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| Leominster Live |
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As Harry Truman notably said, ‘If you don’t like the heat, get out of the kitchen!’ and so, in my years as a columnist for the Leominster Journal before its sad demise, I accepted that, at times, there would be those who not only disagreed with my views but did so less than courteously. I was somewhat baffled though, by the accusations of one or two correspondents that I ‘consistently attacked Leominster and its citizens’. So, now that my column has a new venue, and for the record, here is a recap of the views which I expressed in a letter to the Journal soon after I moved to Leominster. In it, I enumerated aspects of Leominster which I loved or liked, of which there were many. Moving to Leominster from Hereford meant, in the first instance, a welcome relief from traffic jams, which had become a feature of life there, even before Hereford earned its current soubriquet of The Great Traffic Jam. Even when I moved south of the river in ’86, a journey from St. Martins church to the Belmont roundabout could, at times, take twenty minutes and by the time I left, in June ’99, at rush-hours the traffic-jam could stretch all the way back to Rotherwas. By contrast, when I first moved to Leominster, a traffic-jam consisted of five cars ahead of me at the top of Etnam Street at 5 p.m. on Friday! Etnam Street itself epitomises the architecturally-visual delight of Leominster, representing several centuries of building, where black-and-white, Regency and Georgian sit happily side by side, and even the most modern ‘in-fill’ is in harmony. Leominster has been fortunate in having administrators who have valued its heritage, and so the town centre has an individuality that has often been lost elsewhere. Over the last few years, I have explored the wealth of little passages, byways and back lanes with their fascinating names, such as Cordwainters Lane, or others, such as that between Caswell Crescent and Sydonia, which are miniature wildlife areas, with a wealth of herbage. A town though, is more than its geography to have a heart, and it is the people of Leominster who provide that heart and, outside the pages of the Journal, I have met nothing but courtesy, kindness and friendliness. This is notable in the many small shops, especially my local Castlefield Stores, but, also, in the local supermarkets, even at their busiest times. Individually, this kindness was typified by my neighbour Sue, who cared enough to ring early one morning to warn me of a window blown open by the gale and in danger of shattering; by Rocky Adams, who mowed my lawns throughout several growing seasons, refusing any payment; by the then young Matt Cole who, indignant that I had been unfairly criticised in the Journal, made a drawing to console me; by the two youngsters who, helped me fill bags with fallen leaves for composting one autumn, then carried them home for me, and the youngsters who offered to keep my three-legged Tibetan Terrier - Jack aka the Tripod - company outside the supermarket, ‘So he won’t be lonely while you shop’. Such small acts of kindness are a heartening contrast to the impersonality of many places elsewhere. I have been lucky in my neighbours, too: Michael Clayton on one side, young Abbi and her parents on the other and, among the earliest subjects of my column (A Family for Christmas), the Fletchers: Jerry (Him Over the Hedge) and Samantha. If more parents were as hard-working, enlightened and caring, there would be, I am sure, more admirable, courteous young people like Kurt and Adam. I could fill whole pages in praise of Leominster – but perhaps I have said enough to prove that, even though there may be aspects of it that I have criticised at times, I really do love Leominster! Leominster Live In fact, it was summarily cut by the new editor, who had taken the place of the highly-skilled and experienced Mike Robinson and, soon afterwards, she informed me that the column would have to go, owing to ‘financial restraints’. I pointed out that the column had a very wide readership, essential for a newspaper which relied on advertising to generate revenue, and that I knew from personal encounters that “Leominster Live!” was very influential. This she dismissed with the comment that, yes, it was ‘quirky and entertaining’ but she needed the space for money-earning features. Well, as we all know that the long-established and popular Leominster Journal, too, was subsequently a casualty of price-cutting. In the new amalgamated Hereford Journal, even the dedicated pages for Leominster, Ross, Ledbury and Bromyard, also disappeared, along with the pictures of the individual reporters assigned to them. Recently however, perhaps owing to complaints from readers exasperated at having to trawl through page after page to find news items about their own town, there are now pale imitations of the old pages. Merely though, the names of the towns are indicated by a side-bar, little comfort to Leominster readers who often find virtually nothing on ‘their’ page that relates to Leominster. “Leominster Live!” has, I know from personal encounters, been much missed. From 19 November 2003, It appeared in the Leominster Journal for almost six years, missing only a handful of weeks and then usually owing to my not having been forewarned of an early publication date. Not once, in all that time, was any column duplicated, even though at times I would lie awake the night before my Tuesday deadline, wondering what on earth I could write about. Such is the power of the subconscious though, that I would usually awake the next morning with the week’s topic fully-fledged. Subjects dealt with covered a very wide range, sometimes serious, as in warnings of the early symptoms of bowel cancer; the assurance that depression was an illness, not laziness or a lack of will-power; that autism; too, was a serious condition that could be not only life-crippling but even life-threatening., especially for young sufferers. I praised local traders, businesses, charities, social organisations - but only from personal experience. Unfortunately, if one of these later fell from grace, the laws of libel prevented me from withdrawing my support in print but such falls from grace were very rare happenings. I echoed the thoughts of many local people when I criticised the iniquitous Herefordshire County Council and took erring members to task. On the other hand, I took the part of local youngsters who showed initiative in finding work, used their energy in social activities and generally belyied the views of some older people who saw only the negative aspects of the younger generation. Lighter topics included the joys of music – especially the benefits of singing together – and of books, poetry and gardening. I still fume at that new editor’s dismissal of ��Leominster Live!” as merely ‘quirky and entertaining’. Quirkiness is an aspect of a writer’s personality and is a feature of any newspaper or magazine column. As for entertaining’, I certainly hope so but , without conceit, I believe that “Leominster Live! was more than this. Often, when I have encountered former readers as I walked the Tripod, they have assured me how much they valued the column, sometimes quoting from a topic that has particularly touched, informed or inspired them. A popular subject in 2008, was a profile of Adrienne Boxhall, who set up this excellent website which, since then, has become so successful that Google has rated it as the top website for those looking for information about this charming N. Herefordshire town. The website truly is ‘local to Leominster’ and a little while ago Adrienne offered me a new home for “Leominster Live!” on www.localtoleominster.co.uk., which I was delighted to accept. So, if you need a regular dose of ‘quirky and entertaining’, plus serious and informative, meet me regularly on Adrienne’s real Leominster website. Unfortunately, this online version of “LL!” will not be accessible to a number of my former readers, even though, over the years, I had urged older readers that computers and the Internet were not just some esoteric skill, available only to the young and clued-up. Computing, I wrote, was a skill that could be learned at any age, either from a patient family member, private tutor or one of the free local government facilities that offered tuition. If you know of someone reluctant to test the water, do tell them of the benefits of computing, especially of being able to access the Internet. Families have renewed contact, sometimes lost for years, via email; educational qualifications have been earned, information on every subject under the sun has been gained – the possibilities are endless via that electronic Road to Everywhere. So, I hope you will join me in future on the happily revived “Leominster Live!”, thanks to the initiative and support of Local to Leominster. Beware of the Scammers.
Several years ago, I warned readers in the Leominster Journal of the dangers of replying to apparent get-rich-quick offers which arrive by email and Royal Mail. An elderly relative had been a victim of several heartless scams: one which resulted in his responding to someone posing as a bride and needing the air-fare to travel to the His grand-daughter, with expertise in the subject, had recognised that the terminology used in the six-month-long ‘grooming’ via the Internet, was not that of a young woman but her besotted grandfather had refused to listen to her warnings. Later, he responded to the classic scam: an email advising of a lottery win and asking him for his details in order for the cheque to be sent to him. Responding to this request eventually resulted in his bank, with whom he had held an account for 68 years, having to close his account because the manager could no longer tolerate the harassment to his staff when these cheques were refused. Owing to the vigilance of the bank, the prospective victim was saved from financial ruin because an earlier attempt to draw money from his account had been picked up by the bank’s Fraud Officer and blocked. Many other elderly, vulnerable people have not been so well-protected and have lost huge sums, often the whole of their life-savings. It was my personal knowledge of these frauds that led me to warn readers not only to beware of falling for such scams but, also, to protect vulnerable family members against doing so. This morning, an email from a friend reminded me that Internet scams are still in operation. She received a notification, apparently from the Inland Revenue, of a sizeable tax rebate owing to her, which she promptly closed and deleted. This morning I, too, received a scam email, warning me that, unless I logged in with my personal details, my account was in danger of being closed. As I have never held an account in the bank in question, I promptly forwarded the email to the organisation which deals with all such scams, then I deleted the scam email. Most banks and similar organisations have a department which deals with such individually-targeted scams. This may be available on the Internet but the quickest way of helping to defeat the scammers is to forward each one via email to:
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, which keeps a close watch and warns relevant organisations if they are being targeted. I am constantly reminded of the saying ‘There’s one {mug} born every minute’ and many have grown wealthy by exploiting this simple fact. Their ‘scams’ have invaded mail and telephone lines increasingly, as well as littering our email. The latest batch has promised me everything from a psychic-reading and protection, through a new VW Polo to a share in £1.7 million pounds. Naturally, there is what one sender calls ‘the facultative (?) payment of the nominal amount of £25’ to cover admin. and shipping. Well, to quote the late Gilbert Harding ‘It depends on what you mean by nominal’ and, indeed, many requested amounts are far greater than this. The classic scam, of course, is the Nigerian gentleman who has access to a huge amount – left by his father or acquired by other means – but he needs the facility of a UK bank to unlock these riches. So, he offers you a sizeable cut of the loot if you will allow him to use your bank account…. need I say more? Offers, and amounts requested, vary but many perpetrators have two things in common: they stay just within the law and rely on a steady supply of mugs. ‘Friedrich Mueller’ who, if an individual at all, used to operate from a Vienna box-number, marking the envelope ‘Time Sensitive’ and heading his letter, impressively, with the name of a ‘Jurist’. The American ‘National Awards Commission’is based in These are typical of mailings that assault me regularly, requiring ‘modest sums’ that will win me large sums or luxury items. Even reputable mail-order suppliers are guilty of misleading customers and, along with a free gift, give the impression that one is in line for a sizeable win. Ah, but the catch is in the small print: one such that ‘GUARANTEES that you, N. Richards, will receive £600,000’ is followed by ‘if you have and are returning the winning number’. And that, dear Reader, is what makes the scam legal – and catches the mug - because similar words appear in small type below all those bold declarations that imply that you are a winner. The only way you can believe that you are a winner is when a valid cheque, drawn on a reputable bank, arrives via the post. Some time ago, ‘Tara’, and her Mystic Meg clones, operated a different type of scam, designed to appeal to those – sadly, the majority being women – who have a longing to feel that Fate has something wonderful in store for them.. A letter via the mail begins “For the love of God and for your own happiness, I beg of you... read this letter..”, then assures me that money will arrive very shortly, and warns me of a “shadow” following me. Pages of psychic drivel later, I am offered a ‘reading’ and a very special magic ritual to remove the shadow. The cost £19... Would anyone fall for this, you may scoff? Well one gullible lady admitted on local radio that she had been sending money to prize-winning offers regularly for a year and, although not receiving a penny, would continue ‘because you never know, do you?’ Well, I do. I put all that bumf into the unstamped return envelope and post it back – apparently, Royal Mail’s revenue benefits from this. Email scams in my mailbox are fairly easily recognisable and go to the anti-phishing organisation listed above . However, opening them sends a ‘Come one, come all ‘ message, as I have learned ruefully and, unfortunately, to be sure that the email is a scam one has to open them before forwarding. However, the subject line and the location in a Spam folder is usually a reliable indicator and when in doubt, report it. I always bear in mind another old adage, “If it looks too good to be true, it almost certainly is.” Or, in the old Northern saying, “You don’t get out for nowt!” |
