Tuesday 13 September: Britain’s nations stand together in mourning a monarch who gave strength to the Union

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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571 thoughts on “Tuesday 13 September: Britain’s nations stand together in mourning a monarch who gave strength to the Union”

  3. Good morning all.

    With all due respect to Her Majesty, does anyone else think that putting our national life on hold again for another week is not what she would have wanted? The BBC has cancelled the Proms (probably with great glee!), many sporting events are cancelled, and Parliament appears to be on hold. With the economy in tatters and facing a tough winter, the country rudderless after the summer and the long leadership contest, can we really afford the indulgence of what is effectively a mini-lockdown? Would Her Majesty not have wanted us, to coin a phrase, to Keep Calm and Carry On?

    1. I’m not watching it JK. It’s way over the top and I say that as someone who is sorry to see Her Majesty go!

    2. Dereliction of duty is what Parliament is guilty of in these straitened times that are projected to worsen as winter approaches. In the main, a bunch of wastrels totally out of their depth when it comes to leadership and workable ideas to improve the people’s lot.

  5. Morning, all. At the moment a calm day under a blanket of high cloud in N Essex.

    Music from 20 Merlin engines as a ‘Squadron Scramble’ of 16 Spitfires (4 Hurricanes also took part) take off from Duxford last Sunday. The silver aircraft towards the end isn’t a P51 Mustang, as I and many others first thought, but it is the Silver Spitfire that undertook a round the World flight a few years ago. Stirring stuff.

    https://twitter.com/DavidWilding271/status/1569215326021099523

    2. I’m sure that My spitfire PS853 was amongst them. I call it my Spitfire as I’ve actually worked on it, at RAF West Raynham.

    3. Elizabeth, the Aerolegends Spitfire, is sporting a new livery for the time of the official mourning. She is now Queen Elizabeth II. I’ve flown Elizabeth over Hellfire Corner.

  6. William and Harry were not in the very slow walk up to St Giles yesterday. Was their truce broken over the argument about whether Harry could wear his uniform whilst following the hearse carrying our Queen’s body up the Royal mile? King Charles might have sorted the business by banning both from the event.

    1. My understanding is that it was always going to be just the Queens children who followed the hearse.

    2. You are so right, Bill. It is tedious in the extreme. I tried watching the news yesterday evening…when I eventually found it we we treated to yet another re-run of the day’s events that I was trying to avoid.

      1. Fortunately, I watch nothing – nor listen. But one can’t avoid ten pages in the newspaper; and the radio is on as I write – because the MR likes the Toady prog. Don’t ask me why….

  11. Our crumbling housing stock is helping Vladimir Putin blackmail Britain. 13 September 2022.

    Sales of firewood, wood pellets, coal, and even camping stoves and candles have jumped. If Vladimir Putin cuts off supplies altogether, then it is expected to plunge into a deep recession.

    When it comes to home energy efficiency however, we could learn a great deal from our European neighbours. The UK’s homes and buildings are among the least efficient on the continent, yet ministers seem stubbornly unwilling to acknowledge this aspect of the energy crunch, never mind actually making any effort to address it.

    Just to be clear Vlad is not blackmailing Britain. This is simply the obligatory side-swipe that has to be included in any article in the MSM however irrelevant. As to better insulation in housing, I can remember making much the same observation fifty years ago. That double even triple glazing with improved insulation should have been made mandatory in new builds is so obvious that every government since the war has missed it!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/09/13/crumbling-housing-stock-helping-vladimir-putin-blackmail-britain/

    2. He is absolutely right except I don’t think we actively import this “filth” as he puts it. But we do or, rather, HMG lets them in.

  13. 356003+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Tuesday 13 September: Britain’s nations stand together in mourning a monarch who gave strength to the Union

    Total agreement on such a sad occasion, people power witnessed in mourning.

    New Monarch King Charles, so a new era begins I do reserve judgement
    on the new head of state, rhetorically not a foot wrong all well and good the judgement will come in the near future on actions taken.

    People power gave us freedom via the referendum, post referendum political treacherous rhetoric via the eu assert lab/lib/con coalition again found support in misused people power ie the electorate majority.

    will the people power element still be in play

  14. Prince Harry denied right to wear military uniform during mourning – but exception made for Prince Andrew. 13 September 2022.

    The Duke of Sussex has been denied the right to wear military uniform at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and ceremonial events leading up to it, although an exception has been made for the Duke of York.

    Only working members of the Royal family will be allowed to wear military uniform at the five ceremonial events during the period of mourning, Buckingham Palace sources confirmed.

    So Harry’s out permanently then? After this is over it’s back to the Colonies!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2022/09/12/prince-andrew-denied-right-wear-military-uniform-events-save/

    1. ‘back to the Colonies‘ where he will slavishly follow his wife’s wishes?

      Morning Minty and all.

      Happy Birthday Anne!

  16. Headline in today’s DT:

    “E-scooters face ban after 80-year-old seriously injured by rider

    Canterbury is the first council in the country to outlaw the vehicles ‘before someone is seriously hurt’ ”

    About time, too. Mind you, police reminders that they are banned in all public places in Sussex have not had any effect because there is no one on the streets to enforce such a ban. It seems to me entirely predictable that there will be casualties if these unlicensed and uninsured devices are charging around in the same places occupied by pedestrians. Madness.

  18. This is a Britain that has lost its Queen – and the luxury of denial about its past. Afua Hirsch. 13 September 2022.

    I had expected that those of us minoritised in Britain would understand this as a test of our loyalty, patriotism and Good Immigrant status. We would therefore fall into two categories: those who sought to pass the test, by enthusiastically toeing the line of national mourning, and those too conscious of the harm Britain’s power has caused, who would stay silent.

    But it turns out that tone policing is no longer tenable. Social media have been saturated by the harrowing memories of a legacy the British establishment has refused to acknowledge. The plunder of land and diamonds in South Africa, crimes that adorned the Queen’s very crown. The physical suffering that continues from violence inflicted by her government in Kenya, even as her reign was celebrated for having begun there. The scars of genocide in Nigeria, events that took place a decade into her rule. In Britain, minoritised people are remembering this Elizabethan era through the lens of the racism that was allowed to thrive during it. Shooting the messenger – the radio host and former footballer Trevor Sinclair was quickly hung, drawn and quartered for voicing this perspective – has failed to quell the tide of global truth-telling.

    Here’s another tide of Septic Effluent in the Guardian. No comments allowed. It is surprising how many of these UK haters are women from privileged backgrounds. It’s not as if they had to hack their way to the top in the face of Racist Discrimination. One wonders if that is the explanation. An apology for their own gilded lives? The perennial mystery of course is if they hate the UK so much why are they here?

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/sep/13/queen-reign-death-elizabeth-ii-uk-minorities-british-empire

    2. Is that the same Afua Hirsch who wrote about her experience of FGM? A traditional practice that is not the result of colonialist whitey exploitation.
      If it’s so horrible here, bu88er off back to Nigeria. (Wonder she hasn’t complained about her country’s name, it containing the letters NIG …)

      3. Well said, Annie. This bonkers bint and the Graun were made for each other.

        Despite the move I hope you have a good day.

        Illegitimi non carborundum etc.

        1. “Despite the move”? Are you suggesting that Annie has chosen her birthday of all dates to move house? Lol.

    3. If you don’t like us, take it as read that we don’t like you either. I’m going to be racist by saying you should go back whence you came and try and do something, about righting all the corrupt things that you and your ‘government’ do.

  19. I gather that it is that A Allan chap’s birthday.

    I wish him well – with his fiery comments in the D Telegraph!

    Pity we never see him here…{:¬))

    1. 🙂
      There are lots of boxes piled up around Allan Towers but I don’t think they’re prezzies.

        1. Um … er … believe you me, I suspect a few more trips to charity shops and the tip are scheduled.
          Would you believe my son told me I was obsessed because I was more interested in boxes than actual food shopping on our tour round ALDI yesterday.
          One of the customers realised what I was doing and pointed out to me some really impressive boxes.

          2. Yes, I cleared out ALDI yesterday.
            There might of been the odd box with one tomato pack or a melon in it that needed reuniting with its fellows … but, hey, I was merely tidying things up to save the staff some trouble.

          3. What time did you visit Aldi yesterday, Anne? No later than 8 am I trust. Otherwise it’s virtually impossible to find a parking space and getting out will take you half an hour – at least.

          4. It is v.v. busy now that M&S has opened nearby.
            They actually had a chap supervising in the car park in case things got stroppy.

          5. I chatted with the four guys on car park supervision on Saturday morning at 8 am and they were telling me how much abuse the customers had given them on the previous day. I went shopping on the Friday at around mid-day and found it to be total chaos with people driving round and round looking for a parking bay. Furthermore, it was total gridlock around the park and with so many cars backed up no-one could get out. The car park supervisors eventually had to act like policemen on traffic duty, putting their hands up to halt the traffic one way whilst they waved through some of the backed up traffic at right angles.

  20. Energy expert, Dave Walsh, speaking on the USA’s problem but Johnson gets a mention re the UK’s situation. Stupid ill-informed politicians or deliberate long-term machinations from WEF/NWO stooges?
    From 50 seconds in to 14 minutes.

    Dave Walsh on Energy

    1. The contracts for difference to rig the wind mill prices, the massive subsidy, the incredible waste of public money on forcing inefficient unreliables on us, the deliberate machination of the green agenda – if the intent wasn’t to destroy the economy then the political class and administration are simply morons.

  21. One bizarre aspect of this endless “grief” is that the main performers keep changing their clothes. Must be a nightmare for their staff to ensure that all the right stuff is included. Uniforms variés; morning clothes; suits – black and not black; highland gear; plus accoutrements…

    1. Tricky one, that. Seems ridiculous, but so many would grouse about lack of respect if they didn’t.

  22. Last word on the “grief”. I do not think that Edward needed to dress up as a toy soldier complete with putty medals. Absolute nonsense.

    There. Now I have got right up lots of noses.

    I am off to Narridge.

  23. Good morning all. A bright start but with quite a drop in temperature, down to 6°C. How long before the 1st frost one wonders?

    3. Cripes; I get Uncle Bill’s point.
      Maybe one for later when more rocket fuel is coursing through my veins.

      1. I normally ignore anything with more than ten paragraphs, but this is definitely the best and most lucid explanation of the reasons for the current crisis in Europe. I never thought I would be agreeing with the (ex)leader of a ‘Green’ party. Well done that woman.

    4. Always good to find a well reasoned article going into some detail, without having to read a history book.

        1. One of the things that struck me was a possible parallel between using “memory” to change attitudes and to harm one side whilst gathering allies, and what is happening against Britain and the British Empire, with the denigration of all Britain’s achievements on the altar of perceived racism, in the same way that racism/nationalism was used to break up states in Eastern Europe.
          It can sometimes appear that that is what we are seeing in “white” countries everywhere, white hetero-sexual males are the new target for the socialist race baiters. Minorities are coalescing to bring down the old orders.

    7. Good piece, Germany has no nuclear weapons and since it might be the aggressor, it cannot depend upon NATO backing. Except when it was aggressive in its attempts to get Ukraine into the EUSSR. NATO needs to look to its charter.

    3. Wishing you a very very Happy Birthday, Anne! I hope you have a wonderful day and can take a bit of time off from filling tea chests! Love to you! 🍾🍷🎉

      1. Ta ever so.
        Funnily enough, we are off for a posh tea this afternoon; this time at the Swan in Lavenham.

        2. My maternal grandparents had their honeymoon in Lavenham, and named their house in Low Fell after it! The name is still there on the fan light, in gold paint! Ye’ll have had yer tea, then!

          2. had my first honeymoon there in ’66. I remember the huge dog which used to occupy a couch in the lounge – nobody tried to move it!. A Great Dane I think

          3. I had a paw in the face at 4am. Then the other one. Turns out no one had let Mongo out. As soon as the door opened, both he and Ozzie dashed outside, did their business and then came back very happy.

            But, a paw the size of a new loo roll to the face is something I could have done without.

        3. Ah…lovely Lavenham. I remember well our mooch round the village a couple of years ago. What a delightful place.

          1. Back in 1966 I was introduced to installing and modifying telephone exchange equipment in Lavenham exchange, situated back then down a small lane opposite the Swan. My mentor was one Roly Crick, a gentleman and an excellent tutor of all things UAX13. Every lunchtime we would stroll to the Swan for a pint, at 17 I certainly looked old enough to drink.

    8. Your birthday today…..how close is that 😃
      I hope you have a lovely day, you deserve it 👏 💗 🥂cheers.

    11. Good Morrow, Anne and a Happy, happy Birthday, I’m sure you’ll find a way, amid all the uproar of moving, to make it a great day. That’s the NoTTLer wish.

  26. Don’t cancel the queen-bashing cranks or disrespectful republicans. Spiked 13 September 2022.

    In practical terms, it is far better to let people speak and expose themselves, rather than try to silence them by force. This is particularly important now.

    There are big debates ahead about everything from history and democracy to the line between private and public. The passing of the queen and the end of an era have encouraged those who want to bury much that is good about our society and traditions, along with the bad. The feeling that there is worse to come under the new regime is one reason why, as a republican atheist, I sincerely hoped that God might have saved the queen a while longer.

    And so sez me!

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/09/12/dont-cancel-the-queen-bashing-cranks-or-disrespectful-republicans/

    1. Common respect for the feelings of the royal family dictates that any question about the future of the monarchy should not be raised at this time.

    3. I believe Winston Churchill said that however bad democracy was it was preferable to any other form of government.

      A similar thing can be said about Christianity – it has a humane philosophy based on care, tolerance and respect for others. Just as democracy is preferable to other forms of government, Christianity is preferable to all other religions whether or not one believes in the existence of God.

      I am a confirmed member of the Church of England but my belief in Christ is not as strong as it should be – however I believe very sincerely in the Christian Ethic even though I have nothing but contempt for the current Archbishop of Canterbury!

      1. Morning Richard. The best Government of all is the least Government. We are in the fix we are because we have one that thinks it knows best about everything when the evidence shows that it has been wrong about it all!

        1. Yep. The less money it has, the less power it has, the less damage it can do.

          Shred the state to the bone and then keep cutting. Then it can’t interfere with the energy market it wouldn’t be broken.

        2. For 20 years or more, political discourse has been dominated by a shared set of ideas: that the state should guide life through both tax and regulation; that economics is best done by technocrats, and politics is best done by judges and lawyers; and that it is the government’s job to take care of everything traditionally considered important in life so that we are insulated from risk and change.

          On top of this come the beliefs that the nation state doesn’t matter, that a passport is a flag of convenience not a statement of national identity, and that a country is nothing more than the people who happen to be on its territory at any given moment – whatever their loyalties and however they got there.

          I personally find this whole world view – the intellectual world of Gordon Brown, of Davos, the IMF, the European Commission, and virtually everyone who has been in power in Britain in recent years – profoundly depressing. It assumes there is only one way of doing things and that moral autonomy and individual beliefs do not count. Not surprisingly, it reached its apotheosis during the lockdowns.

          https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/11/tories-can-no-longer-avoid-telling-hard-truths-route-mess/

          DAVID FROST, Daily Telegraph, Friday 12th August

      2. The problem is we do not live in a democracy. We get a choice between two practically identical sides who spend 5 miserable years implenting identical policies that are bad for the country, wasting the money of the earner and giving it to the shirker in some comical semblance of ‘fairness’ dicatated by people who’s understanding of the word means ‘I want what you’ve worked for’.

        Ignorant, stupid and mendacious people (guardian readers, the ignorami on the daily wail) blither on total drivel they don’t understand. Democracy only works when the citizen actively understands the issues and has a clear say in their creation and absolute rejection. Stopping the state doing stupid things is the mos timportant role of government and far too few people understand this.

    4. Anne,
      Have a splendiferous lovely day. Hope you can have a break on avoid filling more boxes.

      1. Currently limbering up to scoff scones and cream. My devotion to duty knows no ends.
        Note to self: take Spartie for a walk to work off calories beforehand.

  28. Morning all 🙂
    Happy birthday to you Anne. 🤗🥀🌼🌻⚘

    I don’t think this country will ever be the same, after the sad passing of our well loved and widely respected Queen. She never imposed, just gently led.
    It’s strange how many younger people I know tend to verbally wave off my instincts but they’ll see the,old Nottlers are right. But even now I fear it’s just a bit to late to try and pull it back.

    1. On one hand, if we do not reverse the decline of our society and culture then there simply won’t be one left.

      On the other, the state is desperate to destroy our world and in so doing, they destroy themselves.

  30. Don’t worry, Putin – the Russian Comical Ali is here to spare your blushes. 13 September 2022.

    Anti-monarchists have always claimed that having a king or queen is undemocratic. In reality, of course, the opposite is true. It’s perfectly democratic, for the simple reason that it’s what a majority – indeed, a vast majority – of British people want. A poll published by YouGov in June showed that only 22 per cent of the public would prefer an elected head of state.

    For anti-monarchists, this represents an embarrassing failure. During the 70 years of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, British society as a whole became significantly less deferential, less class-bound, more egalitarian (greater sexual equality, racial equality, gay marriage). Ideal conditions, anti-monarchists must have assumed, for their movement to gain traction.

    Yet, despite all the other major social changes that took place during that time, their demands remained resolutely unpopular. And the main reason for this, I suspect, was the late Queen herself.

    It is undemocratic in principle of course. I remember some years ago spouting my own Republican views on the Telegraph threads and receiving a reply asking if I would prefer to wake up one morning and find Tony Blair was president. Since then I have taken a more favourable view of the Monarchy!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/2022/09/13/dont-worry-putin-russian-comical-ali-spare-blushes/

    1. Blair is sewage. The best thing that could be done to him is a dozen blokes giving him a damned good kicking, hanging him from a lampost and using him as a whipping post.

      In fact, no. The right thing to do is seize every single penny of his assets and give them to military charities for homeless veterans – and force him to sign the papers.

      Then break his fingers.

    2. The worst sort of president is a president with executive power such as Joe Biden and Emanuel Macron.

      The Irish may be quirky and a few years ago they almost elected, Dana, a woman who had won the Eurovision Song Competition but sadly she didn’t quite make it. They now have a president called Higgins who looks very jolly and stands at about 4’11”. He was originally a politician but he has virtually no executive role as president – his job is to smile, cut ribbons to open things and look like a benevolent pixie.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvLPw530qoE

      1. …his job is to smile, cut ribbons to open things and look like a benevolent pixie.

        You omitted the shaking of the hands of third-world dictators on state visits.

    3. One of those replies was probably mine. Can you imagine the horror of “both hands of history’ strutting the World stage!

    4. It’s always “President Blair”, which monarchists use as a trump card, ignoring the fact that a Republic with head of government and head of state combined is the very worst model you could find (e.g. the USA), and that no-one in their right mind would vote for Blair in any sort of Republic.

      1. There is a myth than in a Republic anyone can become President. The Caveat seems to be : only if they have got lots and lots of dosh to spend on informing the populace how wonderful they would be as President….

        3. …and can fool the public into believing that O’Barmy was born in Hawaii, rather than Kenya. The democrats are good at electing false or deranged Presidents.

      2. You seem to be very keen for the UK to become a republic.
        Who would you choose to be the first President?
        Serious question, so Aeneas isn’t a suitable answer.

        As an aside, as the UK would no longer be Kingdom it stands to reason that all the constituents should also have their own President

        1. The answer could be independence for each of the four nations, or a federal republic. As to a candidate, it would depend on who decides to stand. But the assumption that it has to be a politician is wrong.

          1. That’s the way to ruin, Aeneas, They’ve already proven their inability to govern sensibly and cost us all insane amounts of tax-payers’ money. Kill the devolution, bring it all back to Westminster and leave the electorate to make sure Westminster accepts its responsibilities and accountability.

          2. Divide and rule.
            You’ve side-stepped the question somewhat.

            If Blair or another politician is the antithesis what’s the alternative?

          3. Since I have no idea who might put themselves forward, the question is impossible to answer. As I said in another post, the argument about the future of this country and the monarchy is one that should not be taking place at the moment, so I will make no further comment on the matter until a decent period of time has elapsed.

      3. The difficulty with republics is that power is often concentrated in one assembly. There is no “Upper Chamber”. There are no other checks or balances. A republic can become a dictatorship overnight. We can see this in Scotland. There is no mechanism to constrict or modify the insanity, profligacy or stupidity of the Scottish parliament. The opposition can be totally ignored, and is. The parliament can authorise theft on a large scale and has done so. This applies regardless of the political party in power. Labour were pretty bad (“Scotland needs 600,000 immigrants”) and the Tories are beyond useless, forever bringing up the issue of independence rather than the immediate issues of poor management.

      2. Around 12 years ag, we went from Southampton up to the Norwegian fjords it was lovely. But noticeably many of the larger younger passengers were more interested in the booze and as much food as they could manage and possibly more.

    2. Those cruises appear to be the ninth circle of Hell.
      At one time, those types would have been scrapping on and around Clacton pier; now they go on cruises and are cramped up hugger mugger.
      Booze and sweaty proximity do the rest.

    1. With the “vaccine” proven to be quite useless in its primary function but seriously dangerous after being administered what possible rationale could exist to discriminate between those who have taken the serum and those who have not? Except, of course, to discriminate and make life difficult for those who have ‘disobeyed’ the government.

  35. Big Thank You to Olaf’s Relict.
    She kindly dropped off a crumble made by her own fair hands with Korky’s damsons lurking under the surface.
    Now I’ve had a bath and a second bucket of rocket fuel, I have rejoined the human race.
    (Is the human race equally chuffed to hear that news?)

    2. At last, he has accepted my sage advice that damsons (and plums) make the best crumbles!

      [… but whatever you do, never put sage into them! 😉]

          1. Jolly fine, thanks! Glorious autumnal weather, garden under control and when the plaster finally dries out round the new wood burner, we’ll be able to decorate! Oh joy!

      2. I’ve been seeking damsons for several years without success, Grizzly, but Korky’s recent arrival on my front door with a “lorry load” of the special fruit from his garden (I can’t remember the name of the cherry-like fruit but you and he mentioned something beginning with “B” as I recall) has proven to produce the most excellent crumble I have ever tasted. Yesterday I finished the last portion of the first batch and then made two more (one for Annie and one for me) and there is still enough fruit in the freezer for two more crumbles. After that I shall make a start on the large number of plums which I bought just hours before Korky arrived on my front door. I reckon I shall be eating crumble right through to next Spring!

        1. It is a Bullace?

          My friend, Bertil, has a massive damson tree in his garden that bears tons of fruit, but only every second year. This year is one such year that has provided a bounty of fruit for crumbles, damson gin, and lots of damson jelly and jam. The best home-made wine I ever sampled was from damsons (beetroot wine being a close second).

          1. I think “Bullace” was the word that you and Korky used, Grizzly. I shall Google it and see if the fruit resembles what I have in my freezer.

        2. Our next door neighbour has damsons we are usually lucky enough to be given a jar of delicious jam.

          1. Correct, Anne. It was “black bullate”, a small spherical version of the more rugby ball shaped damson.

    3. Lucky you. How kind and thoughtful of Elsie and Korky. Now that Elsie has set the precedent everyone will expect the same on their birthdays. Come on Elsie…get baking !

    5. A very dapper looking Elsie turned up on my doorstep this morning bearing not crumble but a jar of Bob of Bonsall’s apple, quince and pineapple chutney. Many thanks to BoB for the gift and to Elsie for the delivery.

      1. Yes, I also had a jar of BoB chutney.
        Luckily, we already have some scrummy cheese and delish seeded bread from the Blackberry Bakery to go with it.

    1. Well done greenfingers. Quite often we can ignore what the “experts” say. I prune our Jacqueline Postil Daphne when I’m told they don’t like it and it’s fine.

  37. I looked at page 12 of today’s Daily Telegraph and nearly threw up! It must be the worst (and most motley) collection of cretins this newspaper has ever mustered together on one page.

    Articles by, and of, Jacinda Ardern, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the terminally execrable Peter Hain dominate the page. If I had the real, paper, newspaper I would burn it in disgust!

        1. Just as well.
          If the quality of the printing matched the quality of the journalism, the ink would rub off, leaving you with what could be mistaken for a tattoo of Ahern on your backside.

    1. I had to go for blood tests earlier, in short sleeves, it’s slightly nippy out there.
      The expert manage it this time.

    2. During my 5 weeks in southern Poland (22 June – 28 July) the local fields were awash with swooping swallows … The Polish countryside is depopulated with many old barns and houses and may well be a friendlier environment than England.

      1. Good to see you back here, Lewis!
        I guess the Poles shipped out when they joined the EU and many came here.

        The countryside probably is a better environment than our overcrowded land.

        1. I dunno – the Poles are probably perched somewhere – with a rod….

          I’ll get me ruler…{:¬))

        2. Yes. Ndovu … Poland has barely half our population and 30% more land area (120.7 mln sq miles vs 94 mln sq miles) that of the UK.

      1. Are Ladbrokes offering odds on when illegal immigrants will be be stopped from coming to Britain? At the moment it looks as if they never will be.

    2. 356003+ up ticks,

      Morning TB,

      Many a hotel in the country is a mini garrison awaiting the call to arms.

      I only wish someone would clarify for me just why peoples support & vote for proven mass uncontrolled immigration
      parties then complain when their vote wins the day, this has been the case since the bog man lifted the latch.

      Canute is innocent no doubt of it,
      Our new HS uses powerful rhetoric, actions are yet to be realised.

      The story of King Canute and the tide is an apocryphal anecdote illustrating the piety or humility of King Canute the Great, recorded in the 12th century by Henry of Huntingdon.

      In the story, Canute demonstrates to his flattering courtiers that he has no control over the elements (the incoming tide), explaining that secular power is vain compared to the supreme power of God. The episode is frequently alluded to in contexts where the futility of “trying to stop the tide” of an inexorable event is pointed out, but usually misrepresenting Canute as believing he had supernatural powers, when Huntingdon’s story in fact relates the opposite.

      But the issue today regarding the tide of morally illegal foreign incomers it is NOT misrepresentlng by the governance parties but out & out aiding & abetting
      criminality.

      By the by Huntingdon Was an early genuine UKIP member I believe.

      2. No, of Italian decent and his father makes his own wine from imported grapes.
        The one on holiday is of Sicilian heritage.
        You don’t have a shave there. 🤭

    2. I have not visited a barber for a haircut since we got married 34 years ago. Caroline has an ominously deft hand with the scissors!

      1. My OH won’t go to a hairdresser either. I have to do the honours. Not that there’s a lot to cut……..

      2. We now have three in the village and my usual seems to be on holiday and is booked until the 25th I couldn’t wait any longer. I’m lucky I guess to have so much hair. What a relief for only 12 quid.

        1. In BC (Before Caroline) when I was more AD (ADventurous) I just walked into a barber’s shop – in those days nobody made an appointment – you just sat down and waited your turn and read either Titbits and Reveille or Country Life and The Illustrated London News depending on how up-market the barber was.

          I suppose that such distinctions no longer exist since we are in the plebeian CE (Common Era).

        2. £12!! My old man is horrified! He’d want a perm for that price! When my elder nephew came to Glasgow from Athens to do his degree, he was delighted to find a woman in the High Street who cut his hair, called “Mary threefifty”!
          Spoken with a Greek accent it was hilarious!

  42. Iranian TV calls the Queen ‘one of the greatest criminals in the history of mankind’ and compares her to HITLER
    Tehran has not publicly commented on the Queen since her death last week
    State TV said her passing is ‘good news for the world’s oppressed people’
    Many Iranians harbour hostile views towards Britain and their royal family
    The passing of the monarch is ‘good news for the world’s oppressed people’ ………. her legacy is ‘full of crime, abomination and filth.’
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11205673/Iranian-TV-calls-Queen-one-greatest-criminals-history-compares-HITLER.html#newcomment

    BTL

    The best way to liberate the poor oppressed people living under the odious tyrannical regime in Britain would be to send them to live in Iran or Saudi Arabia, the Sudan or Somalia

      2. On Facebook and Twitter Joan Baez is being trolled by Iranian exiles accusing her of spreading really nasty lies about the Shah of Iran during his reign while now remaining silent on the actual crimes of the ayatollahs. Given her fawning over Fauci and Zelensky and propensity for jumping on any trendy bandwagon, their accusations unfortunately seem plausible.

        2. I love some of her singing and her finger-picked guitar accompaniments but her politics stink.

    1. The idea these petulant fools understand how their devices work, let alone the services they provide is ludicrous.

    2. No cardboard for posters. No pens or paints to write on them. No way of travelling to the best spots to get publicity. No cameras to film them.

    3. No covid jabs either. Contains polyethylene glycol, an oil derivative. As do many other modern medications, including ibuprofen.

    1. Bioegnetics are nothing to really worry about. We’ve been trying to map the genome for decades. Imagine a world where Alzheimers was held back, where the deaf could hear, the blind see? Regeneration of lost limbs or feeling mechanical replacements.

      The problem isn’t the technology. It’s the use the state will put it to.

  45. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11204467/Two-men-23-24-forced-victims-gunpoint-open-cryptocurrency-accounts-jailed.html

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11205679/Boy-16-filmed-stabbing-15-year-old-schoolboy-death-locked-13-years.html

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11204457/Three-attackers-murdered-man-24-outside-house-Halloween-jailed-life.html

    Can we stop playing nice and treat them as the savages they are? These creatures should be collared, chained, flayed and then a bolt stuck through their skull.

    3. The female versions are mean hearted sluts similar to the attention seeking Modom who always sucks up to the press , the Modom who snatched a Royal Prince .. transfixed him with her devil eyes and beguiled him with dangerous sexual intent .

  47. And they want to be taken seriously?

    The Green Party of Canada opened their leadership campaign yesterday with an online session (no we didn’t know care either.

    First on the agenda – the interim leader having a hissy fit because her preferred pronouns were not used in the captions on the screen. Instead of a simple “Oops” before carrying on into their unicorn dream world, the whole thing came to a misogynistic tear fest with demands for investigations into how her feelings were so hurty wurty.

    Definite PMmaterial there.

  48. Sir Tom Scholar’s exit should just be the start – we need a political Treasury. 13 september 2022.

    Yes, it was a harsh decision and Sir Tom may well have been a safe pair of hands whose experience will be missed in the difficult months ahead. But the reality is we need a far more political Treasury. It has a bias against growth; it does not believe in the power of free enterprise; and it has become far too fiscally conservative.

    The UK needs to reform, or sometimes even remove, the institutions blocking an economic revival. Liz Truss could do worse than start by abolishing quangos, such as the Office For Budget Responsibility, and taking on the Bank of England.

    For the Prime Minister’s new government to stand any chance it needs bold reforms, and it needs them fast. That won’t happen with the same old people in charge.

    The truth is that these institutions are so corrupted by Cultural Marxism that reform in the normal sense is impossible. What is needed is the wholesale sacking of everyone at the top of them. The Bonfire of the Quangos should have happened long ago. They now need a flamethrower turned onto them and their personnel!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/09/12/sir-tom-scholars-exit-should-just-start-need-political-treasury/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-rhr

    1. I’m not sure we need a political treasury, more we need one aware of markets, economics and supply and demand that sees people are best placed spending their own money, not the state robbing them then doing it for them.

      That’s the fundamental problem. The treasury thinks of government first and only, doing whatever it chooses with public money.

  49. I am having a little bet with myself that St Jacinda and Toy Boy Trudeau will – ostentatiously – wear masks at The Funeral.

    Anyone care to join me?

    4. Funnily enough; Sept. 12, 2022, at 3:02 a.m.
      “SYDNEY (Reuters) – New Zealand scrapped mask wearing rules and vaccine mandates on Monday, bringing an end to some of the toughest COVID-19 pandemic rules in the world about two years after they were put in place.“

      1. Didn’t stop the daft bint wearing one when she signed the book at the British Embassy (or whatever they call it).

      2. Couldn’t possibly be connected with her massive loss of public support and fear of losing an election….could it?? {:¬)))

    5. Not a chance of the village idiot wearing a mask, they are for the likes of the peasantry.

      Although everyone is still required to wear masks on Canadian flights (and on trains, in hospitals or when visiting government offices), you can be damned sure that there will be no masks at the pointed end of trudeaus bus.

      We are more worried about the cost of the trip, they managed to spend about $100,000 on catering the last time the pretentious prince of Papineau flew over to Europe.

    1. Our daughter has just sent pictures of her and her daughter at Windsor, with a sea of flowers, and other pictures of the Queen.

      Perhaps we should call Her Majesty Elizabeth the Extraordinary.

    1. In the past there have been scores of people who have made fairly placid presentations on the streets but were arrested with quite a lot of unessesary force. I remember the lady who tried to read out the names of the dead at the Cenotaph. And the chap who was trying to read Churchill’s Speech on islam at Westminster.
      But not the march where placards read behead those who don’t support islam.
      They had a police escort.
      Someone needs to sort all this nonsense out. Before it’s too late.

      1. If you are referring to the chap on the Royal Mile who shouted something, I think that you are right. After he shouted, there was some kind of struggle visible and the shouter went over backwards with an arm round his throat. As the police were on the other side of the barricade the would have taken a minute or two to get there.

    3. “On Sunday, the police force also made a further three arrests in connection with a breach of the peace.

      This included a 38-year-old man in Aberdeen who was allegedly seen clutching eggs as the Queen’s coffin cortege was due to arrive in the city.”

      I hope they make an eggsample of him.

  52. Tell us: how are you planning to watch the Queen’s funeral? 13 September 2022.

    We would like to hear about your plans to watch the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on Monday 19 September.

    Well Mr G. I don’t have any plans because I won’t be watching! I won’t be clapping either! Since it is now a Bank Holiday I don’t suppose I shall be doing anything else. I shall probably Nottl intensely!

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/13/tell-us-how-are-you-planning-to-watch-the-queens-funeral

    4. Same here. I can tell them what I SHAN’T be doing; visiting stately homes and attractions, going shopping or going racing. As I rarely watch TV, I doubt I shall be watching the funeral, either.

      1. I shall watch because (a) I enjoy military precision; (b) I watched the King’s funeral. . . so seems logical.

    5. Well this colonial will be watching. Coverage is sparse over here, I wil, take what I can get.

      At the moment there is no bank holiday for Canada on Monday, I guess that commemorating the life of our queen is not part of the village idiots view of what we should do.

    1. Ndovu – female.
      Born in 1948
      Raised in the UK
      Married twice
      Lives in a cottage
      Neither wealthy nor famous.

      2. I am not sure if we should be upvoting this or downvoting what is such an obvious untruth about our gallant hedgehog rescuer.

      3. Grizzly – Male (I fink).
        Born in 1951.
        Raised in the UK (oop norf).
        Married twice.
        Lives in a hovel.
        I know my place.

    1. That’s the thing. When we see the turnout to watch a hearse go by, the thousands of ordinary people shuffling for hours in a queue over a mile long*, just to walk past the catafalque, pausing for only a minute, you realise how very profoundly we are one nation.

      *From the other side of the Meadows to St Giles.https://www.google.com/maps/place/St+Giles'+Cathedral/@55.9494836,-3.2019371,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x4887c7854ff703fd:0xaa24e716571e2ff2!8m2!3d55.9495523!4d-3.1909115

  62. Kangaroo kills man in first fatal attack for 86 years
    Australian Peter Eades, 77, fatally injured by animal police later shot dead
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/09/13/man-killed-kangaroo-first-fatal-attack-86-years/

    BTL

    The poor old sport should have tied his kangaroo down rather more securely.

    (I posted a comment under this story but the DT is now so hyper-sensitive about people airing their views that even the comments section in this sad but innocuous story has been taken down.)

    3. Sadly, after his TV show ended, Skippy went on to become a drug dependent alcoholic who could lash out at anybody.

  63. King Charles III says he will follow Queen’s ‘shining example’ as he vows to seek welfare ‘of all the inhabitants of Northern Ireland’ after he and Queen Consort Camilla are met by crowds in Belfast

    DM

    “The welfare of all the inhabitants of Northern Ireland”

    I wonder what he means by this: as inhabitants of the United Kingdom or inhabitants of a satellite state of the EU?

  64. Rainy day here… very wet .

    Mortars and gunfire are very heavy and noisy today on the Lulworth ranges ..

    The solemnity of the Piper playing as the dear Queen is carried on a fine afternoon in Scotland .. is in contrast to the loud thumps in the air outside here in Dorset .

  65. Putin not invited to Queen’s funeral after invading Ukraine. 13 September 2022.

    Russia will not be invited to the Queen’s funeral because of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.

    The snub makes Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin one of only three national governments banned from the funeral.

    He’ll be sorry he did it now!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/09/13/putin-not-invited-queens-funeral-invading-ukraine/

    3. I thought he had declined to attend very early on. He sent very gracious condolences to HMK.

      So it is being spun as ‘not invited’.

  66. I must say that the Scottish ceremony , the wonderful pipes and kilts and the archers who were very grand is so tearfully correct , well ordered, and astonishing.

    I can almost breathe the fresh beautiful air of Scotland.

    1. I felt the same, Maggie, at the Reichwald ceremony in1967. We shall not forget, at the going down of the sun, and in the morning… a real tear-jerker but we had to remain stoic despite the pipes playing ‘ Floo’ers of the Forest’ always gets to me as I understand its meaning.

  67. Back from Sandringham. Very well organised one-way system. Policemen in HELMETS for a change. Hundreds and hundreds of people in a slowly walking past. This is a taste of what it was like*. The only sad thing was, despite the stories in the press and, I understand, on TV, 95% of the floral offerings were wrapped in plastic – and many still bore the price tag….

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f725deb0d70593630abc96eb669aa86863c71402ae93067d4185dce3f45a7ee6.jpg .

    * Other photographs are available…{:¬)

    1. A nice gesture but I don’t see the point when they just get binned – or are they taken to hospitals etc?

      1. Because of the wretched plastic – they’ll be destroyed. Without plastic – they could have been composted.

        By the time the mourning is over – the flowers will be beyond wilted.

        1. At one location (and there have been so many TV reports, I cannot remember which one), members of the public were removing the plastic from the bouquets.

  69. Prevening, all. Just making a quick visit before I’m off out again. I hope you’ve all got stocks in because on Monday all the supermarkets (and quite a few other places as well) will be closed, so I expect a frenzy of buying beforehand and the shelves will be stripped bare.

  70. I see Project Fear is excelling itself – “Coffin view wait now likely to be 35 hours..”

    Give it another few days- and it’ll be “Ten days wait for coffin view”..

  71. Utterly disrespectful, totally inappropriate and a joke, OK?

    The Queen should be cremated, the ashes put into a gigantic firework and it should explode at a height where the entire UK (and bits of France) can receive some ashes and then everyone may pay their respects.

    1. No, cremate her and put 1 dwt of the ash into each new satellite, then we could salute her every time one passes overhead.
      And HM would truly be up in the heavens.

      2. dwt tim? Please don’t use acronyms that we don’t understand. Do you mean CWT? hundred wight.

        I doub that her ashes would weigh a fraction thereof.

    2. Very difficult to read the blacked out commentary, I have persevered but stll cannot make 100% of it. Boing,. time for bed sad Zebedee!

    1. The thread of london, the thread that says it all . The river Thames that flows tidally and majestically though it all ,haing borne kings, queens and traitors on its waters. Now is the time to acknowledge the river’s fate in our lives. | expect to see those self-same cranes dipping their masts as they did for Chucrhill for this, the greatest Queen we shall see in our lifetime. Read and think on.

      1. The cranes are no longer there, the coffin won’t take to the river, the people will be watching, but more will be using their phones, it’s the end of an era.
        God preserve the Queen.

        1. It certainly is. The end of an era for those that loved and cared for us. And how do we repay todaY? Total ignorance of what went before!

  73. That’s me for today. In addition to leaving at Sandringham our small tribute of red roses (from the garden) we returned through lanes – and came across a village called Shernbourne – (never heard of it) – with an amazing square, heavily decorated, Norman font. (Google it – it is in remarkably good repair).

    Have a jolly evening

    A demain – when the Grief will continue….

  74. In many parts of the land, that Britain is lost.

    In silent crowds and long queues, we see a Britain many feared was lost

    Dignified mourning for the late Queen reminds us that traditional British instincts remain the same

    ANDREW ROBERTS, HISTORIAN • 12 September 2022 • 9:00pm

    How much has Britain changed in the 70 years since Queen Elizabeth II’s accession in 1952 ? This question has been a fixture of the past few days’ media coverage, but in one key area this country has scarcely changed at all. The tradition of respect and thankfulness for “a life well lived; a promise with destiny kept” is easily as strong now as it was for King George VI back then. The crowds lining the roads and packing the streets might not be wearing bowler hats today, but the same sense of deference, affection and genuine mourning abides.

    True, they have not been indulging in the untethered grief seen after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales – with people throwing flowers at her hearse – but the peaceful death of a 96-year-old is very different from the violent one of someone aged only 36. Instead, we have seen drivers stopping their cars on the motorway to stand and bow their heads, others taking children and grandchildren to see the spectacles, and thousands solemnly applauding the coffin as it passes. We should be proud of these natural, unforced reactions; Britain looks dignified in the eyes of the world today.

    Nor should we decry too much the modern habit of people holding up their mobile phones to record the occasion, knowing it to be historic. Isn’t that merely the 21st century version of what Samuel Pepys did once he got back home to Seething Lane in the 1660s? The lying-in-state and various other national grieving rituals, such as the immensely significant condolence ceremony at Westminster Hall yesterday, are part of the traditions through which we channel our grief in a civilised, British manner.

    It had never been done in such a public way before, just as the Accession Council had never been televised before, but this is further indication that King Charles III will be modernising the House of Windsor in a sensible, evolutionary way.

    Tomorrow people will begin to arrive along the banks of the Thames to join the vast queue that will walk past the late Queen’s catafalque in Westminster Hall, another great British tradition. Far from being put off by warnings of a 30-hour wait, a frisson of anticipatory pleasure could be discerned around the nation. Nor was it a masochistic frisson; it can get cold at 3am in London in September.

    Instead, it was the knowledge that this warning confirms it to be an historic occasion, one that only 10 per cent of the population have ever seen; something so unusual that they will remember it for years, perhaps even lifetimes. For all the long wait, it will be worth doing. They rightly suspect they will meet people from across the nation, the Commonwealth and the world in that queue. If past experience is anything to go by they might make lasting friendships as a result.

    People will turn up dressing oddly, of course. They will laugh and joke with the policeman, who will hardly be needed as it won’t be a time for queue-barging or unpleasantness; sandwich-vendors will make a killing. And it will stretch across bridges all the way down the river to the City skyscrapers. Five days and nights might even be too little time to fit everyone past the coffin, unless they go three abreast and at walking pace.

    They would not be doing this in such numbers for almost anyone else in the world; certainly not for an elected president.

    Walking past Parliament yesterday, I felt a spasm of genuine pity for the two republicans in their straw hats holding up signs saying ‘Abolish Monarchy’ and ‘Abolish Royals’, as hundreds of people walked past them politely, hoping for a better view of the new king and queen. Republicanism in this country has become a minority fetish, like learning Esperanto, or being a Ricardian (those who think Richard III didn’t kill the Princes in the Tower).

    Republicans and wokesters like to talk of Britain becoming a ‘modern’ country, in need of reinvention. By contrast, reactionaries lament the loss of a thread to a different, long-dead Britain. They are both wrong, for while many of us are too shy to admit it, we are as proud of our British traditions today as we were in the 1950s, and more importantly we are right to be.

    In that spirit, it is vital that next year’s Coronation be magnificent; not the ‘cost of living’ one that some are already advocating. Coronations are rare in our history, and if Charles III enjoys his parents’ longevity there won’t be another for a quarter of a century. If the coming economic pain proves as harsh as expected, a full display of the splendour of royalty can lift the nation’s spirits. We would soon regret a downbeat, cut-price event that does not show off Britain at her best.

    The last Coronation took place in an era of rationing, serious austerity and grinding postwar shortage – far worse circumstances than we will face in 2023 however hard the squeeze gets – yet that was a great state occasion. The previous one was in 1937, as storm clouds gathered over Europe and Adolf Hitler issued blood-curdling threats against his racial enemies. That did not daunt the national Government from laying on a fine ceremony that reminded Britons of their glorious past. The 2023 Coronation should be equal to either of them.

    In a country hopefully by then emerging from the worst of the downturn, the prospect of a great national event like the Coronation will be a tonic. The peals of the bells of Westminster Abbey; the great organ’s strains of Zadok the Priest; King Charles III sitting on Edward the Confessor’s throne above the Stone of Scone, holding the orb and sceptre; the peers simultaneously replacing their coronets on their grey-haired heads; the Imperial State Crown; the unanimous cries of ‘Vivat Rex!’ That is the way to perk up the nation, and we should not try to do it on the cheap.

    As Queen Elizabeth II’s obsequies reach their crescendo on Monday, there will be a number of ways that people will want to make her memory permanent. She already has a Tube line named after her. I believe that the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square should sport a fine equestrian statue of her too. (However badly sculpted it was, it couldn’t be worse than the modern art that presently adorns it.) There will be scholarships in her name and any number of good works inaugurated in her honour.

    On top of all those, however, we should venerate her memory by giving our full-throated loyalty to her son and heir, and ensuring he has a Coronation worthy of 1000 years of monarchy.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/09/12/silent-crowds-long-queues-see-britain-many-feared-lost/

    BTL:
    Bill Ma
    Despite the never-ending attack on the basic decency of the British people by the left, led by the BBC and supported by today’s woke liberal establishment, the true beauty of the people of our country shines through when it counts. It is noticeable however from their absence in real life, as opposed to their media representation, how one section of British society is almost nowhere to be seen. Especially in London. Why is this and can anything be done about it or is multiculturalism just that, different cultures living wholly different lives? If so this is concerning [sic] and one must ask what damage our education system doing to our countries sense of itself.

    Mark F Nowland
    Multiculturalism is an absolute disaster for this country. Multiracialism is absolutely fine. There are large sections of society that cares not one jot for this country and we’ve been celebrating this alternate culture for years, rather than encouraging them to respect and uphold British values.

    It’s the most moronic political act in history.

    _____________________________________

    I’m not persuaded by Mark Nowland’s claim for the multiracial over the multicultural. There will be many from both the ethnic and cultural minorities who haven’t been seen since Thursday and won’t be seen over the next few days or at the coronation.

    And just to show there’s always one. Perhaps he did it for a bet…
    _____________________________________

    William McIntosh
    Pass the sick bucket. Andrew and his English nationalist chums have poisoned the country forever and all the royalist sentiment can’t put the union back together again. Rejoining the single market would not only revitalise the economy, it would also heal deep wounds. But it won’t happen because English chauvinism must be seen to be supreme even though it is destroying the British ideal. Andrew writes books that are mostly BS.

    2. Multi culturalism is a disaster anywhere. Look what happened to the well run countries like Rhodesia and South Africa when the locals took over. Economies and output most existing lifestyle absolutely wrecked. So badly many African people have even come to Europe and tried to change our established out look and lifestyle.

    3. I haven’t -yet – read all of the piece – but what struck me was the by-line, “Dignified mourning for the late Queen reminds us that traditional British instincts remain the same” and one can hope so, as the bulwark against this stupid ‘Reset’.

      1. What a teriblle comment from MrMcIntosh, he should be ashamed, even if he is Scottsh, that he cares so little for a Great Lady who has steered this (his) country through calamity after calamity (including hisi wee pretendy parliament) through the turmoils of happenstance for 70 decades. What did you do Mr MacIntosh in the last 70 years?

  75. Utterly off topic.

    Autumn has arrived here, the last orchids of the year, autumn ladies’ tresses have started to appear.
    It fascinates me the way that the flower spikes seem to shoot up overnight and then the small white flowers appear.

    The temperatures suggest they are early, but I suspect they’re not.

      1. Agreed, but often more towards the end of the month here.

        I try to point out orchids to the cottage guests because most of them seldom see the plants in the wild, nor realise what they are, because they are only used to the big, blousy Asian house plants..
        The best time here is late April, May and very early June when we might have as many as 15 different species/varieties on show.

          1. I am always on the look out for them in the garden and most years I find some in new places. They come and go every year, but the numbers are certainly increasing.

            There is an absolutely magnificent one down the road, but every year some bastard cuts it, before it can set seed and spread.

            Locally, I’m becoming known as the crazy orchid guy and even the people who cut the verges stop at the edge of our property and start again well up the hill.

            It has been a revelation to some of the locals and they are now doing as I do, marking potential plants, cutting the area immediately around them and hoping.
            The result has been great, there are far far more than when we arrived and it might be our grateful legacy to the people who have made us so welcome.

            And on your particular interest, the evidence (crotte) is that the garden has numerous hedgehogs living in the “re-wilded” bits, alongside my hares.

    3. Locally, a hydrogen filling station blew up at Easter about 4 years ago, rattling our windows with a huge BOOM!!

    1. How many ‘English’ dentists (ha) could face similar conviction. I just avoid any dentrisy, at 78, I don’t care if they all drop out.

    3. F*ck yer tooth picks; some of us are more interested in a unique week of historical and constitutional drama …

    1. What a dreadful state of affairs when the country no longer dares to take the late Sovereign’s body on a train because of the “fear of demonstrations or protests”.

      How simply appalling.

      2. Indeed.
        I would allow the train to blow the whistle and proceed, if the protester is too stupid to get out of the way: welcome to the nhs.

      3. But I’m thinking that it’s rather wonderful to see the spontaneous response from the public on the route from Northolt to Buck House. Thousands of people stopped their cars en route and stood at the sides of the roads. And we were able to turn the sound of the droning journos off and watch it on the Box.

      1. The ceremony itself is part of the process.
        From your constant sniping, I’m guessing that you don’t like Charles or the monarchy.

        1. Not at all, I am a monarchist. I am no fan of Charles, because he has been working for the WEF since at least 1993, he employed a malthusian as his environment advisor, he supports political extremists, he was thick with at least four known paedophiles and he has openly called for anti-democratic rule by a small elite.
          In short, a thoroughly unsuitable character to be near the reins of power in any role.

          2. You forget how the Windsors came to power in Britain…they are not the monarchy, much as they would like everyone to think they are.

      1. How would you feel if you had booked into the Savoy as usual, six months ago, and halfway through your stay they told you to leave and find alternative accommodation ?

          1. Many years ago (at least 60+), a great aunt kept a suite at Claridge’s, where she lived all year around. It was her home.
            I think in those days one could buy a suite.
            I shudder to think what it must have cost, but room service supplied a soft boiled egg for breakfast every morning!

    2. They should have let the families stay but told them there would be no activities or service, and to bring their own food.

  83. On a sourer note.

    King Charles’s staff given redundancy notice during church service for Queen
    Exclusive: Employees said to be livid and shaken as up to 100 Clarence House employees told they could lose jobs
    Many staff had assumed they would be amalgamated into the King’s new household, as his offices move to Buckingham Palace.
    Many staff had assumed they would be amalgamated into the King’s new household, as his offices move to Buckingham Palace. Photograph: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images
    Dozens of Clarence House staff have been given notice of their redundancy as the offices of King Charles and the Queen Consort move to Buckingham Palace after the death of the Queen, the Guardian has learned.

    Up to 100 employees at the King’s former official residence, including some who have worked there for decades, received notification that they could lose their jobs just as they were working round the clock to smooth his elevation to the throne.

    Private secretaries, the finance office, the communications team and household staff are among those who received notice during the thanksgiving service for the Queen, at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh on Monday, that their posts were on the line.

    Many staff had assumed they would be amalgamated into the King’s new household, claiming they were given no indication of what was coming until the letter from Sir Clive Alderton, the King’s top aide, arrived. One source said: “Everybody is absolutely livid, including private secretaries and the senior team. All the staff have been working late every night since Thursday, to be met with this. People were visibly shaken by it.”

    In his letter, seen by the Guardian, Alderton wrote: “The change in role for our principals will also mean change for our household … The portfolio of work previously undertaken in this household supporting the former Prince of Wales’s personal interests, former activities and household operations will no longer be carried out, and the household … at Clarence House will be closed down. It is therefore expected that the need for the posts principally based at Clarence House, whose work supports these areas will no longer be needed.”

    The King’s private secretary added: “I appreciate that this is unsettling news and I wanted to let you know of the support that is available at this point.”

    He added that certain staff providing “direct, close, personal support and advice” to Charles and Camilla would remain in post. No final decisions are understood to have been taken, as a consultation period, which will begin after the state funeral next Monday, needs to be completed first.

    Staff who are made redundant are expected to be offered searches for alternative employment across all royal households, assistance in finding new jobs externally and an “enhanced” redundancy payment beyond the statutory minimum.

    A Clarence House spokesman said: “Following last week’s accession, the operations of the household of the former Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall have ceased and, as required by law, a consultation process has begun. Our staff have given long and loyal service and, while some redundancies will be unavoidable, we are working urgently to identify alternative roles for the greatest number of staff.”

    It has not yet been confirmed whether the King and Queen Consort will eventually live at Buckingham Palace. At present, only parts of Buckingham Palace are habitable as it is undergoing major reservicing works that are expected to last years.

    There is speculation that the King, who is rumoured not to be particularly fond of the palace, would use it for official purposes such as receptions, audiences, investitures and banquets, while retaining nearby Clarence House as his London home.

    When his office was asked about this in 2017, when he was still Prince of Wales, officials said that Buckingham Palace would remain as the headquarters of the monarchy and official home of the sovereign. No detailed information about his likely living arrangements have been given recently.

    According to Clarence House’s annual review earlier this year, the King employed the full-time equivalent of 101 staff. There are 31 in the private secretaries’ office, including private and assistant private secretaries, research, administrative and equerry staff.

    A similar number work in his treasurers’ department, while he employs 12 in his communications office. The 28 members of his household staff include four chefs, five house managers, three valets and dressers and a couple of butlers. According to the most recent sovereign grant report, the Queen employed 491 full-time staff.

    There is also the question of whether the King would retain use of Windsor Castle for weekends, and Sandringham House in Norfolk, which the late Queen visited over the Christmas period. The King and Queen Consort also have a residence at Birkhall on the Balmoral estate, Highgrove in Gloucestershire, and Llwynywermod, a cottage in Wales.

    The new Prince and Princess of Wales have recently relocated to Windsor, and moved into Adelaide Cottage, while retaining their Kensington Palace apartment for official purposes.

    When the Queen Mother died, the Duke of York took over Royal Lodge at Windsor. While some of her 83 members of staff were redeployed within other royal households, others were let go.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/13/king-charles-staff-given-redundancy-notice-during-church-service-for-queen

    1. The timing was dreadful, but Hell’s teeth, why should the household expand and expand and expand?

      My bet is that anti-monarchists timed it to cause as much PR damage as they possibly could.

      1. My thoughts as well, Sos . I would have thought that they would have moved over to the new POW’s office .

        Many thanks for that very interesting Fungi story. What an incredible looking ‘thing’..

        I will look harder in places around here for that particular typeof weirdie.

        1. It appears as a very small ball, slowly expands and then splits open to show the red innards.
          It’s an impressive fungus.

    3. “King Charles’s staff given redundancy notice during church service for Queen”

      Not exactly the right time I would say, how insensitive of the King.

  84. As we approach the end-game, what is your enduring memory of the Queen?

    I’m afraid to say that mine is of her sitting alone, wearing a mask at her husband’s funeral.

    God how I hate the hypocrites who created that situation.

    May they burn in Hell.

    1. The only time I saw her in person was in 1955 – she was standing in an open Land Rover, with Prince Philip, and they drove across Gloucester Park – lots of schoolchildren were lined up to see them.

      I’d rather remember that occasion than the forlorn and lonely figure at her husband’s funeral.

      1. Me too, but although I have been in close proximity, and in some cases have met members of the royal family I never attended anything where the Queen was present (as far as I know) so that sad face is my most significant memory.

        1. Princess Anne and Charles both have homes near here so I have seen them on a few occasions, and chatted with the Princess at Gatcombe. Also we gave Diana a drink on a hot day when she was at the Cirencester Polo Club and we were working.

          I spilt a drink up Mark Phillips’ sleeve at Gatcombe and cleared up broken glass round Prince Philp’s feet at Badminton…..

          1. If there is one thing that seems to unite them all it is supporting small local charities where they have residences.

          4. We did the Christmas lunch for their staff when it was clear their marriage was on the rocks. Mark was late and arrived with a brace of pheasants, which he hung on the kitchen door knob. The look Princess Anne gave him when he appeared in the dining room would have stopped a tank in its tracks.

      2. I’m happy to say that I played for her at the Royal Tournament at Earl’s court in 1962, as a mere boy entrant Piper with many others from RAF Cosford and others.

    2. I’ve seen her close up on 3 occasions. Twice in 1977 during her Silver Jubilee tour – I was working at the Cumbrian Hotel in Carlisle which was in Court Square, right next to the station. I was right on the steps when she and Prince Philip walked past. Then she drove through Low Fell and Mum and I were waving like mad as she went past! Then in 2002 she and Philip came and opened the Falkirk Wheel. I went along the back road from here, parked at the side of the road near the Wheel and wandered into the car park. When they drove in I was stunned to be so close! Marvellous memories! Wonderful lady!

      1. I absolutely agree Sue. I don’t think she will ever be bettered as a public person. She was wonderful even in her obvious dispare.

        1. I cried today as she was driven through Edinburgh and out to the airport. She has been my Queen all my life and I really thought she’d be around forever. When the ‘plane took off I shed more tears. Then I went upstairs to see her flight away in the distance.

          1. Her farewell from Scotland was very emotional and I did really sob my heart out .

            I love Scotland .. you are so fortunate , and you must be very near to where the aircraft took off .

          2. It’s about 20 miles as the crow flies, but the plane came west (over Bathgate) then it’s much closer to us, and it was a beautiful clear day! Then it went south and down over Dumfries and Carlisle. I did use Flighttracker!!

    3. And me Sos.
      I don’t think I’ll ever get over that horrible scene.
      She looked so lonely it’s was absolutely disgusting.

      1. But respect that she showed leadership, and walked the talk, supporting her government’s position. Even in such an awful circumstance.

    6. Exactly the picture that I remember.
      I will never – ever – forgive the hypocrites and grey functionaries who inflicted that inhuman behaviour on people – from Queen down to the poorest beggar.

    7. My earliest memory of seeing the Queen was the official opening of the Cutty Sark in Greenwich. I was about three and a half and really pissed off because all my cousins had bigger Union Flags to wave than mine!

    8. A dreadful indictment of all her children and the government for imposing draconian restrictions they knew had nothing to do with any virus.

  85. OT but has anyone else had trouble with Discus tonight? Apparently the server has not been responding on my iPad, but it was ok on the laptop! Then suddenly it reappeared on the tablet!

    2. Yes – just now but it was the internet connection rather than Disqus. But it did switch from ‘newest’ to several hours ago. Our internet connection has got quite unreliable lately.

    3. The layout changed today. It now looks the same on my phone as on the work laptop, which it never did before. It’s slow to load but otherwise seems OK.

    1. The Bank of England and the government would like you to be aware that they had nothing to do with inflation. It is your duty to blame inflation on Putin, climate change and your own wasteful spending on luxuries like heating your house.

  89. Night firing here on the ranges , huge explosions .. I think the pressure waves are affecting the spaniels ears.

    We are a few miles away , but never the less Moh and I have almost ducked once or twice

  92. I am sure this will be a huge disappointment to some here- but it seems I have a little more time to live. Have to go for more tests.
    Still very upset about HM.

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