bearleft

I don't see the problem. Put the £800 on your credit card

Oddly enough, Barry, I was in Ceredigion yesterday. Wonderful coastline, great weather. OK boring little towns and the area is hugely dependent on agriculture. I hope property takes a real hit then maybe the locals will be able to afford to buy there. I might even move back there.

Laugh, I think I just wet myself, unless I did that falling off a pier. I'd doff my cap to you but I forgot where I left it, being lumpen.

Its a typo, silly. They've got the comma in the wrong place. Bargain I think at £32,500...or maybe not. By the way, Pembrokeshire still seems to be fantasy land. A friend who bought his place last summer for £160,000 has just had it valued at £190,000. HPC isn't coming to Pembs, its just too pretty down here.

But isn't it fun to see the bigots out in force.

I remember the Thatcher/Major years well. Except I can't remember exactly how many Conservative MPs went to prison in that time. Can anyone remind me? Was it one, two or more than two? Oh and to those who want to criticise miners and their communities just one word - Aberfan. How many of the better-off communities of the UK lost over 100 of their children in one go?

No its not crap. I also know people who failed the 11+ then went on to become educated and do well. But these were a small minority. The overwhelming majority grew up ignorant, low paid and some have spent a lifetime on benefits. I suppose its just a failing of mine but I've always felt that if you give people hope and a real chance to improve their lives, they will respond. Here on this forum I've read all sorts of criticisms of the UK and the ignorance of the chavs and sheeple. So tell me, what's wrong with trying to give everyone's children a good education? Perhaps we'll live in a better country if we do.

A big hello to anyone interested in Pembrokeshire. Prices down here show no sign of falling - quite the opposite, IMO. There doen't seem to be any sign of the economic realities in the UK at present. This is despite the fact that the county is awash with EA boards. Is there anyone out there with any good HPC news in Pembrokeshire? Its enough to drive me to drink, hopefully.

Hi Microbe I went to grammar school in the days of the 11+ in one of the poorest areas of the UK. I went to one of the better universities, I have qualifications and work in one the the professions. Most of my school friends went to a secondary modern where they received no education whatsoever. We were divided up at the age of eleven. I was labelled a success, they were failures and they knew it. Many of them failed to learn to read or write while at school, though some of them went back to education later in life. I firmly believe that, while the comprehensive system needs improvement, it represents the only chance for kids who are born with virtually no chance. Grammar schools are elitist, accumulate resources to the detriment of others and help perpetuate a class-ridden method of wasting the potential talents of many, many children. Incidently one of my daughters teachers in a rather expensive private school (to my shame). No lefty, tree-hugger, sadly...though she might rip trees apart with her bare hands when the mood takes her. She intends getting a job in a comp asap - generally higher educational standards, you see.

There's a peculiar mixture of winging and arrogance on display here. Parent's know better than LEA's? Who are you trying to kid. The fact is that, since the introduction of comprehensive education, more children from poor working class homes succeed educationally than under the previous grammar/secondary modern system. Could it be that some people don't like seeing poor kids do well? If the whining middle-classes don't like it, they can send their little cherubs to private school, where presumably they can learn to be bigotted sociopaths. Oh yes, then there's the question of charitable status...

With one dissenting voice from an ex-grammar school boy. The real answer is - remove parental choice altogether; make the luvvies send their kids to the local comp then watch the standards improve alround. Then everykid will benefit.

Never mind TMT. Go boogying down the Kingsway tonight in your leathers and lycra and you won't worry about the DOW for several months. Viva Abertawe

On the other hand JCB announced that jobs could be lost at their plant in Wrexham due to 'softening demand'. Now this would seem directly relevant as it points to a slowdown in contruction work. JCB warns factory jobs could go Jobs could be lost at the JCB Transmissions plant in Wrexham, the company has revealed. A spokesman said trade union officials were engaged in a 30-day consultation period which "unfortunately may result in a small number of redundancies". The factory employs 600 people, making axles, gearboxes and engine components for JCB excavators and other machines. But the firm, one of the town's biggest employers, said it was "realigning" production due to "softened" demand. The factory received the Queen's Award for Enterprise last year, to mark its growth in exports. In other words, less JCB work, less newbuilds.

Plus, if a Black Swan swims into view, do we enter Cgnao territory? 100% correct?