Latest news with #Hampstead
Telegraph
19 hours ago
- Health
- Telegraph
Sir Chris Bonington: ‘I was inconsolable when I found out my son had died'
Born in London, Sir Chris Bonington was raised by his mum and grandmother after his father left the family. He has climbed or led 19 expeditions to the world's most challenging peaks, including four to Mount Everest. He's written 20 books about his adventures, including losing his close friend Mick Burke on Everest in 1975. He was knighted in 1996. Conrad, his first-born son with wife Wendy, died age three; he went on to have two more sons with Wendy – Joe and Rupert. After Wendy's death from motor neurone disease in 2014, Chris found love again with Loreto. They split their time between Cumbria and the south of France. Best childhood memory? When I was five, we lived on the ground floor of an Edwardian terrace in Hampstead. The back garden had a gate that led directly onto the bottom of Hampstead Heath. During a playdate with a friend, we slipped out the back gate and we went wandering up the Heath happily. Mum was out at work and when Grandma came looking for us, she saw we were gone, panicked and phoned the police. We were found and taken to Belsize Park station. The detective left us unattended in the inspector's office and I noticed a fridge and saw there was a pint of milk in it. I poured it all over his desk, undoubtedly over some arrest warrants and important files. At that moment, he came through the door with my grandma. Thankfully, I wasn't clipped around the ear. Everyone was just relieved we were in one piece. Best lesson you've learnt? Just keep going, even if it means taking a different route. When I was at school, most of my friends had got places at Cambridge or Oxford. Being a single parent, mum couldn't afford it, so I was expected to go to University College London instead. But when I found out I'd failed English, I had to go back to school again. I lasted about half a term, said 'sod this' and dropped out. I knew that meant I was going to get called up for National Service. I decided on the Royal Air Force because I hoped I'd get into RAF Mountain Rescue. To my amazement, I got through selection and ended up at RAF Cranwell. Best thing about climbing? I've climbed from a young age – just starting with trees. The physical and mental side of climbing pushes you and I was good at it. It was a matter of managing or conquering risk. And then as I got older and into mountaineering, I realised that not only did I love climbing, I was very good at organising expeditions. I was meticulous in planning – the guides, or blueprints, were inches thick because of the detail. I'm good at understanding how people work in a group. Being dictatorial builds resentment. When you are involved in a discussion, they're more likely to accept the outcome, and you earn their trust. Best character trait? I don't hold grudges against people. If they've disappointed me or let me down, I quickly get over it. Everyone's human and has their own points of view; I can live with it. When I was an instructor at the Army Outward Bound School in North Wales, I didn't get on well with the brigadier because I made the mistake of once telling him that our lads shouldn't go into the water for a swim one day when the sea was rough and dangerous. He held that against me and made a note on my file. That kind of black mark isn't good for an army career. It was a blessing in disguise; I wouldn't have been happy – my true calling was climbing. Best way to prepare for a climb? I've always gone running. I was a rough runner. I did the Cuillin Ridge in Scotland, solo on a hot day, but I hadn't hydrated enough, so I totally collapsed. These days, given I'm 90, my running days are over, but I go walking. Acclimatising is also vital. In 1978, Andy Rubin, the founder of Berghaus, asked me to lead a team up Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. It's a dead easy mountain, but quite high. Most people who do it know nothing about acclimatisation, and get dragged up by guides too quickly, getting very sick and having a horrible time. Best challenge you've faced and overcome? In 1977, I climbed the Ogre, a mountain in Pakistan that had never been climbed before. It's not one of the highest; it's under the magic 8,000m magic range. But it's very, very difficult in every way, including a long, complicated approach. Best advice you'd give to a new climber? Be realistic about what you can do. Really think about it. Find out as much as you possibly can about the location, expedition or event. Then having done that, really look at yourself and think about how capable you are and how to get through it. Most of all enjoy it, and be challenged by it because to be worthwhile, you have to be challenged. Worst challenge you've faced? Leading an expedition attempting K2 (the second-highest mountain on Earth) in June 1978. That doesn't mean being out in front, you put your best climbers out front. Leading the expedition means directing it as a whole. The best position for my role is to be two camps behind the lead climber because you can see what's happening in the upper part and you've still got a feel of what's happening lower down. Ultimately, we hadn't chosen the best route, but it could have worked. There's a certain point when you're quite high up and we had to cross a long hanging glacier – which was the most direct route, but more difficult. We made it across in a thin line. Two days later, I'm on a rest day at camp and a huge avalanche came crashing down and someone said, 'Christ sake, do you realise one of our guys ahead could be in that?' I later found out that my close friend Nick Escourt had been in it and was killed. Talking to Nick's wife back home in Manchester about it was very hard. Unfortunately, most big expeditions lose people. It's very sad, but as a whole you accept that risk and you have to not be broken by it. Worst regret? I don't have regrets as such because I accept that I can't get everything right. But when it comes to loss, I still find it very difficult to talk about. In May 1966, I was in the Ecuadorian Amazon, to photograph Sangay, an active volcano, for The Telegraph when I was a photojournalist. I received a devastating note from a Kichwa tribesman. My son Conrad had died in a drowning accident. I was inconsolable. Returning through the jungle, on my long journey home, I realised I'd never be able to hold him again. Almost 60 years later, I still get very emotional about it. Worst lesson about society? Capitalism may have its faults, but communism is one hell of a lot worse. You're much better off within a capitalist society that has a conscience. That's why I've stayed loyal to Berghaus and the founders Steven and Andy Rubin; they're responsible capitalists that haven't gone dashing off abroad to avoid paying taxes and want to make a better world. Worst trait? I tend to make decisions very quickly, on tiny things and big things. Then later I'll realise, no that's not a very good idea after all and then I have to backtrack. My wonderful wife Loreto knows, when I make one of these decisions, that there's a good chance I'll change my mind again! I'm also impatient. If I'm interrupted when I'm focusing on something important, I get really irritable. But I get over it quickly, so others don't take any notice of it any more. Worst thing in the news? The appalling amount of violence that's going on in the world today, aimed very often at vulnerable people. What Hamas did in Gaza was appalling, but the reaction Israel has taken to hammer and hammer the area as a whole is killing so many civilians. For every terrorist they're killing, they're emboldening the remaining ones and creating a dozen more for a new generation whose minds are poisoned. Worst fear for the future? The original atom bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are little more than firecrackers compared to the nuclear weapons that exist now. People have become so desensitised to talking about nuclear war, that they almost don't realise the apocalyptic effect it would have.
Evening Standard
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Evening Standard
Flat for sale in 'ultra high security' block Ariana Grande rented in
Ariana Grande is understood to have rented one of the largest apartments in Bishops Avenue's Buxmead complex when she was filming the first Wicked film in Elstree, with a track titled Hampstead appearing on her latest album in tribute to her time in the area.
Times
3 days ago
- General
- Times
Lord Hermer criticised over trespass charge for ousted Myanmar envoy
The attorney-general has been criticised for authorising criminal charges against Myanmar's former ambassador for refusing to leave his official London residence after being ousted in a 'coup'. Lord Hermer approved the prosecution of Kyaw Zwar Minn for allegedly 'trespassing' at the mansion in Hampstead, north London, where he has remained since being dismissed in April 2021. Kyaw Zwar Minn, 66, was sacked as ambassador after denouncing his nations' military regime and supporting Aung San Suu Kyi, the civilian leader who was deposed in a coup. The attorney-general's office has approved a charge of 'trespass on a diplomatic mission' between May 2021 and November last year. Kyaw Zwar Minn, who still lives in the property, is due to appear at Westminster magistrates' court on Friday. The maximum sentence, if convicted, is six months in jail or an unlimited fine. Campaigners claim the prosecution will be used as propaganda by Myanmar's military regime as evidence of its international legitimacy and to terrorise opponents. Hermer, a human rights lawyer, will face allegations of hypocrisy. Eight months after Kyaw Zwar Minn was sacked, Hermer's barristers' chambers publicised that he was 'representing victims and survivors of the genocide perpetrated by the Myanmar regime' in a legal action against Facebook for allegedly 'facilitating' the abuse. Chris Gunness, director of the Myanmar Accountability Project, said: 'The British public will be outraged that a Labour attorney-general is allowing precious taxpayer resources to be wasted by a foreign junta using the UK courts to seize diplomatic property in London. 'It is clearly not in our national interest, given that the UK has condemned the coup, slapped sanctions on the coup leaders and supports democracy in Myanmar.' Kyaw Zwar Minn, a former colonel in the Myanmar army, was locked out of the embassy in Mayfair, central London, in April 2021. The ambassador said he had stopped obeying orders after being summoned home following his criticism after the junta seized control of his country. Dominic Rabb, the foreign secretary at the time, said: 'I pay tribute to Kyaw Zwar Minn for his courage.' Nigel Adams, then Asia minister, hailed Kyaw Zwar Minn's 'courage and patriotism'. Lisa Nandy, then shadow foreign secretary and now culture secretary, said at the time: 'By standing up to the military junta, Kyaw Zwar Minn has shown immense courage and should be offered any appropriate support and protection.' Most democratic nations, including Britain, have not formally recognised the junta. Catherine West, the current minister for the Indo-Pacific, announced fresh sanctions against the military regime in October last year as a result of 'human rights violations taking place across Myanmar, including airstrikes on civilian infrastructure'. The Foreign Office said in 2021 that it received official notification from the military regime that the ambassador's position had been terminated. 'The UK has a longstanding policy of recognising states not governments,' it said. 'We therefore must accept the decision taken by the Myanmar government regarding Kyaw Zwar Minn's position.'
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Nazi hunter who left fortune to his third wife after cutting his children and grandchildren out of his will was not victim of 'undue influence', court rules
A Nazi hunter who cut his children and grandchildren out of his will and instead left his fortune to his third wife was not the victim of 'undue influence', a court has ruled. Self-styled 'Lord' Peter Eden changed his will the year before his death aged 99 so that all his shares in his property company were left to 'Lady' Joy Eden, 85. He had initially left a third of his 60 per cent holding in his property company to Joy and two thirds to his grandchildren, the offspring of his daughters from his third marriage. But Eden re-wrote his will to leave all the company shares, reportedly worth an estimated £2million, to Joy, who he had been married to for 20 years. His wife also inherited the £1.5million family home they shared in Hampstead, north London. His grandchildren were left watches, a cousin was given £250,000 and his housekeeper was handed £25,000, The Times reported. But Eden's daughters, Tamara Eden Goodchild and Vanita Eden, were cut out. When Eden died in December 2020, his heirs ended up locked in a legal dispute that meant his estate could not be shared. Ms Goodchild reportedly claimed that her father had been subjected to 'undue influence' and had lacked the mental capacity to write his will. She argued that his original 2017 will was the one that should be enforced. On Tuesday, the High Court in London approved a deal that will see Joy Eden receive 84 per cent of the shares of her husband's property company. His daughters will get 4 per cent, Vanita's daughter will also get four per cent and Ms Goodshild's three children will share the same amount. Judge Mr Justice Dray said Eden's 2019 will 'does not offend common sense'. 'The instructions of Lord Eden were clear, namely that he wanted his shares [in the property company] to pass to his wife absolutely.' Germany-born Eden had fled his home country to Britain as a teenager after being arrested by the Gestapo for having a relationship with a non-Jewish girl. When the Second World War began, he was interned along with thousands of others as an 'enemy alien ' and then sent to Australia for year. At some point he began calling himself 'Lord', but had not been given any official title. Eden was able to come to London in April 1939 because one of his uncles was a practising dental surgeon in the capital and had secured him a visa to leave Germany. Before he was interned in May 1940, a took up a job in a welding factory. Once in Australia, he enrolled in the army and then was sent back to England to join the Pioneer Corps in Ilfracombe, Devon. He later served in North Africa and Palestine. After the war had ended, he was posted to Germany with the Intelligence Corps. It was there that Eden was involved in helping to track down Nazis and had a role in the war crimes trial of 22 Germans accused of shooting British pilots. In a 1998 interview with the Imperial War Museum, Eden spoke of finding people who had run concentration camps and identifying members of the SS. He was demobilised in May 1947 and then launched into a career in the fashion industry. In the 1960s he entered the hotel business, buying two near Hyde Park in London. Eden later owned more than a dozen restaurants alongside his hotels.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
The Left don't care about racist attacks when the victims are Jews
On Monday evening, three Jewish teenagers were attacked at Hampstead Underground station. According to a report by Jewish security charity Shomrim, a group of six or seven men attacked the boys, one of whom had to be taken to hospital. It was, British Transport Police later said, a 'racially motivated assault'. Unless you read the Jewish media, you will be entirely unaware of what seems to be the latest attack on Jews for being Jews. Not a word on the BBC; not a word anywhere. Not a peep from any minister. Not a dickie bird from the Mayor of London. Nothing. It's just another incident. Just another statistic. Just another yawn, in fact. So what; it's only Jews. Let's try a thought experiment. Imagine it had not been Jewish teenagers attacked for doing nothing except being visibly Jewish. Imagine instead it had been three Muslim boys attacked by a gang of skinhead thugs. Do you think there would have been total silence in response? Do you think the Home Secretary and other figures would have been mute? Do you think the Mayor of London would have ignored the attack completely? Or do you think, as I do, that there would have been entirely justified outrage, and that we would likely even now be in the middle of a national debate over bigotry? But it was Jews who were attacked, and – as we have seen with unrelenting, unremitting frequency since the hate marches began after the October 7 massacre of 1200 Jews by Hamas – Jews don't count, as David Baddiel put it in his brilliant book of that title. Because the lack of any response to this attack is not a one-off. It is part of a now deeply entrenched pattern demonstrating that when it comes to hatred and bigotry, so long as Jews are the target then the bar that needs to be crossed for action in response is not so much high as out of sight. The hate marches which are now a regular feature of city life are suffused with anti=Semitism. Backing for Palestinian 'resistance' – terror – is ubiquitous. Support for Hamas and Hezbollah – both of which are prescribed – is repeatedly on display. Calls to 'globalise the intifada' – are the norm. You want to globalise the intifada? Start at Hampstead underground station – after last week's murders in Washington DC. But it's not the perpetrators of hate who are dealt with. It's those who oppose it. Last week, for example, the Telegraph reported that a Jewish counter-protester was arrested and charged after he was seen holding a placard satirising Hassan Nasrallah, the former Hezbollah leader. In his police questioning he was asked over and over again if he agreed that the image would offend 'clearly pro-Hezbollah and anti-Israel' activists. No one who follows the police's actions – last year the Met pinned down a counter-protestor carrying a banner reading 'Hamas is terrorist' at a march and then arrested him – will be remotely surprised by this. At a march in Manchester after the October 7 massacre, for example, a banner reading 'Manchester supports Palestinian resistance' was protected by police standing alongside it. Open anti-Semitism is rarely met by action, but it is often accompanied by drivel, the most frequent example of which is the phrase repeated ad nauseam by politicians that 'There is no place for anti-Semitism', followed by the name of a city or an organisation which has just proved there is every place for anti-Semitism in its fold. In December, for example, after an expose of truly shocking examples of open anti-Semitism from NHS staff, health secretary Wes Streeting came out with the usual words: 'There is no place for anti-Semitism in the NHS'. The expose had shown that there is in fact a warm welcome for anti-Semitism in the NHS, with none of the NHS Trusts or managers having done anything about it. The same phrase falls regularly from the mouths of Yvette Cooper and Sir Sadiq Khan, but only after an incident which has proved the opposite. This time, after Monday's attack on three Jewish boys on the Underground, they can't even be bothered to be as unbothered as before and trot out some meaningless platitude. Jews hate? Assault? We really don't care. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
