Bremen perchance?

Why is it some people think we all want to hear their phone conversations, the music they are playing or tv programs/films?

It’s definitely something that’s got much worse over the past couple of years.

And yes, woe betide anyone who challenges them to put headphones/ear buds in.

Almost, but no cigar Grahame. It's the last one that's wrong, not on the list of alternatives you have suggested.

If you (or anyone else) want to finish the puzzle, it's a destination that is within the range of distances from Hamburg suggested by Grahame......

Lovely picture - but why do we say "She" when a locomotive has a male name.  Or is it because the locomotive was in drag at the time the picture was taken?

...  'Lord Dowding' is in too good a condition for that (she was bereft of nameplates after 1966!) ....

Each year, more than 100 people take a three-hour cruise down the River Exe estuary in Devon… naked.

The Nude Cruise has been run for its 13th year in a row

Perhaps the owners of children should be fined a similar amount if the children make too much noise.

It's a sunny Saturday in August and the bus Rachel is driving in Sussex is nearly empty. There are just three passengers on the lower deck.

But despite how empty it is, the bus isn't quiet - because someone is watching rugby without headphones in.

When Rachel asks the passenger to turn his phone down because it's distracting her, he calls her "the most miserable bus driver I have come across in my entire life" and gets off the bus in a huff.

Just our own, in the way I see it being hoisted/foisted on us at the moment.

To my mind the act of raising such flags in analogous to dogs marking their territory

One of the two servers that provide the Coffee Shop website and forum failed in some way at around 22:30 last night (29th August 2025).  I have been investigating and in touch with our web space (hosting) provider, and the server is up and running again (writing just after 06:00 on 30th August.

I am now into a learning and checking phase - I don't yet know what went wrong or whether the fix is a permanent one.  This post is something of a test in itself and I will update you all soon - need a cup of coffee first.

A NEW bench and planters have been placed at a bus stop outside a railway station in Cornwall.

The amenities have been installed outside Par Station by a community association following a successful grant application to train operator Great Western Railway (GWR).

The PL24 Community Association received £1,400 from GWR’s customer and community improvement fund which was launched in January to support communities and address areas of social need.

Community association secretary Alison White said: “We’re extremely grateful for this funding from Great Western Railway, which will mean that there is now somewhere comfortable for people to sit while waiting for a bus at Par Station. For those with mobility challenges, the bench offers a supportive back and arms, so people can lean back and relax, knowing it will be easy to get up from it too. For the more active – be they residents or visitors – the bench is ideally located on the walking route from St Blazey and Tywardreath towards Par, the beaches and the South West Coast Path, so there is no doubt that this bench will be well used.”

A plaque on the bench reads: “This bench has been donated for everyone to enjoy.”

GWR senior community impact manager Emma Morris said: “The customer and community improvement fund is a fantastic opportunity for GWR to invest in our communities in projects that really make a difference at a local level. We’re delighted to see that the beautiful bench and planters – installed so carefully by the team at PL24 Community Association – are already becoming a much-loved part of the community’s day-to-day life.”

The new planters complement an existing boat planter, offering a cheerful welcome to those arriving in the Par area, whether on foot or by train, bus or car.

The project ties in with the 200th anniversary of the railways opening in the country.

The train inspector said the woman was given a fine after refusing to move her cat Monet to a quieter carriage

A train inspector in France has fined a passenger nearly £100 after her cat meowed too loudly during a journey.

The passenger, named only as Camille, was travelling on a train between Vannes in Brittany and Paris with her partner Pierre last week when she was fined £95, local media reported.

She had bought a ticket for both herself and for her cat Monet - a requirement for travelling with pets on the SNCF, the French rail network.

“He meowed a little at the beginning of the journey, and following a passenger's complaint, a ticket inspector issued us a fine,” she told French outlet BFM.

A train inspector in France has fined a passenger nearly £100 after her cat meowed too loudly during a journey.

The passenger, named only as Camille, was travelling on a train between Vannes in Brittany and Paris with her partner Pierre last week when she was fined £95, local media reported.

She had bought a ticket for both herself and for her cat Monet - a requirement for travelling with pets on the SNCF, the French rail network.

“He meowed a little at the beginning of the journey, and following a passenger's complaint, a ticket inspector issued us a fine,” she told French outlet BFM.

The passenger added that Monet was in good condition and was safely transported in his usual travel carrier.

It comes after a series of fines were issued to ‘noisy’ passengers on French transport.

A man was fined £172 for having a telephone conversation on loudspeaker in Nantes station in February.

Police also stopped pilgrims singing Jubilate Deo at Montparnasse station in Paris four months later and fined one of the group for “causing a public disturbance”.

Camille told BFM that the fine was an injustice.

“I wasn't given the opportunity to resolve it at the time,” she said.

The inspector gave three reasons for the fine: the cat did not stop meowing, several passengers complained, and when the officer subsequently asked Camille to move she “refused”.

The rail operator told BFM in a statement that the fine was not issued because the cat was meowing but because of complaints and tensions with other passengers caused by the noises made by the pet.

“Our flight attendants offered to move her to the next carriage where there were many empty seats, a polite solution that she unfortunately refused. This simple solution would have helped ease tensions between her and the other customers,” SNCF said.

Camille has reportedly contested the fine.

“It's still a shame that the SNCF can fine people who are simply traveling with their pets, who are in compliance and who have taken all the necessary precautions,” she said.

  Waverley is currently re-positioning from the Clyde to the South West but owning to swell conditions off Land’s End has been delayed by steaming round the UK via the east coast. She has out into the Thames estuary she shelter and is expected to continue her passage on Friday afternoon but will not reach Plymouth in time to carry out the sailing. Given the forecast weather and swell conditions around Torbay on Saturday afternoon Waverley’s cruises from Torquay have had to be cancelled.
We are now planning to sail Waverley directly to Dartmouth allowing her to offer the evening cruise as planned.