The Ship That Died of Shame. pic.twitter.com/sb6Uq0fBOw Fly Tipping Horrors in the UK

Disgusting criminals ahoy

What beauty there is in the Springtime. Who could be blind to its joy? Who cannot know in their own heart the joy this beauty brings to others be they rich or poor? Who would SHIT in the face of innocence and loveliness? Who would SHIT in the face of our communities?

Fly tippers – that’s who! These creatures are a curse in both urban and rural areas. Generally they are “contractors” who offer to clear rubbish. Instead of registering their business and joining in the community need for recycling, they dump the trash anywhere. Needless to say these barbarians avoid legitimate disposal fees although they charge their clients for them. Nowhere is safe. They are utter low-lifes with no care for their fellow man.

Close to the church of St Margaret’s church in Wellow, a small Hampshire village (famous as the burial place of Florence Nightingale) I chanced upon a rare outrage of fly tipping. It’s not often you wander along a country lane and find yourself confronted with a speedboat. Yes – a speedboat filled with bags of rubbish. Nearby there is a fridge and some other debris from a previous incident. Someone must be able to recognise this boat.

 Shipping lane



Being a writer I do get the chance to express my own views through characters. In Passion Patrol 2 WPC Shannon Aguerri confronts a band of fly tippers. Things turn ugly and there is violence. In researching the book I spoke to officers who had dealt with this kind of incident in real life. The fiction in the book is no exaggeration. 

I know this is just a futile rant and I doubt fly-tippers read my blog. Let me know your thoughts and maybe you will recognise this boat. If you do let me know and this passion patrol girl will get on the case.

Emma Thinx: You can’t fly-tip your conscience.

A Spring Postcard From Exbury Gardens: Breathtaking Beauty pic.twitter.com/1tODNEQdUJ @exburygardens

Lucky I had a camera because when I got home I couldn’t believe what I’d seen
The house – a noble perspective of lawn

Exbury Gardens is a visitor attraction set in the New Forest of Hampshire UK. The grounds run down to the Beaulieu RiverWild ponies wander the roads as you approach. The Isle of Wight and the Solent are visible as you wander along the river path. I had the fortune to go there yesterday. It’s a job to write about the place without sounding like an OTT tourist brochureIt is just SO beautiful that really you just have to see the photos. The beauty has a quality of unreality which I suppose is to be expected in a created garden.  I wish I knew more about plants. Certainly there are 

From the dressing room palette of Madame Butterfly

azaleas and rhododendrons. I also spotted some king cups which have always been a favourite with me. They seem to cry out the joy of the sun and lush meadow land with their open faces. I had not seen any for years and suddenly I spotted them. My mind raced back decades to a John Clare poem.   

Green lush and beaming out vibrant joy

A Bank Holiday weekend lies ahead. If you get the chance give yourself a real overdose of beauty and get down to Exbury. Be sure to take your camera. My final shot is a close up of a Rhododendron. To me it represents an abstraction beyond reality. Maybe this is the way we are supposed to see things – as if everything is something more than itself. I guess this is what great gardeners seek to achieve – a transcendence beyond the truth of itself – a fiction of beauty – like a once dreamed kiss that suddenly is on your living lips.

Maybe dancers, maybe a melody – always beyond this world.

PS. Keep an eye out for Her Majesty. Seemingly she’s a fan

Emma thinx:  We tolerate beliefs because no one knows the truth.

Lunacy, Lance and Lycra

Hear all about it – lend me your ears.


Wow! What a Tour de France we have had in England. Dense crowds of cheering Brits lined the roadsides. Six million selfies were snapped with the hurtling peleton as a backdrop. 

I haven’t been blogging because I’ve been working at my day job as an audio editor for my company Gallo Romano Media. We picked up a fabulous job to do an audio book all about the Tour de France. I now know things a woman shouldn’t know about what riders used to do with Nivea Cream.(It wasn’t exactly applied where the sponsors intended). I also know a lot more about the history of France and Europe and the juicy scandals and skulduggery surrounding some of the old time stars. Lance has got some catching up to do believe me. 

The book “The Tour de France – The Inside Story” by Les Woodland is brilliant. My man – Oscar Sparrow, did the audio in his performance poet French Italiano mode. To get into the mind set he rode the Tourmalet and the Col de Marie Blanque on a Tacx simulator. Taking the heavy breathing off that track was tough. 

Dropped H – well what ever makes you ‘appy

Getting away from the editing desk on our tandem was wonderful. I had completed a whole twelve miles before I had to take a coffee break in the ultra posh town of Stockbridge in Hampshire. The dropped H from the sign is in honour of my French/Cockney accent. Well – it’s an ‘otel innit. I reckon they took it down for me so that I didn’t feel out of place.

If you’re in to politics, sex, scandal and bikes keep an eye out for out latest audio book which will be out soon. If you fancy winning a free copy click here.



Emma Thinx: Friends, Romans, Cyclists – lend me your rears