Tag: London

Fishing with Bentley

Bentley 4×4 equipped with fly fishing kit by Mulliner to be exhibited at The London Fly Fishing Fair

Designed with the gentleman angler in mind, what some might call a “casting brake” is to be exhibited by Bentley at the first London Fly Fishing Fair this week.

Priced far higher than the standard £135,000 ($164,000, €155,000 or درهم 603,000) base model Bentley Bentayga at around £280,000 ($340,000, €322,000 or درهم 1.25 million), the Mulliner Fly Fishing adapted version on show comes with a master tackle station, a refreshment case and a waterproof wader stowage trunk. It has tubes for four rods and a pair of landing nets can be stored in a hard pocket in the side of the boot.

Aside from the specially adapted Bentley, Marina Gibson – pictured here departing from a slightly more modest means of transport – will add some glamour to the first London Fly Fishing Fair

Of the car, which is to be exhibited by Mayfair dealers Jack Barclay, John Kelley, co-founder of The London Fly Fishing Fair, remarked:

“This is an iconic development in the fishing industry. It allows the keen angler to travel in comfort and in style. We are proud to be having this vehicle be a part of our fair, where we hope to entice a diverse community of fly fishers to engage in our event”.

Fly fishing personalities including rising star Marina Gibson and longstanding favourite Charles Jardine will be present at the fair and amongst over 70 exhibitors will be the Atlantic Salmon Trust, the BASC and Orvis.

The London Fly Fishing Fair is to be held on the 10^th and 11^th March at The Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, Islington, London, N1 0QH. Tickets cost £15 per person with under entry for those under 15 free.

March 8, 2017
Lee Brahim Murray-Lamrani (AKA ‘Lightning Lee’ and ‘The Stopwatch’)

The “mastermind of Britain’s biggest cash robbery”, “from the streets kid” and “scary son of a b**ch” Lee Murray was born in Greenwich and nicknamed (much to his displeasure) ‘The Alien’ by fellow members of what was known as the ‘Buttmarsh Boys’ gang. He “liked punching people almost at random in the street”, turned to crime in his teens and most notably received a sentence of twenty-five years in prison in 2010 for his part in the robbery of £53 million ($64.6 million, €61.1 million or درهم 237.4 million) in cash from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent in 2006.

After what many called “the crime of avarice of the decade”, 6’3” tall Murray – a one-time rising star mixed martial arts fighter and “friend and rival” of Katie Price’s ex-husband Alex Reid – fled to Morocco (where his father had been born and attempted to claim nationality to avoid British justice) but was convicted of drugs offences in Rabat in 2007. A bid to return him to Britain in exchange for a suspected terrorist wanted in regard to the 2003 Casablanca bombings later came to nothing.

In 2011, “caged cage fighter” Murray – who is said to have fathered a child “by a woman visitor who was not his wife” inside Salé prison and was put in “the hole” for six months due to being caught with a laptop computer in his cell – was amazingly able to give an interview via text message from his cell to the Middle Easy website. In it, he claimed being in a Moroccan jail is “better than being in a UK prison any day”, thanked those who’d created ‘Free Lee Murray’ T-shirts (but claimed he’d only instead wear one saying: ‘Free OJ’) and stated: “I have no regrets on any part of my life, the way I lived my life has made me the man I am today I’ve done a lot of things a lot of other people would regret but I don’t think you should regret anything in life, just learn from it instead”.

Less than half the money stolen by Murray and his associates has ever been found and still to this day the former drug dealer, when asked, is said to state: “I was a millionaire before that heist, my friend”.

March 7, 2017
You Can Say That If You Like

Belgravia apartment in building where Diana, Princess of Wales’ maternal grandmother lived, plotted and died for sale for a sum 165% higher than it sold for in 2003

The residence of brewery baron and Unionist politician The Rt. Hon. George Younger, 1^st Viscount Younger of Leckie (1851 – 1929) in the 1920s, 36 Eaton Square in Belgravia is the key building in what is often termed “London’s most sought after residential address”.

Later the home of Ruth Roche, The Rt. Hon. The Lady Fermoy, DCVO, OBE (1908 – 1993), a first and second floor maisonette within this Grosvenor Estates owned building is currently for sale through Knight Frank for £7.95 million ($9.90 million, €9.38 million or درهم36.38 million).

Royal confidante and aristocrat Ruth Roche, The Rt. Hon. The Lady Fermoy, DCVO, OBE (1908 – 1993) and brewery baron and Unionist politician The Rt. Hon. George Younger, 1st Viscount Younger of Leckie (1851 – 1929)

The drawing room of Flat D, 36 Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9DH

Sold last for £3 million in December 2003 (the equivalent of £4.4 million, $5.5 million, €5.2 million or درهم20.1 million today), the 2,230 square foot flat offered is held on a lease with 54 years remaining. This could be extended to 144 years by separate negotiation and presently the space is arranged to provide a double height entrance hallway, a large drawing room with a 12’8” ceiling height and access to a balcony, a dining room, a small kitchen, a study, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a utility room and a cloakroom.

A confidante of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother and the maternal grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales, Lady Fermoy gave up her career as a pianist on marriage and became an Extra Woman of the Bedchamber in 1956. Though she is said to have engineered the union between her granddaughter and the Prince of Wales, when asked she always remarked: “You can say that if you like – but it simply wouldn’t be true”.

Lady Fermoy died at 36 Eaton Square on 6^th July 1993, aged 84.

February 27, 2017
A £5m Fixer Upper

Belgravia flat offered for £4.95 million in spite of featuring collapsed ceilings, ripped out light fittings and holes in the walls

Before putting a property on the market and having it photographed for a sales brochure, most would clean up and make the space look appealing. In Belgravia, however, the owners of a £4.95 million ($6.16 million, €5.84 million or درهم22.64 million) lateral flat in a Grade II listed building in Eaton Place plainly didn’t bother.

In spite of showing evidence of attempts of a renovation, pictures of a 1,810 square foot third floor flat show electrical wires hanging from collapsed ceilings, rubbish on the floor and holes in the walls.

Knight Frank offer the “totally unmodernised” 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom property on a long lease with 94 years remaining. They describe it as “offering buyers a chance to create a spectacular apartment”. The late Roy Brooks, an honest estate agent and author of Brothel in Pimlico, would have had a field day and no doubt advertised the flat instead as: “Bashed in Belgravia: Those with a dislike for dust need not cross the threshold”.

February 23, 2017
Pint Sized

Chelsea’s smallest stand-alone house for sale; it is situated on the same street at two pubs

What could quite possibly be the smallest stand-alone house in Chelsea is for sale for £600,000 ($750,000, €705,000 or درهم2.8 million).

20 Britten Street extends to just 290 square foot in total and is situated next to St Luke’s Gardens and between two public houses, The Builder’s Arms and The Sydney Arms. The property is in need of “complete modernisation” and features a reception room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom.

Selling agents Douglas & Gordon remark: “This is a proper Chelsea gem that is available to the market for the first time in almost 50 years”.

February 10, 2017
A Working Rolls

1959 Rolls-Royce estate car owned by late industrial tycoon Orin Smith to be auctioned; it was bizarrely designed to include beds and a loud air horn to “blast” cattle off the highway

Florida based businessman and retired CEO of the Engelhard Corporation Orin Smith (1935 – 2016) was passionate about cars and next month, those with deep pockets will be in with a chance to purchase 58 vehicles from his collection that will be sold, mostly without reserve, by RM Sotheby’s at their annual Amelia Island sale on 10^th and 11^th March.

Amongst the eclectic selection of classic and contemporary cars from the late industrialist’s collection is a 1959 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I estate car by H. J. Mulliner and Radford. One of just two examples, this immaculate short-wheelbase shooting brake was originally supplied to a Robert L. McCormick of Wichita, Kansas and transported to New York on the Cunard flagship Queen Elizabeth.

McCormick kept the car – which features a luggage space that can accommodate items up to 6-foot long – until 1965 and on selling it to a Palm Beach based judge named Lewis M. Schott, penned the new owner a letter that read:

The Radford conversion is a “complete job”. I will explain to your chauffeur and secretary how it makes into beds, etc, etc.

I’ll explain the 3-way horn switch to your employees. I used the loud horn for “blasting” livestock off the Mexican highways.

Finally, I hope you have as much fun out of the car as I have had. It should go 200,000 miles without work on it… A serious sacroiliac precludes long motor trips for me for a few years, and I’m an unhappy warrior when I think about it.

Sold again in 2007 to Florida Roll-Royce expert Richard Gorman, the shooting brake was then subject to an 18-month renovation. It is now presented in velvet green and a sage with parchment leather interior piped in velvet green and features upgraded air conditioning.

Of the overall collection to be sold on behalf of Smith’s family, Don Rose of RM Sotheby’s remarked:

I had the great pleasure of knowing Orin Smith and found him to be a true gentleman in every sense of the word.

In addition to his impressive gathering of some of the finest Rolls-Royce and Bentley automobiles, Orin displayed an eclectic taste with a keen eye for other icons of style, including sporting machinery from pre-war to the best of the contemporary.

The common thread here is beauty, in both design and engineering; fitting for a man of generous spirit devoted to excellence. Because of those qualities, Orin Smith was beloved to the Amelia Island crowd, which makes the offering of his collection at our Amelia Island venue all the more poignant.

Of the shooting brake itself, the auctioneer adds:

Numerous Rolls-Royce shooting brakes exist, but many of them are crude later conversions. This car is a true and authentic coachbuilt original, created to the exacting specifications of its original owner, and restored to that same high standard – air horns and all. Errant cattle, consider yourselves warned.

February 6, 2017
Nigel Farage: ‘Man of the Elite’

Nigel Farage joins the elite and moves to a large period property in Chelsea, London

Until recently Nigel Farage claimed he was the leader of the “people’s army”. He presented himself as a man living in a “small semi-detached house in the country” and someone who had “no regrets about being poor”. He targeted working class voters, sought out the “ordinary man” and championed bringing down the “elite”.

This pint-loving politician, it now transpires, has now taken up residence in a large period house in Elystan Street, Chelsea. Situated next door to My Hotel Chelsea, the white painted property is “owned by a businessman” according to the Mail on Sunday. Mr Farage is allegedly using it as his weekday “bolthole”, the paper adds, but does not declare if he is paying rent.

Spotted recently dining at upmarket eatery Bibendum – accompanied by four burly security guards – also, Farage is as entitled to make money and live the high life as much as the next man. In doing so, however, he can no longer claim to be a ‘Man of the People’. Instead, it’s time billionaire Donald Trump’s new ‘British Best Friend’ admitted what he now is: Meet Nigel Farage – ‘Man of the Elite’.

February 4, 2017
Rumblings in Pont Street

Scene of a Dawn Ward shoving match Salmontini closes to makes way for a new restaurant by chef Nuno Goncalves; next door, hotel The Hari replaces its Pont Street restaurant too

Opened in September 2014, Salmontini was a restaurant in Belgravia’s Pont Street that was never going to be a hit. Aside from its weird name, it was the scene of a fish fuelled fight between the former pop singer Sinitta and the champagne loving, Prosecco hating Real Housewives of Cheshire “star” Dawn Ward in September 2015. Mrs Ward, a balayage haired woman with an attitude to social media usage similar to Donald Trump, was subsequently convicted of assault in June 2016.

On Thursday on Facebook, former 12 Hay Hill chef Nuno Goncalves announced that he is to take over Salmontini’s premises as chef-patron. He stated:

“1 Pont St. House will be my new venture, where you can expect a relaxed atmosphere, classy fine dining where the emphasis is on the best quality farm and urban farm to table produce, the season’s best foraged ingredients cooked with an array of old meets new cooking techniques”.

The double-fronted building, which was previously occupied by amongst others The Palm and Drones, stands next to The Hari (formerly the Belgraves London hotel). Its strangely decorated restaurant, Pont Street by Sophie Michell, closed recently too and will be replaced in February by an Italian bar and restaurant named Il Pampero.

Salmontini has now closed down

Pont Street at the former Belgraves London hotel is currently undergoing renovation

February 3, 2017
A Happy House

Berkshire country house named “Gays” for sale

Not connected with the LGBT community in any way, but in fact named after a man named John Gays, “Gays” at Holyport, near Maidenhead in Berkshire dates to around 1456 and is currently for sale for £5.95 million ($7.36 million, €6.88 million or درهم27.05 million).

Gays or John Gays House, Langworthy Lane, Holyport, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 2HN, England, United Kingdom

Also referred to as “John Gays House” and offered to the market by Christie’s Real Estate, this 12,482 square foot “bijou old world residence” stands in 20.75 acres and is predominantly built of red brick elevations with attractive sash fenestration, under a tile roof. It is Grade II listed, dates to the Tudor period and also includes later Queen Anne, Georgian, Victorian and 20^th century additions.

Less than 30 miles from central London, Gays has been owned by a Swiss family for 20 years according to Country Life and includes 6 reception rooms, a conservatory, a master bedroom suite with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and 2 dressing rooms, 6 further bedrooms and 5 further bathrooms. In addition, the property also comes with a 2-bedroom lodge cottage, a 2-bedroom staff cottage, an indoor swimming pool, wine store and 4-car garage.

Aside from a large lawned garden with an irrigation system, a lake adjoins the house and there is also an orchard with apple and pear trees. A stable block, a manège and paddocks stand beyond whilst a 1-kilometre long sand and rubber chip horse exercise track circles it. The Duke of York, it transpires, borrowed these facilities in the late 1990s for his own horses.

January 22, 2017
A Serpentine Summer House

Serpentine Galleries summerhouse originally installed in Kensington Gardens for sale – it’ll cost you a bit more than what you might find down at B&Q

Each summer, since the year 2000, the Serpentine Galleries have commissioned what they term a ‘pavilion’ to stand alongside their original gallery in Kensington Gardens. These have varied from the sublime to the ridiculous but whilst most have been thought provoking, in 2016 the project was extended to include four summer houses next to the nearby 18^th century Queen Caroline’s Temple.

One of these creations, designed by a Nigerian architect named Kunlé Adeyemi, is now for sale and available for delivery to a new location. It is described as a “one-off piece of art-meets-architecture” by selling agents The Modern House and by its designers as “an inverse replica [and] tribute to [Queen Caroline’s Temple’s] robust form, space and material, recomposed into a new architectural language”.

Constructed from prefabricated building blocks assembled from rough sandstone, Adeyemi’s design was conceived as a tea house that “might have grown out of the ground”. It is all about “eating, resting and playing” but at £95,000 ($116,000, €110,000 or درهم427,000) plus VAT at 20% it is quite the polar opposite of the kind of summer house most people might purchase down at B&Q.

January 12, 2017