Matthew Steeples salutes home educated Matilda Walden, an impressive teenager whose enthusiasm knows no bounds and whose video about steeplejack Fred Dibnah is a must watch
In the time since, I have watched a number of subsequent videos by Matilda Walden – a young lady who aged just 13 years old last year won the world record for assembling a ‘Mr Potato Head’ in just 5.69-seconds – and most recently was impressed by one she made after visiting the former home of the late telly box titan Dr Fred Dibnah MBE.
In the 6:03-minute sequence, Walden (pictured top dancing outside it) toured Dibnah’s former home in Bolton, Lancashire – last featured in this publication in October 2012 when it was offered for sale for the somewhat staggering sum of £1.25 million ($1.54 million, €1.42 million or درهم5.67 million). She shared lively commentary and even performed a song she has written about the legendary Lancastrian steeplejack.
In doing so and in also sharing video footage she has filmed about steam trains, music and many other things, this inquisitive youngster provides an example of a Generation Z mind put to good use. Walden’s passion is clear and she is someone I do believe who will go far.
Thrice married father-of-five Fred Dibnah himself was himself known for his bluntness. He described himself as “just a bum who climbs chimeys” and once stated of his work: “If you make, it’s half a day with the undertaker.” He had no time for “fancy London types” and took the view that: “We’ve become a nation of conmen, living by selling double-glazing to each other.” His type sadly won’t be seen again and as Matilda herself concludes: “They don’t make them like Fred Dibnah anymore.”
Editor’s Note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.
Join Matilda Walden’s 2,700 followers on Facebook by clicking here and join the 1,200 who subscribe to her YouTube channel by clicking here.
Matilda River Walden with David Harper, one of the ‘stars’ of ‘Antiques Road Trip’ and ‘Bargain Hunt.’The teenager with the boxer Tyson Fury (in a ‘bread section’ in a Morrisons supermarket).And with Richard Jupp, former co-founder, songwriter and drummer of the band Elbow.In March 2022, the vlogger featured in ‘The Sun’ and was described as the “spud toy teen girl” who “smashed the world record for the fastest assembly of a Mr Potato Head toy.” She “put the pieces together in just 5.69 seconds” and “beat the previous best of 6.62 seconds, which stood as a world record for 12 years.”Bolton born Dr Frederick Dibnah MBE (1938 – 2004) described himself as a “backstreet mechanic,” but in essence it was his role as an entertainer that resulted in his becoming a genuine national treasure. Of meeting the late Queen Elizabeth II, he remarked: “I was slightly nervous shaking hands with the Queen. She asked me if I was still climbing chimneys. It beats me how she keeps tabs on everybody. I never thought I would be receiving an MBE.” Of wanting to meet the now King Charles III, he added: “I’d like to meet [him] because we share the same views about modern architecture.” Dibnah appeared on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Desert Island Discs’ on 1st December 1991 and chose tracks by amongst others Gary and Vera Aspey, Neil Diamond, James Galway, Elaine Paige, Sergey Rachmaniov, Jennifer Rush and Johnann Strauss II.
‘The Steeple Times’ requests submissions of the best and worst people of 2022 along with suggestions of those who’ll be missed and who won’t
It’s nearly that time of year when The Steeple Times shares its annual lists of the best and worst people of the year past and its lists of those who’ve passed who’ll be missed and those that won’t.
Our categories, as ever, are as follow:
The Best of 2022 – Heroes of The Year (25 names max).
The Worst People of 2022 – Vilains of The Year (25 names max).
The Ones Who’ll Be Missed 2022 (25 names max).
The Ones Who Won’t Be Missed 2022 (25 names max).
Amazing Animals Who’ve Sadly Left Us in 2022 (10 names max).
Whilst we’ll naturally be highlighting the obvious such as eternally wonderful “more is more and less is a bore” centenarian Iris Apfel and the constant year-on-year awfulness of ‘Ginge and Cringe’ and ‘Randy Andy’ in our overview sections, we’d more so appreciate your submissions of lesser known heroes and villains of 2022 especially.
We don’t doubt we’ll get missives about Matt Hancock, Boris Johnson, Anthea Turner, Dame Mary Berry, Sir Cliff Richard, Sir Richard Branson, Dame Patricia Routledge, Donald Trump, Richard Madeley and Owen Jones from both their fans and detractors, but community heroes and those who’ve brought a little joy to the world in 2022 would be even more welcomed.
Please send your nominations to [email protected] by 10am on Friday 30th December 2022. The completed rankings – with upto 25 in each category – will be published on Sunday 1st January 2023 and we look forward to your suggestions of those you have loved and loathed in equal measure in a tempestuous year marked by the cost-of-living crisis and the sad passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Editor’s Note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party.
In 2019, our winners were TV host Lorraine Kelly and sick Instagram ‘influencer’ Larysa Switylk. The former excelled after having a pop at Carrie Johnson during a live segment and became a “gritty heroine of our times.” The latter was exposed for having shoved sex toys up the bums of sheep she shot and for continuing to massacre endangered animals alongside the Trump children.In 2020, our winners were humble groom Bob Grace and “ultimate neighbour hell” Home Secretary Priti Patel. The former led out his first winner after 38 years of racing at Royal Ascot and of him one Twitter user concluded: “Bob is wonderful, be like Bob.” The latter angled for a return to the death penalty in the UK and kept on “minglin’” and “movin’” and generally misusing the English language. Sadly, she’s gotten even more God damned awful in the years since.In 2021, our winners were Richard Ratcliffe and Ghislaine Maxwell. The former worked tirelessly towards getting his wife returned from Iran and even conducted a 21-day hunger strike at Westminster. The latter thankfully got sent down, but remains a convicted sex offender who seemingly sex trafficked to no one actually convicted of receiving her victims. We also made Marcus Rashford our ‘Hero of the Decade’ for his work raising funds to provide 21 million meals for those in need and joined those glad about the deaths of Bernie Madoff, Phil Spector and the late paedophile Sir Jimmy Savile’s equally repugnant chauffeur Raymond Teret.The passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the saddest moments of 2022 for many in the UK. Who else will make it to that list and who’ll join the list that won’t be missed will be revealed on 1st January 2023 in ‘The Steeple Times.’
As residents of a village near Doncaster call a jackdaw named ‘Derek’ “horrible” and a “menace,” Facebook’s ‘Angry People in Local Newspapers’ group unsurprisingly tear these nasty NIMBYs apart
There are 1.4 million breeding pair of western jackdaws (corvus mondeula) in the United Kingdom according to the RSPB’s A-Z of Birds and they are quite rightly protected by The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Known for the “metallic chack of its call,” this small, black crow with “noticeable” pale eyes and a “distinctive silvery sheen” is lauded as “intelligent” and “subtly handsome.” They are loved by many, but the majority of the residents of Rossington, near Doncaster have come out to share their hatred of one particular example who frequents their locality.
Reporting on how the jackdaw in question has “been bringing fear to Rossington for a number of years,” the clearly wild bird – which most are ridiculously claiming to be a “domesticated pet” – stands accused of “divebombing” children and attacking workers. It has been termed “horrible” and one resident went as far as to rage: “I will shoot the thing and I don’t give a sh*t who owns it.”
Rather like with a pugnacious pensioner named John Aeberhard of Steeple Ashton, Wiltshire – who wanted to electrocute otters and catch herons in wires and whom was featured in The Steeple Times after being highlighted on APILN in March 2020 – the hateful people of this South Yorkshire former mining village clearly have no appreciation of the “gregarious” nature of a bird that Shootinguk observes: “Can be taught to imitate the human voice. Like all crows, they are the most intelligent of birds.”
Derek is clearly too bright for the ‘Doleites’ (the regional nickname for locals) of Doncaster; one can only hope he flies off to pastures new before he meets a sticky end at the hands of the nasty NIMBYs of Rossington.
Residents of Rossington on ‘Derek’:
Known originally as ‘daws’ (a name meaning “knavish or stupid person”), the Old English ‘jack’ (referencing “something small”) was added in the 16th century. A collective name for a group of them is a “clattering” – as Shootinguk claims it “perfectly evokes the noise made by a large group travelling between roosts and feeding grounds.”
Of this now infamous example of a bird that has wingspan average of 70cm and which normally lives for 5 to 6 years, residents of Rossington told Darren Burke:
Against (the majority):
“Horrible.”
“A menace.”
“That bloody bird.”
“Cannot stand the bird.”
“The thing is a menace.”
“It comes to something when kids can’t even go into their own garden without being petrified because of that bloody bird divebombing them trying to attack them.”
“To whomever owns the horrible thing, if you want to try domesticate a bird like that then keep it at home because if it hurts my kids there will be hell to pay and I don’t care who that offends.”
“The thing is a menace, attacking kids in school playground, on the street, in their own garden. If it was any other animal it would have been put to sleep following the first attack on a child.”
“Angry isn’t the word. I don’t care who thinks I’m overreacting or it’s just a bird but it could take someone’s eye out.”
“They got made to come in and have indoor break at school last week coz [he] was attacking kids on playground.”
“Me and my colleague was working outside at a customer’s house and got ambushed by [him]. He’s an absolute terror.”
“I hope it doesn’t attack one of my grandkids. I will shoot the thing and I don’t give a sh*t who owns it.”
“A horrible, nasty little thing.”
“A feathered fiend.”
“Demonic.”
In favour (the minority):
“Good old Derek.”
“It’s a wild bird, no one owns it.”
“My kids were feeding him earlier, he’s ace.”
“Does it wear a balaclava and ride a quad? It’s a bird!”
“Derek’s mint! Just carry a bag of crisps and he will love you forever lol [sic] he just wants to be your friend!”
“My daughter has told me a few times that Derek has caused all the kids to go inside at play time at school she said most of the kids love him.”
“Poor Derek – I know the bird please leave it alone it means no harm.”
“The village mascot.”
Doncaster Free Press reporter Darren Burke with an update on some of the news and sports stories in Doncaster today pic.twitter.com/X8JZMH7G5T
In March 2021, Darren Burke tweeted a plea for stories. Plainly lacking in breaking news content this week, he wrote of ‘Derek’ the Doncaster jackdaw’s antics rather than Shell’s massive profits or Elon Musk taking over Twitter, but most curiously did not cite the names of a single one of his sources.Of his something he’d written yesterday about the Don Valley MP Nick Fletcher declaring he’d be backing Rishi Sunak, Mr Burke observed this morning: “Looks like a few of my words today have ruffled a few feathers. Good. It’s what we’re here to do.” Clearly, the local journalist was anticipating his plans for his next story on “the thing is a menace” bird, Derek.Mr Burke clearly moved on from his “horrible bird” story, published on the morning of Thursday 27th October 2022, as by the early afternoon he was tweeting about “threats” he’d received from those that had read his works on Twitter. Of these, he remarked: “One of the favourite ‘threats’ I have as a journalist is when an angry individual tells you they have screenshots of the conversation you’ve had with them. What you gonna do, send ‘em to King Charles? Joe Biden? Putin?”
A stunningly filmed ‘must watch’ YouTube video by North Yorkshire based Robert E. Fuller – viewed over 5.2 million times already since being uploaded in May 2021 – features a kestrel defending its nest against a jackdaw. The tenacity of both is simply amazing; clearly the people of Rossington, Doncaster ought to appreciate their enthusiastic resident a little bit more.
Members of the Facebook group ‘Angry People In Local Newspapers’ react to the ‘Doncaster Free Press’ story:
Then 6-year-old French boy thrown from the 10th floor of the Tate Modern by a then 17-year-old monster in 2019 amazes with remarkable progress and is deservedly lauded as a “little knight”
The resilience and determination of children can be remarkable and the then 6-year-old French boy who was thrown from a 10th floor viewing platform at the Tate Modern in August 2019 is a true testament to that.
In a statement on 28th May, the child’s family remarked via a GoFundMe page supporting them:
“To fill the strong desire of our little knight to go in the water (he had been swimming since childhood), we managed to find a specialised educator who can accompany him to the swimming pool with great vigilance. Indeed, he still can’t put his head under water because of his swallowing difficulties. Our son has to start all over again from the beginning but that doesn’t scare him! He is so happy in the water!”
We do not know if this is related to the picking up of this activity, but our son is starting to move his left ankle. Once again, we are happy to see him succeed in making a new movement, still light of course, but clearly visible for two weeks.”
“Other good news, our little knight is standing more and more upright (he has gained muscle tone and strengthened his back) and he has made enough progress in his right ankle for his doctor to decide to remove the splint from the right foot! Our son therefore only has two splints left, on the left foot and on the left hand. Little by little, his armor is disappearing!”
“This week he has also been able to make his first try at the school canteen. He was very happy, even if he is still very sensitive to noise: he complained of having earaches at the end of the meal. For next week, his occupational therapist will lend him noise-canceling headphones that he can put on whenever he needs to soothe his eardrums.”
“Finally, we were able to celebrate his birthday for the first time with other children since the attack. Our son was able to invite classmates and even one of his buddies from our old town was able to come! They had a great afternoon together, despite their differences in mobility. It was exhausting for us, but it was a step closer to a classic life, and it’s worth it.”
“Some periods are so difficult. Sadness and discouragement would sometimes take hold of us, but we must hold on and focus on all the progress made. Thank you so much for continuing to think of our little knight and for encouraging us.”
Shockingly this is an incident that should never have occurred in the first place. The then 17-year-old perpetrator, Jonty Bravery, was an autistic teenager who lived in a placement in Northolt, West London with two-to-one care funded by Hammersmith and Fulham Borough Council and the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
The unironically named Bravery had been involved in a “series of troubling incidents” in the two years prior to the attack including threatening to kill members of the public, hitting a climbing wall instructor at a leisure centre and putting faeces in his mother’s make-up brushes. In April 2019, whilst on a supervised trip to Brighton, he had punched a care worker and a member of staff in a Burger King.
Allowed out for the day unaccompanied on 4th August 2019 in spite of his past violence, Bravery spent considerable time scoping out victims on the viewing platform of the Tate Modern and looking over the railings before committing a totally unprovoked attack on a child he had never even met before.
Subsequently jailed for 15 years after being convicted of attempted murder, Jonty Bravery was arrested again in 2021 on suspicion of raping a man in his 30s in the shower block of Her Majesty’s Prison Belmarsh. This is frankly indicative that those charged with minding this menace and monster are clearly not doing their jobs properly.
The GoFundMe fundraiser towards paying for the medical care and rehabilitation of the child has raised over £315,000 ($398,000, €370,000 or درهم1.5 million) and today we urge readers to join its nigh on 700 supporters – who number the BBC’s Emily Maitlis and billionaire Hans Rausing – by clicking here.
That Jonty Bravery, a then 17-year-old with a then undiagnosed personality disorder, autism and someone known for extremely violent behaviour, was allowed to wander central London unaccompanied by Hammersmith and Fulham Borough Council and the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is a genuine outrage. That Fulham Borough Council also spent £12,400 over the course of four court hearings as they tried to prevent this clearly warped individual being named is an utter disgrace. That this maniac was able then to hurl a young child previously unknown to him off the 10th floor viewing platform (pictured left on the day of the fateful incident with an air ambulance present) of an art gallery is equally shocking.The shocking incident occurred at the gallery on 4th August 2019 and involved the youngster being thrown 100-foot. Afterwards, the parents of the child victim asked: “How can one explain to a child that someone deliberately tried to kill him?”The story of resilience bares similarities to that of then 9-year-old Tobias Weller (AKA ‘Captain Tobias’) – whose story ‘The Steeple Times’ featured in August 2020. In spite of having cerebal palsy and autism, this inspiration raised over £150,000 for a children’s hospital and school by completing walking marathons in spite of being unable to stand or walk unaided.
‘The Steeple Times’ chooses our Heroes & Villains 2021; the 25 best and 25 worst people of the last year and the 25 who’ll be missed and the 25 who won’t
Happy New Year to all our readers. Our ‘Heroes & Villains’ list was well received in 2020 and as we move into 2021, we yet again to echo our sentiments from last year and join all celebrating ‘good riddance’ to the monstrous mess that so sadly continued from 2020 into 2021.
May we now all hope that this period of uncertainty is coming towards it end and may we salute the heroic frontline workers who’ve continued to work towards getting a solution to this.
Our Heroes & Villains 2021 list follows, but first we make a special award:
For such amazing dedication and tenacity in his quest to help others, this 24-year-old truly deserves to be commended as not just a hero of the year, but as one of the most remarkable men of the decade. We salute Marcus Rashford and join those lauding him for showing compassion, kindness and decency.
Long may this decent gent continue – but may we also hope that one day soon, a country like Britain stops actually needing to rely on the efforts of such people. It is time in 2022 for our Prime Minister to work towards provide a solution to this crisis, rather than, as it did in 2021, to allow itself to get mixed up in scandals such as ‘Wallpapergate’ and the disgraceful protection of its very own self-serving members like ‘MP for the BVI’ Geoffrey Cox QC and the now money grabbing rather than constituent focused ex-MP Owen Paterson.
HEROES OF 2021
We’ve seen some great people do some wonderful things during 2022 and in the face adversity and strife, it is yet again healthcare heroes who are the ones most deserving of our ultimate respect as they continue to fight to rid us all of coronavirus.
Elsewhere, others have put on extreme shows of courage, broken down barriers and supported those working to expose injustice. We celebrate them all, but our first selection for our Heroes & Villains 2021 list had to be:
WINNER – Richard Ratcliffe
Iranian-British dual citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been imprisoned for no good reason in Iran for 19 months. Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, meanwhile, has never given up hope and his 21-day hunger strike in Westminster in 2021 was illustration of his dedication and courage.
Though the British government has done little to nothing to help him and that the Foreign Secretary has yet to reach a solution is beyond disgraceful, Ratcliffe remains hopeful and in December remarked: “It feels like things are moving and movement is good. My greatest fear is inertia. I always feel it’s shameful, how could it happen, but it did.”
Rose Ayling-Ellis
Aged just 27 and born deaf, Rose Ayling-Ellis has played Frankie Lewis in the BBC One soap EastEnders since 2020. In 2021, she became the first deaf contestant on the channel’s Strictly Come Dancing and went on to win the show’s nineteenth series.
Her victory brought joy to the nation and of her success, award winning deaf and disabled journalist Liam O’Dell remarked: “It goes to show how, with the right support, deaf people can achieve anything… It’s important now that the buzz, passion and momentum generated by Rose’s journey does not dissipate – let’s continue uplifting deaf people!”
Alfie Best
In spite of being of humble origins and leaving school aged just 12, “old school, blood and blisters businessman” Alfie Best has risen to the top and deservedly recently won the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year Award’ at the Signature Awards at the Park Lane Hilton, London.
Described as “the world’s first gypsy billionaire” by the Mirror in August 2021, Wlydecrest Parks chairman and founder Best remarked: “I’m a Romany gypsy. I’m a gypsy through and through and sometimes I pinch myself.”
Generous, flamboyant and the owner of a fleet of helicopters and supercars, Best is the largest residential park and holiday home operator in the UK. He has over 91 parks in the UK alone and is also the owner of East Thurrock United.
Alfie Best, interviewed first by The Steeple Times in April 2017, is someone with tenacity and dedication to hard work. He sets an example to others that if you put in the hours, you’ll get the results and success you desire.
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, LG, GCVO, CSM, PC
Herself an “avid reader as a child,” the second wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, started what she described as a ‘Reading Room’ that is “inspired by the success of Her Royal Highness’s reading lists shared during the pandemic in 2020” in the last year.”
It has involved everyone from William Boyd and Susan Hill to Kazuo Ishiguro and Hilary Mantel and of why she started it, she herself stated:
“To me, reading is a great adventure. I’ve loved it since I was very small and I’d love everybody else to enjoy it as much as I do. You can escape and you can travel and you can laugh and you can cry. There’s every kind of emotion that humans experience in a book… It has been a lovely way of communicating.”
We urge readers of The Steeple Times to join the 128,000 who’ve already followed this worthy endeavour on Instagram.
Tony Hudgell (AKA ‘Bear’)
Happy New Year Everyone🎉 A message from Tony see you in 2022
Wishing you all health, love and happiness in the year to come 💙
— Tony Hudgell BEM (BCyA) Paula Hudgell OBE (@paula_hudgell) December 31, 2021
In his relatively short life thus far, 7-year-old double amputee and victim of parental abuse as a baby Tony Hudgell has morphed into a courageous changemaker.
This unstoppable dynamo – now adopted by two loving parents and living in West Malling, Kent – is a true “inspiration” and described as someone who “never complains, carries on no matter what is thrown at him – all the challenges, he just gets back up and carries on.”
Nicknamed ‘Captain’ for following in the footsteps of the late Captain Sir Tom Moore, Weller responded to the news by announcing:
“I’m chuffed to bits… It feels absolutely amazing to be honoured by the Queen. My mum told me about the award on Christmas Day and I thought, ‘wow! I am so excited.’”
“It makes me feel magnificent. I love raising money for charity and knowing I have helped other children is a lovely feeling. I am so proud and privileged.”
VILLAINS OF 2021
As could only be expected, many of the usual suspects to be considered villains in the context of our Heroes & Villains listings have behaved appallingly during 2021. Amongst them, towards the top of such a collection, has to be the buffoon that supposedly runs Britain but seems too busy consuming cheese and wine with his puppet mistress wife, Boris Johnson, and the mendacious money grabber the Duchess of Sussex and her sidekick drip of a husband, Prince Harry.
This dastardly duo – quite rightly now known as ‘Ginge and Cringe’ – have caused pain to the Queen at a time when she has lost her stalwart husband and joining them, others consistent in their vileness and ridiculousness must include, as ever, publican Tim Martin for whining about his beloved Brexit causing his profits to slump and the especially moronic media mouthpieces Darren Grimes, Owen Jones and Richard Madeley for their continuing crackpot craziness.
Now, unlike the entirely innocent and wrongly incarcerated Nazanin Zaghhari-Ratcliffe, rightly certain to spend the rest of her days rotting in the clink, mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell (pictured in happier times with her father’s rival, Rupert Murdoch) will never again be called a “socialite.”
This wicked wench will henceforth quite deservedly will forever be labelled a “sex offender” and “sex trafficker” and again The Steeple Times joins those calling for the 1994 Met Police investigation into what went on at the alleged brothel at her Stanhope Mews East mews house to urgently be reopened.
We know that’ll be unlikely to occur whilst her school and university mate Dame Cressida Dick remains in charge and equally, we suspect, the deviant daughter of a murdering pension pot plunderer will not offer up any powerful names of those that so disgustingly ‘enjoyed’ abusing the innocent victims she so willingly passed around.
Shame on her and in 2022 and beyond, may Ghislaine Maxwell forever rot in hell.
Russell Brand
In June 2021, The Steeple Times featured the story of how The Sun excused the unfunny comedian Russell Brand as “quick thinking and a hero” after his German Shepherd dog, Bear, caught a female wallaby “whilst it had its baby in its pouch” and “mauled it to death” in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. He should have instead been condemned and most certainly not saluted and at time we remarked:
“If Brand’s dog had attacked sheep or a child – which it quite potentially could do next given it plainly has a clear penchant for blood – would The Sun so easily have leapt to his defence? The hypocrisy of this shocking story is clear and today we call upon the RSPCA and police to intervene before Brand’s dog slaughters something else.”
As far as we are aware, disgustingly, both Bear and Brand remain at large; where the poor wallaby and its baby is buried is, however, unknown.
Gordon Elliott
Racing “blow-in” – given his being the son of a panel-beater and lacking any familial connections to horse racing – Gordon Elliott brought utter disgrace to the sport in March 2021 when he was banned as a trainer for 12 months after being captured on camera sitting on a dead horse whilst on his mobile phone and making a V-sign. Outrageously, this sick scumbag was allowed back into the game just 6 months later and nobody seemed to bat an eyelid.
Ivy Holt
PR pontificating prized pillock Ivy Holt of Media PR is so “highbrow” that we haven’t even got a photo of her – not that we’re bothered; it’d probably break your screens, she’s probably as ugly as sin physically on top of her ugly as sin soul.
This wannabe Brian Basham and fake news muckspreader was called out by The Steeple Times on 1st April 2021 – April Fools’ Day – after she tried to make a mockery of our previous day’s story about the twentieth anniversary of the tragic murder of Stuart Lubbock at the home of the disgraced ‘entertainer’ Michael Barrymore. Shame on her; what an utter disgrace.
Ms Holt (AKA Ivy Elizabeth Barbara Elsby) thought herself clever for sending a press release containing nothing but fake news. When questioned, she claimed that we, instead, were at fault for hurting the feelings of the deranged drug addict Lindsay Lohan. Frankly, this stupid cow and her crappy clients ‘Love Yourself’ ought to have got real. Next!
Rebecca Sabben-Clare
If you were a barrister, you’d most probably abide by the law and be a pillar of the community. Sadly, Rebecca Sabben-Clare of 7 King’s Bench isn’t such a person and after failing to keep her dog on a lead, the result was that her out-of-control beast savagely killed a seal that it managed to get its teeth into.
Sabben-Clare, instead of putting her hands up in shame, then tried to PR her way out of the situation and herself lawyered up. Why the police didn’t prosecute this unfit-to-own-an-animal-of-any-kind barbarian is beyond comprehension.
James Staley (AKA ‘Jes Staley’)
In February 2020, The Steeple Times made reference to an investigation into Barclays CEO Jes Staley (pictured left) in connection to his close connection to the croaked just under a year earlier paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
It took 627 days until anything progressed, but on 1st November 2021, this Boston, Massachusetts born close associate of Ghislaine Maxwell’s ex-lover finally stepped down. The mucky madam, meanwhile, had her Barclays account closed shut down while she was trying to fund her case in February 2020 on the basis of her links to the proceeds of crime.
THOSE WHO’LL BE MISSED
Sadly, as with any year, countless great people pass on into the skies and amongst the many who’ll be greatly missed are are the Queen’s late husband and constant stalwart Prince Philip, the billionaire businessmen Sir David Barclay and Galen Weston OC, CVO, OOnt, footballer Jimmy Greaves, founder of Tramp nightclub Johnny Gold, the Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding, the talk show host Larry King, the actresses Helen McCrory OBE and Una Stubbs, the racehorse trainer Zoe Davison and the Cheveley Park Stud owner David Thompson CBE.
Our twenty-five selections follow, but naturally the winner of the most missed for our Heroes & Villains 2021 list had to be:
WINNER – Archbishop Desmond Tutu OMSG CH GCStJ
A 90-year-old humanitarian, human rights activist and key force in the campaign to end apartheid, this humble South African hero to millions insisted on “no ostentatiousness or lavish spending” for his funeral and that he be given “the cheapest available coffin.”
Of him, via a video message shown at his funeral, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the head of the worldwide Anglican church, remarked:
“Archbishop Tutu lit up the world… that light has lit up countries globally that were struggling with fear, conflict, persecution, oppression, where the marginalised suffered.”
“When we were in the dark, he brought light. For me to praise him is like a mouse giving tribute to an elephant.”
“South Africa has given us extraordinary examples of towering leaders of the rainbow nation with President Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Tutu… Many Nobel winners’ lights have grown dimmer over time, but Archbishop Tutu’s has grown brighter.”
The late Archbishop himself once wisely added: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” He was spot on and with his passing, humanity is all the poorer.
Harry Brant
A “socialite and style setter” according to The New York Times, Harry Brant fulfilled the prophecy of “the good die young” when he was found dead aged just 24 in January 2021.
Son of the industrialist Peter M. Brant and original supermodel Stephanie Seymour, this modern-day “Little Lord Fauntleroy,” as Vanity Fair once called him, “pushed the boundaries on gender stereotype” and released unisex makeup collections with MAC with his brother even in 2015 and 2016.
Of his passing, his family announced in a statement: “He was a creative, loving and powerful soul that brought light into so many people’s hearts. He was truly a beautiful person inside and out.”
John Challis
The Steeple Times interviewed actor John Challis in May 2013. He told us that “mobile phones are a bloody nuisance” and that he loathed the word “gobsmacked.” He spoke of ABBA being his guilty pleasure and his love of the Hotel Splendido in Portofino and though he became best known for playing a conniving car dealer in Only Fools and Horses, he was only meant to be in the sitcom for one episode.
Thrice married and born in Clifton, Bristol, the legend that was John Challis died aged 79 in September 2021. The statement: “Come on, Marlene. Let’s go home and ignore each other for the evening” will sadly now never be heard directly from his lips ever again.
Terry Lubbock
A campaigner to the end for justice for his raped and murdered son, Stuart – a father of two who was killed in the most gruesome manner in March 2001 at the home of the since deservedly disgraced ‘entertainer’ Michael Barrymore – died after a long battle with cancer in September 2021.
Though he never managed to see any of those present at the Roydon, Essex bungalow when his son died, he will forever be remembered for being “mild-mannered” yet having “the heart of a lion.”
Wilbur Smith
Born in Northern Rhodesia in 1933, British-South African novelist Wilbur Smith (pictured with his beloved wife, Niso) had published an astonishing 49 books and sold over 140 million copies by the time he died in November 2021.
Smith was an international household name whose swashbuckling adventure stories gripped readers for over half a century. He covered critical periods including the dawn of colonial Africa, the American Civil War and the apartheid era South Africa and did so with style and panache.
In 2018, in his memoir On Leopard Rock, the author recounted his life and remarked he’d had ““tough times, bad marriages … burnt the midnight oil getting nowhere, but it has, all in the end, added up to a phenomenally fulfilled and wonderful life.” Believer in “deep research” Smith concluded: “I want to be remembered as somebody who gave pleasure to millions” and he most certainly will.
THOSE WHO WON’T BE MISSED
It is much harder to choose villains who deserve to be dead than heroes who deserve to be missed given they are all loved by somebody whatever they may have done, but lots of bad guys and gals have gone in 2021 – amongst them mobsters, murderers, rapists and sex offenders.
Those that especially stand out for our Heroes & Villains 2021 list include:
WINNER – Bernard L. Madoff
Having been sent to prison for 150 years, the maximum sentence allowed, on 29th June 2009, Queens, New York born Bernie Madoff died in prison on 14th April 2021.
An individual rotten to his core and the personification of greed this Ponzi schemer stole not only £48 billion ($65 billion), but also left behind a family in ruins. One of his two sons died of cancer, the other committed suicide and to the end this wicked “wizard of lies” and all-round wrong ‘un.
Quite rightly, in June 2020, this fraudster’s request for release on compassionate grounds was denied. His wife, Ruth, continues to deny any knowledge of the fraud in spite of being the long-time keeper of his books.
Michael McKevitt
Founder of the Real IRA Michael McKevitt was the brother-in-law of hunger striking Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) hunger striker Bobby Sands.
A County Leith native and eventually expelled from the Real IRA, McKevitt was one of four men found liable for the 1988 Omagh bombing and jailed in 2003 for “directing terroism” between August 1999 and October 2000. He had allegedly planned to assassinate the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair and died following a battle with cancer on 2nd January 2021.
Donald Rumsfeld, 13th and 21st United States Secretary of Defense
Forever more, Donald Rumsfeld’s name will be associated with “the biggest military fiasco in US history, the 2003 invasion of Iraq in pursuit of non-existent weapons of mass destruction, alongside the widespread use of torture that has dogged America’s reputation ever since” according to The Guardian.
A Donald Trump supporter described by Henry Kissinger as “the most ruthless man” he ever knew, the villain Rumsfeld was also labelled the “worst secretary of defense in American history” and a man who “lacked the wisdom to change his mind” by The Atlantic. Many believe this psychopath will burn in hell; they are more than likely right.
Phil Spector (born Harvey Phillip Spector)
Born in The Bronx, New York in December 1939, this clearly talented but totally unsound of mind American record producer, musician and songwriter worked with The Beatles, The Ronettes and Tina Turner.
In 2009, this monstrous twisted drug addict was convicted of the 2003 murder by shooting of the actress Lana Clarkson at his then home, the Pyrenees Castle in Alhambra, California, and sentenced to nineteen years to life in prison. Phil Spector died in the clink in Los Angeles, in January 2021. The world is a better place for this repugnant specimen’s passing.
Raymond Teret (AKA ‘Ugli’ and ‘Ugly Ray’)
Chauffeur to the perverted paedophile Sir Jimmy Savile turned radio DJ, Salisbury born Ray Teret was accused of over thirty offences of sexual abuse and eventually convicted of seven counts of rape and eleven counts of indecent assault in December 2014.
AND FINALLY… A SELECTION OF FIVE AMAZING ANIMALS WHO’VE SADLY LEFT US IN 2021
Some incredible animals spotted doing incredible things have kept us all going in the dark days 2021, but amongst those that sadly passed and are thus included on our Heroes & Villains 2021 list are:
WINNER – Seal named ‘Freddie Mercury’
Though the death of any majestic animal is awful, the way in which an irresponsible barrister (one of our Villains of 2021) named Rebecca Sabben-Clare QC reacted after her “snarling” terrier-cross mauled to death a “defenceless” seal on the River Thames in March 2021 was utterly disgraceful.
‘Freddie Mercury,’ as the seal was nicknamed, shamefully never got justice whilst the reprehensible Sabben-Clare was not even prosecuted. The lesson here is this: If you spot this wicked woman and her deranged dog in 2022, run for the hills.
Racehorse named ‘Galileo’
Aged 23 at the time of his death in July 2021, Galileo was a spectacular Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who ran eight times and won six races including The Derby, the Irish Stakes, the King George VI and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 2001. After his retirement, he became one of the most sought after sires of the world with notable offspring including Frankel, Nathaniel, and Anthony Van Dyck.
Minke whale calf named ‘Minnie’
In May 2021, an injured minke whale calf became trapped at Teddington Lock in the River Thames. Stuck sixty miles from the estuary, this poor 13-foot long juvenile – which was named ‘Minnie’ – got stuck in weeds after “running out of river and having nowhere to go.” After a desperate attempt to save the “poor fella,” the unfortunate mammal had to be put down with an overdose of anaesthetic.
Racehorse named ‘Roy Rocket’
With nine 1st places along with two 2nd and six 3rd places at Brighton during his eleven-year life, “Roy’s The Boy,” as he was known was “an incredible horse.” Stubborn to the point he wouldn’t go anywhere else, this favourite of punters even had an octogenarian fan named Iris who forced his trainer, John Berry, to down flasks of gin prior to sending him to post.
Dolphin named ‘Winter’
This female Atlantic bottlenose dolphin was found when she circa two months old tangled in a crab trap line in Mosquito Lagoon, Florida in December 2005. Without circulation to her tail flukes as a result, ‘Winter’ lost her tail and was given a prosthetic replacement. In turn, it allowed her make a complete recovery and become an international star featuring in books, films and Nintendo games even. She died in November 2021 of a twisted intestine.
THANK YOU AND ALL THE BEST FOR 2022
All at The Steeple Times would like to thank everyone who has contributed suggestions to our list of the Heroes & Villains 2021. Most have expressed that they would rather not be named so we shall respect that, but all their contributions are greatly appreciated.
May we end by wishing you and yours great times and prosperity in 2022 and may this, for us all, be a much better year.
Cheers and happiness galore and do send your suggestions for the heroes and villains of 2022 to us at [email protected] as the year progresses.
