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NT Racism Protest & Eid Milad-Un-Nabi – 2009

NT Racism Protest & Eid Milad-Un-Nabi: I began work on Saturday 21st March 2009 outside the National Theatre . A protest by East End artists and community activists was calling for an open debate at the National Theatre over a play there which they say was racist. I then went to Tooting where I had been invited by the Sunni Muslim Association to photograph their annual Eid Milad-Un-Nabi celebrations.

Love Theatre Hate Racism Protest NT Play

National Theatre

NT Racism Protest & Eid Milad-Un-Nabi - 2009 — *East-Enders object to racial stereotyping in ‘England People Very Nice’ and call for a public debate*

A small group of East End artists and community activists protested outside the National theatre calling for an open debate on the play ‘England People Very Nice‘ which was being performed there.

They say the play, set in Bethnal Green and covering three centuries is anti-Bangladeshi, anti-Irish, and Islamophobic, and in February East-End playwright Hussain Ismail and teacher Keith Kinsella had walked on stage during a talk by the play’s author to make their views clear, interupting the talk for around 10 minutes before they were removed by security.

And National Theatre security tried to stop this protest on a public walkway in front of the theatre too, telling the protesters they could not protest there and a cameraman who was videoing the event that he was not allowed to take pictures. But the protesters refused to leave and we kept videoing and photographing and after a few minutes he left.

I’ve not seen the play, though I did read a number of reviews and it certainly caused a great deal of distress, and the publicity over this made it a box office hit for the NT who extended its run. As I commented in 2009, I think it is a proper part of the NT’s remit to be controversial, but it should also – as the protesters were demanding “provide a proper forum to explore that controversy. I very much support the protesters who challenge what they see to be racism and the motives of the playwright and the NT in putting on this work.”

The link to the Institute of Race Relations article from May 2009 gives a good indication of why this play became so controversial.

Love Theatre Hate Racism Protest at NT

Eid Milad-Un-Nabi Celebrations

Sunni Muslim Association, Tooting

I was pleased to have been invited by the Sunni Muslim Association to photograph their Eid Milad-Un-Nabi celebrations to mark the anniversary of the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad.

It was publicised as a a community event to which all – Muslim and non-Muslim – were invited, although unfortunately few non-Muslims took the opportunity to attend. I think many more would have enjoyed it.

The personal invitation came after I had photographed a couple of their annual processions and had attended an earlier cultural event by the SMA at Tooting Leisure Centre, run by the London Borough of Wandsworth.

As I commented, “It was a very friendly event and although much of the first half was in Urdu or Arabic, there were some fine voices to listen to in the recitations. There was also a very well-produced exhibition about Islam.”

But many outside of the Muslim community would have found the second half more enjoyable. A Sudanese group give some fine performances of religious songs, Muslim comedian Prince Abdi was extremely funny and the Whirling Dervishes were just amazing.

Their dance is “a kind of spiritual rebirth, with their tall hats representing the ‘tombstone of the ego’ and the wide white skirt it’s shroud. The right arm lifts towards the sky to receive God’s blessings and the left palm on which he directs his gaze is turned towards the earth… And they do whirl and whirl, making me dizzy just watching them.”

Photographing them was something of a challenge as the lighting was low and there was a delicate balance between freezing the movement with flash and allowing a certain blur to indicate their movement. I didn’t always get it right.

On My London Diary I list the other performances that follow with my comments. I particularly enjoyed an a capella performance about life in Gaza by Muslim convert rap poet and activist Spitz, but all were excellent.

As I concluded, “It was a fine night’s entertainment – and one that showed (unlike some religious events I’ve attended in the past) that being profoundly spiritual doesn’t mean not being highly talented or not having a good time.”

*The Pearls of Islam – two spendid Afro-Caribbean performers from East London*

Among others invited to the event were Sadiq Khan, then MP for Tooting who spoke at athe event and several of the neighbourhood police, one of whom as on the jury of four which awarded the prize for the evening’s entertainment to the two remarkable Afro-Caribbean women from East London, ‘The Pearls of Islam’, drumming and performing their own poetry and songs.

More about the event and many more pictures on My London Diary at Eid Milad-Un-Nabi Celebrations.

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Druids Celebrate the Spring Equinox – 2009

Tower Hill, London.

Druids Celebrate the Spring Equinox: On Friday 20th March 2009 I went to Tower Hill to photograph the annual ceremony there by the Druid Order.

It’s an interesting event to see and their web site this year states
“Our Ceremony will be held at our traditional venue of Tower Hill.
12 noon, Friday, 20th March.”

I probably won’t be there today. It’s an event I’ve photographed on various occasions and stopped going when I felt I was simply repeating myself.

I’ve also described the ceremony – and that at Primrose Hill on the Autumn Equinox – as well as some of the history of druidism and in particular of the Druid Order in various posts on My London Diary. So here I’ll just post some images of key points with brief captions.

*A horn is blown to the four points of the compass*

*Then with a raised sword, the question is asked, “Is it peace?”*

The Wikipedia post The Druid Order gives some brief details and links to a couple of my posts.

The Wikipedia link to ‘Autumn Equinox ceremony pictures‘ no longer works but you can view these from various years on My London Diary, most recently from 2014 in Druids on Primrose Hill. Search on My London Diary for ‘Druid Order‘ to find more.

*then goes around the circle pouring it at intervals on the ground as a libation.*

In my 2009 post I linked to the Spring Equinox ceremnonies in 2007 and 2008 and quoted a brief description from 2008 – so here it is again:

"The horn was sounded to the four corners, and then the sword was raised, and it was peace from the North, South, West and East. The Earth Mother, Ceridwen and her attendants brought a horn for a libation, seeds to scatter and flowers into the circle, and those departed were remembered."

You can also find a selection of my images of the Druid Order on Alamy available for personal or editorial use.

*The Chief Druid gives a short address and then Druids join hands around the circle,*

*and after a inal blessing process back to their starting place to unrobe.*

All of the pictures in this post are from Friday 20th march 2009 where with more images they show the event in detail., You can see more of them at Druids Celebrate the Spring Equinox.

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Belvedere Riverside & Plumstead – 1994

Belvedere Riverside & Plumstead: Some more pictures including some panoramas from my Thames riverside walk on Monday 1st August 1994, and a few from Plumstead a few days later.

*Ford Ferry, Pier, River Thames, Belvedere, Bexley, 1994, 94-805-22*

Ford at Dagenham was just on the opposite bank of the Thames, with a Ford ship moored in front of it and some ominous black smoke rising.

But although the Ford was only around 600 metres away, the fastest route for workers driving from here to the factory was around 15 miles. Taking the Woolwich ferry would take a couple of miles off this, but be slower.

*Ford Ferry, Pier, River Thames, Belvedere, Bexley, 1994, 94-802-11*

Many of Ford’s workers did live south of the river, either in Thamesmead or further away, and Ford provided a large suppposedly secure car park here from which they could walk down the pier to the Ford Ferry to take them across the river.

Ford had come to Dagenham in 1929 and opened the factory in 1931. They set up the private ferry for workers living in Kent in 1933. In its heyday it made 50 crossings a day taking as many as 1,500 workers to and from the plant, but after vehicle production ended with the plant turning to making engines it was only taking around 240 across and Ford discontinued it in 2003. Eventually they were forced to pay around half a million in compensation and to provide a bus service instead.

Much earlier there had been a Pilgrims ferry from Rainham to Erith, for pilgrims on their way to Canterbury, said to have begun in 1199 and to have continued in use until the mid 1950s.

*Riverside Path, River Thames, Belvedere, Bexley, 1994, 94-802-12*

Around here I turned back towards Erith, taking some more pictures on my way (some of which were included in my previous post.)

*Riverside Path, River Thames, Belvedere, Bexley, 1994, 94-802-13*

I can’t now remember exactly where on the path this was, but I think I walked all the way back to Erith and to the station there.

Penny's Cafe, Motor Auctions, Erith, Bexley, 1994, 94-803-32 — *Penny’s Cafe, Motor Auctions, Manor Road, Erith, Bexley, 1994, 94-803-32*

Finally from that day in Erith, one I took earlier around the start of my walk but failed to post previously. Manor Road leads out east from Erith and was then an industrial area.

This Café (and Motor Auctions) had also clearly once been a factory and still catered for workers in nearby factories. Facebook posts say it had been an engineering factory called Ivor & Jettage, that the café was full of boxing photos and that its yard, used for motor auctions and later car boot sales on Sundays, was in 2024 a scaffolding yard. But I have been unable to confirm this.

*Nathan Way, Plumstead, Greenwich, 1994, 94-806-52*

A few days after my Erith walk I was back not far away in Plumstead, and made just a handful of colour images including these three.

This picture was made from The Ridgeway a foot and cycle path on top of the Southern Outfall Sewer from Plumstead to Crossness. Nathan Way runs for around 600 metres just to the north of this and most industrial sites along here were demolished by 2015 and are being replaced by a huge estate of blocks of flats, Lombard Square, with 1,913 new homes. The first were finished in 2025.

*Nathan Way, Plumstead, Greenwich, 1994, 94-805-24*

Another image from The Greenway not far from where I made the panorama above. From 1888-90 here or close by Royal Arsenal football team played here at what became the Manor Ground. They moved next to Woolwich, becoming Woolwich Arsenal but soon found the rent there too high and moved back. They played their last game here in 1913 before moving to Highbury in North London – and of course losing the Woolwich.

Some industry remains at the east end of this stretch of Nathan Way but I’m not sure this includes any in my picture.

*Panoramic, Double Glazing, Nathan Way, Plumstead, Greenwich, 1994, 94-806-31*

Nathan Way is a long road leading from Plumsteaad to Thamesmead and I think this may have been on the corner with Kellner Road.. But the name repeated on the lorry and the large modern shed behind as well as on what was perhas a small shed in the foreground was unmissable. I just had to make a Panorama.

Tony's Snack Bar, Nathan Way, Plumstead, Greenwich, 1994, 94-805-26 — *Tony’s Snack Bar, Nathan Way, Plumstead, Greenwich, 1994, 94-805-26*

I think the building at left it 115 Nathan Way, now occupied by Hydraquip Hose & Hydraulics, while behind are the roofs of Belmarsh Prison. But the picture is about the mobile snack bar here and the neat empty row of six white chairs for its then non-existent customers.

My walk continued on into Thamesmead but although I took quite a few black and white pictures I can’t at the moment find any more colour – and perhaps I took none.

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Syria & St Patrick – 2012

Syria & St Patrick: Saturday 17th March 2012 was of course St Patrick’s Day, but before rushing to Willesden Green to photograph the St Patrick’s Day Parade there I photographed Syrians calling for freedom marching to the Syrian Embassy, where a rather smaller number had arrived earlier to support President Assad. When the march got to Edgware Road I took the Underground to Willesden Green and after photographing the procession rushed back to Belgrave Square and the Syrians.

Free Syrians March To Embassy

Paddington to Belgrave Square

Over a thousand Syrians had come to Paddington Green for the start of a march calling for freedom in Syria and an end to the massacres of the Syrian people.

They held a noisy rally there with a great deal of shouting, showing support for the ‘Free Syrian Army’, which included many who deserted from the Syrian Army after having been ordered to fire on innocent Syrian people.

A woman held a poster stating that 11,035 people had been killed by Asad’s forces, while others had placards giving monthly figures, for example that in December 2011 they had killed 1119 including 58 women and 68 children.

After an hour the march set off. I left them at Edgware Road but returned later to cover the events in Belgrave Square where there was a large pen filling most of the north side of the square with a platform for speakers opposite the Syrian Embassy.

Next to the platform was a tall tower, a reminder of the tower in the main square of Homs, where huge peaceful demonstrations were put down by force, and where over 700 people, including many women and children were killed in government attacks the previous December.

During the speeches an effigy of Asad hanging from a gallows was carried through the crowd.

There was a large police presence in the whole area around the square and double barriers with an area empty except for police around 50 yards wide separating their protest from a smaller counter-protest by Assad supporters.

Much more on My London Diary: Free Syrians Protest.

Asad Supporters Counter-Protest

Belgrave Square

I walked away from the Free Syria protest to visit the very much smaller counter-protest. As I commented, “It seemed more a disco about a personality cult than a political rally of any kind, with almost everyone waving a placard with Asad’s photograph on it, and many wearing t-shirts featuring his face.”

They were playing music at a distressingly high volume, distorted through their speakers, clearly in an attempt to drown out the speakers at the other protest. Thankfully there were a few times when the music stopped for people to lead chants praising Asad.

There was only one speech while I was there, with a man calling on people to go to Syria and see for themselves that the situation in the country was being falsely reported by the media.

The placards and banners were all expensively produced

Asad Supporters Counter-Protest

Brent St Patrick’s Day

Willesden Green

There had been doubts over whether there would be a Brent St Patrick’s Day procession in 2012 after Brent Council had been forced to make drastic cuts in council spending on community events.

But the event went ahead and as usual was led through the streets by the Mayor of Brent and St Patrick on its way from Willesden Green station to Willesden Library, though the streets did seem a little less crowded than in previous years.

On a smaller scale and with a more friendly atmosphere than the main London event, the procession was on St Patrick’s Day itself, which in 2012 was a Saturday. Most years I’d been there it had been on a schoolday; many children came from the schools to take part and watch along with their parents, but perhaps on a Saturday more had other things to do.

As usual, as well as the crowds that had gathered for the start of the parade, people came out of the bars on the street to watch as it passed.

There are many more pictures on My London Diary, though I had to rush away before the end to get back to photograph the Syrian protest in Belgrave Square.

Brent St Patrick’s Day

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St Anne’s and St Ann’s, Wandsworth – 1990

St Anne’s and St Ann’s, Wandsworth: My walk on Sunday 4th March 1990 had begun at Clapham Junction in Battersea with St John’s Road & East Hill, Battersea – 1990 and the previous post, More From Wandsworth 1990, had ended with a distant view of St Anne’s Church.

Houses, St Anne's Crescent, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-11 — Houses, St Ann’s Crescent, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-11

This area was towards the end of the 18th century still farmland, part of the Manor or All-Farthing, a small hamlet to the south of Wandsworth. An 1804 map shows there were still no houses here, only fields around what was then All Farthing Lane. The first houses were built here at the same time as the church, in the 1820s, but these are rather later in the century, probably around 1850.

At left is Surrey House, 6 St Anne’s Crescent. The two large semi-detached houses at 4-10 are shown on the 1873 OS map (on what was then St Anne’s Hill) and locally listed.

St Anne's Church, St Anne's Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-12 — *St Anne’s Church, St Ann’s Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-12*

St Anne’s was one of five ‘Waterloo Churches’ in the Southwark diocese built “as monuments to the victories at Trafalgar and Waterloo. Building of Saint Anne’s Church began in 1820 and was completed in 1824. The architect was Sir Robert Smirke. The church was consecrated on 1 May 1824 as a chapel of ease to the Parish Church of All Saints, Wandsworth.“

Smirke was a remarkably prolific architect and “is known to have designed or remodelled over twenty churches, more than fifty public buildings and more than sixty private houses.” These included seven of the the Waterloo Churches, and he was an official government architect and an adviser to the scheme – the only example of government funded church-building which provided a total of £1.5 million to provide 612 new Anglican churches. It was a huge scheme costing equivalent to more than £125 billion allowing for inflation.

Plowden & Smith, St Anne's Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-13 — *Plowden & Smith, St Ann’s Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-13*

I walked past the church to St Ann’s Hill (the church is St Anne’s but the street appears to have lost an ‘e’) and north along this. Plowden & Smith at 190-4, was established in 1966 and is a leading provider of art restoration services but they are now based in purpose-built premises on Morden Road, Mitcham. They left St Anne’s Hill around 2018. The building at 190 had previously been a sorting office and is now called Sorting House.

Plowden & Smith, St Anne's Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-14 — *Plowden & Smith, 190, St Ann’s Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-14*

As well as giving a good view of the frontage of the building I also liked the car parked partly obstructing the large painted sign ‘NO PARKING IN FRONT OF THIS BUILDING’. The development has retained most of the brickwork of the Victorian frontage but with more window area, and behind it and largely unnoticed from street level is a much taller modern structure which includes 9 new flats.

Temporary Housing, St Anne's Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-15 — *Temporary Housing, St Ann’s Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-15*

As I wrote in an earlier post, “The LCC designed temporary housing together with the Timber Development Association as a temporary solution to the then acute housing problem. I think these may have been replaced by new housing on Malva Close built in 1993.

Designed to last 15 years these homes came as two boxes which were craned onto piles of paving slabs and did not need dug foundations. The two boxes were than bolted together. The walls were asbestos covered with plastic and both roof and floor were made from plywood sheets sandwiching polystyrene insulation. They had a hall, living room, two bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom.”

Many seemed to have found them comfortable and were reluctant to leave, often being rehoused in less convenient locations and in pokier flats.

More to follow on this walk around Wandsworth.

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More From the Riverside – 1994

More From the Riverside: More pictures from my walk by the River Thames at Erith and Belvedere on Monday 1st August 1994 to its end in Plumstead.

My previous post from this walk, Thames Riverside – Erith 1994 ended as I approached the Erith Oil Works jetty. The path here climbs up to go over the roadway from the jetty into the works which provided some good views of the jetty,

*Jetty, River Thames, Erith Oil Works, Erith, Bexley, 1994, 94-802-52*

Riverside Path, River Thames, Erith Oil Works, Erith, Bexley, 1994, 94-804-23 — *Riverside Path, River Thames, Erith Oil Works, Erith, Bexley, 1994, 94-802-42*

Looking upstream from the bridge over the roadway from the jetty to Erith Oil Works – the tanks at left are part of the oil works site.

*Jetty, River Thames, Erith Oil Works, Erith, Bexley, 1994, 94-804-21*

I continued along the path, looking back to take another view of the jetty

Bulk Carrier Tecumseh, Jetty, River Thames, Erith Oil Works, Erith, Bexley, 1994, 94-804-32 — *Bulk Carrier Tecumseh, Jetty, River Thames, Erith Oil Works, Erith, Bexley, 1994, 94-804-53*

This whole shoreline was once lined by industrial sites with their own jetties, by 1994 mainly like this now derelict and shortened.

*Riverside Path, River Thames, Belvedere, Bexley, 1994, 94-805-45*

*Riverside Path, River Thames, Belvedere, Bexley, 1994, 94-805-32*

Looking inshore there will still industrial sites, but much no longer relying on the river, though there were still some like the aggregate works that still had working jetties.

*Jetty, Riverside Path, River Thames, Erith, Bexley, 1994, 94-802-43*

Another disused jetty a short distance upstream from the Oil Works.

*Wharf, Mulberry Way, Riverside Path, River Thames, Belvedere, Bexley, 1994, 94-805-31*

Sheds and neat stacks of orange and green boxes at a wharf – now serviced by road – at Mulberry Way. This gets its name from the temporary portable floating harbours some of which were constructed here in 1944 by Nuttall Brothers and towed to the French coast after D-Day to land supplies for the Allied invasion. Two temporary harbours were constructed on the Normandy coast; one only lasted a few days before being destroyed by a storm but that at Arromanches remained in use for 10 months.

*Wharf, Mulberry Way, Riverside Path, River Thames, Belvedere, Bexley, 1994, 94-802-33*

A panoraamic view from the same viewpoint as the previous image. I had climbed up on the wide concrete flood defence wall here to make the picture. The sky was filled with clouds, perfect weather for panoramic landscapes.

*Remains of wharf, Riverside Path, River Thames, Belvedere, Bexley, 1994, 94-802-21*

I kept walking along the riverside path, coming to these timbers which would once have supported a long landing stage on a wharf with a short jetty into deep water. Across the river you can see Tilbury Docks at the left of the picture, with the blue hull of a ship there and some cranes, and further towards the centre the chimney and turbine hall of East Tilbury Power Station.

The horizon, dead centre in the picture is straight but as you move further down in the picture the curvature produced by the cylindrical perspective become more and more apparent. The path at left is straight and it remained straight to where I was standing to take the picture and beyond. Usually I tried to compose photographs so that this curvature was less apparent, but here I rather liked the effect.

I was working with two swing lens panoramic cameras (and two ‘normal’ SLR cameras.) Normal wide-angle lenses use rectilinear perspective become unusable with a horizontal angle of view of around 90 degrees as the distance from the centre of the lens to the film increases as light travels to the edges of the frame, increasing the size of image objects. The curved film plane in a swing lens camera keeps the lens centre to film distance constant so objects are recorded at the same scale across the image. Of course the wooden posts get smaller in the image the further away they are from the camera.

*Riverside Path, River Thames, Belvedere, Bexley, 1994, 94-802-23*

The curvature is much less apparent in this image taken a few minutes later and a few yards further upstream. But the shadow at bottom left as actually the shadow of the same straight flood wall as the larger shadow at the right.

Both of the panoramic cameras I had gave images with a horizontal angle of view of somewhere around 130 degrees.

I’ll post more pictures from this walk later. More pictures also in my Flickr album 1994 London colour – and you can see these images larger there by clicking on them in this post.

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London St Patrick’s Day Parade – 2006

London St Patrick’s Day Parade: I used to enjoy St Patrick’s Day in London, particularly the parade in Willesden Green on the actual day itself. The main London celebrations take place the Sunday before this, and I made these pictures on Sunday 12th March 2006.

This annual London parade had begun in 2002 when Ken Livingstone, London’s first elected mayor. Though a Londoner, he had long been a supporter of a united Ireland and from 1987 to 2001 was MP for Brent East, a constituency with a large Irish population.

In his years as the leader of the Greater London Council from 1981 until its abolition by Thatcher in 1986 Livingstone had done much to change attitudes in London towards women and minority communities, and on being elected as London Mayor he began his victory speech saying “As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted 14 years ago…” and continued these and other policies from his years at the GLC.

One small part of his legacy to London was the opening up of Trafalgar Square to various Community celebrations – though there is much more, including changes to London’s transport begun under the GLC which made much of my photography of London much easier. His successor took the credit for Livingstone’s ‘Boris Bikes’ though Ken was not responsible for the multiple bikes for hire that now litter our pavements in a rather mad private developments of this.

I photographed the first London St Patrick’s Day Parade in 2002. All the pictures here are from the 2006 Parade and below is the short text I wrote for this.

London now has one of the larger celebrations of St Patricks Day, held on the Sunday before the actual day, with a parade from Hyde Park to Trafalagar Square and events there as well as in Leicester Square and Covent Garden.

The parade celebrates the enormous contribution the Irish have made to the capital – approximately 400,000 people of Irish descent form the largest minority group in London. Paraders come from various community associations and other Irish groups and cultural organisations in the London Boroughs, including Irish dancing, music and sports. There are also some groups from Ireland.

Leading the parade is an Irish Wolfhound, the mascot of the London Irish team, along with various Irish leaders and of course the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, more green than red on this occasion.

Unfortunately government cuts under the coalition’s austerity programme meant the Brent council could no longer support the St Patrick’s Day parade in Willesden Green and I last photographed a rather smaller event there in 2013. The London St Patrick’s Parade and St Patrick’s Festival at Trafalgar Square are on Sunday 15 March 2026, but like so many events is much more organised and for me less interesting, and its years since I last went.

More pictures from 2006 on My London Diary

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Pancakes and Pickets – 2014

Pancakes and Pickets: Tuesday 4th March 2014 was very much a day of two halves for me, starting with the City of London at play in Guildhall Yard and going on to the School of Oriental and African Studies where cleaners were beginning a two-day strike demanding an end to bullying by their employer ISS and to be brought back into direct employment and treated with respect by SOAS management with equal rights to other employees.

City of London Pancake Races

Guildhall Yard

Pancakes and Pickets - 2014 — *It was a toss-up whose hat was silliest*

It was Shrove Tuesday and The City of London’s 10th annual pancake races took place in Guildhall Yard between teams representing the livery companies, wearing guild robes, white gloves and hats.

As might be expected in the City this is a highly organised event, complete with clipboards, stop-watches and judges, and with a series of rules about dress and behaviour, with points being lost for various infringements.

Various of the guilds contributed their expertise: Gunmakers used a small but very loud cannon to start each heat, Clockmakers timed the races, Fruiterers provided lemons, Cutlers plastic forks, Glovers white gloves to be worn by each runner, and the Poulters, who had started the event, the eggs to make the pancakes.

This event supports the annual charity Lord Mayor’s appeal, and in 2014 Fiona Woolf, the 686th Lord Mayor of London, had chosen Beating Bowel Cancer, the Princess Alice Hospice, Raleigh International and Working Chance. As well as the more formal races there is also a fancy dress competition and race with one entrant from each livery company in costumes based, some with great ingenuity, on the charities.

As I commented, “competition was extremely fierce and the regulators had plenty of work to do keeping up with the infringements. If only they had paid as much attention to what the banks and other city companies were doing!”

This was an event I photographed in several years, but I think 2014 was the final time. Like many events it had become more difficult to cover as more and more photographers came to cover it, some making rather a nuisance of themselves, leading to more restrictions. In earlier years there had only been myself and a few friends and we were welcomed and able to work freely.

City of London Pancake Races

SOAS Cleaners strike for Equal Treatment

SOAS, Thornhaugh St

*Cleaners dance to Colombian music on the picket line*

It was the start of a two-day strike by cleaners at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies, part of a long ‘Justice For Cleaners’ campaign to be treated equally to other staff at SOAS and to be brought back ‘in house’, employed directly by the university.

They were then employed by the outsourcing cleaning contractor ISS, a multinational company with a reputation for bullying workers. The previous day some ISS managers had assaulted students who had stopped them trying to bring in scab workers to do the work of the cleaners.

ISS director Paul Cronin had also threatened to stop paying the cleaners the London Living Wage which they gained through industrial action several years ago.

*SOAS UNISON Branch Secretary and union secretary for the London Higher Education Executive Sandy Nicoll*

Outsourcing always results in a poorer level of service, with employers cutting hours of work and giving workers poorer conditions of service, making high profits at the expense of low paid workers.

Reputable employers could not possibly be seen to employ people on the poor pay and conditions of contracting companies, but SOAS seemed happy to benefit from the exploitation of people who work in its building by others despite the poorer service for students and others.

And as the Justice for Cleaners campaign stated “SOAS is known around the world for promoting dignity and equality. Yet, its maintenance, cleaning, security and catering all have less rights than other workers, because they are outsourced. At the moment SOAS is built on inequality and exploitation.”

The strike ballot had an over 60% turnout out and all who voted back the strike. I was told that many had arrived by 4am to start the picket and by 6am virtually the whole normal morning shift were there taking part.

I rushed away from the pancake races to get there for the lunchtime rally, where there were speeches supporting the strike from students and trade unionists. The cleaners are members of the SOAS Unison branch.

Many students and teaching staff had refused to cross the picket line; lectures and tutorials were rescheduled, no registers were taken, and library fines and deadlines were postponed. But for the following second day of the strike the cleaners had asked students and staff to work as normal so that the effect of the building not being cleaned could be seen.

After the speeches there was music and dancing, with the event going on until the picket ended at 5pm. Then the union bar which had been closed for the strike was to open for students and cleaners to have a party. But I left much earlier.

The campaign to bring the cleaners at SOAS back into direct employment continued and after ten years they were finally brought back in house in 2018.

SOAS Cleaners Picket Line

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Arbaeen in London – 2008

Arbaeen in London: On Sunday 2nd March 2008 I again photographed the Arbaeen Procession by Shia Muslims in London. It was one of various religious events on the streets of London that interested me – along with other processions and events by other major religions – Christians, Sikhs, Hindus etc in public on the streets of London, many of which you can find recorded on My London Diary.

These pictures were a part of my celebration of the multicultural nature of London which has turned what was the rather drab post-war austerity of my youth into a much more vibrant place to live and work. Immigration has enriched our nation culturally and in so many other ways, though it has also produced a racist backlash that has poisoned much of our politics.

Arbaeen is a major event for Shia Muslims around the world, coming at the end of the annual 40 days of mourning for the massacre of the prophet Mohammed’s grandson, Imam Hussain, together with 72 companions at Karbala. Millions take part in the pilgrimage in Karbala, Iraq which was banned by Saddam Hussein but revived after his downfall.

Shia Muslims regard the Karbala massacre as “the greatest sacrifice make by mankind, for humanity” and the “ultimate standoff between ‘good and evil’“. Hussain had refused to pledge allegiance to the ruler – “Death in honour is preferable to life in humiliation” – and his small band of followers fought to the death against an army of 40,000.

After the slaughter of the men, their women and children were taken captive and paraded through towns and cities on a 750 mile journey to Damascus, along with the decapitated heads of the martyrs, impaled on spears.

As a part of the procession in London there are reenactments of some of the events, prayers of mourning, and expression of grief in various ways including the beating of breasts.

Several thousand Muslims come from across the country to take part in this annual event, organised by the Hussaini Islamic Trust UK, which is the largest Arbaeen procession in Europe.

Many more pictures on My London Diary at Arbaeen Procession.

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More From Wandsworth 1990

More From Wandsworth: My walk on Sunday 4th March 1990 had begun at Clapham Junction in Battersea with St John’s Road & East Hill, Battersea and I had continued into Wandsworth with the post Mont Nod and Old York Road – Wandsworth 1990, ending with a view of York Road from the platform of Wandswoth Town Station.

Wandsworth Tyre Service, Old York Rd, Wandsworth Town, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-52 — *Wandsworth Tyre Service, 543, Old York Rd, Wandsworth Town, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-52*

I didn’t catch a train but came back down the stairs and on to York Road walking west along it. The Wandsworth Tyre Service was on the corner with Tonsley Hill and was one of many shops along the York Road, a kind of minor high street. There are still shops, but their character has changed greatly; this is now Pad Thai Story, the first of three authentic Thai restaurants set up by three Thai friends, here and in Battersea and Hammersmith and apparently highly recommended with, for London, reasonable prices. Back in 1990 I think the culinary peak of Old York Road was probably a fish and chip shop.

Next door, in what was then a doctor’s surgery is now a florist; there are a variety of other food outlets as well as several estate agents and a few more useful shops in a a fairly typical gentrified street.

According to various estate agents, this area, sometimes know as Tonsley for the several streets including this name, is one of Wandsworth’s most sought-after locations. An informative blog tells me “Tonsley Hall, the residence of Sir Richard Blackmore, the physician and poet who died in 1729… was pulled down in about the middle of the nineteenth century” but I cannot find why the house was given the name Tonsley.

The Grapes, Fairfield St, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-53 — *The Grapes, 39, Fairfield St, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-53*

I walked down to Fairfield Street – the fair field was in the area to the north of Old York Road. Merrie England in the Olden Time published in 1841 states:

 "Wandsworth Fair exhibited sixty years ago Mount Vesuvius,
 or the burning mountain by moonlight, rope, and hornpipe-
 dancing; a forest, with the humours of lion-catching;
 tumbling by the young Polander from Sadler's Wells; several
 diverting comic songs; a humorous dialogue between Mr.
 Swatehall and his wife; sparring matches; the Siege of
 Belgrade, &c. all for three-penee!

 On Whit-Monday, 1840, Messrs. Nelson and Lee sent down a
 theatrical caravan to Wandsworth Fair, and were moderately
 remunerated. But the “Grand Victoria Booth” was the rallying
 point of attraction. Its refectory was worthy of the
 ubiquitous Mr. Epps—of ham, beef, tongue, polony, portable
 soup, and sheep's trotter memory!

 Cold beef and ham, hot ribs of lamb, mock-turtle soup that's
 portable,

 Did blow, with stout, their jackets out, and made the folks
 comfortable!"

But this was perhaps one of the last days of the fair.

The pub is still open and is Grade II listed public house described as an early/mid-19th Century building and so was probably there in the closing years of the fair a few yards away.

*Gas Holder, Swandon Way, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-54*

According to the Wandle Industrial Museum, the Wandsworth Gas Company was established at a meeting at the the Spread Eagle Inn in Wandsworth in 1834 and was producing gas by the following year. By the 1920s it had grown into one of the largest London Gas companies, with coal being brought in barges to the canal basin close to the mouth of the Wandle. From 1906 colliers delivered coal to it on the Thames and the company produced some of the cheapest gas in London – making it particularly popular with balloonists.

At nationalisation in 1949 the company supplied an area of 160 square miles and had a fleet of six upriver colliers bringing over half a million tons of coal a year. Gas production ceased in 1970, but the gas holder continued in use for storage for many years.

*Fairfield Court, Flats, Fairfield St, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-55*

Estate agents variously describe this building as being built between 1930 and 1949 or 1967 to 1975, but whatever its date of completion it was built in a 1930s Streamline Moderne style as my picture shows. Its a style which has attracted a large degree of architectural snobbery over the years, including in the great Pevsner Buildings of England series. I suspect it probably dates from the post-war rebuilding of Wandsworth, but would welcome correction.

*Wandsworth Town Hall, Fairfield St, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-42*

By contrast, the to my mind rather pedestrian Wandworth Town Hall is both Grade II listed and described in detail in the listing and on other web sites. I think the architectural details are of far more interest than the overall building, built in 1935-7 to the designs of Edward A Hunt. I turned away to the east and didn’t then photograph the south side of the building on Wandsworth High Street, perhaps the buildings more interesting aspect with a fine “bas relief frieze depicting events in Wandsworth’s history by David Evans and John Linehan.”

*P G Marshall & Sons, Tonsley Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-45*

One of the main Tonsley streets, this had a particular interest for me, as although there are many Peter Marshalls, some rather more famous than me, this was possibly the first time I had been greeted by my initials when walking the streets of London. So far as I am aware this P G Marshall was no relative. But the business ‘Purpose Made Joinery‘ also had some resonance – among his many trades, before my father became self-employed he had worked as a joiner around 1920 when motor vehicle bodies were still often made of wood.

Of course the coincidence of initials was not the only reason I stopped to take this picture. The railings with their spears beside the steps and the jagged edge above the side gate also appealed.

*Gate, Geraldine Rd, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-24*

I crossed East Hill and went down Geraldine Road admiring the brickwork and decoration of the house on the corner (my photo not digitised) which I think was then home to the probation service. I think this wrought iron gate was on the detached house on the corner of Eglantine Road which now has a rather different but still attractive fence and gate and the veranda with slim iron columns.

Houses, Geraldine Rd, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-25 — *Houses, Trees, Rosehill Road, Geraldine Rd, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-25*

On the corner of Geraldine Road and Rosehill Road I found this row of harshly pollarded trees stretching down the road with the tall thin Greek Revival tower of Robert Smirke’s Grade II* listed St Anne’s Church, Wandsworth in the distance down Rosehill Road.

My next post about this walk will begin with two more pictures of this church.

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