Be afraid, very afraid...

Sun 20 Apr, 20:28

The picture illustrating the article on p.40 of the Observer says it is Witney---surely not ?

Sun 20 Apr, 13:55 (last edited on Sun 20 Apr, 17:39)

Nn’duh … found it in Guardian Features app on my iPad, where the papers and magazines are reproduced in photo like facsimiles. Silly me. It looks depressing.

Harriet <whoopsy suddenly realised senescing brain fog error, ages later whilst thinking about something completely different!> you’ve better google fu than I, but was somewhat baffled by not finding the right syntax or whatever it’s called.

Was it the Mollies blacking up, with women’s attire, the better to show disapproval and harass the Common stealing Rich few centuries ago? ‘They hang the man who steals a Goose from off the Common. But what of the man that steals the Common from the Goose’.

Oh and by the way, Europeans folk traditions like blackface has been for many, many millennia, and for the exact same reasons as Africans and other cultures whiteface using clays etc. Though soot or char is probably much easier to get, and mayhap cheaper than sourcing clay and ochre and such stuff. 

Sun 20 Apr, 13:18

Malcolm, Google is your friend. 

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/apr/19/ladies-of-the-cotswolds-reality-tv-grand-designs-english-countryside

Sun 20 Apr, 13:06

Paywall inaccessible for Times alas. Could some helpful soul cut’n’paste the article.

Puzzled by the “Observer page 40” as couldn’t seem to find it… And we’re subscribers to the Scott Trust and Grauniad (for those of an age to recall its parodic level of typos that got through compositor and editors‘quality control’ checks.

I’m currently thinking of trying to get a younger and more energetic person to explore for natural control of the mass depredations of such as SUVs, and in particular Range Rovers, to find a source for a batch of Tyre Weevils capable of discerning large carbon xxxxxx vehicles. And if in fact can be thusly trained. Also, as has happened so many times before with introducing novel entities- unforeseen issues can arise.

Sun 20 Apr, 12:45

It makes me want to talk about keeping coal in the bath.  

Sun 20 Apr, 12:29

Oh, Yes. It's the full "Milk Tray" here in chocolate box Charlbury.

Sun 20 Apr, 10:59

Observer page 40.  Am speechless!!

Wed 16 Apr, 16:23

I'd look better in a Range Rover. Especially if it had tinted windows.

Wed 16 Apr, 15:59

Sure you would look absolutely splendid in a Gucci dress Matt. 🍻😂

Wed 16 Apr, 13:31

Well, as they are struggling for participants because "Everyone has so much money in these rarefied bits of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire" I have offered to wear a Gucci dress in return for a fat slice of the mega-bucks, and will even shave off my beard if they throw in a Range Rover.

Wed 16 Apr, 12:21

The "Hopefully Not True" thread on 13April says it's a joke, and I would certainly like to believe that!

Wed 16 Apr, 11:08

😱

Wed 16 Apr, 10:49

How ghastly. Who are these people? And can't they go and do it in Hampshire?! 

Wed 16 Apr, 09:51

https://www.thetimes.com/article/f17cf2db-ae7d-425d-84c7-ce2b1bf3e47c?shareToken=45217190ec9f4a65d1a360b9f256fcc6