Spitalfields Life 31/5/2015

 I have been following Spitalfields Life for  over eighteen months now. The  writer, known only as the Gentle Author, blogs, amongst other things, about local people, business, urban wildlife and the way the area is constantly under threat from developers.

The Gentle author is currently involved in  a campaign to save Norton Folgate, an ancient thoroughfare which lies within a  conservation area. The old warehouses may not, at first, look beautiful but could be successfully restored and made interesting and do not need to be replaced by soulless glass office blocks. A nearby Victorian pub, a successful business with loyal customers, has already been demolished.

I first came across the conservation area around Fournier  St by accident, after visiting the market and spending time admiring Hawksmoor's architecture in Christ Church Spitalifields. I really did feel like I had stepped back in time. This was Georgian- slightly pre-Georgian? - London  alright but not the pretty squares of Bloomsbury; here  was something with more grit, less obvious charm and older. I could imagine Dickens' characters walking these streets years after they were built. I took a lot of photos, mainly of the amazing doors and knockers, and was amazed to find that at the end of Fournier St I was, unexpectedly, in Brick Lane. When visiting the area for a curry, with my son a few years previously, we had walked from Aldgate East on Whitechapel High St unaware of the oasis of C18th streets less than stone's throw away.

Since then, I have read up on the area and visited the famous Dennis Severs House and am planning to stay the area on my next visit to London.

For those of you with eclectic tastes, an interest in London, its way of life and conservation, I recommend Spitalfields Life and the Gentle Author.

 Spitalfields Life
The Spitalifields Trust
Fournier St
Old post featuring the Dennis Severs house

Balance and Justice 31/5/15

 There is a lot  more to life than politics but fairness and justice are important principles and so, regardless of political persuasion, I pray that the elected government can find compassion in its heart for the ill, the disabled, the unemployed and those on low incomes. I was heartened to read this the other week:

Council cuts: local Tories lead criticism as ‘savings’ hit vital services



 A few weeks ago, I was part of a rally through the town, which began at the park and ended in the town square. After the rally, I spoke with Julie Hilling, our ex-Labour M.P. who, just a week previously, had lost her seat. This is a great shame as Julie has been a good M.P.,  who cared about her constituents.


(This blog has had to be slightly rewritten for legal reasons. Blimey!)

A Sea of Blue and a Niggle. 20/5/15

I have a love hate relationship with politics. I am broadly socialist, yet a strong individualist, with a very strong belief in a social democracy which offers care and social benefits to all citizens on the basis of need.  So I am saddened by the results of last week's general election and the particular model of capitalism it espouses, one in which greed and austerity are like the hands of a very mean monster.  In my daily life,  I do not dislike Conservatives on an individual level. Political beliefs and opinions are only part of what makes a person who they are, and I have met cold and  blinkered socialists, and some kind, gentle conservatives but I cannot support austerity politics and the outsourcing of public services and I am concerned for what the future holds in terms of the welfare of the people, especially those in England and Wales.

As I write this, I struggle to come to terms with the fact that while England has gone blue, Scotland has embraced the SNP. The Scots seem to be merging strong  nationalistic pride with a social democratic model and a progressive agenda; so what is wrong with that? Nothing on the face of it,  yet my gut is starting to give me really strong niggles. The niggles link to Cameron's desire that English MP's should vote on English things, at a time when the Scots have ousted Scottish Labour for an SNP platform that offers the promise of the best of both worlds: National Pride and progressive social polices.  My fear is that this could be catastrophe for the English and the Welsh.  England and Wales could end up with elitist policies and more privatisation of vital services, whilst the Scots continue to have free university tuition fees and other benefits. Nicola Sturgeon is already looking to set her own taxes to fund the promises she has made. Once parliament is formed and the voting starts, will the SNP give a damn about the poor and disadvantaged of England and Wales? I cannot help but feel that the social welfare of the people of these two countries was partly tied up with Scottish Labour.

I was never convinced Labour would get a majority but the failure of the polls was surprising. Reading on-line yesterday, I found a link to this article. It suggests significant numbers of conservative voters tend to be coy about sharing their voting preferences and how this may have impacted on the polls. In a typically English way, there are lots of people who quietly and privately vote for what they believe is the best option and keep that entirely to themselves or those they trust.

Will England forever be conservative?


Article from the Catholic Herald

The old year has burnt down like a candle. Only the stub is left. The shaft of light flickers, rises and falls away as it reaches the end of the wick. In just a few hours the  spirit of the year to come will arrive like a newly created candle,  fragrant with new adventures, kind words, shocks, twists, journeys and joys; rich with unknown possibilities.   Tonight, she will place it carefully on the hearth of your soul, an altar to all that is to come on the path not yet traversed. All she is asks is that you light the light of a new year.

Elderberry Wine

The nights getting shorter. Autumn is arriving early, or so the experts are suggesting. The cycle continues like the Church calendar.  Each year follows the same pattern in new and different ways; the new and the familiar threading together to make a new piece of material in the patchwork of our lives.

My son and his friend went berrying yesterday, gathering blackberries and whinberries. I asked them if they were making jam, 'No', they replied, 'We're making wine.' This will be the second lot; I hadn't realised they had already joined the birds in helping themselves to the elderberries from the back garden. Hope it tastes good.

A Sonnet

Shakespeare, he knew a thing or two.

Sonnet  94

They that have power to hurt and will do none,

That do not do the thing they most do show,

Who, moving others, are themselves as stone,

Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow:

They rightly do inherit heaven's graces

And husband nature's riches from expense;

They are the lords and owners of their faces,

Others but stewards of their excellence.

The summer's flower is to the summer sweet

Though to itself it only live and die,

But if that flower with base infection meet,

The basest weed outbraves his dignity:

For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;

Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.

W.S.

Change

Today it really felt like Spring...tender and new...