Deerstalker thief gets Barnsley cop

Interesting to read in the Yorkshire Post this morning about Alison Lee who tried to rob shops in Barnsley dressed as a man and got away with it for seven years. Nothing commendable about that, but there is one thing to be said in mitigation: she didn't dress in the cliché style associated with the proud Yorkshire town. I bet that 90 percent of male impersonator criminals planning to target Barnsley would think: flat cap and the rest of it. Not Lee. She fixed on a fine moustache and wore a deerstalker. Her only 'traditional north' behaviour was saying very little. "Twenty Lambert and Butler" to be precise. South Yorkshire police have finally nabbed her not by penetrating her disguise but through DNA matches with prints from another transgression. Barnsley, as I ceaselessly remind all who will listen, also has that fine sculptor Graham Ibbeson among its residents, Franco-Barnsleyian novelist Joanne Harris and Britain's best rhododendron collection at Wentworth Castle . Taxi rancour in Durham Durham taxis for Durham drivers – that's the latest manifestation of the super-localism which is a genuine characteristic of the north. There's nowhere that arouses more suspicion in Rawdon, where I live, than neighbouring Yeadon. Try bigging up Dewsbury in Batley, or vice versa. The Sunderland Echo describes how 50 Durham cabbies brought traffic to a standstill in the lovely old city this week in a protest against allowing outsiders to join their ranks. The county council wants more competition but Adrian Fets of Durham Independent Taxi Drivers Association says: "This is going to put firms out of business." The proposal would allow in drivers from places such as Peterlee and Seaham – pause for clenched teeth and sharp intake of breath. The taxi drivers also suggest a future below Durham's twin World Heritage Sites of "pollution and constant traffic jams as taxis drive round and round trying to get a parking space." Sounds just like London. Cordyline revival: the saga continues I hope you have a lovely weekend. It's beautiful up here. We have relatives from down south and they are off to Nidderdale and a sunlit walk between Pately Bridge and Wath. Me, I have more thatching to do with the dagger-leaves from our stricken Cordyline australis, as described previously – the once tropical-looking, palm-like trees which have been smitten by the ultra-chilly winter all over the north. Last week, the children of one of my many cousins allowed me to start a trial thatching on their Wendy House in Bingley. Picture coming shortly but they say it's intact, so far.