The roof at the Dressers collapsed and the building is pretty much destroyed. Apparently water was pumped from the Leeds Liverpool canal to fight the fire. That's one hell of a pump - half a mile uphill!!!!

The main fire appeared to be at the end of the building further from the main road. I'd guess the whole place would be damaged and out of use for sometime. My lad was at school and I think is still friendly with the couple who run the Chinese. We also vaguely know the folk who live next door. Fingers crossed for all these people

For those who like to use The Dressers at Wheelton it was ablaze at 6.00am today. Flames 12-15 feet above roof apex. All three services present so hopefully no one injured.

I don't suppose this counts as "big" but disappointing to see Bluestone 42 finish last night.

Obviously missed that one.......................................and No, of course not how could one ever ignore you?

Sorry Gordon but I was completely unaware of it until Saturday. I'd included a stop at one of my favourite cafe / farm shops during my cycle ride and they stocked Procter's cheeses.

For any cheeseaholics on here have a look at www.kickasscheese.co.uk The extra mature cheddar is a serious cheese

No but there were a couple of very camp male waiters. Excellent tea and I had delicious Welsh Rarebit followed by chocolate brandy cake. Hmmmmmmmm......

Richmond Tearooms on Richmond Street, Manchester are a lot of fun. Eccentric would be the word. Richmond Street runs parallel with Canal Street.

Forget it. Completely misread post I was quoting!

Cook at home .......... or get a second mortgage. I work in this area and all the locals tell me it is very expensive to eat out. However if your determined there are several good places on King Street, Knutsford. I would book soon.

For those interested Chorley Little Theatre - yes, really - is getting more and more excellent comedians doing pre-tour stuff. We have tickets to see Jenny Eclair, Mark Steel, Tom Wrigglesworth, Mitch Benn, Mark Watson

Couldn't disagree with anything Bryan has written earlier. I've had this conversation with London cyclists re riding styles and if goes nowhere. I feel the reality is a large percentage of road users behave sensibly - the idiots stand out for this reason alone. Those idiots always appear to drive Audis, Range Rovers etc. but that also isn't true it's just what sticks with us. Similarily the weaving cyclist stands out by the same argument. Audax the system you describe, usually referred to as "clipless," takes very little time to get used to, after a couple of falls it becomes instinctive. There are a lot if benefits to clipless but I've never heard a rider express a reluctance to slow down because it meant unclipping. Once used to it there's no difference between that and flat pedals

So what do we have here then: 1. Aggressive Audi driver breaking the law 2. Agressive reaction from the cyclist who unecessaily chases the Audi down and harrangues him using foul language 3. Audi driver who then assaults the cyclist 4. thenodrog who loves to jump to conclusions The purpose of the ASL is to allow cyclists using the cycle lane, not filtering but riding in their lane, to move in front of the traffic allowing left turning cyclists to take up the correct position, straight ahead riders can take up primary position till they exit the junction, right turning cyclists have a place to wait till it's safe to turn. HGV drivers have a 4 metre blind spot in front of the cab, ASL boxes are five metres deep to make the bike rider more visible. So far as encouraging cyclists to undertake this is nonsense as the box is designed to place the cyclist in a safe visible area which protects both cyclist and motorist. Motorists should keep up with and understand the Highway Code and current road markings. Vehicle Excise Duty is based on engine size and emissions. Cycles have no engine and no emissions so there is no reason to pay road fund tax. There are a lot of cyclists in London, some of them not very good and some rather aggressive, but the same applies to drivers as the video shows. As for the cameras, yep, got to agree with that I just don't get why they do it - though I do know all the reasons a helmet cammer will put forward

I've long argued the PL is uncompetitive though this season has more about it than recent ones - or so I gather as I don't take a lot of notice really. Before City on Wednesday I can't recall the last time I was in a major PL ground apart from our last season in the PL. Looking around the Etihad on Wednesday evening I couldn't help wondering what's the point? I really don't think I could enjoy watching my football in a stadium like that. It's not a football ground, the audience was not a football crowd, the whole experience was depressing in relation to what football has become. Yes City fans see the best in the world, 99 goals so far this season, but it lacks everything else I associate with football.

Many times I and others have commented in this general way. I've felt for years the game would come crashing down, which I believe it is now, but always felt Rovers would survive because we easily fitted your description above. Sadly no longer true.

Bolton Wanderers: Tales from the Gartside http://twohundredpercent.net/?p=25210

Tom Wrigglesworth is playing Chorley Little Theatre on March 15th. I think he's on Darwen around that date as well. Should be a fun evening. £12 ticket

Yes and I only found out Anson Bolton is the chef at The Millstone. For £100 I'd expect a lot better than there.

thenodrog was that £100 / head at The Millstone? I've read it correctly?

My son and his girlfriend went to the Clog and Billycock yesterday and said it was "alright." One orange juice, one shandy, two starters, two burgers (one of which was cold but they'd waited so long couldn't be bothered to complain) for £57!!!!!! For £57 I'd expect a lot better than "alright" - seems RVI still have a lot to learn. The C&B remains off our list. We are planning to try the Indian in Abbey Village this week.

Why Mike? Back then if you wanted a ticket for an event queuing was the only real choice unless one chanced the postal ballot.

Ackroyd I've been watching Bob Dylan off and on for 40 plus years since 1969 - Isle of Wight - and for me one of great joys is not knowing what you're going to hear - he constantly reworks the music. One of my favourites was Earls Court in 1978 when virtually every song was hugely different from the original. Listen to the Live at Budokan album to get my meaning, I'm sure you have already. Slept on the pavement in Leeds Headrow for two nights to get that ticket, the web is wonderful!! Since Modern Times I think his music has evolved fantastically and he's producing probably the best music, as opposed to lyrics, of his career. From any artists view it must be incredibly boring to be expected to produce the same performance of a song today as 40 years ago so the need to rework it is to me very understandable. Like everyone else I could have written a set list and style that would have been my ideal but not one Dylan would have performed. I was just delighted to get the same feeling of huge excitement and a little tearfulness on Friday at 59 as I did when I was 15 years old. So as the great man says May You Stay Forever Young.

There never is any interaction with the crowd with Dylan though I agree this was exceptional on Friday. All we got was "Thank you. We'll be back in 15 minutes."

GAV theatre says Dylan on stage at 7.40 but he came on at 7.32. I'll say no more because this is different and I don't want to spoil it.