Sarah Tucker tries out Britain’s scariest new attraction
80mph, approximately a mile long, 700 foot above a mountain lake, under clear blue skies in Snowdonia: Today, I became Wonder Woman for 55 seconds.
Tag: Londoner
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Jules Knight: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”
The Steeple Times asks actor Jules Knight: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”
The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?
Vino, feminae et Carmen.
“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?
“Ask, believe, receive”.
Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2013?
I find the fact that we make celebrities of people in reality TV shows unspeakably depressing.
Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?
I miss my father who died a few years ago.
What might you swap all your wealth for?
If I had a choice between being wealthy and alone or poor and in love, I’d definitely choose the latter. Preferably someone like Mila Kunis if you can arrange it.
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?
I think a lot of people and companies made mistakes driven by greed and no one seemed to learn from historical mistakes. I’m not against big bonuses if they reward success. I believe in a meritocracy.
What phrase or word do you most loathe?
“We are experiencing high call volumes (today, yesterday and every other day you’ve called). Your call is important to us (so important that we have 2 non English speaking people working to answer 5000 calls a day). Please Hold (whilst you are charged 50p per minute so that when we answer we can tell you that what you want us to do is not possible”.
In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?
Over the years I’ve performed at a lot of charity events and helped them raise money in all sorts of ways. On a personal level, I think the British Heart Foundation is a great charity and I have a soft spot for WWF. But aside from wrestling, that wildlife charity is good too.
The judge in Law Abiding Citizen states: “I can pretty much 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’re a blessing and a curse. I use mine to run my whole life. It practically brushes my teeth for me. But when I lose it or it breaks I feel completely helpless. Sad really.
BBC1’s “Holby City” actor and former member of vocal group Blake Jules Knight If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?
Ricky Gervais, Stephen Fry, Anthony Hopkins, Christian Bale and Jennifer Aniston. A few drinks, a few laughs and then perhaps make love. Not all together. There isn’t room in that bar.
If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?
I have a feeling they’d make me have it in prison but if they were foolish enough to allow me to have it in, let’s say, The Fat Duck, I’d do that and then have a couple of pints in a pub in Bray, chill out for a few hours and then, well, go home and relax. Phew that was close.
What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?
I never really drink before 6pm unless there is a plan to start early. In which case, I can be persuaded.
A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?
A vodka martini with Grey Goose and a twist. That gets things started nicely.
Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?
There is a yearly polo party that Audi put on for about 200 people that is the best of the year. Talented, interesting guests from the world of sport, acting and music, lots of champagne, cocktails, amazing food. It turns into one big house party in a field.
Who is the most positive person you know?
My old boss, Nigel Evans MP. He’s a lovely chap.
What’s your most guilty pleasure?
Pickled eggs.
If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?
“Get it Here”.
If you were a car, what marque would you be?
A Range Rover Evoque. A fusion of classic and contemporary, urban and rural.
Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.
I wanted to be in the army. Now I prance around treading the boards.
What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?
My Classical Brit is wedged between my two degree certificates: a woeful 2:2 MA in Art History from St Andrews and my MA in Acting for Screen from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Jules Knight is an actor and former member of the Blake, the vocal group widely known for having been formed on Facebook in 2007. He appears in BBC1’s Holby City from 14th May 2013 as Dr Harry Tressler.
Follow him on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/MrJulesKnight
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New openings in SW3
Forthcoming restaurant openings in Chelsea
The restaurant business is a transient place and it seems no more so than in Chelsea.
Places come and go here and though there are a number of mainstays that have lasted for a considerable length of time, some last barely even two years. Beauchamp Place, commonly known to many as “bankrupt alley” is a prime example and despite rave reviews, venues such as Galoupet lasted less than a year. Equally, Farhad Farman-Farmaian’s Beauchamp Club, lauded as a rival to Annabel’s by Vanity Fair and W Magazine, is now empty and elsewhere on Sydney Street, Frankie Dettori’s Sette has now become Marco Pierre White’s Sydney Street Grill.
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Jon Ingram: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”
The Steeple Times asks Blue Boar Smokehouse chef Jon Ingram: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”
The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?
Seasonality, traceability and simplicity.
“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?
K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple Stupid.
Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2013?
Green peppers and bad personal hygiene. They both stink.
Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?
My family.
What might you swap all your wealth for?
I don’t have any wealth. I’m a chef
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?
Overpaid people that gamble with our money and still get a bonus.
What phrase or word do you most loathe?
“Jambalaya”: I worked with a chef who had it on the menu. I think it is the worst dish I have ever seen or tasted.
In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?
I donate to Cancer Research every month.
The judge in Law Abiding Citizen states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?
I love my phone. It goes everywhere I do, except for my days off. Then, it generally sits there until I go back to work.
Blue Boar Smokehouse & Bar chef Jon Ingram If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?
It would be a real eclectic mix of people such as Tommy Cooper, Burt Bacharach, Marco Pierre White, Jonnie Boer, Dynamo, Lionel Richie, Frank Bruno, Russell Howard, my kids and most importantly my wife.
If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?
Blue Boar ribs to start and a huge roast beef dinner and chocolate
What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?
Pubs open at 11am.
A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?
Tea: white peony.
Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?
I’m normally cooking for them, so anyones’.
Who is the most positive person you know?
My wife.
What’s your most guilty pleasure?
A croissant stuffed with a Cumberland sausage.
If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?
My motto: K.I.S.S.
If you were a car, what marque would you be?
A Morgan: a small fish in a big pond.
Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.
I’ve got a 100-metre swimming badge.
What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?
If I had one, I would put my 100-metre swimming badge on it along with a picture of my wife and kids. I would most definitely not put a carriage clock on it though.
Jon Ingram is the chef of the Blue Boar Smokehouse & Bar in Westminster.
Blue Boar Smokehouse & Bar, 37 – 45 Tothill Street, London, SW1H 9LQ. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 3301 1400. Website: http://www.blueboarlondon.com
Follow Jon Ingram on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/ChefIngram
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The truth's stranger than fiction
The “Devil’s Advocate” is jailed for 14 years
Bogus lawyer Giovanni di Stefano was jailed for 14 years yesterday after being found guilty of nine counts of obtaining a money transfer by deception, eight counts of fraud, three counts of acquiring criminal property, two counts of using a false instrument, one count of attempting to obtain a money transfer by deception, one count of obtaining property by deception and one count of using criminal property.
Giovanni di Stefano -
Jackie Branston: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”
The Steeple Times asks concierge Jackie Branston: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”
The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?
Inner strength.
“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?
Fair play.
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Taking a view
The sale of a historic £22 million residence on London’s Cheyne Walk
Cheyne Walk in Chelsea is amongst the addresses that an estate agent would describe as “the most sought after in London”. Up there in the company of the Bishops Avenue, Grosvenor Square and Cadogan Square, it has moved from having been home to artists such as Whistler, Turner and George Eliot to now being where such people as Mick Jagger, Roman Abramovich, Terry Venables and Sally Greene choose to live.
Belle Vue House, 92 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London, SW10 0DQ Of the houses there, No. 92, known as Belle Vue House is particularly impressive. Built in 1771, this terraced property stands in the original grounds of Beaufort House, the London residence of the Duke of Beaufort. It is currently for sale for £22,000,000.
The building was reputedly designed by Robert Adam and though no reference to this can be found in the collections of his designs at the Soane Museum, it certainly echoes his style. Constructed from stock brick, this Grade II listed house is nearly 50 foot wide and enjoys southward views across the River Thames.
The builder and first owner of Belle Vue House was John Hatchett, an “eminent 18th century coachbuilder”. He planted a mulberry tree in the garden of the house in 1776 that was described by the historian Faulkner as being what he “reckoned one of the finest trees of its kind in England”. It remains to this day. Hatchett let the house to Lady Prime from 1778 to 1797 and in due course the property passed to his son, Charles Hatchett F.R.S. (1765 – 1847), a chemist and “voluminous writer”.
The next resident was the Scottish pre-Raphaelite artist and poet William Bell Scott (1811 – 1890) and his wife, Laetitia. A friend and contemporary of Rosetti, he used the building as a “veritable museum” and lived there between 1871 and 1890.
The Right Honourable The Earl of Beaconsfield KG PC FRS, Benjamin Disraeli (1804 – 1881) lived in Belle Vue House during his second term in office 
The canopy installed by Disraeli that protected Queen Victoria from the elements At various times, other distinguished occupiers have included John Marshall F.R.S. (1818 – 1891), a “distinguished anatomist” and professor of anatomy at the Royal Academy and the British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli (1804 – 1881). Disraeli lived in the house for two years during his second premiership and is said to have constructed the canopy that links the front door of the house to the road so that Queen Victoria could “visit in privacy and be protected from the weather”.
Sir Rex Harrison (1908 – 1990) and his actress wife Kay Kendall (1927 – 1959) lived in Belle Vue House in 1958 British film actor Sir Rex Harrison (1908 – 1990) lived in Belle Vue House in 1958 with his actress wife Kay Kendall (1927 – 1959). Their short-lived marriage from 1957 to 1959 ended a year later when the Genevieve star died from myeloid leukemia. Terence Rattigan later immortalised their love story in his 1973 play In Praise of Love and in it Harrison played himself.
Ken and Barbara Follett are amongst other famous occupants of the property The politician and army officer Sir Patrick Wall (1916 – 1998) took up residence during the 1960s and he was followed by the author Ken Follett and his politican wife, Barbara. Famous for smartening up the Labour Party during the 1980s with what became known as “Folletting”, the house no doubt made the perfect base for the couple’s political salons. The view of the Thames no doubt also provided Mr Follett with inspiration for several of his best-selling novels.
Visitors to the house pass through a grand entrance hall 
The staircase is especially impressive 
The house features a double drawing room 
The dining room is perfect for grand scale entertaining 
One of a number of other reception rooms The last documented sale of Belle Vue House records that it was sold for £3,000,000 in May 2000. Since then, this house, now limewashed in a most distinctive Tuscan colour, has been sympathetically renovated and includes 8,400 square foot of internal accommodation. Grandly proportioned reception rooms number a first floor double drawing room, dining room, library and sitting room and in addition the house features a large kitchen, breakfast room, study, three bedroom suites, a gym and wine cellars.
In the basement, there is is a large and well equipped kitchen 
In addition, there is a separate breakfast room 
One of three bedroom suites 
A bathroom in Belle Vue House 
The 64′ garden features a mulberry tree from 1776 The rear garden is especially large for the location and measures some 64’2” by 47’7” and in addition there is a three car garage and additional parking.
Whilst the “beautiful view” has clearly changed since Belle Vue House was built, whoever purchases this house will undoubtedly be someone who will add to its remarkable history.
Belle Vue House, 92 Cheyne Walk, London, SW10 0DQ is for sale through Tancred Lidbury of Christie’s International Real Estate. For more information contact him on +44 (0) 20 7389 2478.
View further details at: http://www.christiesrealestate.com/eng/sales/detail/170-l-78252-302918/belle-vue-house-chelsea-london-en-sw3
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Andreas Panayiotou
A self-made mogul and former champion boxer who cannot read or write fluently. He thinks “differently” and built a £400 million fortune by creating and then selling a buy-to-let empire of almost 6,000 rental properties. Panayiotou takes the view that it is “moral[ly]” right to pay taxes in Britain and of those who call Heath Hall, a £65 million property he developed in North London, as “impersonally hideous as a brothel”, he rightly responds: “These guys are just jealous”. This maverick is indeed a businessman worthy of admiration rather than envy. -
Peter Scott (born Peter Craig Gulston, 1931 – 2013)
A modern day Robin Hood who claimed to have been “sent by God to take back some of the wealth that the outrageously rich had taken from the rest of us”. This Belfast born cat burglar was a meticulous planner whose roll call of marks numbered Sophia Loren, Zsa Zsa Gabor, John Aspinall and Maria Callas. He quoted Confucius, Oscar Wilde and Proust and targeted “rich prats” as it gave him a “sexual thrill”. The 1965 film He Who Rides a Tiger starring Tom Bell and Judi Dench was based on Scott and concluded that: “If I rob Ivana Trump, it is just a meeting of two different kinds of degeneracy on a dark rooftop”. Raffles would have been proud. -
The Autograph Hunter
He seeks them here, he seeks them there, he seeks those autographs everywhere. This character is undoubtedly London’s leading collector of signatures and often spotted at society parties. Of him, little else is known.