I recon she has made a really good job of that – I’m sure the people living in the Gold Hill cottages will be lining up for Limited Edition Prints! I’ll be your Agent Sharon !

Rob Little
Art Critic
Lets Tour England

Scan of my original photo on the Christmas card!

Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset – painting by Sharon O’Brien

Rob Little
British Tour Guide
Lets Tour England !

Geese and a few sheep in Chalford Hill, today !

Ask me how I know this……well I bought it at Prout’s Garage in Churston with my Uncle Jack helping me negotiate with Len Prout, for just 85GBP! Uncle Jack (Frank Little now aged 88) drove it home for me!

The date is particularly memorable as I insured it on MONDAY 14th FEBRUARY 1972 – 14th February is still my car insurance renewal date !

My Ford Anglia was light blue and it showed up the rust in the doors really well so I stuck a big Mickey and Mini Mouse on doors to cover it ! Duh !

Later of course the car would become indelibly printed on people’s minds as the flying car in the Harry Potter movies. My car was exactly that colour – exactly the same as the Potter car !

Rob Little
Bit of an Old Romantic !
Lets Tour England !

Ford Anglia – the Harry Potter flying car – mine was the same as this

Ford Anglia – the Harry Potter flying car – mine was the same as this

Ford Anglia – the same colour as mine – notice the distictive back window design !

Ford Anglia – same colour as mine in 1972 !

Rob Little
www.CotswoldShuttle.com

Saturday sunrise, 11F, on route to Gatwick…..

Its not just Maine that has snow and trees!

Rob Little
British Cotswold Tour Guide
Lets Tour England

One off the few remaining “Cots” that gave the Cotswolds its name – the Shepherd’s shelter!

Painswick, Gloucestershire

Painswick in the English Cotswolds

The Slad to Sheepscombe Road in the Gloucestershire Cotswolds

An untreated country road near Miserden, Gloucestershire

Sheepscombe, Gloucestershire

Sheepscombe in the Gloucestershire Cotswolds

Sheepscombe, Gloucestershire

Sheepscombe Church and Churchyard, Gloucestershire

Style on a public footpath near Sheepscombe, Gloucestershire

England Football Manager – Fabio Capello

So…..I’m listening to the radio in the car and on the news, it is announced that Fabio Capello, the much criticised England National Football Team Manager is being called in for a roasting by the Football Association (FA). Capello, who is Italian (my the Italians are having a rough time at the moment), and cannot communicate easily in English (which is probably why our present team are crap), is interviewed on Italian TV about the FA’s decison to strip the Chelsea player, John Terry, of the England Captaincy in the lead up to his trial in July for racial abuse of another player !! Capello was very critical of this !

WAIT….WAIT…..it gets even more interesting…..stick with me on this…..please !!!

Harry Redknapp – cleared of Tax Evasion and, now, pretender to the role of England Football Manager!

Not FIVE MINUTES LATER…..we go over to a reporter at the Southwark Crown Court where Harry Redknapp, the man we would all LIKE to see as the England Football Manager, has been on trial for tax evasion – it was alleged he accepted about 180,00GBP from his ex-boss of Portsmouth Football Club, Milan Mandaric and “invested” it in a Monaco bank in an account named after his dog, “Rosie” ! Redknapp who is currently the manager of London Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs) and very ENGLISH, a London cockney boy and claims to have difficulty with reading and writing let alone high finance, could not be considered for the England job while he was under investigation and on trial. And guess what…..the Police and Prosecution service have majorly cocked up as they lost the case which cost them 5mGBP to stage……! Redknapp was cleared of Tax Evasion so the way is now open for Capello, the current “capitan”, to abandon the sinking ship that is England Football, making way for the innocent Redknapp to be “ordained” in the role in time for the EURO 2012 championships…..! What a bloody caper ??

British Prime Minister, David Cameron

But that’s not the end of it…..not 15 minutes after we hear about Capello and the “roasting”, and about 7 minutes after the report proclaiming Redknapp’s innocence, we await the live weekly broadcast from the House of Commons……”Prime Minister’s Questions” a bit of rough and tumble which I know is quite well subscribed to in the USA ! But the reporter in parliament says ” Prime Minister’s Questions are due to start in one minute but, of course, as soon as Harry Redknapp leaves the court and gives his statement outside, we will break into the Prime Minister’s broadcast and bring you Harry’s press conference instead……” I mean LETS GET OUR PRIORITIES RIGHT !!

Only in England…….? I don’t think so !!

Rob Little
Lover of Farce !
Lets Tour England !
.
Post Script…..7.30pm – the utterly predictable has happened…..Fabio Capello HAS RESIGNED – we don’t mess around here ya know !!

The Queen in a rare moment of public jollity !

This picture is of the Queen on Derby day 2002 – inadvertently sharing a moment of amusement !! This year, 2012, is her Diamond Jubilee – 60 years as Queen to be celebrated during the first week of June.

I am often asked by Customers about the purpose of the monarchy – besides attracting many millions of visitors to the UK and the cash that they spend here…..if that were not enough??

The role of the monarchy in this country is now largely ceremonial - Queen Elizabeth is UK “Head of State” but has no executive power which, in the case of the UK is rested in the Prime Minister. She is also Head of State of 18 Commonwealth countries including Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The only residual “powers” that she has, besides being asked for “permission” to dissolve parliament at a General Election and to invite the leader of the winning party to form a Government, is this: The Queen has the right to be Consulted, to Advise and to Warn! She has weekly meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss the topical issues of the day and, over the sixty years she has been Head of State, she has worked with 12 Prime Ministers including Sir Winston Churchill, Harold Wilson, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and now the current one, David Cameron so she probably has some wisdom of value to contribute? But although she is the ceremonial Head of State and refers to the Government as “My Government”, SHE is NOT “THE Government”.

The Queen is known to be personally apolitical and never shows her opinion publicly.

Rob Little
Royal Correspondent
Lets Tour England !

And…ummmm….NO….I am not yet ready for the publication of anything
personal !!

Rob Little
Unfitness Fanatic
Lets Tour England !