Rock and Roll Stories #51 - Sartorial Elegance and Rock and Roll

 Back at the dawn of time, well actually the dawn of The False Dots, in 1979, Paul Marvin, son of the the legend that is Hank B. Marvin of The Shadows was the drummer of The False Dots. Although Paul wasn't a great drummer, we thought that having him in the band would open a few doors. Maybe Hank would put in a good words with their label EMI. Sadly, he was none too keen on our then lead singer, so this never happened. There were three things that he did do that were pretty cool though. The first was he wrote a guitar lick for us for our punk classic, Not all she seems, which we play to this day. 

The second thing was that he let us jam in his private studio and play with his guitars and amps. They were amazing. The third was that he gave me some advice. The one thing that he said that stuck with me was "Always where good shoes when you gig, people do not want to see someone who looks like they have just walked out of a builders yard playing guitar". He also advised me to make sure I'd had a proper hair cut before we did gigs. Being a punk, it took a few years for me to take his advice seriously.

We were anti everything when Paul Marvin was in the band, maybe Hank wouldv'e been more helpful if we had been a bit more respectful and nice. I have always tried to be polite around people, but our lead singer was not. I thought his behaviour was a bit off, but in his opinion, Hank Marvin was a boring old fart. What I didn't really appreciate then was that Hank had a wealth of experience. He was also right in his advice that the band should take our look seriously. I am just back from a weekend at Butlins for the House of Fun festival, with Madness and a host of other bands. Over the weekend, I think we saw 14 bands. All of the bands were decent bands who play regularly on the UK live circuit. Most were Ska bands and what struck me was that the level of effort different outfits made with their attire was massive. There were a couple of bands that were musically excellent, but made no real effort to look the part. For me, they made a mistake. Once you were in the festival, you could watch anything you wanted. It seemed to me that the bands that looked the part seemed to engage with the audience better. I don't know if its a subconscious thing that if someone looks the part, you take them more seriously, but it certainly seemed to be the case to me.

I can recall one gig, many years ago, where The False Dots decided that we would go for a French look for a gig. We appeared wearing berets and stripey t-shirts and introduced the songs with silly mock gallic accents. I think it might have been Bastille day, but we had a laugh with the audience and it went well. We were the support band and the headline band were verys sniffy and snooty about our act. We were sharing a dressing room, and one of them said "We are not into being posers, our image is that we have no image". Paul Hircombe, our then bassplayer replied "You are confusing image with personality".  After that, there was a rather frosty silence between us. They did not go down particularly well and it seemed to me that they seemed to think that because they played long, boring guitar solo's well, they felt entitled to a great reception. I heard one of them say as we were all packing up "I hate playing places like, this where the audience knows nothing about music". I remember watching them pack their van and go. Paul said to me "Do you think that there is a market for slob rock?". I laughed and said "Not if tonight is anything to go by".

The truth is that all of the best rock stars look great. It is not an accident. Although The Sex Pistols were thought of as dishevelled punks, they were dressed by Vivienne Westwood. The Beatles had a look, as did the Rolling Stones. People put posters of them up on their walls because they looked great. I think that we thought Hank Marvin was telling us to wear suits, he wasn't. He was telling us to have a cohesive band look which would appeal to audiences. In hindsight, he was spot on

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You can't trust AI! Lee Thompson of Madness is alive and kicking, contrary to what Google has to say!

 On Saturday night, I was watching Madness at Butlins as part of the House of Fun weekender. I am mates with the sax player Lee Thompson as well as his sons Daley and Kye. A friend who went with us asked me how many kids he has. I said I thought the nunber was three. She decided to google it and the Google AI search confirmed it. It also confirmed a rather more disturbing fact. It informed her that Lee had passed away in 2024, but his legacy lives on. 

Now given that we'd just seen him perform on stage, this was quite disturbing news. Had Suggs roped in a doppleganger and not told anyone. In truth, there will only ever be one Lee Thompson. I have no idea how such a stupid AI algorythm could get it so wrong. I was chatting with a mate, who is an AI guru yesterday and they explained the problem. If someone starts a malicious rumour for a popular personality, it will get shared thousands of times and get millions of hits. AI engines see this and pick up on it. As people often realise immediately the information is a load of old cobblers, the truth is not propogated in the same way, so the false rumour appears to be the legitimate story. Of course, AI is developing all of the time. The people who work out the algorythms will get better at getting things right, but the sad truth is that if someone posts a fictitious story on Twitter that gets massivey circulated, current AI I models can get spoofed into making all sorts of nonsense up. As often such things trends, AI will pick up on it as people are wildly asking and will see the latest info. Now of course, my explanation is a very simplified view of what AI does and how it learns. But it is clear to me, as someone who sometimes uses AI to research blogs, you have to be really careful. 

There was a fascinating article in the Guardian yesterday about AI, by Robert Booth. It seems that there is a South Sea Island boom in AI stocks. We all know what happens next, don't we? 

BTW, just for fun, I asked AI if Robert Booth was the last President of the USA. This was the answer it gave me

AI Overview

No, Robert Booth is not the last President of the USA

; he is a fictional character from the Judge Dredd comic series who is a villainous former president. The last real President of the USA was Joe Biden, who succeeded Donald Trump. 

• Robert L. Booth: A fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic series who serves as the main antagonist in the "Origins" story arc.
• Fictional role: In the comic, he is the last President of the United States and is responsible for the Atomic Wars of 2070.
• Real-world President: The most recent President of the United States is Joe Biden. 

So there you go, I am sure Robert will be pleased to learn that AI thinks that he is a fictional character. 

Three days without listening to the news. You should try it!

 I've been in Minehead for the weekend, at the House of Fun big weekender. I am absolutely shattered and need a good nights sleep. Whilst my liver is less than happy with me, my brain is more than happy with a break from the stress of everyday life and especially the news. Normally, I watch it every day and listen to Radio London with regular news updates. I didn't at all for the whole weekend. When we got home at around 4pm today, I went to the gym. When I got back, I put on the TV and I realised that it is so unremittingly depressing at the moment, that I really don't have the inclination to watch it. I actually feel fsr better and less stressed not having the constant barage of bile and stupidity that Global, National and even local politics has become. It's not that I don't care but it seems to me that the whole world is falling into the clutches of moronic, narcessistic egomaniacs, who seem to offer nothing but political willy waving on one hand or a bland dearth of solutions and ideas on the other hand, with uncharismatic,dullness intent on not upsetting their rich backers. I am, by nature an optimist, but I am also a realist and as we have no politicians of note in the UK who seem to offer anything but either moronic populism or capitulaion to big business and the markets, there is nothing to be optimistic about. The sad thing is that I think that the major parties actually actively seek to dissuade anyone with a modicum of intelligence, passion and desire to put things right from participating. We have not got where we are overnight. This mess has been 45 years in the making, from the day Margaret Thatcher was elected. Thatcher destroyed the post war consensus that Great Britain was governed to improve the lives of ordinary people. She followed the right wing economic guru Milton Freidman, who believed that free markets and rampant capitalism was the answer to everything. That is why our railways, energy markets and water companies rip us all off. There is no regulation, so dodgy companies, almost always foreign owned rip us all off continually. Everything is more expensive in the UK than the rest of Europe apart from Healthcare and if Thatchers heirs (Badenoch and Reform) have their way, the NHS will follow British Rail etc into private hands and we'll end up being robbed blind for crap service. I just hope I am dead by the time they get their way. And I hope my kids generation don't fall for this crap in the way my one did

The Saturday list #367 - Five age related benefits since I became a pensioner!

 On Wednesday. I went to see Ed Kuepper's new incarnation of Aussie Proto punk band The Saints. They were the first punk rock band I saw, back in June 1977. They were brilliant. I can't get my head around the fact that this was more than 48 years ago. It made me think about all of the age related benefits I've had since turning 60.

1. A free Oyster card. I used this on Wednesday night, it has saved me thousands.

2. All of my prescriptions are free. 

3. I got into a football match cheaper last year, as they had an over 60's discount (most are over 65)

4. I can now join U3A, a wonderful organisation, sadly I have no time.

5. I can now kick youngsters out of seats on the bus reserved for pensioners!

Every cloud has a silver lining!

Leadership and accountability

The world is in a strange place right now. Not a day seems to go by without Trump, Starmer, Netenyahu, Zelenski, etc cropping up in significant news stories. If I was to ask you to pick one who was doing a brilliant job and one who should have never been let a million miles near leadership, I am sure that whoever you pick, there will be someone who has the opposite view. That is he nature of leadership. I watched the response to the Budget speech by Kemi Badenoch yesterday and I was shocked at just how bad it was. Given that the speech had been leaked early and presumably she knew the key points, I simply couldn't get my head around the fact that she chose a highly personal attack on Rachel Reeves, rather than a forensic dissection of the key areas where she disagreed with the Chancellors approach. After she'd finished, I did a search on Twitter for the word "Badenoch". I was not surprised to see almost universal disdain for her efforts. I then did a search on the phrase @kemibadenoch. That provided the opposite. Tweeters using her proper handle clearly thought she was marvellous. I was actually quite shocked at the way this group of people loved the personal attacks. If it was a comedy routine at the Dog and Duck, maybe you could excuse it, but Parliament is where laws and rules are made and people should not be happy when there is not proper scrutiny. 

It got me thinking about the subject of leadership. I have had some very good and very bad bosses over the years. I've also been in a position of leadership in various businesses, charities, clubs and even in my band. When I watch the likes of Trump and Badenoch, I despair at the fact that they seem to break all the rules of good leadership, which have been drummed into me over a career in business, etc that started 47 years ago. So what are the rules that I try and apply

1. Keep calm and do not get drawn into heated arguments where possible. Never be rude or aggresive towards people, especially underlings. If you have to have harsh words, be polite. 

2. Respect the other person, especially when they disagree with you. They have reached their position because their life experience is different to yours and they may have good reason to hold their viewpoint, based on experience or information you do not have.

3. Follow the rules, laws etc, when it comes to dispute resolution. These may seem like an unnecessary encumbrance, but they are there to pretect both sides, and when the boot is on the other foot, you may be very grateful for them. 

4. Do not make spur of the  of the moment, rash decisions. If a decision can wait until you have had time to properly consider the facts with a clear head, take that time. Sometimes, this is not possible, if there is a crisis, but where there is time, use it.

5. Try and read the room and ensure your allies are onside.

6. If you are a situation, where you have to deal with people who are unreasonable, you should still let them have their say and listen to them. Just because they are being difficult does not mean they don't have a point.

7. When you have to take decisions which will be unpopular, ensure that you have thought through the difficult questions which you may be asked. If you can't answer them, then it will undermine you. It is also worth bearing in mind that if you cannot answer important questions, your decision making may be flawed.

8.If you make a difficult decision, which is unpopular, but is the right decision, stick by it. Don't change tack, to placate people who do not have solid arguments.

9. When you have to make difficult decisions, make sure you thank your allies when they support you. 

10. Be magnanamous in victory. Share the credit around for good decisions you have pushed through, which can be demonstrated to be successful. This will buy you good will with your allies.

11.  Do not seek to humiliate and destroy your adversaries, always offer people a dignified way out where possible. Give them a chance to leave with their pride intact.

12. When you are dealing with difficult people and you are anticipating a confrontational situation, ensure that you prepare and know what you want as an outcome, also work out what is the worst case compromise that you feel you can accept. Give yourself wriggle room and if you don't get everything you want accept that civilisation and decency are built on compromise.

 It is worth understanding that sometimes people mishear things or misinterpret them. When I worked in IT, a co worker reported me to HR for "rudely telling someone who worked they had F****D UP". I was bemused. I was called into a meeting and asked to explain my behaviour. I honestly had no recollection. I asked if HR had spoken to the person I was alleged to have abused. I was informed that they hadn't. I suggested that they ask the person exactly what I'd said to them. This was done and when asked, they said "Roger asked me to transfer a file from one system to another using the FUP DUP utility", which was a command on the IT platform we worked on. It was all a misunderstanding. I was very annoyed at the time, but in hindsight, my co worker was right to have acted on what they perceived as rudeness.

Leaders should be accountable and should have to be able to account for their actions. It strikes me as very bad governance for leaders to have no accountability.  

 

The Sunday Reflection #69 - All things sexy!

When I saw the number we'd reached, I thought let's have some fun. I guess many subjects that I've chosen to talk about in this piece are a tad dry. But the truth is life is fun and a bit of sexiness makes it even more fun. Now don't worry, this blog isn't going to be a discussion of the mechanics of such business. I'm not going to discuss my private life, as that is my business and it would probably be a bit dull. Sexuality and sexiness is a strange thing. It is something that the British seem to have a problem discussing in a sensible way. When I was at school and first started noticing girls, I was quite alarmed that I found that many of the girls I developed a crush on were not pretty in what seemed to be what we are lead to believe is a sexy way. 

For people of my age in the UK, the first time I saw a mature womans breasts was on page three of The Sun. We'd look at the models and all go 'phwoar'. What really alarmed me was that I didn't really find the pictures attractive in any way. Even more alarming, was the women who were catching my eye and actually exciting me were a rather strange and mixed bunch. There was a scene where Catwoman tried to seduce Batman in the Adam West TV series that totally blew my mind. Nancy Sinatra singing "These Boots were made for walking" was another. What baffled me was why I found women with clothes on more interesting than the topless models on page three? I also realised that I'd be a very poor caped crusader, as I'd not have resisted Catwomans charms. Perhaps my biggest crush of the 1970's was when I saw Leslie Ash in Quadrophenia. I always get rather cross with Phil Daniels character for making love to her down a grotty alley. I felt such a beauty deserved a better spot for such attention. 

Luckily for me, my late teens coincided with Punk Rock and for a glorious couple of years, the stereotypical 'sexy' look and behaviour went out of fashion.  Now it would be ridiculous to claim that Debbie Harry isn't sexy and beautiful in a classical way, but as lead singer of Blondie, Debbie Harry never performed semi naked. She did it without getting her kit off. Sadly (IMHO), the heir to her mantle, Madonna was the opposite. Nothing was too overtly sexual for her. And none of it was in the least bit interesting to me. 

When I actually started dating girls and having relationships, I found that I have always instantly clicked with people from the first second I met them. I may be wrong, but I don't think any of the girls I met were dressed in a sexually provocative manner when I met them. To me, they were all hugely attractive and sexy, but in my head, they were like a wonderful Xmas present, to be unwarapped and savoured at a time when it was appropriate. 

I have thought about this long and hard. I suspect that what really is sexy for me is the fact that there will be a pleasant surprise for me somewhere down the line. One of the features of Twitter/X is that hardcore porn is there for whoever wants it (or often who doesn't). Over the years, on many occasions, attractive women have followed me, sent me inviting DM's and when I've looked at their feed, it is full of close up pictures of their private parts. I really don't find such things attractive when I see them on social media. In fact, I have often thought, I thought she was really pretty until I saw that picture. I nearly always check out people who follow me and generally block such accounts, as I don't want that on my feed. There was one account, who followed me after a music post, and she posted quite interesting stuff about music and it was only when I followed her and intimate photos started popping up on my feed that I realised she was selling porn on Only fans as well as posting about punk rock. What was strange to me was that the music stuff was interesting, informative and witty and the posts trying to sell porn simply felt a little forced and uncomfortable. I was tempted to ping her and suggest she had two accounts, as I was sure that many people like me, who would happily interact with the music posts, didn't want to see the porn posts. I found it all a bit sad and stopped following her. Occasionally, she still comments on my music posts and I feel a bit sad about the whole thing. 

The thing that I can't get my head around is that for me, the sexual element of my life has been a lot of fun, but it seems that there is nothing fun about the porn industry. As for the music industry, it seems to me that requirement for female artist to dress and act provocatively is hugely detrimental to their artistic creativity. My favourite female artists, Patti Smith, Poly Styrene, Carrol Thompson, Dawn Penn, Aretha Franklin, etc made/make great music without that distraction. So what I am really saying here is that I think sexiness is a great thing. I love films with sexy moments, I love songs with sexy subject matter when done properly, but when it is overdone and completely in your face, with no subtlety at all it ends up being the opposite of what it should be and is just a bit off putting.

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I'll leave it here with a clip of Venessa Sagoe singing "When a man loves a woman" with The False Dots in 1984. I think this exemplifies what female singers should be doing IMHO!

The Saturday List #366 - Ten things that have changed since Lockdown in my life

 This week has seen the culmination of the lockdown enquiry. What really disappointed me was the fact that they didn't look at how Lockdown changed the everyday lives of people in the UK. So here are my findings, in a list, and it hasn't cost the public a billion pounds. 

1. Cash. I rarely use cash and often don't have any on me. I was reminded of this last night. We visited friends and picked up a takeaway from Tangs at Apex Corner. They only take cash, so I made a special trip to the ATM. I couldn't remember the last time I went, I think it was before The False Dots played at the Dublin Castle on the 2nd November. I had to go then as my barber only takes cash. I had a look at our studio income. In 2019, 25% of our business was cash, now its less than 5%. It feels wrong, but TBH cash is a bit of a hassle. When the banks security are hacked and our money all goes up in a puff of smoke, we will regret not having a suitcase full of tenners under the bed, I assure you!

2. Puzzles. I never used to do them. Now I am a bit of a Soduku addict. I used to see it as a complete waste of time. I still do. But during lockdown, I had time to waste. I am jsut pleased I didn't get into heroin instead!

3. Binge watching TV series. Again, I never really used to do this. However during lockdown, we caught up on fifteen years of telly (I don't watch much). Now, if I start watching something, I want to watch the whole lot!

4. Eating habits. I did a lot more cooking during lockdown. As a result I rarely, if ever get microwave meals anymore. I nearly always prepare fresh food.

5. Calmness. I had worked like a lunatic since I was 21. Building studios, working in IT, playing in a band, I always felt on edge. I realised that I am actually a lot calmer. An enforced break was good for my mental health. I think I am also more lazy. I don't like this, but I find it harder to motivate myself to do things I don't want to do. 

6. Appreciaton of natural beauty. We did a lot of walks and I took a lot of pictures. This is a good habit and I enjoy looking at them. I think I've become a better photographer.

7. Driving less. During lockdown, we almost never used the car. Some of this is because I am now an OAP and have a free travel pass, but I tend to walk far more. We did a lot of walking in lockdown and I do tend to enjoy it.

8. Holidays. We are taking far less holidays than we used to. This is not by choice. Lockdown devastated our finances and our business. We do not have the same spare cash.

9. Business. In 2019, our business was thriving. Now it is just about surviving. All of our plans to expand have been shelved. For the first time ever, the last five years has seen me seriously think of chucking in the towel. Although I am past that at the moment, the business is not in the position where it could survive another financial shock. There is a budget this week and the last one destroyed our small profits. I am dreading it. My business is a passion so it hurts.

10. Family. I think we became closer during lockdown. I lost an auntie and a cousin my age to covid. It hurt.

I'd be really interested in how your life has changed. 

Rock and Roll Stories #50 - Without reinvention a band dies

 My missus queried why I keep writing new songs for the False Dots. I am not especially prolific, but generally write 5-10 songs a year, most of which never see the light of day. She said "people like the songs you've got already", but I pointed out that we are only playing one song we had in the set in 2023. There is a good reason for this. In 2023 Tom Hammond joined the band on Trumpet and when we realised that the format worked really well, I decided to write songs that best suited his talents, rather than simply rehash the set. What has happened is that we have found a new creative energy that has really driven us on and I can genuinely say that I think we are all really enjoying playing in the band at the moment. It got me thinking about the truly great bands that I've seen over the years and how some adapted and some didn't. 

Many people I know complain when they play a band and the old hits are not churned out. When I think of the best live performances I've seen, I would say that of the five greatest gigs I've ever been to, three were of bands I'd never really heard anything by and I'd just been dragged along by a mate who said they were wonderful. So who am I referring to? The Ramones, The Specials and Crass (the other two would by Sly & The Family Stone and Toots and The Maytells). What struck me as interesting is that although all three were absolutely amazing, none really managed to develop or evolve their sound and to this day if I saw them, I'd probably be happiest if they played their first album if they do a reunion gig (at the big festival in the sky in the case of The Ramones and The Specials). If you have a distinctive sound like these bands, it is hard to reinvent it. Especially as that is your USP. However, if you look at the history of popular music, the artists who become true megastars, The Beatles, Bowie, Madonna seem to reinvent themselves regularly and effortlessly. Of the three, I've only seen Bowie and TBH it wasn't a great gig (Wembley Stadium, The Glass Spider Tour). He was going through a reinvention that I was not too keen on. But my tastes are more left field. One advantage of having 'era's' is that some fans will have a favourite era. These days artists will address this by doing a tour or a big gig playing a specific album. I saw the Damned a few years back playing their first album at the Roundhouse and it was magical. I think they enjoyed it, but also knew they could put it back in the cupboard afterwards.

Of all the bands that I love, perhaps the one who most regularly reinvent themselves is Art Punkers Wire. Their first three albums are all completely different and their modern stuff even more so. They produce excellent and interesting music. Sadly, they never bother the charts. There are plenty of bands who try a few ideas and the settle on one that works. Scottish stadium rockers Simple Minds are one that come to mind. One of the best things about playing in a grassroots band is that you do not have to satisfy 100,000 people who have all paid £250 for a ticket to see you, so you can do what you like. Now I am not stupid, I'd love to earn £2 million a gig, but I think I'd be bored to death if we had to play our 1984 set every time we played. Don't get me wrong, if Venessa Sagoe wanted to return and do a show with us, it would be a blast, but if we'd been playing those songs for 40 years it would be grim!

With the False Dots, we have had radical lurches in styles. We've had female singers and done rap songs, Mod singers doing mod stuff and right now, myself and Tom share vocal duties and it is Ska/Punk. We are probably closer musically to where we started than we've ever been musically, but we also sound completely different. As we listen to the mixes of our forthcoming album, I am pleased to hear that the reinvention has worked. I was quite inspired seeing the Blur reunion, they are a great example of a band that has developed but kept the essence of Blur at the heart of what they do. I think that any up and coming bands should look at the way they have developed as a template.

One of the great things about the recent Blur output has been great new songs. When people moan about bands playing new songs, I always remind them that all songs were the new song once. I can remember going to see Wire at the Marquee in 1978 and being disappointed that they played no songs from Pink Flag and only tracks from Chairs Missing. About half way through, they played "Practice makes perfect" and I realised it was a work of genius. It was my favourite song on the album for a long time. I never heard them play it again, and in some ways that makes the performance stand out. I like to be 'in the now' at gigs. I usually film a very short clip for social media, but I despise people who film the whole gig on their phone and don't watch it. The essence of a gig is being there. Next time you watch a band and get frustrated when they do a few new numbers, just remember that what you are seeing is a new, unique performance, that will never happen quite the same again. If you are invested in a band, that new song you bemoan may be your favourite in five years!

The Barnet Eye saves council tax payers from yet another expensive legal cock up over Church Farmhouse Museum

 As you know, this blog has been following the sad story of the destruction of the heritage of our Borough and the failure to protect important buildings. It came to our attention that Barnet Council had listed Church Farmhouse Museum for sale by auction. We reviewed the paperwork and also visited the building to see what state it was in. We were horrified by what we saw. This is a grade two listed building. Here is what we found, when we inspected with a retired expert.

We also found defects in the legal papers that would have potentially opened the council up to lawsuits, for non disclosure of important legal details. I wrote to the council leader and the CEO to express my concerns.

Dear  Cllr Rawlings, Cllr Clarke and Ms Shaw

 

I am writing to you on behalf of an urgent legal matter that could incur a large financial penalty for Barnet Council. I have reveiwed the papers for the sale by auction of CHurch Farmhouse museum. I believe that the paperwork is materially incorrect and misleading to potential buyers and the council may be at risk should the property be sold on the basis of information the council has provided.

 

I refer specifically to the paperwork concerning the public right of way through the grounds. The law states, in relation to a legal right of way

 

A de facto public right of way in England is a route that is legally considered a public right of way (a highway) due to a presumption of dedication by the landowner, which arises from long, continuous use by the public. This is established under Section 31 of the Highways Act 1980 and requires the following conditions to be met: 

• Public Use: The path must have been used by the public generally, not just a specific group of people (like friends or employees of the landowner).
• Duration: The use must have been continuous and without interruption for a full period of at least 20 years. The 20-year period is calculated retrospectively from the date the public's right to use the way is challenged (e.g., by the landowner putting up a locked gate or a clear notice).
• "As of Right": The public must use the way "as of right" (a term meaning "as if by right"). This means the use must be:
  • Without force (e.g., not breaking down fences or gates).
  • Without secrecy (e.g., not using it only at night).
  • Without permission (i.e., the landowner did not give express permission, or there was no clear indication of 'permissive access', which would defeat the claim).

It is clear and documented that this right has been exercised for long in excess of the 20 year period legally required. The paperwork suggests that Barnet Council are not aware of a public right of way through the property. This is clearly incorrect.

Any buyer who attempts to block this will face legal action and may claim remedy from Barnet Council. I would strongly suggest that Barnet Council removes the building from sale at this time. 

 

My personal view is that Barnet Council should not be selling off the heritage of the Borough. However if this folly is to be persued, at least ensure that the paperwork is in order and the council is not likely to face future lawsuits. I am concerned that due diligence does not appear to have been done. In the event that Coucil was previously genuinely unaware of the right of way, you have now been informed. I can obtain testomony from numerous locals who have used this over the last 35 years and are willing to confirm this in writing.

 

I have cc'd the opposition leader as a courtesy for visibility

 

Regards 

Roger Tichborne

 

I have to say that the response from Barnet Council's head of property asks more questions than it answers. I won't comment, as I am sure readers of this blog are more than clever enough to make up their own mind.

Dear Mr. Tichborne,

 

Thank you very much for your email last week to Cath Shaw, the Leader Barry and councillors regarding the proposed sale of Church Farmhouse.  I want to assure you that we are already aware of the potential issue you raised and have been working with our legal team to ensure that an appropriate response is included within the Commercial Property Standard Enquiries (CPSE).

 

The information you have seen was therefore incomplete, rather than incorrect, because the associated CPSE had not yet been uploaded. However, as the legal pack is still being finalised and the auction date is now just over a week away, we have decided to pull the property out of the upcoming auction. Rest assured, the property will be entered into a future auction once the full marketing details are available.

 

Thank you once again for taking the time to write to us about this.

 

 

Kind Regards,

 

Sal Waheed MRICS

Head of Property and Portfolio Management I Growth Directorate

(Property Services, Facilities Management, Print and Mail Services)

 

London Borough of Barnet, 2 Bristol Avenue, Colindale, NW9 4EW

I will simply draw attention to the previous blog I wrote about the subject on 4th November and the letter sent to Barnet, which I received no response to - barneteye.blogspot.com/2025/11/breathtaking-dishonesty-and-hypocisy.html

It is clear to me though that the intervention of this blog has potentially saved Barnet Council taxpayers a fortune in legal bills. This is one reason I still write a blog. Of course I doubt any Labour Councillors will thank me for doing their job of scrutinising what the Council officers are doing. The only difference is I don't get a ten grand allowance for doing this. 

The Sunday Reflection #68 - Where is home?

 I am writing this in the lounge of a hotel in Dublin. We've been away for a few days for a well earned break! The hotel is on the North Circular Road and is about ten minutes walk from the house where my great Grandfather was born a couple of centuries or so ago! I am not really into genealogy, but I was interested to have a look at the place. I didn't really know what to expect. I know little of him, but my cousin sent me the address, so I thought I'd have a look. I wonder what my great grandfather would make of Dublin today, a very different city to the one he knew.

The house where my great grandfather
was born in Dublin

The house is a small red brick house, probably a couple of hundred years old. I really didn't know what to expect. I knew that my Great grandfather was not poor, although clearly he had humble beginings. I sort of expected to feel some sort of pang of familiarity or ancestral connection, but in truth I didn't. In fact, I don't feel connected to any of the homes that my parents lived in before I was born. My grandmother lived in homes in Burnt Oak and Poets Corner, Mill Hill, but again, I've never felt any connection to these places. My own home is different. I've always felt very much at home and happy in my Mill Hill home. I bought it from my mum in 1987, after my Dad died and she told me she was selling it. I couldn't really afford it at the time, but it was worth the stretch. I've brought up my kids here and I think they feel connected to it. But it is not the bricks and mortar that make it. It is the memories, my own ones of Xmas as a kid, my children as babies, the dogs and the cats we've had. Each one has etched a small piece of love in my heart. It is odd, many of my friends want to move away from London. I can think of nothing more horrible.

Quite a few of my mates are of Irish heritage. I think many are often surprised by my lack of connection to the country, but in truth I have few memories apart from a holiday with my mum in 1974 to hang on to. Dublin is very much like many other cities. It is a fun place to visit, but seems very expensive and as a Londoner, it is only really somewhere I'd visit for a break. I am a city person and to me London is the worlds greatest city. We are all different and I get why people get sick of London, but I can't see that happening to me. But I'd recommend a trip here. It has been a real blast. In about six hours, I'll be back home, having a cup of tea and in truth I'll be glad to be back. My liver most certainly will!