Don Hale Blog

Buster Crabb was author Ian Fleming's favourite spy and the real inspiration for his fictional character JAMES BOND. LIONEL 'BUSTER' CRABB was a drinker, a gambler, a womaniser and a lover of fast cars and gadgets. On top of all that, he was a spy, an acquaintance of Ian Fleming and the inspiration for James Bond. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 This latest book, BUSTER CRABB, published by the History Press, this is the fascinating story of Buster Crabb, the naval spy who disappeared in bizarre circumstances in 1956. Entitled -  Buster Crabb - Ian Fleming's favourite spy and the inspiration for James Bond,  was released in Spring 2020 - originally to coincide with the launch of the new Bond film - which was later delayed due to the Covid-19 restrictions. A British naval frogman and bomb disposal expert, Crabb worked directly under Fleming during the Second World War at Naval Intelligence and went on to conduct covert operations for both SIS and MI5. Elements from Crabb...

AN INCREDIBLE PERSONAL STORY ABOUT THE TWIN TOWERS’ ATTACK: *See the YouTube video and order the exclusive book about this dramatic event. https://youtu.be/xj17ZHGzuOM?si=g7dfW_CHftJWwDIQ 9/11 GROUND ZERO: ENGLISHMEN IN NEW YORK - AFTERMATH Don Hale reports on one of the world’s most dramatic terrorist attacks ever. 9/11 GROUND ZERO: ENGLISHMEN IN NEW YORK - AFTERMATH – BY DR SAM ALLEN. Now available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4egiLc0 Some years ago, I heard from Dr Sam Allen, a well-known, and highly-respected doctor and a global specialist on highly infectious diseases. I have known Sam for about 40-years, and we both ran for the same Derbyshire athletics club in Matlock, when I was editor of the local newspaper. Just a few weeks after I left the paper though, Sam became unintentionally involved in a daring rescue attempt to help the victims of the world’s worst-ever, and most horrific terrorist attack on New York. The following statement is from my original archived introduction t...

*Pictured above - Practice nurse Emily Carr and Practice manager Sarah  Corkish-Brown are shown at the end of their charity trek. Surgery pair Emily and Sarah complete their amazing 100k Sahara Desert Trek for St David’s Hospice. Exclusive  report by Don Hale donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   Two determined members of the hard-working Bodreinallt doctors' surgery team at Conwy have just completed their extraordinary 100k Sahara Desert Trek and helped to raise  over £42,000 so far for St David’s Hospice. Practice manager  Sarah Corkish-Brown and Practice Nurse Emily Carr  signed up for this huge undertaking some time ago and finally celebrated their success over the past couple of days, and were part of a group that fundraised for this essential local organisation. The trek organisers claimed that entrants would ‘r ediscover true adventure in the awe-inspiring Sahara Desert.’ Their five-day trek covered 100km passing through Morocco’s forbidding landscape...

*Pictured above - Sarah Ferguson Hudson and her husband Ben at the ultra. Wedding anniversary on the run for Ben and Sarah at a ‘Beautifully Brutal’ 60k ultra Coast to Coast race. Report by Don Hale. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   North Wales endurance athletes Ben and Sarah Hudson went on the run last Saturday during an unusual way to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary by competing in the ‘Beautifully Brutal’ Pen Llyn Coast to Coast Winter Ultra race. This extremely tough event followed a highly challenging and undulating course over a distance of some 60km (37.5 miles), and this experienced pair of endurance runners ran together, and despite Sarah suffering from a heavy cold, they both finished well in 10 hours 53 minutes and 41 seconds.  The event attracted a wealth of top international ultra runners, and the NWRRC members eventually shared joint 147th place overall. Ben was also the 91st male and the 86th British finisher, with Sarah the 54th female and the 87th Bri...

*Pic tured above - Mike Hayton and Kay Hatton at Newborough. Unfortunate mix-up costs NW runner an extra 5-mile trek!   Three members of North Wales Road Runners competed in the challenging Newborough Trail 10k race on Sunday, but unfortunately one athlete at least was misdirected into the adjacent half-marathon race at a late turn point and ended up running an extra 5-miles! Despite the drizzle and the winds Kay Hatton  continued with her excellent top form and won her VW60 age category in 58.07, with colleague  Mike Hayton  claiming the second spot in his VM70 cat in 73.02, but fellow master veteran runner  Rob Fryer  faced an extra unplanned 5-mile trek after a mix-up at an important turn marker, eventually finishing in 97.53.  This was a great shame for Rob, who like Kay, has been in excellent form of late, and Kay said he was going well until about 9k, when he was somehow misdirected away from the shorter course.   Rob later confirmed: ...

*Pictured above - Conwy Castle illuminated to highlight Ty Gobaith and Hope House and their Dark Run last Saturday night. Over £9k raised for Hope House and Ty Gobaith at the Conwy Dark  Run on a very  wet night... Introduction by Don Hale. Photographs by Caitlin Faye Photography. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 Despite the very challenging weather conditions last Saturday night with heavy rain and strong winds, over £9k was raised at the Conwy Dark Run for Hope House and Ty Gobaith Children’s Hospices. This popular event followed on from a very similar success – in better conditions – the previous Saturday at Penrhyn Castle Dark Run which raised about £10k for the same worthy organisation. John Hatton  (*pictured right), who was the MC at both fundraising events and was one of the event organisers confirmed: “ Conwy Dark Run. It was a very wet night, but it made £9k for Ty Gobaith. It was a very busy day, with the Penrhyn parkrun , rush home for lunch, then over to C...

*Pictured above - NWRRC member Steve Bozier and his  family at the Penrhyn Castle  Dark Run last Saturday. Penrhyn Castle Dark Run raised about £10k for children's hospices...and all set for this Saturday at Conwy Quay. Report by Don Hale.  donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   It proved to be another great night at the  Penrhyn Castle Dark Run  last Saturday with 384 participants helping to raise about £10k for  Hope House and Ty Gobaith  children's hospices. One of the event organisers and MC  John Hatton  later confirmed: “ Penrhyn Dark Run  last night. I went to the morning parkrun, then back as MC for the Dark Run, which was an absolutely fantastic evening.  We had so many volunteers, which made it so special all around the course, and we were overwhelmed by the response.  “Out of interest the provisional amount raised at Penrhyn was £10k and just looking forward to my next role at  Conwy Dark Run  on Saturda...

*Gwen Charlton (*above left) with Kevin Higgins and Kevin Slattery at the Abergele races last weekend. Quality competition at the Abergele 5k and 10k races. Report by Don Hale.  donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   There was a massive turn-out of over 500 quality athletes for the Abergele 5k and 10k races held on the town’s promenade on Sunday, which was well organised by RunWales. Despite some wind and rain, both events attracted a wealth of elite, club, and social runners and the 5k race set a hot pace with the first 15 finishers all dipping under the 20-minute mark including the first two female athletes! And just 20-seconds separated the first six finishers! In the 10k race, the first 14 athletes ran under 40-minutes, with some close times between the top six places, and the first female athlete was almost three minutes ahead of her nearest rival. The first finisher overall at the 5k event was  Huw Gwynn  (Eryri Harriers) with a good time of 16 minutes and 37 seconds,...