A valuable lesson

Of course parents have a perfect right to dress as they like. Free world and all that. And maybe we should be even more worried about the children who don’t even get to school at all, however their parents are dressed. But…

Pyjama-clad parents might not realise that most of the world will judge them for that. And not judge them kindly. Rightly or wrongly, that’s just how it is. Ms Chisholm realises that. And because she wants to give the children in her care the best possible start she wants them to understand that there are other ways of doing things.

There are ways of behaving – and dressing and speaking – that make it a lot easier to make your way through the world. It’s why most parents drive their children nuts by banging on about seemingly irrelevant stuff – like table manners or getting up early enough to get showered and dressed and to school on time. Basic things.

This is the stuff that helps children get on. It gives them confidence in themselves and gives other people confidence in them. If you can’t even master the basics, you’re always going to be a long way behind. Ms Chisholm wants more than that for the children of Skerne Park.

Getting washed and dressed before you go out in public isn’t rocket science. But it’s a great start.

THE BBC is apparently considering a campaign fronted by the likes of oldies Terry Wogan, Helen Mirren and Michael Parkinson to persuade some of the wealthier over 75s to give up their free TV licence and pay up instead. From 2018 it’s the BBC rather than the government who will have to foot the bill for the free licences so you can see why they’re getting anxious.

On the other hand, if more than 80,000 helpful pensioners paid their £145 each, it would still barely cover a year’s taxi bill.

And don’t let’s think of the hospitality bill for entertaining guests at various jollies.

Good luck with that one, BBC.

MANY years ago when we were having lunch at Crathorne Hall near Yarm, we had to hand in our mobiles at reception. We weren’t exactly frisked but the receptionist was very insistent. No way was any ringtone or bellowed conversation going to spoil lunch for everyone.

Very civilised – and a long time ago. Don’t know what their policy is now. But I’m guessing they haven’t got a box full of iPhones under the desk. And what would they have done if we’d smuggled in and it rang?

A pub is Cornwall we visited on holiday made that clear – any ringing mobile would be dropped straight into a pint of Doom Bar. Not surprisingly, the pub was blissfully quiet…

We’ve got used to phones in pubs and restaurants now. Foreigners tend to go outside to make or take calls. We don’t. There are people talking, taking pictures – of themselves, their friends, the food, the menu, complete strangers.

In posh places, my unscientific researches have shown that absolutely the worst for booming out loudly regardless of other people tend to be lawyers. So much for class and education teaching manners. Giggling girls taking group selfies with bubbly and posh puddings are usually fun. But then there’s something very sad about family groups, sitting together, each absorbed in their own little screen.

Many pubs already ask you to switch phones off but now a restaurant in the midlands has banned phones altogether. If you so much as show your neighbour a photo on your phone, the entire party will get thrown out. Drastic.

“If you’re coming out to eat, it’s about conversation and breaking bread together,” said the owner.

Eating out as a pleasant social occasion? Well, there’s a novelty…

Team Yorkshire Rows (from left) Janette Benaddi, Helen Butters, Niki Doeg and Frances Davies

ALL praise to the Yorkshire Rows, the four women aged 45-51 from York, who aim to be the oldest all-women crew to row an ocean. Currently they’re four weeks into the 3,000 mile challenge and more than half way across the Atlantic.

Not surprisingly, they’ve run out of clean clothes so according to their blog they’re rowing in the nude.

With waves splashing over I can see that makes sense – for their top halves.

But – ouch- I can’t help worrying about where they’re going to get blisters…

WHEN money-saving blogger Jordon Cox wanted to get home in Essex from Sheffield, he found that instead of getting the train it would be cheaper to fly via Berlin, spend the day there and then fly to Stansted. It saved him £7 and was a lot more fun.

There are plenty of other routes he’s found where it’s cheaper to fly via Europe than just catch a train. Bristol to Newcastle, for instance, is £14 if you fly via Dublin. Catch a Cross Country train and it’s £74.

Train fares are a minefield. If you can plan ahead and know what you’re doing, you can save a fortune. But they are still unnecessarily complicated – and expensive.

About ten years ago there was a spate of stories about trips like Jordon’s and the train companies vowed they were making train fares more understandable and easier to bag a bargain.

Well, that went well, didn’t it?

I’M no fan of social media videos – I don’t like cats which rules out most of them for a start – but I’ve got hooked on one about snow. In the storms in the US last weekend someone made a time-lapse video of the snow falling in their back yard in Virginia. In a few seconds you see it from a light covering until the entire garden disappears about six foot under and snow engulfs the camera. Beautiful and utterly mesmerising. As long as it doesn’t happen here…