Reading the thread on Non-League Regional Boundaries had me thinking.

I live in the central south of England, but according to the weather presenters they can't decide whether Hampshire is in the South East or South West.

Can they make up the minds or occasionally mention the weather in the central south

The north starts at Crewe, Mansfield is in the Midlands but Chesterfield is in the north.

people who say that holywell has a worse drug problem than any other town in north wales when it doesnt !

Reading the thread on Non-League Regional Boundaries had me thinking.

I live in the central south of England, but according to the weather presenters they can't decide whether Hampshire is in the South East or South West.

Can they make up the minds or occasionally mention the weather in the central south

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I was told by a chap in Chichester that the South (central south) is from Littlehampton to Portland and as far north as the Berkshire Downs, I would not disagree with him.

Hampshire (and the Isle of Wight) are like Oxfordshire for some reason in the South East according to the government, despite a third of the East region being South East of Oxfordshire, to me the South East is Kent, most of Sussex, Surrey, Greater London. Parts of the south east are further from my house than most of mid Wales and south Manchester, in fact Exeter is nearer than Ramsgate. Parts of the county are little over 40 miles from the Welsh border, the nearest tidal water is in the Severn, Oxford is 50 miles from Meridan and some say the landmass centre of the country is actually in the north of the county. As a lad Oxford was in the South Midlands, but now we are not allowed to call it that, though the BBC weather people still do use the term for the area.

To me the west country does not start until Bristol, the south west is Cornwall, Devon, parts of Somerset and west Dorset.

The north starts at Crewe, Mansfield is in the Midlands but Chesterfield is in the north.

Most of Lincolnshire is in the East not the East Midlands, no where with a coastline can be in the Midlands.

Bedfordshire is the only county in England that is not next to the coast / tidal water or next to a county that is next to the coast / tidal water - ie two counties away from the coast / tidal water.

In Reply To

I was told by a chap in Chichester that the South (central south) is from Littlehampton to Portland and as far north as the Berkshire Downs, I would not disagree with him.

Hampshire (and the Isle of Wight) are like Oxfordshire for some reason in the South East according to the government, despite a third of the East region being South East of Oxfordshire, to me the South East is Kent, most of Sussex, Surrey, Greater London. Parts of the south east are further from my house than most of mid Wales and south Manchester, in fact Exeter is nearer than Ramsgate. Parts of the county are little over 40 miles from the Welsh border, the nearest tidal water is in the Severn, Oxford is 50 miles from Meridan and some say the landmass centre of the country is actually in the north of the county. As a lad Oxford was in the South Midlands, but now we are not allowed to call it that, though the BBC weather people still do use the term for the area.

To me the west country does not start until Bristol, the south west is Cornwall, Devon, parts of Somerset and west Dorset.

The north starts at Crewe, Mansfield is in the Midlands but Chesterfield is in the north.

Most of Lincolnshire is in the East not the East Midlands, no where with a coastline can be in the Midlands.

Bedfordshire is the only county in England that is not next to the coast / tidal water or next to a county that is next to the coast / tidal water - ie two counties away from the coast / tidal water.

In Reply To

Thank you Molders , official at last.

In Reply To

Excuse me while I butt in on your geographically challenged spat

Chesterfield is 53.236 deg north
Mansfield is 53.1472 deg north,
while Crewe is 53.1018 deg north

Shurely shome mishtake?

In Reply To

Shtand your ground Molders. No sphat !

Molders, Gloucestershire is most definitely in the West Country, and to judge from the speech patterns of the inhabitants of Kidderminster, Worcestershire is too.

Unmanned railway stations.
If I want to go to a Wivenhoe Town match in midweek I can travel by train without paying. after 6:00PM there are no staff at Clacton-on-Sea rail station. If you want a ticket you have to use the ticket machine (which is what I do). Wivenhoe is an unmanned station so there's no-one checking tickets at that end either. Also, I have never yet seen a ticket inspector on the train at that time of the evening. All the locals are aware of this and take adventage of it. No wonder fares are so high when countless people get to travel for nothing.

In Reply To

Evidently the north starts at 53.15 degrees north then. Southerner.

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Taking a line from the Wash to Severn (via Northampton and Banbury), Crewe is further north of that line than Chesterfield despite actually being south. Crewe is nearer to Scotland than Chesterfield despite being south of Chesterfield..

England is more a strange triangle than anyother shape and extends further south in the west and north in the east. As we have said before Lowestoft is north of Birmingham, but Lowestoft opted to play in a South East League.

Oh don't get me started on ITV Regional News. When I wake up in the morning I want to know whats happening in Devon and Cornwall- but no, now our local ITV News comes from Bristol. When is wonderfully handy if the main road is closed into Plymouth (as it was the other morning) and I get told that a squirrel has farted just outside Swindon- so expect delays in Much Farting on Avon

Thank god for BBC Spotlight!

Just to clarify...the North starts once you cross Waterloo Bridge, over the Thames!

(3) to do with English motorway driving particularly. There are three or four lanes on the motorway in South-East England. Use them all!! I've sometimes driven down to Dover thinking I've had my own private lane, driving at the speed limit down the inside lane while there's been huge queues of cars outside me.

Nationalist editors on Wikipedia also really annoy me. A small group of them can force ridiculous policies on the whole project simply by behaving so obnoxiously that everyone else gives up. Examples include preventing the phrase "Northern Irish" from being used to describe people (instead they have to be "from Northern Ireland") and a guy who insisted than anyone born in Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania between 1940 and 1990 could not be described as being born in the USSR (according to him they were all independent countries at the time).

Pedants.

In Reply To

See also Middlesex nationalists(?). Wikipedia is one place where pedantry should be encouraged so places like Staines and Ashford are now in Surrey, not Middlesex. We don't call Hampshire 'Wessex' anymore so Middlesex should go the same way. Granted it's a historical county and I'm not trying to get it erased from all history but it ceased to be in 1965. It is an ex-county.
Even when people begrudgingly admit they're now in Surrey or Greater London they still insist on saying it used to be Middlesex.
The area I live in has possibly been part of Surrey, Mercia, Wessex, Middlesex or Sussex at times. It's Surrey at the moment so that's what I call it.

Snail roundabouts, all you have to do is get in the correct lane as you enter you will then go onto the correct exit, no most people go around the roundabouts in the outside lane cutting everyone up.

Roundabouts in general why do most of the population fail to signal their exit, or if they do put a signal on a exit before they need to.

I'm very into cricket and in cricket Middlesex is very much alive. To my mind, it doens't need a county council to exist.

Roundabouts in general why do most of the population fail to signal their exit, or if they do put a signal on a exit before they need to.

In Reply To

I went to the Oval to watch Surrey v Middlesex in the Twenty20 a couple of seasons ago. The Oval announcer got it right when he said "welcome to the London derby".

You're correct in that a county doesn't need a county council to exist but, to my knowledge, Berkshire is the only county where this is the case. They had to bring in a special act of parliament or something to keep it registered as a county when it got split into unitary authorities.

(1) Yellow "Baby on board" signs. What's that supposed to tell me? Generally speaking, there are no babies or small children, so either you're lying or you've lost your child somewhere in a shopping centre. I have, oddly enough, managed to avoid ramming into the car in front of me: normally, it's something I try to avoid. Your sign telling me that you have a child in your family (although rarely in the car at the time) is never going to make me **less** likely to slam into the back of you. Trust me on this. I'll try to avoid it anyway.

(3) to do with English motorway driving particularly. There are three or four lanes on the motorway in South-East England. Use them all!! I've sometimes driven down to Dover thinking I've had my own private lane, driving at the speed limit down the inside lane while there's been huge queues of cars outside me.

Quote

Have to completely agree with both statements! Despite my lack of driving, the amount of lifts and travelling in a car means I experience just the same thing, though with point 1, the even worse thing is if they have a "Little Princess On Board" or "Disco Chick on Board" - that's just going to make people want to smack into you more - there is no point whatsoever in having these on, rather than just to prove your an irritating person who loves attention!

Onto public transport now - People who INSIST on playing music from their mobile phones! Buy some headphones and stop subjecting everyone on the bus/train to your awful pathetic (c)rap music - no-one wants to hear it! And at the same time, I DO NOT want to know what your having for tea while your talking incessantly loud to someone who is shouting back at you on the phone. Tone it down, or save the call for later - can you not just wait 10 minutes to make the call? "I'm on the bus" - REALLY? I'd never have guessed!

Ignorant tourists - the people that just stop in the middle of a street and then wonder why you barge past them and say "oh, how rude".

Rail Replacement Buses - Even the title is wrong, they are not replacing a bus! I could do a book on these!

Major connecting roads that go from one town to another WITHOUT providing a footpath of any description. Consequently when your walking on the edge of the road, some bright spark in a car decides to beep you. Erm, if there was a path don't you think I'd be on it instead of risking my life to get somewhere?!

The cost of train fares - Over £100 on the day to get from Leeds/Doncaster to London, that's just scandalous! No wonder so many people drive!

That's all for now, but I don't half feel better

Never buy a return from Reading to Swindon, buy a return from Reading to Oxford and one from Oxford to Swindon, as long as train stops at Didcot you are ok.

Reading - Swindon £25.

Reading - Oxford £7.90

Oxford - Swindon £9.40.

Stoke to Northampton £14 return (bargain)

Stoke to Bedford £40.20 return (palatable)

Stoke to Stevenage £268!

Stoke to Northampton £14 return (bargain)

Stoke to Bedford £40.20 return (palatable)

Stoke to Stevenage £268!

In Reply To

Why book to Oxford, AC? If your train stops at Didcot, book to Didcot, which is £5.30 from Reading.

I presume you suggest this take advantage of the Network SE Railcard, which isn't valid west of Didcot*. Yet I can't get the National Rail website to apply a discount to Reading-Didcot or Reading-Oxford. I've noted before that tickets from Reading seem particularly expensive, even by Great Western standards.

*In case anyone hasn't cottoned on, if you buy split tickets your train must stop at the 'split' station.

In Reply To

My mistake, I had not looked up the Didcot price as I was told it was the same as Oxford, which it is for Didcot to Swindon but not for Didcot to Reading. How can Oxford to Swindon return be the same as Didcot to Swindon return when Didcot is almost halfway to Swindon ?.

On the Network card there is a minimum price for weekdays, £10 ish ?.

£14.70 against £25.00.

I'll give you

Oxford to Swindon £9.40 return
Swindon to Cardiff £17.90 return

Oxford to Cardiff £49.00 return

same prices pro-rata anywhere in South Wales.

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Penzance to Newcastle-upon-Tyne 2nd class open return by train is £466 - I can fly to Melbourne and back for £600!!!

Unfortunately Dave, Radio 5 has become like a tabloid on radio. Wind up phone ins on sport and current affairs, day and night. Constant wittering over and over again about the same things. If I want news and current affairs now I listen to Radio 4. I gave up on Talk Sport a long time ago, although I did find Hawkesby and Jacobs quite good in the afternoon.

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Why is it so much more expensive to go from London to Yorkshire than to get to the North West (and vice-versa)?
I went from Northampton to Manchester on Friday for £33 with no advance booking, to go to Leeds would cost around £70.

In Reply To

Villahopper has given the answer 'Some fares will be cheaper as they are going to less important places'

.... We don't call Hampshire 'Wessex' anymore ....

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I take it you have no time for Wessex revivalists.

They're agreed that Wessex includes Berkshire, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset and Wiltshire. and are moving towards a consensus to include Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire, but to exclude Cornwall.

Unfortunately Dave, Radio 5 has become like a tabloid on radio. Wind up phone ins on sport and current affairs, day and night. Constant wittering over and over again about the same things. If I want news and current affairs now I listen to Radio 4. I gave up on Talk Sport a long time ago, although I did find Hawkesby and Jacobs quite good in the afternoon.

In Reply To

I take it you have no time for Wessex revivalists.

They're agreed that Wessex includes Berkshire, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset and Wiltshire. and are moving towards a consensus to include Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire, but to exclude Cornwall.

....

... I've just had a look at the Wiki page you linked to. it says "There is a movement in modern day south-central England to create a regional cultural and political identity in Wessex."

.... If people really haven't got anything better to do than try to recreate a medieval kingdom then I can only pity them.

In Reply To

It goes on to state that "The Wessex Society is a cultural society which promotes a cultural identity for Wessex while remaining neutral on questions of political devolution."

I wonder in what way Wessex culture was distinctively different from that of the rest of medieval Britain.

Or perhaps we are just cultural philistines.

Hope you're not a Scrabble afficionado, as both "innit" and "grrl", amongst others have now been accepted as official words..

Hope you're not a scrabble afficionado, as both "innit" and "grrl", amongst others have now been accepted as official words.

If only "xqkjz" had also been accepted as a word, I might have cleaned up at a stroke. Particularly as it fell on a triple word score.

The thing that really annoys me at the moment is collaboration records with female R & B artists and rappers.
I quite like R & B but absolutely loathe Rap or Hip Hop.
A fine example is 'I need a doctor' by Dr.Dre and featuring some girl with a great voice.
Why can't these obnoxious individuals make records on their own and let the proper singers do the same.
I remember the 'golden days' of Gangsta Rap when the rappers were much more interested in killing each other than in actually making any of their dreadful records.
'Guns don't kill people rappers do' as someone once sang.

In Reply To

I was first made aware of 'innit' when used by the Harry Enfield character Stavros.
It seems though that it actually a word used mainly by the Asian community. I used to work with an Asian lady from a wealthy background who used the word at the end of half her sentences.
The word seems to be related to the Welsh expression 'Isn't it'. The London equivalent is 'Like' or 'Know what I mean' and the Irish 'So it is'.
All meaningless ends to sentences,most of which sound like questions, but aren't.

People that post comments on here but have disabled the PM function so that the only way you can have a rant at them is in the public forum which means you get banned. There's only one word for it. Cowardice.

Pointless things BEARDS what are the point, also why does everybody say The Arsenal no one else says the Chelsea The Wigan etc

Cyclists on pavements

People who fail to indicate, especially on roundabouts

People who sit virtually up to your bumper at night with their lights on full beam.

Drivers who refuse to move into the second lane when you're joining an A-road or motorway when there's nothing outside them forcing you to brake.

Stroppy teenagers who cross the road without looking and then look at you with indignation as if it's you that's in the wrong.

Kids on bikes riding on the right hand side of the road (a common sight in Clacton).

Horses on the road, particularly when the horse has a dump and the riders leave it there in the road or even sometimes on the pavement. If dog owners have to clear up after their animals why are horse riders allowed to get away with it?

Shopping (unless it's for beer, books or music).

Chris Evans

Schools that send the kids home the moment they see a snowflake.

Politicians

God botherers

My girls when they leave their crap around the house. For example, shoes left on the floor instead of being placed in the shoe rack, makeup smeared around the bathroom sink because they couldn't spend 10 seconds rinsing it away, unwashed cups and plates left for others to clear away (we DO have a dishwasher!), handbags, hairbrushes, hair clips, nail varnish remover, cans of hairspray and sundry other 'girlie' items that are rarely if ever returned to their correct place.

People who don't look where they're going.

People who stand chatting in a supermarket blocking up the whole aisle.

Seagulls

Pigeons

Halloween

Fireworks night

People who are regularly late.

Club secretaries of clubs at step 6 and above who are uncontactable on the morning of a game.

Non disabled people who park in disabled bays.

So called 'professionals' who are anything but. For example some of the useless social workers we've encountered over the years (our current one is very good and despairs at some of her colleagues' attitudes and lack of work ethic).

Cilla Black

The Brady Bunch

Fashion victims

Bernie Clifton

Des O' Conner

Max Bygraves

Text Speak

Take That

Justin Bieber

My girls when they leave their crap around the house. For example, shoes left on the floor instead of being placed in the shoe rack,

Although I don't know who Justin Bieber is.

In Reply To

You have a "shoe rack"???

In Reply To

We have two...then again I thought everyone had?
If I throw our gardener into the mix, does than make
me really pretentious?