Bra-gate

Making do is of course a favourite occupation of mine. Of course I'm a complete urbanite and make no pretence otherwise. Yes, we have a small patch in the garden where we grow things instead of an interesting water feature or bamboo but mainly we go to the shops for our products.

I'm no stranger to farming or living off the land as we had a family farm. It was a typical feature of many a Welsh family. One of the family members ran the farm and the rest mucked in as required. I spent many a season helping with lambing or hay making as a child. It was one of the things I missed most when we moved to England and inevitably when my uncle died the farm was sold off as no one those days could have given up their urban job to manage a small holding. Contrary to the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall school of country cottages shot beautifully by Channel 4, farms or small holdings can be quite dirty affairs most of the year and only get a bit of a spruce up and clean in the summer months.

I was reminded of all this whilst watching Superscrimpers on Channel 4 last Wednesday night. It was a mix bag of a programme. I felt the wit and charm of Mrs Moneypenny's FT column didn't translate well to tv not least as her pink coat and orange hat alongside a slightly shrill voice was a bit scary. I love Lady Lesley's madcap sterling stomping through the countryside chucking chickens back over fences. She gave a wonderful recipe of nettle pasta and it was great stuff. Except, and rightly or wrongly, I was most put off by one outfit that suggested no bra was being worn or a really ill fitting one. I have an abject horror of braless or ill fitting bras. Braless with a a double AA cup i.e. almost flat chested is passable, any thing else is too much. Of course there are garments that require no bra but ever vigil I have an array of items that support or disguise this fact.

Good support is crucial for breast tissue to prevent sagging and damage to what is essentially just fat. Anyway I digress, what ensued can only be describes as bra-gate. Of course I was on twitter whilst viewing, it is a bit of a must these days. And invariably I made a comment!

My first and only comment on Lady Lesley was perhaps she should sell a chicken and buy a decent bra. I think a few people felt the same way, tsh us urbanites hey!

A day or two later I got a tweet from Lady Lesley (great isn't it) under her farm's twitter name @trallwmfarm - which stated 'Lady Lesley has a bra but more importantly the sanctuary animals get fed'. Well naughty old me quipped back 'well i'm heartily pleased the animals are fed but am also keen on puppies being kept in place correctly'.

Since then I've had a couple of mean tweets but nothing that doesn't amuse me. What amuses me most is the stupidity of people on twitter. You can look at the account and see who they follow and when it was set up. Now there is a twitter account called @Nickynoodles33 who follows @trallwmfarm and is mainly operating to pick on Katie Price and ..'er me!

No stranger to investigative journalism, although the last time I did any decent stuff would have been at the behest of a newsdesk editor when I was training, I thought I should do some digging, which is very easy due to the friend of the lazy Goggle. Lady Lesley herself is no stranger to controversy and attacking. There is a hilarious account of her action against the former Cheif Constable of Dyfed Powys police. Lady Lesley is a maverick and a very entertaining one at that. She obviously does pour her heart and soul in to her sanctuary and I'm sure she could do with donations which can be made here

Lady Lesley upon being cleared of trespassing and I rest my case re:bra
image: BBCWales

Lady Lesley is an interesting character and does to some extent court controversy and likes to fight the establishment. I have no views on this at all as it does take all sorts and I can't wait to get some nettles and make that pasta.

However, Channel 4 needs to exercise some restraint over its programme participants or give them some guidance regarding 'media exposure'. It is important not to conduct petty or spiteful behaviour or encourage others to do so. I did not attack Lady Lesley or what she does. Pointing out bra issues isn't a crime. I understand it might seem rude and would happily concede that point but in fairness twitter is fair game for some quips of this nature. I would stand by telling anyone about bra matters and whilst I don't point this out to all and sundry, one becomes a fair target on a tv programme, after all one is choosing the limelight and all that comes with it. There is a lot of evidence that public appearances can draw comments. I love how people get so shirty with blogs and twitter. Somehow the idea that the review or views aren't in print in a regional or national paper/broadcaster seems to give licence to spite or vitriol. Seriously people need to get over themselves.

Will I watch Superscimpers again, maybe. Would I say the same again, probably.