Does the inner tub of a washing machine spins?

Wildin told the court: 'I don't swear, I never shout. It's all wrong. Apart from one occasion I've never blocked drives parking cars.' He showed the judge an aerial photo, adding 'more than half the cars on the street aren't mine'.

It is the latest twist in a near-decade-long saga which saw accountant Wildin, 70, jailed for six weeks in August 2022 after he repeatedly refused to demolish or decommission the 10,000sq ft leisure complex built without planning permission.

Adam Smith

Yes, the inner tub agitates and spins.

The pensioner appeared before Gloucester and Cheltenham County Court on Wednesday, after Gloucestershire Police and Forest of Dean District Council applied for an injunction order over the alleged anti-social behaviour.

It has no instant access cash Isa, a staple financial product. Customers wanting a cash Isa must instead either opt for a fixed-rate offering, or a restricted access account that can only be managed online. It also offers no business banking - a bugbear with many small firms when the society is the only remaining financial institution in town.

The two managers run money in different markets - chalk and cheese. Penny, who believes 'time is our friend', has been managing UK investment portfolios for the past 24 years - at M&G, Legal & General and since late 2018 at Crux. The main investment fund he runs there is UK Special Situations, a £197million vehicle that invests across the stock market in search of returns.

He was initially handed a suspended sentence, then jailed after ignoring a new deadline to comply with various conditions which included cutting off the water, electricity and gas and removal of all fixtures and fittings.

Vehicles including a blue Bentley with a personalised number plate, a Rolls Royce and a Range Rover were seen parked on the road, while other vehicles such a good point as a vintage Jensen Interceptor and a Porsche remained under grey tarpaulins.

Penny says running a UK investment fund, holding a heavy dose of small to medium-sized companies, has been a challenge in the past couple of years. Investors have been net sellers of the market, depressing share prices, especially among smaller and mid-cap companies.

'I was pleasantly surprised,' he told me last week. 'I expected to see the odd branch with a 'for sale' or 'to rent' sign outside. But nothing of the sort.' He now wonders whether it is the UK's most bank and building society-friendly town.

While in the town, he counted at least eight banks and building societies vying for the custom of locals and other passers-by. Among them were local financial institutions such as building societies Cumberland and Penrith as well as big banks HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest.

After the 2008 financial crisis, the fund he ran at the time (L&G UK Alpha) also outperformed over the next two and a bit years, delivering a return of 173 per cent compared to the average for rivals of 85 per cent. Although the past is no indication of the future, Penny says the upside potential in the next 18 months to three years is tremendous, with three-figure returns possible. 

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A big thank you 
While on the subject of the Lake District, a big thank you to Margaret Dawson who helped me out of a scrape eight days ago - not once but twice. First, she kindly offered me and two other travellers a lift to Windermere when our connecting train from Oxenholme was cancelled.

Bank branches can prosper and Penrith is proof!
Reader Robert Wilson has just come back from a rather splendid holiday in Keswick, Cumbria. Although blown away by some of the Lake District scenery, the 76-year-old former local newspaper editor was also taken aback by the vibrancy of nearby Penrith's high street, above.