PCPLOD178

I remember Wilf, I was a bobby from 1961 to 1977. I was zapped a year earlier and it took me eight years to partially recover, with no thanks to the South Yorkshire Police, members of which caused my family all sorts of problems as punishment for me being a constant rocker of boats. Harry ~Bunker P.C. Plod.

Before I buggered off to pastures new, I regularly patronised the Dam House near the University. It had been the pavilion for a small park at Crookes. The food was wonderful, the wine worth dying for, and the prices not too bad. I can't remember the name of the proprietor but he had been the head waiter at The Grosvenor House in Sheffield. A good night out. If you want a very special night out, or better still a special weekend, you can't beat Hassop Hall near Bakewell. It is not expensive for what you get. Can strongly recommend. P.C. Plod Harry Bunker.

I do not think so GVOWL, I worked from West Bar, then Rotherham, then Hackenthorpe, and finally Rotherham again before I got zapped. It wouldn't have been me anyway, I was serving in the C.I.D. at Rotherham from late 69 to late 74, and detectives did not do special duties at football matches.

I certainly did know Stan Morris. In 1963, he was a chief superintendent, and became chief constable of Rotherham shortly afterwards. When Sheffield amalgamated with Rotherham on 1st April, 1968, he came back to Sheffield as the Deputy Chief Constable of the combined force. He was a 'head honcho' in the masonic movement, and I'm sorry to tell you this, but he was a pillock of the first order, bossing and bullying everyone around under threats of 'being dealt with'. And he was mad, he used to patrol in his own plain car and he was wearing plain clothes looking for bad drivers, the only problem was how to stop an offending driver. That daft bugger did it by forcing the other driver into the side of the road and swerving in front of him. I know, I saw him do it once on Sheffield Road at Tinsley. The other driver saw me at the side of the road and made an emergency stop to seek refuge from me. He was notorious for doing that amongst other things, many of them bad things. Nuff said I think. Sincerely, Harry Bunker, P.C. Plod.

What this space, when I get the time I will tell of things nefarious and some stupid. P.C. P)lod ---------- Post added 10-04-2015 at 18:09 ---------- Hello Alan, To be honest I can't remember you I'm sorry. But I am very grateful for your sentiments, they are more precious to me that any commendations or gongs. Sincerely, Harry Bunker, P.C. Plod

That was me folks when I joined the City of Sheffield Police in 1961. All the kit I was issued with had been used many times going back to before World War 11. The uniform was Winter weight serge, they didn't have a Summer weight one for me and I spent the glorious March of 1962, when town hall girls sun bathed in the Peace Gardens at lunchtime, and I sweltered and sweated. The gaberdine macintosh was so old and clapped out that it had rotted under the armpits, and there were mail bag stitches trying to hold the arms on. I protested , but was told to shut up and wear it. It smelled of the previous occupants and people moved away from me on the 'bus to work. It needed drastic action, which I took one morning when I was on the beat which included Headquarters in Castle Green. I established the time when the Chief Constable, the last of the gentlemen Chief Constables, Eric Staines, arrived at H.Q. and waited outside . As he got out of his limousine, I gave him a perfect salute. He didn't say anything, just touched the peak of his hat with his swagger stick and smiled. Later that morning, I was told to report to the superintendent. He told me to collect a new mac from stores, and asked me if I had been bothering the Chief. I denied it and said that I never said a word to him. The shirts incidentally were tunic shirts with detached collars. I needed 15 1/2, but was given 17 1/2 and told to get my wife to make them smaller. She couldn't sew a button on let alone a job like that so when I went to Training School, my collar took on the appearance of a dray horse collar. At the passing out parade, one of the lads loaned me one of his shirts. P.C. Plod

Those who inhabited the top corridor gave me the nickname 'The Bolshie *******'. I was neither Bolshie nor a *******, but I became proud of the name. P.C. Plod.

Fifteen years ago I was diagnosed with Hypertension (High Blood Pressure) during a routine health check at a local hospital. My readings were 247/143, which were very dangerously high. I was admitted and treated with the Ace Inhibitor Lisiniprol, and until recently I had no problems with it. I awoke one morning to find that half my face was paralysed and thought I had suffered a stroke. It was a Saturday so I went to see the emergency G.P. She could not establish the cause of the paralysis, and asked me to return next day. Blood tests were undertaken next day (Sunday) but she still could not diagnose the problem. On Monday, the paralysis affected my mouth, throat and both cheeks. I realised that before long it would be in my windpipe and then I would be asphyxiated. I managed to drive to my own G.P. and he immediately told me to sit down and telephoned for an ambulance. He then got together the tools he needed to do a trachyoctomy. The ambulance arrived and I was whisked away to hospital. Drip fed with Adrenaline and two hours later, I was stabilised. Diagnosis - Angio Edeama caused by a latent reaction to Lisiniprol and aspirin. When discharged I did not go to see my G.P. for an alternative to Lisiniprol, instead I remembered being advised years before that Essence of Hawthornberry was the best way of dealing with Hypertension. I got some from a well known health food and herbal shop, and Bingo !, ten days later, my B.P. was 120/80, which is that of a young healthy person. My G.P. didn't believe in alternative remedies but had to agree that this one was more appropriate than Ace Inhibitors. I later learned that N.I.C.E. the body which authorises drugs for prescriptions, had published a warning about Lisiniprol becoming dangerous even after many years. My B.P. hovers around 125/80 and is still that of a young healthy man. IMPORTANT POSTSCRIPT. The hospital never investigated the cause of my high blood pressure, but some months later, I went to Boots to buy a well known decongestion drug over the counter. I had been using it at full dose for Catarrh for two weeks before being admitted to hospital, and for a long time before then. For the first time ever, the assistant read out the health conditions which precluded the use of this drug. Hypertension was at the top of the list. It had not been on the list when I had taken it, and the assistant said that if taken regularly, it could cause Hypertension. Using it had obviously caused my problem. I have gone to some length to inform you all of this because it is one of those little gems that sometimes crops up that could be of profound benefit to others. If anyone needs further information, please send me a private message. Sincerely, Harry Bunker, P.C. Plod.

I was told a story yesterday by my elder brother, Ken, about our Dad, who passed away many years ago. He swears it is true and is borne out by dates and things. Dad volunteered for the Royal Navy whilst he had the choice. In the Autumn of 1941, he was on a train from Plymouth to the North of Scotland to join his ship, when the train stopped in the marshalling yards at Masborough in Rotherham. It had stopped 100 yards from our front garden, and he saw Mum digging there. He grabbed his kitbag and left the train, jumped over the wall, and ran up the path to surprise Mum and give her a big hug. He also finished the Anderson Shelter that Mum had been digging in the garden. He stayed for two weeks until the Police came and nicked him. His Commanding Officer accepted his mitigation and gave him one month in the glasshouse for being A.W.O.L. Nine months later, yours truly, Harry Bunker, was born on the 2nd July, 1942, the result of a sailor going A.W.O.L. to see his lady wife.

There is a lot more where that came from folks, e.g. Chief Constables used Section 49 of the Police Act, 1964, dealing with complaints from the public, as a means of getting rid of problem bobbies like I was. Well I did something about that as well, I changed the law !!!!!!!!!!!!. If you want more, please ask. Sincerely, Harry Bunker. P.C. Plod. ---------- Post added 06-04-2015 at 10:35 ---------- Then there was the incident where Drug's Squad dug my garden for me, he he. ---------- Post added 06-04-2015 at 10:47 ---------- And what about when I bugged the Deputy Chief Constable's office and got him ranting on about me not giving up my home to the new landlord so that he could sell it with vacant possession. The landlord was one of his lodge pals and had appealed to him to get me and my family out. He threatened me with all things horrible, but changed his mind when I played part of the tape back to him....I can hear the No. 19 bus starting up now, all former Sheffield bobbies knows what that means.

A General Order was issued in 1964 which proclaimed that as from a certain date, weekly pay in cash would be replaced by monthly salaries paid directly into bank accounts. The first thing that struck me was that there was no mention of how the transition would be achieved because we worked one week in arrears, and leaping ahead into one month left questions to be answered. The Police Federation couldn't help, mind you, it never did, so I began sending requests to the Chief Constable for information. Five or six were ignored until the Superintendent at West Bar (The old Fire Station) demanded my attendance in his office. He told me what I had suspected all along, that being we would have to go without pay for another three weeks. I protested, I was on £12.17.6d a week, and with two children and another on the way, we needed every single penny. "Can't be helped', he said,'we're all in the same boat. "Yes Sir', I replied, but your boat is a lot bigger than ours." "Get Out," he shouted so I did. "You know folks,' I said to myself as I crossed West Bar Green to go to my beat,'this means WARRRRRRR !!!!!," (with thanks to Bugs Bunny.) A day or so later, I was in the Magistrates Court, then on Castle Street, when I espied an agency reporter who I knew very well. I invited him to the café for a cup of tea and told him all about the problem. I explained that we had been instructed to open bank accounts and apply to the managers for bank loans to tide us over. The big problem was that few of us had sufficient income to repay the loans. "What are you going to do about it ?." he asked. I told him that on the first Saturday that we hadn't received our pay, a large group of off duty officers would assemble in Fitzalan Square, and then march up High St., Church St. and West St. to the offices of the National Assistance Board to apply for emergency welfare relief. "Won't you get into trouble ?," he asked. "Nah ,' I said, 'they cannot allow police officers to go without pay for three weeks without us going hungry and getting the rent into arrears." Less than an hour later, a police car pulled up at the side of me. "Get in," said the driver. The Superintendent was livid, his face glowed red with anger. "Names", he demanded holding pen ready with paper. "F.....g names now." I told him that I hadn't a clue who was going to march with me, that all I had been told were the numbers involved, adding that there would about a hundred of us. "You know we can do you for incitement to munity and bring the force into disrepute, you'll go to prison", he said. "No Sir you can't, all we will be doing is exercising our legal rights to claim welfare relief to pay rents and put food on the table. It will be those on the top corridor over at headquarters who will have brought the force into disrepute." He told me to Eff off, and so I effed off as quickly as I could. A week later, a general order proclaimed that we would be paid three weeks in advance. The March ?, a figment of my imagination actually, but those who inhabited the top corridor dare not take the risk. If the pilot scheme had been successful it would have been adopted throughout every force, and then the Fire Brigades followed by all wage earning council workers. No-one knew until I posted this thread why those on the top corridor changed their minds. I hope there are a few good men who remember the attempted scam and now know why it failed. Harry Bunker, P.C. Plod

I believe that the Lib Dems have done an excellent job so far, they are the voices of moderation.

Imagine you need life saving surgery, and the surgeon makes a pig's ear of it. After five years of pain and suffering from surgery to rectify the mess the surgeon made, you need one final operation. When you attend hospital for the pre-op, who do you find waiting for you ?, the surgeon who caused you all that pain and suffering. Question : Would you trust that surgeon again to cut and carve you up?. I think you would be odd if you did. If we are not careful we are going to end up with a multi party coalition as they do on the continent, and the result is always the same, chaos. So on election day it is make your mind up time. Which ever party that can win an outright majority will either make a pig's ear of it, or continue to maintain steady progress towards a better life for us all. Personally, I believe that a two party coalition is the answer, but not with UKIP. The minor party will represent the voice of reason. Harry Bunker. P.C. Plod.

This is a warning and a request for information relating to an A.C./DC converter adaptor imported from China and supplied by a well known U.K. company with a camping L.E.D. rechargeable lantern. One such adaptor literally came to pieces in my hand whilst I was unplugging from a mains socket and delivered a severe electric shock to me. I was lucky, the shock knocked me off my feet and broke my contact with the live part of the exposed components. The company refuses to take responsibility and has actually accused me of tampering with it. Information would be appreciated.

Is anyone else experiencing problems having prescription drugs dispensed ?. For the last 18 months I have not been able to find a chemist which can dispense my full prescription. I have been told recently by a pharmacist that the cause is that drugs in common use are being withheld by the manufacturers to pressurise the government into withdrawing N.H.S. cuts which affect them. Get in touch with this thread please if you have been affected by this, and I will take the matter further. Sincerely, P.C.Plod.

You are right about the E.U. What began as a common market trading within has become more or less a Federal Europe. No-one voted for that but we're stuck with it unless someone throws his or her dummy out of the pram. We could start a rebellion amongst those countries which have the most to lose, MI6 should be good at that. I don't think the time is right for us to get out, but we should keep the momentum going with the threat of it. The Human Rights Act should be looked at to modify it with a modicum of common sense, we can't have terrorists getting damages for being caught and put where they belong can we ?. If anyone within the Union takes the right to live from any other member, they should forfeit all their rights apart from the right to live. That would sort 'em all out, keep them in hygienic conditions, fed according to what they need, not want, and following annual reviews of their convictions, to all intents and purposes, they should cease to exist. No newspapers or books published after the date of their conviction, no telly, no computers or the internet, no visitors apart from legal visitors. Why should someone who has committed heinous crimes be kept in better conditions than our poorer off have ?. Very sincerely, P.C.Plod

More like the ineffectual intellectual. After the success of U.K.I.P. and the almost demise of the Lib Dems, it looks like the country is in for an interesting election next May. Its too late for Milipede to step down and make way for someone with a bit more political 'Umphh', and so the Labour Party is stuck with him. There's nothing wrong with the chap, he's just not Prime Minister material. That's a shame because we must have a good and effective opposition, U.K.I.P. will not provide that, only ranting on and on about immigrants taking the jobs, houses and welfare benefits of British subjects. Historically, its all been said before. In the 50's the West Indians took the brunt of Enoch and his followers, but look at how things have turned out these days. The second generation of West Indians settled into jobs few of us wanted anyway, including nursing, bus and train driving, the transport system and N.H.S. would have collapsed years ago if they hadn't settled here. Then the Asians came, and now the majority of the N.H.S. medical staff are Asian and keeping us all reasonably fit and well. They run the corner shops that we cannot make profits from, sub post offices, lawyers, businessmen and women, where would we be without them ?. They are even mouthing the same words of complaint that we did all those years ago about the Rumanians. Our Green and Pleasant Land would have stopped producing the food we eat a long time ago if immigrant workers didn't work for less than we are prepared to work for, so just what is it about U.K.I.P. and its associated groups. I'll tell you. Its the BANDWAGON folks. They've listened to those people who gripe and complain about just about everything, and they've jumped on it, editing out the very great value immigration have proven to be, but ranting on to an electorate disgruntled by traditional politics to what appears to be new and promising ideas to bring a breath of fresh air into politics. And what is that breath of fresh air ?. The old, old chestnuts, 'They're taking our jobs, our houses, our free N.H.S. etc. etc. ' and one or two Tories have jumped on that bandwagon like what they perceive to be rats deserting a sinking ship. What does all this say about the electorate ?. It says that we expect everything, great big plasma tellys, the latest game consoles, cars, sofas, holidays abroad, 'Vegas', etc. but most of us don't want to work for these things, no, we expect the State to provide it all buckshee. That is the promise of Ed the intellectual, as it was from the two 'B;s'. The alternative is too dreadful to even think about. I mean, we can't have a bunch of privileged people running the country and telling us what to do can we ?. We would rather have those who can make the most noise without actually saying anything of any real value. Well, do your worst folks, it can only get worse.

After two failed attempts by New Labour to govern the U.K. successfully, Blair followed by Brown leaving the Labour Party in disarray. Leaving their legacies of unnecessary wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with thousands if not hundreds and thousands of people, including British soldiers, killed and wounded, and the destruction of the economy, the Labour Party, or New Labour, or whatever they intend to call it next, elected a certain Ed. Millipede as its leader, and Ed Sphericals, as Chancellor. Tut. tut. tut !!!. And now, on the brink of the next election, what do they go and do ?. Back stab Millipede to try and get rid of him and elect a new leader in time for he or she to make a dramatic impact upon disgruntled former Labour or New Labour or 'How to Win an Election or Not Lose by Much', supporters. Don't they know that Ed. is the best asset the Conservatives have got ?. That idiot will surely bring the Tories victory in the next election because no sane person could ever envisage Brother Ed as the man in charge of this once noble and green and pleasant land. All he can argue is the direct opposite of what the Tories stand for, he has no policies of any value to offer, just snapping at the heels of the other parties. But who else is there ? I hear you ask. Well, there's...er..um..no, not him, he's got too much history, but there is.......wrong again, she's as useful as a chocolate fireguard, Hmmmm....let me think, Yes, there's....no, he's dead, so we might end up with someone we've never heard of before. They could dig up Clement Atlee, the best post war Prime Minister ever, or they could all just bugger off and join U.K.I.P. My prediction for the election is that hard line Labour voters will stay away rather than vote for any other party, and that will give U.K.I.P. a boost, a temporary one though, they've only got one clarion call, 'Send 'em all back.' Is this nation of ours about to prove that democracy doesn't work ?. Is the maxim of Lenin about to come true, 'Democracy is nothing more than a five second visit to a polling booth every few years' ?. How we vote at the next General Election will determine the future of the U.K. for the next generation and beyond. I am not advocating 'Vote Tory', or 'Lib Dem' , what I am saying to the good folk of Sheffield, is to get involved in the debate, don't leave it up to the television and media pundits and advertising executives, spin doctors, pollsters, intellectuals, or anybody with a gob on e'm like me, to influence you. On Polling Day, take big deep breaths, I said 'breaths', I don't have a speech impediment, and vote according to your common sense, and whoever gets in, make them earn their pay.

What a shame that in an intelligent and open discussion you have to make unpleasant libellous remarks. Such a shame.

arrgghhhh !!!!

Remember the state of the U.K. when the 2B's left office ?. Someone at the Treasury left a note on his desk which read, 'Don't look for any cash, there isn't any'. The country was in a mess, and only the Conservatives had the guts to tackle the economy. They are accused by Milipede of supporting the rich and robbing the poor. That's an old chestnut and if that's all he's got to say then he's an idiot. Without the Conservatives and Lib Dems in power, the L.D. presenting the voice of reason, we would be worse off than Greece, handing over our Treasury for the E.U. 'Gnomes' to dictate everything. Greece is such as bad mess that it will take a generation of poverty in all classes before any substantial improvement can be achieved. I have many axes to grind with the Tories, e.g. for scrapping the Money Lenders Act, which limited interest to 49%, and allowing people to get themselves into impossible debt, but without a strong economy we would be using the begging bowl as Harold Wilson did. For all their faults, the Tories can be relied upon to achieve economic stability, and that is where fair play for all begins. Finally, don't dismiss Nick Clegg. He and his party have played a vital role in the recovery. Of course they've had to renage on some of their policies, but that's what a coalition is, it wouldn't work without give and take. I think they have done a magnificent job, and it would be cutting one's nose off to spite ones face if we didn't support them at the next election. My politics ?. I see the strengths and weaknesses in all men, and women by the way. If I was forced to vote it would be for stability rather than DOOM again. Don't allow the spin doctors violate your common sense and intelligence, don't be taken in by 'schoolyard politics', and send Millipede scurrying back to obscurity.

Another report into the scandal of child sex abuse is emerging in the Greater Manchester area. Chief Constable Fahy said during an interview with the television bods that a) it is a very difficult offence to investigate, and b) that the force was busy dealing with burglaries and car crime. I wonder where I’ve heard that one before. I remember, the Met. bloke said exactly the same thing, as did other Chief Constables throughout the country. It seems to be a common explanation, I don’t use the word, ’excuse’ because suppressing reports of child sex abuse is inexcusable. I am reminded of the definition of a Constable which all officers have to swear to uphold : ‘A Constable is a citizen, locally appointed, but having authority under The Crown, for the PROTECTION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY, the preservation of the peace, and the prosecution of offenders against the peace’. May I suggest that the Police Service alter the definition to which they swear to uphold to : ‘A Constable is a citizen, locally appointed, but having the authority under that which is convenient to the Chief Officer, to follow orders ignoring the Nuremberg dictum, and to enforce whatever he or she is instructed to enforce, even to the extent of usurping the authority of The Crown’. The Nuremberg Dictim by the way for those who might not know about it is the decision taken by the Judges at the Nuremberg trials in 1946 of Nazi war criminals. Briefly, the dictum ruled that claiming that they were only following orders would not present a legally recognised defence. And so they were hanged or banged up. It seems that Chief Constables no longer recognise the Dictum. Instead of moaning about police neglect of duty, why does the Home Office not do something about it ?. It’s the same scenario with certain N.H.S. hospitals, and social services departments, so why doesn’t Theresa May issue her own dictum on behalf of the government ?. ‘Thou shalt comply with the law or face the consequences’.

The main threat to the new commissioner will come from the police. The very nature of the post will bring him into conflict with the police from time to time, and he must be strong enough to deal with it. They will research his background so deeply that if he or she has ever farted in a 'bus queue, they will find out about it. He or she must be of impeccable antecedents with no skeletons in any cupboards. The position of commissioner will not be welcomed by the police unless he is a 'tame' and highly malleable individual, and will not 'rock the boat' or 'step over the line' to use police terminology. I urge all voters in South Yorkshire to turn out to vote for the individual and not candidates sponsors or allegiances. If he or she is up to the job then they can make a significant difference to how things are and how they will become. My advice to the winning candidate is prepare yourself for a very difficult period in your life, but one which can be magnificent. Sincerely, Harry Bunker, PC Plod

Anyone interested in the first three chapters ?

Why don't you all form a sort of informal committee to vet all applicants ?. You have had much to say about the subject of who will be the next commissioner, so do something positive. I don't know if the forum bods would allow you to do it under the auspices of the forum, but if not, we can create our own website with contributors to pay a small amount towards the cost of establishing one. Lets say ten of the most vocal of the contributors form the committee, with everyone else taking part as well. If you ask your friends and neighbours, workmates, local vicars, shopkeepers, anyone with something to say, to show an interest, then we can very quickly draw up a list of positives and negatives. Then we can all have our say and import something with influence in who will really be the next police commissioner. Come on, good people of Sheffield and South Yorkshire, show you really mean what you say. Sincerely, PCPLOD178