Pretentious number plate ‘BIG’ attracts attention in Knightsbridge
‘Mr Big’ in Sex and the City was considered a bit of player. He was the “big man on the campus” according to Carrie Bradshaw and he was an “intriguing character” in the eyes of Comcast.
Now, in Cadogan Square in London, someone has decided to pretend to be him. They’ve positioned their ego on a Porsche and installed on it a numberplate that reads ‘81G’ (or ‘BIG’ to the casual observer).
Plainly not all locals were as unimpressed as us: Someone named Tabrez left a note on the car asking to buy it. He announced: “I already hold other ‘BIG’ plates.”
Update – 14th April 2021 – ‘81G’ attracted the attention of Sam McAlister, the BBC “booker extraordinaire” of Prince Andrew for that now forever infamous ‘Newsnight’ interview. She shared an image of the Porsche with her 11,600 followers and remarked: “I bet it isn’t…” and attracted over 3,200 likes and 140 retweets.
Personalised number plates are very much something people either love or loathe. In London, they are ten-a-penny and frankly though some can be amusing, many are just ludicrous, tacky, stupid and common.This motorist plainly thinks driving around emblazoned with a plate referencing the ‘G-spot’ makes them either witty or sexually appealing even. Frankly, unless the owner works in a sex clinic, what are they trying to achieve?Another motorist with a bizarre or frankly warped sense of humour imagines this plate to be appealing. We’d argue, instead, that the owner of this car instead gets mocked and derided wherever they dare drive.
Grade II* listed Cumbrian mansion built by opium dealer and once marketed for £1.5 million for sale for just £460,000; it was also the scene of the UK’s biggest ever cannabis raid in 2012
A 23,000 square foot, 52 room, mid-19th century Palladian mansion in the Westmorland Dales National Park is to be sold at auction – by order of the mortgagees not in possession – for £1 million less than it was marketed for in 2014. It is sadly now described as being in an utterly wrecked, vandalised condition.
The entrance elevation of the mansion then and now
The strikingly grand interiors of Flass (prior to visits from the ‘Urban Explorers’)
The completely trashed interiors of the mansion (after visits from the ‘Urban Explorers’)
Built in 1851 for wealthy merchant brothers and tea and opium magnets Lancelot and Wilkinson Dent, 8-bedroomed Flass at Maulds Meaburn, near Penrith in Cumbria was designed by architects Grey and Mair and includes furnishings by the renowned firm Gillows of Lancaster and London.
Opulent to its core and said to have featured marble fireplaces, ivory door handles and friezes with pearls, Flass remained in the Dent family until 1973. Just prior to being sold for £17,000 (the equivalent of £202,000 today) that year to a historian named Frank Walsh, the then owner Sir Robert Dent opened up an attic of the house and discovered items from the Mughal Empire that he then auctioned for the astounding sum of £220,000 (the equivalent of £2.6 million today).
Subsequently this vast stucco finished, limestone built house – complete with a Doric porte-cochère and a three-storey tower – became a care home and was then after sold in 2000 to a singer-songwriter best known for co-writing the creepy Christian crooner Sir Cliff Richard’s Devil Woman named Christine Holmes (also known as Kristine Sparkle) and her husband Paul Davies. The pair turned the property into a performing arts school.
After the couple divorced, Davies took control of the mansion but due to spiraling maintenance costs, he eventually got himself involved with a gang of drug dealers in 2011. Due to what rental agents at the time described as the house being “totally private and hidden away, with an unmatched seclusion and charm,” Davies and his five cohorts were able to grow cannabis with a street value of £5.26 million undetected until a neighbour became suspicious. He was jailed for his role in the crime for three years and eight months in September 2015.
Singer-songwriter Christine Holmes outside Flass in September 2017 (after visits from the ‘Urban Explorers’ and their having trashed her home)
Paul Davies turned Flass into Britain’s biggest cannabis farm (and got himself three years and eight months in jail for his efforts; on his conviction his representative said: “He blames nobody but himself for getting involved in this criminal business”)
The “massive scale” £5 million cannabis farm operated at Flass was described in court as “a professional setup” and having the “real hallmarks of organised crime”
Christine Holmes subsequently took back control of Flass and after trying and failing to sell the house for £1.5 million spent £200,000 on renovations to put right the damage done by the drug operation. Her bad luck, however, was not to end there. In September 2017, the Cumberland & Westmorland Herald reported that a gang of ‘Urban Explorers’ had raided the somewhat derelict building and filmed their exploits. In the weeks that followed, trespassers returned at least twelve further times and “ransacked and trashed” the once glorious residence. She told the paper:
“I was absolutely horrified when I saw [videos of the house] online. I couldn’t believe how anyone could come into my home and believe it was an abandoned building.”
“I think since then people have been staying in the building and have even been there hiding while I’ve been there. I’m petrified. These are evil people who are breaking into my home. I think it’s becoming a game to them. They are breaking in every day.”
Auctioneers Harman Healy will now offer Grade II* listed Flass along with 17.5 acres of overgrown grounds with a guide price of just £460,000+ on 30th January. Christine Holmes no doubt will be glad if she finally gets shot of what she likely ended up considering to be the worst kind of white elephant.
Flass – The Numbers
January 2019 – To be offered at auction with a guide price of just £460,000 ($596,000, €525,000 or درهم2.2 million).
July 2014 – Offered for sale for £1.5 million ($1.9 million, €1.7 million or درهم7.1 million).
2000 – Sold for £490,000 ($635,000, €559,000 or درهم2.3 million) to the currently jailed drug dealer Paul Davies and his then wife songwriter Christine Holmes.
1998 – Reduced to £650,000 ($842,000, €741,000 or درهم3.1 million).
1997 – For sale for £750,000 ($972,000, €855,000 or درهم3.6 million).
1982 – Sold for £115,000 ($149,000, €131,000 or درهم547,000) to a retired solicitor named Malcolm Whiteside. He turned Flass into a care home which he ran with his wife Mary.
1973 – Sold by Sir Robert Dent, a descendant of the family who built the house, for £17,000 ($22,000, €19,000 or درهم81,000) to a historian named Frank Welsh.
Gavin Newsom brings hope to America and we expect him to great things as 40th Governor of California; we also urge him to do what he can to free the victims of parental abuse, the Menendez brothers
Gavin Newsom, as the 42nd Mayor of San Francisco, achieved much. This spirited businessman brought in same-sex marriage in violation of the then state law, implemented a programme that provided permanent housing with support for 7,000 homeless people and did much to support workers’ rights.
Awarded the title of “America’s Most Social Mayor” based on his prominence on social media in 2010, here is a politician who has thrived because he does things differently. Charismatic and forward thinking, Newsom’s first book, Citizenville, explored how technology can transform democracy and in 2014, by then the 49th Lieutenant Governor of California, he became the only statewide politician to endorse the legalisation of cannabis.
More importantly, illustrating his thoroughly decent personality, in 2012, Newsom supported a sadly failed measure that sought to end the death penalty in California. He cited that California had spent $5 billion since 1978 to execute just 13 people and also stated that the death penalty was “immoral” and “did not deter crime.”
Yesterday, Newsom – a possible future President we’d go as far to say – was sworn in as the 40th Governor of California. Walking in the shoes of Arnold Schwarzenegger will undoubtedly be a new challenge for him and presiding over the most populous and prosperous state in the United States will certainly bring with it great challenges. With 39.6 million residents and a $2.9 trillion economy that is larger than that of the United Kingdom, he plans to work to reform healthcare, has already stood up to Donald Trump over his ridiculous wall and described it as a “monument of stupidity” and boldy taken on the NRA and stated: “We need comprehensive gun reform. NOW.”
All at The Steeple Times today salute ‘The Gavinator’ – as he once joked he would be known – but today, on his second day in office, we make a more heartfelt plea to him. Given the increasing amount of support and increasing amount of information about their case finally now being in the public domain, we urge the 40th Governor to take up the mantle of the permanently incarcerated victims of the most abhorrent of parental abuse, Erik and Lyle Menenendez. These boys received the most harsh of sentences simply because of who they were and have been locked up in Californian jails for 27 years without any chance of release ever. It is, we’d argue, now damn well time they were let out and it would be a fine thing if Gavin Newsom could do what he can to ensure the day when these brothers again walk free comes sooner rather than later.
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.
Michael and Emma Treichl
The front elevation of Parnham House before the fire
The front elevation of Parnham House after the fire
The fire in full force
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).
Veteran political heavyweight Melvyn Bragg lays into Brexit, David Cameron, Jeremy Corbyn and Sir James Dyson
In an interview in The House magazine, Lord Bragg spoke complete sense in condemning the madness of the current British political scene.
Remarks included:
“I’m looking forward to getting hold of [David Cameron’s] book, I can tell you. Self-serving, and now this swaggering on – ‘I’m very bored, I’d like another job now. Bit bored, so I’d like to be Foreign Secretary’. He ran away. He ran a lousy campaign and then he ran away – he said he’d stay but ran away, he resigned from the Commons – we’ve never heard a pip or a squeak from him. He didn’t go on the Remain march, he didn’t do anything. Cameron could have saved his name by leading the Remain minority. Who the f*** does he think he is?”
“Now, Cameron, with his usual bloody stupidity, should have said ‘it’s got to be at least a 55%’ and so on. But he didn’t think that through because he doesn’t think things through. He is a smarmy PR man.”
“These bunch of squirearchal, hedge funding, over-privileged people who think [Brexit is] going to be okay – it’s going to be okay for them. They’re not going to suffer – not a bit of it. They don’t offer any evidence now. It’s ceased to be a programme or a process, it’s a cult. It’s a bit like the Moonies. They just believe it because they believe because they believe it. Because they are who they are, they think them believing it is significant. No, it isn’t.”
“Their so-called figureheads like [Sir James] Dyson runs away, buggers off – traitorous you could say, in some ways. ‘I’m a big Brexit man’ – as soon as he sees an opportunity, he goes to Singapore. Puts two billion in there when he could have done it here. Isn’t he rich enough? He’s the biggest landowner in the country. How greedy can somebody get?… Horrible… Everything is wrong about it. It speaks to what is wrong about our country. It also has unleashed feelings that are very unpleasant. We were getting on pretty well.”
“I would like for Jeremy Corbyn to go flat out for another referendum and back it and say Remain because that is going to be the way to keep this country prosperous, to keep it tolerant by accepting people who come from other countries instead of setting up a system that repudiates people from other countries. I’d say come off the fence, back Remain and get on with it. His dallying is doing the Labour party no good. They should be streaking away, they should be streaking away. So, that’s disappointing.”
“I was canvassing in Carlisle for the Labour party – you couldn’t believe it really – they were worried about immigration. Nearly ninety per cent of the people in Carlisle had been born in and around Carlisle… but ‘oh, this terrible threat of immigration!’ Why didn’t the Labour party tell people that. Why isn’t the Labour party behind the truth?”
“Forty-eight per cent is not a minority. This country has been built on minorities. The slave trade was abolished because of the minority pegging away. The suffragettes, the trade unions… universal education came in… again and again and again. Minorities turn into majorities quite quickly, especially when they’re right. I won’t go as far as Oscar Wilde, who said that minorities are always right. They’re not always right – but they were in this case.”
All at The Steeple Times today salute Melvyn. His analysis was utterly (sadly) brilliant.
The National Crime Agency’s investigation into and that Theresa May stopped a previous inquiry into Arron Banks’ activities is proof that he must now be properly questioned
Arron Banks looks like the kind of a man who’d have been a bully at school. He was actually expelled from two schools – once for stealing the lead off a roof – and was incensed that William Hague effectively termed him a “nobody.”
Named after the Scottish island of Arran (though his parents bizarrely got the spelling wrong), Banks is undoubtedly wealthy but that he likely provided money of dubious source to the Leave.EU campaign is definitely worthy of detailed examination.
Married to a Russian he met at a Britney Spears concert and the driver of a ghastly purple Range Rover – complete with the equally pretentious numberplate “X MI5 SPY” – Banks also co-owns the ridiculous website Westmonster with the “remarkably unpleasant child” and “milk bottle white” Michael Heaver. He hangs around mostly with a supposed “diplomat from Brazil” named Andy Wigmore, hands out diamonds like confetti and is a “man of many legends” according to The Daily Mail’s Andrew Pierce.
Now, however, this ‘Bad Boy of Brexit’s’ business affairs may very well be his undoing.
A 20-question interview with economist turned real estate investor Davide Giardino
The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom.” What’s your guiding force?
“The happiness and success of those closest to my heart.”
“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?
“If you keep your destiny in mind, every moment in life becomes an opportunity to move closer to it.”
Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2018?
Technocrats – as at least populists are lying most of the time.
Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?
A simpler life. I miss the routine of going to an office every morning. Am I crazy?
What might you swap all your wealth for?
Assets? Well, in all seriousness, good health for me, my family and my friends.
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 state of the financial system?
Who is richer and who is poorer from the latest financial crisis? You’ve got my answer…
What phrase or word do you most loathe?
“I am saying it for your sake.”
In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home.” What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?
Charity often substitutes for the lack of adequate government or international policy which is disappointing. I support a variety of causes including helping children born with congenital diseases and homeless children.
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?
Shut them off at night.
If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?
My twin brother, a bunch of friends, Isabelle Huppert, Glenn Close and probably Angelina Jolie.
If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?
Bucatini with lobster (I always liked bucatini more than spaghetti), gâteau de pommes de terre (cooked the Neapolitan way), a large portion of figs and a torta caprese chocolate cake. I woiuld probably eat it at the Villa San Michele in Capri, Hotel Bel Air or Cliveden House – all places close to my heart for different reasons.
What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?
11am, though not every day.
A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?
A Negroni.
Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?
A dear friend of mine throws the most memorable dinner parties. I love how he always selects a group of diverse people who do not know each other, but will create an incredible energy together by the end of the night. It always helps that I’m always the guest of honour!
Who is the most positive person you know?
Maybe me.
What’s your most guilty pleasure?
Buying French pâtisserie and flowers for myself many times each week.
If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?
“I want it all.”
If you were a car, what marque would you be?
A vintage Fiat 500 with a new engine. They are so cute and practical and I don’t need a Maserati to compensate for a lack of personality or something else.
Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.
I am still trying to figure myself out.
What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?
Fresh flowers.
Davide Giardino is the founder of DGC-Luxury Homes and a licensed realtor at Rodeo Realty – Beverly Hills and Greater LA. He has extensive experience in the real estate advisory and investment business and previously was an economist at several global finance institutions. He describes himself as “a multi-lingual globetrotter” and holds a double degree from Bocconi and USC, an MSc in European political economy from the London School of Economics and a masters in finance from LBS.
Competition to win a Knightsbridge flat for £10 per ticket neglects to mention its former occupier, a convicted ‘gay sex plot’ royal blackmailer who died in 2016
Increasingly, with sellers unable to offload prime properties due to Theresa May’s inability to secure any kind of Brexit deal and the ongoing effects of former Chancellor George Osborne’s increases to stamp duty, those with luxury flats and houses are turning to raffling them.
An example of such comes in in the form of a ground and first floor maisonette on the corner of Walton Street and Beauchamp Place in London’s Knightsbridge. Extending to 1,063 square foot and including a large reception room, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, the aforementioned fully furnished property is ambitiously being touted as being worth £3.2 million in spite of having sold for just £1.4 million in 2007 and £575,000 in 2000.
Bisexual ‘royal blackmailer’ Ian Strachan lived in the flat for a period following his release from jail
Now marketed in a competition by a company named Your Laddr – run by a former Alexander McQueen merchandiser named Santa Agolli – for £10 a ticket, Flat 1 at 132 Walton Street, SW3 is being promoted without mention of one of its most recent occupants, a controversial and now deceased ‘royal blackmailer’ who’d sought £50,000 for a set of recordings from various national newspapers in 2007.
Tried under the name of Paul Aðalsteinsson (other aliases included Paul Adalsteinsson, Paul Stein and Charles Goldstein), Grimsby trawlerman’s son turned “playboy” Ian Strachan lived at 132 Walton Street after being released following serving a sentence of five years for a gay sex blackmail plot against an unnamed, married member of the royal family. He subsequently had his left leg amputated following a 30-foot fall from a balcony in Imperial Wharf, SW6 in 2013 and then spent 10 months in jail in Dubai in 2015 after crashing an Audi R8. He died aged just 40 of a drug overdose in South Kensington on Christmas Eve 2016.
The winner of Flat 132, Walton Street will have their stamp duty, legal fees and council tax for one year paid as part of the prize. In addition, they will be ‘given’ a 2017 Jeep Wrangler Black Hawk with 800 miles on the clock, a cash amount of upto £4,000 to cover insurance for one year and a cash payment to cover a Kensington and Chelsea parking permit for one year also. Hopefully they’ll have better luck than the tragic Mr Strachan; may he rest in peace.
August 2018 – Prize draw remains open indicating that ticket sales must be rather slow.
December 2017 – Offered in a raffle for £10 per ticket with a minimum of 380,000 tickets needed to be sold. This would equate to a return of£3.8 million ($4.9 million, €4.2 million or درهم17.9 million) in ticket sales.
November 2007 – Sold for £1.436 million ($1.845 million, €1.581 million or درهم6.776 million).
October 2000 – Sold for £575,000 ($739,000, €633,000 or درهم2.713 million).
A 20-question interview with Oliver Ouboter; the co-founder of the imminently launching innovative Swiss ‘bubble car’ – the Microlino
The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom.” What’s your guiding force?
Passion.
“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?
Just do it! (Thanks Nike).
Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2018?
SUVs.
Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?
Having the curiosity of a child.
What might you swap all your wealth for?
My family’s health.
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 state of the financial system?
It’s as fucked up as the Donald himself.
What phrase or word do you most loathe?
‘Trivial’ as in German nobody uses it and most people don’t understand it. I loathe ‘trivial’ for being a ‘non-trivial’ word to describe something ‘trivial.’
In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home.” What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?
I support mainly environmental causes. It is not that I think that humans deserve it less, I just think sending money to developing countries won’t solve the problem and is just an easy fix for many people to feel good about themselves.
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?
Try to use it less, fail miserably in doing so and then tell yourself you’re gonna do better next year.
If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?
My family and Barack Obama and Steve Jobs and Nelson Mandela if they were still alive.
Oliver Ouboter pictured with a Microlino (as featured in ‘The Steeple Times’ earlier this month) and his brother Merlin and father Wim.
If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?
A special home-made roast.
What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?
It depends on the situation.
A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?
A Negroni of course.
Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?
Parties of friends that I don’t spend too much time with. There are always new people to get to know.
Who is the most positive person you know?
My dad.
What’s your most guilty pleasure?
Chocolate of course. I’m Swiss.
If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?
It would be a Kickscooter, of course.
If you were a car, what marque would you be?
What a question: I’d be a Microlino!
Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.
I cannot operate a washing machine but that’s not surprising though.
What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?
Big companies and governments. They are slow and inefficient in dealing with global warming.
Oliver Ouboter is the co-founder of a start-up alongside his father and brother that has developed a small electric city-car named Microlino. He is considered one of the best guinea pigs as his dad invented the world-famous Kickscooter in 1999.
“With champagne wishes and caviar dreams” was the famous signoff of London born Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous host Robin Leach. Harrow High School educated, this one-time Daily Mail reporter moved to the US in 1963 with $145 in his pocket and after briefly becoming a shoe salesman founded a music publication named Go Magazine.
After selling up “at considerable profit,” Leach worked for The National Star and CNN before coming up with Lifestyles in 1984. He attributed the show’s popularity to Jimmy Carter exiting the White House and boasted: “[It was] because the Reagans brought in an aura of wealth. Jimmy Carter was too ordinary. So, when Reagan came in, it was time for a show about wealth and success… Hear this: In the course of an hour, I deliver twice as much audio information and visual images as any other show on television. I’m fast and loud on purpose. I cram 10 pounds of caviar into an eight-pound pack.”
“Sensational, not scandalous” in his approach, twice married, father of three Leach’s subjects numbered everyone from Celine Dion to Madonna and Adnan Khashoggi and Donald Trump. As a result this celebrant of wealth and capitalism became a millionaire and pretty famous himself and in 2007, in the Fergie song Glamorous featuring Ludacris, the latter rapped: “Lifestyles so rich and famous, Robin Leach’ll get jealous.” With his passing, most certainly, this much parodied “life of the party” has most definitely moved to the skies.
