A neighbour had a stone one put on with a door but no windows and probably a shade under 2sqm.£15,000. That’s in the impoverished north east !

I had a tenant who died while renting my flat.

His wife was unsure about staying in the flat,and feeling sorry for her situation,immediately stopped the rent. Her decision to leave or not dragged on for months until finally i had to tell her i need the flat back. No problem,all the furniture will be gone.The day she left my brother in law found all the old furniture had been left. She had stopped the council tax and electricity payments the day her husband had died.

I have been renting property out for about 38 years,mostly commercial,and have found increasingly that i am the nanny state.

Phoning me when a lightbulb blows. A call at midnight because my tenant can’t sleep as there is a barking dog in the distance. My tenants daughter can’t find a parking space when visiting. I could go on.

ADV 8.9,5ft10″,size medium. A couple of things i disliked. The gravel bars were far too wide for me and felt really cumbersome.Wheels.Really heavy and so draggy.£50 on ebay bought me a pair of as new Fulcrum 5’s for the road,and a 42cm bar that was kicking about in my garage.
Fit is spot on and i would be quite happy being in the saddle for many hours.

Around 25 years ago,when i was 40,we sold our business,house,furniture,etc,and set off with a caravan. We were tired of the constant money go round and the hours spent running the business.

No real plan and we ended up in France during summer and Spain in winter.

It was surprising how many other people we met doing the same,and they got a bit of income doing casual work. Living in the caravan meant a lot less personal possessions,no tv so no marketing and a lot more conversations with interesting people we met on campsites.

Due to Brexit this is virtually impossible now within Europe unless you want to try and flout the law.

Now i am back to being in the UK,in a house buying sofas,carpets and cushions.It’s bloody boring !

Governments and big businesses have us nicely lined up on a conveyer belt unable to jump off. You stay on that conveyor until you quietly drop off the end.

Can’t use Chrome on my android. Freezes constantly.

I had my 2016 Bailey serviced by a NCC approved mobile guy a couple of weeks ago.

Speaking to him about quality,Baileys generally ok because of Alu tech construction. Coachmans good ,and Burstners very good . Worst of the bunch,Elddis.

I was thinking of moving to a motorhome but at 70 to 80k the finish was poor. Exterior mastic looked like it had put on with a trowel and interior fittings flimsy .

Years ago i had a Hymer caravan which i lived in full time. Far superior to anything about nowadays but with a weight penalty.

After having a problem with the dealer i bought the Bailey off i asked the mobile guy if he knew of any good dealers in the area.

Bluntly,no . Mirrors my experience as well.

I have transferred poorly performing ISAs and pension funds away from the HL platform to Vanguard. A lot lower commission fees and so far performing better.No cost to transfer and a pretty straightforward process.

Having spoken with IFAs over the last 30 years i have never felt comfortable with the advice i was given.

A friend has been paying £3000 a year into a pension for 20 years. The providers last statement showed a valuation of just £70,000 and advised him that he should be upping his contributions to provide a decent income in retirement.Great financial advice !

Around my way we get the Zetland Hunt.

They park on the grass verges and have spotters scanning the fields.

Some of the residents go out and tell them in pretty blunt language that they are not welcome here.

Nearby is a wetlands area managed by the environment agency. The hunt have been told not to enter the area but they continue anyway. I reported the hunt in the wetlands,on public footpaths,to the agency but the agency said the hunt would not reply to them.

At a nearby castle there is horse racing and the hunt set up a propaganda day with an upper class voice on the tannoy saying that they are nice people really and bring your children to come and see the dogs. We found the atmosphere from the people there a bit unsettling and left quickly.

We lost our 18 year old Tibetan Spaniel three weeks ago. We knew it was coming as his dementia was severe but the decision to make the final trip to the vets was agonising.

I wake up during the night thinking i can hear him downstairs and the living room seems empty without him asleep in his basket.

The tears have stopped but i still feel numb from the loss. I know it will pass as we have had three dogs previously.

The EU are going to bring in an electronic system but it has been continuously delayed.

Before travelling you would have to apply for permission to enter by filling in a form from the internet.Supposed to be around 7 euro.

The system would register your entry and exit as you passed through border control even if it was different EU countries. Your number of days would be instantly worked out and if over the limit alert border control .

Fines,black marks in passport,registered on the above system may all apply.

Vets costs have got completely out of hand. Small independant vets around me are now part of large groups with a big hike in charges.

A friends Spaniel broke a front leg and his total bill was £15,500. The vets wanted £7,000 upfront before they did anything. They called him to bring the dog in for a check up on its leg and that was £500. He declined.

I used to live in Spain where vets charged far less,spent more time with the consultation,and gave you a prescription(no charge) to use at a pharmacy. In my local vets its just a conveyor belt of people through the consultation rooms every few minutes.

My dog is nearly 18 and i won’t be getting another partly because of these greedy veterinary groups.

Back to the original post !

We have had Baileys,an Adria,a Swift,and a couple of Elddis’s. Our present Bailey,a Pegasus Modena,is the best so far. Lightish weight,1275kg MTPLM,and a fixed bed.
<p style=”text-align: center;”>If you look at consumer ratings of British manufacturers generally Elddis come out worst.</p>
  Build quality and finish seem pretty good but you do get the odd screw coming loose. Not surprising as caravans take a bit of a pounding on UK roads.

I don’t agree with some of the points about the interior fittings being styled for the older generation.Maybe pre 2010 but not now.

With the caravan you are not restricted to staying on “regular ” sites. The CCC has rallies all around the country,and special interest groups including biking.

It’s not a cheap holiday like it used to be as campsite prices have increased,together with things like storage costs.

Just a quick mention about towcars. I know diesel is the work of the devil but walk round a campsite and see how many petrol towcars there are. I’ve towed with a turbo petrol and turbo diesel and both pulled the van but the experience was far more relaxing with the diesel. Depends on the weight of the van as well.

I had a car hit me more or less head on when i was on my road bike. Driver was at fault as the Police looked at cctv from a nearby house.

He reported it the same day to his insurance company.

However his insurance company went completely silent on me despite repeatedly contacting them.

I sent him a letter saying his insurance company were being obstructive and that i would have to take him to the small claims court for the damage.

Within 24 hrs i received an e mail from his insurance saying they would settle the claim.

My wife got a ticket after parking in a Home Bargains car park. She paid the fee into the machine for the hour and Smart parkings photos show her leaving within the hour.

On contesting it Smart Parking said they had evidence she did not enter the reg no correctly.Unfortunately she had thrown the ticket away and i believe it would have shown the correct reg .

She stumped up the £20 to avoid all the hassle.

I was speaking to a local councillor after a burger drive through was opened on the edge of town. She said it was now taking triple the amount of time to clean up the roadsides near the drive through.

I contacted McD’s about the amount of their litter in the grass verges around my area.

They replied they do have a litter picker but only for their car park.

In my area you can tell the type of some people who live in the villages by the litter on the verges as you ride in and out.

People keep mentioning aires,a la French style. Plenty of mayors are selling off their aires to a private company as they just do not make financial sense.Despite providing free,or very low cost facilities,money was still not being spent by the campers in the town or village.

My next door neighbour has a £90,000 motorhome and parks overnight in council car parks. I can’t see the enjoyment of looking out over a big piece of empty car park as part of my weekend break.

In reality haven’t we passed the tipping point ?

People in countries which were regarded as 3rd world but now have growing economies have aspirations. They don’t want to cycle or use a small moped,they want a car. And it won’t be electric. Income may increase giving them the opportunity to fly abroad. Do we,the perceived wealthy,tell them and their governments that they can’t have our standard of living.

Over population equals over consumption.

Consumption needs resources and with it comes friction between states for those resources. The downward spiral will get worse until we get to a Mad Max scenario.

If you are looking at a model that is commonly used by businesses then its likely to be high miles. I was after a Skoda Superb estate and just couldn’t find one within reasonable distance and mileage.

Wanting a vehicle for towing i bought a Ford Kuga,2019,which isn’t really a company car model and had one private owner with 26,000 on the clock.

My vet charges £20 for a prescription. They charged my wife £50 for the 2 min consultation then £40 for eye drops which she later bought at a supermarket for £7. We avoid buying anything from the vets until we have looked at every other avenue.

I have done a few pressfits,alloy and carbon,and have always used a smear of bearing retainer. Never had any creaks.

I am in my 60’s and gradually returning to mtb’ing with a basic hardtail.
I have to echo SSS thoughts entirely on road cycling after a driver ploughed into me a few weeks ago.Now on the road i am more fearful and its a hassle doing detours to avoid roads i think are too dangerous.
Yes,there is more dirt to clear,both clothing and bike,when you are offroad,but i am less on edge.
Riding the red routes at Hamsterley gets the adrenalin going which really on the road can only be matched by Alpine type descents.
I can keep my fitness up by doing the climbs,which is not easy on a 14kg non ebike.
In iffy weather you do need to push yourself to get out but as long as i am not too cold the fresh air and quietness of the forests are worth it.

Have a look on the UKcampsite website for France. Plenty of campsites listed together with user reviews.

This week i had dealings twice with SUV’s.
The first was buying one,a Ford Kuga,and the second being knocked off my road bike by a driver in a BMW X5.
I didn’t really want an SUV but with them being popular there were more on the market,especially the Kuga.An estate car would have been my choice but around here they were all high mileage company car stuff.
The SUV was bought to tow a caravan so the 2.0 diesel was ideal but more importantly the weight of the car.It will really only be used for towing.
The 80 year old driver in the X5 would have hit me even if he had been in a Fiat 500.Probably at a bit lower speed though.

I have a policy with LV. I took this out because of the eye watering repatriation costs. I declared my triple heart bypass and current medication and the cost was £240 for the year covering me in Europe.

Johnson should be bestowing a knighthood on Jeremy Corbyn for his work in ensuring a Conservative victory.

An IFA will only be looking at a narrow range of investments. There are 100’s if not 1000’s of potential investments and the IFA won’t research them all.
Your details will be put into an algorithm which will then offer up some options.
When I told an IFA I had decided to self invest he asked me my choices. Fundsmith was one.” Never heard of it ” he said. !!!!
If you’ve a bit of time it’s not rocket science doing some research yourself.
I don’t like private pensions ,ISA’s for me.

About 20 years ago we were running a successful small business but became tired of the same environment and constant marketing to buy stuff that would make us happy and smiley.
So we sold our business,house ,furniture,the lot,bought a caravan and set off.
As it was winter Southern Spain was the destination and that was about the extent of our plan.
Over the next 2 years we picked up work in Spain and France( campsites) but I started to tire of living on campsites and constantly looking for the next “place “.
During this time though we met many people who had done a similar thing and all had managed to pick up casual work.
Eventually the caravan was sold and a house bought in Spain. We lived and worked there for about 9 years.
All of the people we met ” travelling ” during this time did feel the need for a permanent base after a time. It might have been after 1 year or 5.Those bases tended to be abroad rather than in the UK.
It is more expensive to do it now,poor exchange rate,and Brexit is likely to cause paperwork problems.
Am I glad we did it ? Definitely yes. We met and became friends with some great people,British and Spanish. It took us away from the consumerist society as there is only so much you can fit in a caravan.
What backed us up was rental income.And if it does go wrong or doesn’t suit you then at least you have a property back in the UK to fall back on and most importantly it is an address.Getting insurance for vehicles and health without an address is complicated and expensive.As other people have posted a cheaper house would be a good idea.
Also,if you are going on your own it can become lonely.In Spain we became involved with organising bbq’s,guided walks,etc,as contact with other people was very important.
We still have our house in the mountains in Spain,and restrictions allowing,should be out there in 4 weeks time.

I had virtually the same problem which continued for 6 years . Customer services were particularly useless ,just repeatedly reading from a set menu,and the ongoing continual problem was never fixed.Finally an Openreach engineer told the truth and said we had a rotten underground line which it would take Openreach years to get round to replacing and it was pretty pointless persevering with it.

Had they been upfront from the start we would have had it disconnected years ago.

Sunflower hearts,peanuts,fatballs and those half coconuts with the fat in. The fatty stuff does encourage the bigger birds so we try and put that further into a hedge so only the small ones can get at it. All this food though does encourage a Sparrowhawk to be make occasional visits.

Am i the only person old enough to remember the Labour years of 3 day weeks,rubbish uncollected.power cuts and the debacle of the British motor industry. Labour should also shoulder some responsibility for the collapse of the banks due to there toadying around big business and the light touch of regulation.

What we should be asking is does the present system of government actually work and does it need a major overhaul. Perhaps the next referendum should be on the future of the House of Lords.Our tax system is arcaic,too complicated and unfair.Its basically the wealthier you are the less tax you pay in proportion. Neither major party has been prepared to ” ruffle feathers ” and address this.

Both major parties are quite happy with this arrangement as it gives very little opportunity to smaller parties or independants.They just have to sit back,wait a few years,and they know they’ll be back in power.

Voting for either party will not change things dramatically if this 2 party stranglehold continues.

Both major parties are quite happy with the system we presently have

Nobeerinthefridge. PVC trim was from The Bishop Auckland Plastic Centre. Quadrant profile.Dirt cheap compared to the normal DIY outlets.

I’ve just replaced the silicone sealant around the shower tray with pvc beading. The silicone would go mouldy within 6 months no matter which make I used. £2.50 for a 5 metre length and a tube of waterproof adhesive.

My wife can watch any old crap,Big Brother,Towie, etc, but even she couldn’t stomach any more of this utter rubbish after watching the first few episodes. What a middle class yawn.

Also, Keeping Faith. All slow motion and moody music  pretending to be arty. You could have compressed all the story into one hour. All third division stuff compared to Line of Duty and Peaky Blinders.

We had a weeks camping in Pickering and really enjoyed it. Plenty of walking and Dalby was close by. If you fancy the coast then there’s Scarborough and I don’t think York is too far. If you fancy a bit of nostalgia then Eden Camp is close and I think Pickering has a !940’s weekend coming up in October.

My next door neighbour worked as a salesman for a factory that produced upvc doors and he also knew a window frame manufacturer. The mark up from factory to fitting was quite incredible. He measured us up for a pvc porch. 4 windows,2 of them openers,plus an outside door. £350 from the factory. £150 fitting with some pvc cladding. He told me doors that left the  factory to indy fitters at £250 were £1000 plus fitting to the customer.

My wife attended a speed awareness course in the North East and there were people on the course who had been done by the average speed cameras on the A!.

I have commercial and residential property that I have let for over 30 years and i’m finding that it has got harder to make anything out of residential. In the past 4/5 years tenants appear to be of a mind to stay 6 months then move on.Not a problem with the property as one tenant was in for 17 years. As others have said, this constant interruption costs you money.

I have also found that rental amounts on residential have been driven down.Lots of small older run down terraces on the market at fairly low buying prices. I am fortunate that the commercials are on long leases with upward only rent reviews.

If I was buying now it would be an “untidy” property meaning I could do most of the work  myself.My brother recently did this and let an older terrace straight away. If you can stomach the fees then I would go with an agent. You can just let them do the initial let then deal with the tenant yourself. This means the tenant has your contact details. From past experience I now let the agent deal with the tenant.My properties are around 80 miles away from where I live and it is a bit irritating when a tenant phones and says a lightbulb needs replacing or at midnight he can’t sleep because a neighbours dog is barking.

I don’t have DSS and pets would depend on the person applying.

I don’t think compulsion is necessary. How many people do you see on a weekend riding without a helmet ? Its pretty rare for me to see any.

I used to be a mtb guide and I’ve seen enough accidents,including  myself, to convince me that wearing a helmet can reduce the amount of damage.I have had helmets gouged and written off due to impacts with the ground. It can prevent a trip to A &E with severe lacerations to the head. The road is just as hard as a trail. Its not a magic bullet against the some of the appalling driving standards.

GT has a right to an opinion like the  rest of us who contribute on here,but to call him stupid is pretty insulting.

I’m looking to change our car next year and can’t really see past buying another Suzuki. The present one has had zero problems in 5 years . Petrol,non turbo and loads of room under the bonnet to do any work.

What a non story. Politician sticks 2 fingers up to the PC brigade in a newspaper column.I haven’t seen many comments on here being critical of  the people or government of Denmark. Or would that be racist ?