Athy

I wish we had more members who expressed themselves so succinctly. So, as you don't live there you obviously aren't a twit. Does the boater in question fall into that category? It looks as if you have some personal interest in this story.

...and good afternoon to you too. Do you live in the area and thus have local knowledge?

I'd call it a pain de campagne, but that's a fairly catch-all term. In addition, various loaves have different names in different parts of France (just as people in bakers' shops in London would look baffled if you asked for cobs and pikelets). I do recognise the beastie you're talking about, even if the dimensions you mention may be akin to anglers' descriptions of the one that got away. Sorry to be vague; perhaps one our forum French residents can be more precise.

They made sure that your school cutlery was blunt? Rough place, 'uddersfield.

Soccer is useful for filling the gaps between cricket seasons. (Thought I admit that I do keep an eye on the progress of Brighton & Hove Albion).

Could have been worse: he might have asked "Who's George Iv? It's an unusual surname".

Taisez-vous, j'ai faim! One of many reasons to visit France: the butchers and charcutiers tend to be proper artisans, rather than buying in pre-packaged meat products as is so often the case in England.

He, she or it posted a link to a restaurant in Singapore, from what I could gather. When I looked at the link, it was quickly obscured by other things appearing on the screen - from memory, an advert for Google Chrome. Most odd.

I was, of course, referring to more recent incumbents. I remember a pupil at the prep school where I was teaching circa mid-1980s asking me "Sir, has Mrs. Thatcher always been Prime Minister?"

Surely they have the latter, which leads to the former. Of course, we can't speak for "most house purchasers", but we have certainly had a survey done on every property we've bought, and the people who bought our last house had one too. It's a while ago, but from memory, the surveyor's report would run to several pages and would lead to a valuation which would be on the last page.

Thank you, Tim. I really wasn't sure. He (or, briefly, she) presides over the cabinet. AA teacher presides over a class, but that doesn't make him a a member of the class. On the other hand, a headmaster presides over (or thinks he does) the teaching staff, but is himself a teacher. Hence my uncertainty.

File under "Petard, hoist with his own". But in any case I am not sure that the Prime Minister is a member of the cabinet.

Why should this be?? Most people selling a house wouldn't bat an eyelid if a buyer needed to get a mortgage, and the sums involved can be comparable. In any case, why would Charlotte and Harry need to inform the seller that they had taken out a bank loan. As long as their cheque doesn't bounce, it's none of the seller's damned business where the money came from. isn't this the same with house surveys? Yet someone selling a house would expect a survey to be done before the transaction takes place. However, as it's fifteen yearsv since we sold a boat, and over 20 years since we bought a second-hand one, standard procedures may have changed.

Mrs. Ahy and I enjoy watching 'Pointless'. She is a qualified nurse and a qualified advocate, I have a degree in English and two teaching qualifications. We are frequently surprised by the number of panellists who know answers that we didn't. Perhaps we are not sufficiently educated to appreciate the programme. Is Mr. Earning suggesting that all participants and viewers should hold Ph. D.s?

Because it was in the wrong sectiion.

Yes, still commonplace in Europe, I think. Aren't they already banned on our canals?

Rothen's which was there until only a few years ago, by which time it must have been one of the last working coal wharves on the canals.

I doubt it. If you look at the pictures, you can see other houses close by, so if you have a car you can probably park it within easy walking distance. I assume there must be a gennel from a nearby road to the house. Now that really doesn't have road access. I remember Mac and Jane Selkirk telling me that when they lived there they kept a wheelbarrow chained to a fence two locks down. That was the nearest place they could park, and they had to transport all their groceries etc. in the wheelbarrow. It's an interesting building: it was the Oxford Canal's workshop, though I suppose it doubles as a lock cottage.

From joining the forum to being banned as a spammer, "member" SGP Menu may now hold the record, at just three minutes.

Welcome to the forum,m both of you. There are members here who are vehemently opposed to getting surveys before they buy a boat, but they are probably in aminority. most prospective buyers would expect to get a survey done, and most reasonable sellers would expect them to do so. If they are reluctant, ask yourself, what have they got to hide? Are these private sellers or commercial brokers?

It's not an expensive area for housing, anyway. The single-storey extension on the right is where the volunteer lockies keep their kettle, so perhaps CART are hanging on to that. But it's not a lot of money for a detached property, as long as it's structurally sound. It has good sized rooms, though the downstairs bathroom may put some people off.

It stands to reason that if I light a bonfire in my garden, that's not arson, whereas if I came into your garden and lit yours without your permission, that would be. But I'm not a lawyer and I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong. I seem to remember a cae mentioned here a year or two where local people set fire to an undesirable moorer's boat; in Lincoln, perhaps? That would certainly be arson, but I don't know what happened to them.

Are you sure? I would think that arson must involve other people's property, not one's own. Some might say that he's been arson about for years, but I could not comment.

Now moved to General Boating.