No gumboots. My mate has though.

Double standards yoda? History? One thing that you cannot accuse me of being yoda is a bully. I can't abide bullying.

C'mon Al. KP is a cricketer, he is also widely criticised and also widely defended, Surely that is on topic?

Accepted like not all cyclists are law breaking knobheads whose obvious aim is to aggravate other road users and get off by dressing up in over tight lycra. Just a tiny majority.

I was once having a pint (or two) outside an establishment mentioned frequently on here. Mid aft on a hot sunny day, I noticed a movement in the corner of my eye and looked up and saw a massive rat running between a wall and the back yard of the establishment and disappearing under the back yard door! Phoned up the owner the day after to tell him that he had a major problem. Rather reminded me of that 'Farty Towels' episode with Basil the Siberian hamster. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGWHTxzCeeQ

Good grief Al! And you (or indeed I) don't ever do that? tbh there are an awful lot of posters more provocative than chaddy.

I tend to agree with Paul. Whilst cyclists appear to have an attitude in common with Paul's personification of 4x4 drivers I do believe that the vulnerability of cycling does make one more aware of situations which may arise on the road. Even more so for 'bikers. I've cycled as a kid and had a couple of motor bikes before I could afford a car and I firmly believe that everybody should spend a year on a motorbike before they are allowed to take a test. btw just as an aside ..... are cycles and motor cycles banned in the Q'uran?

Your class struggle continues eh Paul? However whilst some drivers of those marques can display a certain arrogance the worst drivers on the road imo tend to drive small cars.

Re: Peterson. For those who can remember the Kerry Packer issue in Australia in the 70's and 80's decimated the Aussie cricket team but led by former east lancs pro Allan Border they developed a supremely gritty professional mentallity and soon battled back to lead the World again.

Cricket thread Yoda. Can't you give the chaddybashing a rest on here at least? Next thing the rest of the posse will turn up and this thread will turn into another chaddy witchhunt.

Very droll TJ. Pretty sure I'm not alone in thinklng that you won't ever need to bother learning to ride?

Regarding hill climbs and dangerous traffic the Leeds-Liverpool is the limit of my ambitions. As far as cycling in general is concerned isn't that just the best way to see your mates at nights and weekends until you are old enough to take andpass your driving test? It certainly was for me.

Ironically caught on a camera to record the activities of vermin. http://travel.aol.co.uk/2015/06/16/burglar-caught-springwatch-presenters-garden-fox-cam/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cuk-ws-bb%7Cdl14%7Csec1_lnk1%26pLid%3D358831 Great TV idea. Anybody rem the Golden Shot? How about recreating it with a 2015 version? "Bernie the bolt please."

'wolfie' likes your post ultrablue!

Now here's a heart warming story. As we all know Gav has an on going mission to provide food for the needy, and assorted work shy scroungers of the Borough and whilst I'm not totally sure which category he has pigeon holed me in, he very kindly donated said voucher to me on the condition that when I spent it I'd review my experience on here. Thank you gav..... Most generous. I definitely owe you one. Moving on and as a result of the above I'll review this in a little more detail than normal. It's some time since we ate at the O&O as tbqh this area is swamped with good and convenient eateries. Also I do have a taste card which the O&O don't 'do' and which me n'er indoors utilise locally during the week if we are both late home from work or whenever the larder at Chez Drog is looking rather bare. However we booked in last night and unfortunately got off to a rather poor start. I ordered a glass of very acceptable sauvignon blanc for the better half and a pint of Urquell Pilsner for myself. This was served in an authentic but dreadful Urquell tankard (the type of lager glass frequently utilised as a much favoured weapon of almost mass destruction in Blackburn pub fights in the 70's and early 80's). The worst bit apart from the glass itself was as one so often finds when served by young bar staff that the glass was warm and obviously hadn't been out of the glasswasher for long (in my local I've got them to keep a few glasses in the bottle fridge for my own use and why pub's n' restaurants don't invest in a glass fridge I'll never know. Now quality lagers are normally avaialable glass coolers are as necessary in quality pubs as top quality coffee machines imo). I requested immediately that it be put into a (cold) Peroni glass which rather saved the day. One good point to note here was that my second pint served away from the bar was served in a peroni glass so well done to the staff for that. We have got out of the habit of eating 3 full courses(*see later) so went straight for the main course. 'The Enemy' chose the Roast hake with bacon and brioche crumb, dauphinoise potatoes, red wine shallot and chestnut mushrooms. I've got to say this was absolutely top drawer and I immediately regretted not choosing it myself tbh. The hake was full of taste, a significant portion size and very 'meaty'. One niggle here was that the waitress urged her to have a portion of veg as the dish didn't include any. Green beans sauted in garlic and chilli added to the dish and complemented fairly well although the chilli was unecessary with this main dish imo, plus it shoved another 3 quid onto the bill*. I enquired about the something which I thought might be a fish stew called Seafood Ramen – king prawns, squid, mussels, white fish and salmon in noodle soup with Asian veggies, red onions, radish and chilli oil. However to her credit the waitress dissuaded me rather by informing me that it was a rather watery soup of less than 100 calories. After that near miss I settled for the same as donnermeat above by choosing the paella. Damned good it was too but the portion size was rather too small for me although in fairness it would have been ideal for my wife. Needless to say instead of heading straight for coffee to finish this resulted in us sharing a a dessert which tbh was a real treat, a chocolate and amoretto cheesecake served with baby figs and a syrup of honey and orange. Maybe all to myself this would have been too sweet but shared it just topped off the meal nicely. In conclusion whilst I've read that the O&O has fallen off the pace somewhat (too quick an over expansion) I couldn't see any evidence last night. What I would suggest is that whilst the headline menu price is in line with the area that there is an amount of trickery to make people order more. I've mentioned the push on side orders for veg and also that I found the paella too small a portion. Another acquaintance who I knew and was chatting to at the bar was complaining that his Plaice and ratatouille main course whilst excellent was too small a portion. I do realise at this point that no one wants over facing with massive portions but lots of restaurants offer Fish and Chips in large and small portions so maybe that policy could be extended to some other dishes too? Just a thought. So is this the way forward for mboard ambience? maybe we should all send meal vouchers to each other whenever we have a spat? As I said gav's generosity is remarkable so maybe I should take a leaf out of his book. How about I provide a voucher for a tripe supper for Jim? He must be running well short after the General Election.

What an odd thing to say.

They do have harnesses on Abbey but what sort of a numpty would attempt it with flip flops on?

We'd have walked the draw if the Test had been at Old Trafford. It'd have been a wash out most of the day.

And if he'd run into a person crossing the road, or someone on a horse?

Depends who was in front of him I guess. Why didn't he just lash it to his crossbar with a hastily modified bicycle clip? After all he wouldn't need any of those would he?

Rather unfair to the guys in that middle order isn't it? Especially when you are considering dropping in a rotten apple. No 'i' in team rem den.

Appears that the spread eagle at Mellor is having a refurb already. Its only just opened!

Nice one yoda.

I'll give you a tenner for it Gav. btw You two it's 'too salty'.

Indeed and for a few diners you wouldn't ever need to but if it's a large party then I really can see both sides. Lots of planning and 'prep' involved in catering. Anyway very often for a large function like a wedding or Christmas Party there is a choice of menu to be made months before. I may have misled you abbey, I wasn't referring to the specials but to a 'market menu' which they offer. Two courses for £11.95 or similar. Mon night there was a cod dish and 5 out of 8 chose that only to be informed that there were only 3 left. The chef then substituted Sea Bream and 2 were quite happy with that. I guess policies implemented like that do help to keep food fresh. Just as an aside am I the only person that see's a 'Specials board' is nothing of the sort but is used as a way to get rid of food which is approaching it's sell by date? Pretty sure if I was the chef / owner looking in the fridge and saw food which 'needed eating up' as my mother used to say then I'd look at running specials to entice diners to choose it. Also I don't discount wholesalers contacting eateries with a few cheap deals done at cost to get rid of food and in particular meat and fish which may have been overbought.