Growing Problem

Holy smoke! I see Her Majesty's Rozzers have raided yet more homes here in the Millionaires' Playground in their never-ending quest to halt the eccentric horticulture that seems to thrive in our lovely local micro-climate. The cops pounced on 300 cannabis plants being grown in three houses in Church Road yesterday.

That's the second big Ramsgate raid this year, on top of the closure of what was described as the UK's largest cannabis factory in an industrial unit on the outskirts of town in 2006. I dread to think what the judges at the Chelsea Flower Show would make of it all. One honking fat Camberwell carrot, one presumes.

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Golden Browne

The East Cliff's grimy back streets are remarkably clear of barkers' nests at the moment, and the crushed Carlsberg and Strongbow cans are easily circumnavigated, so I thought I'd vary my route for today's afternoon stroll. Blow me down if I didn't come across this:

A wall plaque commemorating John Collis Browne, inventor of one of the Victorian era's most famous patent medicines. It seems Mr Pfizer wasn't the only pharmaceuticalist to take a shine to this part of Kent! Upon closer inspection the plaque reveals that it commemorates the death of Collis Browne in the very house it's attached to at the, er, ripe old age of 65. So perhaps the stuff wasn't exactly the elixir of life.

Upon arriving back at my cliff top mansion, I took the liberty of looking the chap up on Wikipedia. Apparently his 'Chlorodyne' mixture sold in bucketloads. Not surprising, really, as it was mainly composed of opium, chloroform and cannabis.

I'm sure he'd be pleased to know that you can still buy at least two of those ingredients within yards of his plaque, albeit no longer from a chemist!

Nicked!

You go for weeks without seeing a bobby, and then six come along all at once!

Toddling down to the newsagents for my copy of Gra*ia just now, my glass eye nearly popped out of its socket as round the corner of Augusta Road marched half a dozen of our blue uniformed finest in stab vests. One was carrying a battering ram. My initial reaction was to rummage through the old grey matter in pursuit of any unpaid parking fines I may have neglected, but to my relief they brushed right past.

Naturally curiosity got the better of me, and I watched as they proceeded to make a forcible entry into one of those grimy residences on Truro Road. Much shouting and screaming from a top floor window, including the words: GET THAT OUT OF YOUR MOUTH NOW!, ensued.

One can only assume that they were on the trail of another of our talented local, er, horticulturalists. And they say nothing happens around here.

Nothing In The Air Tonight

Holy smoke! According to the BBC, a Ramsgate chap has been jailed for nearly five years for running what is thought to have been the largest cannabis factory in the UK.

If you recall, the rozzers raided an industrial unit on the outskirts of town almost exactly a year ago in an effort to stop the entire town going to pot.

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