For those not familiar with it, this is the gist of the game:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Bulldogs_(game)

Most of the time we just used to "tig" one another to be caught. But in the summer when we were allowed to play on the school fields we used to play "Bodyguard" which is the rugby tackling version listed here. A great excuse to get your school uniform dirty and impress the girls with your manliness.

They banned it because little Johnny might fall over and graze his arm. Then mummy and daddy will sue the school. Alot of schools now ban football at playtime for the same reason. Kind of silly at a time when people are concerned about kids lack of exercise, they choose to ban two games which involved lots of running around.

ah yes, British Bulldog! The game now banned from school playgrounds. The perfect game on a cold day in February.

Jolly Ranchers!

He's be the first to acknowledge that himself. I did find his shows very entertaining. Sounds like he was very unlucky, apparently stingray attacks are rarely fatal - not that I'll be going anywhere near one, or crocodiles, or snakes or large spiders for that matter!

It was only yesterday whilst watching is show that I was thinking how lucky he's been and that it only takes one animal to get lucky...and then the news this morning. Really sad..

Do they have any students? Surely they're all graduates?

You could wander around the local establishments and say in a scouse accent "I'm Yosser Hughes", gee us a job."

I have a friend who lectures in Astronomy. When I asked him he said yes, they definitely went.

ditto Golfpro. You have to provide documentary evidence of funds being available.

The people of Norwich will be thrilled to have you, it's a chance for them to refresh the local gene pool.

Hertfordshire do it too. It's built on the old aerospace works in Hatfield. Not as prestigious as Leicester though.

I don't know your subject, but my general advice would be to talk to some academics in your field in the autumn, ask them what the state of play is and how to get started. You have time on your side as the funding competition doesn't get underway until February, so spend the meantime researching the market so you are well prepared.

It goes without saying that you will need to excel in your studies too. Good luck with it.

Oh yes, I ate lamb on Sunday.

I'm here, thanks for asking guys. I've had a week I'd very much like to put behind me and move on from.