devon TWiG

The main problem with the NHS is not being able to get people out and in to care homes , due to a lack of cheap labour to work in care homes , they are still £1k+ per week !!

If you are limited on start up funds then perhaps a long handled hedgetrimmer ...loads of work around for them , no great skill / qualification needed ...

On the original topic ....many people 55 plus can get early retirement , primarily those in the public sector and large corporations ( banks etc ) A great deal will have the mortgage paid off by 55 so this a huge reduction in outgoings !! Myself and my beloved are in this situation ( mortgage / rent free ) She is ex NHS , I still work, but not full time , have an abundance of wood so heating costs are minimal , compared to many !! If we both worked full time on average salaries £25 k then we would have after tax etc £7-800 per week income , what would we do with it all ??? Holidays maybe , but limited due to full time work , fancy car ? if I got a fancy boat or motorbike , I could afford them but not have much time to use them so what is the point !? nicer house perhaps , but we are happy where we are so would rather exchange money for " time " with a realisation we are in the autumn of our years . Inheritance plays a part also . After getting up to go to work for 40 plus years we feel that is enough. Also if you research demographics then there are more people in the 50 -60 age bracket than any other ( baby boomers ) so there are just not enough of the next generation to fill the jobs that are being left ( also some die or become incapacitated ) so the reasons are many for the shortage of workers .........

Cherry picker would be a good investment , sub out to others and do other types of jobs with it as well .

But you have to use 2 ropes now !!

I have no idea what happened to last post !!!!😂

Plenty of other trades get worn out , I know plumbers with shagged knees from crawling on floors etc , scaffolders with joint problems , plasterers with bad necks , lorry drivers ..obese 😃, office workers with stress etc ...nearly all jobs can take there toll , we were not really designed for repetitive actions for 40 plus years in the same job!! I hear plenty of talk about other trades doing well but I know of plenty who still live in modest houses , drive an old van and do not seem to be on holiday regularly or indulge in fine dining , most trades just make a reasonable living like most of us do ....Also it is a competitive world out there and most work seems to end up being the "going rate " for the job , no one is regularly winning contracts if they are well above the going rate .

Thing is though that some people with the same costs can get though a job much faster than others , some start earlier / work later and labour like donkeys , overload trucks etc etc ..it is hard comparing one company to another ....the customer does that !!!

sadly hedge laying ( especially to a very high standard ) is one of those things that many will applaud and claim to support but the reality is that very few are willing to pay to have it done ....quite a few other trades etc in that category sadly esp in rural crafts ....

A ball park figure of £500 would be a "typical " rate I think . I am feeling brave being the first to actually put a price ....prepared for incoming though !!😁

I was happy until you pointed that out !! and have now realised that my fridge will be working harder costing a fortune !!😂

just lit mine for the first time this year , not really cold just damp , grey and miserable ..( the weather that is not me !!!) 😁

I have always kept at least the next days wood near to the woodburner for the final drying , probably 20% ish ( well seasoned outdoors first ) then they get to about 10% before going in the woodburner ....same with my kindling !!

It could be because they have got nice new shiny kit !! been a busy time recently so spending / investing profits !!

Sequioa sempervirens ? they do coppice and regrow from cut wood is that the species you have ? coast redwood not wellingtonia ...

They may look similar but botanically not very close , WRC has good rot resistance I do not think lawsons does , I not aware of any demand for LC either as it does not have much use / value , they also always seem to fork and become multi stemmed providing not much useful sawlogs , also they are just horrid things , I have rarely seen them in a plantation and I would never consider them , I have planted a fair few WRC's in my own woodland but that is mostly for their shade tolerance and screening ...

Why would you want Lawsons Cypress in your woodland , they are horrible urban things !!!

perhaps this was partly / wholly to do with EU rules at the time , whereby contracts over a certain value were available by tender to any company in the EU ....

Re ...the foreign owned windfarms ...Simon Reeve did a series around the Lake District during lockdown times and he highlighted the fact about foreign owned wind farms off Cumbria , ( Danish government I think !!) I am not sure if any Solar panels are UK made .....

here are a couple of phone boxes in Kernow !!!!😂

I heard a good one a few days ago .......The UK and it's population are often regarded as having a poor diet and we are all portrayed as regularly going to Mc Donalds ..unlike those in Europe who only eat fresh salad and olive oil etc etc ...YET ..... there are more Mc Donalds in France than the UK !!!!

that means that two thirds are against it !!!! it seems to be a very french thing to strike a lot , their country their ways I suppose , but why do people focus on UK problems when other places have plenty of issues as well !!!!

He will be holed up , because fuel is in shortage in France due to ......guess what .....strikes !!!!

They should never of got rid of Boris ....bring him back !!!!!!!!!!!1