Hunt on for ‘Flying Dutchman’
The hunt was on at last week’s Lambert Smith Hampton Ski Challenge to unveil the identity of a man known only as The Flying Dutchman. The chap in question – not Dutch, but read on – suitably inebriated at 5am, found himself locked out of his hotel in the middle of a snowstorm. With no one answering their phones, he almost gave up hope before spying a tiny open window halfway up the building. After shimmying up a drainpipe, he reached an aperture so small that he had no choice but to remove his bulky ski gear and launch himself semi-clothed, arms first – Superman-style – into the darkness. He promptly landed on top of a sleeping Dutch couple, waking them with a start. A round of somewhat dazed and confused fisticuffs ensued. But the icing on the cake was that our drunken chum politely requested time out from the fight so he could nip to the loo in the couple’s en suite. Well, he didn’t want to add insult to injury. Watch a video of the ski challenge at www.estatesgazette.com/videos
Doing a runner
More from the slopes, and a priceless confession from Sean Brew. LSH’s national head of property and asset management revealed he had lied to enter the London Marathon back in 1997 – with amusing (for us) consequences. He not only claimed to have run one before (he hadn’t) he gave his time as a staggering two hours 30 minutes to secure his place. On race day Brew found himself siphoned off to a different starting point – the one reserved for elite international participants. “It was basically me, along with two or three other blokes who had clearly also lied on the form, and 400 professional marathon runners and athletes,” he grimaced. “At least it pushed me to the limit. I ran six-minute miles for the first stretch just to save face.”
Bluebook’s not in the X-Files
Could central London agent Bluebook soon be getting some unusual post? The agent has been notified by some of its rivals that the files from “Project Blue Book” regarding information on UFO sightings have recently been published via some 100,000 pages on the internet. To avoid confusion, Bluebook directors Chris Watkin and Joe Fuller insist their company took its name from the tome from which London cabbies learn “The Knowledge”, rather than anything extraterrestrial.
From verse to worse
Developing a £750m mixed-use scheme around the amazingly preserved remains of the Curtain Theatre – thought to be the stage on which Romeo and Juliet was first performed – comes with all sorts of challenges. But one the developers had perhaps not anticipated was the additional security costs required to ward off the swathes of Shakespeare fanatics hell-bent on breaking into the site in the dead of night in order to recite reams of the playwright’s legendary verse. Music may be the food of love (see below) but impromptu recitals are clearly far less appreciated.
Harmonious outcome
Knight Frank’s head of central London, Stephen Clifton, had an interesting confession about the latest tricks being used by agents to shift problematic trophy assets. The company was advising on the sale of a major London building, under offer and subject only to a chairman’s inspection before it could exchange. The chairman of the investor buying the building had been warned the basement was problematic, raising concerns that the deal would fall through. Inspection day came and all was going well as Clifton and the chairman got in the lift to descend to the basement… Rather than being greeted by a horror show when the doors opened, they revealed the tenant’s male-voice choir in full-throated rehearsal. The lift doors closed as they stood open-mouthed, but the chairman blessed the deal.
Quailing with delight
As February finally rolls in after a long, and for some, dry January, the carb-fuelled canapés and parties have come back in full swing. Quadrant Estates celebrated its 18th anniversary in style with a party in the bowling room of the Ham Yard Hotel in Soho, W1. The real star of the show wasn’t the bowling alley or karaoke singers, but the deep-fried quail’s eggs, taking the standard picnic snack to a new level of delicious sophistication.
One party goer was rumoured to have requested an extra stash of the morsels – and was presented with an entire bowl for their personal consumption. And it turns out that the humble original has at least one practical use. Separately, Diary hears of an agent who admits to using Scotch eggs to survive lengthy drinking sessions – the formula of one egg to five pints of beer means you can keep standing.
