DONSIDE Plastics Welding Ltd., Ticehurst, Sussex TN5 7HA, UK.
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Here is our selection of useful links, none of which are directly related to our line of business, but some are of business use. The rest are for when you are feeling inquisitive, or simply want to share our interests. If you have no immediate interest in our products but bookmark our site for the links, then at least we will always be available at the click of a mouse.
www.polybags.co.uk
For all your packaging needs. Search and purchase from massive stocklist online with FREE DELIVERY TO UK. Also, free online quotations for personalised carriers, bags/film made to order.
www.bizwiki.co.uk
UK focused Wiki-style business directory Bizwiki. It accepts free business listings, consumer reviews of businesses and allows registered users to edit and add to business information.
www.frixo.com
Frixo is a road / motorway traffic reporting site and think it may be a useful resource for your readers. It gives users up to date information as the site gets updated every 3 minutes via feeds from various sources including the government's official Highways Agency site.
www.highways.gov.uk
Traffic England is a new service from the Highways Agency that brings to your desktop real-time traffic information from the National Traffic Control Centre.
www.homecheck.co.uk
Thinking of buying a house? Check with this site to make sure it is not in an area likely to flood etc., or to take the area crime rate into consideration.
uk2.multimap.com
Going somewhere?
Download a street map from this site and never get lost again.
www.companieshouse.co.uk
Check that limited companies are fit to be your customers. Go to the Company Information section to do a free check on incorporation, whether accounts are overdue, or to check on disqualified
directors. Company accounts etc. are available for a charge.
www.ripofftipoff.net
Don't fancy being ripped off? Try this site from Trading Standards to round up your local cowboy.
www.scantips.com
Do you want to learn the wrinkles of photograph scanning? All the ins and outs are to be found on this excellent site.
home.clara.net
Interested in all the old
weights and measures? Here's some really fascinating
anorak stuff. By the way, should we still be able to buy
mint imperials? Shouldn't they be metric
mints?
www.nationalrail.co.uk
Going by train? For timetables try this site.
www.nationalrail.co.uk
The site allows you to view station departure boards for all mainland National Rail stations.
You can also access this information from a mobile device.
www.bahn.co.uk
The German
Railways site for timetables, even British ones.
This leads us very nicely to:
Statistically, along with rail travel, flying is far safer than stepping into your car every day, but for some people it's just not fun. For those that think that a European holiday is impractical unless you fly, get a numb bum for hours on end in a coach, or have to drive (we do that the rest of the year), here are some useful sites to help you go by rail.
www.seat61.com
How to travel by train & ship...
Maybe you don't like flying. Or perhaps you just prefer classic travel by express train and ocean liner, where you eat in a restaurant, sleep in a bed, and get to see where you're going... This website will tell you how to travel comfortably by train or ship for many journeys where you might think that air was now the only option.
www.eurostar.com
If you are near to the South-East corner of England, then your most useful asset is Eurostar. You can visit the Book Now part of the site to see what is available without having to go as far as booking. Beware, this part of the site times you out if you hang around too long and you have to start again.
Unfortunately, Eurostar are about to mess things up for rail travellers that live in Kent and East Sussex by withdrawing the service from Ashford International to Brussels from 14/11/2007, expecting all to jump in their cars up to Ebbsfleet to catch Brussels trains. Eurostar trade on their 'environmentally friendly' form of transport and then cut out the Ashford stop, which now has a through rail service along the south coast from Brighton to Ashford to complement it. Doh!!! Services will still be available to France, but it is the Belgian connection that is ideal for Germany & Holland. Travellers from London will travel from St. Pancras from 14/11/2007 instead of Waterloo.
If you intend to travel by rail around European countries for up to a month, then it may be worth you considering an InterRail pass. For information go to www.bahn.co.uk.
For European rail tickets try the following:
www.bahn.co.uk
There are some good bargain tickets to be had when travelling via Germany. Also, for travel within areas of Germany click this link to go directly to the page.
www.festtravel.co.uk
Festiniog Travel
Stephen Walker Travel Telephone 01205 310000
www.trainseurope.co.uk
Trainseurope offer
all types of passes and tickets, but if you want to talk
then it's 60p per minute (refundable if you purchase).
Link to Enthusiast Holidays site.
www.raileurope.co.uk
Rail Europe
particularly useful for breaks by Eurostar and TVG to
places on the French high-speed network, French motorail
services, and winter trains to the French Alps.
Most general high street travel agents are a complete waste of time for continental rail tickets (possibly apart from Eurostar or as part of a standard package). Use one of the specialists above, they have an interest in rail travel.
General tip: If you just book a Eurostar ticket with the intention of purchasing onward tickets at Brussels Midi, allow plenty of time. Their system of "take a number from the machine and wait for your number to come up" is very fair and organised, but sheer quantity of customers at busy times means you are in for a wait, and possibly missed connections. Buy your complete ticket package from someone like German Rail before you go, including Eurostar tickets.
www.sdm.ch
If you want the most
comprehensive pass for Switzerland then buy the Swiss
Pass (or the Swiss Flexi Pass). Purchase this in
advance from the Switzerland Travel
Centre.
Details of continental rail passes (there are far more than are available for travel in the UK) can be found annually in the magazine Today's Railways, usually in the May and June dated issues. Available from your newsagent or Platform 5 Publishing, telephone 0114 255 8000
Here are links to some European national railway sites:
www.oebb.at
Austrian Railways.
Efficient system, good service, realistically
priced, integrated bus links, and wonderful scenery.
www.b-rail.be
Belgian
Railways. Intensive service, reasonably
priced. They offer some very
good value weekend tickets.
www.cdrail.cz
Czech
Railways.
www.dsb.dk
Danish
Railways.
www.ns.nl
Dutch/Netherlands Railways. Intensive regular pattern service at prices that
encourage its use.
www.sncf.fr
French Railways. Famous for its fast and efficient TGV services. However, away from these the service can be somewhat sparse, or even a bus! Their timetable can be most complicated, with the same train having varying timings on different days of the week! They are at last waking up to the idea that not everyone wants to travel via Paris......but only just!
www.bahn.de
German Railways. Vast system. Superbly integrated mixture of high speed and local services. Click on the "Int.
Guests" part of the site for details of ticket offers (in English). If you are not in a hurry but want to clock up the miles, look at the national offers for the Schönes-Wochende or Happy Weekend (as they call it) ticket. It is the best value ticket you are likely to encounter as up to five people can travel for the whole of either Saturday or Sunday for just 35 Euros (about GBP24). However, you must stick to local/stopping services, it is not valid on express trains of any description. It is possible to journey hundreds of miles for, potentially, less than five pounds per person! Look also at their day tickets for various areas of Germany.
www.mav.hu
Hungarian
Railways. Hungarian citizens over 65 years of age
can travel free of charge in second class, as can their
war widows, disabled soldiers etc. What do you
reckon on the chances of free seats for pensioners on
British railway services?
www.trenitaliaplus.com
Italian Railways
www.cfl.lu
Luxembourg
Railways. Small country but with a system well
integrated with its neighbours.
www.nsb.no
Norwegian Railways. Scenic splendour - Must go someday!
www.pkp.pl
Polish
Railways.
www.cp.pt
Portuguese
Railways.
www.zsr.sk
Slovakian
Railways.
www.renfe.es
Spanish
Railways.
www.sj.se
Swedish Railways. Abba look at this (sorry!)
www.rail.ch
Swiss
Railways. Superb regular interval system serving
the whole country with both the national railway system
and loads of private railways, all integrated and running
like clockwork (very appropriate for a nation famous for
its clocks!). This site has links for the private
lines. Rail travel is not cheap in Switzerland
(consider buying a Swiss Pass if you want to travel a
lot), but you do get a quality product for your
money. The scenery is pretty good as well!
www.thalys.com
Thalys rail
services. High speed trains linking
Paris/Brussels/Amsterdam/Cologne etc. Priced to suit
those in a hurry and wishing to reserve a seat.
Good service but desperately short of leg-room at
some second class seats.
Page revised Sat, Jul 19 2008
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