Winslow Boy

Not certain if you have already said this but was the road there before the canal of after? There are number of examples where access to the canal was already in place prior to a bridge being built. It all depends on what was happening in the area prior to the railway. To have both a canal and railway implies that something was being manufactured that required transportation. Building a canal was an expensive exercise so wouldn't have been done lightly.

Chris as barges were often towed by horses the pathway would have probably been a gentle slope rather than steps.

Also hospitals and churches as well. They will be glad of things like books for sales etc. Once we've all been vaccinated of course.

Interesting little fact that when men were men and women stayed at home looking after the sprogs - so long ago- that ships boats, barges etc were often filled with water when the ship was sailing in the tropics. It was done so as to stop the seams drying out and splitting .

Nothing like the 'smell of napalm' or chainsaw pruning first thing in the morning.

Cotoneaster is a tough old shrub to kill. You can cut it right down and it'll just come right back up. It also seeds itself all over the place and roots from any low branches. Doesn't taste as nice as ginger cake though.

If that's the case I would say take it out now and get on with planting a replacement as now's the time to do it. Your get ahead of the season by starting now.

Oh I'm afraid I wouldn't do that. Cypresses have one main growing tip, hence the bare side, and don't respond well to drastic reduction in height. I would suggest reducing it to about a third , 10 ft in the spring and see how it goes. Taking down to 4 ft will be too much.

It is interesting to read about the various opinions that contributors to this esteemed posting (other words are available) have about the provision of hedgerows. Having been on the 'other' side ie responsible for the enforcement I did smile at HH comments of 'enforcement team' as that would but exist. Rather a single officer having to cover any number of sites would be more true. Ancient hedgerows are something that require a fair bit of skill to maintain to ensure that they continue to provide a suitable habitat. And as with most skilled things that requires funds. By the way how do you tell if a hedgerow is ancient- simplez you count the number of different types/species in it. The more there are, the more old it is.

Somebody working on a net perhaps? As there are always tears to mend.

You are a very wise hippopotami.

Flotsom and jetson or jetsam is what you want- and no it isn't some Flanagan & Allen double act. Ask the harbour master for some.

Reminds me of the time that I went for a meal with some friends. Having chosen what we wanted and had it delivered we noticed that one of the assembled was carefully fishing out the ham from his pea & ham soup. When he was asked why he said that he didn't like the ham. He then explained that he knew he wouldn't like pea & ham soup but as there wasn't anything else he liked he felt obliged to order it. Suffice to say ever since we have dined together again he is reminded of this, particularly if pea & ham soup is on the menu.

Dear Mr P Re. Unauthorised health scare It has been brought to my attention by the Matron at the Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth that you have been putting unauthorised pressure on the National Health Covid Service. This must stop AT Once. The NCS is under enough pressure as it is without people such as you having to have scarce resources, such as those yellow thingy mabobs, coming out to waste time running them to the. Queen Alexandra Hospital Hotel. I understand that you have been given the all clear which is a good thing as I've told matron that she is not to admit you if you turn up again. Yours healthy Matt Hancock, MP, CSe and the main man for Covid. ps behave yourself as the RM web thingy wouldn't be the same without your bodging.

May I suggest a possible solution to your 'early morning wake up call' - something we have used to great effect. When the call comes through respond in the affirmative and wait then to be connected to an operator. At which point listen to what is said and then politely state that they are in breach of the telecommunications act 1998 and the data protection act 2018 and if your number is not removed within twenty fours ( other time frames are available) they will be reported to the information commissioner who can levy a fine. Then ask for the company details. If they refuse to give you them or argue then reiterate the above thank them and put the phone down. You may get a follow up call which you can either ignore or repeat the process. This will either scare the s..t out them and they'll hang up or they'll apologise and say that they will arrange for it to be done. We did this a few times and now don't get any calls. The other thing to do is to register on line with the telephone preference service. This ensures your number is barred from such calls.

Is it as cuñning as a plan from a professor of cunning plans at oxford university?

Be careful there HH, don't overdo the 'pointing out' else you you might find the jobs list being added too. I speak with the voice of experience on this matter.

My condolences for your loss Robert. I'm afraid that this will be a very trying time for you and your family. Having had encounters with bereaved families during my professional career all I can say is that death brings out the extremes in people. Take care.

The harbour master, Capt O C Wave, RNVR (Ret) will be after them. Best tell them to quaff up and get back a board.

To an entomologist the ivy provides a ideal habitat as it plays host to all sorts of creepy crawlies - please accept my apologies for the use of this highly technical term.

Now you see Mr S if I saw that I would be itching to get up there with a pair of secateurs and trim that foliage off the roof. So if I was to represent that scene m...,.,.......g wise I would be including a man on a ladder with another at the bottom - H & S, plus a wheelbarrow full of prunings. It just demonstrates my previous comment about real life intruding into the m.....,..........g world.

I'm always intrigued how the passion for m...............g intrudes into one's life and vice a versa. As someone who was trained to look at the impact of plants or in this case Parthenocissus tricuspidata on the built environment I suppose that would perhaps class me as the professional advice.

Hmm somewhat worried by this statement. I think it might be worthwhile seeking professional advice and I do not mean in the form of a master builder.

There is a lot of it around so I'm told but I haven't had the luck to encounter it so far.

That's incontinence not continence and I take it you are not prepared to follow in your fathers footsteps so obviously the green fingerness has skipped a generation much as occurred in my family.