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matelot

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Everything posted by matelot

  1. matelot
    I'm thinking of going on a cruise. The guy that I lodge with swears by them. I can see the plus points in that everything is laid on and travelling between destinations should be quite enjoyable. However I'm concerned that it will be a pensioner fest with too much talk about playing golf and what type of BMW you drive. Anyone been on one?
  2. matelot
    What have you got against dollop?
  3. matelot
    I spent 2 years in the Middle East. They don't take building control/ safety very seriously... A friend of a friend smelt gas in the apartment block he was staying in, he informed the gas authority over a period of a week and nothing was done about it. He wasn't happy about it and moved out. A gas explosion then killed 4 people. Fingers crossed for the people in the hotel.
  4. matelot
    Why not find your ideal woods then find out the owner? You can speak to the land registry to find out owners of land. Failing that you could approach the "Men of the Trees"(aka International Tree Foundation), the local branch of the Royal Forestry Society, or the big land agents like Knight Frank/ Tillhill etc.
  5. matelot
    My MSc was in water resources. I understand that forests mitigate flooding (as opposed to farming) as forest soils hold more water. Forest soils hold more water as there are no animals/ tractors continually compacting the soil. Forest soils also have a lot more "spongy" organic matter that holds the water. A couple of hundred millimetre of decayed spruce needles holds a fair amount of rain...
  6. matelot
    I understand forestry reduces flooding as forest soils are "spongier" and hold water. I think anyone digging a hole beneath a larch tree will testify that this is true. However I agree that digging drainage, for forestry, in peat soils will increase runoff I'm a fan of dams to reduce flooding as there are other benefits to the dams - they can provide a source of hydro electric power and they provide a source of water in summer (global warming is meant to increase droughts as well).
  7. matelot

    Ideas

    matelot replied to Bird's topic in Firewood forum

    I think if you want to earn more money you have to learn new skills and/or get a new profession. I work in road construction, some of the tar squads earn stupid money.... How about joining the territorial army? A hobby and part time job rolled into one.
  8. matelot
    If they need to build houses on flood plains they could build the houses on stilts. Where I stay they built houses on a field that flooded. The council then had to spend millions on a flood storage scheme... I personally think the answer is storing the flood water in dams and more forestry on upstream catchments.
  9. matelot
    I planted another 90 today - I guess I shouldn't give up my day time job anytime soon... As a matter of interest how many trees can you plant a day with one of those tractor mounted planting machines?
  10. matelot
    If people wanted the cheapest method of heating their house would they not just put the gas central heating on? imo many log consumers would rather buy logs produced locally than logs trucked in 1500 miles... I get our logs from a charity that supports disadvantaged people 3 miles from my house.
  11. matelot
    I'm a hobby planter. I planted 90 Scots Pine today I'm planting a total of 300 Scots Pine, 105 alder and 105 oak. How many do you professionals plant a day? I guess I could plant circa 500 conifers a day or 100 hardwoods (with tube and stake).
  12. matelot
    today I was admiring some twenty foot ash that I've previously planted. I hope you're wrong about ash dieback. one of the reasons people like log fires is that it's a "green" energy. if they knew it was getting trucked in 1500 miles from East Europe they might be less keen to buy them.
  13. matelot
    Mendiplogs, If you want advice on air rifles why don't you ask here? I'm sure there are many people here with air rifles. What do you want one for? Target shooting? Pest control? Holding up a bank?
  14. matelot
    a few years ago I went to Chernobyl for a visit. Nature really is taking over the thing I remember most is feeding the fish in the cooling ponds, some were 6 foot long. Regarding the logs, I think it's wrong to import them when there are so many trees in the UK...
  15. matelot
    yeah, if I was PM we would be getting that Severn Barrage.
  16. matelot
    Battery storage is getting better, but it's not going to be good enough to really be useful for the National Grid anytime soon. I also think the mining for the "rare earth metals" required for the batteries is a whole can of worms.... 100% agree about using less energy. I think when we all get smart meters it will mean a big difference to how we use energy. As it now stands wind farms are sometimes paid money not to produce electricity... With smart meters the National Grid could drop the price of electricity when it's windy and all us consumers could "store" the electricity in electric storage heaters
  17. matelot
    I'm really into the Environment, but having a power generation system based solely on solar/ wind is unlikely to work as wind and sunshine are not dependable... We need traditional electrical generation for cold January evenings when there is no sun and no wind.
  18. matelot
    Gas production from the North Sea is declining. Unfortunately, many regions of the world that produce gas aren't particularly friendly or politically stable. For instance Russia continually uses the threat of cutting off gas to Europe as a political weapon. Qatar and Europe aren't natural allies either... I share many concerns of the people here regarding pollution etc, however I think fracking in the UK is inevitable.
  19. matelot
    tbh, I think that's relatively "good value". Anyway, i'll be heading to your house if there is a zombie invasion. As a piece of trivia, the Accuracy International rifle holds the record for the longest sniper kill at 2475m.
  20. matelot
    Lol, I bet it cost more than my Fiesta anyway Is target shooting a good enough reason to get a rifle like that? How many times out of ten can you hit a target at 1200 yards? I'm thinking of getting my FAC, I do like the Remington 700, 20 inch Varmint barrel I'd probable go for a Leopold mark 4 sight with mil dots.
  21. matelot
    If I was going to design/build a house I'd be using a heat pump during Autumn/ Spring and a stove during the winter months.
  22. matelot
    Nice gun Mark, I never knew you could get these on the civilian market. If it's not too nosy how much did you pay for it? Is that a muzzle break? What do you shoot with it and at what type of range?
  23. matelot
    I usually find material suppliers are keen to supply detail drawings to show how their product should be used. I'd be emailing the suppliers for the "standard details", it's then just a copy/paste exercise. Have you looked at the "Spons" book for construction costs? It's the bible for quantity surveyors. It costs about £150 but your college should have one. I'd be specifying an insulated tin roof. It's two layers of aluminium with insulation in between, it should be cheaper and more environmentally friendly than most other roofs. You shouldn't hear the rain on it either. If you want to complement your other environmental ideas consider a reed bed to polish the water coming from your septic tank. How about a heat pump?
  24. matelot
    I believe the Crusades were a response to the Muslim world attacking Europe and taking slaves... "The term slave has its origins in the word slav. The slavs, who inhabited a large part of Eastern Europe, were taken as slaves by the Muslims of Spain during the ninth century AD." The Story of Africa| BBC World Service
  25. matelot
    How many people have died in religious wars since WW2? It must be more than 6 million?

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