Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Fiona Pilkington and Frankie Hardwick

No doubt you will remember the incident on the left (click the pic to enlarge) on 23rd October 2007. It has taken nearly two years for the full story to emerge.

Fiona and Frankie committed suicide in a lay-by less than two hundred yards from my house on the A47. That night I was in the “Plough” pub next door when someone looked out the window and said that there were huge flames and smoke rising up above the trees.

The road where I live is on a hill overlooking the A47, but it’s not possible to see the lay-by because of all the trees on the side of the hill. Everybody in the pub thought it was the local riding school, which is in the lay-by, burning old bedding straw etc., and paid it no more attention. It wasn’t until the morning when the news broke that we learned the full horror of what had happened.

I cannot reproduce the article in the “Hinckley Times” here because it takes up three full pages in the paper and would fill this blog! The online version is very brief:
"THE POLICE handling of Fiona Pilkington’s catalogue of anti-social behaviour complaints has been described as “strange” and “poor” by the coroner leading the inquest into their horrific deaths.

Olivia Davison slated the way the Leicestershire force handled the series of events, stating “more could have been done”.

Former Assistant Chief Constable Christopher Tew was grilled by Ms Davison over two days as he revealed the staggering array of complaints made to police from Miss Pilkington, her mother and several neighbours over a seven year period.

During that time no-one was arrested or prosecuted.

Fiona, 38, doused the inside of her Nissan Micra in petrol before the car exploded into a fireball in her desperation over the abuse.

Her daughter Francesca ‘Frankie’ Hardwick, 18, was sitting in the passenger seat as the car burst into flames killing both women.

For a full in-depth report on the inquest so far, see your Times today".

A better report of the inquest can be found here and here.

Don't believe the picture in the second link, it has been specially posed by the paper to show the police in a good light. Yet another case of 'bolting the stable door after the horse has gone'. In fact around here police are as rare as hens teeth!

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We have lots of problems with anti-social behaviour and vandalism here in Earl Shilton with gangs of youths roaming the town centre at night. I'm surprised that there hasn't been a serious incident here yet! The situation here is so bad now that vulnerable people like the elderly dare not leave the homes when it's dark. Even I would not walk to the town centre to the local shops and supermarket at night because of a problem that has been created by the smoking ban in pubs. I know that sounds strange, but there are two pubs on the main street and the yobs that use them have to stand in the doorways in order to have a cigarette.

They are usually well tanked up on drink by then and feel brave enough to spend their time outside verbally abusing passersby like myself. You dare not answer their comments or even catch their eye otherwise you are "dissing" them (showing disrespect?) and the situation could turn physical.

One of my neighbours did just that. He is about 80 I think and always dresses smartly with a suit and tie and has an old-world sense of values and respect from his younger days. He was on his way the Constitutional Club for his evening pint. As he passed "The Red Lion" some young men standing on the pavement, drinking and smoking, called him an 'decrepit old git' and other names then burst out laughing. The enraged him, so he told them off. They surrounded him, punched him and knocked him to the ground, he told me later. Fortunately he wasn't hurt, just his pride, but he won't go out at night now; it really shook him up. He wouldn't report it to the police for fear of repercussions from the youths involved.

Let's face it, in this day and age they would probably have just got a telling off and a slapped wrist!
posted by Keith at 4:37 PM   12 comments

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Pudding

Wendy again! I am due back at the office in Winchester early tomorrow so I shall be leaving for home in a little while. Dad suggested that I do a post about the special sweet I made as an after dinner treat for him during next week. He said that Sablonneuse (Hi, Sandy) would be interested in the recipe because it originally comes from the area where she lives.

I once had this in a restaurant in Toulouse and I was so impressed with the taste that I managed to persuade the owner to let me have a copy of the recipe. He said yes, providing I didn't tell anyone else about the secret ingredient. So I said I would never breathe a word to anybody about the vanilla essence.

It's called 'Alsation Apple Tart' or in French, 'Tarte aux Pommes Á L'Alsacienne'.


Here's how to make it:

300g of sweet pastry.
500g of Golden Delicious or pippin apples.
4 egg yolks.
90g of fine sugar.
4 pinches of ground cinnamon.
200ml of heavy (double) cream.

Preheat the oven to 215°C. Butter a 26cm deep tart plate. Roll out the pastry dough into a 30cm circle and line the plate with it. Core the apples (I use a special tool for the job) then peel and quarter them. Cut each quarter in four slices. Arrange them evenly over the pastry in the form of rose, staring from the outside and overlapping the slices slightly. Bake for 15mins.

Meanwhile combine the egg yolks, sugar and cinnamon. Add a few drops of the secret ingredient and beat well. Chuck in the cream and beat well again. Coat the apples with the mixture and bake for another 35 - 40 mins or until the apples are tender. Serve warm with ice-cream. Fantastic!

You will notice in the picture above that a piece of the tart is missing. That is because I'm eating it as I type this.

Here's a photo of Dinky watching me as I made the tart. I think he was secretly hoping that the carton of cream would fall on the floor!


I'll give Keith his blogpage back now. Bye everybody, hope to hear from you soon.

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posted by Wendy Ascham at 10:19 AM   5 comments

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Desecration

St Johns Church in Manchester was sold to Muslims because they wanted a "Training and Educational Centre". To make a car park for their members they bulldozed the graveyard and crushed the gravestones to make hardcore for the foundations. Watch the video to the end. It's very interesting.



I may be a bit thick, and possibly even a 'racist', (as somebody is bound to point out) but can some kind person explain to me why Manchester City Council gave planning permission for this to take place? Or even allow it to happen?

Was this reported in the national papers or TV, and I missed it? Perhaps there is a logical explanation for the above and I'm just being paranoid as usual.

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posted by Keith at 2:29 AM   22 comments

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

A Rant

I noticed that today the papers are full of reports that Nick Griffin may appear on Question Time soon. So what? He is a member of a legitimate political party and in this country of “free speech” (I use the term in the loosest possible context because in reality we all know that this is not the case now) he is fully entitled to his views and opinions as much as the gangsters and hoodlums who are running this country at present.

Although I don’t necessarily agree with everything the BNP stand for, I do agree with them when they say that this country is overcrowded now, and with unemployment reaching ten million we should shut the door on immigration unless the people coming in have a job to go to, have skills that we require and other qualifications we need. A similar situation to Australia’s present policy in fact.

I do object strongly to the BBC and the papers referring to Nick Griffin as a Nazi without any foundation to that statement. I lived through WWII and believe me, compared to the real Nazis; Griffin is a pussy-cat!

When people like that worm Alistair Campbell say “Griffin's world-view is repulsive, his political methods equally so . . .” it makes my blood boil. A person like him who claims a massive wage, expenses and allowances from the taxpayers and does very little in return should keep his mouth shut. ‘People who live in greenhouses shouldn’t throw stones’.

Another member of our beloved Government said “We want to show them (BNP) up for the nasty party that they are”. The pot calling the kettle black? The greedy vicious collection of Labourites who run this country are, in my opinion, the most nasty party ever, and the elite at the top only care about themselves. They have neglected the elderly, the sick, the unemployed, the homeless. They have let crime escalate, reduced education standards etc., I could go on but you all know that they have dragged us down into poverty just to line their own pockets.

Why does the media always refer to the BNP as being “far-right and fascist” but never refer to Labour as “far-left and Marxist”; which they certainly are.

It’s certain that after the next election we shall have a Conservative Government. Personally I always seemed better off when they were in power, but this time I’m not so sure. Perhaps the ruling party’s name will change, but it will still be “the medicine as before”. End of rant.

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posted by Keith at 2:52 AM   9 comments

Monday, September 7, 2009

French trip

When I was in a town in rural France I noticed that the attitude of the teenagers was vastly different to their counterparts in Britain.

Generally the youngsters here tend to be rude, disrespectful and drink excessive amounts of alcohol. I was pleasantly surprised to find the French youngsters were somewhat different.

I was sitting at a table outside a cafe in St Céré enjoying a glass of iced tea and watching the world go by when two teenagers, dressed in the usual T-shirt, scruffy jeans and dirty trainers, sat down at the next table. They smiled and greeted me with "Bonjour monsieur, comment allez-vous?" I replied "OK, et vous?". Just then the waiter came with his little pad and asked them what they wanted. I thought "I bet it'll be two large lagers!", but no, they order two iced teas!

After a few minutes another teenager arrived and the pair at the table stood up and shook hands with him and greeted him in the same courteous manner, then ordered another drink. I must admit that after observing youngsters in the same situation in our country and their generally ill-mannered behaviour towards each other, it was a refreshing change to see decent behaviour from the French kids.

Then two teen girls turned up and the lads stood up and kissed each girl on the cheek and asked after their health. They all sat down and a rather animated conversation ensued and I never heard one 'F' word, or "merde" at all!

When they finished their drinks they got up to leave and they all smiled and said goodbye to me. I thought at the time that this is the sort of thing you don't very often come across in Britain nowadays, the kids here don't seem to be taught the social graces and good manners at school or at home any more.

The cattle market. I don't know quite what was going on here, but there was a lot of bidding and shouting with vast quantities of money changing hands.

A quiet back street.


An interesting old house in Bretenoux.


Market Day. I managed to get some nice cheeses and local wine very cheap.

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posted by Keith at 4:08 PM   7 comments