Jan Leeming - The Official Website

WIMEREUX

30th July 2009

A few times a year some friends and I take the EuroTunnel over to Calais.  We usually treat ourselves to a good lunch or dinner with what we save on buying wine, cheese and other goodies.  I thought we belonged to a European Union and yet a mere few miles across the Channel, we are able to purchase the same wines as in the UK but considerably cheaper.

This time we went down to Wimereux - a delightful drive down the coast South of Calais and along Cap Gris Nez.  We dined in the Café Section of the Atlantique - but even so it was a great deal better and more gastronomic than all but the best restaurants in the UK.  I'm told that the French Live to Eat and the Brits Eat to Live - I'm inclined to think this is true.

On the way to Wimereux,  we passed the Bleriot Memorial - so I presume this is where he launched his flight across the Channel on 25^th July 1909 - a feat heavily celebrated on both sides of the Channel.

Am on a short trip to Antigua next week - will report back.

Bye for now, Jan

THE AMBER ROOM - P & O BALTIC CRUISE

29th July 2009

Those of you who read my Blog regularly will know that I've taken several P & O Cruises in a working capacity - giving talks.  They offered me a choice recently and I opted for the cruise up the Baltic especially as the Ship will be stopping at St. Petersburg for 2 days.  I don't know yet what tours will be on offer but will definitely go on one to the Amber Room if it's on the agenda.  The Amber Room or it's reproduction is to be viewed in the Catherine Palace near St. Petersburg.  If you Google Amber Room - St. Petersburg, you'll read a short history of the Amber Room and it's loss.  The Germans dismantled the Amber Panels and shipped them to Germany - they've never been found.  However a recreation of the Amber Room was undertaken between 1980 and 2003 so there's now an Amber room based on the original.  The original comprised 6 tons of Amber and many semi-precious stones and was worth around $142 million in today's money.  But as an artistic artefact, it must have been priceless.  (Do read up on the Internet - it's fascinating).

I'm taking my son with me on the cruise so the trip will be doubly enjoyable.  I like giving my talks and also the Formal Dressing for Dinner - a little like the Good Old Days.  So I'm looking forward to boarding Ship in September.

Bye for now, Jan

 

 

SPITFIRE FLIGHT

28th July 2009

SPITFIRE FLIGHT

 

I might just be getting my long awaited Spitfire Flight if all the details can be sewn up.  Hopefully I'll be flying with John Romain on 14^th August - Please God don't let it rain.

 

CANCER AND EXERCISE

28th July 2009

CANCER & EXERCISE.

 

Having been mildly incapacitated because of a minor operation, I haven't been doing my usual walks on the beach.  On the news this morning it was announced that those who took exercise might be at less risk of Cancer - so I got my trainers, Ipod and set off.  It is amazing how quickly one can become unfit.  My usual walk of three and a half miles (half on the pebbles and half on a path) used to take an hour - yesterday the walk took me an extra 15 minutes and I was shattered when I got back.  Mind you the weather has not been conducive to walking - it's either been very wet or very windy or a combination of both.  So much for the Weathermen forecasting a 'Barbecue Summer' - they are now forecasting a rather wet August - Gee thanks.

 

VANDALISM

18th July 2009

VANDALISM

I'm now going to get on my high horse.  I am appalled at the mindless vandalism which is constantly being carried out in this country.  I've had various cars vandalised many times over the years and it's just happened again in the tiny, sleepy village of Kingsand/Cawsand in Devon.  Having gone to Plymouth to attend the Cornwall Blind Association Function at Carmborne in Cornwall, I was staying with my friend and Manager, Simon Whittam. 

On Thursday morning as I prepared to leave for the long journey back to Kent, I discovered that the arm of the Driver's  Windscreen Wiper had been bent to the point that it was unusable.  Unfortunately I was unable to get a replacement and had to spend another day in the Westcountry waiting for a part to be expressed overnight.  Normally a stay in the West would be a delightful event but my friends had to work, I had no usable car and the weather was atrocious so it was a thoroughly wasted day.  

The next day, Friday, the part arrived at mid-day- quickly fixed by Will in Millbrook -  and I was able to head back home. Sadly the journey which usually takes around six hours took nine because of holiday traffic and schools breaking up.  I was exhausted by the time I got home.

I did report the event to the local police because mine was not the only car to receive the treatment. Windscreen wipers had been wrenched off and bent on several other cars.  The vandals had also torn down hanging baskets - and this on the day before Kingsand/Cawsand was to receive the judges for Britain in Bloom.

I was very impressed with the local constabulary - but staggered at the amount of paper work they had with regard to a 'small incident'.  The local constable told me that paper work has increased in the last three years.  When I had vandalism at my home in Walmer and reported it to the local Community Bobby, I left a message on the answerphone and was never contacted.

The whole procedure consisted of a ten minute phone call with someone in the Police Centre and endless questions including my Ethnic origin, my date and place of birth etc.  What has all that got to do with the price of fish!!  The local P.C. visited once to look at the damage to mine and the other cars etc. and then returned in the afternoon to take a statement.  All in all, I'd think it a waste of police time to report something like this but the vandals of today are the big time crooks of tomorrow.

Frankly I'd like to see the little 'b.......' put in the stocks.  A pelting with rotten tomatoes and bad eggs and the humiliation might make them think twice next time about damaging someone's property.  Or better still make them go around for a week with a placard saying 'VANDAL' - or prohibit them from watching or attending their favourite Footie Games.  But, of course, these punishments  would infringe their 'Yuman Rights' - wouldn't it?  That must be one of the worst pieces of legislature that's ever been penned.  And, if I understand it correctly, originally after the 2nd World War - the Human Rights Act was in order to stop anything like the Holocaust happening again.  Now it's used as an excuse by an increasingly  litigious society and all and sundry,  including felons. 

So my Charitable Deed cost me in terms of Finance both paying for the part and in the loss of a small job which I would have been able to do had I returned home on Thursday, it wasted a whole day of my time - or rather, almost two as I didn't get back home till after 9.00 pm, and a friend who was coming to stay, had to be cancelled.

So what is the world coming to when youngsters think it 'Fun' to damage the property of other hardworking people?  I feel that successive Governments have been too lenient on Crime, too ready to hand out benefit to many undeserving, lazy people, and too many parents and teachers do nothing about instilling respect or shame in the young.  Handing out ASBO's is like handing out a Medal in the eyes of many of today's youth.  We have the highest teenage pregnancy record in Europe - little wonder when someone who is little more than a child is offered a flat or a house as a reward for becoming pregnant.  

The police asked me if I had been affected adversely by the damage to my car and I replied that No, I didn't need help or counselling, I was just damned ANGRY - VERY VERY ANGRY.

CORNWALL BLIND ASSOCIATION - GARDENERS' QUESTION TIME

18th July 2009

CORNWALL BLIND ASSOCIATION - GARDENERS' QUESTION TIME

I think it all went very well. Small turnout but they got very good coverage on the BBC Spotlight News Programme.  

The Gardening Team were all live wires and good fun to work with - we had some interesting questions and good answers and some fun along the way especially when two of the guide dogs starting having a bit of a canoodle!

The team comprised Nigel from Flambards, Richard - Head Gardener at Trewidden, Tracy and Alisdair - all regulars on BBC Cornwall Gardeners' Question Time so they were all familiar to the audience - very knowledgeable and very likeable.

BATTLE OF BRITAIN MEMORIAL DAY - RENE MOUCHOTTE

12th July 2009

It is the third year that I've attended this function held at Capel le Ferne near Dover where there is a superb Monument of a Pilot sitting in the middle of a huge stone propeller and gazing out across the sea to France.  It's a very imposing edifice and I would love to gaze down on it from a small plane where I think one would get the strongest impact.  (Unfortunately the celebration coincided with the 20^th Anniversary of the Bombing of the Marines' Music School here in Walmer where, today,  thousands turned out to honour the dead musicians - unarmed non-combatants - at the Bandstand built and dedicated in their honour.  Had my lovely friend General Sir Martin Garrod still been alive, he would have been at the forefront of the celebrations as he was the Commandant in Chief of the Marines at the time of the atrocity and made no bones about it when he appeared on Television)

The Battle of Britain  Memorial Day is a superb occasion - the top brass not only from the UK but also from Australia, America and New Zealand, families of the fallen, RAF Cadets and veterans -  but sadly every year there are fewer and fewer of the latter. . If the weather permits there is a flypast.  On the first year I attended we had a flypast of a Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster - an amazing spectacle and the old veterans could tell you whether the Spitfire engine was a Merlin or a Griffin.  Last year the flypast was rained off and we had a shortened service.  Today the Hurricane was grounded and only the Spitfire flew.  The day commenced with rain and we feared the worst but as the day progressed the weather improved to the point that when the Spitfire flew, she was etched against a brilliant blue sky. It is quite a spine-tingling feeling watching that plane and remembering it's vital role in the Second World War. When the War commenced the German Messerschmitt was a superior aircraft but eventually the Spitfire was improved and improved until it became the superior craft which gave the pilots more manoeuvrability and greater height and allowed them to take the advantage.

As well as the Memorial at Capel there's a superb Granite Wall (the Christopher Foxley-Norris Memorial Wall) with the names of over 3,000 pilots who fought and  died in the Battle of Britain and the remainder of the War.  At the Anniversary Luncheon there is a form inviting you to sponsor a name on the wall which has still not been fully paid for.  So, after the first luncheon I attended,  I sent off my cheque and filled out the form and to my surprise received a communication asking if I had any special request - I suppose it was asking whether I had a relative or a connection to the Battle.  I don't but I wrote back and said that, as I was of Huguenot extraction, if there were any French pilots who had not been sponsored then I'd be happy to adopt a name.  And back came 'my' pilot - one Rene Mouchotte about whom I've written before on my Blog.  The first Frenchman to command an RAF Squadron - he'd been in North Africa when the Germans invaded France.  He stole a plane and made his way to Gibralter and then to England where he flew for us.  He wrote diaries which were never intended for publication but after his death in 1943 a French friend did get them published and many years later they were translated into English.  I obtained a first edition hardback off the Internet thinking it would be predominantly a Pilot's log but it turned out to be a very moving story - of cold, fear, blackouts, weariness and as I read the book, he came alive for me.  I've found out much about him from the Internet but am still trying to ascertain whether there are any family members still alive.  He disappeared on 27th  August 1943 over the Channel and his body washed up on a beach at Middelkerke in Belgium where he was interred in a grave under the number 87.   After the war the RAF, the French Airforce and the Americans made a search for the remains of their pilots as they knew where many of them had 'gone down'.  Rene's remains were dis-interred,  identified and  re-interred in the Family Vault at Pere La Chaise Cemetery North East of Paris.  (The story of his identification is a tale in itself - and if any of my readers are interested I will relate it at some future date if you contact my manager at the email address on my website)   I have yet to make my pilgrimage to his grave.  (I notice that I'm getting quite a few hits from France so if anyone can put me onto any leads as to how I can find out more about Rene's family, I'd be very grateful.  I know that there are streets named after him and a small airfield.)

Today, as I was putting a tribute at the wall close to Rene's name, my friend was talking to a Tall Elegant Wing Commander, Wing Cdr. Neil.  We were introduced and he asked what was my connection.  To my astonishment both he and his wife had worked with Rene at Biggin Hill and declared him to be a most charming man.  They went with him to a Function at the Savoy (?) to celebrate the downing of the 1000^th Hun.  I have to tell you that the Wing Commander was 90 and had made the journey from Norfolk to attend the Ceremony - now there's dedication for you.  (Had Rene lived he would have been 95 years old)  

I am only able to attach One picture to my Blog. so I chose this one of Wing Commander Neil, his wife Elizabeth and myself.  Other photos from the Memorial Day, I will put into the Gallery.

What a small world it is and has made me even more determined to find out all I can about Rene Mouchotte.  I'd love to get a documentary made about his life and especially his days with the RAF because I think he is indicative of the dedication and sacrifice of so many men of his generation.  In my opinion, this kind of selfless dedication to 'duty' is  something about which the younger generation should be made aware.  And his story has a great chunk of the 'daredevil' about it - especially when you read about how he stole a plane in North Africa and only just made it to Gibraltar.  He could so easily have packed his kitbag and returned to France and might still be alive today enjoying his children and grandchildren instead of dead in a cold sea at 29 years of age.

Because the weather was so poor when I left home, I didn't take my camera and then kicked myself.  However I prevailed on a few people to take photos for me and they will send them by Email - so when I get back from Cornwall (Blind Association Function) I'll put them up in the Gallery.

At the memorial they have two Spitfire Replicas and every year they have a display of Living History of 212 Squadron - the guys and the gals decked out in the uniforms of the 40's so I'll post some pictures of that too.

Bye for now, Jan.

MEMORIES

10th July 2009

Last year I purchased a machine which will transfer my old Video Tapes onto DVD - and I've only just plucked up the courage to use it.

What Memories there are - so much I'd forgotten, so many lovely people (many sadly now dead)  Some of the Videotapes were recordings made at home and are of poor quality but the memories are worth having.

Some of the most memorable were the two Royal Variety Shows in which I was fortunate enough to take part.  In 1982, Gloria Hunniford, Esther Rantzen and I performed from 'Annie Get Your Gun' the number 'Anything you can do, I can do better ......' Now Gloria is a singer but they gave the Top C to me and I can remember to this day how nervous I was as to whether I'd manage to reach the note in front of all those hundreds of people at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.  Fortunately I did and we as a trio got a superb ovation. Then in 1985 the whole theme to the evening was the Old Musicals and I was teamed with Michael Aspel and Russell Harty to perform the Triplets Number from the show 'The Bandwagon' -the words go - 'we do everything alike, we walk alike, we talk alike and what is more we hate each other very much .......'  We were dressed in long flowing frocks with big floppy hats and had an absolute ball.

1982 was a great year for me - I also had the honour of Presenting the Eurovision Song Contest which came from the Conference Centre at Harrogate.  How very different it was from today's show.  For a start it was confined to what I think of as Europe - when did places like Russia become part of Europe!!!!!!!!!

Watching the show, I suppose it would be regarded today as quite primitive technologically.  All the performers had to hold unwieldy microphones on long cables - and you had to admire their dexterity in dancing around the cables and not tripping up. There was a real live orchestra conducted in the UK by Ronnie Hazlehurst and by a different conductor from whichever country was performing at the time.  Poor old Finland didn't score a single point - mind you the number was pretty dire. 

The outfits were very restrained by today's standards and leather gear must have been very fashionable for several of the men were in leather trousers and jackets - I particularly remember the Finnish chap in a bright red leather outfit which did nothing for him.

Terry Wogan was his own amusing inimitable self and I'd forgotten that he ticked off the Swedish commentator who referred to me as 'Lovely Jan'.

At the party afterwards I was whisked around the floor by a guitarist who breathlessly whispered in Spanish that 'His castle (home) was mine' - Funny that, never saw him again!!!

I really did feel it was a great honour to be presenting Eurovision to some 300 million viewers around the world.

So I've had a couple of days of nostalgia looking at programmes which are now twenty and in some cases thirty years old.  The programmes may not have had all the technological ghizmos which abound today, but they were good, solid, clean and enjoyable.  Some of the formats wouldn't come amiss if they were resurrected today - particularly shows like 'I've Got a Secret' - a panel show in which we had to guess what the guest did for a living.  I'm sure shows like that would not be expensive to stage and would make a welcome change from all the boring repeats and reality shows.  Actually I shouldn't say 'boring repeats' - some of the shows repeated are still some of the best around.

On my trip down Memory Lane, the only sadness was that  many of the people in the programmes are now dead but I consider myself lucky to have met, interviewed and spoken with so many of them.

CORNWALL BLIND ASSOCIATION - GARDENERS' QUESTION TIME

10th July 2009

CORNWALL BLIND ASSOCIATION - GARDENERS' QUESTION TIME

Months ago I was asked if I would chair a Gardeners' Question time for the Cornwall Blind Association on Wednesday 15^th July.

The event takes place at the Lecture Theatre at Duchy College, Rosewarne, Camborne starting at 10am.

This is the first time that such an event has taken place in Cornwall.  Many visually impaired people country-wide have a keen interest in Gardening and Cornwall Blind Association runs two gardening clubs in the County.  One which meets at Duchy College, Rosewarne and started almost 5 years ago and the other at Duchy College, Stoke Climsland which started in May 2006.

The panel consists of; Tracy Wilson who appears regularly on BBC Radio Cornwall, Nigel Pascoe from Flambards and Richard Moreton who is the Head Gardener of Trewidden Gardens.

Before I downsized to a flat, I'd had large gardens ( 1/3 and 2/3rds of an acre)  for many years and was a very keen amateur - mostly trial and error but I loved my time in the garden - totally absorbing.  I miss my Garden terribly - it is so therapeutic to garden and watch the fruits of one's labour grow.

Perhaps my love of gardening had rubbed off on me from my Father.  Even as a little girl, I remember him cycling off to his allotment. And he gave me a tiny postage-stamp sized piece of garden for my very own at a young age.   He has always been a very keen gardener and for a large part of his retirement he has kept his wife and himself quite self-sufficient in vegetables - and half the neighbourhood as well come to that.    Now that he is registered blind, and being an ex-military man, he is entitled to use the facilities of St. Dunstans.  I have to take my hat off to him - he's been on a cookery course and several Gardening Courses.  He has a little help with his garden but still does most of it himself - not bad for a 94 year old.

So, if you live in the area, do come and support us. 

FIGHT FOR SIGHT - RECEPTION

8th July 2009

FIGHT FOR SIGHT RECEPTION

Having recently had a minor operation, I was not allowed to drive for a fortnight which meant that I had to go up to London by train.  I don't mind catching the train for a day meeting but I'm rather nervous about being on a train, unaccompanied, late at night.  If I have to be in London late, I usually take the car.

The Reception at St. James Palace was a short but, in many respects, a very worthwhile one.  Among the people I met and talked with at length was the delightful Professor Peng Khaw who is leading research  to prevent and reverse optic nerve disease in glaucoma and other diseases.  He even had some encouragement for those of us who have Macular Degeneration.  Up until now only the Dry MD could be treated in any way but research is continuing to find a way of treating the Wet MD. 

FFS has been around now since 1965 and one of it's very first successes was in identifying why many premature babies went blind - they discovered that the cause was too much oxygen in the incubators.

Some years ago I was fortunate enough to be taken round the FFS Research Establishment and even to one who is uninitiated in the ways of Medicine and Science, I could marvel at the giant steps forward being made in research into so many different forms of blindness.  FFS interfaces with Moorfields Eye Hospital and the relationship between the two establishments is a very productive one.

Do have a look at FFS's Website and if there's any way in which you would like to help, I know they would be only too glad to hear from you. You don't have to organize anything on a grand scale  - a coffee-morning  - which spreads the word about the work of FFS - is very acceptable.

I think Wednesday last week was the hottest day of the year so far and, on reaching London, not only was I hit by the stultifying heat but couldn't believe how scruffy everyone looked.  I know it is difficult to look smart when one is hot, but there really isn't any excuse for scruffiness when clothing is so relatively inexpensive these days.  Looking good is nothing to do with how much one spends on an outfit or how old it is.  The suit I wore to town is ten years old but I still got a compliment from another woman as to how smart I looked.  Still I suppose the casual example (a bad one in my book) has spread down from the top with the likes of Gordon Brown refusing to don the appropriate Tails for a function and David Cameron going tie-less.  So many business people walk around looking as though they are having a 'mufti' day rather than appearing smart and business like. 

On the train there were people - both young and older with their feet on the seats.  I had a choice between a cream or a navy blue outfit for the Reception and common sense prevailed - I wore the Navy because it wouldn't show any dirt I might have picked up off the seats!!!!   The other thing which amazes me is the way people conduct quite private conversations both personal and business on their mobile phones - Do they think we are all deaf!  I found it quite difficult to concentrate on my book.

Perhaps I'm just becoming a grumpy old woman! But I do strongly believe in standards for once they are gone what do you have - a kind of anarchical society where everyone simply pleases themselves and to hell with the needs of anyone else.

Right let me climb down off my Hobby Horse and tell you about another Charity Function which I'm attending next week.

FIGHT FOR SIGHT

1st July 2009

FIGHT FOR SIGHT

I've been a Patron of Fight for Sight for a couple of decades.  Whilst I was still a BBC Newsreader I was asked to take part in a couple of Radio Appeals for the Charity.  Both of them raised over £40.000 each - unusually large sums to be generated by Radio Appeals.  And I still remember some of the heart-rending letters we received with donations towards the cause.  Old people, many of them Blind themselves were sending us small sums like 50p out of their tiny pensions with messages saying they hoped that even these small sums might help to eradicate some of the causes of Blindness.

Fight for Sight raises money for Research into Blindness and Blinding Eye Diseases and works in close conjunction with the world renowned Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.

Our President is traditionally the Duke of York and the present Duke - Prince Andrew  - is, this week,  hosting a Reception at St. James Palace and I shall be attending.  I've met the Duke many times and find him a highly charismatic and likeable character.

Then in a couple of week's time I shall be going down to Truro to host a Gardeners' Question Time for the Cornwall Blind Association.  When I started helping Fight for Sight, I had no vested interest other than my desire to help a very worthwhile Charity.  Then my father was diagnosed with Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and being an inherited genetic condition, I have it too.  I've known about it for several years now and, most of the time, simply forget about it.  At present, it's not affecting my sight at all and there's no use worrying about the inevitable though of course I hope they will find a 'cure' for it at best or at least find a way to arrest it's advance once it is diagnosed.  Here's hoping and thumbs crossed.