Clarkson's Pub - fun, but a one off

Warning: Hate and envy-fuelled lefties and bearded CAMRA-types look away now.

There are millions of us around the world who have enjoyed the marvellous Amazon Prime series, Clarkson's Farm. Series Four followed Jeremy Clarkson's travails in opening a pub in the Cotswolds. From my personal point of view it was particularly distressing to see so many of the places I enjoyed in my misspent youth and, er, adulthood, have closed down (and, of course, Starmer and Reeves are trying to deliver a knock-out blow to what remains).

Jeremy eventually found a site between Burford and Witney. There are some excellent food-lead pubs in that neck of the woods: The Swan at Swinbrook, The Bell at Langford, The Three Horseshoes (recently known as The Maytime) at Asthall, and others. Alas, this is an affluent area and prices are high - Google The Double Red Duke at Clanfield, but only if you are already wearing soiled underwear.

Armed with a substantial sum from his hard-work over several decades, Jeremy set about refurbing what was an empty cafe just off the A40. And he had to invest considerable resources - watch the programme and you will be stunned at the cost involved.

The result? A fun - crowded - mini-theme park run by excellent staff, but not the place to nip-in for a quiet pint! The main pub, The Farmer's Dog, is in the extended former pub (before the cafe interlude) - which I had been to a couple of times many moons ago. In the large grounds there is a huge "tent" containing a branch of Jeremy's Diddly Squat Farm Shop and another bar playfully named, The Farmer's Puppy. There are wonderful views from both.

I live in a poverty-ridden hell-hole where most pubs are on their arses and 25% of working-age people are on out-of-work benefits (Birmingham). The economic clouds get ever darker here and publicans of my acquaintance were terrified at what the absurd "Dry January" would bring (actually, so far, it has brought the closure of two very good Brum pubs - at least). Many places have been hideously quiet. Thus I was shocked on 15th December, 2025 when I went online to book a table for two for lunch at The Farmer's Dog on either the 22nd or 23rd January, 2026 only to find that there was no availability! If fact, to even stand a chance of getting a table in the main pub you have to book early. Here is the notice from the pub's own website - and they are NOT joking:

Thwarted in our ambition to break bread we turned up for a drink. This was at about 11.45  am on a wet and very dismal Thursday lunchtime. The area by the pub itself is reserved for blue badge motorists and we were directed to a large car park across the road. It was immediately apparent that this was no ordinary country boozer as there were FOUR attendants directing traffic - at a substantial cost to the bottom-line of the business. (And we are sure that number must increase in summer).

Walking to the pub we noticed the arrival of taxis (of which more anon). We walked through the farm shop and the Puppy where there was already a host of customers. At the main pub we met an immediate problem since we had no table for luncheon. Quite rightly, Jeremy does not want the hoi-polloi tramping through the restaurant to get to the famous terrace, but this creates a rather unfortunate problem since we had to actually take our drinks back outside the pub and then enter the terrace via a separate door. Not good that bit.

Obviously JC's Hawkstone Brand dominates the beer selection. (Later in the day I sampled an IPA elsewhere and was distinctly underwhelmed.) I had the only cask that I could see on offer - Old Hooky. It was acceptable rather than good, with a rather "first-pull" tang to it.

As we returned to the car yet another taxi was arriving together with a tide of humanity from the car park. Again - this on a grim January lunchtime. Quite incredible. 

We were staying the night in beautiful Burford and were amazed when locals told us that many folk regularly stay in the town and take taxis to Jeremy's pub! We actually met one such couple.

Personally - and as we are old farts - we will visit again although not in the summer when it must be manic there. And we will only go when we can get a table for lunch. But we really applaud this enterprise which is creating many jobs locally, not just at the "theme park" itself, but for local taxis, hotels etc. Plus, of course, Jeremy has been a stalwart supporter of local farmers and, wherever, possible, sources local produce for the shops and pub.

One caveat. We sincerely hope Jeremy will be around for a good few years yet, but clearly he and the TV show have been the draw for thousands of visitors. Quite how this enterprise will survive if he keels over tomorrow, we are not at all sure. But enough of that - this was a fun visit and a boon for the local economy. What's not to like? Go and see for yourselves.

Incidentally, we dropped in at the original Diddly Squat Farm Shop on the way back. Although very small, cars were flooding in on another miserable January day. 

On a final and slightly unrelated note, as we headed northward to Britain's "third city" we visited (for the first time in decades) - The Horseshoe in Shipston-on Stour (south of Stratford-upon-Avon). It's a cracker!

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A Crow Multimedia Blog

The Thurd Sector #4 - Places in Common Limited

As we have pointed out in this series the Thurd Sector is crammed with lefties and self-declared, er, anti-capitalists. These jokers are adept at screwing the taxpayer (and others) whilst feathering their own nests.

In recent times a new crock of gold has become available via the climate change industry. As ever with the Thurds, there are layers of organisations feeding off one another - but usually with the taxpayer as the patsy. And the climate change lobby is viciously anti-motorist.

Places in Common Limited in bankrupt Labour Birmingham is actually a "co-op" - another type of organisation trying to feed off Britain's shrinking cadre of workers. Two of the original directors from 2019 are still running the show now - Bryan Nott and Labour Cllr Lisa Trickett (who earned £18,876 from taxpayers as a Councillor in the last municipal year). Originally there were two other directors, one of whom was also involved in a notorious Brum Labour-front Thurd Sector cash machine, The Active Wellbeing Society [sic] - another "community benefit society".

Two of the directors dropped away but Nott and Trickett were quick to appoint one Alice, er, Nott to their nice little earner. Could she possibly be related?

This "co-op" was set up ostensibly to promote [warning - load of w*nk ahead] "community development and local regeneration". The registered address is in that affluent and "trendy" suburb, Moseley. But almost immediately it pivoted to the riches flowing from the climate change industry. 

Here the position becomes a little complicated in that all the money (or a very substantial part of it) received by the co-op seems to have come from just two contracts to promote climate change. The first is with a Dutch Thurd Sector outfit called Climate KIC (although it also uses other names including its actual legal name, the snappy "Stichting Climate KIC International Foundation". It won't surprise readers of this series that the vast bulk of its funds comes from the EU and European governments. Happily, and despite Brexit, some of the euro loot is finding its way into the pockets of the Notts and Trickett.

The legal status of the second outfit, "West Midlands Route to Net Zero" is opaque. Birmingham University is involved as is the Labour-controlled West Midlands Combined Authority. Although it has a posh website (cost unknown) it is completely silent about its legal status and finances. I have written to it and will keep you posted. Suffice to say here that the notorious. appalling and viciously anti-car Brum Labour Councillor, Waseem Zaffar, is a member of the Advisory Board.

And what of the finances of the Nott/Trickett Co-op? Below is a table summarising the key financials. The "Directors" are also the "staff" of the Co-op and so the high "admin costs" entries reflect the dosh they are stripping out. Where stated the precise sums are shown in the bottom line of the table.

The actual "work" done seems to be writing reports and developing policy to promote climate change. Happily this has been very remunerative for our campaigning heroes.

After paying a bit of tax in the first couple of years the Directors have now paid none by reason of there being significant financial losses. These have been brought about by the large sums being grabbed by the Directors. In 2021 to 2024 inclusive the admin expenses have EXCEEDED the actual revenue coming in. Look at 2023! And in 2004 the Notts and Trickett only had revenue of £26,200 but paid themselves £31,500. In most businesses this would be wholly unsustainable yet the tap somehow keeps flowing. The figures below are in the public domain and have been submitted to the Financial Conduct Authority.

[The Directors will have to declare the income they are grabbing as part of their personal tax liabilities and potentially pay income tax on it.]

The "route to less than net zero" has been, indeed, taken and the Directors have gone beyond and deliberately ensured minus figures i.e. losses.

In the meantime, a new (Labour front) benefit society has been set-up to takeover the Kings Heath Community Centre from the failing Labour Council in a bent deal. Mug punters have been asked to part with their money for this via a crowdfunder. The crowdfunder, run by Bryan Nott, has failed but has simply been extended (and is currently at 69% of target if you are mad enough to want to invest).

The Board includes, incredibly, the Manager of the appalling local BID, or Business Improvement District, which has been shilling this project all along even though it has nothing whatsoever to do with improving business for the hard-pressed traders who are forced to pay extra tax (the levy) to trade in Kings Heath. Did I mention that, equally incredibly, Cllr Lisa Trickett is on the Bid Board?

And, of course, Bryan Nott and Lisa Trickett are also on the Board of the new Benefit Society where they will no doubt bring their financial acumen acquired whilst running Places in Common to the table. 

What could possibly go wrong?

Investors and BID levy payers - don't say we didn't warn you!

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A Crow Multimedia Blog.

Publicans: Beware the cash dinosaurs!

In my experience the sort of customers who insist on paying cash in pubs are total tossers. I once overheard an old git saying that he did not want the deep state tracking him - as if even a Chinese-style national surveillance system would be interested in the doings of a complete w*nker!

On the other hand, I am a “classic liberal” and it should be a decision for mein host whether to take cash or not. The fact remains that the number of cash-users is rapidly dwindling, and many publicans also have the difficulty of finding a bank branch locally to deposit takings.

In Brum there are now many pubs and bars which are card-only. Punters should respect that rather than giving staff a hard time. But some actively seek REVENGE …

Let me preface this yarn by explaining that there is a small chain of ghastly pubs in the West Midlands named “The Pub at …” followed by the name of what the imbecilic trendies call “the ‘burb” or “the ‘hood”. Next time you are in, say, Kings Heath shortly after 9.00 am take a look through the window of “The Pub at Kings Heath” and see the dregs of humanity already gathering within. They make a Wetherpoons clientele look positively exotic and upmarket!

There is one popular and delightful Brum pub - a winner of multiple awards - which is superbly run. It attracts a wide-section of the local community although, happily, not usually the sort who use the “Pub at …” chain. It encourages card payment and I have personally never seen anyone actually pay cash there.

One night four scumbags came in and ordered four pints. They then made a scene when asked for card payment. Wrongly, in my personal opinion, the pub backed down and took the cash. That should have been the end of it but one of the frightful foursome later posted a one star Google review. (Its current score is 4.8 out of five with a very clear majority awarding 5 stars.) Bizarrely, the only other one star reviewer complained about the staff - who are absolutely brilliant. Indeed, many Brum pub-users I know rate one as being in the top three bartenders in the whole city.

To add insult to injury, the querulous quartet then visited “The Pub at Moseley”, another outpost of the grisly toilets cum hostelries, and took to Google to give it a four star review! WTF?

Two lessons. I think:

1. Pubs should use clear signage if “card-only”; and
2. Don’t pander to morons.

[P.S. The EU, from which the UK is temporarily estranged (!?) is. with its usual obsession for regulation, considering making "card-only" illegal, and I am sure our new leftie elected dictatorship will somehow feel the need to follow suit.]

Cheers ...

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A Crow Multimedia Publication.

The British Legion - Don't tarnish the Poppy!

It is hard to be critical about ‘The Legion". Since 1921 it has provided much-needed succour to members of our armed forces and their families. The brilliantly-devised annual Poppy appeal continues to raise huge sums for the men and women who protect us all. 

The Legion’s obsequiousness to our grotesque monarchy is a problem for those of us who are not prepared to grovel before our hideous “royal” family. Ironically, The Legion is quick to "out" weirdos who appear at Remembrance and other events sporting fake uniforms and medals and yet the “royals” have turned such cosplay falsity into an art-form. Here’s “King” Charlatan III proving the point:

[Curiously, one member of this hereditary mafia who did win, and is entitled to wear, a Falklands Medal is the disgraced, Andrew - formerly known as “Prince”.]

The Poppy is such a wonderfully powerful symbol that ludicrous lefties have tried to hijack its success with the “White Poppy” (and similar) for deluded peaceniks to don. Presumably if we all wave these at the likes of Mad Vlad Putin, tyrants and mass-murderers will soon lay down their arms and take up crochet instead.

But we are not alone in feeling a little queasy when November approaches and the start of what seems to be an annual competition by individuals and organisations to show who cares most about our veterans. Indeed the first manifestation of this is the outbreak of Poppy-wearing WEEKS before Remembrance Day - even, or especially, on the BBC. Auntie literally employs underlings to stick poppies on anyone going on air.

Every village is in competition with its neighbour to produce ever more gross displays with ever greater numbers of poppies so that huge red gashes now spew from the tops of church towers and across graveyards. The ailing/failing mainstream media seizes on this fetishisation of remembrance to try and regain some relevance. The unfortunate trend has reached its apogee with the Disneyland of Death known as “The National Memorial Arboretum”.

The poignancy of the Poppy is well-expressed by The Legion itself. It is meant to be a humble symbol above political and religious sectarianism. Tell that to our politicians who use remembrance events to parade their own alleged credentials as caring people. The run-up to Remembrance Day is a chance to preen and, indeed, to have a right good laugh. This applies across the political spectrum. But witness, for example, the events in the corrupt Labour Dictatorship of Sandwell in recent times as described in the Sandwell Skidder blog.*

The War of the Wreaths.

Sandwell - near the bottom of every deprivation league table going after  half a century of total Labour control - witnessed an appalling incident actually at a Remembrance Day ceremony in a nasty place called Wednesbury. That town had a pecking order when it came to political wreath-laying whereby a representative of the party in government nationally laid the first tribute. Once, when the Tories were in power. a local Conservative stepped forward to do the honours. This was too much for a frightful, self-important tosser called Cllr Peter Hughes (Labour). He took the view that as the Labour dictatorship controlled the sh*thole Borough, he should lay the first political wreath. And so, to the amazement of all present, he barged in front of the Tory with complete disregard for the meaning of the ceremony and got the Labour wreath on the memorial first!

Oops, we’ve missed the photo op!

Sandwell Labour publish dozens of photos every November showing Councillors posing to remember those we have lost or who suffered egregiously during military service. There is no call for solemnity on such occasions and Councillors can have a laugh whilst enjoying the photo ops. Here’s Labour’s Liz Giles seeing the funny side [sic] of the occasion:

[And see further below.]

The Sandwell Labour Councillors are mostly thick as two short planks and sometimes forget that they are supposed to be using Remembrance Day for political propaganda. Thus, on one notorious occasion, having forgotten to get some snaps taken, they took the wreaths back off a war memorial and posed for pics before re-laying them!

Hijacking the Legion’s Poppy Appeal

Now Labour in Sandwell is also hijacking the Legion’s own Poppy appeal - incredibly, with The Legion’s consent! Once again there is no need for solemnity when grabbing The Legion’s stall and here Labour MP Sarah Coombes (West Bromwich) and Labour Cllr Pam Randhawa are seen clowning and having a high-old time.

Worse still, MP “Sicko” Sarah - incredibly - thought it appropriate to bring her own advertising pop-up banner along to promote herself at The Legion’s stall!  Sick or what?  Here she is with the offending item:

Incredibly, The Legion actually allowed this grotesque and disgusring pantomime via its local representative (who, to be fair, had done a good job before this shaming degringolade). It is entirely coincidental that he tried, a while back, for a Labour nomination to a Council seat in a ward which is now in Sicko Sarah’s constituency.

Send them naked to the battlefield

By the way, Sandwell Labour voted en masse for a showboating motion trying to stop the local government pension money from being invested in the UK arms trade. Apparently they “love” our armed forces but don’t actually want them to have any, er, weapons (or, at least, British-made ones).

And Nationally …

The ceremony at the Cenotaph each year has always been a big day for our preening “royals”. It seems appropriate that, usually, our Prime Minister should attend if s/he is inclined to do so but then a rag-tag band of opposition “leaders” also turn-up. We cannot let this piece finish without mentioning the absolute national  insult of terrorist-lover, Jerry (aka Jeremy) Corbyn, attending this national event (at the time representing the Labour Party). Some of the fallen being remembered were killed by his pals in the IRA. He did then, and still still supports terrorist groups across the globe. Rather than honour our forces his style of wreath-laying is this, honouring Palestinian terrorists in Tunisia.

We say:

Maybe The Legion can’t stop such national outrages - but it should make its views known. And to use a recent political slogan, it needs to “take back control” of the Remembrance Day events in which it is involved. Please do not let politicians tarnish the Poppy and commandeer your fundraising efforts (often run by marvellous volunteers).

Lest we forget:

James Reece (aka John Pugh) - killed-in-action near Delville Wood, France, 1916 - no known grave.

*   https://thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com/

Ian Crow Multimedia Limited

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Skip Uni - Join the Council!

Many young people are contemplating starting uni. The high-flyers should go, but are the also-rans likely to get much benefit from a low-status degree and eye-watering debt? Many will have received disappointing results today. Having already failed, is some odd degree at a "clearing" university the answer? No - you are doing the rapacious unis a favour rather than yourselves.

Labour has just increased tuition fees to £9,535 per year. At least the real dross won’t ever earn enough to pay their student loans back, although they have wasted three years of their lives.

An alternative? Get a job at a council - preferably one that is dominated by one political party. If you are a yes wo/man this is definitely the job for you.

If you follow some basic rules you are virtually unsackable no matter how useless you are. Ok, the pay is not fantastic to start with, but then you are probably not worthy of a better salary. Yet you will start clocking-up a good pension. And if you (a) join the council’s governing party, and (b) are prepared to break the law to “protect” the council and its councillors, and (c) are prepared to completely surrender independence of thought for a party “line”, you are quids in.

Even if you do fall foul of the regime you are likely to end up with a compensation payment and a reference provided that you sign a confidentiality agreement. 

Whether you like it or not, you will be forced to pay an annual amount to a trade union but that in itself can lead to openings. Thanks to a bizarre thing called “facility time” [sic] you may get to be a union rep with your wages paid for by the taxpayer. You can get paid in full NOT to do your council job!

There are jobs out there. Despite the appalling productivity of council workers Labour thinks the answer is to employ more idlers. This is your chance.

Many councils are extremely lax at clamping down on the sickness absence running rampant throughout councils. Absenteeism is much higher than in the private sector. In one case we are aware of someone took ONE YEAR off with a simple broken wrist. In Sandwell (of which more anon) there was much back-slapping from the Council about its COVID performance, but when figures were released there had, in fact, been mass absenteeism. (Sandwell introduced Shirking From Home - SFH - in a big way at this time and one lucky employee got to enjoy regular shagging sessions with a councillor in the comfort of her own home.) And so you can also boost your annual holiday entitlement with occasional bouts of fictitious illness.

Don’t worry that you may have to trail into the Town Hall or some dismal concrete council HQ since SFH is now prevalent in many local authorities. Many council employees are now running side-hustles from home whilst allegedly “serving the public”.

And it gets better. Labour is pressing for council workers to do four days “work” for five days taxpayer-funded pay. South Cambridgeshire Council has already gone for it. If you have hobbies or interests and are a slacker you can have three days a week to indulge your passion but with a salary and a pension. If you do have a little bit of get-up-and-go then this provides ample opportunity for even more side-hustling. (Firefighters are wonderful capitalists and use their monopolistic powers to extract good pay whilst being famous adept at running second jobs or companies).

Because council employees are often so useless (or off sick) multimillion pound sums are spent on agency workers. This gives you two opportunities especially once you have gained a bit of experience. Firstly, you need not bust a gut at work since the taxpayer can be screwed to pay for agency workers to pick up your slack. Secondly, if you want a more flexible lifestyle you can do agency work yourself. Despite the gargantuan fees paid to recruitment agencies these folk are on a very good screw indeed. Many like Labour MP, Imogen Walker, became self-employed so as to minimise any tax liability whilst doing a "crony" non-job at dear old Sandwell.

As above, if you are wondering about the current level of pay consider that you might soon have to work only 4 days a week for it! Happy days (off).

Let’s look at a case study - Labour Sandwell in the West Midlands. This is one of the most corrupt councils in the land. It has been run as a one-party dictatorship for over half a century. The result is a sh*thole Borough at or near the bottom of most deprivation “leagues”.Google “The Sandwell Skidder” if you want to read the full horror story over the last decade or so, but we will touch on just a few examples.

Many Sandwell employees are family or friends of Labour Councillors. Nepotism and cronyism are both rife. A former disgraced political leader collected the leader’s allowance whilst living in north Derbyshire and actually working for Rotherham Council. (Incidentally, he went on TV saying that people were not paid off subject to signing confidentiality agreements when his own wife had enjoyed just such a departure package.) The current Leader’s husband works for Sandwell and she has declared that he does a few side-hustles too. There are a number of ways to profit from local government.

Some Sandwell employees in recent years have been directly involved in trading Class A drugs. West Midlands Police (WMP) knew of some, but provided the dealers with protection. It took outsiders - the National Crime Agency - to nail two & they are both now serving a 12-stretch.

Yes, Sandwell has a deeply corrupt relationship with WMP. Councillors and officers enjoy considerable immunity from prosecution. One errant employee did not face investigation but at the time was shagging a senior WMP officer. A fraud investigation was allowed to lapse by the police when an employee was buying council land on the cheap. He was also the son of a leading Councillor. Unusually, he was forced out of the Council but then awarded a substantial part of a £2m SEND transport contract in highly controversial circumstances. A senior WMP officer boasted of his “golf and spa weekends” with Sandwell's top brass [sic].

A policewoman mysteriously sat in on an interview between an employee and a complainant. The pair made a malicious and false allegation that the complainant had threatened them and the Council took him to Court. Fortunately the chap had recorded the whole meeting and he was exonerated (after facing an incredibly stressful few months). The police officer cried-off one of the court hearings as she claimed to be sick. On the court date she put pictures of herself shopping in New York on her socials. She faced no sanction for any of this.

On behalf of the Council, WMP ran a relentless campaign against The Sandwell Skidder for exposing corruption within the Council - until one senior officer finally “saw the light”.

Sandwell became synonymous with corruption, cronyism and incompetence and was eventually placed in ‘special measures’ by the Government due to serious governance issues. This cost taxpayers another £2m. Almost no-one has ever faced sanction and the Council continues to operate exactly as it did before. You see - officers are safe!

The Chief Executive at Sandwell for many years was an appalling groveller called Jan Britton. He managed to keep his well-paid job despite his - at best - hopeless performance and was eventually kicked out. Unusually, due to his shocking track record, he did not receive a ‘golden goodbye’, but a mate called Joe Harris in another council immediately employed him. He then got an agency job with Tory Dorset (who were aware of his terrible record) at £900 per day.

The new Chief Executive at Sandwell is on a good screw - £195,000 to £199,499 plus gold-plated pension. He is doing such a great job at the bent Council (which recently acknowledged a £20m "black hole" in its budget) that he has been allowed to work as part of a Government team at Tower Hamlets where he is paid £1,000 a day for one day a week. There is serious money in local government thanks to the taxpayer. And if you play the game well enough you also get to enjoy various taxpayer freebies and p*ss-ups too!

There we are - be smart, Forget uni and become a local bureaucrat.

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Crow Multimedia 

The National Trust: A Brum Conspiracy #1

The National Trust may have utter contempt for its members, Brummies, and the public at large but Crow Multimedia intends to expose its antics and to make sure that accountable bodies it is conniving with act in a democratically open and transparent way.

Station Street in bankrupt Birmingham is a hideous urban route immediately adjacent to a major transport hub - New Street Station. Back in the day it led to a lung-busting indoor bus station. It houses the Old Rep theatre (Grade II Listed) which some might describe as "grotty". Next door is the defunct Electric Cinema. Although much is made of it being the oldest UK cinema it was substantially modified in the 1930's and has been recently rejected for listing. For a considerable time it operated as a "mucky" cinema. On the corner is the long defunct Crown Pub (Grade II listed). The claim to fame is that Black Sabbath's first gig was there and a few other "big names" also played there. So what? But the pub was an absolute sh*thole mostly remembered by folk who actually used it for the women coming in between "acts" at the local strip club in dressing gowns and slippers. No-one at all mourned its closure - until recently.

But Station Street is still an important transport route and so it is firmly in the crosshairs of Birmingham's "left" (many of whom are economically inactive - EI - and contribute little of nothing to the City's economy - indeed they are usually taking money from Brum workers). These people are determined to wage war on motorists and to ban cars, vans and lorries from, preferably, the whole West Midlands Conurbation. Once again Labour is looking to interfere with access to the critical tunnels joining the north and south of the city.

A campaign is being waged by the "left" to "Save" Station Street from redevelopment. Of course, any developer will have to deal with the listed building status of the Old Rep and The Crown during any planning application but these zealots have an alternative plan and, amazingly, they have managed to get The National Trust on board.

The "left" has a particular way of doing things which usually involves participants acting anonymously. The main Save Station Street account on X is run by an obsessive who is either a very high functioning individual capable of putting endless, repetitive, posts up whilst doing the day job or else s/he is EI with plenty of leisure time. The individual has declined to disclose his/her identity despite purporting to be a mouthpiece for the "project".

We have been watching the account and, curiously, its output is remarkably similar in content and style with that of one Simon Dixon, an "unofficial" mouthpiece for the local Labour Party. Dixon used to work for Birmingham University and during his time at the learned institution he claimed that motorists are comparable to serial killers. He is certainly backing the "campaign". He has been very upset that his useless pal, Cllr David Barker (another anti-car fanatic), has been deselected by Labour, Compare and contrast his own output on this, almost simultaneously published with that of "Save Station Street":

Whoever is orchestrating this campaign should at least have the cojones to identify themselves.

"Old Station Street" claims to be a non-governmental organisation and a non-profit but is not only anonymous it has no publicly available constitution, holds no meetings etc. In short, is it perpetrating a massive con on Birmingham?

This blog is running an occasional series called "The Thurd Sector", exposing the corruption and self-enrichment prevalent in charities and so-called non-profits. We have pointed out that the "left" overwhelmingly controls this sector. Until recently this could not be said of the National Trust - the archetypal "establishment" organisation. No one would accuse James Lees Milne of being a pinko! But the Trust is changing and struggling to be "relevant" (as if saving huge tracts of countryside and hundreds of historic properties isn't quite enough). It has managed to p*ss off many of its dedicated volunteers with its heavy-handed attitude and, of course, in the woke "lanyard" affair.

Take a look at our email to the Trust about their scandalous involvement in Station Street's future, and its mealy-mouthed reply from someone who also wishes to remain anonymous and simply described as a "National Trust Spokesperson":

"THIS IS NOT A PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION - PRESS ENQUIRY

I am writing in my capacity as an independent journalist but have to say that as a fee-paying member of the NT I am concerned about the NT's involvement in this matter to date.

You are not, as I understand it, susceptible to the Freedom of Information Act, but I hope that you will make full and frank disclosure here.

To declare an interest, both my wife and I live in Birmingham and operate small businesses here. We are aware of the intense political lobbying to close roads in this city and otherwise "ban" vehicles. The report you have commissioned - but choose to keep secret from members, Brummies and the public at large - proposes the pedestrianisation of a street right next to New Street Station - a major regional transport hub. (Despite all the NT's constant greenwashing many of your properties are mostly reached primarily by car.)

1   How did the Trust become involved in this matter at all? Did you dream up a plan to close a city street yourselves or did someone approach you? Who was that someone, if applicable?

2   Why did the Trust decide to spend members' fees on this "project"? Who made that decision? Given the Trust's disastrous stewardship of The Roundhouse [in Birmingham], would it not be better to use members' funds to rectify that fiasco instead of kite-flying?

3   Who at the NT chose xxxxx Architects to prepare the secret "report"? Was this put out to tender? If not, how was the decision to use that company arrived at? (xxxxxxxxx).

4   How much of members' money (including my own) have you spent on this to date?

5   As I understand it you have only disclosed the "report" to WMCA, BCC, Network Rail (and, possibly, Flatpack). Yet images etc have been leaked to the media and feature on the xxxxxxxx Architects website is a deliberate attempt to sway public opinion in favour of the scheme. There is now a claque of left-wing and anti-motoring pressure groups lobbying for the scheme whilst all opposition factions are kept in the dark. Why did you decide to do this? Do you think the secrecy shows contempt for NT members when you use their money for a report and then conceal it from them? Do you think blatant political lobbying in this case is compatible with the Trust's charitable aims?

6   Unlike some of the claque who have never visited some of the buildings they are now campaigning to save, I have known them all over many years (save for the Electric when it was a "dirty" cinema - possibly one of its busiest periods). I appreciate that the Crown is listed but it was a truly awful pub and was no sad loss when it closed over a decade ago. (Incidentally, there are some now who are constantly lobbying for it to be reopened as a pub totally ignoring that a giant and very busy Wetherspoons has opened directly across the road. In the last fortnight FOUR well known Brum pubs have gone bust. Reopening as a pub is unrealistic and unviable.) The Old Rep is an undistinguished building and the pro-lobby you are encouraging can only come up with the fact that it was "the first" as a reason to save it. So what? As to The Electric I understand that it was substantially remodelled in the 1930's and so has lost any particular cachet? It was recently found to be unworthy of listing status. The question is, therefore, is the current Station Street actually worth "saving" subject to the one [actually two] building[s] that is [are] listed (and that issue can be dealt with in any new development plans in the usual way? Once again, wouldn't the Trust resources be better applied to rectifying The Roandhouse shambles?

7   In commissioning the "report" did the Trust consider economic matters - particularly noting that the area is a major transport hub? If not, why not?"

And here is the response:

"One of the National Trust's key aims in its work in and around towns and cities is to address unequal access to nature, beauty and history. To achieve this, we are increasingly working beyond our places and seeking to develop new and effective partnerships. The team in Birmingham wants to be a key contributor thinking about what the city needs today from its green spaces and nature, its culture, places and stories and what is needed to bring about positive change. 

The work commissioned with [Architects] is intended as a conversation starter for discussions with stakeholders in Birmingham around the cultural heritage importance of Station Street as a whole in terms of its significance to theatre, cinema and music and the wider cultural heritage of the city.

The architects were selected, on merit, following a tender process in line with the National Trust’s procurement rules. The commission was funded by our regional Urban Places budget, which is allocated from the Trust’s central funds and generated through a mix of income streams."

Note:

1.   The Trust won't say how it got involved in this;

2.   It won't say how much it has spent;

3.    It is not releasing the secret report (clearly, ordinary Brummies don't count as "Stakeholders") and won't say who has made the decision to show such contempt to members and the public at large, or why;

4.   It makes no comment on wider economic issues.

We referred to the fact that the Trust fairly recently re-opened The Roundhouse on the canal network (with the Canal & River Trust) and has completely f***** that up already. We say that until it can sort out its own properties in Brum it should butt out of interfering further in our city.

We will consider going to the Trust AGM to flush out how much members' money the Trust has blown on this report. In the meantime, other so-called stakeholders ARE susceptible to the Freedom of Information Act and so we have made the following FOIA request to bankrupt Birmingham City Council, West Midlands Combined Authority and Network Rail:

"The National Trust has produced a secret report suggesting the pedestrianisation of Station Street in consultation with BCC and others. The public is being deliberately excluded from this discussion.

Please disclose all records (as defined below) passing between BCC, WMCA, Network Rail, Flatpack (a "charity"), [X]Architects and the National Trust and inter se, regarding the future development of Station Street generally and specifically in respect of the potential road closure.

For the purpose of this Request “records” include correspondence by electronic or other means, reports, telephone attendance notes, copies or screenshots of messages sent via WhatsApp, Telegram, Text or other similar means, and all other documents of whatsoever nature arising in respect of this “project”."

The Trust was famously conservative in its financial affairs. It would only accept properties subject to endowments to fund the upkeep of the property. This is contrary to the "political" model where local authorities had no funding for historic and other properties but simply shafted the taxpayer for the running costs. In an age of austerity that extravagance is now rare, but this particular scheme has all the hallmarks of the taxpayer being screwed-over yet again.

But soft. what's this? The profligate National Trust has just announced it is booting out 550 employees due to "sustained costs pressures". It plans to make savings of £26m. A union claims that "management decisions" are partly to blame for the Trust's financial woes - which seems hardly surprising noting the above!

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ANOTHER Birmingham Sh*tshow ...

It is said that politics in the UK is becoming increasingly polarised yet it was an unholy alliance between Labour and the Tories that led to multi-millions being recklessly squandered on the z-list Colonial (sorry, "Commonwealth" [sic]) Games in 2022. Labour in Birmingham and the poverty ghetto of Sandwell enthusiastically hurled nearly £800m of taxpayers' money at the circus. Birmingham City Council has since gone into the local government equivalent of bankruptcy, and deeply-corrupt Sandwell recently declared a "£20m black-hole" in its finances.

The former Tory Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, cannot see a bandwagon passing without jumping on it and he, and his besotted local Conservative rimmers, started a BS campaign of epic proportions to big-up the egg and spoon race event. The Tories claim to be the Party of "law'n'order" (with many exclusions such as compliance with Covid Regulations) but cheered as £97m of OUR money was blown on policing and security alone. 

Incredibly, Brummies are now even more sick and indolent than Scousers (!) with a quarter of the population on out of work benefits. We are in "Great Depression" territory. The hard-working folk in our conurbation have sweated and grafted in the recent heatwave so as to pay more and more taxes to the economically inactive, yet the politicians are happy to take workers' money and waste it on fripperies. Just imagine if the incredible sums spent on the Games had been spent on economically useful infrastructure and job creation ...

The following three images provide a visual metaphor for the BS surrounding the Games and their supposed "legacy" i.e. the most expensive bull in history at New Street Station. Locals will know that an area of central Birmingham is protected against terrorist attack by a "ring of steel" during such events as the annual East European (formerly "German") Market. Part of the infrastructure in the Sh*tty Centre was made into a flower bed on Bennetts Hill.

Picture One - shortly before the Games:

Picture 2 - during the Games (roadworks also gone):

Picture 3 - now - the Games Legacy. The visitors have gone, and so the city can return to toilet-status for the locals:

Incidentally, we will shortly be writing about the laughable Colmore BID (Business Improvement District [sic]) - watch this space. The latest accounts for the BID shows that it has somehow amassed an astonishing £1.3m IN CASH! Perhaps its huge cohort of employees can drag themselves away from Pure Bar and get down to the garden centre?

Birmingham's status as Britain's "second city" rests solely on its population size. In terms of economic growth, vibrancy and cultural offerings then many would argue that Manchester has already seized that second spot. Brum may be - or soon will be - the UK's "third city" but it is still numero uno for bullsh*t!

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