea of a holiday is somewhere on my own with a book and a box of wine!

        1. Just one box? Bit frugal. It's nice to have a change of scene, I agree, but it ain't a holiday. What I would really, really like is just to be alone for a long while, with no responsibilities, and the fairies majicking all the accumulated crap away.

      1. He needs to set up a 'go fund me' with the Guardian article attached.

        Manchester plod are as thick as compost.

    2. Should have been carrying a hammer and a sickle. Of course, today's plod would not understand that symbolism.

      Among my own tools, is an 18 inch machete ($6.99 locally) ideal for hacking stuff down, along with a couple of "hooks" (short handled sickles) as they were called in Essex at the time. One we dug up with our rototiller, the other came from Reeves in Maldon – which is still there per street view. On trying to buy it, their question was did I want a right handed or left handed version, as they had both. I forget what the price was, but it would have been something and sixpence…

        1. Nice. Automatics are much in favour here. The classic being the US 1911 style, but Glock and Sig Sauer are popular. The "homies" all try for Mac 10's, but they are illegal without a permit, so expensive. Favourites for drive by's, though. Stick the barrel out the car window and hold the trigger down…but only in certain parts of town…

          1. That pic is my biggest revolver. I also have another Ruger, a GP100 in 357, the first GP100 to enter the UK a loooooong time ago now. Some semi-autos, all from Walther – my 1941 P.38 is now with Firstborn, replaced by a P99 (also have a P22 and a PPK of indeterminate age).

        1. No, because the angle of the handle relative to the blade will be different.

        2. That style has an offset, just where it meets the handle. The idea being you can sweep it close to the ground while your hand remains a couple inches higher that the blade, so your knuckles don't get bloodied. The old one we dug up, does not have any offset, so you can just turn it over if you want to.

        1. Indeed. Who can forget last year, when Plod told rioting RoPers to deposit thei weapons at the mosque…

    2. "Lots of different countries" made her squirm!

      But, cringe….
      He repeated that awful, awful phrase "you saw that in Iran" saying the quiet part aloud, that US military attacks are a chance to showcase US military equipment.
      Twenty years ago, I was in a presentation where a US manufacturer was trying to sell GPS equipment and they used exactly the same phrase "you saw what our GPS could do in Iraq".
      We had an Iraqi engineer on our team who was in the audience.
      Incidentally, the manufacturing standards of the equipment were awful.

    3. Also, watch Trump's hands. At one point he is doing that satanic symbol with his thumbs and fingertips touching, as is 'Howard' on the right hand side. Nobody does that by accident.

  102. Just sat down to a nice (two) glass(es) of Merlot and a Charlie Bingham dinner. Easy peasy.
    2hrs 40 minutes from home to Southwold. It's been a few years since we last came here. What a lovely English seaside town it is.
    Seagulls are bit noisy but not intimidating.
    Lovely two story apartment, with private parking, not cheap but very modern and very well equipped. Not far from the light house and the huge parish church.

      1. My favourite beer in the 1970's, now well down the list.
        I don't know whether my taste or the beer has changed.

        1. Where I lived in East Angular (sic), Adnams and Tolly Cobbold rarely featured.

          Grenne King ruled. Working in Bury St Edmunds, Friday Lunchtimes would be spent in the Dog and Partridge – next door to the brewery – and the loation for the early Lovejoy series.

          But at home in Thetford, GK IPA was far inferior to the stuff next door from the brewery – 10 miles away.

          Now it's gone national, its esentially gnat's p1ss.

          Abbot remains OK, though…

          1. GK, down hill, gone has.
            I used to enjoy Abbot, but it's not close to what it was then.
            I've become a Harvey's man.
            As a student I had a job delivering crisps etc to pubs in Cambridge and the surrounding villages.
            By the time I finished I had drunk in every pub and college bar within the city boundary.
            A great job that paid reasonably well, but the hours were dreadful. Probably illegal now.

          2. +1 for Harvey's. Haven't seen it for some time.

            Until Surrey CC withdrew the local 3 day a week bus, I could pick it up as it returned from Guildford or Woking, and go to Aldershot.

            Short walk to Morrisons for shopping, and then to Wetherspoons for a pint or two, before taking the 16:30 bus home. I was often the only passenger, which may explain its demise.

            I now tend to rely on deliveries. The eyesight has been an issue in supermarkets. But it's improving. I went by train to Alton today – not the nearest Waitrose to home, but a short walk from the station, and larger and nicer than Guildford or Farnham. I used to call in on my return from work at So'ton. Not on Thursdays, because the only way I could get home in time to take choir practice was on two wheels. Which was fun on my 600 Hornet. Sadly, a distant memory…

          4. We drink bottled Landlord at home. proper bitter and vey traditional non of these fruit hops.

          6. Used to be able to get Abbot here, but alas, no more. The only one I have been able to find lately is Boddingtons.

          7. I have several cans of Boddington's "Draught" in the fridge as I write. It's far removed from their Bitter when I was attending block release surveying courses in Salford. But – at least the 'widget' produces a reasonable head.

            Cbeap and cheerful, in my opinion…

          8. Back in the day when I used to run pubs and night clubs, I applied for a job at Greene King. I remember the chap who interviewed me saying what an excellent application I had written (someone had even had written on the top – priority applicant)

            I didn't get the job – face didn't fit obviously.

          10. The best East Anglian beer is the superb Woodforde's best bitter, Wherry.
            The ales from the Wolf brewery at Attleborough are just as good.

          11. I don’t know when you last had Wherry Grizz, but it’s a shadow of its former self.

      2. Yes there’s a green area right in front of Inn. We are staying just a tad further back.

    2. My sister keeps banging on about Charlie Bighams meals. I've tried a couple but can't see that they're any better than own brand from the supermarket (not that I like them much either but occasionally convenience gazumps satisfaction).
      I certainly don't think they're worth the extra price.

      1. They’re just handy and easy to cook.
        And the expected flavours every time. …..

    3. My sister keeps banging on about Charlie Bighams meals. I've tried a couple but can't see that they're any better than own brand from the supermarket (not that I like them much either but occasionally convenience gazumps satisfaction).
      I certainly don't think they're worth the extra price.

    4. Lovely. We spent a long weekend in Southwold back in April. Best pub (imo) is The Lord Nelson, also try the back bar in The Crown.

      We stayed in The Brewers House at the back of the brewery.

    1. I applaud your effort It and have signed, but it won't make any difference. The state has an agenda and that is to destroy everything. It's weapon is tax.

      The Warqueen's Ascot investments were in horsies, yes, but depressingly in Dubai, where the money is going.

      2. I know, but it shows some resistance, no matter how token. I've also written to my (Limp Dim) MP.

    2. I loathe change.org – they are very nosy and intrusive so I will not sign that petition even though I agree with its intent.

      1. Yes, I agree. I don't like them, either, but I didn't tick the box that said they may contact me with news about this petition and others.

      2. i agree with you about change.org . Useless. As is that other org whose name escapes me (38 degrees? Something like that, which turned out to be Leftie, even though it pretended to be independent).

        The petitions to government are the only ones worth signing – even though the government consistently gives the finger to us all.

        They need constant reminders of how much we hate them, how much we do not support them and how much we wish that they would implement that for which we did vote.

  107. 5:00 pm here so the sun is past the yardarm…been another warm one, temps in the 30's C again. It was 27C at 6:30 this morning.

    1. It's bedtime here now, Jack. It's been good to see you back here again the last few months.

  110. I have the day off demain. I'm off to London with Big Sis to see 'Nye' in the National Theatre.
    I can't find the tickets – shall have to 'phone first thing in the morning to get them resent.

  111. I have the day off demain. I'm off to London with Big Sis to see 'Nye' in the National Theatre.
    I can't find the tickets – shall have to 'phone first thing in the morning to get them resent.

    1. Morning Elsie, you WERE up late last night.
      I’m at Gatwick, waiting to get my boarding time to fly to Bordeaux.

Comments are closed.