Prince Harry’s engagement

HS2 will benefit the north west because like durhamjen, I've heard it repeated so often, it must be true. Just imagine, we can get to London 10 minutes faster, that will be such comfort for those of us in the centre of the northern poor house.
Apologies, that has nothing to do with Prince Harry's engagement. That has been one of the good news items for me this week. I know - I'm lost

Oh yes they will be queuing up won't they dj . Relocating to the NE ? What a joke. We are just going to be even more cut off/ forgotten than we already are .

We still have a very well supported women's refuge ( thank goodness ) my WI have it as our preferred charity . It's heartbreaking listening to some of the stories. Women ( often with children) arriving from a different part of the country with nothing to call their own.

I took the train from Sunderland to York yesterday . It took 2 hrs 5 minutes ( a record) ha ha ! The train was so full every bit of floor was jammed with people sitting on the floor . Crikey knows what time the people heading for Kings Cross eventually got in ??

Was that on a Grand Central train?
My grandson would love to go on one of those, but we'd have to drive to Sunderland first, which would add half an hour onto the journey.
Was it a festival in York?
That would be why it was so busy.

how did we get on to trains?

Gilly, Refuge do a lot if good work, pity Jen dismissed them as getting little attention

Royal family? Tourism? Good for the North East? HS2?
Do try and keep up.

Jalima, not just trains but trains in the north, very important

"Camilla was at a charity yesterday which supports battered women, she has chosen charities which draw little attention,"

Who said that refuges got little attention?
I didn't dismiss them. I said they should get more.
Don't you agree?

gillybob yes, the group I belong to does that all year round. One member collects essentials but also lovely toiletries to take to a local Women's Refuge.
So if anyone is given toiletries this Christmas that they won't use then they would be much appreciated at your local refuge, as well as the normal essentials of course.

Do try and keep up.

I should be writing Christmas cards!

Yes, so should I. I got a shock this morning when someone on the radio said it was three weeks tomorrow to the big day.

I'm off
Don't let the thread meander too much please or I won't be able to keep up at all

Yes dj it was the Grand Central. The experienced was spoiled by massive (dangerous) overcrowding . The York Christmas Market was heaving too and very hard to walk around. Would have been nicer to go mid week .

I haven't even bought any cards yet never mind wrote any ?
Note to self: get a bloomin' move on woman !

Tourism certainly in London depends heavily on foreign nationals in our hotels, coffee shops, street cleaners etc, bit ironic that people think the royals benefit an industry which hardly employs any Brits.

I've posted on other threads about using the RF as a tourist attraction and charging to see them, but I've just had another idea! We could alot them to the regions, so everywhere would get someone. They could be installed in heritage buildings and opened to the general public (much like they used to lunatic asylums). We'd have to find a reasonable way of deciding who went where, I suspect no one would want Beatrice and Eugenie!

"It points out that prime office rents in Newcastle are around one-fifth of rents in the West End of London, adding: “HS2 offers businesses the opportunity to relocate or expand their operations in the North East and Tees Valley and realise significant cost savings while retaining easy access to opportunities in the capital.”

And existing businesses will benefit when it becomes easier to work with partners in other parts of the country, particularly the software technology, gaming and creative businesses based in Newcastle and the growing number of software companies in Sunderland and DigitalCity on Teesside."

Can anyone explain how or why IT and software companies in the North East would benefit from HS2?

trisher- I was shocked by your suggestion that the RF are " installed in heritage buildings and opened to the general public (much like they used to in lunatic asylums)....."
You may feel I'm a cap toffing peasant for my response but I assure you, I'd feel the same if you'd suggested that for anyone.
It's a real curiosity that people who take a similar approach to the need for good public services, ridding our schools and workplaces of bullying for example, throw principles out there window when discussing the RF

Iam, perhaps because they are very wealthy, live privileged lives, in some ways , are detatched from our world , it is easy for some to forget they are human beings, they love, have fears, grieve, bleed as we all do . Their greatest crime for some is I think their wealth , as if wealth solves everything .

I agree Iam, very strange post, hopefully tongue in cheek! even so, unnecessary and rather cruel. I wonder how other countries view their RF's? I know our Dutch friends are very at ease with theirs, I wouldn't know about Scandinavia or Spain.

But Iam64 they would of course be entirely free to refuse the position and get themselves a proper job if that was what they preferred. (Unlike many in the past who had no choice about where they lived or what they did). I just wonder how many of them would be happy to take up the offer as long as they were allowed to keep their rank.

Perhaps it was tongue in cheek niggly and my reaction too swift if so.

How on earth is HS2 going to benefit the NE. It's only going to Leeds and Manchester.

Do people know how far Leeds and Manchester are from, say, Newcastle?

Are these news items written by geographic illiterates?

Not sure 1am, but lets put it down to a rather silly hypothetical observation not worth commenting on, and leave it at that!!

are detatched from our world
Well, I think they may all have more experience of visiting refuges, homeless shelters, hospices, hospitals, running with disabled servicemen, helping the young eg The Prince's Trust etc etc than I ever have.
I'm not saying I have no experience of the lives of those less fortunate than me, but not as much as the Royal Family, and I too, am lucky enough to be able to go back to my humble but warm abode - although it's no palace.

How many charities would suffer if the Royal Family did not support them with their time (and possibly money).

They are already 'on show' enough trisher without turning them into a sideshow for the titillation of republicans.