Cookies
Most websites use cookies in order to improve user experience by enabling the website to ‘remember’ the user, either for the duration of their visit (using a ‘session cookie’) or for repeat visits (using a ‘persistent cookie’).
Cookies are used by this website to collect information for the purposes of managing and improving the services of the website, establishing browsing actions and patterns and preparing customised pages. This website requires cookies to provide you with the best visitor experience.
What is a cookie?
A cookie is a simple text file that is stored on a computer or mobile device by a website’s server and only that server will be able to retrieve or read the contents of that cookie. Each cookie is unique to a web browser. It will contain some anonymous information such as a unique identifier and the site name and some digits and numbers. It allows a website to remember things like user preferences.
Types of cookies used
Most cookies encountered when browsing this website are considered ‘third party’ cookies. This simply means the web site has used a feature supplied by an external provider, such as Google Analytics or Google Maps which sets the cookie. Third party cookies are not inherently more or less risky than first party cookies. The only thing to bear in mind is that the external provider, not this website, determines what type of information is stored and how it is used.
The most common type of cookie used on our web site is set by Google Analytics, which provides anonymous statistical data to us to show usage trends and to aid in making decisions about what types of content are most popular.
Google Analytics
Most web pages contain a Google Analytics tracking code to record anonymous information about the date and time of your visit, the type of browser used, approximate geographic location and the URL of any page that led this web site. That information is aggregated and used by us to identify usage trends on our site and to make decisions about which content is most popular.
Find information about opting out of browsing behaviour being shared with Google Analytics by visiting Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
A link to Facebook does not set cookies.
However, some Facebook features (such as the ‘Like’ button) will store information if and when you interact with them. Facebook will store and use information such as IP address, approximate location, browser type, the URL visited, whether logged into Facebook, and Facebook user ID. Visit Facebook and privacy for more details.
Twitter uses cookies and other similar technologies, such as pixels or local storage, to measure the effectiveness of advertisements and provide personalised content.
We use Twitter buttons on some of our pages to link through to the corresponding Twitter feed and the cookies are used to measure how effective these buttons are and how you might get to Twitter.
Google Maps
We have embedded Google Maps in some of our pages. Google may use cookies here to store user preferences or the last location selected. Cookies are set to expire between 6 months and two years. For more information about Google’s privacy policies, visit Google’s privacy policies page.
Cookies in use by this website
| Cookie Name | Purpose | Duration |
| _GRECAPTCHA | Used by Google reCaptcha to help protect the website from spammers | 6 Months |
| __ga | Used by Google Analytics to help us track visitor usage and optimise our site for the best visitor experience | 30 Minutes |
| __ga_xxxxx | Used by Google Analytics as a persistent cookie to help uniquely distinguish (but not personally identify) users | 30 Minutes |
| __gid | Used by Google Analytics to collect anonymous statistics such as number of visitors, pages visited, etc | 30 Minutes |
| __gat_gtg_UA_xxxxx | Used by Google Analytics to control the number of requests and throttle the request rate | 30 Minutes |
| Cookies for Admin users only | Purpose | |
| wordpress_test_cookie | Used to check whether your web browser is set to allow or reject cookies | End of browser session |
| wordpress_xxxxx | Uses to store your authentication details, and their use is limited to the admin console area | End of browser session |
| wordpress_logged_in_xxxxx | Used to indicate when you are logged in and who you are – required to be able to use the interface | End of browser session |
| wp-settings-xxxxx,wp-settings-time-xxxxx | Used to customise your view of admin interface and the main site interface | Under one year from the time set |
Where can I find out more about cookies?
To find out more about cookies, visit allaboutcookies.org.
You can opt out of cookie-based advertisements from many advertising platforms by visiting ‘Your online choices’ and switching off behavioural advertising from the organisations of your choice.
What to do if you don’t want cookies to be set
In order to not receive cookies, you can modify the browser so that it notifies you when cookies are sent to it or you can refuse cookies altogether. You can also delete cookies that have already been set. Please note that disabling cookies can affect your online experience of the site.
You can restrict or block web browser cookies set on your device through editing your browser settings; the browser Help function gives full instructions. Alternatively, you can visit About cookies, which contains comprehensive information on how to do this on a wide variety of desktop browsers.
