28 FEATURE
11 FEBRUARY 2021
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From the front line… BY JACQUELINE CURZON It’s well known amongst my family and friends that I’m an absolute lover of border collies, having grown up with them from a very young age. I remember the first dog we had when I was around five, this followed by a succession of other collies, but it was the second one [Scott] I recall best as a teenager and young adult. It was apparent from the day we adopted him at the farm, how clever he was, and one of his party tricks was where he would be told to lie down, in typical stealth mode, whilst we would roll a Jacqueline Curzon favourite ball (or a tasty nibble), to PHOTO: LARA MINSKY PHOTOGRAPHY a distant spot, or carefully executed to stop only a foot or less from his nose. Most animals would be unable to resist the impulse to grab it, but Scott would wait for as long as you decided, before fetching and racing back for another round of ‘patience.’ This waiting time could be anything from 30 seconds up to 5 minutes, and I recall in admiration the occasions he resisted the urge for 15 minutes, when the human had forgotten to call ‘fetch.’ Our collie would bring you not just the ball you Firstly, let me clarify I’m absolutely not an accessory aficionado, but the photo caught asked for, but the specific colour where my attention because the artisan handbags there were several to choose from. This were created from decommissioned fire was an animal you could depend upon to hoses. Check out the website of Elvis & wait with you at the kerb, to sit unleashed Kresse; founded by Kresse Wesling MBE by the door of the shops, or to happily in 2005, and based in Kent; they rescue run cross-country with you in a planned materials which would otherwise end in outing. Collies are not only intelligent, landfill: fire-hoses, parachute silk, cardloyal and obedient but incredibly savvy, board boxes, leather cuttings from Burberinstinctively aware of dangerous surry. Even more impressive, they donate 50% roundings, with acute hearing, incredibly of their profits to The Firefighters Charity. responsive to commands and even your Their products are not only ‘on trend’ and tone of voice. Essentially, all the qualities fashionable, but you are literally saving the you would want in a marriage! It came as no surprise to me this week to read about a planet as well. We say ‘an Englishman's home is his female border collie called Kim, who at 12 castle.’ Conjuring up visions of palatial months old has now become the world's splendour or at least of being able to swing most expensive sheep dog, after selling a dish towel, it is literally wherever your for a whopping £27,000. Dewi Jenkins, the Welsh farmer who trains Kim, said she was heart is. No matter your vision of paradise, ‘extremely intelligent’ and a fast learner. He spare a thought for those considering a home on sale in Shepherds Bush, where wasn’t surprised by this figure, which had your total castle will be just 5 foot 6 wide. beaten the previous record by more than Wedged between a hair salon and a doctor's £7,000, as he said everything he trained surgery, the five-floor property boasts 2 her to do she knew by the second time beds, a study, roof terrace and landscaped working cattle and sheep, she was ready garden, and is the perfect des-res for those for any trials or farm work for anybody. He had put together a half hour video showing wanting to downsize. Not suitable for those of claustrophobic disposition. Yours, for a Kim’s abilities, which included corralling neat £950,000. Slim applicants only. stubborn cattle. To top it all the collie had Readers will recall I mentioned Putin's an interesting red tinge to its fur which Palace a few weeks back. Alexei Navapparently is in vogue. Given a working alny had uploaded a video, which was dog could generally be purchased for viewed millions of times, to the chagrin an average of £2,000, I believe that Kim’s of Vladimir Putin. Russian State TV has price was reached more by its ability and tried to get its revenge by doing the same less by any capacity to be an Instagram to him, where Sunday news show {Vesty hit, although she definitely qualifies as a Nedeli} have exposed Navalny's rented flat good-looker. in Freiburg, replete with coffee machine, An interesting photo of handbags apIKEA furniture, 2 sofas and fresh fruit. peared in The Telegraph on 7th February.
From handbags, to fresh fruit and curtains. Your castle of luxury awaits, m’lady!
Wow, if that’s luxury, we can barely contemplate the conditions in the average Russian apartment, or worse, imagine his accommodation in prison. Readers with a sensitive disposition should skip the next paragraph as it relates to unspeakable violence. I was appalled to read this week about two teenage girls who have been given lifelong anonymity, despite their crime being one of the most violent on record. The fact that they were aged only 13 and 14 when they tortured and murdered Angela Wrightson (39), a highly vulnerable woman, then took selfies whilst beating her to death, in no way diminishes their culpability and the fact remains that they plainly knew what they were doing. In fact they revelled in antics which any person with half an ounce of decency would have shied away from. Identified only as F and D, these individuals were jailed for life in 2016 and because of their ages were not publicly identified. That injunction was due to expire once they turned 18 and Mrs Justice Tipples has now added them to a list of child criminals who will be given lifelong anonymity. She was satisfied that if they were named there was a real and immediate risk of them harming themselves. Ms Wrightson - the victim - suffered a sustained attack with more than 100 separate injuries as she was hit with a shovel, a TV, a coffee table and a stick studded with screws. During this heinous attack the pair laughed and posed for selfies, which they uploaded to social media. Well, I’m sorry, in any civilised society such behaviour is abhorrent. It wasn’t like Angela’s death was the result of a driving accident, where one could argue that they had been ‘under the influence’ and therefore unable to appreciate the severity or significance of their actions. It makes me wish that we had an American-style justice here - putting firmly aside the fact that some states still can order up a death penalty - but at least for the most heinous of crimes, a life sentence over there is expected to mean life, and usually is for the taking of one. I think of a particular case which I read recently of Edward Lowry who was walking home late one night, minding his own business, and was set upon by three 19-year-old youths who attacked him, robbed him, stamped on him and then one of them stabbed him four times, causing exsanguination in a matter of seconds. They then ran off jiving, smiling and hi-fiving each other before running to the nearest shop for sweets and cigarettes. Were it not for a long and complicated investigation of CCTV footage, where their predatory behaviour was captured, none of them would have been brought to justice. When they were sentenced, aged 20, one was given 60 years
(50 for good behaviour) and the other who committed the stabbing - was given 100 years. A hundred years means that the murderer will only be released if he makes it to 120. However, the severity of such sentences undoubtedly act as a deterrent for any other individuals who think taking a life for a few hundred pounds or for their quick fix, will create a buzzy moment. Let’s think not of the freedom they are losing in this process, but of the life they stole without hesitation or regret. We are living in a world where justice is often tokenism, or we look for provocation by the victim, and a sentence may be chopped in half because of overcrowding. So my views on the murder of Ms Wrightson are fashioned by compassion for the victim (as with PC Andrew Harper), and not empathy for the perpetrators. Apologies if these views are at odds with your own, but I feel that crime is often under-sentenced in the UK, making sentences a bit of a mockery. I finish up with The Sound of Music. As a child watching this movie in the late 1960s, I remember being absolutely enchanted by the characters: Maria, who gave up a dream of religious service for an handsome, eligible widower with traditional values; the children {especially the cutesy Gretel} - who wouldn’t want an instant family of compliant children, obliging and with good manners, and accepting of hand-me-downs made from curtains? a glamorous, elegant life with society dinners and balls, and the maternal, eternal wisdom of the Mother Superior at moments of crisis. Most especially it had cheery, florid music, of which Climb Every Mountain and Lonely Goatherd [well, the whole score, actually] have never left my musical mind. Quite simply, it was a magical film which had it all. I never could have imagined one day I would have seven children of my own, although mine are far less mannered and pathologically resistant to any clothing suggestions. Ah, to sleep, perchance to dream… For Christopher Plummer, the Canadian actor who died last week aged 91, his movie wedding to Julie Andrews (now 85), was a movie ‘marriage’ made in hell. Aside from the fact he was not the first choice for Captain Georg Von Trapp - other contenders included Bing Crosby and Rex Harrison - Plummer’s casting propelled him to stardom, and gained him an Oscar. He was often quoted as saying he couldn’t abide Andrews’ ‘incessant cheerfulness,’ and hated the stiffness of the plot. Although he was thoroughly grounded in Shakespeare, often performing at the Old Vic, he showed his diversity in later films including The Return of the Pink Panther (1975), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Knives Out (2018). Captain, we regretfully bid you Auf Wiedersehen. Adieu. Love Jacqueline x
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