Network Rail failed railway arch tenants in £1.5bn sale, say MPs

Taxpayers could face costs if space has to be repurchased for engineering works – report

Network Rail failed to act in the interests of tenants and the taxpayer when it sold off £1.5bn of railway arches, sacrificing an important asset for short-term gain, according to MPs.

A critical report from the public accounts committee has found that the controversial sale of thousands of arches will also mean future tenants have fewer rights – and existing tenants no longer have an option to extend their leases.

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Can your deposit savings keep up with house prices? Nottingham Estate Agents

Home buyers are feeling the pressure as house prices continue to rise faster than wages. Here the Money Advice Service provides four top tips on how to maximise your deposit Content provided by OnTheMarket.com is for information purposes only. Independent and professional advice should be taken before buying, selling, letting or renting property, or buying […]

The post Can your deposit savings keep up with house prices? appeared first on OnTheMarket.com blog.

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Taking back control of my borders | Brief letters

Commons reputation | Rural loneliness | Bristol syntax | Call me Ishmael | Overgrown garden

A Conservative ex-minister faces a string of allegations including 2,000 sexual texts to two young women that finally did for his ministerial career. Yet the parliamentary standards watchdog has cleared him of wrongdoing: it is “not persuaded that [the exchanges] caused significant damage to the reputation of the House of Commons” (Report, 9 September). Has its reputation really sunk that low?
Anne McLaren
Liverpool

• Really enjoyed Steve Morgan’s article (The Upside: In this English town, a bold plan to banish loneliness and misery is afoot, 11 September). Isolation and loneliness can be a real issue in rural areas compounded by physical isolation. At the Arthur Rank Centre we have produced a toolkit on our website to help churches address this issue in their communities.
Rev Elizabeth Clark
National rural officer, Methodist and United Reformed Churches

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Taking back control of my borders | Brief letters

Commons reputation | Rural loneliness | Bristol syntax | Call me Ishmael | Overgrown garden

A Conservative ex-minister faces a string of allegations including 2,000 sexual texts to two young women that finally did for his ministerial career. Yet the parliamentary standards watchdog has cleared him of wrongdoing: it is “not persuaded that [the exchanges] caused significant damage to the reputation of the House of Commons” (Report, 9 September). Has its reputation really sunk that low?
Anne McLaren
Liverpool

• Really enjoyed Steve Morgan’s article (The Upside: In this English town, a bold plan to banish loneliness and misery is afoot, 11 September). Isolation and loneliness can be a real issue in rural areas compounded by physical isolation. At the Arthur Rank Centre we have produced a toolkit on our website to help churches address this issue in their communities.
Rev Elizabeth Clark
National rural officer, Methodist and United Reformed Churches

Continue reading...

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The converted golf club where James Bond was a member

This home will shake, not stir, you.

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Do wormeries ever work - or are they fated to a biblical foulness? | Adrian Chiles

It all starts promisingly enough, with the worms looking eager and ravenous for your celeriac shavings. Then slowly, inexorably, it goes very, very wrong

On the radio last week I was advised to use a wormery to dispose of my organic matter. Really, they are such wonderful things. You buy this shallow bucket within which there are a number of perforated trays. It looks vaguely like a big plastic stove-top steamer. You bung in a load of special worms along with some soil-like stuff and some torn-up bits of newspaper, egg cartons or some such, and then you start throwing in your waste food. No meat, citrus or onions, I think. But everything else goes in, which the worms eat up. And out will come a wonderful compost-type substance, which is perfect for all your gardening needs. So your scraps and stuff, instead of pumping methane out of landfill, will produce tray after tray of matter so nutritious that your plants will stiffen in admiration at the very sight of it.

If this sounds too good to be true, I am afraid I have got to tell you I think it probably is. I have now made two concerted but dismally failed attempts at this. It all starts promisingly enough; the worms look eager and ravenous for your celeriac shavings. Then slowly, inexorably, it goes very wrong indeed.

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Do wormeries ever work - or are they fated to a biblical foulness? | Adrian Chiles

It all starts promisingly enough, with the worms looking eager and ravenous for your celeriac shavings. Then slowly, inexorably, it goes very, very wrong

On the radio last week I was advised to use a wormery to dispose of my organic matter. Really, they are such wonderful things. You buy this shallow bucket within which there are a number of perforated trays. It looks vaguely like a big plastic stove-top steamer. You bung in a load of special worms along with some soil-like stuff and some torn-up bits of newspaper, egg cartons or some such, and then you start throwing in your waste food. No meat, citrus or onions, I think. But everything else goes in, which the worms eat up. And out will come a wonderful compost-type substance, which is perfect for all your gardening needs. So your scraps and stuff, instead of pumping methane out of landfill, will produce tray after tray of matter so nutritious that your plants will stiffen in admiration at the very sight of it.

If this sounds too good to be true, I am afraid I have got to tell you I think it probably is. I have now made two concerted but dismally failed attempts at this. It all starts promisingly enough; the worms look eager and ravenous for your celeriac shavings. Then slowly, inexorably, it goes very wrong indeed.

Continue reading...

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