boldforester

Kaz - I agree with all of this, see other posts. But give me a bottom line on the boozers. I remember the Mower being just about OK and the Magpie less so...

You should spend a week in Shirebrook, North Derbyshire (where I grew up & spent time caring for my dad recently). Lowedges (which i like, see post elsewhere) is Tuscany in comparison. I think re-reading your post that you're an Ian Hislop-style satirist. OK; but the hillbillies aren't into fine distinctions...so don't get caught!

Lowedges is a great place. One of my biggest regrets when we moved to south Sheffield is that we didn't move there & instead moved into the "posh" (!!) part of Greenhill with its 3 cars per family, Stepford Wives & first-generation-money-golfers. Sadly I'm now separated from wife & kids but am now living in Hillsborough, which is another "real" place. And guess what? the children love it! BTW, if you're slagging off Lowedges, have you seen the Ofsted report on Lowedges primary? Outstanding!! Good on yer Kaz!

Good morning colleagues. Might I tease you with a question or two at the start of the working day? 1. There seems almost to have been a Muslim/Jihadist recruitment campaign on some of the Forum pages recently. Is the BNP allowed such licence? 2. A work colleague's electronic diary for Friday afternoons is always blocked out with "Mosque". I know that he is paid for the time. If I wanted to take time out - say, to travel to the "Biretta Belt" of Goldthorpe for an outdoor procession of the Blessed Sacrament on the feast of Corpus Christi (it's just an example) I would have to take annual leave. I'm not asking for generalised replies, because it leads to ranting, and there's plenty of that going on already. But am interested to hear of similar experiences.....

Milquetoast, you are quite right. We've turned over the big stone marked "Celebrate Diversity", and now every creepy crawly that was underneath, as well as the positive stuff, is running about in daylight. So give preacher man his space, and bring it on. And if the BNP turn up in droves, well, isn't that what democracy is all about?