Green Living Tips with Mike Scantlebury #CrimeFiction #MysteryThriller

If you want ‘Green Tips’, you’ve certainly come to the right place.

Hi, I’m Mike Scantlebury and I live in North West England and write Crime Fiction, with a hint of Mystery and Thriller, (and a touch of Clean Romance). How does that make me Green? Well, every week I’m part of a trio that puts out a radio show locally called ‘Green Giraffes and Worms’. The ‘giraffes’ are easily explained, as we like to stretch up and get an ‘overview’. We like to look all around and find out what is going on, both in our neck of the woods and all around the world. We share good advice, and yes, ‘tips and tricks’. That makes the show ‘Green’, and since our favourite tip is to get some worms, (and look after them well), that makes it The Green Giraffes and Worms show.

Last week we started with a discussion about Recycling. Like many cities, Salford where we live has taken action on recycling. The system they’ve started is to give us three bins. The first, (which is brown), is for plastics, metal and glass, mainly bottles and cans. The problem is that many residents have no idea about what that includes. Lucky for us, we went on a trip around the Recycling Plant last summer, organised by our local church. We saw the giant machine that sorts the incoming waste. Plastic bottles go one way, glass bottles the other. Cans are taken out too, and all that stuff is recyclable. The Waste Authority can send it to private companies - and get paid. The problem is - people haven’t read the leaflet they’ve been given, and mess up the machine! For instance, yoghurt pots look like they’re made of plastic, (they are!), but the machine can’t separate them, and no commercial company can recycle them - yet. The leaflet says, quite clearly, don’t put them in the brown bin. Also, metal cans are useful - but not any other scrap metal. When a ‘helpful’ Salford resident put his old bike in the brown bin, it just jammed the machine and cost money to repair. Thanks a lot, mate!

So, helpfully, the radio station has been given a short ad to play, all about ‘Choose the right bin’. It played at the start of our show, and we talked about it. Yes, we decided, we heard some useful tips. Recycling is great, but only if the stuff you throw away gets to the right recycling partner. For us, the brown bin is one choice, but we’ve also got a blue bin - and that’s for paper and card. All newspapers, letters, envelopes and cardboard boxes are welcome - and can be successfully recycled - but when people add clothes, or shoes, or Charity Shop-type bric-a-brac, it’s just as bad at jamming the recycling machinery, and even means that a whole batch of paper may have to be junked. That’s a real waste! Funnily enough, the men who load the bins into the lorry outside your door here in Salford often steal a look inside, and if they see inappropriate rubbish, they will put the bin back on the pavement. So, it’s not even worth risking it. You can’t get shot of the wrong stuff in the right bin.

The answer? We have a black bin too. It’s for ‘General Waste’, and that means ‘everything else’. In doubt? Put it in the black bin. It might seem a shame to do that - it’s not ‘recycling’, is it? - but all the towns of Greater Manchester send their black bin contents down to a site in Runcorn, near the River Mersey. Down there, far from houses, they have a huge incinerator, and it burns whatever it gets. Two points. Incinerators aren’t popular - especially if you have to live near one. There’s a fear of fumes - which is why the plant is far from habitation - and the owners are compelled to install filters to prevent any dangerous gases getting through. But second, the heat and flames aren’t wasted. The incinerator includes a steam generator, which makes electricity, and that goes back into the local supply. And there’s another bonus - because the buildings are on the marsh flats, but have to be connected to the electricity grid, the Authority has encouraged another group to come in and put up wind turbines, dozens of them. There’s plenty of space, and all the wires you need. What could be better? Also, the marshes are windy. Very windy. It’s all good.

The rest of the programme was devoted to trees and forests. That other discussion was again spurred on by recent contributions. There’s a campaign in Greater Manchester called ‘Forest Gardens’, which is a very simple idea - don’t limit your garden to ground planting and shrubs. Put some trees in there as well, especially if they’re orchard trees like apples, pears, cherries or quince. We had part of a recording from a recent internet blog from the group, and the speaker pointed out that if you have a wood out in the country, with a meadow beyond, the most productive area for plants is going to be the margin, the space in between the two settings. That’s where the compost from both the trees and the grasses will mix, and the water supply is likely to be best. It might seem outlandish to think that you could duplicate that environment in a small space, but that was what he was saying. Think ‘three dimensionally’, he said. Think Ground Cover and root crops, then bushes and climbers, then trees. Include them all!

If you haven’t got a lot of space, then grow high but grow small, he said. In other words, put a tree in a pot. It will benefit your garden or Back Yard, and then, if it gets too big to handle, pass it on. We like that idea - millions of people raising trees from seeds and shoots, and then, when the saplings are established, finding homes for them in larger, open areas. It’s like every family could start their own Nursery. Great idea. And why? The speaker reminded us of the huge things to be gained from trees. Anybody who has walked in a wood will know the feeling of peace and calm that comes over you. With the birds and wildlife, the dappled sunshine, and the small animals running around, it’s a marvellous place to relax. And if you can find a stream, even better, with the gentle sound of running water.

It made us quite lyrical, and luckily we had recordings of local poets Amanda Clayson and Peter Street. Peter, in particular, has had a lifelong love of Nature, and has written a whole book of verse devoted to all the flowers of the gardens and the countryside. He has an amazing grasp of the history and influence of these blooms, and it was great to talk to him. We had him on an internet link and he told us about a new book he has out now - his life story. It’s a thrilling read, and full of compelling anecdotes.

So, in conclusion, I don’t want to advertise, but I can tell you that our broadcast show is on Salford City Radio at 94.4fm on the dial, every Wednesday morning at 11am British Summer Time. That might seem hard to find, but it’s streamed live on www.SalfordCityRadio.org, and yes, we have listeners all over the world. For anyone else, we’re making a real effort to edit the live shows into podcasts and put them up on the internet. So, the easiest thing to do is to go to Sound Cloud and type into the Query box the words ‘Green Giraffes and Worms’ and that will take you to a Play List of a recent selection of our old shows. Meanwhile, we’re moving on. This week, we’re celebrating Earth Day, and we’ve got information on green electricity suppliers and ways to re-use and re-purpose old clothes. It’s a full hour, packed with info, (Oh, and there’s music, but that’s mainly me and my missus, singing our songs as The Jane and Mike Band. Green songs). Next week, we’ll be looking at saving water. We haven’t had rain for weeks in this area, but our house has water butts front and rear, that took rain water off the roof from earlier and are giving us a regular supply to water our seedlings at this delicate planting time. Spring is the season for getting things started in the garden, and the little chappies need water. Our next project is to recycle bath water and save that in the tubs too - but that needs extra plumbing! Watch this space.

Co-Vid 2020

Amelia Hartliss Mysteries

Book Twenty One

Mike Scantlebury

Genre:  Crime Fiction mystery thriller
Publisher: Draft2Digital.com
Date of Publication:  27th August 2020
ISBN:  9781393529453
ASIN:  B08SVPGY8K
Number of pages:  88
Word Count:   26588
Cover Artist:  Mike Ather

Tagline:  “It’s the biggest buried treasure in North West England. Who wants it?”

Book Description:  

Melia is facing yet another change of boss. Somehow the government doesn't seem happy unless they're shaking up British Security Services and making the agents uncomfortable and insecure. Captain Gibson isn't around. Some say he has been sent for 're-education'. Meanwhile, a jumped-up little idiot from London has been sent up north to Salford to show the natives how to do stuff. So far, according to all reports, he has been a miserable failure.

Meanwhile, an older woman from Melia's past, Jan Branch, re-appears after many years away. Jan's mother has died and she is there to clear her old house and tidy up loose ends.

Unfortunately, she is not the same person she was when she left town. Where she lives now, in the East Indies, they call her the 'Gun-running Granny', for that is her new profession. She hadn't planned on staying long back in England, but two things delay her departure. One, there is an Arms Fair in the city and she sees an opportunity to do some deals and make some money. Second, she hears that a successful property developer, Jimmy Batter, has amassed a fortune which he intends to divide amongst his ungrateful family. Unluckily for them, the 'Treasure' is hidden, and although various relatives are falling over themselves to find the money, Jan thinks she has a much better chance than most. After all, she used to be a film-maker, and captured Old Jim on video, back in the day. Those films, made by the group known as 'Co-operative Videographers', maybe provide all the clues necessary to unearth the fortune.

Melia might care, but she has other things to do. After the trauma of the last few months, a holiday in Spain led to a liaison with a young man who wants to save an unfairly imprisoned journalist. Melia is eager to help, and for one reason only - she is in love. She doesn't want anyone to know, but John Lewis has stolen her heart. She would do anything for him, and before long, we find out exactly what that is.

Amazon

Excerpt

Jan Branch stared at this greasy little man. Him? Him? Surely he wasn't capable of murder! Bim Turkay?

"Me," Bim said, just so there was no misunderstanding. "I was offered the job, and I took it. I was handed a pre-prepared file, photos and everything. I am now an assassin. It fits in well. I’m here in Manchester for the Arms Fair, so it’s like killing two birds with one stone."

Jan Branch was dumbfounded. She liked Melia. She couldn't imagine anyone would want her dead. And yet this little weasel had promised to do it –

Then Bim Turkay said something even stranger, confounding her completely.

He said: "I'm sure you're good for ten grand, Jan. You want to chip in to the pot? I'm sure you hate Ms Hartliss as much as the rest of them."

Why? Jan demanded. What on earth would make you think that?

"Well, she did kill your husband."

Jan blanched. That was never proved! she wanted to say.

Of course, she knew nothing for certain. She'd packed her bags and left the country before it happened. She heard - from old neighbours, keeping in touch - that Mark had been accused of murdering someone at the Irwell Arts Centre, down on Salford Quays, opposite the BBC complex. There had been several unexplained deaths, she was told, and Melia had been around at the time, looking into some other mystery.

Completely coincidentally, she had been with him that dark night, up on the roof of the Arts Centre, when he went over the edge and plunged to his death. But, so what - what happened? Was Bim saying he might have been pushed? By Melia?
That sounded completely unbelievable!

Bim went on: "Well, I can't speak for you, of course, but I've been assured that his first wife hates Melia too. Oh, and her God-daughter. They don't have the money to join the Consortium and pay for this job, but they've been told about the plan, and offered their approval, apparently."

Jan couldn't think what to say.

His first wife? She never discussed that bitch!

As for 'hating' Melia - No, she might resent her a little. Melia had been a bit standoffish, over the years. They weren't really 'close friends', but -
Bim had only one more thing to say.

"Look, Jan, I've been honest with you. So, tell me, now you know what my contract is asking me to do, you want to stop me? Do you want to pay me to NOT do it?"
Jan Branch was floundering.

She supposed that if she'd known about this little 'plan' earlier, she might have had a chance to develop some sort of point of view about it, maybe some opinion. But, having it all sprung on her like this - she wasn't really sure what she thought.
The only thing she was certain about was that this latest news only made her despise Bim Turkay more than before.

No, she wouldn't be contributing to the consortium’s fund, purely because of that. She didn't like the man, and wanted distance from him.
But he couldn't let it alone.

"After all," he said, "we both know we've done similar things in the recent past."

She gasped. He was going to bring that up?

He was untrustworthy!

Sure, the Arms business was no ice-cream stall. There had been plenty of threats, rivalries and outright promises of retribution. Sometimes Jan Branch had been forced to act before someone acted against her. But she hadn't killed anyone!

Not directly. Not with her own hands.

"When are you planning - " she started.

"Oh, not immediately," Bim assured her. "I have another 'Mission'. Something personal. A private little obsession of my own to take care of."
Jan noticed, for the first time, that he was holding a plastic carrier bag, down by his side. He lifted it now, and let her peek inside.

It was half-full of hand grenades.

"I need to get down to Irlam," he said. "Time is wasting, and I need to get started."

Jan Branch nodded, no longer surprised by anything the man said.

Except - that would make it 'three birds', she was thinking.

About the Author:

What can you say about Mike Scantlebury -that isn't taught in schools already

Well, he says he was born in absentia (the small town on the Bay of Biscay), beside the dock of the bay, but moved to England when  young, and not yet able to navigate astutely. His family settled in the West Country of England, near a cross cultural crossroads called Temple Cheney, where his father became a map maker and mushroom farmer.

When the borders were changed in the 1980s, and old maps became outdated and invalid, Mike packed a service record and moved to an apartment in the nearby city of Bristol. This is where he first got involved in folking, flaking and faking. Later, he became disenchanted and moved to the other extreme, the North West of England, where he encountered education.

One of the books he read was by Raymond Chandler. It started him off in an exploration of Private Eye fiction, (which he doesn’t do), Police Procedural and cosy mysteries, (which he can’t write), and romances set in exotic parts of the world like Los Angeles. When Mike met the lost angels of Manchester he decide to set his novels around that area, using their stories as a bedrock. His action adventures have never strayed far from the North West of England, but then, what happens there today, happens elsewhere tomorrow, as they have always said.

Website:  http://www.Salford.me

Twitter:  https://Twitter.com/MikeScantlebury

Facebook:  https://www.Facebook.com/mikescantlebury99/

Blog:  http://www.mikescantlebury.blogspot.com/

GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5404567.Mike_Scantlebury

YouTube:

 https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UChNCqTPL_K8u7wGBTGNw-0A/playlists

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