September, 2026 | >Re-PHOTO

A Hampstead Walk -1990

A Hampstead Walk: On Sunday 9th April 1990 I took the North London Line to Hampstead Heath Station and began wandering around the streets near there. Of course I’d been to Hampstead before, walked on the Heath and visited some of the better known attractions, but I’d rather put off taking many photographs there. I’ve always felt more comfortable on the streets of the more plebeian areas of London.

*Gate, 29, Hampstead Hill Gardens, Hampstead, Camden, 1990, 90-4c-11*

On Hampstead Hill Gardens the morning light was just right for the gateway and porte-cochère at number 29, a simple but satisfying iron and glass structure on very solid gate posts. The house is of course still there, but it lost this distinctive feature some time around 2010.

Hampstead Hill Gardens was developed around 1870 with stucco houses like this and completed with a number of red-brick Queen Anne Revival houses designed by Thomas Batterbury and W.F. Huxley further around the street around the end of the decade. A number of those are Grade II listed but they failed to interest me enough to photograph them.

St John's, Church, Downshire Hill, Hampstead, Camden, 1990, 90-4d-65 — *St John’s, Church, Downshire Hill, Hampstead, Camden, 1990, 90-4d-65*

St John’s Church, technically a proprietary chapel of the Church of England, was built in 1823 and in 1832 became the subject of an ecclesiastical dispute between the Calvinist evangelical John Wilcox and the perpetual curate of the parish Samuel White who refused permission for Wilcox to preach there. Wilcox lost the case and the church was closed until 1835 when Wilcox died and was replaced by another more mainstream minister, while the “church’s name remained infamous in ecclesiastical circles for some years following“.

Something about the building reminded me of the wooden building blocks I played with as a child – before the advent of Lego. In a neo-Classical style and Grade II listed I was not surprised to read in the listing “Possibly by CR Cockerell or designed by its builder, William Woods” and it looks like a builder’s idea of a church in that style.

Figurehead, House, 8, Pilgrims Way, Hampstead, Camden, 1990, 90-4d-51 — *Figurehead, House, 8, Pilgrims Lane, Hampstead, Camden, 1990, 90-4d-51*

I was amused by the figurehead on the house apparently looking down at the white-stockinged legs of a child standing on the pavement. On the house is a Hampstead Plaque Fund Plaque stating:

William Johnson Cory
Ionicus
Teacher, scholar and poet. Lived in this house. An assistant master at Eton College 1845 – 1872, he composed the Eton Boating Song.

In 1872 a letter Cory wrote to one of his pupils was found by his parents and shown to the Headmaster of Eton; Cory was forced to resign. Widely regarded as one of Eton’s best masters, he was well-known “for encouraging a culture of intimacy, possibly non-sexual, between teachers and pupils“.

Cory (1823-92) wrote the words for the Eton Boating Song during the Christmas break in 1862 and it was first performed in the following year to the setting of his former pupil Captain Algernon Drummond. In later years it has been much parodied, notably in the obscene song “The Sexual Life of the Camel“, a popular song in the after-match bath and changing rooms when I played rugby many years ago.

After a few years abroad following his resignation Cory came to live in this Queen Anne style house on Pilgrims Lane until his death. For some years the front of the house has been hidden behind a tall wooden fence, probably with extensive building work being carried out. Some of the houses in Pilgrim’s Lane were not well built and it may be one. According to Camden Council, “No.8 is an interesting Arts and Crafts influenced house. It has a gable with decorative brickwork and distinct chimneys.”

Pilgrims Lane gets its name from a former Hampstead resident James Pilgrim who bought land here in 1787 and died in 1813 (or possibly his son Charles Pilgrim who held on to a small part of his estate.) Too many famous people have lived on the street to list here.

*Albany House, Flask Walk, Hampstead, Camden, 1990, 90-4d-31*

Albany House was one of first purpose-built blocks of flats in the area when it was built around 1873. It is still flats.

*Boades Mews, Hampstead, Camden, 1990, 90-4d-22*

Boades Mews is a short pedestrian street with some granite steps and setts, some name signs, a high brick school wall and a couple of residential properties. It links Flask Walk to New End. Once it was an actual mews.

*New End Primary School, Streatley Place, Hampstead, Camden, 1990, 90-4d-23*

New End Primary School in Streatley Place is still in use as “a happy and diverse school situated in Hampstead Village.” The flamboyant Edwardian baroque Grade II listed school was built in 1906, architect T J Bailey. It is said to be his best building.

*Streatley Place, Hampstead, Camden, 1990, 90-4d-24*

Streatley Place begins just off the busy Heath Street as a narrow alley off Back Lane and only widens a little by the school, whose playground is over the wall at the left of this picture. The chimney was for the boiler house of New End Hospital, founded in 1869 as the infirmary for the Hampstead Union workhouse which was closed and sold for redevelopment in 1986.

Thamesmead & The Thames – 1994

Thamesmead & The Thames: More pictures from my October and November 1994 visits to Thamesmead.

*Tavy Bridge, Thamesmead, Bexley, 1994, 94-1003-61*

I hope the captions which I wrote at the time are accurate, but I found parts of Thamesmead rather confusing to walk around. There are both streets and raised walkways and various footpaths, and I don’t think the map was always too helpful.

*Tavy Bridge Centre, Thamesmead, Bexley, 1994, 94-1003-63*

However these shops were certainly at the Tavy Bridge Centre. Thamesmead is built on the flood plain and the whole area had been badly flooded before the new estate was developed. The planners decided to build with garages at street level and the living areas of the housing at first floor and above so as not to be vulnerable to floods.

*Tavy Bridge, Thamesmead, Bexley, 1994, 94-1003-52*

Some of the areas liable to flooding have since been rebuilt with housing at ground level. I assume that the river walls are now thought to be an adequate defence, but would not myself buy a house there.

*Footbridge, Yarnton Way, Thamesmead, Bexley, 1994, 94-116-41*

Sea levels are slowly rising as the earth gets hotter because of increasing levels of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels means that ice melts. The Thames Barrier still protects most of London, but will need to be replaced. Thamesmead is downstream of the barrier and so will need its own extra protection. At some point with high spring tides and an easterly gale this will be overtopped.

*River Thames, Beckton, Canary Wharf, Thamesmead, Bexley, Greenwich, 1994, 94-115-44*

I walked on to the riverside promenade, Thameside Walk. Looking towards the west both the remains of the Beckton gas works and Canary Wharf were visible though there was considerable haze due to air pollution in London.

*River Thames, Ford, Dagenham, Thamesmead, Bexley, Greenwich, 1994, 94-115-45*

Across the Thames and a little to the east was the vast Ford complex at Dagenham, its logo visible on the water tower at left.

*Promenade, River Thames, Thamesmead, Bexley, 1994, 94-115-35*

The river is stretches away east towards the estuary, turning around towards the south in the distance. At the left of the picture is the Essex bank. The river is a little over 2000 feet wide here.

The panoramic images here were taken on a Russian Horizon swing-lens camera, its 28mm lens giving a horizontal angle of view of around 127 degrees (often stated as 120.) The negatives, on standard 35mm film are 58x24mm, a similar width as a ‘6×6’ medium format camera though only 2/5 the height. It was possible to use the camera handheld, but for these pictures I used a sturdy Manfrotto tripod, usually working from a normal eye height of a little over 5 foot.

More to come from Thamesmead.

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Soldier F, HS2 & Bees – 2019

Soldier F, HS2 & Bees: On Saturday 28th September 2019 people, many former soldiers, were protesting in Westminster against the prosecution of ‘Soldier F’ for the murder of unarmed civil rights protesters in Londonderry on ‘Bloody Sunday’ in 1972. From there I went to Euston for a protest against the destruction of ancient woodland to build HS2 and finally to Stoke Newington for a protest against the lack of action over climate change which threatens the future of many species including our own.

Veterans Moon for Soldier F

Parliament Square

Soldier F was one of several paratroopers who had opened fire on unarmed civilian protesters in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday’ in 1972.

Although the government had recently announced that soldiers would be granted protection against prosecution for any alleged historic offences, a special exemption allowed offences during the Irish ‘Troubles’ to be brought to court. Soldier F was the first to be brought to trial. The protesters called for this exemption to be removed and the case to be dropped.

The square was surrounded by riders and motorbikes who were to ride as a part of the protest and there were hundreds waiting to march, along with a few military vehicles. A small group on the top of one of these dropped their trousers, mooning towards Parliament and also turning and then towards the middle of the square.

Soldier F was eventually found ‘Not Guilty’ by a Belfast Court Judge in 2025.

Veterans Moon for Soldier F

HS2 threatens ancient Woodland

Euston

*Chris Packham with a man dressed as a tree hold pots of saplings from South Cubbington Wood*

Despite huge cost overruns and the abandonment of the routes past Birmingham that were needed to make the project worthwhile, HS2 was (and is) still going ahead, its route ploughing through and destroying acres of irreplaceable ancient woodland.

The Woodland Trust had come for a ‘Euston: We have a Problem’ with people carrying plants in posts and Chris Packham handed out acorns for people to take home and plant. My own fairly small garden already has far too many trees – and I have to pull up hundreds of ash saplings every year or it would really be a small forest, but I didn’t refuse them.

HS2 was justified by the need for greater capacity on the West Coast mainline by providing an alternative route north of Birmingham – but will not now do so. It will take far longer to build than envisaged and cost more than twice as much while providing little in return – a few minutes shorter ride between London and Birmingham but to stations at each end rather disconnected from the rest of our transport system, so probably meaning longer overall journey times for most passengers.

HS2 is a huge and continuing example of throwing good money after bad; it should never have got off the ground and successive governments have lacked the political courage to cancel it.

The protest came days before destruction was to start of South Cubbington Wood, one of 30 classified ancient woodlands among a total of 108 woods to be wholly or partly lost to HS2. The felling was delayed for some time but huge numbers of trees were felled there in 2020.

HS2 threatens ancient Woodland

Requiem for a Bee

Stoke Newington

Extinction Rebellion Hackney marched from Clissold Park to Stoke Newington Town Hall behind a coffin ‘OUR FUTURE’ in protest against failures to take action over global heating which is caused by increasing levels of man-made greenhouse gases. After speeches there XR Hackney marched to a final rally at the gates of Abney Park Cemetery on Stamford Hill.

The protest title, ‘Requiem For A Bee’ referred to the Red Girdled Mining Bee previously found in the cemetery becoming extinct there due to loss of habitat due to increasing development in Hackney.

They demanded that Hackney Council appoint a biodiversity officer, act on their recent declaration of climate emergency, include XR and other local groups in a citizens assembly, commit to net zero emissions by 2025 and divest 100% of pension fund from fossil fuels.

Fortunately for me the protest was late in starting as I had arrived late after rushing from Euston. I was able to photograph it leaving the park and then continue all the way to the end. I found the final rally with an odd period of reflection rather strange.

Requiem for a Bee

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Labour Party Conference 2009

Labour Party Conference: I’ve almost completely avoided political party conferences, which I find intensely boring. Perhaps if I had been commissioned to cover them I would have done so but I think I’ve never really needed the money that much, and I don’t have one of those long heavy and often white lenses that seem to be de rigeur.

So, while I went to Brighton on 27th September 2009 for the Labour Party Conference it wasn’t to photograph the actual conference but for the protest taking place outside the conference centre, and I also photographed a few other things happening around its edges.

Gordon on the Gravy Train etc

Labour Party Conference, Brighton

Labour Party Conference 2009 — *The ‘Vote for a Change’ campaign’s Westminster Gravy Train – and David Cameron in a blue tie at the back*

Sunday was a splendid day with a clear bright blue sky that contrasted with the mood inside Fortress Brighton, surrounded by armed police and anti-tank obstacles where the conference was taking place.

Labour in 2009 was in a state of political turmoil following the financial crash and had come in third place in the European elections in June behind the Tories and UKIP. Local elections had been disastrous with many seats lost and the Tories taking control of many authorities. Labour had been badly hit by the MPs expenses scandal and some Labour MPs were openly calling on Gordon Brown to resign.

The ‘Westminster Gravy Train’ by the Vote for a Change campaign was offering free transport to conference delegates. They called for a break with the “voting system that has left parliament unaccountable and unrepresentative” and for a referendum on electoral reform. Unfortunately the change we got in 2010 was to a disastrous coalition between Tory and Lib-Dems with a brutal and damaging programme of cuts.

Others protesting outside the centre included the Shaker Aamer campaign calling for the release of this UK resident from the US illegal prison camp at Guantanamo Bay where he was still held despite having been cleared for release, people calling for a boycott of Israeli goods, a protest against the Kafkaesque anti-terrorist control orders which allowed the government to impose severe restrictions on people relying on secret evidence in violation of their human rights.

And there were other protests about climate change, housing and more, with many people han ding out leaflets to conference delegates as they made their way into the centre, as well as the main demonstration I had travelled to Brighton to cover.

More on My London Diary at Gordon on the Gravy Train etc.

Jobs, Education, Peace Protest March & Rally

Labour Party Conference, Brighton

*Three orange marine distress flares were set off opposite the Labour Party Conference*

The protest had been called by trade unions and pressure groups – the UCU, NUJ, PCS, NUT, CWU and RMT, Right to Work, Stop the War and Unite Against Fascism – to demand a change in direction over proposals to cut public expenditure – and they had chartered a train to take people from London to the event, while others had come from around the country to join around two thousand on the seafront. I’d got up early to make my own way there by normal rail services.

*Tower Hamlets College “We Fought & We Won”*

For once there was some good news – a month-long strike at Tower Hamlets College had ended in talks at the arbitration service ACAS the previous day with agreement to avoid 25 compulsory redundancies.

But there was no such relief for the workers at wind power company Vestas Blades on the Isle of White who were at the front of the march, inexplicably abandoned by the government when the management decided to close this vital green industry down in the Isle of White and move production to the USA. As I commented then, “the government seems committed to gamble on the unlikely pipe-dream that the dirtiest of power-generation technologies – coal-fired power stations – can be tamed by 100% carbon capture and storage.”

Before the march started there were short speeches, including from a woman from the campaign waged by cleaners and other low paid workers in London for a living wage, another from Youth Fight For Jobs and a final speech from Brighton and Hove District Trades Council welcoming us to Brighton.

*Two rows of barriers a roadway, two rows of police and a hedge between protesters and the conference centre*

Despite this being a predictably peaceful event there was a very large police presence, not always helpful. They routed the march some distance away from the conference centre on the promenade rather than on the road outside and then for its return on the lower promenade more or less out of sight of the centre for the final rally.

On the march was an autonomous group of mainly students with the banner ‘STUFF THE MARKET – TAX THE RICH’ who periodically halted to allow a gap to develop in front of them, working up their chanting to a crescendo before rushing forwards scattering the photographers and videographers in front of them.

*Taken over my shoulder at left as I rushed forward in front of the marchers*

On My London Diary you can read a list of the speakers and an account of the final rally where many speakers expressed their dissatisfaction with the policies of New Labour which had abandoned its working class base. There are also many more pictures both from the march and the rally.

Jobs, Education, Peace March & Rally

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CETA, Iraq, Highwalks & HP – 2014

CETA, Iraq, Highwalks & HP: On Friday 26th September 2014 I photographed a protest against the finalising of CETA, a trade agreement between Canada and the EU negotiated in secret which would allow large companies to challenge democratic decisions taken by governments. After this I went to College Green, until recently listed as a public park but now often closed by police to stop protesters appearing in TV interviews there of politicians, where people were attempting to protest against the bombing of Iraq.

From Westminster I went into the City of London and had time for a walk taking panoramic pictures mainly of the highwalks which are under threat of demolition to allow a higher density of commercial development before photographing a picket at Hewlett-Packard’s offices against their major role in IT support of the Israeli war machine.

CETA Trade Deal Threat to Democracy

Dept Business, Innovation & Skills

CETA, Iraq, Highwalks & HP - 2014 — *Protesters pose in front of Big Ben on their way from the BIS to Europe House*

War on Want, the World Development Movement, Occupy London and others came to protest when it became known that the EU and Canada were today to initial the CETA Treaty which would hand over unchallengeable powers to big business to override governments and democracy, and put company profits above all other interests. This was a small emergency protest called at very short notice in advance of a #noTTIP day of action to take place in London on 11th October 2014.

Negotiations over the treaty, the Canada and European Union (EU) Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) and its wider equivalent TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) had been carried out in strict secrecy, with the documents on them to be locked away for thirty years.

The treaties include the process known as ISDS (Investor-State Dispute Settlement) which greatly affects the ability of governments to make legislation, with legal action bypassing UK and other national courts to be decided by international arbitration tribunals where the loss of potential profits come above any consideration of public interest.

In 2014 there were already around 500 documented cases of big companies attempting to use ISDS powers to challenge democratic decisions around the world, including A Swedish company suing Germany for phasing out nuclear power and a French company suing Egypt because they have increased the minimum wage and introduced other measures to improve the conditions of workers. The UK had dropped proposals for plain packaging for cigarettes as the companies had threatened they would sue as it would cut cigarette sales and so their profits.

ISDS allows big business to challenge food safety regulation, green legislation and other vital measures, and curb protests against fracking and dirty energy, GMO, the arms trade and any other profitable corporate activities. It would also stop efforts to prevent the privatisation of the NHS.

The protest began outside the Dept of Business, Industry and Skills and went on to the London base of the European Parliament, stopping briefly outside the Houses of Parliament and handing out leaflets against the corporate power grab.

CETA was provisionally introduced in 2017 and has eliminated almost all existing tariffs and increased transatlantic trade but has not been ratified by ten EU states. The French Senate voted against it in 2024. Talks are now taking place on a replacement. Since Brexit is no longer applies in the UK and a new trade agreement with Canada came into force on 1 April 2021. ISDS continues under various other trade agreements.

CETA Trade Deal Threat to Democracy

Don’t bomb Iraq

Westminster

TV news often interview politicians on College Green, long always open to the public and housing a well-known Henry Moore statue, an small groups of protesters have often gone their to be seen and heard in the background of these interviews. And a few had come today when Parliament was debating the bombing of ISIS in Iraq

*A large banner along the edge of College Green*

Until recently it had been listed as a public park by Westminster Council but in 2014 new notices were put up stating it was a part of the Parliamentary estate, and they reserve the right to close the area to the public at any time. The area is now often completely closed to the public and police stop protesters entering it while TV crews are working there.

There was also a small group against the bombing protesting on the pavement in Parliament Square.

Don’t bomb Iraq

City Walk, High Walk

City of London

*Basinghall St and the fenced off Bassetlaw Highwalk*

Planners for the rebuilding of the City of London after the devastation of the Second World War had created an ambitious plan for the separation of pedestrians and traffic in much of the city with a series of ‘highwalks’.

But it was only ever implemented in limited areas of the City in particular around London Wall and the Barbican and where a new road, Upper and Lower Thames Street cut through the old City close to the River Thames. Despite the extensive bomb damage, much of the old London remained firmly at Street level.

Back in the 1980s and 1990s I had photographed extensively from these highwalks and in the 90s made a number of panoramic images which were exhibited and published.

In 2014 much of the highwalks south of London Wall and a large area directly to the north were being demolished to allow a higher density of commercial development in the area and I took a short walk to photograph some of what remained. In the 1990s I had worked with specialised swing-lens panoramic film cameras, but now I was able to work much more easily with a digital camera and software.

*Shakespeare bust in St Mary Aldermanbury Garden, Love Lane*

As well as on the highwalks I also made images at street level, particularly in the area around the Guildhall. The digital panoramas have a much wider vertical angle of view than my earlier film images and are here shown in full in a normal 3:2 aspect ratio, though usually I have cropped them top and bottom to a more panoramic format such as 16:9.

More at City Wall, High Walk.

Hewlett Packard Stop Supporting Israeli Military

Wood St, City

*Protesters with banners opposite HP’s offices on Wood St*

I had previously photographed protests by the Inminds human rights group Palestinian Prisoners Campaign outside the offices of security firm G4S, where 2 years of pickets perhaps played a part in their decision to pull out of Israeli prisons.

They had decided now to picket at Hewlett-Packard which boasts of ‘a massive presence’ in Israel and are the IT backbone for the Israeli war machine.

More pictures: HP told Stop Supporting Israeli Military.

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Surbiton Festival Market & Grand Parade – 2004

Surbiton Festival Market & Grand Parade: On Saturday 25 September, 2004 I went to Surbiton for the annual Surbiton Festival on the 4th Saturday in September. Surbiton is a suburban area to the south of Kingston and when it was first developed in the 1840s was known as Kingston-upon-Railway, although the name Surbiton has older roots from the Old English Suth Bere-tun – an outlying farm on the south (of Kingston’s River Hogsmill.) Kingston also has a Norbiton to the east of Kingston but north of the Hogsmill – but it doesn’t have its own festival.

In the Victorian and early twentieth century Surbiton very much grew up around its railway station, unlike Kingston’s on the main line out of Waterloo to the south-west. Although many trains hurtle though it at speed it is still a major commuter station and the festival and fair take place in streets close to it, with local shops and others mounting stalls.

I didn’t write much about it in 2004, apart from some picture captions – here is my entire text:

“Saturday was Surbiton, an oddly isolated suburb of Kingston, which has a festival with a grand parade and a little old-fashioned community spirit that I admire. Pity about the rain though. The Surrey Starlets were impressive, despite coming from Chessington.”

*Kingston is on the River Thames, and so has Sea Scouts*

*Four accordions outnumbered the rest of the Morris dancers*

This year’s Surbiton Festival is tomorrow, Saturday, 26th September and the parade starts at noon on St Andrews Road. I rather doubt if I will be there this year, but in 2004 I was still busily photographing community events such as this, which then seemed very much a thing from the past. But from the festival site it seems to have changed little now, even to have expanded slightly, with scouts, guides, army cadets, dance groups, sports, a marching band, motorcycles and classic cars.

Some more pictures from 2004 here on My London Diary.

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Intifada, Yemen & Vivisection – 2011

Intifada, Yemen & Vivisection: On Saturday 24 September 2011 I began work outside the M&S flagship store on Oxford Street where Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! were holding a special picket on the 11th anniversary of the Al-Aqsa Intifada.

Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! is the newspaper of the Revolutionary Communist Group, RCG, a British anti-imperialist Marxist-Leninist communist political organisation actively campaigning since the late 1970s, opposing racism and supporting campaigns for self-determination around the world, including against Apartheid South Africa, Ireland and the Palestinian struggle for freedom.

The RCG should have been in the news this week when one of their members, Sarah Cottle, was unanimously acquitted by the jury after a second trial on spurious Terrorism Act charges for her defence of the right of the Palestinian people to defend themselves. But you won’t have heard about it on the BBC.

From Oxford Street I went to Downing Street where people from the UK Yemeni community were holding a silent protest against the killings of peaceful protesters in Sanaa by troops loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Later I joined the National Anti-Vivisection Alliance (NAVA) who were marching from Temple Place to Downing Street to deliver a letter and hold a rally calling for an end to the use of live animals in laboratory experiments.

Although NAVA was only founded in 2010, its roots lie over a century earlier with outrage and political controversy in the early years of the twentieth century which led to riots, particularly around the statue of a cruelly and illegally dissected ‘brown dog’. A replica of this statue is now in Battersea Park, and some NAVA members had met there before the march. I made a detour on my way home after the march to take a few pictures of the statue.

Intifada 11 Years Protest at M&S

Oxford St

Intifada, Yemen & Vivisection - 2011 — *Handing out leaflets and collecting petition signatures outside Mars & Spencer on Oxford St*

The Second or ‘Al-Aqsa Intifada’ started shortly after the failure of the Camp David Middle East Peace Summit between US President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat in July 2000.

A visit by Likud party candidate for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to the Temple Mount, also the site of the Al-Aqsa mosque in September 2000 triggered days of riots and clashed between Palestinians and Israeli police and in the next five days, 5 Israelis and 47 Palestinians were killed and 1885 Palestinians wounded.

Sporadic outbreaks of violence and many suicide bombings continued until Sharon and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, who had been elected promising peaceful negotiation and non-violence against Israel, met at Sharm el-Sheikh in 2005 and agreed on various measures to de-escalate the violence. By then Wikipedia states around 3,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis had been killed along with 64 foreign nationals.

The RCG and others had begun a regular Thursday night picket outside M&S shortly after the start of the Second Intifada, with occasional protests on Saturdays. They state that M&S has the strongest and most long-standing support for Zionism of any British retail company, supporting Israel with £240 million of trade each year, including products from the illegal settlements.

More details and pictures on My London Diary: Intifada 11 Years Protest at M&S.

Silent Vigil For Yemen At Downing St

Protests against the regime of President Saleh had been taking place since January, when thousands of protesters took to the streets of the capital Sanaa and other cities in southern Yemen.

In March, government forces opened fire on the protesters killing 52, and the president declared a state of emergency. Military actions followed with Saleh being injured and leaving the country for surgery.

Ahead of Saleh’s return to the country in September the army began violent attacks on peaceful democracy protesters camped out it the capital with a series of attacks usingt automatic weapons, anti-aircraft guns and rocket-propelled grenades, said to have led to more than 100 deaths.

*They want an end to the Saudi dominance in Yemen*

By late 2014 the situation had worsened, leading to the civil war which is still continuing.

Silent Vigil For Yemen At Downing St.

Enough Is Enough – Abolish Vivisection

Embankment and Battersea Park

*The march on the pavement along the embankment*

Supporters of the National Anti-Vivisection Alliance visited the statue of the Brown Dog, commemorating the start of the campaign against vivisection in 1900, and then marched through London to take a letter to Downing St calling for an end to animal experiments.

Many on the march wore purple clothing and carried purple flags, the colour of the anti-vivisectionists. They marched in silence behind a banner with the simple message ABOLISH VIVISECTION.

NAVA carry out peaceful demonstrations backed by investigations in a law abiding campaign “backed by scientists, doctors, lawyers, journalists and members of the public across Britain” to bring an end to the use of animals in research.

On My London Diary you can read more about the suffering of animals and the case of the Brown Dog which led to the erection of sculpture to the tortured animal in Battersea which became a centre for riots and fighting between medical students and anti-vivisectionists.

The statue and the ornate fountain on which the original statue stood needed a 24 hour police guard and eventually in 1910 council workers came at night guarded by 120 police to demolish it. The bronze dog was melted down.

*I found a woman still on her way to join the march reading the long text on the plinth*

A new statue of the brown dog, commissioned by anti-vivisection groups, was erected in Battersea Park in 1985.

Enough Is Enough – Abolish Vivisection

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No Cars in Bromley & Stockwell Festival – 2006

No Cars in Bromley & Stockwell Festival: On Saturday 23rd September 2006 I went to Bromley where there was a ‘No Car’ day taking place, only to find there was little or nothing to photograph. Bromley is on the south-east edge of London, and although it has a heavily built-up centre with tall office blocks is surrounded by huge car parks and outer suburbs with many streets of 1920s and 30s semi-detached houses most now with several cars parked outside. Although the area has some good public transport for many of its residents living without a car would be unthinkable. I hung around for a short time but took few pictures, only a single one I thought worth putting on-line, then walked past the War Memorial and on to the station.

More was happening in Stockwell which is the centre of London’s Portuguese community and I enjoyed the festival although it was on a small scale. There are now much more organised and larger events every July in Larkhall Park, but rather less intimate and its a while since I covered such things. My accounts written in 2006 below.

No Car in Bromley?

East Street, Bromley

The good thing about Bromley is that it has a very fast train service from Victoria. So it only took me a few minutes to get there to see its car-free street festival, hidden away in a side street a couple of minutes walk from the busy (and pedestrianised) shopping streets and the large and crowded car parks.

Bromley is very stony ground for sowing environmental seed, and the lack of interest shown by the inhabitants in what was going on was unsurprising, if disappointing both to me and to the organisers. I hope a few more strayed in later in the day.

Stockwell Festival 2006

Slade Gardens, Stockwell

I wanted to be back in Stockwell for the festival parade. There wasn’t a lot of interest on the festival field – some Portuguese sardines and beer (nasty fizz), a sort of inflatable tent, the usual face-painting and drumming etc for kids, bike workshops and a fair trade stall.

But the parade itself was a small and lively affair, with lots of people demanding I take their picture.

I enjoyed it [and took many more pictures than I put online.] But when I saw my bus coming along the road I decided it was time for home.

More pictures

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St Matthews Day, Uganda & Mass Lone Demos – 2006

St Matthews Day, Uganda & Mass Lone Demos: A long day for me on Friday 22 September 2006, beginning with a parade in heavy rain in the City of London by students from Christ’s Hospital school which moved out of Newgate to West Sussex in 1902 but return each year for this annual event. I had time to spare for a lunch and then a some rather frustrating and disappointing trips to photography galleries before photographing a protest over the persecution of gays in Uganda. Finally I went to Parliament Square for another evening of mass lone demos.

Below I’ll post a few of the pictures with the text I wrote back in 2006, tidied up as usual, and links to more pictures still on My London Diary.

St Matthew’s Day Procession – Christ’s Hospital School

London

St Matthews Day, Uganda & Mass Lone Demos - 2006

Friday I tried some underwater photography in the city, taking pictures of the annual St Matthews Day march by pupils of Christ’s Hospital School from a service in St Andrew’s Holborn. I kept with them all the way to Mansion House, where they turned down Walbrook before returning for their lunch with the Lord Mayor, but conditions were really atrocious for them and for me.

I kept the camera under my waterproof coat as much as possible, and kept wiping the rain of the lens filter with a microfibre cloth, but eventually the lens misted up inside and stopped focusing. So there are some interesting effects, but not much in the way of pictures.

A few more pictures

I lunched on my own, then set off to visit a few photo galleries. The first two were closed, despite being advertised as open, which wasn’t a good start. But the third was open, as was the National Portrait Gallery, though the work there was a disappointment.

Outrage Protests at Uganda House

Trafalgar Square

In Trafalgar Square Outrage and others were demonstrating outside Uganda House against the persecution of gays in Uganda. At first I thought the protestors were likely to be outnumbered by the two police, but eventually around 50 turned up, some having travelled a couple of hundred miles to be there.

I missed one picture of a Ugandan inside the building who had come up to the glass doors and was behind their rather fancy bird-shaped handles; as I raised my camera he scurried quickly away. Others were watching through the curtained windows of the upper stories.

More pictures

Mass Lone Demo

Parliament Square

There were two sets of mass lone demos – following the idea of Mark Thomas – arranged for 6.00pm and 6.30pm in Parliament Square, with some demonstrators having also applied for permission to protest in Whitehall outside Downing Street later in the evening.

*The Raving Loony Party also I think opposes SOCPA, although Albanian Stalinist leader Enva Hoxha didn’t mention it.*

As well as the usual staunch supporters of Brian Haw (and of course the man himself) there were a wide variety of causes, across a whole spectrum from insanely nutty to deadly serious.

At least two commented on the actual nature of placards and signs, and those present demonstrated a wide range of care and skill.

The shortest demo on record was probably achieved by the two protesters who had brought a finely painted bendy bus, but, doubtless due to being held up in traffic, it arrived late and they finished their demonstration almost before it had started.

*Mark Thomas, Babs Tucker and Brian Haw*

The police stood around the edge of the square, not bothering to check up on what was going on. After all, one or two unauthorised demonstrations weren’t going to make a lot of difference among all those who had permission.

Even cheeky comments from some of the more regularly harassed protesters failed to arouse their interest.

More pictures

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PFI Hospital Threat & World Peace – 2013

PFI Hospital Threat & World Peace: On Saturday 21st September 2013 I went to Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone for a protest march and rally against plans for massive cuts and closures there because of the huge and continuing repayments to bankers who financed the PFI (Private Finance Initiative – protesters call it Private Fraud Initiative – for the replacement of another London Hospital. Later I went to Trafalgar Square where young professionals were celebrating World Peace Day with the help of the Olympic volunteers in the Pandemonium Drummers.

Save Whipps Cross Hospital

Whipps Cross to Walthamstow

PFI Hospital Threat & World Peace - 2013 — *Nurses with placards at the rally in Town Square, Walthamstow*

Whipps Cross Hospital is a large, well-managed and highly successful hospital serving a large area of north-east London, financially viable and highly regarded in the local community.

It was saved from closure in 2007-8 by a well supported local campaign but in 2013 was under threat again, not for anything to do with this hospital, but because of huge debt repayments under the PFI agreement which enabled the building of a new Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, also a part of the Barts Health Trust.

PFI was a scheme to take new government investments off of the government’s books by getting private finance for large developments – and saddling the taxpayer with huge repayments to the bankers over the next 50 or more years.

New Labour leapt into these schemes for short-term political advantage (in this case a shiny new replacement hospital for the ancient Royal London in Whitechapel) in exchange for long-term economic disaster, apparently in the hope that ‘something would come up’ or that we would enjoy a period of huge expansion and inflation. What did come up was the financial crisis and depression, and the result if no action is taken will be to require the sacrifice of the NHS as we know it.

The protesters said we had already paid for that new hospital five times over and payments would continue for another 35 years or so. The financiers used their expertise to run rings around the civil servants in the negotiations over the PFI contracts, locking the hospital into inefficient but highly profitable long-term contracts for maintenance and other services and were receiving annual repayments of £115m a year (£2.21m per week.)

Whipps Cross and the other hospitals in the Barts group – Newham, Mile End, the London Chest Hospitals and the Royal London itself – have already seen drastic cuts in staffing and services, leading to closures of wards and failure to meet standards. At Whipps Cross these have caused systemic failings in elderly care and maternity, failing to meet 10 of the 16 national standards for quality and safety, for which the hospital has received three formal warnings.

Barts Trust was losing £2m a year and needed to make further cuts, totaling £77.5m per year, which would fall heavily on Whipps Cross.

Around 500 people turned up outside the hospital to march through Leyton to a rally in Walthamstow. They demanded an end to the mismanagement and cuts by Barts Hospital Trust and for the government to take action to cancel or at least severely cut the PFI debt.

*Charlotte Monro disciplined by hospital management for her trade union activities*

Hospital managers had two months earlier banned Unison’s Waltham Forest health branch chair Charlotte Monro from representing her members and she and nurses rep Rod Villaggio both got huge cheers when they spoke at the Walthamstow rally. The action was supported by other trade unionists including Fire Brigade Union General Secretary Matt Wrack who made a powerful speech.

More on My London Diary at Save Whipps Cross Hospital.

World Peace Day

Trafalgar Square

*Dancers and drummers on the North Terrace*

Young professionals from Junior Chamber of Commerce for London or JCI (Junior Chamber International) celebrated the UN’s World Peace Day, promoted by Peace One Day in Trafalgar Square by dancing to a band in blue hats with lightbulbs, some of the Pandemonium Drummers, volunteers who took part in the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony.

This was World Peace Day, fixed as 21st October in 1999 thanks to the efforts of the organisation Peace One Day which was also behind this event.

Both Peace One Day and Chambers of Commerce support many good charitable projects, but I remain unconvinced that they – or events like this do anything to promote world peace. Certainly we don’t see them taking part in protests against arms manufacturers or the DSEi arms fair or at the annual Hiroshima Day events. And I don’t imagine them lobbying to reduce our military spending or against our participation in wars around the world.

World Peace Day

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