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The British Oak
Interesting. I have noticed that oak trees often have bare ground beneath them, for oils from their fallen leaves deter grass from growing. They also provide warmth. I once noticed several oaks had circular clear areas beneath their canopies ...
blackspanielgallery, on 02/26/2018
The Road to Roaringwater
Not as far as I am aware no. I don't know why I was chosen but I was.
Maybe it is coincidental and they thought I was a hooligan. :)
Veronica, on 02/25/2018
The Road to Roaringwater
Did they discover that you were called Veronica? The name gives away your Catholic roots. Moreover, you resemble mother, who was often told that she looked Irish and asked which part of Ireland she came from. Maybe they added a few points ...
frankbeswick, on 02/24/2018
The Road to Roaringwater
Many years ago on a coach trip round Holland, the tour guide warned us that in Edam Catholics are not welcome. I knew I wold be OK as they wouldn't know I was RC . However in the hotel restaurant I was asked to leave and my son and husband ...
Veronica, on 02/24/2018
Gun Laws in The United Kingdom
In my time working sometimes in secondary schools in rough East Manchester I have had at times to confiscate weapons, such as machetes, but never have I wanted to carry a fire arm and never needed to.
frankbeswick, on 02/23/2018
The Road to Roaringwater
Veronica, your point about the literacy of registrars is well made and apt.
frankbeswick, on 02/23/2018
The Road to Roaringwater
I have not been to Edam, but I met anti-Catholic sentiment at school [Poundswick] once when it was said in my hearing that Hitler's mistake was to genocide Jews rather than Catholics, but in Northern Ireland I met not a whiff of it. And ...
frankbeswick, on 02/23/2018
The Road to Roaringwater
What you say,BSG, is quite right, as usual. But it is worth saying that while the struggle was characterized as Catholic versus Protestant, it was primarily a struggle for economic dominance between people of Gaelic Irish descent on one side ...
frankbeswick, on 02/23/2018
Gun Laws in The United Kingdom
As a British teacher of nearly 39 years, I would never ever use a gun or indeed carry one in class or anywhere else. In UK we can not carry arms and have very very little gun crime.
Also our schools are like fortresses and no one can get in ...
Veronica, on 02/23/2018
British English Phrases, Idioms, and Expressions (Letters A-C)
Thanks, Frank. Dialects are fascinating :)
Mira, on 02/23/2018
The Road to Roaringwater
I have never encountered any animosity when travelling or staying in Ireland . The only anti Catholic sentiment I have encountered has been in Manchester, England and also in Edam, Holland.
Spellings of names always depended on the literacy ...
Veronica, on 02/23/2018
The Road to Roaringwater
It seems that the cessation of hostilities between English Protestants and Catholics would not make the route totally safe, for if there were others who would do one harm, they would not suddenly become peaceful.
blackspanielgallery, on 02/23/2018
Gun Laws in The United Kingdom
As a retired teacher I am aghast at the suggestion that teachers should be armed. I would never have wanted it. Leave that sort of thing to police and the armed forces, and my wife, still a part time primary teacher, feels the same.
frankbeswick, on 02/23/2018
The Road to Roaringwater
There was some doubt about the spelling of Burns, which is Scottish, for mother told me that Dad's grandmother said to her that it should have been Byrne. There was a tendency in Ireland for some people to Anglicize name spelling for social ...
frankbeswick, on 02/22/2018
The Road to Roaringwater
Ah Frank, what a stunning post and the books you recommend look wonderful indeed. I am glad you included a picture of our Burns family ancestral home ,Connemara .
The walk itself looks excellent and you have gone into great detail.
Veronica, on 02/22/2018