Don't you just love stubborn old buggers!

You may not always agree with them, you may not take their causes to heart but there is always a tiny wave of the metaphorical flag for the old timers who, when faced with the intransigent face of 'Laura Norder' say 'bollocks!' and do exactly what they think is right.

We've had two examples of this today, the first and comparitively minor one being 70 year old Brian Hollingworth from Huddersfield who has styled himself 'The Yellow Pimpernel.' Faced with never ending potholes appearing in his road, and tired of calling his local council only to receive the response 'Its all due to be done in the next financial year', Mr Hollingworth armed himself with a pot of luminous yellow paint and, in the dead of night, crept out and painted huge circles of garish yellow around every pot hole in his area.

The local council was hopping mad and accused Mr Hollingworth of 'irresponsible graffiti' and that 'his actions had no influence on the programme of works undertaken by the council'. But guess what, all the holes have been repaired!


The case which has attracted more national attention is that of Mrs. Patricia Tabram, aged 69, who has been found guilty today of growing her own cannabis plants with 'intent to supply'. This elderly lady is not a supplier of dope to the masses but a chef who has long suffered from a rheumatic condition which was considerably eased by the medicinal use of cannabis which she ground down into a herbal mix or chopped up and put in cake. So effective was it that she supplied her cuisine to all the grateful pensioners in her area.



She was arrested in 2005 after proudly advertising her produce on TV, and given a 6 month suspended jail sentence. The current conviction comes following a breach of the conditions of her original sentence when police, acting on a tip off, raided her home and found cannabis plants growing in the wardrobe.

Mrs. Tabram is totally unrepentant and told the police they might as well take the cannabis based cooking powder while they were at it. She maintains that the law is an ass and that some legislation should be enacted to allow the use of cannabis for conditions such as arthritis and rheumatism.

The courts and the law of course have no choice but to enforce the current law as it stands.

Like I said, you may think some of these old timers go about making a protest in the wrong way but somehow you have to admire their grit and determination in the face of great opposition. Maybe being a stubborn old bugger is what keeps 'em alive!