bil

Nice one. I'd have taken along my chequebook, a small blade and filled it out in blood.

Domino

Go to Belfast on Ryanair, set up and run company stand at trade exhibition.!
Catch plane out of Belfast, lands at Stansted at 1835 - 30mins late. Last train home left at 1840 whilst still walking across the tarmac because they had dumped us in the wrong place.

As I only live 72miles from Stansted on a direct motorway/dcw as well as train route the only viable option was to catch a coach (the last one) to Cambridge at 2100 and have the OH meet me in the middle of the city. Rail option meant waiting 1 hour for train to London, just missing last connection and catching the milk train at 0600. Coach was £10 or rail £45 on top of the £18 wasted ticket in my pocket...

I find this third world attitude deplorable - especially when we are trying to attract the world to the UK for some sports meeting next year.

Granada has a bus service that meets all arrivals, if the plane is late the bus waits for it, driver grumbles but still waits... Just we don't have any planes landing from the UK.

HBG

I've landed at Stanstead and Gatwick at awkward times and found transport onwards. I've also landed at Exeter and East Midlands, which really are Third World places, primitive backwaters for people living in the last century.

London is the hub of the UK, the daft places where a few people live on the outskirts of society are just that, backward places with backward people complaining when the local bicycle factory is shut. They should get on their bikes.

bil

I used to wonder why it was that I valued common sense, politeness and intelligence so highly.

Then I realised, it's their rarity.

Fredbargate

More revalations

Ministers admit: we didn't consider impact of rail decision on economy

http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/Mi...ail/story.html

Thank god I didn't vote for these idiots.

Domino

Remember that all foreigners have Human Rights to flog their dodgy goods here in the UK - just we can't sell our over priced quality goods to the foreigners. Usually because we don't speak their language.

bil

I could just weep.

agoreira

Have just watched the TV programme Made in Britain, and you'd be surprised what we do sell abroad, interesting programme. And a lot sells despite being "overpriced". There was a company selling thousands of fold up bikes to nearly 40 different countries, sales increasing 15% year on year, and their cheapest bike is over £700, all made by hand. McLaren cars will sell nearly all their very expensive cars abroad, low numbers, high profits. Honda, Nissan export the majority of their cars made in UK. Clothes, fashion is a huge seller abroad. We certainly import much more than we export, but it's a nonsense to say we can't sell stuff abroad. They featured a company that was the last suit manufacturer to close their factory in the North (Leeds?) and now have all their suits made in China. No way can we compete in these fields, unless our workers want to work for a £1 an hour, but the Chinese only get 20% of the selling price, the rest stays in UK, transport, designers, retail etc.

Domino

Jaguar Land Rover was a basket case until taken over by TATA of India. Honda\Nissan use the UK as an EU offshore manufacturing facility. My local bike shop sells mostly cheap imports.

Having been round the world a couple of times - I feel I have every right to knock this country when it gets things wrong. We do! We also make many good, durable, desirable things. When you see a Heinz tin can being used as a cup or cooking pot, or a wooden engine crate used as a home - then you can start to appreciate the Best of British. The uK has become a nation that desires the cheapest, nastiest, easiest to offload rubbish.

Fredbargate

A very entertaining program.
A lot of the more historic sites were from north of the Trent and are very familiar to me.

But despite the inference that industry is alive and well we still have a serious balance of payment problem.

agoreira

Agree, I did say we import far more than we export, but I was commenting on the bit about "we cannot sell our overpriced stuff abroad". We clearly can, just not enough of it. Bad as we are, Spain, France, Italy and USA all fare worse than us, Germany seems to be the star performer. I didn't get from the programme that "industry is alive and well", just that it wasn't as bad as some would have us believe.

Fredbargate

One of the things mentioned in this documentary was the action of Unions.
Also shown was the East Mill in Belper, however they did not show the steps taken to defend Strutt's mills against what I suppose were the nearest thing to a union in those days, the Luddites.




The Volunteers examining some of the original loopholes used in the construction of the Mill during the late Eighteenth Century. Belper possesses one of the only surviving loopholed mills in the country. These loopholes for musketry had a double purpose. They would have helped to defend the mills complex against French troops but were a much more potent and visible threat to Luddites and other mill wreckers. Strutt's men had muskets and were trained in their use!

These might help prevent this coming summers threatened strikes.

From http://loyalvolunteers.org/history/volunteering.htm

Dick Dasterdly

I think I shall endeavour to volunteer to man the muskets and defend the remnants of UK industry and production lines later this year.

I may be Dads army material, but I can still get a well aimed shot or two off and let em have a feel of the cold steel to boot.

They don't like it up em Mr Mainwaring.

Dick Dasterdly

Germany is generally looked upon as the ultimate in efficiency and technology as far as Europe is concerned, yet before the Yanks were involved in WW2, the inventiveness,ingenuity, adaptability and workrate of the British had already helped to turn the tide.

From a late start in the proceedings compared to the Germans, in no time at all much to their amazement, we were both out thinking and out-producing them from makeshift factories, production facilities and materials.

The point I am making is that we are more than capable of doing the business when the chips are down, but at other times we become far too complacent and let things go to the dogs.
What is probably required is a giant kick up the ass every once in a while.

I have come across articles a number of times claiming that 90% plus of the Worlds inventions originated in the UK.
Whether that is true I have absolutely no idea, but for sure even now we are still up there with the best of them in that respect.

Oh forgot to mention I just watched a TV Documentary showing how British workers had a Wellington bomber in the air and flying within 24 hours of beginning to put the bits together during WW2,.. truly amazing,... just try to imagine that happening in todays world.

Rosemary

British industry was alive and kicking this evening in our town. The kids in our street had my OH making paper planes for them, I had to test fly them in the lounge before they were allowed to be released out of the window. It began with one which they named concorde and then it was a case of just one more for this child, followed of course with please can we have one more for her, then him, yes and then one for the smallest child.

Never mind we enjoyed ourselves immensely, what do they say about little minds etc

Rosemary