I asked her if she had met Alan Turning. You will need to listen to her reply in my Audioboo interview (she is now 79) to find out her answer:

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I recognised similarities because while watching this because like the drama’s creator, Allan Cubitt, I also read the same book by Roy Wenzi about Radar’s chilling crimes which inspired him, and I couldn’t sleep at night afterwards, imagining the terror Radar’s victims felt as he bound and suffocated them in their homes.

I was the ghost writer for a book about the life of psychic Dennis McKenzie (pictured with me) called Being The Soham Psychic. It includes a chapter about Dennis’s visit to Wichita, Kansas with a documentary team to work on this case which was terrifying the neighbourhood and baffling police. Radar was the most ordinary guy next door, just like the murderer in The Fall, and he was still on the loose. Dennis visited the homes of his victims, and what he sensed and relived, including the killer’s feelings, makes gripping reading.  Dennis was able to give police a totally different psychological profile which was found to match Radar perfectly after he was caught.

I spoke to one of the detectives in Wichita who worked on the Radar case who was full of praise for Dennis and I hope you will find Dennis’ story gripping too. It includes many other gripping stories book about his extraordinary life.

Now why doesn’t Cubitt make a film about Dennis’ life, what it feels like to experience transfiguration, reincarnation and regression? There is no other like Dennis.

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Through Abcodia, CRUK and CRT will be able to access one of the world’s largest prospective collections of serum samples available for biomarker research. This collection is derived from the UK Collaborative trial for Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS) run at UCL and contains more than five million serum samples.

What makes this collection  so valuable is that the serum samples were taken from healthy people annually, and, in many cases up to 10 years prior to a cancer diagnosis. The collaboration will use these samples to select biomarkers which provide a clear indication of change in the early pre-diagnosis stages of disease.

Detecting cancer earlier will give doctors the best chance to treat cancer effectively, before the disease develops and spreads when it becomes more difficult to treat. Identifying patients at an early stage will also provide the scientific and pharmaceutical communities with the ability to select patients for the development of a new generation of anti-cancer medicines.

The strategic alliance will focus on biomarkers to detect cancers before patients develop symptoms, concentrating on cancers which currently have limited screening tests available, such as non-small cell lung cancer.
Dr Julie Barnes, Abcodia’s award winning CEO, (pictured) said: “We are delighted to be able to work with Cancer Research UK and CRT in this new global venture. The early diagnosis of cancer has never been more important and with the collective expertise that this alliance can bring, we aim to make a real difference in the field of early cancer detection and screening.”

 
Dr Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, added; “We know that for most types of cancer, the earlier we detect them, the greater the chance of being able to treat them effectively and successfully. In addition, treating earlier stage disease is usually associated with fewer side effects from treatment for our patients.

“The scope and scale of this alliance, aimed at developing new tests for a range of cancers at their earliest stage, before symptoms develop, is very exciting. The combination of expertise formed by this partnership provides a great opportunity to accelerate this vital biomarker research, which we hope will help save thousands of lives from cancer.”

There is naturally considerable interest in the outcomes of this collaboration which could make cancer a living disease, a chronic disease which can be managed and treated successfully thanks to its early diagnosis.

Watch this space!

*By 2020 half the UK population will have cancer in their lifetime.

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It certainly attracted considerable interest. They took a huge gamble too as many of the traditional visitors may not be familiar with tweeting, but those who were and had smartphones were stunned by its creativity and use of technology.

In this audioboo interview, Paul (with the orange specs) describes how his unique garden works.

“The garden is connected to Twitter. Each mention of the words RHS, Chelsea or garden sends a command to the panels to open or close. It also has its own Twitter account @DigCapabilities and you can tweet the word snap and get a pic sent back to you.”

The display has traditional planting in the front of the electronic panels and exotic tropical and sub-tropical plants behind which are revealed for all to see and also sent to you as a tweet pic when following the command. It really works too, the closed panels open up to reveal a secret garden when the words are tweeted. It was great fun!

The planting represents the world of the internet, moderated and revealed by our desire for knowledge and interaction. It highlights the contract between analogue and digital.

Full credit also to the architecture students at Lincoln who designed the interactive white box, based on the Harfleet brothers’ conceptual garden Pansy Project at RHS Hampton Court 2010.

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I was fascinated by this because I have not heard of changes to the root architecture before, and was pleased that Prof Wayne Powell, who I worked with at NIAB, could explain the multi-use of this new rye grass hybrid in this audioboo interview.

Over two years of field experiments in Devon the team demonstrated that the Festulolium hybrid  reduced water run-off from agricultural grassland by up to 51 per cent compared to a leading UK nationally-recommended perennial ryegrass variety and by 43 per cent compared to meadow fescue, its two parental species. The successful results were recently published by a collaboration of plant scientists from across the UK showing that a new grass hybrid developed by plant breeders at the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Biological Research (IBERS) at Aberystwyth University has the potential to alleviate flooding.
It is thought the reduced run-off is achieved because Festulolium’s intense initial root growth and subsequent rapid turn-over, especially at depth, generates  a more porous soil which allows more water capture.The hybrid grass also provides high quality forage with resilience to weather extremes, making the grass doubly useful to farmers.

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Angelina broke the news in The New York Times, it is an incredibly moving and courageous story and she selflessly hopes it will help other women faced with the same devastating decision.

I used to think I could never bear to have a breast removed, but then I realised that an even worse option was never being able to see my two sons continue to grow into happy and healthy adults, enjoying life with their lovely partners, and one day becoming a doting grandmother. I love babies! Saying that, I still don’t think I could be as brave as Angelina if I had to make this choice, though we don’t know the real heartache which I imagine she and Brad must be feeling too.

This is Angelina’s moving report

MY MOTHER fought cancer for almost a decade and died at 56. She held out long enough to meet the first of her grandchildren and to hold them in her arms. But my other children will never have the chance to know her and experience how loving and gracious she was.
We often speak of “Mommy’s mommy,” and I find myself trying to explain the illness that took her away from us. They have asked if the same could happen to me. I have always told them not to worry, but the truth is I carry a “faulty” gene, BRCA1, which sharply increases my risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer.
My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman.
Only a fraction of breast cancers result from an inherited gene mutation. Those with a defect in BRCA1 have a 65 percent risk of getting it, on average.
Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy. I started with the breasts, as my risk of breast cancer is higher than my risk of ovarian cancer, and the surgery is more complex.
On April 27, I finished the three months of medical procedures that the mastectomies involved. During that time I have been able to keep this private and to carry on with my work.
But I am writing about it now because I hope that other women can benefit from my experience. Cancer is still a word that strikes fear into people’s hearts, producing a deep sense of powerlessness. But today it is possible to find out through a blood test whether you are highly susceptible to breast and ovarian cancer, and then take action.
My own process began on Feb. 2 with a procedure known as a “nipple delay,” which rules out disease in the breast ducts behind the nipple and draws extra blood flow to the area. This causes some pain and a lot of bruising, but it increases the chance of saving the nipple.
Two weeks later I had the major surgery, where the breast tissue is removed and temporary fillers are put in place. The operation can take eight hours. You wake up with drain tubes and expanders in your breasts. It does feel like a scene out of a science-fiction film. But days after surgery you can be back to a normal life.
Nine weeks later, the final surgery is completed with the reconstruction of the breasts with an implant. There have been many advances in this procedure in the last few years, and the results can be beautiful.
I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy. But it is one I am very happy that I made. My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.
It is reassuring that they see nothing that makes them uncomfortable. They can see my small scars and that’s it. Everything else is just Mommy, the same as she always was. And they know that I love them and will do anything to be with them as long as I can. On a personal note, I do not feel any less of a woman. I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity.
I am fortunate to have a partner, Brad Pitt, who is so loving and supportive. So to anyone who has a wife or girlfriend going through this, know that you are a very important part of the transition. Brad was at the Pink Lotus Breast Center, where I was treated, for every minute of the surgeries. We managed to find moments to laugh together. We knew this was the right thing to do for our family and that it would bring us closer. And it has.
For any woman reading this, I hope it helps you to know you have options. I want to encourage every woman, especially if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, to seek out the information and medical experts who can help you through this aspect of your life, and to make your own informed choices.
I acknowledge that there are many wonderful holistic doctors working on alternatives to surgery. My own regimen will be posted in due course on the Web site of the Pink Lotus Breast Center. I hope that this will be helpful to other women.
Breast cancer alone kills some 458,000 people each year, according to the World Health Organization, mainly in low- and middle-income countries. It has got to be a priority to ensure that more women can access gene testing and lifesaving preventive treatment, whatever their means and background, wherever they live. The cost of testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2, at more than $3,000 in the United States, remains an obstacle for many women.
I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer. It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested, and that if they have a high risk they, too, will know that they have strong options.
Life comes with many challenges. The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of.

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In fact, these were two very distinguished poets who moved to Ely two years ago – Wendy Cope, who has been tipped as a suitable Poet Laureate, and her partner Lachlan Mackinnon.

This is the poem Wendy wrote and recited to mark the opening of this wonderful new venue in our beautiful cathedral city:

Since we settled in this little city,
So pleasant and friendly and pretty,
We have all that we need,
Except, we’ve agreed
For one thing – and that was a pity.

But now we’re no longer deprived
And we have rejoiced and high-rived,
An upmarket hotel,
Good location as well,
Poets House, We are glad you’ve arrived.

The hotel is beautiful and it’s a brave step opening up a luxurious hotel during an economic decline, but there is certainly nothing else like it in our city, and it would make a super wedding venue.

Living locally, I doubt I will get to try out the copper bath at the foot of some of the beds, but I shall certainly return to Poets House to chill out in their airy bar for drinks, and, hopefully, dinner too.

I might even bump into Wendy and Lachlan there and could ask them to compose a follow-up poem on their life in Ely.

I hope they have tomorrow’s Ely’s Eel Day in their diary, now that is worth a stanza or two…

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When you meet these two women who are passionate about saving lives from this devastating disease, the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Europe, they are likely to ask you these very personal questions too. But believe me, they only have your best interests at heart.

It is a great pleasure to be working with them to promote their 2nd Colorectal Cancer Patient Conference 2013 on 5-6 July in Barcelona. Thanks to generous sponsorship, registration is free and bursaries are available to pay towards hotel and flights, including the European Commission who is committed to meeting its health initiative to reduce cancer incidence in Europe by 15% by 2020. There is also an early bird offer for hotel bookings made by 31 May.

Entitled Your Life, Your Responsibility, the conference aims to empower patients to take responsibility for their own treatment pathways and to know their rights as patients. Speakers include Romanian MEP Petru Luhan, blessed with film star looks, who shares Jola and Julia’s passion to reduce colon cancer deaths. He is a fantastic advocate, and explains here why he supports EuropaColon.

“Approximately 150,000 EU citizens die from colorectal cancer every year, which makes it the second most lethal cancer in the EU, with figures projected to increase even further due to the ageing population and increasingly unhealthy lifestyles. But not only is colon cancer often beatable when detected and treated in its early stages, but it can be prevented altogether when polyps are removed before they develop into cancer. In short, this is a cancer we can do something about. The figures speak for themselves, it’s high time we do something about it. As for EuropaColon, it is one of the best collaboration I had so far with an NGO, very committed people with whom I achieved a lot of concrete results.

“As far as I know, from the analysis of the EUROCARE within Europe, 5-year survival rates for colon cancer are lower in the UK, Denmark, and Eastern European countries compared with the European average of about 50%. Lower survival in the UK is due to later stage at presentation and diagnosis rather than inferior treatment for a similar stage. My hope is that the situation in all EU Member States will improve.

“The conference provides a most welcome opportunity to keep the momentum on action at all levels to fight colorectal cancer. Together with my colleague Pavel Poc, we will try to put on the agenda of the plenary of the European Parliament the topic of colorectal cancer. The feed-back of the most important figures in the field would be most useful to us. The Parliament should have a leading role and the ideas of the patients’ organizations are most useful for us. I do hope to have fruitful discussions at the conference in Barcelona.”

Colorectal cancer is preventable in many cases and highly treatable if diagnosed early. Please read here to learn about the symptoms, and here is the link to register for free.

I hope to see you in Barcelona!

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I enjoy shopping, but I also love a bargain. So I am one of the 2,000 community members who signed up to YourEly to be updated about promotions and special offers right on my doorstep.

While working with Caroline Bailey to promote her innovative concept, that of having a single social media platform to promote local businesses among its community, for them to interact and engage with their customers, I was struck by the genuine love she feels for Ely, the reason she launched this initiative, taking out a bank loan to make it happen.

Our lovely MP Sir James Paice joined guests for today’s launch party and, and while admitting he has little knowledge himself about Twitter and Facebook, he recognises that they have a role to play for business today.

“It’s very easy to complain about what is happening to our high streets, but they have evolved, they have changed in my life time and they will go on changing. Clearly the advent of the internet and internet business is going to make them change and put them under considerable strain.

“Those businesses that have subscribed, and many more waiting to see how YourEly settles down before biting the bullet, I think they are recognizing that they have to change, and that has to be good.

“I can’t foresee what is going to happen to our high street in the next two or three decades, but it is quite clear to me that if the businesses in them don’t respond to these changes, then they will find life harder and harder.”

Caroline points out that YourEly is much more than a business listings directory.

“I carried out vast research within the community which showed that the majority did not want a discount or random business listing forum. They were uninspired by directories and business listings. They wanted a forum that would showcase the best of what Ely has to offer and the diversity of all of our unique businesses.

“The business listings that exist display businesses, but lack community following, thus making them ineffective. They lack this community following because the community wants a forum that is interactive. They want to know who runs their local business, to make that connection, to be told about what they business has to offer in a creative way.”

She praised founding businesses, the trailblazers for placing their trust in her before the website was even launched, including estate agent David Clark. He told the launch party:

“I bought in straight away thinking it was a really good idea. We are a local estate agent and firm believers that our business is about people, not about property.

“We see YourEly as a link to the community, people who may not necessarily be thinking anything about moving house or anything property related could well be looking at that and suddenly find us there and find a route to us that otherwise they  wouldn’t have done. We bought in because we think it will be a success.”

Let’s hope other Ely businesses share the same vision. And thank you also to visionary Coun Tom Kerby,  Chairman of East Cambridgeshire District Council Town Centres Working Party, who described YourEly as “a very exciting new concept” which could  be of considerable value as the city continues to expand.

He said: “I hope YourEly succeeds and all those involved with it.”

Hear, hear!!!

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Those close to her know only too well the devastation it can cause. If Baroness Thatcher has not left such a bequest, then perhaps her family would consider a donation to create either a research foundation in  her name (she was a scientist, after all) or to support existing research into Alzheimer’s disease. It was impossible not to be moved by watching her confused actions enacted brilliantly by Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady.

We all know that dementia is increasing. Government figures show that there are around 800,000 people with dementia in the UK, and the disease costs the economy £23 billion a year. By 2040, the number of people affected is expected to double – and the costs are likely to treble.

Carol Thatcher was the first to tell us how she noticed  in the year 2000 that her mother was struggling when Baroness Thatcher had to be reminded several times her husband, Sir Denis, had died.

The former Conservative prime minister was confused between Bosnia and the Falklands during a conversation about the war in the former Yugoslavia.

“I almost fell off my chair. Watching her struggle with her words and her memory, I couldn’t believe it,” she said in her memoir, A Swim-On Part in the Goldfish Bowl.

“She was in her 75th year but I had always thought of her as ageless, timeless and 100% cast-iron damage-proof.”

The contrast was all the more striking because she had always had a memory “like a website”, she wrote.

Some thought it was cruel of Carol Thatcher to tell us about her mother’s struggles. But we really need to know that dementia attacks those it choses, it is not merciful.

By bequeathing a generous donation for research into dementia, Baroness Thatcher’s legacy could be remembered for championing the cause of a disease which indiscriminately strips the dignity away of all those it strikes, rich and poor alike.

It could be a legacy that appeases some of her strongest critics.

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