Good to see that on the 50th anniversary of the Great Train Robbery, the TUC is on the case with their latest report.
Will the people responsible be caught this time?
You can read the whole TUC report by clicking here
Sad to report the death of John Daly. John was Bruce Reynolds’ brother-in-law and married to Barbara, sister of Angela Reynolds, or Frances as Ron knew her.
John was the only member of the Great Train Robbery gang to be acquitted at the trial. Ron, and all the gang, thought good luck to him, although luck did not always follow John in life, and most of his share of the train robbery money was stolen from him.
It was John who brought the famous Monopoly set to Leatherslade Farm, and it was John who drove Ron from the farm to the site of the robbery.
For the story of John, read Mike Sullivan’s feature in The Sun.
Form Odd Man Out: The Last Straw:
One mid-morning Roger (Cordery) and I heard the main prison gate opening. We went to the window of the dormitory and saw a police car drive in. Minutes later Johnny Daly, the man who wanted to plead guilty, came to the door, trembling and pale faced,
‘What’s the trouble, John?’ I asked, ‘are you ill?’
‘No, I’m not ill. I’ve been acquitted!’
‘Christ! You’ve been chucked? That’s fantastic!’ said Roger delightedly ‘How? Why?’
‘Reaburn (John’s counsel) made a submission to the effect that the Monopoly set could have been taken to the farm after I left my prints on it. The judge accepted that fact and acquitted me. I’ve just come back to pick up my belongings. I’m free! – but I can’t believe it!’
Too bad I wasn’t able to share the lucky Irishman’s good fortune. My fingerprints were also found on the Monopoly set but also a sauce bottle (I never thought they would ‘ketchup’ with me). It was the sauce bottle that tied me to the farm. A previous resident at Leatherslade Farm was the key witness and he swore that no such item had been left there.
Ronnie Biggs has asked his publisher, M Press, to lower the price of the digital version of his autobiography Odd Man Out: The Last Straw, which has been reduced on the Calm Productions web site from £14.99 to just £5.
The digital edition is available HERE.
Ron was responding to the requests he has received from fans around the world who have not been able to get hold of hard copies of his best selling autobiography, or did not have access to Kindle. The digital edition should be able to be read on iPads, most tablets and computers.
The publisher expects rising demand from Australia where Mrs Biggs is currently being broadcast on Channel 7. In the UK fans were keen to find out what really happened to Ron and Charmian, rather than the fiction portrayed in the TV series that was full of factual errors, even the day and date of the robbery.
Ron has also promised his fans a new updated Kindle and digital edition of his novel, Keep On Running, as well as a contribution for a new publication about the Great Train Robbery that will be published to tie in with the 50th anniversary of the robbery on 8 August. More news on this development soon.
The upcoming anniversary of the train robbery has sadly already seen the publication of a number of titles looking to cash in on the robbery that are full of factual errors, erroneous conclusions and simple bad journalism.
The funeral of Bruce Reynolds took place at St Bartholomew the Great, close to Smithfield Market, on 20 March. The service was presided over by the Reverend Dr Martin Dudley and the Reverend Dave Tomlinson. Over 250 guests attended the funeral.
Tributes and readings were given by:
The poet John Cooper Clarke read a special poem that he had written on hearing of the death of Bruce.
Alabama 3 performed Too Sick to Pray.
The Choir of St Bartholomew the Great, under the direction of Nigel Short, also performed pieces by Henry Purcell and Gabriel Fauré.
A reception for family and friends was held after the service at The King’s Head in Kingsland Road in Hoxton.
Funeral directors, Leverton & Sons, lead by Lori MacKellar, helped Nick Reynolds to organise the funeral and the day.
St Bartholomew the Great, funeral of Bruce Reynolds (Jules Annan)
Coverage of Bruce Reynolds’ death and funeral was truly global with coverage in one form or another in most of the world’s major publications. From New York to Berlin. Sydney to Rio de Janeiro, the interest in Bruce and the Great Train Robbery was there to be seen.
Alabama 3 performing at Bruce Reynolds funeral (Jules Annan)
One of the many highlights of Bruce Reynolds’ funeral was a moving acoustic performance by Alabama 3 of Too Sick to Pray. Bruce Reynolds son, Nick, who is a member of the band, performed with them, playing harmonica.
Several recordings of the song are available including on iTunes. The more acoustic version is the one on the album The Last Train to Mashville Vol 2.
The band is, of course, responsible for the theme to The Sopranos. That track is Woke Up This Morning.
There is also a short video clip of the performance at the funeral on You Tube.
Most of the media had extensive photo coverage of Bruce Reynolds’ funeral on their web sites. The most complete was probably the Mail (Mail Album 2), which had news of the funeral running ahead of news of the Budget on its web site.
The family’s private photographer on the day was Jules Annan who has kindly put a selection of photos up on his Facebook page.
Jules’ photos are also used in coverage of the funeral on the Crime Through Time web site.
Other good picture galleries include:
Ron would like to thank all the photographers and media who attended Bruce’s funeral for their patience, and for having to stand around in the cold. He appreciates they all have a job to do, and managed to do it without disrupting the funeral or the celebration of Bruce’s life.
The best and most accurate coverage of the funeral of Bruce Reynold’s was that published in the Guardian and written by Duncan Campbell who knew Bruce and had interviewed him on a number of occasions.
The fish stocks in Ronnie’s aquarium are no longer depleted with the arrival of a gang of 12 new members, a few of whom you may be able to spot in the photo as they settled in on their first day of relative freedom.
For those with an interest, Ron’s new fishy gang is made up of six Cherry Barb and six Neon Tetra. More to come.
The Funeral of Mr Bruce Reynolds will take place on Wednesday, 20th March, from 1.30pm at St Bartholomew the Great in West Smithfield, EC1A 9DS
The funeral will be attended by close friends and family and by invitation only.
Friends wishing to contact the family should email: newtwist@mail.com
Flowers may be sent to Leverton & Sons, 212 Eversholt Street, NW1 1BD by 11am on Wednesday, 20th March.
Donations may also be be made in memory of Bruce Reynolds by cheque to Amnesty International. Please write “Bruce Reynolds” on the reverse and post to Leverton & Sons, 212 Eversholt Street, London NW1 1BD. Or click here to donate online to Amnesty International