Bottom line for me is – who would be happy living next door to Mr Yaqub?

Whatever the rights or wrongs of the shooting, it just sounds like he was a common criminal if the various stories that have appeared in the media are to be believed

I don’t care what race or religion lives in my street but the thought of living next to an individual who may have made his money out of the misery of others isn’t a pleasant one

How about – and very relevant to this forum (!) – “Wasting Time” by Strangeways? They were billed as being PowerPop at the time

Re gender pay gap

Has anyone actually read the ONS report?

The key % in there is comparable pay – not the overall gap – and this % is half of what Northwind has quoted

Inevitably it is the headline that those who can’t be bothered to read (ie most journos) always quote

Not that I’m defending the fact that there is a difference – there should be a rate for the role; the gender etc of the job holder is irrelevant

I was brought up in Amersham, living there / Chesham Bois from the age of 4 until I went to university

My first school was Chestnut Lane, and then I was one of the first pupils to go to the newly opened Elangeni school (opened in 1973). In those days South Bucks still had a 12+ secondary school entry system and I went on to Dr Challoners Grammar School. It was all boys then, but there was a sister school – Dr Challoners High School in Little Chalfont for girls. The main co-ed school for 12+ was Chesham High School

We moved to a new house on arrival in Amersham on a new Costain estate near the town centre – walking distance to there and all the key schools in the town

At the time there was a lack of larger food shops in Amersham (there is now a large Tesco in Old Amersham on the site of the old Bowyers pork pie factory), so we went to Sainsburys or Waitrose in Chesham

It really is a very pleasant area, though expensive for housing. Schools are good, it is pretty close to the M25 (if that’s a positive!!), and the commute into London (Met Line to Baker Street / Aldgate or Chiltern to Marylebone) is easy though a fair distance (and cost!)

There is limited non-food shopping in the area – High Wycombe or Watford are the nearest larger centres

Worth bearing in mind that local bus services are poor, so bear this in mind if you live some distance from the centre of Amersham or Chesham

I think that I’m right in saying that the nearest A&E services are Watford General or Stoke Mandeville (Wycombe used to be the nearest but these closed a few years ago)

That may well be true AA

And for education we could also insert NHS

I believe that the issues are less to do with political dogma, and more to do with the enormous costs involved to provide these services to the level that we would all really like (though very few would actually be willing to pay for) – and the reluctance of both politicians and the public in general to grasp what is a very painful nettle in that spending choices have to be made regardless of who sits in 10 Downing Street

As the parent of a 19 yo that has recently moved from school (6th Form college) to university, a few apolitical thoughts:

1. There seems to be constant change imposed upon the (state) education system and I can’t believe that this is necessarily a positive thing. This seems to transcend the political party in charge at the time. However, by the same token no change isn’t an option either, despite the protestations of some who clearly don’t want to ever cope with and embrace change;

2. There are a lot of very dedicated, capable and engaging teachers and my son was very lucky to be taught by some of these; however, on the flip side he also had to suffer some poor quality, lazy teachers too. In any profession (mine included) there will always be good, bad and indifferent, but the majority have gone through the pain of gaining a qualification because they genuinely want to do the job;

3. The UK education system still attracts a lot of overseas students, partly because there is still a lot of quality teaching and experiences available. Granted this isn’t always in the state system

4. No political party is ever going to please all those involved in the education system, but I still believe that the majority leave the system in the UK with a good education. Could it be better? Certainly. Could it be worse? Definitely

5. Parents play an enormous role in education, particularly in early years. Sadly some parents believe that teachers should do it all and abdicate their own responsibility

I was maybe lucky – state grammar education, red brick university pre enormous fees – but my recent experience through my son suggests that education isn’t maybe as broken (in general) as some would have us believe

Climb up the Petrin Tower – same side of the river as the castle

Great views over the city and castle

And will use up a few calories so you can visit the Choco Café

Darling Cabaret in the evening obviously

Anywhere has to be cheaper than my hotel tonight – Intercontinental Paris Le Grand €440 a night and then €45 for breakfast!!

Needless to say I’m not staying here at my expense……

Would definitely agree with any of the recommendations above for Stortford (speaking as a long time resident)

Though if you want a real greasy spoon experience – and quite possibly a fight – there is always Harlow, a mere 10 minutes further south…

There is a ‘Spoons in Bishop’s Stortford – The Port Jackson

Opens at 0800 I think

Right next to the car park too

The easiest way to accept or pay out funds of this level is via a Faster Payment bank transfer. Though it can take up to 2 hours it normally takes less than 15 minutes – or, when I sold my car last Friday, it was almost instantaneous

You get an audit trail and security over knowing the funds are actually in the banking system

I would always refuse a large cash transaction now

Just sold my Audi A3 on Pistonheads – about £12 for a month I think

Sold my last 3 cars on there too

Had loads of calls / emails, though usual proportion of timewasters / chancers

Just bought my son a VW High up! and insured it via Direct Line for c£1k – telemetrics box needed to be fitted (supplied free by DL) but no major restrictions on when he can drive it. Insurance is for him only (17 yo just passed test) – premium a lot higher if I added myself even though I have years of NCB and no convictions!

Many years ago when I was but a young lad, I was walking to the local shops when I saw a moped rider come off her ped when going too fast round a roundabout, slide across the road and hit her head hard on the kerb

I went to check on her and she was very dazed though I couldn’t see any obvious injuries

Fortunately there was a phone box within 10 metres (no mobile phones then!), and an ambulance and the police turned up within minutes

I gave a brief statement and went to do my shopping

The next week I learnt from the local paper that she’d been charged with drink driving and later lost her licence 😕

I tried to remind myself that I’d actually done the right thing!

Sundayjumper – I would always check all tyres carefully (eg sidewalls for any bulges / cuts), treads for any uneven wear etc

And check that all 4 tyres were the same – if not I’d want to know why

When I sell a car I’ve always given the buyer ALL receipts for work done, including replacement tyres

But then I don’t buy second hand

OP – I don’t have any specific evidence, and you would expect tyre manufacturers to strongly recommend new

However, you really don’t know the provenance of part-worn or re-treads, and for the sake of the extra cash it has to be worth the peace of mind getting new

And always get the tracking checked when putting new tyres on – you’d be amazed how many people don’t and then find their tyres have worn so unevenly that they’re junked within less than 5k miles

For most people their car will be their second biggest purchase they ever make and it never ceases to amaze me how many cut corners to save a few £ hundred on a vehicle that has cost them over £15k

Some years ago I worked in the tyre industry (at the UK’s largest tyre wholesaler)

As a result I would NEVER buy part-worn tyres (you don’t know where these have come from, but many are from vehicles that have been written off and you can’t guarantee that the tyre hasn’t been damaged), or retreads for any vehicle other than an HGV / bus

It is the only part of the vehicle in contact with the road

5’5″ – you are a giant! 😯

I’m 5’1″ and have an XS Canyon Spectral AL 8.0 2014

Looking at a road bike this weekend too – 49cm Specialized Elite Secteur Disc…..for occasional use obviously 😆

Thanks chaps

I have to say that I’m probably in the “all show, no go” rider category at the moment!! But I’m hoping to have ground out sufficient miles by early December to make a real fist of things

But I have to say, the enthusiasm of forums like this one is infectious, and is one of the reasons that my bank account is being gradually drained by a wide selection of on-line retailers and bike shops!!

Good advice re the hills though – definitely a part of my riding that needs some time spent on it