Saturday 26 April: It will take more than the threat of harsher sentences to tackle antisocial cycling

Posted on by Geoff Graham

An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its commenting facility (now reinstated, but we prefer ours),
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.

437 thoughts on “Saturday 26 April: It will take more than the threat of harsher sentences to tackle antisocial cycling”

  2. Good morning chums, and thanks to Geoff for today's new NoTTLe site.

    Wordle 1,407 4/6

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    1. Good morning Elsie and all
      Painfully slow at wordle this morning…!
      Wordle 1,407 5/6

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      1. You cannot trust any of them. You have to try and find someone who will do the least damage.

  6. Starmer to rent homes for Channel migrants. 26 April 2025.

    The Home Office has launched a drive for landlords to house asylum seekers following a surge in Channel migrant crossings.

    Yes. They will soon be turfing out the residents to house them. The worst of this madness is that it is utterly futile. There is simply insufficient housing to accommodate everyone who wishes to come. The collapse when it comes will be total.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/04/25/starmer-to-rent-homes-for-migrants/

    1. He's just a completed his dreams and obvious aims, driving the nail in even harder by the day. How long before any couple with more than one bedroom is forced to take in invaders. Not migrants as he called them.

      1. They will do it with money.

        If you have a spare room and take in a migrant we won't raise your council tax.

        If you don't take in a migrant we will triple it.

  8. Morning, all Y'all.
    Brilliant sun, not a cloud in the sky. Not even one of sulphur dioxide, put there to "limit the glowbawl warming"

    1. BTL Comment:-

      Comment by FirstName LastName.
      58 min ago

      The housing for migrants story is not news. Firms including SERCO and Mears have been dangling big carrots at any and all landlords for a number of years, now. I recently saw that the local authority here is actively seeking accommodation for them, too. (Had me wondering if the domestic homelessness scene has changed at all.)

      1. When I have watched Homes under the hammer , BBC daytime TV .. I am always deeply shocked to see Asians and Africans and those of a different colour hue bidding at house auctions and buying up masses of properties ..

        Back to the Rachman era beckons or is here already .

        Moh and I know that when we got married and had to rent for a while in Southampton ( His ship was Portsmouth based ), renting was nightmare , and properties were thin on the ground , we rented 2 flats poor quality in just over 6 months , the landlords were foreign nasty people.

  10. Victoria Giuffre took her own life on her farm in Western Australia. Aged 41.
    Poor lass. RiP.

    1. I wonder what all that about a car crash and renal failure was about recently. A lot of mental health issues there.

      1. I think she was denied access to her children and used that as a ruse to see them. She did sound desperate.

        A very mucked up and confused woman. RIP

      2. Poor girl, I don't understand her thought processes .. I mean she was 17 years old , was she simple minded to have got involved with all that sex stuff..

        She looked so sweet and innocent , and not a typical floozy .

        RIP Victoria.. All that publicity would have ruined anyone .

    2. A troubled soul obviously but the message being put out is that she suffered a lifetime of abuse. She was 41 and married for 22 years, the trafficking happened when she was about 17. I think there was quite a lot we do not know about her life. I suspect the breakup of her marriage had more to do with recent events rather than those in her younger days. But who knows.

  11. Victoria Giuffre took her own life on her farm in Western Australia. Aged 41.
    Poor lass. RiP.

  12. Good morning all.
    A cool 7½°C this morning and a dull and overcast start to the day.

  13. Good morning, all. Hazy sky at the moment but the forecast promises clear sunny weather later. That is, of course, if the sunshine restricting people aren't working their nefarious magic.

    Earlier I noticed two close and parallel "trails" hanging across the sky.

    Here, Dr John Campbell airs his thoughts on "dimming".

    https://x.com/jomickane/status/1915794597529166227

    1. Sun dimming was a way of British life for decades, but it wasn't experimental. Chimneys belching smoke into the sky was the norm.

      1. All that sulphur dioxide belched out, now cleaned up to the great benefit of the environment … oh!

  14. SIR – Graffiti in public lavatories (Letters, April 24) often used to be witty.
    Unfortunately, thanks to a decline in educational standards, this has been replaced by crudeness.
    I don’t regret the loss of these facilities, even though my age means I now need them more.

    Tony Manning
    Barton on Sea, Hampshire

    I know precisely what you mean on all your points, Tony. I can recite a few examples of very witty graffiti from years ago, but most of it is not for a family audience.

    As for declining educational standards, this has been vividly apparent over the past few decades and it is getting progressively worse. Just look in any newspaper, television programme, or social media. Homo imbecilus has supplanted H. sapiens all over the planet. Listening to the witless conversations that routinely take place in the street give you irrefutable confirmation that the species is beyond help.

    Last night I watched an American film from 22 years ago and not a single obscenity was uttered. I have watched a number of current offerings on the telly and it seems that every one of them has to be routinely staccatoed by obscenities, even teachers and pupils in school routinely exchanging them without an eyebrow being raised.

    Teachers are getting more and more stupid and, in turn, their pupils' gormless idiocy reflects this. I shudder to think how moronic the world will be in just 50 years time.

      2. William Shockley had some sensible things to say about this. Got him into no end of trouble.

    2. "I feel I must write a complaint on this wall: The seat is too high and the hole is too small"

      and underneath in a different handwriting

      "I feel I must give the obvious retort – your bum is too big and your legs are too short."

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

      And does everyone remember the ubiquitous, universal: Kilroy was here?

      On on an otherwise clean white lavatory wall was daubed: Shout hooray and sing for Joy : I was here before Kilroy

      to which the response was:

      Sorry to spoil your little joke. I was here but my pencil broke. Kilroy

      1. "It's no use standing on the seat … the crabs in here can jump six feet!"

        Written in tiny lettering on the bottom of a cubicle door were the words: "You are now shitting at 45º"

        1. "It's no good going in the one next door – the crabs in there jump six feet more".

    3. The graffiti in the ladies' loos at the old Liverpool Street station were an education in themselves.
      Thinking back, there were no spelling mistakes, so let's hear it for the old elementary schools.

    4. Perhaps they're hoping the climate change apocalypse will have destroyed mankind by then.

  15. Good morning, all. Grey and dreary start. Chilly, too. No sign of the "heatwave",

    Managed to smash my right foot against something hard while going to the loo in the dark, Doesn't half hurt.

      1. Caused by the metabolism of asparagusic acid, a sulfur-containing compound found in asparagus.

      1. The toes have it, Conwy. And, of course, one keeps knocking the injured toe against things….{:¬((

          1. Oh – we have those. Couldn’t manage without! I was just careless and only half awake.

  16. SIR – It seems I may be guilty of some offence, since I don’t eat my daily dark-chocolate Hobnob with the chocolate side facing down, as recommended by Anthony Coulson, general manager of McVitie’s (report, April 25). Instead, I carefully snap mine into quarters while holding it over my coffee. This way, any crumbs are captured safely and not wasted. I can only apologise.

    Peter Bull
    New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada

    I can confirm, Peter, that eating things "upside down" certainly does have its benefits. Prior to meeting my former wife I ate filled cobs (rolls, baps, buns …) the "right way up". When I noticed that she routinely turned them upside down before enjoying them, I asked why?

    "Isn't it obvious?" she replied, "The smooth crusty (often glazed) top of a roll is the best bit and holding it upside down means it engages directly with your tongue and not the roof of your mouth when you take each bite. That way you get to directly taste the best bit instead of missing it."

    I started to follow her example and I still eat my rolls upside down for that same reason.

        1. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/90c03260c32c0af9e7aacc1fa76416bb9756f514bf13fe1a671aff306e8b1a25.png Just yesterday I indulged in a small amount of carbs to accompany my high-fat, medium-protein solitary meal of the day. I air-fried two decent-sized fatty pork chops until the meat was meltingly tender and the crackling was crisp. I coated them with Colman's English mustard and then with a pork-beef stock reduction with fried onions. I made a small rösti from just one small potato and fried it in my tiny blini pan in ghee. I topped that with a small spoonful of apple sauce (made from a grated Granny Smith with butter, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper`). A spoonful or two of peas finished the dish. I enjoyed it immensely.

          3. Indeed I do, Mr Effort.

            Problem is, every time I do some bugger from Revenue & Customs eats them!

          11. They're not worms, they're fried onions, Ndovu. You are a silly sausage, and if you don't behave I shall have to send you to the naughty step! Lol.

      2. Most of what I post about food is historical. I rarely eat bread these days but, since my diet is low-carb, I indulge myself once in a while with a cob (roll …) filled with lots of bacon and bacon fat).

    3. I find mastication moves the food around the mouth while eating the roll the right way up while doing a handstand.

  19. Morning all 🙂😊
    Labour skies and weather totally, cloudy no sunshine wind and no further outlook.
    Cycling seems to have become a weaponised war on the pedestrian public. People in cars obviously have an advantage. But no consideration for others seems to be the case and probably 95% (which is a lot) win the no bell prize.
    Only a couple of weeks ago we were walking over a pedestrian crossing in our village, one family with a child in a pushchair. A male cyclist came barging through the middle of us. How stoopid can these people be ?

      1. I think it's has become some strange type of mental health issue, dressed up in the hi viz helmet on and going into battle.
        Even some with cameras.

        1. Given the age of many, they appear to be men who've become aware of their mortality.

    2. I had a similar experience the other week, only it was two young lads who gave me a mouthful of abuse when I pointed out it was my priority.

      1. Same thing happened to me Conners a few years ago, when I was walking our dog along an old railway line. Dog was very familiar with the walk as I was. She was off the lead in front. This pratt (not all of them) rubbed my shoulder as he raced past from behind me. No sound no warning bell. After I shouted after him he told me to put my dog on a lead. I told him what he could do.

  20. Disappointed to discover that Lineker is not presenting "Dispatch of the Day".

    I'll get me chasuble.

    1. Has he got a throat infection ?
      And keeps Coughing ?
      I'll get me Liturgical vestments…..

  22. Out early, for us, as it’s our Bowls Club open morning when we hope to attract new bowlers.we are normally very successful. Last year 30 people had a 25 minute taster session with our coaches and we got 20 new members from those.
    As a club we buck the trend of clubs losing members and closing.

    2. You are obviously doing something right.

      Do you have a good retention rate for new members?

      2. Yes we do have a great retention rate. Where the club is is next door but one to The Red Lion and there’s a school at either end of the High Street. We also have a very good Publicity Officer.

        We station a couple of players at the bottom of the slope to coax passers by into trying bowls and then people like Alf at the top of the steps,to welcome and chit chat a few moments with about two dozen members all in club kit around the clubhouse to chat to everyone. Then people take down names and details so we keep track of the order in which they all arrive and six qualified coaches to take them out onto the green. All really well organised. Luckily the sun came out and warmed up. Open 9.45 – 12.45 so great attendance for a Saturday morning.

          2. I ordered a waistcoat (bright, sparkly and peacocky) for an upcoming lunch from Amazon. It arrived the next day.

      2. Now’s the time to start as it’s the beginning of the season which then goes on until the end of September. We also have a full winter programme of activities that is welcome by those members who are on their own as well as all others. Prevents loneliness.

    1. I use two sizes of dinner plate. Normal meals on a small dinner plate. When entertaining or doing the fancy stuff i use the larger size.

      Easy way to regulate my intake.

      1. I have dinner plates, tea plates and side plates, each one getting smaller.

        I am also the only person in Sweden to use a saucer under my cup. They — in common with my grandparents — think a saucer is for drinking from!

        1. We also have large diameter, very flat, bowls. Ideal for spaghetti and other slightly sloppy meals, such as stew.

      2. It's not doing too badly. 60,800 at (almost) 6.30 pm. I think there will be a legal challenge to this, the precautionary principle being ignored. I'll see if I can find the post. It will be interesting to see what excuse they come up with this time regarding the petition.

    2. Only in the British Commonwealth. America and elsewhere uses the sulfur spelling.

  28. Here we are , watching the palavar and gathering of very rich , probably corrupt uncaring representatives of countries at war with each other , warring nations , spiteful murdering b######ds.

    The slaughter goes on , and our Christian nations V Muslim religions where the ritual of worship insures restriction , control and slavish duty to prayer ..

    Dare I suggest that some of the poorest countries are Roman Catholic countries , the toll gathering , obeisance to the cross/ bible hasn't improved life for many , the World population increases explosively .. why , well go forth and multiply .

    The Latin chants are wonderful , the rich ritual is colourful and magnificent ..

    I hope God is listening , but does he answer prayers ..

    1. My oldest buddy just sent me a message saying "I wonder how many guilty child molesters are sat there this morning".

    1. Wishing you a very Happy Birthday, Mr Beans! Hope it’s a good one! 🎂🥂🍾🍷

    5. Happy Birthday Day and of course 364 Happy Unbirthdays, til the next Anniversary of it

    6. Happy Birthday Max I hope you're keeping well and enjoying your birthday. 🤗😊🥂🍾🍻cheers.

    14. Happy Birthday dear Max! Sun shining here in Buenos Aires after a refreshing night of thunderstorms so I can sing it from the rooftops. 🙂 x

  31. An interesting article about the ghastliness that is the senior hierarchy in the Roman church:

    "At 9.47 a.m. on Easter Monday we heard the words ‘con profondo dolore’ from a cardinal standing in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta. Two hours earlier, Pope Francis ‘è tornato alla casa del Padre’ – ‘had returned to the house of the Father’. Most people won’t have noticed a curious detail: the cardinal was speaking Italian with a pronounced Irish brogue.

    Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the papal ‘Camerlengo’, was born in a Dublin suburb. Or, as a tabloid put it: ‘Interim Pope is a bloke called Kevin from Dublin.’ That’s an exaggeration, but the Camerlengo does occupy centre stage when the See of Peter falls vacant. He confirms that the Pope is dead. Traditionally, he would tap his head with a silver hammer, but now they use an electrocardiogram. Cardinal Farrell sealed Francis’s apartment; he’s organising the funeral and conclave.

    Not everyone is happy about this. Farrell, who has spent most of his career in the United States, is distrusted by many in the Church. He has been accused of lying about what he knew about the allegations against his friend, the recently deceased Theodore McCarrick. McCarrick was defrocked by Francis in 2019 after he was exposed as a serial predator of young men – an open secret in the Vatican and the American church for decades.

    On Monday, Farrell stood in front of the sanctuary alongside the papal master of ceremonies, plus two of the most powerful men in the Vatican. They were Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state, and Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the Pope’s chief of staff.

    These three embody the problems that beset Francis’s papacy and which will cause huge dilemmas for his successor. They have all been accused of compromising truth for power. Their secretive operating style characterised the pontificate’s decision–making.

    Francis was a charismatic pope loved by most of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, who make up 18 per cent of the global population. He was particularly beloved by the poor for his rhetoric about the marginalised. But few of them grasp the scale of the crisis in the Church – and even fewer are aware that it was made worse by a pontiff whom the media insist on calling the ‘people’s pope’. His leadership was marked by favouritism and poor judgment.

    The next Vicar of Christ will face challenges that dwarf those that confronted any incoming pope in living memory. The Church is mired in doctrinal confusion; its structures of government are fragmented; sexual scandals have been hushed up at the highest level; and it is staring into a financial abyss.

    Francis liked to rule by personal decree. He sacked top lieutenants without explanation, and mysteriously promoted others. Which brings us back to Kevin from Dublin. Cardinal Farrell was ordained in 1978 as a priest of the Legionaries of Christ, a movement of conservative priests founded in Mexico by Fr Marcial Maciel (1920-2008), a recruiter of seminarians and a serial sex abuser. Maciel assaulted at least 60 minors, mostly young boys, and fathered six children by three women.

    As a young priest, Fr Kevin Farrell was one of the movement’s rising stars. Yet after Maciel’s atrocities were exposed, he claimed to have met the founder only two or three times. This week a former Legionary, Robert Nugent, posted a video to YouTube claiming Cardinal Farrell was lying about that, and Farrell’s insistence he knew nothing about the activities of ‘Uncle Ted’ McCarrick, despite sharing a house with him in Washington.

    Questions about Farrell’s honesty did not slow his ascent. In 2016 he was bishop of the middle-ranking diocese of Dallas; within a decade he was Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, Camerlengo, President of the Vatican’s Supreme Court and sole administrator of the Vatican’s pension fund. How?

    Perhaps someone will ask during the conclave. The cardinal-electors will not be able to escape the ghost of Theodore McCarrick. He was for many years the Church’s chief fundraiser, securing hundreds of millions of dollars in donations and making secretive disbursements to bishops everywhere. Many knew of his reputation and said nothing. They include cardinals who will be voting in the Sistine Chapel next month – and their enemies will use it against them.

    One who will be worried is another of the powerful trio who stood at the sanctuary on Monday, Cardinal Parolin. During Francis’s illness he missed no opportunity to present himself as deputy pope, and he won’t welcome any discussion of his ties to McCarrick. He will be especially sensitive about the help McCarrick gave him in negotiating a notorious deal with Beijing that gave the Chinese Communist party almost total control over the Chinese Catholic Church. Cardinal Joseph Zen, the former bishop of Hong Kong, has accused Parolin of ‘telling lies shamelessly’ about that.

    Parolin is also implicated in the catastrophe of the Vatican’s finances. He was secretary of state when his employees laundered eye-watering sums of money to fund disastrous investments, such as the purchase of a former Harrods warehouse in Knightsbridge that cost the Vatican £120 million.

    Others were set up as fall guys for this debacle, including Cardinal Angelo Becciu, Peña Parra’s predecessor as chief of staff, and six other defendants who were sentenced to jail in a Vatican trial. The authorities appeared to deprive the accused of due process.

    Under Francis, secular and canonical laws were bent so often by Vatican power-brokers that, in the words of one insider, ‘this place has turned into the Wild West’.

    London’s High Court witnessed the Vatican’s casual approach to the truth last year, in a lawsuit in which Archbishop Peña Parra gave evidence. The papal chief of staff admitted he had signed off on a $5 million invoice he knew to be ‘completely fictitious’. He denied being ‘a liar’, but told lawyers: ‘You said that I was not honest. I accept that.’ This financial skulduggery by Francis’s closest associates – and, before him, those of Popes John Paul and Benedict – was motivated partly by panic over Vatican finances. Documents obtained by the Catholic website the Pillar show that a decade ago the Holy See pension fund had an unfunded liability of almost €1.5 billion. That debt has grown.

    Francis cannot be entirely blamed for the Vatican’s financial crises or sexual scandals since they are rooted in problems going back at least 60 years. Likewise theological conflicts over women’s ordination and the status of divorced or gay Catholics. But all these worsened under his pontificate. As a result, the answer to the question ‘Does the Catholic Church permit blessings of same-sex couples?’ is the same as the answer to the question of whether divorced-and-remarried people may receive Communion: it depends who you ask. Catholics who obeyed the Church’s teachings and those who challenged them were left baffled. This confusion has undermined the morale of the clergy too.

    Francis indulged progressive pressure groups with the nebulous concept of ‘synodality’, but ruled out women deacons and said rude things about homosexuals. He lashed out at traditionalists who attended the Tridentine Mass – the ancient Latin liturgy – but rejected liberal demands for a total ban.

    Given that his pontificate was so contradictory – championing the poorest while indulging those who abused their power – it is too early to judge his full legacy. There is one subject, however, on which Catholics cannot wait for the verdict of history. Inexplicably, Francis extended his personal protection to a string of convicted or suspected sex abusers. Perhaps the most appalling example is the artist Fr Marko Rupnik, accused of the sexual assault of many young women, including nuns. Rupnik was kicked out of the Jesuits, but Francis refused to defrock him. Meanwhile the Vatican communications office promoted Rupnik’s sinister art right up until the Pope’s death.

    There are perhaps a dozen other scandals which swirled through the Vatican when Francis was Pope that have never been fully investigated, if at all. For years, everyone in Rome has been saying: ‘It will all come out when he dies.’ Dealing with the fallout will be left to the next Supreme Pontiff.

    It is a burden that many might decline to bear. The conclave may elect a cardinal Bishop of Rome but papal authority is bestowed on the new man only when he utters the word ‘Accepto’. In reality, any cardinal who has reached the final ballot will almost certainly have decided to accept. But there have been cardinals who took themselves out of the running mid-conclave; they didn’t want the job.

    This time round, given the scale of the task ahead, who could blame a nervous papabile if he follows the example of the Servite cardinal St Philip Benizi, who in 1271 is said to have fled the conclave and hidden in a cave until the election was over?

    Damian Thompson – The Spectator

      2. I gave up half way through. I was wading through it and then wondered why, seeing as I'm not a Catholic, never will be and there's nothing I can do with the information. It's gossip and scandal about something that's none of my business.

        1. The late Pope appears to have turned a blind eye to serial wrong-doing amongst the the 'Holy'.

    2. …and with that, I hope all NoTTLers understand why I am off to Sandown Park for the day and conclusion of the NH season.

      1. If there were any justice in the world, Dan Skelton would win the champion trainer award. Willie Mullins, however, with more than half the field (as many runners as all the English trainers combined) will almost certainly retain his title. Sean Bowen fully deserves to complete the set (champion apprentice, champion young pt 2 pt rider, champion pony rider and now champion jockey).

    4. You might be interested in two articles that I have posted links to in a comment at the top. I thought that posting it there would get more views than if I replied here with them.

  32. Wonderful, there's a sign of planning and significant influence….. I can't image how they would cope in the Vatican city if it was raining today.

    2. MB made similar remark.
      However great or humble the occasion, it's good to see that the unavoidable speaker who doesn't understand the word précis is a fixture.

    1. Let me have a word with Mrs VVOF, I may be able to take on another 3 women and do my bit for the country.
      😉

  35. Sorry to bore you, Stig. The writer – a devout Catholic – explains that what appears to outsiders to be a holy and Christian outfit determined to do the best for the poor, the halt and the lame – is, in fact, a vile and corrupt organisation run by serial offenders.

    1. This is news? It's an organisation with much riches and power, the corruption, sadly, goes with it.

      1. It is news because three of the worst of the top brass are in the running to be the next CEO.

    2. Martin Luther Wos Rite?
      All organisations harbour such people. Not pleasant; certainly not commendable. And hellish for the victims.
      But, man is a fallen creature; sadly, what's listed is inevitable.

  36. Good Moaning.
    Just collected the framed embroidery "masterpiece".
    Sebastian Warner has done an excellent job.
    All we need to do now is find a space on the wall; any wall!

    2. Good morning, Anne. I have to confess that I don't understand a word of your post. Have you just got a man called Sebastian Warner to frame something which you personally embroidered? If so, expect a phone call from me today to get his contact details. I have a framed watercolour which has been framed, but the glue behind the watercolour has dried and the print has slipped down. I would very much like to find a reliable framer to put matters right.

      1. "I have a framed watercolour which has been framed …"

        Would that be in a frame, Auntie Elsie, or has your watercolour been swindled?🤣

        1. You caught me out there, Grizzly. Today I am a very silly sausage, and I shall immediately go and sit on the naughty step. Lol.

      2. A short hop from you.
        Drive out to Kingsford. Down the hill as if you're going to Layer. There is a house called The Stream.
        On their land are stables converted to little workshops. Sebastian is usually open to customers on Wed, Thurs, Fri and Saturday morning. He puts his notice board out by the entrance if he is there.
        I highly recommend him.
        https://www.sebastianwarnerframing.co.uk/

        1. Stop confusing me, Grizzly. You know I don't speak Swedish – nor Latin. Lol.

      2. The Warqueen and I have walked on that. Not all of it as she got tired (and can't edit this to point out I did).

    1. It would appear so – remember "God's banker" found hanging under the bridge in London.

          1. Probably why that bridge was chosen!

            Don't they– you know, them– don't they call it Revelation of the Method?

          2. Tempting to quip about lions but of course all of that actually took place in the Circus Maximus. The coli was too small. The big cats would have eaten the front row.

    2. All Vance had to say was "We know everything…. it's up to you" and that was that.

  41. The bearer party were too close together. I am amazed they didn't trip each other up.

        1. I would have thought they would use military or the Swiss guard. They should be used to marching up and down.

        2. The two ranks of the bearer party march out of step with each other otherwise the coffin would sway from side to side.

    1. That understanding women book – it's volume 1 of an unfinished series, most of it contradicting the first 8000 volumes.

    1. Back in the 80s I worked at Selfridges with a German guy called Heinz who once set an alarm clock, put it in a colleague’s desk drawer and locked the desk. He thought it was hilarious.

      1. At a party at my neighbours i told their Alexa to play the theme music to jaws getting progressively louder. I set it for 3am Sunday morning.

      2. I worked for German boss in Port Elizabeth SA. We were refurbishing the fruit storage area under the harbour. There were six of us sharing a three bed apartment in PE. This (polite) chap never gave some sort of criticism a rest. Even his business partner got into his car late one night and drove off.
        He came to where I was working and made a suggestion He thought I should follow. There was a piece of string near by and I grabbed it. Placed it in a line and pushed one end of course it crumpled up. Then I pulled it and it of course stayed straight. I asked him what he had learnt from that ? He didn't like it and stormed off. I left soon after.

  46. As posted last night, I went to the final of the Kathleen Ferrier Awards yesterday evening but left before the winners were announced. The results are on the Wigmore Facebook page today and as usual, the judges occupy a different planet to the audience.
    Chatting to fellow audience members, we thought the main contenders for the top prize were the soprano who got the song prize and the astonishing Chinese countertenor.
    The tenor who came second was, honestly, forgettable. The winner is billed as a mezzo but actually sang contralto. She’s a fatty and looks like a Brunhilde but her admittedly rich creamy voice isn’t Wagnerian.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/53e3e62d95c3857e151bea933cce4291195b9e18c1343aeee487eba85af08f08.jpg

      1. No. There was a South Korean soprano who apparently was very good in the semis but came over all screechy in the final. The tenor is half English, half Chinese. He’s good, just not especially memorable.

    2. Ahhh, bless! You were judging them on their *voices*? What a charming idea…

      I do not miss the politics of such competitions.

  47. Afternoon, all. I've had a frustrating day so far. My new (and, frankly, useless) TomTom sat nav refused to do anything yesterday until it had been connected to a computer, so this morning I connected it to update everything. Because it's a new device I had to try to add it. I've gone round and round and kept coming to the same place to try to add it to the system, so I've given up. I've had it too long to ask for a refund, but I was very tempted to click that option! The other frustration is that the other day I found Oscar's anti-guzzle bowl which I thought would be ideal for Winston who virtually sucks his food up without it touching the sides. Can't find that now, either. All I need now is to get to Dunstall Park and find that the Owner's badge I requested via the ROA isn't available as well. Some days you just can't win. I've had to light the Rayburn, it's so cold and miserable.

    Never mind the threat of harsher sentences, actually policing the law regarding cyclists would be a start. The number I see cycling on the pavement (when there's a perfectly good cycle track taking up useful road space) has to be seen to be believed. Red lights, it seems, don't apply to them, neither does the Highway Code.

      1. My motorhome satnav is a Garmin. I've always used TomTom in my cars. I am definitely thinking of buying a Garmin for my car. The others haven't been so bad, but the latest is a complete disaster. Not only will it not update now I've tried, it blanks out the screen before it gives you directions. If ever you needed to see a map it was when your turning was coming up! It's impossible to turn that function off. Schlimmbesserung at its finest!

    2. Which Chief Constable was it that said "If you let the little things slide, bigger crimes will be committed"? and so insisted that his officers follow up everything.

      2. Detective Superintendent Ray Mallon, of Middlesbrough CID, was known as the zero-tolerance, no nonsense Robocop!

      2. I don’t have anything to do with Google – it wants to know too much and I don’t want it tracking my journeys.

  48. They have finished putting a thin surface of Tarmac in my cul de sac.

    I noticed when the chap took down the no parking/towaway signs he took a picture of the one i drew a big penis pissing over the towaway truck.

    5 minutes later the royal mail van arrived. Turned in the turning circle and rucked it all up.

    Double penis next time.

  49. Update on our bowls club open morning.
    We had 36 people come in to have a 25 minute raster session and 26 have signed up for additional coaching at a cost of £20 for 4 x 45 minute coaching sessions. If they join the club after that the £20 is taken off their first year subscription. Hopefully most will join and they will replace the natural wastage caused by people stopping bowling or moving away.
    A very satisfactory morning and we had about 20 members to help chatting to people before and after their session. It’s a successful format we’ve operated for several years.

      1. You have to have been a bowling member for a year but after that year you can become a non bowling member for £10 a year.
        Our bar prices are astronomical. Gordon’s gin, Famous Grouse, Smirnoff Red and Bacardi are all £1 for a 25ml measure. :-))

        1. In that case i might buy a years membership but not turn up until the cheapo drinks ! @)

      1. Traffic was fairly light so the journey there and back was quite straightforward. Parking was a beggar; all the disabled spaces in the O&T were taken – I bet half of them didn’t have a blue badge – so I had to park round the corner and walk farther. Sausage and mash with onion gravy and tiramisu to finish. Food is usually fairly good in the Owners and Trainers at Wolverhampton, to be fair. Horse jumped out the stalls the best he has done for a while, but then they stacked up and there was no pace which didn’t suit him at all. He was reefing and pulling most of the way (I nearly asked the jockey why he didn’t accept the inevitable and go on, but he said he didn’t want to lead) so he had nothing left for the sprint finish when it got a bit tight (but the jockey said there was plenty of room). Disappointing not to be beaten far but finish out of the money.

        1. Just outside the prize money. What a bummer for you, Conners.
          Better luck next time!

          1. When he flashed past the post in the ruck, I couldn’t be sure if he was fifth or sixth, but I guessed sixth (I knew prize money was only down to fifth). I confirmed it when I got home and checked the results.

    2. Back now. He finished 6th (beaten favourite) and prize money was down to fifth 🙁 When I got back Houdini had escaped his crate again and savaged the draught excluder. That he ripped up RAF News and some puppy training pads was less of a nuisance. I am going to have to try to repair the draught excluder ready for the worse weather (it's cold enough now).

      2. That started to happen immediately after the uK joined the EEC. Basically, the French were "dumping" their tasteless "Golden Delicious" apples, so pretty much killing off many of the UK varieties.

        1. I remember the orchards in Kent and other places being ripped up at the time.

  52. Virginia Giuffre's suicide. I haven't seen any comments here. My first thought was that she had been whacked. My wife said the same when she heard the news. The police say no sign of foul play do if she was knocked off it was the work of competent professionals.

    1. I’ll be very careful with my comment! I’ve just had 2 pretty innocuous comments removed by the DT – one agreeing with a previous poster, and another saying that she’d made a great deal of money by ‘accusing’ Prince Andrew of using a prostitute!

      1. I also had one removed which I didnt think controversial. They seem very sensitive on the story. It was very quick of the family to confirm things, there is usually a period where the cause is not stated officially. She seems to have become loopy recently with all that business after the crash.

        1. They’ve now closed comments on all 3 stories! So much for free speech!🤦🏻‍♀️

    3. End of a pretty grim life in some ways. She was molested from a very young age, and was living on the streets by age 14, then later got back to gather with her father, who got her a job at Mar-a-Lago, where Ghislaine got on to her, and got her a job as a "masseuse" to Jeffrey Epstein. Then she was "passed around' (her words) to Epstein's friends, including Andrew. Then she met up with an Aussie while in Thailand, and they got together, married and lived in WA. The marriage broke up later.

        1. Oh bugger, I'm going to go for this although everyone will think I'm bullshitting.

          I knew Ian Maxwell very well – he had the room opposite me in our first year at University – and he was a very pleasant chap.

          Ghislaine (his sister) visited quite often – she was only about 15-16 then but very attractive (I was only 18-19!).

          I find it difficult to believe she turned into such an apparent monster, but who knows…..

          1. Stuart, you’re not alone 🙂 Peta and I thought similarly (how I miss her). Both G & I had an abusive father, they were both good looking individuals – a surprise from such an ugly parent (in every respect). Again, both Peta & myself (Peta especially) thought a lot more to this than met the eye. Very sad news today re Virginia Giuffre, it really seemed as though she turned her life around. I think she was writing her autobiography, perhaps that may surface at some point…or perhaps not. (I think Ghislaine is still in prison?) PS I’ve never thought you a bullshitter, what it’s worth x

          2. In the late 70s early 80s in the Spanish town where I lived, because of my job, I travelled quite a bit by taxi. One taxi driver on discovering I was English, would tell me the same story each time i got into his taxi. He and his wife had worked for Robert Maxwell; he the chauffeur and his wife the cook. When he decided to return to Spain Maxwell begged them to stay but in vain.
            As far as I made out Maxwell had been a good boss. This was long before his demise and the taxi driver faded away somewhere in the mid 80s.

          3. Thanks, rob. We all do the best we can, in the situations in which we find ourselves. There but for fortune, we all have our histories. Me? I never judge anyone 🙂

          4. Thank you KJ – I agree about Peta, I miss her a lot too.

            PS I'm not called Stuart (it's David if you must know)

          5. That is so much my favourite male name, G4…how the heck did i come up with Stuart 🙂 I miss her, been surprised although I probably shouldn’t at the numbers who miss her. I’m sorry for mis-naming you xxx

          8. Right back at you, David x (think this is another one I thought I’d already replied to….)

  53. Just back from a quick bimble around Moors Valley Country Park.
    I would appear Mr. & Mrs. Swan have got busy again: https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a60e98e59acd4f0bce6cc906b5bc8018c62758651e64e5da418edf301bedbf35.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9bddc0361e2d1745584b0afbfa8bac5a692a0a8136e3df070f950abe8695e346.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/dbc8a823486be613e8c885b7d76d8067e7c951377448c2b45410be141a41bd64.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/85caeb6a33fd8a43d03b39a6d4fe50df44be5a336970560342fb68316a478e14.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b9bea45cbc8e0a04886eaea0097e174ae59cc9200f9264a30e3d0fd28defe728.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8342a5240a482e1248a77368e81df62e503480eb457bb1566df743fca7af61fb.jpg

    1. They are worse than Nazis. The Nazis tried to hide what they were doing. The midwits of the Western Left have still yet to figure out what they are jumping into bed with.

  56. Good day dear Nottlers!

    I meant to chime in on yesterday's mutterings about the National Anthem (I'd be happy with either Land of Hope and Glory or Jerusalem, but have a personal preference for the latter having once belted it out in a huge German cathedral to the stunned amazement of the audience, who'd never heard it before), but I managed to kick over a small pot of paint en route to the phone, with the predictable amazement at how far spilled paint can travel and how difficult it is to clear up, so I forgot.

    Anyway, I am currently learning the Argentinian one (anthem day is 11 May). I held off until I was certain that I could sing the lyrics without compromising myself, but feel that these work quite well for me, as a free person (for now, aaargh) of the world:

    Hear, mortals, the sacred cry
    Oid mortales, el grito sagrado

    Freedom!
    ¡Libertad!

    Hear the sound of broken chains
    Oid el ruido de rotas cadenas

    See noble equality enthroned
    Ved en trono a la noble igualdad

    They already opened their most dignified throne
    Ya su trono dignísimo abrieron

    The United Provinces of the South
    Las Provincias Unidas del Sud

    And the free of the world respond
    Y los libres del mundo responden

    To the great Argentine people, cheers!
    ¡Al gran pueblo argentino, salud!

    May the laurels be eternal
    Sean eternos los laureles

    That we knew how to achieve
    Que supimos conseguir

    Let us live crowned with glory
    ¡Coronados de gloria vivamos

    Or let us swear with glory to die!
    ¡O juremos con gloria morir!

    I am quite amused by its resemblance to a miniature 19th-century opera! 🙂

    https://youtu.be/OqSQo2aifAA?si=QJwq8uuk-tzeTQyB

  57. Good day dear Nottlers!

    I meant to chime in on yesterday's mutterings about the National Anthem (I'd be happy with either Land of Hope and Glory or Jerusalem, but have a personal preference for the latter having once belted it out in a huge German cathedral to the stunned amazement of the audience, who'd never heard it before), but I managed to kick over a small pot of paint en route to the phone, with the predictable amazement at how far spilled paint can travel and how difficult it is to clear up, so I forgot.

    Anyway, I am currently learning the Argentinian one (anthem day is 11 May). I held off until I was certain that I could sing the lyrics without compromising myself, but feel that these work quite well for me, as a free person (for now, aaargh) of the world:

    Hear, mortals, the sacred cry
    Oid mortales, el grito sagrado

    Freedom!
    ¡Libertad!

    Hear the sound of broken chains
    Oid el ruido de rotas cadenas

    See noble equality enthroned
    Ved en trono a la noble igualdad

    They already opened their most dignified throne
    Ya su trono dignísimo abrieron

    The United Provinces of the South
    Las Provincias Unidas del Sud

    And the free of the world respond
    Y los libres del mundo responden

    To the great Argentine people, cheers!
    ¡Al gran pueblo argentino, salud!

    May the laurels be eternal
    Sean eternos los laureles

    That we knew how to achieve
    Que supimos conseguir

    Let us live crowned with glory
    ¡Coronados de gloria vivamos

    Or let us swear with glory to die!
    ¡O juremos con gloria morir!

    I am quite amused by its resemblance to a miniature 19th-century opera! 🙂

    https://youtu.be/OqSQo2aifAA?si=QJwq8uuk-tzeTQyB

      1. That's to give 'em all time to stand up and shuffle around, fishing their hands out of their pockets to later slap against their chests in an overt display of patriotism. Quite a thing when you're in a roomful of ardent Peronistas!

    3. Hello, Katy.

      Have you met, yet, my favourite Argentinian tenor (in fact, favourite tenor per se): José Luis Victor Cura Gómez?

    1. They haven’t yet tho…how many years? perhaps waiting until near the end of her incarceration.

      2. When the body was removed from the prison…..conveniently there was a camera crew alongside. And the covered body passed by the crew. Somehow the face was revealed. But also strangely it didn't look anything like Epstein.
        My reckoning was he was far too rich to commit suicide. And he's still alive on one of his islands somewhere.

  59. Wordle No. 1,407 3/6

    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
    🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Wordle 26 Apr 2025

    Skirmish for Birdie Three?

    1. Rock the Casbah! Just a par (cas-par?) here…..

      Wordle 1,407 4/6

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

    2. pick a closing letter, any letter – no not that one.

      Wordle 1,407 4/6

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

    3. Me too. Wordle is telling me I didn’t do it on Thursday and therefore have a “streak” of two. Possibly I did it on the work laptop and forgot to copy over to my phone.

      Wordle 1,407 3/6

      🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
      🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    4. It just slotted in nicely today.

      Wordle 1,407 2/6

      🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  60. Virginia Giuffre’s suicide draws line under Prince Andrew’s hopes of redemption
    Death of tenacious sexual abuse survivor will weigh heavily on all involved in this shameful episode – and will be linked to Duke for life
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/04/26/virginia-giuffre-suicide-prince-andrew-hopes-of-redemption/

    The MSM and too many prurient and sadistic people are determined to smear Prince Andrew whenever they get the chance.

    I think he was telling the truth when he said he had never met this girl who is clearly a liar.

    But why, people howl, did his pay the money to her?

    He paid it not because he was guilty but because he wanted to save his mother from prolonged scandalous gossip during her platinum jubilee year.

    Yes, he probably was stupid. I do not much like Prince Andrew just as I am not overly drawn towards Tommy Robinson. But the way they have both been abused and lied about and treated by the PTB and the MSM is totally repulsive.

    2. Even if her did have guillemot* relations with her, the alleged act took place in the UK when she was not only above the age of consent, but, as the law stood at the time, old enough to partake in the oldest profession.

      *Other seabirds are available

  61. Signing off before my usual time. Early supper because we are going to the village hall to see "Conclave". How about that for timing by the village hall committee! The story has a ridiculous ending – in several ways – but I am looking forward to seeing it.

    The village hall (in what had been the village school) opened 39 years ago to this very day – and we had three inches of snow!

    Have a jolly evening

    A demain – if I'm lucky.

  62. It's bad enough that the Elite were on their phones during the service, but taking pictures of the coffin like a demeaning souvenir?
    Surprised no selfies.
    Is that Zelensky's idea of a suit?

    1. The sight of Starmer, Macron and Zelensky chasing after Trump was demeaning even for a Mafia funeral.

      What if anything had these losers to say to President Trump?

    2. All those gravy train passengers and cabal members – it was anything but a Catholic occasion!

  65. (Reuters) –British finance minister Rachel Reeves met U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday to discuss a trade deal, shortly after saying that improving business ties with the European Union was "arguably even more important."

    Global stateswoman Rachel Reeves (LOL) insults Secretary Scott Bessent hours after meeting, jeopardising UK-U.S. trade agreement.
    Failing to realise trade with the US has grown ten times faster than with Brussels over the past decade.

  66. Waltzes In briefly before going out this evening.
    Hello, hope you've enjoyed this lovely Saturday .
    Must fly ,

  67. An India-Pakistan conflict has huge implications for Britain
    Conflict could spill out onto British streets

    Crank it up.. 1.9 million Indians vs. 1.7 million Pakistanis.
    Take your sides.

      1. They didn't see this coming.. and were banking on 'white men with Union Jack armbands & a Christian cross on back' being the enemy.

        A Metropolitan Police civil war training exercise in Kent has featured a person portraying a rioter wearing a Union Jack flag on their arm.

      2. They didn't see this coming.. and were banking on 'white men with Union Jack armbands & a Christian cross on back' being the enemy.

        A Metropolitan Police civil war training exercise in Kent has featured a person portraying a rioter wearing a Union Jack flag on their arm.

      3. As for the Brits.. The King & Home Office on the side of Islam of course. obv.

        Average Joe? Would have to do a quick calc.. and work out which side decapitated the most poppy sellers plus participated in the grooming gangs. Then support the other team.

    3. One would expect the members of the Religion of Peace not to engage in any hostilities. Wouldn't one?

  68. I've been in the garden again on maintenance work. It never stops. There's always something to do.
    I'm feeling very tired and I feel like Arthur Dailey, "I've been knocking my pipe out". As he use to say.
    Back tomorrow, something to eat and a couple of glasses of water,….. whoops wine.

    2. Commiserations, Eddy. I too have been struggling recently with my back in particular hurting like hell. But at last I have found a jobbing gardener who now visits for an hour twice a month. I have told him the the garden is now totally his; my job is simply to pay him for each visit. He's only been once so far (Tuesday just gone) but he came highly recommended and I am impressed – and consider myself very lucky.

      1. I've also suddenly had a lot of back pain Elsie. It doesn't seem to be associated with anything I've been doing. It's just been very annoying.
        Shed roof replacement next on the list.

    1. Fabulous attack, fabulous inventive play, only let down by poor tackling. It was heart-in-mouth stuff in the last two minutes

  71. Disqus is very weird today on my laptop. I can't scroll down, it insists on staying at the top of today's page.

  72. 🙂 Daily Quordle 1188
    8️⃣6️⃣
    4️⃣5️⃣
    m http://-w.com/games/quordle/
    ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
    ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜
    ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩⬜🟨⬜
    ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
    ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
    🟩🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
    ⬜🟨🟨🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
    🟩🟨🟩⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
    ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Saw my sister doing this!
    Don't think I will have the time and focus every day!

      1. When you enter a word it appears in all four squares at once. The black squares are after you guess one word correctly, so nothing else is filled in for that word. You get nine goes.

  74. Wordle 1,407 4/6

    🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜
    ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
    Have you all posted? I’ve been watching Crystal Palace trounce Aston Villa. Well, the second half. Really good football.

    1. They don't want to be British. They want Benefits which are paid by the British. Big difference.

    1. Yep, Shropshire and Chester and Cheshire West. It's already dire with small market towns looking like Mogadishu.

      2. I didn't know you were a Yorkie too, KJ – me too. No surrender indeed. It is in our DNA.

        1. I think this is the third time ‘mum, that I’ve upticked you and replied. Gremlin in the works perhaps……or possibly someone from that theer Lancs….:-D

      3. I'm only Half Yorkie Tyke.
        Quarter Derby Tup.
        Eighth Notts Robin Hood.
        Eighth Galway Mick.

      1. My paternal Grandad was a skilled stonemason. I've seen some of his work at Cartwright Hall in Bradford, eg perfectly spherical stone balls among other stuff. Sadly, the stone dust killed him before I was born. It was pneumoconiosis.

      2. My paternal Grandad was a skilled stonemason. I've seen some of his work at Cartwright Hall in Bradford, eg perfectly spherical stone balls among other stuff. Sadly, the stone dust killed him before I was born. It was pneumoconiosis.

    5. Fascinating to watch the guy working. Then, just as he had finished and turned the stone up to show us the final result it was covered by an old B&W photo which obscured the result. Aaaargh!

  79. The 80th anniversary , VE day approaches .. Many of us will have had parents who sacrificed so much during the World War 2 to save Great Britain from invasion and then subsequently the terrible conflicts that were fought for 6 years in Europe , Asia , Africa and on the Atlantic and Pacific when our trade routes were compromised and threatened . We now have , unfortunately acquired through election last year , an Authoritarian Labour government who are sparing with the truth and who are now crippling the UK mentally and financially with outrageous ideas which are of no benefit to the indigenous population who are being ruined financially with taxes , heating and other utility bills as well as importing boat loads of freeloaders ! My late brave parents will be turning in their graves . Does Reform have depth of purpose?

    1. My conclusion over Reform, Belle, is that they are a distraction and will not go anywhere. Same with Farage.
      I can't say what the solution is, I'm afraid, wish I could. But I don't live in the UK, so miss the small signals.

      1. I live in the UK and I've no idea what's going on or where we're heading. I only know, like the Chinese curse, we live in interesting times. I have seen Reform posters (including one which had the middle ripped out – an offence but nothing will have been done) and "Wake up, no farmers, no food", "Say NO to rewilding" and other signs of token resistance.

    2. I'm supporting Reform to see where that goes. I have some doubts but have no one else to vote for. I think they will do well in the upcoming local elections, but it'll be a protest vote.

      2. There is a Reform candidate in my ward (for county). I'll lend them my vote on the grounds that they can scarcely be worse than the lot that's been running the place (into the ground) for the last I don't know how many decades.

      3. I guess a Reform candidate could dislodge the usual candidates , on the back of the total discontent with the rotters currently in power .

        1. We’ve had a Labour CC lady in here for the last 12 years and she’s good and a nice lady. Haven’t said more than a good morning to her for a while though. She thinks local but she’s standing down now . Knew her husband who was also a nice chap.

      4. Plaid Cymru? SNP? Ulster Unionist?

        Well, Cornwall is part of the Celtic fringe … innit? 😉

      5. The Reform candidate for Wirksworth is my youngest lad's boss!
        But I know what you mean about Reform. Recent actions and revelations about the General Election in Amber Valley have put a massive question mark over them, but who else is there?

    3. They are not just freeloaders, Maggie, they are an army of savages determined to conquer us bit by bit.

      On a totally different topic, you opened up a day or so ago about your really interesting childhood and life, and someone then asked if I would be willing to do the same about my own childhood in Argentina. Can you remember who it was and what he/she wrote?

      1. I believe it was me who asked you about your childhood in Argentina , Elsie, you didn't reply at the time .

        I think we were talking about Ayrshire at the time , and the hilarious experience Moh and I had when we were offered an appalling dump by the owners of a stately home , it was during the impoverished coal less early seventies ..

        1. Thanks, Maggie. I'll answer yours if you'll answer mine. Mine was: "Was the local laird Sir James Hunter-Blair?". And once you have answered that, could you please repeat the exact phrase you used because when I click on your avatar it refuses to let me see what you wrote ("Get over it!"). Lol.

          2. Thanks! Now tell me again exactly what you'd like me to write about my childhood in Argentina, and I shall do my best to reply.

    4. Starmer is frantically working to reverse Brexit. Only a fool would seek to rejoin a failing and redundant EU.

      It seems that the only cause the EU can prosecute to stay “relevant” is to vilify Putin and Russia who remain no threat whatever to Europe.

  80. Two of a kind, Paul, stubborn. Watching Sharpe, says it all 😀 I love ilkley Moore….can yer stand….

    1. Yup. Been years since I was pissed, but had periods of blackouts for reasons as yet unknown.
      I'm only a papier mache Tyke, grew up in Nigeria and boarding schools in Leicestershire, university in London and Bedfordshire, so I'm some kind of a mongrel.
      Longest I ever lived in any one location is the current house, here in Norway. 22 years, so far.

      2. Alcohol not a beneficial addiction, good idea to become and remain sober. My DNA results were odd, but I had no living family left to ask any question/s. I’ve moved several times too, don’t actually live in Yorkshire any more – but that’s how I think of myself 🙂

      3. I remember you telling me some time ago about your blackouts, think you were going for investigations. I’ve been told ‘syncope’ something to do with sudden low blood pressure, advised to eat small meals regularly and drink water. Alcohol a big no-no…had some v&t yesterday evening, regretting it today…expecting a family lecture anytime…….

  81. I'd like to be skilled in something useful, not just drinking cheap wine.
    🙁

    1. Absolutely! Just putting a stop to the daily increases would be a step in the right direction.

  88. Well, chums, my bedtime has arrived. So I wish you all a very Good Night. Sleep well, and I hope to see you all bright and early tomorrow.

  90. Back from book club (stuffed full, if you remember, with Leftards). I fought mt battle with the particularly egregious Leftard, who worships the Islamists.

    1. It is hard to understand those who cannot see the danger from muslims. I am married to one, so I comprehend their thinking. If yr ever in Cardiff, give us a shout. Im not far away.

      1. Oh no, I was there yesterday, visiting my lovely (very Christian) Iranian friend. In the end, we sorted out the mess of her private pensions. She hasn’t much to show after 35 years of work, and still a big mortgage to pay off. It is desperately sad; our systems are complicated and people are scared about money, and don’t have the time (so they kid themselves) to deal with it. And then you wake up poor at the age of 60 with no pension and a big debt.

  91. Remind me tomorrow to post my friend’s views (as far as i remember them) on Welsh Reform (his wife being a candidate)

  92. 'Morning all, off for a charter fish with 3 friends. Hopefully some fish for the freezer, but just the sport will do us fine. Can't beat the lovely weather forecast and a good tide and skipper.

      1. It was foggy here at the bottom of the valley but blue skies as we travelled to Plymouth.

    1. Blodyxa (Swedish) = Bloodaxe (English).
      Blodpudding (Swedish) = Bloodpudding [black pudding] (English). Easy peasy! 👍🏻

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