My Cookie Policy
A clear explanation of how we use cookies on our website.
What are Cookies?
A cookie is a small text file that is placed and stored on your computer, mobile, or other device by websites that you visit. Cookies are widely used in order to make websites work or work more efficiently and also to provide information on visitor behaviour to the website owner.
For further information on the use of cookies visit: www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.
Types of Cookies
Session Cookies
Temporary & Essential
These are temporary cookies that remain in the cookie file of your device’s browser until you close the browser. They enable essential site functionality and are used by the server to remember information across web pages (e.g., maintaining login status or basket contents).
Persistent Cookies
Longer-Term Tracking
These remain in the cookie file of your browser for much longer, depending on their set lifetime. They are used to track website visits, monitor how users interact with the site, and may store user preferences (like language settings). They cannot identify you personally on their own.
How do I use Cookies?
We use cookies primarily for two reasons:
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Site Functionality: Ensuring our website operates correctly (Session Cookie).
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Web Analytics: Tracking traffic and visitor behaviour for performance improvements (Persistent Cookie).
The session cookies are strictly necessary for the website's operation and do not hold personal information. The persistent cookies are used to compile anonymous, aggregated statistics that help me understand user trends and improve the site structure.
What Cookies do I use and why?
Below details the cookies you may encounter during your visit:
| Cookie Name(s) | Type | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| PHPSESSID | Session | Generated by the PHP technology used to code our website. This cookie is essential for maintaining a user's session state. |
| GOOGLE ANALYTICS 4 (_ga, _ga_G-XXXXXX) |
Persistent | Performance/Analytics (GA4 - Event-Based): These cookies are used to uniquely identify users and track session activity based on GA4's modern, event-driven data model.
Details: `_ga` is the main persistent cookie for identifying a user across sessions (Client ID). `_ga_G-XXXXXX` (where G-XXXXXX is your Measurement ID) tracks the state of the current session.
|
| MATOMO ANALYTICS (_pk_id, _pk_ses) |
Persistent/Session | Performance/Analytics (Matomo): These cookies are used for self-hosted analytics.
Details: `_pk_id` is a persistent cookie used to identify unique visitors. `_pk_ses` is a short-term session cookie used to track the current visit and actions taken.
|
Third-Party Cookies
My website contains links to, and embedded content from, other websites (e.g., YouTube, social media). We do not control the cookies set by these third parties.
If you choose to visit an external website or interact with embedded content, you will be subject to their cookie policies and should check their websites for more information.
Managing your Cookies
You can restrict or block cookies by modifying the settings in your browser (usually via the 'Help' function).
Important: Deleting or disabling cookies may negatively affect the functionality and your access to certain areas or features of our site.
To opt out of Google Analytics tracking across all websites, visit: Google Analytics Opt-out.