Yaffa

Two important restrictions on this sale (see the terms at: https://greatbritishrailsale.nationalrail.co.uk/#/great-british-rail-sale ) : Tickets need to be purchased at last 7 days before travel, and railcards can't be used.

According to the National Rail site (https://greatbritishrailsale.nationalrail.co.uk/#/great-british-rail-sale) the sale has now officially started (until 29th Jan, for travel between 30th Jan and 15th March), though not all rail operators are participating. As always, moneysavingexpert.com has some excellent info and tips to make the most of this sale at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/cheap-coach-train-ticket-deals/ (It will also surely be featured in the MSE weekly email, which usually goes out on Tuesday night).

Too late to edit my previous post but just saw on the Transpennine Express site that this offer only lets you make "1 purchase per account for a maximum of 4 return journeys or 8 one-way journeys." They have a number you can call to order tickets if you don't have access to digital channels. See the FAQ about the sale at: https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/sale. You can also see details of the Transpennine Express routes at: https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/travelling-with-us/routes.

Transpennine Express (with trains between Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, Glasgow and more) now also has a £1 flash sale. until 23:59pm on Friday, 19 January. Children aged 5-15 can travel for 50p. The sale covers select journeys from Monday, 22nd January and Friday 8th March on TransPennine Express services only, and exclude trains from 29th Jan to 6th Feb, because of industrial action. Once again, good info on how to obtain the discount on the Transpennine Express site and app are on the Money Saving Expert site: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/transpennine-express/#55362

Northern Rail has another flash ticket sale (£1 adults, 50p kids from 5-15, up to two kids under 5 with each paying adult) for selected (mostly off peak) advance journeys on its own network from 10th Jan to 1st March. Bookings can only be made on the Northern Rail site and the Northern Rail App (not on other sites or at stations) until 4 p.m. on Friday. You need to select 'Standard Advanced Ticket' (They're highlighted) and can only book single journeys (i.e. for a round trip, buy two singles). Tickets are non-refundable, but you can use the train swap function on the Seatfrog app to change to another ticket on the same day for £2.50. NB: You can't use railcards on these journeys but if you decide on a different ticket, you can get railcards for half price using Tesco Clubcard vouchers.) Also, until 23:59 pm. on 10th Jan, Great Western Railway has a sale (up to 50% off) on tickets from 10th Jan to 26th April on its own network As with the Northern sale, it's mostly for off peak tickets and the best tickets are going quickly but there are many tickets going into London on good ballet dates (e.g. Oxford to London Paddington) More about all of the above on the Money Saving Expert site: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/cheap-coach-train-ticket-deals/ Yaffa (with no connection to any of the above - just passing on the info)

Sorry to post this so close to the deadline... Northern Rail are having another flash sale with advance tickets at 10p, 50p. £1 and £2 for adults (half price for kids aged 5-15, and up to two children under 5 free per adult ticket), for travel between Monday 11th Sept and Friday 20th Oct. They're only for selected single journeys (mostly off-peak), and you can only book the tickets on the Northern Rail website and app (not at ticket offices) This time around, if you're not sure what time you'll be able to travel, you can use the Seatfrog app (whereby you pay £2.50 to change the time, but not the date of the ticket). More details at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/northern-rail/#55031 - and, as always, you can get good info about other train deals elsewhere on the MSE Site: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets/ Yaffa (with no connection to any of the above bodies, just passing on the info...)

Happy to give tickets to someone who can use them (no charge).

Amphitheatre Lower Slips, A-113 Amphitheatre Lower Slips, A-112 Not yet sure whether one or both tickets will be available. Selling at cost price of £3 each

Selling 1 ticket (front row on the left) for RBS' summer performance at Holland Park tonight (7 pm). It's mostly Upper School: £30

It's not just the cost, but also the terms which have changed. In the past I would often stay in dorms of the same company (Sanctuary Students - usually Dinwiddy House) for a few days in the summer, while attending RBS Summer performances. In recent years, prices shot up and last year the minimum was three nights. This year, all their London properties are only available for a minimum of three weeks...

Happy to contribute towards expenses for anyone driving up North after the last RBS performance on Saturday night (8th July). I'd ideally like to get up to Cheshire/Manchester but somewhere along the way might also work.

Scout Forsythe posted an interesting video on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0IXH8_AHQs

They've posted an update about the confusion and confirming the July deadline: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2023/january/royal-mail-stamps-deadline-july/

Hard to keep a straight face when you read about the "coup de PA" and see dancers being told to use their to use their "porter bra..."

Oops, sorry, Here's the correct link: https://www.ehn.org/pfas-clothing-2656587709.html

Some months ago, Environmental Health News published an article about possible exposure to toxic chemicals in sportswear: https://www.ehn.org/pfas-clothing-2656587709.html. Now it would appear that some major brand sports bras and athletic shirts have particularly high levels of BPA. From https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/13/business/bpa-sports-bras/index.html : To date, the watchdog said its investigations have found BPA only in polyester-based clothing containing spandex. “We want brands to reformulate their products to remove all bisphenols including BPA. In the interim, we recommend limiting the time you spend in your activewear by changing after your workout,” the group said. Curious about what, if anything, this means for ballet attire?

Just to clarify that these tickets can only be obtained via the Northern Rail site https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/ or app (not on the websites of other train operators). Also you can in fact search for a round trip - but then you need to select two separate £1 tickets for the journey.

Northern Rail currently has a flash sale with a million one-way advance tickets at £1 for adults, 50p for kids 5-15 and no charge for kids under 5, for travel from 6th Sept to 20th Oct. They're only on sale on the Northern Rail site and app (not at stations), and you need to buy two separate tickets for a return journey. Railcards can't be used with this offer. Best to book soon as the tickets will probably go quickly, particularly for the most popular routes. More on the moneysavingexpert.com website: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets/#northernsale NB: Some of these tickets could be used for free visits to 3,000+ heritage sites in September. More at: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/deals-hunter/2022/08/free-visits-to-hidden-property-gems/ Yaffa (with no connection to any of the above sites; just passing on the info)

RBS have uploaded a post with brief details of last year's graduates: when they entered the School, their accomplishments at the School and information about what they've been doing since they left. Most interesting, and I do hope we'll see further follow-up. https://www.royalballetschool.org.uk/2022/08/01/our-2021-graduates-where-are-they-now/

Unfortunately I will be unable to get to the matinee and am selling two tickets: Level 4 / Amphitheatre Lower Slips / Door 4E / A-103 (Restricted view) and Level 1 / Stalls Circle / Door 1D / D-54 (Standing/restricted view)

This from an email I just received from Holland Park about the performance tomorrow: The performance will begin at 7.00pm, so please aim to arrive in your seat at least five minutes before this. Latecomers will not be admitted. The site will open at 5:30pm for this performance. The performance will last approximately 135 minutes with a 25 minute interval.

Today is the start of the 'first ever Great British Rail Sale' with 17 Government-contracted rail operators offering more than a million tickets (mostly advance tickets) for travel between 25th April and 27th May at around half price. There are further discounts for railcard holders. Not all routes are available, and tickets for weekends are expected to go particularly fast. Further information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/over-one-million-half-price-rail-tickets-in-first-ever-great-british-rail-sale And, as always, moneysavingexpert.com has useful info about the sale and other good travel deals at at: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2022/04/half-price-rail--sale--launched-by-government---find-out-how-it-/

moneysavingexpert.com just published an article about the newly launched swap-out scheme for UK postage stamps without barcodes (including the supposedly 'forever' 1st and 2nd class stamps): https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2022/03/stamps--swap-out--scheme-opens-today---here-s-everything-you-nee/

My guess is that this and any other pricing benefits won't be affected, as the switch is simply to barcoded versions of exactly the same stamps (to prevent fraud, not to prevent the use of old stamps per se). So if you have a regular 'forever' 2nd class stamp, you will just change it for a new 2nd class stamp with a barcode - which will also be 'forever' (well, until the next system change).

Just saw that almost all UK stamps (including the supposedly 'forever' 1st and 2nd class stamps) will be unusable after 31st January next year. From 31st March 2022, It will be possible to swap them for new stamps with barcodes - but only until 31st March 2023. Details haven't yet been released/decided, but apparently the exchange of old stamps for new ones can only be done by mail, not in person Oh, what fun..... More on the moneysavingexpert.com site: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2022/02/anyone-with-stacks-of-stamps-at-home-has-less-than-one-year-to-u/