Helena Handbasket

By Tivoli

If you open Google Maps and type in “Henley-on-Thames” you will see the name TEMPLECOMBE on the opposite side of the river. If you then pick up the Street-View rag-doll and hold it over Templecombe you will notice an area almost as large as Henley town centre that has no streets to view. This I have now learned belongs to a Russian oligarch who has so many enemies that he is, to all intents and purposes, the prisoner of Templecombe. I became aware of this fortress when I was trying to find out more about the Gingerbread House, but of course at that time I had no idea who owned it and certainly not a clue that he dare not leave home without three armoured vehicles, two of which (fore a and aft) are filled with body-guards.
Conversely, the over-confidently named “Henley Building” is a serviced office block tucked away on a business estate of no interest to any brand of Mafia.

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