A little touch of Cleggy in the night

....I am in Plymouth, Devon, walking around the Brabican, from where the Pilgrim fathers set off in the Mayflower. I have been here many times before, this was once my 'patch' and I look out for familiar faces. There are none.
   I am looking for Robert Lenkiewicz, not him personally, because I know he is dead. I am seeking his mural, painted on the side of a house in the Brabican. There is a reason. In my latest book, The Mystery of Conan Blake, I mentioned Lenkiewicz as one of the few artists who could replicate the work of the 17th century masters who painted the ceiling in Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin. Lenkiewicz certainly could have painted in the style of Hann Trier, one of the artists who painted some of the Schloss Charlottenburg's ceilings when they were restored after the war.
   For a few minutes I was distracted by finding a pub by the name of The Dolphin. I have many happy memories about the Dolphin. But first let me tell you about its history. When the Tolpuddle Martyrs returned from Australia in 1836, they stayed the night at The Dolphin, in a room overlooking the harbour. I remember my pal Billy Holmes, the landlord, serving some of the best Bass around, and it's a great pleasure to find the pub now sells, Tribute beer, a Real Ale..
   On with the search for Robert Lenkiewicz, artist, of exceptional talent, and a character, often seen in the pubs in the Barbican. I stumbled upon his truly magnificent work on a wall just past the Plymouth Gin factory...it has almost disappeared. A criminal act perpetrated by someone...the city council perhaps, or the landlord, who knows? It's certainly neglected, I suppose after the artists death. (he was quite young, and had previously had a heart by-pass-operation....All it needed to protect it was coat of varnish....
   Bare discernable were some of the Plymouth characters I knew from being a social worker in the district.  (Lenkiewicz painted many people he found 'interesting'. I searched for a pal, 'Gordon' who worked at  the Wolseley office on North Prospect...featured on the 'Mayflower' in armour....he was fading fast...
   But most important, I remembered a lecture Lenkiewicz gave in a Plymouth theatre. It shook me rigid when he virtually admitted he was a paedophile. He admitted to an audience of around 200 people that he found children sexually attractive....I wanted to stand up and protest, ( I was a social worker in the Brixham and Paignton office in Devon, and it turned my stomach...a strong hand held me back...
   But I digress, turning towards the harbour I found the Mayflower steps where tradition tells us the Pilgrim Fathers left to go to America. They weren't all they are made out to be either, but that's another story. I walked to the Hoe, that magificent ampitheatre where Francis Drake played bowls then defeated the Spanish. I like Drake, first of all he was a pirate, so he can't be all that bad....or was he? Whatever, maybe he was, maybe not.. his family still farm near where I live in East Devon. He once owned a pub which is reputed to be 1000 years old...yes, you read it right. 1000 years, mentioned in The Doomseday Book...It had originally been a monastery. It serves Tribute and Otter ales, and Doombar of course. It is now owned by the village. Unique I say!
   Onwards...overlooking the harbour, from where in 1967 I saw Sir Francis Chichester return from his round the world trip, in his little yacht, Gypsy Moth, and knighted by the Queen. I could not but help noticing, there was not one Royal Navy ship around. Shame on you Cameron and Clegg. A million old sea dogs will curse you both, (as well as a few million ex-Royal Marines, which very neatly brings me to one of my best sellers, originally published in the USA, and now on Kindle, Logan's Touch,'with a sub heading: Once a Marine always a Marine.
  It was Charles Schulz of Peanuts fame who encouraged me to write, I met him in the cardiac wing at Santa Rosa hospital, a wonderful man. he passed on in 2000.
  So there it is, six books on the amazon web-site....two on the stocks...
A Happy Easter....2012.

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contact me anytime. Les Lunt