Now still, it seems, the ‘BinGate’ saga – widely referenced online as equivalent to “Henley’s 9/11” – isn’t over and this week the local rag, the Henley Herald, returned to report on another council meeting about this trashy topic. They even featured a link to its live stream on YouTube, but only described Eggleton’s previous temper tantrum as having occurred because “his fellow party councillors were not listening to him.”
“I don’t believe in waste” curiously announced self-declared “expert about waste” Eggleton during the Zoom conference on 16th February. He then added: “On the solar bins… The have chips in them that tell you when they are full, but unfortunately [the bin collectors] haven’t got the software… It doesn’t make any sense… I would say this needs relooking at and shouldn’t go ahead… I won’t be voting for agreeing with these to go ahead.”
Pictured top: One of Henley-on-Thames’ now infamous bins; councillor Dave Eggelton “dressed [up] in his Royal Cavalier finery” to take a bus tour group from Gloucestershire on a walking tour of the area’s Civil War sites – featured in the ‘Henley Herald’ in April 2016.
In March 2019, the ‘Henley Standard’ reported on David Eggleton being nominated for “the local hero award” by his mum and winning. At the time, he cryptically revealed “he was organising new projects, but would not reveal any details.”David Eggleton does have interests in matters other than muck. In 2018, he took part in training in the use of speed cameras with fellow councillor Lorraine Hillier whilst dressed in some especially dirty clothing. Ms Hillier donned a condom-esque coat for the occasion.
“Waste expert” Henley-on-Thames deputy mayor resigns over ding-dong about a decision over 22 new ‘heritage’ bins; two of the bins are remarkably solar powered and in total are set to cost a staggering £19,000
Last October, we featured a ritzy Christie’s auction where five secondhand waste bins sold for the astounding sum of £33,900. God knows who the rubbish loving buyer was, but if they’re looking to contribute to a local community, Henley-on-Thames has been having a bit of a ding-dong over its bins since October 2020.
Featured this week on the Facebook group ‘Angry People in Local Newspapers’ and in the Henley Standard and Henley Herald newspapers also, the now widely told tale of “Henley’s 9/11” meets “Bingate” (as it has been branded) provides illustration of how small-minded busybodies can cost a community a fortune and divide its occupants.
Concerning the plainly much discussed matter of what to replace 22 ‘heritage’ litter bins in the town with, “The Great Henley Bin Scandal” descended into chaos last week when councillors argued over whether to buy new, larger bins or refurbish existing old ones. The first costly proposal, which was ultimately accepted by five votes to three, was set to cost £19,000 whilst the alternative would have come in at just £6,000.
Of this dirty and somewhat dastardly saga, self-declared “expert about waste in Henley” councillor and deputy mayor David Eggleton – a gobby grandad who runs a house clearance and removals business as well as having “been in many popular soaps” as an actor – whimsically whined to the Henley Herald:
“I think the report was misleading and taking out the option of refurbishing is not democracy. I have the knowledge and expertise around waste and they are not listening to me.”
“I think a proper survey over 6 months should be carried out on which bins are overflowing and where we need bigger ones. This can be easily done by asking the bin collector to do this, but after we are out of this pandemic.”
“I don’t think it’s the right time to do any trial as there is much more takeaway rubbish at the moment. The other thing we need to address is residents fly tipping their household rubbish in the town’s public bins. I’ve caught people on lots of occasions doing this.”
Concluding about why he’d thrown his toys out of the pram and left the Henley Residents Group (or ‘HRG’ to its few friends), Eggleton “stormed away from his camera” after pathetically blubbing:
“I’ve resigned because a few of the HRG councillors are making me uncomfortable to work with them.”
“I don’t think councillors Miller and Gawrysiak have got the expertise to put those bins where they’ve located them – end of story, leaving the meeting goodbye… And I can tell you something else as well. Just before I leave, I’m resigning from HRG. Okay, goodbye.”
Responding as to why refurbishment was vetoed, another councilor, Sarah Miller, less than optimistically opined: “I believe that the bins have come to end of their life. We could be talking about this again in a year’s time.”
God help the people of Henley-on-Thames if that ludicrously proves to be the conversational case. Instead, we suggest, a complete clear out of councillors might henceforth be the least rubbish solution.
Pictured top: An example of a bin in Henley-on-Thames and rubbish obsessed councilor David Eggleton (right).
The good folk of Henley-on-Thames illustrated their obsession with litter previously in April 2018, in letters to the ‘Henley Standard.’ Headed: “Disgusted by detritus.” one Maureen Dougall angrily wrote: “There should be some supervision of Mill Meadows during the summer in order to prevent this kind of detritus. Charges should be made for this amount of litter collection and people should be made to realise that someone has to pay for all this extra work. It is fine to enjoy everything that Henley has to offer and visitors are to be welcomed, but this should not incur extra work for our public services which are under great financial pressures, notwithstanding the dangers of pollution.”Reaction to the story on Facebook’s ‘Angry People in Local Newspapers’ group was predictable in rubbishing councillor David Eggleton’s enthusiasm for bins. Group member Will Paddy Paterson remarked: “In years to come your grandchild will be on your knee and might turn to ask you… ‘Grandpa where were YOU during Henley’s 9/11?’ Make sure you stand up for what’s right now, or otherwise you will feel the shame of inaction. Hashtag prayers.”“The Great Henley Bin Scandal” was much discussed in the group and one Jason Mitchell observed: “Bins seem to arouse very strong feelings among the English.”
Carrie Symonds is morphing into the Lynda Snell of Downing Street; this busybody bird’s cronyism and nepotism stinks to high heaven
Boris Johnson’s latest baby mama, Carrie Symonds (AKA ‘Carrie Not On Regardless’), is sadly nothing like the seen-but-rarely-heard prime ministerial spouses of old.
Whilst Denis Thatcher happily took a back seat and parked himself in a corner with a stiff G&T and Norma Major steered clear of anything to do with curried eggs, Symonds is increasingly showing herself as the Lynda Snell of Downing Street.
Like her counterpart Snell in The Archers, Symonds wants to be Queen of the Westminster village pantomime and she especially wants to control her prime puppet, ‘Bosie The Clown.’ Here is a woman who doesn’t take no for an answer and here is someone with the power to manipulate her cast as she so desires.
If Boris Johnson had an arsehole rather than actually just being one, he’d put this pantomime dame back in the toy box. Sadly, though the cronyism of the diva ‘Carrie Not On Regardless’ will continue, it should be noted for what it is and today we join those calling it out for the disgrace that it truly is.
Pictured top: Carole Boyd (Lynda Snell in ‘The Archers’) is known for cajoling Ambridge villagers into whatever project has currently got her goat; Carrie Symonds is a remarkably similar, though far less tolerable, younger version.
Carrie On Cronyism – Carrie Symonds is truly the cushy cat that got the cream. For now… How long will it be until Boris gets bored and his eyes get wandering? Carrie On Cronyism – Blundering buffoon Boris Johnson used to be Dominic Cummings’ puppet. He’s now controlled, instead, by Carrie Symonds.
Matthew Steeples urges fans of ‘The Archers’ to forget the BBC’s revised coronavirus version; until normality returns, give ‘The Pargetter Triptych’ a try
The BBC Radio 4 soap The Archers has, frankly, lost its way. Gone are the great episodes where gin soaked Lillian Bellamy fooled around with her conman lover Matt Crawford (AKA ‘Tiger’) and gone even is the excitement of mundane muddler Helen Archer stabbing her then husband, Rob Titchener, after a row about a dropped tuna bake.
Coming in the form of a three-part podcast titled The Pargetter Triptych, old stalwart Nigel Pargetter – last heard of shrieking as he fell (or was he pushed?) off the roof of his ancestral pile, Lower Loxley, in 2011 while trying to untie a flapping ‘Happy New Year’ banner – has returned as a ghost.
Described as “a gem” and “much funnier than what’s currently pretending to be the real thing” by Gillian Reynolds in The Sunday Times, Nigel (played by actor Graham Seed) explores stories old and new and gives us what we’re currently missing: A bit of good cheer.
Listen to the three-part podcast ‘The Pargetter Triptych’ by clicking here.
Graham Seed played Nigel Pargetter for 27 years in the popular radio soap ‘The Archers’ on BBC Radio 4. He was surprisingly killed off for the 60th anniversary of the programme much to the chagrin of dedicated listeners. ‘The Steeple Times’ interviewed him in September 2013.
Whilst one ‘Observer’ reader suggests Alan Bennett writes the monologues that have replaced normal episodes of ‘The Archers,’ another demands a return to standard broadcasts about Ambridge life
In a letter to the Observer this morning, one Ursula Hutchinson [on-the-ball listeners may remember Ambridge’s resident villain Rob Titchener’s meddling mother was also called Ursula] of Newport on the Covid-19 app friendly Isle of Wight, plainly inspired by his brilliantly straight-to-the-point Talking Heads series, suggested Alan Bennett be brought in. She remarked:
If ‘The Archers’ monologues are to go on, they need to ask Alan Bennett to write them. We’ve just endured a week of Tony’s haircut. Please!
Ursula Hutchinson
Newport, Isle of Wight
Last Sunday, another ‘Archers Addict,’ Mary Evans of Heathfield, East Sussex got even more het up. In her letter, the “enthusiast” declared the new format “totally dull and frankly not worth giving up 15 minutes of your life for, however much time you have to spare at the moment.” She vented:
How I agree with Miranda Sawyer regarding the new format of ‘The Archers’ (Radio review): totally dull and frankly not worth giving up 15 minutes of your life for, however much time you have to spare at the moment. I acknowledge the difficulties of broadcasting but the archive episodes were much more worthwhile, even though I took issue with the gloomy choice – Kirsty being stood up at the altar, the Grundys being evicted, the floods.
My fellow enthusiasts and I will be putting ‘The Archers’ on hold until they drop this boring format. Surely as it’s radio it must be technically possible to cobble together something like the original. I fear they may lose fans who will be disinclined to return.
Mary Evans
Heathfield, East Sussex
We join both Evans and Hutchinson in their lament, but The Archers scriptwriters have thus far provided one lockdown highlight: An episode where the village gossip Susan Carter – high on ‘honey rum,’ as one would be after desperately raiding the dregs of the lockdown drinks cupboard – referenced sexual antics for those in their later years after getting spiced up on homemade chilli.
‘The Archers’ – set in the fictional village of Ambridge – first aired on BBC on 29th May 1950. It is the world’s longest running drama and thus attracts both accolade and criticism in equal measure from its somewhat dedicated audience.
In this legendary episode, Helen Titchener stabbed her husband Rob after he criticised her tuna bake.
‘Country Channel.TV’ went behind the scenes with the cast of ‘The Archers’ in January 2010. One character, Phil Archer, made the ‘Guinness World Records’ for being the longest serving actor in a single soap opera – Norman Painting played him from 1950 until his death on 29th October 2009.
The second part of the behind the scenes tour of the radio soap inspired by life in a village in rural England. It was originally billed as “an everyday story of country folk,” but is now described (more suitably for the ‘woke’ generation we sadly live in) as “a contemporary drama in a rural setting.”
Actor Tony Discipline amusingly tears up Boris Johnson’s utterly confusing ‘Stay Alert’ coronavirus lockdown revision statement
Tony Discipline – best known for having played Tyler Moon in the BBC soap opera EastEnders – took to social media to explain Boris Johnson’s revised lockdown policies on Monday.
Illustrating the contradictory nature of the Prime Minister’s new directives by quoting him directly, the actor accurately summed up the confusion that has followed in a brilliant little skit.
With nothing to do but #StayAlert according to our befuddled leader, we suggest readers do something simpler: Adopt the DISCIPLINE of Tony and pour yourself another gin.
Matthew Steeples suggests BBC Radio 4 has truly let itself down in having run out of episodes of ‘The Archers’ during the COVID-19 lockdown
Closet fans won’t admit it, but The Archers is an essential part of life for many in Britain and beyond. Be it tuning in for 15 minutes with a G&T before guests arrive for supper on a week night or splurging with the omnibus edition on a Sunday whilst preparing a hearty roast, this is a radio show that in April even had one of its many fan clubs “invaded by Nazis and pornography.”
Whilst it is understandable for the makers of television soaps – programmes that, after all, require all manner of social interaction in their creation – to have run out of episodes, one would have thought that the producers of The Archers would have had a plan to see themselves through a crisis.
Sadly, they didn’t and from the 3rd to 24th May no new episodes of the world’s longest running drama are being broadcast. Whilst the BBC think it perfectly acceptable to play reruns, many ‘Archers Addicts’ (myself included) have been left despondent and feeling like ‘Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells.’ After all, where’s Peggy Woolley and her wartime spirit when we most require this soapland matriarch?
‘Coronation Street’ actor may have been cleared but was celebrating with a pint the best idea?
Actor Michael Le Vell was cleared of 12 sex offence allegations yesterday. He is an innocent man but though he was shown to be an alcoholic adulterer in court, he is now set for a “bumper £250,000 pay deal” as part of his return to the cobbles. (more…)
