Link: http://www.east-lancs-rly.co.uk

A trip on the East Lancashire Railway is a journey back in time. It was opened in 1846 to link the Manchester to Bolton line with Radcliffe and was a popular passenger and freight route which served the Irwell Valley from Bury, via Ramsbottom, to Rawtenstall and beyond.

1972 saw the last passengers travel on the Bury to Rawtenstall section, and that would have been the end of an era had the East Lancashire Preservation Society not been committed to restoring the line to its former glory.

With assistance from Bury and Rossendale Councils, the line was reopened in 1991. The traditional station buildings and developments along the tracks have contributed to the Society being presented with a number of environmental awards. Work continued to finally complete the railways extension to Heywood which reopened to passengers in 2003.

They have diesel and steam engines running as well as special themed weekends and days, dining car, father Christmas, etc.

The railway now operates every weekend throughout the year, with some weekday running during the month of August.

Link: http://www.sheilaknight.me.uk/handmade.html

Unusual and unique, hand made greetings cards for any occasions.

Hand made by Sheila (Opens in a new window)

Link: https://britishgastopup.paypoint.com/Login.aspx

If you have a pre payment meter for your gas, with british gas, then you can receive free, a card reader to plug into your computer at home.

Once you have registered with the website, it's easy to visit the website (with your card reader plugged in) enter your username and password, then insert your gas card into the card reader, using your set up debit card, put credit on your gas card.

The reader updates your gas card with the credit in seconds, which you can then insert into your pre payment meter and credit your meter.

All without leaving your house. I have been using this for two months now, it is much easier than walking across town to a garage to put the credit on.

British Gas top up website (Opens in a new window)

Link: http://download.cnet.com/VLC-Media-Player/3000-13632_4-10267151.html

VLC media player will player most types of files on your computer, MP3s, MP4s, music and video.
It comes complete with a full dashboard of controls that includes zoom - brightness - contrast and a graphic equaliser.
VLC is open source and completely free. I can vouch for its reliability, I have been using VLC for more than three years now, especially when windows media player fails to open files, as I am finding more and more often.
VLC can play your CDs and DVDs without any issues regarding DRM or conflicts between your video card and computer (I haven't had this problem once with this program).

Safety is always paramount when online, so the link to the program is from a reputable source, (which will be posted in it's own right later) downloads.com
Rather than just providing a mirror link to somebodies webspace, I would recommend going through a trusted website.

to date, more than 19 MILLION people have downloaded the VLC media player from the linked website above.

Link: http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk

Help in all areas, from dental treatment to emergencies to swine flu, all under the NHS banner.
NHS direct also offers support and advice on mental illness.

NHS direct website (Opens in new window)

Telephone number: 0845 4647

For all museums throughout the North East.
Special events and exhibits, a great website, packed full of information and things to in the North East of England.

Tyne and Wear museums and activities (Opens in new window)

Link: http://north.iwm.org.uk/

A great website, packed with information.
You can even look up your relatives who may have fought in the great war!

With special exhibits at various times of the year, if wartime is your cup of tea, then pay them a visit.

Link: http://www.dragonflysoc.org.uk/home.html

Dragonfly heaven - what more do you need to know

The E.on customer service number is currently:

0845 303 3040

Link: http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/scripts/events_index.php

A great website this one, if you are planning to visit the North West of England, in particular, the City of Manchester and it's surrounding areas.

The Manchester city council's website lists services, etc, but more importantly, events that the council and other official bodies have running.
As I post this, Christmas markets are in full swing, Piccadilly gardens have their snow slide or perhaps you would rather use the Christmas winter ice rink?