On 2/8/2012 5:07 AM, Martin Brown wrote:

I would grow a mix of sloe, bullace, wild rose and pyracantha for
variety. The birds like them all. Vandals will be shredded to pieces on
all of them. Be careful what you wish for as pruning by hand requires
thick chrome leather gloves or you will get spiked and scratched.

I have a pair with cuffs that reach to my elbows. I wear them with a
thick jacket and heavy denim jeans.

On 07/02/2012 16:14, NT wrote:


Also add a _very_ loud alarm in teh shed, one that will /not/ give
false alarms.


In my experience, unless there is someone living nearby who would
actually give a damn about the noise, they are useless, as a whack with
a heavy object breaks them; as my father discovered with his garage.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

On Feb 8, 12:53*pm, David in Normandy
wrote:
On 07/02/2012 16:14, NT wrote:



Also add a _very_ loud alarm in teh shed, one that will /not/ give
false alarms.

In my experience, unless there is someone living nearby who would
actually give a damn about the noise, they are useless, as a whack with
a heavy object breaks them; as my father discovered with his garage.

--
David in Normandy. *
* *To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
* *subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
* *by a filter and not reach my inbox.

A mad old boy with an allotment plot close to me set some trip wires,
linked to something which fired off blank shotgun shells. Heard they
did go off a couple of times, and there very no problems with chavs
after that! Guess they wouldnt be able to tell if the shells were live
or not, so probably didnt want to risk it again. Get the feeling
though that if the police got to hear about this particular "alarm"
system, that they would probably find something to charge the old boy
with................

On 09/02/2012 01:59, Steerpike wrote:
On Feb 8, 12:53 pm, David in
wrote:
On 07/02/2012 16:14, NT wrote:



Also add a _very_ loud alarm in teh shed, one that will /not/ give
false alarms.

In my experience, unless there is someone living nearby who would
actually give a damn about the noise, they are useless, as a whack with
a heavy object breaks them; as my father discovered with his garage.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

A mad old boy with an allotment plot close to me set some trip wires,
linked to something which fired off blank shotgun shells. Heard they
did go off a couple of times, and there very no problems with chavs
after that! Guess they wouldnt be able to tell if the shells were live
or not, so probably didnt want to risk it again. Get the feeling
though that if the police got to hear about this particular "alarm"
system, that they would probably find something to charge the old boy
with................

An old farmer I knew used to get a chicken stolen from his coup once per
week when he went out shopping, so he rigged something up with a loose
roof tile. On his return he saw some blood splatters on the ground and
noticed a day or two later his neighbour had got a gash on his forehead.
Nothing was ever said, but no more chickens went missing. Needless to
say which of them would have been arrested had the police been involved!

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

On Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:07:25 +0000, Martin Brown
wrote:


Look for the stock proof hedging that looks like it has 1" needles

There isn't much stock proof hedging round New Moston and South
Chadderton but I will keep an eye out.


attached to 6" nails and you won't be too far off. A bit late now to
look for sloe fruits. There were still a few berries up here after Xmas.

I would grow a mix of sloe, bullace, wild rose and pyracantha for
variety. The birds like them all. Vandals will be shredded to pieces on
all of them. Be careful what you wish for as pruning by hand requires
thick chrome leather gloves or you will get spiked and scratched.


Thanks.
I think a nice mix would be best - pretty and practical!
--
http://www.voucherfreebies.co.uk

On Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:53:43 +0100, David in Normandy
wrote:

On 07/02/2012 16:14, NT wrote:


Also add a _very_ loud alarm in teh shed, one that will /not/ give
false alarms.


In my experience, unless there is someone living nearby who would
actually give a damn about the noise, they are useless, as a whack with
a heavy object breaks them; as my father discovered with his garage.


We live right backing the site so might hear it - our neighbours spend
more time in the back of the house than we do (their house, not ours).

I might have a spare shed alarm somewhere
--
http://www.voucherfreebies.co.uk

On Wed, 8 Feb 2012 16:59:15 -0800 (PST), Steerpike
wrote:


A mad old boy with an allotment plot close to me set some trip wires,

Hadn't thought of trip wires.
Bear pits yes.


linked to something which fired off blank shotgun shells. Heard they
did go off a couple of times, and there very no problems with chavs
after that! Guess they wouldnt be able to tell if the shells were live
or not, so probably didnt want to risk it again. Get the feeling
though that if the police got to hear about this particular "alarm"
system, that they would probably find something to charge the old boy
with................
--
http://www.voucherfreebies.co.uk

On Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:01:50 +0100, Martin wrote:



Istr there was once a bell or alarm that sounded like a large, fierce
dog barking!


A hungry alsation has been one idea I thought of. Suspect it wouldn't
be good for the allotment though.

Don't they bury the bones like other dogs do?

It'd need to be a big dog to eat 4 at once though.
--
http://www.voucherfreebies.co.uk

On 09/02/2012 11:00, mogga wrote:
On Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:53:43 +0100, David in Normandy
wrote:

On 07/02/2012 16:14, NT wrote:


Also add a _very_ loud alarm in teh shed, one that will /not/ give
false alarms.


In my experience, unless there is someone living nearby who would
actually give a damn about the noise, they are useless, as a whack with
a heavy object breaks them; as my father discovered with his garage.


We live right backing the site so might hear it - our neighbours spend
more time in the back of the house than we do (their house, not ours).

I might have a spare shed alarm somewhere

I probable depends on a number of factors as to how effective an audible
alarm is:
How loud it is.
How long the sound continues.
How close to residential properties.
What time of day or night it goes off.
And if they give a damn anyway.

Typically if a shed alarm were to sound for five seconds (before it got
smashed) at 3 AM, and assuming it managed to wake someone, they may be
less likely to get out of bed to look out of their window, especially if
it wasn't their alarm and if their bedroom was like the Arctic (Brrrr!)
they would be more likely to just wonder "What was that
noizzzzzzzzzzzzz" and turn over and drift off to sleep again.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

On 09/02/2012 09:59, mogga wrote:
On Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:07:25 +0000, Martin Brown
wrote:


Look for the stock proof hedging that looks like it has 1" needles

There isn't much stock proof hedging round New Moston and South
Chadderton but I will keep an eye out.


attached to 6" nails and you won't be too far off. A bit late now to
look for sloe fruits. There were still a few berries up here after Xmas.

I would grow a mix of sloe, bullace, wild rose and pyracantha for
variety. The birds like them all. Vandals will be shredded to pieces on
all of them. Be careful what you wish for as pruning by hand requires
thick chrome leather gloves or you will get spiked and scratched.


Thanks.
I think a nice mix would be best - pretty and practical!

I prefer chunks of about 6 feet of each to get a nice block the same.
And I don't discourage interlopers of wild rose or honeysuckle either.
You can probably add hawthorn to the list as well. Holly grows too
slowly and the prickly leaves are a bit of a nuisance on the ground.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

"mogga" wrote ...

Martin wrote:

Istr there was once a bell or alarm that sounded like a large, fierce
dog barking!


A hungry alsation has been one idea I thought of. Suspect it wouldn't
be good for the allotment though.

Don't they bury the bones like other dogs do?

It'd need to be a big dog to eat 4 at once though.

Plenty of homeless Staffies at Battersea.

One attacked my sis-in-law last week, came out of nowhere as she was walking
to her front door, tore into her and her show dog, a Rhodesian Ridgeback,
ripping his ears and his neck making him useless for showing in future (he
was due to go to Crufts again in a few weeks) and bit off the top joint of
her finger, luckily they have managed to stitch it back on but still not
sure it will survive and the bone is broken anyway. Ideal type of dog for
your purpose.

--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

On Feb 9, 12:14*pm, Martin Brown
wrote:
On 09/02/2012 09:59, mogga wrote:



On Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:07:25 +0000, Martin Brown
*wrote:

Look for the stock proof hedging that looks like it has 1" needles

There isn't much stock proof hedging round New Moston and South
Chadderton but I will keep an eye out.


attached to 6" nails and you won't be too far off. A bit late now to
look for sloe fruits. There were still a few berries up here after Xmas.

I would grow a mix of sloe, bullace, wild rose and pyracantha for
variety. The birds like them all. Vandals will be shredded to pieces on
all of them. Be careful what you wish for as pruning by hand requires
thick chrome leather gloves or you will get spiked and scratched.

Thanks.
I think a nice mix would be best - pretty and practical!

I prefer chunks of about 6 feet of each to get a nice block the same.
And I don't discourage interlopers of wild rose or honeysuckle either.
You can probably add hawthorn to the list as well. Holly grows too
slowly and the prickly leaves are a bit of a nuisance on the ground.

I'd defintiely go with variety. Sloes are lovely in pies, as long as
used correctly. Hawthorn are so-so but the yield is high and easy to
harvest.


NT

On Feb 9, 10:23*am, David in Normandy
wrote:
On 09/02/2012 11:00, mogga wrote:



On Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:53:43 +0100, David in Normandy
*wrote:

On 07/02/2012 16:14, NT wrote:

Also add a _very_ loud alarm in teh shed, one that will /not/ give
false alarms.

In my experience, unless there is someone living nearby who would
actually give a damn about the noise, they are useless, as a whack with
a heavy object breaks them; as my father discovered with his garage.

We live right backing the site so might hear it - our neighbours spend
more time in the back of the house than we do (their house, not ours).

I might have a spare shed alarm somewhere

I probable depends on a number of factors as to how effective an audible
alarm is:
How loud it is.
How long the sound continues.
How close to residential properties.
What time of day or night it goes off.
And if they give a damn anyway.

Typically if a shed alarm were to sound for five seconds (before it got
smashed) at 3 AM, and assuming it managed to wake someone, they may be
less likely to get out of bed to look out of their window, especially if
it wasn't their alarm and if their bedroom was like the Arctic (Brrrr!)
they would be more likely to just wonder "What was that
noizzzzzzzzzzzzz" and turn over and drift off to sleep again.

If the alarm's loud enough it'll be too painful for the thieves to
even want to go near it. Any half sensible burglar will pick a softer
target. High power piezo shriekers are available, but they require ...
I dont remember, but something like 2A at 24v IIRC, and I may well not
do.


NT

On Thu, 9 Feb 2012 04:49:04 -0800 (PST), NT wrote:

If the alarm's loud enough it'll be too painful for the thieves to
even want to go near it. Any half sensible burglar will pick a softer
target. High power piezo shriekers are available, but they require ...
I dont remember, but something like 2A at 24v IIRC, and I may well not
do.

Beat me to it.

"sound bomb alarm"

At random from 1st page:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TSSB2.html

111dB @ 1m 12v 190mA. A small 12v SLA will keep that going for quite
a while...

It would need protecting by something sturdy but with holes to let
the sound out. Or perhaps fit several around the interior of the shed
as well as a proper exterior bell box/sounder.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 09/02/2012 12:42, NT wrote:
On Feb 9, 12:14 pm, Martin
wrote:
On 09/02/2012 09:59, mogga wrote:

Thanks.
I think a nice mix would be best - pretty and practical!

I prefer chunks of about 6 feet of each to get a nice block the same.
And I don't discourage interlopers of wild rose or honeysuckle either.
You can probably add hawthorn to the list as well. Holly grows too
slowly and the prickly leaves are a bit of a nuisance on the ground.

I'd defintiely go with variety. Sloes are lovely in pies, as long as
used correctly. Hawthorn are so-so but the yield is high and easy to
harvest.

NT

Sloes are better in gin with sugar to taste. Goes through a phase of
looking worryingly like pink paraffin but tastes wonderful after that.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown