Freecycle

I had been hanging on to a variety of computer gear for a while now (well, a few years actually) - an old PC with a defunct power supply, an unwanted surround-sound system, flatbed scanner that was not compatible with my current PC, and so on. I don't like to just throw-away things like that. It seems almost criminal to trash something that cost you £1,200 six years ago, and is still perfectly useable (with a bit of attention). And in any case, it is not that easy to get rid of bulky stuff when you live in a tower block - it just won't fit down the rubbish chute.

So, I had been hanging on to this stuff for quite a while, wondering what to do with it. I looked to see if there were any charity shops nearby that would come and collect. When I was a lad, people from voluntary organisations used to come around regularly collecting for "jumble sales". I myself used to do this for the cubs and scouts. But I have never encountered anything like that in the 23 years I have been living in London.

I assumed that there would be loads of local groups willing to take this stuff off my hands, but I could find nothing on the net. What I did find, however, was Freecycle. This is, effectively, a non-profit network of people who offload their unwanted stuff on each other. They use the Yahoo! Groups system to allow people to advertise stuff they don't want to people that might want or make use of it. For free. Members can also ask for stuff they are looking for.

I have to say that I was a bit dubious at first. But then I saw how much traffic there was in our own local area - the Lewisham Freecycle group has 5,688 members, and averages around 1,700 posts per month in it's group. So I decided to give it a try.

I was convinced that my pathetic collection of ancient and clapped-out computer hardware and software would not interest anybody. I was wrong. Within a few hours of posting my "OFFERED" items I received over 20 expressions of interest. I have to admit that I was a bit slow in following these up - partly because it was difficult to know where (or with whom) to start, and then I hadn't counted on the first few people I responded to ignoring my e-mails. But a week or so later my old PC and sound system have found a new home, the scanner is nearly gone, and there is actually someone who is interested in my carrier bag of old games CD-ROMs.

I am quite pleased with the outcome. Although it was slightly more of an effort to make the final arrangements than I had expected, it actually all worked well. I really don't like just throwing away perfectly good stuff just because I don't want or need it anymore, and Freecycle seems to be the answer. I'll certainly use it again.

Extremities

We have now travelled to the northern- and southernmost extremities of the UK rail network.

Two years ago we started our North Atlantic island-hopping trip by travelling by train from London to Thurso in the far North of the mainland Scotland - Britain's most northerly railway station. Today we returned from a pleasant break in St Ives, Cornwall, via Penzance - the most southerly station in the country. The two are some 600 miles (966km) apart as the crow flies, or 870 miles (1,400km) by train via London. 600 miles is about the same as the distance between London and Copenhagen, or Berlin, Prague, Milan, or Marseille.

We don't think of our country being that big. In fact, within Europe (excluding Russia), only Norway, Sweden and France have larger "tip-to-toe" dimensions (Norway being about 1,100 miles from far north to south, Sweden about 970 miles, and mainland France about 670 miles from Brittany to the Cote d'Azure). These days we sometimes think of ourselves as a small island off the coast of Europe, but we share latitude with 14 other EU countries, including the capitals of 12 of them (more than any other EU country).

On our 2005 North Atlantic trip we also visited the UK's most northerly inhabited place - Skaw, on the island of Unst in Shetland. A profoundly remote but attractive place, by surface transport you need to take three ferries to get there from mainland Britain. But it is worth the effort for the stunning coastal scenery, empty beaches, and the eerily deserted settlements on the surrounding hillsides.

Of course, having tested the limits of the rail network, and pushed on by road to the northernmost extent of the UK, we feel bound to do the same southwestwards - to the Scilly Isles. In fact, Andrew has been there once before, in the '70s, and still has clear memories of approaching the islands on the Penzance ferry, exploring Tresco Abbey gardens, and bumping into then Prime Minister Harold Wilson on the beach near St Mary's. Of course, the Scilly Isles will also be another addition to our islands collection, and we can get there by surface transport too. Although I think that we will have to arrange it so that we go at least one way by helicopter, as that is one of the few modes of transport that neither of us has experienced so far.