Crown glass versus float glass - views ?

[JoceAndChris]

:lol:

Oh dear. Better stick to France then - surely that can't be so environmentally bad?

And FF - your story was completely lovely.

 

[biffvernon]

Maybe it was the price that Penners was referring to.

 

[worms]

I would miss lemons, olives, chorizo, vodka, tequila, COFFEE, TEA & WINE.

No need to give up the vodka, about 80% of Britain's gin and vodka consumption comes from Scottish distilleries, employing about 2,300 people and contributing £180m in excise duties to the exchequer.

 

[biffvernon]

So who saw the tv programme about chocolate last night?

(I thought vodka came from Warrington -"Vladivar Wodka from Varrington".)

 

[FamilyWiggs]

I saw it biff. Trying to explain now to the kids why the won't get any Easter eggs....

If traceability is so poor, then it raises doubts about all Fairtrade like schemes too.

What to do - buy Fairtrade type things and hope that some of the money does go in to community projects and more responsible farming (eg no child labour) or boycott the products altogether and then no income goes into the local economies.

A dilemma.

 

[AMc]

English wine is available and quite drinkable.

Indeed, my Grandma used to make a very palletable soft fruits and elderberry and elderflower wines that were very nice too. Her parsnip was an acquired taste, one you acquired if your cellar and pockets were completely empty. Sadly she's no longer with us and the extensive cellars of Todmorden are now empty - she kept making it far beyond the point she was allowed to drink it. I haven't tasted an English wine I would be prepared to drink since, though I must admit I haven't been far out of my way looking.

For preference I buy Spanish or Australian. I don't have any concerns about employment rights and working conditions. The food miles are there, but in a different league to air freighted 'organic' green beans from Kenya. And they taste nice

No need to give up the vodka, about 80% of Britain's gin and vodka consumption comes from Scottish distilleries, employing about 2,300 people and contributing £180m in excise duties to the exchequer.

For preference I choose wheat vodka from Scandinavia made in "Åhus" (insert your own joke here :lol: ).

As every bottle of Absolut Vodka sold is produced in the same place - Åhus, a small town in southern Sweden - we have complete quality control over the entire production process. Every bottle, every day.

Oh dear, I'm coming across as a snob, sorry.

A drinker's tip taken from The Cocktails of the Ritz Paris (Hardcover) by Colin Peter Field- a couple of peeled thumbs of ginger steeped in a bottle of Absolut for a month or more makes a fantastic base for a really delightful Vodkatini. And Colin was delightfully educative when I had the most expensive drink I've ever had in the Hemmingway Bar at the Ritz Paris.

 

[skier-hughes]

We have a local vinyard at halfpenny green, their wines taste pretty nice to me. They do a wonderful line in marketing, with a variety of wines supporting the local football teams and other local events.

A friend also brought some back from the Isle of Wight some years back and that was very nice.

My damson wine should be ready for Xmas.................................

 

[biffvernon]

The chocolate programme did show that the Fairtrade organization was making a very determined effort to get things sorted. A hard job but I do think they need our support.

Nestle, however...

Look at A Nestle Free Easter.

 

[Flyfisher]

What to do - buy Fairtrade type things and hope that some of the money does go in to community projects and more responsible farming (eg no child labour) or boycott the products altogether and then no income goes into the local economies.

A dilemma.

One might also question the 'greeness' of encouraging the development of such communities and economies. No-one likes to see children working in bad factory conditions, so let's pay them a little more to improve their standard of living. As they manage to save a little money they might buy a bicycle to travel to work (thus helping to fund the local bicycle manufacture and repair economy and associated jobs), later they might be able to buy an iPod to keep them amused while working, or a mobile phone perhaps (OK, daft examples perhaps, but you see the general point). Multiply all this a few hundred million times and their material and energy consumption levels increase dramatically, adding even more pressure to the ecosystem. It would, of course, be outrageous to actively prevent such people improving their standard of living, but there will be the inevitable consequences.

A dilemma indeed.

 

[biffvernon]

Yes, it would be quite out of the question to allow the poor of the world to become as rich as us. We only have one planet. The answer is to make us as poor as the poor. The trick will be to be poor yet happy and healthy. Are we clever enough?

 

[Penners]

Are we clever enough?

I don't think that cleverness is the stumbling block. It's self-interest.

Are we selfless enough?

I fear not.

 

[masochists-r-us]

First of all you need to do a bit of homework about glass. You will not be getting crown glass. Nobody makes it. Nobody even has the skill and knowledge to make it no matter how much money you throw at them.

We are in fact looking at hand made glass (probably made in Poland) as opposed to crown glass and single glazed in hardwood frames (probably sapele mahogany as opposed to oak on the grounds of cost and in any event they're going to be painted. We were lucky enough to find an old window in the garden to copy and also a 1925 photo which proves it was installed in our house at that time). However, on the basis that we live close to a busy road, it's tempting to hang on and see if we can get double glazed units in the bedrooms upstairs to help reduce early morning traffic noise. We know all the arguments in favour of secondaries, but with window seats and shutters as well as the aesthetics and convenience issues to contend with, they're not ideal in our opinion.
With regard to glass, having listened to all your views and looked at numerous 'model' 17th/18th century stone cottages/farmhouses, we've concluded that hand made glass is quite beautiful so worth the extra money and much as we'd like the convenience of double glazing upstairs, we just won't be able to justify it to ourselves, regardless of the forthcoming change in rules.
Thanks all for your input.

 

[Moo]

If you're lucky enough to have shutters in your bedrooms, do you really need double (or secondary) glazing?

For what it's worth, we have neither shutters nor double glazing and also live on a busy main road (and when I say "on", I mean that our front door opens on to the pavement) and the only nocturnal noise that really disturbs us is the occasional 'Event' taking place in the hotel opposite.

 

[masochists-r-us]

Moo, you obviously are better at sleeping than me. The shutters do help to an extent, but they're old Georgian pine which is quite thin and they're not a perfect fit. Unfortunately, I can tell what time it is (usually 6.30 - 7.00am) by the number of cars per minute going past the house and I would really like to have lie in just occasionally.

 

[biffvernon]

Right, so it's cylinder glass, not crown. But did you say the house is listed? How are you going to comply with Part-L? You'd better make sure your Buildings Control and Conservation officers agree before you spend too much money.

Secondary double glazing gives better sound insulation that a dg unit - you want to maximise the air gap. Laminated glass also give worthwhile improvement

sapele mahogany as opposed to oak on the grounds of cost

WTF!

Firstly, get the taxonomy right. Sapele is not mahogany. That's like going into a greengrocer and and asking for an apple pear.

Why do you want to use a tropical hardwood, probably illegally felled, destroying the orang-utan's home and contributing to global warming? Oh yeah, cost. Tell you what, I'll sell you some oak at a lower cost than sapele.

 

[Flyfisher]

That's like going into a greengrocer and and asking for an apple pear.

http://www.essortment.com/all/pearsapple_rldo.htm

 

[masochists-r-us]

Biff Vernon
It seems to me you might be interested in quoting for the work so if you are, please PM me with your email details and I'll send you our drawings.

 

[MdB]

Biff Vernon
It seems to me you might be interested in quoting for the work so if you are, please PM me with your email details and I'll send you our drawings.

You can find Biff here:
http://www.biffvernon.freeserve.co.uk/
biff@biffvernon.freeserve.co.uk

 

[biffvernon]

You can find Biff there...

Ta, MdB.