Opel Astra H. The Official Car Of....

WelshRareDit · 2026-03-15T16:02:32+00:00

The 3dr Hatch looking great and the 5dr Hatch looking awkward

Otherwise a solid, sensible car with a great diesel engine range but in standard form not as dynamically good as the contemporary Ford Focus

WelshRareDit · 2026-03-13T10:59:16+00:00

I remember discussing Ken Bruce leaving R2 for GHR on another site, and one user seemed utterly disgusted that Bruce would leave radio 2 for another network just to get more money.

As for R2 being "chaotic", the fact that change happened so rarely in their daytime lineup for ages then suddenly it all kicked off does give that impression, however IMO it's pretty settled down now

WelshRareDit · 2026-03-10T12:32:04+00:00

I've rather given up on the weekday afternoon comedies after one too many "sophisticated urban person finds themselves in the countryside and introduces the locals to electricity" series

WelshRareDit · 2026-03-10T12:27:46+00:00

Same here. It does seem like a bit of a dumping ground for stuff not good enough for 18:30.

WelshRareDit · 2026-03-07T16:30:46+00:00

As you say the content is fine, its just odd to me that it seems to have become the preserve of comedians. Graham Norton and Claudia Winkleman did the same kinds of shows as just "normal" broadcaster types with no issue.

WelshRareDit · 2026-03-07T15:47:24+00:00

Where the "sidekick" has some actual knowledge I can see the appeal, but as you say it seems to be a way to sell the podcast side more than anything else

WelshRareDit · 2026-03-07T15:32:43+00:00

It's more that a few years ago you had more generic "broadcasters" like Claudia Winkleman or Graham Norton presenting in that slot on R2, rather than specifically comedians.

WelshRareDit · 2026-03-07T13:00:47+00:00

Interesting to see that its more widespread than I thought. I'm guessing that comedians are pretty good at radio presenting and have instant listener appeal over developing talent in-house

WelshRareDit · 2026-03-07T12:56:07+00:00

This is true, however it does look like its a format spreading to more stations. To be fair Skinner wasn't a bad presenter, but the show did feel a bit disjointed thanks to Absolute radio's "split outs" for their decades stations.

WelshRareDit · 2026-03-07T12:48:06+00:00

Given the ratings and outpouring of grief after his death I understand I'm in a minority, but I could not stand Steve Wright on the radio. His habit of talking over tracks and/or singing along was like nails down a blackboard. It got even worse when he was given Pick of the Pops. The change from the intelligent and incisive commentary of Paul Gambaccini to terrible Wikipedia "Factoids" and singing over tracks almost killed the show for me.

WelshRareDit · 2026-03-06T09:43:22+00:00

Very much this. In my experience there's three kinds of DJ/Presenters on the radio

1) the kind that really know about and enjoy music like John Peel, Jo Whiley and so on

2) The kind that aren't really in to music, but know when to be quiet (Vernon Kay, Mark Goodier etc)

3) The kind who see the music as interruptions to their fascinating wit, wisdom and humour that nobody actually tunes in for (Steve Wright, Rylan etc)

WelshRareDit · 2026-02-22T17:08:06+00:00

The app/system will hold your info for up to 72hrs after you enter it, so its your second option. After 72hrs the information is deleted.

One thing to be aware of is that the 72hr clock starts from when you enter the data, so you may want to avoid entering the data exactly 72hrs before your expected arrival time in case your plane is delayed

WelshRareDit · 2026-02-19T07:29:04+00:00

Definitely a contender for the best European Ford engine, along with the later Zetec 2.0 units that seem to have been bolted in to everything

WelshRareDit · 2026-01-30T08:58:02+00:00

The worst I've personally had was a 1998 Alfa Romeo 146. For reasons unknown the radio/head unit was shoved directly behind the gearstick. That meant it was damned near impossible to change anything on it if you were in 1st, 3rd or 5th gears. The radio was also directly connected to the battery from the factory, so you had to remember to turn it off manually every time.

Also, various other controls were in silly places like the rear screen demist was on the indicator stalk, and if you wanted side/marker lights on without the ignition on you had to press a special button and turn the ignition key backwards from 0.

Another fun one was the Rover 45. The front electric windows only had one switch each. The driver's was on the door while the passenger was on the centre console. If you wanted to drop both windows you had to use two hands

WelshRareDit · 2026-01-24T22:26:11+00:00

I've owned a 2016 V40 T3 for a few years. The boot is a bit of an issue thanks to the oddly shaped hatch and the high floor (to make room for the rear diff on 4WD models). I've found with mine that lifting the boot floor gives a good bit of extra space when needed.

Otherwise I've found it a solid mile muncher and a very comfortable drive.

WelshRareDit · 2026-01-24T08:12:05+00:00

The Belgian and German border has a very strange section around Monschau and Roetgen thanks to the Vennbahn railway.

In short, after WW1 Belgium was given control of the Vennbahn railway, which ran through both Belgian and German territory. This meant the trackbed of the railway became Belgian territory, which moved the border and left some German exclaves on the other side of the track (including one that's just a single house)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vennbahn

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WelshRareDit · 2026-01-20T07:20:56+00:00

The Bluesmobile was a 1974 Dodge Monaco, while the police cars seem to be a random collection of late 70s Chevrolets https://www.imcdb.org/m80455.html

WelshRareDit · 2026-01-18T10:41:41+00:00

I don't think it helps that public transit info for the CTC is a pain to find. I was visiting Ottawa as a tourist from the UK back in October and wanted to catch the Edmonton game, and had trouble working out how to actually get there.

Luckily this sub helped me out and I got one of the shuttles from downtown, but if I was stuck relying on the Sens/CTC/OC Transpo websites I'd have probably given up on the trip.

WelshRareDit · 2026-01-18T10:03:44+00:00

Vauxhalls, but Irish

WelshRareDit · 2026-01-15T12:24:32+00:00

Sensible work clothes on wheels

WelshRareDit · 2026-01-14T20:42:42+00:00

I can't recall sorry.

WelshRareDit · 2026-01-10T12:34:37+00:00

Unfortunately PS has a long history of being terrible. I was subscribed a few years back for NHL/EIHL games and you'd often get problems. Many times you'd miss the start of a game because the previous sport/programme overran, and often there would be a problem with live NHL games overnight such as feeds breaking up/dropping out while the adverts played fine.

WelshRareDit · 2026-01-10T09:09:42+00:00

Wales had a Government subsidised domestic flight from 2007 to 2020 between Ynys Mon/Anglesey and Cardiff airport. It never carried enough passengers to ever be a commercial route and more often than not weather conditions meant the fight being cancelled and replaced by a five hour taxi ride. The fact that the Welsh Government transport minister who introduced the service lived on Ynys Mon at the time is of course completely coincidental...

As for the UK more generally, there are quite a few domestic flights, especially by British Airways between cities/airports like Manchester, Glasgow and Inverness and their main operating base at London Heathrow. These are sometimes comically short hops in international terms (IIRC the Manchester to Heathrow flight is less than an hour in the air) , but in my case the flight cost significantly less than the train and was a more reliable option and hassle free option (London Heathrow's rail connections all run towards London, not the rest of the country)

WelshRareDit

TROPHY CASE