04/01/2009 by admin.

A base jumper is lucky to be alive after his parachute failed while leaping from Melbourne’s EJ WHITTEN BRIDGE. 

Miraculously, the daredevil fell 100ft and survived only picking up injuries to his feet and ankles.   The paramedic at the scene said the man was ‘lucky to be alive’.  All very curious as this miracle occured at a place almost custom made to report a miracle under the Whittenbury Watch!  Are you a believer yet?

As for the bridge itself, its named after the Australian Football legend Ted Whitten. An extraordinary talent with superb all round skills, capable of kicking supremely well with both legs.  He was regarded as the greatest natural talent of his era in the 1950’s and 1960’s and bestowed with the title of Mr Football.

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q54 Do you enjoy a bit of a mystery?, Q52 Do you believe in miracles?, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion? | No Comments »

21/12/2008 by admin.

Our readers will be aware of the significance of the X Factor poser in our narration. Well, the saga continues for the winner of this year’s contest Alexandra Burke now tops the pop tree with her powerful cover version of the song, Hallelujah.  The version has two fewer verses than the original and includes a key change.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=wAaw6VWpk4A

Alexandra’s closely followed in the charts by a more sombre but much acclaimed version by Jeff Buckley, first released in 1984.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=AratTMGrHaQ

It;s the first time in 51 years that the same song has occupied the top two positions in the UK pop charts - and the first time ever at Christmas.

A remarkable trinity of the song’s presence in the Top 40 is completed by Leonard Cohen’s original version, released in 1984.

We wonder whether the trilogy represents Art, Love and Nature?  Is it a call to arms from God - afterall the Hebrew meaning of the word Hallelujah is a request for a congreation to join in praise (of a divine force’s influence on The Haymaker’s Survey)?

Posted in Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q52 Do you believe in miracles?, Q46 Do you value a good education?, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion?, Q33 Do you believe in life after death?, Q.1 Does your life have a purpose? | No Comments »

02/11/2008 by admin.

Hertfordshire hero, Lewis Hamilton from Stevenage, snatched a last gasp opportunity to become the youngest ever Forumla 1 Motorsport Champion.  Entering the penultimate bend at the Brazilian Grand Prix, Lewis took 5th place to secure the points he needed for victory in the 2008 Championship.  It was a thrilling climax to the season which demonstrated that it’s never too late to succeed. How ironic that his triumph should happen in Brazil - home to the threatened Amazon rainforest.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TfUBVdgcFEo&feature=related

Posted in Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion?, Q.4 Have you ever wanted to stop the clock?, Q.1 Does your life have a purpose? | No Comments »

11/10/2008 by admin.

Chrissie Wellington, the British Triathlete, has retained her Ironman World Championship title, setting a new Hawaii marathon course record of 2:57:44. Despite losing around 10 minutes because of a flat tyre—a delay which would have been greater if another constestant hadn’t stopped to give her a spare CO₂ cartridge—she finished some 15 minutes ahead of the second-placed runner.  The race is made famous by the gruelling length and weather conditions, involving a 2.4 mile ocean swim, 112 mile bike ride and a marathon.

Chrissie first one the World Championship less than a year after turning professional, an achievement which was described as a ‘remarkable feat, deemed to be a near impossible task.’   We’re interested for a number of reasons: Chrissie’s first name is the same as our hosts; Chrissie shares her surname with Wellington, the Duke who chaired the gathering of the Blakesware Set as they came together to leave us a ’secret inheritance’; and the title she holds is the Ironman, similarly held by the Duke and somehow representative of the industrial revolution, which triggered the path taken by humanity over the last 200 years or so. 

There is something very, very special to ‘The Haymakers Survey’; there will be many doubters out there, given the author is unknown and the book isn’t available in high street stores or backed by a major publisher, but in many ways this is part of the wonder; the only way for those who have chosen to shy away from buying the book is to have a bit of faith - we cannot succeed alone! 

There are two types of people, those who say ‘I can’t’ and those who say ‘I can’.  Be inspired by this video…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EokseUskyDI&feature=related

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion? | No Comments »

01/10/2008 by admin.

One of the greatest names in boxing, Mohammed Ali, has been cut into a cornfield in Arizona, USA.  When they heard of the news, Ali, and his wife  flew over the site in their helicopter to check out the artwork from the air and could not believe their eyes.   Here’s the video…

http://multimedia.boston.com/pub/m/21065701/muhammad_ali_s_likeness_carved_into_corn_field.htm?pageid=14155

This is strange given the role of crop circles in our story and the presence of the famous black boxer, and proclaimed Haymaker, Bill Richmond.  Let’s compare the two…

Three times world heavyweight champion, Ali was famed for saying, ‘I am the greatest’.  A poet and prophet, his real name was Cassius Clay ‘oh those treasures in jars of clay!’  He certainly knew how to deliver the knockout punch!

Posted in Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion?, Q.2 Are you an art lover? | No Comments »

26/09/2008 by admin.

The magician and illusionist, David Blaine, has completed a daring 3 day stunt in which hung upside down in New York’s Central Park.  Medics had warned him about the potential serious effects to his body, but he pressed ahead with the performance regardless.  

Trouble is it seems most people have not been that impressed by his attempt to turn the world upside down for 60 hours, arguing that he ‘cheated’  by taking regular breaks to respond to the call of Nature.  For ten minutes at a time, he would stand upright on a platform to take in water, relieve himself and have medical checks.   Sadly these fundamental needs have led some critics to give him a hard time - with even some booing from the audience.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTcYa71zwfg

So the magicians efforts to look at the world from a new perspective were largely unappreciated - many promoting and working for the environmental cause know how that feels!  

Posted in Q75 Have you ever put on a show?, Q39 Do you believe in magic?, Q18 Do you let your heart rule your head?, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion? | No Comments »

14/09/2008 by admin.

Noel’s HQ is an inspirational show where ordinary people do extraordinary things.  It’s just the kind of thing our very own local champion, Ben Whittenbury would do. The magic of The Haymakers Survey is spreading! Our project about the power of art, love and nature is designed to help change the world - encouraging local champions and a new way of living, that sees a world beyond the grey, money and needless regulation.  Three cheers for Noel…

Well, the funds raised from our ‘not for profit’ scheme, in partnership with the Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust is currently supporting the campaign to save Balls Wood Nature Reserve.  Together we can!

http://www.harlowstar.co.uk/hertfordshiremercury-news/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=332073

We’ve given many examples on this blog about the syncronicity of our tale and world events, well we now have a very local and in many ways most extraordinary experience to tell you about.  Our story reveals how it seems that long ago a man called Ben Whittenbury was once involved in a confrontation with the Murderous Pie Man of Ware!  Well, at a fair at Castle Hall in Hertford today some distant relatives of the orginal Benjamin Whittenbury came to our book stall.  The odds against the union must be very high. It was a most remarkable and humbling experience.

Posted in Q41 Do you like surprises?, Q56 Do you believe rules are there to be broken?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q39 Do you believe in magic?, Q.8 Do you crave a better life?, Q.5 Do you believe in fate?, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion?, Q.1 Does your life have a purpose? | No Comments »

11/09/2008 by admin.

Sgt Mark Baxter has told how swift action led to the rescue of his three year old daughter, Leona, after she was sucked into a storm drain and swept 200 feet along a drainpipe and into the River Wear.  Leona was playing in what appeared to be a large puddle before she disappeared into what appeared to be like a whirlpool in the middle of the puddle.  Her father quickly realised that she’d fallen into a drain that led to the river and dashed to save her.  Leona is barely 3 feet tall and weighs just 3 stone.  Leona’s mother said, “We are the luckiest parents alive, someone must have been watching over us.”

A whirlpool features more than once in our story. Here’s one in action…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw7YGnL137E

A miracle of another kind has taken place involving an animal called Dixie.   A family in Birmingham were delighted when an RSPCA officer turned up with their cat missing for nearly a decade!  The owners were overjoyed at the micro-chipped cat’s return, and amazed that Dixie seems to have retained all her personality and mannerisms. The owner, Mrs Delaney, says the cat has hardly stopped purring since her return.  Sarah’s told her pet Dixie all about the happy ending!

In a miraculous set of events, a historic watch belonging to a champion has been reunited with its Hertfordshire owner.  The 100 year old watch awarded to James Douglas Edgar to honour his victory in the Canadian Golf Open in 1919 was stolen from Wheathampstead Golf Club in February 2008.  Yet last week James’ grandson, Douglas, received a phone call from a jewellery collector who bought the watch at a car boot sale in Surrey.   The woman, Mandy, showed the watch to her parents - who live in Harpenden in Hertfordshire - and they instantly recognised it as the missing watch.  The circumstances are a little different but its curious that a Hertfordshire champion’s watch was lost then miraculous found again, something Ben Whittenbury and Malachi know all about - an event that triggered our Watch!

What we take from these 3 stories is that it’s not too late for humanity to change our relationship with the Earth -we can still secure the miracle needed to preserve the natural world on this planet blue in a sea of black.

Posted in Q52 Do you believe in miracles?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q43 Do you believe in happy endings?, Q41 Do you like surprises?, Q.5 Do you believe in fate?, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion?, Q.4 Have you ever wanted to stop the clock? | No Comments »

25/08/2008 by admin.

The triumphant GB team returned home today from China with the best Olympics medal haul for 100 years, gathering up 19 golds and 47 medals in total.  The cyclist, Chris Hoy and the swimmer, Rebecca Adlington, have been singled out for special praise accumulating 3 and 2 golds each.  A magnificent achievement from all concerned.  Gold is, of course, a colour synonymous with Hay. A picture…

Some music…  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSq8ZBdSxNU

Posted in Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion? | No Comments »

22/08/2008 by admin.

A man who threw a message in a bottle into the sea when he was just a boy has been reunited with his note 23 years after the event!  Donald Wylie was just 11 when he tossed the bottle into the water at Sandside beach, Orkney.  It was found by eco-volunteers clearing a beach at Fife, Scotland and traced to Mr Wylie, now 33.   The organiser of the beach clean-up said, ‘The message in a bottle was quite a find and surprised us all. It’s remarkable that it should turn up after all this time.”  Maybe the discovery is a coded SOS from Mother Nature?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeQ2yXE1mpU

Meanwhile, the sprinter, Usain Bolt, has been at it again, collecting his 3rd Olympic Gold and his 3rd World Record. Quite a feat! This time he was part of a quartet, the 4×100 relay.  They ran the distance in just 37.10 seconds, smashing the existing record, set in 1992, by 0.3 seconds. A fantastic champion. Congratulations Usain.

Let’s celebrate with some Chariot’s of Fire…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYJzcUvS_NU

Posted in Q49 Do you ever think about the old days?, Haymakers: Watch Wonders, Q41 Do you like surprises?, Q20 Have your eyes ever deceived you?, Q.7 Have you dreamed of being a champion?, Q.5 Do you believe in fate? | No Comments »