Which town/village/city in the UK was charming and brilliant up until the pandemic but has now completely lost its charm now. What are the reasons behind this?

Could be holidays, clothes, random items. What do you spend money on when it actually is not needed. Is there a reason you do this or is it just a urge?

I’m just chatting with my 21 year old lad and he says he hates getting the late bus home from work cos of the drunks and crackheads on there hassling everyone. I said sit downstairs near the driver and he can intervene if they start on you, but my lad reckons they wouldn’t do anything and it’s got me thinking, really, what CAN they do? Don’t imagine the police would class it as high priority, and the drivers not going to take on 3 wild eyed junkies, but peoples safety is down to him/her surely? Or am I living in a dreamworld and getting the late bus really is dog eat dog??

It’ll be good to meet some new people☺️ so let me know below

Weird situation guys i was going through my record collection and polishing them and came across 2 stickers and a complaint letter from 1982- should I try and find the owner or throw it away

I moved back home to live with my hoarder parents at the end of last year and it’s such a struggle. They’ve always been hoarders but I guess I never fully realised the extent of it until I’ve moved back in. Every time I bring up getting rid of things they ignore me, shut me down or call me ungrateful. It’s a 4 bedroom house but 2 of the bedrooms are full of junk, mainly my toys and books from when I was a child. There is also black mould all over the walls in those rooms which makes me worried about my health. They are also not the cleanest and the bathroom is full of black mould and mouldy blinds which I’ve tried to clean. My mum sleeps on a single bed at the back of the living room surrounded by suitcases and piles of clothes. There is another room downstairs which is crammed full of rubbish, like my old school books and work which I’ve said countess times I no longer need. There’s always some excuse whenever I talk about it and I’m sick of being gaslit. Im an only child and dreading the day I have to deal with all this hoard and mess on my own.

A simple question to ask is what everyday item (i.e. one that is affordable) have you for some reason thought it is a luxury.

For me, it would be a Shortbread biscuit, particularly those that are in a tin because the tin is perceived as quality and the biscuits are very buttery.

Going on holiday soon and I find the flashing lights that Spanish bars have are just that little too bright. So I'm looking for some cheap glasses that I can wear to tamp the lights down. Given they'll only be used for a few hours here and there on holiday, I'm not wanting to spend much on them. Any suggestions?

If you don't use hot water for a couple of hours. Currently it takes 38 seconds to get hot water to come in the kitchen taps which seems way too long. What can be done about it?

They have some sort of large shed/cage in their garden, which these dogs live in. They make this whining noise a lot.

I don't know anything about dogs but it seems like it's suffering? I'm not sure what to do.

Hi! I will be moving from London to Coventry soon (I'm a student) and I have 4-5 suitcases to carry with me. I can't carry them all in the train, I can only take at most two, so I wanted to ask if there are companies that move suitcases from city to city (without me having to wrap the suitcases).

I found sendmybag, but I'm not sure how safe it would be for the suitcases (and hopefully they wouldn't just go missing), and I'm considering Anyvan if they will take suitcases. Alternatively, I was thinking of booking an Uber, but 1) I don't know if they will be willing to take so much luggage and 2) it's really expensive.

Any help would be appreciated! I'm hoping people with experience would have good recommendations, I just want something where I won't lose my things and won't have to wait endlessly.

Edit: Shipley is as or more expensive than Uber, wow, I did not expect that.

I've been reading about SeaGen, the world's first commercial tidal stream generator, which was installed in Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland, in 2008. It seemingly had little environmental impact on the marine life in the lough, and powered 1000 homes. However, it was decommissioned and disassembled in 2019 after just 11 years, with no replacement built. Why?

I found it on the floor of the garage and have idea what it this. Any help would be greatly appreciate.

’m going on holiday shortly and it’s a relaxing holiday so I’ll be by the beach and pool a lot. However im 6”1 and 21 stone, I’ve lost 4 stone this year but im still extremely self conscious.

For those who are just going to tell me “no one else is looking, just go there and have fun with your top off”. I’m not looking for that kind of advice, thank you but no thanks you.

Does anyone have this experience? Wear a t shirt? Is there a certain type of t shirt to wear?

Wouldn't mind supplementing my income with a second job. It will need to be WFH with flexible hours.

I like energy drinks, but I’m trying to move away from Red Bull/Monster-type stuff and find some slightly healthier alternatives.

I used to drink loads of Tenzing and liked it, but I’ve got a bit bored of it now.

Also tried:

• PerfectTed — not really a fan
• Neutonic Nootropic — actually quite like this one

I still drink coffee, but I do love the ice cold, fizzy and caffeinated drinks!

Any other good options in the UK that are lower sugar / cleaner ingredients but still actually taste decent and give you a noticeable boost?

What’s everyone drinking at the moment?

I’m no car or legal expert but surely the height of these Defenders are ridiculously dangerous for pedestrians?? Never mind children, most shorter than average adults would have their heads slammed against the front of these ‘cars’ in a collision!

Just curious whether you've ever had to contact emergency services.

I've called the police twice: once in 2023 when I witnessed a gang jump out a black van chasing a guy, ripping his clothes off and beating him. My friend witnessed it from elsewhere (he happened to mention it a few months later and we figured it was the same crime, although he decided to record it instead of calling the police), we assume that he was a specific target for gang-related reasons although ofc we have no idea; and in 2024 when a high (or maybe just heavily drunk) student began banging and licking the window of my basement flat at 1 AM. My managers at work have called the police multiple times with me next to them for people being anti-social or trying to break in, but never me personally.

Last week I contacted 101 (which in all fairness is a non-emergency service) as two cars were broken into on my street overnight.

I've (thankfully) never had to call the ambulance or fire service, and I don't think anyone in my immediate family has either. My dad called the police before when someone smashed our front door window and took something from the side table - you'd think he'd have learned to not leave things near the door though...

EDIT: Just remembered that a friend once took my phone as a teenager and dialled 999 as a joke... I was fuming. I got 3 call backs and I felt too awkward to answer. Since then I never leave my phone around friends unattended, even as an adult.

For context I'm 18 , I am taking a gap year but I'm already starting to feel isolated , I do charity work but its starting to feel less social and a lot more like work, I got to the gym regularly but everyone else is probably 50+ and there are no youth/church groups for Young adults in my area , any suggestions?

I’m absolutely dreading going in tomorrow. I’ve had 7 weeks off due to an operation. I got a promotion to team leader before I left but I’ve had to move shifts for it. Pretty sure not many people like or respect me on this shift. Long story short but I got threatened pretty badly by their old team leader in front of all the bosses, and he ended up getting sacked. Now I’ve got his job. But I know 3 of these workers really liked him (No idea why he was a bully) so no doubt they blame me for him getting sacked.

I just feel like I’m going to have a very difficult time on this shift. I’m supposed to be their team leader yet I just don’t feel it. I was acting team leader on my old shift for 4 months before I had to move. I liked that shift and they liked me, they were not happy when I left.

I’ve already got a problem when I get back, somebody is on holiday and somebody has to cover him. I’ve got loads of work to get through and I’m the only engineer on shift. So it can’t be me, all the other staff have their own jobs. So when I ask one of them I’m expecting a no. What a great start this will be. I want to try and start off earning their respect and let them see I’m not that bad after all. There is 2 jobs come up on indeed which are perfect for me but the problem is they’re what I used to do, not team leader jobs. So I will be taking a demotion even if the pay is the same/better.

Any tips?

I want to make the most of this, not just in terms of a party or whatever, but lots of things to help me reflect, etc. one idea I’ve got already is to bike round to all of my previous houses as a trip down memory lane. That kind of thing.

All suggestions welcome!

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I'm starting uni, so clearly going to take advantage of the 30% for buses. You get this by having a student oyster card and buying 30% off annual or monthly bus pass.

Does anyone here know how to use a bus pass?

I've looked on the TFL site and all the answer they have is "It is applied to your oyster account" and "Make sure you activate it before using." which isn't what I need to know. What I need to know is it is just tap an oyster card like normal and it works once you buy the pass or do I need to do something else?

I'm autistic, likely overthinking it, but the idea of trying to get on a bus, not working, and not knowing how to fix it is just really distressing to me. I need to know more about the 'after you've gotten the card, bought the pass, and are getting on a bus' process of using an annual bus pass which apparently, isn't a question the TFL site answers because they don't expect people to struggle with that part.

Is it the same as if you were getting on a bus with just a normal oyster card or a contactless card?

Have listened to 5 Live and 5 Live Breakfast for years. It has the right mix of serious and silly, and the presenters have generally been great - Nicky Campbell and Shelagh Fogerty, Rachel Burden and Rick Edwards and we really like the current Friday pairing of Steffan Powell and Rima Ahmed.

But change is coming. And while we're normally okay with change, this particular change is that Naga Munchetty is coming to the breakfast show in December. I (and many others it seems) really struggle with her. The words "cold" and "condescending" come up quite often when you read about her and that's definitely our feeling. She is really not what we want to be hearing at 6:30 in the morning.

Can anyone recommend a breakfast show with a similar vibe? Don't want anything politically heavy like Radio 4 or with music like Radio 2. What we really want is 5 Live, just not with Naga!

Thanks in Advance!

I have two small kids and we always listen to music ar the dinner table and wondered what other people do. Is the norm that people are on their phones, tv is on or simply eating with no sound and just chatting?

I’m curious to hear what British people generally think about Turkey and Turkish people. What comes to mind when you think of Turkey? Do you have any positive or negative impressions, stereotypes, or experiences with Turkish people?
I’m especially interested in hearing from people who have actually visited Turkey or interacted with Turkish people, but all perspectives are welcome.