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Mike Dempsey

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Everything posted by Mike Dempsey

  1. Mike Dempsey
    Can anyone recommend a cheapish supplier of twinwall for my new woodburning stove for the workshop. I have done a quick search online and there is such a variation on price that it is confusing me. Mike
  2. Mike Dempsey
    Nod got it right. The miners would only climb up so far to cut all the branches up for firewood. The top ones obviously kept on growing and the lower ones are all new growth. Very common in mining communities. Not many chainsaws around otherwise they would have had the whole tree I presume.
  3. Mike Dempsey
    The event is connected to Maggie Thatcher
  4. Mike Dempsey
    getting warm but not on fire yet!
  5. Mike Dempsey
    Hi Guys There is a very clear event in 1983 which led to these trees being the shape that they are.
  6. Mike Dempsey
    Out for a very informative guided tour of a big countryside park yesterday to look at milling some big ash for the rangers. Spotted these 2 unusual shaped sycamore growing in a field. Anyone hazard a guess as to why they have grown this shape. The only clue I will give is 1983 which will probably make it trickier for the younger arbs out there! I will post the answer later today.
  7. Mike Dempsey
    I joined The Federation of Small Businesses a few years ago due to a tax inspection. It took me 6 months to get them off my back. I had to deliver to them 4 years worth of accounts so they could check them. Every now and then I would get a letter of them with a few questions on it. Its quite difficult to answer detailed questions on your accounts from 3 years ago when you don't have access to them! The FSB will provide top accountants/tax lawyers to represent you in the event of an investigation by HMRC. The taxman (person?) is out to screw every penny from you as the bankers and energy companies haven't been paying taxes for years and small business are an easy target. I run fully computerised accounts now using Sage Instant Accounts and its lots easier than doing it manually in a book.
  8. Mike Dempsey
    I came across this EU report last year and have included a couple of snips here to help the discussion. Its full title is 'Wood Fuels Handbook, Production, Quality Requirements, Trading'. Its 83 pages long and quite technical but makes interesting reading on a long wet day! Sorry cant remember where I found it.
  9. Mike Dempsey
    Hi Jon My mate a few miles away is off-grid and used to use LPG. His bills were eye watering till he got a stove in and 10 radiators off it. He gets free wood from me. His leccy bill is £22 a month. Its only him, his missus, and a 4 year old daughter. Mind you he spends at least twice as much more on beer a year at various beer festivals than I do on gas and leccy:thumbup:
  10. Mike Dempsey
    No Eggs I am on mains gas. My wife has arthritis and feels the cold easily and then her joints start to ache. My youngest daughter who is 11 loves to stand in the shower for at least half an hour a couple of times a day. Things are going to change!
  11. Mike Dempsey
    Got a nice letter in yesterday from Scottish and Southern Energy. As of 17th November they are putting up our gas and leccy prices by 8.2 percent. Our leccy will be about £850 a year and the gas about £1220 or a grand total of £2080 or thereabouts. This was bound to happen as soon as Millbland said he was going to freeze the prices that energy companies could charge. Despite having unlimited free firewood my wife still doesn't want one in the house which is absolutely crazy and is quite happy to pay the robbing barstewards! I would reckon I could save at least £900 a year in heating the house and about £300 a year in not having to pump the water around the radiators etc. I have said I will bring in the wood, and stack it etc and even clean out the ashes but she is still not interested. I don't understand women:thumbdown:
  12. Mike Dempsey
    That is the other option. They look very good and are very efficient. Think I will go for the 12kw and heat the whole house
  13. Mike Dempsey
    Does anyone know the price of the Burley Wakerley stoves. No one has a price online and I would like to get a ball park figure. Seems I may have to buy it in person from a stove shop and this could be expensive.
  14. Mike Dempsey
    I want to fit a stove in my house but I have yet to convince the missus it would be a good thing. Saving a grand a year or more on gas bills would be a good thing but apparently that's not enough to convince her. Anyway I might do it one day when she's out to surprise her! I don't have a chimney to line so would have to go out through the wall. A double skin of normal brick which is rendered on top. Would all I have to do is drill through with a core drill at 45 degrees and at the other side when the flue is inserted seal up the gap with heat resistant silicone to stop any draughts/leaks. That's the only bit I am not sure of and I don't mind climbing the ladders to attach the flue pipe or stuff like that.
  15. Mike Dempsey
    I live in Glenrothes in Fife which is a bit of a shithole as Big J would back up. However I am equidistant to 2 of the most famous landmarks there is. The Old Course at St Andrews and the Forth Rail Bridge are both about 20 miles away. There is also the forth Road Bridge and the new one which should have been a bloody tunnel (but that's for another day's rant)
  16. Mike Dempsey
    Hi Jon Although I live in Glenrothes in Fife I know Bath very well as I had a girlfriend at the uni a few years ago. Also have an aunty in Frome and visited there loads of times especially when my Grandad was alive. She stays in The Butts not too far from Sainsburys which you have mentioned a few times. I remember drinking in Bog Island, the old converted underground toilets. I've had a few good nights in there. I believe it was where the Bath RFC used to drink after games. Sorry wont be joining you at your get together as it is about 450 miles away which would make it a bit of a hike but if you are ever up my way feel free to drop in!
  17. Mike Dempsey
    Saw Genesis back in 87 at Hampden Park. Absolutely brilliant. Clapton 3 times in Glasgow as well. Won tickets for me and a mate to see BB King in Glasgow and got to meet him after at the party afterwards, that was special. Deacon Blue are really good live as well, at least 4 times. Simple Minds at Ibrox at an all day gig with 5 other bands. The pitch actually sank at least an inch they reckon because so many people were there standing and jumping up and down! One of the best bands live are The Silencers, must have seen them about 4 or 5 times. Robert Cray is also excellent live. The only one to check off my list of must sees is U2, but I think they are a bit theatrical now and it wouldn't be the same as 20 years ago when I was really into them. Numerous other gigs to many years ago to remember. I have also taken my oldest daughter and her pal to gigs before but I prefer to catch up on my sleep in the car or listening to the footy on the radio instead of going in!
  18. Mike Dempsey
    If you have a spare few thousand quid you could buy a laser like mine. Each card takes approx. 40 seconds to do and every card looks exactly the same. The software is also expensive and you have to know how to use it properly. Bit of a steep learning curve!
  19. Mike Dempsey
    Just had my 50th birthday on Thursday. Still feel like a young man, must be all these logs I cut and chop for the stove. Had a wee party tonight and received, amongst other pressies, a Kelly Kettle. Had all the wee ones out with a torch looking for twigs and had my first brew up. Magic!
  20. Mike Dempsey
    that would be the same as running clean water instead of oil. There would be no lubrication at all and I don't think your chain and bar would last very long. Also due to the fact it is a lot thinner than oil it would empty your oil tank in about 30 seconds.
  21. Mike Dempsey
    wasted on a carver or wood turner!
  22. Mike Dempsey
    If its staying outdoors then you better make sure it has several coats of oil on it and the customer repeats this every year otherwise it wont last very long!
  23. Mike Dempsey
    The person who approved that contract should be prosecuted. For that kind of money for the cost of one saw for a year you could buy 4 new ones. That is a scandalous waste of public money. If the council broke the contract and the hiring company took them to court it would be very interesting to see them justifying those rates in front of a judge. It would also be interesting watching the council trying to justify signing such a stupid contract. I wonder if someone from the council thought the weekly rate was actually an annual rate and got a bit of a shock after they had signed it to find out the rates were in fact 52 times higher than they thought it was going to be!
  24. Mike Dempsey
    If you go onto quick links and scroll near to the bottom you will find pm's or you can email me at [email protected] Mike
  25. Mike Dempsey
    I can source you some Norway spruce logs at any length you like. I am in Glenrothes in Fife and have good access to some local woodlands which had a large number of windblown ns last year. Mike

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