OS map link?

I’d recommend anything from the Speyside area, a lot of them are lighter and most of them lack the smokey/peaty flavour that can put some first-timers off.

Perhaps something like an Aberlour 12 would suit? Normally available for £35.

Dalwhinnie (15) and Glenlivet (12 or 18) are also good recommendations from same area.

20% off grips and cable. Thanks OP.

No but it should be! government should have to make sure adequate and affordable housing is available for its people we pay them to look after us …all of us not just the rich.

Agree with your second sentence. However, providing adequate and affordable housing availability, is not the same as providing a divine right to own a house. If you get housing right, people don’t even necessarily want to own a house – look at Germany for instance.

The government intends to reduce in work benefits as the minimum wage increases so it is not automatic that there will be a notable increase in inflation as there is an element of offsetting.

That’s a good point.

Footflaps, Not sure that would impress the shareholders much.

Using Next as the example, given that a number of people’s pension pots are probably at least partly invested with Fidelity and Blackrock (who own 22% of Next between them), that might cause slightly more widespread issues too.

STATO, take your point on being a one-time increase. Except of course, that the living wage is due to increase to £9 by 2020.

I briefly thought that it may give rise to a lot more people becoming self-employed (I’m thinking particularly in industries like cleaning), as companies seek to drive down costs and take advantage of the fact that IR35 is so loosely regulated – but is this likely in reality?

If he was worried you’d be having a scan a lot quicker than that.

Where did you stay OP?

Thanks OP. Some gloves + a multi-tool for bargain price 🙂

Swinley has always been popular with multiple groups of users with varying skill levels. People on bikes and BSOs have now been funnelled and encouraged into a very small space. It can get very busy there, and some people can do some seemingly very daft and dangerous things on both ends of the spectrum. Whilst we as a knowledgeable community on STW may have a great deal of common sense between us and may even agree on an acceptable way of all playing together (haha, as if!) – a lot of people just ride a bike a few times a year as a bit of fun. This latter group of people are probably at Swinley causing all sort of havoc during the summer holidays!

There’s still miles of singletrack away from the blue/red loops to be had at Swinley and the bits over in Crowthorne Wood are not even “cheeky”. I was in Crowthorne Wood this evening, saw one other MTBer and safe to say we didn’t crash. I did get chased by a dog at one point though…

In answer to OPs question, it probably attracts more novices than some other trail centres. If you can avoid coming across too preachy, it might be worth a quiet word just nudging them in the right direction.

Sustrans is great. Keep up the good work GrahamS

Provided great maps and helped us plan a really easy 3 day trip down the Celtic Trail last year. I don’t remember having to properly study a map or taking any wrong turns thanks to the clear signposting. The vast majority of the route was on pleasant tracks and relatively traffic-free.

Clearly, there are parts that could be improved. You could say the same about any part of the UK’s transport infrastructure, but it’s certainly getting better and with Sustrans lobbying for improvements I can only see it getting better again in the future.

Driving to go and pick it up wouldn’t be a completely mad option for some people. 800-900 miles = £100. Ferry return = £25 or Tunnel for £46.

Total Cost – about the same as above, possibly a bit cheaper?

I’d say £130-150 too unfortunately. Put it on auction on ebay though and you may get someone caught up in the whole process and willing to pay more. On the plus side, there are relatively few women specific bikes for sale so you can often get bikes going for inflated values. I’ll give you £100 if you’re struggling!

Safe to say it’s a lot more than £25 to go private these days!

^^ thanks, just ordered myself something similar off ebay, I didn’t even realise you could get these. I’ve got a couple of the cradles, but a cable is a bit smaller to cart around with me if I need to.

Under inflated Nobby Nics did not last long, so whatever you choose make sure it’s pumped up!

FWIW, went back with High Roller II and that was fine.

Too many Sony phone models? Don’t try wading through the Samsung or HTC website then!

Would be a shame if Sony exited IMO. The Z3 compact, and its tablet big brother are both excellent and well-polished devices. The only grumble would be the flaps to cover the charging ports, but easily solved with the aforementioned magnetic charger.

Red Spotted Hanky is quite good. Less good now they charge a transaction fee, but better than nought. You can convert Tesco points into RSH loyalty points at 2x face value too.

Plantation Barbados Rum 2000 was thoroughly enjoyed by a friend who likes dark rum. I imagine the 2001 would also be a good choice, but seeing as I don’t drink dark rum you may be better off waiting for others to reply!

You may be right, I need to have a closer look to see if I could have done more to prevent it. I think I probably could have done.

I did see that Paul’s are doing that, but my size is a 20″ which they’ve sold out of. The drivetrain has recently been upgraded, but you’re right in principle, that I could just replace the whole bike if I can find something nice for around £500-600. If the new bike was also 3 x 10, I’d just have spares available.

They must have needed the bits more than me, and that’ll teach me for not securing the front wheel with a D Lock to the frame in addition to the rear.

Luckily I was thinking that I wanted to replace the forks and brakes anyway, but i’d rather do it on my timeline. Steeling the seat clamp was just petty though!

The bars and stem shouldn’t be too bad to replace with EA30 stuff again. It was fine.

Brakes wise I believe I may as well get a set of Deore/SLX front and back – will I need new rotors, or can I use the existing Formula ones?

Forks and shifters, a stop-gap may be required, although the Deore shifters don’t seem too badly priced either. (£25 for pair)

Indeed. Good question. I don’t know! It’s an FSA No.10 integrated headset if that narrows it down? My assumption was always that it was straight, but I’d never checked. Presumably I have the flexibility to change this if I want at this point?

Do the Bath Abbey tower tour – best view in the city. £6.

Cracking hour of TV, one of the few shows that’s worth enduring the adverts for! Loved the attitude and eventual achievement!

Brilliant. Thanks for posting OP.

+1. Very sad. All I Can was incredible.

I honestly reckon the swing could be just the 16/17 year olds who vote “no”.

Which would be really funny to the casual observer.

molgrips – Member
Well, only because of the way the question is phrased. Perhaps if they’d asked “Should Scotland remain in the union?” then the nationalists would have been negative, and it would all have been different

Quite. Still it’s better than the SNP ministers’ first attempt of “Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country”

I could add another 3 to that number.

Surely by very definition “No” is negative. 🙂

Maybe. There’s a lot of cultural inertia there, from people who have only known the UK their whole lives. That might be behind the age split – the over-65 age group is the only group that’s backing No.

http://survation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Scottish-Attitudes-Poll-Results.pdf

Not by the results of that poll, which shows 55+ as against. And in a real slap in the face, it also shows the 16-24 voting against. Perhaps the decision to allow 16 year olds to vote will be the swing.

What’s your source?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/leisure/11098848/Betfair-pays-out-early-on-Scottish-independence-No-vote.html

Yeah, yeah – it’s free advertising just like Fred Done does with BetFred.

..But has anyone been brave enough to place any money on the outcome of this yet?

I’ve got one – PM me and I’ll reply with the code when I get home tonight.

So, those paying 4.5/365 are illegal or just morally a bit rubbish?

Is that really how they calculate it if you have 4.5 days of Annual Leave to take?

For sake of argument, say you get paid £20k/annum. On the above basis 4.5 days = £247

https://www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights/holiday-pay-the-basics This suggests that for fixed contract workers:

A week’s holiday pay equals how much a worker gets for a week’s work

So, the calculation for a normal 9-5er on 5 day week should be 20k / 52 weeks = £384 / week.

Then £384 * (4.5 /5) = £345.

Or am I interpreting that incorrectly?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/scottish-independence/scottish-independence-foreign-investors-desert-british-economy-amid-fears-of-yes-vote-9720967.html

Top photo of this article. Can anyone spot a truly brilliant sign in the crowd?

This is a quote from an FT article I’ve previously linked to:

Taken from: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b609d594-97cc-11e3-ab60-00144feab7de.html#ixzz3Cq2h7sTX

International law assigns the rights to new discoveries to established states. It does not say how mineral rights should be assigned if such a state were to break up. To date, there are no international legal precedents for the secession of a resource-rich region in a democracy. The only secessions by resource-rich regions are Timor Leste, South Sudan and the break-up of the USSR. In each case the seceding populations had been imprisoned in repressive polities of which they manifestly did not wish to be a part. Given the chance of independence, they seized their freedom; the fact they had oil was incidental.

If it is established as a principle that local populations that turn out to be fortunately endowed can secede, there will be two consequences. One is inequality: it will create oases of wealth in deserts of poverty. The other is conflict: as in Nigeria, the dispossessed majorities will not graciously acquiesce to this precedent.

The debate over Scottish secession has been shamefully parochial. The vital consequence is not whether the rich regions of Catalonia and Flanders use independence as a precedent. It is whether regions of poor countries that become resource-rich are tempted to renege on fragile social contracts that share the wealth equally. The Scottish Enlightenment pioneered the concept of global justice: Scotland must now face its implications.

IANAL, but I suspect it’s not as simple as you might hope.

broess +1.

Interesting article in the FT a few days ago about the implications of the oil ownership debate.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b609d594-97cc-11e3-ab60-00144feab7de.html#axzz3Cp5tmPjK

It has stopped people quoting ridiculous prices on postage. I actually think it’s a step in the right direction, though of course I’d like the fees to be lower.

If sending anything remotely heavy then go for a courier like MyHermes. They are cheap and cheerful, but will get the job done cheaper than RM.