All posts by Jon

Sir David Amess

Memories, Opinion, , ,
Sir David had a French Bulldog; not this one!

I used to see Sir David at business breakfast club meetings. He was a great supporter of local businesses in the Southend area. I wish I had got to know him rather than just seeing him now and again. We all miss him with affection.

Sir David Amess (26 March 1952 – 15 October 2021) was a long-serving British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), best remembered for his deep commitment to his constituents, his compassion for animals, and his tireless work for numerous charitable causes. His life combined traditional Tory principles with a strong social conscience, underpinned by his Roman Catholic faith and lifelong love of animals.

Early Life and Education

  • Born: 26 March 1952, Plaistow, Essex (now part of London).
  • Family: Son of James and Maud Amess; raised in a working-class family.
  • Education:
    • Attended St Bonaventure’s Grammar School, Forest Gate.
    • Studied Economics and Government at Bournemouth College of Technology (now Bournemouth University).
  • Before entering politics, he worked as a teacher and then as a recruitment consultant, developing a strong sense of social responsibility and public service.

Political Career

Entry into Parliament

  • Amess first stood for Parliament in 1979 in Newham North West (unsuccessfully).
  • Elected as MP for Basildon in 1983, riding the Conservative wave under Margaret Thatcher.
  • His Basildon seat became a symbol of Middle England, and his re-election in 1992 was widely seen as signalling John Major’s surprise national victory.

Southend West MP (1997–2021)

  • After boundary changes, he moved to the Southend West constituency, where he served continuously from 1997 until his death in 2021.
  • He became one of the longest-serving MPs in the Commons, with nearly 40 years of service.
  • Known for being independent-minded, Amess voted according to his conscience rather than strict party lines, especially on moral and animal welfare issues.

Animal Welfare Advocacy

Sir David Amess was one of the most prominent animal welfare champions in British politics.

  • Patron and supporter of numerous animal charities, including:
    • The League Against Cruel Sports
    • Humane Society International UK
    • Dogs Trust
    • The Donkey Sanctuary
    • Compassion in World Farming
  • Served as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Animal Welfare.
  • Campaigned for:
    • Ending live animal exports for slaughter.
    • Banning puppy farming and illegal puppy imports.
    • Better regulation of pet sales and breeding.
    • Improved standards for farm animal welfare.
  • Consistently opposed fox hunting and other blood sports, often at odds with traditional Conservative views.

In 2020, he supported the Animal Welfare (Sentencing and Recognition of Sentience) Bill, which increased penalties for animal cruelty and formally recognised animals as sentient beings in UK law.

He often described animals as “innocent beings who depend entirely on human compassion and decency.”

❤️ Community, Faith, and Causes

  • A devout Roman Catholic, he often campaigned on pro-life issues and spoke about the moral responsibilities of politicians.
  • Promoted mental health awareness, endometriosis care, and accessibility for people with disabilities.
  • Authored a humorous and heartfelt memoir, Ayes & Ears: A Survivor’s Guide to Westminster (2020), giving insight into his experiences in Parliament and his devotion to Southend.
  • One of his long-term dreams was to have Southend-on-Sea declared a city, a goal posthumously achieved in 2022 as a tribute to his life and service.

⚔️ Death and Legacy

  • Sir David Amess was tragically killed on 15 October 2021 during a constituency surgery at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.
  • His murder shocked the nation and highlighted concerns about the safety of MPs and public servants.
  • He was posthumously remembered for his kindness, humour, accessibility, and unwavering commitment to his community.
  • The City of Southend-on-Sea was formally granted city status in his honour — fulfilling his long-held ambition.
  • In Parliament and across the political spectrum, he was celebrated as a true public servant, devoted family man, and friend to animals.



Gloria’s and Jon’s wedding

Memories, Photos, ,
The wedding party in Royal Square, St. Helier

Twenty-five years ago, I placed an advert in the lonely-hearts section of the local free newspaper. Three ladies responded and I arranged dates with two of them. I had a pleasant evening with the first on the Saturday of the August bank holiday, and on the Sunday, I had arranged to have Sunday lunch with Gloria. We arranged a rendezvous in the Homebase car park and Gloria was very trusting in getting into my shiny new Peugeot and I drove to the Cricketers Pub in Danbury. We had a very nice lunch, and we hit it off really well, so much so that Gloria invited me back to her house and our date actually lasted for twelve hours. I left her house at around midnight. The following morning, Bank Holiday Monday, my telephone rang at 7:00 and I wondered who would phone me at that time. it was Gloria and she wanted to see me again, so I went to her house that day. We have been together ever since, and Gloria moved in with me after about six months.

We knew quite early on that we would like to get married but there was a slight complication that Gloria’s divorce hadn’t come through. One of the people in my office in London suggested that we should get married in Jersey because Gloria did not want to get married locally in Southend. At the end of September 2001, we had booked a flight to Jersey and on the morning that we were going Gloria received her decree absolute through the post which we took with us.

We had intended to look for a suitable place to get married in Jersey and when we went into the main registry office in Saint Helier that seemed the perfect setting. The Assistant Registrar emerged from his office to talk to us. He produced his book to write us in. We were offered a date in a couple of weeks. We explained that that was a little quick and the date we fixed on was actually three weeks away on a Friday, because apparently only Jersey residents are allowed to be married on Saturdays in the register office.

So about three weeks later we went back to Jersey, were resident for the required period of four days prior to getting married. Our wedding day was wonderful, with a dozen of us there. My sister and her husband made it, along with one of my cousins, and some dear friends and also two colleagues from my firm’s Jersey office. We had a very pleasant lunch at a hotel on Gorey Pier where we were staying and we were very fortunate with the weather which was bright sunny and warm for the whole duration of our stay.

The family group with my brother-in-law, Michael, my cousin Jane and my sister Marion.
Signing the register.

We have been back to Jersey many times because we have such lovely memories of the island. We have been very lucky that we found each other, and we have had such a happy time, indeed many happy times since then.

We have been fortunate to also visit Florida a number of times and have also been to South Africa and St. Lucia.

Some of our friends and relations probably thought we were taking a risk by getting married after only having met each other a year earlier but we made the right decision between us and I’m very thankful that that we have had twenty-five years together.

My lovely wife at Arundel Castle.
Gloria at the cafe at St. Catherine’s Bay, Jersey.
La Corbiere lighthouse, Jersey.
Gorey Bay, Pier and Castle.

School bullying and me

Health, , ,

I was bullied badly at Brentwood School. My grades and exams were badly affected, I left school in 1969 feeling a failure and took years to recover. M D Nutt and an individual called Szolin were the worst both with physical abuse and mental torture which affected me for decades. I am better now, but rather late. I had been top of the class at primary school at St John’s School, Billericay, Essex in 1963. The only thing I drew from school was amateur radio.

ChatGPT and me

All about the author, Radio, ,

This is what ChatGPT has to say about me. It is rather good. Should I be worried? It seems a good tool:

Jon Stow is a retired tax practitioner and dedicated amateur radio enthusiast, holding the call sign G4MCU. His professional career encompassed roles such as Principal Associate at Jon Stow Consulting, where he specialized in business tax matters, particularly focusing on property taxation and offshore issues like residence and domicile conundrums. He also contributed his expertise as a volunteer at Tax Help for Older People

Beyond his tax career, Jon has a profound passion for amateur radio. Licensed as G8LFJ in January 1976, he later acquired the call sign G4MCU in June 1981. His interests in the field include working DX on 144MHz, 432 MHz, and 1296 MHz bands, with a focus on propagation phenomena such as Sporadic E, meteor scatter, aurora, and tropospheric “lifts” around Europe. Jon actively shares his experiences and insights on his amateur radio blog, discussing topics like his journey in VHF communication and reviews of equipment such as the Yaesu FT290R transceiver.

In addition to his professional and radio interests, Jon is a freelance writer, blogger, photographer, and skeptic. He maintains an active online presence across various platforms, including LinkedIn, Twitter, and Flickr, where he shares his diverse interests and engages with the community.

My cameras

Health, Photos, ,
Random photo of me in Andalusia nearly twenty years ago

Due to my health issues, I have not been able to get out and take any photographs for about three years. As I am feeling a bit better, I thought I should have an audit of where I had got back then, and I have a look at my cameras; the ones which were in use when I was taken ill.

I have two older 35mm SLRs, one with colour film already in it, and the other with black and white film, Yashica and Fujica respectively). I also have a compact Olympus which is mechanically sound, in which I have loaded another colour film. I paid £2.50 for it in a charity shop, which I know because I still have their price ticket.

I have a 120-format camera also with film in it, a digital Fujica bridge camera and a Canon compact digital camera.

I am not sure whether I will have the opportunity to put these cameras to use but hope so. It will be interesting to see what pictures are already on film. Of course, the films may have deteriorated but that will add to the fun.

I have other cameras including two other 35mm SLRs, which I have acquired for little money or been given. I do not have a modern digital SLR and at the moment do not “need” one. The bridge camera can suffice for the digital world and the Canon compact is quite decent too.

Coma dreams and delusions

Health, , ,

I have just read on the BBC website an account of an unfortunate journalist who has had and still has long Covid. It is a dreadful illness at its worst, and I feel for him. One thing which caught my attention is what he describes as having “coma nightmares” when in an induced coma.

Although I am aware of dreaming most nights, I rarely remember much detail the following morning. However, when I was in hospital, though not with Covid, but in an induced coma, I had vivid dreams which I was convinced were real life.

I had a lot going on. I was involved in brokering and delivering fish quotas to the EU, and this involved several journeys to France and Belgium. We stayed in an apartment also, though I seem to remember that was in the Netherlands. Of course, I know very little about the fishing industry, but I was convinced I did.

Also, I was involved with two farms, one in Scotland and another in Northern Ireland. I had responsibility for making sure the cattle were well fed in Scotland and for mixing feed that they had when not out to pasture. At the farm we had a dog and some puppies, Border Collies I think, and one of our family took a puppy to the Northern Ireland farm.

As part of this story, we seemed to have a house in North Kent and another in Devon, and the Devon property was especially nice.

Separately I thought we had sold our house in Hockley, and had another locally, but we had also built a bakery in Rayleigh. Maybe that was where the new house was too.

There were visits to my paternal grandparents’ house in Billericay. My grandma was there, but not grandad, who passed on in 1964. I also saw a lot of my lovely Auntie, my Mum’s sister, and her husband and the rabbits that Auntie bred.

I did a lot of driving and had to go (I think) to Northampton several times. On one occasion I was pulled over by the police for speeding (this has never happened to me). I also visited some North London opticians several times to have new contact lenses (that at least was based on experience), but for some reason had to take a dog to the local vets there rather than nearer home.

Several times I was in hospital, not the real one, and was thirsty but could not reach the drinking bottle. I had some awareness of lying on my front, which was probably true as I was proned to help my breathing while I was on the ventilator.

These dreams or delusions, one might say, kept recurring and all seemed real. When I was finally conscious in hospital it took me a week or so to work out what was real and what was part of my unconscious imagination.

Bill Wilson’s Covid story.

My hospital experience

Health, ,
Riverside shelduck which I hope to see soon again

On 6th November 2020 I woke up feeling generally very unwell and with a protruding lump in my abdomen. I telephoned my GP surgery and subsequently spoke to a doctor. She arranged for me to attend Southend Hospital that afternoon.

I duly went to the hospital. The consultant there said they would have to operate on what was a strangulated hernia that night. I telephoned Gloria, my wife to tell her as due to Covid she had not been able to come into the hospital.

I remember nothing after that, not even being prepared for surgery. The operation itself was apparently a success as Gloria was informed at 5 o’clock the following morning, but subsequently I had a brain bleed, was in ICU for five days and was in an induced coma for a while. I remember nothing at all of November or of the first couple of weeks of December, and most of the rest of December is pretty hazy. I do remember having roast turkey in hospital on Christmas Day.

I think I was in Southend Hospital for about four weeks before being transferred to Broomfield Chelmsford.

Having been “critical” to start with, I was probably fortunate to survive, and it must have been dreadfully worrying for Gloria when I was so ill.

I was moved from Broomfield to Braintree Community Hospital on 27th December, and discharged from there on 15th January. I have been sent to a care home.

In Broomfield and Braintree I saw physiotherapists as having been laid up for so long I was virtually paralysed as my muscles had forgotten how to work. I can still barely stand and cannot walk, but I have been discharged by the hospital to a facility which has no physio support. After getting me over the main illness the NHS has left me high and dry.

I am trying to either get moved from what is an excellent care home to a more suitable facility, or to arrange for a physiotherapist to come in to visit and supply equipment. The care home is fine for the very elderly residents, but I was told by the physios in the hospital that I have every chance of getting back to normal, the state of health I had before November. Of course those physios assumed I would get ongoing therapy, which the hospitals have neglected to arrange now I am out.

I have only seen Gloria in the flesh once since I as taken ill, and that was presumably on compassionate grounds when my situation was still serious. I do not really remember much about her visit. It has been all very difficult for Gloria. She has been brilliant at supporting me and running the household, to which I so wish to return when I have some mobility. Fortunately we can have video chats several times a day so thank goodness for technology.

PS: I have arranged private physiotherapy to start on Monday 1st February, and also hope to hear from the community NHS physiotherapists. I should not have had to do this all myself, but at least I should make some progress.

Gloria came to see me yesterday and we conversed not at all privately through a perspex screen. Online video gives a better level of communication but it was great to see Gloria even if the meeting was unsatisfactory.

My Mother, Pamela Stow

Memories
Our Mum

Although brought up and having lived her first sixty years in Billericay, our Mum was born in 1925 in a nursing home in Sydenham in South East London, for which reason she supported Kent at cricket. This allegiance was reinforced by childhood family holidays spent at the Folkestone Cricket Festival where she was able to watch Kent and England cricketers at the top of their game and fooling around end-of-season.

I think Mum had quite a happy childhood with a Mum and a Dad who both liked animals, so there were always plenty of pets.

Like her sisters, Mum attended the Ursuline Convent School in Brentwood after starting out at the local one in Billericay. She was quite a talented violinist at school, passed her Grade 8 and might have gone further with this had it not been for the war.

Mum started commuting to the City during the War, a time when bombs were falling and while it must have been daunting, like everyone else she kept calm and carried on. She worked for the Standard Bank of South Africa, where she met our Dad when he was demobbed and returned to the bank in 1946.

Mum and Dad married in 1950 and she stopped work at that point and was soon expecting me. By November 1953 Marion was born and in 1956 we moved from our rented bungalow to a house in Billericay. We had a decent adjacent plot to, over the years, accommodate chickens, ducks and an allotment, and at various times we had a guinea pig, mice, goldfish, budgies and our first dogs.

Mum started work again on a part-time basis in about 1960, working for the Westminster Bank, initially in Brentwood after learning to drive, and then in Billericay. Mum then worked locally for an insurance company, moved up to the City, and worked for a merchant bank being a bookkeeper for investment trusts. She only stopped her second City career when her own mother became unwell and needed our Mum to keep an eye on her.

What about the dogs in general, and Shelties in particular? In 1962 on a day when Mum must have been off her part-time job, Marion and I were walking home from school for lunch when we came upon a Sheltie puppy running loose on the main road.  With some encouragement she followed us home. Mum reported the finding to the police, but no one claimed her and after signing a police form we could keep her. We had been dog-less for a while at that point. As it happened, the breeder was local, had let the puppy go to a pet home, but as she had been lost, never transferred the puppy to the purchaser. After being referred by a friend she did identify Penny as the “lost” puppy and transferred ownership to Mum.

We had Penny for sixteen years and after we lost her in 1978 Mum and Marion acquired a Sheltie bitch to show, and that is how Stanydale Shelties started.

In 1985 around three years after Dad’s retirement, Mum and Dad moved to Nayland from Billericay, and to a more rural aspect with more room for the dogs, of which there have been quite a lot at various times including a number of Lhasa Apsos. Mum enjoyed showing the dogs with Marion and as a great animal lover loved watching the rabbits, deer, pheasants, partridges and many other birds in the garden almost up to the end. She also became a great horseracing enthusiast and was very knowledgeable about both flat and National Hunt racing.

Our Mum was a kind, considerate and generous soul. She had a long life, but just the same it is hard to be without her, when so often we still feel the need to tell her something.

Pamela Aileen Stow was born on 25th September 1925 and passed away on 27th September 2017.

My father, Brian Stow

Memories,
Young Dad

Dad was born on 31st March 1922 in Edgware, Middlesex.

His parents moved to Totteridge in North London and Dad went to Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, Barnet. He was very proud of his school, followed it throughout his life and was always a member of the Old Elizabethans. He left school at 17 to start work though today he would have been university material. He joined the Standard Bank of South Africa and was there until he was called up for war service.

Dad did not talk much about the war. He was in Royal Signals. He was shipped around and took part in the Allied invasion of Italy in July 1943, coming off a landing craft in Sicily carrying his radio. It is hard for us to imagine being thrust into such a situation under fire.

Dad’s duties included taking over telephone exchanges in Italy and monitoring. He had a natural ability for languages and picked up Italian from scratch. In later years, he took his “O level” after going to evening classes and he spoke Italian well, as Gloria and I observed when we went with the parents on holiday to Italy. Dad was also apparently able to pass for a native of Vienna, such was his German accent from his time after his transfer to Austria prior to de-mob.

When Dad returned to the bank in 1946, he met Mum, who had been working at the Bank for several years, being one of the young women who filled the gaps left by the men on war service. Mum and Dad were married in 1950 and were married for the best part of 67 years.

If I am honest, I should say that we children, Marion and I, did not see all that much of Dad during our childhood. He always seemed to be at work, which of course was for our benefit.  In those days he often worked on Saturday mornings, and went to the Arsenal on a Saturday afternoon. He was a season ticket holder at Highbury, as was his father until his death in 1964. Dad first went to Arsenal as a boy during the Herbert Chapman era. We spent time with Dad on Sundays because he took us to church at Stock, where we were in the choir.

In recent years Dad followed Arsenal on-line and also became quite good at on-line shopping.

Dad was quite sporty. For a time, he played for a local cricket club, opening the batting. One great memory was his taking a one-handed catch over his head while fielding on the boundary. I was most impressed.

Dad’s career at the bank saw him rise through the ranks to be senior in the Trustee Department. Then he became a Head Office inspector for the Standard Chartered Bank, so he then had the opportunity to travel the world from Djakarta to San Francisco and many places and offices in between.

Dad retired in 1982 and Mum and Dad moved from Billericay to Nayland in 1985. Dad joined the congregation here, where he remained until Sunday morning outings became too difficult. I know Mum and Dad were very happy with their new life in Nayland with the more rural environment and more room for all the dogs.

In the last year or so, I always tried to phone at 7pm every evening. Dad usually answered with a chuckle as he would have been waiting for the call. I do miss that.

Retirement meant that Dad had more time for everyone and showed more his kind and generous spirit. He was a thoroughly decent man and we will all miss him very much.

Brian Frederick Geoffrey Stow was born on 31st March 1922 and passed away on 30th July 2017.

Health update for Movember 2016

Health, ,

Movember day 19
Movember day 19

I had a check-up earlier this month post my encounter with prostate cancer three-and-a-half years ago. I am doing well, and my PSA is 0.026, so hardly there at all. So, I will be reviewed again in a year’s time.

I count myself lucky with the early diagnosis and prompt treatment following a referral by my diligent GP.

This year I am once again growing a moustache for Movember and of course hope for some sponsorship to help raise awareness about neglected areas of men’s health. Take care out there, guys.