Quickthorn

It does seem that diesels are being demonised. Other things about petrol engines that the press don't touch upon include: petrol vapour is explosive, so there are the added hazards during handling and in RTAs; doesn't petrol contain benzene as an anti-knock agent to replace lead? That's carcinogenic, and appears in emissions, plus anyone handling the fuel is exposed; don't petrol engines emit more hydrocarbons than an equivalent diesel? I think they are linked to cancer, greenhouse effect and photo-chemical smog. Combining with carbon monoxide can produce ozone, which has similar effects to NOx (the pollutant that diesel engines get slated for); petrol engines emit more carbon monoxide, which is highly toxic. The cats that are fitted to convert this to carbon dioxide don't work until they are warmed up, which can take 10-15 minutes (they might never be effective on a short journey); although this wouldn't be captured in car tests, petrol evaporates much more readily than diesel, which puts hydrocarbons into the atmosphere. I'm actually thinking about buying a new car to commute into a city centre (looking at a diesel Skoda Fabia). Even though I only need a small car, I'd normally pick a diesel, but I'm having second thoughts now. It's not the emissions I'm worried about, it's more the turning in sentiment against diesels and the risk of future financial penalties aimed at diesel engines, and I'd be concerned in particular about initiatives from local politicians trying to boost their green credentials.

It was an auction, and 7 people joined in to get it to that price. I'd assume at least one was happy to pay the end price, so not ridiculous for him/her.

Same here. A licence is something that's handed out by some sort of authority to give you permission to do something you wouldn't be allowed to do otherwise (like a driving licence or felling licence). Neither NPTC or LANTRA have any authority over anything, as far as I know, so calling a CoC a "licence" is a bit sly, IMO.

Are they seriously calling CoCs "Licences to practice" now?

I've got some ash boards I milled a few years ago. They've been stickered and stacked outside under cover since they were milled. There are 10-12, and dimensions are typically 2" x 6-8" x 8-10 ft. There's a mixture, with some waney edged boards, and a few quarter sawn. Any ideas what the going rate would be? Thanks.

I'd like to know about this. Can someone post a link showing that we need a refresher course every 3 years? Woody, I'd suggest a course would be the best way to go, although it's not compulsory. The assessment schedules for the NPTC qualifications are here, and these tell you exactly what the assessments will consist of. As far as training goes, have you been in touch with your local greenkeepers' or groundsman's associations? You might be able to get in on the back of a course running nearby. These links might help: BIGGA IOG GTC

Half an inch here in North Notts., but due more later today. Anyone know what it's like Mansfield area?

Here is the guidance from HMRC Use of home From my reading of it, there is no fixed figure you can claim. You work out the cost of the space and the fraction of that cost you can attribute to business use. They've got some examples there. If you're using part of your property exclusively for business (especially if you've adapted it for that), there is the danger that the local authority will want business rates. I don't know if that's ever happened, though.

Yes, I'd agree with that. I think Leicester and Warwickshire patterns are similar. I just use a Morris Yorkshire for everything. A lot of people find these too heavy for single handed use, but I find the weight works for me. I've got a few older single handed ones of unknown make, but they don't seem to hold an edge that well. I'd never buy a Bulldog billhook, if they're still like the ones I've used in the past. They're not forged, but stamped out of plate steel. Once you've ground or filed them back to be useable, they never seem to hold an edge.

You might be able to treat the whole thing as Annual Investment Allowance. I think the limit is £25,000 at the moment. That means that the whole £5.5k could be offset against profits. I'm sure your brother's accountant will explain it better than I can.

That boat set sail 3 or 4 years ago. Sorry...

Well done. translated in to brit weights, you lost 4 stone 4 lb. That's a lot. Have you got a plan for keeping it off?

If it's as good as the one I've got, go for it. Mine still keeps my tea hot after over 15 years of service (and it got driven over by a 3.5 ton truck and survived). I just hope they haven't wrecked the quality by outsourcing them to China.

And they have possibly broken a local law, which prohibits broadcasting private conversations

That's quite an interesting comment. Rather than blame individual immigrants, or slate fellow workers, I've always been more interested in the UK Government's role in all of this. Before the 2007 crash, Government pretty much encouraged immigration from areas with lower wage costs. In a boom time, as it was at that time, the extra demand for labour would normally cause wages to rise, but this influx of cheap labour kept wages down (and corporate profits up, of course). In 2006, Jobcentre plus, in partnership with the Polish employment services, actually ran a jobs fair in Warsaw. Warsaw-job-centre-plus-job-fair I'm pretty sure that was at a time when we had our own unemployed, but rather than train those up, it was more profitable to rob another country of their workers. It's not that the UK government had no choice in this, either. At the time, only 3 EU member states out of 15 allowed uncontrolled immigration, and one of them was the UK. The other EU members held out and restricted immigration until 2011, when EU law compelled them to open their doors. Ok, so immigration has kept wages down for the benefit of companies who'd employ them, but to engineer this situation has been pretty reckless in my view. First of all, we've got the obvious social tensions. Secondly, East Europeans tend to export as much of their wages as they can, so that money never gets recycled into our own economy, whereas it would have if locals had done those jobs (There's also the issue of even more money being exported from our benefits system: as EU citizens, they're entitled to have a crack at whatever benefits are available to UK citizens). Thirdly, there's the issue of one of the richest nations in the EU siphoning off the brightest and most highly motivated workers from one of the poorer EU nations. A lot of the Poles that have come over here to cut cabbages etc would have been teachers, doctors, dentists back home, and this has caused a real skills shortage there. It's a shame that the debate so often boils down to the "foreigners pinching our jobs" vs "lazy Brits" cliches. A lot of this is misleading or untrue spin, but it serves its purpose; while we're all squabbling amongst ourselves, no-one sees the bigger picture.