floydraser

Pete Waterman, the well known train enthusiast explained the Beeching cuts very well. A big contributer to the economics of it was the increase in the number of people owning their own cars and therefore reducing the number of passengers on the rails.

Unfortunately we are obsessed by vanity. Isn't it the case that we could do with a basic, no frills, small EV for local running around, shopping, kids to school etc. as a second car. Wind your own windows up, fold the mirrors yourself and forget waving your foot under the rear bumper to open the chuffing tailgate! Make it easy to repair after minor bumps to keep the insurance down. Surely we would all consider one? Not happening. I remember a few years ago seeing a new electric scooter for cities, especially London. Most noticable feature were the bright red painted Brembo brake calipers. Just what you need! They're once again using climate change and the environment to sell us loads of bling we don't actually need. Cleverly, they don't provide us with any practical alternative to prove them wrong either.

Absolutely! Not much of a saving though, just a day or two's fishing but welcome all the same. Bigger saving is the bus pass. While it's cold a day's fishing is jumping on the bus to find a new tackle shop I haven't seen before, then a pint in the nearest pub. Same economy I guess; the bus fare just goes to the pub! For me the closed season is whenever the weather forecast says it's going to be below 10 degrees C.

But we can still fish on still waters - lakes and canals. Licence renews on my birthday. How often does anyone get asked to show their licence? In the last 12 months since I got mine I've never been asked for it. Worse though, I've never been asked to prove I'm over 65 either.

I can see "panic charging" whenever there's snow in the forecast.

"Oh it's beginning to look a lot like......"

I was close.

I reckon this new ship is being fitted out at John Browns, Clydebank. The dark crane in the middle is the Titan and still there as a museum.

One for the bikers.

What if we turned off the heating in all gyms and replaced all the running machines with human sized hamster wheels connected to alternators. Just saying. You could keep the large windows so that we can all laugh at you in your flashy new, tight Lycra, expensive earbuds and fashionable water bottle. Wouldn't want to spoil it.

Wow, thank you Vaughan. We'll definitely have a look at the Queens Hotel next time we're thinking of a break down there, and I'll also take a closer look at the memorial too.

Langstone Harbour: I looked and thought the Mulberry relic would be best seen by boat, but then found a good view on Google. Unfortunately, I can't embed the link. If you find it on Google and drag the little man over the Mulberry you will just see a little blue circle nearby. Drop the man on that for an aerial view.

So the flip side of V8s and sports cars: I've seen this before while driving but the consumption always seems to go up towards the end of the journey to around 70mpg. On Saturday I drove from home in Leicestershire down to Farnborough and this was the screen when I pulled up at the FAST aero museum. Corsa 1.3 eco diesel. Feet on the ground; other forums reckon these instruments are out by about 10% but I'll take that. Mostly motorway, gentle acceleration then set the cruise to 72 - the satnav says 68 - sit and watch the World go by the other way. Not bad for 92K. No road tax and about £160 insurance, I'll keep it until it goes bang. Insurance: Came through from Esure at £160. It was about right with the search engines so I decided to go with it but I rang to see about changing my details. I am down as a self employed draughtsman but there is no work and I now get state pension. I told the operative and he said that "semi retired" was an option so we went for that. I also dropped the annual mileage from 12K to 7K. He then told me it was £165, "but I haven't applied any discounts yet". OK, go for it... "I've looked and there are no discounts I can apply". So by being semi retired and staying off the road for long periods, I have become more of a risk. Hmm. The guy was friendly enough but I explained I thought that was a bit pathetic and petty, so I'll be a self employed draughtsman doing 12K for another 12 months if it's all the same.

Probably to match the horrible grey that everyone seems to have on their houses these days.

Nice but how long was the course to learn how to use it? On the right of the steering wheel I think is the weapons system??

I remember the original carboard cut-out series as being the best and back then all those names were quite innocent. We've all had a few laughs with them since though. Nice boat Ray. Lovely big windows will generate some heat when the sun comes out, it'll take some cooling in the summer. Good excuse for libation if any excuse were needed.

Apparently the 13% rise is based partly on the premise that the National Park Grant would not increase. Now it has it'll be interesting to see if anything changes. Too late to reduce the tolls I guess but they could quietly drop the idea of charging for mooring at Ranworth etc?? I'm not part of the FB group but I do keep an eye on it occasionally. They seem to be making steady progress by being organised. They have responses from MPs who seem to be listening with sympathetic ears. I should think Dr Packman and Mr Dickson are a bit nervy at last.

Mine's gone up £80.36. Definitely my last year.

Unless we went to stay with out grandparents. Then it was a tin bath with a brick under one end and as the youngest of three, I was in the shallow end.

It would also help avoid droughts as soon as the sun comes out! Back in the 1970s (I think) there was great competition between the gas companies and electrics, both wanting us to use their product. I wish I could find the old advert which declared that a 3 minute electric shower uses a third of the amount of water than a bath. And all you grown ups smoked in the office. And there wasn't much deodorant about then either!

No experience of hiring boats but I have hired static caravans - well it's the same isn't it? While I get what MM says above, I would never trust a previous hirer. Things break and people don't like to admit they've broken something, so they try to hide it. If they're clever enough they'll get it past the hand back procedure. We've had a broken bed which colapsed nearly trapping legs and a broken teapot cleverly reassembled on a shelf which disintegrated when picked up. To be fair, hire yards and can see so much.

You are correct: https://www.vernonlink.uk/ The Vulcan building is still there as apartments, some available for rent I believe. I think it's where they kept the canon balls etc? Before your time I'm guessing! There are also some parts of the outer wall and main gate still preserved. Just my opinion: I think it's great that they have repurposed it but kept alive it's history. Modern generations can't escape it's heritage. They look after it too, it's not showing too many signs of wear & tear or neglect. I would say it's in good hands. BTW I declare that naval memories on here are not a thread drift!

If you look at Google around Southsea you will find the D-Day Museum. If you zoom in close enough you will see “Landing craft LCT 7074”. I was amazed to see this as I never knew they made any landing craft this big. It is also a healthy walk along the seafront from Gunwharf which is what we like to do to keep healthy. So after shopping and checking out we put the stuff in the car and set off. There are reminders of the naval history of the area everywhere, and some rather run down seaside amusements as you get towards Southsea. At least they are renovating the sea defences in places. And finally, something else I'd like to fit to the Denham Owl: The rest of the museum was very good and for me portrayed a sense of fear and anticipation which they must have felt at the time. A welcome bonus was the excellent cafe within the museum where we had lunch before the pleasant walk back. Conclusions: We had a lovely short break which served it's purpose. The hotel is ok for what it is, clean etc but avoid Saturday nights like the plague, we've learnt by experience. At around 2am you get awakened by the ghost of a dying relationship. You look through the spy hole in the door and in the corridor there will be a young person sitting with legs accross the corridor, sobbing their socks off while their soon to be ex partner pleads innocence of the crime of paying too much attention to another person in the nightclub accross the way. I would guess Friday nights would be similar. Breakfast is very good if you ignore what they try to pass as bacon. It's totally inedible; if you do manage to cut it you've just wasted your time as you'll never chew it. One thing we love about Gunwharf Quays is that we never feel out of place; wandering around in the evening there are people of all adult ages and plenty of security. We got home at around 18.30, chucked the stuff in home then nipped off to the local Hungry Horse to save on washing up. We're looking forward to more of these off-peak short breaks once Mrs Raser retires at the end of May...

I am definitely fitting one of these to the Denham Owl: Clever bloke; just imagine how much money he saves on mooring fees by not having davits hanging out over the stern?

It's almost obligatory to include a sunset pic isn't it? Had no room for another drink after wine at Zizzis. Sorry to let the side down but I never developed a capacity for copiuos amounts of alcohol. Outside of Rugby matches that is. I had booked the hotel and Zizzis online, not bad for a bloke over 50, and it worked. Good news: when we checked in the receptionist told us we get discounts at most of the restaurants on site, including Zizzis - 20%! Bad news: Husbands look away now - she also told us we get 10% off in most of the shops on site! Oh dear. Monday morning we had breakfast and went shopping where got 10% off everything we 100% didn't need!