Whitey Grandad

Exports from Cardiff ended in 1964. That's one of the reasons why the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation was established, inside the defunct Coal Exchange building, to redevelop the Bay and provide employment. Welsh anthracite was used especially for steam trains and at the height of the running of steam locomotives on the railways 40% of the coal moved by railways used for powering the trains themselves, the rest was for heating. Until oil relaced it coal was the prime energy source for British industry.

Absolutely. It took me over 40 minutes to get in this morning instead of 25. Driving at 25mph behind women in 4x4 pickups and the roads weren't even icy . Grrh.

We were only mining coal for the generation industry. Nobody else was buying it. Well, almost nobody now that there are no steam choo-choos.

What the locals don't understand is that the forest itself is more valuable commercially than the land that they 'create'.

The Amazonian rainforest canopy has increased by about 10% due to the increased level of CO2. This increase cannot been measured by satellite measurements of ground area.

I was in the Black Forest last February, snow everywhere. They all change to snow tyres for the winter and they have two sets of wheels. Snow tyres are fantastic. I was in Canada once and my friend came flying into the car park, screeched to a halt, got out and went arse over tip on the sheet ice. He had snow tyres.

Nobody's mentioned me yet . I'd go for Bin Laden, alive or dead.

We're sitting on 400 years of energy supplies but we're not allowed to use them ( until the next ice age ). I was speaking to someone in south Wales about the closure of the pits and he said that you'd never get anybody to go down them again. Today's youngsters wouldn't hack it.

I've completely lost track of the years. I couldn't even tell you how many seasons we spent in the CCC. The Premier League days are fading memories now. There must be many junior Saints who have never experienced them.

It doesn't really say much except for a few platitudes. As an engineer, carbon capture and sequestration is the only solution for coal-fired power stations if you believe that emitting CO2 is causing a problem. It's expensive and won't happen until somebody forces them to do it and until the technology is readily available. It would push up the cost of energy. There is a more serious point about the proposed reduction in CO2 emissions that no-one has touched on here. All plants need CO2 in order to grow and crop yields would fall dramatically if CO2 levels were restored to those of 50 years ago so depending on who you believe we'll fry, drown or starve. We're doomed, I tell ye.

You should know.

A very wise and sensible move. A happy Christmas to you and all your staff.

At that time newspapers said that the new century did not begin until the start of 1901, but they couldn't count either. There were a lot of pedantics around at the Millenium and they missed a hell of a party.

Agreed, but we didn't know it was BC before it was AD.

It all depends on when you start counting. It goes back to the year dot.

Only 9 if you start at 2001, and that is what some people claim, if only to start an argument .

Layer Road was 6320. The 'Weston Homes Commnity Stadium' is 10,000 so maybe there is an overlap in the statistics.

I do hope we are not going to elect a new government on the basis of a few soundbites. That happened before and it didn't work out very well.

For question 2 I should have said 'just before the end of its first decade'. This decade began on the 1st January 2000, just after all the fireworks. 'learn proper' is an idiomatic expression that is used in parts of London with which I have been associated and I used it in a feeble attempt at ironic comic effect. A similar expression is used south of you in the form 'now listen, and listen good' but I know from experience that Canadians are better educated than that. A car's odometer will show zero until it has completed its first mile. The correct use of the zero for the start of a count is well-known by computer programmers, but less so by normal people.

The arabs invented the zero so that people like you could learn to count proper. How old is a baby before its first birthday? How old is it at the end of its first decade?

Do the same sanctions apply to the PL as to the CCC?

Hmm, mildly affluent sounds quite appealing at the moment.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I have two season tickets. One doesn't get used much and I can't get to every game but I don't expect a refund for either of them. Go and buy something in the club shop. That's nearly all profit so you'll achieve the same result.

I prefer icthyophiliac myself.

It's the same reason that every country's map just fits onto the page. The more relevant question is what happened just off the left of the scale. All graphs that are published are used to justify the presenter's viewpoint, or else they would not publish them.