Saturday 15 February: Expensive and inconsistent EPCs are hammering Britain’s housing market

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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Intelligent, polite, good-humoured debate is welcome, whether on or off topic. Differing opinions are encouraged, but rudeness or personal attacks on other posters will not be tolerated. Posts which – in the opinion of the moderators – make this a less than cordial environment, are likely to be removed, without prior warning.  Persistent offenders will be banned.

Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here.

524 thoughts on “Saturday 15 February: Expensive and inconsistent EPCs are hammering Britain’s housing market”

  1. First! Good morning, chums, and thanks for today's site, Geoff.

    Wordle 1,337 6/6

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  4. 'Morning All
    Weekend Medley
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  5. 'Morning All
    Weekend Medley
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  6. Morning all,

    The depressing state of affairs in the UK has been turned around for me by knowing that the country sits on almost limitless reserves of mineral wealth now augmented by the discovery of decades of gas reserves.

    This gives future generations the option to decide if they wish to keep warm and prosper or wait for the possibility of extinction whilst being cold and poor as the asteroid 2024 YR4 gets closer.

  7. Zelensky warns Putin will attack Nato ‘next year’ as Chernobyl hit by drone. 15 February 2025.

    Volodymyr Zelensky met with US vice-president JD Vance as world officials gathered for security talks in Munich today, after president Donald Trump announced the start of talks to end the Ukraine war.

    Mr Zelensky said: “I think that he [Vladimir Putin] is preparing the war against Nato countries next year. I think so, but I don’t know, I don’t have 100 per cent. God bless, we will stop this crazy guy.”

    Lying little toad. It’s worth pointing out that anyone opposed to Trump’s negotiations is effectively supporting the continuation of the war.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-russia-war-chernobyl-trump-live-news-b2698249.html

    1. That all depends on the honourable intentions of Vladmir Vladimirovich Putin, same as the free world relied on the honour of all those conducting peace negotiations "in our time" at the end of the 1930s.

      I do really hope that appeasement works this time, but fear that when a shark tastes blood and likes it, it will come back for more when hungry again.

      1. That all depends on the honourable intentions of Vladmir Vladimirovich Putin…

        Morning Jeremy. It is not dependent on his honour at all. Unlike the Third Reich, Russia, as can be seen in Ukraine, lacks the means to attack Europe. There is no way that it could prevail. Putin knows this.

          4. Old dogs new tricks I’m afraid.. But Im getting more confident of going straight down with a bit of a wiggle. Managed to exceed the Welsh speed limit x2 but thats not too difficult these days.

        2. I’m not sure you are right there. He has suggested unleashing ICBMs in the same spirit Soviet leaders did since the time of Stalin. I am banking on the Cold War not warming up any time soon, but that requires some level of deterrence. Putin has also made no secret of his desire to regain lands lost after the breakup of the USSR, not least Georgia, Moldova, the rest of Ukraine and the Baltic states. He may have designs too to re-establish the Warsaw Pact if America loses interest in NATO.

          It was a pity that Russia invaded in February 2022. Putin was already well on his way, through trade connections with the EU and Britain, to making Russia indispensible in any future pan-European relationship, if only through cheap oil and gas and Russian investment in European industry and property. He was also gaining ground through his social conservatism with those disgruntled with the woke alternative.

          Bombing your way to domination is a lamentable way to go about foreign relations.

          1. I suspect his actions date back to the west's attitude toward Russia during the 1990s.
            Rubbing people's noses in their failure is not a good idea. To put it mildly, Putin's behaviour is not laudable, but it is understandable.
            After Gorbachev's realpolitik, Yeltsin was prepared in his rather shambolic way to work with the west. A lot of goodwill was thrown away in the desire to pose as the winner.
            Russia is ruthless and unsentimental, but it is a Christian country and harbours no illusions about the peaceful ones.

    2. I raise a smirk when the warmongers say that Vlad is going to go for a European land grab. First, he has plenty of land and resources, second, I doubt that he wants to take over swathes of mad slammers with poor driving skills.

      1. I'm trying to think what on earth Europe could give Vlad that he hasn't got already.
        Other than several million pig ignorant hating slammers to leech off the Russian economy and maim and slaughter their citizens.

          1. The history of relations between Russia and Ukraine are long, complex and bloody.
            I wish the west would learn to leave things alone; admit there are things they do not know.

    4. A couple questions: Firstly where is the missing US aid money – some $100Bn that America says it sent and Zelensky says he doesn't know where it is? Secondly – just who was operating the drone that hit Chernobyl?

      1. Just who was operating the drone that hit Chernobyl?

        A False Flag if ever there was one Bleau.

    5. Interesting that the "Save poor Ukraine" individuals conveniently overlook the actions of the Azov Brigade in the Donbas region.

          1. But it won#t really be drained – the same people will stay in power. Even if they end the Fed, they’ll just set up another mechanism that allows the same clique of ultra rich bankers to stay in charge.
            I wish I could be more optimistic, but I have yet to see a great rebel figure fighting against woke who isn’t compromised.

  11. Good morning, all. Overcast but brighter to the east. Dry.

    British and Americans are not two people separated only by a common language.

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    2. Good morning! Very good. The church notice isn’t American. Americans call their mobiles cellphones. In the US a mobile is something you hang up in a nursery.

  12. Good Morning!

    Today Nanumaga summarises the adverse effects we are likely to face from the Labour Regime’s vindictive attack on farmers, which will damage the environment, reduce food supply and the quality of food, and which takes us a step further down the road to serfdom. The attack on farmers is an attack on all of us – ‘ The Green Version of ‘ The Law Of Unintended Consequences’ .

    Yesterday’s plan for the mass repatriation of immigrants and their caused some controversy. Read Mark Shaw’s An immigrant Resettlement Scheme if you missed it and let us know if you think its viable and necessary, or the opposite.

    Energy watch 07.30 Total generation: 31.483 GW from: Hydrocarbons 52.4%; Wind 14.5%; Imports 7.2%; Biomass 9.7% and Nuclear 13.7. Solar: 0. UK demand: 30.83GW, UK generation 29.18GW.

    Even though demand is low, and we have more than enough capacity to generate more electric power in gas plants, we are still importing electricity. It almost seems to be compulsory to import electric power from France.

    2. Was speaking to the widow of a farmer this morning. She’s very worried about what’s going to happen.

      1. Rightly so Conway. The plan is to transfer as much farmland to the State and/or Big Corporations as they can.

  13. Good morning all.
    A dull and misty start to the day after yet another rather disturbed night.
    2½°C just now after yesterday's high of 5.3° and an overnight low of 2.1°C.
    At least it's not raining!

    My disturbed night was not helped by someone pulling up on the corner and putting their 4 way flashers on in the small hours.
    I couldn't see when was going on when I looked out of the window, but Grad.Son said it was a pickup with a hood over the back and a blonde woman got out of the passenger side of the pick-up to squat down beside the vehicle and reliever herself!!!

    3. I slept pretty well last night. The only lights we see here in the night is the milkman delivering. He comes Tuesdays and Thursdays. But this Thursday gone for some reason instead of our usual two pints of whole milk he left us two pints of skimmed. I had to buy a carton with the shopping yesterday. Skimmed is just about OK in tea and coffee but I wouldn't want it on my breakfast.

      2. I prefer full cream for cooking. In fact (be prepared to gasp) I find the UHT full cream produces the best milk puddings.
        n.b. Stir in sugar after contents have cooked to avoid the dreaded caramelisation.

      3. Skimmed milk is an utter and pointless abomination (it is the equivalent of catpiss lager instead of proper beer) If my milkman had done that I would have sacked him.

  16. Morning all 🙂😊
    A Lighter shade of grey today and still chilly.
    EPCs something else the political classes have effed up for the British public.

      1. From the pictures of those in the audience -it seemed to me they were thinking as one…: "Who will relieve us of this troublesome Trump?!"

        Morning Mr T and all….

      2. From the pictures of those in the audience -it seemed to me they were thinking as one…: "Who will relieve us of this troublesome Trump?!"

        Morning Mr T and all….

  18. 401715+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Saturday 15 February: Expensive and inconsistent EPCs are hammering Britain’s housing market

    Doesn't really apply currently to the ground floor indigenous Brits EPCs & likes concerning energy is =to put another jumper on.

    New builds regarding social housing seemingly built by immigrant labour FOR immigrants all the while the social housing for indigenous is in being, the truth being the replacement campaign is in dire need of rooftops.

    The shut down of the DOVER invasion front and the
    reorganizing of the Countries border force with indigenous English only personnel,would turn this Countries fortunes around in the first week of being in place.

    A nation must have the WILL to survive, to survive.

    1. I'm not so sure about "Starmer Out". But I'd certainly like to see him suspended.

      On a rope, alongside Blair.

  20. And a future problem stirred up by the usual over pedantic self important 'poking around' idiots. Will be with the many thousands of people who have loft conversions and extensions and have thermal foam insulation throughout.
    Because of the fire at Grenfell, these over reactives have decided that the insulation was to blame for the fire.
    Nothing else but.
    The same insulation that has been very popular and used in nearly all of the above.

    1. Strange isn't it , that the idiot class governing us from Westminster say that pointy knives should be banned etc, when the problem is staring us in the face , a different culture and religious sect is causing havoc and many deaths .

      Do you remember when another group who were responsible for thievery , creating dirty chaos , fighting and many other crimes gun crimes , poaching etc They were given protection and were allowed to pitch up whenever and wherever .. Local councils employ special liason officers who receive huge salaries in order to maintain social cohesion .

      Who will protect us , no one is protecting us , why because we are are mostly white Protestants and Roman Catholics who are being put upon abused and accused by the Woke brigade .

      1. Anarcho-Tyranny.
        The government has lost the will and ability to govern peacefully with a light hand, so it cracks down on the law abiding majority and makes their lives that little bit more difficult. A ratchet effect that demoralises people as they no longer understand whether or not some arcane law has been broken, so they restrict their lives to be on the safe side.
        Our votes and money support this official bullying.

      2. 401715+ up ticks,

        Morning TB,
        What will come about is a form of
        local protectionism as in the blade runners for instance,mainly in the protection of children & women as more eyes are opened to the REAL state of countrywide domestic affairs via, in the main, to its open border policies.

      3. They can't handle the truth TB. It's pretty obvious to even the most ignorant of persons including the mob in Wastemonster, knives are usually for food prep and cooking even eating and are intimate object until a raging lunatic gets hold of one and uses it inappropriately.
        Cars are also reasonable safe until the same type gets behind the wheel. And as the London mayor kindly took time to explain, the reason shoplifting as increased massively. Is because there are too many shops. As usual the 'they' can't seem to accept they are wrong and have made disastrous errors resulting in the wrecking of our culture.

      4. Reform party membership is now heading towards 210,000….. These folk, having committed £25, will I'm sure become very active when elections come around….

  24. It has been one hell of a week. "Interesting times" I think it is referred to, or "annus horribilis" condensed to a couple of weeks.

    Already, folk here know the 2CV I have driven for thirty years was condemned by the restorer as beyond economic repair, and he is making the retrieval of the stripped carcass, along with its valuable spares, as traumatic as possible, with extra charges and quibbling. I have then bought a replacement 2CV, which actually turned out quite well. The seller was honourable and fair, and the car is in good condition with only a few minor faults, and remarkable given it is 42 years old.

    Yesterday, another bombshell long anticipated went off. My mother was not answering her phone, so I called my brother-in-law who got a neighbour to investigate, and it is she who found the body, lying peacefully in a warm bed listening to Radio 3. She was 99. My sister is now arranging the funeral, and without thinking arranged for her sister-in-law to do the eulogy, if I sent a few notes by email for her to read out. I have known my mother for nearly seventy years, perhaps I should be allowed to speak at her funeral? It bodes ill for future sibling disputes over legalities, not to mention my sister employing a jobsworth solicitor to get Revenue & Customs to make my life hell and the lawyers rich. It is something that I must endure, as all bereaved people must, but it doesn't make it any easier.

    I really did not want to be alone last night, but that is not something I can avoid. No longer can I spout off my troubles to my mother, and have only God to turn to now.

    Then, as with the car, I get other news balancing out the death in the family. After thirty years of silence, I hear from my son and learn that I am a grandfather. At a stroke, the generation moves on, as one drops off one end, and at the same time, another joins at the other.

    2. If you wish to speak at your Mother's funeral do so. No one can stop you.

      Sorry about your loss but also congratulations on becoming a Grandfather. Life is bitter sweet.

    3. Holy Smoke. What a mixed bag of events.
      I am so sorry for you – especially given that family tensions hardly make a traumatic time any easier.

      1. It’s been a Sword of Damocles hanging over me for a decade. My mother knew all too well how my sister takes advantage and is quite unsentimental about screwing others to get her own way. It’s the way things are done these days. I knew this back to childhood, when she always got out of the washing-up because “I have to go out to play with Jacqueline”, and much later when she sold the flat in London for well over a million that my parents allowed her to run her school from rent-free, and then my mother gifted to her in 2010 in order to avoid Inheritance Tax. She took all the money herself and bought a house with it. Neither my mother nor anyone else in the family got a penny.

        Whatever my mother said she wanted, and that was equal share of the estate to all the siblings, I dread that my sister will employ a solicitor and insist on her share of half the property still belonging to my mother, worth a fraction of the old school, which is jointly owned by me and would normally pass to me automatically, and also insist that I pay all the taxes and legal fees out of my share of the legacy. She will also make sure that her solicitor gives incomplete information to the authorities ,deny any claim for anything she received out of the estate and I would have to pay. If I dispute this, she would simply freeze me out. She knows I am vulnerable, and it works in her favour to take advantage.

        Many times my mother said that she would put things in order, but it seems that even the Executor she appointed didn’t agree to it, and it’s all a terrible mess.

        If I am ruined by my sister, then really what is the point of staggering through old age an emotional cripple?

    6. God be with you, Jeremy. Get angry with Him and cry. I do it often. The Almighty has very big shoulders. I was feeling crap this morning but having submitted the daily readings to the NHS monitoring team, I’ve just received a reassuring phone call.

    7. I’m so sorry for your loss, Jeremy. A blessing that she went so peacefully and in her home. The family squabbles will happen but be strong, and if you want to speak, then go for it!
      Congratulations on being a grandfather! There is the future, and we’re here for you.

    9. Sorry to hear about your mother, but at 99 not, I presume, unexpected.
      And congratulations on being a grandfather.
      You're one up on me in that respect!

    10. I'm sorry for your loss, Jeremy. That's hard, so it is, but congratulations on becoming a grand-dad!
      If God is being somewhat reticent, opening your troubles to Nottlers can prove beneficial, with all the experience and kindness.

    11. Condolences and sympathy, Jeremy – these things are always a shock when they happen, even when you know it is likely any time. Your mum sounds as though she had as comfortable a completion of her life as is possible. Regarding the funeral, I think you should have your say as well if you wish, tell your sister that you would like to do that this once, you won't have another opportunity (actually I know someone who did do the funeral service twice, but that is another story). And your mother, I am sure, would like you to have the opportunity to say something about her if that is your wish.

      Congratulations on becoming a grandfather – indeed the circle of life continues.

  25. I liked this comment re the DT letters.

    Matthew Biddlecombe
    24 min ago
    Question.

    If haven't been involved in the house buying market since we bought our current home, in 2005; long before EPCs were introduced. So my question is, if you were entering the housing market today (and it's something we maybe faced with having to do sometime in the next two or three years), would a poor EPC rating be a deal-breaker for you?

    I'm interested in what others think here, especially those younger than my 71 years. This next move will be our last, and possibly the shortest length of time we've lived in one house so a poor EPC rating would not be a priority for me. How do others feel?

    I don't care about so called EPC ratings ..

    I am happy that our home is well ventilated , I am a windows open person , and am dreading the summer when the heat of the sun makes our South facing home very uncomfortable .. we have NO upstairs central heating , four upstairs bedrooms , 3 with dormer windows and another large room with 2 Velux .

    Our home is sort of T shaped .. we have insulated lofts and my goodness the warmth can be a problem .

    The fifth bedroom on the ground floor is a cool room .. and has a ceiling fan as does the dining room , and we have large portable fans which we use as and when .

    Our home is not modern by todays standards , but it retains the heat , despite being spacious ,we had cavity wall insulation 20 years ago and replacement double glazed windows .. we can still breathe .. many modern homes have small windows and are suffocatingly hot ..

    The idiots who insist on high EPC ratings have not thought about their new religion of climate change where everywhere in the UK has become a bit warmer .. modern houses are smaller , tighter and not very airy ..

    That is the reason we are avoiding the thought of down sizing .

      1. When we finally give up running our courses when I hit 80 we shall not need a house with ten bedrooms and 2½ acres of garden any more.

        But it was our first home which we bought for £55,000 36½ years ago when it had just 2½ bedrooms, an eighth of an acre of garden and a ruin in the garden.

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0b34a7012a9e68bea937de4ddfa94e40ab06023ecc9e955c6e7381e44dd1723f.jpg
        and here it is now – and we don't want to move!

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/07f013da01d3a3ed9ecb547676215da42e24ba018591e80ca8edce0552ddbc1c.jpg

    2. You can buy a reflective film you put on the inside of your windows. It blocks a lot of the sun's heat and doesn't obscure the view.

    3. Quite frequently we see people who live in properties with a lot of mould around areas which are obviously not well ventilated. Usually due to complete ignorance. I would stick my neck on the line and state that not one of the people who contributes here has ever had black or another form of mould growing on any of the internal structures in their homes.
      The problem is that the people shown on tv moaning pathetically about it, have obviously never bothered through lack of commonsense, to remove it. Or even sought to find the reason why it has occurred.
      Like so many other things currently going wrong in the UK at the moment.
      It's always everyone else's fault.

      1. The first Winter after my conservatory was built i did notice some black mould spots on the frames. I cleaned that off and bought a dehumidifier.

        I think the type of people whose homes have large mould growth are the type that expect someone else to deal with it rather than get the bleach out and do it themselves.

        They only really need to ventilate the room properly. Though i understand their are problems with poorly built homes.

        1. You cleaned it off Phiz.
          Which is something that does not appear to occur to those who make the complaints. I suspect they are asking for compensation.

        1. And dry their clothes on radiators, tell them to ventilate and they thing you are stupid.

      3. We had black mould in our north-facing kitchen for years on and off. It seemed to start after the first winter we moved in, after we relocated the boiler from the kitchen. We got a dehumidifier which sorted the problem, but it did collect an inordinate amount of moisture from the atmosphere, its tank needed frequent emptying. Then! – a revelation occurred. After being in the property for 25 years, we decided we needed a new kitchen. Underneath the kitchen sink, and carefully tucked away, was the source of the moisture-laden atmosphere and black mould – for all those years we had had a slowly dripping pipe into the ground. We still use a dehumidifier in the kitchen from time to time, it is a useful thing to have around, for instance the humidity level in the kitchen today is 66% (outside it is 91%).

    4. We're moving/downsizing on 24th February to a bungalow. The state of my knees has made it a necessity.
      The EPC was the least of our worries as it's an obscure methodology and would, no doubt, require a lot of expenditure for very little gain if any.
      Or current home is a D but could be made a C. We've been here for 29 years and have installed LED light in most of the house. The surveyor for the purchasers gave it a glowing report apparently. E have updated many things over the years and this was remarked on by the surveyor.
      We will miss this beautiful home of ours built in 1939.

      1. It’s younger than my house. 1935 mine. Suits me. Open fires, solid fuel central heating, a good throughput of air (aka draughts). What’s not to like?

      2. I wish we could downsize, , but I don’t think we have the energy . There is also a shortage of bungalows , all mostly converted to houses!

        I just need a good excuse to have a good clear out . We have lived here for 25 years .. Moh was not retired then , but we needed to be nearer his job and decent roads .. we are in a village which has expanded hugely since we moved here , we were the youngest in our lane , and now we are the oldest.

        Elder son lives with us .

        1. It has been stressful but we don’t have much further to go. We’re only moving from one side of the village to the other side. Still costing an arm and a leg but necessary.

  26. Rachel from accounts reminds me of a woman called Katy Thorogood. Here is her bio on the True North Productions website. Note it states she had a commissioning role at the BBC. I worked with her in BBC Programme Acquisitions. She was the invoice clerk. She wasn’t promoted. She lied on her CV when she left to go to Discovery and one of the Prog Acq execs went along with the lie in her reference.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8a253a5a8938f02ca3ab55866e19aa2915f5b553922547584e54855b5dafc1b8.png

    1. Writing CVs is an art form! A friend of mine had a very impressive CV – everything he said in it was true, but the overall impression was considerably better than he deserved; for example he had indeed been "second in command of a Royal Navy warship" but the vessel concerned was among the smallest in the fleet and only had 2 officers!

      1. Twenty or so years ago I wrote a relative's obituary. He was sent on his journey a highly respected man with the congregation, which was my intention. No lies were told, but I was economical with the truth…. for example "in his fifties he studied for an open university degree…" No-one knew he had dropped out, never completed the course. There are sundry other examples in that obituary as well. Uncle George, I did you proud.

      1. 401715+ up ticks,

        Afternoon R,
        Bit of both, a pessimistic realist, as in the current stance of England being a great lack of WILL to resist.

  28. At one of the schools in which I taught the Careers section in the Library was next to Fiction!

  29. Good Morning all etc, so forth and so on.
    Here's a video that I enjoyed.

    The Greatest Things England Has Done for You – And Yes, We’re Proud!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4FWhbLdda4
    And I assume someone has already pointed it out. Tommy Robinson has now been in solitary confinement for over three months for a civil offence. They have now cut off all contact with the outside world. He is not allowed visitors, not even his family, or allowed phone calls. No communication of any kind. This has to be a violation of human rights, surely? At this point it has to be illegal.

      1. Hallo Pip. Have you listened to the "Coming British Civil War" posted below yet? This guy, God help us, gives us 5 years or less. Most of us, I suspect, will be still alive by then but not able bodied enough to survive it.

        1. Yes. It's why i have built up a stock of precious metals so i can bribe my way out of the country.

          1. Where to? I suppose I could always go back to the USA. But I don't know how that would work out as an invalid. So I suspect I'm stuck.

          3. Malta isn't yet over run so that would be my first choice. Plus i know locals there who would help.

          5. Where to? I suppose I could always go back to the USA. But I don't know how that would work out as an invalid. So I suspect I'm stuck.

          6. Where to? I suppose I could always go back to the USA. But I don't know how that would work out as an invalid. So I suspect I'm stuck.

  30. It's cold outside today. Renewables going toe-to-toe with the Interconnectors. It's comforting to know that we have a secure energy programme.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a8ea291e784c03b45c672910c437ccffee1b9edcec7cebd9aa62525829724d4c.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b87bde4d95e2f58e79bfad2bd641dd2cf4c1659dae075a1177d8378a8ff728a4.png

    Meanwhile, Lincolnshire in the news of late. Miliband is planning to cover vast swathes of this county's farmland with solar arrays for energy production whilst a decade's worth of natural gas has been discovered.

    Egdon Resources, an oil and gas exploration company, said the potential resources were first found in the Gainsborough Trough sedimentary basin during drilling in 2019.

    The company has now claimed that, following an assessment by Deloitte, the gas resource could supply more than 16 trillion cubic feet of gas and create up to 250,000 jobs.

    Sir Edward Leigh, the Conservative MP for Gainsborough said: "I'm very excited and I'm not going to dismiss it."

    The gas is buried about 2km underground in shales and sandstones. The field stretches across parts of Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire.

    Mark Abbott, the chief executive officer at Egdon Resources, said: "Modelling estimates that if this was developed it would generate a GDP contribution of £140bn and up to 250,000 direct and indirect jobs."


     Lincolnshire Gas Field

    Reeves, the promotor of jobs, growth in the economy and more money in people's pockets, should be champing at her bit to get the go-ahead to exploit this find. Just think how many more walls she could find to piss this money up against!

    What does good old Ed, he of the Stone, think of this boon? Will there be some Cabinet in-fighting over what to do, or not what to do?

  35. Shark bites off tourist’s hands as she tries to take selfie on Caribbean beach
    It is understood the 55-year-old had one of her arms amputated below the wrist and the other half way up her forearm. Canadian apparently ….. (Tourist not the 6' Bull Shark)

          4. You don’t get a Darwin Award unless you are temoved grom the gene pool ie deceased, but this probably qualifies for a noble mention.

    2. The Canadians are the worst tourists ever! My husband had to rescue a very drunken one trying to drown herself off a beach in Cuba!

  36. Who could possibly wish total destruction on Liverpool FC's beloved football stadium? – I asked my Everton supporting friend!
    https://scontent-cdg4-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/330969496_1172415326789984_1590252633679514510_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=G4yNOm_pIYAQ7kNvgGTt5YG&_nc_oc=AdhrZrwf1G5j0Y_Lijujsyn9EEZDk4cd3ukAymXBh3EmoUFB-IC_KgfVkSE2BuNpK1hu1tR-3yH0aILOBYQFn7Wi&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-cdg4-2.xx&_nc_gid=ACH6YG-f7uv8FSp1qrqd7Fu&oh=00_AYDYZLn1_FAV529E7593oYTCFNj77i5fVXVxIBiYZMdNHw&oe=67B637D9

    3. "I do not want these men on our streets, I want them deported."

      While you're at it, I also want the twats in government deported alongside the invaders.

  38. The BBC has gone into overdrive on the Munich speech by Vice-President Vance, declaring him and Trump cowards surrendering to Putin's illegal invasion of a peaceful country and ally of the EU. What would we do without the erudite and impartial reporting of the world's greatest broadcaster?

    We needn't worry about the Americans withdrawing the $175 billion aid to Zelenskyy and his friends because the EU, led by Prime Minister Two Tier Kier, will more than make up for it and, in addition, will sent British troops, tanks and artillery to relieve the hard pressed peasant conscripts currently retreating from the areas occupied by the Russian invaders. It may cost the taxpayers a lot of mula but it will be worth it.

        1. We have elections in Shropshire. Once true blue it’s gone limp dim and Labour. Hopefully it will go reform and I will be reelected on the UKIP ticket.

    2. If/when Starmer decides to deploy our military to the Ukraine we will have to see what appears in its stead. Plenty of idle hands lounging around the Country. Just saying.

    1. Well said L C Eff; surely Davey should have learned to keep his gob shut, given his record and rank hypocrisy!

    3. And when the nasty little twerp wants to drivel on about democracy I would like to hear his opinion on:

      2024 General Election:

      ……………………….Total Votes ……..Seats
      LibDem ………….. 3,519,214…………. 72
      Reform ………….. 4,117,610 ………….. 5

      Reform received 598,396 more votes than than the Lib Dems

      Come on Davey for many years your party has demanded PR – you are rather quiet about this now!

    4. And when the nasty little twerp wants to drivel on about democracy I would like to hear his opinion on:

      2024 General Election:
      ……………………….Total Votes ……..Seats
      LibDem ………….. 3,519,214…………. 72
      Reform ………….. 4,117,610 ………….. 5

  40. When my internet connection dropped out on the 9th January, I was indignant enough that the provider (TalkTalk) couldn't get an engineer out for five days (that included a weekend). It took five weeks and seven visits from engineers (theirs and Openreach's) before I was back online. In the last week or so I had the loan of a smartphone so I could at least pick up e-mail but almost a month of relying on Radio 4 and the newspapers to keep in touch with the world was, well, just like 1999. Before I acquired the phone I was making trips into town to use the terminals in the public library, no longer a place of quiet study but a madhouse full of jabbering derelicts and unruly children.

    My PC is my tv, radio, newspaper, postal service, encyclopaedia and more, so I was stuffed without it (yes, I know, eggs in one basket). I shall have to review my circumstances. The first will be to get away from TT, whose support lines are bloody useless and manned almost entirely by unintelligible foreigners. During this saga, I was told it wasn't possible for them to book an Openreach engineer because I was on an old copper-wire contract so would I like to upgrade to a new fibre service to get my line back?! FO to that: "I'm paying you for a service you're not providing me with and you want me to discuss a new contract in the middle of a support call?"

    The Openreach engineers were convinced that the fault was in the house, TT's that it was outside. I had two new routers sent by TT; two of their engineers also tested new routers that they had brought with them. Still that sullen little orange light was blinking away. Who was I to believe? How could four brand new routers be faulty? Yesterday's Openreach engineer spent more than an hour at the local exchange, and tested the line between there and the TT server. No fault there and a good signal to the house. "It's got to be the routers," he said. Off he went but not before he'd sent a scathing report to TT.

    I called TT again, using the chatline on the phone (this is better than talking to Ali & Co, believe me). I got the usual "is everything plugged in properly" spiel. I asked, as I had done several times before, why my connection dropped out at the very time (in the small hours of Jan 9) that TT were doing an internal systems upgrade that overran by several hours. Mere coincidence, I was told. While I was waiting for a response, I thought of something the Openreach engineer had said in the morning about power supplies. I pulled an old router power adaptor out of the desk draw and swapped it for the new one…

    You know what happened next. Even as I was reading what was coming back from the TT chat line (one Yasir Arafat, honestly) I saw out of the corner of my eye a white light flash briefly on the router, almost so brief that I thought I had imagined it. Back to blinking orange – and then after pause of a few seconds that seemed like an hour, white, white, white, a brilliant sight! Who could have thought something so ordinary could be so exciting. TBH, I don't know whether it was because of the change of the adaptor or that the router had finally found my ID at TalkTalk's server but I cheered loudly.

    That lovely bright blue-white light is still shining. I shall be treating the kit like a Ming vase for the next day or two.

    1. What a saga! Glad you're back, albeit, I imagine, with reduced tooth volume.due to the grinding…

    2. Join the club. I have the misfortune to be a TT customer and have had similar problems. They have lost a payment and keep cutting me off. I am ditching them as soon as I am out of contract. They are the most complained about provider of broadband. Make a complaint to Ofcom about them. It will add to the volume of evidence.

    3. Know anything about Starlink? I think that system would only go down in the event of catastrophic failure. But it is expensive. Hopefully it will get cheaper. They claim that all you need is clear sky's. £75.00 per month. You can even take the "router" with you.

      1. All I know about Starlink is that access to it is restricted in parts of Ukraine, Canada has cancelled a contract for it as a response to US import tariffs and some satellites have fallen out of the sky.

    4. Two very good, but completely unrelated, friends of mine (one in London, the other in South Wales) report a catalogue of issues with TalkTalk over a number of years. Notwithstanding that they remain with them and still — incongruously — tolerate the number of times they are without (or have a seriously depleted) 'service' from them.

      1. I returned Elderly Chum to BT when I discovered TalkTalk were charging her twice over for the same calls.
        When her brother was terminally ill, she was persuaded to get a mobile.
        From then on, until I realised what was happening, every call she made was billed twice over. Trying to sort it out – particularly as she was so distressed by her brother's death and her own perceived stupidity – was too much hassle. So back to BT she went and we cut her losses.

    5. When I was training in the GPO there was a bible called The Engineering Instructions.
      It covered every standard that had to be met for the provision of a UK wired telephone service from exchange planning down to installing internal domestic wiring of extension plans.

      Developments in handset technology and optical fibre together with digital exchanges as a replacement for the old analogue system have led to the involvement of numerous subcontractors using OpenReach and computer servers as the system is finally implemented as an internet based telephony system using a router.

      There are now too many opportunities for buck passing when installation failures occur and the customer ends up having to sort it all out.

    6. I could feel my blood pressure rising as I read your spiel.
      Why is everything nowadays so blasted complicated?

    7. "The first will be to get away from TT…"

      I recommend Zen Internet. Top ISP according to Which?. I've been with them for over 10 years, and the only time I've lost service was for a few hours when there was a fault on the line at my local telephone pole. I think I remember speaking to their customer services once when they rang me to point out that there was a cheaper way to increase my usage allowance rather than by buying extra download usage (which I had been doing) by instead changing to an unlimited contract. Apart from that I can't comment on their customer service because I've never needed to call them.

  41. Would this state of emergency require a super democratic suspension of democratic elections to protect the mighty democracy in Germany?
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/25c700226f7555313893a06f896039b7c9f614c0e08e67fed7efba3f1b16be94.png
    The first measure taken during this state of emergency would be remove all traces of JD Vance or anything he may or may not have said from the public record.

    Anyone referring to a speech which did not take place will be arrested and interned in a maximum democracy gulag.

    3. The main consequence for Germany was of course the destruction of the Nordstream pipeline which gave them cheap gas to run industry.

    5. Apparently this was just a joke / terribly serious fake news / misinformation according to one's point of view.
      The last Chancellor to do that was seemingly an Austrian one, so someone is taking the p.

  42. Well, went out and did a bit before coming in for a mug of tea.
    Then got ready to go out, realised it was raining, so didn't bother.
    Another day of that damp cold that sucks the warmth from your bones!

    2. Today is a actually colder than yesterday. Bloody cold wind.
      Spartie and I felt very virtuous when we went for our walk.

  43. Afternoon all. Went to look at the Battlefield window this morning. Fifteenth century painted glass. Very interesting, and badly in need of conservation. I coughed up for coffee and cake and two raffles plus a card of the bit showing a dog gnawing a bone. They need 44 grand but I have done my bit. When I got home there were shredded plastic bags on the kitchen floor. Winston got another dressing down. That isn’t Kadi’s MO at all so he got a cuddle and reassurance while Winston was ignored. I think a spell in the crate is looming for Jaws.

    1. Hello Conway, as Bill suggested , Beagles require an immense amount of exercise .. as their noses are down as they scent a trail, any trail .. and they are incredibly greedy .

      1. Yes, I had noticed. We are going for longer walks (although my SIJ is protesting). Clearly he is used to going in a crate as when I got out the one I got for Kadi (but didn’t need) he went straight in. He’s now lying down, resigned. He is certainly a good trencherman.

          1. I'd need the space to put one! Better to go out around the area. Unfortunately because of all the building, there are fewer fields to run in.

  44. During my absence from here, which I thought would last days, not weeks, I made a note of some news stories for later discussion but you've probably done most of them to death by now. Nevertheless, there are a few worth posting.
    _________________________________________

    1. The Times Wednesday, 15th Jan.: "Jewish loyalty questioned by 40% of Britons"

    Almost 40% believe Jews primary loyalty lies abroad, said the article. Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, said antisemitism had increased since the Hamas attack of Oct 2023.

    Tut, tut. Jetting back and forth from dangerous Zion to safe London. I wonder which other ethnic and cultural groups split their time between here and the lands of their ancestors. I doubt their 'loyalty' to the welfare state UK will ever be questioned.
    _________________________________________

    2. The day of Trump's inauguration.

    BBC R4 news at 6pm had its regional reporters editorialising like mad over Trump. None had even the slightest good word; equally, none asked how it came to this. They were blind to the state of not just the USA but the western world. Jeremy Bowen ended up by calling him a disruptor and 'wrong to be a climate change sceptic'.

    There was genuine fear in the voices of some of them.
    _________________________________________

    3. Trump's comments on the Washington air crash and the suggestion of 'woke' recruitment being responsible provoked the BBC's truth department. "We will investigate his claims!" Get over yerselves! And try not to be quite so literal and credulous.
    _________________________________________

    4. A doctor has been jailed for sabotaging petrol pumps for JSO. Standing trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, Bristol-based GP Patrick Hart, 38, was given a 12-month sentence for damaging 16 pumps at Thurrock services on the M25 last August.

    Hart blethered on about the catastrophe facing mankind, finishing with "I will continue to fight against the death sentence of fossil fuels for as long as I have strength in my body. I have no greater duty as a doctor at this moment in history."
    _________________________________________

    5. The Stockport Slapper's suggestions for more local government reorganisation – regional government by the back door? I'm sure a case can be made for some smaller district councils being combined into bigger unitary authorities but this should be on a case-by-case basis. I sense something else going on here, especially as Andy Burnham has been appearing on the media, praising the wonders of Greater Manchester. The last thing we need is powerful city statelets.

    1. Maybe Dr. Hart would like to put in the odd appearance at his surgery and see to those benighted creatures who guarantee his income.
      Patients: remember them?

  45. So the European liberal left establishment are now facing their just deserts , they all stayed quiet during the election steal in 2020, they all followed the obvious false flag insurrection narrative and hoped Trump would be jailed, now they all face a taste of their own medicine as the Trump administration exposes their totalitarian agendas as ways of oppressing their own populations to accept nation state self harm and be cancelled for trying to speak out against open borders, net zero and loss of national identity.
    For the first time in decades something positive is happening for those that believe in free speech and an end to the madness that has befallen the West

      1. It just confirms, as if confirmation was required, is that this creature is certifiable insane.

  48. Woohoo with knobs on.

    "The couple said they had chosen to ignore the words of their friends, family and the Foreign Office because they 'believe that, no matter where you are in the world, most people are good, kind humans striving for a meaningful life.'

    Dr Foreman continued: 'Yes, we’re aware of the risks. But we also know the rewards of meeting incredible people, hearing their stories, and seeing the breathtaking landscapes of these regions could far outweigh the fear.

    'From the vast deserts of Iran to the towering peaks of Pakistan, we hope to share the beauty, hospitality, and humanity that often go unnoticed.

    'We’re carrying your love and good wishes with us, so stay tuned for updates from this unforgettable part of our adventure.'"

    With a predictable outcome. (In addition to wasting the British embassy's time.)

    A British couple being held in custody in Iran as they motorbiked across the world are in a 'distressing situation', their desperate family have said.

    Craig and Lindsay Foreman, who are in their early 50s, were arrested in January on unspecified security charges.

    The news was first released by state-run media who said they were being held custody in Kerman.

    1. It's very difficult to find any sympathy for this pair.

      Cancel that. It's impossible to find any sympathy for this pair.

      1. Precisely. Particularly after that stupendously ungrateful cow cost us £400 million to get her back.

      1. It is tragic, though, isn't it, Ndovu? Like those naive young women who travelled to Morocco and were found raped and beheaded in the mountains, along with numerous other similar recent (and not so recent) events too numerous to mention.

        I was like that, in my day – peace and lurve etc., but I was (with hindsight) lucky. These people weren't.

        Anyway, things are ramping up.

        1. A common thread on those attacks appears to be the predominate religion in those areas. Almost as though predators lie in wait for the unwary.

          1. We all know what that common thread is, Ndovu. Many years (decades) ago, I was kidnapped in Tunisia (I had no idea what was happening, or why, so full of peace-and-lurve was I). As I say, I was lucky. The fool on the hill.

  50. I read earlier that a couple of brits were arrested in Iran last month and have been held since. They e were motor biking across the world to Australia.
    Perhaps the Iran would like 500 of their own people back from the UK and send those innocent people on their way to enjoy a new life in Oz they wont want to come back to live here.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/british-couple-detained-in-iran-are-named-as-family-significantly-concerned/ar-AA1z6NoU?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=5eb16b423f164c7bd6064bc158b1d69e&ei=59

      1. The silliest thing to me,is that we still believe that it is Starmer running wrecking the country

        Look at the initial lot WEF, NWO, WHO Davos

        Soros Gate, Milli Twit

      1. No it won't, the usual BBC brainwashed rump of the population will believe the whole story – because the government wouldn't do anything as wicked as that!

    5. We done matey 95% of the British public are behind you all the way.
      They probably started all the other country wide out breaks deliberately as well.

    6. Well, it was certainly true with the Blair Government. The cull was brutal and unnecessary (and based on the – even then – disgraced mathematical modeller Neil Fergusson's fake rationale). If you remember (I do) it was an extremely useful means of subjugating both the farmers and the fuel price-hike protesters that were becoming a thorn in the side of the Blair regime. Worked like magic, because decent people expect government to be decent. We are now exposed as gullible fools.

      Please do not let this happen again. It was unutterably brutal and unnecessary – and totalitarian.

    1. Apparently his welcome is wearing thin in his own country. So, mercifully, we will see the back oh him in the not to distant future.

      1. He should have been out of office last May, I think, but with martial law all elections are suspended – bit like TTK's removal of local elections here, and possibly the election in Germany?

      2. A colleague of mine is (Russian speaking) Ukrainian. I have not discussed it with him, but I detect a marked lack of enthusiasm for returning to Ukraine and dying for Zelensky.

        1. Ukrainian is just a dialect of Russian. It takes more than a hundred years to develop a unique language? It took nearer a thousand years for English to evolve.

          1. I believe William Wobbledagger is credited with inventing 400 new words… I've only invented one back in 1976….

          2. "Russian speaking" was a polite way of avoiding saying exac tly where he is from…it's a pro-Russian part.

    1. They are trying to do that in Canada and farmers have to cope with real wolves and bears over here. The government plan has hit a few snags such as no agency being prepared to take in the confiscated firearms.

      Apparently the only safe guns are the pistols illegally smuggled in from the US.

      1. We surrendered all our rifles during the Blair years, as it just became too onerous to fulfil the criteria for keeping them, and anyway we didn't use them much if at all. We are now down to a shotgun and a 410. locked in an impenetrable vault as the rules decree, and I doubt that either of us knows where the key is kept.

  54. I saw that as well hopefully they'll quickly get hold of plenty of spares. And cartridges.
    This government are all vile lunatics.

  55. Hopefully it won't come to that Rastus, commonsense might take over the running of this country.

  60. House of Lords discussing the Armed Forces Flexible Working Week
    After many years of budget cuts and underspending the MOD reluctantly decides it is time to introduce a 4 day working week across the Armed Forces. They duly send out a communication to all three services highlighting the plans to move to a four day working week three months hence. The very next day they get back a response from the Army Top Brass ' There is no way the Army can conduct all of it's operations and carry out all our responsibilities effectively if we are forced to move to a 4 day working week. This decision must be rescinded'. A few days later they get a response from Navy Command ' We cannot possibly function efficiently if we are forced to move to 4 day working week. The decision has to be reversed'. 6 weeks later they get a response from the RAF ' What's all this shit about working overtime?'.

      1. But only during nighttime, we will need daytime to recharge the batteries of our green the equipment.

    3. My only working week promise, (in my lotsa years in the Senior service), is that I would not do more than 168 hours.total

      Crossing time zones wou d be ignored

    4. I imagine the Forces were confused. It's the MoD that's moving to a 4 day week. Of course, no one will notice. It's barely worked a 2 day week for decades.

  61. So we DO have a blasphemy law………….
    "Hamit Coskun, 50, from Derby, has been charged with “intent to cause against religious institution of Islam, harassment, alarm or distress” during an incident near the consulate in Rutland Gardens on Thursday."

    I had a Google of the name to see where in the world it was from and it happens to be a Turkish name. So a Turk was protesting outside the Turkish embassy

    "Moussa Kadri, 59, from Kensington and Chelsea, has also been charged with causing actual bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon.

    He was bailed and will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday."

    2. The muslim will get away with it and the bloke making a point will get hammered.

      The coran has no place in the UK. If muslim don't like this, they should leave.

    3. And lots & lots of votes to be garnered which is why all three mainstream parties have turned a blind eye to abhorrent practices….

  63. Well the weather has certainly not improved.
    Had a bit of lunch just before 1ish and then went back to bed for a while and feel a bit better now.

    Radio 3's Sound of Cinema has a special on 100 years of Ron Goodwin, one of my favourite modern composers.

      1. It will end in an hour. The boys do go out in rain/snow for comfort breaks. But they don't linger!

    2. Not surprised; it's been darn cold here with a bitter wind.
      Our walk carried a heavy sense of duty.
      Anyone would think it was winter.

  66. Michael Deacon does it again.

    "This trans drama is the most embarrassing thing the BBC has ever made
    Waterloo Road, which is back on BBC One, has a new storyline about a transgender teenager. And you won’t believe how crass it is

    The new series of Waterloo Road – BBC One’s long-running drama series set in a secondary school – features a character who is transgender. Nothing remarkable about that, of course. This is the BBC. All its programming is required to be rigorously trans-inclusive. The next series of Planet Earth will probably feature a non-binary rhino and a genderqueer giraffe.

    What is remarkable, however, is the storyline that this trans character is given. Because, in the entire 103-year history of the BBC, I cannot believe that it has ever produced anything as mind-bogglingly crass.

    The storyline goes as follows. Lois (played by Miya Ocego) is a male teenager who identifies as a girl. And in episode six of the new series – available on iPlayer now – he visits a care home to see his dying grandmother, who suffers from dementia. Wheezing and gasping, the old woman just about manages to summon the energy to greet him. In her confused state, however, she accidentally addresses him as Jake – the name he was given at birth by his parents – instead of Lois, the name he now chooses to go by.

    How do you suppose he responds? By brushing it off as an innocent slip by an elderly woman with Alzheimer’s, who is in the final hours of her life, and therefore probably deserves to be cut a little slack?

    No. Instead, he is aghast – and spends the rest of the episode tearfully fretting that, even though his grandmother had always previously addressed him as Lois, she never truly respected his gender identity.

    “What if she never saw me as Lois at all, and she was just pretending?” he wails to the headmistress. “What if the dementia didn’t make her forget – it just brought her true self out?”

    In the circumstances, you might expect at least one of the other characters to give him a clip round the ear, and snap: “Seriously? Your grandmother is literally on her deathbed, and all you can do is bleat about how she inadvertently misgendered you? You pathetic, cossetted, whining, sociopathically self-absorbed twerp. The poor woman’s got Alzheimer’s. She probably can’t remember her own name, let alone whichever pronouns you’re insisting on today. Anyway, it could have been far worse. She could have said: ‘Jake, I’m really not sure that mini-skirt suits you. I mean, you’re over six foot tall.’”

    This, however, is the BBC. So instead, all the characters automatically take his side, and offer him their most heartfelt sympathy for the pain his grandmother’s mistake has caused him. The headmistress even praises him for his “bravery”. It’s staggering. The makers of the programme plainly wish the audience to applaud this nauseating display of narcissism.

    Thankfully, the episode does at least have a happy ending. When his grandmother dies (mere hours after his visit), Lois finds that she’s left him an envelope full of photos of the two of them together, which she has labelled “Me and Lois” – thus proving that she respected his gender identity after all.

    Which is a relief. Because if she’d written “Me and Jake” instead, he’d presumably have tried to have her posthumously arrested for hate crime.

    Why the Left is wrong about immigration – and Paddington
    Stella Creasy, a backbench Labour MP, has criticised a new effort by the Home Office to deter illegal immigration, on the grounds that such an approach would have denied UK citizenship to Paddington Bear. A peculiar argument, yet she is far from the first to make it. Soppy liberals often cite Paddington in defence of lax border controls. “How Paddington in Peru Promotes Message of ‘Kindness’ to Asylum Seekers,” read a headline on the Sky News website last November.

    This sort of drivel, however, is not just vomit-inducingly twee. It also misses the point of the Paddington stories. This is because they aren’t merely about immigration. They’re about the importance of integration.

    Right from the start, Paddington makes painstaking efforts to follow the customs of the country to which he has migrated. Before arriving in Britain from his native Peru, he has gone to the trouble of learning English fluently. Indeed, he’s so determined to speak like a true English gentleman, he often sounds quaintly old-fashioned: “I beg your pardon”, “I must say”, “Thank goodness”. He also adopts traditional English manners: endlessly doffing his hat, for example, and saying “sorry” even when not actually at fault.

    In short: he loves Britain, and wishes to live exactly like the British do. He does not march through the streets of London calling for global jihad. He does not drive a schoolteacher into hiding for showing insufficient reverence towards his holy book. And, no matter how long you spend hunting through the considerable oeuvre of Michael Bond, you will not find a story entitled Paddington Joins a Grooming Gang.

    Does everyone who has arrived on these shores in recent years share this fictional bear’s enthusiastic commitment to integration? Sadly, not quite all. Hence the new Home Office guidelines that Ms Creasy so deplores.

    Mind you, even if Paddington were a machete-wielding, drug-dealing, terrorist-sympathising child-abuser, I doubt it would hamper his prospects. All he would need to do is tell the deportation tribunal that he couldn’t possibly be expected to survive without English marmalade, and the judge would let him stay."

    1. Lefties refuse to acknowledge the basic fact: you cannot force people what to believe by outlawing everything they do. Hitler tried this and exterminated a culture. Pot tried it too. The fascist Left here aim to do the same thing. Hate no hope want to control what you see and think.

      None of them realise that the more you force an attitude, the more people reject it. Suppress their right to refuse it, punish them when they reject you, but you cannot change their minds.

      Yet saying that Orwell proves you can. Covid proved you could. People are weak. The Left are not proving themselves right or getting anywhere in their insane crusade. They're simply abusing people. Just as Lefties always have.

    2. They live in a childish world of fantasy. Note how they don't fixate on successful real-life immigrants: because such immigrants usually vote Tory or Reform.

        1. I'm in hospital at this very moment, Sos. It's a planned procedure to repair an abdominal hernia. There's also scar tissue from previous surgery which the surgeon wanted to tackle to remove some adhesions and make it less unsightly. Unfortunately, a planned 2 night stay is drifting towards 11. A Monday discharge is now the target. Two days after the surgery I began vomiting green bile. A CT scan later that evening revealed a bowel obstruction. A build up of gas was impairing normal function. It must have been a big one because normal function only began to resume yesterday afternoon. Today confirmed that all is now well. The surgeon's next ward round is on Monday morning and he won't discharge me until at least then. In the meantime, I've been restricted to a diet of liquid and soft food. Soup, jelly, yoghurt, custard, creamed potato in gravy and porridge, in various daily combinations, have had to suffice, along with water, tea and coffee. On the other hand, the surgery itself went well and I've had a somewhat longer recovery period here, rather than at home, so it's not all bad. This, plus a long weekend away from home before hospital admission, largely account for my prolonged absence on this occasion. Anyway, thanks for your thoughtful and kind comment.

          3. Ouch.
            I’m pleased you seem to be on the mend and hope Monday will see freedom.
            Let’s hope nothing else crops up.
            Good luck.

  67. Wordle No. 1,337 4/6

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

    Wordle 15 Feb 2025

    A catchy Par Four?

    2. A few choices here.

      Wordle 1,337 5/6

      ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
      ⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
      ⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    3. Same here, that's two fortunate pars on the trot!

      Wordle 1,337 4/6

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

  68. 401715+ up ticks,

    May one ask,

    Is there any truth that the political mobs bookkeeper has got the gooner?

      1. And stolen – I were born on't North Yawkshire Moors, tha' knaws. So, it's most appropriate!

      1. See all, hear all, say nowt
        Sup all, eat all, pay nowt
        And if tha' ever does owt for nowt – do it for thissen…..

          2. Yup. Born in Ilkley, raised in Nigeria & Leicestershire, Lodnod, … so, some kind of mongrel.
            Been in Norway since 1998. They are quite Yorkshire-like here, so it's comfortable.

          3. I really like Ilkley – a few years ago we had a fantastic meal at the Box Tree – even better as my brother (who lived nearby) was paying!!

          3. I was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, 4G, just nine miles from the border of the old West Riding. My family DNA is 50% Yorkshire, 25% Derbyshire, 12·5% Nottinghamshire, and 12·5% Galway.

          4. Ahh, a Spire-ite! I’ve driven past the spire on a number of occasions, never been in though…..

          5. Spire-ite by birth. I was born in an old Victorian workhouse (“Please Sir, I’d like some more!”) which became Scarsdale Hospital.
            By inclination I have always been an Owl (Sheffield Wednesday are my team colours).

          6. Wednesday are another team with a great heritage that have fallen on hard times – I’m a Blackburn Rovers fan myself and I still go to the games with my sons and grandson, like my old man used to take me and my boys (but we were winning the League then!).

          7. There is a photograph (on today’s thread) of me standing with my brother, both clad in morning suits, standing outside the Crooked Spire. I was best man at my brother’s wedding in that church.

          8. Yes, just seen it – great photo (I’m assuming you’re the one on the left?) – outside the Crooked Spire? That’s excellent!!

  70. Off here tomorrow, St Editha's Church, Baverstock.

    The Church of England parish church of Saint Edith is dedicated to the Wiltshire saint Edith of Wilton and stands on the brow of a slope facing south across the Nadder valley. The building is from the 14th and 15th centuries, with restoration in 1880–1893 by William Butterfield. The building is Grade II* listed. The tower has a ring of three bells, two of which date from the 15th century. Today the church is part of the Nadder Valley team ministry.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3b6991254e08ed20634b7c2632a8f8820bbfed234da2010e00d78c49ba5ee29f.jpg

    1. Do you attend a service on these visits or do you merely tour, photograph, and contemplate?

      NB I use "merely" as a description, not as a criticism.

      1. I tend to avoid organised worship as it just isn't my thing. However prayer and contemplation in these places that have been in use for a thousand years or more can recharge your batteries.

        1. Spot on. And that excellent rule applies no matter which Christian country (remember them??) you find yourself in.

          The MR and I have had spiritual uplifts in France, Germany, Italy and Spain (as well as Syria). Especially if one happens by chance on a church where the organist is practising.

          1. I also worry that I won't be able to contain myself if I start hearing Woke political rubbish.

          4. Indeed. I have removed yellow and blue ribbons from the doors of a church before now because I won’t allow them to politicise the House of God.

          5. That last little throwaway remark is very applicable, Bill.
            I got my love of the Ave Maria from Lewes Cathedral, where the organist was practising in an empty house. Dear Lord, but the emotion was so strong, even though he (I'm guessing here) would have to stop and repeat a phrase or two. Somelow, the lack of perfection made it even better.

          1. I feel the atavistic thing in those places, sos, but in places of worship it is deeper and more profoundly peaceful (sustainingly so), for me

          2. I have a slightly weird hobby.
            I like to visit churches to look at the stations of the cross, paintings, sculptures, monuments.
            We’re lucky to have a particularly good set very nearby.
            Unfortunately the link doesn’t show them, but if you ever visit the Dordogne it’s worth a detour and the local restaurant is excellent and very good value:
            https://bistrotpresbytere.fr/
            https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89glise_Saint-Pierre-%C3%A8s-Liens_de_Queyssac#:~:text=L'%C3%A9glise%20se%20trouve%20au,humaines%20dont%20un%20personnage%20barbu.

        3. The atmosphere and captured experience and emotions in the building must be close to overwhelming.

          1. It is a bit off my beaten track, down here in Dorset but that looks like a beauty and one for the note book.

      2. John Betjeman was a very keen visitor of churches as we learn from his poetry and he was never happier than when doing so with a lady friend.

        In the wistful Cockney Amorist, he laments that he will now visit churches to pray rather than to look around them as he did before his inamorata left him.

        The Cockney Amorist

        Oh when my love, my darling,
        You've left me here alone,
        I'll walk the streets of London
        Which once seemed all our own.

        The vast suburban churches
        Together we have found:
        The ones which smelt of gaslight
        The ones in incense drown'd;
        I'll use them now for praying in
        And not for looking round.

        No more the Hackney Empire
        Shall find us in its stalls
        When on the limelit crooner
        The thankful curtain falls,
        And soft electric lamplight
        Reveals the gilded walls.

        I will not go to Finsbury Park
        The putting course to see
        Nor cross the crowded High Road
        To Williamsons' to tea,
        For these and all the other things
        Were part of you and me.

        I love you, oh my darling,
        And what I can't make out
        Is why since you have left me
        I'm somehow still about.

    2. I know it reasonably well, a very beautiful church. Absolutely fabulous ceiling decorations. Good photographs on Google maps.

    4. What a beautiful, modest Church. I'd love to hear them ring the bells.
      You lucky person!

  71. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/15/hundreds-charged-speech-crimes-jd-vance-warns-civil-liberty/

    As usual, the minister is lying. The online harm bill was designed specifically to protect the muslim, to stop the truth of their murderous, violent savagery getting out. It was designed to control who could say what with threat.

    I'm sick and tired of their appalling lies. The state forced the diversity pollution on us for reasons no one understands – they have brought nothing to this country.The harm bill was just another desperate, nasty extension of the rest of the control system effort: the hra, the equality act, the community act, DIE, woke – it's all the same weapon to suppress freedoms – of all sorts, not just speech – and dictate how people can live. Plain, blatant fascism.

  72. That's me done for this cheerless day. Snow has stopped but it is just a dank, wet, white mess.

    I'm sorry that Mr Vance didn't linger in Munich to elaborate face to face with the eurocrats and panicky politicians what he said in his address.

    Have a jolly evening – three minutes to wine o'clock.

    A demain. One hopes.

    1. I am rather taken by his speech, read The Times report. All the Eurocrats running for cover – they don't like it when someone speaks anything that goes against their narrow minded self satisfied views.

    2. Yes, I thought he was totally excellent.

      It appeared that he wasnt using notes, but I dont know that, can anyone confirm?

    3. Brilliant that he didnt mention the war. The generals and politicians must be livid. Their game is up.

  73. Rumours of a cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday.

    Out looney Marxist Bridget..
    Rachel from complaints.. given face saving option to resign.
    Lammy the Oaf? shifted to somewhere safe.
    Litha Nandy ith jutht too thick even for the back bentheths.
    Ed Millipede stays getting his own back from being bullied at school.

    2. Miliband would certainly have been a bully's bullseye at school. Probably what makes his outlook on normal life so distorted.

        1. I can remember the odd bully at school and I remember their targets. Bullies are cowards that prey on the weak, but sometimes the weak seem to egg them on. Crazy world.

          1. Girls are worse, mola, if that's any comfort.

            On another note, my husband who, unlike me, went to boarding school where mediaeval practices reigned, sees what I would regard as brutal bullying as harmless banter that toughens one up (and certainly NOT homosexuality)

          3. (Cut off prematurely)

            …all used to be single sex), education apart, were hotbeds of juvenile homosexuality. I'm not pointing a finger at anyone, it's just that I believe it. I know we have a fair amount of boarding schoolers on the forum and perhaps they'll put me right.

          4. As said in my post above, mola, this is apparently not "actual" homosexuality, just a bit of mutual blah – or in the worst case scenario, erm…

          5. Sorry, I went to a boys' grammar school, and left early due to a bastard young teacher trying to to touch me up.

  74. Boring.. yawn..

    This weekend's stabby attack comes from main square of Villach, Austria.
    One dead, four injured.

    Stabby is a lone mental wolfie from Syria.
    Kitchens.. sharpies.. North Face back packs & AfD to be banned.

  75. Boring.. yawn..

    This weekend's stabby attack comes from main square of Villach, Austria.
    One dead, four injured.

    Stabby is a lone mental wolfie from Syria.
    Kitchens.. sharpies.. North Face back packs & AfD to be banned.

  77. Here's one for you. Discussion here… when does a paw become a foot (the limb extremity, not the dimension)?
    Is it when the animal walks not just on the "finger" tips but also on the heel?

    3. Aren't paws a subset of feet? Furry and without a heel, it feels like to me.

      Excellent question! 🤣🤣

          2. My first firms/work Christmas Dinner 16 years old. I had one too many rum and blackcurrant drinks. I made me ill. I’ve never touched it since 🤔🤗

    2. The NHS is so over-funded and super-efficient – saving so many lives as it does its job so well (envy of the world, dontcha know) that it needs to spend its spare capacity on pandering to stupid women's vanity requirements. Some expand and reduce the volume of their breasts time after time until they get it quite right – than their taste changes, or fashion changes – and here we go again. Taxpayers' money well spent.

    1. What does she like?
      I tend to get a small, silly pressie (homemade pasta, for example) and something that means something: quality jewellery, for example, that has significance.
      It's all very personal, difficult to help. Especially with not knowing the lady.

    3. Brother got me a birthday Financial Times from the day I was born. Still have it. A bit faded now, and so is the newspaper!

    5. Poppiesdad bought me a farthing pendant of the year I was born (1947) 'Heads and Tails' the company is called. I love it. Also, a girl can never have too many pairs of earrings…..!

      1. No you’re right, I’m not sure how I worked it out 49.
        Something to do with the couple of bottles of Dorset Rogue I suspect.

        1. Well, 2049 would make Bar(r?)on Trump 42/43 years old which is still on the young side, although he does seem to have a wise head on young shoulders. POTUS 49 i.e. in eight years’ time would make him 26 which is far too young.

          2. Indeed he was. But looked what happened to him. An older head may have deemed it to be wiser to have kept some thoughts unsaid.

          3. If DT succeeds in his mission to clear the swamp perhaps BT (no, not you Bill) will be a lot safer

          4. I think Trump (the Donald) has become a lot safer following the wise appointments he's made. There is now an infrastructure that is not dependent upon just one brave man. There is now an army.

          3. I'm just hoping that the more Spartacuses (Spartaci?) there are, the less easy it will be to assassinate any of them. That is my hope.

          4. I'm just hoping that the more Spartacuses (Spartaci?) there are, the less easy it will be to assassinate any of them. That is my hope.

    1. The repetition is so utterly depressing.
      Do you have to be Catholic for God to listen to Ave Maria's?

      1. Thank heavens that God has infinite compassion and patience. One could easily imagine Him getting a little testy with many of us else.

  84. Mum would have been 95 tomorrow.
    I quite miss those clips around the lughole***.

    ***I was still getting when 50 but had to bend over to receive them because otherwise she couldn't reach.

    1. My Mother is 96, GQ, and daft with it. Lives in a lovely care home. As I have ever since 1981, I call her every week, and now she doesn't really know who I am – she's polite, as any well-brought up lass would be, but there's no real connection. The weekly call is emotionally hard, I have to say.
      I'm sorry for your loss. Maybe a clip round the lugg in your deams tonight?

      2. Your premonition didn't play out then…although there are a few hours left of today. Im safe from the slopes, so it wasnt me either!

    2. If Zelensky was offered the choice:
      Front line fighting for him and all his relatives, or sue for peace, what do you think he would choose?

      If politicians want to go to war, they and all their immediate family should be sent to the front lines.
      I doubt war would be quite as popular a policy decision.

      2. I'm not sure I agree with that sos – I mean, in the Falklands war you would have sent Maggie to the front line? Oh, hang on, that may not have been that bad an idea……

        1. I don't think that Maggie would have flinched. A very interesting thought experiment. None of the subsequent PMs would have been brave enough to lead in any physical battle. in my opinion. Blair, for example, sent the lads into danger and certain death and then moved in for the photo ops and Muslim adoration once the battle was won and the danger over.

      3. That’s how it used to be. When Ferdinand and Isabella fought the Reconquista, they rode side by side ahead of their troops. Michelangelo’s patron, Pope Julius II, lead his troops into battle.

          5. She did behave rather oddly, though – yet I do like that about her. As I said – a Goddess consort

          6. She keeps everybody guessing…… doesn't reveal what she really thinks. She looked splendid in the evening dress too.

        2. I think the last English Monarch to go into battle was George II at the Battle of Dettingen in seventeen-forty-something.

          1. Yep.
            George II, at the age of 60, was the last British sovereign to fight alongside his soldiers, at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743 in Germany, against the French.

          2. I was at one of our distribution centres at Ashafenburg and it was at the edge of Dettingen battle field. The Germans that worked there were not in the least bit interested.

  86. Just watching an episode of Vera. It's quite emotionally disturbing. Good acting… beautiful scenery, love the accents and inflections. I'm afraid, it made me tear up something awful.
    The bottle of wine I had this evening might be part of that problem.

    1. I like Vera, always lots of false leads. Sadly the last series has been completed and shown in UK.

    2. A good sauvignon blanc makes me terribly nostalgic. Red doesn't have the same effect for some reason.

      1. If you want to go beyond the nostalgic and get seriously maudlin, pm, then I can recommend gin, in any form, in excess. Works like magic.

        2. ……. I know…… but by then, with gin, (in excess) I am usually too inebriated to do anything about it! With sb I am likely to start making phone calls and writing emails….!

          1. Arrgh! I know that too well…unplug phone and disable "send" or (worse) "send all" button before consumption. Do listen to the beautiful Ave Maria I have posted below, Pops, it is so very cleansing and soothing to the soul

      2. Opposite for me, PM.
        Worse, if I can get a Sicilian red – makes me think of my beautiful friend Elaine, who lived in Sicily and killed herself late 1990s. That always breaks me up. Husband and small son… I can’t get past it, although it’s not logical.
        Sorry. Best go to bed. It’s been lots of stress this spring.

      2. Sorry to hear this, Sue. I've been 'offline', in a manner of speaking, and your comment was the first to make me aware of this.

        1. His executor, Judith posted this on his Facebook page earlier this evening.
          "Judith Ewing — Tom Hunn ·
          I don’t know any other way to inform Tom’s Facebook friends than through here.
          Sadly Tom passed away, peacefully, on 30th January in Dumfries Royal Infirmary when his heart finally let him down at the age of 80!
          RIP Tom!
          I am Tom’s executor, if you wish for any more information please message me."

          1. Thank you, Jules. In my mind, I've been likening Tom – funnily enough – to a cat. He's had narrow escapes before. I guess he had reached the end of his last life. It wasn't a very happy one for him. Finally, he is now at peace.

          2. He was very lonely at Moffat. He didn’t make friends with the other residents. I think we were his friends here.

        2. His executor, Judith posted this on his Facebook page earlier this evening.
          "Judith Ewing — Tom Hunn ·
          I don’t know any other way to inform Tom’s Facebook friends than through here.
          Sadly Tom passed away, peacefully, on 30th January in Dumfries Royal Infirmary when his heart finally let him down at the age of 80!
          RIP Tom!
          I am Tom’s executor, if you wish for any more information please message me."

  89. Goodnight, all. Just got to stoke the Rayburn; the hot water bottles are already warming the bed.

      1. Winston got a flea in his ear when he tried my bed out for size! As I say to my dogs, “I don’t sleep in your bed and you don’t sleep in mine!”

  92. Well, chums, I'm off to bed now. Good Night all, sleep well, and I hope to see you all tomorrow.

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