Jason Arday - RIP

Blog psting this week was to be about the sad death of Jason Arday especialy following the suspensioon of another academic by Ghent University for criticising him. However this week's Spectator magazine has its editorial on the same matter which I feel unable to better, so instead their article appears below, in full. I believe however that the suspension of the academic in Belgium occurred too late for the Spectator but that supports even further the tenor of their main editorial:

The Samaritans warn against attributing suicide to a single cause. Doing so simplifies a complex tragedy. Those who take their own lives tend to do so because of an array of biological and social factors; pointing to a single spark, campaigners fear, can lead others experiencing similar pain to see suicide as the only way out. This advice does not seem to have registered with those politicising Jason Arday’s tragic death, which many are assuming was a suicide although that is yet to be confirmed.

The pinning of blame for Arday’s death began swiftly after the news broke last Friday. Arday’s supporters have suggested he died because of the press coverage of his case. Had journalists not uncovered Arday’s alleged plagiarism or exposed, among many other assertions, his dubious claims to have raised £5.5 million for charity running marathons while injured, or scrutinised his story that a pig’s head was left on his parents’ doorstep, his reputation would not have suffered. By digging into Arday’s absurdities, the narrative goes, the ‘right-wing press’ pushed the father of two over the edge.

Carole Cadwalladr, the former Observer journalist, described Arday’s death as ‘a digital lynching’, highlighting articles The Spectator had published about the Cambridge professor. In a 7,000-word polemic, titled ‘J’accuse’, the author Will Self has called on Andy Burnham to establish a public inquiry and suggested journalists persecuted a vulnerable man in pursuit of clicks. Self also indicated a congruence between ‘the British legacy media’ and ‘Himmler’s SS’ and proposed that ‘the police should be impounding computers’.

Labour MP Dawn Butler has written to Ipso, the press regulator, to suggest that Arday ‘would still be alive today’ if not for ‘coverage by the Times, Telegraph, Mail and Spectator’. Zack Polanski, the Green leader, has called this moment a prime opportunity to ‘tackle the press’. A petition is calling for Arday’s Law, a legal cap on the amount of coverage permitted about an individual in a set period.

The Prime Minister says this is not a ‘moment for any rushing to judgment’. But where the left leads, Burnham so often follows. He has previously voiced support for greater press regulation, backing Leveson 2, pushing for publications to sign up to a state-run regulator, and associating himself with campaigners from both Hacked Off and the Good Law Project, organisations that are using Arday’s death to demand greater press restrictions.

To use Arday’s death as an excuse to clamp down on journalists would be an appalling abuse of the man’s legacy, an intentional misremembering of recent history and an assault on the liberties that make such investigations possible. It would obscure the failings at the University of Cambridge, and across higher education, which Arday’s swift rise and rapid fall revealed, and prevent legitimate questions about diversity initiatives and progressive dogma.

Suggesting that Arday was criticised only by the ‘right-wing’ press disregards the fact that it was Times Higher Education – not exactly regarded as a bastion of reactionary thought – that first put questions to Arday about his work, a move that prompted him to contact the police and libel lawyers. While the original piece reporting on his alleged plagiarism may have come from Nathan Cofnas – a self-described ‘race-realist’ academic, formerly of Cambridge – one of the most damning exposures of Arday in fact came from the Guardian. Criticising a black academic whom the paper had lauded on his appointment may have been unpopular with readers – but an admirable commitment to reporting the truth won out.

For most of his career, Arday had benefited from fawning coverage: uncritical acceptance of his claims about his life and achievements. This was matched by a lack of inquisitiveness by the employers who continued to promote him. When Arday began to face questions about plagiarism in his work, Cambridge had the opportunity to deal with the matter quietly. Instead, the university doubled down, so it was left to journalists to try to uncover the truth. Public interest in Arday’s case was unsurprising given the prestige of the institution involved, the extent of the faith placed in him and the absurdity of what was discovered.

The reporting exposed the cult of ‘anti-racism’ which had established itself at one of the world’s top universities. Born of a desire to seem on trend following the Black Lives Matter furore, Cambridge over-promoted a black academic rather than ask questions about his competence.

Undoubtedly, having the details of one’s life and career picked apart in the national press would not be easy. But scrutiny comes with putting yourself in the public eye. The press is not to be courted and then denounced the moment it says something you dislike. It should be defended as a cornerstone of a liberal society, a bulwark against cant, lies and deceit.

A tragic death should not be reduced to a progressive parable of journalistic malice. However much Arday’s supporters disliked certain articles about him, that does not make the authors of those articles culpable for his death. Arday’s passing must not be used to silence those who ask difficult questions of powerful institutions and prominent figures

Somerset House - MC Escher Exibition

Our oldest daughter Alice  who is head of  mathematics at her school selected this exhibition  at Somerset House for us to view with her and her two children,   our  oldest grandchildren.

A very interesting question posed in the exhibition gallery was whether the pictures were more about mathematics or art bearing in mind that MC Esher had trained to be an architect

We enjoyed lunch together beforehand and had a very interesting day thanks to oldest daughter.

Most Interesting Journeys

 

Details of some of my most interesting journeys from age 11 to age 77 are set out ine the above autobiography so there follows little more than a list in no particular order:

The first at age 11 was alone from Wallington Surrey. to Pyla near Arcachon France to stay with the family of Prince Henri Melchior de Polignac (RIP) at their villa over a private beach. Travelling was by cross channel ferry; train to  Bordeaux thence car to Pyla

Travelling to Ireland with school friend John Farr (RIP) and then meeting my now wife hitch hiking in Connemara Ireland. Also  Connemara 2025

Train, ferry and train from  London to Istanbul

Bus from Istanbul to Ankara

Escape small pox outbreak  in Turkey by ferry to Cyprus

Army Land Rover around Cyprus which island was then undivided.

Train from Cairo to Luxor when train corridors filled with prisoners of war,

Valley of the Kings and  Valley of the Queens Egypt deserted because of war.

Malta

Gites in France with mrs maytrees and children, for example Dax near to the Atlantic

HCPT  journeys from  Wimbledon to Lourdes via couchette trains from Boulogne sur Mere eg Lourdes

Caledonian sleeper to Aberdeen  Caledonian Sleeper

Sea plane from Vancouver Canada to  Vancouver Island ;thence train to Seattle USA

USA

Italy on many occasions with  family;  also Italian Work

Greece and Greek Islands again with  John Farr  RIP  Greece

Leningrad with mrs maytrees 

Sicily when Etna  erupted.

Alexa's spider house France

Nicolas Bellord's (RIP) vinyard in Portugal though the neighbouring forest fire was scary

Finland

Tangier with mrs maytrees and Edmund 

Andy Burnham - New UK Prime Minister

As one who votes an voted tory even in Margaret Thatcher's time, I found the article in The Times about our current Labour prime minister most interesting so reproduce it below as today's blog-post

One of the unique features of the Labour tradition is the role of the churches in its formation, Catholic and non-conformist. European social democracy was anti-clerical and republican. Labour, in contrast, was monarchist and Christian. Clement Attlee went as far as to argue that monarchy was a condition of socialism as it provided the stability and legitimacy required for radical change.
It is often said Labour is “more Methodist than Marxist”, and that is true. The role of the dissenting congregations were a vital source of Labour’s leadership formation and ethos. It is also true to say Labour was more Catholic than Methodist, particularly in Scotland, the northeast and northwest.
When Harold Wilson said Labour was a “broad church” he was not speaking metaphorically. In Edinburgh and Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester, Labour created a common institution built by Catholic and Protestant where there was none before, and through that a common good. In such divided cities, this was some accomplishment. They buried each other’s dead through the Co-op burial societies, thus saving each other the indignity of a mass grave. They built each other’s houses through the building societies and retrieved a home in the world. Contribution, locality and mutuality defined the institutional structure.
Catholic Labour proved to be a durable tradition as it was built on a particular body of thought initiated by Pope Leo XIII in 1891 through his encyclical, Rerum Novarum. The “new thing” he was talking about was capitalism, the idea that human beings and nature — creation itself — could be turned into a commodity subject to fluctuating price on the open market. Catholics taught, in contrast, that there was more to being a person than that. The present Pope took his name to honour this inheritance.
In England Cardinal Manning was an inspiration for this and he marched at the head of dockers in their strike of 1889 along with William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army. The Times expressed its outrage at Catholic and Protestant marching together in common cause. Nonetheless, the strikers won their “tanner” and the Labour Representation Committee they established led directly to the formation of the Labour Party.
Catholic social thought resisted the dominion of capital, not in the name of a collective socialist state but as a defence of private property, the family and freedom of religion. Its experience of the French Revolution was of dispossession, persecution and exile. As an alternative to class war it promoted the “common good” and this underwrote its support for the monarchy rather than republics. There was no Christian-Democrat Party in Britain because Labour had already resolved the division between social and Christian democracy within itself.
Catholic teaching was built around three fundamental assumptions: the “dignity of labour” — that the worker was not merely a commodity to be used and discarded; subsidiarity — a Latin way of saying that place mattered and the centralising state was as much a threat as concentrated capital; and solidarity — that all are responsible for sharing the burdens of association through the provision of common goods.
Perhaps the greatest embodiment of this was Derek Worlock, the archbishop of Liverpool from 1976 to 1996. His time included the horrors of Heysel and Hillsborough, the Toxteth riots and the capture of Liverpool council by Militant. Along with the Anglican Bishop David Sheppard, he built a public defiance of both Marxism and Thatcherism. They convened regular meetings with businesses, unions and government to renew the docks and build houses, to reconcile estranged interests and renew civic pride. The dignity of Labour, local associations and solidarity were the foundations of this. When he died, local people paid for a statue of him and David Sheppard that was placed half way down Hope Street, between the Anglican and Catholic cathedrals.
What is of interest is that the altar boy whose job was to press “play” on the cassette recorder that amplified Worlock’s sermons to the local congregation was Andy Burnham. And then he had to press “stop”. The boy was on his own, there were no mobile phones and he had no choice but to listen. And now, when he speaks, his words echo those written by Warlock and Sheppard in Faith in the City and With Hope in our Hearts.
He talks about the importance of place and of home. His first initiative was on homelessness, and it wasn’t just about houselessness but about lonely, unstable, estranged individual lives. Home, family, work, place, these are the sublime catechisms of Catholic social thought. The basis of solidarity. And the significance of his renunciation of Thatcherism is that she initiated an era in which “political power was centralised, economic power privatised, large parts of the country deindustrialised, and they still haven’t recovered”.
Burnham thinks Thatcher’s pursuit of markets led to the abandonment of a sense of right order. Nothing was sacred and entire regions degenerated. In short, she liquidated solidarity by degrading work and industry. He wrote in The Times that over the past 40 years, “local apprenticeships faded, technical education was pushed into the background and practical skills came to be seen as somehow second class”. And the remedy requires “a wholesale change in the architecture and culture of the British state recognising the primacy of place”.
Worlock was close to Frank Field, MP for Birkenhead, who more than anyone in Labour warned of the dangers of a welfare system without contribution and accountability. Burnham has retained Pat McFadden, graduate of Holy Cross Roman Catholic primary school in Glasgow, as work and pensions secretary. James Purnell is chief of staff and Graeme Cooke is head of policy, both experienced and expert state reformers. Shabana Mahmood puts security and civic order at the centre of her calling. John Healey is deeply aware of the ineffectiveness of the state from his time at the Ministry of Defence.

Under Sir Keir Starmer the Labour Party was in real danger of losing the trust of the working class and its relevance as a political party. It was a crisis of identity: it could no longer say what it believed in or was for and became afraid of the future. It had become a legalistic procedural liberal party without a notion of nation, class, place or the common good. It became part of the polarisation that still defines our time and not its reconciliation.
At its moment of existential peril Labour turned to a neglected but profound aspect of its tradition. At a moment of national malaise, it turned to its roots as a guide to its renewal. In all he has said so far Andy Burnham is channelling the voice of Derek Worlock. Whether he serves as a ghost or a guide will define the fate of his government.

Lord Glasman is a Labour peer

National Health Service

 

Mrs maytrees was admitted to  St Georges NHS hospital on Friday. She attended A&E there  on doctor's orders. The GP had provided a detailed written report of the difficulties. Mrs maytrees was at once admitted to St George's specialist care ward where many friendly staff made her comfortable and safe.

St Georges is a university teaching hospital with open visiting hours. When I attended, mrs maytrees who had been given a bed in a secluded alcove,  was with several members of staff. These included the lead doctor, a trainee pharmacist,  his mentor and several nurses and carers.

Whilst an in-patient, the hospital provided all medications and drugs that she had previously been precribed, which I found impressive,

The staff were all excellent. The most recent comment to her by a consultant signifies that she may be discharged later today

Meanwhile  soon it  will be the Kingston NHS hospital for me, where a cataract operation awaits this afternoon.

Many criticise the NHS but  so far  we surely cannot complain,

Spending an afternoon with friends who made a delicious lunch for us to enjoy together in their sunny garden yesterday, was a real treat

The lunch included a wonderful home made quiche for which we all congratulated  the cook Ann, who with her husband, had so kindly invited us to join them.

Interestingly there was a large amount of building work taking place near our friends' small house. This leads me to believe that the current government's idea to tax us all to oblivion is inneffective so far  though sadly they still have two or three more years left in power.  

Many houses in the region are large with for example the house next door having much building work taking place. One house had had a three storey garage built apparently large enough to accommodate the owner's Maserati motor cars. Another was having a similar garage erected apparently for the same purpose. Underground swimming pools and cinemas were also apparently being built.

Yet our friends who used to live in a terraced house in Wimbledon told us that the value of that small Wimbledon house was currently greater than  that of their existing home - absurd.

We briefly discussed politics given that the  UK is again about to change its Prime Minister.  Surprisingly to me anyway our hosts strongly supported Nigel Farage whereas I loathe his politics though none of us were keen on the Labour Party.

More Summer Sport (2)

The Ladies tennis final at Wimbledon was  more exciting  to watch than  those of previous years despite both players being friends from the Czech Republic

The match was eventiually won by Linda Noskova playing in her first grand slam final and  close friend of the runner up. She  defeated  her older compatriot Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-3..

As for the football, England struggled in their match against Norway but eventually Jude Bellingham scored to level the full tume outcome at 1-1.

Jude Bellingham scored again during extra time giving the players and supporters a great reason for celebration though the teams German manager though clearly happy with the outcome namely a 2-1 win for England, was reportedly unimpressed by the team's  tactics during the match. 

Thankfully the next round of the football World Cup will be at the earlier time of 8pm but against Argentina.

More Summer Sport

The football World Cup continues to be fascinating  to watch freely on TV at home despite the cost of tickets and FIFA control for those brave enough to travel to Mexico, USA and/or Canada.

Last night the penalty shoot out between Egypt and Australia was riveting as had been the match itself which finished after extra time at 1-1.

The Mexico v England match originally scheduled for 1am on Monday morning had been moved to 7pm on Saturday by FIFA, owing to severe thunderstorm warnings but upon the insistence of both teams, has been reinstated as a 1am Sunday morning match. 

For England any pauses in  play caused by lightning could be of assistance as breathing at over 7000 feet is not straightforward for Engand as for the home team, Pauses in play which occur during thunderstorms when there is lightning, could assist England recover whereas  the Mexican team are already well acclimatised.

Meanwhile Henley Royal Regatta

And Wimbledon Tennis

There is still one British player Arthur Fery,, remaining in the Wimbledon Tennis 3rd round although it is reported that he  opted to play on court 18 where he won his earlier round  rather than Centre Court or Court Number 1.

Credo - The Times newspaper

On occasion the Credo column of The Times is to me at least worth a read.

Thus todays column  by Melanie McDonagh is interesting;

Approaching its 250th anniversary, the country is still reflexively religious, for all the pains the founding fathers took to avoid an established church. Vance is typical of many Americans in the various stages of his religious trajectory, for this is not just a memoir but an account of his conversion to Catholicism.

He represents a notable recent trend in religious identity in the US. “Roman Catholic churches see a surge of new converts”, The New York Times reported in March. It surveyed the convert numbers in two dozen dioceses: “Each reported a significant jump.” The bishops themselves were puzzled about what is behind it. “Of course, we think the Holy Spirit is,” Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington said. “But we are kind of stymied.” Obviously, the figures only count the numbers entering, not leaving. Yet it’s a discernible change.

Approaching its 250th anniversary, the country is still reflexively religious, for all the pains the founding fathers took to avoid an established church. Vance is typical of many Americans in the various stages of his religious trajectory, for this is not just a memoir but an account of his conversion to Catholicism.

He represents a notable recent trend in religious identity in the US. “Roman Catholic churches see a surge of new converts”, The New York Times reported in March. It surveyed the convert numbers in two dozen dioceses: “Each reported a significant jump.” The bishops themselves were puzzled about what is behind it. “Of course, we think the Holy Spirit is,” Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington said. “But we are kind of stymied.” Obviously, the figures only count the numbers entering, not leaving. Yet it’s a discernible change.

Her articled extracted above tends to be supported by the increasing numbers apparentl attending mass in my own Wimbledon parish.

World Cup 2026

 

England winning their first match 4-2 was a great result but overall, is the world cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico an huge success?

Clearly from the point of view of football results time will tell next month although England is on what appears to be a good track thus far.

There are nonetheless many complaints at least in my book about the 2026 World Cup: 

Surely the $1000s required for most for seats is absurdly high for ordinary supporters many of whom come from  third world countries?  I recall securing seats to watch the Olympic women's football finals at Wembley in 2012. USA v Japan as I recall 2012 Olympic Football. Tickets were priced at about £50 and even allowing for inflation would still be affordable for many, Similarly prices at Wembley for AFC promotion to division 1 final as recently as 2025.

Then there is FIFA. Why are so many questions raised about some FIFA management? Is FIFA responsible for the huge prices for seats at the football stadia? 

The three minute breaks for drinks during matches  spoils the flow and is surely unnecessary at least in air conditioned stadia?

The cost of travelling in the USA at least appears to have risen during the FIFA  World Cup. Why? Transport fares for the 2012 Olympics did not alter during the sports at the time so why for the  2026 World Cup, especially as the USA is the richest nation on earth?

Then the number of teams entered to play. There are so many 48 I believe,. so no wonder the games will take weeks to reach the final stage by which time many may have given up watching.

Overall as football fan I am content to watch some matches but suspect that other sport for example Wimbledon Tennis, will soon command more attention.

• Attribution
   

Margate

The above picture was in fact taken at Broadstairs and is of a Charles Dickens commemoration procession which we chanced upon. The photo below is of the closed double Dungeness Nuclear Power stations. 

Also at Dungeness local fisherman have a beautifully arranged fish shop the like of which I had not seen before, also a lunch shack. We enjoyed a fish lunch  in the open air with views over Dungeness towards the sea on one side and the nuclear power plants on the other.

Many memorable moments but the most dangerous  made only by younger brother and myself,was  a long beach walk along the beaches from Margate to Broadstairs where there was a long section of rocks and stones under the cliffs. Thankfully younger brother and I reached Broadstairs without injury.

We were thankful to take the train back to Margate. The journey  and ticket costs.back to Margate illustrated for me at least, how far we had walked.

Overall, an excellent break away for arranging which, many thanks to sister in law Jan

St Georges NHS Hospital Trust

Having my annual infusion for osteoporosis earlier  this week was informative. The bus to St Georges NHS Hospital Tooting was the sensible way to travel there as car parking is difficult. There was little queuing for the infusion and I was treated promptly.

The helpful infusion nurse upon seeing the book I was reading, mentioned that her father was reading the same novel The Predicament by William Boyd. I told her my view that the book was fascinating but probably more apt for male readers than female; but who knows?

The infusion went well and quickly, possibly because one or two other patients may not have turned up which is a waste of NHS time and money. Later I was asked to attend the St Georges Pharmacy receive two weeks supply of vitamin D globules. 

Amazing that the visit to St Georges the supply of the globules and today's visit to the Raynes Park GP surgery were all free of cost to me. 

The doctor at Raynes Park told me that my kidneys were deteriorating  and that this resulted from a number of factors. about which she will liaise with St George's.

The GP who told me that she had a full working today today (Saturday) said that she would  let me know if   the St Georges Rheumatology department  advised on  any further action that I could usefully take, beyond my daily walks over Wimbledon Common.

Fortnum & Masons Tea for Three

Youngest sister very generously provided a tea for three at Fortnum & Masons for mrs maytrees, herself and myself as a birthday present which we enjoyed enormously  earlier this week. The picture above was taken after we had consumed  not only much of the tea but also the top up sandwiches wihch were kindly provided for no extra cost.

Mrs maytrees and I arrived slightly early so were able to enjoy looking at the Fortnum & Masons food and wine shopping areas. Sweet Alice biscuits which I recollect from a visit some 50 years previously are no longer on sale presumably because the manufacturer has disappeared. None the less there were some wonderful  foods, teas, drinks and biscuits, beautifully displayed for sale in the crowded shopping areas.

Some 15 minutes before our high tea was due to commence, we took our seats in the restaurant foyer on the fourth floor. There was a comfortable sofa for us to occupy whilst we waited and an excellent pianist played on the nearby grand piano.

An elegant lady soon came over to guide us in to our table where shortly afterwards we were joined by youngest sister,

The  tea was of course delicious especially as I had opted for the savoury version whereas mrs maytrees and youngest sister had chosen the normal cream tea.

The waitress told me that the large tea room had been opened to celebrate HM Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, explaining why last time I had visited the F&M tea room, the venue had been much smaller and on a lower floor.

The tea itself was delicious as one might expect, though the price had risen somewhat since my visit  years ago.

After tea, we walked  through crowded Piccadilly to nearby Hatchards bookshop,  taking the Jubilee line back to London Waterloo, thence home.

 

Maurice and Maralyn

A friend of mrs  maytrees gave me the above as part of a birthday present from her husband and herself a couple of weeks back. 

Thank you Lynette, a very interesting read.  of an exciting true story and quite unforgettable.

The account starts with the  couple buying a suburban house and preparing to live  normal suburban lifestyles. However they fairly quickly become bored  and decide travel for a new life in New Zealand.  They sell their house and use the proceeds to build  and stock  a sailing boat whilst avoiding installing any modern communications instruments such as a radio, on board.

Eventually the voyage commences and the couple travel alone in the Atlantic across to the Pacific Ocean with a view to arriving in New Zealand several months later where Maurice already had new employment organised.

Disaster then strikes when their sailing boat is struck by a whale and despite attempts to prevent  sinking the boat goes down leaving them with a dinghy and raft. Before the boat sinks however the couple were able to store tins of food and water onto the dinghy including a bithday cake which had been brought to celebrate Maralyn's biithday due to take place during their voyage.

The account continues with details of the couple's attempts to survive and the passing by of many ships which failed to spot what must have been a small speck in the sea..

The absorbing account  also details dreadful pain, diarrhea and illnesses affecting the two of them. Their fishing attempts given that the absence of fishing hooks  and their eating of turtles, flying birds as well as fish are set out and are fascinating. Yet when almost faced by death,, salvation occurs..

The book continues with details of their survival; radio and TV appearances and how they felt but the above is sufficient for this blog post leaving any blog reader who is interested, with the task of buyng the book to read the full story.

UK Politics Today

 

Politics in the UK has changed substantially  in recent years though in my view, not for the better.

Reform is a comparatively new political party that people are voting for probably because Nigel Farage and his team have not yet been in full national government. Reform's local government victories meanwhile do not appear to illustrate that they are any better than the more established political parties, as many of  the local councils they now hold are  embroiled in arguments.

The Green Party has altered from being a party principally  concerned with the environment, to being a political  party on the left of Labour. 

Like Reform, the Green's political successes to date have not given the areas  they have  won, any advantages over those previously 'enjoyed'. Like Reform's leader Nigel Farage, the Green's leader, Zack Polanski is embroiled in argument. In the former's case about  failure to declare  promptly, large donations and in the latter's case about non payment of Council Tax over some years.

The Conservative Party has previously had so many issues  of malfeasnce that it was trounced  by the Labour Party in the UK general election some two years ago.

The Lib/Dems seem to me to change their policies from time to time. to suit their political situation, Thus when in power with the Tories they dropped their promise to reform the university student  finance system, though to me, their current leader Sir Ed Davey, is their largest failure given his various non political gimmicks.

Not being Scottish I know nowt about Scottish politics save for their enthusiasm for independence.,They apparently signify that  England should pay them  on independence  rather than the Scots bearing their share of the national debt if/when going alone.

The Labour Party is currently in turmoil. There is as yet no leadership contest but their current leader Sir Keir Starmer is weak having made U-turn after U-turn. Whether Andy Burnham the current mayor of Manchester wins the by-election that a resigning Labour MP has created for him is as yet unclear but that will take some weeks, during which time the grand ship UK will be almost rudderless. 

Currently the Tories in my view are being led by a competent politician  Kemi Badenoch but she will need time to secure more support in the country given her predeccssors' many failings.

Labour is in disasster territory but as the picture above, of the PM visiting AFC Wimbledon illustrates, they did well in the recent local election in Merton having seen off the Lib Dems, possibly assisted by the huge payment received by Merton Council upon selling off their company CHAS,  owned since 1996,for £186m.

Still, other international democracies are suffering their own problems the USA  for example. I hesitate to add the EU which is not actually a democracy though that trading group is undoubtedly suffering..

70th Birthday Party at The Goring

 

A huge thank you first of all to birthday girl youngest sister who organised and paid for what was a very successful and happy occasion of lunch and tea, which we all enjoyed.at London's Goring Hotel situated just behind Buckingham Palace.

Seeing all living brothers and sisters gathered together for the frst time for many months was a treat and the weather held good for us all.

The event was a great success hosting  in the case of the maytrees family, our four children and three grand children.

Oldest son flew over from his home in Jersey Channel Islands and youngest son overcame his damaged leg with crutches still managing to attend on time.

Oldest daughter came with her 12 year old daughter and 9 year old son and youngest daughter attended with her husband and 6 month old daughter. 

Speeches were excellent as was youngest  brother's film show, which included some old family pictures one of which showed nana in a great photo along with a hideous looking  7 year old maytrees. There were also some .recently taken short films by each sibling and some grand children  

A great  birthday party and maytrees family as well as siblings and their families get togethers.

Richmond Park

A beautiful spring day led to mrs maytrees and I deciding on a trip to nearby Richmond Park.

Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park is a very popular venue for wedding receptions which may be the reason that the cost for lunch certainly by today's standards is quite inexpensive. We were informed that the fish for my selected fish and chip lunch would take three more minutes. A Chinese girl next in line also decided to wait which surprised me as fish and chips used to be a  meal  mainly appreciated by the British and Irish. For example during a visit to Iceland which is surrounded by  fish, we could not find any straight forward fish  and chips.

The fish duly arrived and along with a pile of carrots and peas put on my plate by the waitress serving behind the counter. The meal was delicious to eat at the nearby dining room overlooking Petersham. Cheap but very tasty. 

I wonder if the costs of restaurant meals will soon increase though, given the war in Iran and the blocking of the Straits of Hormuz.

After the main meal, mrs maytrees and I adjourned for ice creams at the Pembroke Lodge  cafeteria outside. Joining two girls at a large table  in the shade, we began to chat. One of the girls was from Ontario Canada and was holidaying in England for her first time. It turned out that she was a student at a university in Ontario. The expense  for higher education studetnts today reminded me that years back  in the UK university fees were non existent though only about 4% of the school population reached university. Today of course that percentage is far higher but substantial fees have to be paid by most students.including it turned out, those in Canada.

After our ice creams and saying farewll to the Canadian girl, mrs maytrees and I went for a stroll in the glorious sunshine before returning to the car.

Memorable/Terrifying Train Journeys

 

Maybe my most interesting and terrifying train journey was that taken with my old Beaumont friend John Farr (may he RIP) in about 1970 from London to Istanbul via Munich. Munich itself was still being excavated for constructing a subway but we were able safely to board the train with reserved seats bound for Turkey.

The guards used to  check the wheels' soundness  by hitting the train wheels from time to time with sledge hammers.   After one such check in Greece after a minor earthquake,  the train  was deemed dangerous so  we had to disembark.  Another train was found but without reserved seats. At Bulgaria the engine was switched to a steam train which then headed slowly to Istanbul, About a mile from the terminus people who were living on the tracks had to rise to make way for the train but finally it arrived at our destination.

The next  difficult  journey a few months later was  on a train from Cairo to Luxor. The train was full of prisoners in chains which was unnerving. Going to the WC was difficult as the WCs were taken up with prisoners in chains. On one occasion solders agreed to stand guard whils I pee'd through a gap between carriages. That was hard enough but the experience was made more memorable by the soldiers firing their machine guns through the train roof.

Another memorable journey was what started as a routine commute from London Vauxhall to Wimbledon. I blogged about this at the time: Memorable commuter train journey

A far happier memorable train journey was one which mrs maytrees and I took from London to Aberdeen on the overnight sleeper. This was in many ways matched by our journey years before on the unmodernised sleeper from London to Inverness. See both

Train to Inverness and Train to Aberdeen

The whisky on the Aberdeen journey and  the Haggis enroute to Inverness were both of course also memorable.

Then comes our summer holiday train to St Ives Cornwall where again we had reserved seats. On the return journey to London there were terrific thunder storms in England and the lightening brought most trains to a halt. However the train from Plymouth from which we were bound to London, was not directly affected. Indirectly though, being the sole London bound  train, it soon became packed to overflowing.

All of the HCPT overnight  pilgrim trains  from Bolougne sur mer to Lourdes were  exciting and one or two were terrifying.

The most terrifying was when one night at a remote French railway station where for some reason the train had halted, three men fleeing from the station bar  tried to board. The gendarmerie fired tear gas at the men who were caught. The tear gas cannisters missed the rogues but hit the open window of one of our compartments in which three HCPT Group 35 asthmatics were sleeping. They woke up and  were sick. I protested to the gendarmes but the row  was defused by the train driver who came over and said: moi asthmatic aussi. 

Another exciting HCPT train journey took place during a national French railway strike when a lady HCPT helper  who had been in the resistance during WWII persuaded a union leader who had also been in the French resistance, to drive the train personally to Lourdes.

Overall train travel now seems likely to increase partly as a result of the war in the Middle East.

 

Rasputin

 

                                    

                                Setting off to war - above

Retreat from Moscow by Napoleon's army - below.

The fact that the Russians under the Tsar took the train east,  then marched off to fight the Japanese and were  then defeated probably did not help the Tsar survive the revolution when it came.

Antony Beevor's biography about Rasputin makes for fascinating reading. Coincidentally the biography is  largely set in Russia at about the same time as the Summerfolk play about which I blogged last week. 

In much the same way  as the wealthy Summerfolk by their indulgent behaviour really  helped speed the way to the Russian Revolution so did the behaviour of Rasputin.

Rasputin appears to me to have had part of him who from time to time seemed almost holy yet almost simultaneously appears as a dreadful womaniser rapist and. absurdly friendly with the Tsar Nicolas II and his wife Alexandra, who according to Antony Beevor were besotted with him. 

History was never a strong subject of mine but from what I can fathom, Russia at the time had no constitution and was ruled at the whim of the Tsars. Ordinary people were treated really as serfs.

Interestingly England  still has no written constitution but the Magna Carta signed as long ago as 1215 by King John, successfully divided power and usually kept our monarch in check.

  

The Russian Empire by failing to have an equivalent to our Magna Carta, in my humble opinion, led to their revolution and the slaying of their former Tsar and families, essentially leading to the USSR and then to the Russia of today.

My Summerfolk blogpost is at:

Summerfolk