Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

when was it last in balance?
about 1740 at a guess


no, not even then, nor even in 1700, so obviously before that

1693--National debt begins in England .... though not quite sure what that means, as of course kings for centuries before that were always taxing all and sundry to pay for their wars and other sunday jollies

It beggars belief that the BBC think this is acceptable broadcasting;

"BBC criticised for 'obscene' comedy making fun of the murder of Lord Mountbatten

Radio 4 sitcom Blocked triggers complaints after lampooning the death of the Queen's cousin, Lord Lois Mountbatten, on the eve of the Normandy Landings anniversary."

Daily Telegraph

fred may disagree as he may well be an irish national having played for Wanderers

D-Day Veteran's Great Escape From Care Home

Police are called after an 89-year-old is reported missing by carers - only to learn he had found his way to Normandy.

An 89-year-old Royal Navy veteran has turned up in Normandy for the D-Day commemorations after ignoring a travel ban imposed by his care home.

Police were called to the man's nursing home in Hove, Sussex, on Thursday night when staff realised he had gone out at 10.30am and had not been seen since.

The man has since been named on social media as Bernard Jordan, a former mayor of Hove, and his carehome has tweeted a photo of him.

The pensioner 'went AWOL' wearing his war medals covered by a grey jacket and secretly boarded a coach to France.

Police initially searched the Hove area, speaking to bus and taxi companies and checking local hospitals in case something had happened to him.

Then, at 10.30pm on Thursday - 12 hours after he was last seen - a younger veteran called to say he had met the pensioner on a coach on the way to France.

He said the pair were sitting in a hotel in Ouistreham, Normandy, where world leaders have been mingling with veterans to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

Mr Jordan is said to be safe and well.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: "We have spoken to the veteran who called the home today and are satisfied that the pensioner is fine and that his friends are going to ensure he gets back to Hove safely over the next couple of days, after the D-Day celebrations finish."

Chief Superintendent tweeted: "Love this - 89-year-old veteran reported missing to us by care home who said he can't go to Normandy for D-day remembrance. We've found him there!"

.

Good for him, one up the bum for the health a safety brigade :-)

Got stuffed in the Aberdeen Links Championship, Murray Cup FINAL tonight. Nice trophy, £100 voucher for the pro shop and a bottle of Famous Grouse which is going down very well at mo Hic!!!! :O)

MaxK - God love him! Don't talk to me about those H@S jobsworths, Gobshites the lot of em.

Typical Tories on watch......................................

Why dont they use the Bullingdon Club,

'remember you cant beat a drop of bolly down the bully'.

of course it may well be that the party opposite does its fair share too, but of course you'ld never expect a sensible and balanced comment where a silly and partisan one can be made to fit :-)

more sensibly ....
aren't there also a fair amount of wedding receptions + of course more formal parliamentary entertaining done there too

oh - and who said all that champagne consumed was ladled out free anyway?


sticky - clearly you couldn't sleep; must have a guilty conscience from ripping off or harassing all your tenants :-)

bad luck Chris
i'm afraid these young kids can be terrifyingly good ....
we not only have a thriving junior section, but also an excellent scholarship scheme (for tennis too), so they are to be seen regularly on the practice ground and many of them, both girls and boys, are quickly down to single figures or better .... i don't know if it was actually bernard gallacher's idea, but certainly he took it under his wing in the early days

Love that old fellow going to normandy good for him , its those type of men with that spirit who fought fought for us there in France ..
--------------------------------

Got a treat on Sunday with Nadal v Djokovic another dream final .

Hard luck, Chris.

Couldn't you have locked the little prick up in a locker or something and claimed the win by default?

:-)

Thanks cynic and Exec, hard to bear but that's golf :o)

Robert Maxwell MP , sold off all the house of commons wine .

Robert Maxwell - Labour MP/crook

Wondered what you guys were on about, so I used the trusty Google:

8,807 bottles of wine worth a small fortune purged from one good cellar - a la Robert Maxwell MP, who similarly purged the H of C's cellar back in 1960