Ian Hargrave

The desert is a boring place and the ostrich seems an uncomfortable creature.So give yourself a break.

Hi,Rob....very easy. NRM adjacent to York station.Very frequent fast train service on ECML North to Darlington where you Change trains for Shildon.If you are staying in York....and who wouldn't....fabulous city,then the option by car is up the A59 onto the A1 and then branch off North of Darlington...boringly interminable and some roadworks.Please be warned that parking in York is very expensive and will add considerably to the cost of your stay,unless your hotel/accomodation has cut price parking deals...enquire before you book . The train takes the strain.Check for fare deals...perhaps a railcard.Look on Northern Rail,East Coast,Trans Pennine ,Cross Country websites.When using our rail network...plan ahead.Above all,welcome and enjoy.

Of which it would seem the siren gazing out to sea has more than her fair share

On that note we wholeheartedly AGREE !!!

No not harsh.A tendancy to want to have the last word can be interpreted as tactless.You did say your "bit" twice.Brevity is the soul of wit.There is a fine line between the truth as we see it and diplomacy.Least said...soonest mended.

And that is surely enough for now SAC..you have made a point....before it descends into further realms of pedantry..Let the matter drop.

Three cheers,Ian,for that.You've got straight to the essence of the situation.

Fine ...and there will be a lot of other less happy chappies if you let any more cats loose.

Iwould be the LAST to do that.....PLEASE KEEP THE SECRET,folks.Please don't spoil it for the folks at Shildon.It means a lot to them,please believe me.

My subscriber copy has just arrived.The secret is out,I'm afraid.

.......or two or.....?

u Ian,I have just shown your post to my wife who,for many years,managed the Adult Care services in our neck of the woods..She was happily impressed. It has become fashionable to berate Social Service Care.....much of it is unjustified.Great to see someone rate good practice,if only once in a while.Thank you for that.

These days I try if possible to avoid what I describe as 'kicking out time at the zoo'...an unhealthy time to be on the nation's roads.There is no anti social act on this planet to which a parent will not stoop in order to cocoon its infant in its four track or similar status conveyance at the beginning or ending of the school day and relations between a school and the residents of surrounding neighbourhoods are stretched to breaking point.Anyone dwelling in such an area has my heartfelt sympathy......especially when many cannot access or exit their own homes at certain times of the day because they are hemmed in by parked vehicles.One way around the situation is for a school to negotiate temporary parking at,perhaps a nearby leisure centre or church hall...not easy.You can't stop 'em...they know their rights.....responsibilities? Ah,now,that's another matter. One who fought many battles.....most of them losing ones....from the other side of the fence.

It will probably be as the D.o.G.and Great Gathering A 4's....plastic. Go on the Modelmasters website to see what they may be able to provide at this stage.

Interesting this..I have one of the first batch 'C'....a B.R. one which,coincidentally,I purchased from Steve a while back. I have to say it runs ok.But there is obviously a problem with some of this batch. Try contacting Barwell to see what they think......they are both approachable and helpful.

These days,Yodel seems the favoured option unless you expressly inform them you want Royal Mail.Agree with you about good service and there is always a quick response to any query.

Too late,folks...the show's over.Andy Y has removed them ...pending further discussion....thank heavens.I snitched and reported it.Incendiary is the word,I think.A lot of it around at present,it seems.

For further entertainment on the human condition ,do tune in to posts 379 and 380 on the Hattons thread. It must be the weather...or rabies ?

A reflection on "Bloody Sunday" some 3 days on.....and it is still rumbling on....one of our American cousins (Arizona?) has just flipped another acid drop into the mix.Thomas Hobbes is famous for the quote that life is "solitary,poor,nasty,brutish and short". Believe it,ladies and gentlemen. Off to The Swan at the RSC later...."The Roaring Girl" ...seems I can't get enough "roaring" on here.....Second visit this month.."Arden of Faversham" last.....terrific productions this season,as ever.....that was all about a woman who plots to kill her husband...light relief from some threads of RMWeb.

And indeed they have quickly acknowledged my e mail and amended the delivery details on the order. Full marks !

Thank you for that.Trouble is,I think I actually did that when I ordered....a very long time ago...so long ago I can't remember for sure! I'll e- mail them and follow it up with a phone call.

Arrived an hour ago...delivered by same lady...in the middle of said pruning exercise. Said she wes glad she didn't have to go all the way up to the front door.....poor thing....she must be quite an age....30 at least. E mail from Hattons earlier...the other brake expected Tues 29th.This completes my order. Must get them to use Royal Mail this time...I use a Mail Collect service...more convenient.

Haway the lads.....bonny lad,dursn't thee appreciate the wilds of County Durham? Best hostelry up North...and close...The Rose&Crown at Romaldkirk. Me....I'm actually coming South,past The Angel & a short distance down the A1 .Our son & family live in Low Fell & we're spending a couple of nights there.God's own country....A1 excepted. On good authority ( mine) the sun does actually shine there.....might actually get up the coast towards Alnmouth & Dunstanburgh...magically unspoiled.

The only downside of it...as I've just learned...is it's Yodel again.....ah well,at that price,mustn't grumble.Good thing I'm planning a pruning assault on the front terraces.As they say...blink and you miss them.Their idea of finding out if anyone's in is tap and run....The main consignment of portholes arrived thus a week or so back & had to be re delivered despite the fact that we were in and the porch door was open.The lady delivering it moaned about having to climb the steps and questioned how we managed to live here.....such is the human condition,I suppose. Now we have to repeat the process ....and again shortly when the other brake end eventually appears.

A good tree surgeon is a crock of gold.There are far too many guys in trucks with mobile numbers on their sides preying on the gullible.