bridge too far

And you know that as a fact, of course

Oh dear - I'd better stop reading the Guardian I think. I found this quite funny.

Would that be a DUNcE's hat?

I love his little car, though

I didn't know that! I lived in Henstead Road until 1973 and I'm sure it was still on the corner of Bedford Place opposite an Italian restaurant then. I know there are flats there now. But I moved away in about 73 and haven't been back to that area since.

^^^ I'm voting (no) from an independent and unbiased position. And I object to people assuming I'd do otherwise because I'm 'of the left' although, no doubt, you would have assumed I would vote 'yes'.

I thought about joining this FB group, but my FB profile has too many references to Saints on it. I think they might sus me out and I'd be scared of gun-toting mafioso turning up at my front door.

I remember Alan Pascoe! Borough Road may well have been a TT college. It was also very well known for the Built Environment and for Catering. So'ton Tech was surely close to Six Dials? And it also had sites in Albert Road I think? My dad used to teach maths to bricklaying apprentices there. The Catholic Teachers' place was De La Salle maybe? And it was off The Avenue but would have been close to Carlton Place which is opposite where the Eye Hospital used to be (I was a patient there when I was little) if my somewhat hazy memory of that area is right (later in life I lived in Henstead Road).

One of my cousins went to Loughborough to read some sort of Engineering but his main reason for going there was because of its sports reputation. He was a very good athlete and water polo player. I didn't know Borough Road College was known for sports though. I used to work there when it was known as South Bank Polytechnic (now South Bank University I think). Nottingham Trent University was formerly a polytechnic so the city now has two universities - much as Southampton does with Southampton University and Solent University (I remember when that was a Catholic teacher training college).

I know nothing about the relative merits of each course. I would venture to say that Nottingham itself is reputed to be quite a violent place. My son was at Nottingham University (not Nottingham Trent) and he still occasionally goes back to the city to visit friends. He says it is nowhere near as pleasant as it was when he was there (mid 90s).

Mr TF took his Subaru to one at Thruxton and had a great time. He's also done a 'Ferrari' day at Silverstone and we both did a 'Lotus' day in Norfolk (but I think that's a corporate thing - it was when we did it). That was awesome

Confirmed on their Facebook page linked above.

Noooooooooo! I used to go to watch them! Small world eh

Oooooeeerrrr it's all getting a bit handbags! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13181756

Lord D, two points: The Labour Party doesn't have a view on AV v FPTP. They've left it to individuals. With regard to the Labour Party's election for leader, you have to understand that the Labour Party comprises a number of organisations. Trade Unions, The Co-operative Society, the Fabian Society to name but three. Each of those subsidiary organisations has a say in the leadership election. A Trade Union, for example, might choose to vote for candidate A and another Trade Union for candidate B. As a (now retired) Trade Union member, I had a say in who I thought my TU should vote for but that's not a DIRECT vote for the leadership candidates. It's merely a mandate to my TU. As it happens, my TU chose an alternative candidate. I only had one DIRECT vote for the leadership. I don't think any comparison can be made for leadership of a political party (an internal matter) and for a General Election (a national matter). I shall still be voting NO (in fact I already have as I have a postal vote).

Rubbish! He believes in the NHS and would only be accused of being hypocritical if he paid for private treatment. Much as, in the same way, his parents chose state education for him and his brother. And it's simply not true that the more people that go private means more NHS money for the rest of us. We would quite simply become like the US (who are trying hard to emulate what is generally considered to be the best national health service in the world). Private medicine cherry picks the safest operations and leaves the tricky ones to the NHS. Unfortunately, were that carried to the extreme, there would be no training in real medicine available to students. And training in emergency medicine would be severely compromised.

I was going to say this, too. And Wycombe's old ground, Loakes Park, was pretty dire. Massive downhill and sideways slope too that always favoured the home team.

You'd think, after the hoo-ha about Notts County, as ably illustrated by Panorama last week, that they'd at least try to do it properly for a change.

I'd love to know what the powers that be consider 'unfit' and 'improper'. I was going to say 'words fail me' but clearly they haven't.

20/20 makes fair points. In the main, their fans are helpless bystanders in all this. Of course, there are idiots in their fanbase - there are in every fanbase even, I venture to suggest, in ours (heresey I know!). When we were in trouble, Mr TF couldn't have been more supportive and, now the tables are turned, I understand his embarrassment and concern for his club. We had no cause for shame, unlike PFC, but I can well understand that sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach when you think your club is about to go to the wall. Naturally, I shall continue to take the ****** and the banter will be even greater between us next season. But, for goodness sake, life is too short to 'hate' anyone, let alone a rival set of fans.

Very slow this afternoon. Could it be that posting pics slows things down even more? Oh we've equalised!

How do you know he's jumped to the front of the queue? He, too, could have been waiting for months and you don't know otherwise. My other half had an arthroscopy and then surgery for a knee problem on the NHS, all within 6 weeks of seeing his GP. But that was about a year ago. Waiting lists have become longer in the past few months. Oh and EM's op is being done on the NHS - read the BBC link above and you'll see that.

Short illness, according to the Beeb: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13176198

Because they deal with emotional issues? Yeah, maybe you're right, because men don't really do emotion. Although, hearing Jodi Picoult being interviewed on 'Meet the Author' (BBC News), it seems that 48% of her readers are men.

You're all so highbrow on here, I feel quite inadequate! I've been reading Jodi Picoult and Anita Shreve books lately, borrowed from one of my daughters. Contrary to popular opinion, they're not 'chick lit' but actually quite dark stories delving into issues such as domestic abuse, using one child as a donor to help cure another, etc. They're so powerful that I've quite often been left a blubbering wreck with the sheer emotion of the stories.