A6 Rebooted

[moste]

New Book

This from Bobs Website.2016' The A6 murder was committed outside Bedford. Even though there was ample evidence that at the time Hanratty was in Rhyl, north Wales, he was executed. In the wake of the documentary, Bob published Hanratty – The Final Verdict (Macmillan). The case remains unresolved. A new edition of the book is being planned'
I have written to him for confirmation of above. Also to ask whether retired chief superintendent Roger Mathews could be a source for information .

[Graham]

Ref: my Post above, I should have said that Steve's photo seems to have been taken well to the left of Tony Mason's, and not to the right as I wrote.

Graham

[Spitfire]

This from Bobs Website.2016' The A6 murder was committed outside Bedford. Even though there was ample evidence that at the time Hanratty was in Rhyl, north Wales, he was executed. In the wake of the documentary, Bob published Hanratty – The Final Verdict (Macmillan). The case remains unresolved. A new edition of the book is being planned'
I have written to him for confirmation of above. Also to ask whether retired chief superintendent Roger Mathews could be a source for information .

I am sure that Bob will appreciate the 'heads-up' as to the direction which his next researches into the A6 Murder should take. However it might be the case that Bob has now accepted the rightfulness of Hanratty's conviction. Bob's website has a section headed "Wrongful Convictions in the UK" and the Hanratty conviction does not appear as a topic for discussion.

It is now nearly 16 years since the last judicial pronouncement of Hanratty's guilt, it is over 7 years since we were promised a further appeal and no application appears to be on foot to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. As Hanratty's conviction is not going to be overturned and as the majority of the population now accept that it was Hanratty wot dun it, Bob undoubtedly feels a further revision of his book would be pointless.

[Graham]

I am sure that Bob will appreciate the 'heads-up' as to the direction which his next researches into the A6 Murder should take. However it might be the case that Bob has now accepted the rightfulness of Hanratty's conviction. Bob's website has a section headed "Wrongful Convictions in the UK" and the Hanratty conviction does not appear as a topic for discussion.

It is now nearly 16 years since the last judicial pronouncement of Hanratty's guilt, it is over 7 years since we were promised a further appeal and no application appears to be on foot to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. As Hanratty's conviction is not going to be overturned and as the majority of the population now accept that it was Hanratty wot dun it, Bob undoubtedly feels a further revision of his book would be pointless.

I believe the note on Bob's website about 'a new edition being planned' has been on his website for some time now. Unless he (or someone else) comes up with important new information which throws a different light upon the A6 Case and Hanratty's guilt, then I can't see either a new appeal or a new book in the offing. And let's face it, the A6 Case doesn't have the same general appeal as it did even a few years ago, to judge from the number of posts on this Forum.

Bob is also perfectly entitled to change his mind about Hanratty's guilt, as I understand he has concerning another murder case that was in the public gaze somewhat more recently than the A6.

Graham

[Spitfire]

Ref: my Post above, I should have said that Steve's photo seems to have been taken well to the left of Tony Mason's, and not to the right as I wrote.

Graham

If you have Google maps and can access street view, then go to the junction at Marsh Lane and Court Lane. If one is coming from Court Lane the road bends sharply right. There is however a lane which goes straight on past the sign "Welcome to Eton College- Dorney Lake'. Take street view along this lane and after about 9 or 10 of the trees along, one can peer to the right and get the same view as the one shown on Steve's Photo.

One can see the Velux window near the chimney on the far house, this is only visible from this angle. The two houses which can be seen are Nos 1 and 3 Marsh Lane. The next house on the lane is an end terrace No 5 Marsh Lane.

I have seen an old Ordnance Survey Map from 1944 which shows a paddock or field to the left of Nos 1 and 3 (looking at them from Marsh Lane) and another paddock behind this one. The OS would indicate that the two paddocks or field were fenced, and if so it would not be possible to access the river without climbing the fences.

Whereas the field to the RIGHT of Nos 1 and 3 and to the LEFT of No 5 is large and unfenced and would seem (at least on the old OS map) to run down to the river. Valerie mentioned seeing someone put a bike away in a shed in one of the houses to the north, which would either be a house in the terrace of which No 5 forms part or one of the houses on Harcourt Lane.

It would seem that the entrance to the field was somewhere between No 3 and No 5 Marsh Lane.

[Graham]

It's the best part of 30 years since I visited Dorney, and I'm aware that in that period a lot has changed around that area, particularly with regard to an expansion of rowing facilities nearby. To get my bearings, I'd need to visit again, but as my mobility isn't what it was I'm not sure if this would be feasible. But you never know. In the meantime I'll have a look on Google as you suggest.

According to Foot, Mrs Climo, who lived nearby, said she was 'fed up' with the number of courting couples who used the field, to the extent that she got her husband to erect a gate across one of the entrances, and I always assumed this must have been the entrance closest to her house, which again I assumed was one of the cottages. I do recall a gate across one of the entrances when I visited, but I can't remember if that entrance was close to the cottages or further along down Marsh Lane.

Graham

[NickB]

It would seem that the entrance to the field was somewhere between No 3 and No 5 Marsh Lane.

In which case it was what is now the water company entrance, so Steve was wrong and Graham should collect his prize.

[cobalt]

Not that Gregsten and Valerie Storie could really be described as a ‘courting couple.’ In fact, I think they had actually lived together briefly at one point. As a general observation, women generally look for some kind of progress in an intimate relationship; fumbling around in the back seat of a Morris Minor is hardly evidence of that.

It was Alphon who first claimed a definite purpose for a gunman in a cornfield, namely to force the couple to split up. The chances of this being a successful tactic has been well aired on this site. Others have suggested the gunman’s motive was perhaps the opposite: to confront the hesitant Mr. Gregsten with the reality of their relationship and tell him to leave the marital home and stop messing his wife about. To which I might add a third; that by drinking together in inns and visiting cornfields of an evening they were humiliating Mrs. Gregsten, so were being warned in no uncertain terms to be more discreet in their activities.

The Gregsten/Valerie Storie relationship seems to have been widely known about by work colleagues and also presumably by fellow members of their motoring club. Has any writer spoken to such people to discover what, apart from the obvious sense of shock and horror, their initial reaction to the crime was?

[Spitfire]

Here's a link to the Ordnance Survey map published in 1946.

Dorney Map

[NickB]

Has any writer spoken to such people to discover what, apart from the obvious sense of shock and horror, their initial reaction to the crime was?

In ‘Today’ magazine, June 1962, Valerie reported on a mixed reaction.

“Friends from the lab have visited me all the time; kept me up to date with what is going on; and even invited me out on a works car rally.”

But she also received anonymous obscene letters: “I was a wicked woman. I had got what I deserved. I had wrecked a good man’s life. They even wrote these things to my parents.”

‘Today’ writer Gill Preece went with Valerie to the cornfield entrance. So the two photos by the gate that appear in ‘Today’ are the only ones that definitely show the entrance to the cornfield. I have posted them here: http://forum.casebook.org/showthread...99&#post304699

There is also a photo on the Telegraph obituary (a wider version is on the Fred Dinenage documentary) which may show the cornfield entrance to the right of Valerie’s shoulder.

[Graham]

‘Today’ writer Gill Preece went with Valerie to the cornfield entrance. So the two photos by the gate that appear in ‘Today’ are the only ones that definitely show the entrance to the cornfield. I have posted them here:

I would guess that's the gate I saw when I visited in (around) 1992 or 93, and I wonder if it's the very gate that Mrs Climo got her husband to install? I suppose it must be.

Graham

[Graham]

In which case it was what is now the water company entrance, so Steve was wrong and Graham should collect his prize.

Thank you, I'll have a double.

Graham

[moste]

I was attempting to save a google earth photo taken from above the M4 link motorway,J7, to indicate( just out of interest) how close the housing estate that Storie lived on, was to the 's' bend on Huntercombe lane s. when just like magic an old ordnance survey map popped up of Marsh Lane. On which, and over to the far right we have the edge of the Cippenham housing estate, and the country footpath which leads directly to the said Huntercombe lane. Pre motorway days,
Interestingly the footpath is still extant, now though we have a footbridge over the link road. Whether the bridge was built to accommodate people from the country lanes who may need pedestrian access to the Cippenham infants school, or perhaps access for the folks in the built up area to get across to the country lanes and the river Thames, or maybe both, in any case, I thought it worthy of mention that Valeries home would be only 10 or twelve minutes walk to the 'S' bend. I reckon that 'S' bend may have been a regular drop off point for Valerie, so that mike wouldn't need to be driving through her estate,
Which brings me to the subject of Valeries statements re acceptance by her Mum and Dad of her affair. Could it be that the parents were totally crushed by the news that their only daughter had taken up with a 36 year old married man with two children, could it be, nay likely that it was the office manager at the Road Research Labs that called the Storie parents, in a last gasp attempt to pull these two apart, and that was when someone was 'tattling'. I don't think Valerie makes it clear when the parents found out all about Mike, but it may have been relatively recent.
I know there is lots we'll never know for sure. But just looking at the small amount of footage we do have of Mr. John Storie, he doesn't look the type to say' Oh this chap you've been seeing all this time? Married with two little boys is he? we must have him over for tea on Sunday, and have a chat about it all !

[moste]

I would guess that's the gate I saw when I visited in (around) 1992 or 93, and I wonder if it's the very gate that Mrs Climo got her husband to install? I suppose it must be.

Graham

Mr Climo,s responce to a request from his wife to ‘go and please put a gate on the entrance to that field,I’m sick to death of the traffic in and out all the time’
Would almost certainly have been ‘ don’t be silly, you can’t go installing gates on farmers fields Willy Nilly ( unless maybe if he was the farmers son in law)
Incidentally If that is the same gate from 30 years before , someone has been giving it a couple of coats of preserver every 3 or 4 years.

[NickB]

That bend, where Court Lane and Marsh Lane meet, is called Climo’s Corner – because a blacksmith called Climo had his forge nearby. I presume the gate-installing Mr Climo was a descendant, perhaps living on the same plot of land.