Nhs

[Lewis McColl]

Ferry cost around the UK vary so much and also are seasonal as to costs. Obviously Dover Calais route is one of the cheaper routes because of volume of traffic and time for crossing etc! Dover /Calais P&O £75 return car +2 crossing time 2 hrs 30mins, Then Holyhead /Dublin £338 return Car +2 Fastest time 1 hr 49mins/3 hrs 30mins, Hull / Zeebrugge car +2 14hours 30 mins 14hrs 30 mins, Cairnryan/Larne car +2 2 hrs £277, Cherbourg/Roselare Car +2 19 hrs £325, IOW/Portsmouth car +2, £63, Liverpool /IOM £197. I wonder how they actually work there prices out, also Caladoian MacByrnes inter Island services are they subsidised by the Scottish government

[Keith Tindell]

Therin, apart from money lies the problem, anyone using Hayling Island in the summer knows you cannot get on there for the queue of traffic, if you are on there , you frequently have a large queue to get off. When Wightlink owned by an Australian bank, introduced the Ozzie style of tariff, forgive me if i am wrong, but in Oz the petrol goes up in price at the weekend, the restaurants charge extra at weekends. If you want a cheap fare to the Island and travel at 0400hrs, it quite reasonable, also 2300hrs, and the price rises steadily through the day, and if there is a pop festival on the Island, make sure the bank balance is well padded. Ironically, my Brother in law has just booked his hire car for the first week in April, with Red Funnel, (wightlink too expensive), car and two £76 ONE WAY, £68 return . In fairness as an an Island resident, i can purchase a book of 10 single trips with Shitelink, travel anytime (max 10% of ferry capacity for that perk), that is for a car and up to 7 passengers, and that works out at £52 return, kt

[vic mcclymont]

Ferry cost around the UK vary so much and also are seasonal as to costs. I wonder how they actually work there prices out, also Caladoian MacByrnes inter Island services are they subsidised by the Scottish government

Lewis, they use a complicated subsidy/tariff called the equivalent road route, don't know how it works.
Vic

[robpage]

We use to regulate do a day trip
But also used to have weekends and the other week had a hotel in Sandown part of the hotel fee which was quite reasonable for the weekend was free travel across on the Red Funnel from Southampton that way it didn't seem too expensive and it was a really nice hotel right on the seafront the food was what I would call school dinner ish but plenty of it and well flavoured . We used to pay a small premium for a room overlooking the sea the problem is now going back to that sort of place any single rooms are always at the back of the hotel overlooking the street

[Keith Tindell]

Definitely against, our little country roads would not cope. I don't know how anyone who gets to travel daily with a car. As for a foot passengers , yes, you can get monthly passes, when i was working in Southsea, i would have to work out how many shifts i had to do in a month, before i bought a pass. I am not a true Islander, but my chief financial advisor is !!. If ever you are over , let me know and can show the Island through the centre, and round the coast, we are very proud of the Island, i suppose like most of us where we live. This country with all its problems, i will never leave it, sorry, is that too political ??, kt

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Rob, i know your condition makes it unlikely, but i can put you onto a really good pub, accommodation, including breakfast and ferry from the mainland, again , if you could get over would gladly show you round, kt

[Lewis McColl]

Gents just for the record I would never dispute the beauty of the British Isles it has everything Mountains ,Lakelands, Dales and Valleys, fantastic beaches. Were I have my place in Hoylake I am less than 30 metres from the beach. I have uninterrupted views all the way across to Hilbre Island and North Wales. 576-110-800.jpgHlbre_At_Dusk.jpgwinter-hilbre-large.jpg The sunsets we get in Hoylake can not be beaten anywhere in the world as far as I am concerned. Now if someone could just find the stopcock for the rain between may and September and also turn the Thermostat up to 25/27 degrees that would be ideal. For me to walk to Hilbre Island from were I live given the right tidal conditions would be 30 minutes across the sands, for safety reasons though it is best to walk out from West Kirby. At the back of the Island is the Hilbre Swash and then you have the West Holye bank, there is a large colony of seals 3.-Seal-on-Hilbre-e1455719883771.jpg.The Island as far as I know is now uninhabited. There used to be custodian lived on the Island but I believe like everything else cutbacks has seen the end of that. Apart from the seals these are all views from my balcony and lounge windows not my photographs though.

[Doc Vernon]

Lovely Places indeed Lewis but as for Sunsets well there are quite a few places that I am sure would be on Par if not better! But that is just my opinion! LOL
Must look for a good one here and elsewhere!
Cheers

[j.sabourn]

A lot has been said on this post and others re charitable works and the health systems comparable to other countries. As regards the USA I quote one small paragraph from a recent journal re. Charity. “ Today in North America the Masonic fraternity continues this tradition by given almost 1.5 million dolllars a day To causes that operate children’s hospitals “. Where would they be without charity. I know this to be true as know personally the person who dispenses it. JWS.

[robpage]

Some charities I support some I avoid , using sites like charity navigator I work on how much administration costs are with a particular charity and that has a big influence on whether I donate to it or not . Some charities donate 95% of their income some less than 60% . I am suspicious when charities are Lead buy chief executives on £250,000 a year and when there fundraising budget is over 10% of their income . That is one of the nice things about the Masonic charities I'm sure 100% of what goes in goes to good causes . It's like aid workers some of them would probably do the job for nothing and some of them do do the job for nothing but others are lucratively reimbursed & repaid for their efforts . One large charity in the UK has a volunteer staff but every now and again the paid shop manager we'll take the volunteers on a weekend away as they staff training weekend . If I was to buy something from the shop I would think that the money was going towards a good cause not for the staff in the shop to have a weekend booze up in a nice hotel . So unfortunately for the world of charity I have a very suspicious mind

[happy daze john in oz]

Therin, apart from money lies the problem, anyone using Hayling Island in the summer knows you cannot get on there for the queue of traffic, if you are on there , you frequently have a large queue to get off. When Wightlink owned by an Australian bank, introduced the Ozzie style of tariff, forgive me if i am wrong, but in Oz the petrol goes up in price at the weekend, the restaurants charge extra at weekends. If you want a cheap fare to the Island and travel at 0400hrs, it quite reasonable, also 2300hrs, and the price rises steadily through the day, and if there is a pop festival on the Island, make sure the bank balance is well padded. Ironically, my Brother in law has just booked his hire car for the first week in April, with Red Funnel, (wightlink too expensive), car and two £76 ONE WAY, £68 return . In fairness as an an Island resident, i can purchase a book of 10 single trips with Shitelink, travel anytime (max 10% of ferry capacity for that perk), that is for a car and up to 7 passengers, and that works out at £52 return, kt

Yes Keith, there was a time when restaurants did charge extra at weekends and public holidays, but not any more.
Petrol is up and down like a brides nighty, discounting is common with a top price currently of around $1.14 a litre that will go down to about $1.15 then go up again.