Jason S. Hmmmm, 6' 3' rugged,,, good looks....perhaps not exactly me! I am afraid your mental picture of me is a bit out. But thank you for the thought.
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I heard the 'Midweek' Radio 4 programme on which Mr Sarchwell appeared and he seemed a likeable guy. I don't remember him, or presenter Libby Purves, mentioning it was the BTP he was in, though. I am seriously considering ordering a copy of the book for my bookshop, and if it doesn't sell then I shall keep it for myself.
Dear Busaholic, yes you are right to point out that I was not asked about the BTP, it was all simply 'the police' but the book is moist definitely about my time in the Transport Police - '
An Inspector Recalls - Memoirs of a Railway Detective'
The feedback from readers has been so flattering I can hardly believe it.
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Thank you for connecting the vid interview it was very helpful.
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I heard the 'Midweek' Radio 4 programme on which Mr Sarchwell appeared and he seemed a likeable guy. I don't remember him, or presenter Libby Purves, mentioning it was the BTP he was in, though. I am seriously considering ordering a copy of the book for my bookshop, and if it doesn't sell then I shall keep it for myself.
This is what some others have said who have reviewed it -
'An Inspector Recalls' is a lively, funny and interesting jog through numerous interesting policing experiences. Rarely can such a senior detective been so frank! A very good read
Michael Fuller, Former Chief Constable and Chief Inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service
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I remember Satchwell, he was like Slipper of the Yard, but with brains. (Tom Wisbey, Great Train Robber)
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Graham Satchwell has given a no holds barred account of the reality of policing from the late 1960s to the new millennium. It is a great read.
He describes his early life in a working class dockers family in Southampton and the challenges of finding work without formal educational qualifications. After several jobs locally he finally joined the Transport Police at Southampton Docks in 1968 after prompting from his father.
This memoir tracks Grahams career through the seventies and eighties with humour and honesty. His anecdotal record is typical of a working class lad finding his way in life and rising successfully to the challenges of policing; battling and even occasionally succumbing, to minor corruption.
His service covers the period when the IRA was active in Britain with transport services being a major target and he includes interesting comments on infamous cases as well as routine investigations with which he was involved.
Graham, through sheer hard work advanced himself, rising through the ranks and eventually, with no academic qualifications was given a scholarship to study law at Reading University walking away after three years with 2 [1] degree. No mean achievement. What shines through is his sheer determination to succeed.
Graham Satchwell is not a man who suffers fools gladly; and this memoir shows him working hard to achieve success against many odds and one suspects that he is saddened by the fact that his remarkable accomplishments appear not to have been given recognition by those above him.
The book is the story of a dedicated police officer who perhaps should have risen higher in the police, but he can be immensely proud of the fact that he has given invaluable public service which has been characterised by abundant achievement.
Graham is a good man who has written a very readable book which is entertaining and amusing, but nonetheless is a contemporary and accurate account of policing throughout that period.
The Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate OBE LL.B (Hons)
'I enjoyed An Inspector Recalls immensely. It is an honest and open account of Policing as it was and of the mettle of the man who wrote it.
As a Senior Investigating Officer (SIO), the Guvnor never ducked a punch and landed a few blows along the way as well.
The book will appeal to Police and Non-Police readers alike. With its openness about what went on behind the scenes and its occasional Laugh Out Load moment, it shows Policing as it was.
I served within the BTP and with the Met, investigating different sorts major incidents including fifteen years on Murder teams. I therefore worked under many SIO's. "Satch" (The Guvnor) stood out for always letting the Detectives get on with their jobs and defending them from any outside criticism, whilst still getting his hands dirty and never being afraid to make a decision - attributes missing in so many others.
Roy Nobby Clark. Retired detective, Metropolitan Police and British Transport Police.'
'An Inspector Recalls' conjures up the days when policing was delivered by real men (mostly men in those days), who cared about what they were doing and saw themselves as part of the public at large, not a race apart, which sadly seems to be the case today. By turns amusing, touching and sometimes tragic, Graham Satchwell describes a world we have lost - a world which many would be glad to to see return.
David Gilbertson QPM B.Sc. former Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner and author of (inter alia) The Strange Death of Constable George Dixon Why the Police have stopped Policing (Matador pub. 2011).
An Inspector Recalls is a thoroughly amusing, anecdotal record of a man who came to be a legend in British Transport Police. When I joined the Force in 1999 as a transferring Chief Superintendent, little did I know I was competing for a role that an officer of Graham Satchwells standing and ability had applied for.
Grahams account of his service is remarkable, not just for his power of recollection, but also for the insight it contains about the culture of the Force and British Policing at that time.
Thank goodness there were police officers of such principle, prepared not just to do what was right according to the rule book, but prepared to exercise discretion and do the right thing for the wider community we served.
The average reader may not appreciate the pressure that Graham would have been under in exercising his role to fight corruption in its various forms. Much of what he has articulated is common to my experience, but his courage and transparency in writing this book leaves me in awe.
A thoroughly insightful and amusing read that will be a timely chronicle of policing pre-1999.
David Hatcher Crimewatch Police Presenter 1984-99
Retired Chief Superintendent Kent and British Transport Police
fire away-
hock: