"Yummy Brummie", Glyn Purnell, leaves a nasty taste

Chefs routinely separate ingredients into different pots and so it is no surprise that self-styled "Yummy Brummie", Glyn Purnell, has made full use of limited liability companies to protect his personal wealth whilst serving up a crock of sh*t to his employees, suppliers, rich customers, and all the rest of us. The latter due to unpaid tax liabilities that pay for public services, school dinners, etc. All this is usually quite legal.

Incredibly, this "Celebrity" Chef is held out as some sort of "Ambassador" for our City which only goes to show how low our civic reputation has sunk. Read on and see if you still want to rim this guy ...

The Purnell Companies

The Brummie Gents Ltd - only set up in January, 2025 (after the second insolvency referred to below). Jointly owned with Philip Ko-Hing Innes (the "partner" in a new restaurant, Trillium - see also below).

Smoothie Operator Ltd - a joint venture with A. N. Other which was dissolved without ever filing any accounts.

Ginger Boy Ltd - insolvent. See below.

Little Sister Ltd - set up with a female (possibly his "little sister"?) Insolvent in 2022. The statement of affairs makes grim reading:

It's the left-hand column you really need to look at. Purnell and his co-owner shafted the drones who cook his fancy food for £36,042.16 (£4,280.88 + £31,761.28). Their creditors (suppliers etc.) got off lightly this time losing £865.20). We, the people, lost £46,807.85 via unpaid tax. Oh, and the Bank lost over £50k. (It is possible that Yummy was also classed as an employee and lost some of his "pay" - and this applies below too in respect of his other liquidation.)

Purnell Media Ltd - this Company (in Purnell's sole name) only has to file micro accounts but seems to be the pot in which this cook puts the income which people astonishingly pay him for his peculiar brand of gobsh*tery. And as this is a separate legal entity Purnell can keep this pot away from the clutches of his workers, suppliers, and the taxman. Thus it is no surprise that "Capital & Reserves" amount to £124,832 in the latest accounts. "Yummy" gets the mine - everyone else gets the shaft.

Boo Boo Bars Limited - a Company in Purnell's sole name which is said to trade in "pubs and bars". The 2024 accounts state that there are 14 people working for him in this Company but the same figures show creditors with payments due in 12 months at a stonking £136,795, giving a deficit of liabilities over assets of £8,179.00. Given that pubs and bars are being crucified by the current Labour Government and economic headwinds, this is hardly encouraging. A pub operated via this company is called "The Mount" which may be apt given the, er, mounting debts. Lets hope it's not boo-hoo for the creditors again.

Brummie Monk Limited - dissolved in 2024 without ever filing accounts.

Purnell's Catering Limited - set up on 3rd October, 2024 - "coincidentally" just before Ginger Boy Limited failed. A Company in Purnell's sole name which has yet to file any accounts.

Of course, we only have public access to limited company records and have no means or knowing how much Purnell has squirrelled away in cash, property etc. in his own name. 

And so we come back to the liquidation of Purnell's"flagship" - Ginger Boy Limited - through which his Purnell's Bistro in Cornwall Street was operated. This Company was in "Yummy's" sole name.

Once again the employees, suppliers, and taxman were all shafted together with those customers who were foolish enough to buy vouchers for his expensive eatery. Indeed it was the voucher saga that piqued our interest in this character since there was a suggestion in the media when he went bust (just after setting-up Purnell Catering Limited, don't ya know) that somehow this "good guy" might transfer the vouchers to other parts of his crumbling empire. We were going to follow this up with the liquidator as this would have meant giving some creditors preferential treatment over others - which would have been unlawful. Purnell appears to have been told this since then he told what is left of the "press" that holders of the duff vouchers needed to contact the liquidator. (As we shall see, they got f*** all back.)

Here are the figures again from the liquidation and, once, again, readers are referred in particular to the left-hand column:

The drones (possibly including Purnell himself) who work long hours got shafted for a stonking £145,819.16 (£23,875.16 + £121,944.00). It is said that some young chefs aspire to work for "big" names like Purnell, but such wannabes should check out his accounts first! Maybe they are so highly paid they don't miss the losses when he goes bust - ROFLMAO.

The Bank only lost £17,316.39 when its charge proved to be floating on a sea of sh*t. Curiously "Directors" lost £60k but Purnell was the only one (and this also suggest that his personal losses, if any, were NOT included in the employees figure here - which would make the situation even more reprehensible in the eyes of most right-thinking people, and those not blinded by Purnell's slow cooked shoulder of lamb and other culinary wonders).

Trade creditors/suppliers were taken for an horrendous £131,213.52 and it is to be hoped that they all managed to handle their losses and did not go under themselves. It is noteworthy that this figure is LESS than the sum owed to trade creditors via Boo Boo Bars in the last accounts.

The Bank only lost £17,316.39 this time but the public again lost out when Purnell took the taxman for £51,086.57 (£49,400.51 + £1,686.06). Taken with the non-payment of taxes in the other insolvency that is getting on for £100k lost to the public purse. We think this is disgraceful. This guy should be a pariah rather than a hero in our once great City.

An absolutely astonishing 25% of working age people are on out-of-work benefits in bankrupt Labour Brum, and foodbank use is at record levels. Last Autumn when "Yummy" was preparing his new Company just before the other went under, he was charging "only" £110 plus 12.5% discretionary service charge for his "Autumn Taster Menu" plus £115 for the "wine flight". (This now seems very reasonable as Aktar Islam - Andy Street's biggest fan lol - is currently charging £185 for the Spring Taster and £165 for the plonk!) There are still plenty of folk around willing to pay crazy prices for a succession of minuscule morsels.

When Purnell's went bust we have seen that there were a number of folk who were stupid enough to pay "Yummy" in advance. No doubt some were hoping to celebrate there during the festive season. The accounts show that morons paid "Yummy" an astonishing £39,375.00 in advance for the ultimately worthless vouchers!

Liquidations these days are seldom sudden events. They are often pre-arranged and, as above, it is noteworthy that Purnell set up a new Company on 3rd October, 2004 just a few weeks before Ginger Boy's liquidator was appointed on 12th November, 2024. When did Purnell stop selling the vouchers? Did he continue to sell them in the vain hope of keeping the business afloat? In  particular, did anyone buy vouchers between 3rd October, 2024 and 12th November, 2024? If you did please let us know via the email below.

Another question is when the lease on Cornwall Street was due to end?

We imagine "Yummy" has liquidisers in his kitchens but maybe he should have liquidators on hand too?

There is virtually no journalism being undertaken in this City these days and it is up to a few small independents like us to bring you the facts. The clickbait churnalists presented the sinking of Purnell's flagship as if Purnell was the loser whereas we have now shown you who he actually shafted.

Now the same pathetic lot are bigging-up "his" new restaurant, Trillium. It is billed as a "joint venture" with well-known local wine merchant, Phil Innes ("Mr Loki Wines"). We saw above that another new Purnell Company is jointly-owned with Innes and we assume that this will "operate" the restaurant. But that would seem to be the extent of "Yummy's" involvement since Innes himself is a Director of two new companies set up in May and apparently connected with the new venture. But the ownership is opaque. The sole shareholder of Trillium Restaurant (Birmingham) Limited (Director - Phil Innes) is actually Trillium Restaurants (Holdings) Limited where the sole Director is Innes again, but the sole shareholder is one Brian Dean.

Maybe the set up is for Purnell to simply run the kitchen whilst others look after the business. That might be sensible given his failure to date but will that satisfy his Rotunda-sized ego?

Trillium is due to open in September. We wonder if "vouchers" will be available ...

iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com

A Crow Multimedia Blog - Independent Journalism

The Thurd Sector #3 - Red Thurds

As we have pointed out elsewhere, 99% of Thurd Sector/Charity workers [sic] are lefties. Many milk donors and the taxpayer to fund very comfortable lifestyles whilst parading their anti-capitalist credentials, and virtue-signalling.

And the Thurd Sector has become increasingly political. Many are content with expressing socialist cant and the "green" agenda whilst others use the money provided by donors and involuntary "donations" from taxpayers to, for example, bring numerous - but often hopeless - court cases seeking judicial reviews.

We exposed that the vile people at the Scope "Charity" blew £6,000 of money supposedly intended to "help the disabled" on a pathetic Liz Truss attack ad at a Tory Party Conference. [Full story below*] Think long and hard before ever giving any money to Scope!

But many people in the Thurd Sector are making a good screw and, despite the dire economic situation this Country finds itself in, central and local government continue to shower their cronies with contacts for alleged services and sundry "project" grants. Thus the Sector is keen to rim Labour politicians at every opportunity.

We are indebted to the current edition of the ever-brilliant Private Eye magazine for exposing that Starmer and Co. are seeking to charge "charities"£552 for the basic pass to attend the Party Conference. The grander pass costs £897. How is this expenditure ever likely to be within a charitable purpose?

Of course, Thurds rarely attend events alone so that some "charities" etc. will send a number of delegates. The donors/taxpayers will also be shafted for hotels, transport and, generous "subsistence".

If you are thinking of making a donation to any Thurd Sector organisation take a careful look at its accounts and also ask it for details of any proposed attendance at the Labour beano.

* https://www.blogger.com/u/9/blog/post/edit/5210725868751736806/4964687273181681254

Why not subscribe to Private Eye - you won't regret it! Here's the link:

https://checkout.private-eye.co.uk/SingleItem?Item=PEY&Prom=PEYE1643

iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com

A Crowmultimedia Blog

The Thurd Sector #2 - Food Sense Wales

This is the AI response to a question about the income of Welsh farmers (and being AI it must be true, mustn't it?):

The average farm business income in Wales can fluctuate, but in 2022-23, GOV.WALES reported a decrease in average income for both cattle and sheep (LFA) farms and cattle and sheep (lowland) farms. Specifically, LFA farms saw a 37% decrease to £24,300 per farm, and lowland farms experienced a 30% decrease to £18,700 per farm. These decreases were attributed to a combination of factors including a decrease in farm output and an increase in costs. 

Crow Multimedia picked up on this following a recent piece by the excellent Anna Hill on BBC Farming Today concerning the work of  “classic” Thurd Sector “organisation”, Food Sense Wales. We don’t want to impute to Anna our own interpretation of the interview but the writer did imagine that there was a slight note of scepticism in her voice, and this got the journalistic juices flowing.

We should say before we start that “public health” provision is woefully underfunded and inadequate and we generally support public health initiatives, including those in respect of a healthy diet. But …

The Farming Today feature said that the taxpayer has divvied-up £2m a year until 2028, ostensibly for Welsh farmers. But where there is taxpayer loot there is always the Thurd Sector seeking to grab some, or all, of it. This public dosh is destined for Food Sense Wales and we suggest you take a look at its expensive website [link below *] replete with traditional Thurd Sector bollocks which seem to us to have very little to do with actual farming and everything to do with the Labour Senedd nanny-state:

Mission: “Co-creating a food system for Wales that’s good for people and the planet.”

Inevitably this involves many other Thurd Sector organisations getting their noses in the trough: “Developing a network of cross sector food partnerships.”

Farmers may spread plenty of sh*t of the land but this “charitable fund” has its own methods of excrement dissemination: “Piloting and scaling innovative approaches to inspire action.”

Public money is to be used on something that has not, hitherto, been difficult for the Welsh: “Telling Stories”.

The website is replete with reference to the environment and to, er, social justice - which seems to imply that this has been something lacking in Welsh agriculture until now (whatever it means anyway!) Thus Food Sense will be:

“Catalysing a revolution in local and sustainable procurement inspired by horticulture”.

Taxpayers’ money will set up a whole Thurd Sector network for:

“The transition of agroeconomical production and consumption in Wales to benefit the environment and society.” 

All the Thurd Sector buzzwords and Thurdspeak are deployed as the website goes on, and on: “collaboration”, “inclusivity”, “agility”, “drive”, “removing barriers and stigma”.

This lefty tosh (and the Thurd Sector is 99% left-wing) mentions virtually nothing about the realities of Welsh farming - although Food Sense is desperate that this should be “organic” - and is very much in favour of the left-wing answer to everything related to business, the “Preston model”. In short, this is to force schools, hospitals etc to buy local (irrespective of price). This actually bears a close resemblance to Trumpian protectionism. We don’t know enough about Welsh agroeconomics to say whether there would even be a sufficient market for this to “work”, and how “sustainable” such a system would be. And such dirigiste systems didn’t work out too well under Comrades Stalin and Mao.

We were under the impression that Welsh farmers had been feeding the nation for hundreds of years and exporting beautiful lamb and much else to us English heathens, and others. We are not aware that local farmers and growers have starved children say, or the elderly (unlike our Red friends mentioned above) but Food Sense will use public money to ensure that:

“All ages have dignified access to healthy, good-quality food.” No more going down the Spar for a Ginsters for you, Welsh folk (wags an admonishing finger!)

Anna Hill rightly suggested that £2m a year was not a massive amount of money to implement these lofty aims but one Kate Palmer of Food Sense immediately pressed the Thurdspeak button, and talked of using the public money to “leverage” funds in from elsewhere. In other words, bring in other Thurd Sector friends to dip their proboscises into the honey pot.

And Anna is too good a presenter not to raise the obvious question whether Welsh farmers will actually see any of the money. Ms Palmer said that Food Sense had worked with 15 “growers” and worked to get Welsh veg in schools. It had invested money into “key infrastructure” and made grants for polytunnels and packing sheds. So far so good, but she also made the bizarre boast that Wales was doing a lot more along these lines than was being done “in England” as if funding Welsh agriculture is akin to a rugger match against the old enemy. If you are involved in actual Welsh farming we suggest you try and screw some loot out of this lot quickly, before all the cash disappears. 

As above, we are not experts on agroeconomics but know that the system has been turned on its head thanks to Brexit. We sort of imagined that the Welsh Government [sic] would help out farmers (if it has not already blown all its revenues elsewhere), particularly when it comes to “key infrastructure” spending. And where is NFU Cymru in all this?

We took a look at the legal status of Food Sense Wales and it is opaque. On the website it says it is part of Cardiff and Vale Health Charity (1056544) and the (Cardiff) Public Health Team. Food Sense has told Crow Multimedia that it is just a “fund under the umbrella of the Cardiff and Vale Health Charity”. It is “hosted” by the Public Health team. The email address is a NHS one.

Let us just pause and look at the Charity of which Food Sense is a part. Cardiff and Vale is an official NHS charity via a 1990 Act of Parliament. Of course, many dedicated individuals give time and/or money to C&V and many good works are done. Like many charities it receives unrestricted income (general donations, legacies etc.) which is used for general charitable aims at the direction of the trustees, and restricted income which is for specific projects and often consists of grants. As things stand it appears that Welsh Labour has grabbed £2m a year from taxpayers and turned this into an enforced “donation” to the Charity - specifically for this nanny state “Eat The Greens” [surely Eat Your Greens - Ed?] project. This Charity claims to employ nine staff although it is not clear whether this includes the (at least) four staff working specifically for Food Sense (see further below).

The annual report for 2024 makes some interesting reading particularly in respect of the costs of the fundraising effort:

Note that the costs of raising funds are skewed to the raising of unrestricted income. The Charity spends £94,000 raising £271,000 of restricted funds, but look at the first column. This Charity spends £381,000 (of which £364,000 is specifically in respect of "the fundraising office") to raise just £255,000. Look at the red ink. How can this even be possible? If you are considering giving/leaving money to this lot we think you should ask some very hard questions first!

As with many Thurd Sector organisations a considerable amount of money is held "in reserve". All charities should hold some money for unexpected contingencies but this one holds nearly £3m in unrestricted funds alone. If "Food Sense" - as opposed to more tangible projects C&V run (medical support and research etc.) - is, in the opinion of the Trustees, a more appropriate way of spending charitable income then why cannot some or all of the money come from reserves rather than taxpayers who have no say in the matter? The Charity states in writing. "the current level of reserves is considered more than adequate for current needs". So spend some of it then!

Returning to "Food Sense" the expensive website does not indicate how many people work for it but it does show four individuals. One should not judge a sausage by its skin but if you go onto the site you will see that there are four white women in senior roles. They have the usual bourgeois appearance of Thurd Sector staffers. So much for "inclusivity".

Perhaps more importantly are the titles of these women:

Katie Palmer - "Founder and Head"; Sian-Erin Davies - Communications and Engagement Manager; Pearl Costello - Sustainable and Places Manager; Caz Falcon - Project Support Manager.

The grand titles seem to suggest a tier of underlings too. We would offer a small wager that all these women earn more than the average earnings of the Welsh farmers they purport to champion. Unfortunately, we cannot supply you with details. Although the Charity Commission recommends that charities give at least SOME details of the total pay to employees** and the alleged openness boasted of in the Food Sense website they, er, refused to answer our press enquiry on this subject. Instead they referred it to the main C&V Charity as a "Freedom of Information Request" - which it was not. [Rest assured we will now be making a very much more detailed FOI request instead.] The problems with the Freedom of Information system are, inter alia, that it takes ages and there are many exemptions organisations can use to try and hide the info.

Why are Food Sense so ashamed about the amount the team is being paid? We shall see in due course but, in the meantime, Welsh farmers should not bank on this Thurd Sector outfit coming to their rescue.

*   https://www.foodsensewales.org.uk/

**   As above, the vast majority of Thurd Sector employees are Labour supporters and that Party is currently considering removing requirements for organisations to tell the public how much they are paying staff. [It's called cronyism.]

iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com

Crow Multimedia 

Brum Camra - a ticking-off?

Tonight sees the presentation of the Camra Birmingham “Pub of the Year” Award - for the THIRD year running - to relative newbie bar “Hop & Scotch”. It’s a tremendous place despite being in the Kings Heath area of the city, and fully merits all the plaudits it receives. But the fact that the end result is a good ‘un should not detract from the curious way “POTY” seems to be decided in this neck of the woods.

Hopper - it's deja vu all over again!

I am not a member of Camra although I have always agreed with its aims and supported it from the sidelines - or at least until it embraced the “craft beer” chimera. Accordingly, I was not involved in the marking system used to rate pubs for the POTY award.

Not so long back there were rumours that the POTY award for one year had been “rigged” (and there were some grounds to believe this was true). More importantly, there have been ongoing allegations that the process had been “politicised” so that there are individuals or groupings voting who are hostile to certain pubs. Whether or not there is any substance in this is a moot point, but the fact that neither “The Wellington” nor “The Old Moseley Arms” even made the long list of runners and riders for this year’s prize does get the juices of conspiracy theorists well and truly flowing.

The Welly is one of the finest real ale pubs in the land, let alone in Birmingham. Alas - and it breaks my heart - I am boycotting my local pub “home” (and all other hostelries run by rapacious pubco, Black Country Ales) thanks to “Catgate”*. Accordingly I cannot be accused of bias in writing this. A source close to The Welly recently told me that, “any city in Britain would be proud to have a pub like The Welly in its centre” - and s/he is absolutely right. 

It seems that there is a faction in Brum Camra who have some sort of beef about the The Welly’s landlord, the legendary Nigel “Noige” Barker. If that is remotely true then these people should be ashamed of themselves. Firstly, Nige was the messianic leader who brought the Brummie Tribe out the keg wilderness into the promised land of real ale. Secondly, although he is obliged to serve the BCA slop at The Welly there is always a splendid selection of other ales available and, most significantly, it is almost always brilliantly kept. Quite simply, Nige has done more for real ale in this city than anyone else.

The Old Mo is a different sort of pub from the Welly. Its selection of ales seldom changes but, like Nige’s offering, invariably pours and drinks superbly. The Bathams alone is a big attraction for me - and I shall be sampling this product later before I visit Hop & Scotch for the POTY presentation ceremony.

The Old Mo very successfully marries a traditional two-room Brummie pub with internal and external seating areas and is, or course, renowned for its Indian food offering. Like The Welly, people come from far and wide to visit. In the Old Mo’s case many cricket fans brave the walk from Edgbaston to round off the sporting day in style. Very recently, I have sat talking with folk in the Mo from Manchester, Leicestershire and Dublin! Great - but not good enough for the local Camra “tickers” apparently.

Again, as with The Wellie, both landlords are highly-experienced. Nige is known in the pub world nationally as well as locally. Sukhi at The Mo has clocked-up over 25 years service.

Last year, The Old Mo suffered a grievous blow with the loss of Linsay Tobin**. She will never be replaced, but Sukhi is rebuilding a smashing team. I was talking to him just the other night and he is looking to the future - a most encouraging thing in the current climate.

And yes, local CAMRA members, please remember that our local pubs - those that survived the pandemic - face an existential threat of a magnitude much larger than seen for many a long year. From the trend towards youthful sobriety to Starmer/Reeves, the dangers lurk. Hop & Scotch (a conversion of a former shop) is showing what can be done to foster a community atmosphere in a modern setting, but if Camra members dislike pubs like the Welly and Mo so much they can’t even make it onto the POTY “long list” they seem to have diverged a very long way indeed from my view of what constitutes a good pub. I would like to be present though if any of the Camra “tickers” have the cojones to tell Nige and Sukhi what they are doing wrong …

*  The full sorry story of Catgate can be read here:

https://thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-dark-heart-of-black-country.html

**  A tribute to Lins:

https://crowmultimedia.blogspot.com/2024/08/linsay-tobin-beautiful-soul.html

iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com

A Crow Multimedia Blog.

Bollom Dry Cleaners and Me

In my first year at Aberystwyth Uni back in the 70's we had to make our own fun. This often involved spending considerable periods of time in the pub. My friend "M" and I sometimes entertained ourselves by writing cod fan letters to Nicholas Parsons. Alas, he saw through our tomfoolery and never responded.

Imagine my delight when I was strolling down Great Darkgate Street one morning and saw a giant, luridly-coloured, poster bearing the image of Nicholas himself exhorting punters to: "Be Bright - Save Money" in the window of Bollom, the dry cleaners. I hastened into the shop where a very bored young lass was gazing into space, chewing gum, and resting both elbows on the counter - all at the same time. I asked her if I could have the poster when it was taken down. Her flabber was well and truly gasted, but she didn't see any reason why not.

Soon the bright yellow poster was replaced with a vivid green one and I went into the shop and claimed the original. I also "booked" the new green one. As one season follows another so the green one came into my possession, as did its replacement, which was a sort of vomit-inducing cerise. The lass never once asked me why I wanted the posters but just shook her head in a sorrowful way whenever I appeared.

Moving into a cell at Cwrt Mawr (student "accommodation") I managed to display two whole posters on the longer walls and a folded version on the window wall so that wherever I was in the room, Nicholas Parsons was grinning at me. Guests found this most disconcerting, but it did have the advantage of frightening off various political campaigners and other bores.

As I try to scratch a few pennies together in my old age one of the - flaccid - strings to my bow is selling vintage postcards. I was replenishing my stock recently when I came across a view of East Street, Bridport and it caught my eye since there is a local buyer who collects images of Woolworth shops (yes, honestly). But then my eye strayed to the bottom left-hand corner and, as you will see, the Bollom sign stands proud!

Returning to "M" - he was in arrears with maintenance payments and in those days such matters were dealt with by magistrates. He was ordered by a Court to pay a certain amount and he sent it a cheque, made payable to his ex-wife. He received the cheque back with a letter telling him to resend it payable to the Clerk to the Court. I sat in Downies Vaults and scrawled, "I love Nicholas Parsons" across the back of the cheque, now payable to the correct recipient, and "M" wrote in huge letters on the face of it: "I was never married to the Clerk to Hemel Hempstead Magistrates' Court". Despite the graffiti.the Court successfully banked the cheque.

Thank you for wasting a few minutes of your life reading this nonsense.

Published by Ian Crow Multimedia Ltd.

iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com

Warwickshire's Best Kept Secret

If you visit a Postcard Fair and view the "Warwickshire" section you will probably come across an image of a Tudor dream house nestling seductively in a verdant hollow. Many folk will imagine this beautiful dwelling has long since met the fate of so many country houses in the 20th Century and been demolished. It almost was in the late 18th Century, but it has survived in all its glory. It remains in the hands of the descendants of the family who resided at the original house in 1204 - the year the Crusaders sacked Constantinople - the Comptons, later the Earls and more recently, the Marquesses of Northampton. I give you Compton Wynyates, near Tysoe.

Published by Frank Packer of Chipping Norton.

This bewitching building was open to the public for a time and spawned a range of postcards. Some appear to have been commissioned "in house", but a number of independent publishers produced beguiling images too. Booklets were produced for visitors. Eventually, however, the house reverted to a private family property.

One of at least two visitor booklets published by the Compton family.

Thus the house has dropped back into relative obscurity, but half a millennium ago some of the guests were most definitely "A-list". The present house was built in the late 1400's, partly using re-claimed materials from the derelict Fulbroke (now, usually Fulbrook) Castle, near Warwick. The Pevsner Guide describes the enduring appeal of the architecture succinctly:

"the mixture of brick with some half-timber, of windows with cusped and uncusped lights, and the absence of any symmetries ... makes the house so supremely picturesque."

Published by F. C. Rickett of Claverdon & Stratford in his "Mercia Series".
An identical card was published in the "Antona Series".

Henry VIII visited his friend Sir William Compton on "several occasions", probably with Catherine of Aragon. Elizabeth I and James I also visited. It will come as no surprise to the reader that the Compton's went on to fight for the King in the English Civil War, but that didn't work out quite so well ...

A more modern card by Jarrold's of Norwich including gardens.

Seemingly a self-published view from an amateur photographer. Probably a rare card.

Published by Percy Simms of Chipping Norton

By the commencement of hostilities, the Comptons had been elevated to the peerage. The 2nd Earl and three sons fought at The Battle of Edgehill, and in later fighting around Banbury. In 1643 the Earl was killed at The Battle of Hopton Heath, near Stafford.

In 1644 the house was beseiged for two days by Parliamentary forces and eventually taken. The Church was destroyed (although rebuilt in 1666 after the Restoration). In 1645 the Comptons led a daring raid to recover the house, fighting their way through to the great court, but they were unable to cross the inner moat and were driven off.

        The cards showing the interior are a little pedestrian after the images of the spectacular exterior. 

This one is rather non-PC by modern standards.

The card, by Dennis & Sons (County Series), describes this as the "Banqueting Hall" but the

family appear to call it the "Big Hall".

Lord Northampton managed to recover his estates but the Comptons hadn't quite finished with their involvement in significant historic events. The sixth son of the 2nd Earl became Bishop of London but was one of the signatories to the invitation to William of Orange to assume the throne, and subsequently performed the ceremony of crowning William and Mary.

Marked as "A Most Famous Tudor House" - unknown publisher

A small mystery ...

I am unable to identify the publisher of this card (yet). It is marked "B. B. 204" (answers on a postcard please!) The reason I included it was because of the very short message on the back. Posted from Banbury on 3rd September, 1904 to a Mrs Cloney of Warwick, it sadly reads:

"Baby is still very poorly, will write tonight."

Did the baby pull-through? I sincerely hope so.

And finally - keep 'em peeled ...

I hold 46 different views of this stunning building, but there are more out there! Only this week I acquired this uncommon multiview card of "Edge Hills", with Compton Wynyates to the bottom right.

Author: "A Warwickshire Lad"

Ian Crow Multimedia

crowmultimedia@gmail.com

It is a work in progress at the moment, but why not take a look at our postcard and ephemera retail site - with a "Warwickshire" category - on ebay at:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/terminuspostcardsplus