Christine Ryan-Else, a 66-year old retiree from Chesterfield in Derbyshire, won £3,116 on the free online lottery, Pick My Postcode!

Christine first joined Pick My Postcode in 2017, after seeing it featured on Martin Lewis, Money Saving Expert. And finally after years of checking daily and building her bonus through surveys, her postcode was picked on the Main draw, winning her an unbelievable £3,116, completely for free.
When asked how it felt to win, Christine said: “I am still in shock as I never thought it would be me. What a great surprise it was and it came the day after my 66th birthday. What a great present. I have now received my winnings and still cannot believe it.”
Christine also said “It means a lot to me, especially as it is such a big amount. I still cannot believe it.” This is her first win on Pick My Postcode. “I have always checked it everyday from the start of joining.” Speaking on building her large bonus over the years of checking she said, “some of the surveys are really good to do and others are a bit of a bind as they say they last for 15 mins and usually it takes much longer, but I have persevered and that is why I had a good bonus.”
When asked how she planned to spend the winnings, Christine said: “I did think maybe I could spend it on a small holiday but then I thought more practical and I may buy some new worktops for the kitchen, at least then everyday I look at them it will remind me of the win.”
She continued on to say: “I originally did think that it cannot be real, especially when the bonus mounts up. Even my husband didn’t believe it, every time I said I’m just doing a survey he would say you wont win anything. I did think they won’t pay out that much, but I am living proof that it can happen to you. Just keep on doing the surveys and mounting up the money and one day soon it could be your postcode.”
The site offers multiple opportunities for your postcode to be picked every single day. Pick My Postcode has 7,477 active members in Derbyshire and since 2011, the residents have won a total of £66,868.44.
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Chocolate Spaniel
in an hour
Keir Starmer resigns! 👍 Will things get better though? I doubt it somehow!
Shyboy
13 hours ago
Beth, I'm watching Countryfile, which coming from your back garden.
Kenny b
14 hours ago
Passing a group of youngsters outside the local shops I was stopped and asked if I would get them a packet of Richmond's. Well, being in the same position years ago I said ok but only this time. You should have heard the abuse I got when I came out and handed them their Richmond's. I said next time get some one else to buy your sausages!!😜😜
Poppy
11 hours ago
🤣🤣
Barrie
11 hours ago
You must have saved them some money.
A Nick Name
11 hours ago
🤣🤣
Kat
13 hours ago
🤣🤣🤣
maddadof
13 hours ago
:-) :-) :-)
Anonymous
17 hours ago
I signed up for Thai Chi walking on WalkFit. They are fun, easy workouts that take less than 15 mins per day.
tetleyt
16 hours ago
They claim you can see a difference in 2-3 weeks🤔 Can you?
tetleyt
20 hours ago
Has anybody tried the Tai Chi workout that is advertised all over the place…..does it work?
Lidlicker 🎀✨👀
12 hours ago
There are videos all over fb & insta trying to get people to sign up to 28 day challenges.
Kat
13 hours ago
I'll get exorcised when I'm a ghost! Until then I'm being careful!
tetleyt
16 hours ago
Yes….google ads on the Mahjong game I play and side adverts on this site. I’ve never clicked an ad so don’t know why I get those in particular. Do you think they can see me and KNOW I need to do more exercise. 😂
Chocolate Spaniel
18 hours ago
It is a Google ad. Tai Chi works if a qualified instructor takes the classes.
19 hours ago
Never seen it. When you say advertised, do you mean like a Google advert?
Is so, I’d say it definitely won’t work. 🤣
😎👍🏼 ...9--0==✈🌞🐯
20 hours ago
Any exercise is good, irrespective of its name or how you move.
Yes, you'll be a few pounds lighter every month, but what else would you spend them on.
Chocolate Spaniel
a day ago
It's midnight ... daughter in bed fast asleep, suddenly the TV is blasting out football. She rushes downstairs to find that the dog is on the sofa and has rolled over on to the control! 🤣🤣🤣
Kat
12 hours ago
Could have been worse, could have rolled over on your phone & dialed a premium rate chat line. Some toothless old dear knitting socks & telling the dog what she'd like to do to him IRL!🤣
20 hours ago
Maybe it wanted to Shepherd a German?
Happy
20 hours ago
Could have been watching Germany in the world Cup, if it was a Schnauzer.
Alley1940
20 hours ago
Never ending fun.
Beth8it!
20 hours ago
One of the Rovers teams I expect! Nasty shock to the system when that happens. I fell asleep in the chair again in the evening, must have knocked my phone off the chair arm, and woke up to find them happily spreading my credit cards over the floor and trying to pick them up, the phone case chewed and missing on one corner and the little magnet strap missing that holds the case shut. Luckily a magnet, not a battery, or it would be an emergency vet rush, so today I am going to hold a magnet up to each one and see which flies across the room. Hopefully it will work its way through in due course - no ill effects so far!
maddadof
a day ago
What team does the dog support ;-)
Little Owl
a day ago
Which match was the dog watching?
A Nick Name
1 days ago
I've been trying to make hopi candles recently. It's not going too badly but the frogs do tend to scream a bit when they're dipped in the hot wax.
Barrie
17 hours ago
A Nick Name the frogs probably need to come from Arizona like the Hopi themselves.
Happy
19 hours ago
Runner Beans!
Alley1940
20 hours ago
Very funny both.
a day ago
🤣🤣
😎👍🏼 ...9--0==✈🌞🐯
a day ago
Guess you should have used frogs that have already croaked, or maybe jumping beans.
Kenny b
a day ago
👍good one NN
Kenny b
1 days ago
I asked my granddaughter to pass me the newspaper.
"Oh papa you're so out of date" she said as she passed me her iPad.
That fly didn't know what hit it!!😜😜
Alley1940
20 hours ago
Very funny Kenny. I can see that actually happening in today's world.
Serves you right Enver for hating flies so much lol.
😎👍🏼 ...9--0==✈🌞🐯
a day ago
There was a fly annoying me by attacking the light reflecting off my glasses & crawling across my screen, so I hit it with a lump of wood .... now my screen just shows a big cobweb. 🕸
help me!
a day ago
🤣🤣🤣 ROFL
Abbott
1 days ago
We was on the Cruise one year and the was no books to read.
Anonymous
14 hours ago
That's nice Beth, I expect it was all the more enjoyable with someone to share it with.
Beth8it!
20 hours ago
I was. We were.
Abbott
1 days ago
Don't reply on book marks people change them around
in iPads and mobile ohones
😎👍🏼 ...9--0==✈🌞🐯
2 days ago
In each of the following categories what do you think the MOST STOLEN item(s) nationwide are?
1). Items of Food(s).
2). . Items of Chemist dept.
3). . Items of Cleaning dept.
4). . Items of Baby Care dept.
😎👍🏼 ...9--0==✈🌞🐯
6 hours ago
Remaining items are:-
Over-the-counter medications: Allergy pills, teeth whitening strips, and pain relievers are small, expensive, and easily flipped for cash.
Premium meats and cheese: In the grocery sector, high-end cuts of meat and branded cheeses are historically among the highest-theft items by volume.
I recently found some dumped security tags, the sort with a wee reel of indestructible wire to wrap round large valuable boxes. I tried taking one apart - couldn't break or open it with hammer screwdriver saw pincers or anything, to get the reel of wire, alarm & battery out. So I cut the wire & its alarm went off. LOL The cable is long enough to be used for bikes, but had to throw the rest.
A Nick Name
11 hours ago
I wonder how many security tags gets stolen each year.
Rosy 2 cakes
12 hours ago
Enver, in Boots the razor blades are on a twisty contraption that isn't easy to work out how to remove a packet of blades ( well I can't work them out!! )
Poppy
15 hours ago
CarolineC, me too!
tetleyt
16 hours ago
Perfume?
CarolineC
17 hours ago
@Poppy - "I heard a while ago that the latest product to be put behind screens was chocolate." My husband would say that's because the supermarkets had heard I was out shopping! :-D
(I'm a bit of a chocoholic)
Me
18 hours ago
I’ve just been reading about how threats from garden centres is a problem too. It is sad to hear about.
Our local foodbenk used to always be short of baby formula
Poppy
18 hours ago
I heard a while ago that the latest product to be put behind screens was chocolate.
😎👍🏼 ...9--0==✈🌞🐯
20 hours ago
Well Done tetleyt, Infant formula: High retail cost and constant, desperate demand make it a prime target for illicit resale.
When a local shop puts a face cream, a container of baby formula, or a package of razors or prime rib steak behind a plexiglass barrier, it is a direct operational response to those specific items leading the nationwide statistics for retail loss.
@Rosy - security tags just means thieves simply run past the detectors (which will go off) & out the shop & away, no staff spare or willing to stop them as they may have weapons..
Still a few chemist items & a popular food item to find.
Rosy 2 cakes
20 hours ago
Razor blades and meat are security tagged in both the supermarket and Boots.
tetleyt
20 hours ago
Baby care: Milk Formula?
😎👍🏼 ...9--0==✈🌞🐯
a day ago
@Cakey & Nic are correct - steaks yes., & @Buttercup - it does mean shoplifters, so which item(s) from each category? It's not nappies or bleach, but there are some more items in the baby care & food categories.
The most stolen items aren't Rolexes or iPhones, and are probably sitting in your home right now.
While the exact top spot fluctuates slightly year by year and by store type, nationwide retail data consistently points to health and beauty products—specifically name-brand razor blades and cosmetics— as the most stolen retail items.
Criminologists and retail loss prevention experts often explain this phenomenon using the CRAVED model. Items targeted for theft are Concealable, Removable, Available, Valuable, Enjoyable, and Disposable (meaning easily liquidated or resold). Razor blades perfectly embody this model. A single package of premium replacement cartridges can cost a lot, yet it is scarcely larger than a deck of cards.
A shoplifter can easily sweep dozens of packages into a bag or coat. Because they are universally used and rarely expire, stolen razors are incredibly easy to resell on online marketplaces, at flea markets, or even to smaller independent retailers.
Organized retail crime rings, rather than opportunistic individuals, drive a massive portion of this inventory loss. These groups deploy people to clear shelves of specific high-demand products.
This theft dynamic explains why modern retail environments look the way they do today. Store managers do not lock up inventory merely to frustrate honest shoppers; they are responding to precise data about organized theft.
Lack of customer assistants to sell these items will make you want to go home & shop online instead.
A Nick Name
1 days ago
1. Steak
2. Nappies
3. Soap powder
4. Sanitary products
I hope we get the answers.
Buttercup2
1 days ago
Question wasn't very clear, I thought it meant shoplifters...
Cakey🎂
1 days ago
I thought you were asking for what we thought was the most stolen item in each of those groups, my suggestions are:
Food - joints of meat
Chemist - cough medicine or razor blades
Cleaning - bleach
Baby care - disposable nappies
Beth8it!
1 days ago
I’d have thought baby care first - people with babies are frequently struggling with costs anyway. I’m not typecasting but there are so many single mothers with several kids trying to exist and cope on their own, the temptation must be pretty great.
Barrie
1 days ago
I'd have said food.
😎👍🏼 ...9--0==✈🌞🐯
1 days ago
Soap powder is one of them. Name-brand laundry detergent: Premium laundry detergents, particularly Tide, have famously been used as a form of street currency in various cities due to their relatively high price point and universal utility.
Jaffa
1 days ago
Most shop theft is by drug addicts who as Little Owl said offload it to get money for drugs.
There are also organised gangs who sweep shelves and sell on at pubs and boot sales .
It’s seldom real poverty that is the cause.
Little Owl
1 days ago
Enver, we don't have much crime in this area, but there was an incident in the cleaning department of a local shop - 2 young women nicked a giant pack of soap powder and fought with the assistant (it was shocking), I was told it is because they can sell cleaning items on easily.
Val1101
2 days ago
!. Food
2. Baby Care dept.
3. Cleaning dept.
4. Chemist dept.
A Nick Name
2 days ago
I've had two really radical ideas today. A NHS that puts people's lives before money. And a Government that never blame the previous one for their own inadequacies.
A Nick Name
11 hours ago
The year's projected spending by the NHS is around £200 BILLION pounds, the actual spending for the year if everyone did their job right is £47. 😁
Chris
14 hours ago
@JennieS - "Basics are that the government should be able to Defend and Feed its own country. Both of which are no longer happening...."
We haven't been able to defend our shores for decades. That's why we are in NATO, stronger together. Nice though it is to reminisce about plucky little England standing up to the might of Germany, the simple fact is that an invasion of our shores was not Hitler's priority. He wanted Britain out of the war. Remember he was a racist, not a nationalist, and couldn't understand why we - racially similar to the German people - opposed his plans.
As for feeding ourselves. If we had not had the Atlantic Convoys from the USA, Britain would have starved. We've been a net importer of food for decades, since the height of Empire, and even with 'Dig for Victory' and everyone's gardens given over to food production, plus rationing at a level that would cause riots today, we were never more than a week from running out of food completely.
All an inconvenient truth, but we couldn't feed ourselves when our population was under £30 million and we certainly couldn't today.
Chris
14 hours ago
We could have a NHS that puts people first and provides whatever care people want, regardless of cost, but it would need to be paid for.
The current year's projected spending by the NHS is around £200 BILLION pounds. To increase this by a quarter would add - very roughly - £1,000 to the tax bill of every adult in the country.
Pensioners have not lost their Winter Fuel Allowance unless they have an income of over £35,000 poer year. That is considerably more than most working people, many of whom have mortgages to pay and families to support. The image of an old lady wrapped in blankets who can't afford to turn on the single bar fire is pure propaganda. I don't earn £35,000 a year or anything like it and nobody is giving me the WFA, nor should they.
Pensions are not frozen. The triple lock is still in place. This guarantees a minimum rise each year of 2.5%, and more if inflation or average pay awards are greater. A lot of working people would be more than happy with that. I'm due to retire in the not too distant future and I will be wealthier then than I have ever been in my life. Pass me the cruise brochure, someone?
Everyone wants better services, more money spending on everything, but nobody wants to pay more for it. You can't get a fortnight in the Caribbean for the price of a weekend in Skegness.
Beth8it!
20 hours ago
As a diehard Conservative voter, I think Starmer really had a chance of making me consider supporting him when he first was elected. I think he is a decent, well-meaning man but his problems all stem from his first and major fault - appointing Rachel Reeves as Chancellor. She makes the decisions, and effectively sets policy, which he has to present to the public as something he supports. When it all goes wrong and he has to make a U-turn it reflects on him, and he is in a no-win situation. If he sacked her he would be accused of looking for a scapegoat, if he stands by her she brings him down. To his credit he has always taken responsibility himself, but by not quietly replacing her early on it is now too late to kick her out. AFAIK all the unpopular decisions - pensions freeze, tax threshold freeze, pensioners’ WFB removal, inheritance tax on pensions - come from her Treasury decisions. Starmer was a Public Prosecutor, not an accountant, so she has pushed through her own ideas. We can only hope her time is over shortly.
Lol 63
a day ago
Not going to happen. Larry the resident Downing Street cat has seen 7 different PMs in his lifetime, looking like it could be 8 before very long.
Little Owl
1 days ago
I've often thought they should send a taskforce of retired business leaders (there are some ethical ones) into the NHS to work out ways to make things easier for staff and patients. Governments have always blamed the previous one, but they were more civil about it years ago. I don't like the nastiness from all sides during Prime Minister's questions.
JennieS
2 days ago
Basics are that the government should be able to Defend and Feed its own country. Both of which are no longer happening....
PacMan
2 days ago
Think that is in a parallel universe A N N !
oddcat🐱
2 days ago
Hi, I'm having a problem loading the site. I got a new windows laptop today, was previously using chrome. The links at the top of the pages for all the different draws don't 'complete'. They still appear as tho I haven't clicked on them.
I can see all the postcodes ok on every draw except the 6pm draw isn't showing can someone just confirm what it is so I don't have to panic that my pcode has come up! lol
I did look in the faq and did a hard refresh, and I logged out and back in again so not sure where the problem is, any help greatly appreciated. I have no cache to delete because this is my 1st visit with this laptop. Also using microsoft edge.
Edit
Checked on my old chrome book, The stackpot list is correct but the info at the bottom that says next draw at....states 9pm on my new laptop not 9am.
Also the 6pm postcode is is its place on the chromebook but is waiting to be shown on the laptop but strangely its in the 'already claimed ' slot below.
This is all to weird
Marie
in 28 minutes
Glad you worked out what the problem was, oddcat.
tetleyt
20 hours ago
I wish I just knew all this stuff……it sounds alien to me.🙄
Lol 63
a day ago
Once you have set the laptop to the correct time zone as Tim suggested, (sounds like it's set to New Zealand if it's 12 hours out) it should work out the correct time as soon as it sees an internet connection.
Click the Windows icon; settings; Time and Language; Date and time; region and then set it to UK.
After that, browse to the website ninite.com to select your favouite utilities and automatically install them.
Tim
1 days ago
If you haven't already done so oddcat, download & install the Google Chrome browser. When you then sign in to Google, it should have all your old bookmarks & passwords if you saved them them previously.
The clock issue sounds like the laptop is set to the wrong time zone. Normally when setting up the laptop for the 1st time, you get asked which country you are in.
If you discover too many problems at this early stage, i would be tempted to do a complete reset and set the laptop again, as if you have just got it out of the box. It's easier to do it now rather than in a few weeks or months time when you have customised it to your liking.
Chocolate Spaniel
2 days ago
Glad it got sorted.
oddcat🐱
2 days ago
Unbelievable, the clock was wrong! switched on this morning at 6.40 and screen tells me its 21.40. Brand new ZenBook 14 and after all the updates it auto processed yesterday, it didn't set the clock. Bizarre lol
Everything on PMP is correct now
😎👍🏼 ...9--0==✈🌞🐯
2 days ago
I have a reconditioned W10 laptop & a reconditioned Linux (Chrome o/s) laptop, when I got the newer Linux, I charged it, turned it on, & updated with my email address, all site links imported automatically from the Chrome browser on the W10. There's a slight difference in the way each browser works, but both displaying well.
Are other sites the same? Perhaps if it's 2nd hand or reconditioned there could be something wrong with the screen or software, or it's not fully powered up or updated yet? Contact Admin - they could advise or ask Tech for you (a screenshot might help).
If no joy by end of next week, consider returning it to wherever you got it for exchange or refund, or claim via any credit card, or (£100+ for debit card Chargeback via your bank), or PayPal payment you made.
oddcat🐱
2 days ago
Thanks chocolate spaniel. That's what I'm hoping, it will sort self out. Its been a bit of a nightmare all day setting everything up to the way I'm used to. I've been using chrome for a few years, coming back to windows is a challenge.
I bought a tablet, used it twice and gave up. I had no idea how to use it.
Chocolate Spaniel
2 days ago
It's LU6 3DF. Got no suggestions though, I would tend to go for 'see if it settles down' but that's hardly helpful! Currently struggling with setting up a tablet for OH where he hasn't saved his password and can't remember it! 🙄
Kenny b
2 days ago
Booked into a very basic b&b yesterday. The landlady apologised and said they were short staffed and could I make my own bed?
Sure I said no problem.
So she gave me a flat pack and a screwdriver!!😜😜
FlowerPower🌺🌼🌸💐🌹🌻🌷🍄
2 days ago
Yes it was on here A.Nick
maddadof
2 days ago
Kb :-) :-) :-)
A Nick Name
2 days ago
I'm hoping I didn't see this on here, if so apologies to whoever posted it.
I took my wife to a restaurant recently and asked if they had a table for two. The manager said "We're a bit short staffed, would you mind waiting?" I said "Of course, no problem" so he handed me a couple of plates and said "Those are for table 6."
FlamingWingGold
2 days ago
Brilliant!
Kiwi Shel 🥝
2 days ago
😂🥝
Damsel
2 days ago
😂 😂 😂
Pearl
2 days ago
At the top of my daily email, received by my computer, there is a phrase followed by an amount of money. I assume it is the total of prizes for that day. However the phrase says "Socket can"! I have checked on several days' worth of emails and they are all the same. So, why the strange wording?
Lol 63
a day ago
Are you by any chance a singer?
Little Owl
1 days ago
Pearl, don't rely on a daily email to check the site, it is easier to just bookmark it.
2 days ago
Your Prize Pot is clearly drunk. 😊
A Nick Name
2 days ago
Sounds like a hardware fault, related to Linux? People who know a lot more than me may be able to help if that's the case.
Marie
2 days ago
Pearl, at the top of the reminder emails it states "Prize pot" followed by the total amount available across all draws for that day and "Your Bonus", which is what is currently in your bonus pot. I assume you may be referring to where it says "Prize pot" based on what you have said. I have no idea why yours is showing as "Socket can". Please could you send us a screenshot of this, along with your device make & model and browser details, so that we can pass it onto Tech? Thank you.
Shyboy
2 days ago
Well that was a pleasant surprise. Offered a £2 PMP survey. Thought it would be the usual politics but no, it wasn't. A very interesting one about the Chichester Festival Theatre and I finished it. I only came in out of the garden for a coffee. It is hot out there with light cloud. Two washing loads hung up and the duvet out there for an airing.
Jaffa
2 days ago
Good to have an interesting survey that you can give honest feedback to.
Hope you have some more!
anng
2 days ago
Meanwhile in North-West Wales we have heavy rain and strong blustery wind, as usual.
Beth8it!
3 days ago
Unsettling experience tonight - lounging around watching TV, curtains open as usual in summer, and a vehicle comes down the track. I noticed it had stopped outside and thought, ‘Amazon - better put the outside lights on so he can see the house name on the gate.’ It then went on past the gate so I assumed it wanted my neighbour and sat down again, but it turned in my gateway and stopped outside again. This time it was there a good few seconds so I stood up again, went outside to see if maybe they were lost, and it drove off again up the track. Nothing particularly unusual in that, but it was very late, around 10.45pm, well after Amazon time, so I left the lights on and sat down again. What bothered me was that the same vehicle came back around 11.30 pm and did the same again. Looking in the window to see me here alone, then driving off as soon as I look like coming out to them? Not normal. In a very isolated area like this, we don’t just ignore things like that. It was a big vehicle, at least as big as my Volvo SUV, with very high lights at the back - may have been a pickup with a high trailer back, King Cab type and I think the top lights may have been orange. Anyway, that was enough for me. I phoned 101, reported to a very nice police lady who said it was quite right to report it but there wasn’t much they could do without knowing what the vehicle was. She would make sure the info went to the local officers to be aware and to be on the look out if tey were in this area. Anyway, I was telling stepson’s girlfriend (he is away at the moment) and she came up straight away. She is staying in his room overnight with Poppy the Lunatic in the lounge so hopefully that end of the house is covered too. Provided they don’t come back and decide to break in, I will report back in the morning!
Marie
in 31 minutes
That really is quite terrifying, Beth. I hope they've been deterred from whatever they were planning and that that is the last you see of them.
Barrie
11 hours ago
The police should be able to trace the car from your stepson's photograph. Not that they would tell you.
Beth8it!
16 hours ago
I think what may have put off our unwelcome visitors was seeing stepson holding up his phone, obviously filming them (though in fact he wasn’t ready to take the shot and only managed to get one picture.) Always worth a try, though I might think twice if they were close, as it may inspire them to try and grab it.
😎👍🏼 ...9--0==✈🌞🐯
a day ago
Think I put off a suspicious car tonight at 1.30am, I was standing in the cool night air outside Greggs looking at stars & passing planes, a red estate car came slowly down our (dead end) road & parked outside Farmfoods, which is a few doors away, with his rough diesel engine running. Dip lights were still on & I think he spotted me standing there in the dark, so turned on full beam & adjusted the position of his car to point towards me. Observing I wasn't moving for a few minutes, he turned it round & drove off the wrong way through a ⛔ where vehicles from the main raod drive in so obviously wasn't from here or didn't care. . I waited a minute or two then went round the corner & checked the backs of the shops, & he had gone..
Edit: He must have returned later & had a go, one of Farmfooids automatic sliding glass doors is smashed but still working & in one piece.
Poppy
a day ago
Beth, this must be very worrying for you. I really hope that this is the last you see of them, hopefully them seeing your stepson taking photos will stop them.
Beth8it!
1 days ago
I told the police I was thinking of printing the photo of the car and putting it on my gate with SUSPICIOUS VEHICLE under it. As far as I am aware it can’t be construed as libel as it is true!
Redz3112
1 days ago
FORGIVE CAPS PMP.
BETH,
I HOPE THE PICTURES YOUR STEPSON TOOK DETER THEM.
NOW YOUR NEIGHBOURS KNOW TO BE VIGILANT TOO. AFTER ALL, THEY MAY VENTURE ONTO THEIR PROPERTY, SO AT LEAST NOW YOU’VE EXTRA EYES & EARS LOOKING IN YOUR AREA.
THIS HAPPENED TO ME BEFORE. I ASKED THE POLICE TO DO REGULAR DRIVE-BY PATROLS. LUCKILY, IT WAS AT A TIME WHEN THE POLICE HAD THE RESOURCES TO DO THAT.
IT DEFINITELY HELPED, AS THEY WEREN’T SEEN AGAIN.
I TRULY HOPE THAT’S THE LAST YOU SEE OF THEM.
Beth8it!
1 days ago
Right, Update: yesterday was uneventful, and stepson got home from France around 11pm so no problems. This morning, however… he went out with Poppy and I took the boys while he was out (didn’t realise he had gone). When I got back he said there was a light beige large pickup with a cab on the back (fits my description!) parked in our gateway, facing into the garden. Just then a chocolate brown Kia came down the track and parked, and a man got out and joined the truck. The truck driver saw stepson approaching, told the other chap, who jumped back in the car and they both drive off quickly. They saw that stepson was photographing them, so maybe that will deter them. He got a picture of the Kia, with numberplate, but couldn’t get the truck, although he remembered part of the numberplate. These …people… (aren’t I polite) may be after things from outbuildings or could be after the puppies, which is more worrying. Police have been very good but as expected said it is not an offence to drive up a track, and although they are acting suspiciously, it would not give them enough to act on. I have just spent two hours going to all the neighbours, explaining what happened, showing them the picture of the car and asking them to tell the police if they see the cars again, especially if they are in ‘wrong’ places, but anyway to tell their friends locally. Someone will put it on WhatsApp in the village too.
Redz3112
1 days ago
FORGIVE CAPS PMP.
BETH,
I HOPE YOU HAD AN UNEVENTFUL NIGHT LAST NIGHT.
maddadof
2 days ago
I find a shot gun with rock salt shells handy. Non fatal, but they will hurt. ;-)
Bisto Kid
2 days ago
Nasty experience Beth, I hope you won't be on your own tonight will you? If they return don't whatever you do confront them. Keep doors locked, lights on, windows closed tight and as many lights on as you have around house and grounds. If you feel scared don't hesitate to call the police, they will send someone round to check.
I had a similar experience and the police came round (2.30am). they had scarpered by then and the above is the advice the police gave to me. Take care.
samandi
2 days ago
Take care Beth, some of them are ruthless.
Beth8it!
2 days ago
Sledgehammer through their car windscreen if so. Told police I could sneak out of french door, go out the side of the garden, try and get car reg or photo then if they were trying to get in the house I could throw their keys in the hedge. Trouble is, that means they are trapped nearer me than if they got away - rethink needed. It’s nice to imagine oneself as the brave, resourceful hero, but I doubt if it would really happen!
Damsel
2 days ago
Not a nice experience for you Beth, hope they don't come back.
Beth8it!
2 days ago
We have got PIR lights in front of the garage and at the back patio doors, but with the foxes, feral cat, and heavy tree growth in the wind they are frequently set off anyway. I can’t put them on the front gates or the forest ponies and cattle would wear out the batteries within a week. We have wired-in gate lights and PIRs round the side path so I don’t think we can do much more.
2 days ago
That’s excellent advice for anyone who’s fairly remote A.N.N
A Nick Name
2 days ago
There are trail cameras that could be left up your driveway, on the floor or fastened to a tree or post, they'll often take three photos and a short video when they're triggered so ought to pick up a registration plate if you can't.
Jaffa
2 days ago
Yes do you have a motion detector light Beth?
Failing that get in touch with the police and ask if they will do a home security check.We had one and they did offer some very practical advice.
AJR
2 days ago
As much as I hate where I live, I don't think I could be in an isolated area. Hope you get the alarm sorted out and hope they don't come back. Iike Suelero I would also have been up all night.
Beth8it!
2 days ago
Got an ADT alarm system, but unfortunately it chose yesterday to do its occasional drop-off and it only came back online when I reset it when I had gone out to look up the track. Got a picture of me at the gate but that’s all between 7.15pm and 11.45pm. I have contacted ADT today to get it che cked out or replaced as it is no good if not reliable.
IShyboy, there certainly wasn’t much of the night left when I went to sleep!
😎👍🏼 ...9--0==✈🌞🐯
2 days ago
Get a Ring door camera. It records anyone who enters your property & can send alerts to your smartphone wherever you are.
Suelero
2 days ago
😯 I would have been up all night.
Alley1940
2 days ago
I hope it was a one off or completely innocent Beth. Glad you weren't alone just in case.
samandi
2 days ago
The other ones that are doing the rounds are the ''Tree /hedge trimmers'' A man offered to cut my sister's single tree for varying amounts - started at £600 and gradually came down to £250. He was quite miffed when she refused ...😄
Redz3112
2 days ago
FORGIVE CAPS PMP.
BETH,
HOPEFULLY A 1 OFF 🙏🏻
I’M PLEASED YOUR STEPSON’S GIRLFRIEND CAME TO STAY.
Little Owl
2 days ago
That is worrying, Beth. I would have thought the police could have picked up an image of the vehicle on the main road where there must be cameras. Maybe you could mention it to the police contact at Thames Valley who was coming to look at Storm?
Titchy
2 days ago
Beth, I do think that Bruce8 has hit the nail on the head. I've been reading of a lot of dog thefts recently and some (thank goodness) have been found at traveler's caravan sites. I know you will.....but be very vigilant!
Jaffa
2 days ago
I hope it was a one off chancer Beth but worrying.
Marie
2 days ago
That is strange. I hope it's the last you see of them.
Beth8it!
3 days ago
If the blighters keep digging up my lawn I might let them! (No chance). Yes, all fine overnight. I stayed up until about 3am, got up 5.30 to make coffee, open door for dogs etc but didn’t get dressed until 6.45 so will probably doze off for half an hour later.
Bruce8
3 days ago
Unfortunately I've heard of this recently. Sometimes checking the property because they want to take the dogs.
FlowerPower🌺🌼🌸💐🌹🌻🌷🍄
3 days ago
A bit worrying Beth, hope it doesn’t keep you awake all night! & definitely hope you are ok & able to report back in the morning,
That’s one of the disadvantages of G. Earth, nefarious types can find even really isolated properties, with theft & criminal intent in mind.
A Nick Name
3 days ago
I did a questionnaire the other day: "Was I abused? Do I have trauma I don't remember?" It turned out I possibly was abused as a child.
What they obviously failed to see was my age. I'm of an age where I don't think everyone has been abused and needs pandering to, or is looking for attention. Having answered all the questions I thought with all this guff out there no wonder people choose to jump on the bandwagon. I was forced to eat food I 'didn't like', I was sent to bed without food if I'd 'been bad', I was beaten with a belt, sometimes the buckle end if I was 'very bad'. Was I abused? Of course I wasn't. I was disciplined in the way many children and parents and even grandparents now could do with these days. I long for that discipline to return and the world to become a better place for it. I could have been arrested recently for causing a youth to be 'triggered' because of language I used against him. I mentioned the word 'work'. I hope I'm not banned on here for using words like that.
A Nick Name
1 days ago
Little Owl. How I long for the good old days. I used to have to do press ups in PE, and the teacher, Mr Deadman, would grab my hair pulling me up to 'encourage' me. He'd never get away with it now....
as I've lost all my hair. I'd still go back to those days to 'encourage' kids now.
Little Owl
1 days ago
Our teacher used to bully a nice lad who was very small for his age (there was some medical condition as he died when he was in his 20s). The teacher used to make him stand on a chair, then a desk, to write things on the blackboard. The teacher would then move the desk, so the terrified lad had to balance on the ledge of the blackboard, and he was left there for ages. The other thing he did was throw the blackboard rubber underneath a desk and ask one his victims to retrieve it, then he would corral them in with chairs and beat them with a cane.
😎👍🏼 ...9--0==✈🌞🐯
2 days ago
Ditto with the blackboard rubber, in woodwork I built like a half box for my books which sat on my table, as I sat at the back by the window no-one could see what I was doing behind it. one day I was listening to pop music via an earpiece when the rubber flew at the lad next to me, who picked it up & threw it out the window. He was sent to get it out some prickly bushes.
samandi
2 days ago
We also had a teacher who threw blackboard rubbers until someone threw it back at him and was sent to the headmaster. The practice was promptly stopped.
Redz3112
2 days ago
FORGIVE CAPS PMP.
AAH, THE BLACKBOARD RUBBER - THE 1ST EVER DRONE! 😉
Beth8it!
2 days ago
One of ours also threw a blackboard rubber and also wandered round the class with the window pole held horizontally at low head-height. Anyone sitting up or gazing round instead of head-down in their books brained themselves.
A Nick Name
2 days ago
People will soon be writing to God. I do find it weird how some expect an apology from someone totally unconnected. You might as well ask the milkman. Thinking about that, maybe I should.
Lol 63
2 days ago
My dad and his brother used to tell of a teacher at their school who would throw a stick of chalk with all his might at anyone not paying attention in class and hit them in the middle of the forehead every time. Inches away from having an eye out.
If the pupil had their desk lid open, he would hurl the wooden board rubber at their fingers with the force of a cricket fast bowler.
Beth8it!
2 days ago
Alley, no, I’m currently preparing a letter to ask compensation from the Italian government for the invasion we had by the Romans. I want to do away with all their roads, hot baths and spas and put it back to the roundhuts and longhouses we had before.
Alley1940
2 days ago
I don't totally agree with all this looking back to the past and then expecting an apology. Yes it may look bad now but then most of it was normal.
Just my opinion of the "nanny" state.
Little Owl
2 days ago
A Nick Name, discipline is one thing, being beaten with the buckle end of a belt is another, you shouldn't accept that as normal. We had sick bullying teachers at school who used to pick on young boys and beat them just for fun. They weren't even good teachers.
Marie
2 days ago
Obviously there are some people who have sadly been abused, but that is different from discipline. Abuse is more to do with power, control, anger and unpredictability.
Beth8it!
3 days ago
I totally floored a marketing caller a few years back - ‘You may have been mis-sold PPI and we can help you…’ ‘No, I was told what the terms were, what the interest and commission was, so it doesn’t apply to me.’ ‘But we can help you get compensation anyway.’ Me: ‘That’s not compensation, it’s insurance fraud and theft.’ Phone dead, no more calls .
Beth8it!
3 days ago
Puppy tails update:
Police rep who couldn’t make it to see Storm (stuck on Isle of Wight) has confirmed he will be coming this weekend, but said whatever happens, they will definitely have him to go on their course in July, so that’s great.
I went shopping this afternoon and came back, opened the front door, let the dogs out and Indi immediately rushed to the car to help carry things in. I could see a problem coming, as they would want to take whatever she had, and she would want to carry it in to the kitchen to earn her reward. I decided to sacrifice a couple of bananas and gave the boys one each, just to see what they would do, as they love bananas. Indi had the rest of the bunch to carry. I was totally floored when they carefully carried them straight into the kitchen behind me, handed them over and took their reward, and immediately rushed back for something else to carry. I now have two small bunches of bananas with wrappers which Indi carried and one split into individual ones, all of which have little puncture marks all over. There was a bit of a delay at the end, and I stood in the kitchen waiting and wondering… then in comes Storm, very pleased with himself, the third bunch in his mouth, and Indi coming along behind with a single banana, and you could practically see the steam coming out of her ears - Damn kids! That’s MY bunch… he should be carrying this one… mutter mutter!
Photos will follow!
Beth8it!
1 days ago
Not in this garden, Enver! Ours goes straight down the manhole into the septic tank. The only problem is that they frequently use the gravel, which is blooming hard to clear up, and I can’t put stones down there, so the worst ones go out on the forest - it’s no different from the dogs going out there anyway, and it rots down in a couple of weeks. Plastic bags are a concession to public demand only when we go on holiday, or in a built up area.
😎👍🏼 ...9--0==✈🌞🐯
2 days ago
My lady friend just puts sand on any poo in her garden; the whole place stinks of dog.
Beth8it!
2 days ago
Never mind, Alley, you can share mine. I’ll let you know which are your days for picking-up the poo in the garden. That’s one thing that will be a lot easier with two than seven!
Alley1940
2 days ago
I have said before that you are reminding me of how much I miss not having a dog(s). Unfortunately not possible these days for me.
Marie
2 days ago
That's lovely, Beth 😊
Jaffa
2 days ago
Beth your joy has also been ours.
Beth8it!
3 days ago
They have been the most amazing experience - exhausting, bankrupting, house-wrecking, sleep-depriving, a constant worry about keeping them safe (especially with a 5’ deep pond in the garden) but also funny, loving, delightful, a laugh a minute, making me so proud of them on so many occasions, and I just want to see my kids have a happy, safe life with owners who will love them and treat them well. If they can do a useful life with the police, or as working dogs in some way, that is even better. They will be fulfilled and be doing what they were born to do. Can’t ask for more than that.
AJR
3 days ago
Oh Beth8it, I bet you’re going to miss Storm, as for the shopping, I can only imagine the scene and look forward to the photos.
Kenny b
3 days ago
Just made a mistake with some electrical wiring. I mistakenly wired up my toaster to the electric blanket.
Now every time it heats up I get popped out of bed!!😜😜
Bristolboy
2 days ago
But I bet when you go to bed, you are as warm as toast!!
Alley1940
2 days ago
Good one - made m3 laugh out loud. Nice followups too redz.
Buttercup2
2 days ago
I could just imagine Morecambe and Wise doing a skit on that as I read it...😅
Damsel
3 days ago
😂 😂 😂
Kenny b
3 days ago
Good ones redz
Redz3112
3 days ago
FORGIVE CAPS PMP.
THAT’S SOME CRUMB-BELIEVABLE ENGINEERING!
ARE YOU PATENTING IT AS A ‘POP UP’ ALARM? 😉
HERE’S A ‘TOAST’ TO YOUR SUCCESS 🥂
Poppy
3 days ago
🤣🤣
Redz3112
3 days ago
FORGIVE CAPS PMP.
I FIND IT WEIRD MSM IS IGNORING MP RUPERT LOWE’S ‘RAPE GANG INQUIRY’ REPORT - EXPOSING HARROWING TESTIMONIES & SYSTEMIC CHILD PROTECTION FAILURES.
EVER WONDERED WHY THERE WAS A SUDDEN EXPLOSION OF CASH-ONLY BARBERS, VAPE STORES, EMPTY MINI-MARTS & UNREGULATED PRIVATE HIRE VEHICLES?
THE NCA PROVED THEY ARE CRIMINAL FRONTS FOR £ LAUNDERING ETC….
NOW THE POLICE & TRADING STANDARDS ARE USING EMERGENCY LAWS TO RAID & CLOSE THEM FOR 1 YEAR (INVESTIGATIONS).
RUPERT LOWE HAS TABLED A MOTION DEMANDING THE GOVERNMENT IMPLEMENT THE REPORT'S PROTECTIONS & PRIORITIZE CHILD SAFETY OVER POLITICAL SENSITIVITY.
IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED -
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6810978a41bbc42489eafa81/t/6a314bb1151e511944bd4421/1781615537601/The+Rape+Gang+Inquiry+Report.pdf
(EDITED)
Chris
15 hours ago
It is not against 'human rights' for the Police to stop and search anyone whom they suspect of having committed, or being about to commit, an offence.
And if you don't like 'human rights,' I suggest you try Dubai where a British couple were held without trial or access to a solicitor foe the alleged offence of holding hands in public (one was male, the other female) or possibly Iran, where around 7,000 people have been executed for opposing the Government. Or, of course, the Soviet Union under Stalin.
The truth is, people don't want others to have 'human rights' but would object like mad if they were stopped by the Police themselves, denied access to a solicitor, held indefinitely without being charged and then subjected to torture to extract a confession.
A Nick Name
3 days ago
I live in a small town of 8,000 people and we are constantly having new barbers opening up, and takeaways, the police have raided the local off licence at least three times while I've lived here. Cars constantly block the pavement and as one leaves another takes its place, all day long. I can see cars still there after midnight even though they're supposed to be closed. In the last six days we've had two stabbings and a machete attack in the area, the first in the next street to us, a young woman stabbed in the neck. Obviously police wouldn't dream of stopping and searching people these days as it's against their human rights. Fortunately, after it happened and they'd arrested the guy we saw police walking around the area. Always good to do that after an attack, as you don't want to be around before or during, anything could happen. It's surprising with the people who live here that it wasn't this bad before now.
Lol 63
3 days ago
Every other shop in our high street is a vape store, a mobile phone accessory shop, a Turkish barber shop with no customers, or sometimes a combination of all three.
There is no way there is THAT much demand for vapes, mobile phone covers and Turkish haircuts. There's definitely some money changing hands under the counters.
Millwall Alan
3 days ago
💯
Derek. IDC.
3 days ago
👏👍
Redz3112
3 days ago
FORGIVE CAPS PMP.
FIDSTA,
THE GLOBAL SCALE OF THIS EXPLOITATION IS MASSIVE - HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT!
WHEN THE FULL EXTENT OF WHAT THESE INNOCENT CHILDREN WORLDWIDE HAVE ENDURED IS FINALLY EXPOSED 💔 🤯
ANON,
ABUSE IS ABUSE, REGARDLESS OF THE PERPETRATOR'S BACKGROUND!
JUST REALISED THAT COMMENT IS NO LONGER THERE I GOT CALLED AWAY AS I WAS POSTING.
Marie
3 days ago
You can always use an emoji instead.
Chocolate Spaniel
3 days ago
@ Fidsta, been asked before. Not going to happen.
Fidsta
3 days ago
We need a "Like" button or equivalent.
Consider this "liked", please!
Warrior gorilla
4 days ago
I keep getting bombed out of surveys I think it’s because of my age and being retired
Kiwi Shel 🥝
3 days ago
I'm an employed lady in my mid 40s and I've been screened out of all surveys except one. I don't mind as I usually receive a 5p screening out credit 👓
Marie
3 days ago
It's just the nature of Market Research. Sometimes you'll be screened out of a survey because you do not meet the demographic requirements. These could be anything such as age range, gender, location, employment status, where you shop etc. Or it could be that the bracket that you fit in to has had enough responses. The external surveys like to have an even amount of answers from each and each bracket type does not get completed at the same rate.
As the external surveys are advertised across many sites, there could be many people completing the surveys at once and it is possible that your bracket could reach its quota while you are in the middle or even at the end of the survey.
Chocolate Spaniel
4 days ago
Those of that age group tend to complete surveys earlier than others so the demographic fills more quickly, that's all.
Kenny b
4 days ago
There was a guy in the pub last night telling everyone that he was a huge pop star in the eighties.
No one believed him but he was adamant!!😜😜
choonsoonlee
15 hours ago
Yes, remember this program, he drove a mini, how did he learn to drive, so quickly ?
Trekker22
2 days ago
Hi Beth..! I remember it well, on TV from 1966 to 1967 - starred Gerald Harper as Adam, frozen in a block of ice in 1902 and thawed out in 1966 🥶! Love the photos of the “pups”, although they’re much too big to be called that now - “doglets”, perhaps…🤔!
LLAP 🖖!
Beth8it!
3 days ago
Anyone remember the TV series Adam Adamant?
Lol 63
3 days ago
Did you ridicule him? Apparently he isn't scared of it.
Kiwi Shel 🥝
3 days ago
😂 🐜
Alley1940
3 days ago
Clever.
maddadof
4 days ago
Kb :-) :-)
DaSoothMoother
4 days ago
Nice one Redz
Poppy
4 days ago
🤣🤣
Redz3112
4 days ago
FORGIVE CAPS PMP.
DID HE STAND & DELIVER HIS CONVICTIONS? 😉
jenkins
4 days ago
Prince Charming himself !
Tiseye
4 days ago
😂😁
tetleyt
4 days ago
😂
AJR
4 days ago
Lovely photo's, they've got so big! Thanks for sending them Beth8it and Marie.
Beth8it!
3 days ago
Yeah, pull the other one! 🙂
samandi
3 days ago
Beth, it's quite funny for those of us who don't have to clean up the mess. But I do sympathise with you.
Beth8it!
4 days ago
Enver, Indi is, Shadow is (tries to jump in himself but no chance yet) - Shadow turns round, tail between his legs and immediately gets tense, wants to go back indoors … I am hoping he will be happier next time, after a trip without being sick. My last dog was just the same.
Storm’s latest catastrophe: boys both out in the garden, digging the next mine shaft (no. 3) , and the door is open. I hadn’t seen or heard them for about 10 mins, and that’s usually a bad sign, so I went out to the kitchen, made a cup of coffee and put it on the small table next to my chair. This table is on the sheltered side, between the chair and the fire, away from the main thoroughfare. You can see where this is going, I expect. Anyway, I sat down, put my feet up on the large footstool and whistled. Nothing. Then, with about 0.5 seconds’ warning, storm gallops in, launches himself from about 4’ away, lands on the footstool, it shoots off to the side, hits the fire hearth, stops suddenly, Storm falls off , twists in the air to avoid launching into the fireplace, hits the top of my little table, table tips over, full cup of coffee hits the carpet… Great. Heave the chair out, stand the table up and scrabble round for all the bits out of the holder - TV remote, scissors, pens, reading glasses - check Storm, heave him upright and drag him out to the tap, wash off the coffee from his head and ears (no burns), mop up the coffee… Make a new cup of coffee and try again. Where was I? Oh yes, watching England.
😎👍🏼 ...9--0==✈🌞🐯
4 days ago
How lovely to see them them to get out & about, looks fun, bet they are eager to get in the car for the next trip.
Barrie
4 days ago
Handsome beasts.
samandi
4 days ago
I really like the one where they're sitting in a circle looking up at you. Poppy looks especially cute. Thank you
Little Owl
4 days ago
Thanks Marie and Beth. They are nearly as big as Indi, don't know how you can get on the chair! Lovely beach scene - could just put my feet in the water.
Marie
4 days ago
No problem at all! 😊
Beth8it!
4 days ago
Just heard from the police rep that he has been held up and can’t make it tonight to see Storm. The wait continues!
Shyboy
4 days ago
Really good photos.
maddadof
4 days ago
Nice, thank you B&M...
Jaffa
4 days ago
Yes wonderful pictures of them having fun.
Adley
4 days ago
Yet again screened out of the bonus survey without answering any questions but still got a 5p bonus
Jaffa
4 days ago
You were lucky!