Friday 24th July
The front page of the local regional daily, Sud Ouest carries a large photo of Neil Andrew Ludlam being escorted by a Gendarme in Perigueux, the Prefecture (county town) of the Dordogne. He has been named as the main suspect of the murder of his fellow British compatriot, Peter Fuller whose body was found at the latter’s house at Plaisance near Issigeac on June 27th.
The picture caption reads: “Le meurtrier presume mis en examen” the presumed murderer put under investigation.
Ludlam, aged 30, is reported to have come before a judge in Perigeux yesterday and is being held in detention while the case is being further investigated. Ludlam had been staying with Peter Fuller and fled his house shortly after his death. He drove to Bordeaux airport in one of Fuller’s cars, boarded a plane for England but was intercepted by the British police at Luton airport. After being held in detention Westminster Magistrates, according to Sud Ouest, have given “the green light” for his extradition to France.
Fuller had been found by his ex-wife in a pool of blood having been hit over the head several times with what the French police described as a “blunt instrument”. A retired oil industry executive, Peter Fuller had recently built an 18 hole golf course here in the Dordogne and the so called blunt instrument could have been a golf club or rather a five or seven iron!
There have been rumours that Ludlam had been working for Fuller and that there had been a violent row fuelled by alcohol. The police are trying to find clues to what the Sud Ouest describes as “certaines zones d’ombre”. Not least of these is the fact that Andrew Ludlam was found with a large sum of cash on his person when he was arrested at Luton airport.
Friday, 24 July 2009
The Bamboo Garden
July 11th
One of the hottest days of the summer and we were looking for a good spot to swim in the River Dordogne, east of Bergerac. We found a place near Le Buisson de Cadouin just upstream from where the smaller River Vezere joins the Dordogne. The water here was shallow and fast flowing and we struggled against the current and flowing reeds to reach a place to swim.
Bertie our Border terrier, had to be held to prevent him being swept downstream. There were two fishermen in waders who appeared quite unperturbed by our presence and Bertie’s furious paddling.
Having cooled down we decided to head for home and it was then that we stumbled on Planbuisson just up the road from our swimming place and on the junction of the D710 and the D29.
We noticed the “bamboo jardin” sign near a railway crossing, down a narrow lane leading to a small hamlet. We saw some bamboo plants on the side of the road and thought that this was some sort of a Perpinier. It was only when we parked the car and investigated further that we realised we had stumbled on an oasis of bamboo that turned out to be the largest collection of bamboo plants in Europe. Two hundred and seventy varieties of bamboo were on show in a garden covering three acres (1.5 hectares.)
A maze of paths, lined with walnut shells, lead us through dense thickets of sturdy, mature bamboo of all shapes, sizes and colours. Thick green, light and dark brown shoots spiralled high into a dense forest of green leaves. Each twist and turn lead to a new discovery – small clearings with fountains cascading through a series of intricate bamboo watercourses, bridges constructed of bamboo and peaceful spots to sit and admire the foliage and listen to hanging bamboo chimes.
Planbuisson was founded by Michel Bonfils who has dedicated twenty years of his life to creating this extraordinary Bamboo paradise. He told us he uses no pesticides or insecticides and that his healthy crop of bamboo needed little watering but constant attention. He and his only gardener tend this fabulous plantation round the clock. Michel told me he had never been to China - one of several sources for his bamboo plants - because he was unable to leave his garden for any more than three days at a time.
One of the hottest days of the summer and we were looking for a good spot to swim in the River Dordogne, east of Bergerac. We found a place near Le Buisson de Cadouin just upstream from where the smaller River Vezere joins the Dordogne. The water here was shallow and fast flowing and we struggled against the current and flowing reeds to reach a place to swim.
Bertie our Border terrier, had to be held to prevent him being swept downstream. There were two fishermen in waders who appeared quite unperturbed by our presence and Bertie’s furious paddling.
Having cooled down we decided to head for home and it was then that we stumbled on Planbuisson just up the road from our swimming place and on the junction of the D710 and the D29.
We noticed the “bamboo jardin” sign near a railway crossing, down a narrow lane leading to a small hamlet. We saw some bamboo plants on the side of the road and thought that this was some sort of a Perpinier. It was only when we parked the car and investigated further that we realised we had stumbled on an oasis of bamboo that turned out to be the largest collection of bamboo plants in Europe. Two hundred and seventy varieties of bamboo were on show in a garden covering three acres (1.5 hectares.)
A maze of paths, lined with walnut shells, lead us through dense thickets of sturdy, mature bamboo of all shapes, sizes and colours. Thick green, light and dark brown shoots spiralled high into a dense forest of green leaves. Each twist and turn lead to a new discovery – small clearings with fountains cascading through a series of intricate bamboo watercourses, bridges constructed of bamboo and peaceful spots to sit and admire the foliage and listen to hanging bamboo chimes.
Planbuisson was founded by Michel Bonfils who has dedicated twenty years of his life to creating this extraordinary Bamboo paradise. He told us he uses no pesticides or insecticides and that his healthy crop of bamboo needed little watering but constant attention. He and his only gardener tend this fabulous plantation round the clock. Michel told me he had never been to China - one of several sources for his bamboo plants - because he was unable to leave his garden for any more than three days at a time.
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
EYMET
Thursday May 14th
EYMET
There are two hundred thousand British passport holders registered living in France.
A big slice of these live in the Dordogne. In the old market town of Eymet, south-west
of Bergerac there are nearly 2000 Brits living there.
The town even has its own cricket team, a shop selling everything from baked beans to Darjeeling breakfast tea, an English bookshop and seven estate agents; all of whose staff speak English. We are told that there’s a Farrow and Ball paint shop in Eymet. We set off in trepidation. How many of our fellow ex-pats are we going to bump into in this little corner of England? We find the Farrow and Ball shop in the Rue de Veau and it’s owned by a charming English lady called Michelle who has lived in France for twenty years.
We call in at a bar called La Gambetta in the town’s Square. It’s 6.30 pm. They are already serving fish and chips and we see several English couples tucking in. We talk to a friendly French barman who trained at The Alverston Hotel in Stratford-on-Avon. The owner of the bar is an Englishman called Rupert. He is smartly dressed, charming and urbane. It turns out he speaks fluent French, has lived in Aquitaine for years and is married to a French girl. Very soon the place is packed out with English beer drinkers.
We decide to try the Italian Pizza restaurant on the other side of the square. This is a pleasant surprise. Smart, fresh and modern, the place has a cosmopolitan atmosphere and is packed with English and French alike. We could have been in a trendy London trattoria.
We are given a table in a quiet corner of the restaurant. The two couples on the next table are happy to put up with our border terrier, Bertie who is tugging at their shoes – one of his favourite tricks. It turns out that one couple; David and Diana Wormwell live close to us when not at their house in the hills above Malaga. The other two at their table are their friends who live in Eymet itself. The lady, a French Canadian, met her French husband in Montreal and persuaded him to come back to France and live in the Dordogne.
After dinner we took Bertie for a walk along the banks of a pretty river called Le Dropt which runs though the centre of Eymet. It was sad to notice that many of the fallen trees upended by the January storms were still floating in the river.
EYMET
There are two hundred thousand British passport holders registered living in France.
A big slice of these live in the Dordogne. In the old market town of Eymet, south-west
of Bergerac there are nearly 2000 Brits living there.
The town even has its own cricket team, a shop selling everything from baked beans to Darjeeling breakfast tea, an English bookshop and seven estate agents; all of whose staff speak English. We are told that there’s a Farrow and Ball paint shop in Eymet. We set off in trepidation. How many of our fellow ex-pats are we going to bump into in this little corner of England? We find the Farrow and Ball shop in the Rue de Veau and it’s owned by a charming English lady called Michelle who has lived in France for twenty years.
We call in at a bar called La Gambetta in the town’s Square. It’s 6.30 pm. They are already serving fish and chips and we see several English couples tucking in. We talk to a friendly French barman who trained at The Alverston Hotel in Stratford-on-Avon. The owner of the bar is an Englishman called Rupert. He is smartly dressed, charming and urbane. It turns out he speaks fluent French, has lived in Aquitaine for years and is married to a French girl. Very soon the place is packed out with English beer drinkers.
We decide to try the Italian Pizza restaurant on the other side of the square. This is a pleasant surprise. Smart, fresh and modern, the place has a cosmopolitan atmosphere and is packed with English and French alike. We could have been in a trendy London trattoria.
We are given a table in a quiet corner of the restaurant. The two couples on the next table are happy to put up with our border terrier, Bertie who is tugging at their shoes – one of his favourite tricks. It turns out that one couple; David and Diana Wormwell live close to us when not at their house in the hills above Malaga. The other two at their table are their friends who live in Eymet itself. The lady, a French Canadian, met her French husband in Montreal and persuaded him to come back to France and live in the Dordogne.
After dinner we took Bertie for a walk along the banks of a pretty river called Le Dropt which runs though the centre of Eymet. It was sad to notice that many of the fallen trees upended by the January storms were still floating in the river.
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Wedding benediction
Good news.
Our parish priest has agreed today to give us a marriage benediction on September 12th 2009. This will be at the church at Monsaguel near Issigeac at 10am. More details will be posted nearer the date.
Our parish priest has agreed today to give us a marriage benediction on September 12th 2009. This will be at the church at Monsaguel near Issigeac at 10am. More details will be posted nearer the date.
Monday, 6 July 2009
Follow my diary
Readers please note:
Letter from the Dodogne is comprised of selected diary entries written during the last six months. They are not in chronilogical order.
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Letter from the Dodogne is comprised of selected diary entries written during the last six months. They are not in chronilogical order.
Please add your comments and become a follower.
Sang de la Terre
Friday May 1st
To Anne Howard for lunch at Masquieres on the edge of the Cahors wine country. The English called Cahors the black wine because of its tannin content making it taste sharp and strong. Anne lives in a house on the Earl of Leicester’s estate at Holkham Hall in Suffolk but likes to spend at least four months of the year at this charming house in the Lot et Garonne.
It’s May Day and a holiday in France. There are flower markets in every bastide market town we pass through - Issigeac, Villereal, Monflanquin and finally Tournan d‘Agenais where we bought lavender and climbing roses for the new house.
One of Anne’s guests is Nick Ryman the former owner of Chateau Jaubertie just up the road from our new house in the Bergerac wine growing region. I sat next to Nick at lunch so was able to get acquainted with this doyen of Bergerac wines. An Old Etonian, Nick said that before he left school his ambition had always been to own a vineyard in France. When his father sold the Ryman chain of stationery shops he toured the French wine areas in his Bentley. The Bouche de Rhone was too hot, Touraine not far enough south, he was not “over enamoured” by Bordeaux so he bought Chateau Jaubertie in the Bergerac wine region.
Bergerac wine, he told me, was not well known outside the region and nobody in England had heard of it. He told me he had improved both the quality and the image of the wine. Nevertheless he said he lost the best part of £1m in the venture so he sold the chateau to his son’s French father in law. After the price was agreed the buyer tried to short change him by 50000 euros. Nick was having none of it and walked out refusing to sell. The buyer relented and coughed up but Nick, who is retired, hasn’t spoken to his in laws since.
A few days after meeting Nick Ryman I read in the local newspaper about another foreign wine grower who had suffered a sadder fate. The Sud Ouest in its May 6th edition carried a report on its front page about a young American called Robert Adler whose vineyard had gone into liquidation.
A former banker, Adler resigned from his job and left America with his wife and children to live in the Dordogne and realize his life’s ambition to grow high quality wine. In 2002 he bought Le Chateau Bellevue at Thenac near Bordeaux. He came to live permanently there with his wife to realise his dream of working on the land to produce what the Sud Ouest called “sang de la terre” the blood of the soil.
Sadly the dream came to an end in 2006 with the loss of a valuable harvest due to bad weather, staff problems and a dip in wine prices. Two years later his wine business went into liquidation and he was ordered to grub up his precious vines.
In an effort to recoup some of his losses Robert Adler advertised his wine at 20 centimes a bottle – “less than a bouchee du pain”. The liquidator judiciaire, Pascal Pimouget deemed this to be an insufficient price. Instead the liquidator stated that if a buyer for the American’s wine couldn’t be found by September then it would be sold at auction.
To Anne Howard for lunch at Masquieres on the edge of the Cahors wine country. The English called Cahors the black wine because of its tannin content making it taste sharp and strong. Anne lives in a house on the Earl of Leicester’s estate at Holkham Hall in Suffolk but likes to spend at least four months of the year at this charming house in the Lot et Garonne.
It’s May Day and a holiday in France. There are flower markets in every bastide market town we pass through - Issigeac, Villereal, Monflanquin and finally Tournan d‘Agenais where we bought lavender and climbing roses for the new house.
One of Anne’s guests is Nick Ryman the former owner of Chateau Jaubertie just up the road from our new house in the Bergerac wine growing region. I sat next to Nick at lunch so was able to get acquainted with this doyen of Bergerac wines. An Old Etonian, Nick said that before he left school his ambition had always been to own a vineyard in France. When his father sold the Ryman chain of stationery shops he toured the French wine areas in his Bentley. The Bouche de Rhone was too hot, Touraine not far enough south, he was not “over enamoured” by Bordeaux so he bought Chateau Jaubertie in the Bergerac wine region.
Bergerac wine, he told me, was not well known outside the region and nobody in England had heard of it. He told me he had improved both the quality and the image of the wine. Nevertheless he said he lost the best part of £1m in the venture so he sold the chateau to his son’s French father in law. After the price was agreed the buyer tried to short change him by 50000 euros. Nick was having none of it and walked out refusing to sell. The buyer relented and coughed up but Nick, who is retired, hasn’t spoken to his in laws since.
A few days after meeting Nick Ryman I read in the local newspaper about another foreign wine grower who had suffered a sadder fate. The Sud Ouest in its May 6th edition carried a report on its front page about a young American called Robert Adler whose vineyard had gone into liquidation.
A former banker, Adler resigned from his job and left America with his wife and children to live in the Dordogne and realize his life’s ambition to grow high quality wine. In 2002 he bought Le Chateau Bellevue at Thenac near Bordeaux. He came to live permanently there with his wife to realise his dream of working on the land to produce what the Sud Ouest called “sang de la terre” the blood of the soil.
Sadly the dream came to an end in 2006 with the loss of a valuable harvest due to bad weather, staff problems and a dip in wine prices. Two years later his wine business went into liquidation and he was ordered to grub up his precious vines.
In an effort to recoup some of his losses Robert Adler advertised his wine at 20 centimes a bottle – “less than a bouchee du pain”. The liquidator judiciaire, Pascal Pimouget deemed this to be an insufficient price. Instead the liquidator stated that if a buyer for the American’s wine couldn’t be found by September then it would be sold at auction.
Thursday, 2 July 2009
Wedding date
Our wedding date scheduled for Saturday September 5th at the Mairie, 24560 St Perdoux in the Dordogne is being put on hold.
An update on this forthcoming event will been given a.s.a.p.
A reception party is still being planned in September,
An update on this forthcoming event will been given a.s.a.p.
A reception party is still being planned in September,
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Suspected murderer named
Thursday July 2nd
Peter Fuller's suspected murderer named.
The suspected assailant of the retired English entrepreneur, Peter Fuller was named yesterday in the local daily newspaper, Sud Ouest. He is Neil Andrew Ludlam aged 30. He could be sent back to France on the recommendation of English magistrates under “un mandate d’arret European”.
The body of Fuller was found by his ex-wife last Sunday morning at what was described as a “scene d’horreur”. He had been hit several times over the head with a blunt instrument.
According to French police Fuller was found face down in a sea of blood - “une mare de sang”. There was evidence of a fierce fight. Furniture was turned upside down in the living room, the kitchen and in the dining room near the bar where empty bottles of alcohol and glasses were found. There were traces of blood on the walls and on the furniture.
Ludlam, who had been staying with Fuller, is reported to have fled the scene in one of Fuller’s cars. He was arrested by the British police at Luton airport when the aircraft he boarded in Bordeaux landed. He is reported to have had a large sum of cash on him.
One of the other unsolved mysteries is reported to be the theft of two cars stolen from Wheeler’s house. One was a red AX Citroen found crashed 12 kilometres from the scene of the crime. The other was a Mercedes coupe which has not yet been traced. The police have not been able to confirm whether this was the car Ludlam used to drive to Bordeaux airport.
It is also not known whether anyone else was involved in Peter Fuller's murder.
However The Sud Ouest reported that this affair had created a degree of turmoil - “emoi” - in the British community living in the Dordogne.
Peter Fuller's suspected murderer named.
The suspected assailant of the retired English entrepreneur, Peter Fuller was named yesterday in the local daily newspaper, Sud Ouest. He is Neil Andrew Ludlam aged 30. He could be sent back to France on the recommendation of English magistrates under “un mandate d’arret European”.
The body of Fuller was found by his ex-wife last Sunday morning at what was described as a “scene d’horreur”. He had been hit several times over the head with a blunt instrument.
According to French police Fuller was found face down in a sea of blood - “une mare de sang”. There was evidence of a fierce fight. Furniture was turned upside down in the living room, the kitchen and in the dining room near the bar where empty bottles of alcohol and glasses were found. There were traces of blood on the walls and on the furniture.
Ludlam, who had been staying with Fuller, is reported to have fled the scene in one of Fuller’s cars. He was arrested by the British police at Luton airport when the aircraft he boarded in Bordeaux landed. He is reported to have had a large sum of cash on him.
One of the other unsolved mysteries is reported to be the theft of two cars stolen from Wheeler’s house. One was a red AX Citroen found crashed 12 kilometres from the scene of the crime. The other was a Mercedes coupe which has not yet been traced. The police have not been able to confirm whether this was the car Ludlam used to drive to Bordeaux airport.
It is also not known whether anyone else was involved in Peter Fuller's murder.
However The Sud Ouest reported that this affair had created a degree of turmoil - “emoi” - in the British community living in the Dordogne.
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