THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

GreyQueen

jk0 wrote: »

Perhaps some enterprising soul could convert Buckingham palace to flats, and let Queenie have one, and collect the ground rent? Then the lessees would have to pay the lion's share of repair costs.

Sell it to The Donald to convert into luxury apartments and live at Windsor Castle instead.

Sometimes, even a royal family needs to get hit with the reality stick. If they haven't got the dosh, they haven't got the dosh, and will have to pull their horns in and live more modestly.

I appreciate there will be a problem occasionally accomodating overnight guests. I point mine at the nearest Premier Inn or Travelodge. Visting heads of state would obviously want something a bit more classy, such as a nice five star hotel, but there's plenty of them to be found.

Liz & Phil just need to learn to think outside the box.

DigForVictory

Doveling - three rousing cheers on Mr.D's return to the wicked world of paid employment! May it be a very happy new year for you both.

Met report - we have had snow, sleet, thunder, lightning & rain in the last 48 hours, so I finally got the snow & wet tyres on, in the snow & wet. Proud to say the son who helped me last year was a tower of strength this year, sharing the jacking, loosening & tightening bolts & hefting wheels about, often whilst holding a golf umbrella. (An item I usually sneer at, being far to short to make use of one successfully, but I have revised my opinion somewhat.)

I also got four little cyclamen plants into the earth, so I hope for the sight of cyclamen flowers bobbing gently over the next few months. Still haven't got the Bramley in yet, but it's supposed to be above freezing tomorrow & I can try again. It'll be a second memorial tree, but I don't think my uncle would mind being remembered by a tree bought with an eye on baked apples & jam making. I also need to prune all the soft fruits back - should be fun if prickly...

moneyistooshorttomention

Well it's certainly true that the Royal Family has several other places - so it's not as if they "need" Buckingham Palace anyway. Sandringham is obviously too remote - but Windsor would be near enough to the centre of things. No reason why not to just move to there....

As for rightmove properties - the one I thought of is:

www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-61964402.html

Might be a tad "modern" for their tastes - but no work needing doing at all. Quite a saving there.

....and, goodness knows, it's a heck of a contrast to what I personally would put on my "to view" list if I lived in Surrey (and could afford it - which I can't......:() of:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-62184389.html

+ £10,000s of £s for the "MITSTM - rip absolutely everything out" style of renovation. Total cost = £450,000-£500,000.

[Deleted User]

I must admit the thought of two senior citizens in that huge palace rattling around seems a bit absurd to the rest of us.
Drive to the top of their road (The Mall) cross Trafalgar Square walk up the Strand and in shop doorways you will find lots of her fellow citizens of all ages sleeping in shop doorways This in a rich western country in the 21st century,
The world has gone crazy I think, Years ago when I was young, London had more than its fair share of bomb sites and bombed out buildings. The old LCC told everyone that folk would all get a warm watertight roof over their heads and no one would ever have to sleep rough again, got that wrong didn't they.

London now is a town full of the very rich in the centre, and more than its fair share of rough sleepers .very few ordinary Lononers live there
anymore. I have a feeling that given the choice HM would far rather be in sandringham or Balmoral or as she does at the moment normally go to Windsor from Thursday until Monday. Buck house is the 'office' really where she has to live without much choice.

I think old 'big ears' will love to have the place to live in when the time comes, and getting his Mum to get the house done up for him will suit him down to the ground

In this day and age although I am a royalist I think perhaps its time to call it a day in that white elephant of a place

mardatha

Agree Jackie, it's a joke. And in the BBC this morning the gov are telling us that austerity must continue, cuts must go on, because of Britain's eye-watering debt. They could save £400 million right away then aye. Any other country would stop it right now.

jk0

I told my sister my idea for the Queen's flat over Sunday lunch. She pointed out one problem: Prince Philip would probably upset his new neighbours by making jokes about jungle drums or slitty eyes.

culpepper

The talk of the royals reminds me of the book The Queen and I (by Sue Townsend IIRC) which discusses very much the same thing but in an earlier decade.

Hubs works in London and will be hit very hard by the new emissions rules when they come in. He rides a motorcycle which is exempt from emissions zone charges at present but under the new rules will be charged the same as cars etc. Yesterday we drove up to leave his pedal bike at a railway just outside the zone so that he can go up on the MBike and then cycle the other bit. It isn't an absolute necessity at the moment but he wants to get road hardened as it were .
In ice and snow he would have to drive up by car anyway as the MBike isn't safe on ungritted roads.
He would love an electric MBike but they are way outside our budget.
I wonder how many people will lose their jobs because they cant drive in,cant afford to go electric and it is far too expensive to go by train.

greenbee

culpepper - can he ask his employer about the possibility of working from home, at least part time? Obviously it depends on the nature of his job, but many are becoming easier to do remotely (mine is full-time remote) and it might help balance the rising cost of the commute. It does mean organising life so that things that need doing in the office are done on those days, and things that need peace and quiet are done on the others. And also making sure there is an appropriate workspace at home (quiet/private for making phone/video calls, and somewhere to lock away any work property). Employers with expensive real estate costs are often keen to get more people working from home anyway - hot desks can be booked for office days.

mardatha

What is this about emissions and cost in London? i fdon't know anything about this - what is it? *nosy*

melodramaticme

There is a low emissions zone in London which operates like the congestion charge, currently cars and motorbikes are exempt from the charge, but the zone is due to be expanded and will cover most cars and motorbikes as well as larger vehicles. It will mean that in order to drive within the zone a daily charge will be made on all but the most modern vehicles or those that are electric driven, even residents will have to pay although at a discounted rate.
https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone

The Mayor of London plans to expand this zone to the outer London boroughs and bring forward the date of implementation to improve air quality in the city.