Tag: United Kingdom

A Missing Mockery

As a further £154,000 is handed to the police, is it right that £11 million has been allocated to searching for Madeleine McCann whilst the searches for other missing people get little to nothing?

A child supposedly disappears every five minutes in the UK yet the only instance the media ever focus on is Madeleine McCann.

Having hung out with Donald Trump’s bestie Theresa May and the equally ghastly Lady Meyer in Downing Street in May 2012 plainly helped the cause of Gerry and Kate McCann. Police investigating the case have just been awarded a further £154,000 in addition to a sum of £85,000 in March this year. A total of over £11 million has been spent thus far on the unsuccessful search for the child and what has been achieved? The answer is clear: Absolutely nothing.

Whatever the merits of the suggestions of those who’ll continue to claim that any lead is worth pursuing, one needs to remember that every pound allocated to looking for one child that disappeared in 2007 is a pound that could be used to fund the search of another investigation. Undoubtedly now, given that no tangible evidence has been found that Madeleine McCann is still alive, it is time for this plainly pointless search to stop.

Missing Madeleine – Questions without Answers

Many questions about what happened on the evening of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann remain. Some that have been highlighted by the press and discussed online include:

Why did Kate McCann refuse to answer 48 questions put to her by the Portuguese police?

Why were certain records of phone calls on the evening of the disappearance “whoosh-clunked” from the memories of the phones of Mr and Mrs McCann and the ‘Tapas 9’?

Why did a British sniffer dog sense the smell of a corpse in a cupboard in the apartment from which Madeleine McCann disappeared?

Why did a sniffer dog also supposedly sense the smell of a corpse in a vehicle hired by the couple a month after the disappearance of their daughter?

Why did Mr and Mrs McCann go jogging and play tennis in the days after their daughter’s disappearance?

Was it acceptable for Mr and Mrs McCann’s mortgage to be paid by the fund established to search for their missing daughter?

September 29, 2017
A Romantic’s Tower

Tower house on Isle of Man that was home to the Romantic artist John Martin for sale for £3.95 million

Described as “the most sublime and extraordinary pictures in the world” by critic Simon Wilson and “the most popular painter of his day” by fellow artist Sir Thomas Lawrence, English Romantic painter John Martin (1789 – 1854) is renowned to this day for fantastic compositions and such works as The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Destruction of Tyre and The Plains of Heaven. He was born in Haydon Bridge, Northumberland and died in the Isle of Man and now a castellated tower house there, where he lived from 1851 to 1853, is for sale for £3.95 million ($5.32 million, €4.50 million or درهم19.56 million).

A portrait of John Martin and his own painting “The Plains of Heaven”

The view out to sea from the castellated roof terrace of Harold Tower

Of the Gothic style and dating to circa 1833, Harold Tower in Douglas was allegedly named after either Harold Harefoot (Harold I, King of England from 1035 to 1040) or Harold Godwinson (Harold II, King of England in 1066). It was constructed in a hexagonal shape, was described as a “lately erected villa” in 1856 and used as a hotel during the Second World War.

Set within 3 acres of formal gardens, Harold Tower was renovated between 2009 and 2012. It is laid out over 5 levels and includes 3 reception rooms, a cinema, a wine cellar, 3 bedrooms suites with truly lavish bathrooms and an octagonal office with a roof terrace with sea views above. In addition, a 3 bedroom guest house and a 2 bedroom guest cottage are located within the grounds along with an outdoor swimming pool.

Harold Tower is being marketed by Shane Magee of agents Chrystals.

September 26, 2017
A Bastard of a Basement

Knightsbridge townhouse for sale for sum 11% lower than it sold for in 2011; it comes with a rather large hole in the garden that has been described as “almost as deep as the Führerbunker”

To the poet and wit Henry Luttrell (1765 – 1861) “eating pâté de foie gras to the sound of trumpets” was his idea of heaven. Now, a very wealthy buyer has the opportunity to acquire what some might consider the very opposite of such with the sale of his former home – complete with a 4-storey hole in its garden – in Knightsbridge.

Empty for many years and the subject of numerous critical articles about its dereliction in such titles as the Mirror and Daily Mail, Grade II listed 31 Brompton Square is on the market for £3 million less than it sold for in 2011. It was previously reportedly owned by the industrialist Lord Tanlaw and was also in the possession of the High Commission of Malaysia at some point.

Fraudster Achilleas Kallakis was undoubtedly the most controversial owner of the building

Philanthropists Dora and Mary de Beer (pictured with Esmond de Beer) were certainly more civilised residents

Baron Tanlaw of Tanlawhill reportedly owned the house for a period also

Aside from being home to the philanthropist sisters Dora and Mary de Beer (owners of the house between 1934 and 1981) and the Conservative Party politician the Hon. Michael Astor in addition, most controversially the property was bought by the now jailed businessman Achilleas Kallakis in the mid 2000s.

Kallakis – who in spite of demanding he be called ‘His Excellency’ and ‘The Don’ was actually simply “Britain’s biggest mortgage fraudster” – began work on a scheme to create what he termed a “pleasure palace” at 31 Brompton Square in 2005. He employed contractors to dig four levels down beneath what had been a pretty garden and commenced both authorised and unauthorised works to create what could still ultimately become a 22,000 square foot, 8-floor “trophy home.”

Construction stopped in 2008 after Kallakis’ arrest and in 2011, 31 Brompton Square was sold for £8 million more than sought to a Virgin Islands based company by receivers acting for Barclays Wealth. Said by locals to actually be owned at that time by a Dubai based businessman named Jonathan Hart, further planning schemes were submitted in October 2016 and now agents Savills seek £25 million for the unfinished building.

Of the sale, one near neighbour told The Steeple Times:

“This bastard of a basement has blighted this area of Knightsbridge for far too long.”

“We have feared subsidence might cause the hole to cave in since 2005 and now hope a new owner will rectify the mess left by the conman Kallakis. We simply want to be able to live out our years in peace and would like a nice, quiet family rather than a brash billionaire be the purchasers.”

31 Brompton Square – The Numbers

September 2017 – For sale for £25 million ($33.9 million, €28.4 million or درهم125 million).

June 2016 – Predicted to be worth £50 million ($67.8 million, €56.9 million or درهم249 million) if iceberg extension were to be completed.

March 2011 – Sold for £28 million ($38 million, €31.9 million or درهم139.5 million) after a bidding war on an asking price of £20 million ($27.1 million, €22.7 million or درهم99.6 million).

An aerial view of the giant hole behind 31 Brompton Square

A closer view of the dormant site

The front elevation of 31 Brompton Square

A proposed floor plan for the building

A CGI image of a proposed design for a reception room within the existing building

A CGI image of a proposed design for a reception space in the proposed extension of the house

A CGI image of a proposed design for a reception space backing onto the garden

A CGI image of a proposed design for a swimming pool within the extension

A CGI image of the proposed garden

Another view of the space

A drawing of the proposed redevelopment

September 25, 2017
A Big House

Vast Georgian village house in Oxfordshire for sale for £4.25 million

A Grade II* listed, mid-18^th century village house in Adderbury, Oxfordshire has just gone on sale for £4.25 million ($5.74 million, €4.79 million or درهم21.10 million) after fifty years in the same family.

Providing a total of 11,290 square foot of accommodation and including 5 reception rooms, a 38-foot long kitchen, 4 cellar rooms, 10 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms, Cross Hill House is built of Horton stone and has a Welsh slate roof. It is described as being of “the mid-Georgian style” and as “a big house” by Country Life’s Penny Churchill.

Formerly owned by Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Everard Du Cane Norris (1869 – 1960), Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire in 1939 and a significant freehold property owner in Hackney, London until the 1930s, the house comes with 5.98 acres of formal and informal gardens, 2 Victorian walled gardens and 3 large garages.

Cross Hill House – which is 3 miles from Banbury and 18 miles from Oxford – is listed by Damian Gray of Knight Frank LLP.

September 19, 2017
Bugger All Bernard

Naturist politician Bernard Jenkin MP shows himself to be the ‘Buggerallmoney’ of the Brexit generation

“When Brexit happens there will be lots more money for everyone” crowed Bernard Jenkin on Monday morning’s All Out Politics with Adam Boulton on Sky News.

“The UK’s best known naturist” and Tory politician continued: “We’ll have far more influence” before adding: “I’m all for Parliament voting for what we do with huge amounts of money.” Dismissing criticism of his hapless leader Theresa ‘Wheat Field Wazzock’ May, Jenkin also brushed off the Gina Miller Article 50 decision as “a big surprise” and simply suggested: “Many times legal advice is lacking.”

Whether Jenkin and his cohorts end up “getting piles” (of cash) if Brexit does indeed happen remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure: He’s certainly forcing once Great Britain towards ‘Buggerallmoney’ instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXuRvthgn4U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP4xuPbZ4Ic

September 11, 2017
A Cheap Mansion

Part refurbished Irish Georgian stately home for sale for just £136,000; it was originally built by the Fry family

What could be one of the cheapest Georgian stately homes ever has been placed on the market for just £136,000 ($179,000, €150,000 or درهم658,000).

Three storey, five bay, mid-18^th century Frybrook House in the centre of the town of Boyle in County Roscommon, Ireland – the birthplace of Maureen O’Sullivan (Jane in the Tarzan movies) – stands in 3 acres of land beside the River Boyle

Frybrook House appeared to be in much better condition externally in the early 2000s

Described recently by The Times as a “hot stately home,” the 8 bedroom, 8 bathroom mansion was built for Henry Fry, a merchant from Somerset, after he established a weaving operation on the site in the 1740s. It was run as a bed and breakfast in the early 2000s and last offered on the open market for £309,000 – with additional land and properties – in 2015.

Period features include fine restored plasterwork, original cornicing, window shutters, marble fireplaces and roll top baths and though the property appears to be in some state of disrepair and dereliction, it is described as “partly restored and refurbished.” Sadly, pictures also show the setting is somewhat spoilt by a modern industrial building to the rear.

Frybrook House is listed by REA Seamus Carthy.

Frybrook House – The Numbers

September 2017 – £136,000 ($179,000, €150,000 or درهم658,000) with 3 acres of land and various outbuildings.

July 2015 – £309,000 ($406,000, €340,000 or درهم1.5 million) with 6 acres of land, 4 houses on an adjoining street and a “period building” housing a café.

September 11, 2017
Little Nigella

Clubbable sorts will love the opportunity to live like Nigella Lawson above Little House Mayfair

When the flatform trainer loving cook Nigella Lawson first split up with Charles ‘The Throttler’ Saatchi back in 2013, she took up residence in an apartment above the Little House private members’ club in Mayfair’s Queen Street.

Nigella Lawson arriving at her apartment at Little House Mayfair in 2013

Now, one of the club’s four apartments has recently become available to rent at price of £6,600 per week ($8,600, €7,200 or درهم31,800 per week) or £28,600 per month ($37,500, €31,100 or درهم137,600 per month). Featuring two bedroom suites and a third ‘bunk room’ that could be converted to provide a gym, the second floor space on offer also has a double aspect reception room, is accessed by lift and comes with full club access.

Savills have the listing and the website for the apartment complex and club – which was previously used as a bank – notes it comes with a “fully stocked kitchen or we’ll do it for you.” No wonder Nigella felt at home.

September 7, 2017
Stopping Brexit

Matthew Steeples suggests Labour’s partial U-turn on Brexit is a positive start; they must now go further and oppose it entirely

Whilst Keir Starmer’s decision to announce Labour will support Britain remaining in a customs union with the EU and within the single market during a “time-limited transitional period between our exit from the EU and the new lasting relationship we build with our European partners” in The Observer yesterday is to be saluted, he does not go far enough.

Brexit has left Britain on a knife-edge. Sterling is considerably weakened, jobs in agriculture and banking are already disappearing and businesses, such as occurred with Southern Salads in Kent, are beginning to go into administration. Theresa May’s “Brexit means Brexit” and her ridiculous “red, white and blue Brexit” now seem the ultimate follies and this morning’s comment by Peter Oborne in the Daily Mail is indicative that the lunatics are still in charge of the asylum.

In a moaning rant that he titles a “spectacular betrayal of Labour voters” and aside from spouting the usual rhetoric, Oborne does rightly suggest that Jeremy Corbyn is not a natural supporter of the EU. The Labour leader, after all, voted against British membership in 1975, opposed the single market subsequently and also did little in the 2016 referendum campaign to positively support ‘remain’. Consequently, one is left wondering if he actually truly supports what Keir Starmer yesterday proposed.

The Leader of the Opposition’s aim, of course, is power and alongside his recent transformation from a badly dressed joker to someone who actually made headway – thanks in the main to Theresa May’s incompetence and decision to call an utterly unnecessary election – Corbyn has realised that the 48% are a constituency worthy of pursuing. He must now, himself, come out and be honest with us and we urge him to do what is best for Britain: It is time for Labour campaign to stop Brexit.

Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.

August 28, 2017
Picture of the Week – The Lack of Appeal of ‘The Half Biscuit’

Facebook group mocks racist online abuser Viscount St Davids as he returns to the clink

On Friday, the dimwitted ‘half biscuit’ 4^th Viscount St Davids – also known as amongst other things Rhodri Philipps and Baron Strange of Knockin – was returned to jail after attempting and then dropping an appeal against a sentence for malicious communications.

Thrice bankrupt Philipps, whose sentence of 12 weeks could have been extended if his appeal had failed, was rightly slapped with increased costs by Deborah Taylor, the recorder of Westminster sitting at Southwark Crown Court, and later mocked on Facebook by the group ‘Pants to Brexit’. We share their image here and suggest it summary of what decent people everywhere think of the views of this reprehensible bigoted scumbag criminal.

August 27, 2017
Rent Like A Royal

Grade I listed house in Richmond Old Deer Park, Surrey that is owned by the Crown Estate and was originally a royal observatory to rent for £450,000 per year

A Grade I listed house set on 6.6 acres of World Heritage Site and Grade I listed land in the middle of the Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Course has been listed to rent for £37,500 per month ($48,300, €41,000 or درهم177,300 per month).

Extending to 6,157 square foot in total but quite manageable in terms of the accommodation provided, The King’s Observatory in Old Deer Park, Richmond upon Thames was designed by the Scottish-Swedish architect Sir William Chambers (1723 – 1796) and used by King George III (1738 – 1820) to house his extensive collection of scientific instruments. It features the oldest cupola in the world specifically constructed to allow astrologists to “track the rare phenomenon of Venus crossing the sun.”

Owned by the Crown Estate, the building was used as a classroom for royalty, was converted to provide a home for the Meteorological Office from 1910 to 1980 and became the offices of Hill Samuel Bank and then Autoglas until 2011. Plans were approved to convert to a single residence in 2014 but features including a cinema, games room, gym, underground swimming pool and garaging for 16 cars were not actually constructed.

The King’s Observatory – which was built in 1769 – is offered by Knight Frank and includes 5 reception rooms, 4 bedroom suites and a large roof terrace.

August 21, 2017