We are please to say that Walmsley have opened a new office in Theale to compliment their current office in Caversham Reading Kent.  Here are a few words from Simon Walmsley, our oldest customer who we began working with in about 1998.

‘Opening a new office requires considerable preparation and foresight. There is always something that is behind and with us it was the company internet site. Fortunately Frank, who had just finished our newest version sprang into life and implemented the changes and new search facilities within 24 hours of instruction. Thanks to him all was uploaded on line the same day as the shop front signs. Great timing Frank and thanks’

So if you need to buy, sell or let property in Theale, now you can.

www.walmsley.co.uk

On Saturday the 13th, the group I am doing snowden with, climbed the malvern hill from end to end and back again which is about 20 miles round trip.  We managed to do it in just over four and a half hours, which is not bad I think?  Quite a good endurance test as it is one of those up and down walks where every crest has another hill in the distance and there seems no end to it.

I have a few more pains in muscles, mainly from not looking where I was going at one point and stepping off into a cliff drop.  All is well though and I am sort of looking forward to the big one next weekend.  Youy can still sponsor me at this address.

https://www.charitiestrust.org/members_data/event/frankpeaks/index.html

From Thursday to Saturday last week, I stayed in Breacon with my family, my good friend Nigel and his two sons, and Ted and Alice Waldron.  Ted had kindly offered to give me a few pointers for the Snowden 15 Peaks Challenge by taking me on a 20km hill walk.

We had a great time camping, real open fires at night, lovely farm with ponds and ducks.  The newest member of the family, BEN the dog had great fun.

Just got back from a Scout Camp and training exercise.  Walked from Brierley Hill to Kinver on Friday night and set up camp just as it was getting dark.  Had a great Night out under the stars with Nigel, Ian and the scouts.

Next day, packed up and hiked to the camp near Kidderminster Safari Park, going zig zag routs cross country to build up the miles.  I think we did about 16 miles on this walk.  It was tough going at times as the path would suddenly change from stiles and rough pathways, to barb wire, electric fences and 6ft nettles where the farmer had forgotten about the public footpath rules so his animals could graze and his spuds could grow I guess.

Got a few injuries when an old rusted through fence collapsed on me, after I had helped a few others over.  Several puncture wounds (barbed wire) later and with aching ribs from the landing, I am OK, but a little wiser and less trusting of ancient gates.

Today the scouts came back by bike to the HQ at Blakedown and I came back with Justine and the boys who picked me up to give them a chance to meet all the scouts.

Great weekend so CHEERS guys, really a great bunch of friendly and helpful kids, and leaders.

You can still sponsor my SNOWDEN WALK, details below…

https://www.charitiestrust.org/members_data/event/frankpeaks/index.html

Since we launched the new web site for WWW.FRANKPAGES.NET, several people have asked me about our statement that all our small items, like mobile phones, Bluetooth devises and cameras etc., are charged from solar power.  I thought I should take a moment to say how we do this.

It is quite easy and reasonably cheap to set up a solar array in your office.  We use two different solar systems. 

We are lucky that the office windows face South, and that we are on the second floor.  This means we get a lot of sun and can afford to block one of our windows completely with a large solar panel.  This is quite a modern efficient panel which is plugged into a 12 volt car battery.  The system is turned on when ever the sun comes out and switched off when it gets dark.  This saves a small amount of energy which would otherwise be wasted lighting up LED bulbs.

The battery slowly trickle charges every day and means we can store the energy from the sun for when we need it.  Once the energy is in there, you can simply add an inverter which changes the 12v supply to a low wattage 240v supply, which is powerful enough to charge things like a mobile, and it has a standard 3 pin plug socket which is great for most types of charger.

The second system is called Freeloader, a small gadget with a battery built in and two small removable solar panels, this allows us to charge our mobiles and some other devises even when we are on the move.  They sit on the windowsill and gather power from the sun.  It does take a few days to fully charge this small gadget from solar power, but it’s compact design and portability makes it worth the effort.

Solar panels are not yet brilliantly efficient.  They are getting better and cheaper all the time though and I think they have already reached a point where (if you wait for the sales at electrical shops like Maplins. or camping suppliers) you can easily pay back your initial out lay in a short time.

I think we have spent about £120 so far on kit, but if you think that we have charged all our small items on the system for about a year now.  And used the system to power our lighting etc., on camping holidays, rather than paying for campsite hook-up power.  Then we are doing quite well.

We strive to make our company as green as possible. This is done by purchasing environmentally friendly products, using renewable energy sources, and recycling waste when ever we can. Our company does not claim to be totally green, but we are working towards systems of best practice that allow us to feel happier about the environment we work and live in.

• Our PAPER is made from RECYCLED products
• Our MOBILES, CAMERAS, BATTERIES and PDA devices are exclusively charged from SOLAR ENERGY
• We RECYCLE BATTERIES and PRINTER CARTRIDGES
• All WASTE PAPER is shredded and COMPOSTED
• We use cleaning products that are less damaging on the environment
• All our equipment is properly switched off when the office is closed
• We use PAPER LESS INVOICES, BILLS and BANKING when ever possible
• All our transport needs are met by PUBLIC TRANSPORT systems or PEDAL POWER