Opium Poppies Grown at WHF?

[Myster]

As I said before Holly....JB may not have been lying, I also mentioned in a post  it isn't illegal to grow opium poppies.


I've found the following in Roger Wilkes book 'Blood Relations'.... Chapter 3 page 51

'Nevill Bamber was a shrewd and adventurous farmer. Anticipating a decline in the market for traditional cereals because of over- production, he was the first in the Blackwater area to see the potential of experimental crops such as borage,evening primrose, fenugreek and even opium poppies for use in alternative medicine preparations. This innovative streak was the subject of much approving comment. George Nichollls, a surveyor from Witham who carried out the annual valuation of the farm and it's contents for tax purposes, thought it augured well for the future. He described Nevill as 'a happy and considerate gentleman'.  When he visited the farm in June 1985 to discuss a rent review, Nevill told him how pleased he was with the way Jeremy was shaping up as a farmer. Indeed, when - a month after the murders - Nicholls visited the White House to make his annual valuation and stock take, he found the farm generally to be in good heart'.

JB also states - page 53 Blood Relations - Farming is very much a feel. It's experience with each field, and luck with the weather. I was happy to be Dad's understudy. It worked really well. We both had progressive ideas about diversifying our crop portfolio.

Sounds like all was above board with the opium poppies, and with all concerned.  Hope this helps.

There you have it then, no mystery about growing poppies covertly. It sounds as if Wilkes got his info from a reliable source.

Hardback: pages 38-39.

[Holly Goodhead]

I won't be writing to him Holly - I thought you wrote to him? The wallet is relevant because it is likely that he searched the house for ready cash - it was the first thing he looked for when re-entering WHF and was so annoyed that it was missing, he called the police and accused them of stealing it. The poppies are relevant because?

I have written to JB in the past but not recently.  I've never asked him much about his case as I don't believe he can help my understanding.  I just wondered if you could write to him as I believe you said you asked him lots of case related questions.  Maybe I will ask David as I understand he has had some contact with JB regarding his 'forensic breakthrough'.       

JB wasn't interviewed about the wallet or poppies.  They didn't form part of the prosecution or defence at trial and haven't been the subject of a CCRC application or CoA hearing.  You believe the wallet is relevant and I believe the poppies are potentially relevant. 

[Holly Goodhead]

As I said before Holly....JB may not have been lying, I also mentioned in a post  it isn't illegal to grow opium poppies.


I've found the following in Roger Wilkes book 'Blood Relations'.... Chapter 3 page 51

'Nevill Bamber was a shrewd and adventurous farmer. Anticipating a decline in the market for traditional cereals because of over- production, he was the first in the Blackwater area to see the potential of experimental crops such as borage,evening primrose, fenugreek and even opium poppies for use in alternative medicine preparations. This innovative streak was the subject of much approving comment. George Nichollls, a surveyor from Witham who carried out the annual valuation of the farm and it's contents for tax purposes, thought it augured well for the future. He described Nevill as 'a happy and considerate gentleman'.  When he visited the farm in June 1985 to discuss a rent review, Nevill told him how pleased he was with the way Jeremy was shaping up as a farmer. Indeed, when - a month after the murders - Nicholls visited the White House to make his annual valuation and stock take, he found the farm generally to be in good heart'.

JB also states - page 53 Blood Relations - Farming is very much a feel. It's experience with each field, and luck with the weather. I was happy to be Dad's understudy. It worked really well. We both had progressive ideas about diversifying our crop portfolio.

Sounds like all was above board with the opium poppies, and with all concerned.  Hope this helps.

Thanks Opal. 

But the above still doesn't account for JB's claim of a 'special licence' which the UK gov first issued to pharmaceutical companies in the noughties.   &%+((£

[Holly Goodhead]

There you have it then, no mystery about growing poppies covertly. It sounds as if Wilkes got his info from a reliable source.

Hardback: pages 38-39.

I think it would be difficult to grow the opium poppies covertly on a commercial scale.  I'm not sure of Wilkes source was it Dr Craig and Chief Sup Harris or George Nicholls?  Regardless it still doesn't account for JB's claims of a 'special licence' to grow them for the pharmaceutical industry, which we know the gov didn't issue until the early noughties. 

[Myster]

I think it would be difficult to grow the opium poppies covertly on a commercial scale.  I'm not sure of Wilkes source was it Dr Craig and Chief Sup Harris or George Nicholls?  Regardless it still doesn't account for JB's claims of a 'special licence' to grow them for the pharmaceutical industry, which we know the gov didn't issue until the early noughties.

I reckon it was George Nicholls. As their surveyor he probably made inventories of crops the farm produced.

And governments don't always reveal everything to the public, which maybe the reason why there's nothing online about licences granted in the '80s.

[Opal]

Opal, I'm always slightly cautious about from where/whom authors get some of their information -although I can vouch for the description of Nevill's personality because this is what friends of his have told me.

I'm really not convinced that Jeremy was natural farmer material given the amount of time he spent away from it when he could have been working on it. Nevill MAY have been pleased with how Jeremy "was shaping up" but relative to/compared with what, exactly? It may well be that a month after the massacre the farm was found "generally to be in good heart" but Jeremy wasn't at it's helm.

April, I don't think JB put as much into the farm as NB tells the surveyor either. I wonder if Nevill was saying this so that the farm could have been taken over by JB should the occasion arise at some point. After all this is what both June and Nevill had wanted all along. I've read about Tenant Farmers see below, and it appears that in 1976  under the Miscellaneous Provisions Act,  security was extended to spouses and relatives of tenants for two successions....provided they had been earning the majority of their income from the holding for five years.

With this in mind I guess NB was just putting in a good word for JB. Not that he deserved it by any means!


The landmark 1948 Act was enacted at a time when war-time food rationing was still in force and sought to encourage long-term investment by tenants by granting them lifetime security of tenure. Under the Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 security was extended to spouses and relatives of tenants for two successions, providing that they had been earning the majority of their income from the holding for five years. Succession rights were however withdrawn for new tenancies in 1984[9] and this was consolidated in the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986. These two statutes also laid down rules for the determination of rents by the arbitration process.[7][10]

[Holly Goodhead]

I reckon it was George Nicholls. As their surveyor he probably made inventories of crops the farm produced.

And governments don't always reveal everything to the public, which maybe the reason why there's nothing online about licences granted in the '80s.

Well I was satisfied the claim about opium poppies growing at WHF was correct.  The fact George Nicholls, surveyor, might also have included in his paperwork doesn't doesn't really further anything?

George Nicholls:

http://www.kemsley.com/contact-us/chelmsford/

I posted this letter from the Home Office in an earlier post.  It looks authentic.  As you will see it is a request for info under FOI:

"Thank you for your email of 15 September 2011 in which you ask for information regarding the number of acres of UK farmland the Home Office has licensed for opium poppy production since 2001 and the number of acres the Home Office intends to license in the coming 5 years.  Your request has been handled as a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The Home Office does not maintain the information you have requested. The activity of cultivating opium poppies (papaver somniferum) for medicinal use or any other use is not a licensable activity as prescribed in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971".

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/85941/response/218225/attach/3/CR20001%20Response.pdf

[Holly Goodhead]

Bio for the surveyor, George Nicholls, who assessed WHF shortly before the tragedy:

http://www.kemsley.com/contact-us/chelmsford/

Kemsley opened its Chelmsford office in 1985, although GN might have worked elsewhere then.  The current office doesn't seem to have much of a presence with the local farming community. 

[Myster]

Bio for the surveyor, George Nicholls, who assessed WHF shortly before the tragedy:

http://www.kemsley.com/contact-us/chelmsford/

Kemsley opened its Chelmsford office in 1985, although GN might have worked elsewhere then.  The current office doesn't seem to have much of a presence with the local farming community.

GN might have been involved in setting up the Chelmsford branch from start, considering that he's now MD there.

How do you know that?

Agriculture

Agriculture Advice on rent reviews (Agricultural Holdings Act and Farm Business Tenancies) as well as other issues during or at the end of a tenancy. Valuation of rural properties, including farms with and without dwellings/buildings, glasshouses, horticultural premises, nurseries, garden centres and fishing lakes. We act in negotiations for purchasers and vendors of rural land.

http://www.kemsley.com/professional-services/

[Holly Goodhead]

GN might have been involved in setting up the Chelmsford branch from start, considering that he's now MD there.

How do you know that?

Agriculture

Agriculture Advice on rent reviews (Agricultural Holdings Act and Farm Business Tenancies) as well as other issues during or at the end of a tenancy. Valuation of rural properties, including farms with and without dwellings/buildings, glasshouses, horticultural premises, nurseries, garden centres and fishing lakes. We act in negotiations for purchasers and vendors of rural land.

http://www.kemsley.com/professional-services/

Yes that thought crossed my mind that GN might have been involved in the start up.

I was just comparing Kemsley's services with a Bedford based firm, Robinson & Hall, that I had a lot of dealings with over many years.

http://www.robinsonandhall.co.uk/rural-property-business

In any event 31 years ago if a farmer said to a surveyor or the like he/she had a licence to grow opium poppies for the pharmaceutical industry I think this would be taken at face value.  Today someone curious might get back to the office, do a bit of research online and ?

[Caroline]

I have written to JB in the past but not recently.  I've never asked him much about his case as I don't believe he can help my understanding.  I just wondered if you could write to him as I believe you said you asked him lots of case related questions.  Maybe I will ask David as I understand he has had some contact with JB regarding his 'forensic breakthrough'.       

JB wasn't interviewed about the wallet or poppies.  They didn't form part of the prosecution or defence at trial and haven't been the subject of a CCRC application or CoA hearing. You believe the wallet is relevant and I believe the poppies are potentially relevant.

I believe that Jeremy's reluctance to answer the question I asked him - is relevant. When he did 'eventually' provide an answer, it was evasive and contradictory.

Plus, Jeremy being interested in the contents of the wallet, goes with the notion that he killed for gain, I'm not sure how the poppies would fit into any scenario?

[Myster]

Yup... it's a load of poppycock.

[Holly Goodhead]

I believe that Jeremy's reluctance to answer the question I asked him - is relevant. When he did 'eventually' provide an answer, it was evasive and contradictory.

Plus, Jeremy being interested in the contents of the wallet, goes with the notion that he killed for gain, I'm not sure how the poppies would fit into any scenario?

Do you think this might have something to do with the fact that you were asking him nearly 3 decades after the event?  Also, whether he's guilty or innocent, what impact has his long incarceration had on his mental state?

I can think of entirely innocent and plausible explanations for the wallet as I can for the opium poppies.  I can also think of plausible explanations for the wallet and opium poppies which support the prosecution and defence. 

[rotti]

Do you think this might have something to do with the fact that you were asking him nearly 3 decades after the event?  Also, whether he's guilty or innocent, what impact has his long incarceration had on his mental state?

I can think of entirely innocent and plausible explanations for the wallet as I can for the opium poppies.  I can also think of plausible explanations for the wallet and opium poppies which support the prosecution and defence.

still at least he still has a mental state.5 others are stone dead and will never get the chance

[Caroline]

Do you think this might have something to do with the fact that you were asking him nearly 3 decades after the event?  Also, whether he's guilty or innocent, what impact has his long incarceration had on his mental state?

I can think of entirely innocent and plausible explanations for the wallet as I can for the opium poppies.  I can also think of plausible explanations for the wallet and opium poppies which support the prosecution and defence.

No, I don't - when you ask someone a question and they can't remember, they say so. Not that they remember what the answer is (evasively) but not the question, which was in the letter I had just written him. He used stalling tactics. There were several other questions that I asked in the same letter and he answered those with no problem. The event was the single most important event of his life - not something you're going to forget.

What are you 'plausible' explanation?