This was recent, and does suggest to us what sort of guy he is, nice enough, but very focussed on every inch he owns. However I don’t know what the point would be, there would be this bit of land that they own, but isn’t part of their garden, no one else could use without permission, and I think it would be a flash point that no one needs.

So what would be the ideal outcome?
What if this chap was forced by planning enforcement to rebuild the wall on the drawn/approved boundary (quite important in a Conservation Area!) and then had a useless strip of land beyond his wall…do you think there’s any chance of the cottages negotiating to buy it at a bargain price in order to bring their gardens up to the proportion that would re-enable extensions and garden sheds etc? What value would it add to the properties?

The point at which something was done wrong was when the developer erected a fence or wall along a boundary in a different location to that approved on the planning application drawings. It would be possible for the planning dept to take ‘enforcement action’ against this and make him rebuild it to match the plans. From your posts it’s hard to know how long ago this was – if recent then enforcement might be an option but if it’s years ago then doubt anything can/will be done.

Say the cottage owner wasn’t made aware of this (that the garden was technically ‘too small’ and that their Permitted Development Rights had effectively been removed (note these are limited in a CA anyway)) when they bought the property from the developer after the initial subdivision of the site, then perhaps they’d have a case for having been deceived by omission of information. Sounds like they’d need a lawyer. I don’t know how far caveat emptor etc goes with houses – presumably they went for the ‘right’ market amount and couldn’t have been overpriced.

Planning ‘guidance’ is binding when adopted by the LPA, sometimes known as SPDs (Supplementary Planning Documents) or SPGs (Supplementary Planning Guidance). If it’s a local Design Guide that isn’t formally adopted then it’s just there as ‘desirable’ not ‘non-negotiable’.

I’m struggling to understand your post, but based on my interpretation so far…

Planning permission isn’t required to subdivide an area of land. Land Registry is simply there to register ownership and boundaries; they won’t care.

Planning permission is/was required to obtain development permission for the garden plot. Planning dept should have picked up – as you say they did – if this affected the amenity of the existing cottages (although technically the local policy wouldn’t necessarily apply to existing dwellings, only to new ones (new-build or subdivided/converted)).

If the developer intends to do something which is not in accordance with the submitted drawings for the planning approval (which must have shown the revised boundary which provided enough amenity space) then they will be in breach of their planning permission.

Your first step should be to talk to the local planning dept (ideally the case officer who dealt with the last app) and explain the situation to them.

Good news for us girls Fiona..

I wonder what this season’s concept is – Balmoral x Camden x lumberjacks?

On the bright side my free beeny makes me look like a fat forty year old Rachel Atherton.
#sostoked

Almost enough to make me run out and buy MBUK.

OP, are you familiar with http://www.shitewear.com/shirt.html?

Any new spaniel photos out there?
First Dog on the Moon made me cry today: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2015/oct/16/goodbye-peanut
Had to take my lad to the vet this morning after a few days of D and a bit of V – one magic jab later he is almost back to normal, thankfully.

I can see that you are after the sort of experiences and descriptions that architecture students are taught to think about from the very start. It may come over as an open ended question to others though. [Please prove me wrong folks!]

If that’s the case, maybe suggest a questionnaire instead where you ask the questions. Start on the basics – what is the route, duration etc, then the questions you really want answered such as ‘what are the memorable sights’, ‘what smells can you remember’, ‘% of route requiring concentration on traffic to the exclusion of the surrounding’, ‘where are the people you see’ etc.

Just ideas to make it easier for people to respond.

As an architect/tutor/cyclist, I completely agree with this. But will try and email you a response later.

Another example: http://www.rocketsandrascals.com/pages/plymouth

Works really well from a customer perspective.

Great video. I like how when you slow down to go over some rocks, he looks back as if to tell you to hurry up.

For composite alu-timber, also look at Velfac and Rationel.

http://www.wheelbase.co.uk/genesis-croix-de-fer-20-2015.html

As usual, my suggestion is significantly over-budget. BUT it’s a massive reduction on a great bike. It’s what I bought (At nearly full price, grumble grumble).
Acquired one of these today at a better price (albeit ex-display) from an excellent LBS – shout out to Soanes in Colyton, Devon (http://devoncycles.co.uk/)! My first drop-bar bike. Cannot wait to get out on it.

Sounds like a cockapoo might be the closest match. They don’t have to have hair over their eyes and they do have expressive faces.

My sprocker basically meets all of your criteria but he does shed a bit.

Ninja edit…. Also explains in chapter one why the carried those little entrenching tools with them at all times on the program

So why is that? In case they need a dump and have to bury it?

6 bikes in the ‘spare room’ (aka bike and printing/filing room) at present – occasionally they make their way into the kitchen for tinkering or drip-drying after a ride but they are generally not allowed elsewhere…living in a rented flat with cream carpets is the limitation. When we eventually have our own place it’ll have hard floors and bikes EVERYWHERE.

It’s Friday…show me your spaniels! I hadn’t seen Marmite up there previously – great looking dog. Well done on giving him a home.

This junkmail-chomping hound is 6 months old next Sunday:

Please don’t do it on the A30 – too many JOGLE people have been killed on that road. If you want a relatively direct but slightly safer route, the ‘old A30’ runs almost alongside it for a fair stretch from Launceston to Exeter.

Our working cocker x springer is called Rustin. I like Rolo, go with what your daughter wants!

Have you looked at the Human Race series of events? They include trail runs, as well as duathlons. Plus, they have different distances so you can build up.

Seconding this. Well-organised events although they’re not cheap.

If you’re not averse to a little bit of sci-fi/fantasy (which I’m guessing is true based on your list) then The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell would be well worth a look.

Sorry to read this. You clearly gave her a lovely life and did the right thing for her at the end. 😥

Gonna give my sprocker some extra hugs and treats today. It is easy to take them for granted.

With Grand Designs you can also sometimes get a load of products/materials for free if they think they’ll be featured in the show, or at least that was the case a while ago. Remember this one? http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34019920.html Didn’t cost as much as it looks. 😉

Gutted to hear this. I’ve only been reading the magazine/forums etc for a year or so but I’ve always especially looked out for and enjoyed anything by Jenn. Thinking of you, your family and friends, and will be making an extra effort to help the charities mentioned.

Had a whole bike off them earlier this year. Great service etc but not the quickest delivery in this age of immediate gratification.

Is the first shape 2D or 3D? If 3D, you may need to make it a group or component before you can use the intersect tool.

Wouldn’t worry too much about adding insulation if the walls are thick and there’s no damp inside. Instead concentrate on blocking up any major draughts (you will never get rid of all of them and you shouldn’t be aiming for airtightness in an old property anyway) around windows/doors/floors etc and invest in thick curtains! You may also be able to add double-glazing or secondary glazing depending on the local conservation policy and officer’s view.
And yes, jumpers and hot tea.

Teufelsberg! When we went a couple of years ago it was closed to the public and we had to go in through a hole in the fence. Could hear people off in the derelict buildings smashing stuff up (probably nicking copper etc) and I found it pretty eerie and scary. It looks like proper tours have now been introduced though which should be fascinating –
http://berliner-teufelsberg.com/web/en/fuhrungen-und-preise/

I also really like the Chapel of Reconcilation:
http://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de/en/chapel-of-reconciliation-216.html

If anyone’s interested in goshawks specifically, and enjoys reading, then you should find ‘H is for Hawk’ by Helen MacDonald. It’s not a simple piece of science/nature writing but is more in the poetic form of Robert MacFarlane etc. I read it late last year and it’s stuck with me since – powerful writing.

From the blurb:

‘In real life, goshawks resemble sparrowhawks the way leopards resemble housecats. Bigger, yes. But bulkier, bloodier, deadlier, scarier, and much, much harder to see. Birds of deep woodland, not gardens, they’re the birdwatchers’ dark grail.’

As a child Helen Macdonald was determined to become a falconer. She learned the arcane terminology and read all the classic books, including T. H. White’s tortured masterpiece, The Goshawk, which describes White’s struggle to train a hawk as a spiritual contest.

When her father dies and she is knocked sideways by grief, she becomes obsessed with the idea of training her own goshawk. She buys Mabel for £800 on a Scottish quayside and takes her home to Cambridge. Then she fills the freezer with hawk food and unplugs the phone, ready to embark on the long, strange business of trying to train this wildest of animals.

‘To train a hawk you must watch it like a hawk, and so gain the ability to predict what it will do next. Eventually you don’t see the hawk’s body language at all. You seem to feel what it feels. The hawk’s apprehension becomes your own. As the days passed and I put myself in the hawk’s wild mind to tame her, my humanity was burning away.’

Destined to be a classic of nature writing, H is for Hawk is a record of a spiritual journey – an unflinchingly honest account of Macdonald’s struggle with grief during the difficult process of the hawk’s taming and her own untaming. At the same time, it’s a kaleidoscopic biography of the brilliant and troubled novelist T. H. White, best known for The Once and Future King. It’s a book about memory, nature and nation, and how it might be possible to try to reconcile death with life and love.

Sounds a bit like the Tour de Helvellyn – anyone doing/done that? (Mr fionap is entering this year.) My plan is to take the dog for a gentle stroll and check out some nice cafes while he runs around in the hills.

Apparently slippers make good pillows for sleepy pups. Rustin the sprocker, nearly 5mo old now.

Architect (or Pompus and Pretentious – thanks Mikey74!) and stay at home dad. Balancing the two is difficult but rewarding. I love Architecture but satisfaction completely depends upon the outlook of the client.

Architect here too – thanks Mikey! I’ve worked in practices where we didn’t need technicians (all staff trained to be able to detail and produce construction information), so there. :p
Some days are amazing, some are dull. I am lucky enough to work from home.

I’ve had a few unpleasant incidents on the Tube – don’t know any of my female friends who haven’t. If I have to get the tube or a train or a bus late at night I will carefully choose where I sit to try and minimise the chance of anything happening. So I’d probably use a women-only carriage, or zone (more likely on the new trains). Likewise, if I’m walking down a street in the dark I will be hyper-aware of who’s around and will take evasive action like crossing the road to avoid a single male or group of men. (Men, you can help by making sure you don’t accidentally follow a woman on her own – cross the road and it’s obvious you’re not a threat.)

However I really don’t want to have to live like that, so I’d rather they weren’t introduced and we didn’t try to pretend that it was a workable long-term solution to the issue.

We need to try and improve attitudes as a whole across society, probably starting in schools and with the media.

EE 4G working ok in west london.

Architects generally don’t do structural calculations (unless they are also trained as a structural engineer) so it’s pretty normal to also employ an engineer, in Scotland or E&W. Sometimes the architect will employ the engineer and add a risk/admin fee – most of the time I get the client to employ the engineer directly. However your job sounds pretty straightforward – if anything you only need the engineer and not an architect!

That isn’t a pasty, it’s an abomination. Crimp isn’t on the side.

Thanks Shermer (and sorry for thread hijack Jonny but hopefully it’s relevant) – what would a physio do if I saw one? Massage/alignment stuff or teach me some exercises/stretches?

Might do a week up here in early October. Looking for a small self-catering place, any recommendations? Ideally somewhere pretty isolated and on the coast.

To use the roller put it on the floor and lie with your leg on top so that the effected side (this is the ‘outside’ of your thigh, so the left hand side of your left thigh and the right hand side of your right thigh) is in contact with the roller. You now need to roll the length of your thigh, from hip to knee, along the roller. You do this by moving your whole body. This will be VERY!! painful at first, but this will subside within the first week. 5 minutes a day is the recommended amount, you may find this hard to achieve at first due to the pain, that is ok. Stick with it!

I get the same thing. Painful with flats, even worse with SPDs. Walking down steep hills makes it really bad too (I was in tears coming down Ben Nevis last time).

Foam rolling helps massively but it is agonisingly painful to do so I have to admit I don’t do it every day. Really should try and put in the effort, I know.

They’ve done this to us before although it was the internet as well and somebody (I think they blamed BT) had apparently disconnected our line out of the box at the end of the street. Took a few days to get it fixed.
Another time something in the splitter thing broke and we had to swap it for a different one – might be worth trying?

I would go north coast, up near Bude or maybe even Hartland. It’ll be almost dead in late September and it’s one of the least pretentious/wealthy areas. My own favourite bit is the Tamar Valley but that’s about halfway between the coats (actually quite handy if you want to see a bit of each).

Someone in Hove has one AND a Ferrari 458 on the drive. Both black.

Woodland Drive or thereabouts? Seems to be a rule that people along there can only have sets of fancy cars on their drives, always in black.