Bluebird236

Thanks for your responses folks. I think the mx5motor comments nail it for me. Rotaries are exotic. I wouldn't want my new pride and joy to have the wrong oil put in it so it needs someone who appreciates them. So Doncaster it is.

Second recommendation for Steve at mx5motors. Top guy at the top of his game, at very reasonable prices. I have been using him for the last 5 years (ever since we came back to the UK) for our mx5 (and I'm in Worksop!), and he's an authority on rotaries (earliest RX7 Mk1s to RX8s). He also race-preps MX7s.

 

If he's having a quiet day and you stick around, he'll let you come into the garage bay and do the service right in front of you and explain/point out this-that-the other/chat about the car: doesn't come any more open/honest than that in my experience.

---------- Post added 21-01-2014 at 10:56 ----------

Oh now I'm torn. Anyone tried both and can give a comparison?

Nick Cluelee has serviced and maintained our RX8 for the past 5 years. Great service and advice on running these cars.

 

They are friendly, reasonably priced and do a good job. highly recommend

 

Make it beep everyday to keep the repairman away. enjoy it and put a smile on your face everytime you drive it.

I noticed them and they have a good reputation. Doncaster though :/

Go see Steve @ http://www.mx5motors.com/index1.html

 

It's Doncaster but I wouldn't let anyone in Sheffield near my RX7. They do good work for very good prices. Adwick station is 15 mins walk away. I drop mine off very early, catch the train to work then catch the train back to collect.

Yes I am fully aware of the horror stories - that is why are want to have it maintained by someone who knows what they are doing

cannot recommend anyone!

 

but I must say you are very very brave buying a RX8. You will get to know many specialists who repair rotary engines.

Ok a bit of a long shot this. As a knee jerk reaction to my mid life crisis I bought a Mazda RX8. It runs great but could probably do with a service. Looking through the forum I see Nick Clulee is mentioned as a potential Mazda/rotary specialist. Has anyone had any experience of this garage? Alternatively, can anyone make any Sheffield based recommendations. Thanks

Yes - and thanks for the offer. Didn't see it until this morning by which time I resolved it. Twigg Bro's for future reference. Very prompt. I've also joined AutoAid so should be covered in the future.

Car battery is flat - I left the lights on. Breakdown cover doesn't cover within 1 mile of home (doh!) so need a mechanic. Any recommendations?

A horrible choice. I chose Leeds. It's was cheaper than Manchester when I last looked, there are more trains, there's a newish service from Nottingham now and you can usually get a seat (although some take forever). There is the coach option (which I often use) that costs even less and takes about the same time on a good day.

Abbeydale Grange was a respectful Grammer school and became a comprehensive school.

 

I went between 1976-1981.

 

It was a great school but has gone downhill from the early eighties.

 

It is not the school it used to be and is almost 100% mutil cultural.

 

This is not a racist comment but an honest fact.

 

I have fond memories of the school but i am sad to see that it has gone the way it has.

 

It wasn't perfect even when i was there but at least the kids had respect for the teachers and it was disciplined.

 

I say, bring back caning and the slipper and detention.

 

Paul

I was also there at that time. I also have fond memories to a degree but it was certainly in decline even then ( see - http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/1999/sep/14/nickdavies. It describes the history better than most perhaps). It is this long constant and consistent decline that is lodged in peoples perception - and indeed mine that needs to be overcome. The fact that there are people that still care about AG amazes me. There must be something very special there for you to feel that way. I truly wish you the best of luck

In the late 70's and early 80's the Moor was a dynamic place. The first mistake was the Moorfoot building that effectively stopped people walking through to and from London and Eccelscall Roads (remember the Coop store?). Then there was the misguided pedestrianisation. The buses that were well used at the time didn't and don't stop anywhere near it (when they used travel right down it), parking has never been added. Consequently in a very short time customer flows dried up to such an extent that the road no longer needs to be paved over. People don't just need a reason to go to the Moor. Tidying it up would be great but it won't fix the main problem - its just too much hassle to get there. I would open it up to traffic, buses and even cheaper parking if possible and maybe the increased volumes of people would provide an environment for businesses to grow again

Well I was all of that and remember it well. I'm not sure I want to relive it though. What is the aim of the show? Rehashing stereotypes or is something more engaging being proposed?

i must sy that it is very sad to see the once proud school of abbeydale grange which used to have over 1,500 pupils and was very multi cultured even in the 70s and early 80s when i went there reduced to what it is today i know i had many a good year there and yes there was bullying and problems even way back then. for me i would be sad to see the school close but welcome the consultation into what can be done to try and turn the place around

Not exactly my recollection of that period. Although I personally (though not academically) thrived there, racism/bullying from all communities was rampant and the leadership of the school was poor. It was still in denial about becoming a comprehensive and this was divisive (and actually institutionally racist come to think of it). The School was certainly in decline even then and has never recovered. It is a failed experiment that is costing kids. It should be consigned to the past and something new, relevant and credible put it its place

I was struggling to get to the gym due to the road closures. A tad annoying but I loved the irony

as dan expained in his previous reply W-i-Cs have a secificd remit , other places you'll fiund they do a bit more minor injuries than Sheffield - but that's because of sheffield 's centre being where it is i.e. bang next door to the STH emergency Department run minor Injuries unit at the RHH.

 

to those posters says they are suprsied at what the W-i-Cs can't do - what particular things are they? SNIP

Well I didn't particularly want to share this but I had a resistant verruca. It was painful and the usual over the counter remedies had not worked. The Leeds Centre were quick,friendly and professional but would NOT treat it and referred me to the GP. I rang the Sheffield centre who confirmed the position. They did give me a lot of self help advice but I had already tried that.

I agree with Dan that this is exactly the sort of piddling thing that GP's should want to avoid. So I don't quite understand why mine cited clinical safety as the reason when I raised it with her.

i cant see the point of this walk in centre to be honest...i've been a couple of times for myself..my sons..and my hubby...to be told every time that we need to be seen by our own doc?? i thought this was set up initially to deal with people who couldnt get to docs or wen the doc was booked up??

I've been to the walk in centres at both Leeds and Sheffield. I can't fault their promptness and professionalism but they are severely limited in what they are allowed to provide. If they can care for you they are excellent. If they can't - and it genuinely surprises me at some of the things they aren't allowed to do, then it is a very frustrating waste of time. Rather than trying to second guess what they can or can't do I reluctantly clutter up my GP's valuable time instead.

I think (cynically perhaps and with absolutely no supporting evidence) that GP's might not be entirely keen on the walk in centres as they poach on what they regard as their territory.

Alternatively you could get the national express coach. I gave up getting the train over a year ago. You are guaranteed a seat with legroom, (you can reserve a seat on the day if you wish if you want to be certain) usually air conditioned, quieter and cheaper - £28 per week. If there is a problem on the motorway the driver takes an alternative route. More friendly too as some people are on first name terms with the driver!

If you don't fancy the idea I think there will be additional train services to Leeds starting in December so the situation will improve further.

Apparently, police were called to Sheffield Assay Office today, just down the side of Mappin Street.

 

Various rumours seem to have been flying - just wondered if anyone knew what had been happening?

The office is moving to Hilsborough. I imagine it must be related to that in some way

I have yet to hear a convincing argument as to why anyone would actually need to drive a private car into the city centre, so why are the LibDems encouraging people to do so and clog up the city's streets?

Probably not a very convincing argument but I live in the City Centre and I work in Leeds. I get substantially more for doing the same job in Leeds than I did in Sheffield as businesses of this type prefer to locate there. I can't speculate as to why they choose to do this. True, I can and do often use public transport. But with 4 kids I do occasionally need to use the car because public transport is not effective. For most of the week therefore I do not need to use it. However I do not have access to free parking so to leave it in Sheffield would cost in the region of £6 a day. Consequently I drive it to Meadowhall station or Leeds to and from the City Centre every day as that is cheaper. My preference would be to leave it parked and save the planet. It would be nice to move home but in these credit crunch days that would cost me even more (assuming I could sell!). Sadly it is not me that makes the rules with their unintended consequences.

The Immigration Advisory Service is a useful place for information. See here

It has charitable status on so it's services are supplied at low cost due being a non profit organisation

Ok, I am sad but I did actually complain about the music at Meadowhall Interchange. They had put on the same tape for over 6 months. At 7.20 am "Up Where We Belong" (Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes) would start droning on without fail, followed by "Sleeping Satellite" (Tasmin Archer) warbling remorselessly. It was grim - especially at that time in the morning, and my mental health was becoming an issue. Anyway, I complained and got no answer. BUT the music magically changed a few days later. So perhaps someone should be sad like me and complain to SY travel via their website?

I live in the city centre and have done for a number of years now. In terms of the question posed I don't think there has been a marked improvement or deterioration in tackling the issues. In the evening the annual vandalism on my car continues (a geranium dumped on my bonnet last week), another night reveller tragically murdered, the occasional innocent student assaulted. The positive I would draw is that this is low level stuff when you consider other cities but we still regard it as shocking and intolerable. It is good that the police and council are at least asking the questions. The answer is not simple but there are laws already in place to tackle these issues. They need to be enforced.

As a side note, it erks me that on my commute to Leeds I am never out of site from a CCTV camera. But big brother is not watching, or at least acting on the evidence because the vandalism and antisocial behaviour continues unchecked. How much are we paying for this things and what real benefit have provided.

So the laws are there, the evidence is there. What's the missing link? Go figure.

Ther City Centre Policing team are interested to know of peoples opinion in relation to Begging,Street Drinking and Rough sleepers in the city centre.

Has the situation improved or deteriorated in the last 12 months.

When my grandmother started having memory problems the staff at the Hunters Bar branch were absolutely fantastic, going well beyond the call of duty for her. That said, when the Hunters Bar branch closed we opened an account for her at the Halifax branch at Nether Green and the staff there were also very understanding and accommodating.

 

Recently our experience with the Yorkshire bank has been extremely poor and we are in the process of moving accounts away from them.

This seems to be the nub of the matter and matches my experience. There clearly ARE very good people in Yorkshire Bank but their organisation does them a disservice. Depersonalising the bank by outsourcing, harmonising, closing branches, targeted sales and imposing telebanking in an attempt to compete with the big boys only exposes their short comings. What YB was good at was delivering a personal service relevant to the communities it served - yorkshire communities at that. It was what made it unique. Attempting to compete with the global conglomerates on their terms is frankly a naive strategy. By also turning their back on their core values means in my uneducated view that there really isn't a defining reason for being in the bank anymore. I think this is sad and an opportunity lost in these post Northern Rock/credit crunch days.

I just wondered what other peoples experience of Yorkshire Bank has been lately. I don't want this to turn into a rant about banks (God love them!) - It just strikes me that we have lost something that was a little special and was interested in whether anyone else shared this view. I joined them 18 years ago. This week I will have finally closed my accounts with them.

I joined YB because they were local, had branches, were competitive and competent (for a bank at least). My experience now is that when you have an enquiry you get referred to the Clydesdale Bank call centre. They continue to close branches and their costs seem higher than most. The level of service now is very poor. The quality of the people is good but they are badly let down by their systems. The hoops I had to jump through to find out why £2 had been taken out of my account were extraordinary. Since now the competition are at least as bad if not a little better I didn't see why I should continue to subsidise them so I have left. A pity but another casualty to globalisation I suppose. Any thoughts?

Thanks all for your advice. As for Green L/P plates - seems good to me. Mrs BB will probably have hazards flashing and horn blaring just for good measure

Cheers

BB

Actually it is me who is pain - precursor to a heat attack I think. Mrs BB approaches driving with gay abandon but in blissful ignorance of the chaos left in her wake. However she is certainly game to learn and she has improved markedly. Your are right about Norton - Lightwood I think it was called. It used to be an RAF supply depot. I took a look last year but it has long since been closed by the looks of it sadly - overgrown and potholed. Much like most of Sheffields main roads so could be regarded as a realistic test i suppose.

PS Good luck with your driving challenge!

Thanks weenireeni. I know the area and it's an excellent idea. Will certainly be letting Mrs Bluebird loose there