Today I Read (and Learned) ...

Noah

Well-Known Forumite
Today I read that at the 1936 Olympics all Gold Medal winners were given an oak sapling, by the German Olympic Committee, to plant at home as a memory of the Games.

Might be nice to do something similar at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, it might also act as a small offset of the CO2 cost of the Games. Oaks wouldn't be suitable for all countries and there could be problems with Plant Import Regulations for some countries, but with a bit of effort these problems could be overcome.
 

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
Not read and learned, but saw on telly and learned....

To get rid of mould in the house..... slugs. They apparently love mould and eat it all , so bring them inside and leave them to gobble it all up.
 

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
Seems a bit like shooting yourself in the foot to avoid a war !!

Years ago I read a story from Spike Milligan about his time during WW2 when they were in a railway carriage due to ship out. One guy decided to shoot himself in the foot because he didn't want to go to war. The weapon he was carrying, in a packed compartment, was a military issue Thompson sub-machine gun. This fires a .45 ACP round at a high rate of fire and he had it set for full automatic. He shot the front of his boot off, missing his foot, and killed two soldiers opposite and wounded several others.

Not all of Spike's stories were funny.

Oh he missed the war alright.
 

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
1985.jpg

1985.jpg

10/10 - can recommend
 

EasMid

Well-Known Forumite
Not read and learned, but saw on telly and learned....

To get rid of mould in the house..... slugs. They apparently love mould and eat it all , so bring them inside and leave them to gobble it all up.
Will it work with snails? At least you could eat them after. Just purge them with a bit of carrot after. Win win all round. Never really fancied slugs, it’d be a bit like eating bogies.
 

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
Will it work with snails? At least you could eat them after. Just purge them with a bit of carrot after. Win win all round. Never really fancied slugs, it’d be a bit like eating bogies.
We kept having slime trails around the kitchen floor . Couldn't find the culprit for weeks. Then came downstairs in the early hours with a torch and caught the little bugger...well one massive ( about) 9" long and an inch wide slug who shrivelled up to about an inch long when I scooped him up with a shovel in the spotlight.
 

Noah

Well-Known Forumite
Someone I know has just posted this on her Facebook page

"Victims of domestic abuse are now able to access safe spaces at Boots and Superdrug pharmacies consultation rooms where they can contact specialist domestic abuse services for support and advice. The scheme is in response to the desperate situation facing many victims who are isolating with perpetrators during lockdown.
Please can I ask friends to copy and paste. You may save a life."

If correct seems like a very good idea
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
... that the Sarsens at Stonehenge seem very likely to have come from the region near Marlborough.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-53580339

Actually, it could be said that I learned this in 1967, when the history teacher at school mentioned it - he was a chap much obsessed by the magnificence* of Stonehenge. He may have used the word 'probably', but he wasn't a bloke given to having doubts.



* I was late on the day there was a school visit to it, so it was some years later when I finally saw, and was massively disappointed by, it.
 

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
I visited once in 1975 on my way home from Southampton in a Reliant Regal van (think Del Boy) while I was doing a six month course there. At that time you were allowed to go in amongst the stones for a bit of touchy feely. I did give some consideration to nicking one of the lintel stones for a rockery, .. but Reliant Regal vans are not the ideal carriage device. :P
 

Noah

Well-Known Forumite
In 1903 Arthur Conan Doyle was batting in a cricket match at Lords when a ball hit him on the thigh, igniting a box of matches in his pocket which caused his trousers to catch fire. So that's what they mean by "setting the ground alight".

ACD was a keen cricketer & between 1899 and 1907 he played 10 first-class matches for the Marylebone Cricket Club. He occasionally bowled but only took one first class wicket - W G Grace. His full name was Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
In 1903 Arthur Conan Doyle was batting in a cricket match at Lords when a ball hit him on the thigh, igniting a box of matches in his pocket which caused his trousers to catch fire. So that's what they mean by "setting the ground alight".

ACD was a keen cricketer & between 1899 and 1907 he played 10 first-class matches for the Marylebone Cricket Club. He occasionally bowled but only took one first class wicket - W G Grace. His full name was Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle
Also played for Portsmouth as goalkeeper, under the pseudonym A C Smith.

Although it was Portsmouth AFC, not Portsmouth FC.
 
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