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Thinking of going over to France for 7 days sometime during the first 2 weeks in July (Scottish school holidays). I have been on various websites, chez-nous etc but can anyone recommend either a villa type place, or even a static caravan maybe within 2-3 hours max of the Channel Tunnel? Preferably one wyou have stayed at before, say less than £500 for the week?
Also re the tunnel, they seem to do some very good prices if you are travelling midweek out of normal hours eg £40 odd quid I think between midnight and 6am. Unless anyone knows of a cheap way of getting normal times booked?
Its been about 4 years since I have driven in France, having previously went all the way down to Languedoc and loved every minute of it. However only being there for a week this time, thinking of closer to the tunnel.
Also, does anyone know if I pay extra on the tunnel if I have a towbar mounted cycle carrier with 4 bikes on it?
As usual, any help / input appreciated.
[moved to IHAQ - PG ]
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See what you can find by way of a gite in Normandy. Probably be less than that, self catering but good facilities usually and of course bars and restos in the nearest village.
Go off on days and see the Bayeux tapestry, Mont St-Michel, local pork and sausage market (if that's your sort of thing) etc. 7 days will go in no time.
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Just google 'gites de france' bobbyg, and take it from there if you haven't already.
Finalise by telephone (if you have French). Otherwise do online or by phone with agent in local area who will speak English.
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Lud has pointed you into a delightful area. Easy driving, some tolls. Seafood, Calvados, cider. Honfleur and Le Touquet are delightful and it is a great area for a week's holiday. I am sure you will enjoy it and as you are away from the French August holiday the prices should be keen, I hope!
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Second the gite suggestion. Much better choice, privacy, better facilities and cheaper than sites and caravans.
We liked them so much we bought one! Going over tomorrow.
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First half of July is a good time to go. The French schools generally finish at the end of June, so 1 July is when many leisure amenities - pools etc - change over from 'regular' to 'holiday' opening hours. But you'll be there before the full holiday rush begins on the 14th.
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If you choose a gite be careful of these magazines advertising private gites to rent. Three years ago we selected a gite through such a magazine and it was a dump, damp and smelly, when I later complained the owner laughed and rang off. I eventually got my weeks rent back but could not sue for eurotunnel fees,etc etc , apparently had I booked through a travel agent : a) very unlikely to find a pit, and b) if it were a pit I could have taken the agent to the cleaners. When you make a private booking you have very few consumer rights.
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If you are coming from Scotland you might consider crossing from Portsmouth to Le Havre (LD Lines) or Caen (Brittany Ferries). Both these take you much closer to the Normandy region, and avoid the SE of England as well.
Brittany Ferries have a subsidiary that rents privately owned holiday cottages in most regions of France.
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Have a great hol, tunnel doesn't normally take much notice of bikes as I always put mine on roof & towing a caravan but I don't declare the bikes on the roof. Tunnel does have hieght restriction for cars only & I seem to remember its low because I think even 4x4s are normally in the caravan que but i'm sure someone will correct me. The french are now getting very hot on bikes on racks unless you have a rear trailer board that is fully compliant.
One of my favourit sites that is 5hrs drive is Chateaux le grenoulier near Mer in the Loire. 12 miles north of Blois. easy access & fantastic facilities. Its a castel site with mobile homes, vans tents etc, not too big excellent for a week has about 5 pools canooing, horse riding, bike hire, resturants, take away, games rooms etc , & you can cycle along the Loire river & loads to do in the area & weather normally very good. avarage about 26-28 but I have known it to be 44+ in 2003!
Hab a fab time
Regards
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As a family we prefer the the south west coast of France. From St Nazaire, in the Pays de la loirre region, down to Royan in the Poitu - Charrentes region.
Plenty of resorts, history, interest, loads of huge beaches, lots of camping caravan parks, not over poulated and mercifully - not infested with hoards of drunken brits demanding frittes with everything.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Gites de France also includes hundreds of chambres d'hotes - B and Bs, which can be excellent if you like that sort of thing.
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Tunnel does have hieght restriction for cars only & I seem to remember its low because I think even 4x4s are normally in the caravan que but i'm sure someone will correct me. >>
My pleasure.
There is a height restriction of 1.85m on the low train carriages, although this errs on the side of caution. I've been in there with Citroen C8 and skis on the roof - just over 1.90m in total. Whilst it scraped the bar on chains by the entrance, there was still room to spare in the carriage. Close, though.
Cars can go in the high carriage at no extra cost (but were fully booked when we wanted to go).
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St Valery sur Somme in Pas de Calais has a nice mobile home site (Eurocamp/Keycamp type of thing) Nice site and nice town on the Somme River (as the name suggests) Not far from channel ports, Le Touquet and beaches etc. There is also a reasonable adventure theme park thingy between Le Touquet and St Valery but the name escapes me. William the Conqueror set sail from St Valery to defeat the perfidious English at the batttle of Hastings. Probably the only war the French ever won (except for the one against themselves!)
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Thanks for all the useful help and suggestions so far.
Re the bike carrier - it is a rear Thule towbar mounted carrier with number plate lights etc so should be ok from the legal side of things and I gather no issue from the tunnel side of things either. But whether we take the bikes would probably depend on whether there was bike hire available at the site / gite.
I may be visiting my brother on the way who lives in Bishops Stortford thus the benefit of going to the Tunnel as opposed to one of the ferry sailings. Plus I just much prefer the quickness of the tunnel!
In previous holidays, we have taken the 2 weeks and drove all the way to the bottom to Languedoc, Vias Plage etc but this year we are going to only be over for a week thus am looking for a place only 3 hours or so from the tunnel.
I will check out all your suggestions so far and make sure I book through somewhere reputable!
Many thanks so far.
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Normandy is OK, but it rains (observe the slope of the roofs). Take two weeks and visit Lot and the Vendee, but avoid the other Brits. I am ashamed to be associated with the behaviour of Brits in Europe, even to the degree of denying that I am British when accosted by semi-drunken Neanderthal mouth-brevvers:
"Ere, mate, come 'ere, where's the campsite?"
"Merde"
"Woss that mate?"
"Merde"
"You're a Frog ain't yer?"
"Oui" >scuttles across to conceal GB plates<
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100% spot on Micky & for that reason I avoid the Vendee, had two weeks there once & left after 2days due to it being full of drunken & noisy brits! how embarrising!
GB sticker thing? how many french do you see in the UK without euro sticker?
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OK, I have partaken rather liberally of the red stuff, so have been listening to some great blues guitar music on youtube including best ever BB King and Gary Moore
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqAuuIDU2sw
which I also have on CD and therefore my iPod
but also migrated to others such as a live set with BB, Albert Thomas, Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy etc. Thes e don't seem to be available on CD or for download.
Now, it is great to be able to listen to them on computer but is there any way I can download them to transfer to my iPod? I can't see how to do it ?
You guys can solve any problem!!
--
Phil
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www.softsland.com/flash-player.html
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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If you have Firefox, there's an add-on (DownloadHelper):
addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3006
Apart from TVM's suggestion, there's also:
www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Download-Managers/V...l
www.youtube-d.com/
Plenty of others.
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"You guys can solve any problem!!"
And in only 7 minutes - thanks TVM
--
Phil
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"thanks TVM"
And Stuart
--
Phil
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If there is anyone on the forum who has friends or relatives in Kenya and makes regular telephone calls, could you please offer advise on the following?
What would be the current best and most cost effective way of calling from a landline or mobile in UK to a mobile in Nairobi? Are there any days or times of day which should be avoided when doing so?
The mobile is believed to be on the " Safaricom " network
Thank you.
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What would be the current best and most cost effective way of calling from a landline or mobile in UK to a mobile in Nairobi?
18866.com has these tariffs:
To land lines: 14p/min
To mobile phones: 10p/min
These + 5p connection charge - so 10 minutes to a land line would be £1.45, 10 minutes to a mobile would be £1.05
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www.dialaround.co.uk/rates.php#k
My wife uses "dialaround" to phone her sister in Portugal - landline and sometimes mobile. I think the numbers are flat-rate, irrespective of what time you call. We have not had any problems.
HTH
Regards
Paul
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Thank you both for your replies. Will check on these. Would still be interested to hear from anyone who makes calls to freinds or relatives in Kenya, as per the original post.
Thank you again.
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According to Martin Lewis's MoneySaving Expert website, calls cost from 3p upwards from these providers:
callchecker.moneysavingexpert.com/intcallchecker/i...p
PS
When my daughter was in hospital I used to use 0844calls.co.uk to phone her mobile - cost was just 5p a minute.
Still not as cheap as Skype thought...:-)
PSS
Should have mentioned that the calls were to the Cayman Islands.
{three replies from Stuartli merged into one post - DD}
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off for a 10 day holiday driving round Ireland in July, catching an early ferry from Holyhead -
anybody have any recommendations of places to stay fairly close by ?
cheers
--
Go on, get out of the car...
www.mikes-walks.co.uk
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Mike,
Plenty of B&B in the area without straying into Holyhead itself, There is a Travel Lodge outside Bangor on the A55 - about 40 mins from the port) or just abut closer on the mainland side of the Britannia Bridge a Premier lodge Inn (about 25 mins to the port).
I'll e-mail my friend in N Wales now for you, she lives on Anglesey, she'll give you a good recommendation and places to avoid.
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cheers PU -
is that 40 mins from Bangor good at 7:30 on a monday mornning ?
Mike
--
Go on, get out of the car...
www.mikes-walks.co.uk
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Yes - the A55 is a good bit of dual, the only delay you're likely to encounter is getting onto Britannia Bridge, shouldn't be a problem at that time of the morning going onto the island, coming onto the mainland is the issue in the morning. You drive off the A55 at Holyhead and then its a 5 minute drive into the Port., two sets of traffic lights, if memory serves me right. Holyhead is a typical port town....
no disrespect to it.
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Yes - the A55 is a good bit of dual,>>
It's made a tremendous difference to driving into North Wales - we also have friends who live on Anglesey and it's now a fast and pleasant route both for them and us to visit each other.
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Well, initial reply to my e-mail is as follows.
Depends what you want. Like me she suggests staying outside Holyhead is the best bet, she's asking how far you want to deviate from the A55 ? plenty of good accommodation on the island within a 10 to 15 minutes of the A55, some classy B&B as well as the usual bog standard fayre. If it's somewhere to put your head down she suggests the Travel Lodge off the A55 in Bangor (see above), if you're after some pampering she'll suggest a couple.
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Hi Mike,
Have stayed at this Travelodge a few times, great base for Snowdonia and Llanberis. We've managed to get some very good prices booking in advance. The hotel has grown a bit over the past year or so, the new rooms are a _lot_ better than the old ones. Straight, easy run to Anglesey but haven't done it in rush hour, sorry!
We're doing the Ireland thing too, but from Hollyhead - where are you heading? We did Kerry/Dingle/Kilarney/Doolin last year and it was great. Thinking of doing similar again, but would be interested if you've got any ideas! We're taking the car, so definite motoring link!!
Most vivid memory is the local radio. Each day at 12 & 6 they read out a list of the recently deceased along, very odd!
Lee
-- Biggedy biggedy bong
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Half asleep here. We're going form Liverpool (not mis-spelt holyhead!) and the last paragraph should include "with details for the funeral".
Oh for an edit button!!
-- Biggedy biggedy bong
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Half asleep here. We're going form Liverpool (not mis-spelt holyhead!) and the last paragraph should include "with details for the funeral".
Yes, I was amazed on a trip last year to hear RTE announce on national radio that Mr so-and-so of Knock had lost his cat and if anyone should see it to phone this number. I love that about Ireland though. On the one hand it's a thrusting modern country and on the other it's deeply parochial. People there are still quite self-reliant. That guy probably just thought "pink fluffy dice, me cat's gone. I know! I'll phone RTE. That'll do it." And it probably did.
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I still have a photo of a car taken in Ireland with the name of the dealership from where it was bought in the rear windscreen.
It proclaims it was bought from the Knock Motor Company.
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We've just bought a king size duvet and the label says the dimensions are 225 cm x 220 cm. The designer must have had a reason for specifying the 5cm difference, but I can't imagine what it was or that it was based on any real logic. Any ideas?
--
L\'escargot.
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The dimensions of a King size duvet are usually 230x220cm/90"x86" approximately - a Super King size is approximately 230x250cm/90"x100" and a double bed around 200x200cm/78"x78".
You appear to have bought a duvet that's between a King size and a Super King sized product.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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The dimensions of a King size duvet are usually 230x220cm/90"x86" approximately .......
It still seems perverse to have such a small length to width difference. I would have designed them square. I'm sure that having a 10cm difference isn't critical on something like a duvet ~ provided that all duvet and cover manufacturers worked to the same standard of course. Who on earth devised such a perverse standard?
--
L\'escargot.
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But beds aren't square...
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Is it from Ikea by any chance?
They always seem to have slightly weird sizes - I know we have a couple of Ikea double/kingsize duvets for which "standard" covers don't quite fit and we have to buy the covers from Ikea too. In fairness to Ikea, their bed linen and duvets are made to match the dimensions of their beds, which again are slightly non (UK)standard.
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Is there any way of de-misting a sealed double glazed unit or is a replacement always necessary?
Thanks.
Clk Sec
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Nope its defective. The seal has gone and you will NEVER stop the inside misting up.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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TVM is right. If you find a large scale supplier they are not badly priced. Obviously depends on size of course. The trade term is "blown" for your problem.
--
Fullchat
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I may be stating the obvious but you will only have to replace the sealed unit, not the frame as well.
Remember, some sealed units are slightly thicker than others. If you remove the beading and measure the dimensions, then temporarily remove it and measure the thickness, then you can order its replacement.
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Have booked myself a trip to Stavanger from Newcastle in June - having trouble finding out what the typical sea conditions are at that time.
I'm guessing the crossing won't be like a row boat on Saltwell Park lake, but does anyone know where I can find out historical data for the weather for this crossing and equally usefully, where I can find long-ish term forecasts for the same?
tia
-- Biggedy biggedy bong
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Don't take this the wrong way, but what's the point in asking? I'd guess that the info you'll find will tell you that on occasion it can be quite choppy. What are you going to do about it? Whatever the answer to that question, prepare on that basis and you won't be disappointed. I hope it's as smooth as oil on glass by the way.
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Trying to ascertain what the conditions are likely to be - I'm thinking it's going to be a lot worse in January than June, but am struggling to find the data to support the assumption.
The tickets were free from DFDS and so if it looks like it'll be eighteen hours late into North Shields and have spent the entire trip throwing up, I'll not go. Don't mind a bit of bumpiness but three days on an Alton Towers ride.....er, not sure I'd choose that :-0
-- Biggedy biggedy bong
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Who can tell. You need to check the weather forecast five days before you go to have any chance.
In 1945 june had two of the worse storms for half a century.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Possibly
(DOH)
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Shipping forecast ~ tinyurl.com/ktuew
--
L\'escargot.
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Fantastic - the shipping forecast.....it's like reading poetry!
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2cv,
Yep I think that the shipping forecast is the best bet - will be doing Tyne, Dogger, Forties, Fisher and S Utsire. Here's hoping that's followed by "Northeasterly 1 or 2. Mainly good"
Never had to use the shipping forecast before, quite exciting really!!
thanks
-- Biggedy biggedy bong
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Does anyone have any early experience of the new TV service from BT - BT Vision ?
{moves question to correct place in thread, as per the PLEASE NOTE message at the top - DD}
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One of my neighbours has had it. He works for BT but is a critic. What do you need to know, its an excuse to go there tomorrow evening with a bottle of something !
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Pug, I am interested in the cost of the programmes.
For example - how much would a good film be - good as in the latest pirates of the caribean stuff etc and how much would a premier football match cost ?
I can recomend a Chateau Reynella or McGuigans Shiraz btw.
Thansk in advance
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1.5 second , very high single long tone, no warbling, with very short rise in pitch at the end
very short gap (milliseconds)
Then the tone again.
On and on and on for 5 mintues at a time.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Peewit (Lapwing) Peeeeeewit!
www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/l/lapwing/...p
Otherwise the RSPB site may help.
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Peewit (Lapwing)
aka Pyewipe in Lincolnshire.
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L\'escargot.
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Good try thanks but no. Pewit tone too short, by some margin, tone to low itch and gap far to long.
The one heard in my garden just now sounded like a squeeky workmans wheel barrow.
Squuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuueeeeeeeee
eeeeeIK,
Squuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuueeeeeeeee
eeeeeIK,
1.5 seconds (timed) contstant high tone, no warble or vibrato, sudden upturn in tone at end, microsecond gap (i assume for breath) then tone again.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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I think the most likely candidate in your area is a Dunnock TVM -
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Nope - thanks but the dunnock is a warbler.
Its an unusual one I heard guys, never head it before.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Nope - thanks but the dunnock is a warbler. Its an unusual one I heard guys never head it before. ------------------------------ TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
I reckon it's a Great Auk - do you get many in West Surrey?
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We get some great big auks at times, juding by the size of the droppings on the car.
No idea - whats it sound like?
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Chiff Chaff, Redstart or Treecreeper (alarm calls not their song).
Failing that maybe you've dropped your mobile phone in the garden?
www.garden-birds.co.uk/birdindex.htm gives bird song and alarm calls. If it's none of the above it shouldn't take long to wade through the list (assuming you can leave out owls, kites, coots etc) :)
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Pity my father-in-law is no longer with us as he would have given you chapter and verse, being the son of HG Witherby (British bird books) but husband says it sounds like a Great Tit - so try that on PST's site!
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take long to wade through the list (assuming you can leave out owls kites coots etc) :)
"Wade" throught the list.
Very good.
MD
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I have finally given up on finding the perfect desk for the computer in my lounge, realising that in fact the answer is to just build a shelf into the wall.
So, I'm sure that suppliers for the following exist, but I have no idea where to look. Putting 'keyboard shelf' into google just reults in 1 million 'workstation with built in keyboard shelf' links!
Can anyone give me ideas for where to source things of the following type:
A length of fake-beech laminated plywood. (I know, but it has to match the rest of our low quality Argos furniture!)
A slung under keyboard shelf
Something along the lines of a slung-under wire cage for keeping all the wires tidy and off the floor
Thanks in advance.
James
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Look for a cheap flat pack computer workstation and use the parts you need.
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That's not a bad idea actually, thanks.
Still open to suggestions of suppliers for now though, in case anyone has one.
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I have a desk very similar to this:
tinyurl.com/29nr32
which my other half acquired for free when the place where she worked was having a clearout.
Solid as a rock and can house everything including a 21in CRT monitor...:-)
This is similar:
tinyurl.com/2fdlkr
However, if you know of a new and used office furniture outlet in your area you could pick up an office desk for a bargain price.
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PS
Some examples:
www.orsuk.com/used_desks.asp
www.officeinteriorsltd.co.uk/examples-used-office-...m
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I use an ikea desk, its was called dik the desk or something. Have you checked out thier Galant range?
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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The one name that springs to mind for fake beech laminated plywood (which will in fact be fake beech laminated chip board) is ContiBoard.
Do a search in here www.diy.com (B&Q site) for shelving.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Ikea also sell a range of office tables called "VIKA" where you mix and match the top, legs, keyboard tray etc. They come in beech effect, oiled oak, and birch effect. Add a suitable set of brackets to support it off the wall and it might do the job.
Have a look at p297 of the current Ikea catalogue - I happen to have one on the desk at the moment!
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The one name that springs to mind for fake beech laminated plywood (which will in fact be fake beech laminated chip board)
Yes, that's what I meant.
Would you believe I'm a joiner's son? Surprisingly, with my instinctive grasp of the job, I didn't follow in his footsteps...
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>> The one name that springs to mind for fake beech laminated plywood (which will in >> fact be fake beech laminated chip board) Yes that's what I meant. Would you believe I'm a joiner's son? Surprisingly with my instinctive grasp of the job I didn't follow in his footsteps...
And your "just building a shelf into the wall" skills?
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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And your "just building a shelf into the wall" skills? ------------------------------
...will quite possible amount to a plaintive call of "dad, do you fancy nipping up to my house?"
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I have a slight leak in the conservatory roof. Nothing major, and it rather considerately only drips on to the windowsill, so not a big deal, but I'd still like it fixed.
The thing is, I have absolutely no idea who I would go about employing to do so (and doing it myself would be a shortcut to the whole conservatiry falling down).
I think (but don't really know) that the leak is from the seal around one of the double-glazed plastic roof panels. Who are the experts in this stuff? Should I be asking conservatory fitters? Or just any trusted odd-job man?
If I'm right in my diagnosis, is it just a case of lifting the panels out, re-applying sealant, and re-sitting them?
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Its a case of getting a good odd job man or jobbing builder in to have a look, and to get at it with a gun of silicon sealant.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Is it out of reach? Tube of clear silicone, 1 wet finger and a damp rag would be my solution.
If that fails call a glazier rather than a conservatory company.
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Needs sealing from above though I guess, not below?
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Idealy, now there is the rub. You may need a scaffold or crawling boards to do it from above. The alternative, is as you described to refit the panels from below back into (new) rubber seals. Its a two man job.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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A mate of mine tried to clean his conservatory roof, fell off the ladder and ´braked´ himself by digging his elbows in the polycarbonate panels (gouging his arms in the process).
He managed to convince the insurance guy who came to assess that the damage to the roof was caused by ducks landing heavily, and was paid for the replacement. I kid you not.
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Nearly as bad as some bloke who lives in the same house as me and is married to my wife, who thought it would be a good idea to clean the conservatory roof with a pressure washer.
He still hasnt found all the old sealing strips.
Some people huh? right wallies.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Yes it does, but if you can reach without too much difficulty then it's worth a pop, if only while you're waiting for the long term fix.
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Been trawling the internet and can not find a supplier for 2 or 3 large sacks of bluebells to plant in the autumn in a few acres of woodland and rivers edge that we own.
I was going to plant them last year and had no difficulty finding suppliers on the net, must be doing a different Google search this time. I remember them being over £100 per sack. No difficulty finding them in small amounts but I am not paying £18 for 50. I need a lot more than that.
Does anyone know a supplier so I can place an order for the autumn planting, or is anyone better at googling than I am.
Mal.
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Just had a thought, maybe they are not advertised at the moment.
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This is the best I could come up with. tinyurl.com/35djfb
Beware of buying bluebells which are not the true English variety. A lot of bluebells these days have interbred with foreign varieties.
--
L\'escargot.
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See:
www.eurobulbs.co.uk/acatalog/Bluebells.html
tinyurl.com/2bfr65
tinyurl.com/3yvsmd
tinyurl.com/2swu7v (seeds, which I presume would take some time for the finished result).
Why not ask for a quote for large supplies of bulbs (first link above offers discounts for quantities)?
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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A supplier has quoted £95 per 1000 vat delivery free on orders over £200. Although 1000 bulbs will not go very far, was thinking more of buying a few 56lb sacks. Probably be able buy a decent car for the price of a few sacks of bulbs :-0.
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There are issues around native ones (in the collecting of same) Police clamped down on some "collectors" around here last year, they are up in Court this week funnily enough. If I remember rightly it's an offence to collect native bulbs but apparently not an offence to sell them afterwards, large nurseries down south are paying a fortune for them.
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This is quite correct as the following information states:
"In the United Kingdom the common bluebell has been a protected species since 1981.
"The legislation was toughened up in 1998 under Schedule Eight of the Wildlife and Countryside Act and as such the trade in common bluebell bulbs or seeds is an offence.
"Landowners are prohibited from removing bluebells on their land for sale. Wild bluebells are protected by the legislation and it is a criminal offence to remove the bulbs."
The company in the first of the links I provided earlier, Eurobulbs Ltd, claims: "All of our bulbs are cultivated on our land here in Norfolk. As a responsible, Ministry registered company we abhor those who take bulbs from the wild or harvest irresponsibly."
It would also seem to indicate, of course, why the cost of such bulbs appears so high.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Can't see what the problem is. If you plant a few bulbs in a suitable place, they will proliferate and after a few years there will be lots more.
They were about three weeks early this year.
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Lud
mal does clearly state: "..to plant in the autumn in a few acres of woodland and rivers edge that we own."
As an acre is about the size of a football pitch. "planting a few bulbs in a suitable place" isn't likely to have much effect....:-)
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OK, but if it's a suitable place they will spread in a few years. No need to carpet the place in one go.
No doubt there are ways of encouraging them, but I'm no gardener.
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I did not know it was illegal.
My neighbur gave me a load 2 years ago and I have put them in my garden and they now look great.
If this is illegal - has he "planted" them on me to escape prosecution.
Sorry - I'll get my coat.
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"It would also seem to indicate, of course, why the cost of such bulbs appears so high."
The case I was talking about was a long and very wearing investigation, the bulbs were being sold wholesale at 75p each and you were talking thousands of them, it involved DNA analsys....to prove they weren't hybrids.
Pendlebury,
Someone may grass you up on this, so I would leaf well alone and no doubt special branch will get involved. You're obviously a budding criminal :-}
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>>"It would also seem to indicate, of course, why the cost of such bulbs appears so high.">>
Actually I was referring to the prices asked by retailers for the bulbs, not a court case...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Native Bluebells actually don't spread all that quickly, but the Spanish ones (bigger, more vigorous, cheaper) do. They also cross-pollinate with the native breed and eradicate it, so if you're buying Bluebells you must make sure not only that they come from a nursery, but that they are not the Spanish variety. A few Spanish variety bulbs will overwhelm a native Bluebell wood within a few seasons. My garden, a former orchard, has a lot of British native Bluebells in it, but in the decade I've lived here they haven't spread from the areas they were in to start with.
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Talk to these people before you do anything:
www.plantlife.org.uk/
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