Portobello Road

The parents of a friend of maytrees min who I met as they were out for a morning stroll, told me that they had recently visited Portobello Road market. Knowing that they did not have easy access to a car I asked them how they had traveled there.

Traveling by London Underground on the Edgeware Road section of the District Line from Wimbledon  to Notting Hill Gate; and from there walking, was their chosen route. As mrs maytrees and I had not visited Portobello Road in the case of mrs maytrees ever, and in my own case, for years we decided 

to travel there a few days later.

Traveling with youngest brother and his wife we arrived at Notting Hill  Gate Underground station in good time and made the walk from there to the market in about 15 minutes. Youngest brother's wife uses fabrics for her chair restoring work so she and mrs maytrees especially enjoyed themselves looking through the fabric stores. 

We traveled on a Friday so as to avoid the large crowds that I gather often attend the street at weekends. However a disadvantage of that was that most of the antiques stores were closed although there was still much to see and explore. 

The Spanish cuisine was reportedly worth savouring. However as it began to pour with rain we opted for an Italian restaurant which we happened to be passing. There I enjoyed some ravioli. though remembering years ago whilst a schoolboy at long since closed Beaumont College (a boarding school) the riots in the school refectory on being served with ravioli for the third time in a week. The ravioli was delicious but rather a small portion in my view though not expensive.

The Spanish food turned out to be available slightly further on though largely at stalls rather than cafes.

As school children tend to crowd streets from about 3:30pm we traveled back to Wimbledon at about 3pm after a very enjoyable away day..

 

War and Peace

On Wednesday there was a small HCPT Group 35/729 reunion at Mass in Westminster Cathedral and afterwards over lunch in the restaurant/cafe in the cathedral cellar.

Prayers for peace  especially in the Middle East were said both privately and and publicly during Mass.

 

 

Bernie pictured above, who is from Baghdad  Iraq where her sister lives as a nun, was strongly supportive of the  Israeli/USA attacks on Iran. My own support was/is more limited - see below.. 

If the USA's view that Iran is on the verge of introducing  atomic bombs is anywhere near true, then the USA joining in Israel's attacks may be justified. President Trump's statement about this however, may or may not be accurate.

The UN which   did not stop Russia's attacks on Ukraine, seems only to have   very limited power.

According to Wikipedia:

 ...following the revolution, Iran adopted the elimination of Israel as a   Jewish state as a core component of its foreign policy. The Iranian government refuses to recognize Israel’s legitimacy as a state, calling for its destruction...

Given that policy, Israel in my view could hardly be criticised for attacking Iran first. Whether the same would apply to the USA as an ally of Israel is more questionable. There already appear to have been many attempts at bombing and killing people in the UK by or on behalf of Iran.

I am no friend of Keir Starmer the UK Prime Minister, but consider that  on this occasion he was correct in endeavouring to sit on the fence for the time being, although his failure to be able to provide much immediate defence for UK bases in Cyprus appeared very weak.

Gorton and Denton By-election

That The Green Party might even win the Gorton and Denton by-election hardly crossed my mind. Mid term elections are not usually  won by the  party in government so that Labour lost even in a constituency in which that party had had an huge majority and and held for over 100 years, was not of itself so catastrophic. Rather, whereas in times past one might have expected the Lib Dem party to be the major winners of voters' discontent with the government, a party such as  The Greens might have expected to lose its deposit.

Far from losing its deposit The Greens won the vote pushing Labour into third place  with both Tories and Lib Dems securing under 2% of the vote and losing their deposits.

The positive points about The Green's success include the wake up calls to the other parties. A minor positive is of course the youthful nature of The Green's new member of parliament: 

 

Winter Olympics - 2

 

 

Originally I had thought that the Winter Olympics would not be worth watching (sadly for me only on TV) because such expensive and minority sports are involved. Yet upon reflection, nearly all Olympic sports both Summer and Winter are costly,

For financing, Team GB relies heavily on UK lottery money for funding both Summer and Winter Olympics. As an aside, only some  years ago there were considerable arguments against setting up a national lottery in the UK at all, on quasi moral grounds, though apparently long since forgotten.

One of my siblings queried whether curling should be in the Winter Olympics at all. His arguments included the minority and expensive  nature of the sport as well as its absence from African countries. In fact there are a couple of African countries (Nigeria and Kenya) promoting curling. Nonetheless, most Olympic sports are expensive requiring substantial funding.  Interestingly though, curling featured in the first   Winter Olympics (1926).

Fascinating as well is an analysis of the best material used for making the  curling rocks. The material from which they are made comes from and uninhabited Scottish Island called Ailsa Craig situate in the Firth of Clyde. Encyclopedia Britannica states:

Ailsa Craig is a 99-hectare, uninhabited island in Scotland’s Firth of Clyde, renowned as an extinct volcanic plug rising over 1,100 feet. Known as "Paddy’s Milestone" and the "Fairy Rock," this Ayrshire landmark is a major bird sanctuary hosting massive gannet colonies. It is famous for its unique blue hone granite, used to craft over 60% of the world's curling stones

Reverting to the Winter Olympic curling sport itself; Team GB's men somehow managed to secure a spot in the finals which will be held this evening. As a result they should   already  be at least silver medal winners - Gold if they can beat Canada in the final. 

Another Team GB medal hope this evening is Zoe Atkin in the Women's halfpipe final.though so far I have not watched her competing.

Bonne Chance! 

Winter Olympics 2026

The last time I watched any Winter Olympic sport was some years ago when Team GB's Scottish  women did brilliantly in curling - a sport of which I knew virtually nothing about..

Winter Olympics viewing is often not worthwhile from a timing point of view but the Italian venue this year is only one hour ahead of GMT so ideal watching on TV in this country.

This year having read in the media daily about how Team GB were coming 4th or  otherwise crashing out in their chosen sports, watching for myself seemed worthwhile so yesterday evening I looked at the  the men's skeleton events at Milan-Cortina on BBC TV. 

Pretty exciting stuff as the competitors in skeleton which I had not heard of let alone watched before, can race at speeds of up to ninety mph while lying prone only an inch or two from the racing circuit ice - terrifying.

Matt Weston  of Team GB broke records in all four of his heats and won gold  despite  his previous speculation about giving up his sport altogether, partly because of a back stress fracture as a teenager.

Congratulations to him and all concerned with his win.. 

British Politics and Prime Ministerial Responsibilities

 

As recently as December 2025 my  top prediction for 2026 was that:

The UK Prime Minister will be replaced

Sir Keir Starmer has not so far been replaced as  Prime Minister despite his appointing the disgraced Baron Mendelson as the UK's ambassador to the USA but seems likely imho to be ousted and or replaced this year, perhaps even by May..Mendelson was of course disgraced by his dreadful association with Jefferey Epstein, who committed suicide.

There is an interesting article in today's Times newspaper about scandals affecting UK Prime Ministers going back to C19. Many scandals have affected British Prime Ministers some of which  are detailed  in that newspaper.. 

One of the most interesting scandals to a C21 eye in my view, is that of Prime Minister HH Asquith see Asquith. Yet  neither that nor any  right through to  PM Boris Johnson's scandal of holding  an illegal tea party at  10 Downing Street during the Covid-19 pandemic when such parties were banned, seem as appalling as the current Prime Minister's appointment of Mendelson though more information is yet to emerge to public view. The scandals of course relate to the dreadful behaviour of Mendelson  with Jeffrey Epstein and  the association with  Epstein of many other political and/or wealthy people, including British Labour Party members..

When one looks at who could replace Starmer there does not appear to be any suitable candidate in his current cabinet..Wes Streeting is a possibility but its is reported that he too had an association with  the current scandal in some way so that surely needs to be clarified first.

Matthew Laza  a back bench Labour MP has no apparent Mendelson connections and has publicly stated that he would not wish to be the UK PM. 

SadaMagazine reports of Mr Laza:

Matthew Laza is a name that has gained significant recognition in both the political and media landscapes. Known for his strategic mind and dynamic career trajectory, Laza has worn many hats, including being a senior adviser, a media strategist, and a commentator on political issues. His work in both media and politics has placed him in the spotlight, particularly within the Labour Party and the broader political spectrum in the United Kingdom

 For all of that Mathew Laza would have my vote.

The Greatest Story Ever Told

 

As one who prefers a quiet,   low holy Mass to  a sung, high  holy Mass, the above book   by Bear Grylls is ideal though he unlike myself, must have read most if not all, of the biblical New Testament and fairly speedily, for writing his biblical accounts.

The book is  not lengthy being but 277 pages long. My oldest son's schooldays  reader's version of the New Testament part of the  Roman Catholic  The New Jerusalem Bible is even shorter at 269 pages. 

In the version by Bear Grylls  the biblical accounts are spoken by 5 different  characters from the time: Mary, Thomas, Simon and John. The accounts are straightforward  and contain the doubts and questions that we would probably have had as eye witnesses had we been present.

Unsurprisingly the book is a best seller and is likely to remain so for some while.

According to Wikipedia:

 Edward Michael "Bear" Grylls OBE is a British adventurer, television presenter and former SAS trooper. He holds several world records...