The Steeple Times

Tag: London

  • Trevor Abrahmsohn: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

    Trevor Abrahmsohn: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

    The Steeple Times asks Trevor Abrahmsohn, the founder and managing director of Glentree Estates: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

     

    The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom.” What’s your guiding force?

    Knowledge and charm.

     

     “Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

    The ninth ‘no’ is a precursor to yes!

     

    Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2012?

    Vince Cable.

     

    Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

    Making money more easily.

     

    What might you swap all your wealth for?

    Good health if mine were failing.

     

    Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank.” What’s your view on the banking crisis?

    An accident that was waiting to happen.  No surprise there.

     

    What phrase or word do you most loathe?

     ‘Elf’ and Safety!

     

    In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home.” What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

    A multiplicity of good causes with a significant percentage of our turnover donated to children’s cancer charities, Make A Wish Foundation and Jewish Care.

     

    The judge in “Law Abiding Citizen” states: “I can pretty do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

    They are one of the most important building blocks in the post Thatcher liberated society and are responsible for the explosion of the service industry amongst others.  It is one of the most important innovations for both business and pleasure.

     

    If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

    Peter Ustinov, Frank Sinatra, Stephen Hawkins, Margaret Thatcher, John Barry, Ernie Bilko and Arthur Lowe.

     

    Trevor Abrahmsohn of Glentree Estates

    If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

    A mighty New York strip steak with Idaho potato and salad in Palm Beach, Florida, looking at the sea.

     

    What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

    7.30pm.

     

    A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

    A Martini.

     

    Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

    The fun and informal ones with lots of laughter and cheer.

     

    Who is the most positive person you know?

    My wife and mother.

     

    What’s your most guilty pleasure?

    Too much good food.

     

    If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

    99% good 1% bad!

     

    If you were a car, what marque would you be?

    A classic Aston Martin.

     

    Cilla Black presented “Surprise, Surprise.” Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

    My 14 handicap.

     

    What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

    A father’s day card from my children.

     

    Trevor Abrahmsohn is best known for selling “trophy” homes and has dealt with the majority of the sales on London’s “Billionaire’s Row,” The Bishop’s Avenue. His firm, Glentree Estates, is situated at 698 Finchley Road, London, NW11 7NE. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 8458 7311. Website: http://www.glentree.co.uk

  • Arthur Ransome (1864 – 1967)

    Arthur Ransome (1864 – 1967)

    Though best known for Swallows and Amazons, Ransome’s life in Russia was what makes him most fascinating. He was sued unsuccessfully by Lord Alfred Douglas over a biography of Oscar Wilde, played chess with Lenin and married Trotsky’s personal secretary, Evgenia Petrovna Shelepina. Accused by many of being a spy, his books on fishing, some might argue, are actually his finest literary examples.

  • The man who had it all

    The man who had it all

    The conviction of Asil Nadir

     

    Last month I visited a house I’d heard much about over the years in the company of Ed Burrows, the personable managing director of Barnsdale Lodge in Rutland. That house, located a few minutes from the hotel that Burrows so ably runs, was Burley-on-the-Hill House.

     

    Asil Nadir
    Burley-on-the-Hill House

    Now converted into apartments, this mansion was built in the 1690s to designs supervised by Sir Christopher Wren and was sold to Polly Peck tycoon Asil Nadir in 1991 for £7 million. Nadir planned to turn Burley-on-the-Hill into a luxury hotel and conference centre with two golf courses but this failed to come to fruition when his Polly Peck empire collapsed following a Serious Fraud Investigation. In 1993, he breached the terms of his bail and fled to Northern Cyprus and as a result Burley-on-the-Hill was sold to the property developer Kit Martin.

     

    Sick of being a fugitive, Nadir took the gamble of returning to Britain to finally face a trial in July 2010 but this has indeed been his very own nadir. Plainly believing that most documents had faded and his alleged theft of £150 million from the empire had been forgotten, this twice married Turkish Cypriot former business mogul was yesterday convicted on three charges of theft totaling £5.5 million. Aged 71, he now faces a lengthy jail sentence.

     

    At the end of the day, Asil Nadir, the man who had it all, had nothing.

  • Leonid Rozhetskin

    Leonid Rozhetskin

    He co-founded City AM and was executive producer of the 2009 film Boogie Woogie. This Russian financier and lawyer led a closeted life and disappeared in March 2008. Elements of the Russian press suggest he’s living in California under the Federal Witness Protection Program but others argue that he was the victim of foul play at the hands of the KGB. A credit card belonging to Rozhetskin, whose favoured haunts numbered The Wolseley and Nobu, was found next to a body found in woods in Latvia in August 2012.

  • Winging it

    Winging it

    Sarah Tucker gives an update on goings on at the resort where Madeleine McCann vanished

     

    Four hundred and thirty euros, one bedroom apartment, one week at the height of season at a luxury family resort in Portugal. And oh yes, it’s the Ocean Club at Praia da Luz. There’s availability with two and three bedroom apartments as well. I asked about apartment 5a where Madeleine disappeared but the PR is coming back to me on that one. That was four days ago.

     

    The Ocean Club entrance and Apartment 5A at the top of the street

    I checked this out because having looked at the comments on The Steeple Times McCann roll call entry, I wanted to know what became of the resort where she disappeared.  Last year the lady who owned the property itself couldn’t sell it because women buyers were put off by it’s history.  I don’t blame them. I would never recommend buying from a divorcing couple, no matter how good the deal, so buying somewhere where a child has been allegedly kidnapped is a no no. Estate agents will say nonsense, but that’s a woman’s superstition for you. Or a mother’s superstition.

     

    I remember writing at the time about Mark Warner, a company synonymous with a reputation for keeping parents who treated parenting as a subject to be studied to A*, not as something to leave to instinct, God forbid.  Perhaps that’s an exaggeration, but having recently vox popped over 500 parents* asking if they would leave their children in their hotel room unsupervised while they ate in a restaurant on site, none of them, not one, said they would do so. I never mentioned the McCann case. The question about childcare was mixed in with other family travel related stuff, but some even mentioned the McCann’s case when they responded.  And all claimed they would take advantage of a babysitting service if it was offered or eat earlier and with the kids if it wasn’t.

     

    I was asked at the time if I would ever leave my son alone. I never have. Too risky and having lost him for ten minutes in the salubrious area that is East Sheen high street at five in the afternoon five years ago, because I refused to wait for him to tie up his shoe lace for the nth time, and getting no less than eighteen other men and women, all who had been either waiting for buses, serving or being served in shops, or in several cases drinking in the local pub, to run up and down, shouting his name, I understand the McCann’s need to go to the end of the earth, the prime minister, the Pope, to find their daughter. I completely understand this. What I never understood was their emotional reaction or rather lack of it.    In the meantime babysitting services are still offered at the Ocean Club.

     

    * Using social media (parents of three to six year olds).

     

  • Cycling with a Smile

    Cycling with a Smile

    Former Emmerdale bad boy Lyndon Ogbourne updates readers of The Steeple Times on his cycle expedition for Once Upon a Smile

     

    Part One:

    I begin this section of my travel journal, sat Bear Gryls style, next to a campfire I’ve successfully made, cooking a fish I’ve caught (with much difficulty) that I plan to serve with some bread from a boulangerie about 110km from where I’ve set up camp.

     

    Lyndon Ogbourne cycling through the French countryside
    Ogbourne’s Cadence Performance bicycle is given a well earned rest

    I’m exhausted but exhilarated. The journey I set out on 5 days ago has taken me through some of the most beautiful but challenging sections of country I’ve ever experienced. I’m a novice cyclist but with the help of the Cadence Performance Centre I trained for the distances I would cover. Nothing, however, could prepare me for the scorching temperatures I have experienced. They would have been fantastic sat chilling on a beach, but are an added and detrimental element to a 635-mile cycle challenge.

     

    The structure of my cycling expedition has been loose and spontaneous and as long as I cover a minimum of 100km day, I’ll make it to the airport in time for my scheduled flight. The rest is an adventurous ‘play-it-by-ear’ set up.

     

    Part Two: Toulon

    My legs are tight and bruised and battered from a fall near Castelnaudary when I was outfoxed by a tree stump on the path. Ahead of me, though, was the greatest challenge of all, the mountainous terrain between Marseilles and Toulon. There I encountered 136km of mountain range, with 8km ascents dappled with 3km climbs just to stick the knife in.

     

    I arrived in Toulon a broken man. The beautiful views of Marseilles were awe inspiring, but the mountains I have just covered were nearly my undoing. I write this second section sprawled like a rag doll on my bed in a rustic but somewhat dingy B&B in Toulon.

     

    I have never challenged myself like this before and my whole being tingles with a feeling beyond pain. My mind, however, is filled with memories that I will treasure forever and, if it ever recovers, my body will grow stronger.

     

    Tomorrow, I venture on, edging ever closer to the final leg of this mammoth challenge. Today, I saw a sign to Nice and the energy and endorphin rush it produced inside me made me feel I should cycle there tonight. Luckily common sense prevailed and I realised rest was required.

     

    My trusty steed, the bike that has accompanied me on this challenge, has become very dear to me. It is an incredible piece of carbon fibre mastery and the only way I am here in Toulon is because of this bike. Cadence have created a piece of kit that is so advanced and beautiful that at every destination I have been stopped by people from every region to ask about it or to comment on its splendour.

     

    Lyndon Ogbourne training with the Cadence Performance team

    It’s in part due to the training and equipment that I’ve come this far, but now it’s down to me and my weary body to complete this task. Please donate to the fantastic charity Once Upon a Smile, whom I’m raising money for, via the link below. Equally, may I suggest, if you are thinking of purchasing or training yourself up for a cycle of any distance, you could be in no better hands that those of Cadence Cycle Performance Centre.

     

    For now I must sleep as I still have 100-miles to cover. I feel my legs may walk out on me if I don’t give them the rest the deserve. Bonne nuit and happy cycling.

     

    Once Upon a Smile: http://www.onceuponasmile.org.uk

     

    Cadence Performance: http://www.cadenceperformance.com

     

    To donate, go to: http://www.justgiving.com/Lyndon-Ogbourne

  • Adam Caldwell

    Adam Caldwell

    A rising star in the interiors industry. Caldwell, who hails from Gastonia, North Carolina, has just completed a stint as a freelance designer at NH Design by Nicky Haslam and is now based in New York. He has a penchant for colourful trousers and American-style cookies.

  • Picture of the week: In Solidarity, In Defiance

    Picture of the week: In Solidarity, In Defiance

    Julian Assange’s supporters show their true colours

     

    I have spent much of this week following the ludicrous story of Julian Assange and the asylum given to him by Ecuador. I have been to meet the protestors, I have watched the Occupy News Network live stream and read the views of both supporters and critics.

     

    In Solidarity, In Defiance

    Here, in a photograph taken outside The Ecuadorian Embassy in London, we illustrate the contempt the supporters of Assange show to the natural processes of justice that the majority in Britain and the world hold dear.

     

    Wearing a mask of defiance, this scruffy hooligan and his bare chested friend sum up all up that is wrong with this ragbag of nuisance makers and for this reason we make it The Steeple Times picture of the week.

  • The best for the West?

    The best for the West?

    FirstGroup win the West Coast Mainline rail franchise

     

    It has just been announced that FirstGroup, the parent company who operate amongst others First Capital Connect and First Great Western, have beaten Virgin Rail and will take over the West Coast Mainline rail franchise from December. The West Coast Mainline route serves London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the Central Belt of Scotland and is one that I know well having used it regularly to travel between London and Lancashire as a student.

     

    Virgin Rail’s West Coast Mainline Pendolino speeds past the River Lune at Tebay, Cumbria

    Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Rail, of which 49% is owned by Stagecoach, took over the franchise in 1997 and I have to say that I found the service he provided to be, in the main, perfectly satisfactory. Yes, indeed, there were problems and the 2007 Grayrigg accident did indeed cause considerable disruption, but Virgin’s “tank-like” Pendolino trains were much better than the older trains that they replaced and services did improve during Virgin’s tenure. Many grumbled, however, about fares but frankly they were comparable to those of all other operators throughout the land.

     

    With a government under pressure to get the best deal and the “best value for the taxpayer” according to Richard Westcott, the BBC’s transport correspondent, the attraction of the FirstGroup bid was not only that the £5.5 billion figure offered was far higher than that of the other tenders. FirstGroup also beat Virgin’s £160 million annual service payments with an offer of £390 million and offered £22 million to improve 17 stations on the route. They will also further improve the existing Pendolino trains, provide 11 new 125mph trains and offer new direct services to from London to Blackpool, Telford, Shrewsbury and Bolton.

     

    FirstGroup based their bid on their belief that there is spare capacity on the line and that train usage will grow at an incredible rate. Their bid is linked to a £45 million performance bond that they would have to forfeit if they walk away, as other operators have previously done elsewhere, from the contract.

     

    In a leaked letter to the Transport Secretary, Justine Greening, Sir Richard Branson claimed what the FirstGroup have offered will “drastically cut the quality of services.” He is likely to challenge today’s decision in the courts but for West Coast Mainline rail users, one can only hope that FirstGroup truly will deliver what they promise.

  • A load of old bull

    This week’s article about a viral video where a bunch of crazy folk were attacked by a bull has attracted a number of letters. If you didn’t see the original article, go to:

     

    http://thesteepletimes.com/the-fog/video-of-the-week-a-load-of-old-bull/

     

    SIR – Treating bulls in this manner should be banned. These people got what they deserved. I wish the bull had done worse.

     

    Susie Jackson

    St Alban’s, Hertfordshire

     

    SIR – I loved the video. I couldn’t stop laughing. These men were foolish in the extreme. They got just what they deserved.

     

    Tom Payne

    London, SW11

     

    SIR – You missed the point entirely. Bulls are dangerous and shouldn’t be messed with.

     

    Vera Appleton

    Painswick, Gloucestershire

     

    SIR – I thought those men very brave to do what they did. I also enjoyed watching them. Hilarious viewing. Thank you for sharing.

     

    Ben Fisher

    London, NW3

     

    SIR – I wonder what happened to the bull afterwards? I bet those men had some great steaks from it!

     

    Tony Davidson

    Nashville, Tennessee, USA