Mauritius: lovely (swimming, and even a run and a gym session) plus chelonians, feet, knitting and oaths

I have been inundated by almost one expression of concern over my radio silence last Sunday. Here’s the reason.

Monday 24th April was spent getting ready before setting off on holiday the following day. We drove to Heathrow, got on a plane and (a mere 12 hours later) arrived in Mauritius. While I’m not frightened of flying I wouldn’t really do it for fun so this was a particularly long haul for me but it was part of the continuing celebrations for my wife’s significant birthday year.

Mauritius is an island of about 2,040 square kilometres (790 sq mi) sitting in the Indian Ocean around 1000km to the east of Madagascar, at about 20°S. Just over 600 years ago the Dutch took possession which then passed to the French before we took it from them in 1810, holding it as a colony before it became independent in 1968. They drive on the left, the road signs look completely English with English, French and Mauritian Creole being spoken.

It’s a lovely island – the picture is the view from our terrace as the early morning cloud burnt off (or the late afternoon cloud rolled in?). Mauritians seem to be charming people and we had a terrific time, mainly relaxing (and eating and drinking, I fear) but doing a lot of swimming and snorkeling – and I did manage a little running (too hot but an outing for my minimalist running shoes) and a session in the hotel gym.

We ticked off the monkey, dolphin and sea turtle sightings on a day-long speed boat trip, but we probably didn’t do the island justice in terms of seeing enough of what it has to offer – a fine excuse to go back one day.

We went ‘all inclusive’ at the hotel – I have no idea if the extra you pay is more or less than the extras you consume but it simplifies things and works well as long as you don’t eat and drink like an idiot (which I seem to do for a couple of days before coming to my senses). We had some cloud and even a bit of (warm and welcome) rain but daytime temperatures were typically somewhere between 28 – 32℃ (82 – 90℉) which is too hot for me but my wife loves it.

We left on Thursday evening 4 May to fly back to the UK, arriving on Friday morning. We left in 30℃ and arrived in London to 13℉, struggling with the usual end-of-holiday dilemma of whether to swelter on departure or shiver on arrival. A door to door trip of 19 hours.

While we were there I got talking to a Polish man who had driven 150km to Berlin to get a plane to Paris to pick up his flight to Mauritius – only to be told his first flight had been cancelled last October. Alternatives were arranged but he lost his extra leg room bookings … and I guess he was probably 6ft 5inches.

When he did get to Mauritius, he picked up a hire car only to be stopped by the Police as he neared the hotel, who told him that the car was a private car and so was not allowed to be hired to him. He was told he had to drive straight back to the airport to swap the car – and he was given a violation ticket to serve on the hirer.

He was still smiling – a charming chap with the patience of a saint.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: A good name is better than a good perfume

2. BBC News website: Happy birthday, dear tortoise, happy birthday to you

Jonathan the tortoise turns 190 this year and there will be a three-day party for him at his home on the island of St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Although it is not known exactly how old Jonathan is, a photograph taken in 1882 shows that he was already fully grown when brought to the island – indicating that he was about 50 years of age at the time.

He’s the oldest living land animal and was recently named the oldest tortoise ever (or to be more exact the oldest chelonian – a category which includes all turtles, terrapins and tortoises).

We know a lady (now in her 80s) who comes from St Helena and remembers riding on Jonathan when she was a girl

3. BBC News website: Best (delicate) foot forward

The man who measured the King’s feet for the shoes he will wear at his Coronation said it had been “an amazing experience”. The company co-founder has measured the King’s feet several times and described them as “delicate”.

The King made an official visit to the firm’s factory in 2019. He has since made several purchases. The shoes to be worn for the Coronation cost about £3,500.

Oh, please …

4. BBC News website: A British approach to high-tech

Two British companies are to fly an innovative, low-cost radar satellite – part of which will be knitted on a knitting machine.

Called CarbSar, the satellite will use radar technology to see through cloud and will even work at night. The mission will launch next year, and could help fill a gap in Britain’s spying capacity.

‘and will even work at night’ – I assumed they all did

5. BBC News website: ‘and here is the short range forecast’

The first images from Europe’s new weather satellite, Meteosat-12, have just been released. IT sits 36,000km above the equator and is currently in a testing phase that will last most of this year.

When Meteosat-12’s data is finally released to meteorological agencies, it’s expected to bring about a step-change in forecasting skill. Warnings of imminent, hazardous conditions should improve greatly.

Very useful, I’m sure, but is a warning of an imminent event ‘forecasting’ on a slightly short timescale

6. BBC News website: More swearing than allegiance?

As part of the impending coronation of King Charles III, for the first time, the public are being given an active role in the ceremony as they are invited to swear allegiance to the King. A close friend of the King has said that Charles would find the idea of people paying homage to him during his Coronation “abhorrent”.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has said swearing allegiance to the monarch, was “an invitation; it’s not a command”. The order of service will read: “All who so desire, in the abbey, and elsewhere, say together: “I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God.”

If the King would find it abhorrent but it is still in the service, it seems to me this must mean that either: (a) the King does not know the content of his own coronation service, or (b) he has failed to express his abhorrence, or (c) his expressed abhorrence has been ignored.

Do me a favour …

Swim, run, gym, walk (x2), turbo (the world’s dirtiest man, ‘active’ politicians and snakes)

We stayed in Bournemouth on Sunday night and drove back on Monday after a walk along the promenade, in a weak sun and a strong wind.

I decided to get back on the horse (figuratively) and went to the swim doctor session on Monday night – my first swim for three weeks. It wasn’t so much that I’d missed it, more a feeling that if I left it much longer I would have found it even harder to get back to it.

I was a little apprehensive because of the continuing cough but I made the swim a pretty steady front crawl for 900m. Even that left me breathing really hard … but it always does so it probably doesn’t prove anything other than that I still don’t swim efficiently.

Considering how lightly I got away with my recent (first and, I hope, only) dose of Covid, and being at the lower end of the sensitivity scale, It’s odd how much I’m anticipating problems as I get back to exercise. Despite that, I ran one of my usual loops on Tuesday – 7.2km (4.45 miles) and, to my surprise, managed just outside 5:30/km – a bit faster than usual.

I can only assume that I’m lucky enough to have little or no Covid legacy, and that perhaps the two recent parkruns and the 10k race have changed my perception of how fast I can run. Perhaps I just don’t feel that I have to leave the house and immediately slip into my previous ‘default’ plod?

As a matter of absolutely no surprise whatsoever, I maintained my annual ritual of failing to get a ballot place for the London Marathon. Our older son was in the same boat but our younger son got a place so my belief that the ballot is pure myth can’t be true.

An hour in the gym on Wednesday morning went really well and I managed to fit in sit-ups, the plank routine and some stretching alongside the weights. I drove up to London on Thursday for lunch with some old work mates.

Full of beer, good food and good wine, I decided to walk most of the way back to the flat – about 5km (just over 3 miles) in uncomfortable shoes that gave me blisters and a sizeable bruise on my right foot. I stayed overnight and walked (with different shoes) another 3km (nearly 2 miles) to pick up the car on Friday morning. Then I drove to our older son’s to help with more work around the house and garden and to pick up a ladder, some wood and some rubbish for disposal.

My foot was still sore and bruised on Saturday so I opted out of a run and, for a couple of pleasant hours, joined a working party developing part of the churchyard into a ‘garden of contemplation’.

I made the most of the clocks going back an hour on Sunday morning – and had the extra time asleep. If anything, my foot was worse so that put paid to the intended run. Instead I spent a couple of hours helping to clear out the bike shop – we are having to move as the current premises are being redeveloped and our new ones won’t be available for a month so everything is going into storage.

With the foot not allowing a run, I tried it on the turbo in the afternoon. Fortunately, in cycle shoes, it was fine and I managed an hour for 26.8km (16.65 miles) – longer than I’ve done recently but hot work.

An odd week for exercise, only one run but enjoying the benefit of liking a lot of different types of exercise. With no events on the horizon, I’m sure the relative rest won’t do me any harm.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: To get lost is to learn the way

2. BBC News website: More on Amy Pieters

Dutch cyclist Amy Pieters has taken her first steps since suffering severe brain damage in a training crash in Alicante in December. The 31-year-old, three-time Madison world champion, only regained consciousness in April after being put in an induced coma following surgery.

She is recovering in an intensive neuro-rehabilitation centre. Her website said she could “walk for short moments when supported” but could not yet talk.

Fate can be very unfair, but where there’s life …

3. BBC News website: “The world’s dirtiest man” dies aged 94

Iranian, Amou Haji had refused to use soap and water for more than half a century, fearing it would make him sick. He had avoided previous attempts by villagers to get him clean.

According to local media, he finally succumbed to pressure and washed a few months ago but became ill shortly afterwards and died on Sunday.

4. BBC News website: Woman killed and swallowed whole by a python

The lady, said to be in her 50s, had made her way to work at a rubber plantation on Sunday morning but was reported missing after failing to return that night.

A day later villagers found a python – which was at least 5m (16ft) long – with what appeared to be a large stomach. Locals later killed the snake and found her body, largely intact, inside.

That is just so sad

5. BBC News website: Are politicians too passive?

A Brazilian politician is in custody after throwing grenades at police officers who came to his house in Rio de Janeiro state to arrest him on the grounds that he violated the conditions of his house arrest.

The 69-year-old former leader of the PTB political party, also fired a number of shots from a rifle, shattering the windshield of a police car. Two officers were wounded by shrapnel before the politician surrendered.

6. BBC News website: Brian Robinson has died aged 91

Robinson, from Mirfield, West Yorkshire, was the first British cyclist to finish the Tour de France (in 1955) and was the first to win a stage of the race in 1958 (and another in 1959). He also won the prestigious Criterium du Dauphine stage race in 1961 and was the first Briton to stand on the podium of one of cycling’s Monuments, Milan-Sanremo, finishing third in 1957.

Robinson, joined his local cycling club as a teenager and later took up racing while working for the family building company. He competed for Britain at the 1952 Olympics before turning professional, riding the Tour de France for the first time in 1955 when he finished 29th overall.

With all the success in more recent years, it’s easy to forget riders like Robinson who was a trailblazer, inspiring the generation that followed, including Tom Simpson and Barry Hoban. 

Swim, run (x4), walk (x2), cycle (x2), gym (plus entangled quantum states and who owns the tattoo?)

Running and cycling along the seafront – lovely

An unreasonably early start saw me drive to Bournemouth on Monday morning to meet the painter who is about to do the house down there. Back home for the evening’s swim doctor session.

Another early start and back to Bournemouth again on Tuesday. It looked like the week was going to be both tiring and short of exercise – I was already doing well with the tiredness but I did manage to get out for a run. It was hard work into a strong headwind on the way out to Boscombe Pier which meant I was too tired to get the full benefit of running with it behind me on the return leg. It was a reasonably tough 8.5km @ 5m 27s/km but, strangely, with a string of personal bests on the leg running into the wind.

Back home and in the evening I went to watch the Championship football game between Reading and Norwich – courtesy of my friend who is related to one of the managers. An entertaining match which ended 1-1 and an excellent evening in fine company.

I took a car in for its MOT on Wednesday morning. I had planned to run back via the gym but two 6am starts, a late night after the football and tired legs made it easy to decide to walk the 2 miles straight back home. More gardening and domestic stuff – and the car passed the MOT so I cycled in to pick it up later.

Back to Bournemouth again on Thursday at silly o’clock. I decided to embrace the idea of having an easier week so I just went for a short cycle along the seafront on the old Gary Fisher mountain bike I keep down there. There’s a 10mph speed limit for bikes and it was hard to go that fast on the way out into a very strong headwind – and hard not to go faster on the way back. Just the 16km (10 miles) but it felt further.

I took a second car in for a MOT on Friday (it passed) and then ran to the gym, did a weights session and ran home. After that it was the bike shop and apple picking. In the evening we went to an event held in the church where a lady from the village (I think she teaches at the Royal Academy of Music) and others played a range of pieces (extraordinarily well). Drinks and some canapés to follow made for a terrific evening. As an entirely music-talent-free zone I really appreciate the skill of people who can play.

My wife’s two brothers came for the weekend – it’s always good to see them but I could have done without the three dogs. I managed to fit in a run before they arrived, one of the usual 7.2km routes, taken gently. We all walked the dogs on Sunday morning but a delightfully restful day.

A lot of exercise sessions in the week but many of them were quite short. I think I needed an easier week.

As ever, I’m not expecting my ballot entry to get me a place for the London Marathon next year. However, a friend has pointed out that while the ‘good for age’ entry requirement for age 65-69 is 4 hours, the requirement for the age group 70-74 is 5 hours – which seems quite generous.

I wonder if I could do a marathon in sub 5 hours between July and October 2025 to stand a better chance of getting in for the 2026 event. There are limited gfa places and they go to those who are furthest below their target time. Not easy – but possible?

I expect they’ll change the rules (adversely) by then.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: He who loves, loves you with your dirt

2. BBC News website: After chess, it’s poker and match fishing

After allegations of cheating in chess, top-level US poker and match fishing have been dogged by claims of cheating.

A casino is investigating after a player with an underwhelming hand called an all-in bet, apparently convinced her opponent was bluffing, and scooped a pot of $269,000 (£241,000). Pundits commentating during the live streamed match expressed their incredulity at the move.

Meanwhile, two fishermen have been accused of stuffing their catches with lead weights in order to win a tournament held on Lake Erie, Ohio. Viral video showed an official slicing open fish at a weigh-in, extracting lead balls and even fillets of other fish.

Two things:

• there is such a thing as live streamed poker, with pundits???
• thankfully, cycling is beyond reproach when it comes to cheating and nobody has ever questioned that day when I rode 1000 miles on my unicycle

3. BBC News website: Nobel Prize in Physics for research into quantum mechanics

The award has gone to a three scientists whose work could open the way to a new generation of powerful computers and telecommunications systems that are impossible to break into.

This three laureates conducted ground-breaking experiments using entangled quantum states, where two sub-atomic particles behave like a single unit even when they are separated.

A bit like Jedward, I assume (Apologies to those unaware of Jedward – I suggest you keep it that way)

4. BBC News website: When you don’t own how you look?

The artist behind wrestling star Randy Orton’s iconic tattoos (this is what it says, I’ve never actually heard of Randy Orten) has won a case against the publisher of the best-selling WWE 2K video games. She claimed video game publisher, Take-Two Interactive, used her designs without permission. She won $3,750 (£3,300) in damages.

In 2016, Take-Two were unsuccessfully sued by artists for using basketball star LeBron James’ tattoos in the NBA 2K games without permission. At the time, James said “I always thought that I had the right to license what I look like to other people for various merchandise, television appearances, and other types of creative works, like video games.”

I’m not sure but presume that this is (at least in part) about the tattoos being on the Orton character in the video game?

The official court documents consistently refer to a defendant’s ‘principle place of business’ – just out of interest, does the US not use principal as the spelling for ‘main’?

5. BBC News website: Dart hits the bullseye

Last week, Nasa’s Dart probe was crashed into an asteroid to test whether an asteroid that might threaten Earth could be nudged out of the way by altering its trajectory. Scientists are now working to establish whether the test was a success.

Two days after the collision a comet-like plume of debris spreading behind the giant rock stretched for more than 10,000km (6,200 miles). It is expected to get even longer until it disperses completely, and will look like other space dust floating around.

Gym, run, (plus sheep in space, encouraging drinking and something strange in the kitchen)

Back running along one of the usual routes

Back to Oxfordshire on Tuesday after a great long weekend in Bournemouth, then sorting ourselves out and doing washing. The drought has now broken – amazing how quickly grass recovers.

Ramsey’s The Omil’s kitchen nightmares

I drove back to Bournemouth on Wednesday night for an early Thursday meeting with the electrician I had contacted about the kitchen sockets’ circuit that went wrong and kept tripping over the weekend. I waited beyond the agreed time and then phoned.

He said he’d been ringing on the doorbell and had got no reply. Eventually we worked it out – in my original call I’d told him that my next door neighbour, Nathan, had given me his name, and I gave the address. He had registered the name but had completely ignored the address – and then went next door to an entirely different person he knew called Nathan. No electrician was coming

On the off chance, I tried resetting the trip switch for the kitchen sockets’ circuit. It stayed and the sockets in the kitchen all work. It tripped perhaps 10 times while we were investigating the problem initially – how can that happen?

I have a list of other electricians but I guess there’s no point in getting one to come to the house just to see everything working properly.

It wasn’t a complete waste of time – I saw our older son and his girlfriend who are having a break at the house – one of the benefits of ‘working from home’ is that, for this purpose, ‘home’ can be anywhere.

I also picked up some keys that I’d forgotten to take back after the weekend, did some gardening, cleared the conservatory gutters and fixed one of the slipped conservatory roof panels.

Back to Oxfordshire (again) in the afternoon and some semblance of normality returned in the shape of a good gym session on Friday morning, followed by the bike shop.

A lady came in seeking help in setting up a turbo trainer for her husband – so I went on Saturday and did that for them. It made me think of getting on mine in the early evening – but I didn’t. A bit of demotivation after the cancellation of the triathlon, I expect.

I got out for a run on Sunday – my first for two weeks. No great pace but I pushed on for 12km (7.5 miles) and enjoyed it. There were people setting up dinks stations for an organised race with 5km and 10km distances – I’d not heard about it which is a shame as it would have been fun to enter.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: A person with too much ambition cannot sleep in peace

2. BBC News website: Human remains in suitcases purchased from auction

The family had gone to an auction and purchased a trailer-load of goods – which included the suitcases – that were being sold as part of an attempt to clear abandoned goods out of a locker.

Bidders at similar auctions typically do not get to inspect the abandoned items closely before purchasing them with many bids placed in the hope of a surprise valuable haul but on unpacking the items they discovered the remains of two young children. The bodies had probably been in storage for several years and the victims are thought to have been aged between five and 10 when they died.

Sad and horrible

3. BBC News website: Japan’s young adults – too sober

Japan’s younger generation drinks less alcohol than their than their parents – a move that has hit taxes from beverages like sake (rice wine).

The national tax agency has stepped in with a national competition to come up with ideas to reverse the trend. The “Sake Viva!” campaign hopes to come up with a plan to make drinking more attractive – and boost the industry.

Reaction has been mixed, with some criticism about the bid to promote an unhealthy habit but others have posted quirky ideas online – such as famous actresses “performing” as virtual-reality hostesses in digital clubs.

4. BBC News website: Shaun the Sheep heading on a mission to the Moon

Animators Aardman (creators of ‘Wallace and Gromit’) has announced that the famous stop-motion TV character will be aboard the unmanned Artemis I mission. The mission will carry a range of mementos with cultural significance and will see the toy Shaun fly almost 311,000 miles (500,000 km) from Earth.

The European Space Agency said “We’re very happy he’s been selected for the mission and we understand, although it might be a small step for a human, it’s a giant leap for lambkind.”

Amy Pieters – update

Dutch cyclist Amy Pieters has been moved to an intensive neuro-rehabilitation facility in the Netherlands as she continues her recovery from severe brain damage suffered in a training crash in December 2021.

In April, an update said Pieters could recognise people, understand what was being said and that she was also able to “carry out more and more assignments.” However, doctors were unable to confirm what the three-time Madison world champion’s long term outlook would be.

I wish her all the strength in the world

Gym, swims (x3), turbo, walks (x3), rides (x3) and triathlon training – but in vain

Bournemouth at its best

For some time now, Mondays have seen a run in the morning and the swim doctor session in the early evening. This week it was gym and swim doctor – that’s me living life on the ragged edge.

No fitting in a lake swim this week which is a shame as it’s getting warmer here in the UK as we head towards another hot spell later in the week. That made Tuesday’s decision to get on the turbo trainer even more ridiculous – but I keep saying I must get back on the bike ahead of the triathlon (in less than 6 weeks) and I keep failing to do it.

I dripped my way through 30 minutes @29.3kph (18.2mph). Although the heat made it hard, my legs felt pretty good.

Afterwards, I took a look at the details of the triathlon. It’s an Olympic (or ‘Standard’) distance race which should be 1500m swim, 40km cycle and 10km run. It seems that this one is 45.5km on the bike and 10.2km run – I’m not sure whether to be cross that it’s over-length or pleased at the greater value for money (oh, the irony of writing that).

The big things are to continue with long open water swims, to get out on the bike (and ride the triathlon course) and to keep doing 10k runs. Do I put the tri-bars on the bike and do I stick with the toe clips rather than clip-in pedals to save a shoe change into cycling shoes with cleats? I don’t think the bars or cleats were missed at all in the sprint triathlons but that might change for a longer race?

On Wednesday we drove down to Bournemouth ahead of our annual trip with friends. Thursday was spent doing some gardening and chores about the house. The bad news was that an email arrived from the organiser of September’s triathlon announcing its cancellation and the putting of the organising company into administration. Damn.

Everyone arrived in the evening in time for food and drink.

On Friday we rode to Holmsley in the New Forest and walked the Holmsley Inclosure. It was very hot so we adapted the walk to keep more to the trees than the open heathland. We crossed what should have been a stream but was little more than a muddy puddle – the drought continues to bite. Very hot but a fine day out with a pub lunch – and a swim around a buoy out in the bay in the afternoon (nearly 400m of swimming). A walk to a very good Moroccan/Lebanese restaurant in Southbourne for supper in the evening.

On Saturday we were brave and cycled to ‘The Magic of Thailand’ in King’s Park. It was a risk and could have been anything – but it was surprisingly good. Stalls with clothing, souvenirs, lots of street food and traditional dancing, a cookery demonstration, thai massage (which the other 5 all tried), thai singing, thai boxing and a ladyboy show (slightly less sure about that, personally).

Still very hot but an enjoyable day and another swim around the buoy in the afternoon in a slightly rougher sea. I enjoyed it but being a distance from the shore in noticeable (but not exactly huge) waves was testing enough for me. I don’t swim in very straight lines at the best of times but I found it even harder in the sea once the waves and current got going.

Overnight, the only downer on the weekend was that the electrics tripped in the house. The problem is with the circuit powering the sockets in the kitchen. The cooker did work (as it’s on a separate circuit) and the same for the boiler, we powered the fridge from an extension lead from the sitting room and the kettle and toaster were moved to the conservatory. The microwave could have been moved to any convenient plug out of the kitchen. The remaining issue is the dishwasher which couldn’t be moved (it’s fitted in the space).

Sunday we cycled to the Russell-Coates museum towards the centre of Bournemouth. Set in the family’s house, it was fascinating. Russell-Coates was a great philanthropist who made his money through ownership of the Royal Bath Hotel in the town and spent a lifetime travelling and collecting art and artefacts from around the world.

On Monday, we cycled a few miles to the old Throop water mill and set out on a walk around part of the River Stour Way. I’d downloaded a route which turned out to require us to walk across the river. Being unable to manage that, we ended up scrambling through some brambles, across a small ditch and up a steep bank to get over a fence and to a bridge – that turned a walk of 8km into one of 12km.

On Tuesday morning everyone departed to the accompaniment of rain – the first we have had for a few weeks – very welcome and, for us, good timing. It was a terrific break – great friends, excellent company, fantastic weather and some very entertaining trips.

In all, about 65km of cycling, over 20km of walking and about 800m of swimming for me – a triathlon spread over four days. It was a fine long weekend on all fronts.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: If love is a sickness, patience is the remedy

2. BBC News website: Cash is King (again)?

People are going back to cash to keep tighter control on their spending as living costs soar, according to new research by the Post Office. Post offices handled £801m in personal cash withdrawals in July, up more than 20% from a year earlier and the most since records began five years ago.

The chair of the Cash Action Group said it showed people are “literally counting the pennies” as they grapple with rising prices. “People will be taking out cash and physically putting it into pots, saying ‘this is what I have for bills, this is what I have for food, and this is what’s left’.”

Sadly, some might find that, after the pots for bills and food, there is nothing left

3. BBC News website: Global warming and changing weather patterns affect the water supply for the Panama Canal

Completed in 1914, the waterway links the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and nearly halved the travel time between the US West Coast and Europe. Ships pass through a series of locks along its 50-mile (80km) length and are lifted up to 85ft (26m) above sea level before being lowered again. Every time a ship goes through the locks, 55m gallons (250m litres) of fresh water is used, then released into the sea. On average, 37 ships go through the locks every day, using more than 2bn gallons (9bn litres) of fresh water.

In the exceptionally dry year of 2019, the canal authorities had to reduce the amount of water they used to operate the locks, which meant that ships could not carry such heavy cargo because there was less water between the keel of the ship and the bottom of the canal. The canal authorities are looking at ways to store more water in rainy years to ensure a sufficient supply in drier times and deepening existing artificial lakes to capture more rainwater.

None of the options are easy.

4. BBC News website: They have pizza in Italy???

Domino’s Pizza’s last stores in Italy have been closed after the firm that operated its outlets in the country filed for bankruptcy. Domino’s had struggled to win over customers in the birthplace of pizza since launching there in 2015 and the franchise holder, ePizza SpA, was hit by the pandemic.

News of the fast food giant’s exit from the country was celebrated by some social media users.

Run (x2), swim, walk (x2), cycle (plus bulls, AI and kitchen cabinets)

Vicious things those kitchen cabinets

Monday I took a car to the garage and ran back – my first run post-ultra – just 4km (2.5 miles) but it’s a start. Swim doctor session in the evening – I dodged the drills and swam a gentle recovery 1km.

I spent the much of the day on the dismal task of mopping up dirty water. The dishwasher outlet pipe had blocked leading to a couple of days when, unseen, it spewed out water under the kitchen units. A very messy job but fingers crossed that all will be well thanks to a bottle of drain cleaner and a lot of bleach. Perhaps the best thing about the current heatwave is that everything dried well.

On Tuesday, an attempt to run the dishwasher revealed that all was not well as the pipe still failed to drain away the water it discharged. Bit by bit I had to dismantle the whole outlet pipe which was actually blocked in several places. A horrible job reaching under and to the back of the carcasses of the kitchen units, in dirty water and emulsified fat! I ended up with very sore arms and shoulders.

Also on Tuesday one of the friends I’d been cycling with in the alps posted a message on Whatsapp to say he’d just tested positive for Covid. I did a test but it came out negative (the ‘we’ve had Covid’ camp seems to be increasing rapidly but I’m very happy still not to have joined it).

Wednesday showed two things – the dishwasher was sorted and is now sharing its dirty water with the drain outside instead of the kitchen floor – but my arms had suffered in the cause. Both shoulders were sore and both biceps were raw and bruised. It the same way that I need bigger hands and feet for swimming, I need longer arms for kitchen DIY.

With rather reduced arm mobility, I cancelled the week’s planned lake swim and gym session and resigned myself to a low key week for exercise.

On Thursday, my arms were improving, but still a rather fetching black and blue and still sore. I ran in the morning – 5.8km (3.6 miles). With just a 10km run in September’s olympic distance triathlon, it’s good to be able to run because I want to, rather than because I feel that I must.

We drove down to Bournemouth on Thursday night and spent Friday getting the house ready for a weekend with friends who drove down early on Saturday. When they arrived we went for a walk across Hengistbury Head with a picnic on the beach and then walked to Southbourne for supper in the evening – total walking 15km (9.3 miles).

On Sunday we cycled to visit the lovely gardens at Compton Acres – about 24km (15 miles) with stops at Sandbanks and Bournemouth pier for ice cream. Roast chicken Sunday lunch in the evening. Back to Oxfordshire after an excellent weekend.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: Don’t set sail on someone else’s star

2. BBC News website: Heatwaves and solar panels

The UK’s heatwave is helping to generate large amounts of solar power – but, ironically, it’s actually too hot for the highest levels of electricity generation.

For solar power generation, the amount of sunshine is more important than the amount of heat as heat brings down the efficiency of solar panels slightly. In the UK the record for peak half-hourly generation is always in April or May, when we get sunny but relatively cool weather.

3. BBC News website: And I thought the ultra was tough running

In 24 hours three men have died from wounds suffered during bull-running festivals in Spain’s Valencia region. They had taken part in the traditional ‘bous al carrer’, when bulls charge through towns, often with people running ahead of them (but sadly, not always far enough).

The three men who died had all been badly injured during events in the past two weeks. 20 people are said to have died in the region in the past eight years.

The mayor of Meliana said the bull was an animal and chance accidents of this type were a risk that people took.

Ah, the bull is an animal …

4. BBC News website: AI – too smart for its own good?

Google has fired one of its engineers who said the company’s artificial intelligence language technology system is sentient and should therefore have its “wants” respected. He said that the system showed self-awareness and could hold conversations about religion, emotions and fears and this led him to believe that behind its impressive verbal skills might also lie a sentient mind.

Google, plus several AI experts, denied the claims and on Friday the company confirmed he had been sacked.

Corfu: swim, run, gym, turbo, repeat (plus the TT races and taxing animal methane)

Looking east over the hotel grounds towards its private beach and the Ionian Sea
(with mainland Greece in the distance)

We stayed in London on Sunday night and drove to Stansted Airport on Monday to fly to Corfu – our first real holiday since skiing in January 2020 (and after the aborted trip to Madrid that Spring).

Air travel from the UK had been a complete disaster all week in the prefect storm of the schools’ half term holidays meeting the airport and tour companies’ failures to recruit quickly enough to make up for the redundancies during the lockdowns.

Being cautious types we decided to get to the airport early but that proved unnecessary as everything held together pretty well – more dead time hanging around waiting, but was probably worth it as insurance. Of course, we got off the ground late but the flight was fine and the hotel had provided something to eat even though we arrived around 11pm Greek time (a short transfer from the airport to the resort was a blessing).

The drive in from airports is often a bit depressing – lots of sad looking car rental and other tourist-based businesses, usually with signs in English. I appreciate that tourist money is vital for many economies but, in visiting, I hope we don’t trample their national identities. Fortunately, I believe that Greece has a bit of history of its own (!!!) and will survive our trampling.

First day we tried both pools which were good – the larger of the two was very long and in all I swam about 400m (among people gently bobbing about, cooling off) but the area surrounding the pool was rather small which made the sun loungers squeezed together (and there were still too few).

On the second day we went down to the hotel’s small private beach which was lovely. I swam about 800m in the Mediterranean (more accurately, I guess, part of the Ionian Sea) which was like a mill pond. Fewer people, plenty of loungers and a good snack and drinks bar so we stuck with it for the remainder of the holiday.

I’m not really one for the heat (just as I’m not really one for the cold) but am happy to sit in the shade and read (this holiday it was F Scott Fitzgerald’s Babylon Revisited, a memoir of the Falklands war by a friend and neighbour, Richard Osman’s The Thursday Night Murder Club and an anthology of short stories by Anton Chekov – which, I think, counts as a properly eclectic mix). I enjoyed them all. The Chekov was very good – as long as you don’t want your short stories neatly tied up in a satisfying conclusion – and if you don’t want them to be happy and uplifting.

We’d booked an ‘all inclusive’ package, more for simplicity than gluttony but within a couple of days it dawned on me that I was eating twice what I would normally – for no better reason than it was readily available. I put that right on a cloudy and breezy Thursday and felt better immediately. Encouraged, I tried the very small and very hot fitness room (barely 5m x 3m) – I did 5km on the treadmill in 27:10, and some weights.

Friday treated us to a fine thunderstorm early on but it improved by midday before the rain returned later. I swam (500m in the sea), ran (5km in on the treadmill, 27:35) and did some weights again.

Back to glorious weather on Saturday so back to the beach, swimming (800m) and later treadmill running (another 5km in 26:50) and an excellent meal in the pool restaurant in the evening. I managed to stub my toe while sea-swimming on a glorious Sunday – I swam about 1km but the badly bruised toe meant no treadmill later (what a shame) so I settled for the static bike (30 minutes @35.12kph) and some weights.

As always the final day of a package holiday is less fun as there are hours to kill after vacating the room and living out of a packed suitcase – but it passed happily with reading and (yet more) relaxing before the stresses and strains of the journey back (what a way to spend our 35th wedding anniversary). Surprise, surprise, the flight was late and the communication non-existent. However, we made it back to the flat in the early hours of Tuesday and I drove back later that (this) morning while my wife is staying to watch the tennis at Queens.

A great holiday with the hotel and the location making up for a poor tour company performance. The 15km of running, 3.5km of swimming, a session on a bike and some weights would be a good week’s exercise for a holiday – shame it coincided with a training plan requiring 65km of running. Oh well.

Week (of 20)	Event’s training plan (km)	My actual (km)
16	65	15
Cumulative total	594	660

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: Love, like rain, does not choose the grass on which it falls

2. BBC News website: First sub8 and sub7 ironman distance triathlons

Britain’s Katrina Matthews became the first woman to finish the full Ironman triathlon in under eight hours with victory in the Sub8 in Germany. She finished the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and marathon run in seven hours 31 minutes and 54 seconds, beating the previous best by 46 minutes.

In the men’s Sub7, winner Kristian Blummenfelt (from Norway) finished in six hours 44 minutes and 25 seconds.

There were two athletes attempting each of the records and all four competitors finished inside their respective time barriers.

3. BBC News website: Isle of Man TT

I struggle with the TT races – a great spectacle and no doubt something that competitors love and for which they accept the risks – but a cause of way too much loss of life to my mind. After the TT races had a 2 year absence because of Covid, this year, a rider died in practice, another died on Monday and one of a French sidecar team died on Saturday.

If it could be made worse, race organisers have now confirmed that they named the wrong French sidecar competitor to have died. In a statement, they said rider Cesar Chanal had now been confirmed as having died in the crash during lap one of the first sidecar race of 2022 on the Mountain Course. Last Saturday, they wrongly said passenger Olivier Lavorel had died (but he remains in a critical condition in hospital).

On this Saturday, a father and son sidecar team both died in another crash, making five deaths in this year’s event.

Way beyond sad, my thoughts are with Oliver Lavorel and the family and friends of all affected by the terrible accidents.

4. BBC News website: Taxing cow and sheep burps

New Zealand has unveiled a plan to tax sheep and cattle burps from 2025, in a bid to tackle one of the country’s biggest sources of greenhouse gases. It would make it the first nation to charge farmers for the methane emissions from the animals they keep.

New Zealand is home to just over five million people, along with around 10 million cattle and 26 million sheep. Almost half the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, mainly methane.

5. BBC News website: Woman in for payout after having sex in a car

The US woman said she caught the human papillomavirus (HPV) from having sex with her then-partner in his car. She claimed her former partner knew he had virus but did not disclose his condition, leaving her with “past and future medical expenses” and “mental and physical pain and suffering”.

She and her former partner entered arbitration. The arbitrator determined “there was sexual activity in [insured’s] automobile” that “directly caused, or directly contributed to cause” the woman to be infected with HPV. In May 2021, the arbitrator awarded her $5.2m in damages, to be paid by her former partner’s motor insurers who appealed the judgement. A three-judge panel has confirmed the lower court’s ruling and said the insurance company failed to defend its own interests by entering a defence on behalf of the insured man.

6. Last and, by every means, least: They told me I’d never get over my fixation with Phil Collins – but take a look at me now

Run (x4), swim, ride (x2) plus cycling stupidity, honesty, trains and J-C van Damme

Bournemouth (in sunnier times)

This week was always going to be odd as far as training was concerned but, to give it a fairly normal start, I ran on Monday morning and did the swim doctor session in the evening.

The run was hill reps – tough, as always, but great to have got them out of the way for the week. This time it measured 9.34km and 287m of ascent (5.8 miles and 941 feet). At the pool, the usual swimming instructor was away this week but the stand-in was good and the change meant some different drills which was refreshing.

I ran with my wife on a milder Tuesday morning, 7.2km (4.5 miles). The rest of the day I was playing plumber, replacing some split copper piping and an outside tap.

Originally, we had planned to ski this week but decided not to because it was half-term, unseasonably hot out in the alps and the snow was not great. Of course, as soon as we made the decision, it got cold and snowed heavily. Instead, after domestic stuff, we drove down to Bournemouth on Wednesday afternoon.

We had our fingers crossed as the last time we were there the house alarm triggered in Oxfordshire and I had a wasted journey back. We think it was probably the door to the attic rooms not being shut and moving in a draught – but we can’t be sure.

There was plenty of draught in Bournemouth too – I abandoned a walk down the seafront as I was being sand blasted. We found a fairly new tapas restaurant in a local row of shops in the evening, a modest looking place but great tasting food.

It was blowing a gale and raining really hard all night. The morning was bright and dry, but still windy but I love running down there so I ran along the seafront – 10.2km (6.3 miles) – the first 4km of which was straight into the teeth of a relentless 35kph (22mph) headwind that was gusting up to 57kph (37mph). At times I was almost stopped in my tracks and at one point I passed a chap who had just got off his bike in favour of walking it into the wind but, luckily, the sand being blown towards me wasn’t getting above knee height.

Those 4kms out to Boscombe pier were as hard as any I remember running, only the later part of the Rotterdam marathon in 2019, or the 5k I ran from Les Carroz to Les Molliets up the Col de Pierre Carrée – an alpine climb at over 6.5% – would compare (was that really 2018?). I was about 50 sec/km faster with the wind behind me on the way back along the front.

The exact same run on Friday was, surprisingly, very different. The wind had dropped but swung around 180 degrees and there was a cold and persistent drizzle. For some reason, the Thursday run was 20 seconds slower but recorded as a little longer.

A terrific lunch at The Jetty, overlooking Christchurch Harbour and then back to Oxfordshire after a really good couple of days’ break (but I’ve missed the skiing – just the second year without it in nearly 40).

On Saturday my bike came out into the wide world for the first time this year, blinking in the sunlight. I checked it over and took it for a short 25km (15.5 mile) test ride. The reason was the sportive on Sunday but the first few miles felt so bad that I was wondering what excuse to give for not doing the sportive.

Eventually, I (almost) remembered how to cycle but no matter how many times I have to learn it, the fact that running legs and cycling legs are very different things never fails to come as a horrible shock.

The bike was not sure about coming out of the shed – I think it’s developed agoraphobia over the winter

At the start of the ride is was hovering about freezing. I did a slightly sensible thing and went for the 70 mile and 4065 feet of ascent (113km and 1239m) route instead of the 90 miler – and went for the ‘get round and don’t worry about the time’ approach. Two good decisions as the shorter distance was plenty far enough and although the legs protested they got me up all the big hills. I rode round non-stop in under 4h 50.

I’m happy to go on record that the distance was really too far for the training I’d put in. Not only were the legs not really ‘cycle fit’ but my backside needed much more toughening up before being subjected to nearly 5 hours on the sheet of carbon fibre that passes for my saddle. However, I did it, slowly, but without too much discomfort and I’m pleased with that. It was still enough to earn the ‘Gold Standard’ and I was fourth in my age group.

An odd week – four runs but no long one, no gym but plenty of time in the saddle. Friends are coming for supper tonight – I’m hoping I don’t fall asleep in my bowl of soup.

Interesting stuff this week

1. Africa wise words: If there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do no harm

2. BBC News website: Liberian taxi driver: returning $50,000 changed a life

A struggling motorbike taxi driver found $50,000 (£40,000) wrapped in a plastic bag by the side of the road. He gave it to his aunt to look after and returned it to the rightful owner who appealed on national radio for help in finding the cash.

Some mocked him for his honesty but President George Weah handed him $10,000, a local media owner also gave him cash and the owner of the money donated $1,500-worth of goods.

He was also given a place at one of Liberia’s most prestigious schools and a US college offered him a full scholarship once he had completed his secondary education. He now has six years of secondary school ahead of him and will be 25 when he graduates. He wants to study accounting at university “to prepare myself to help guide the use of the country’s money”.

3. BBC News website: Cracks found in more than 180 trains

The rail regulator has found fatigue and corrosion led to high-speed trains being withdrawn from service. It said fatigue cracking was caused by the “trains experiencing greater loads from train movement than allowed for in the original design”.

… and there I was thinking that train design probably allowed for quite a lot of movement

4. BBC News website: Many Delhi meat shops closed for Hindu festival

Mayors of south and east districts said most people fast or abstain from eating meat during the festival and many had complained that they did not like seeing meat being cut in the open.

However, the move has riled many who have taken to social media to express outrage saying that it violates India’s pluralism, pointing out that someone’s choice to abstain from meat should not infringe on another’s freedom to eat meat or earn a livelihood.

Life is so complicated when trying to keep everyone happy

5. BBC News website: ‘Muscles from Brussels’ head to DR Congo

Famous action film hero Jean-Claude van Damme says he is thrilled to have been given a Congolese diplomatic passport.

“I am going to try to convince international stars like Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Jacky Chan and many others,” he said as he accepted his passport and role as cultural, youth and wildlife ambassador for the country. “There are also singers like Jennifer Lopez and footballers like Messi, Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo. They must come to the country to show that it is safe, to show that Congo can protect those in showbiz.”

Not sure I got the reason why Jennifer Lopez Messi, Ronaldinho and Cristiano Ronaldo must come to the the Congo but I guess he might be quite persuasive

Turbo, swim, Bournemouth, ride, walk, swim, ride, walk, ride

Bournemouth seafront with Hengistbury Head to to the left and the Isle of Wight in the distance

Working in the garden on Monday, repairing a wall and making a gate for a path that goes nowhere – apparently, it’s all about ‘the look’. 30 minutes of turbo reality later @30.9kph (19.2mph).

More domestic bliss on Tuesday, finishing both the wall and the gate and then off to the pool in the evening. I still don’t love the swimming but it needs to be done if the triathlon next month is going to begin without a complete disaster.

One good thing about the swimming is that it seems to be putting a little muscle on my puny runner/cyclist chest, arms and shoulders. I swam 1250m and then started sneezing before I reached the car park.

Still slow – but I did notice the benefit of the ‘drafting’ effect of swimming behind someone (before he swam away into the distance). With the buoyancy of the wetsuit, if I could latch on and follow a slow swimmer, it might just work.

On Wednesday we got ready to go down to Bournemouth for a long weekend with two couples who are very good friends. We drove down on Thursday morning fora bit more mowing and housework in preparation, and they all joined us later in the day.

Even though we have managed to have frequent evenings together, Covid has meant that we hadn’t done our usual group weekends in Bournemouth or the lake district for a couple of years, so it was great to resume a very fine social tradition.

On Friday all 6 of us cycled to Brockenhurst in the New Forest and had a really good 5 mile (8km) walk around the town and its surrounding area – lots of New Forest ponies on the loose and we found a very good site for a picnic. A round trip of just over 31 miles (50km) on the bikes.

I’m always nervous setting routes to places I don’t know because I feel responsible for everyone’s enjoyment of the ride. As it was, although I’d used the ‘avoid highways’ option the route finder, eventually, it had us on a slightly busier road than we’d want on the way there. We found a quieter alternative and came back by one of the national cycle routes which used a lot of defunct railway line paths – why would the route finder not know about those?

On Saturday we cycled across to the other side of Bournemouth to Compton Acres – 10 acres of really lovely gardens set in a valley heading down towards Poole Harbour. It was a bit of a punt on my part as I’d not been before but it was very good indeed, even though we had to cycle back along the roads rather than the promenade as that bans cycles between 10am and 6pm in July and August. Nearly 28km (17 miles).

Getting back reasonably early, we all went down to the beach for a (non-wetsuit) swim afterwards. It was cold with some moderate waves so not exactly triathlon training but good fun nevertheless and more acclimatisation to the SOW (scary open water). It reinforced my view that an open water triathlon swim in a lake is certainly plenty enough for me at the moment.

Sunday was one of our friend’s birthdays so we walked out along Hengistbury Head and had a picnic on the beach. When we got back, virtuously, David prepared a route and I rode it with him (about 25km – about 15.5 miles). Much more virtuously, Ian (who is the friend with whom I will be doing the triathlon) went back to the beach and swam, putting me to shame.

Everyone went off on Monday morning and we followed fairly close behind. Not a big week for training but a really excellent weekend with lovely, intelligent and interesting friends who are a delight to have as house guests.

The Fantasy Football competition started again on Friday, with the resumption of the Premier League. It’s very difficult in the first few weeks as teams settle down after so many players have been involved in international tournaments during the summer. Oh, the pressure.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: Being happy is better than being king

2. BBC News website: Postcard from Chile arrives in UK after 30 years

A postcard sent from South America has been delivered to its intended recipient 30 years after being posted.

Neil Crocker sent the card from Chile in 1991 when he was serving with the Royal Navy, returning from the Falkland Islands, on board HMS Cumberland. He said he “vaguely” remembered writing and sending the card which commented that the “weather and beaches are lovely”.

Cutting edge news like that is worth waiting for

3. BBC News website: Germany fears thousands got saline, not vaccine from nurse

Authorities in north Germany have asked more than 8,000 people to get repeat Covid vaccinations because a nurse is suspected of having injected saline instead of vaccine in many cases.

In April the nurse had admitted giving saline to six people to cover up the fact that she had dropped a vaccine vial on the floor but as the police investigation has suggested that many more people had been given saline instead of the vaccine.

4. BBC News website: Tusk reveals woolly mammoth’s massive lifetime mileage

Mammoth tusks were a bit like tree rings, insomuch that they recorded information about the animal’s life history and some chemical elements incorporated into the tusks while the animal was alive can serve as pins on a map, broadly showing where the animal went.

By combining these two things, researchers worked out that a male mammoth that lived 17,000 years ago in Alaska had covered 70,000km of Alaskan landscape during its 28 years on the planet. For comparison, the circumference of the Earth is 40,000km.

Turbo, sick as a dog, turbo

A couple of days in Bournemouth and I didn’t even make it to the promenade

My run last Saturday was uneventful but by the afternoon my back hurt. Standing around at Saturday’s wedding and Sunday’s BBQ didn’t help so I gave it a day’s rest on Monday.

My back had improved by Tuesday but it wasn’t quite right so, out of an excess of caution, I shelved the planned run. Much of the rest of the day was spent at a funeral (and driving to and from it).

It was the funeral of my sister-in-law’s father – a very wealthy man, perhaps not always everyone’s cup of tea, but someone I got on well with. He did great things as a benefactor in sport and education to the tune of several 10s of millions of pounds.

An excellent ‘do’ which easily passed the test I usually apply to funerals: “would he have enjoyed that?”. I’m not sure that my back entirely enjoyed the 4 hours+ driving.

I’ve been noticeably slack in exercising since the ultra and sportive (the usual post-challenge motivation slump, I assume) so just the 30 minutes on the turbo on Wednesday, but a bit faster at 31kph (19.26mph).

On Thursday, our younger son and I drove back down to Bournemouth to do some work in the house and garden. We left later than planned as I was as sick as a dog Wednesday night. Classic food poisoning by the feel of it, no need to go into details but 6 times to the bathroom between 2 and 6.30am – a big personal best.

By midday I felt I could drive but after a journey of less than 2 hours and unloading the car, I was completely wiped out and needed to sleep. The pattern continued, I could make minimal efforts at anything but then needed to rest or sleep. No solid food throughout the day – just one cup of tea and some water.

My son mowed, but by Friday I had just about rejoined the land of the living. I had taken running kit but the chances of me managing more than 100 metres were about as good as me flying to the moon, so that was abandoned and replaced by fixing a shower cubicle, putting up coat hooks, bracing a slightly flimsy wall to the front garden and mending a gate.

Back to Oxfordshire late afternoon and then to a social do with the cycle club to thank all the volunteers for their efforts over recent months. We didn’t stay too long but I ventured to eat a little food – my first for over 48 hours. Still feeling rough, at least I did not see it again.

It was our older son’s birthday on Saturday so we drove up to see him and his girlfriend. Still a very low key day for me but I really enjoyed seeing them both.

Back home for a quiet Sunday, still improving and I ventured a turbo session in the evening while watching the Olympic 3 day event. Not something I’d normally watch but one of our team (in gold medal position with the show jumping to go) was in the year between our sons at school. A reasonably gentle 30 minutes @29kph – 18mph.

A week without a swim, a ride or a visit to the gym – unheard of. I finish the week older, no wiser, no fitter but, thanks to the food poisoning, 3kg (about 6.5lbs) lighter.

Interesting stuff this week

1 African wise words: Ugliness with a good character is better than beauty

2. BBC News website: Gold toilet found in Russian police bribery probe

A gilded toilet and other luxuries were found in a mansion raided by Russian investigators, who say they busted a gang of corrupt traffic police who, allegedly, took bribes for issuing fake permits to businesses.

Rather nicely, talking about the garish residence one Russian newspaper said “It’s sad that in 30 years we’ve learned how to steal, but not how to spend the money.”

3. BBC News website: Nigeria kidnappers abduct man delivering ransom

Kidnappers in Nigeria have seized a man who was sent to deliver a ransom payment to secure the release of dozens of abducted school children.

Six people were sent by the children’s parents after they managed to raise $73,000 (£53,000) by selling land and other possessions, to meet the kidnappers near the forest where the children were being held. The gunmen demanded that one of the group, an elderly man, follow them into the forest to count the cash but they later called to say the money was not sufficient.

4. BBC News website: Pensioner’s WW2 tank in basement

Lawyers in Germany are wrangling over how to deal with a pensioner who stored a World War Two tank, anti-aircraft gun and torpedo in his basement. The items were removed from a house in 2015 with the help of the army.

Possible penalties are now being negotiated, including a suspended sentence and a fine of up to €500,000 (£427,000).