Latest news with #WalthamAbbey
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Pupils set to use old train carriage as classroom
Students will be welcomed aboard a new classroom that used to be a train carriage in a former life. The decommissioned carriage was moved to a playground at Upshire Primary Foundation School in Waltham Abbey, Essex, and was being renovated. Pupils were given a sneak peek at the revamp of the first-class section ahead of its official opening at the end of July. Head teacher Ross Jones, 44, said it was originally going to be turned into a library but was instead transformed into a classroom that could also be used as a community hub around lessons. The train carriage was donated to the school just before the pandemic and has undergone extensive renovation. Some chairs were ripped out to make it an open learning space, and a kitchen and toilet were also added. Mr Jones said pupils were accustomed to learning outside, and he hoped to also turn the carriage into a quiet area for students during breaks. He said students and staff are "absolutely desperate to get on there" and added: "It's taken quite a long time and a lot of dedicated hard work. "It just looks amazing. One of the things for me was that it needs to still look like a train." A student from the school, Amy said: "It's really nice to have somewhere to learn in because it's a nice open space. George said: "I feel very thankful to the people who did this. "I really like this train, and I think it was a good choice to get it. Olly said: "I think it is really good because it is really different to our normal classrooms." The headteacher said he would not be able to give the exact amount the work cost, but he said the figure was around tens of thousands of pounds. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Train carriage classroom marks 300th anniversary Train carriage converted into new school library 'Run-down' train carriage becomes classroom
BBC News
28-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Essex pupils to learn in a former train carriage
Students will be welcomed aboard a new classroom that used to be a train carriage in a former decommissioned carriage was moved to a playground at Upshire Primary Foundation School in Waltham Abbey, Essex, and was being were given a sneak peek at the revamp of the first-class section ahead of its official opening at the end of teacher Ross Jones, 44, said it was originally going to be turned into a library but was instead transformed into a classroom that could also be used as a community hub around lessons. The train carriage was donated to the school just before the pandemic and has undergone extensive chairs were ripped out to make it an open learning space, and a kitchen and toilet were also Jones said pupils were accustomed to learning outside, and he hoped to also turn the carriage into a quiet area for students during said students and staff are "absolutely desperate to get on there" and added: "It's taken quite a long time and a lot of dedicated hard work."It just looks amazing. One of the things for me was that it needs to still look like a train." A student from the school, Amy said: "It's really nice to have somewhere to learn in because it's a nice open said: "I feel very thankful to the people who did this. "I really like this train, and I think it was a good choice to get said: "I think it is really good because it is really different to our normal classrooms."The headteacher said he would not be able to give the exact amount the work cost, but he said the figure was around tens of thousands of pounds. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Times
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Far-right music promoter put on racist gigs where his children performed
A far-right music promoter has been found guilty of encouraging terrorism by distributing extremist rock music and putting on racist gigs in which his children performed, in a unique case that put the far-right music scene on trial. Robert Talland, 56, and his children Stephen, 36, and Rosie, 34, were found guilty of stirring up racial hatred through the lyrics in their songs. Talland was also found guilty of encouraging terrorism. The children's involvement in the scene went back to their twenties, when Rosie would regularly pose alongside Nazi-inspired emblems at alcohol-fuelled gigs in which her brother sang and played guitar. Talland, known as 'Ginger Rob', ran a record label called Rampage Productions from his home in Waltham Abbey, Essex, distributing music by mail order to customers across the UK and Europe. His children played in a band called Embers of an Empire and were accused of stirring up racial hatred through their performances at concerts and an album called Phoenix Rising. The band attempted to encourage a new generation to join the far-right music scene amid concerns that their audience was ageing in the UK, it was revealed in court. CCTV footage of one gig at the Corpus Christi Catholic Club in Halton Moor, Leeds, on September 21, 2019, showed children in the crowd and on their parents' shoulders as the audience performed Nazi salutes in front of a line-up of bands singing racist lyrics. Talland was a proud skinhead who had run security at 'white power' concerts in the 1980s before taking over the running of Blood and Honour, a group previously linked to the banned far-right terrorist group Combat 18. Talland organised the largest event in the Blood and Honour calendar, an annual concert in memory of Ian Stuart Donaldson, the lead singer of Skrewdriver, which was attended by up to 800 people. Talland, who appeared in court with a hearing aid, had complained to a Special Branch police officer there were no young members in the 'movement' and said most of the group were aged between 45 and 55. He said members at the next gig would be staying in a local bed and breakfast and the Premier Inn opposite the site, as 'the members are getting older and camping out is not as comfortable as it used to be.' Roise Talland was said to act as a personal assistant to her father, managing stock, replying to emails, organising gigs abroad and managing their website. In one message exchange she discussed whether she hated Muslims or Jews more, saying London was 'disgusting' and 'like Africa'. She messaged a contact on September 29 2016 saying her father was keen to start a 'youth division' and she had been 'nominated to organise' it, suggesting the name Young Blood. On October 18, 2017, Alex, a member of the band, messaged the others saying: 'I think there's a lot of people placing a lot of hope in to us to keep the scene alive.' WhatsApp messages showed them searching for a name. Options included Hateful Youth, White Society and Auschwitz Holiday Camp. They eventually settled on Embers of an Empire. The band's lyrics included: 'I hate you and I hate your face, I hate your kind you're a damn disgrace, I hate you cos I love my own. Forced to hate yeah forced to be violent, gotta be heard, won't sit and be silent.' Lucy Organ KC, for the prosecution, said the Blood and Honour movement was 'explicitly organised around music' aimed at inciting racial hatred and encouraging a race war. Its gigs acted as 'ideological spaces' for recruitment and radicalisation for the neo-Nazi cause, she told Woolwich crown court. Lyrics were often sung and memorised by activists and the Blood and Honour network acted as a 'key propaganda mechanism for indoctrinating other young people to its beliefs', Organ said. They promoted 'violence and hatred' against Jewish people, Muslims, black people, homosexuals, immigrants and communists, along with anyone they accused of 'racial mixing'. 'They are racists. They are neo-Nazis who believe in violence in support of their grotesque cause,' Organ added. Stephen and Rosie Talland were said to have played a 'significant role' in the organisation and were 'imbued by their father with all his hatred, all his attitude to violence and all of his beliefs'. When police raided Talland's home, they found a room used as an office that had shelves stacked with boxes of hundreds of CDs, lyric inserts and album sleeves. On his phone was a video promoting the Ku Klux Klan and another celebrating Adolf Hitler, called 'The Impartial Truth'. Rosie Talland had items of Nazi memorabilia in her bedroom and her phone had a picture of a cake with a swastika on it and 'Blood and Honour' iced on the side, which she had sent to her father. Stephen Talland's phone had a copy of the livestream video taken by Brenton Tarrant when he killed 51 people in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019. Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, the head of Counter-Terrorism Policing North East, said: 'Robert, Stephen and Rosie Talland were part of a network of hatred which had encouraged violence and extreme right-wing terrorism across Europe for decades. 'Robert Talland dismissed the group as an 'old man's drinking club' but through the gigs and events they organised, they promoted music [that] glorified acts of murder to audiences [that] included young children. In doing so, they encouraged attitudes of hatred, intolerance and violence which have no place in our society.'
The Sun
25-06-2025
- The Sun
Six McDonald's workers ‘sprayed with noxious chemical' during ‘robbery' before gang flee in front of horrified diners
SIX McDonald's workers were 'sprayed with a noxious' chemical in a shock attack in front of horrified diners yesterday. Essex Police have now launched an investigation and looking into whether the attack was an attempted robbery. 2 2 Emergency services were called to the fast food chain in Waltham Abbey following reports of a disturbance. Four suspects are believed to have entered the building at 5.30pm before squirting a substance at the victims as diners looked on in shock. Initially, those hit thought it was water, but immediately called the emergency services after their skin and eyes began stinging. Six people received medical attention and were taken to hospital, but none of the injuries received are thought to be serious. The suspects, described as white men, fled the scene at the Highbridge Industrial Estate in Waltham Abbey, Essex after the incident. Detectives and local officers are now carrying out extensive enquiries. Chief Inspector Terry Fisher, Epping Forest and Brentwood District Commander for Essex Police, said: 'We know this incident will have been very concerning to customers and staff last night. 'We want to reassure you that we are carrying out a thorough investigation so we can establish what happened and the circumstances which led up to it. 'We are exploring all options including whether this was an attempted robbery. 'Luckily no-one was seriously injured, but this type of violent behaviour will not be tolerated in Essex. 'We will be carrying out tests to understand exactly what type of liquid was used in this incident and I would appeal to anyone who witnessed the incident, has video footage or any other information to contact us immediately.' An East of England Ambulance Service spokesperson added: 'Three ambulances, three hazardous area response team vehicles, a paramedic car and a rapid response vehicle were sent to Highbridge Street Waltham Abbey after reports of restaurant staff being assaulted with a chemical substance at 5.35pm yesterday. 'Six patients were conveyed to hospital with three being transported to Princess Alexandra Hospital and three to North Middlesex Hospital.'
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Yahoo
Six in hospital after McDonald's 'chemical assault'
An investigation has been launched after a chemical substance was sprayed at staff in a fast-food restaurant. Ambulances and police were called to the McDonald's on Highbridge Retail Park in Waltham Abbey, Essex at about 17:30 BST on Tuesday. Six people were taken to hospital but Essex Police said that "no-one was seriously injured". Ch Insp Terry Fisher said: "We are exploring all options, including whether this was an attempted robbery." Police said four suspects entered the restaurant just after 17.30 and squirted a substance at a number of people before they fled the scene. The victims thought the liquid was water, but their eyes and skin started stinging and they called emergency services. An East of England Ambulance Service spokesman said "three ambulances, three hazardous area response team vehicles, a paramedic car and a rapid response vehicle were sent to Highbridge Street after reports of restaurant staff being assaulted with a chemical substance". He added that the three patients were taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow and three to the North Middlesex University Hospital in Edmonton, north London. Ch Insp Fisher said: "We want to reassure you that we are carrying out a thorough investigation so we can establish what happened and the circumstances which led up to it. "Luckily no-one was seriously injured, but this type of violent behaviour will not be tolerated in Essex." The suspects are described as white males. Essex Police has urged anyone with more information to come forward and help with inquiries. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
