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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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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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Art Deco, Houses, Bingo and King of Lee – 1990

Art Deco, Houses, Bingo and King of Lee: The final part of a short walk around Lewisham which took me to Ladywell before returning to catch a train in Lewisham. The previous post on this walk was Ravensbourne, Quaggy & More -Lewisham – 1990.

Tickitape House, Works, Art Deco, 59, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-43 — Tickitape House, Works, Art Deco, 59, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990 *90-4c-*43

This classic Art Deco factory, at one time ‘Tickitape House’, home to Adhesive Specialities has sadly been demolished.

In Lewisham Council’s St Mary’s conservation area supplementary planning document it states:

“This building was built in the 1930s as Neuk Laundry in a simple ‘Moderne’ style by a local builder, Mr Howkins. It was altered in 1988-9 by another local firm, Rainey and Rainey, which added metal windows and a clock and heightened the parapets, giving the building a more Art Deco style.”

Tickitape House, Works, Art Deco, 59, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-45 — Tickitape House, Works, Art Deco, 59, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990 *90-4c-*45

Unfortunately local listing and being a popular local landmark that, according to the council “makes a positive contribution to the character and appearance of the conservation” area and their comment that “Any development on this site should therefore retain the main body of the Art Deco building” fell on deaf ears of the developers, and despite considerable local opposition it was completely demolished and replaced by undistinguished student housing around 2009.

*Tickitape House, Works, Art Deco, 59, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-46*

Perhaps the building did not fall within the criteria needed for national listing, though many far less interesting buildings have been listed. But the architectural community and particularly as this was represented by such vital figures as Nikolaus Pevsner in the past had a very snooty attitude to Art Deco and Moderne buildings, regarding them as of little merit compared to the true modernism of the age. It doesn’t get even a fleeting mention in London 2:South.

*Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-44*

My interest was caught by the rather ramshackle buildings in the centre of the picture and I wondered what their original purpose could have been, with what appear to be doors at first-floor level and ventilators on top. My first thought was pigeon lofts and others have suggested stables. I think they have since been rebuilt in a similar form in Mercy Terrace.

*Houses, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-33*

Breeze blocks fill the windows and doors of the foreground house in this terrace and I think were there to prevent squatting of the property which has since been renovated.

*Mecca Leisure, Lewisham High St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-34*

The Bingo Hall was built as a Temperance Billiards Hall in 1910, and I wrote more about this in my previous post. Left derelict for some years after the last Bingo session it has been slowly and carefully restored by the Tabernacle Church.

*King Of Lee, Motors, Lewisham High St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-35*

No trace remains of King of Lee Motors at 256 Lewisham High St, a scrap yard offering a wide range of reconditioned and reclaimed motor spares from stock, immediately south of the railway bridge on Lewisham High Street. They apparently paid “TOP CASH PRICES” for “FAILED MO.O.T., DAMAGED, NON RUNNERS, INSURANCE WRITE-OFFS” and their buyers will call to collect them – evenings and weekends.

Curness Street now runs here,. leading to new flats built between 2003 and 2006

*King Of Lee, Motors, Lewisham High St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-36*

Finally I took three portrait format near identical images of the gate, fascinated by the remains of a telegraph pole with its various wires and strands of deadplants. Although the yard claimed to be open ‘7 DAYS’ I had managed to find one where it was firmly closed with a car wedged against its frontage.

It was time to make for the station and go home.

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Ravensbourne, Quaggy & More -Lewisham – 1990

Ravensbourne, Quaggy & More -Lewisham: The real end of my walks on April 1st 1990 was a short walk around Lewisham. The previous post from these walks was Monkey Business, Wrecked Cars & Roupell – 1990.

*River Ravensbourne, River Quaggy, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4b-11*

Arriving at Lewisham Station I crossed to the opposite platform and walked along it away from the exit to photograph this view looking south along the River Ravensbourne which curves away to the west – towards the right of the frame. Just after the river runs down a small slope it is joined by Lewisham’s other river, the smaller flow of the River Quaggy. There is now a small park, Confluence Park, where the two rivers meet, opened in 2021.

The scrap yard and the car sales and Allied Carpets are gone replace and the whole area redeveloped with tall blocks since around 2020. There is now another tall apartment block – around 15 storeys tall – to the left of the river,

Maggie's Cafe, Silk Mills Path, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4b-14 — Maggie’s Cafe, Silk Mills Path, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4b-14

Silk Mills Path runs alongside the north platform of the station and Maggie’s is still there now offering Breakfast-Lunch-Dinner. It gets excellent customer reviews for its reasonably priced meals and friendly staff. At right one of the arches leads under the railway to Station Road.

Lewisham did have a number of mills using power from the flow of the Ravensbourne, and the silk mills were a short distance downstream on its east bank at the end of Conington Road, close to Elverson Road DLR station. The site is now occupied by flats, built around 20 years ago. The mill had a large mill pond, part of which is now Tesco’s car park.

Although there are still some mulberry trees in the area, the essential feed for the silk worms, the Lewisham mill apparently relied on imported silk.

*Houses, Lewisham High St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4b-15*

The River Quaggy runs in a an open channel in front of this long terrace at 15-31 Lewisham High Street, some way below street level, emerging into this from a tunnel under the central streets of Lewisham. It can next be seen from a bridge on Clarendon Rise just south of Lee High Road – see below.

*River Ravensbourne, Riverdale House, Molesworth St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-64*

The Ravensbourne runs under recent flats on Molesworth Street and can be seen from the west side of the street where it runs under the railway line there. There is a small park, River Mill Park, with a bridge across the river.

This section of the river was channelled between tall concrete banks I think in the 1960s to alleviate the flood risk. The rather fortress-like Riverdale House was designed by Frederick Gibberd in 1981 as offices. In 2013 planning permission was granted for its conversion into luxury flats.

The site had a mill at the time of the Domesday Book and Riverdale Mill was restored as flats when this new building was erected on the rest of the site. It was built on the site of earlier mills as a leather mill in 1828, later becoming a flour mill and in 1901 was bought and turned into the John Wallis bakery, closing around 1970. It is the only remaining mill building in Lewisham.

*Houses, St Stephens Grove, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-66*

The River Quaggy emerges from a tunnel under the end of St Stephen’s Grove where it meets Lewisham High Street at the south side of Saint Stephen With Saint Mark, Lewisham, a Grade II listed Parish Church by Sir George Gilbert Scott built in 1863. This and St Stephen’s Terrace also date from the mid-1860s.

90-4c-52-Edit — *River Quaggy, Clarendon Rise, Lewsiham, 1990, 90-4c-52*

The Quaggy apparently got its name for being very muddy – a real quagmire. Here it runs along the backs of the buildings on Lee High Road.

Following pressure from and plans developed by the Quaggy Waters Action Group under the name Operation Kingfisher in 1995, parts of the river have been restored to a more natural state and brought back above ground. Much of the work already completed has been driven by the need to control flooding by the river.

*Mecca Leisure, Lewisham High St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-54*

Taken from the pavement in front of the building at 233-241 Lewisham High St, this shows some detail of the building, built as a Temperance Billiards Hall in 1910, architect Norman Evans, the company architect for Temperance Billiard Halls Ltd. This Grade II listed building was derelict when bought as new premises for The Tabernacle Church around 2010 and is slowly and carefully being restored – details on their web site.

Later on the walk I photographed the building again from across the road which gives a far better impression of the building when it was in use as a Mecca Bingo Hall – I’ll post this picture in the final post on this walk shortly.

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Brick Lane, Brockwell Park & Lambeth Peace Month – 2007

Brick Lane, Brockwell Park & Lambeth Peace Month: Sunday 9th September 2007 was a slightly disappointing day for me, perhaps because I expected more and tried to do too much. I was going to London maiinly to meet a couple of friends and probably should have just done that and enjoyed some time with them – and perhaps a few beers. Even have left the cameras at home.

But the Green Fair and the Interfaith Picnic were interesting and I did manage to take a few pictures of aspects of London which now, looking back, are of more interest than I thought at the time. So here are some of the photos and what I wrote back in 2007 – and links to more pictures on My London Diary.

Brick Lane

Spitalfields.

*Not a lot was happening around lunchtime in Brick Lane, so I took a few snaps and went elsewhere.*

Sunday none of the three events I visited really turned out to be what I expected. I started in Brick Lane where a music festival was on offer. It didn’t really seem to have started when I was there and I couldn’t be bothered to wait.

*I took a few pictures in the market which takes place every Sunday*

*So I took the underground to Blackfriars to get a train to Herne Hill*

More pictures on My London Diary

Brockwell Park Urban Green Fair

Herne Hill

Then I went on to the Urban Green Fair at Brockwell Park (a short journey on the train from Blackfriars [to Herne Hill station.])

*I’m not sure who would want a wooden mushroom, though some you could sit on.*

*An apple press would be useful, but this Italian one was rather larger than I needed*

This was a bit more interesting but did seem to be rather too much people trying to sell things, and I had hoped for more music and performances.

*I met again the great pedal-powered Rinky-Dink sound system*

More pictures

Interfaith Peace Picnic – Lambeth Peace Month

Windrush Square, Brixton

*Imam (centre) with assistant and Toaha Qureshi from Stockwell Green Islamic Centre*

I met Dave and Bob at the Green Fair, and Dave told me that there was an Interfaith Peace Picnic just about to start in Windrush Square in Brixton. So I jumped on a 37 bus for the few stops there.

All the different groups present offered generous amounts of free vegetarian food, and it pained me to have to refuse most of it. I’d not heard of the Caribbean Hindu Cultural Society before; based on Brixton Hill it is apparently the oldest Hindu group in the country.

*Members of the Caribbean Hindu Society, Lambeth, address the peace picnic.*

The event was organised by the South London Interfaith Group, and also present were the Archdeacon of Lambeth, the Imam and others from the Stockwell Green Islamic Centre along with some from local churches.

Representatives from various groups gave short performances of different kinds (including a powerfully sung ‘Lord’s Prayer’ by one of the more senior Hindu men) and the whole event, as intended made “a visible public statement of respect and cooperation.”

All was very worthy and worthwhile, but there was perhaps little to photograph.

More pictures on My London Diary.

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Great River Race & Malta Victory – 2007

Great River Race & Malta Victory: On Saturday 8th September 2007 I went to Ham, a mile or so upstream from Richmond, for the start of the Great River Race, a charity event on the River Thames first held in 1988. It is open only to fixed-seat traditional craft – including skiffs, cutters, Celtic longboats, currachs, and dragon boats (certainly not all traditional craft of the Thames.)

Each boat must all carry at least one passenger and a cox as well as those rowing or paddling. Later I photographed some of the boats as they passed through Central London but they were too spread out to make interesting pictures.

I was on my way to photograph the Maltese Victory Day procession from Westminster Cathedral, and left them some way down Victoria Street to photograph the statue of Nelson Mandela in Parliament Square which had been unveiled a few days earlier.

Here are some pictures from the day, along with what I wrote about them back in 2007. You can see many more pictures on My London Diary.

The Great River Race

Ham & Vauxhall

Great River Race & Malta Victory - 2007 — *Crews paddling up to Ham for the start of the race*

The Great River Race isn’t really a particularly great race, but there were well over 200 boats involved, and considerable competition. The event is a handicap, and also has multiple classes and boats start at different times – some over an hour before the fastest – but should all arrive at Island Gardens [21.6 mile away at the tip of the Isle of Dogs] at around the same time. The boats include some of historical interest as well as those built entirely for speed.

It’s a long course, and can get a little rough further down in poor weather, but today was a fine day and everyone started from Ham in good spirits – and a few already well-fortified. Sting came along and fired a cannon as a starting signal and then the boats made their way in number order down to the real start a few hundred yards down river, a few at a time according to their handicaps.

Media interest mainly centred on Sting and a high-powered crew of young ladies, The Sisterhood, who attracted a great deal of sponsorship. They have already made an enormous amount for charity with a fast paddle across the English Channel, but today turned out to be the second fastest ladies crew, their dragonboat being beaten by an outrigger canoe.

My personal favourites were a crew of Welsh ladies who seemed to have a more relaxed approach to the occasion. There did seem to be a great many participants from the Celtic fringes, as well as visitors from the continent.

After all the boats had left I [walked back to Richmond and] took the train to Vauxhall and saw the first few crews pass there, all still rowing well (the paddlers hadn’t yet caught up.)

Far too many more pictures on My London Diary

Malta Day Procession

Westminster Cathedral

September 8th is a holiday in Malta, celebrated as the Feast Of Our Lady Of Victories (it is also the Feast Of The Nativity Of The Blessed Virgin Mary), and was the day in 1565 when the Knights Of St John Of Malta defeated the Turks. By coincidence it is also the day in 1943 that the Italian occupiers of the island surrendered to the allies.

*Traditional dress on the steps of the Cathedral*

*The procession leaves Westminster Cathedral*

The Maltese in London celebrate with a Mass at Westminster Cathedral followed by fireworks and a procession carrying a statue of the Baby Mary (Bambina) from there to the Sacred Heart Chapel Of Ease in Horseferry Road.

More pictures

Nelson Mandela statue

Parliament Square

The statue had been unveiled by Prime Minister Gordon Brown on 29 August 2007, with Mandela, his wife Graça Machel and London Mayor Ken Livingstone among those present.

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Monkey Business, Wrecked Cars & Roupell – 1990

Monkey Business, Wrecked Cars & Roupell: I’d thought when I wrote my previous post about 1990 that my day on April 1st 1990 had finished when my walk in Stoke Newington ended, but my contact sheets and the dates written on them tell a different story.

I’d not gone to the Poll Tax demonstration the previous day, but from Stoke Newington took the tube down to Covent Garden and walked to St Martin’s Lane and Tottenham Court Road where I photographed a few burnt out cars before going on to Waterloo East and catching a train to Lewisham to take more photographs there.

*Monkey Business, Covent Garden, Westminster, 1990, 90-4b-33*

Monkey Business was a restaurant in Covent Garden which apparently came to an untimely end around 1991. In a Facebook post Sajan Narain relates: “While I was studying at Cambridge, a few of us friends went to Monkey Business, an aptly named restaurant in Covent Garden. While we were dining in the basement there, we heard loud sounds of guns being fired, and smashing of glass, like sound effects from an action movie. Waiters and staff were running around shouting.

We saw lots of huge red marks on white shirts worn by waiters. It turned out to be blood. There was a huge gang war going on above us. Many shots were fired and glass windows at the front of Monkey Business had been smashed.

Armed police, ambulances, doctors and paramedics arrived while we were there. We survived the gang war without any injuries. After that incident, Monkey Business had to be shut down, unfortunately.”

Burnt out car, St Martin's Lane, Covent Garden, Westminster, 1990, 90-4b-21 — *Burnt out car, St Martin’s Lane, Covent Garden, Westminster, 1990, 90-4b-21*

Back in 1990 I rarely photographed demonstrations, mainly only on the large marches of organisations to which I belonged such as the Anti-Apartheid movement and CND. Although I was aware of protests against the Poll Tax – and had photographed people burning their community charge demands – I did not attend the major protest called for March 31st when around 200,000 crowded into the area around Trafalgar Square.

The police had thought there would only be a few thousand and laughed at the protest organisers when they had suggested there could be 20,000 but it turned out much, much larger and the police were unprepared.

*Smashed car, Charing Cross Rd, Westminster, 1990, 90-4b-22*

Heavy-handed policing, including the violent arrest of a man in a wheelchair and a charge by mounted police into the crowd in Trafalgar Square, followed by police driving riot vans into the crowd aroused huge anger from the protesters, many of whom began attacking the police with anything to hand, including scaffold poles. The police actions turned what would have been an angry but largely peaceful protest into a riot.

*Smashed car, Charing Cross Rd, Westminster, 1990, 90-4b-23*

According to Wikipedia “Scuffles between rioters and police continued until 3 am. Rioters attacked numerous shops, most notably Stringfellow’s nightclub, and car showrooms, and Covent Garden cafés and wine bars were set ablaze, along with motor vehicles.”

*Smashed car, Charing Cross Rd, Westminster, 1990, 90-4b-24*

A police report the following year found “no evidence that the trouble was orchestrated by left-wing anarchist groups”, though some of these definitely claimed the credit. As usual at protests, most of those responsible for attacks on police evaded arrest and those arrested were largely bystanders and many were acquitted with video evidence showing the police had “fabricated or inflated charges”.

Protests including this one against the Poll Tax led to the questioning of Margaret Thatcher’s position as Prime Minister and led to her replacement by John Major. In 1991 he announced his intention to replace the Poll Tax by a new Council Tax, still in operation.

This returned to basing tax levels on property valuations but was in many respects a much cruder and less fair system than the former rates, particularly favouring owners of large and expensive properties at the expense of those in moderate and smaller homes.

*Rooftops, Waterloo, Lambeth, 1990, 90-4b-26*

My day was still not finished and I was on my way to Lewisham. As I walked down to the platform at Waterloo East station I pushed my camera through the gap in one of the slightly open windows and took this picture of the rooftops of Roupell Street and its neighbours.

These densely packed late Georgian worker’s cottages were developed by metal merchant John Roupell in 1824. He had married the daughter of a wealthy City wine merchant and after she inherited a wealthy aunt’s estate in Essex bought around 7 acres here at a cost of £8,000 to develop the Roupell Park Estate, its streets named after his family.

In their early years many of these small 4-roomed houses will have housed perhaps four large families, one to a room, perhaps over 20 people. These streets are much used as settings for films and TV, and the small houses now sell for around £1.5m

Pictures from Lewisham in later posts.

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Bikes, Canals & Walthamstow – 2004

Bikes, Canals & Walthamstow: On Sunday 5th September 2004 my work began with cycle racing in Whitehall, after which I went to Islington for a canal festival, finally making my way to High Street Walthamstow for another festival there. As usual I’ll reproduce what I wrote back then and link to more pictures from the three events still on My London Diary.

Cycle racing in Whitehall

Bikes, Canals & Walthamstow - 2004 — *The first lap of the club race and one cyclist has already broken from the pack on Embankment.*

The Tour Of Britain has so far lacked the public interest of the Tour De France, but a last day involving a road race around a mile course through Whitehall should have given it a boost. I only stayed for the warm-up event with club cyclists competing on the same course.

The crowding and the pace made for some excitement, but for an outsider I think there needed to be some way to make individuals more recognisable in the crowd.

More pictures on My London Diary

Angel Canal Festival

Islington

Up at the Angel, it was the 19th annual Canal Festival, with singers and other performers, boat trips, decorated boats and various stalls along the towpath.

It really did seem to be a very pleasant event for a sunny summer Sunday with everyone enjoying themselves.

Up on the street people were sitting around the pub and being entertained, first by a three piece band, apparently of Cockney persuasion with a little Dixie thrown in, then by some Morris men

*Boats dressed up for the Canal Festival*

More pictures

Walthamstow Festival 2004

*A women’s morris dancing in High Street , Walthamstow*

The attraction that dragged me away [from the canal and the pub] was the promise of belly-dancing in Walthamstow.

*The musicians sensibly stayed in the shade*

Walthamstow has of course a William Morris connection (and an occasionally open museum [reopening by 1 October 2026 after significant renewal]) but there were no discernible signs of this. [Though I’m sure there were but I missed them.]

The first event that drew my interest was however a women’s Morris performing in the high street.

Belly-dancing is one of those things I always wonder if there is more too it than the obvious attraction. And I was obviously attracted, though it’s hard to think of any way to photograph it other than the obvious.

The display involved two solo performers of very different frame. If you don’t have much to wobble, the movements can be much more controlled, but to this male eye are considerably less provocative.

More pictures

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