A Cautionary Tale – 4

As I discovered after returning from Amsterdam last month, the industry that feeds on the contents of airline passengers’ checked luggage is still flourishing, either here or in the Netherlands – or maybe both. I also discovered that the various law enforcement offices were apparently not minded to do anything about it. In fact, the only folks willing to lend a hand were those selling replacements for the item stolen.

The missing item was my LumpCam (tm), which I had been using to record the sights of the various cities visited during the year, and its disappearance is the sole reason that my ever growing Fotopic site has no record of the highlights from visits to Amsterdam, den Haag and Rotterdam.

What evidence do I have of the utility of carrying another camera on my travels? Well, there was the Castle, Tyn Church and Charles Bridge in Prague, and Schönbrunn Palace, the Hochstrahlbrunnen, and Secession Building in Vienna. And the big wheel that was in the Third Man.

So missing the photos that had been painstakingly assembled during my stay in Amsterdam, and not having anything done about it, caused me to take the matter further. As investigations are proceeding, I’ll say no more on that front, except for one positive piece of news.

The Police at Liverpool John Lennon Airport have been in touch, partly to get some details, partly to apologise for the earlier behaviour of their colleagues at Allerton, and partly to confirm that the theft is not merely being taken seriously, but is being investigated.

The missing LumpCam (tm) may well, given the passage of time, remain missing. But if the Police manage, through their investigations, to put a stop to this industry, some good will have come out of the exercise.

More updates as and when ...