In December 1966, the East End's infamous Kray Brothers 'sprung' him from Dartmoor Prison, and set him up in a London flat; complete with female company and a few 'minders'. The reason for this is complicated and somewhat immaterial.
I was living in Lillie Road, Fulham at the time, and talk of Frank Mitchell was everywhere; he was an extremely violent and unpredictable man, and everyone in London was told to keep a very careful eye out for him.
Several days after his escape I was rudely awoken in the middle of the night by a bunch of gun-toting, dog-handling, special-squad cops, who dragged me from my bed, held me beneath a light bulb, and compared my sweet face to that of ugly Mitchell's. They then quickly abandoned me and rushed off to continue their search of the house.
Eventually they returned to apologise, and explained that someone had phoned to say they'd seen a man who looked like Mitchell entering one of two Lillie Road houses. They had obviously been mistaken.
The Kray Brothers eventually ordered his 'execution'; he was simply too uncontrolable, and too violent. They paid some heavies to have him shot.... RIP Frank.
Hi. Just happened upon your blog and find it quite interesting. So, I'm glad you've had good luck with rhubarb. Last year I pampered mine and still had a bad crop. My mother's plant did better years ago and it was always neglected. Interesting about the forcing with the black pots. Maybe I should try that. I think my mistake last year was that I didn't cut the flower stock off soon enough. Please come visit at my blog: laughinghorseart.blogspot.com. I'm an artist and like to give out tips and thoughts. Would love to have the French countryside to paint. You're very fortunate. I live in the U. S. but part of my ancestry is from your country. One of my ancestors was in his chateau with his wife and child when it was burned down by the church. He was a hugenot-many many years ago.
ReplyDeleteDid that really happen to you!? Wow, what a story!
ReplyDeleteIt did indeed, Linda!
ReplyDeleteHi Julie. I have visited your site. I've never forced rhubarb before, but it's worth it. In fact I've just picked a second lot which we will eat this evening. The forcing seems to make it grow so much quicker. Make sure your pots are at least nearly 2 ft high, otherwise they start to lift off.
Rhubarb? Surely that is off-topic - shouldn't it be chocolate? (talking of Snickers in fashion... 'Topic' - gedditt??? Oh never mind)
ReplyDeleteRhubarb and Frank Mitchell seem to have united.
ReplyDeleteIt's all that Easter Pink Champagne.