Ah your lucky. This community site[/url] has a couple of webcams looking over the bay and some other local info.

Can’t wait until summer now.

Hope you have a fab time, do post back and say how it went – I’m sad like that.

You can pick up a booklet of local walks in the shops there, and when the tide’s out you can always wander round northwards to see the wreck of the Sarb-J

We’ve holidayed at the Bay the last few summers and will do again this year. There’s cycle hire and maps just off the main road at Hawsker before Robin Hoods Bay which is probably your best bet to start: Trailways

It’s got info on the Whitby to Scarborough coastal rail trail (on old railway funnily enough) so I’d imagine it’s not too rough. Not done it though so can’t say for certain. Our youngest was 1 when we first took first there, will be 4 in summer this year and she loves it and can’t wait to go back.

Lots of nice walks to do – along the cliff path to cafe at Boggle Hole youth hostel, then back along the beach is a fave of ours.
Falling Foss Tea Garden[/url] does great cream teas and is a nice wander through the trees for all ages.
Crab fishing in Whitby harbour.
Messing about on the beach at Robin Hoods Bay, Whitby, Scarborough.
Peasholm park in Scarborough for general park fun, swans, dragon boat rides.
Playdale Farm Park[/url] not far from Scarborough.
Further afield is Flamingo Land though we reckon it’s too costly.
Not that far from Dalby Forest.
North Yorkshire Moors Steam Railway is nice (though wasn’t impressed with Goathland where they film Heartbeat, Grosmont was much nicer).

Suppose it also depends what kind of holiday you want. We liked to explore and relax and found it perfect.

Oh and there’s a great chippy in Robin Hoods Bay, and ice cream, and highly recommend Hadley’s chippy in Whitby.

When are you going?

Looks good ….

… oh wait, ‘Scotland’s Clans’ on BBC Teuchter TV. Marvellous.

And a search comes out with Friday at 7.30pm for viewers in Scotland and Wales.

Think the humanists have missed a trick. As always they’re too serious and highbrow, instead of pushing for the ‘tick the no religion’ box why not encourage a nation of Jedi’s which would make bigger headlines and surely further their cause.

We had a humanist wedding which was great and can’t fault that, but all the humanist workshops, meetings, articles, etc. just seem to be intellectualising it all way too much which in the end put us off staying members.

Why can’t we all just ‘be excellent to each other’?

Check out the ‘Other Brews’ bit of the forum at Jims Beer Kit or Home Winemaking forum

Should be more advice there. And if you can’t wait to use your own apples, have a look at the turbo cider recipes on those sites – I’ve produced a fab cider from tesco apple juice (4.5l tesco apple juice boiled on the stove for a bit, some demerara sugar, mug of strong tea, teaspoon of jif squeezy lemon and some bog standard white wine yeast).

Devilla forest near kincardine, the trail to the east of moor loch done north to south – at least before they cleared all the rhodedendrons from the start and finish. It had sudden twists and turns, rhodedendron tunnel, dodgy bridges, mud but always thought it was great fun.

I just upgraded to an android phone and a bit underwhelmed to be honest.

Rubbish battery life so end up having to keep shutting off data transfer and wifi connections to eek some life out of it, then turning it all on again to use it. Close an app but it doesn’t close it really, it still runs in the background so you have to kill it. Usual convention of organising messages into inbox/outbox, etc totally out the window. Camera fine on the phone I opted for (5.1 megapixel) but they’ve taken the lazy option in that you need to find an app to make the most of it instead of having something decent out the box. Upgrading the software meant having to go through the process of backing everything up to memory card then restoring it or have everything wiped. Even organising the contact list isn’t straightforward – maybe I just want a list in a phonebook instead of the phone being too smart and trying to sort anything and anyone into different contact accounts. And the bloomin touchscreen.

Ah well, 2 years of it then I can find something that works and does the job. Maybe I’m just a luddite or completely missed the point of Android or any smart phone.

OP phone looks state of the art compared with what we get Nokia 1112 PeterPoddy’s looks more in keeping with what our team get (though others in the same overall bigger team get Blackberrys).

Bank of Scotland did the same to me once, phoning up to report suspicious activity on our account. I wouldn’t confirm my details over the phone (how did I really know they were BoS before giving out various account details) and they wouldn’t confirm things over the phone despite my argument that I know who I am, they should confirm who they are.

As it was possible suspicious activity, I found the general phone number and got put through various departments to eventually land at the one who did phone me. Turns out someone cloned the card at a garage and there were attempts to use it in Australia.

I always find it the wrong way round that if a bank, power company, mobile company phones you out the blue, why should I have to confirm all my details – surely it should be a bit of both.

Just renewed my Orange contract and someone phoned on the new phone, same number to ask how I was getting on with it but could I just confirm a few details. Err, no thanks.

It is easy to step into though, and most calls would be genuine I imagine, I’m just naturally suspicious.

If the dog’s not going back to it’s owner, encourage it to come along with you and keep riding? Owner might be a bit more attentive next time.

Probably not straightforward. If the council in question had been aware of the pothole then you may be eligible to put in a claim. However, if they hadn’t known about it or had it reported then they may take the line that they weren’t aware of the pothole and so not liable to pay out as they would not have had an opportunity to fix it.

However, if it’s been filled in they perhaps were aware of it and had it reported. Were other potholes filled in on the same stretch? If so, it’s possible the road had been surveyed as needing repairs in which case the pothole would have been known so you might have a case.

I’m due an upgrade imminently and likely choosing between the same two. My wife has the HTC Desire and loves it, battery life on the Desire HD looks a bit better, she’s charging every night. I did like the Defy and was leaning towards that, though reading some reviews many people seem to have had issues with the earphone dying. Anyone with the Defy actually had those issues?

As sick as this one, just round the corner from us

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-12274716

The Woolpack in Tillicoultry has always been a fave of mine though it’s been a while.

I’ve always usually bought TaYa chains and found they’re pretty good value for money.

Yorkshire brewery tour (last tour 5pm) and sample of their range afterward. Or if the tour doesn’t suit timewise, just go for their tap room and sample their range.

Looks fantastic. Especially like the middle pic TJ. I did consider riding up there today, but the wee one boaking her toast back onto the breakfast plate this morning put paid to any riding fun.

The genius of Shatner

Prefer this to the original. Shatner does ‘Common People’

Always liked his Rocket Man cover too.

58mph coming down the east side of the String on Arran, and I wasn’t the fastest out of the group. Was absolutely keeching myself.

We’re on our second. The first was bought for our eldest daughter to replace our cat that got run over. For his first year she didn’t play with him too much, so we reckoned he was a fair bit depressed, so he got moved to our youngest daughter’s room who was just over 1 year old at the time. She played with Big Bubbles almost every night. He lasted to 2.5 years with his new lease of life of getting duplo lego castles getting built for him. Daughter was devastated when he died, I had to tell her, we buried him in the garden. Very traumatic, so be prepared for that then the ensuing questions about death.

Replacement hamster is ‘Rhino’, who when she chose him at the pet shop was the one that was full of aggro – I’d never actually heard a hamster growl but they do. It doesn’t put her off though, she still plays with him most nights, and he’s mellowed out a bit now in the 10 months we’ve had him.

Their pee does smell though so regular cleaning essential, and if you have the misfortune to be peed on, it’s totally honking.

I had gerbils as a kid, they’re ace. Apart from the night time drumming of their feet at the slightest noise that freaked them, used to drive me nuts. Hamster squeaky wheel just as bad so ours goes in the bath at night (we give him a little life raft though).

Oh, and the first hamster wasn’t one for gnawing so his teeth grew too long and out the side of his cheek which was a bit freaky. After the vet took care of that we had to trim them every so often with a tiny pair of wire cutters, he didn’t much like that. And don’t use synthetic cotton wool type bedding, he also got that wrapped round his teeth early on which took some struggling to get off. Use toilet roll in his bed now.

Hamsters are great though. They’re not super fast like gerbils and a great way for young’uns to learn about caring for something. Daughter is 3.5 years now and really takes care of Rhino, likes cleaning him out, feeding him carrot and apple, etc.

Bottling It

Picture guide to bottling – though the guy is using a bottling stick attached to the fermenting bin’s tap. I just bottle right through the tap. Sludge pretty much stays at the bottom through bottling until you get towards the end; once the beer gets to the level of the tap you can start to tip the barrel, slowly and carefully (I usually jam a big book under it) to avoid the beer rocking about and kicking up the sludge. If a little goes through it’s no big deal, it’ll settle out after the further fermentation in the bottle as will the rest of the yeast in suspension. It’s all really simple. The only pain with bottling is the sterilising and rinsing of all the bottles.

There are still quite a few homebrew shops round the country, so you may have a local that should be good for advice and support.

Then you can go down the route of:
Support your local homebrew shop or buy online?
What hops for a golden ale?
… and so on.

… and importantly, not forgetting one of these[/url] for supping it out of.

Hydrometer, thermometer, sanitising solution/powder would be useful. If it’s a one can kit, 1kg of Dried Malt Extract (DME) makes for a better beer than using the 1kg of sugar.

Have a look at Jim’s Beer Kit which has info on starting out on kit beermaking and an extremely helpful kit section to the forum.

Coopers kits are ace.

It’s fantastic for a family holiday, we’ve been a few times. Camped at the campsite just outside Dalbeattie to the North and also at Sandyhills.

Area is brilliant. The beach at Sandyhills is great – when the tide goes out, you can’t even see the sea it’s that far away.

Mabie Farm Park is pure magic, farm animals, giant inflatable pillow thing, rides, etc.

Cream o’ Galloway ice cream visitor centre, numyum.

Caerlaverock castle and Sweetheart Abbey (and nearby working old mill) are topnotch for the ruin count, and there’s nearby RSPB reserve.

We love it down there, everytime we’ve been it’s been a great holiday and a chance to just chill out and enjoy everything.

It seems pointless taking the time to do a spoof if it isn’t at least a wee bit funny.

I’m guessing the other posts I can’t see on this thread must be interesting.

First time I’ve complained about them at all on here so I don’t think I’ll give it a rest yet thanks. Collecting at depot is fine if the local one is ‘local’, not 30 miles away at a transport hub. Collecting at depot is fine if they have it open to be able to collect at depot. Have I put you to sleep yet? I do apologise there, old chap.

yummy

Hovis mmmmmmmm

Twice I’ve taken a day off for a next day delivery and nothing has arrived. The latest ‘next day delivery’ should have arrived yesterday when I took a day off. Online tracking shows it only arrived at their local delivery depot at 6.16 this morning, and it’s still there this evening. City Link are rubbish, how about a special instruction when ordering something to be able to not use City Stink. And I’ve tried changing delivery date on their phone system without it actually registering as changed, then they closed depot for collections, and ended up sending it back, not mentioning trying to phone them to get the ‘connecting you now’ message then getting cut off – repeatedly. Utter rubbish.