the man behind the name
Terri and Sveta [email protected]
[email protected]
I expect like many other residents,, Sveta and I have wondered who Charles Ley was. Naturally I asked the then Court Manager, Sue Harvey nee' Sutherland (1940-2013), who thought he was something to do with the Royal British Legion in Blackfield. Enquiring at the local club, I discovered and met his daughter Betty Locke, who allowed Sveta and I to peruse and copy the Charles Ley Memorabilia Collection. Copies are available for a donation to the British Legion Fawley, from Terri & Sveta @ 17. Our search has taken us to Portland, Weymouth. Bridport, Exeter, Bristol and Gloucester Record Office. What we hope to do, this year is to publish on the internet and self-print a small more detailed booklet of this ‘local hero’ of Fawley Parish.
On the 18th March 1902, Charles was born to Frank and Martha Ley in London, though records show they were domiciled in Bristol. Charles school certificate shows he attended the Hannah Moore School until 1916 and lived at 2 Churchill Place, Castle Street in the Bristol City Centre. Charles is recorded as working as a clerk and warehouseman before joining the Gloucester Regiment in 1919.
Charles served nine years with the colours, of which seven months were served in Germany, for which he received a General Service Medal. Charles left the colours at Portland with an exemplary certificate of character and started work in Weymouth for Cosen & Co on the 'SS Alexandra' and then later for the Great Western Railway, Marine Division.
In 1929 Charles moved to Bridport Workhouse as Labour Master and Porter and in 1931 moved to the Ashurst Workhouse where he met his future wife, a nurse at the workhouse, in 1934 Charles and his wife Ivy moved back to the Bristol Area.
Early in 1939, with the WW2 starting in Europe, Charles prudently loaded his family into his car and moved down to the Waterside, to avoid the foreseen Bristol Blitz. Betty Locke recalled a story from her mother. Driving through Marchwood, Charles saw a dilapidated, empty house just past the White Horse PH, he stopped and enquired of the neighbour's as to the owner. Charles found the owner and made an arrangement to live rent free, in return for refurbishing the property, until he found employment..
When the war started Charles was recalled to the colours to serve with the Fawley (Forest) Battalion, Home Guard at Hythe, where he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant and was secretary to their social club and a member of the Fawley and Exbury Defence Committee.
The Court is named after Charles Ley, who joined Fawley British Legion in 1934 and has served as President, Chairman and secretary for many years and was a member of the benevolent committee. He was awarded a Gold Medal and a lifetime membership for services rendered. Charles was also an active member of the Blackfield & Langley Juniors Football Club and the Langley Lions Cycle Speedway team.
A 'local hero' who has been honored in many ways during his lifetime and remembered in the anniversary celebration by the residents of the Court on several occasions. Most notably on the 30th anniversary of the opening of Charles Ley Court, with a specially decorated cake. -click to start typing
Charles Ley Court and the man behind the name
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Technoterri's Blog
Moscow & UK Tour 2009
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Well the day has finally arrived and we leave for Moscow in a couple of hours. We are booked on to a special wheelchair accessible carriage that has been hooked up for us. The train - the famous Moscow Flyer leaves at 3pm to the sound of martial music, possibly the national anthem. Each carriage has a lady, stewardess to look after us and keeps a small boiler of boiling hot water on the go for the passengers to make themselves hot drinks and pot noodles. Bedding is supplied and all being well we will arrive at Paveletsky Station, Moscow at 10 in the morning. We will be met by Sveta's Uncle Yuri who will host us most of the time, but there are many other friends who have offered there homes to us. Come back for updates,
Sushi Celebration
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13.05.09 - We have just said goodnight and goodbye to Joshua and Jean, our Malasian friends from the appartment block just behind us. J&J made sushi Malaysian style as a going away present. We are off to Moscow on the 3oclock flyer on Friday. They return to Malaysia after five years medical studies and will start there careers and undertake further studies. Maybe one day we will meet again.
Recipe Rip Off
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This is a true story. Please feel free to copy and forward when you finish reading! A little background:
Neiman-Marcus, if you don't know already, is a very expensive boutique shop (they sell a typical $8.00 T-shirt for $50.00)
My daughter and I had just finished lunch at a Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas , USA . Because both of us are such biscuit lovers, we decided to try the 'Neiman-Marcus cookie'. It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe. The waitress said with a small frown, 'I'm
afraid not, but you can buy the recipe.'
I asked how much, and she responded; 'Only two fifty - it's a great deal'. I agreed to that, and told her to add it to my bill.
Thirty days later, I got my Visa statement, and the Neiman-Marcus charge was $285. I looked at it again, and I remembered I had only spent $9.95 for two sandwiches and about $20 for a scarf. At the bottom of the statement, it said, 'Cookie Recipe - $250.00'. That was outrageous!
I called Neiman's Accounting Department and told them the waitress had said it was 'two fifty', which clearly does not mean 'two hundred and fifty dollars' by any reasonable interpretation of the phrase. Neiman-Marcus refused to budge. They would not refund my money because according to them; 'What the waitress told you is not our problem. You have already seen the recipe.. We absolutely will not refund your money.
I explained to the Accounting Department lady the criminal statutes which govern fraud in the state of Texas . I threatened to report them to the Better Business Bureau and The Texas Attorney General's office. I was basically told: Do what you want. Don't bother thinking of how you
can get even, and don't bother trying to get any of your money back'
I said, OK, you've got my $250, and now I'm going to have $250 worth of fun. I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover in the world with an e-mail account gets a $250 cookie recipe from Neiman-Marcus for free. She replied, 'I wish you wouldn't do that.' I said, 'Well, perhaps you should have thought of that before you RIPPED ME OFF!' and slammed down the phone.
So here it is! Please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of. I paid $250 for this, and I don't want Neiman-Marcus to EVER make another penny from this recipe!
NEIMAN-MARCUS COOKIES (Recipe may be halved as this makes heaps)
2 (500 ml) cups butter
680 g chocolate chips
4 (1000 ml) cups flour
2 (500 ml) cups brown sugar
2 tsp. (10 ml) Bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp. (5 ml) salt
2 (500 ml) cups sugar
500 g Grated Cadbury chocolate
5 (1250 ml) cups blended oatmeal
4 eggs
2 tsp. (10 ml) baking powder
2 tsp. (10 ml) vanilla
3 cups (375 ml) chopped nuts (optional)
Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and bicarbonate of soda. Add chocolate chips, grated Chocolate and nuts. Roll into balls, and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees (180 C).
The above quantities make 112 cookies. Enjoy!
PLEASE KEEP THE RECIPE AND SEND IT TO EVERY PERSON YOU KNOW WHO HAS AN E-MAIL ADDRESS!
This is not a joke-it's a true story.
Russian New Years Eve Celeration
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For a special treat, I decided to ue up some boiled rice by turning it into Nasi Goreng, which I recall from time in Malaya as fried rice.
INGREDIENTS
500g Boiled Rice
750g Peeled prawns
50g Diced salami
50g Diced ham
One potatoe diced
One carrot diced
One pepper diced
One onion diced
Assorted spices and herbs to taste. I used dried celery, dried parsley dried tarragon, red, white and black pepper,
After peeling the prawns I left them to soak in salted water whilst I prepared the rest of the ingredients. Then using a wok with a generous portion of olive oil I fried the ham, salami and chopped onions, briskly until the onions started to brown. Then added the diced potatoe and carrot. constantly stirring and added herbs, spices and half cup of water. Then the rice stiring till well mixed added the remaining diced vegetables. Stirred some mor rained the prawns and stirred in till hot. Tuned off the heat and let it simmer till quite. Whilst I broached the champage and poured into glasses. Then started to dish out the Nasi Goreng.
As second helpings were called for........ 
.................... Cheers
New Year 2009
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As 2009 opens I enter my 70th year and my 11th month of my first whole year in Russia - 2008 was wonderful. 2009 should be better, as we intend spending the summer in the UK. This will enable Sveta to meet with the rest of my family, so far she has only met my son Phil who was a witness at my wedding. We will also endeavour to visit as many friends across, England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, as possible in the time we have.
Christmas Roast Chicken with Rice & Fruit Stuffing
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Christmas Day in Russia started well, as I drew back the curtains and discovered it was snowing. My first white Christmasin Russia as the snow settled on a few inches that had fallen over the last week. I got sentimental and started playing Christmas carols. Then I started thinking about a stuffed and roasted chicken for Christmas dinner.
Ingredients.
Directions Heat 4 tablespoons of oil in a saute pan, Add the onion and the celery. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes, or until tender. Add the rice, saute over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the hot soup, orange juice, salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Add the apricots and raisins to the rice, stir gently. Cover and cook for 5 more minutes, until the rice is nearly tender. Stir in the cinnamon, lemon rind. Taste for seasoning and correct if necessary. Set aside to cool. Rub butter over the bird and sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper on all sides and in the cavity as well. Spoon enough of the stuffing into the chicken to fill it, packing lightly. Place Chicken in a roasting dish breast up and roast for about 35-40mins. Remove and turn breast down and roast for another 35-40 mins. As it cooks the juices run down and soak the breast ensuring a moist meat. At the same time put the remains of the stuffing in a small dish on a high shelf to brown the surface.
This received the seal of approval from my wife who suggested I went to the local Russian equivalent of Chickens 'r Us where we normally buyour unsatisfactory spit roasted chickens. The rice & fruit was considered so good, that I made a similar rice dish, doublg the ingredients and added the remainder of the meat from the chicken. This also proved worthy of commendation from the wife, that I was made I/c Kitchen.
A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
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Hi, hello and our seasonal greetings to anyone and everyone. My main Christmas present to myself was the uploading of Chrome - the new Goggle browser which has been up and running from last weekend. Much faster and love the way Goggle second guesses what I want to do.Still getting used to Goggles "one box for everything" with the long term hopes that this will reduce viral infections and limit the likelyhood of getting hacked.
I was also pleased that Freewebs.com, now known as Webs.com has revamped its site with new tools and toys. Sadly my first attempt with the new blog facility crashed and I lost my new blog about cooking a hristmas pudding and Svetas last contribution. Never mind als fare in love and war they say. So I will keep it short and toast my friends and click save with fingers crossed.................. Cheers
Sveta's love and thoughts
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He loved her. Desperately, passionately, with 99% of inside and 55% of his outside but it was more than enough for the fading geriatric hippi as he called himself. Sometimes his love worried and asked him - Is that really true, man, or she is playing games with you? And he couldn't find the answer...mostly because the answer was in his heart and he knew that. How happened that a modest and shy and not pretty paraplegic girl caught his attention is still a mystery. Perhaps at that moment his invading genes prevailed the aristocratic ones and he couldn't resist the temptation, who knows? However, he's been seduced, raped and married. Not sure about the order, it could be raped, seduced and married but who cares now? Too late as we say. I wouldn't say that his life changed radically - no, he still eats, drinks, smokes, farts and shits. The difference is now he does it in the other geographical position, in different climate and surrounded by people who speak very funny language. The impression he has that they all forgot English or came from different dimension - 50 years ago. It's like to be in the machine of time. But he is quite happy - wrapped in love and care and attention from his beloved wife and from time to time, from the members of her family. It's not that he didn't like human beings, he is very kind and patient, only nobody told him he would have married several people at once...Well, he can wait. And meanwhile eat more, drink vodka, smoke every hour and shit once a week, if lucky. The composite of his farting changed a bit but not enough to be described here or to be of any interest for chemists. postulates that there are four stages of human spiritual development:
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