The Steeple Times asks thrice Ivor Novello Award winning songwriter Bill Martin: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”
The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?
Sir Winston Churchill and all he stood for and to win an Oscar for the best “song” as a songwriter.
“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?
Immediately forget timewasters.
The latest arrest in Operation Yewtree illustrates the muddle that this investigation has become
British newspapers have decided not to name the 82-year old “celebrity” arrested in Berkshire on suspicion of sexual offences as part of Operation Yewtree.
The political blog Guido Fawkes and other news sources have decided to name the individual, however, as “there was no legal reason not to report this news”. They suggest that the individual supposedly is the Australian entertainer Rolf Harris AO, CBE.
The latest in a series of bizarre comments from actor William Roache
William Roache MBE, who plays Ken Barlow in Coronation Street, is no stranger to controversy.
The grandson of a Freemason who was interested in hypnotism, theosophy and esotericism, Roache is a vegetarian and spiritualist who was photographed participating in Druid rituals in the 1970s.
A review of the St. Ermin’s Hotel
I first visited the St. Ermin’s Hotel close to Scotland Yard in St James’s in June 2012 for the first Intelligence Book of the Year Awards. Today, I will return there to attend a reception to announce the second winner of this annual prize by judges Andrew Lownie, Dan Mulvenna, Glenmore Trenear-Harvey, Michael Smith and Nigel West.
As I reported in my last article on this Victorian property, the St. Ermin’s Hotel’s links with the worlds of politics and espionage are indeed strong. Built in the Queen Anne revival style to the designs of Edwin T. Hall (1851 – 1923) in 1887 and completed in 1889, the horse-shoe shaped building was originally a mansion block prior to being converted to a hotel that opened in 1899 after a major refurbishment by the theatre architect J. P. Briggs (1869 – 1944). Briggs remodeled the public areas and created a spectacular neo-Baroque entrance with balconies, ornate plasterwork and a double staircase.
Due to the building’s proximity to the powerhouses of government, the St. Ermin’s Hotel became a meeting point for officers of the Secret Intelligence Service and, as a result, various traitors and spies. Some worked from offices in the building and amongst them were Kim Philby, Guy Burgess, Laurence Grand and Eric Maschwitz. Others came there to be interviewed and the hotel’s bar, The Caxton Bar, is renowned as having been a noted meeting place for secret intelligence officers.
One of the most notable meetings at the St. Ermin’s Hotel was held in 1940 when Winston Churchill brought together a group to join him in “Setting Europe Ablaze”. These founding members of what was to become the Special Operations Executive (SOE) took over an entire floor of the hotel and carried out covert operations from there throughout the Second World War. MI6 were stationed two floors above and then in the 1950s, the hotel’s bar was the meeting point of Guy Burgess and his Soviet counterpoint when he passed intelligence to the USSR.
Following on from a £30 million refurbishment to designs by Dayna Lee of Los Angeles-based Powerstrip Studio, the 331 rooms and suites at the St. Ermin’s Hotel are now comfortable, well appointed and decorated in a contemporary style. The two that I inspected, whilst perhaps lacking the charm of a boutique hotel such as Blakes, are absolutely ideal for a business traveller or tourist given the location close to the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. They are well worthy of their four star rating and I slept well given how centrally located the hotel is.
The Caxton Grill, the hotel’s restaurant, continues the traditions of the St. Ermin’s in that it plainly is the haunt of politicians and policeman. Whilst dining there, I met an officer from Scotland Yard who was involved with Operation Yewtree. I can report that, though I had a most fascinating conversation with him about Savile, Davidson and Clifford, I did not leave with any state secrets that I could share here. The restaurant also featured on a recent episode of the BBC One’s MasterChef with Gregg Wallace and John Torode and frankly one could also imagine Hercule Poirot having taken rather a liking to it also. It is modern in style and features wooden flooring, bright décor and snazzy seating.
The restaurant features a menu that focuses on a Josper grill. This £17,000 hybrid barbeque–oven, which I saw so cleverly used by Chris Golding at Beauchamp Place’s Galoupet, allows a chef to cook, barbeque and roast at the same time over charcoal embers at temperatures of upto 600 degrees. Filled with Kentish hardwood every morning, the Josper recirculates smoke via adjustable draughts and, for example, as a result, it takes only about a minute to char infuse lamb and thick-cut beef sirloins. The real thrill of it, though, is that the Josper process ensures that none of the flavor or natural moistness of whatever is cooked in it is lost.
I began with a salad of soured plums, gorgonzola and blackberries (£8) that was colourful and most welcome on a grim winter’s day. My companion tried a roast celeriac and truffle veloute (£7) that though perfectly adequate, did not truly excite.
I continued with a half Temple Farm chicken (£20) that was cooked on the Josper Grill. Well presented and served with a green peppercorn sauce and some garlic and parsley French fries (£4), the cooking process was clearly illustrated. The meat was tender and I must say it was one of the best pieces of chicken I have eaten in years. My companion, an Icelandic financial titan, maxed out on a 300g vintage dry aged sirloin steak (£30) served with béarnaise sauce. Again, cooked to perfection, he was impressed.
Though more than amply fed, we finished by sharing a chocolate fondant (£7). This simple dish melted in the mouth and the accompanying ice cream was just superb.
Wines in the restaurant start at a very reasonable £19.95 for the house white and rise upwards to the £300 a bottle range. A Chablis is priced at £41 and a Gavi di Gavi at £33. The restaurant’s bar, the Caxton Bar, offers a huge array of cocktails but I must say I was rather sad that none of them were spy themed.
The most quirky thing about the St. Ermin’s Hotel is that it has its own colony of bees. “Bees… In Wesminster?”, I hear you cry. Yes, indeed, 200,000 of them prosper on the roof of the hotel and produce the most delicious honey that is available to guests. From three hives, the Buckfast bees, described as being “good tempered”, have fantastic access to London’s parks and travel within a three mile radius collecting pollen and nectar. “London”, states the hotel’s website, is “a perfect environment for bees as… cities actually trap heat, which means they can start foraging earlier in the year than rural bees and continue later into the autumn”. Who’d have thought it? Where once lived spies, now prospers a colony of bees.
St. Ermin’s Hotel, 2 Caxton Street, London, SW1H 0QW. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7222 7888. Website: http://www.sterminshotel.co.uk
Follow the St. Ermin’s Hotel on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/sterminshotel
Read our report on the first Intelligence Book of the Year Awards at: http://thesteepletimes.com/da-steeps-speaks/long-live-the-spies
In 2013, this Danish-British former Liberal Democrat author and presenter stated: “The Duchess of Cambridge lacks a single [relevant] opinion”. The nation were far from impressed. “Toxic Toksvig”, as some refer to her, is a Cambridge educated lesbian and mother of three whose works number Hitler’s Canary and Heroines & Harridans. She started her career on the appropriately named Motormouth and once stated: “When I see comedian – and ‘comedienne’, of course I hate it – I think ‘Oh, really?’ because I think of myself as a writer and broadcaster”. Miaow!
The Metropolitan Police report into the Jimmy Savile scandal is published
We’ve written much about the Jimmy Savile scandal and received countless information about it and Operation Yewtree in general from our readers.
The majority, we’re glad to report, were shocked and appalled by this monster’s conduct. Though several of Savile’s friends bizarrely wrote protesting his innocence, today’s publication of a report into the matter confirms just what we all sadly thought.
The Metropolitan Police report reveals that Savile abused 214 people, many of them under 10 years old. It is shocking that the BBC and others allowed him to get away with this for so long and we would argue that a few more heads ought to roll.
Today’s arrests in Operation Yewtree
Today, two men were arrested as part of Operation Yewtree. Both were in their 50s and therefore come from an era where public figures were able to get away with all manner of things.
A certain right-wing comedian of the same age of one of them, 59-year old Jim Davidson, was named later in the day by the Fleet Street Fox on Facebook and Guido Fawkes on his Order-Order.com blog as one of the people to have been arrested. (more…)
Matthew Steeples examines the charges against Stuart Hall
In my youth I met a man named Stuart Hall MBE. Today, this self-appointed northern joker was charged with three counts of indecent assault on girls aged between 9 and 16.
Hall is a man described by The Independent as a “Northern hero with a penchant for hyperbole and hilarity.” In reality, he is just a bit of a fool. This television presenter’s attempts at humour were always cheap and tacky and whether he is guilty or innocent, he is a man who should be consigned to history.
This broadcaster portrays himself as a “national treasure” but in reality it is time he was just silenced. May the halls not be decked with Stuart this Christmas.
Our congratulations to The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
The announcement that The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting a baby brings joy at a time when this country needs it. The pages of our newspapers have been filled with stories of Leveson, Jimmy Savile and austerity for too long and now, like with the 2012 Olympics and The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the press have a positive story to share.
David Cameron was bang on the nail when he commented on Twitter: “They will make wonderful parents.” We at The Steeple Times wholeheartedly agree and offer our congratulations to the royal couple.
