The Steeple Times

Tag: Second World War

  • Smiling Churchill and Scowling Edward

    Smiling Churchill and Scowling Edward

    Rare photograph of Winston Churchill dining with Edward VIII to be sold as part of a sale on the eve of the 80th anniversary of him becoming Prime Minister

    Offered as part of the ‘Churchill in Charge – 80th Anniversary’ sale that concludes tomorrow, Wednesday 20th May, Sotheby’s New York is auctioning online a photograph signed by both Winston Churchill and Edward VIII.

     

    Part of a collection built up over 37 years by Chartwell Booksellers, the independently owned Manhattan bookstore “home to the world’s finest selection of rare Churchilliana,” the framed 10-by-8-inch image was taken on the 28th February 1925 at a farewell dinner for Frank Kellogg, the retiring American Ambassador to Great Britain at the Hotel Victoria, London.

     

    Our Smiling Prince and Our Scowling PM – Churchill and Edward VIII – Rare photograph of Winston Churchill dining with Edward VIII to be sold as part of a sale on the eve of the 80th anniversary of him becoming Prime Minister – The image will be sold by RM Sotheby’s New York on the 20th May 2020 as part of their ‘Churchill in Charge – 80th Anniversary’ sale. A starting bid of £12,245 ($15,000, €13,695 or درهم55,088) has been set for the photograph along with a high estimate of £19,588 ($24,000, €21,907 or درهم88,140).
    In a reversal of roles, Edward, Prince of Wales is the one whom appears to be scowling in the picture whilst Winston Churchill, for once, is the one smiling.
    Our Smiling Prince and Our Scowling PM – Churchill and Edward VIII – Rare photograph of Winston Churchill dining with Edward VIII to be sold as part of a sale on the eve of the 80th anniversary of him becoming Prime Minister – The image will be sold by RM Sotheby’s New York on the 20th May 2020 as part of their ‘Churchill in Charge – 80th Anniversary’ sale. A starting bid of £12,245 ($15,000, €13,695 or درهم55,088) has been set for the photograph along with a high estimate of £19,588 ($24,000, €21,907 or درهم88,140).
    ‘The Steeple Times’ has previously featured items of Churchilliana available at auction. In January 2014, an unsmoked cigar and a cigar stub collected by Sir Winston Churchill’s care nurse whilst he was in the Middlesex Hospital in London in July 1962 sold for £812 ($993, €906 or درهم3,648).

    Also in the image alongside ‘Our Smiling Prince’ (as Edward, Prince of Wales – as he then was – was nicknamed) and ‘Our Scowling PM’ (as the then Chancellor of the Exchequer Churchill became known) are Ambassador Charles Kellogg (US ambassador from 1924 to 1925) and William Grenfell, Baron Desborough.

     

    Of the lot and the evening the photograph was taken, Sotheby’s remark:

     

    The dinner was convened by The Pilgrims of Great Britain society, whose motto appears on a framed sign behind the table: “Hic et Ubique” (“Here and Everywhere”). The Pilgrims society was founded in 1902 “to promote good-will, good-fellowship, and everlasting peace between the United States and Great Britain.”

     

    Winston Churchill was serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer to Conservative Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin at the time of this photograph. Baron Desborough was an athlete of renown in Great Britain, as well as a politician, and the president of the Pilgrims society. His wife, known as “Ettie,” was one of England’s great society hostesses, a leading figure in the social group “The Souls,” entertaining luminaries at their country house, Taplow Court, such as H.G. Wells, Vita Sackville-West, Oscar Wilde, and, of course, the Prince of Wales and Winston Churchill. The couple lost two sons in the trenches during World War I, including Julian Grenfell, a noted war poet.

     

    The Prince of Wales would ascend to the throne upon the death of his father, King George V, in January 1936. He and Winston Churchill were longtime friends. Churchill almost destroyed his own political career attempting to ward off abdication and save Edward’s crown. In the end, he failed. Edward VIII renounced the throne on December 9, 1936 to marry his commoner love, Wallis Warfield Simpson.

     

    A starting bid of £12,245 ($15,000, €13,695 or درهم55,088) has been set for the photograph along with a high estimate of £19,588 ($24,000, €21,907 or درهم88,140). As of this morning, there have been no bids for the lot.

     

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  • Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti

    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti

    Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57SC Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 99.9% lower than the most famous of the four originals is said to be worth

    If ever rediscovered, a car termed “the most beautiful ever created” – the second of four Bugatti Type 57S Atlantic coupés – would supposedly be worth £93 million ($113 million, €104 million or درهم415 million).

     

    Handcrafted as part of a limited production with sales only to the British banker Victor, 3rd Baron Rothschild, an English tennis player named Richard B. Pope and a Frenchman named Jacques Holzschuh between 1936 and 1938, the second coupé made was used for promotion and then given to its creator, Gianoberto ‘Jean’ Bugatti (1909 – 1939). After he was killed whilst testing a Type 57 tank-bodied racer, his car passed into the hands of various racing drivers. It was then hidden away with the outset of the Second World War, but sadly never resurfaced.

     

    Named in honour of Mr. Bugatti’s aviator friend Jean Mermoz (1901 – 1936), whom never returned from a journey across the South Atlantic in 1936 in a Latécoère 300 Croix-du-Sud plane, the 12-foot long 57SC is lauded as the ultimate automotive design icon. Bugatti themselves term the “world’s most valuable vehicle” to be “extraordinary” and reference the coupé “unique in its time and still unique today.”

     

    As a result of their desirability, the car – which Motor Authority terms “delightfully swoopy… [the] crown jewels of Bugatti production cars” – has unsurprisingly inspired a number of automotive designers to create homages to it. One example, created by “hot rodder” Terry Cook, is being auctioned this month – but one thing’s for sure, whatever it sells for, its hammer price will nowhere near that of a ‘real’ example.

     

    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    In March 2017, the “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57SC Atlantic coupé,” the Delahaye USA Pacific was auctioned at the Mostalgia Amelia Island sale in Florida. It sold for £182,000 ($220,000, €204,000 or درهم808,000). The same car is headed to auction again this month.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    Jean Bugatti pictured next to the ‘Royale Esders Roadster’ prototype he designed in 1932.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    The four Bugatti 57SC Atlantic cars.

    The “reimagined Atlantic” concerned was made by Cook’s firm, Delahaye USA, in 2016 and is described as “noticeably longer than the original, 10 inches to be exact.” It has a 127-inch wheelbase and features a BMW fuel-injected 12-cylinder engine and automatic transmission and unlike its forerunners comes equipped with air conditioning, heating and power windows. The stainless steel tubular seat frames are exact copies of those from the 57SC now owned by Ralph Lauren and the fabric is described as “richly decorative.”

     

    RM Sotheby’s will sell the 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific – which actually is titled a 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ – as part of their ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000) for this “wonderful modern homage.” Of it, they add: “The Delahaye USA Pacific is sure to turn heads no matter where it may travel, be it on any side of either ocean.”

     

    Those on an even more limited budget could still live the ‘Atlantic dream’ – Ralph Lauren is currently marketing a 1:18 scale, die-cast, hand-painted replica of Mr. Lauren’s 57SC for ‘just’ £1,595 ($1,930, €1,784 or درهم7,090).

     

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    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    The metallic gray-blue 1936 Bugatti Type 57S – chassis number 57374 – was originally owned by Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild and thus known as the ‘Rothschild Atlantic.’ It was sold for in excess of £24.8 million ($30 million, €27.7 million or درهم110.2 million) in 2010 to the collector Peter Mullin. The car is now displayed at the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    The missing 1936 57SC – chassis 57453 – was presented in black and known as ‘La Voiture Noire’ or ‘The Black Car.’ It was the second Atlantic manufactured, disappeared from France in February 1941 and has never been seen since. Jean Bugatti considered this particular example his “most innovative and most valuable creation.”
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    The 1936 Bugatti 57SC – chassis number 57473, ‘the Holzschuh Atlantic’ – was first owned by Jacques Holzschuch and his wife, Yvonne, and presented in black. After they were killed in the Second World War, the car’s subsequent owner, René Chatard, was hit by a train whilst in it 1955. He and his companion died and the remains of the vehicle were sold on. The restored car – considered a replica by experts – is displayed at the Torrota private collection in Spain.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    Clothier Ralph Lauren with his 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC – chassis 57591, the ‘Pope Atlantic.’ It was originally owned by Richard B. Pope and presented in sapphire blue, but painted black after being sold to Ralph Lauren in 1988.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    At the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, commemorating the 110th anniversary of Jean Bugatti’s birth, Bugatti sold a one-off model named ‘La Voiture Noire’ in homage to the missing 57SC for circa £15.7 million ($19 million, €17.6 million or درهم70 million). They declared it: “The most expensive new car ever sold.”
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    The model available from Ralph Lauren.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    The steering wheel of the 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    The seats are an artwork in themselves.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    Another view of the interior.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    With the doors open, from the front.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    The spare wheel.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    From the front.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    From the rear (complete with twelve exhaust pipes).
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    The bonnet of the vehicle with a model of the car that inspired it on it.
  • Bonded to a Short Lease

    Bonded to a Short Lease

    Eaton Square apartment in a Grade II* listed building that has been home to both Bond star Sir Roger Moore and aristocrat-who-went-missing Lord Lucan for sale for staggering sum given it is on a lease of just 15 years

    Best known for playing the British secret agent James Bond in seven feature films from 1973 to 1985, Sir Roger Moore KBE (1927 – 2017) once remarked: “I enjoy being a highly paid actor.” He added: “It’s easy to sit in relative luxury and peace and pontificate on the subject of the Third World debts,” though in his various homes in such places as London, Monaco and Switzerland, he certainly illustrated that he took the bit about opulence seriously indeed.

     

    Now, someone with aspirations to live like “the definitive Bond” has the opportunity to purchase an apartment in an Eaton Square building where not only he resided, but one that was also a childhood home of the most famous aristocrat to go missing ever, the 7th Earl of Lucan (born 1934, last seen alive in 1974, declared dead in 2016).

     

    John Bingham, better known as ‘Lucky’ or Lord Lucan, is said to have returned to London from wartime exile in New York in February 1945 with his siblings to find: “As they walked past their home at Cheyne Walk, they realised the whole building had been bombed. Their other family home at 22 Eaton Square had no windows due to the blow of a bomb and rationing was in full swing.”

     

    The apartment available now has windows complete with actual glass in-situ and is situated in what was once a single-family residence. It extends to 927 square foot and consists of a reception room with open plan kitchen, two bedrooms, one bathroom and one shower room. There are wooden floors throughout and the space has air conditioning also.

     

    The fourth floor flat at 22 Eaton Square is offered by estate agents Ayrton Wylie at a price of £795,000 ($1 million, €914,000 or درهم3.7 million) or the equivalent of £53,000 per year ($66,700, €60,900 or درهم244,800 per year). Its lease expires on the 23rd February 2035 and an annual service charge of £6,779 per year ($8,526, €7,791 or درهم31,313 per year) is payable also.

     

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    Bonded to a Short Lease – £795,000 for Fourth Floor at 22 Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9DE, United Kingdom flat on 15-year lease – Eaton Square apartment in a Grade II* listed building that has been home to both Bond star Sir Roger Moore and notorious aristocrat Lord Lucan for sale for staggering sum given it is on a lease of just 15 years. Available through estate agents Ayrton Wylie.
    Bonded to a Short Lease – £795,000 for Fourth Floor at 22 Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9DE, United Kingdom flat on 15-year lease – Eaton Square apartment in a Grade II* listed building that has been home to both Bond star Sir Roger Moore and notorious aristocrat Lord Lucan for sale for staggering sum given it is on a lease of just 15 years. Available through estate agents Ayrton Wylie.
    Bonded to a Short Lease – £795,000 for Fourth Floor at 22 Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9DE, United Kingdom flat on 15-year lease – Eaton Square apartment in a Grade II* listed building that has been home to both Bond star Sir Roger Moore and notorious aristocrat Lord Lucan for sale for staggering sum given it is on a lease of just 15 years. Available through estate agents Ayrton Wylie.
    Bonded to a Short Lease – £795,000 for Fourth Floor at 22 Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9DE, United Kingdom flat on 15-year lease – Eaton Square apartment in a Grade II* listed building that has been home to both Bond star Sir Roger Moore and notorious aristocrat Lord Lucan for sale for staggering sum given it is on a lease of just 15 years. Available through estate agents Ayrton Wylie.
    Bonded to a Short Lease – £795,000 for Fourth Floor at 22 Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9DE, United Kingdom flat on 15-year lease – Eaton Square apartment in a Grade II* listed building that has been home to both Bond star Sir Roger Moore and notorious aristocrat Lord Lucan for sale for staggering sum given it is on a lease of just 15 years. Available through estate agents Ayrton Wylie.
  • Preserved by Marmalade

    Preserved by Marmalade

    Nonagenarian from Stockport beats coronavirus by eating marmalade sandwiches; she’s previously survived a bomb and likes biscuits also

    Like Guardian readers, we at The Steeple Times love marmalade and we especially enjoy marmalade with lots of whisky in it. We’ve reported on the correspondence sent to the letter’s column of the previously mentioned King’s Cross based publication on the subject of the link between marmalade and longevity and now, today, it can be revealed that the eldest person to recover from coronavirus is proof of the pudding.

     

    Against all odds, 99-year old Rita Reynolds from Bramhall, Stockport – whom fell ill with COVID-19 on 25th March – has beaten the virus and made a full recovery.

     

    Of this good news, the nonagenarian’s grandson, Henry Phillips, told the Guardian’s Jessica Murray: “I don’t know how she got through it. 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.

     

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  • A Poirot Curve

    A Poirot Curve

    Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum

    Featured as the main article in Country Life just 15 days after the start of the Second World War on 16th September 1939, Hamstone House on the 946-acre St. George’s Hill estate in Weybridge, Surrey was constructed between 1937 and 1938 for Herman Peter Thygesen Lind (1890 – 1956), the founder of a firm that later constructed both Waterloo Bridge and the BT Tower in London.

     

    Now offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates, this Grade II listed “classical” house is described on British Listed Buildings as being “in Georgian tradition” and of “brown ham stone ashlar,” but has a look that is more akin to something out of Agatha Christie’s Poirot novels. In 1987, Christopher Warman of The Times, lauded it as “the most important architectural centrepiece of St George’s Hill” and “[looking] like the bridge of a huge ocean going liner.”

     

    Accessed via a Grade II listed double gatehouse, Hamstone House is curved in shape and was somewhat mockingly featured in Punch magazine as “[standing] out like the Duchess of Windsor’s flamingo brooch in a local jewellers window.” Its 8 acres of gardens and grounds were listed as “not [looking] out of place in the grandest of crematoria.”

     

    Refurbished most recently in 2006, the 23,546 square foot freehold property now includes amongst other things 5 reception rooms, 5 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms and an indoor swimming pool. The second floor is dominated by a large roof terrace accessed via an office, from where no doubt Mr Lind no doubt planned many a business manoeuvre as he looked out across what is listed as “rural grandeur.”

     

    Sold to a company connected to Oleg Deripaska, the somewhat controversial oligarch and associate of Peter (now Lord) Mandleson in 2001, Hamstone House was previously marketed for £5 million ($5.7 million, €5.4 million or درهم21.2 million) in 1987 according to Wikipedia.

     

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    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
  • A Fire Sale

    A Fire Sale

    Repossessed Grade I listed Dorset mansion once worth circa £15 million for sale for £3 million; the catch? It’s burnt to the ground

     

    An “exceptionally important,” Grade I listed, 38,000 square foot, 16th century country house in Dorset with 131.6 acres for just £3 million is certainly something that sounds like a bargain. Sadly, however, Parnham House, near Beaminster comes with a catch: it burnt to the ground in April 2017 and doesn’t even have a roof.

     

    Remodeled by the architect John Nash in 1810 and subject to a costly renovation – sadly now obviously gone – since being bought by the late financier Michael Treichl and his wife Emma in 2001 for £4 million, Parnham House has variously been a family home, was requisitioned during World War II by American troops and was the School for Craftmanship in Wood from 1976 to 2001.

     

    A Fire Sale – Parnham House, Beaminster, Dorset, DT8 3LZ, United Kingdom – For sale for £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.3 million or درهم13.8 million) through Sanderson Weatherall; former home of the late Michael and Emma Treichl.
    Michael and Emma Treichl

    A Fire Sale – Parnham House, Beaminster, Dorset, DT8 3LZ, United Kingdom – For sale for £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.3 million or درهم13.8 million) through Sanderson Weatherall; former home of the late Michael and Emma Treichl.
    The front elevation of Parnham House before the fire

    A Fire Sale – Parnham House, Beaminster, Dorset, DT8 3LZ, United Kingdom – For sale for £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.3 million or درهم13.8 million) through Sanderson Weatherall; former home of the late Michael and Emma Treichl.
    The front elevation of Parnham House after the fire

    A Fire Sale – Parnham House, Beaminster, Dorset, DT8 3LZ, United Kingdom – For sale for £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.3 million or درهم13.8 million) through Sanderson Weatherall; former home of the late Michael and Emma Treichl.
    The fire in full force

    A Fire Sale – Parnham House, Beaminster, Dorset, DT8 3LZ, United Kingdom – For sale for £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.3 million or درهم13.8 million) through Sanderson Weatherall; former home of the late Michael and Emma Treichl.
    The aftermath

     

    Now listed on the Heritage at Risk Register and likely to cost millions to restore, Parnham House’s destruction came about as a result of an arson attack on the property. The wealthy financier Treichl, who subsequently strangely left just £10,000 in assets in his will after drowning himself on Lake Geneva in June 2017. He is said to have suffered severe depression and possibly suffered catastrophic losses after betting on Brexit.

     

    Offered for sale by Sanderson Weatherall, the estate also includes an undamaged dower house, an undamaged cottage and equestrian facilities. In addition there is a mature park, formal gardens, a lake, walled gardens, a deer park, a tennis court, a bowling green, a swimming pool, fields, woodland and a stream.

     

    Parnham House – The Numbers

     

    2018 – For sale for £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.3 million or درهم13.8 million).

     

    2017 – Said to be worth £15 million ($18.8 million, €16.6 million or درهم69.1 million).

     

    2001 – Sold to Michael and Emma Treichl for £4 million ($5 million, €4.4 million or درهم18.4 million).

     

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    A Fire Sale – Parnham House, Beaminster, Dorset, DT8 3LZ, United Kingdom – For sale for £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.3 million or درهم13.8 million) through Sanderson Weatherall; former home of the late Michael and Emma Treichl. A Fire Sale – Parnham House, Beaminster, Dorset, DT8 3LZ, United Kingdom – For sale for £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.3 million or درهم13.8 million) through Sanderson Weatherall; former home of the late Michael and Emma Treichl. A Fire Sale – Parnham House, Beaminster, Dorset, DT8 3LZ, United Kingdom – For sale for £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.3 million or درهم13.8 million) through Sanderson Weatherall; former home of the late Michael and Emma Treichl. A Fire Sale – Parnham House, Beaminster, Dorset, DT8 3LZ, United Kingdom – For sale for £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.3 million or درهم13.8 million) through Sanderson Weatherall; former home of the late Michael and Emma Treichl. A Fire Sale – Parnham House, Beaminster, Dorset, DT8 3LZ, United Kingdom – For sale for £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.3 million or درهم13.8 million) through Sanderson Weatherall; former home of the late Michael and Emma Treichl. A Fire Sale – Parnham House, Beaminster, Dorset, DT8 3LZ, United Kingdom – For sale for £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.3 million or درهم13.8 million) through Sanderson Weatherall; former home of the late Michael and Emma Treichl.A Fire Sale – Parnham House, Beaminster, Dorset, DT8 3LZ, United Kingdom – For sale for £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.3 million or درهم13.8 million) through Sanderson Weatherall; former home of the late Michael and Emma Treichl. A Fire Sale – Parnham House, Beaminster, Dorset, DT8 3LZ, United Kingdom – For sale for £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.3 million or درهم13.8 million) through Sanderson Weatherall; former home of the late Michael and Emma Treichl. A Fire Sale – Parnham House, Beaminster, Dorset, DT8 3LZ, United Kingdom – For sale for £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.3 million or درهم13.8 million) through Sanderson Weatherall; former home of the late Michael and Emma Treichl.

  • We Will Remember Them

    We Will Remember Them

    The 100th anniversary of Armistice Day should be marked by remembering those that gave their lives and how lucky our generation truly is

     

    It can be put very simply: Today, we will remember them.

     

    #WeWillRememberThem #ArmisticeCentenary #ArmisticeDay100 #LestWeForget #RemembranceSunday #Armistice100 #RemembranceDay2018 #TheyShallNotGrowOld

     

    ‘For The Fallen’ by Robert Laurence Binyon:

    With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
    England mourns for her dead across the sea.
    Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
    Fallen in the cause of the free.

     

    Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
    Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
    There is music in the midst of desolation
    And a glory that shines upon our tears.

     

    They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
    Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
    They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
    They fell with their faces to the foe.

     

    They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
    Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
    At the going down of the sun and in the morning
    We will remember them.

     

    They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
    They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
    They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
    They sleep beyond England’s foam.

     

    But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
    Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
    To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
    As the stars are known to the Night;

    As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
    Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
    As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
    To the end, to the end, they remain.

     

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  • Waitrose Wake-Up

    Waitrose Wake-Up

    Waitrose Belgravia respond to ‘The Steeple Times’s’ expose of their not selling Royal British Legion poppies and allow them into their store

     

    After The Steeple Times reported on various high street retailers in Belgravia, Chelsea, Fulham and Knightsbridge not selling Royal British Legion poppies, our story went viral.

     

    Shared on Twitter by countless individuals – including the radio and television presenter Matthew Wright – we can now report that Waitrose Belgravia (the store where our editor was told: “We do not condone war so do not sell poppies. It is against our company policy.”) have caved in.

     

    In a tweet received Saturday, the firm announced:

     

    “We had a poppy seller at the shop yesterday who will be returning Monday. We looked after her with a hot drink and treated her to lunch and are really looking forward to seeing her again next week – she did a fab job on a brisk autumn day!”

     

    Aside from their rightful climb down, we would suggest Waitrose Belgravia make up for their transgression with a more substantial gesture. We call upon the store’s management to give a donation to the Royal British Legion’s poppy appeal and we also urge our readers to buy a poppy and wear it with pride.

     

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    Waitrose Wake-Up – Waitrose Belgravia cave in and start selling poppies – Waitrose Belgravia respond to ‘The Steeple Times’s’ expose of their not selling Royal British Legion poppies and allow them into their store.

  • The Poppy Pariahs

    The Poppy Pariahs

    Matthew Steeples names and shames the retail giants who won’t be selling Royal British Legion poppies this year; they include Boots, Sainsbury’s, Selfridges, Tesco, Waitrose and Wholefoods

     

    Even ‘Murky’ Meghan Markle – down under in New Zealand on tour – is sporting one right now; the humble poppy. A mark of respect to those who fought so we didn’t end up living under a regime of terror, most surprisingly, isn’t available at a single supermarket in Belgravia, Chelsea, Fulham or Knightsbridge.

     

    Today, I visited Sainsbury’s in Elizabeth Street, Belgravia in the hope of buying a Royal British Legion poppy. I asked at the counter and was met with: “We don’t sell those things.” I then telephoned the company’s press office and was told: “Our employees got the wrong end of the stick.”

     

    Subsequently, by email, a media relations executive working at the firm, Jordan Grant, replied and commented: “We can reassure customers poppies will be available in store this week.” Given it is already 29th October and Remembrance Sunday is just 13 days away, this is hardly acceptable – especially given the store is already selling Christmas decorations (Christmas Day is 57 days away).

     

    Next, in frustration, I visited Tesco on Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea. Situated directly next to the National Army Museum and close to the Royal Hospital – home to the legendary and widely respected Chelsea Pensioners. On asking for a poppy, a till operative lackadaisically remarked: “We do not sell those things. We are a supermarket.”

     

    Waitrose Belgravia – commonly known as “Celebrity Waitrose” due to the likes of John Cleese and Lady Helen Taylor being regulars –presented a similar but worse response. The customer service desk operative at the flagship store told me: “We do not condone war so do not sell poppies. It is against our company policy.”

     

    A friend, on my behalf, visited Wholefoods and was told: “We don’t know what poppies are” (they, at least, suggested donating to a homeless charity). She also got told at Boots: “We don’t sell things like that” but did find a lovely pair of Sikh gentlemen selling poppies in the Fulham Broadway underground station. She gave them £25.

     

    A phone call to Selfridges was met with: “We do not supply poppies” but Harrods came through. Their customer service desk call handler announced: “We will be selling poppies later this week. We like to support the Royal British Legion.”

     

    Shame on the high street retailers of Britain. Not a poppy in sight and not an ounce of support for the heroes who’ve saved us. This is an utter disgrace and it should be named as such.

     

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  • A Bit Of An Enigma

    A Bit Of An Enigma

    Bonhams to auction two Enigma machines at their science and technology sale for six figure sums

    Tomorrow in Knightsbridge, Bonhams will auction two Heinsoeth Und Rinke enigma enciphering machines at a sale of instruments of science and technology.

     

    A Bit Of An Enigma – Bonhams in Knightsbridge, London to auction two Enigma machines at their science and technology sale for six figure sums. The respective reserves for the machines are £150,000 to £200,000 ($197,000 to $263,000, €169,000 to €225,000 or درهم724,000 to درهم965,000) and £100,000 to £150,000 ($131,000 to $197,000,

    Produced in Germany in 1941 and 1943, the two devices offered feature QWERTY keyboards and are housed in oak cases. They were patented by Dr Arthur Scherbius in 1918 and utilised interchangeable rotors that scrambled plain-text messages to produce a cipher text message. These were then sent by Morse code to a receiving party with an Engima set up in the same configuration as the sending Enigma.

     

    Extremely rare because most were thrown into lakes and rivers as the Germans retreated at the end of the war, around 40 examples exist in museums around the world. The ability of such people as Alan Turing to crack their codes is credited with shortening the conflict by two years.

     

    The respective reserves for the machines are £150,000 to £200,000 ($197,000 to $263,000, €169,000 to €225,000 or درهم724,000 to درهم965,000) and £100,000 to £150,000 ($131,000 to $197,000, €112,000 to €169,000 or درهم482,000 to درهم724,000).

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