There was nothing much on last weekend so Sue and I decided to take ourselves off to the Cotswolds (which, for my international readers, is probably the most English of all areas of the UK, full of quaint villages with strange names like Upper Slaughter, and plenty of wannabe aristos with Range Rovers and green wellies). We stayed in a small hotel where it wasn't even possible to get a cellphone signal, so for the first time in ages I was truly offline.
Now I wouldn't normally bore you with my holiday adventures, but on this occasion there really were echoes of Enid Blyton and The Famous Five. Sue and I were on a 6 mile walk around the outskirts of Blenheim Palace (you can see it in the background in the picture), when we encountered a tall African guy walking in the opposite direction. "Can you help?" he said, "I'm completely lost." He went on to confide that he and dozens of others had the previous night broken out of a detention centre for failed assylum seekers awaiting deportation, and was on the run. He was trying with his mobile phone to arrange a place where his wife could come and pick him up in the car (mobile phones, wives, cars - not how I envisaged assylum seekers, but what do I know?).
I may have told you before that I was brought up to a be a very 'good' little boy, so here was a moral dilemma - do I do the right thing according to the law and report this encounter to the police as soon as the guy is out of sight (you didn't expect me to wrestle him to the ground and pin him down while Sue dialled 999 did you?) or do I provide what help I could to a stranger who was clearly in distress. Strangely, neither of us even considered the former. Here was a nice bloke who had managed to obtain his freedom and wanted to be reunited with his wife. No contest. We showed him exactly where he was on the map and suggested where he might like to wait for his wife where he wouldn't be too conspicuous (there weren't too many Africans in this part of the world).
We discovered on the national news that evening that 26 had escaped and about 12 were still at large. The manhunt involved helicopters, dogs and large quantities of police. I do hope he got away.
So, did we do the right thing? I'll leave you to judge.
I feel very in-the-know having just seen my first "Famous Five" episode recently. I think you did the right thing and I hope you were able to procure lashings of ginger beer as a result.
ReplyDeleteYou definitely did the right thing, morally if not technically legally. I hope he and his wife were able to get away.
ReplyDeleteBTW, what are "green wellies"? Sorry, my UK references are mostly restricted to Doctor Who and Harry Potter; other than those, I'm just a clueless American.
I didn't know Enid Blyton and the Famous Five was available across the pond, Cammy. And so very English!
ReplyDeleteWell Christy, nice to be in contact - I've just subscribed to your blog. And 'wellies' are Wellington Boots, those horrible sweaty rubber things that people wear in the mud and the rain.
ReplyDelete*Blush* -- I've just realized that it's not Enid Blyton's Famous Five that I'm familiar with, but rather the parody thereof: Five Go Mad in Dorset.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Go_Mad_in_Dorset
I found it awfully funny and also very English!
A lot more entertaining than Enid Blyton - and a lot ruder - I can assure you Cammy.
ReplyDeleteClive
ReplyDeleteHaving seen the conditions and the total over crowding that has been the "norm" for many of these establishments and given that they are supposed to detain illegal immigrants in a humane environment. I am in total shock that the offical "escape" was even news worthy, it is just possible that the detainees are actually just trying to enjoy the country of their choice for a new life ?