The Steeple Times

Tag: Bristol

  • Five Famous British Poker Players – The Stories Of Poker Hand Success

    Five Famous British Poker Players – The Stories Of Poker Hand Success

    David Lennox shares the stories of five famous British poker players and what makes them good at their game

    Many of our readers enjoy gaming both in casinos and online on sites such as SlotsLV, but most would struggle to name individuals famous for other activities who also happen to be very, very good at games such as poker.

     

    Whilst well-known individuals such as the footballer Michael Owen has also found success on the horseracing circuit and the England manager Terry Venables is now also known for co-creating the detective series Hazell, the following five ‘famous faces’ are the British kings of ‘poker hand’ activity:

     

    Derren Brown

    Derren Brown

    Mentalist, illusionist, painter and author are just a few of the occupations Derren Brown has practicised. A former evangelical Christian turned atheist, this award-winning “master of mind control” is a winner of two Laurence Olivier Awards and in 2014 appeared as himself in the Sherlock episode ‘The Empty Hearse.’

     

    Active since 1992, Croydon born Brown claims not possess any supernatural powers and often begins his shows by stating that what he does is achieved through “magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship.” He took inspiration from the hypnotist Martin S. Taylor and worked as a conjuror whilst studying at the University of Bristol.

     

    Considered a controversial entertainer by some, Brown – who claims to be a “big fan” of parrots and who is a patron of the Parrot Zoo Trust in Friskney, Lincolnshire – is said to have “prowess” also at blackjack and poker. He is considered so good that he has supposedly been banned from several casinos in the United Kingdom.

     

    Stephen Chidwick (Aliases ‘stevie444’ and ‘TylersDad64’)

    Stephen Chidwick

    Aside from being a lookalike of the Marmite-like social media manipulator Andrew Tate, Playa del Carmen based Stephen Chidwick is listed as being the number one on the England all-time money list for poker tournament winnings.

     

    Born in 1989 in Deal, Kent and “popular with the fans,” Chidwick had raked in a grand total of £26.1 million ($32.3 million, €29.7 million or درهم118.6 million) by November 2019 and likely now has well exceeded that figure. At that time, he was eighth all-time and he currently stands at the biggest-earning British tournament poker player in history.

     

    Michael Greco

    Michael Greco

    Best known for having played Beppe di Marco in EastEnders for four years, Michael Greco was born in Sutton, Greater London in November 1970. He has also appeared in Casualty, Celebrity Love Island and Soapstar Superstar, but card games are his true passion.

     

    Wikipedia list Greco’s total live tournament poker winnings at in excess of £890,000 ($1.1 million, €1 million or درهم4 million), but given they only provide dated entries to contests including the Showbiz Poker between 2005 and 2009, his actual total is likely far higher.

     

    In 2022, the actor announced he would be starring in a new Netflix series and also appeared in Aladdin at Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre. Of this, he observed: “They’re the best parts to play, the villains. It’s the role people remember. I played the boy-next-door characters growing up. As I’ve got a bit older, gruffer and hairier – oh, and greyer – it’s the baddies now.”

     

    Stephen Hendry MBE (AKA ‘The Golden Boy’, ‘The Ice Man’ and ‘The King of the Crucible’)

    Stephen Hendry

    Aside from having appeared a poor ninth in The Masked Singer as ‘Rubbish’ in 2023, this Scottish snooker player is lauded as “one of the most successful snooker players in history.”

     

    Hendry turned professional in 1985 at the tender age of 16 and went on to become the sport’s youngest world champion when he won his first World Snooker Championship in 1990 aged just 21. He won seven world titles between 1990 and 1999 and retired in 2012, but returned to the professional circuit in 2021.

     

    A father of two, Hendry supports Hearts and Chelsea F.C. and also “enjoys poker.” He has appeared in several televised tournaments and especially “loves” high-stakes games.

     

    Stuart Wheeler (1935 – 2020)

    Stuart Wheeler Chilham Castle

    Eton and Oxford educated Stuart Wheeler was once “told to stop playing blackjack for being too successful at Caesar’s Palace Casino in Las Vegas.” He played cards with Lord Lucan two nights before his disappearance, invented spread-betting on shares and gave William Hague’s Conservative Party the biggest donation in British history – a sum of £5 million ($6.2 million, €5.7million or درهم22.7 million).

     

    A regular competitor in the World Series of Poker championships and known for playing bridge with Omar Sharif also, Wheeler lived in the £15 million ($18.6 million, €17 million or درهم68.2 million) Chilham Castle in Kent and counted ‘Model of the Millennium’ Jacquetta Wheeler amongst his trio of delightful daughters.

     

    In September 2019, Quiller published Wheeler’s memoir Winning Against The Odds: My Life in Gambling and Politics and launched it with a glitzy party hosted by Dominic Cummings at Carlton House Terrace. He sadly died of stomach cancer just months later and generously left his Jacobean castle to charity.

     

    David Lennox is a restaurant critic and occasional enthusiast for the ‘Sports of Kings.’ He enjoys the ‘Beautiful Game’ and the odd game of poker as well as backgammon and the roulette wheel also.

     

     

  • All That Glitters… Jim Davidson Should Apologise Over Sickening Gary Glitter Remarks

    All That Glitters… Jim Davidson Should Apologise Over Sickening Gary Glitter Remarks

    Matthew Steeples suggests Jim Davidson should admit he got it wrong in suggesting returned to jail paedophile Gary Glitter was a “remorseful’ man who “looked ready to start a new life”

    This morning, the washed-up wazzock and all-round scumbag that is Jim Davidson OBE was trending on Twitter after an interview with the ‘Mouth of the Sewer’ that is GB News’ Dan Wootton last night.

     

    Whilst Davidson – a foul-mouthed ‘5×3’ (five kids by three of his five wives) – used the interview to bang on about “smug” Gary Lineker and how he “never particularly felt welcome” at the BBC, he neglected to comment on his thoughts on the real trending news, that of the filthy paedophile Gary Glitter being returned to jail after just 38 days in a bail hostel after breaching his licence terms.

     

    Glitter – who was caught and photographed by another bail hostel resident using a smartphone to access the ‘Dark Web’ via something called ‘The Onion’ to attempt to snare further victims – had been visited by Davidson at the Isle of Wight prison where he was then housed by the former supermarket shelf-stacker Davidson in 2019.

     

    Afterwards, in June 2021, Davidson shockingly and rather casually shared of his child abusing ‘chum’:

     

    “I spoke to Paul [Gadd, AKA ‘Gary Glitter’] when I visited The Verne [prison] two years. He’s remorseful and he looked ready to start a new life.”

     

    Instead of remarking on this very, very clear ‘error of judgment,’ speaking to Dan Wootton on GB News yesterday regarding the BBC’s #GaryGate debacle, Davidson raged:

     

    “My political interest was cast upon me way before at Thames Television when I had The Jim Davidson Show and a man called John Howard Davis, who was a BBC producer, turned up and got rid of me and Benny Hill overnight.”

     

    “And then, about a year later, I got a little cassette, a VHS, dropped on my desk by my manager and it [sic] said: ‘The BBC want you.’”

     

    “I said: ‘What’s that?’ They [sic] said: ‘They want you to do this, it’s some rotten show about snooker, so me and John Virgo went and did that show and I never particularly felt welcome there.”

     

    “I was a smell under peoples’ noses and then one day Bruce Forsyth went sick and I stepped in and did The Generation Game. I replaced him just for a day and I wasn’t particularly good, but it made Bruce get better very quick.”

     

    “When he went to do his new deal, they said: ‘No, we’ve got Jim Davidson’ and I did The Generation Game for seven years. I did The Big Break for twelve seasons and seven seasons of The Generation Game.”

     

    “Now look at the BBC. I’m totally erased; I am the statue that’s thrown into Bristol Docks… They gave me a million quid to go away. I had a contract with a million quid’s worth of wages and they said: ‘We’ll give you a million quid if you go away; please don’t tell anyone,” but I told you ‘Danny Boy’ [Dan Wootton].”

     

    “I was worse [than anything else] because I was a working-class Tory. I was a traitor and I like to mess about and have a laugh and be rude and stuff on the rehearsals and it was all pretty much frowned upon.”

     

    “They’re more concerned in being woke and ticking boxes. You know, ticking boxes; the man said to me: ‘We have to have 8.9% ethnic minorities on every show’ and so if you couldn’t get anybody that wanted to come on Big Break who was of non-white persuasion, you had to go out and kidnap some poor bugger and throw him in.”

     

    “You know, err, it was daft and do you know what I learnt there, and I’ve been in the business forty-seven years… I’m nearly one-hundred… So, you learn a thing or two about the BBC and it’s full of people that don’t know how to make programmes. I had to tick a box and I had to be silly.”

     

    “Now, I wouldn’t have thrown Lineker off like that and having a boss called Tim. Now come on, how scary is a Tim?”

     

    “Now, anyway, you wouldn’t throw someone off; just turn them off. I can understand that it’s taxpayers’ money and I hate the BBC with a passion. It’s a toss-up between them and the NHS who I hate the most, but I, you know, I wouldn’t have got rid of him because now Tim’s shown himself as lily livered.”

     

    “[Lineker] can now say what he wants, can’t he? He’s won and he’s going to be even smugger. Smug, smugger.”

     

    “It’s upto Tim and all those silly people [what the BBC does next] and now they want to get rid of the chairman ‘cos he arranged some loan or helped Boris [Johnson]. Now, everyone’s just picking on one another. I think the BBC have lost the public; they’ve lost the dressing room.”

     

    “You know, who do we watch now? GB News, anything but BBC. What does the BBC stand for? ‘Bring Back Corbyn,’ ‘Bring Back Communism.’”

     

    “You know, it is a joke and we have to pay for it whether we like it or not. You know, let’s scrap it and watch GB News all day long.

     

    Responding, this morning on Twitter, I asked:

     

    “As Jim Davidson trends, should he apologise for his June 2021 remark: “I spoke to Paul Gadd [Gary Glitter] when I visited The Verne [prison] two years ago. He’s remorseful and he looked ready to start a new life” given the paedo has been recalled to prison after being caught on Dark Web?”

     

    Other Twitter users took up the mantle and amongst comments were:

     

    “I wonder if Jim Davidson still believes that Gary Glitter is remorseful and ready to start a new life?”

     

    “Remember when Jim Davidson was funny? Me neither.”

     

    “Fun Fact: For years the BBC didn’t give a flying sh*t about their right-wing so-called ‘comedian’ Jim Davidson’s racist/misogynistic stage show when he was hosting their flagship Saturday night show ‘The Generation Game’ #IStandWithGaryLineker.”

     

    All that Glitters is not gold; all that is Jim Davidson is utterly toxic and now it is time for the latter to apologise for getting it well and truly wrong about one of the most evil men ever to set foot on this planet.

     

    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.

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGGBmDZbfgE
    TRAILER – Matthew Steeples will be ‘live’ with Shaun Attwood to discuss his views on Gary Glitter being returned to the clink after breaching his licence terms whilst in a bail hostel on Wednesday 15th March at 6pm GMT. Please do tune in and please do ask away.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylQ6N-_gPRQ&t=0s
    FULL EPISODE – This will be ‘live’ for the first time at 6pm GMT on Wednesday 15th March 2023. View here.
    This morning on Twitter, Matthew Steeples asked: “As Jim Davidson trends, should he apologise for his June 2021 remark: “I spoke to [Gary Glitter] when I visited The Verne [prison] 2 years ago. He’s remorseful and he looked ready to start a new life” given the paedo has been recalled to prison after being caught on Dark Web?” He gave the options: A) “Yes, disgraceful remark”; B) “No, second chances matter”; C) “Cancel Davidson and Glitter” and D) “Couldn’t care less.” By 11:30am on Wednesday 15th March 2023, the majority of respondents favoured the idea of the cancellation of this noxious pair of grifters.
    Dan Wootton Jim Davidson
    GB News is about the only channel that will now accept the weird warblings of these two utter berks.
    Gary Glitter Jim Davidson
    A pair of toerags forever linked by a hashtag.
    Nonce Defender
    Twitter users have rightly mocked the ‘entertainer’ over his decision to visit a disgraced ‘singer’ who abused children as young as 10 years old in prison. What on earth was it about the paedophile-nonce-monster Gary Glitter that attracted Jim Davidson to visit him in prison? An answer is required. The public should be told.
    Jim Davidson Jimmy Savile
    Those that think Gary Lineker was WRONG to tweet about politics whilst working for the BBC should be reminded that both Jim Davidson and the late paedophile Sir Jimmy Savile openly campaigned for the Conservative Party and that both men also worked for the BBC. It is pure hypocrisy to call out Mr Lineker on this basis.
    It is very clear that Dan Wootton has no nous when it comes to questioning Jim Davidson. Mr Wootton is clearly not a journalist prone to drilling into real stories; he just PR peddles for his chums.

    Deserved “Public Hate Figure” Jim Davidson OBE’s Worst Moments…

    On Great Yarmouth:

    “Full of fat children of all colours.”

     

    On London and the UK:

    “I am never coming to London again… I may as well go to Dubai and be an ethnic minority there than wait five years till I become one here.”

     

    On former UKIP leader Nigel Farage:

    “The Jim Davidson of the political world.”

     

    On beating up one of his four ex-wives:

    “We’re like a couple of boxers. On the first occasion, I poked her in the eye by accident. I actually went for the mouth… The second time I gave her a shiner. I threw a bunch of keys which whacked her in the eye. Just for a giggle she kept blackening it up to make it look worse.”

     

    “I took the wife out last night; one punch!”

     

    On supposedly giving up on making jokes about black people:

    “I can’t do impressions of Frank Bruno or Ian Wright? That’s racist, is it? But I can do Sven-Göran Eriksson?”

     

    “I’m not going to get on my knee, and I’m not going to go ever black person I see, ‘hail you.’ I’m not going to apologise for the past; the past was the past.”

     

    On Black Lives Matter protestors:

    “Pondlife… F**king stupid.”

     

    Of his thoughts about his chum Boris Johnson:

    “Don’t listen with mother.”

     

    On Piers Morgan (after he was paid to appear on his Life Stories programme):

    “You don’t deserve to listen to anyone’s life story because you don’t f**king listen.”

     

    On the BBC and the NHS:

    “I was a smell under peoples’ noses… I’m totally erased; I am the statue that’s thrown into Bristol Docks… They gave me a million quid to go away.”

     

    “I hate the BBC with a passion. It’s a toss-up between them and the NHS who I hate the most.”

     

    Proving himself the ultimate ‘Brain of Britain’:

    “People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die.”

     

    After being declared bankrupt:

    “My problem is money.”

     

    On himself:

    “I could cure Aids and give £1 billion to womens’ groups and people would still think I was a racist, sexist twat”.

     

    “I’m a homophobic arsehole.”

     

  • From ‘TwIt Girl’ to ‘InstaIdiot’ – Lady Victoria Hervey

    From ‘TwIt Girl’ to ‘InstaIdiot’ – Lady Victoria Hervey

    Dumber than dumb non-entity Lady Victoria Hervey morphs from ‘TwIt Girl’ to ‘InstaIdiot’ in a series of Instagram posts about her mucky madam mate Ghislaine Maxwell; she charmingly labels one victim she doesn’t even know a “complete whore” and another she claims to actually know a “drug addict slut and a f*ck up”

    True to her predictably pathetic form, in a series of messages and stories on Instagram, pompous prattling pillock Lady Victoria Hervey has gone and stuck her cloven hooves in the proverbial yet again. Here, today, we present a supposedly aristocratic woman who mocks victims as “money hungry” whilst shamelessly taking wonga for media interviews herself.

     

    Exposed by the journalist Lisa Tait of The Prince & The Pervert podcast on Twitter on Sunday, 45-year-old Lady Victoria – a wack job woman who has been on every news channel known to humanity banging on about Ghislaine Maxwell’s case in spite of not even having been called as a witness in that case and having previously claimed not to have even seen her so-called “friend” since 2018 – made herself out to be some kind of expert on the December conviction. Frankly, anyone rational realises this former bit of “toff totty” would have been about as much use giving evidence in that New York courtroom as a chocolate teapot.

     

    Indulging in totally uncalled for and utterly vulgarly styled victim shaming, ‘Lady Herpes’ announced that she “could not do with the sob stories” and suggested that though she is of the view that “Ghislaine is obviously not a saint,” the victims themselves number a “complete whore” (whom she claims not to actually know) and a “total money hungry drug addict slut and a f*ck up” (whom she does claim to actually know).

     

    Previously herself branded “unpleasant” and “a right snob” by the by contrast lovely and sadly late Tara Palmer Tomkinson, when realising she wouldn’t be winning any argument with the clearly intelligent Ms Tait, Lady Victoria – who also believes “charming, very well-liked guy” Jeffrey Epstein rejected her because she “was too old” (even he likely actually just couldn’t stand her) – then helpfully concluded: “I am so over this.” She then chucked the remainder of her toys out of her pram; whether that included one of ‘Grubby Ghislaine’s’ dinner party dildos remains unknown.

     

    Lady Victoria Hervey Ghislaine Maxwell Shizue Nobuta
    Mouthy moron Lady Victoria Hervey with the since convicted sex trafficker and abuser Ghislaine Maxwell and a handbag designer named Shizue Nobuta at a party hosted by Tamara Beckwith in Hollywood, California on 25th February 2004. In a documentary in June 2021, Lady Victoria claimed the pension pot plunderer’s decidedly deviant daughter liked to get more personal at dinner parties and would “demonstrate how to give a blowjob” to girls present, herself included.

    ‘InstaIdiot’ Lady Victoria Hervey’s Instagram Stories

    Here are just a few of this noxious nitwit’s Instagram posts and missives – complete with her (unedited by us) appalling grammar, punctuation and spelling. They clearly illustrate that this wastrel woman’s aristocratic family didn’t bother to provide her with access to an exactly stellar education and amongst them are:

    • “This was about to go Live on Lorraine last week. Please can someone let me know what the age of consent is in the UK. I thought it’s 17. Some of these stories sound like a case study of Regret turning into Revenge. This story has been so blown out of proportion. Or has it. Nobody knows.”
    • “People are literally murdering people in LA and getting out of jail. It’s a real life gotham city blood bath. I know Ghislaine is obviously not a saint and should pay back the trauma caused to her ‘victims’ but lifetime in jail for touching a girls tit 20 years ago and taking them on yacht, private jet and shopping trips. Come on. This has become a witch hunt. Thoughts on this? What does she deserve?”
    • “And while I’m here I may as well let out some other thoughts. That Virginia Roberts is a complete whore. She was no innocent girl. At 15 she ended up in hospital with alcohol poisoning. She’s just a ghetto opportunist whose seriously mixed up. I really genuinely wanted to feel bad for these girls but the trial gave us nothing.”
    • “And yes drinking yourself into hospital doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a whore but it shows how mentally unstable you are.”
    • “I just can’t with the sob stories. Virginia was a classified train wreck. She wanted to go on those trips. In fact she’d do anything to be invited. During the recent trial her friend said she texted her after prince andrew and was boasting about it. Money hungry girls like her do not help the real people going through human trafficking.”
    • “You cannot compare Virginia to the character in my friends movie totally different girl was literally kept in a cage. Virginia was living the high life. I’m so sick of these me too girls cashing in and ruining it for the girls that really do need help and are desperate that are being killed and tortured.”
    • “Basically you cannot question a victim in today’s climate. So even though Virginia was of age and clearly became a co conspirator herself, we in the public are not allowed to question her or her motives.”
    • “Would she be suing these people if they were broke and molesting her in a trailer park? Which by the sounds of things she was dropping her knickers in al sorts of places. I also knew one of the other ‘victims’ who was also a total money hungry drug addict slut and a f*ck up. I’m so over this.”

    Lady Victoria Hervey Virginia Roberts Giuffre
    Bird brained Lady Victoria – whose Motcomb Street, Belgravia shop closed with estimated debts of £350,000 in 2001 – has recently been sharing Instagram stories in which she calls Virginia Roberts Giuffre a “complete whore” and suggested she was “dropping her knickers in all sorts of places.”
    Lady Victoria Hervey offensive message
    In a comment on another post, the late 6th Marquess of Bristol’s daughter predictably misjudged the importance of what is quite possibly the most significant sex trafficking scandal in decades given it involves, amongst others, three Presidents of the United States and the Queen’s “favourite” son and declared: “This story has been blown out of proportion… People are literally murdering people in LA and getting out of jail. It’s a real life Gotham City blood bath.” In response, one is simply left asking: “What planet is this washed-up wastrel on?” and wondering: “Is she on acid?”
    Lady Victoria Hervey Hollywood nonsense
    Lady Victoria hasn’t exactly shown herself to be up there on the rational scale whilst using Instagram. In one previous post, she banged on about filtering out “good versus evil” and “The Cabal” and claimed that Hollywood – where she lives is known for having threesomes and party crashing – is “like a bunch of mk ultra zombies [sic] walking around” and full of “dark satanic cults.” If that was actually true, it would be the perfect place for her.

    What Do Social Media Users Make Of ‘InstaIdiot’ Lady Victoria Hervey?

    Twitter users really do truly dislike the ultimate ‘TwIt Girl’ and of her in recent days comments have unsurprisingly included:

    • “Scurvy Hervey.”
    • “You’ll never see Lady Victoria on Mastermind.”
    • “Lady Victoria Hervey – A horse faced bint that makes me feel happy to have been born a mongrel without privilege.”
    • “Lady Victoria sounds like anything but a lady… Sounds more like a slag.”
    • “She’s been cocked more times than John Wayne’s gun.”
    • “How much publicity and TV time has ol’ Lady Victoria Hervey had out of this whole Ghislaine Maxwell sh*t? She’s swiftly becoming the new Paul Burrell.”
    • “Lady Victoria Hervey has been close to Ghislaine and Epstein, Ghislaine’s business partner Jemma Kidd, Prince Andrew and Flavio Briatore.”
    • “She is embarrassing herself with her bile and viciousness.”
    • “Has she any moral or ethical fibre in her body?”
    • “Unbelievable. Honestly, I can’t believe how much entitlement breeds stupidity and ignorance.”
    • “May I present Lady Victoria, friend of Ghislaine Maxwell and Prince Andrew. Apologist as well… Look how she spoke about a CHILD. This why survivors rarely come forward.”
    • “Lady Victoria Hervey… Normalised Jeffrey and Ghislaine’s network of girls and young women.”
    • “She’s a dickhead. Lady Victoria, friend of Ghislaine Maxwell. Apparently, Maxwell just touched a tit. Oh really, truly.”
    • “Lady Victoria Hervey… Sounds like a complete idiot implying that all men have impulses they cannot control FFS.”
    • “What a thoroughly disgusting Knightsbridge piece of trash. What a gutter-snipe. Drag a lump of cocaine through Harvey Nichols and you never knew what you’ll find.”
    • “She’s vile… Like perhaps Lady H needs to be looked into more. She clearly sounds like she knows ‘exactly’ what has [been] happening enough to make vile disgusting judgments.”
    • “Did you ever see Lady Victoria Hervey dashing in and out of the palace while she was dating Andrew? She has some very strident views.”
    • “She called Ghislaine Maxwell ‘scapegoat’ and the photo of Andrew and his victim ‘stupid.’ How out of touch with reality is she?”
    • “Tara Palmer Tomkinson was a nice girl and she had this numpty’s number.”
    • “It’s very simple. Lady Victoria is very, very, VERY thick.”
    • “Dear Lady Victoria Hervey – You’ve been skint for years, you use your title to bum around the world as a ‘guest.’”

    Lady Victoria claims to have dated Prince Andrew in 1999, but according to ‘The Sun,’ quite predictably, “romance failed to blossom.” Twenty years later, attempting to cash in on her decidedly brief encounter, this tedious twerp went on ‘Good Morning Britain’ and tried to defend the royal. As was to be expected, she didn’t exactly excel in that role either.
  • Classic Car Heaven 2021

    Classic Car Heaven 2021

    Theodora Ong reports from the 2021 London Classic Car Show and suggests other automotive events for classic car enthusiasts in the coming months

    This weekend, I wallowed in acres of glistening chrome and gushed over the retro appeal of heritage vehicles with their stylish and eccentric owners at the 2021 London Classic Car Show at Syon Park.

     

    Admiring cars of yesteryear is a pleasurable pursuit of reverie; with sunshine bouncing off windscreens and the reality of raindrops causing owners and guardians to be sprightly and attentive around their cars. You get absorbed into their world of devotion. Here, in possibly the nearest meadow to central London, and next to a trout fishery, there’s no sense of sales urgency – not even on the auction stands.

     

    Celebrating anniversaries is the thing amongst car owners’ clubs. It transports us to a distant era, but arguably it’s the cars you’ve seen on the road in your own lifetime which seduce with the greatest allure. The centenaries of the Bugatti Brescia and the Lancia Lambda and, the 60th anniversary of the Jaguar E-Type and the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Jensen owners’ club were all being discreetly honoured. There is much to remind you of their design vision and construction innovation over other marques and models which fade forgettably.    

     

    When Enzo Ferrari named the Jaguar E-Type: ‘The most beautiful car in the world’, he made it immortal, and the frenzy continues to this day. When a 1975 Jensen Interceptor III starred in a later series of The Saint in the ’80s, it became synonymous with a more exotic mystery – especially as more overseas locations were used for filming. The Interceptor was upgraded with electric sunroof and phone to capture the ultimate comfort of a modern grand tourer. Regardless that it achieved just 10-14 miles per gallon, it beat Aston Martin and Bristol on the film maker’s shortlist. 

     

    Jensen, this maverick of mystery – manufactured in West Bromwich – is what we chose to track down at the show. Congratulations, Jensen owners! So, the 50th landmark celebrates the collective passion of the club, not just the car. Take three…

     

    Jensen 541 R

    Jensen 541 R

    The 541 was launched in 1954 and was the first time Jensen used a fibreglass shell over a tubular steel chassis, partly due to post-war restrictions over the use of steel. But this liberated the design and enabled more complex styling with curious hollows and linear layering.

     

    The original putty and elastoplast colourway of this 1959 model is in immaculate showroom finish and was chosen by Alan Jensen himself for exhibiting at the Earls Court Motor Show.  It reads just 105,000 miles, and owner Len Boulton claims a top speed of 125 mph.

     

    Oh, and if anyone finds his petrol cap at a service station off the M25, please tell him. Remember those days when that was quite a common loss?

     

    Jensen SP

    Jensen SP

    This top of the range SP model was launched in 1971 to replace the loss-making four-wheel drive Jensen FF. This one has been technically upgraded by current owner Richard Fisher. It has a whopping 7212cc engine to deliver 0 to 60mph in 6.9 seconds and fuel consumption which ‘you don’t want to know’. Design pedants will question its apparent wonky alignment of side windows and its five sections of visible glass – but just relax and love it.

     

    Jensen Interceptor Cabriolet

    Jensen Interceptor Cabriolet

    Between 1950 to 1958 only 88 of these early Interceptors were built. This particular 1954 model was the first British car to be produced with metallic paint and a vinyl roof. You thought vinyl came of age in the ’70s TV The Sweeney era? This car was painstakingly rebuilt from the chassis up over 15 years from 2000. It was rescued back from California where it was on the point of being scrapped. It has an aluminium body but the boot lid was the first panel Jensen produced in fibreglass. A 4-litre engine powers this solid-looking drive. A lighter looking version was later sold at the Austin A40 Sports.

     

    Contrasting Characters

    It’s all about appreciating diversity after all, so here is my pick of two others at the show that couldn’t be any more different.

     

    Maserati Ghibli

    Maserati Ghibli

    It’s a while since the exclusive 96 Club – with some 150 members and 450 on the waiting list – have held a regular rendezvous for breakfast in Belgrave Square. Member Luca Pisetta brought his 1969 Ghibli here to Syon Park. It is family-owned and he is intent on it remaining so for the next generation too.

     

    Meanwhile, despite the absence of breakfast, his fellow 96-er Paolo Callea poured a blushy pinot grigio natural wine from his family’s estate in northern Italy. When under the influence of drink, any admirer would surely enjoy an enhanced vision of the Ghibli’s bold angles and shark-like nose hiding those pop-up head lamps.

     

    At the time, over its six years of production, it was one of the fastest and most expensive cars in the world.  It cost more than and even outsold the Ferrari Daytona.  About 700 Ghiblis survive today from the 1,170 produced.  This particular one had a complete restoration with full engine rebuild over four years, which took some 2,000 hours.

     

    96-ers Luca Pisetta and Paolo Callea
    96-ers Luca Pisetta and Paolo Callea.

    Salveson Wagonette

    Salveson Wagonette

    Can a vehicle dating from 1893 really be a car at all, if it’s proud to be powered like a coal-fired steam train? With its ‘60s yellow submarine-style paint over, this is positively agricultural looking.  It was designed and built at the Salvesen company’s Grangemouth shipyard in 1893, making it the first car to be manufactured in Scotland. A refusal to be influenced by the new generation of oil essence engines led to its distinctive construction with a vertical tube boiler. And yes, it goes, it drives fine – but any guesses for 0 to 60mph?

     

    Classic Dates For Your Summer Diary  

    Silverstone Classic, Northamptonshire, 30th July to 1st August 2021, combines historic motor racing with displays from 130 car clubs and an auction. It expects to feature 10,000 classic cars over the weekend.

     

    The annual Jensen meeting at The Ace Café, Wembley, 14th August 2021, should be teeming with Jensens. Rock up for a full English and a cup of Ace Café own tea.

     

    Salon Privé, Blenheim Palace, 1st to 5th September, is the hub for 500 classics rolling in. The event is considered one of the big three internationals alongside Pebble Beach Concours and Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.

     

    Concours D’Elegance, Hampton Court Palace, 3rd to 5th September 2021, serenely gathers a core of 60 of the world’s rarest classics, plus some 300 further astonishing cars.

     

    The Goodwood Revival, 17th to 19th September 2021, is the only historic race meeting to be staged entirely in period outfits, on a classic circuit which remains unchanged since its heyday.

     

    The 2021 London Classic Car Show took place 25th to 27th June.  This year it was at Syon Park, and it is usually an annual event.

     

    The 96 Club Breakfast Rendezvous. We vote to bring them back please.

     

  • Starmer’s Multifaceted Mess

    Starmer’s Multifaceted Mess

    Nikolay Kalinin suggests that in spite of their crusade against Tory sleaze, Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer is failing to make any inroads and finds himself in a multifaceted mess

    A week ago, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer attempted to present himself as the superhero British politics needs in order to rid the country of Tory sleaze. He proffered that his scrutiny at Prime Minister’s Questions and photo-ops at John Lewis illustrated that Labour will annihilate the Tories in tomorrow’s elections simply because the governing party are just ‘no good.’

     

    Yet, the truth for Sir Keir is actually far bleaker and a multifaceted mess, as ever since February the gap between the Conservatives and Labour in the polls has been increasing in the governing party’s favour and this has mostly been due to the UK government’s incredibly successful vaccination programme.

     

    Even after the ‘Wallpapergate’ scandal, it seems like nothing much has changed, as a YouGov poll has projected that on 6th May, Labour is most likely to lose 59 seats in ‘Red Wall’ local councils, whereas the Conservatives are set to gain 90. Furthermore, 38% of people in ‘Red Wall’ council areas have stated that Boris Johnson would “make the best Prime Minister,” compared to just 30% for Starmer.

     

    The by-election in the Hartlepool constituency meanwhile – which has been described as the first litmus test of Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour leadership – has also left many expecting Labour will lose their hold over the area. A poll conducted by Good Morning Britain concluded that 50% of the people interviewed in the area would vote for Conservative candidate Jill Mortimer, compared to the 33% that would vote for Labour candidate Paul Williams.

     

    In even worse news for Labour, another GMB poll concluded that most people in Hartlepool had favourable feelings towards Conservatives (46%), compared to Labour’s 31%. Furthermore, 45% of people expressed negative feelings towards Labour, compared to 31% who expressed negativity towards Conservatives. It seems therefore like Labour is on the path to losing the seat, which has been controlled by them since its establishment in 1974.

     

    Still, there has also been evidence in the last few days that suggests otherwise; a recent UK voting intention poll conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies has seen the Conservatives’ lead being slashed by 4%, whereas Labour has gained 4% in the polls, meaning that the gap between both is now a mere 2%.

     

    As expected, Labour London Mayor Sadiq Khan is expected to retain his position as he maintains a fairly stable lead in the polls, with predictions that he’ll get 61% in the first round whereas his hapless Conservative rival Shaun Bailey will achieve a mere 39%.

     

    There’s a dangerously high chance that the Conservatives will be able to use the vaccination success in order to win over the voters in councils and in Hartlepool, who will ignore the fact that their PM has used donated money for his own expenses and didn’t even disclose it.

     

    Why has Sir Keir Starmer, in general, failed to deliver a fatal blow to the Tories in the lead-up to the elections? It’s most likely due to lack of a uniting ideology, but more importantly due to the lack of opposition; because of the government’s role in fighting against COVID-19, it’s possible that the role of Labour as an opposition party has been substantially reduced, as they are actually unable to scrutinise the Tories like they would normally have had had there been no pandemic. In some way, Sir Keir seems to be lacking the appeal that Jeremy Corbyn had as Labour leader, which allowed the party to receive an influx of members after decades of falling membership.

     

    So far, the sleaze scandals have not hurt the Conservatives at all – as a matter of fact support for them has been increasing – and even more surprisingly the Labour Party that has been leading the campaign against sleaze is getting pummeled in the polls. It truly is concerning that a party that has such a large lack of connection with people is leading in the polls, because this should not happen in a country that is supposedly a representative democracy. We’ll just have to wait and see, but a very important first signal will emerge with the results tomorrow.

     

    Starmer’s Multifaceted Mess – Sir Keir Starmer certainly did not help himself when he found himself kicked out of a pub in Bristol in April. His minder’s bullyboy conduct reflected very badly upon him and the fact that his aides had not checked the venue out first shows a shocking lack of coordination on the Labour Party’s part.
    Starmer’s Multifaceted Mess 2021 – Labour fail to make inroads – Nikolay Kalinin suggests that in spite of their crusade against Tory sleaze, Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer is failing to make any inroads and finds himself in a multifaceted mess.
    Starmer’s Multifaceted Mess – Sir Keir Starmer believes: “Another future is possible,” but thus far he has failed to convince he is the man who could deliver such in post-coronavirus pandemic Britain.
  • Heroine of the Hour 2021 – Olivia Clements

    Heroine of the Hour 2021 – Olivia Clements

    Bookseller Olivia Clements deserves commendation for setting up a free book exchange in her garden during ‘Lockup 3.0’ in Bristol

    University of York history graduate and bookseller at Waterstones (formerly Waterstone’s) and Max Minerva’s independent bookshop Olivia Clements trended on Twitter over the weekend.

     

    In spite of just having 675 followers, a tweet by Clements on Friday touched the hearts of thousands. In it, she announced:

     

    “I made a community library! If you’re in the Bishopston area of Bristol please feel free to visit, borrow, swap out, and enjoy some much needed escapism.”

     

    The response to the missive was extraordinary and aside from 1,500 retweets and 13,500 likes, thoughtful and plainly kind Clements received over 330 comments including ones from Professor Michelle Ryan who’d set up a ‘free library’ just outside of Exeter.

     

    Whilst one Mark Wicks nastily mocked this as “a really middle class thing to do with no real understanding of collection management or the role of libraries as a place maker in the local community,” unsurprisingly most celebrated this “great individual effort” in the spirit in was plainly intended.

     

    For those living in Bristol, Olivia Clements’ book exchange can be found in Elton Road, Bishopston, BS7 and those wishing to donate books should contact her directly on Twitter.

     

    Heroine of the Hour 2021 – Olivia Clements – Book exchange – Bookseller Olivia Clements deserves commendation for setting up a free book exchange in her garden during ‘Lockup 3.0’ in Bristol.
    Doing Good During Lockup – Olivia Clements shared on Twitter that she’d created a community library in the Bishopston area of Bristol on 5th February and already 13,400 pressed ‘love’ and 1,500 shared news of her generous gesture.
    Heroine of the Hour 2021 – Olivia Clements – Book exchange – Bookseller Olivia Clements deserves commendation for setting up a free book exchange in her garden during ‘Lockup 3.0’ in Bristol.
    Doing Good During Lockup – On Saturday, Clements tweeted again with an image of the well-stocked ‘The Little Library’ and remarked: “Today’s donations for The Little Library! You guys have great taste in books.”

    Five Sensible Souls of Lockup-Lockdown

    Heroine of the Hour 2021 – Olivia Clements – Book exchange – Bookseller Olivia Clements deserves commendation for setting up a free book exchange in her garden during ‘Lockup 3.0’ in Bristol.
    Doing Good During Lockup – In March 2020, we featured the story of a “lovely gesture” by an anonymous Good Samaritan in Denchworth, Oxfordshire. Said individual paid for the local pub, The Fox, to provide fish and chips once per week for the 171 residents during the first lockdown.
    Heroine of the Hour 2021 – Olivia Clements – Book exchange – Bookseller Olivia Clements deserves commendation for setting up a free book exchange in her garden during ‘Lockup 3.0’ in Bristol.
    Doing Good During Lockup – In March 2020, Dame Vera Lynn (20th March 1917 – 18th June 2020) told Britons to “weather the storm” of the coronavirus crisis by “pulling together.” She very correctly added: “Keep calm and follow sensible advice… Remain positive and look after each other.”
    Heroine of the Hour 2021 – Olivia Clements – Book exchange – Bookseller Olivia Clements deserves commendation for setting up a free book exchange in her garden during ‘Lockup 3.0’ in Bristol.
    Doing Good During Lockup – In April 2020, we reported on how the 29-year-old Duke of Westminster had given £12.5 million to “provide support to NHS staff, key workers and their children and families” during the first lockdown. He remarked: ““On behalf of my family and everyone at the Grosvenor Estate, I want to say a huge thank you to all our amazing NHS staff and everyone providing critical frontline services. We are all humbled and incredibly grateful that you are working tirelessly to keep us safe and keep the country functioning.”
    Heroine of the Hour 2021 – Olivia Clements – Book exchange – Bookseller Olivia Clements deserves commendation for setting up a free book exchange in her garden during ‘Lockup 3.0’ in Bristol.
    Doing Good During Lockup – The ‘Queen of Gorbals Gobbledygook’ Lorraine Kelly OBE quite sensibly told obese people to slim to avoid death by coronavirus in May 2020. Whilst some would suggest this cruel, the daytime presenter remarked: “This awful coronavirus is far deadlier to those who are overweight… This is not about going on a stupid faddy diet. It’s all about a lifestyle change and doing exercise you enjoy. My advice, which is hard-earned over the years, is not to have too much unhealthy food in the house, especially right now in lockdown when it’s so easy to sit watching TV while guzzling whole packets of biscuits. If you don’t buy the junk, you won’t be able to gorge on it. That’s not to say you can’t have a treat. You can. Just don’t eat a whole plus-sized bag of Maltesers or only leave a few Hobnobs in the biscuit tin.”
    Heroine of the Hour 2021 – Olivia Clements – Book exchange – Bookseller Olivia Clements deserves commendation for setting up a free book exchange in her garden during ‘Lockup 3.0’ in Bristol.
    Doing Good During Lockup – Captain Sir Tom Moore (30th April 1920 – 2nd February 2021) undoubtedly became the figurehead of fundraising and positivity from the first lockdown onwards. Aside from raising well over £30 million, his message of “tomorrow will be a good day” inspired millions. Here he is pictured in Barbados being serenaded by singer Melinda Hughes.
  • Hero of the Hour – Bob Grace

    Hero of the Hour – Bob Grace

    In his humble response to his first win after 38 years of racing at Royal Ascot, winning groom Bob Grace provided much needed cheer to racing fans everywhere along with his trusty companion Battaash

    Prior to setting off to Royal Ascot yesterday, groom Bob Grace remarked: “Never done a winner in 38 years at Royal Ascot, I think I’ve got a jinx on the place… If I haven’t got a winner tomorrow, I won’t be back there. At least I’ll have the mask on, so no one will know it is me.”

     

    Thankfully for ‘Big Bob’s’ legion of fans, his trusty companion Battaash pulled it off. After romping home first in the King’s Stand Stakes as the 5/6 favourite – seeing off both Equilateral and Liberty Beach – for trainer Charlie Hills, the two stars of the day got to celebrate live on the telly.

     

    Speaking to ITV1’s Matt Chapman – who lightheartedly quipped “you’re not a typically sized stable lad Bob” much to the amusement of the groom – Grace surmised: “He didn’t miss a beat. He was on his A game… He hasn’t done badly in two tries, three tries before today… Nearly as good as [Bristol Rovers] getting promotion.”

     

    One Twitter user responded: “Loved the way he just wanted to get off and be with his horse” whilst another concluded: “Bob is wonderful, be like Bob.”

     

    It was all “B’s for Bob” yesterday and no doubt he and Battaash celebrated with many a beer last night.

     

    Cheers Bob and cheers Battaash!

     

    Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

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    Twitter: @SteepleTimes

     

    https://twitter.com/itvracing/status/1272904043170586629
    Hero of the Hour – Brilliant success for Bob Grace at Royal Ascot – In his humble response to his first win after 38 years of racing at Royal Ascot, winning groom ‘Big Bob’ Grace provided cheer to racing fans everywhere along with his trusty companion Battaash.
    Hero of the Hour – Brilliant success for Bob Grace at Royal Ascot – In his humble response to his first win after 38 years of racing at Royal Ascot, winning groom ‘Big Bob’ Grace provided cheer to racing fans everywhere along with his trusty companion Battaash.
    Hero of the Hour – Brilliant success for Bob Grace at Royal Ascot – In his humble response to his first win after 38 years of racing at Royal Ascot, winning groom ‘Big Bob’ Grace provided cheer to racing fans everywhere along with his trusty companion Battaash.
  • Nissan IS Leaving

    Nissan IS Leaving

    Crowdfunded advert van campaign used to illustrate the lies told by Brexiteers to those working at Leave.EU’s headquarters

     

    The Vote Leave campaign used its bus to tell lies about the NHS and Brexit and now a crowdfunded advert van campaign is returning their untruthful allegations to them.

     

    Sharing their message loud and large, Remain supporting @ByDonkeys parked the vehicle outside Lysander House – the headquarters of many of Arron Banks’ businesses and the registered address of Leave.EU – on Catbrain Lane in Cribbs Causeway, Bristol and displayed tweets from Nigel Farage amongst others.

     

    Led By Donkeys, a grassroots campaign group that launched three weeks ago, has already raised over £99,000 and plans to use the money to display embarrassing tweets by Brexiteers across the land.

     

    To support Led By Donkeys, click here.

     

    Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

    Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

    Twitter: @SteepleTimes

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0uuDBp_ujY

    Nissan IS Leaving – Led By Donkeys take an ad van to Leave.EU’s HQ – Crowdfunded advert van campaign used to illustrate the lies told by Brexiteers to those working at Leave.EU’s headquarters.Nissan IS Leaving – Led By Donkeys take an ad van to Leave.EU’s HQ – Crowdfunded advert van campaign used to illustrate the lies told by Brexiteers to those working at Leave.EU’s headquarters. Nissan IS Leaving – Led By Donkeys take an ad van to Leave.EU’s HQ – Crowdfunded advert van campaign used to illustrate the lies told by Brexiteers to those working at Leave.EU’s headquarters.

  • Analysing Borwick

    Analysing Borwick

    The Cambridge Analytica connection you’ve most likely never heard of; meet The Hon. Thomas Borwick, son of ex-Tory MP Lady ‘Call Me Victoria’ Borwick

     

    The Hon. Thomas Borwick is a figure in the Cambridge Analytica scandal you’ve probably never heard of.

     

    Bizarrely largely overlooked by the mainstream media, the son of the ousted ex-MP for Kensington Lady ‘Call Me Victoria’ Borwick is an extremely well connected man who keeps himself under the radar on social media. The 31-year old has just 500 followers on Twitter – a surprisingly low number given he has been described as a “computer specialist” – and was put in a position of huge power as Vote Leave’s chief technology officer from August 2015 to July 2016.

     

    Educated at the University of Richmond, Virginia from 2006 to 2010, with a period studying law courses at Cambridge briefly during 2008, Borwick subsequently worked in IT for the financial services company Killik & Co in 2012 and simultaneously “developed music technology for interactive lessons.”

     

    More interestingly, this youngster’s move into political data profiling came also in 2012 when he founded a company named Kanto Systems with an aim of “bring[ing] UK Campaigning into the 21st century.” Here, Borwick developed a “mobile canvassing app” and came into contact with Cambridge Analytica in order to provide them with “digital services,” according to The Huffington Post. In turn, he sold an app to Cambridge Analytica’s parent company, SCL, and now, in March this year, his firm was brought in by Ireland’s Save The 8th anti-abortion campaign group as part of their efforts “to persuade Irish voters to keep the country’s strict anti-abortion laws.”

     

    “Hiring Thomas Borwick to create and manage a website is like employing the SAS to run security at a school hop or bringing in Einstein to tot up your shopping bill,” comments journalist Fintan O’Toole in The Irish Times, and in further revelations in the Evening Standard late March, Borwick himself admitted to also having worked with the equally controversial Canadian data firm Aggregate IQ – an operation that earned £3.5 million working for Vote Leave during the 2016 referendum campaign.

     

    The public and press need to wake up and smell the coffee. The manipulation of politics in America, Britain, Ireland and elsewhere runs far deeper than even the most avid viewer of the Daily Politics could imagine. Figures like Thomas Borwick may well operate in the backrooms but it is increasingly becoming apparent that with doorstep canvassing all but irrelevant, such people are worryingly our new political powerhouses.

     

    Follow The Steeple Times on Twitter at @SteepleTimes.

     

  • Bob Marshall-Andrews QC

    Bob Marshall-Andrews QC

    A “libertarian-left” Labour MP between 1997 and 2010, distinguished barrister and novelist Bob Marshall-Andrews defected to the Liberal Democrats in 2017. Described as “an irritant” to his former party whilst they were in government, multi-millionaire Marshall-Andrews built and owns “one of the most innovative houses of the 20th century – the famed ‘Teletubby House’ in Druidston, Pembrokeshire – and is chairman of the George Adamson Wildlife Trust. In 2013, of him, Chambers Legal Directory remarked: “Juries love him… I’ve never seen a jury eat out of anyone’s hand as much” whilst he amusingly references himself as “the complete antidote to political humbug”. Of Labour, this “intellectually brilliant” individual added: “They’re a basket case…They effectively abdicated all responsibility [on Brexit]”.

     

    Bob Marshall-Andrews QC – Barrister, former Labour MP and novelist Bob Marshall-Andrews QC – Barrister, former Labour MP and novelist