That Nazi gold train - just a thought

No doubt it will cost a lot of money to dig down 8-10 metres to find the train in Poland, and it might take a lot of legal wrangling to get the job done to everyone's satisfaction. But photographs on Facebook show that, on the surface there are ventilation shafts. Surely someone could use some high tech system or even low tech system, to suspend a camera on a wire - like keyhole surgery? How about even sending a drone down there to fly through the length of the tunnel? Oh well, I was just saying. And there is a medical robotics expert in Wroclaw - I have his card.

Poland's Nazi Gold Train

This August, whilst preparing for my short talk in Wroclaw, Poland, to my delight there was exciting topical news all over the international press. It was that Nazi gold train hidden in a tunnel in nearby Walbrzych, ever since 1945, having been stuffed with loot from Wroclaw's bank vaults and spirited away. I should say the old German name, Breslau because it was part of Germany in those days - on their far easterly border, with the Russians rapidly approaching westward over the plains. No doubt they were hiding it for future use, about 50 miles closer to Berlin. As you can see from the map, the railway offered a direct route towards the Silesian forests and mountains, well known as hunting country.

Now I had the beginnings of an adventure. Well, the fabulous castle near Walbrzych was already part of my talk and slide show. This was because of the historic link with Winston Churchill. His aunty, Princess Daisy, lived there! In the days when it was part of the German Reich, the castle was known as Schloss Furstenstein, and nowadays in Polish it is called Zamek Ksiaz. Here is a bird's eye view in 2015 -  keep a lazy eye out for  the main road and railway lines down in the valley.....south south east - 1.5 miles or 2.41 km away - precisely.





 I discovered from the Churchill Archives and other primary sources, that back in 1906, Winston was trying to wangle a visit since Kaiser Bill would be using the region of this beautiful, much fought-over Silesia for his military manoeuvres, involving 50,000 troops and machinery, showing off the huge Germanic power to numerous international dignitaries. The Churchill archives at Cambridge show that he had actually asked Daisy's brother, George Cornwallis-West to fix it for him (but then denied it), however in the end, he did receive a formal invitation via the Embassy from the Kaiser himself, along with the offer of the use of a horse and a personal military man to accompany him. So along with the Kaiser's other VIP guests, Winston was put up at the old Golden Goose hotel, slap bang in the centre of Breslau (where Chopin had famously stayed) and was woken up very early each morning to catch a special train to watch the manoeuvres.

On King Edward VII's instructions, Winston didn't put a step wrong with the Kaiser (the King's nephew), even having a 20 minute conversation with him and learning a lot, meanwhile. The Kaiser even sent him some autographed official commemorative photos from September's manoeuvres, along with new year's greetings for 1907.

              Close up of a  sneaky photo opportunity for Kaiser Wilhelm with young Major Churchill, September 1906

Winston wrote up the whole story eventually and it was published several times as 'The German Splendour' -  most recently in his 'Thoughts and Adventures'. I found out from Princess Daisy's personal diaries also published years later, that Winston did get to visit the castle for social events that week - twice, but not to stay.  She never did take to him, and she disagreed with his politics. But she too could see storms ahead - she was a passionate peacemaker with influence across nations and even a famed beauty.

So the next piece of research was 'walking the walk' - a bus journey from Wroclaw, alighting at the castle's Palm House, then a walk through the park and all round the castle. I was interested to read that Princess Daisy's German husband became a megalomaniac, spending money like water to impress all the heads of Europe with his rebuilding in the years 1909 - 1923. He must have made a good job of it, because although the family then faced personal and financial ruination, during World War 2, someone pounced on the potential: "Ksiaz was being prepared for one of the quarters of the Fuhrer." The sightseeing leaflet states this.

No surprise, then, when I was chatting with a member of staff at the main railway station at Wroclaw on 24th September. He volunteered the information (including showing me on Google Earth) of exactly where the Nazi gold train is - just a stone's throw from the Palm House and on an old spur from the main railway track - 10 metres down, and on land nowadays belonging to a Toyota dealer.

Last weekend, Philip helped me trace back on Google Earth and screen capture the location I had been shown.

So to be specific - the site is, as the drone flies, 2.41 km SSE of Ksiaz, under a wooded mound parallel to the main railway line to Wroclaw, north east from the road bridge on 'Uczniowska'. Just to the right of it is the Toyota dealership - Toyotakowski Walbrzych Sp.z.oo . To the right of the mainline track you can see a deserted track - I gather from another blogger like me that the rails have been removed but the sleepers are still visible to this day - and this would have been part of the old pre-war porcelain factory.  I wonder if, in early 1945, was there another track between the two, positioned for a quick getaway towards Berlin, and visible traces erased?

Having visited Dresden's porcelain factory last year and then Schindler's enamel factory in Krakow last month - and knowing that, during WW2, factories had to incorporate some clandestine war production techniques, I just wonder what else they were up to there. What an excellent location for secrecy, and thank goodness it wasn't suspected and bombed to oblivion.

Here is my fellow blogger's most recent 'on the spot' posting - good work:

http://jeziorki.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/mapping-wabrzychs-gold-train.html

If we look at that first map again, showing the location of present-day Polish cities Wroclaw and Walbrzych, notice the Polish border, to the south. That relocation southwards was all decided after the end of WW2, and Mr Winston Churchill definitely has credit for that.

Now the location I was given is confirmed with helicopter film footage! A travel tip for the future when visiting Wroclaw: You should see the splendour of the Kaiser's VIP suite at the castellated, newly renovated, Wroclaw railway station. Even Michael Portillo in his TV series didn't get to see behind the scenes like I did on a personal guided tour with the station manager this September. The ceilings currently under lock and key are magnificently decorated with four coats of arms, for the four German Kingdoms: Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Württemberg, and in the centre is a massive golden sun, to represent the Kaiser's enormous power over all his kingdoms. It may be turned into a sophisticated restaurant eventually. However, for those on lowly budgets happy to eat fast food, you can still enjoy the two amazing gold ceilings from the German Reich while you have an American-style coffee or some fried chicken, and dream of discovering Nazi gold from 70 years ago.

Quilts

Lots of new babies recently!  Here are some of the quilts I've made.

The story of FW Twort FRS travels to Poland

Back in 2008 I discovered in the Wellcome Trust archives that the famous expert microbiologist and discoverer of bacteriophages, Frederick W Twort was actually born and bred here in Surrey, and I could contact his only son and biographer, Dr Antony Twort.

It was a pleasure to invite Antony to tea. He already knew the way to Reigate because he had regularly driven himself to the Bourne Gallery round the corner in Lesbourne Road (now a trendy bike cafe) for occasional exhibitions.  Little did I know at the time that he had a famous watercolour artist as a distant relative - Flora Twort - whose own magnificent works are permanently on display in the gallery named after her in Petersfield. Antony very kindly brought me some goodies - a copy of his biography, which he inscribed for me, a copy of a crucial Penguin book from 1949 (Science News 14), which was from his father's own stash as one of the key authors, plus a splendid commemorative poster from the American Society of Microbiology that gives his father the credit he deserves in history.

Then in 2012 I also had the pleasure of inviting Antony to lunch - just before his 90th birthday, and I was able to give him an inscribed copy of my book - well, really, I had only written one of the chapters, but I included lots of material about the legendary FW Twort and the pioneering work he did.  It is now, in 2015, exactly 100 years since his discovery was first published in the Lancet, and I hope his son Antony has received my exciting news, that this centenary is going to be commemorated in proper style and dignity in Wroclaw, Poland, 850 miles away, with a one day conference - Clinical Phage Therapy 2015. Sadly, up until now, Twort has always been rather a Cinderella in the miniscule world of microbiology. We can transform all that on Saturday 26th September.

Here is the official website for Clinical Phage Therapy 2015: http://www.iitd.pan.wroc.pl/en/clinphage2015 - detailing the conference programme and speakers, registration, abstracts, and details of the venue and contacts.  Registration is free!

As a special guest, I shall be delighted to attend and present a 5 minute talk with some of my rare Twort photos and happy news of events this year when I have been able to easily spread the word about phage therapy.

Now I shall risk giving the game away: and for some very quick special effects to bring it all bang up to date, I have some marching band music playing Colonel Bogey, plus a video clip of a drone flying over a fabulous fairytale castle just 50 miles from Wroclaw Glowny railway station, which Winston Churchill visited way back in 1906 when it was still called Breslau. So I think that might be rather fun and I do think Dr FW Twort would have approved. (Incidentally, Twort once put butter on the railway tracks and watched the steam train skidding back down the hill again by his local station - naughty!)

My photo: Marching band playing Colonel Bogey to 1000 Churchill Fellows, at Blenheim Palace, 2015
                                                            (click link for the music)

Reigate woman meets the Queen - picture

Reigate resident attends Queen’s reception at Buckingham Palace, to mark the 50^th anniversary of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust

Grace Filby, a Churchill Fellow of 2007 from Reigate, Surrey, attended a reception at Buckingham Palace, hosted by Her Majesty The Queen on 18^th March.

Her Majesty The Queen, who is patron of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, hosted the event to mark its 50^th anniversary as Sir Winston’s living legacy.

Since 1965, over 5000 British citizens have been awarded Churchill Fellowships, from over 100,000 applicants, to travel overseas to study areas of topical and personal interest. The knowledge and innovative ideas they bring back are shared, for the benefit of their profession, their community, and, in lots of cases, the nation. For many people, a Churchill Fellowship proves transformational, and they go on to achieve great things - effecting positive change within society.

Grace went on her Fellowship in 2007 to the Former Soviet Union (Republic of Georgia) and Poland, as well as the USA and Canada to investigate the health value of bacteriophages.

As she explained in the commemorative booklet, phages are natural waterborne viruses that attack bacteria. Whilst their application is still obscure in the UK, Grace affirms that phage therapy has great potential in the fight against antibiotic resistance.

She says “the Anniversary Reception was an exciting and unforgettable event, with so many amazing people to meet and chat to about their Fellowships and what they have achieved since. As time rushed by, I suddenly realised I hadn’t yet been to meet our host, Her Majesty the Queen. Luckily I was whisked in to be presented to her and the Duke of Edinburgh, with the advantage of not even having to stand in line, so not a minute was wasted! Just one or two people knew that I had, all the while, brought a couple of tiny vials of phage medicine from the Former Soviet Union in my bag, for the sake of posterity. They are perfectly harmless. Considering it is exactly 100 years since phages were discovered by a Surrey microbiologist, I thought it was about time they got some official recognition in the UK.”

245 Fellows from every decade since 1965 represented the Trust at the reception, as well as representatives from The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust in Australia, and the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States.

To mark its semi centennial, The Trust has just awarded a record number of 150 Travelling Fellowships – investing at least £1.3m in British citizens. This year’s Fellows will travel to 58 countries between them, across six continents, where they will carry out a wide range of projects. The average length of a Fellowship is 6 weeks.

Many events are being held throughout the year to celebrate Sir Winston’s life and legacy.

“We were delighted and honoured that the Queen hosted a reception to mark our anniversary year. Sir Winston’s legacy lives on through our Fellows – individuals who, like him, have vision, leadership, a passion with a purpose, and a commitment to help their fellow citizens” says Jamie Balfour, Director General of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.

For an official photograph of Grace speaking with the Queen go to:

http://www.wcmt.org.uk/fellows/stories/grace-filbys-story

Monty's birthday bash in Redhill

17th November was a special date in the calendar for my Churchill's Secret Reigate talk at St.Paul's, Redhill - the event also attracted several volunteer stewards from Chartwell.

This time I started off with topical news - firstly a letter from Reigate and Banstead Borough Council thanking me for my street name suggestions, and to confirm that the new residential road off Linkfield Lane will be named to commemorate Churchill's connection with this area, to be ready by June 2012. (I was told on the phone that it will be called Churchill Close. Monty doesn't get a streetname because Montgomery is too long a name - well at least he has a legend for evermore with Monty's Secret Hideout, up on the hill.)

The second bit of news was that it was actually General Montomery's birthday that very day - he was born on 17th November, 124 years ago. Even more amazing was that it was actually on his birthday, in 1941 aged 48, that he was promoted to be head of South Eastern Command and he went immediately, that same day, to Reigate to set up his HQ. Coincidence or design? History in the making.

Reigate Cave Mystery - Lost stone

Have you seen this stone? Missing since 1st June 2011, last seen in Barons Caves, Reigate. There is a long tradition of guides explaining for visitors that it was used in medieval times as a way of summoning service from the castle servants upstairs.

Whodunnit?

Strolling through our Priory Park on Friday, I noticed that the neat lollipop-style bay trees were not looking too healthy any more. Of seven trees, several now have dead, brown leaves and at least one is denuded of its lower bark.

Stopping to chat to my park keeper friend who was carefully tending the herbaceous borders in Monks Walk, I just mentioned this and to my horror, he told me what has been happening.

Repeatedly on Wednesday and Saturday evenings, persons unknown have been yanking those trees out of the soil, lugging them over to the fountain pool at the centre of the Sunken Garden, and leaving them there in the water to drown!

What mindless evening pranks - those idiots responsible for this are thoroughly disrespectful to the trees, to all of us who visit the park and especially with this particular part of consecrated ground beside the old Priory. The whole set of baytrees was replaced last year, but it looks as if this new batch are destined for the tip too. And the cost to ratepayers? £100 each plus VAT. Go figure how much that costs.

Then we have 2 young lads who decided to light a fire in the woods, necessitating a callout by the Fire Brigade, because of the risk of burning peat. It turns out that these thoughtless visitors had travelled all the way from Orpington and London.

And to cap it all, there are so many people coming from all over, with picnic stuff and choosing to go to the more secluded areas like the stable hill - and what do they do with their rubbish? Precisely nothing. This is exactly what I had written about to the local newspaper a few years ago.

I hope they all get caught, named and shamed - and fined. Anyone else with a camera?

In the comfort of Reigate Priory - problem solved

Update March 2015 - the problem of Reigate Priory's leaking roof is solved and all is well.

Original post in 2011: While the spring sun shines and the cherry trees blossom beautifully, it is easy to forget the bitterly cold weather of three months ago, but not the damage that it did to roofs, gutters and roads across the country.
Sadly our town's magnificent historic Grade 1 listed building, home to Reigate Priory Junior School and Reigate Priory Museum, took a terrible blow from the snow. The museum is currently closed and the treasured artefacts have had to be temporarily rehoused to keep them safe. That means the museum collection would be inaccessible to the public for the foreseeable future. I do hope Surrey County Council will be able to get the Priory roof put right soon, and treat it as a priority to restore the museum collection to its rightful home in the centre of Reigate. After all, the items were donated by local residents for the good of the local community, and part of our heritage.
Exactly a century ago in 1911, our beloved Reigate Priory was a private country mansion which was often rented out for rich and famous tenants, and a popular choice for weekend house parties. On 28, 29 and 30th October of that year, it was the location for a vital three-day meeting of top Government and Admiralty figures. Here, Admiral Lord Fisher could advise and educate the new First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill about the wisdom of having a battleship fleet fueled by oil, rather than coal. As well as oil fueling greater speed for the ships, it was going to be a darned sight cheaper than solid fuel, and would save on personnel! What a practical decision was made here. Now, with a hundred years of hindsight it was not especially original as an idea, but still, such discussions required a suitable, comfortable environment where these decision makers could be sheltered from outside events and focus on the job at hand.
Reigate Priory's 19th century addition of the library area has long been a source of water leaks. Presumably because Winston Churchill described the meeting as being "in the comfort of Reigate Priory" in his book, The World Crisis, he was not inconvenienced by such unfortunate events here a century ago.

Bath Bomb chemistry from Epsom, Surrey

Pure and simple: sodium bicarbonate and magnesium sulphate - with optional extras

With people needing simple solutions to help themselves get rid of 'nasties' like bugs or poisonous metals, what could be lovelier than to remember those times when Grandma scooped a handful of sweet-smelling glittery crystals into the bathwater and swished them around.
You can create your own personal health spa! One of the main ingredients is Epsom salts, named after the town of Epsom just up the road here in Surrey. The magnesium sulphate salt was distilled from the springs that arise where the porous chalk of the North Downs meets non-porous London clay. No wonder it has been such a popular area to live in for centuries, and for breeding and training prizewinning racehorses too.

It might be a good idea to stock up on the chemicals for future use in emergencies.



from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Things You'll Need

• Large glass of cold water




• Towel




• Skin Brush (Optional)




• Epsom Salts (magnesium sulphate)




• Baking Soda (sodium bicarbonate)




• 40 minutes




• Optional ingredients: Aromatherapy oils, grapefruit seed extract, ginger, herbs, hydrogen peroxide.

Detoxification of your body through bathing is an ancient remedy that anyone can perform in the comfort of their own home. Your skin is known as the third kidney, and toxins are excreted through sweating. A detox bath will assist your body in eliminating toxins, as well as absorbing the minerals and nutrients that are in the water.


Steps

1. Prepare your bath on a day that you have at least 40 minutes available, as the first 20 minutes are said to help your body remove the toxins, while the second 20 minutes are for absorbing the minerals in the water.





2. Fill your tub with comfortably hot water, using a chlorine filter if possible.





3. Add 2 cups or more (up to 16 lbs) of Epsom Salts, aka magnesium sulphate. This can be purchased in 3 lb bags or 1 lb cartons at discount stores in the garden centre, or in the pharmaceutical area, or ordered from garden centres in 50 lb bags. It's very inexpensive.





4. Add 1 to 2 cups or more of Baking Soda, aka sodium bicarbonate. This is said to help eliminate the chlorine in the water, as well as soften the water, and help the body to absorb the magnesium. Large bags can usually be found in the swimming pool chemical area, or the boxes from the bakery aisle will work fine.





5. Know that Epsom Salts and Baking Soda bath is a detox bath in itself, and other items can be added for further effects. Ground ginger, or fresh ginger tea both work quite well. The ginger is heating to the body and may cause your skin to turn slightly red for a few minutes, so be careful with the amount you add. Depending on the capacity of your tub, and your sensitivity, anywhere from 1 tablespoon to 1/3 cup can be added. Most people sweat profusely with the addition of the ginger, and if you wrap your body in a blanket immediately after getting out of the tub, you can continue to detoxify through perspiration for another couple of hours. This is especially beneficial if you are trying to rid the body of a bug of some sort, like the flu, or a cold.





6. Add aromatherapy oils; this is optional, but there are many oils that will help the bath to be a pleasant and relaxing experience, such as lavender, or ylang ylang, or those that will assist in the detoxification process such as tea tree or eucalyptus. Around 20 drops is sufficient.





7. Swish all of the ingredients into the tub, and soak for as long as you can, preferably 20 minutes. You should start sweating within the first few minutes, and the longer the better, up to 20 minutes. If you feel too hot, start adding cold water into the tub until you cool off. Sit in the cool water another 20 minutes, if you can. When you get out of the tub, move slowly and carefully, as your body has been working hard and you may get lightheaded or feel weak and drained.

Tips

• Take a large, 32 oz or more, glass of water with you into the tub and drink plenty before, during and after the bath to help your body excrete the toxins.





• Don't eat immediately before or after the bath.





• Relax for the rest of the day and allow your body to continue to detoxify and heal itself.





• Other additives historically used by some are hydrogen peroxide, 2 cups, grapefruit seed oil, 1 Tablespoon, and herbs such as rosemary and thyme.





• Have your towel nearby the tub and ready so that you can wrap up immediately and continue the detox.





• Shower off the Epsom Salts, if desired, but it's not necessary, and it benefits your body more if you wait until morning.





• Dry brush your skin before the bath for further benefits.

Warnings

• Do not take a hot bath or a detox bath if you are pregnant, or have heart, or any other health issues. This article is for educational purposes only and is not meant to diagnose, treat, cure or otherwise take the place of the advice of your licensed healthcare practitioner.

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual and slightly edited for my Pigeon Post blog. Please find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Take a Detox Bath. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

St Pauls, Dorking

I was invited to give a talk to the Monday group at St Paul's Church, Dorking during Science and Engineering Week 2011.

The centrepiece was my patchwork quilt comforter which I designed to commemorate 70 years since WSC became Prime Minister, and the Battle of Britain. Naturally it didn't reveal any of the engineering masterpieces that had been constructed underground, e.g. at Deepdene, so around the quilt on the tabletops I put out all my "props" which everyone enjoyed browsing through, to see the evidence for themselves.

Towards the end of the evening we moved on to medical science and the continuous war against infections which Winston Churchill cared so much about. I was able to provide some good news that probably never reached his ears despite all attempts, and the audience with all their years of experience, immediately recognised the significance. I didn't need to say much about that.

Surrey PCT legal boilerplate meltdown

Surrey Primary Care Trust replied under the Freedom of Information Act today. http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/hpv_vaccine_untrue_safety_claims

Watch out - before even opening the file there is a long load of legalese lingo - here's one paragraph:

Please note that the information provided is the property of Surrey PCT and subject to Intellectual Property and Database Rights. Any commercial application or use of this information may be subject to the provisions of the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005. This means that if for any reason you wish to re-use the information provided for any commercial purpose or applications, you must ask us for permission to do so. Should we agree that you can use the information it will be subject to the issue of a licence which may or may not involve a fee. If you have any questions about this process please contact the Head of Information Governance, c/o the email address below. Any breach of these regulations will be taken extremely seriously by Surrey PCT.

So I respectfully point out that

The aim of the Regulations is to encourage the re-use of public sector information by removing obstacles that stand in the way of re-use.

And that is straight from National Archives.

Besides, how silly! The 2 documents were

(1) a press release already published in the commercial press in 2008 and freely accessible online,

(2) a 32 page booklet published by the Department of Health, and Crown copyright, freely given out as 50,000 copies and online for the best part of a year.

To cap it all, Surrey PCT have now put back on the internet some faulty wording which is untrue and misleading, which had taken me the best part of a year to get all the faulty versions REMOVED! Yes, side effects to that vaccine are much more common than the government's PCTs have been telling you.

And here is the rabbit to pull out of my hat. Here is proof that Surrey PCT sourced its press release information from a document citing clinical trials that weren't even on the same vaccine! Well, that's too bad for Surrey children because the Reisinger paper was on Gardasil, and the studies were even designed by drug giants, Merck. This is all very odd for our Surrey girls who have been injected with Cervarix, made by Glaxo Smith Kline.

Ref: Reisinger Gardasil figures in TABLE 5.
Adverse Experience Summary Days 1–15 Postdose 1, 2 and 3.

Be warned. If you want to know facts, don't believe anything without checking.

And don't be put off by that legalese lingo either. Typical British bully tactics are just putting obstacles in your way, discouraging you from sharing information, and that, my little pumpkins, is precisely what the European Union was trying to put an end to.


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Pigeon Post's WW2 pigeon homework

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There is nothing better for cheering me up after a truly awful week than a stroke of luck - or was it merely a coincidence?

The reason I called this blog Pigeon Post is that during World War 2, a prize-winning pigeon loft at 18 Doods Road, Reigate was commandeered for the war effort. Reigate was the Battle HQ for South Eastern Command, headed by the military VIP, General Montgomery.

For my talks on Churchill's Secret Reigate, I always feature the role of these pigeons because it just goes to show how small creatures and small messages can make all the difference if they are delivered safely - and sometimes with great bravery. I have even suggested to the Council of the Reigate Society that they should be commemorated somehow locally, but they seemed to think it was a silly idea. Oh well it's their loss - our next-door ancient market town, Dorking, commemorates a flipping chicken on its main Deepdene roundabout, just where Churchill used to stay as a teenager.

I knew that the Dickin Medal had been awarded to at least one of Mr Blasby's Reigate pigeons. This is the equivalent of a Victoria Cross for animals! In total, 32 pigeons were awarded the Dickin Medal for their magnificent wartime work. Oh, how I would have liked to find out more - like their specific names, and which one did what. I guess that they had a key role in the D Day landings since these were secretly planned by Monty's army staff on a massive scale. I think it is an inspiring story.

So it was a great delight to go to Bletchley Park on Sunday - my birthday - and at the last minute to find a whole roomful of exhibits in code-breaker Alan Turing's Hut 8 - devoted to the role of pigeons in war! I shall have to go again sometime in warmer weather, and allocate an hour or so to view those exhibits in detail.

How strange that this morning, only 6 days later, when Dave my window cleaner and his friend Malcolm turned up about some household repairs - what should the guttering man do as a hobby but breed racing pigeons! So he is going to lend me a book.

And just as a bit of light relief from the ugliness and deceptions of this corrupt, sad world, I am now eagerly awaiting a DVD called "Valiant". It has only cost me one penny and it's the story of one of those splendid D Day pigeons - as a British-made cartoon. I hope that will be fun.

PS It was. I recommend it to schoolchildren needing to learn about World War 2 without any books or study skills.

"Opportunity missed"

For all the publicity about the renovation of Reigate Priory Park through Heritage Lottery Funding of £4.2 million plus more millions from local businesses, I have always maintained that a DVD would be an ideal way of recording the process and the outcome.

So it was a great treat this Christmas to see the new DVD sponsored by the Borough Council and Legal & General. It features some key historical elements since the 12th century, as well as the ancient woodland deerpark, medieval fishponds - now the lake, wild flowers, Victorian-style herbaceous borders and numerous magnificent tree specimens.

Those of us interested in nature conservation might be astonished by the attention to regulations when it came to the demolition of the old air raid shelter with its one resident bat. Similarly with the draining and dredging of the lake, one single duck nest had to be protected by giving it a wide berth of several metres.

The silliest story in my opinion, though, is about the fully grown terrapin that is an unwelcome resident of Reigate Priory Park lake - certainly not a genuine heritage feature and according to Surrey Biodiversity Partnership, actually 'a serious threat to our wetland fauna'. Project manager Nina Porter explained that she had heard about the terrapin before, she had seen it herself and it was a menace, eating fish and ducklings. I wonder if it had been properly listed in the paperwork as a living creature that should be moved to a new and more suitable home, if the opportunity presented itself.

Well, now we know that there was indeed a perfect opportunity, but failure of communication with a naive contract worker.

Suffice it to say that, after all that hard work and financial outlay, the overgrown and unwanted exotic pet still lurks there. Yes, Reigate's Rogue of a Reptile was taking a stroll across the grass when it was spotted by a workman, picked up and ushered back into that beautiful, tranquil and ancient lake, where it remains to this day. Watch out - he or she has grown to the size of a dinner plate.

Now how about a Reward for anyone else who finds it again?

Castle cottages

There is some good news from my Lib Dem councillor Graham Norman about one of my heritage concerns locally - the boarded up cottages in Reigate's Castle Grounds are for sale!

Yes, it will be good to have them occupied again and one trusts fully restored in keeping with their age and location.

If they decided to put them on the market as a result of my raising the subject then I am very glad I did - and with the proceeds there will be more than enough to pay for the restoration of Reigate's magnificent Park Lane gates. After all, it is only fitting that the sale of one historic treasure in this ancient town can fund the long awaited repair of another. Problem solved.

Letters to the Editor archives

Now that the local paper has moved offices out of Reigate to Redhill, there is no space for the archives. They have all had to go to somewhere in Brentwood/ford, I hear.

So for posterity, here are two of the letters published in October 2008, one by a colleague and the other from me. Well, if only more people had read them at the time, such as our MP Crispin Blunt who lives in London, not his constituency. We really could have helped prevent at least 4,445 girls from getting side effects in less than two years, some of whom have needed long-term hospital care.

Yes, both subheadings were shown to be correct - the HPV comments WERE misleading, and Better safe than sorry - but it is too late now for those girls.

Click here to enlarge

Click here to enlarge









For an up to date account of my findings please take a look at my new Pigeon Post page: Truth about Cervarix.

Who tore the guts out of the Nazi forces?

(1) Lifesaving phage medicine as used for Red Army troops to fight infections throughout WW2 and the Cold War

(2) This Soviet medal was for meritorious service in WW2 - in Russian, "We have won"
















Back in August I was at the Cabinet War Rooms special tea party where I had a most delightful conversation with Mr Hugh Lunghi. He had previously told me about his experiences of being the official interpreter for meetings between Churchill, Montgomery and Stalin and now he enlightened me with some more gems.

Actually at one time during the war he was even stationed here in Reigate.

He had stayed for almost three months in the small wooden dacha/shooting lodge in Abastumani, near Borzhomi, Georgia where the Grand Duke Michael lived for long periods smitten with T.B. - a place I visited in 2007 on my Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship investigating their excellent approach to health and wellbeing.

Kindly commenting on my book chapter about Women who thawed the Cold War, Mr Lunghi explained that the phrase 'Iron Curtain' was originally coined by a German political philosopher in the 19th century. 'The phrase appears again in 1918, used by the Russian emigre philosopher Vasily Rozanov in "Apocalypse of Our Time". Goebbels picked it up in Feb. 1945. Churchill first used it in his May1945 telegram to Truman and again in his wonderfully prescient address in Westminster College, Fulton in March 1946.'

The solid piece of world history which I am especially grateful for, and which is certainly worth recording for posterity is this: 'The battle which won the war and liberated Europe was the battle of the Kursk Salient in the summer of 1943. It was more important than the whole of the Overlord operation on the Western front (see for example Europe at War by Norman Taylor pp110-112) Kursk was the decisive battle of World War II: 6000 tanks took part; the Red Army lost more troops in that one battle than the Western Allies lost in the whole war. As Churchill put it, "The Red Army tore the guts out of the Nazi forces". In the British Military Mission in Moscow, thanks to Stalin's deep secrecy, we were, at the time and even long after the War, given very little information about its progress. Churchill devoted only 5 or 6 pages to Kursk in his history of the war!'

A quick check on Wikipedia informs me of these terrifying statistics as we remember World War 2 locally this week:

German losses at Kursk: 203,000
Soviet Union losses at Kursk: 863,303,

and from reading a recent monograph about the WW2 medical emergency care, the losses would have been far greater without phage medicine.

For that matter, the German troops were also routinely issued with phage medicine in WW2 -and it was our Allied troops who missed out.

J Arthur Rank

Have you ever wondered what to write in an autograph book? Well, this is what J Arthur Rank wrote on 4th February 1923, here in his home town for a neighbour's boy, Eric Hurst of Edes Fields, Park Lane. I had the great honour of showing it to the two audiences of my lecture, Churchill's Secret Reigate.

Pray about everything
Always expect something
Be thankful for anything
Grumble about nothing.

J. Arthur Rank

As well as all his other achievements in the milling business and the movies, he was the superintendent of the Sunday School at Reigate Methodist Church in the High Street, commemorated by the Rank Memorial Hall which is where I used to go for Girl Guides, the youth club, taking part in plays and concerts - and not forgetting those glorious Saturday night evenings, bopping round our handbags to the latest bands in the 60s!

J Arthur Rank was a great fan of Winston Churchill, even adopting some of his speech mannerisms apparently, and you can see from the blue plaque at Chartwell, he was one of the generous benefactors who eventually bought the place for the Churchills to continue living there, as a thank you gift after the war. During the war itself, J Arthur Rank housed his milling business temporarily in Reigate Priory for safety - just the other side of the wall behind his beloved Methodist Church. It was a wise decision because Hitler's lot had already earmarked the huge London flour mills as key targets.

On another page in Eric's tiny autograph book is a wonderful pen and ink drawing of their beloved Reigate Heath with the old windmill in the background - just as it looks today. The historic windmill is still in good condition and used as a church.

If you would like to see the autograph book, maybe I can take it along, with my WW2 memorabilia and my brand new patchwork commemorative quilt, to the Age Concern event on Saturday 20th November at Merstham Day Centre, 11am - 2pm.

The next day, Sunday 21st November, J Arthur Rank will be featured in BBC's Songs of Praise at Carshalton Methodist Church. Yet they wouldn't have known about those memories and souvenirs of J Arthur Rank that Eric's family have cherished all these years. Perhaps the Reigate Methodists would like to include that special autograph in their service sometime, now that the Rank Memorial Hall has been demolished.

My DVD and photobook are still available of course, by post via http://www.relax-well.co.uk/.

'Urban Open Land' oasis to be closed

Dearie me, I hear that the beautiful natural oasis to the east of 'the Priory' pub in Bell Street, Reigate is under threat again from our Borough Council.

Our planning officers are insisting that it should be left unmowed, fenced off - and unvisited! This is despite the fact that the landlords pay up to £400 per month in rent to the Godfrey Searle Choir Trust, clearly adding much needed support to a local good cause that would otherwise be money down the drain if the land is to be designated unusable.

Methinks our Council staff have their 'knickers in a twist' and are wasting our public money on yet more legal costs, at a time of national austerity too.

Do we need to spell it out? The whole point of urban open land is that it is open.

New street name suggestions

For many years my mother Audrey Ward was invited by groups and schools to give local history talks, and far and away the most popular were the ones about street names! We still have the card index, boxes of slides and lecture files, amended each time to satisfy the curiosity of residents of different parts of the borough. Sometimes my father or I went along too, to operate the slide projector and generally provide a bit of support with the various props.

Merstham, for example, has a housing estate with roads named after different types of rock - Portland Drive, Malmstone Avenue, Purbeck Close, Greensand Close - perfect material for learning about geology and geography! We have a heavy box of rock samples which I think came from the local stonemasons/undertakers.

Woodhatch has an estate full of beautiful tree names - Blackthorn Road, Juniper Close, Holly Road, Hornbeam Road, Willow Road, Hazel Close, Cedar Close and so on.

In Reigate we have the historic connections with aristocracy: Beaufort Road, Somers Road and St.Albans Road to name just a few.

Redhill, developing rapidly in the 19th century due to the railway as well as royal patronage at Royal Earlswood, is blessed with names like Philanthropic Road, Prince's Road, Asylum Arch Road and Victoria Road.

A new addition to Redhill's one way system in recent years was Princess Way, commemorating Princess Diana; whereas a new street name was needed for Reigate Priory's converted stable mews - what a good idea - it became Stable Mews!

What treasures they are, each with glorious stories and inspiring characters to discover! We had hoped to turn them into a book but unfortunately there has been no chance of any funding or interest from a publisher - after all, the number of streets has increased considerably in just a few short years. It seems unlikely in these times of harsh economy, that any more Lottery money will be coming our way either.

Strangely there is not a hint anywhere in the borough's street names of the significant role of Reigate in protecting our country during World War 1 or 2.

In honour of two generations and our leaders who greatly valued this area, I would like to make a little plea that we can name any new roads to commemorate Sir Winston Churchill, General Montgomery, the Welsh miners who constructed the Battle HQ bunker inside Reigate Hill and even the pedigree carrier pigeons who lost their lives delivering messages.

While we are on the subject, perhaps we can also commemorate the Girl Guiding movement - since, after all, it is their centenary this year, 2010. Even more significantly - it was all the idea of a group of pioneering Reigate girls who had 'gatecrashed' a Scouting jamboree at Crystal Palace in 1909. Look what effect that has had internationally ever since! My personal guiding experience was with the 2nd Reigate company, in the now demolished Rank Memorial Hall in the High Street, from 1963-70, and before that as a Brownie at the 3rd A pack, next door at the Congregational Church - another demolished piece of Reigate's long, distinguished history.

So I do hope that Reigate & Banstead Borough Council will consider these very topical commemorative road-naming possibilities in the near future.