>Re:PHOTO Peter Marshall - Thoughts on Photography

Swan Upping – 2005

Swan Upping: On Monday July 18 2005 I met the Swan Uppers at Shepperton Lock and spent the day following them, riding my bike along the Thames tow path as they rowed (or were towed) upriver.

I wasn’t the only cyclist, and followed Eric, a retired teacher who was going with the uppers for the whole week, riding ahead of them with a large bag of crushed digestive biscuits which he used to entice swans and their cygnets he spotted to a suitable place on the bank for the Uppers to do their work. And he also assisted them on the bank when there were large numbers of cygnets to record.

Of course sometimes the swans were by the opposite bank of the river and could not be persuaded to cross, so we were both kept waiting while they worked, too far distant for sensible photography, before riding on to find the next family group of swans.

When the boats moored up at The Swan close to Staines Bridge I went off for lunch too, joining them again as they came out and set off again. The rest of the press had taken the train back to London and the atmosphere was more relaxed.

By the time we got to Old Windsor I had taken rather a lot of pictures and was getting tired and decided to leave, though this meant missing the ceremonies at Romney Lock at the end of the day – which I photographed in some later years.

I didn’t go to see the Swan Uppers as they passed through Staines last Monday. I hadn’t seen any cygnets on my local walks by the river. It was too hot for me to go and stand in the sun on Monday morning, and I felt I had already covered the event comprehensively in previous years.

Here’s what I wrote back in 2005:

Monday I was on my bike at ten in the morning, looking out for cygnets as I cycled to meet up with the swan uppers at Shepperton Lock. they had already found there first broods by then, as I could tell from the white feathers in some caps.

I’ve written before at some length about Swan Upping so I won’t repeat all that here. There were even more press photographers than last year, and the added impediment of a small TV crew. I’m told I was on the BBC that evening, my back and Nikon D70 clearly visible, and they certainly got in my way for several shots.

Fortunately the press were on the boat, and that kept them out of the way for long enough for me to work unfettered on several occasions before they were able to disembark. Once or twice there were times when those on the boat were in a better position to take pictures, but it doesn’t often happen.

Of course, I don’t mind working with other photographers – we all have a job to do – but at times they can be a nuisance. They, and particularly the video team – did often break what I regard as one of the first rules of the documentary photographer: Thou shalt not get in the way’ of the people who are actually doing the job you are taking pictures of.

The way they worked pointed out a real difference to me between press and documentary. They were interested in getting pictures. I need to start by finding out what the event is about [and show the story].

I also provided a little amusement for the Uppers later in the day when I trod on a rotten plank on one of the landing stages [in Old Windsor]. It left me staggering around for several seconds, a hair’s breadth from falling in to the river. Earlier one of them had somehow fallen in while releasing one of the swans.

Many more pictures from the day start here on My London Diary.

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Cluster Bombs, Acton, Spain & Kilburn – 2004

Cluster Bombs, Acton, Spain & Kilburn: On Saturday 17th July 2004 I did rather a lot of travelling around London, beginning in Trafalgar Square with a shoe pyramid against cluster bombs, then going to Acton to look at a project London Arts Café had helped with (I think I was its treasurer at the time) which took me rather longer than expected so I didn’t stay long to make sure I was back on the South Bank for the Spanish Civil War commemoration. Then out to Kilburn for a festival in Grange Park.

But I took few photographs except at the Spanish Civil War event, which was attended by at least nine of those who had gone to Spain as well as many from the families of those no longer living.

The rich and wealthy elites outside Spain feared the rebellion against the church, landowners and bosses by the peasants and working classes supporting the elected Spanish government against the fascist armies might give their those they were exploiting ideas,, Workers and intellectuals here and elsewhere saw clearly what was happening and many “went because their open eyes could see no other way.” Over 30,000 volunteers went to fight in the International Brigades, including more than 2,500 from Britain, although our government tried to prevent them. Probably around five thousand of the volunteers died in Spain and many, many more were injured.

Here is what I wrote on My London Diary back then, with the usual corrections and a few pictures, with links to rather more still on My London Diary.

Handicap International

Pyramid of Shoes, Trafalgar Square

Cluster Bombs, Acton, Spain & Kilburn - 2004

Saturday saw a repeat of last year’s shoe pyramid in Trafalgar Square, Handicap International campaigning against the use of cluster bombs, weapons that largely maim innocent women and children, which governments, including our own, are continuing to insist to use. So our taxes are now still killing and disabling innocent kids in Iraq from the invasion last year.

A few more pictures

Public Art in Acton

In Acton it was carnival day, but I didn’t have time to watch. I did manage to go and see the screen which Mohamed (Mamily) Sheibani has designed to screen off the waste area at the rear of the Oaks Shopping Centre in Churchfield Road. This was a project carried out by Acton Action with the help of Acton Arts And Media, the London Arts Café, the Churchfield Road Community Association and the shopping centre. Not a big thing, but the kind of small local project that makes an impact – we just need a few thousand more like it in London.

A few more pictures

Spanish Civil War International Brigades Memorial Event

Jubilee Gardens, Waterloo,

The Spanish Civil War started in 1936, and while governments including ours made the wrong decisions [in part] based on incorrect intelligence, as over Iraq. The rights and wrongs of the matter were clear to most of those who took an interest, especially on the left.

2,600 British men had the courage to go and join the International Brigade in the fight against fascism, and today we were again paying tribute to them. There are still a few living, and those who turned up were remarkably fit and alert considering their age.

Veteran Jack Jones chaired the event, and Ana Perez from the Madrid Amigos spoke movingly.

*Moe Fishman in front of the memorial text*
YET FREEDOM! YET THY BANNER
TORN, BUT FLYING, STREAMS
LIKE THE THUNDER-STORM
AGAINST THE WIND

Veteran Moe Fishman from Manhattan, still a peace activist, brought greetings from the peace movement in America and praise for the strength of the British people in demonstrating against the invasion of Iraq – a movement now carried from the streets to the ballot box.

*Jack Jones and the memorial: “TTHEY WENT BECAUSE THEIR OPEN EYES COULD SEE NO OTHER WAY”*

More pictures

Kilburn Festival

Grange Park, Kilburn

*Kilburn State – now a bingo hall. Kilburn High Rd*

Kilburn High Road is one of the more interesting high streets of London. Too poor to have been swamped by the chains, it retains its own character and wide range of shops of various types. Perhaps more a place to look and stroll (as I did) rather than photograph.

*The Kilburn Mural project is to provide a mural at the tube station*

They were having a festival in grange park, which included some of the artists who are to create a mural by the tube station demonstrating their skills and giving the local people a chance to influence the mural design.

A few more pictures.

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Tin Pan Alley & Our Lady of Mount Carmel – 2006

Tin Pan Alley & Our Lady of Mount Carmel: Sunday 16th July 2006 I went to the Tin Pan Alley Festival in Denmark Street, a short street off the Charing Cross Road, for many years the centre of the UK popular music industry, but now sadly declined. There are still some shops selling instruments, but the music publishers, newspapers and most recording studios have disappeared, and much redevelopment has taken place, including behind some of the seventeenth century and later facades.

It was a crowded and very noisy event and I found little to photograph, soon leaving for Clerkenwell to photograph the annual Italian festival there.

The 2026 Procession in Honour of Our Lady of Mount Carmel takes place this Sunday, July 19, 2026 at 3:30 but the street festival there begins around noon and continues long after the procession. It’s an event I’ve photographed many years since I first knew about it in the 1990s, but this year I think it will be far to hot for me to travel and work there.

Here as usual is what I wrote back in 2006 with normal capitalisation and spelling corrections, along with a few of my favourite images and links to the many others still on My London Diary.

Tin Pan Alley Festival

Denmark Street

Tin Pan Alley & Our Lady of Mount Carmel - 2006 — *Crowding around the stage in ‘Tin Pan Alley’*

Not a lot to say about the Tin Pan Alley Festival in Denmark Street. It was noisy, fun if you like that kind of thing (but 15 minutes was long enough for me) and for a good cause.

Denmark Street is perhaps more interesting on other days, I must take my “famous” (allegedly ex-beatle) guitar in for repair sometime.

More pictures

Procession in Honour of Our Lady Of Mount Carmel

St Peter’s Italian Church, Clerkenwell

The Italian Church festival is one of the great events of the London calendar, which fortunately hasn’t yet been noticed by too many non-Italians.

*Statues and banners are carried in the procession*

*A group of women leave the church to take part in the procession*

The Procession In Honour Of Our Lady Of Mount Carmel Attracts several thousands. Good food, good wine and Italian beer along with other things for sale, colourful statues, and a cast list that included Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus, the Four Evangelists and many more, all parading through the streets around St Peter’s Church in Clerkenwell.

*Padre Carmelo di Giovanni, parish priest from 1991 to 2014*

*There were three baskets each with a pair of doves who were reluctant to fly*

*Another Jesus led the first communicants*

At the end of the procession is Our Lady Of Mount Carmel and the priests; as they join it, doves are released and the crowd of parishioners joins in a solemn procession of witness around the streets.

There are very many pictures from the event beginning here on My London Diary and spread over around a dozen pages, beginning with a number from the Sagra, the street festival in the street below the church. This continues with music and dancing ofter the procession (as well as eating and drinking) but in 2006 I needed to leave rather than continue photographing.

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Spice, Rain, Turkey & Cyprus – 2007

Spice, Rain, Turkey & Cyprus: Sunday 15 July 2007 was another varied day for me in London, both for events and weather. I went to Hackney for Hackney Spice, but got bored and went to the South Bank where there was a tremendous thunderstorm. When the rain eased off I photographed some of the performers in a Turkish festival in Bernie Spain Gardens before crossing the river to the Embankment to photograph a protest by Greek Cypriots over the Turkish occupation of North Cyprus.

Hackney Spice

Hackney Town Hall

Spice, Rain, Turkey & Cyprus - 2007 — *I think these dancers came from South London, but some other performers were local.*

Hackney Spice was an event outside the town hall in Hackney, next to the Hackney Empire. Perhaps I was there too early, but it appeared to be getting off to a rather slow start, and I soon lost interest and caught a bus.

Hackney Spice

Thames & Rain

Southbank, Southwark

As I arrived at Coin Street, there were a few drops of rain, and apart from eating and drinking (high-priced cheap beer) not a lot was happening. I walked around and then took a walk along the embankment, sheltering under a tree as the rain came on a little harder.

Then came the thunderstorm, with perhaps the most tremendous downpour I’ve ever seen, pouring down through the leaves as if I was in the open. Even my umbrella didn’t really keep me dry, although it offered some protection. As the rain came, the view disappeared, first the distant view along the river, then the bridge, then I could no longer see the river itself, and trees only perhaps 25 metres away merged into whiteness.

There wasn’t a great deal to photograph, and I was more concerned about keeping my cameras dry – fortunately the raincoat built into my Lowe-pro camera bag was reasonably effective. As the storm eased slightly and visibility returned, still holding up my umbrella, I took a few pictures, but it was still raining too hard to move much.

A couple more pictures

Turkish Festival

Bernie Spain Gardens, Lambeth

Then the storm was over, and there were belly dancers on the stage. I don’t think I appreciate the finer points of this art (and appreciate quantity rather more than quality – after all you can only shake what you have), but I took a few pictures but rather more of the folk dancers that followed, their dances clearly linked to village life and agriculture.

Turkish Festival

National Federation of Cypriots – Turks out of Cyprus

March & Rally, Westminster

But I’d really come to photograph something connected with a rather different Turkish activity, the continued occupation of part of Cyprus by the Turkish army. I grew up hearing about the war in Cyprus, older brothers of friends were there fighting as a part of their compulsory national military service, and Don McCullin took some of his first and most striking images of war.

*The front of the march – the red area is the Northern Cyprus, occupied by Turks*

War and partition left both Greek and Turkish Cypriots with justifiable grievances – there were atrocities on both sides, and time seems to have done little to heal. While I sympathise with the Greeks who still mourn their lost sons, often disappeared without trace, I also find it hard to understand why the EU went ahead with recognition of Cyprus after the Greek Cypriots voted down the UN attempts to reunite the country. Greek and Turkish Cypriots live together with few problems in London – and it is surely time they did so in Cyprus too.

The National Federation of Cypriots march and rally called for Turkish troops and settlers who have come since the Turkish occupation in 1974 to leave Cyprus.

I’d expected the march to start late, and was surprised to see it had already begun as I came across Hungerford Bridge. It was a larger event than the similar rally I’d photographed a couple of years previously and attracted more photographers.

The organisers for some reason didn’t want photographers to cover the rally, moving us out of the area in front of the platform. It seems odd to say the least to organise a public event and then not provide proper facilities for press coverage.

Greek Cypriots call for Turkish Troops Out

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Streatham & Newham Carnivals – 2007

Streatham & Newham Carnivals: On Saturday 14 July 2007 I photographed carnivals in two areas of London, Streatham in south London and Newham in East London.

Although we had a long carnival tradition in England, and one that was much revived after the Second World War, many of those traditional carnivals had by around 2000 died out. But new carnival traditions, particularly from the Caribbean have come to take their place. Unlike the traditional events many of these received considerable funding from local authorities and organisations such as the Arts Council. While I was pleased to see this, I think we lost something by failing to support our own traditional and often rather zany activities.

The two events were rather different. This was only the second Streatham Carnival and seemed to be supported by small local groups and individuals. It was specifically a children’s parade, mainly with primary age children and their parents. The Newham event is a much larger council organised and sponsored event and includes many community organisations and schools and is in part a PR event for Newham’s Mayor.

The Streatham procession was mainly on the pavements of one of London’s busier roads, while in Newham to procession took place in a park and along less busy urban roads. The Streatham parade had a spontaneous feel while in Newham you were aware of the weeks or months of planning by the various organisations.

Here I’ll post a few pictures from each of them – with links to more pictures on My London Diary – and the short texts I wrote in 2007.

Streatham Carnival Parade

Streatham High Road

Streatham & Newham Carnivals - 2007 — *The procession walked along the pavement on both sides of the High Road.*

Saturday 14th July I photographed a small carnival procession in Streatham High Road, making its way down the pavement on the edge of the busy street, part of the Streatham Festival.

More pictures on My London Diary.

Newham Carnival

East Ham

Newham Carnival was a much larger affair, with quite a few local schools taking part along with other community groups. The carnival had a largely West Indian feel, although there were some Indian dancers. Of course those taking part reflected the multiracial nature of Newham, with over 60% of residents from ethnic groups other than White English, but I would have liked to see more diversity reflected. We even have an English Carnival tradition – and no reason why this, along with Irish and other ethnic traditions shouldn’t be more evident in events such as this

*Indian dancers were at the front of the procession*

More pictures on My London Diary.

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Against Factory Farming – 2002

National March and Rally, London

Against Factory Farming: On 13 July 2002 UK vegan charity Viva! (founded in 1994 as Vegetarians’ International Voice for Animals) had organised a march and rally in London and I went to photograph it using both black and white and colour negative film.

*I think it works better in black and white*

Viva describes itself as “the UK’s leading vegan campaigning charity, specialising in undercover investigations and high-profile animal campaigns” so perhaps I should not have been surprised to find that this turned out to be more of a protest against all ways we make use of animals rather than just opposing factory farming and the cruelty involved.

I am not a vegan, nor a vegetarian, though I eat a good deal of vegetarian food and rather less meat then the average UK resident, though probably more fish than most and certainly my share of diary. But I’d like to see it all produced without cruelty and know that not all of it is.

Relatives of mine were sheep farmers and I know they looked after their animals well. They loved animals and they represented a large investment both financially and in long hours of care, particularly in the lambing season. They really did look after their animals, including the few cows they kept and gees and chickens as well. And at times they had to protect them against other animals – nature is certainly not vegan and I’ve seen the total bloodshed when a fox gets into a chicken run.

We need animals in various ways, and many of them only exist because they are still farmed – and their species only developed as they are now because they were domesticated and farmed. They only live their lives because we are going to eat them or drink their milk (and they now produce many times the amount their own calves could drink) or eat their eggs. They need us to survive as a species even though we slaughter them.

I think being vegan is a good thing and probably reduces your footprint on earth particularly in terms of carbon dioxide production. But if everyone became vegan it would be a disaster, particularly for those animals we farm and love.

I didn’t write much about the protest in 2002 – here it is on full (but appropriately capitalised.)

“Cruelty in farming is something we can all oppose, even if we are not veggies. Although the Viva! event was meant to unite different groups, there was too much fanaticism around for that to really work. Few of the speakers seemed to be trying to approach the issues rationally, and they were simply whipping up the converted.”

But I did publish quite a few pictures on My London Diary (and some elsewhere.) Along with a page of half a dozen black and white images I also posted a page with 25 large colour thumbnails, each linked to a larger image. Click on any one of these and their are arrows above the image to go back and forward in a slide show of the 25 images.

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Looking through Windows – Leyton & Leytonstone – 1994

Looking through Windows – Leyton & Leytonstone: After photographing Claremont Road where the M11 protesters had covered many of the houses with some splendid art work I wandered off into the area around, eventually making my way from Leyton into Leytonstone. Many of the pictures I made on this walk were taken through the windows of shops that attracted my interest.

*Property Agents, Leyton, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-903-66*

None of these pictures were taken from inside the premises, all looking in through their windows. To avoid unwanted reflections I held the lens against the glass and tried to shield the area around the lens. This wasn’t always entirely successful and some images have light areas in some corners. And of course occasionally I decided to include reflections in the pictures.

With a 50mm lens I could use a flexible rubber lenshood to seal around the lens and the window, but the lens mount on this created its own vignetting on wide-angle lenses. Much more recently a larger and much floppier version of this device which fits around a lens barrel has been marketed which I would have found very useful. So of course I bought one, but I can’t remember ever having used it – I just don’t take these kind of pictures any more.

*Chinese, Fish & Chips, Leyton, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-903-65*

This walk, like most of my walks, was on a Sunday morning when few people were about, and I was seldom interrupted or asked what I was doing. I carried a cloth in my camera bag as I sometimes cleaned a small patch of window to get a clear view. I don’t think these pictures were unduly obtrusive as I was only recording the public face of these premises which was open to everyone walking past.

*Waiting Room, Leyton, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-903-56*

Most of these pictures were taken using an Olympus 35mm shift lens which enabled me to move the frame up,m down, left and right a little to frame precisely. For some I used wider lenses, both a 28mm and also an ultrawide 21mm f3.5. Though an excellent and very small and light lens this does show more vignetting in the corners than the less wide lenses which I haven’t always entirely corrected.

Shooting through glass does introduce another optical element which can change the colour of the images, sometimes making the negatives difficult to colour balance. With the ultra-wide light from the corners takes a significantly longer path through the window glass which can give some colour casts towards the edges of the pictures.

*Hyams Gymnasium, 857, High Rd, Leytonstone, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-903-42*

I published a couple of black and white images of the gymnasium taken at the same time a couple of years ago, including one of this side wall in Gainsborough Road. Hyam’s was apparently a well-known sporting institution in the area, but as I commented then, is “now in very different use.

This is now The Walnut Tree, a Wetherspoon pub, and as often it has some history of the area it its web page, but this does not mention Hyams Gym. The figures on the building’s side have gone and its groundfloor windows have been bricked up but the rows of 8 or 9 upper floor gym windows remain.“

*Hairdressers, High Rd, Leytonstone, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-903-43*

Using very wide-angle lenses which produce “normal” rectilinear results means that light going to the edges of the frame from the lens have a longer route and thus diverge more, distorting objects close to the edges of the picture. You can see this in the picture at extreme right of this picture.

*Chinese Takeaway, Leytonstone, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-903-44*

Similarly the two blue and white plates are actually circular and facing the shop window, but that at the left is noticeably oval in this picture.

*Chinese Takeaway, Leytonstone, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-903-31*

There did seem to be rather a lot of Chinese food available in the area in 1994. When I grew up in the 1960s Chinese food was a rarity except in areas such as Limehouse and Soho. There isn’t a particularly high Chinese origin population in the area – around 1% of the population, one of the lowest among London Boroughs and a third of that Tower Hamlets and Westminster.

I had a particular interest in the shop interiors in recording how they reflected the varied ethnicities of their owners, often with very different decoration and layout etc to traditional English small shops. It was one of many different changes I had observed over the years.

More from Leytonshone in 1994 later posts.

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Big Brew, Childrens’ Carnival & London Bridge – 2009

Big Brew, Childrens’ Carnival & London Bridge: On Saturday July 11th 2009 I’d been commissioned to photograph a bishop at fair trade events in Finchley, then rushed to Newham for a children’s carnival procession. Gettingg back to London Bridge for its 800th birthday celebration was made difficult by the planned closure of both District and Jubilee lines and I only made it minutes before the event ended.

Big Brew

Finchley and Edgware

The Diocese of London had organised a day of ‘Big Brew’ events at Anglican churches across Greater London promoting fairly traded goods, particularly tea and coffee. Fair Trade is a movement and system that ensures the farmers and other workers get a fair return for their work, safe working conditions and ensures that money from their products gets invested into their local communities for healthcare, education and other development opportunities. Both I and my wife had been active supporters of the movement since our student days, long before the Fairtrade certification mark was first introduced in 1988.

I had been persuaded to photograph two events organised by the parish churches in Finchley and Edgware which the Bishop of Edmonton, the Right Revd Peter Wheatley, a strong supporter of the fair trade movement would be attending.

St Mary’s Finchley had tables and chairs on the pavement with tea, coffee and a large assortment of delicious looking cakes. As well as the bishop, Barnet Mayor Councillor Brian Coleman and the leader of the opposition were there too.

But for me the main attraction were the waitresses in caps and aprons and the ‘Mad Hatter’s Tea Party’ performed by children from the Church’s drama group.

Things were a little quieter at St Margaret’s Edgware, where I went on with the Bishop. We met the local MP Gareth Thomas and were offered the chance of ringing the church bells. Or at least they posed for a photograph pretending to ring them. It was very dark and needed a tricky bit of flash.

More pictures on My London Diary: Big Brew

Newham Childrens’ Carnival Procession

East Ham

Newham Carnival seemed rather smaller than when I photographed it in 2007, but it was still a lively procession, with lots of kids having fun. The Mayor, Sir Robin Wales, came and joined in, though I found his performance rather embarrassing.

Keir Hardie was the country’s first Labour MP, elected in West Ham South in 1892. The County Borough of West Ham, now a part of Newham, elected England’s first Labour-controlled council in 1898. And in 2009 every one of its 60 councillors was Labour. Robin Wales became council leader in 1995 and became its elected mayor in 2002. In 2018 he was de-selected as Labour’s mayoral candidate following a bitter dispute inside Newham Labour party and is now a leading member of Reform UK.

Wales seemed very much to regard Newham as a personal fiefdom and used events such as this very much as PR opportunities.

In the Wikipedia article you can read a little – in a very bland fashion about some of the controversies of his reign as local dictator. Under his leadership Newham gained large amounts of high cost private developments but failed to deal with the incredible housing problem in the area – telling people if they couldn’t afford to live in Newham they should move. As his critics said, we want social housing not social cleansing.

I walked some way with the carnival procession, but then took a bus, which was held up even more than usual by the traffic congestion the procession created. Normally I would have taken the District line, but this was closed for engineering work. And at Canning Town, rather than the Jubilee line (also closed) I had to use the much slower Docklands Light Railway, so I arrived rather late for my next event.

Newham Childrens’ Carnival Procession

London Bridge – 800

London Bridge

The Romans had built bridges across the Thames but these wooden structures did not survive. As I wrote (with minor corrections) in 2009:

“It was Peter de Colechurch who decided a stone bridge would be a better bet well over a thousand years after the first bridge, and started building one in 1176. It was a lengthy job, and was only finished 33 years later, and it was also very expensive.

To get back the cost houses were built on the bridge (as well as a chapel in the middle) and it soon became a thriving medieval shopping centre. There was actually very little space left for traffic to get across it, traffic moving in both directions on a 12 foot wide roadway (and in 1722 we got our first Highway Code, with the Lord Mayor laying down that carts coming from Southwark should stick to the west side, and those going south from the City drive on the east.)

*This was part of the roadway across the 1209 London Bridge*

You can get a good idea of its width from going to the church of St Magnus the Martyr, as its entrance porch is the only remaining part of the bridge, and if the church is open you can go inside and view (sometimes through a rather thick haze of incense) a large model of the whole bridge.

That bridge – with pretty well constant repairs and several major disasters – lasted until 1831 when a new bridge designed by John Rennie opened for business, around 100 ft upstream… The current bridge opened in 1971″

London Bridge – 800

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Focus E15 Occupy Police Station – 2016

East Ham. Sunday 10th July 2016

Housing Activists Focus E15 get their name from a hostel for young single mothers in Stratford, in the London postcode area E15. In September 2013 they were given notice of eviction from the hostel by by East Thames Housing Association after Newham Labour Council cut the funding. They were told they would have to move to private rented accommodation scattered around distant low-rent areas of the country if they wanted to be rehoused.

*Focus E15 protesters set up on Barking Rd, outside Newham Town Hall, with posters on its fence about Newham Mayor Robin Wales.*

Instead they decided to stick together and fight to remain in London where they had families, friends and support networks. Their campaign, supported by friends and family members as well as some members of the Revolutionary Communist Group, involving various direct actions including a party in the housing association offices, large marches, an occupation of Newham Council’s housing office, and of long-term empty council flats on a Stratford estate gained a great deal of local and national publicity. I was pleased to have photographed some of these events and you can find more about them on My London Dairy.

*Jasmin Stone holds up a RCG poster – ‘Newham residents suffer £50million cuts. Robin Wales gets £100,000 + £80,000 expenses’*

It was a successful campaign, but the group did not stop there, but widened into a much wider ‘Housing For All’ campaign, linking with other housing activists around the country and pushing housing for ordinary people higher up the national agenda.

*Focus E15 move towards the former police station*

They continue to fight Newham Council to meet their obligations towards local people, still in 2026 going to oppose evictions in the area, still accompanying people to support them at the housing office and still holding a weekly Saturday protest and advice stall on the pavement in the centre of Stratford on Stratford Broadway and an open meeting every Saturday afternoon in a former corner shop, Sylvia’s Corner.

*Some of the protesters had used ladders to climb onto the balconies and hang banners*

Their campaign brought them into conflict with Newham’s then Mayor, the abrasive Robin Wales, which at times became highly personal, with the mayor attacking them when they protested against him and his policies. The council’s actions against the group included the ludicrous ‘arrest’ of a table at their stall, arrests of Jasmin Stone, physical assaults and various attempts at intimidation.

The protest took place on the second day of the annual Newham Show, a PR exercise for the Mayor. For the previous two years the group had been physically prevented from handing out leaflets at the show, so in 2016 they set up a stall on the main Barking Road a short distance from the show to hand out their housing information leaflets to the crowds making their way to it.

The Grade II listed former East Ham police station on the corner of High Street South, opposite Newham Town Hall had closed two years earlier and was then empty. [The Met sold it in 2018 for £3.4million.] After a few speeches and handing out leaflets for around an hour on Barking Road, the protesters picked everything up and walked the few yards to the police station where some had already used a ladder to climb onto the two balconies and hang banners.

*A protester holds a ‘Robin Wales’ selfie-stick*

The protest continued there, with more speeches. One woman on her way to the show stopped and spoke on the open mike and demonstrated how she thought people should kick Mayor Wales out of Newham – and in 2018, at least partly as a result of demonstrations like these, the Labour Party managed to do so, despite what had seemed his iron hold on the party machine.

Other housing activists came to speak and the rally continued. A police car stopped and the officers came to talk with the protesters. They claimed to be worried that the balconies could be dangerous – but they look pretty solid and sound to me and the protesters and the rally continued.

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Cyprus Property, a Windmill and a Regatta – 2006

Cyprus Property, a Windmill and a Regatta: On Sunday July 9th 2006, after photographing a protest over property disputes in Cyprus I went to the Brixton Windmill Festival and then on to Kingston Regatta and walked to Hampton Court. I wrote at some length on My London Diary and you can read it below with more normal capitalisation and the odd other correction.

Cyprus Property March

Park Lane

Cyprus Property, a Windmill and a Regatta - 2006

Turkish and Greek Cypriots lived together on Cyprus for many years.Three years after the island became independent in 1960, fighting started and the Turkish Cypriots were thrown out of their official positions. There were many killed in the fighting in the following years, and in 1974 both Greek and Turkish troops became involved.

Since then the island has been effectively divided into two, with the Turkish Cypriots in Northern Cyprus. Many Turkish and Greek Cypriots had to leave their homes and move to the other side of the de facto border, taking over properties vacated by those moving in the opposite direction.

Recently the situation has become more complex, with Cyprus being admitted to the EU in 2004, despite its split status. The UN had set up a re-unification plan that was approved by the Turkish population, but rejected by the Greeks. Entry to the EU has however meant that Greek property claims are now being taken up in Southern Cyprus and can then be enforced in other EU countries, including the UK.

One such case concerns the Orams, an English couple who bought land and built a villa on it in Northern Cyprus. They bought the land from a Turkish Cypriot who had received it in exchange for property he had to leave in southern Cyprus in 1974. The land had belonged to a Greek Cypriot who took the matter to a court in southern Cyprus recently, obtaining an order against them that they should demolish the house and pay damages (which the Orams are appealing against.) Although the judgement cannot be enforced in northern Cyprus, as this is still under Turkish control, the lawyers are trying to enforce it in the UK courts against the UK assets of the Orams.

Settlement of the property issues requires Greek and Turkish Cypriots to come together produce a plan for peace in the divided country. It would then be possible for a suitable property commission – such as that already set up under the advice of the EU in northern Cyprus – to work through all the cases.

The marchers were asking for the support of the British government in refusing to accept the decision of the Cyprus court on ‘public policy’ grounds, and to make further attempts to establish a proper peace plan that would allow proper resolution of property and other disputes in the island.

[Following a series cases with appeals to the the High Court, the European Court of Justice, and back to the UK Appeal Court, the Orams lost their case and apparently abandoned their property in Cyprus in 2010. Property issues in Cyprus remain in a mess but are reported to be moving very slowly towards an amnesty in 2026.]

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Brixton Windmill Festival, 2006

Blenheim Gardens, Brixton

The Brixton Windmill Festival wasn’t music at the well-known pub, but at the real windmill 50 yards further on, built by a Mr Ashby many years ago to take advantage of its hilltop site to get the energy to grind his corn.

*A local choir sang with spirit performing Amazing Grace as a tribute to those killed and injured on in the London Bombings of 7 July 2005*

When I first visited around 30 years ago it had been recently restored by the GLC and I climbed up the rather rickety ladder holding the small occupant of the pushchair I had taken with me for a view of the surroundings. Since then it has been vandalised and partly restored, and though it’s still an impressive site, you are only allowed upstairs on very special occasions (and probably after signing a a form in triplicate saying you take your life entirely into your own hands.)

But it is still a useful site, a green patch in which to sit or stroll, some swings for kids, a cup of tea, and a reminder of past ages. There was some music at the festival, a group of local singers while I was there, as well as stalls from a number of local organisations, including the local history society, the credit union and also the police and others. I hope a few more people came after I left.

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Kingston Regatta and Hampton Court

Kingston-upon-Thames

It was a pleasant afternoon for a walk by the Thames, and although the shopping streets of the town were hot and bothered as usual, once out on the bridge it was a different world. the river itself was rather busier than usual, with over half its width buoyed off for the regatta, with pairs and trios of boats being stroked lustily downstream chased by umpires in powered catamarans.

I walked past the regatta enclosure and stood a few minutes watching by the bank before continuing along the riverside path. The start and marshalling area were a little more interesting as the officials tried to sort out the various teams, heats and finals. There were quite a few grammar, not to mention Eton and a few other posh schools, but not a single comprehensive or secondary mod while I was in earshot.

It turned out to be a rather longer walk to Hampton Court than I’d imagined (for once I’d not bothered with a map) and I was tired [and late] when I got to the river exit from the flower show.

There were a few people carrying rather straggly looking plants and a couple of photographers already lying in wait to photograph them, but I couldn’t really work up a great deal of interest. so I walked on and caught the bus home.

[I’d been keen to go to Kingston as I was hoping to get more local pictures for the show ‘Another London’ with Mike Seaborne and Paul Baldesare which was to be in Kingston Museum at the start of 2007. You can still see all the pictures by all three of us on-line at the Another London web site, including one from the Regatta.]

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