Halo Stickman

To be honest, I’ve reached the point where I no longer want our players to be selected for England: I prefer to see them performing for Hampshire rather than being messed around by the ECB prima donnas.

Not sure where I stand on this. Bloody ECB drives me crazy at times, especially some of their selections and ignoring of Hampshire players. But whilst KP is one of the most destructive players I’ve ever seen, his attitude whilst at Hampshire was very poor at times

This morning I listened to a radio discussion about Facebook – lots of pros and cons apparently. These ranged from a stroke victim who said it was her only form of communication and had saved her life, to others who blamed it for their marriage breakup – partners meeting up with old flames etc. Not on Facebook myself, but occasionally wonder whether I should be. Not that I want to meet up with old flames, you understand ; but I wouldn’t mind finding out what they look like – sorry, I mean, what they’re doing – these days. Facebook – essential requirement, or just a big time waster?

I remember the Empire – it was a very sad day when it was replaced by that bloody multiplex

You’ve made some very good points there, pap.

I expect your mate regrets deleting all those spam Viagra emails now. Seriously though, I think it’s true to say that most men experience ED at some point in their lives; the overwhelming majority of these episodes are short-lived and will be psychologically driven – usually caused by stress. Unfortunately, if your mate is worried about having ED, then it’s likely he will talk himself into actually suffering from it. I suffered an episode of ED about 5 years ago, and can confirm what Tim says about Cialis being very effective. In fact, after just one tablet, the sex was so good even the neighbours smoked a cigarette afterwards. Of course, as WG says, there can be underlying physiological causes, so it’s probably best your mate has a chat with his GP.

Ah, thanks pap, for one horrible moment I thought you’d started talking in tongues.

I think I may be on strong drugs – some of these posts make absolutely no sense to me

Minty, you’ve raised an interesting question, and one that I would need to spend quite a lot of time on in order to fully do it justice – and I’m afraid I haven’t got much spare time at the moment. But, essentially, the Somerset Levels is a 650 square kilometre basin flanked by the Mendips to the north, the Dorset Heights to the east and the Blackdown and Quantock Hills to the south, with the Polden Hills cutting through the middle of this basin, roughly from west to east. Water flows from these hills, via the Levels, westwards to eventually discharge into the Bristol Channel. I think that it’s fair to say that dairy-farming and sheep-grazing predominate over arable farming in these areas. The Levels themselves have been formed over thousands of years and comprise of a complex and fairly unusual underlying soil type, which is one of the reasons the Levels contain over 30 Sites of Special Scientific Interests. ‘The Natural History of the Somerset Levels’ by Bernard Storer is an interesting read for anyone who wishes to learn more about the ecology etc of the area.

Santo Tomas – that’s where we went! Stayed at the Sol Menorca Hotel – great hotel, adults-only, fantastic buffet, spotlessly clean, right on the beach, and, if you’re into bird-watching, there was even a hoopoe flying around the gardens and swimming pool. The Santo Tomas complex is aimed at couples or families and wouldn’t suit clubbers looking for a wild time! However, it’s got all the usual facilities you might need – shops, small supermarkets, bars and even a small nightclub; and, if you’ve going with children, there are plenty of play areas etc. But the best thing about the complex was that you only need to stroll about a quarter of a mile along the coast to discover beautiful deserted sandy beaches backed by wildflower meadows and pine woodlands. The only downside was that we went in May last year, and the weather was unseasonably chilly, and the seas were quite choppy. Apparently, however, the seas in that area are usually really good for snorkelling. Also, if you’re not going to hire a car, or don’t fancy booking excursions etc, Santo Tomas is well served by buses; a return bus fare to Ciutadella, at one end of the Island, or to Mao, at the other end, are only about 3.5 euros each. And, it’s only a 2 hour flight from Bristol or Exeter. We enjoyed it so much we are seriously considering going back there again this summer – going on holiday to the same place twice is something we’ve never done before! Hope you have a great holiday bristolsaint29.

Ever decreasing circles, eh Tim? Yep, I have noticed the raised banks – goodness knows I’ve walked along enough of them! By the way, they were created from the silt dredged from the river bed – that was, of course, back in the days when the rivers were actually dredged! Seriously though, I, too, have said all I really want to say on this thread; I’m happy to agree to disagree with you on this particular subject – it’s been an interesting discussion. Finally, Tim, I’ve been meaning to thank you for your post in reply to my thread entitled ‘summer beach holiday recommendations’. Mrs Stickman and I visited Menorca, and found the island and its beaches etc. exactly as you described them in your text and accompanying photo. Cheers mate.

I've spent many a happy hour in the Burtle Inn, is it still there, Horley?

Tim, the 1919 flood was caused by seawater breaching sea defences, the 1947 flood occurred across the entire nation, and the 1981 flood was the result of a severe storm hitting the North Somerset coast, resulting in breached sea defences from Clevedon to Porlock. As moonraker has already pointed out, Keynsham, featured in your 1968 photos, is in BANES (Bath and North East Somerset), and before the creation of BANES it was in the county of Avon. The only photo in that montage featuring the Somerset Levels is the last one, which was taken from Wearyall Hill and looks north towards Glastonbury Tor. I have plenty of similar photos in my albums, taken during the 8 years that I lived in Glastonbury – those fields flood virtually every winter. Nobody is complaining about that type of flooding; indeed, farmers welcome the silt they deposit on the pasture land. The current floods in the Somerset Levels are quite different.

First, there are plenty of people minimising the suffering of flood victims – some of them on this thread. Second, the Levels have existed largely in their present state for hundreds of years without the floods we are seeing today. The fall of the rivers has not changed over the centuries; the rivers have been allowed to silt up. Drainage ditches do not need to be dug; they are already there; they are maintained by the farmers, but are useless when the rivers they discharge into have been allowed to silt up Third, natural wetlands below the level of the surrounding fields have been, and are being, created all the time – when the peat has been extracted down to the clay level, the land is taken over by the conservation agencies, planted with reeds etc and turned into wetland nature reserves. Fourth, Friday night is my go out and get p issed night. Yippee!

Glad to oblige, Minty. Yes, your wife is probably right about the EA's choice being a little more nuanced than simply farmers v conservationists, but I think that was the nub of the situation. At worse, a generalisation rather than a sweeping statement?

Minty, I have been involved in environmental conservation - albeit at a voluntary level and never for the EA – long enough to know that there are plenty of well-intentioned, hardworking people involved in that field, and that there is a desperate shortage of funding. They often have to make difficult compromises to satisfy conflicting criteria. Satisfying conflicting criteria was the problem the EA faced when they took control of the drainage on the Somerset Levels. For years there had been a battle between the local conservation agencies, who wanted more flooding on the levels, and the farmers, who, in the main, wanted more drainage. The drainage authorities, in place prior to the EA, had strived to reach a compromise that suited all parties, and for many years the Levels had been managed successfully. When the EA took over they seemed to take a policy decision skewed very heavily towards meeting the wishes of the conservation agencies, i.e. more flooding, less drainage, no dredging. As I mentioned in my previous post, there were a lot of local voices expressing concern that this policy would lead to disastrous consequences. But the EA chose to ignore these concerns, and I can even remember one of their people causing upset by making a glib comment about wishing to see all of the pumping stations blown up! Great for wildlife, perhaps, but not so good for the 120,000 people who live and work there. And the irony now is that the present flooding is good for neither. So, whilst I’m always happy to acknowledge the hard work of people employed by the EA and similar organisations, I feel that, in the case of the Somerset Levels flooding, they definitely need, at the very least, to review some of their previous policy decisions! They really should have given more credence to the concerns of people who had lived and worked successfully on the Levels for many generations.

Spot on, Lord D! Excuse the pun, but contrary to what a lot of people seem to think, this really isn’t a land awash with Champaign Charlies enjoying the views from their soggy riverside mansions. The vast majority of the Somerset Level’s 120,000 residents are decent, hardworking people who send their kids to the local state schools, and whose idea of a good night out – when they can afford it – is a couple of pints and a game of skittles down their local. I know this because I lived amongst these people for eight years. Yes, there have been bad floods before, but most of those were caused by the sea breaching the sea defences, and few of them have been anywhere near as extensive as those we are witnessing today. I remember when the EA took over control of the drainage from the local drainage authorities and took the decision to stop the regular dredging of the rivers, an old farmer saying to me that they were storing up problems for the future, and that it would only take one wet winter to entirely swamp the place. It appears he was right. I think the decision to stop the dredging has saved the taxpayer about £4 million annually – probably a lot less than it will now cost to sort out this sodden mess.

The Somerset Levels are acidic , circumneutral, as referenced on sheet 4 of the defra link below http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/pdf/RIS/UK11064.pdf Tim, you talk about flooding an area the size of the Great Fen and removing some sea defences around the Levels, but what will prevent the water from reaching, say, the environs of Glastonbury, which are below sea level and about 12 miles from the sea? The Levels have been acting fine as a drainage sink up until the last couple of winters

The fenland described in those links is quite different from the Somerset Levels, both in scale (3,700 hectares as opposed to 650 square kilometres) and in soil type (alkali as opposed to acidic), so a comparison on the relevant impact to residents and on associated flora and fauna is not valid, in my opinion. The Somerset Levels are already serving as a huge drainage sink to the surrounding areas.

Many of the flood victims on the Levels are not people that have bought properties for their river views – they are small-scale farmers living and working on properties handed down by previous generations of their families, and these properties have never previously flooded.

Tim, allowing the Somerset Levels to revert back to the state it was in before the medieval monks started the reclamation process would effect more than a few farmers and isolated settlements – the town of Glastonbury (pop.9,000) would revert back to being an island for starters! Also, the Levels has not been a salt marsh for several centuries – these days it is one of our country’s most important freshwater wetland and reed-bed habitats, and is a vital breeding area for wildlife associated with this type of habitat, i.e. bitterns, marsh harriers, water voles and otters. The area already has many large freshwater nature reserves. In my opinion, this is just the type of area we should be striving to protect. We’ve managed to look after it for several centuries without, as far as I’m aware, too much effort or expenditure.

Perhaps Juve will end up hiring our forum’s trolling geniuses as their new scouting team.

A quote from Nobel Peace Laureate, Theodore Roosevelt: “I don’t go as far as to think that the only good Indians are the dead Indians, but I believe nine out of ten are, and I shouldn’t like to inquire too closely in the case of the tenth.”

When I lived in Somerset in the late 90s / early 00s, I spent many happy days cycling around the Levels – if you’re a lazy b astard like me it’s a great place for cycling because there are no hills! It’s also one of the best places in the country for bird-watching. In fact, it’s a really understated part of the country that most people only catch a glimpse of when they’re speeding down the M5 on their way to Devon or Cornwall. You’re right about the flooding: it’s all reclaimed land and much of it is below sea level. Every year it floods to a certain extent; indeed, some amount of flooding is encouraged in order to lay down silt to enhance the fertility of the pasture land. However, up until very recently, people were able to control the extent of this flooding by means of ‘lock-gates’ etc on the rhynes (ditches) and rivers. When I lived there, these rhynes and rivers were regularly maintained and plant growth etc was removed. The fact that this maintenance has to a large extent been discontinued was just asking for trouble.

Definitely, pap. It would be interesting to find out the ratio between religious and commonsense based superstitions. By the way, when he was a teenager, my nephew had that germ obsession, but, fortunately, like you, he grew out of it. When I was a boy, I had the David Beckham obsession of arranging everything symmetrically, especially if I was listening to a Saints match on the radio, or even just waiting for the scores to come in!