The Steeple Times

Tag: inventor

  • Not Such Divine Intervention

    Not Such Divine Intervention

    Empty Gothic church in Kelso, Scotland for sale for just £130,000; it was home until 2006 to the conspiracy theorist Dean Warwick – who collapsed and died on stage at a UFO conference in Blackpool mid speech

    “Alternative energy pioneer” Dean Warwick (1944 – 2006) believed 9/11 was a “farce.” This controversial crackpot claimed he had been trained in the military to bring down the Twin Towers using satellite waves in the mid-1960s and that he also categorically knew exactly who JFK’s murderer was.

     

    Whilst “going on and on and on” at Probe International’s paranormal conference in Blackpool, Lancashire on 7th October 2006 about these matters and “children having their skin eaten whilst they were still alive in the New Forest” and about how he knew who the “real” killers of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were also, Warwick supposedly announced: “Bear with me for a moment.” He then “leaned with his left elbow on a nearby table with his right arm across his body, and then fell flat on his face. Shortly afterwards he was pronounced dead.” Fellow conspiracy cranks (including David Icke) later claimed: “This was an Intelligence agency ‘hit’ using an ELF (Extremely Low Frequency) weapon,” but this was never ultimately proven true.

     

    Warwick had, for about twenty years, lived in the heart of the national hunt racecourse town of Kelso in the Scottish Borders. Here, along with his actress wife Jean, he occupied in a Gothic church and now that building, North Trinity Church is once again for sale.

     

    Not Such Divine Intervention – £130,000 for North Trinity Church, East Bowmont Street, Kelso, Roxboroughshire, Scotland, TD5 7JH, United Kingdom through agents Ballantynes – Empty Gothic church in Kelso, Scotland for sale for just £130,000; it was home until 2006 to the conspiracy theorist Dean Warwick (1944 – 7th October 2006) – who collapsed and died on stage at the Probe International paranormal and UFO conference in Blackpool mid speech.
    After Dean Warwick collapsed on stage in Blackpool, Lancashire on 7th October 2006, one fellow conspiracy theorist present observed: “When Dean collapsed on the floor a woman witnessed a man with dark hair slip out of the hall. She followed this man who then proceeded to walk down the stairs whistling merrily to himself, get into a car and make a phone call. He was then seen laughing down the phone to whoever he was speaking to. Who walks out of a hall whistling happily to themselves and then starts laughing down the phone after a man has just collapsed and stopped breathing on stage?”
    Not Such Divine Intervention – £130,000 for North Trinity Church, East Bowmont Street, Kelso, Roxboroughshire, Scotland, TD5 7JH, United Kingdom through agents Ballantynes – Empty Gothic church in Kelso, Scotland for sale for just £130,000; it was home until 2006 to the conspiracy theorist Dean Warwick (1944 – 7th October 2006) – who collapsed and died on stage at the Probe International paranormal and UFO conference in Blackpool mid speech.
    Bulgarian businessman Kirk Kirchev paid £80,000 for North Trinity Church, Kelso in November 2018 and intended to use £35,000 of his mother’s savings to restore the building.

    Recorded as having changed hands in August 2014 for the sum of £45,000, the 6,877 square foot building was again sold in November 2018 for about £80,000 to a Bulgarian businessman named Kirk Kirchev. Of his purchase, in December 2019 talking to Borders TV, the camping tent manufacturer turned face mask retailer remarked:

     

    “I saw the church online and thought this is amazing… It was very cheap, nobody wanted to touch it, the windows were boarded up… When I got in, it was dark, scary with pigeons circling in the main hall, but I could see that it had the soul, the spirit, the sort of magic, that, that bought me.”

     

    “I’ve done 90% of the work I needed, I’ve made it usable. It’s still retaining its derelict and magical look… People think I’m crazy: It’s a given, but I think this place needs someone crazy to take it on because otherwise it will simply fall apart.”

     

    “[When it’s finished” I hope it’ll be a great venue and the focal point of the town. It has a lot of potential as a gathering place for people. I am kind of surprised why people don’t see this because it’s right in the middle of town, it’s got car parks all around, it’s great for a venue and all it needs is a little bit. I think people like the character and all it needs is to be made safe and legal and certified and all that.”

     

    Standing on a site extending to 0.4 acres, Mr Kirchev plainly has decided not to proceed further with his project to find another use for this former religious building. North Trinity Church is now on the market for £130,000 through agents Ballantynes and could be used for residential or commercial purposes. No doubt, however, local residents very much hope another Dean Warwick type doesn’t turn up with yet another conspiracy theory; that, indeed, would be even worse than the shameful local councillors who proposed pulling down this beautiful Category B listed building last November.

     

    The Names & Numbers – North Trinity Church, East Bowmont Street, Kelso, Roxboroughshire, Scotland, TD5 7JH, United Kingdom

     

    April 2020 – For sale for £130,000 ($163,000, €150,000 or درهم597,000) through agents Ballantynes.

     

    November 2019 – Local councillors are reported calling for the demolition of the Category B listed building citing the need for more car parking spaces in Kelso’s town centre.

     

    November 2018 – Sold to Bulgarian born Kirk Kirchev for £80,000 ($100,000, €92,000 or درهم367,000).

     

    December 2017 – Offered for sale as a “development opportunity” for £75,000 ($94,000, €86,000 or درهم344,000) by Edwin Thompson.

     

    August 2014 – Sold for £45,000 ($56,000, €52,000 or درهم207,000).

     

    2011 – A community organisation, The Future Kelso Group, attempted to convert the church into a community hub. These plans did not come to fruition.

     

    2006 onwards – The building “fell into disrepair” after the death of the New Zealand-born conspiracy theorist Dean Warwick during a UFO conference in Blackpool on 7th October 2006 aged 62. The building had been home to him and his actress wife, Jean, for “over 20 years.”

     

    1885 – 1886 – Built to the designs of architect John Starforth for use as the Kelso United Presbyterian Church on the site of a previous church that was built in 1788. Prominent features are said to “include a four-stage angle buttressed tower over the gable porch to the southern end of the building; lanceted belfry; gabled transepts: and decorative detailing to ridge tiles to main roof. The tower is flanked by two-storey circular stair towers with slated conical roofs, each with side entrances.”

     

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    Not Such Divine Intervention – £130,000 for North Trinity Church, East Bowmont Street, Kelso, Roxboroughshire, Scotland, TD5 7JH, United Kingdom through agents Ballantynes – Empty Gothic church in Kelso, Scotland for sale for just £130,000; it was home until 2006 to the conspiracy theorist Dean Warwick (1944 – 7th October 2006) – who collapsed and died on stage at the Probe International paranormal and UFO conference in Blackpool mid speech.
    Not Such Divine Intervention – £130,000 for North Trinity Church, East Bowmont Street, Kelso, Roxboroughshire, Scotland, TD5 7JH, United Kingdom through agents Ballantynes – Empty Gothic church in Kelso, Scotland for sale for just £130,000; it was home until 2006 to the conspiracy theorist Dean Warwick (1944 – 7th October 2006) – who collapsed and died on stage at the Probe International paranormal and UFO conference in Blackpool mid speech.
    Not Such Divine Intervention – £130,000 for North Trinity Church, East Bowmont Street, Kelso, Roxboroughshire, Scotland, TD5 7JH, United Kingdom through agents Ballantynes – Empty Gothic church in Kelso, Scotland for sale for just £130,000; it was home until 2006 to the conspiracy theorist Dean Warwick (1944 – 7th October 2006) – who collapsed and died on stage at the Probe International paranormal and UFO conference in Blackpool mid speech.
    Not Such Divine Intervention – £130,000 for North Trinity Church, East Bowmont Street, Kelso, Roxboroughshire, Scotland, TD5 7JH, United Kingdom through agents Ballantynes – Empty Gothic church in Kelso, Scotland for sale for just £130,000; it was home until 2006 to the conspiracy theorist Dean Warwick (1944 – 7th October 2006) – who collapsed and died on stage at the Probe International paranormal and UFO conference in Blackpool mid speech.
    Not Such Divine Intervention – £130,000 for North Trinity Church, East Bowmont Street, Kelso, Roxboroughshire, Scotland, TD5 7JH, United Kingdom through agents Ballantynes – Empty Gothic church in Kelso, Scotland for sale for just £130,000; it was home until 2006 to the conspiracy theorist Dean Warwick (1944 – 7th October 2006) – who collapsed and died on stage at the Probe International paranormal and UFO conference in Blackpool mid speech.
    Not Such Divine Intervention – £130,000 for North Trinity Church, East Bowmont Street, Kelso, Roxboroughshire, Scotland, TD5 7JH, United Kingdom through agents Ballantynes – Empty Gothic church in Kelso, Scotland for sale for just £130,000; it was home until 2006 to the conspiracy theorist Dean Warwick (1944 – 7th October 2006) – who collapsed and died on stage at the Probe International paranormal and UFO conference in Blackpool mid speech.
    Not Such Divine Intervention – £130,000 for North Trinity Church, East Bowmont Street, Kelso, Roxboroughshire, Scotland, TD5 7JH, United Kingdom through agents Ballantynes – Empty Gothic church in Kelso, Scotland for sale for just £130,000; it was home until 2006 to the conspiracy theorist Dean Warwick (1944 – 7th October 2006) – who collapsed and died on stage at the Probe International paranormal and UFO conference in Blackpool mid speech.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ1z9QpWFUY
  • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did NOT live here

    Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did NOT live here

    San Francisco condominium with a plaque that falsely claims Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lived there for sale for £2.6m; it was actually home to a whackjob doctor who believed he could cure any disease

     

    Offered last for £1.779 million ($2.495 million, €2.010 million or درهم9.163 million) in 2012, 2151 Sacramento Street in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights has just been brought to the market by the well-known and often eccentrically dressed realtor Joel Goodrich for £2.637 million ($3.698 million, €2.979 million or درهم13.581 million).

     

    Adorned with a plaque that reads: “This house, built in 1881, was once occupied by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,” the apartment offered is one of four within a Beaux-Arts building that replaced the original structure in the 1920s. It extends to 2,528 square foot and includes 2 reception rooms, 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 3 parking spaces and a south facing roof deck.

     

    Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did NOT live here – #4, 2151 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94109, USA – For sale through Joel Goodrich for £2.637 million ($3.698 million, €2.979 million or درهم13.581 million) – San Francisco condominium with a plaque that falsely claims Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lived there for sale for £2.6m; it was actually home to a whackjob doctor named Dr Albert Abrams who believed he could cure any disease
    Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859 – 1930) and the plaque to him at 2151 Sacramento Street; he actually stayed at The Clift Hotel during his brief visit

    Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did NOT live here – #4, 2151 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94109, USA – For sale through Joel Goodrich for £2.637 million ($3.698 million, €2.979 million or درهم13.581 million) – San Francisco condominium with a plaque that falsely claims Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lived there for sale for £2.6m; it was actually home to a whackjob doctor named Dr Albert Abrams who believed he could cure any disease
    Dr Albert Abrams (1863 – 1924) was facinated with curing vibrations and came up with radionics and the theory of spondylotherapy; here he is pictured with his pointless invention

     

    Just as in Britain with Elizabeth I – a woman who, it seems, slept in virtually every bed in the land – the truth about Conan Doyle’s association is much more mundane. The author and creator of Sherlock Holmes did visit the then owner of the property, one Dr Albert Abrams, whilst on a short visit to San Francisco in 1923 but actually only for a few hours.

     

    Conan Doyle is noted for having supported Abrams, a controversial professor of pathology at Stanford University and the inventor of a whackjob device named a dynamizer, when others turned there backs on him. His claim to fame was that his contraption could analyse a single drop of blood and then transmit a cure back by radio waves. As with many others of that time, this hocus-pocus was eventually discounted as utterly outrageous and Abrams was in turn branded: “The dean of twentieth century charlatans.”

     

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    Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did NOT live here – #4, 2151 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94109, USA – For sale through Joel Goodrich for £2.637 million ($3.698 million, €2.979 million or درهم13.581 million) – San Francisco condominium with a plaque that falsely claims Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lived there for sale for £2.6m; it was actually home to a whackjob doctor named Dr Albert Abrams who believed he could cure any diseaseSir Arthur Conan Doyle did NOT live here – #4, 2151 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94109, USA – For sale through Joel Goodrich for £2.637 million ($3.698 million, €2.979 million or درهم13.581 million) – San Francisco condominium with a plaque that falsely claims Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lived there for sale for £2.6m; it was actually home to a whackjob doctor named Dr Albert Abrams who believed he could cure any diseaseSir Arthur Conan Doyle did NOT live here – #4, 2151 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94109, USA – For sale through Joel Goodrich for £2.637 million ($3.698 million, €2.979 million or درهم13.581 million) – San Francisco condominium with a plaque that falsely claims Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lived there for sale for £2.6m; it was actually home to a whackjob doctor named Dr Albert Abrams who believed he could cure any diseaseSir Arthur Conan Doyle did NOT live here – #4, 2151 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94109, USA – For sale through Joel Goodrich for £2.637 million ($3.698 million, €2.979 million or درهم13.581 million) – San Francisco condominium with a plaque that falsely claims Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lived there for sale for £2.6m; it was actually home to a whackjob doctor named Dr Albert Abrams who believed he could cure any disease Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did NOT live here – #4, 2151 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94109, USA – For sale through Joel Goodrich for £2.637 million ($3.698 million, €2.979 million or درهم13.581 million) – San Francisco condominium with a plaque that falsely claims Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lived there for sale for £2.6m; it was actually home to a whackjob doctor named Dr Albert Abrams who believed he could cure any diseaseSir Arthur Conan Doyle did NOT live here – #4, 2151 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94109, USA – For sale through Joel Goodrich for £2.637 million ($3.698 million, €2.979 million or درهم13.581 million) – San Francisco condominium with a plaque that falsely claims Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lived there for sale for £2.6m; it was actually home to a whackjob doctor named Dr Albert Abrams who believed he could cure any disease Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did NOT live here – #4, 2151 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94109, USA – For sale through Joel Goodrich for £2.637 million ($3.698 million, €2.979 million or درهم13.581 million) – San Francisco condominium with a plaque that falsely claims Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lived there for sale for £2.6m; it was actually home to a whackjob doctor named Dr Albert Abrams who believed he could cure any diseaseSir Arthur Conan Doyle did NOT live here – #4, 2151 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94109, USA – For sale through Joel Goodrich for £2.637 million ($3.698 million, €2.979 million or درهم13.581 million) – San Francisco condominium with a plaque that falsely claims Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lived there for sale for £2.6m; it was actually home to a whackjob doctor named Dr Albert Abrams who believed he could cure any diseaseSir Arthur Conan Doyle did NOT live here – #4, 2151 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94109, USA – For sale through Joel Goodrich for £2.637 million ($3.698 million, €2.979 million or درهم13.581 million) – San Francisco condominium with a plaque that falsely claims Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lived there for sale for £2.6m; it was actually home to a whackjob doctor named Dr Albert Abrams who believed he could cure any disease Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did NOT live here – #4, 2151 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94109, USA – For sale through Joel Goodrich for £2.637 million ($3.698 million, €2.979 million or درهم13.581 million) – San Francisco condominium with a plaque that falsely claims Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lived there for sale for £2.6m; it was actually home to a whackjob doctor named Dr Albert Abrams who believed he could cure any disease

  • Yasser Khattak

    Yasser Khattak

    Yasser KhattakFormer Maidstone Grammar School for Boys pupil turned inventor Yasser Khattak was suspended from school 16 times and taught himself at home. (more…)

  • Taking revenge on the Seven Layer Salad

    Taking revenge on the Seven Layer Salad

    Claire Douglass regrets beginning a meal in Wisconsin with a ‘Seven Layer Salad’

     

    Though I have gnawed on iguana in Panama, meat I dared not ask the origin of off street carts in various Asian countries, swampy ‘gator in the South of the United States, frogs, snails and offal of various kinds, I have only experienced culinary culture shock in one place: Wisconsin. (more…)

  • The arrivals and departures of 2013

    The arrivals and departures of 2013

    The births, deaths and innovations of the year

     

    2013 has been a year of change. Much new has reached us but sadly many have left us and amongst them have been Iain Banks, Joan Fontaine, Sir David Frost, Richard Griffiths, Cory Monteith, James Gandolfini, Lou Reed and Paul Walker. (more…)

  • The arrivals and departures of 2013

    The arrivals and departures of 2013

    The births, deaths and innovations of the year

     

    2013 has been a year of change. Much new has reached us but sadly many have left us and amongst them have been Iain Banks, Joan Fontaine, Sir David Frost, Richard Griffiths, Cory Monteith, James Gandolfini, Lou Reed and Paul Walker. (more…)

  • Percy Shaw OBE (1890 – 1976)

    Percy Shaw OBE (1890 – 1976)

    Percy ShawThe inventor of the Catseye road stud never married and was an eccentric Yorkshireman who kept four televisions running constantly so as not to miss anything. Shaw had two Rolls-Royces on the basis that he didn’t want to go without whilst one was being serviced and even built a replica of his local bar in his sitting room so he could invite his friends round for drinks each night. A J. D. Wetherspoon pub in Halifax is named in his honour.

  • The best view in London or an expensive way to live in London’s ‘naffest’ square?

    The best view in London or an expensive way to live in London’s ‘naffest’ square?

    The sale of a £16.95 million duplex penthouse in Trafalgar Square

     

    Trafalgar Square is a place that most Londoners avoid. It’s a place for pigeons, protestors and tourists and though millions travel through it daily, most don’t tend to stop. In an article for The Guardian titled “Why I hate London’s Trafalgar Square”, the author Will Self went as far as to label it “one of the most crap urban public spaces in the world”.

      (more…)

  • Sara Blakely

    Sara Blakely

    Sara Blakely 550The youngest woman to have become a self-made billionaire ever. A former comedian and door-to-door fax machine saleswoman, Blakely founded the privately held Spanx undergarment business at the age of 27. Sales took off in 2000 when Oprah Winfrey endorsed the product and then when she signed a contract with QVC, 8,000 pairs were sold in the first six minutes. Married to a former rapper named Jesse Itzler, Sara Blakely intends to leave at least half of her wealth to charity and of her success comments: “In my wildest dreams I never thought I would have started with their butts. As it turns out, that was a great place to start”.  A truly inspirational and decent lady.

     

  • Dr Alexander Moulton CBE (1920 – 2012)

    Dr Alexander Moulton CBE (1920 – 2012)

    Alex MoultonThis genius of British design was told by leading bicycle manufacturer Raleigh that his lightweight, small-wheeled bicycle wouldn’t sell in the early 1960s. He proved them utterly wrong and his work with Sir Alexander Issigonis on the Austin Mini created a car that will be remembered forever. This unmarried and utterly eccentric engineer was also told by the Duke of Edinburgh “that he might end up under a glass case himself” and went as far as to swap his Rolls-Royce for a chauffeur driven Mini to beat ever escalating fuel costs.