Random Stuff!!

[Jerry]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-46539162

We've previously discussed the removal of the Severn crossing tolls. Tomorrow is the day. Toll-free from then on.

Yep i went through them for the last time today. Will be kind of weird to think the bridge will be free and eventually there will be no toll booths.

 

[Jerry]

Geraint Thomas deservedly won Sports Personality of the year last night after being the first Welshman to win the Tour de France.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/sports-personality/46566121

 

[superking]

With Christmas nearly here it must be nearly time for the USA trip.I seem to recall you said Christmas time Jerry.

 

[Jerry]

With Christmas nearly here it must be nearly time for the USA trip.I seem to recall you said Christmas time Jerry.

Yep heading over there on Thursday for Xmas and new year.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Yep heading over there on Thursday for Xmas and new year.

Ah, great. Have a wonderful time. Do I remember you saying you are using Flybe/Aer Lingus this time?

 

[Jerry]

Ah, great. Have a wonderful time. Do I remember you saying you are using Flybe/Aer Lingus this time?

Yep Flybe to Dublin then Aer Lingus to San Francisco and then Alaska Airlines tp Portland going to be a long day but it'll interesting to experience pre-clearance in Dublin and a Flybe interline flight. As I've not done either.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Yep Flybe to Dublin then Aer Lingus to San Francisco and then Alaska Airlines tp Portland going to be a long day but it'll interesting to experience pre-clearance in Dublin and a Flybe interline flight. As I've not done either.

We'll look forward to your trip reports, videos and pics in due course. Safe journey.

 

[Jerry]

We'll look forward to your trip reports, videos and pics in due course. Safe journey.

Thanks!

 

[aviatorconcorde]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-46539162

We've previously discussed the removal of the Severn crossing tolls. Tomorrow is the day. Toll-free from then on.

Good for some, bad for others. Rents in Newport are about to rise!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Good for some, bad for others. Rents in Newport are about to rise!

Yes, the rise in rents and house prices will continue to spread westwards, all the way from London along the M4 corridor.

Another Newport estate agent was interviewed in the Bristol news media this week and, as with others who have been quoted in recent months, he said that half the number of enquiries for houses he is selling in the Newport-Chepstow area come from people in the Bristol area. At present the disparity is still significant and people living in the Bristol area can get a lot more for their money by looking across 'The Bridge'. With no tolls commuting becomes realistic although the traffic congestion, already heavy, won't get any better.

As demand begins to exceed supply the price differential will gradually close.

 

[bluebols]

No coincidence that as soon as the tolls are removed, Bristols finest pops down to Port Talbot to produce a masterpiece on a garage wall.

 

[aviatorconcorde]

Yes, the rise in rents and house prices will continue to spread westwards, all the way from London along the M4 corridor.

Another Newport estate agent was interviewed in the Bristol news media this week and, as with others who have been quoted in recent months, he said that half the number of enquiries for houses he is selling in the Newport-Chepstow area come from people in the Bristol area. At present the disparity is still significant and people living in the Bristol area can get a lot more for their money by looking across 'The Bridge'. With no tolls commuting becomes realistic although the traffic congestion, already heavy, won't get any better.

As demand begins to exceed supply the price differential will gradually close.

I really do worry where we will end up with regards to house prices. I’m yet to buy, got it all to look forward too.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I really do worry where we will end up with regards to house prices. I’m yet to buy, got it all to look forward too.

That is a worry. I'm one of the 'war babies' and as we grew into adulthood in the 1960s we became the first generation where home ownership was a genuine aspiration for many because buying at least a modest house was within reach. That persisted into the next generation but after that getting that step on the first rung has proved increasingly problematic.

It's a cascading situation because as people from the London area spot the (to them) cheaper house prices along the M4 they, like the Bristol people eyeing south-east Wales, look westwards. In recent years I believe the number of 'Londoners' moving to the Bristol area is exceeded only by those moving to Birmingham and its environs. That in turn helps to raise and sustain house prices in the West Country and now it seems the effect is moving across the Severn estuary.

 

[superking]

I have a uncle that lives in Newbury. He works for BA as an engineer in Heathrow. He choose to live in Newbury as any thing closer was out of reach,and he has a well paid job.
There is a lot of Londoners that commute to London every day on the train from Bristol.

 

[Jerry]

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year from the USA!

 

[superking]

Happy new year Jerry.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

In the Dublin Airport thread Jerry and I have been discussing the respective sizes of civil aviation in Ireland and Wales.

We reviewed some of the reasons for the Republic's startling economic growth of the 1990s and early 21st Century which was followed by a massive downturn requiring a huge bailout from the EU amd IMF, following which there are signs that a recovery is now taking place.

https://forums4airports.com/threads/2542/page-4

I suggested that Wales might be better off as an independent nation and Jerry said he was coming around to that view. Rather than pursue any discussion on this topic in the Dublin Airport thread I've moved it to the CWL Random thread should anyone want to join in. I would be very interested in the views of others on the subject.

I would not be surprised if the UK broke up within the next half century. There is still a significant movement for Scottish independence and Ireland was never sorted out satisfactorily under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, the 1931 Statute of Westminster or in subsequent tinkerings by governments. There are some who believe that England, like the other constituent countries of the UK, should have its own government but that might only be a realistic proposition with an independent England.

Plaid Cymru said last year that, if they gained office, amongst the things they would do would be to set up a Welsh international airline with connections to the Americas and Europe and, after a second term in government, hold a Welsh Independence referendum.

There are already groups intent on pushing for independence - YesCymru is one although there seems to be some infighting - so it would not be wholly surprising if the UK ceased to exist in its present form later this century.

 

[Jerry]

I'd be very surprised if Scotland wasn't independent in the next 10 years. As for Wales i believe it has a long way to go towards independence. I don't believe currently Wales has the self belief as a nation that Ireland and Scotland has and politically wise is too wedded to Labour who i believe have held Wales back. For many voters in Wales it's almost as if they are indoctrinated to only vote Labour.
It will be interesting to see how Plaid Cymru get on with their new leader Adam Price and whether they can make any headway in Labour's fortress in the South Wales Valleys.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Newport County FC

Many congratulations to the club for a magnificent performance in beating Premier League Leicester City this afternoon. I think most neutrals became Newport County supporters for the match.

It was a thoroughly deserved win and with two players on the pitch on loan from 'my' club I felt like a genuine Exiles supporter whilst watching the game on the telly. The last ten minutes seemed to take an eternity.

Newport have truly risen from the Ashes after going out of business in 1989, then re-forming but having to play home matches in England for a few years. They fought their way up the Football Pyramid and returned to the Football League in 2013. Last season they beat Leeds United in the corresponding round of the FA Cup and took Spurs to a replay before being knocked out. I hope they draw one of the really big clubs and if it's someone like Manchester United away they will enjoy a really big pay day.

 

[Jerry]

It's been reported that Cardiff City new signing Emiliano Sala was onboard an aircraft traveling from Nantes to Cardiff last night and which disappeared off radar north of Alderney. A search is currently underway in the English channel. Hopefully everyone will be found safely.
https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2019...tballer-emiliano-sala-on-board-missing-plane/