Secret Agent 21st CM...

...is feeling much better.

While recovering from a quick bout of man flu, the postman delivered a much awaited package, a confidential document that Agent 21st CM had been anticipating for a few days. Featuring the signatures of Rupert Penry Jones, Harry Firth and Hermione Norris, plus others, this top secret document is intended to be put to good use. This undercover mission may not save the country from attack, but it will help future generations in many ways.

To find out more, you will have to meet me at a secret location in Battersea Park and swap briefcases. Just make sure it is a plain black leather case with gold locks.

Close encounters of the sad kind. Part 3 (2001-2007)

In 2001 I finished working in London to raise a family in the commuter belt zone of Hemel Hempstead. Hemel Hempstead is not necessarily well-renowned for its connections with the famous, but the surrounding area did throw up a few surprises.

Just before I finished work, I was on one of my last commuting journeys into London. When crossing the road to the railway station I glanced right to see the footballer turned actor Vinnie Jones and his wife in their 4x4, stopping to let me cross the road.

He lived not far away from the station, in one of the large houses on the B road towards Chesham. I remember walking past one day, complaining to my mother-in-law about a huge pile of sand being left on the pavement and how bloody inconsiderate it was. When I glanced up to the house at the top of the hill, I recognised Vinnie's car. I stopped complaining and peacefully moved on!

Around about the same time, 21st C Dad went to pick up some things in the lovely town of Berkhamsted, a few miles away from where we lived, only to stroll past Geri Halliwell out doing her shopping.

Another visit to a another local town, Harpenden, we stopped off in a bar for bite to eat and noticed that we were sat close to a group of people where Craig Charles of Red Dwarf fame was holding court. I could recognise that voice a mile away. From where I was sat I had a great view of the rest of the customers in the bar and it was great to see the relay of whispers and nudges along with the headwinks in his direction.

From here on in, it all starts to get very tenuous. In 2002 I was called to Jury Service at the St Albans court and one of the members of the jury who I shared a lift with mentioned in conversation that he was one of Richard Branson's right hand men in the Virgin empire. He had to slope off now and again to make some very important calls.

Since moving to Bury St Edmunds in 2003, things have got a lot quieter and celebrities have stopped following me around. However, I did meet Jimmy Docherty from Jimmy's Farm at a local book signing three years ago. More recently I walked past a heavily made-up Les Dennis who was filming a pilot episode of David Croft's Here Comes the Queen in Bury St Edmunds. My star-spotting skills are slipping though, as I didn't recognise him at the time. It took a photo in our local paper for me to realise who he was. I think it was because I had been distracted by his entourage of men in breeches (as seen here).

I have also since found out that my neighbours are friends of Ian Lavender, aka Pike from Dad's Army, who lives in nearby Woolpit.

I also have a new friend who recently revealed that she was involved in a wind-up on the Charlotte Church show, as now featured on You Tube. As shown here:

And my last but not least tenuous link is that a few months ago a group of friends and I went out for a drink with David Mulholland, a comedian who was doing a few gigs in Bury St Edmunds with Kate Smurthwaite (otherwise known as Cruella) for the Fringe Festival events. It has since been divulged by Cruella in her meme that his mother wrote the Dallas "Who Shot JR" episode.

And on that note...I return to my normal life and await my next close encounter...!

Close encounters of the sad kind. Part 2 (1991-2000)

Following my days in the various celebrity circles in the 1980s, the 1990s got off to a bit of a low start. Nothing else of any interest really occured in Nottingham except for Brian Clough, the then manager of Nottingham Forest, pushing in front of me to pay for his petrol. On a more positive note, I also received a big hug from Sandi Toksvig after a play that she was in at the local theatre.

However, it was not until I moved to London did the celebrity spotting game really begin. I used to work in the music copyright industry, starting initially at MCPS in Streatham. My main encounter was when collecting some post from reception I found myself queuing behind Eddy Grant who was one of our members.

During another visit to reception, I found the receptionists drooling over actor Jesse Birdsall of (Holby City and Footballers Wives fame) who was sat in the corner waiting for his friend, a colleague of mine, to come down and meet him to go off for a few beers.

Then there was the time that I picked up the phone to Jennifer Saunders and took a message for a colleague, who happened to be her brother-in-law, i.e. Adrian Edmondson's brother. I would often overhear discussions with "Ade and Jen" regarding where they were going to meet up and the temptation to do last number redial was huge! However, I wasn't that sad. I was a fan and not a stalker.

Travelling around London opened up a whole new game, especially when I moved up to PRS offices in central London. I remember the time I was getting off the tube and stepped out of the way to allow Dr Legg from Eastenders to get on. I also saw Lou Beale having dinner in the fabulous Sarastros restaurant on the edge of Covent Garden.

My next job took me into the heart of Soho, just along from Virgin Radio in Golden Square. It was in that office where I had a front seat view of Chris Evan's Virgin escapades. I remember watching Martin Clunes wandering around for a while with his little dog. I've no idea whether that dog was his or whether it was a stunt for the programme. These kind of things happened on a regular basis. However, the most bizarre sight I witnessed was the Chris Evans team riding around the square on a motorised sofa, with standard lamp attached.

Again, chance meetings always happen in reception and one day when I went down to meet a client, I opened the door to Gabrielle Drake who was wearing dark glasses at the time. I'd remembered her from a fantastic performance I'd seen of The Importance of Being Earnest in Nottingham. She'd also been in crossroads. My colleagues were too young and too fresh out of music college to have been impressed.

However, they were impressed of my account of when I left the office one day and found myself following a very tall Des Lynham through the streets of Soho until he stepped into an office. I am not sure if he was trying to get out of my way, but I promise, I wasn't stalking him. I was just en route to Oxford St.

During that time I also managed to find myself following Ricky Tomlinson of The Royle Family fame, but quickly overtaking him due to his hobble. That was en route to Libertys where I also bumped into Nigel Kennedy who was buying wrapping paper...or was it me that was buying the wrapping paper?...or was it Gary Rhodes?....it was in those days where it was difficult to tell the difference.

Close encounters of the sad kind Part 1 (1983-1990)

Commenting on my last post Picklesmum's reminisced about how she met Tom Baker, (the then encumbent Doctor Who) at Bury St Edmunds Art Gallery. This got me thinking about my own claims to fame and what a random list it entails.

My brush with celebrities began in my youth on a hot summers day in the early eighties, when my friend and I ventured off to Barry Island to see the Radio 1 Roadshow fronted by DJ Peter Powell. I can't remember which bands played that day but I remember that PP got so close I was able to get a photo of his ear. I am pleased to say that my photographic composition has improved since that day.

Having got the bug for live radio, I was daring enough to dial in on a late-evening Radio 1 show with Janice Long and guests discussing fashion. I haven't got the faintest memory of what I said as my heart beat far too quickly with nervous energy for me to have any conscious awareness of what was really going on. The only thing that I remember was that I called myself Anne, which is my middle name, because I didn't want to get in trouble if my mother's friends heard the broadcast.

In 1985, I managed to orchestrate a day at BBC Radio Wales, which included sitting in on a live broadcast with naughty novelist and artist Molly Parkin. She gave me a tour of the building and I peered into the studio where Dave Lee Travis was presenting his Radio 1 show. His hair was grey all over, not anywhere like his usual TOTP look featuring black hair with a silver streak. Strange, he did not look amused at my appearance either. However I think that had something to do with my unannounced arrival rather than my sense of fashion.

Having arrived in Nottingham to do my degree in 1986, I heard that Keith Chegwin was visiting to do an outside broadcast for some sad Saturday evening program. A group of fellow students and I trekked off to Holme Pierrepont and after the broadcast I managed to get the icon of 1980s cheese to give me his autograph (a trait that I never shook off from my childhood holidays at Butlins). With no autograph book to hand, he happily signed my five pound note. Later that night, I accidentally gave that note to my then boyfriend, who spent it at the bar. So somewhere still in circulation could be a 1980s style £5 note with Keith Chegwin's autograph! If you ever come across it, please send it back!

In 1989 I was lucky enough to work at a new educational establishment in the heart of Nottingham's inner city. When we opened our doors to the students the BBC cameras were on-site to cover serious footage of this fantastic flagship college. They wanted to see our fabulous all singing all dancing library management system. Sadly the only components we had were a computer monitor and a lightpen. So I am ashamed to admit that I allowed the BBC cameraman to film me for a national news broadcast *PRETENDING* to issue books out to the students. That was both the debut and swan song of my acting career. The following day a local librarian rang my boss to find out what amazing software we were using....the answer was of course "Vapourware." My integrity has improved vastly since! My mugshot was also splashed over the front page of The Telegraph as part of a staff group photo.

The following year the college had its official opening. There was a big hush-hush over who was actually going to open the college and it was only on the day that it was announced at the staff meeting it was going to be Margaret Thatcher. She arrived with her entourage and I was in the unenviable position of videoing her tour around the college for the "official college video". I know she was pretty important, but she just kept getting in the way of my video camera and I had quite an editing job to do to remove the scenes that just showed her back!