Tag: Isle of Wight

  • 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.”

     

  • Flora’s ‘Little Pot of Sunshine’

    Flora’s ‘Little Pot of Sunshine’

    9-year-old girl’s prize-winning “little pot of sunshine” conserve goes on sale in Fortnum & Mason after beating 3,000 others in the world marmalade awards; 99-year-old’s grandson meanwhile claims marmalade helped her beat coronavirus

    Guardian readers regularly marvel about marmalade. In 2020, they sent scores of letters to the paper about marmalade and longevity and in April that year they also even referenced a 99-year-old whose grandson believed she’d beaten COVID-19 by eating marmalade sandwiches.

     

    Now, going to the other end of the age spectrum, the paper shared news late last week that a 9-year-old child, Flora Rider from the Isle of Wight, has become the youngest ever winner of the world marmalade awards.

     

    Having “impressed the judges with her marmalade made from Seville oranges and orange blossom from her local supermarket… which was made on only her second attempt” and beaten off other amateur and professional makers also, Rider’s conserve has now gone on sale in Fortnum & Mason.

     

    Commenting of the winning entry, the ritzy store’s website now is offering the creation and shares of it:

     

    “Selected from over 3,000 entries from all over the world, Flora Rider’s Seville Orange & Orange Blossom Marmalade has been crowned the winner of the 2021 Dalemain Marmalade Double Gold Awards.”

     

    “Described by 9-year-old Flora as a ‘little pot of sunshine,’ this joyous jar is bursting with fresh citrus notes and a bright and honey-like flavour. Seville oranges harmonise with subtle hints of orange blossom water to create a delicately floral spread. Finely cut and light in colour, this marmalade pairs perfectly with breakfast pastries or dolloped atop fresh yoghurt.”

     

    “Flora’s homemade marmalade has been commercially produced and will be exclusively sold at Fortnum & Mason and Dalemain throughout the year – with 50p from each jar going to Hospice at Home Carlisle & North Lakeland.”

     

    Speaking of her victory, Rider told the Guardian:

     

    “[I was] very excited, over the moon and really amazed to have won the prize.”

     

    “I enjoyed shredding the peel and filling the jars, but best of all I enjoyed eating the finished marmalade. I liked the thought of adding flowers to my marmalade, so using orange blossom seemed like a good idea. The taste was very nice, with a lovely floral and honey flavour.”

     

    To order Flora Rider’s marmalade – priced at £5.95 for a 340g jar – click here. Also available from the store is last year’s winning entry, Jonathan Hamel Cooke’s Dark & Chunky Marmalade – also priced at £5.95.

     

    Rita Reynolds marmalade coronavirus
    In April 2020, nonagenarian Rita Reynolds of Bramhall, Stockport’s grandson told the ‘Guardian’: “I don’t know how she got through [and recovered from coronavirus]. I don’t think she has ever eaten a vegetable or fruit. She lives on marmalade sandwiches and biscuits. But she’s never smoked or really drank.” Mrs Reynolds is plainly like a cat with nine lives. In the Second World War, aged 21, she supposedly refused to go into an air raid shelter “because she wanted to read her book.” She instead hid under a table at her home in Liverpool and amazingly survived when a bomb landed right outside.
    Flora Rider beat off over 3,000 entries from 30 countries around the world – including Canada, the Czech Republic, Australia, Japan, Kuwait and Brazil – to win the 2021 Homemade Marmalade Awards. Of her entry, the judges declared: “A first time marmalade maker, Flora and her family, like so many in the UK, decided to get creative in the kitchen during the winter lockdown – with phenomenal results! Her entry absolutely bowled over the judges and was unanimously declared the winner, not just of the Children’s category, but of the whole competition.”
    Going further of the winning entry, Dalemain declared: “Flora’s winning marmalade was ideal for the ‘floral’ feel of the day, and organisers hope it will be the perfect accompaniment to a gorgeous summer ahead.”
  • Observing Ambridge

    Observing Ambridge

    Whilst one ‘Observer’ reader suggests Alan Bennett writes the monologues that have replaced normal episodes of ‘The Archers,’ another demands a return to standard broadcasts about Ambridge life

    Whilst we joined those royally unimpressed when BBC Radio 4 “ran out of episodes” of The Archers due to the coronavirus lockdown back at the start of May, the radio soap’s return recently as a series of monologues has left Observer readers anything but delighted.

     

    In a letter to the Observer this morning, one Ursula Hutchinson [on-the-ball listeners may remember Ambridge’s resident villain Rob Titchener’s meddling mother was also called Ursula] of Newport on the Covid-19 app friendly Isle of Wight, plainly inspired by his brilliantly straight-to-the-point Talking Heads series, suggested Alan Bennett be brought in. She remarked:

                                      

    If ‘The Archers’ monologues are to go on, they need to ask Alan Bennett to write them. We’ve just endured a week of Tony’s haircut. Please!

    Ursula Hutchinson

    Newport, Isle of Wight

     

    Last Sunday, another ‘Archers Addict,’ Mary Evans of Heathfield, East Sussex got even more het up. In her letter, the “enthusiast” declared the new format “totally dull and frankly not worth giving up 15 minutes of your life for, however much time you have to spare at the moment.” She vented:

     

    How I agree with Miranda Sawyer regarding the new format of ‘The Archers’ (Radio review): totally dull and frankly not worth giving up 15 minutes of your life for, however much time you have to spare at the moment. I acknowledge the difficulties of broadcasting but the archive episodes were much more worthwhile, even though I took issue with the gloomy choice – Kirsty being stood up at the altar, the Grundys being evicted, the floods.

     

    My fellow enthusiasts and I will be putting ‘The Archers’ on hold until they drop this boring format. Surely as it’s radio it must be technically possible to cobble together something like the original. I fear they may lose fans who will be disinclined to return.

    Mary Evans

    Heathfield, East Sussex

     

    We join both Evans and Hutchinson in their lament, but The Archers scriptwriters have thus far provided one lockdown highlight: An episode where the village gossip Susan Carter – high on ‘honey rum,’ as one would be after desperately raiding the dregs of the lockdown drinks cupboard – referenced sexual antics for those in their later years after getting spiced up on homemade chilli.

     

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    Twitter: @SteepleTimes

     

    Observing Ambridge – Revived ‘The Archers’ fails to impress – Whilst one ‘Observer’ reader suggests Alan Bennett writes the monologues that have replaced normal episodes of ‘The Archers,’ another demands a return to standard broadcasts about Ambridge life.
    ‘The Archers’ – set in the fictional village of Ambridge – first aired on BBC on 29th May 1950. It is the world’s longest running drama and thus attracts both accolade and criticism in equal measure from its somewhat dedicated audience.
    In this legendary episode, Helen Titchener stabbed her husband Rob after he criticised her tuna bake.
    ‘Country Channel.TV’ went behind the scenes with the cast of ‘The Archers’ in January 2010. One character, Phil Archer, made the ‘Guinness World Records’ for being the longest serving actor in a single soap opera – Norman Painting played him from 1950 until his death on 29th October 2009.
    The second part of the behind the scenes tour of the radio soap inspired by life in a village in rural England. It was originally billed as “an everyday story of country folk,” but is now described (more suitably for the ‘woke’ generation we sadly live in) as “a contemporary drama in a rural setting.”
  • Emily Bolton

    Emily Bolton

    A Shackleton Award winning campaigner who “fights miscarriages of justice and demands reform,” practicing solicitor Emily Bolton is married to Reprieve founder and one of “Britain’s most powerful civil rights lawyers,” Clive Stafford Smith. This Dorset born stonemason’s daughter, herself, founded the Centre for Criminal Appeals in the UK in 2011 after previously representing wrongfully convicted prisoners in the United States through the George Soros funded Innocence Project in New Orleans. She is a graduate of the University of Melbourne and Tulane University and her work trying to highlight the flaws in the 2011 convictions of the ‘Freshwater Five’ fisherman is clearly illustrative of her tenacity and dedication. Bolton’s sterling efforts in this regard were quite correctly highlighted in an April 2020 in-depth analysis of this most likely bungled case in the Guardian and in 2017, she tellingly commented: “Human beings make mistakes, and no system has more human parts than the criminal justice system. If it can’t identify and rectify its mistakes, it is doomed to repeat them.”

     

  • Baroness Marie-Claire von Alvensleben

    Baroness Marie-Claire von Alvensleben

    Baroness Marie-Claire von AlvenslebenThough convicted and sentenced to a six-week suspended jail sentence for a racist tirade in December 2013 in which she claimed “brown people are ruining London”, Baroness Marie-Claire von Alvensleben continues to parade around as if still acceptable in polite society. (more…)

  • Five of the Best: Rambling ruins

    Five of the Best: Rambling ruins

    Five British mansions that require new owners with bottomless pockets for sale at prices from £950,000 to over £10 million (more…)

  • The Charge of the Cheque Book

    The Charge of the Cheque Book

    Vast Victorian Isle of Wight mansion connected to The Charge of the Light Brigade for sale – Only those with large cheque books need apply (more…)

  • Dominic Minghella: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

    Dominic Minghella: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

    The Steeple Times asks Isle of Wight born producer and scriptwriter Dominic Minghella: “What’s on your mantelpiece?” (more…)

  • Drilling a bank robbery

    Drilling a bank robbery

    A drill used in the Knightsbridge Security Deposit robbery on display at Christie’s is a reminder of the world’s biggest bank heist

     

    Former banker David Gainsborough Roberts has amassed an extraordinary collection of items owned by famous and infamous individuals. A selection of them are currently on display at Christie’s in South Kensington and amongst them are a parliamentary robe worn by Lord Lucan, Lawrence of Arabia’s white silk headdress and a drill used in the Knightsbridge Security Deposit robbery in 1987. (more…)

  • What were they thinking?

    What were they thinking?

    The worst named restaurants in the world

     

    When opening a restaurant, some restaurateurs opt to name their businesses after a street whilst others use their surname or a historic figure. Here, however, we list a selection of ten of the most bizarre and ridculous that we’ve come across (more…)