Camden Street is the new Temple Bar. Well, it is for the locals. Plenty of places to eat and drink. Enjoy

My son was seventeen when he was airlifted out of Hamsterley forest. Open fractures of the Tibia and the Fibia, as well as a dislocated ankle. He spent four months on his back with a strict no weight on his ankle. He was back on his bike in less than a year and now at twenty two, is as fast as ever on his bike. Just follow the experts advice, and you’ll be back on a bike in no time. Good luck

Self employed plasterer. Even though Micheal Gove, this morning said I can go to work, I’ve decided to stay at home and ride it out with my family. I’m lucky that we can live without an income for a few months. A lot of self empoyed cant, so need to go to work. Government needs to be very specific on who goes to work, otherwise this shambles will continue

2.6 Hillbilly Grid on the front (2.5 in reality) and a 2.3 Butcher Grid on the back (2.3 in reality). Fantastic in the slop of Hamsterley and the North York Moors

If you’re on Facebook OP, there’s a very good group called ‘Private Parking Tickets-help and advice’. They offer free advice and they also provide Template appeal letters. On similar cases to yours, they also advise drivers, to contact Pals at the hospital in question first

Personally,  I’d light the log burner  and get it as hot as you can and see if it affects the rest of the  wall. There’s no point  patching the live plaster  if it happens again in a different place  If it was me plastering it, i would  hack off a bigger area  and dot &dab  a fireline plasterboard to the brickwork  . PVA  the remaining part it the  wall and reskim it so it all looks the same

My oldest son started  humiliating me when he was fifteen.  He’s now twenty  and we hardly see each other on the trails.  I’m fifty-one  btw. I still earn more than him  though  😁

Our Baxi combi  boiler died just before Xmas, so I got a mate to replace it with a  Viessmann condensing  one. He said  my old hardwired thermostat  wasn’t compatible  and I’d also have to get an electrician to wire it up properly. Luckily for  us,  I also have a mate who’s an electrian. Hope that helps

If he only work’s for companies that deduct tax at source  , then he’l be fine.  If however, he does his own work for private  client’s who pay him the full amount on his invoices.  Hmrc will use his overall turnover  and calculate his tax liability for the next tax year.  So he could if he’s not careful, he could end up with a surprise tax bill that has to be paid in advance.  A bookkeeper or an accountant will advise him about that .

And I thought I had problems.  I am truly in awe , at your strength and determination . Good luck to you Mark and your family. Donation made

My wife who is 49 was diagnosed with melanoma cancer just before Christmas. We’re waiting for the results of her lymph node biopsy to see if it’s spread, so I know how exausting emotions can be. I lost my dad many year’s ago as well so all I can say is, it does get easier as time passes.

The going rate here in teesside is £30/m2. That’s labour only and only for straightforward wall’s / floors. The larger the tiles, the better the wall’s have to be, so if the wall’s aren’t level and plumb, you’ll need extra adhesive which can sometimes end up more expensive than the labour rate.

All artexed or painted surfaces should be treated before skimming over. You have a choice between blue grit or watered-down pva. Or, if you’re really brave, just use Thistle Unifinish on the ceiling without any preparation. Personally, I don’t use it because I don’t trust it but it’s supposed to be good stuff

My first day back to work since Wednesday and I’ve come home to fifteen more page’s. I’ve got so much to do tonight but I just need to catch up. Please, someone tell me it will be worthwhile.

It helped that my son was airlifted straight to James Cook and the surgeon came in at 1am to operate but stand your ground and demand a specialist opinion

June 2015 , my son had a bad off on his bike in Hamsterley. Dislocated ankle and open fracture to his tibia. After reconstructive surgery and three month’s on his back he began his recovery. Even though he has little cartilage left in his ankle, he’s back on his bike and recovered remarkably well. He was lucky that he had a fantastic military surgeon who operated on his ankle (James Cook hospital is also a military hospital). Ask for a specialist doctor to examine your ankle and hopefully it will get sorted

Nowhere is good along the moors this week. I did a 20 mile loop starting in Osmotherley this wed and it was a muddy quagmire for most of it. That’s why I’m heading to Hamsterley this weekend. Plus, the local trailbuilders take a dim view of people riding the trails when it’s wet in Guisborough.

There’s a parallel Facebook argument

Any deals on a T6 Ling. Could do with ordering one, just for the fun of it. Then cancelling it after the buzz of a new van wears off. Best tread ever

Dublin with a hint of cockney and teesside

If you’re looking for quite singletrack then try a local called Bruno who operates out of Montchavin with evolution 2. He actually lives in Landry and knows the area intimately. Speaks very good English and has a cracking sense of humour

Just back from a weeks biking in and around Montchavin near les Arc. We had a local french guide from evolution 2 who is based in the village. Best biking I’ve ever done. A mixture of bikepark and out of the way singletrack. Well worth the money

Some big climbs
Some sublime descents
I love Reeth

Self employed plasterer and yes. Working on an historic listed building in North Yorkshire at the moment

The Boltby Bash near Thirsk might be worth a look. Cracking stages and a fun weekend on your bike. You can even camp there on the farm that’s stages the event.

I live in Stockton on Tees but I ride every Thursday night and most sunday morning’s with a few lad’s from Northallerton. Tonight it was Hamsterley but it’s usually around Osmotherley , Kilburn , Boltby Dalby (off piste ) and Guisborough (when it’s dry). Feel free to drop me a line if you fancy a group ride . We’re a piss taking friendly bunch

Also, helping out at a homeless shelter for two year’s would have done him no harm in his entrance interview for Cambridge university. Would like to know how many time’s he helped out in those two year’s.

The Dudley Arms. Nice food as well

I’d stay clear of Guisborough at this time of year. Even some of the double track’s over there are mud baths at the moment. If I was going for a loop on tandem, I’d cycle from Great Ayton on tarmac to Kildale. From there, take the Cleveland way towards Clay bank . Before you reach the descent to clay bank turn right and descend towards Bank Foot (Ingleby incline). From there, return to Great Ayton via Ingleby Greenhow

A good tip for putting up plasterboard is to always put the plasterboard perpendicular to the joists so that the cut ends are on the joists and if you can , put a full board up in the middle of the ceiling. That way you have a 90 degree angle to work with and you can measure into each corner from the fixed plasterboard . Hope that makes sense.
You also don’t have to use thermal plasterboards. It’s easier to put kingspan between the joists and another thinner sheet of kingspan on top of the joists. Then you can just use normal board’s or duplex boards ( foil back ) using longer drywall screws

Sorry. I told a lie. Mines a 110v one which works off a transformer. The cable is mildly irritating sometimes but you get used to it fairly quickly. It’s also lighter than a cordless one.

I’m biking in Kilburn with a few lad’s early Sunday morning if you fancy tagging along. Not big on milage but lot’s of steep technical trails around there.

I’ve also got a Senco 240v one. I’ve had it about 5/6 year’s now and it’s brilliant. The only issue I’ve ever had was when I used wd40 to lubricate the moving part’s. Big mistake as as the plasterboard dust clogged it up. Now I use a silicone spray and everything is nice and smooth. So much quicker than using individual screws. If you do a fair bit of boarding then go for it. The time you save will make the initial outlay worth it.

K11 comes in powder form which you mix with water (SBR added) to form a slurry. That’s then painted onto the brickwork to form a barrier which stops the damp coming through. You can then plaster over it .

I’m a big fan of the sovereign damp proof system. Their K11 mixed with SBR bonding agent work’s well and can be applied with a pasting brush so no skill is involved. Also, I wouldn’t recommend using plasterboard and skim to line a fireplace. Hardibacker cement board’s are a better option.

As above. I charge on average £250 for a small to medium size room to £450 for a larger room.

Stay well away from No Social. Still have nightmares about that particular trail

You can get a plasterboard edge bead that wraps around the exposed edge of the plasterboard. That will give you a nice sharp line inside the fire place that the hardibacker board can butt up to. An edge bead is different from a stop bead and is designed to fit a 12.5mm plasterboard . Thats what I would use

I’ll be there. First time back in Scotland since Vallelujah in march. If it rains I’m going to struggle in the golfie. The trails there are a different beast than the one’s in Glentress and Cademuir. I so hope it stays dry