Margaret Burke, a former Neo-Nazi supporting HMP Holloway jailbird turned one-time Labour Party councillor, happily hung around with hypocrites Diane Abbott, Jeremy Corbyn and Caroline Flint; will she get a ‘photo op’ with the drippy dope Sir Keir Starmer during General Election 2024?
Elected as a councillor in Milton Keynes in 2012 in spite of having previously dressed in Nazi-style uniforms and also having recruited youths to daub buildings with swastikas, Margaret Burke – pictured above with fellow hypocrite, gypsy basher Diane Abbott MP – was a member of a repugnant group known as the November 9th Society in the early 1980s. Today, instead, this wicked wastrel claims to “look after hedgehogs and birds and anything else that comes her way.”
Whilst a councillor, this anything but innocent “bit of a berk” also neglected to mention her time in Her Majesty’s Prison Holloway for vandalising a butcher’s shop whilst a member of the Animal Liberation Front. Bombastic bore Burke, however, was prepared to share that she “held surgeries for one hour per week for her constituents every Friday evening.”
In the context of this Labour loon, don’t mention the war and don’t mention her friendliness with not only Abbott, but also her disgraceful ex-lover, Jeremy Corbyn. He was happy to pose for a picture with her in 2016 even.
One now has to ask: “Will the super fan of the bombastic bigot ‘Nasty Nat’ Natalie Elphicke and all-round drippy dope Sir Keir Starmer be seeking out Margaret Burke for a ‘photo op’ during the General Election 2024 campaign?” Shame on anyone who associates with this vile piece of toe rag.
Of the one-time Neo Nazi Margaret Burke, the now ex-Labour MP The Right Honourable Caroline Flint once shockingly enthused: “Margaret has been a community activist for some time and also runs a wildlife hospital and as you can imagine is very well known. Relatively new to the Labour Party she has taken to knocking on doors like a duck to water. Out in groups but also alone, Margaret is clocking up her target vote. She is an inspiration to those who avoid the doorstep.” If she’d been around when they were in power, might Caroline Flint – a woman bizarrely endorsed in 2019 as “first rate” by Boris Johnson – have lauded Stalin, Mussolini or Hitler perhaps also?Two mental maniacs come together… Dimwitted dunce Diane Abbott was happy to be snapped with the ex-Neo Nazi and since ex-Labour councillor in April 2012 in Milton Keynes. Excusing her previous antics, another Milton Keynes Labour councillor, Kevin Wilson, pathetically bleated of a woman who, along with her [then] husband [Terry Flynn], “wore Nazi-style uniforms and recruited gangs of local youths to hand out racist leaflets and daub buildings with swastikas”: “We were aware of Margaret’s past and we questioned her at length. We had no doubt at all that her misdemeanours of 20 or 30 years ago were serious matters but I do not believe that somebody should be punished or penalised for what they did such a long time ago.”The ex-jailbird Margaret Burke grinned like a Cheshire cat when she got herself into a snap with Jeremy Corbyn in 2016. At the time, according to ‘Guido Fawkes,’ the then Labour leader was quoted as telling her: “Thank you very much for all the hard work you have done.” One can only wonder if this wicked woman gifted him a swastika in return.
Burgh Island in South Devon, where Agatha Christie wrote several novels and The Beatles stayed also, goes on sale for the staggering sum of £15 million
Described as “the best hotel west of The Ritz” by its current owner Giles Fuchs, a favourite South Devon bolthole of Agatha Christie has just come up for sale for £15 million. It was here that the ‘Queen of Crime’ had her own writer’s retreat and where also that she was inspired to pen both And Then There Were None and Evil Under The Sun.
Burgh Island is situated just 820-feet from the mainland and is approachable by foot at low tide and accessible by a sea tractor at high tide; it also has a helipad for those wishing to make a grand entrance. Though 3 hours from London Paddington by train, those that have visited in the past – amongst them the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Sir Winston Churchill and J. M. W. Turner even – supposedly returned again and again captivated, like Christie, by its seclusion and beauty.
The 21-acre island – which has gone through several name changes itself and was once known as St Michael’s Island – was the inspiration for Christie’s fictional ‘Soldier Island’ in a novel titled Ten Little Niggers when it was first published in 1939. The 272-page book was subsequently retitled Ten Little Indians and then And Then There Were None because of concerns about offending – even prior to the arrival of ‘wokery’ and ‘cancel culture’ – the American market.
The strategy worked as to this day, the novel became both the best-selling crime and the best-selling mystery novel of all-time. Critics enthuse of what is a brilliantly warped yet rationally believable psychological thriller that follows the story of eight people invited to an isolated private island to meet their ultimate demise alongside their two caretaker hosts at a house party from hell. Unsurprisingly, since Christie produced a version for the stage in 1943, there have been more adaptations for that medium as well as for film, radio and television adaptations than of any of her other works.
A clear work of genius in both plot and the financial returns it generated for its author, And Then There Were None was actually structured around an 1869 minstrel song titled Ten Little Niggers by the British songwriter Frank Green. The rhyme – as published for these politically correct times where even future editions of Roald Dahl’s book will no longer feature the adjective ‘fat’ – reads:
Ten little Soldier Boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine.
Nine little Soldier Boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight.
Eight little Soldier Boys travelling in Devon; One said he’d stay there and then there were seven.
Seven little Soldier Boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.
Six little Soldier Boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.
Five little Soldier Boys going in for law; One got in Chancery and then there were four.
Four little Soldier Boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.
Three little Soldier Boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two.
Two little Soldier Boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one.
One little Soldier Boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.
Whilst today’s visitors to the “comprehensively refurbished,” Grade II listed, 25-bedroom Burgh Island Hotel certainly are unlikely to face the unhappy endings of Christie’s ten unfortunates, they are able to enjoy “fine dining” at its two restaurants, and cocktails in its Palm Court bar. One can quite easily imagine Hercule Poirot sleuthing in or at the island’s 14th century pub, The Pilchard Inn. In addition, there is what is called the ‘Mermaid Pool’ – a naturally enclosed body of seawater where guests can swim or if, in the unlikely event they’d take a break from Dubai, perhaps ‘Wagatha Christie’ Coleen Rooney could witness Rebekah Vardy ‘Davy Jones-ing’ her mobile telephone for a second time even.
Of this “iconic landmark” – which a company ultimately controlled by Mr Fuchs paid around £5 million for in 2018 – selling agents Knight Frank enthused in their marketing material:
“The private island setting is virtually unique in the UK and the hotel, which has been fully restored, is one of the finest examples of working Art Deco architecture in Europe.”
“Burgh Island is a natural micro-environment, with wildlife to observe and cliff walks around the circumference. The sandy tidal beach on the eastern (mainland-facing) side is washed by the tide twice daily and so is always clean.”
Whilst the realty firm lauds total sales of in excess of £6 million for the year ending 2022, Agatha Christie actually best surmises why Mr Fuchs is seek to sell: “The best of an island is once you get there – you can’t go any farther… You’ve come to the end of things.” This week PlymouthLive revealed his company, Office Space in Town Limited (OSiT), “has debts of £130 million and is paying nearly £7 million in interests on its loans each year… [It] has borrowed huge sums and is relying on London property prices to remain stable in order to avoid breaching covenant terms which would mean loans having to be immediately repaid and potentially leading to the business going bust.”
Editor’s Note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.
Pictured Top – The island, hotel and The Pilchard Inn (top left); David Suchet as Poirot filmed ‘Evil Under The Sun’ there in 2001 (bottom left) and the island’s most famous visitor, Dame Agatha Christie DBE (right).
The island is being marketed by Knight Frank at a staggering price of £15 million after being sold last in 2018 for £5 million and prior for £2 million in 2001. The hotel includes 25 en-suite guest bedrooms and suites as well as the Ballroom Restaurant (64 covers), the Nettlefold Restaurant (72 covers), the Palm Court bar and lounge (42 covers) and The Pilchard Inn (35 internal and 114 external covers). There is also a billiards room, sauna and treatment room, a staff house with 9 bedrooms, a car park on the mainland with 18 spaces and a helipad. The property is offered on a freehold basis.Dame Agatha Christie DBE (1890 – 1976) remains to this day the world’s best-selling crime author. She penned 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, as well as the world’s longest-running play, ‘The Mousetrap.’ Over a billion copies of her works in the English language and a billion in translation have been sold; most notable are ‘Murder on the Orient Express,’ ‘Death on the Nile,’ ‘The Murder at the Vicarage’ and ‘The A. B. C. Murders.’‘And Then There Were None’ began life as ‘Ten Little Niggers’ and via being ‘Ten Little Indians’ gained its present title to suit the American market. Christie claimed it was the most difficult of her books to write, but it is also one of her most popular – over 100 million copies have been sold and the work stands as the sixth best-selling title (any language, including reference works) of all-time.‘Evil Under The Sun’ (1931) – which features an investigation into the murder of a flirtatious but not liked woman who is murdered whilst on holiday in Devon –remains one of Christie’s most popular works. It has been adapted multiple times and became a feature film in 1982 with Peter Ustinov as Poirot. In 2001, David Suchet played the detective in a version with alterations including the addition of the characters of Hastings, Japp and Miss Lemon – none of whom appear in the original novel. A PC game version of the story has even been made and in 1999, John Moffat played Poirot for a BBC Radio 4 adaptation. Here, the cast are seen getting into Burgh Island’s famous sea-tractor during filming.Roguish antiques dealer Lovejoy (Ian McShane) and his eccentric sidekick Tinker (Dudley Sutton) brought a new era of drama to Burgh Island when they filmed an episode there titled ‘Somewhere – Over the Rainbow?’ It was first shown in October 1994 and featured them going there to save Tinker’s financially strapped sister and her wheelchair-bound husband (presented as owners of the hotel) from losing it to a greedy property developer. The key to the story is finding a treasure trove hidden there by a notorious smuggler centuries earlier.Self-made multi-millionaire Giles Fuchs is the current owner of Burgh Island. He began his career as an estate agent, claims to have invested more than £1 million renovating the hotel to turn into something that looks “pretty spectacular.” He doubled the number of staff on site, brought in Mark Mosimann, son of King Charles III’s favourite chef, Anton Mosimann, and also bought accommodation on the mainland for some of the hotel’s workers to live in. In July 2020, he described the hotel as “like a house party” and the island as “beautiful” in comments to ‘Great British Life’ magazine.
The ‘Famous Face’ Guest List – Burgh Island, Bigbury-on-Sea, South Devon, TQ7 4BG, United Kingdom (Formerly Known As St Michael’s Island, Borough Island And Bur Island)
Dancer and singer Josephine Baker.
Musicians The Beatles – The band stayed there before playing a concert in nearby Plymouth.
World speed record holder Malcolm Campbell.
Agatha Christie – The prolific author is described as having made the island “her second home” and wrote And Then There Were None (1939) and Evil Under The Sun (1941) there. A beach hut was built for her to use as a “writer’s retreat.”
Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill – The politician supposedly met with President Dwight Eisenhower there prior to D-Day.
Flamboyant actor, playwright and singer Noël Coward – He supposedly booked in for three days, but stayed for three weeks and clearly very much enjoyed A Room With A View.
Shipping heiress, socialite and muse Nancy Cunard.
Odeon cinema chain founder Oscar Deutsche – The businessman travelled to the island with his wife and companion, World War One fighter ace Sol Joseph, in the latter’s Ford V8 Pilot just before the outbreak of the Second World War.
Actor and singer-songwriter George Formby – He is said to have been viewed as “the cheeky northern chappie who proudly picknicked on Bigbury Beach” during his visit who “guests didn’t know what to make of.”
Aviator Amy Johnson.
Actress Gertrude Lawrence.
Designer of the Spitfire R. J. Mitchell.
Last Viceroy of India Lord Mountbatten of Burma.
Artist J. M. W. Turner – The painter was “cast ashore during rough weather and ‘with a pencil, clambered nearly to the summit of the island’ to sketch its wilderness.”
Renegade royals The Duke and Duchess of Windsor – Said to have travelled to the islands on “frequent occasions” with their aide-de-camp Major Edward ‘Fruity’ Metcalfe.
In 1926, Christie disappeared from her home in Berkshire for 11 days. Mayhem and a manhunt worthy of her murder mystery books followed. Surprisingly, she didn’t choose to head to Burgh Island, but maybe that would have made her too easy to find given her love of the place. The reason for her decision to ‘vanish’ remains hotly contested today and this indeed will likely forever remain in the realms of the debate over who Jack the Ripper was – a case forever unsolved.
The Dates, Developments & Numbers – Burgh Island’s History
May 2023 – Placed for sale for £15 million ($18.8 million, €17.2 million or درهم69 million) through agents Matthew Smith and Henry Jackson of Knight Frank.
Commenting of the sale, Giles Fuchs told Plymouth Live: “Ownership of the Burgh Island Hotel has provided me with a wonderful journey and given me the true privilege of restoring and enhancing one of the most treasured tourist assets in the UK over the past few years. What we have achieved is an immense source of pride for all of us who have been involved and, in our work, we have always tried to ensure that the hotel’s 1920s spirit remains just as vibrant in the 2020s.”
Speaking to The Caterer, Matthew Smith of Knight Frank added: “It is rare for a hotel of such character and heritage to come to the open market.
“In recent years the buildings have received considerable investment and operates as a thriving business which generated in excess of £6 million ($7.5 million, €6.9 million or درهم27.6 million) turnover in its most recent financial year.”
“This is a unique opportunity to acquire a truly iconic hotel that benefits from a number of value-add opportunities to further develop the trading performance, and will no doubt appeal to a global investor audience.”
February 2023 – Plymouth Live reported on rumours about the hotel being for sale for £9 million ($11.3 million, €10.3 million or درهم41.4 million) after an advertisement appeared on Knight Frank’s website for a “mystery property” matching the description of it. Responding at the time, Henry Jackson of Knight Frank stated: “Burgh Island is not on the market. I don’t know where these rumours come from. At the time, the PR firm representing the hotel, Sapience Communications, added: “We have nothing additional to add.”
December 2022 – Planning permission granted for 12 additional guest bedrooms and suites and 13 staff bedrooms by South Hams District Council. Approval was also granted for extension of two of the restaurants and a spa facility.
This redevelopment, BBC News recently reported, will cost £7 million to £10 million ($8.8 million to $12.5 million, €8 million to €11.5 million or درهم32.2 million to درهم45.9 million) and of it, Mr Fuchs observed:
“I’m not the man for that job because once you start that, you need to do the whole thing. It’s also a substantial amount of cash and I don’t want to find [it], thanks very much.”
“We’ve got a big business in London and I could divert funds but the hotel was always about a love story; it was saving something that had been around for years that our family fell in love with.
“To divert more funds doesn’t make any sense to us. We want to buy more buildings in London.”
“She’s a demanding mistress and I ended up getting more and more involved at the expense of my life and other businesses, [but] I’m really pleased we’ve turned it around.”
Autumn 2021 – Burgh Island Limited accounts valued the business at £9.5 million ($11.9 million, €10.9 million or درهم43.7 million). At the time, profits of £296,000 ($370,000, €339,000 or درهم1.4 million) were listed down from £336,000 ($420,000, €385,000 or درهم1.5 million) in 2020.
The company was reported as employing 63 people with a wage bill of £1.6 million ($2 million, €1.8 million or درهم7.4 million). It paid dividends of £2 million ($2.5 million, €2.3 million or درهم9.2 million).
Mid 2018 – Sold by then owners Deborah Clark and Tony Orchard to Office Space in Town Ltd (OSiT), a company ultimately controlled by a London based businessman named Giles Fuchs and his sister Nichola, for a sum of £5 million ($6.3 million, €X million or درهم23 million).
January 2018 – Valued by estate agents Savills at £8.64 million ($10.81 million, €9.90 million or درهم39.69 million).
2012 – Singer-songwriter Ben Howard named his EP after the island.
2003 – The then owners closed the public footpaths on the island; this move was reversed in 2006 other than the routes closest to the hotel.
2002 – Used as a location for the television adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Evil Under The Sun.
2001 – Sold for £2 million ($2.5 million, €2.3 million or درهم9.2 million).
2001 – Used as the location of a television adaptation of Evil Under The Sun starring David Suchet as Hercule Poirot.
2001 and 2008 – Used as the location for ITV’s GMTV show Inch-loss Island.
1994 – Used as the location for an episode of the BBC series Lovejoy titled ‘Somewhere – Over the Rainbow?’
1987 – Used as a location in the BBC adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple: Nemesis.
1986 – Sold to a couple named Tony and Beatrice Porter, who “faithfully restored it to its former Art Deco glory.”
1965 – Used as a location for the film Catch Me If You Can.
1950s – Renovated, but instead of being used as a hotel became self-catering accommodation.
1939 – 1945 – Used by the RAF as a recovery centre for wounded RAF personnel. During this period, the top two floors of the main building suffered damaged after a direct hit by a bomb.
1927 – Sold to the filmmaker Archibald Nettlefold. He constructed a more substantial 25-room hotel in the Art Deco style in 1929 and after it became popular in the 1930s, added improvements and extensions in 1932 including ‘The Captain’s Cabin’ – it had been taken from HMS Ganges, a warship built in 1821.
1890s – Purchased by the music hall star George H. Chirgwin. He built a prefabricated wooden house to use for weekend parties.
14th century – The Pilchard Inn, the ‘local’ hostelry, is constructed circa 1336. It is believed to have begun life as guest lodgings for a monastery that possibly stood on the site of the current hotel.
Iron Age to Sub-Roman period – First settlers, tin traders, believed to have arrived.
More Images Of Burgh Island…
The approach to Burgh Island at low tide.Many people approach on foot; there are also a number of footpaths for visitors to enjoy once they get to the island.For guests of the hotel, there is a sea tractor they can travel on. Those that have experienced this wonderful contraption have commented on how much they have enjoyed the journey back and forth to and from the mainland.The gates to the hotel are suitably reflective of the Art Deco style of the property.The building is striking and one can certainly see what attracted the likes of Agatha Christie to it and the island.The Palm Court features a restored circular skylight. It is stunning and this is certainly a place where one can imagine such people as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and Nancy Cunard sipping martinis there of an evening whilst looking out to sea.One of two restaurants in the main hotel. The Nettlefold offers menus that are said to reflect the “uniquely wild island location.”The second, The Grand Ballroom, is a fine dining restaurant that is lauded as serving “award-winning food” in a setting that is styled around the “grandeur of a bygone era.”The guest rooms, such as ‘The Christie Room,’ have primarily been named after the famous faces who’ve stayed at the hotel in times past.The current owner has fully refurbished the property and furnished it with in-fitting Art Deco items.One of 25 bedrooms and suites at The Burgh Island Hotel; the majority enjoy superb views out to sea and to the South Devon countryside also.Another bedroom, this one with a private balcony.The Artist’s Studio is situated above The Pilchard Inn. It is a dog friendly room and just a few yards walk from the main Burgh Island Hotel building.Agatha’s Beach House has been described as “one of the sexiest hotel rooms in the UK” and is undoubtedly the ultimate place to stay on Burgh Island. It was built specifically for Agatha Christie in the 1930s and was where she penned both of her Burgh Island novels. It has a sitting room, outdoor hot tub, sun decks right onto the sea and includes a king sized bed, a double sofa bed and two single beds.The building from another angle.The sitting room of Agatha’s Beach House has the benefit of the most wonderful of aspects.It also has a woodburning stove.The Pilchard Inn was supposedly built in the 14th century as a lodging house for visitors to the monastery that is believed to have been on the island at that time. It is one of the oldest pubs in Devon.The bar.A traditional space perfect for drinks by the fire.Many of the rooms and suites at the Burgh Island Hotel, such as the Noël Coward suite, allow guests to experience the drama of the sea beyond.The ‘Mermaid Pool’ is a natural seawater pool in a “rugged” setting.Another view of this extremely unusual place to swim. Burgh Island is partly powered by solar panels.South Hams Council approved plans for additional rooms and additional staff accommodation at the Burgh Island Hotel in December 2022.The 21-acre island is just across the water from Bigbury-on-Sea.From a distance, one can genuinely see what attracted the great and the good to Burgh Island.
Russell Brand should be condemned not congratulated after his rabid dog killed a wallaby in the scene of weird animalistic happenings, Henley-on-Thames
In July 2014, we featured the sale of a “chocolate box” thatched cottage – with the rather predictable name ‘Thatched Cottage’ – next to the River Thames at Mile End Reach, near Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire that had featured in the Inspector Morse sequel Lewis on two occasions.
Visited in that murder mystery series by the since gone-utterly-off-his-merry-rocker actor Laurence Fox in his role as DS James Hathaway, by February 2016, Thatched Cottage had become the real-life home to the near equal wack job Russell Brand. Now, after a particularly gruesome incident, it ought to be the scene of a real-life police and RSPCA visitation.
Supposedly escapees from a nearby private zoo along with a chimpanzee also in 2002, the “delinquent” (according to the Evening Standard) wallabies of Henley – like other wildlife that does as it wishes in these environs – suffered a calamity courtesy of Brand’s deviant dog last Monday.
According to The Sun, vegan rent-a-gob Brand’s German Shepherd dog, Bear, caught a female wallaby “whilst it had its baby in its pouch” and “mauled it to death.”
Unlike with another irresponsible dog owner previously featured by The Steeple Times, Rebecca Sabben-Clare QC – whose snarling terrier tore a defenceless seal apart in March this year – the media has yet to tear into Brand for not having kept his dog on a lead. Unbelievably, instead, they bigged up this brazen bozo as a “brave… funnyman.”
Bizarrely terming this complete and utter wazzock wastrel “quick thinking” and a hero,” but neglecting to condemn him for allowing his out-of-control pet for disgustingly slaying another animal, the paper instead focused on how the crackpot comedian “sprang into action.”
One is now simply left asking: “Why is The Sun so ludicrously lauding Russell Brand for ‘rescuing’ the victim’s offspring joey from its pouch as its parent died the most hideous of deaths, when it was, in fact, his very own self-declared ‘tornado of fear’ dog that caused this utterly avoidable incident?”
If Brand’s dog had attacked sheep or a child – which it quite potentially could do next given it plainly has a clear penchant for blood – would The Sun so easily have leapt to his defence? The hypocrisy of this shocking story is clear and today we call upon the RSPCA and police to intervene before Brand’s dog slaughters something else.
Russell Brand’s home, Thatched Cottage at Mile End Reach, near Henley-on-Thames was used for the filming of two episodes of ‘Lewis’ – starring Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox – before being sold to the crackpot ‘comedian’ circa 2016.Russell Brand with his killer dog, Bear. Unsurprisingly and quite possibly an invented source ridiculously remarked of the rabid beast to ‘The Sun’ yesterday: “Absolutely no one is blaming Russell or his dog — it’s just a horrible accident. In fact, Russell was the hero because he managed to save the little joey. It could have been far worse if he hadn’t stepped in so quickly. He is a very caring man with animals – he has plenty of pets and they’re all his babies. I understand he’s devastated over what happened. It’s really sad.” Brand’s dog, Bear, with a lamb that one can only hope was not injured subsequently and looking especially savage whilst with its owner’s kittens.Prior to Russell Brand’s dog, Bear, going on the rampage, the weird wildlife of Henley-on-Thames was able to roam freely and without incident. His dog, Bear, now, must be classified as a very grave danger and the police and RSPCA must act.
Roundabout ranter Mandy Selhurst plainly has nothing better to do than moan about wildflowers others would find wonderful; here is a traffic twerp with too much time on her hands
Somebody ought to gift artist Mandy Selhurst a copy of Kevin Beresford’s 2004 book, Roundabouts of Great Britain. It’d keep her occupied for eons and it is something that she could go round and round and round and round again looking at.
When not painting plainly perfectly acceptable “semi abstract seascapes and landscapes,” Selhurst is a woman whom spends her days worrying about wildflowers that she considers are “blighting” two roundabouts in Bridport, Dorset. And worry, she bloody does.
Whilst most would welcome nature being allowed to blossom and plants that encourage birds and bees to pollinate and thrive, Selhurst took up the subject with the Bridport & Lyme Regis News first in April this year. At the time, she began by remarking:
“[The first roundabout] could be such a welcome. But it isn’t. Both roundabouts are a neglected disappointment long term.”
“Planting of low-level shrubs, colourful flowers, maybe some boulders to give a rockery effect would make such a difference to the first impressions of our lovely town to all of us ‘locals’ and to visitors.”
Last week, the clear obsessive crackpot returned to the subject and, having plainly achieved nothing with her first rant, penned a lengthier complaint to another paper, the Dorset Echo, on the subject. It read:
“Again, I am writing to my local paper. And again, it’s about THAT roundabout.”
“Wildflowers? No. Surely not. They are wonderfully welcome in so many different places, but not on a roundabout.”
“Shame on Dorset Council that they can’t come up with something a little more thoughtful than that.”
“As for saying that anything – as suggested by Bridport Town Council, aesthetically pleasing – might be a possible distraction to motorists, let me say that a cheap, quick fix of a few packets of seeds will surely fill motorists with surprise and disappointment.”
“I can only hope that next year, when the roundabout reverts to the responsibility of Highways England, that perhaps something more in keeping will emerge.”
“Bridport, and that crucial location, deserves more of an effort. Something eye-catching in the shape of structure, form, colour, whatever. Wildflowers here? No. A total waste of their impact.”
Reactions to this diatribe of drivel on the Facebook group Angry People in Local Newspapers were predictable. Echoing the mockery of the Tesco shopper who got in a tizzy over shelf movements in February, clearly “triggered” Selhurst was dubbed “Mandy… The new Karen” and told: “Sounds like [she] hasn’t had her lithium today.”
With other responses numbering “Blimey, what a miserable woman,” “what a bellend” and “somebody needs to get a life,” another quite rightly pointed out that we should: “Say no to wildlife! Nothing like bee death and grey concrete to start the day off right, eh Mandy?”
‘Miserable Mandy’ clearly has both a lot of time on her hands and utterly no conception of the real problems affecting Britain and beyond. “It really makes me wonder what sad purposeless life someone would have to complain about wildflowers,” a lady named Tone Grina concluded.
Five roundabouts ‘Miserable Mandy’ might actually like…
Given our Wally of the Week has a clear obsession about roundabouts, she could perhaps take herself on a world tour and perhaps use her passion for painting to document such. Here, we share five unusual examples that should pique her interest and which she could quite easily document on canvas.
The Double-Whopper Burger, Rotterdam, Netherlands
The Stoned Car, Sydney, Australia
Water, Water Everywhere… But Not A Drop To Drink, Ypres, Belgium
Booked But Not Ticketed, Nizwa, Oman
Roundabout Wars, Scarborough, Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Reactions to ‘Roundabout Ranter’ Mandy Selhurst on the Facebook group ‘Angry People in Local Newspapers’
After ‘Bingate’ comes ‘Custard Cream Gate’ in ritzy Henley-on-Thames with a red kite attacking a toddler for a custard cream
It’s all go in posh, leafy Henley-on-Thames: Aside from a binman spotting a wallaby bounding in its vicinity in 2017 and the ongoing battle about bins – as featured in The Steeple Times in January and February this year – the latest drama in the locality comes in the form of a red kite attacking a toddler for a sweet treat.
According to Sky News, 2-year-old Frankie Bird – a little lad with a surname clearly suited to this story – was given a biscuit by his granny outside the town’s Valley Road primary school on 10th May and was then swooped upon by a bird of prey for it.
Speaking to the news channel, the child’s mother, Hannah Bird, remarked:
“My mother-in-law gave Frankie a snack – which was a custard cream – and a red kite came down and took it out of his hand, flinging it to the ground.”
“The bird kept coming at Frankie to try and find the biscuit, not realising it was on the floor, which was quite scary, it just kept coming.”
“We had to take him to the local hospital just to get it checked, because the birds eat all sorts, so we wondered whether we needed to get it cleaned properly. It was quite a shock”
Going further Sky sensibly added: “Hannah added that her son has made a full recovery and that she doesn’t want red kites to get a bad reputation,” before she then continued:
“You know, you need to be able to eat in your garden in peace and my son should be able to have a biscuit snack in his pushchair.”
“I think part of me worries for the birds – if they’re this brazen and they’re not frightened anymore, they are not wild anymore. And what does that mean for them, really?”
Referencing the red kites of Henley-on-Thames in a more humorous manner yesterday, the Guardian’s ‘Pass Note’ column provided further examples of them swooping to share snacks. They reported:
“Ouch! Local resident Anna Howell was eating a salad in her back garden when a kite swooped down and helped itself to a bit of smoked mackerel.”
“There have also been local reports of stolen sausage rolls and hot cross buns, and even steaks lifted off barbecues.”
“The birds were well known as opportunistic thieves in Shakespeare’s time, but in between they were hunted to near extinction.”
“Do say: “Red kite at morning, get under the awning!”
“Don’t say: “Red kite at regatta, talons off my piccata.”
Elsewhere previously, indicating the propensity of red kites to go for sweet treats in June 2016, the Mirror reported on another raptor attempting to steal a cupcake from a 3-year-old, Ava Edgar-Francis, at her outdoor birthday party at Watlington Park, near Stokenchurch.
Speaking of the incident, the girl’s hysterical mother, Debbie Francis, blubbed: “It was such a shock and she is now petrified every time she sees a big bird in the sky.”
Little Frankie Bird poses for Sky News and shows his injured hand.Frankie Bird suffered scratches as a result of the bird’s attack.According to the RSPB, “magnificently graceful” red kites mainly eat “carrion and worms, but opportunistic and will occasionally take small mammals.” They estimate there to be 4,600 breeding pairs in the UK and of them stealing domestic food, Wikipedia observe: “In the United Kingdom, there have been several unusual instances of red kites stealing food from people in a similar manner to gulls. One such occurrence took place in Marlow, Buckinghamshire (a town near a major reintroduction site for the species in the UK in the nearby village of Stokenchurch), in which Red Kites swooped down to steal sandwiches from people in one of the town’s parks.”The BBC reported on Henley-on-Thames’ roaming wallabies in 2017. Plainly this is a place where wildlife does as it wishes.
As the ‘Guardian’ report on trophy hunters flocking to Sudan to shoot rare ibex, we remind the public to support our petition to put a stop to mentally unhinged ibex slaughterer Larysa Switlyk
This morning, the Guardian reported that “conservationists fear for endangered Nubian ibex in Sudan as westerners [are] sold permits to hunt” them.
In an article in the paper’s ‘Global Development’ section – which is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – Kaamil Ahmed remarked:
“Sudanese conservationists have accused trophy hunters of exploiting the country’s political transition to hunt the country’s unprotected rare animals.”
“Photographs posted online of westerners posing with the body of a rare Nubian ibex angered Sudanese wildlife campaigners this week. They called for Facebook to remove the pages of tour groups promoting such hunts.”
“While wildlife hunters have long come from the Gulf, Abubakr Mohammad, a biodiversity researcher, has seen a recent trend for western trophy hunters to come too, which he said could be a result of the country being more open to outsiders since the removal of Omar al-Bashir, the former president. Permits for hunting are being given out without sufficient scrutiny, says campaigners.”
Elsewhere, our Change.org petition against Larysa Switlyk, a marauding monster with a penchant for killing rare ibex in Krygyzstan, Spain and Turkey, is fast approaching 20,000 signatures. Equally, our second against giraffe slayer Merelize van der Merwe will soon be at 45,000.
If you have not signed, please take a moment to do so and if you have, yet again we kindly request that you share as widely as possible. These reprehensible individuals truly must be stopped.
Pictured top: Larysa Switlyk and an associate posing smugly with an ibex she massacred.
Join the nigh on 44,200 people who have signed our Change.org petition seeking to get giraffe slayer Merelize van der Merwe banned from Facebook by clicking here.
Join the nigh on 19,500 people who have signed our Change.org petition seeking to get Ibex massacring Larysa Switlyk banned from Instagram by clicking here.
Larysa Switlyk’s delight at killing rare ibex is clear in these photographs. In reality, the snaps simply illustrate a woman who truly belongs in Bedlam.After murdering a Bezoar ibex in November 2018, wicked wastrel Switlyk took to Twitter to boast about her “dream” coming true. Whilst most would consider this a “nightmare,” 386 fellow psychos pressed ‘like’ on this morally reprehensible tweet.Last week, Larysa Switlyk took a break from slaying rare ibex and announced on Instagram that “the new hunting trend in Florida” is slaughtering “invasive” iguana. She claimed: “They are also tasty to eat and one can use their skins to make leather goods out of.” She justified herself by arguing: “Iguanas cause damage to the infrastructure of sidewalks.” It’d be interesting to know if she’d also support, perhaps, say, shooting pests on motorised scooters on pavements on the same basis.
In this gruesome 4:04-minute video shared by Donald Trump Jr.’s bestie Larysa Switlyk on YouTube in July 2019, the lover of shoving sex toys up the bums of dead sheep shot a Bezoar ibex and then posed with bits of it. She claimed: “Lots of conservation efforts and government regulations go into managing these ibex,” but neglected to mention that for each one shot, the species moves closer to being wiped out.
In another video, wholeheartedly evil Switlyk declared: “Discover what dreams are made of” in a video about slaying mid Asian ibex in Krygyzstan. In the twisted footage, her first shot failed to kill one unfortunate animal and then after letting it suffer for some time, she childishly giggled over her “awesome” massacre whilst stroking the blood covered beard of her unfortunate victim.
As the Dallas Safari Club disgustingly auction off an “opportunity” to kill an endangered black rhino, we urge readers to support our petition to put a stop to their shameless poster girl Larysa Switlyk
This morning, the Mirror shared shocking news that a twisted member of the Dallas Safari Club paid £18,300 ($25,500, €21,000 or درهم93,600) at the weekend to kill an endangered black rhino with a tranquiliser gun.
Sickening beyond belief – and in pre-pandemic times a destination gathering point for members of the Trump clan and, of course, the sex-toy-up-the-bum-of-sheep-shover Larysa Switlyk – the Dallas Safari Club’s annual five day convention had to be held online this year. It still managed to attract 850 exhibitors and allegedly raised £2.5 million ($3.5 million, €2.9 million or درهم12.8 million).
According to the Mirror’s Nada Farhoud, amongst those involved were a firm named South African Infinito Safaris. They offered a “very specialised quest” to hunt “little beauties” including “timid ‘Tiny Ten’ springbok” – a group which includes the blue duiker, a species that is “dwindling due to a “massive rise in the demand of hunting them.”
Also on sale at this sickening anti-wildlife protection event were a pair of elephant skin earrings for £50 ($70, €57 or درهم256) and a £36 ($50, €41 or درهم184) hippo hide necklace.
Join the 16,800 people who’ve already signed a Change.org petition seeking to get ‘blue ticked’ bear slaying barbarian Larysa Switlyk banned from Instagram by clicking here.
Pictured top: In recent days harridan huntress Larysa Switlyk took to Instagram to share grossly offensive imagery of herself with a crocodile she killed on the Nile and a Bezoar Ibex she massacred also. She offered an ‘opportunity’ to kill one for £10,800 ($15,000, €12,300 or درهم55,100) in fall 2021 and fall 2022 in Turkey.
Diabolical in Dallas – Also on offer in the auction was a chance to kill a giraffe.Diabolical in Dallas – Bidders were given the chance to kill a puma too.Diabolical in Dallas – In January 2019, at a time before the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to them gathering in person, the Dallas Safari Club were able to meet to celebrate their sickness. Here, Larysa Switlyk is pictured with Donald Trump Jr. and his wack job girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle.
As the ‘Guardian’ reveals Donald Trump’s border wall construction is threatening the survival of jaguars in the US, our petition to get his endangered animal slaying supporter Larysa Switlyk banned from Instagram tops 13,000 signatures
This morning, the Guardian reported that the North American jaguar – which was hunted to extinction in the southern US borderland in the 1960s, but remarkably reappeared in the 1990s in Arizona – is again shockingly likely to be wiped out.
The cause? According to the paper, Donald Trump’s border wall barrier has “severed wildlife corridors and fragmented crucial habitats for numerous endangered and threatened animals, including the wide-ranging jaguar.”
Speaking of this, Myles Traphagen, the borderlands program coordinator for Wildlands Network, remarked: ““If all contracts are complete [for Donald Trump’s wall], 93% [of jaguar territory] will be blocked and walled off.”
Aside from all else in Trump’s shameful legacy, his decision to overlook the harm to jaguars is sadly not surprising given his elephant slaying sons’ association with the likes of our pet hate, Larysa Switlyk – a cretin who shoves sex toys up the bums of dead sheep and a woman determined to wipe out endangered species across the globe.
Trump’s Jaguar Wall – A twisted trio: Donald Trump Jr. pictured with his gobby girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle and the “bitch of the first order” Larysa Switlyk. All three of them are supporters of the sick Safari Club International Convention “First For Hunters” and in February, Mr Trump Jr. raised £255,000 (£340,000) for it by auctioning a trip to kill Sitka black-tailed deer with him at their 48th annual convention in Reno, Nevada.
Just as Hamish, the first polar bear born in the UK in 25 years moves from Scotland to Yorkshire, our petition to ban the barbaric bear slayer Larysa Switlyk from Instagram shoots over 5,000 signatures
Hurrah for Hamish – In July, stage and screen legend Steven Berkoff penned a poem for The Steeple Times about a barbarian bear slayer. He quite rightly expressed his fury about this “ugly human beast,” but today we can share some good news on the polar bear front.
First reported in the Guardian this morning, the first polar bear born in the UK in twenty-five years was moved 400 miles from Scotland to Yorkshire yesterday. The 2.5-year old cub named Hamish has been “an incredible ambassador for his relatives in the wild, playing a crucial role in educating the public about threats faced by many species” according to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s chief executive, David Field.
Speaking to the paper, he remarked:
“A critical part of our role as a wildlife conservation charity is education. Hamish has made a tremendous impression on the thousands of people who visited the park since his birth two and a half years ago, and the billions who saw the news around the world.”
“He has helped to highlight the threats many species face in the wild and the changes we can undertake to really make a difference.”
“Changes in the Arctic climate mean the sea ice that wild polar bears, and other animals, depend on for survival is shrinking and it is predicted this will significantly decrease population numbers over the next 40 years.”
Elsewhere this morning on Change.org, our petition to get the Trump supporting trailer trash Larysa Switlyk banned from Instagram has shot up from 4,800 to nearly 5,400 signatures in the last 24 hours. If you haven’t already signed it, please do so by clicking here and help get this massacring monster and her sick imagery banished from social media.
Hurrah for Hamish – Twisted twerp Larysa Switlyk has still not been banned from posting offensive content on Instagram in spite of sharing images of the alligators, bears, goats, peacocks, sheep and countless other poor creatures she’s massacred. We say: “SHAME ON INSTAGRAM” very loudly once again today.
Hurrah for Hamish – A video of Hamish the polar bear is a must watch to lift your spirits on the first day of Lockdown 2.
IFAW secure a ban on the sale of most items of ivory in the UK with the assistance of Michael Gove MP and ‘Fake or Fortune’s’ Philip Mould
Elephants love Wednesday, and so will you.
Elephants remember Wednesday as if it was only Tuesday.
Anthony T. Hincks, author.
Last week, the International Fund for Animal Welfare announced that the Ivory Bill had been approved in the House of Commons and will now go for Royal Assent.
Superb news for elephants in the regard that this will close most elements of the UK ivory market, The Steeple Times has long supported this cause. Prior to Theresa May’s pointless election in 2017, Matthew Steeples, editor-in-chief, wrote to Lady Borwick – then the MP for Kensington. This bizarre woman, who was also President of The British Antiques Dealers’ Association and spoke frequently in the House of Commons in support of the ivory trade, responded with the bizarre comment: “[Doesn’t everyone enjoy] tinkling the ivories – playing the piano?”
Of the news, David Cowdrey, UK head of policy and campaigns at IFAW told The Steeple Times:
“This amazing news means we can give the best present ever to elephants this year; namely that another ivory market is closing and increasing pressure for all countries to do the same and help make the killing of elephants for ivory a thing of the past.”
“The Bill’s passage through Parliament was not easy and at times worrying. There were a number of attempts by the antiques lobby to water down the Bill, putting forward amendments that would have created more loopholes than a sieve full of water, but IFAW was on the case and briefed hundreds of supportive MPs and Lords throughout the Bill’s passage through Parliament. The end result was that all of those bad amendments were either withdrawn or voted down and we will now have one of the toughest ivory bans in the world, with a few very limited exemptions, which we put forward and supported.”
“The resulting Ivory Act will now ban the sale of most ivory items in the UK, which is fantastic news and we could not have done this without you. With elephant populations in crisis and an elephant poached every 26 minutes for the illegal ivory trade, it is vital to shut down the legal markets as urgently as possible so that they can no longer be used as a smokescreen for illegal killing and trafficking.”
“IFAW would like to congratulate everyone involved, especially our supporters and the UK Government for taking such swift action since pledging to introduce a ban. It has to be said that the Ivory Bill must be one of the quickest pieces of legislation to pass through Parliament in recent years and this reflects the importance that the Government attached to it.”
“I have to personally congratulate The Rt. Hon. Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for the Environment, who has championed this Bill from our very first meeting and also the Ivory Bill team at Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) for their amazing support and work in delivering a balanced and excellent piece of legislation. It is also important to note that all political parties supported this Bill and without their support it would not have succeeded.”
“When IFAW stepped up its campaign for an ivory ban in earnest about three years ago, we were starting from a bleak place. Though it had been included on manifesto documents little had been done politically, it was not a priority and was even dropped as a manifesto pledge by the Government at the last election. IFAW crafted a campaign that would create real change and brought in some vital players we needed to reassure and have on side, such as the Musicians’ Union, Music Industries Association and Association of British Orchestras to really understand their issues and work together as partners.”
“We spoke to museums and fine art dealers like Philip Mould and took their concerns on board, worked with them and built strong relationships that would shape the campaign and achieve real positive change for elephants. I also spoke to enforcement officers to understand what would work and what would not work, because at the end of the day any new legislation has to be enforceable and we want the people behind the illegal wildlife trade to be brought to justice. We lobbied hundreds and hundreds of MPs, Lords and civil servants. We wrote letters, IFAW published reports, gave evidence to select committees, conducted surveys, signed petitions and kept up a constant pressure, advocating real joined up solutions to the Government and all of our suggestions were taken on board.”
“As a public element to the campaign, we ran another UK ivory surrender, our fourth in the UK, where members of the public were encouraged to give up any unwanted ivory to be put beyond use and ensure it would not be traded. We continue to be overwhelmed by the huge public response to this, with hundreds of ivory trinkets and tusks donated to IFAW over recent months. The majority of donated ivory is passed to the relevant Government agency to destroy, and just a few items are retained for education work and publicity purposes.”
“Our partnership approach was supported and echoed by other NGOs and we all worked together to deliver one of the best and strongest ivory bans in the world. We now hope this will be replicated by the European Union and that they will act as courageously as the UK Government did to close down the EU to ivory and produce equally strong legislation. Our job will not be done until all ivory markets are closed and people only value ivory on a living, wild elephant.”
“It has been a hard, long and successful campaign thanks to all of your support and I hope has delivered a great Christmas present and one that we can all celebrate. The elephants won’t forget, and neither will we.”
