The arrival for a brief visit and coffee here in Wimbledon, of maytrees max from Jersey over in the UK to meet with his friends from university, caused me to look into the history of Ecrehous and Manquiers. They are small islands off the coast of north western France used both by fishermen from Jersey and French fishermen.
After some discussion, a centuries old ownership dispute between the French and English, was referred to the international court in December 1951
Many months later, the court ruled in Great Britain's favour in 1953 - see further below.
Maytrees max has promised to buy a fast boat trip to the Islands (cost about £40) when we next visit his wife and himself in Jersey.
... the French argued that not only were the islands geographically French, but Ecrehous had been granted to the Abbey of Val Richer the year before Jersey had sworn its continued allegiance to the British crown.
Ultimately, the French arguments failed and the International Court of Justice upheld the British claim in a judgement passed on 17 November 1953. In part, the judgement was based on the 1066 invasion and the fidelity of 1204, but the court also cited the fact that Jersey had administered both the Ecrehous and Minquiers faithfully over the years, which France had not.
There are so many detective films on TV that when I started to view Blue Lights on BBC iPlayer, my assumption was that this would just be another mildly entertaining drama.
The reality is however that Blue Lights is a riveting fictional series about policing in Northern Ireland. The plots depict inter alia, protestant and catholic criminals. The other real criminals also include MI5 operatives in London as well as senior crooks based in Dublin .
The series is about far more than crime however with mental breakdowns, middle class crack cocaine taking, domestic abuse, illness, love, hate human strengths and weaknesses featuring.
Terror, knee cappings and plots made in pubs are covered as well as huge protests with petrol bombs, about a protestant march. One plot included a 6 year old boy who had managed to obtain his crook father's handgun from a safe..
Recent episodes cover Belfast peoples' protests against immigration from eg Syria though the immigrant subjected to a hate campaign is an attractive young lady, whereas in reality most illegal immigrants are young men but in fictional Blue Lights that is an aside. The threats against people leading to the need to check underneath cars before driving are depicted as well as the need to move house when threats escalate.
One of the interesting sub-plots concerns a senior black police officer from Dagenham London and the difficulties she has in a largely white policeforce as well as Belfast more generally.
I am not normally a fan of the BBC these days but Blue Lights is a very absorbing watch as nights draw in.
Mrs maytrees and I ventured to the Wimbledon Curzon cinema this week to view the new film Sense and Sensibility
The Wimbledon Curzon is on the third floor but worth the effort of the journey there as the seats are comfortable, the screens in the three small auditoria well laid out and the cafe welcoming.
The film itself has received mixed reviews with for example only two stars in yesterdays Times newspaper. However The Times often has poor reviews with which I disagree and this was one of them. Time Out on the other had gives the film four stars with a recommended viewing comment
Mrs maytrees and I very much enjoyed the film which has been updated for 2026 viewing but without spoiling Jane Austen's story. The Dashwood sisters are frequently out and about without wearing hats despite the above. This lack of hats contrasts with the older but also enjoyable Jane Austen Northanger Abbey film which is available on the BBC iPlayer,
The Spectator magazine also gives a poorish review by for example stating:
...It’s not your regular colourful period drama, packed with gorgeous gowns. This has a naturalistic, dirt-under-the-fingernails, desaturated look with only the one pop of colour. (A red sash at a ball.) It gives it an earthy realism – free-spirited Marianne, with her unbrushed hair, often appears almost feral – but also drains it of any joy or vividness. Additionally, it plays fast and loose with the social customs of the time. Women appear with their hair down in public, for example, which would have been wholly unacceptable, and while one doesn’t wish to get hung up on such detail, it does feel like a betrayal of the period. Context, in these instances, can be as much part of the story as the story itself...
We nonetheless enjoyed the film as well as a late lunch afterwards in the nearby Pret cafe, arriving after after the office lunch crowd had abated somewhat.
Having walked by 22 Parkside near Wimbledon Village on many occasions, it was intriguing to learn that Richard Rogers the famous architect, had designed the small building there as a home for his parents.
The only site designed by Mr Rogers that I can recall visiting, is the Pompidou Centre in Paris and even that visit was many years ago. As I recall, the Pomidou Centre has many of its building works and pipes constructed on the outside of the building which made it almost unique at the time.
Reverting to 22 Parkside; the building is set back from Parkside the opposite side of the road from the Village end of Wimbledon Common. The home is not visible from the road which presumably means that traffic noise is largely absent.
Having learned that the Rogers' house has been given to the National Trust, their information was that NT visitors would not be admitted until 2028. However the house would be open to visit on one day last week by appointment but unfortunately when upon enquiring, all bookings to visit had been taken so we will have to wait a while.
Merton to my knowledge, only has one other National Trust site, namely Morden Hall Park which mrs maytrees and I have viited on many occasions. There there is a large garden centre, two cafes a decent second hand bookshop and several other activity centres and sites. Unusually for the NT there is no requirement of being an NT member to vsit Morden Hall Park, nor is there any admission fee payable.
The addition of a second NT property to the London Borough of Merton is welcome.
Bernie Paul and I decided on a reuion for the old HCPT Group 35 leadership team with lunch togather after 12:30pm mass at Westminster Cathedral on Tuesday this week.
Having arrived early I decided that the sacrament of reconciliation might be apt for me. Having joined the relatively short queue for the two confessional boxes it was amazing to find that the wait was almost 45 minutes.
I recalled whilst waiting being in the same queue may years before when one of the priests announced that the passing of time, now meant that only those with 'mortal' sins should remain. The queue immediately evaporated at which I inwardly laughed.
After holy mass we decided on Bills for lunch. Happily there was a Bills in the shopping centre opposite Westminster Cathedral. We each had hambugers and drinks which were all very enjoyable.
Much of the converstaion of course centred on the many journeys to Lourdes we had made mainly with the HCPT over the years eg HCPT Group 35. We also decided that traveling together one more time as we had done in 2018 would if possible be worthwhile. Lourdes. Bernie mentioned flying there but my preference was to take the train; London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord thence Gare Montparnasse to Lourdes although when travelling previously many SNCF trains were strike-bound;
The journey home by train from Gare de Lourdes we assumed would be uneventful as Sunday was a SNCF non-strike day. However upon arriving at the station notification was given that the TGV to Paris had been cancelled. There was a chance of finding a train to Paris from Dax so we took a local train to Dax. Over coffee there while we waited many people French and others mentioned Mrs Thatcher's union fights which they hoped President Macron would emulate.
Youngest sister, mrs maytrees and I, decided on Tuesday to visit Polesden Lacey for lunch and a walk in the countryside.
The weather was fine and we arrived at midday just as the kitchen opened for cooked lunches. Steph had a light lunch and mrs maytrees opted for baked potatoe with salad. I ordered a deliously hot dish with feta cheese and Eastern vegetables.
After lunch we toured some of the grounds. Despite having visited Polesden Lacey many times before mrs maytrees and I found the site very interesting as the estate of course alters with the seasons and weather. Steph who cannot drive recalled only visiting once before years ago when our father was still very much alive.
The only issue we had was the normal one for National Trust properties, namely the fact that accessibility other than by car is difficult. Presumably the landed gentry who of old owned such estates before they were bequeathed to the NT, enjoyed living in remote countryside.
A few days later we visted another NT site, Winkworth Aboretum. There we met up with youngest daughter Catherine, her husband Johnny and nine month old baby Emily.
Like Polesden Lacey the grounds were delightful but here the cafe, NT shop and other premises were newly built with what seems to be a combination of architect designed taste and vistor enjoyment.
A light sandwich type lunch was enjoyed by the adults as were slices of very enjoyable home made cake and tea after our walk around some of the grounds.
The ongoing Russian war in Ukraine now spans over four years. Putin had signified that his invasion of Ukraine would be over in a week or was it a few days? Either way he was wrong. His war has probably caused many Ukrainians who were supportive of Russia to become extemely critical of Putin and Russia.
Putin seems to have litlle regard for the huge losses of life his war is causing, with thousands of Russians fallen in battle as well as many Ukrainians. Reports have it that he will soon be issuing mandatory call-ups on a national basis having already encouraged civilian prisoners to fight by releasing them from jails and allowing them to forgo their prison sentences.
Recently, with USA support for Ukraine apparently in decline, the latter country's stock of defence weapons has substantially reduced though European countries are endeavouring to supply more for them.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has designed and is producing some very advanced drones which have attacked a number of strategic Russian oil installations far inland and on the Crimea.
On the other hand, Russia with support from its allies, has its own weapons of war, drones and rockets which are playing havoc and far worse, on Ukrainian battle fronts as well as in Kyiv and other towns and cities.
There is a large report in The Times newspaper today illustrating some frightening events for Ukraine in its attempts to mainatin supplies to a vital front line town:
The grinding battle for Donbas remains the epicentre of the war in Ukraine. Yet the plethora of drones and their vastly increased range have widened the “kill zone”, making much of the eastern region almost inaccessible to journalists.
This summer other events have diverted attention from the war in the east: Ukraine’s long-range drone campaign against Russian infrastructure, the escalation in Russia’s ballistic missile attacks in response, and Ukraine’s internal political upheavals.
Yet the fate of this 30-mile arc of territory, commonly known as “fortress Donbas”, linking four Ukrainian cities from north to south—Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka and Kostiantynivka—is of grave importance to both Russia and Ukraine. As a result, the area is exposed to more fighting than anywhere else on the front.
Pope Leo has sent his top peace negotiator Archbishop Paul Gallagher formerly of Liverpool, to Moscow in an attempt at least to mediate a peace settlement though sadly, so far without any apparent success.
