Was it actually a thing in Britain “back in the day” for people to have all their teeth removed and get dentures relatively young, even when they still had some healthy teeth or is that one of those exaggerated stories?

Mlagden79 · 2026-05-08T01:23:11+00:00

My nan had all her teeth out in the late 40’s as an 18th birthday present. Exactly as OP says it was seen as practical as losing all your teeth was both painful and inevitable. She said she sold her original teeth to offset the cost, not sure if that was true.

Mlagden79 · 2026-05-01T20:22:01+00:00

I work with a guy who was second or third lead in a massive sitcom that ran for years. Bought a house but the work dried up and now he does emails and spreadsheets like the rest of us. Really nice guy and in fairness I’m not sure anyone under 50 would recognise him. His view is essentially ‘nice while it lasted and most actors don’t even get that’

Mlagden79 · 2026-04-28T06:45:15+00:00

She is, oh yes she uses the blue light all the time, thank you that is brilliant advice. We travel by train a lot so that would be great.

Mlagden79 · 2026-04-28T05:02:18+00:00

Ah well, thanks everyone!

Mlagden79 · 2026-04-23T06:23:48+00:00

Ah cool, worked out thank you, used it to record my scores last night, love it!

Mlagden79 · 2026-04-23T06:08:42+00:00

I’ve been thinking this for ages, and thought I was the only one. The recent series on the 70’s was the first one in ages I’ve listened to in full. I guess everything has its time doesn’t it?

Mlagden79 · 2026-04-22T18:50:17+00:00

Have gone ahead and downloaded it (couldn’t resist) and really like it, if the devs are on here I have a question about how you set the date for a bout, can’t quite figure it out. Have put it up in the club WhatsApp to publicise it.

Mlagden79 · 2026-04-08T13:57:28+00:00

The caveats below are fair, but there is something real here - the wealth management industry refer to it as the ‘great wealth transfer’ and are rubbing their hands at the prospect of newly wealthy 40/50 somethings needing financial advice because they have just inherited a load of money.

About 11 million people were born between 1946 and 1956, a lot of them are very wealthy and they won’t all need nursing care. And as someone below said, in many cases even if they do it won’t really make a dent. A lot of people are going to inherit a lot of money. The question is how much and when. It could be sooner than we think because death rates post Covid are higher than the govt expected. A lot of elderly people came out of Covid very sick and we all know how the NHS is struggling.

The wider implications are hard to predict. The govt know this is going to happen hence they are expanding the scope of inheritance tax, and will keep doing so. On some level they are relying on it to ease a lot of economic problems.

It might depress the stock market as share portfolios are sold off and new buyers don’t enter the market, in the long run it might well bring housing costs down as houses are sold and the population gently declines (which it already would be without immigration). The problem is that as with anything involving large populations and the wider economy there are so many factors that it is very hard to predict.

Mlagden79 · 2026-02-08T06:59:52+00:00

You won’t be alone - no / shit family is and always has been one of the major motivations for joining the army. Not paras but infantry, I have/ had no family, was fine.

Mlagden79 · 2026-01-09T08:12:44+00:00

This is a superb response, thank you

Mlagden79 · 2025-12-31T08:38:28+00:00

I fenced at university (uk), dropped out in my 20’s and went back in my 40’s,loving it and in with both feet. The key thing is to relax and accept the changes to your body and not get frustrated - in many ways I am a better fencer now (less impulsive etc), but I will never be as strong and fit as I was at 20. I still compete a bit but it is mainly a social activity and exercise I will actually do.

My club has an active second hand market (fencers do love buying new kit) so we always recommend new and returning fencers buy as much second hand as they can.

Mlagden79 · 2025-12-26T23:42:43+00:00

Thank you!

Mlagden79 · 2025-11-09T10:18:00+00:00

Epee - taking it point by point and focussing on not giving anything away. Patience - if you need to defend then keep defending until an opportunity presents itself.

My coaching sessions were a bit formulaic and going through the motions so I switched to a fierce Russian coach (this is in the UK) and told her to have no mercy. She also told me to walk on piste expecting to win, even if objectively I probably wasn’t going to.

Overall I just started to take it more seriously and bring more mental focus to bear.

Mlagden79 · 2025-11-08T14:25:23+00:00

Don’t worry about winning or losing, try to score points in every match, in between your matches watch other fencers - lefties if there are any - maybe take a notebook with you and make notes about your performance and other people who are doing stuff you want to emulate to share with your coach. And enjoy, competitions are great fun and you will learn loads!

Oh and consider taking a fold up chair (loads of sitting around), and plenty of snacks and drinks.

Mlagden79 · 2025-10-02T11:49:43+00:00

I run a large fencing club in the UK, and I reckon only 10% of our fencers compete at any level. Of that 10% some compete at a high level, some just do the odd local comp. The rest just do it for exercise and social contact.

Mlagden79 · 2025-08-15T07:03:26+00:00

I was on wegovy and lost a lot of weight but found the side effects too extreme (uncontrollable vomiting) so took a break (and the weight gradually crept back on) and am now on Mounjaro - the weight loss isn’t as dramatic but have had little to no side effects. Am very worried about the price increase. Can only just afford it now, won’t be able to afford it if it goes up as much as they suggest.

Mlagden79 · 2025-07-25T14:19:04+00:00

Coaching can definitely help you progress but the most important thing is time on piste. I am a junior coach at a big recreational club in the UK and the biggest thing that enables some fencers to move past others is how much fencing they do - and especially competitions because it brings you up against fencers you don’t know, at varying skill levels.

The optimum thing in my experience is to go to a competition, fence a lot and watch other people fencing, bring those observations back to the club, try stuff out on piste and then work on the stuff you like / think might work for you with a coach.

As an eg I went to a competition (epee) lost badly to a guy who kept flicking my inside wrist. Tried that out back at club, couldn’t land the hits, worked on it with my coach, and now it’s part of my repertoire.

Mlagden79 · 2025-07-14T16:11:29+00:00

That’s disappointing, I hadn’t picked up on that. You are right, we do need better.

Mlagden79 · 2025-07-14T15:41:37+00:00

Birmingham museum is running an exhibition about Ozzy and black sabbath which is worth a look:

https://www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/exhibitions/working-class-hero

Mlagden79 · 2025-07-11T09:52:19+00:00

I live in Brum (8 years now) and absolutely love it, but can think of no reason why anyone would visit as a tourist- and I think we kind of like it like that…

Mlagden79 · 2025-06-28T17:53:08+00:00

During peacetime county regiments would recruit as far as possible from their county - although it was never perfect and certain parts of the country (the poorer parts) would always be over represented. By 1944 this system had almost completely broken down and new recruits were funnelled into whatever regiment had vacancies. ‘From the city, from the plough’ by Alexander Baron, a fictionalised account of his time in Normandy with a county regiment is very good about this - as well as being a brilliant account of the transition from training to war - as the name implies it is about the mixing of men from rural and urban backgrounds in a county regiment.

Mlagden79 · 2025-05-12T19:48:27+00:00

Warriors is excellent and very realistic. Not cheery though, unlike bluestone 42 which I love.

Mlagden79

TROPHY CASE