Mike Riversdale

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UK Population Predictions

In my search for population details for Monmouth (town, not county) I came across On the Increase of Population in England and Wales by R. Price Williams, published in the Journal of the Statistical Society of London, Vol. 43, No. 3 (Sep., 1880), pp. 462-508 (36 pages). A population projection of London and the England and Wales (definitely excluding Scotland and Ireland) takes the last census of 1871 base figure and projects ahead, in ten years increments, to the year 2181. So, the closest to us as I write is 2021. How close was Mr Williams for us right now? Mr Williams has the England and Wales population of 2021 at 91,753,000 (91.7 million) and, at the 2021 census, it was 59,597,542 (59.6 million). You can all do the maths about the percentage difference and where it went wrong for him :) The "immense population" of London in 1871 was 3,254,260 (3.3 million), and was censused in 2021 as 8,799,800 (8.8 million). What did Mr Williams predict it would be, 8 million. Wow, no

Hobbit Pubs Do Exist

The Green Dragon is probably exactly the sort of pub* that Tolkien was imagining and/or remembering when he wrote about the eponymous establishment of Hobbiton . * I say "sort of pub" as quite a few Green Dragon pubs claim to be the one that gave Tolkien inspiration. I'm sure many helped but none are THE one.

What's The Best Conker Tactic?

The game is easy, pop a conker (a horse chestnut) on a piece of string / shoe lace and find someone else who has done the same. Take turns to hold up a conker by the string allowing the opponent to take a swipe at it with theirs. First one to smash the others conker wins. Easy, simple, and yet devilishly difficult to survive a whole conker season. Oh, and scoring for the season. We played the "winner takes the defeated's score". So, if your conker had won 4 games your were a four-er. If you then beat a conker that had won 10 previous games you were now a fifteen-er, 4 (your previous wins), + 10 (defeated conkers wins), + 1 (the game itself) = 15 Tactics that I know of include: Soaking in vinegar Drying using heat (oven/radiator) Wrap the string around your fingers and have a close swing at it Wait until your opponent has had a few battles before going in How would you attempt to survive the intense conker season?

Last Of The Summer Wine

Early October as the autumnal machlud slowly pops himself off to bed after a day of forcing light through the high cloud. Cheers Sun, you done good.

Symond, Don't Jump

At the main Symonds Yat viewing place, walking towards the wall. Back in the day there was no wall, imagine that!

Kymin Views

Smack bang on the border of England and Wales, look one way and it's the Forest of Dean , look the other it's the hills of Wales. The top of the Kymin is a classic place to take all your visitors to Monmouth, if you're from Wellington think Mt Vic lookout .

Gay On Wye

Who doesn't love a big pink pun!

The Places You're Looking For

'Ye olde worlde' of Wales, and many parts of the UK, holds a special place in the tourism industry. Of course it does, it's what people like you and me are after. It conjures up solidity, mystery, simpleness, history, and a certain book/movie feel that fits in with our internal images of what 'ye olde worlde' should look like - we really are in Diagon Alley, this really is Robin Hood land, this is actually where Holmes lived. Wales does not let you down, it has tonnes of places like this just waiting for you to photograph. But if that's too difficult to make happen then be happy in the knowledge that I have done it for you ( inland and coastal ). For the next few months (I suspect) you're gonna see a lot of 'ye olde worlde' Wales. btw: I remember when Church Street had a tarmac covering and they dug it up to lay down the 'olde worlde' paving stones to give it more of the feeling we all crave.

[Updated] Pubs of 2024 Monmouth

"Back in the day", yada yada yada, yes we all know there were more pubs than people, there was a pub every two houses, the largest number of pubs per square mile than anywhere in the known universe, there was a pub named after each and every one of us, and yet, YET we only ever went to same one every time. Monmouth has changed, it now only has 10 pubs. "Ten! Ten? It used to be ten pubs just in the top of town. There were ten pubs I'd walk past to get to my local." Yes, yes ... times change, we now have 10 pubs in Monmouth . Oh, and the Mayhill but that seems to be more a ghost pub, it can be seen but only in the dark and no-one will believe if you say you went in. Monmouth, a town in Wales (YES, it is in Wales ), a town that has a population of around 10,317 (as at 2021). A town who's 1980's population was, well, I don't know, despite a century of censuses being taken, it's impossible to find (1991: 8,206 | 2001: 8,877 | 2011: 10,508 | 2021: 1

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