Greetings

Dear Friends at the Millman Street computer learning centre,

My very best wishes to you all for a merry festive season and a bountiful New Year. Special greetings and good wishes to our tutor (Veronica), plentiful may her garden grow in the new year with fewer weeds and less ravenous snails. I am proof of her teaching skills since a year ago emails were beyond me and "blogging" was something one did between consenting adults in private.

So! A Happy New Year to All....

Walter V.

Surrender

I am bruised, battered and beaten, survival depends on surrender. So, I surrender, give up, have tied the white flag to my flag-pole. This means that I shall cease to complain and fulminate inwardly.

I promise to overlook all examples of the split infinitive. Why? Because it is now so widely used as to become normal. I will also cease to worry about "inverted commas". These are used indiscriminately and it is difficult to recognise direct speech. Don't worry, no help is at hand.

My recent rage is against the "tautology". Example, "A new innovation". One is enough.

The lesson for today is "Remain cheerful" and all will be forgiven.

Walter V.

Who was Henry Croft?

His name may mean nothing but his contribution to children's charity became a byword in London Cockney Folklore. Henry was a roadsweeper and rat catcher. In fact he was reputed to be one of the best of his generation. His area was Charlton Street off the Euston Road. The London at the time was riddled with death and illness including destitution with child mortality extremely high . If you were destitute your only recourse was the workhouse which was one step above living on the streets. His friends were Costermongers (Street Traders and Market Stall Holders), Beggars, prostitutes, thieves and Vagabonds.

The fashion at the time was pearl buttons. All wore them on their boots and shoes. It was the fad of the times. He noticed that everywhere he went he found lots of loose buttons on the floor especially in Charlton Street market. At that time they were not expensive. So he started to collect them and sell them at a small profit. The broken ones he sewed on his working suit so he stood out when he went charity collecting in the Market for his favourite orphanage up by Chalk Farm somewhere.

One day while he was collecting the chief costermonger asked him what he was doing and was so impressed by his fortitude he decide to contact all the other costermongers throughout London and outside markets to collect for him. To celebrate they wear pearly suits and dresses when they collect births, marriages, death and their harvest festival at St Martin in the Fields, in the Strand.

So from one person's good deed sprung a tradition that is now known the world over and doesn’t it make you proud to be a cockney and a Londoner.

El Moano

The image is from www.paviyarns.co.uk

Labour & Europe ... a personal view

I can't help wondering why after meeting Mrs Merkel of Germany, Tony Blair decided to hand back the rebates Mrs. Thatcher fought hard to get for this country despite Britain paying a higher contribution than the French.

Again it doesn't make sense why Gordon Brown pushed through the Lisbon Treaty by parliamentary vote and denied us our referendum which Labour promised in their 2005 election manifesto.

Why didn't he join the Euro when one pound was one euro & fifty centime. He outlined five criteria as to why Britain wasn't ready. Now the pound is nearly on par. Why did the Labour Party let the bankers earn huge bonuses and almost bankrupt the country despite having created the FSA?

Why did Gordon Brown sell gold bullion for $250 an ounce? (It is now $1150). I think they have no regard for the voters and they think they can do the thinking for us.

The reputation of Britain suffered when it was revealed how MPs were milking the system of claiming expenses.

This time I hope the voters will not be fooled into believing that Labour deserves a fourth term in May 2010.

Posted by: M.Ghosh 03/11/2009 at 05:09 PM

Excuses

We all make excuses as part of our daily life. We are late...excuse. We forgot to feed the cat...excuse. We forgot to water the plants...excuse ... and so forth. Then there is the extraordinary excuse... leaves on the line for the late train, for example.

On Saturday 14th Nov. the weather was vile. No Guardian newspaper was delivered to my local newsagent. He apologises in spite of the fact that there was nothing that he could do about it. When I asked what happened, he said "It's the weather, call back in half an hour". Half an hour later the paper had been delivered but without the magazine. He explained this was due to the rain.

A young friend of mine (after a hard night) phoned his boss next morning and explained that he would not be at work as he was unable to find his shoes!

Walter V.

Off my trolly!

Having struggled for years carrying a shopping basket provided by the store I was using at the time, the other day I thought I'd be brave and get one of the trolleys to use. I went to get one and hadn't a clue what to do! A very nice lady came to my assistance and away I happily went.

What I did not realise was they have a mind of their own. I think that one trolley was against me from the start. It took me (not the other way round) out onto the pavement full of little children in buggies and old ladies and started to career wildly all over the place amid much shouting and cursing. Eventually I managed to curb the beast.

Having almost run over an old man sitting on the pavement with his cap beside him full of coins and reducing a toddler to tears by banging into his buggy and causing his teddy to fall overboard, I eventually reached safe haven and did my shopping though worrying all the time that I had do the reverse journey to return the beast to its stall.

All was well eventually, but I will use a basket in future!

Mad security - update

I posted a blog...Mad security...on 21st October (2009).

There is some sense in the system and I am delighted to announce that the item (harpoon) arrived safely at the Museum in Toronto.

The universe is not entirely mad...just a little insane on occasion.

Walter V

Mad security

This is a tale of mad security or security gone mad or the ultimate avoidance of risk. The Eskimo (Inuit) peoples of the Arctic used to hunt seals through the ice. They waited at a "blowhole" and harpooned the seal when it came to the hole to breathe. The harpoon , and all the attachments, were made of bone.

I acquired a harpoon with all the attachments some forty years ago, (how this came about is another story), and now wished to donate it to the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada. They were delighted to receive this artifact and I carefully boxed it and arranged to send it to Canada via a reputable carrier.

I declared the item as an historical artifact that was being returned to its country of origin. Imagine when to my surprise (chagrin) none of the carriers would take the parcel because it was a dangerous weapon, that is a harpoon!

One carrier was persuaded to transport the item but it has not yet arrived at its destination and has still got to surmount the customs and excise barrier on both sides of the Atlantic ... Watch this space!

Walter V.

An epic journey

Having written a post a few weeks ago in praise of the documentary, The Frankincense Trail, and having seen two of the episodes, I turned on the television ready for the last one.

It was just as enjoyable as before and Kate as charming and tactful as she always is. When the end of her journey drew nigh and the midnight mass was about to start, the excitement in the church could almost be felt.

The Patriarch arrived with much pomp in magnificent splendour and proceeded to put the incense, that Kate had carried for so many miles with her, into the thurible and then started the Mass in earnest having blessed the altar.

How pleased Kate must have been to feel that her journey had such a successful ending.

And now, I at least know where frankincense comes from!

Polly

Antidote to gloom

I seem to be surrounded by GLOOM. Gloom is everywhere, global gloom, then there is autumnal gloom and something called SAD which comes with Christmas. So, I say, lighten up a bit, take precautionary measures to counteract gloom. I recommend any activity, provided it is done badly, strive for incompetence and above all read nonsense verse thus:

There was an old person whose habits
Induced him to feed upon rabbits;
When he'd eaten eighten,
He turned amazingly green,
And thus he relinquished those habits.

For copyright reasons the above has been cribbed from A book of nonsense (Everyman's Library) Walter V

French President on Economic Growth

President Sarkozy and his views on Economic Growth and Prosperity seem genuine and to find out more about the economic growth and cycles, he has recruited two Nobel Prize winners on economic growth. The two eminent professors are Amartya Sen and Joseph Stieglitz.

He is a proud French man and likes to see France come out the recession and his people have a high standard of living. But how do you measure growth? Some would say when the house prices start picking up, some say when the unemployment start falling, some say when there is a balance of payment surplus, and many other views. But Dr Sen is well known for his views philosophical, ethical and balance between market economy and social justice. As President Sarkozy wants to be the president of all the people he wants to combine his views on growth on prosperity, social justice and less gap between have and have not’s. Beautiful wife Carla Bruni by his side he is determined to make his mark as one of the great French Presidents

Classification

I had a quick look at the HCA web page. Congratulations HCA! Very informative. A slight grumble! Activities are age specific? That is, under 50, over 50, over 55, under 60, over 60, under 65, over 65 etc. Why not just active or inactive.....
Anonymous.

In praise of the BBC

I am normally not in praise of television in general, in fact the last post I wrote I was grumbling about it! But now I am full of praise of it and certainly of three documentaries they have put on and are still showing.

The first and foremost is Kate Humble in the Frankincense Trail. I feel she was certainly the perfect choice. She was tactful with some of the difficult questions she felt compelled to ask. I look forward to the last (unfortunately) showing of it tonight.

The other two I am really enjoying are TheLast Chance to See and Lost Land of the Volcanoes. Both I enjoy - seeing all the new small animals and insects which have never been seen before.
I did feel sorry for Stephen Fry breaking his arm though!

I do hope there will be many more programmes like these.

Comment on child poverty

I read a newspaper report recently (probably the Guardian), discussing ways in which child poverty could be eradicated. The report concluded that a poor family in which only one parent was at work, the earnings of this parent were insufficient to raise the family out of poverty. The reasonable solution to this problem, as far as I am concerned, would be to raise the income of the single working parent. Oh no! Such a solution is too simple and too sensible. So the "obvious" solution in the report was to suggest that both parents should work. I thought that this was April 1st in September. I hope the report is a joke and does not warrant serious comment

Walter V

China's Terracotta Army

Helen the organizer of our activities at Millman Street Pensioners Centre acquired free tickets for the Terracotta Army exhibition at the British Museum. Now I am not a very museum person I feel like this, you see a bit flint and it is labelled ancient axe head, how do we know! But with this exhibition I was rapped I was amazing that all these army figures was buried under the earth for centuries and was only uncovered in 1974.

The first emperor who’s name was Ying Zheng was born 259 BC At the age of 13 years he conquered the other seven provinces of China. He became King of Qin; his success in battle was due to his highly developed weapons and the highly developed stratagem of his officers. His army was mostly made up of the peasant of China and they joined in their millions. Discipline was strict and insubordination carried a harsh punishment When his campaign was over he declared himself the first August Devine Emperor of Qin.

He governed his empire with a firm hand and there were grave consequences for all law breakers and dissidents. He planned to join the walls that surrounded the conquered states to make one gigantic wall. This was the first Great Wall of China, built to protect his empire from marauding foreigners. He also built new roads and canals He standardized weights and measures and introduced a single currency. He built more than 270 palaces and filled them with serifs and women from the captive states. He built these palaces in line with the stars in the Milky Way as he thought himself ruler of the cosmos. The capital of his empire was Xianyhang.

The emperor feared death and wanted to live forever. He tried to prolong his life by taking herbs and potions. He also drank mercury and this was believed to have contributed to his death He was also afraid because he had, had three attempts on his life. He also feared the spirits of the people he had killed, and thought that they would extract their revenge on him in the afterlife.
So he built a great tomb complex. This complex was built by 700,000 workers, 7000 were slaves and convicts. If they were worn out because of their hard labour while working on the tomb, and they ended up being buried alive.

He had his work-force constructed a terracotta army to guard him in the after-life. Which consisted of cavalry, archers, heavy armed foot soldiers and light infantry and terracotta cavalry horses. All these replicas were kitted out in a uniform made 800 pieces of terracotta welded together with copper wire. For leisure in the afterlife terracotta musicians, entertainers were manufactured and for the day to day running of the complex civic officers were created. Also ornamental lakes on which floated terracotta swans and water birds, were also fabricated, all this took 30 years to construct

Although his reign on earth was short, he constructed an afterlife kingdom where he could reign supreme forever. That was hidden from the world for many centuries until the twentieth century. His concubines and all who knew the secrets of the tomb were put to death after he died.

In 1974 a farmer unearthed a terracotta head while farming one of his fields. This lead to the uncovering by 7000 terracotta warriors found in large pits surrounding the emperor tomb. The tomb itself was never excavated as it was deemed too dangerous for men to do so, as the tomb was surrounded by rivers of mercury. This is one of the most important archaeological sites ever discovered.

Old Brompton Road London SW5

I would like to confide in the readers of this Blog about the place I most like to visit – Old Brompton Road. The surroundings are so grand and interesting it takes my breath away.

There is Harrods, the famous department store, where rich and poor go through the revolving doors and always come out with some purchases.

You can visit the Royal Albert Hall and Victoria and Albert Museum. It is not far from Kensington Palace where both Princess Diana and Princess Margaret had last residency. It is also near Hyde Park where people stroll and spend time. People can gather and speak of anything without fear of prosecution or persecution.

In Old Brompton Road even a man without any resources can feel a well to do person for the day.

The number 19 Bus takes me directly to the famous street!

A good grumble !

My tutor asked me what I was going to type for a new post in my computer lesson today. I'm afraid I replied that I couldn't think of one thing except a good grumble! To which she said "go ahead" so here goes.

I am not a very grumbly person, or so I think but the one thing that really makes me grumble like mad is the television and all the things it puts on week after week.

Once there were lovely dramas to watch and one looked forward to the evening and sitting down (with a drink in one's hand of course!) to the next exciting instalment.

Now there are only the reality shows with people showing off and all the game shows with people trying for large sums off money. As for the wife swapping shows where families change over to look after different houses and husbands. Oh dear, O dear!!

Just give me my two soaps in the evening and I'll stop grumbling!

Sanctury in Holborn

Dear Readers ~ El Moano again!

An interesting little spot in Holborn is Ely Place. Before the postcode came into being, the actual address was Ely Place E.C.1 Cambridgeshire. This is because the place was the home of the bishops of Ely. There was a palace at one time. They had a palace here because every so often they were called to sit in Parliament .

The church, aside from Westminster Abbey, is the only surviving work from the reign of Edward I (1239-1307) . The crypt is even older - early Norman and well worth a visit. In an alley way is The Mitre pub - still on the same site since 15th century. The reason, apart from it's age, it is regulary visited it has part of a tree growing inside the pub. Lastly, if you where living in the very early period of the Medieval Times and you where being chased by the King's men or the townsfolk and you managed to get to the gates of Ely Place you could claim sanctuary.

So go and pay it a visit it's free and part of Holborn heritage

Cheerio for now

El Moano

Positive Thinking

It has been a pleasure being able to use the internet and broadband . We, the older generation, missed out on this technological revolution and late 20th century advancement. As they say it is never too late to learn - so we are giving it a try to see what we have missed and how we can learn and enjoy ourselves in the autumn of our lives.

It is sometimes a steep learning curve - it's hard to absorb the skills as the receptive parts of brain cells slow down with age and it takes 10 times more effort now than as a teenager to store and reactivate the memory. But we cannot turn back the clock, nor can we rejuvenate our physical strength, mental faculties and concentration.

Perhaps our fathers said similar things while we were growing up. It is a changing world and man’s thirst for knowledge will always be there and more development will come. Maybe the new found knowledge will enhance our lives. Misuse of it will lead to total destruction of the universe or mankind.

Each individual has something to contribute through his/her experience and positive thinking. Being mortal we have a limited time on this Planet. If we can contribute something for the next generations this Earth will be a better place to live in.

What is holding us back are greed, jealousy, power and lies. We must embrace the teachings of Gandhi, Mandela, Martin Luther King. We sincerely hope that we will not see the likes of Hitler, Hussein and Polpot again. As Louis Armstrong sang ‘What a wonderful World’.

It is our duty to make sure that we cut back on CO2 emissions, chlorofluorocarbons and all forms of pollution which contribute to global warming. We must not use up all the natural resources otherwise the next generations will not have much to sustain them. So let us be creative and have positive thinking.

Holborn Facts and Folklore

Dear Fans ... it's me El Moano.

I thought I'd give you a rest from one of my rants. Who said hooray?!

This is a small pocket book of information about Holborn.

Firstly, Red Lion Square. Folklore says that the head of Sir Walter Raleigh was buried here after it was taken down from the Temple Bar in Fleet Street. He lost his head when he fell out with James I.

Secondly, a piece of Victorian history. If you walk down the bottom of Bed Row where it meets Brownlow Street you will find a large hand pump for fresh water. How could the poor scullery maid have handled this and then walked to the other end of Bed Row with two buckets at least five times a day? She really was the poor skivvy.

If you care to stroll across High Holborn - pass through Little Turn Stile and turn left at Lincoln Inn Square - you will come to The Soames Museum. It is a wonderland of curios from everywhere - showing how they would have lived in the 1780s or about that. It really is a one person collection of its time.

When leaving the museum, go across the square to Portsmouth Street to The Old Curiosity Shop made famous by Charles Dickens. It is a strange building. How it still stands is a mystery. Then go a short way to Carey Street (the expression 'to be in Carey Street' meant that you were on the way to debtors prison). Anyway, in this street is a pub called The Seven Stars which is at least 3 hundred years old. It's a strange fact that it never had an inside loo til the 1970s.

Well that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed our little stroll.

El Moano

Is Football becoming a new religion?

Over the last few years soccer has taken the centre stage in almost every country, some elite players are earning a fortune. One can see Churches, Temples, Mosques and other religious places are less than quarter full whereas socccer matches bring in thousands of spectators. Everybody wants to be Pele, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, George Best, Maradona or Zinedin Zedan so that they can earn a fortune and to lead a glamourous life style. Think of the old adage 'If you do not study or educate yourself you will be left at the bottom of social ladder'. Although it is still true in some extent, when young kids see their soccer Idols driving a Ferrari, Porche, Rolls or Mercedes without any output from their brain cells, it creates a negative and unreachable situation. Young kids playing truants and dream of being superstars.

As time goes by, their aspirations come to a dead end. In some cases this leads to drug taking smoking, drinking and other substance misuse which may cause more social unrest.

But football is a beautiful game. It pays superstars handsomely, as they bring in gate receipts and revenue from TV and satellite advertising. The clubs can pay them from their vastly increased income.

We cannot condemn the games whether it is soccer, tennis, cricket or golf. Parents, at the outset, tell their children what is achievable and what is not. But if their kids are talented or showing some kind of special interest, they should be encouraged.

I watch the game regularly and enjoy the excitement, the skill, the passings and movements of the players but I never watch a game if I have other more important things to do. I think people who watch matches or games should do so in their leisure.

Some young people know more about Rooney, Robson, Ronaldo or Thiery Henry than about their school homework.

Owing to cutbacks by local councils, swimming pools, libraries, football, tennis and other sports facilities suffer - and we cannot create superstars of tomorrow. Look at Wimbledon, it is one of the four classic events in the annual sporting calendar but we have not found another Fred Perry since 1936 - although Andy Murray may be the answer to our prayers!

A piece of Dickens

"Some London houses have a melancholy little plot of ground behind them, usually fenced in by four high whitewashed walls, and frowned upon by stacks of chimneys, in which there withers on, from year to year, a crippled tree, that makes a show of putting forth a few leaves late in autumn, when other trees shed theirs, and, drooping in the effort, lingers on , all cracked and smoke-dried, till the following season, when it repeats the same process, and perhaps, if the weather be particularly genial, even tempts some rheumatic sparrows to chirrup in its branches. People sometimes call these dark yards "gardens"; it is not supposed that they were ever planted, but rather that they are pieces of unreclaimed land, with the withered vegetation of the original brickfield. No man thinks of walking in this desolate place, or of turning it to any account. A few hampers, half a dozen broken bottles, and such like rubbish, may be thrown there, when the tenant first moves in, but nothing more; and there they remain until he goes away again, the damp straw taking just as long to moulder as it thinks proper, and mingling with the scanty box, and stunted everbrowns, and broken flower pots, that are scattered mournfully about --a prey to "blacks" and dirt.

Copied by Walter

Charles Dickens - From Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

A one-off thing

My husband called into his favorite pub for a drink on his way back from work a few weeks ago. When he got home he discovered that his mobile phone, a note book with all his telephone numbers, a medical card and about £150 in cash had been expertly lifted (as they say) from an inside pocket. He didn't think it was worth reporting so just put it down to bad luck.

A couple of weeks later at a very early hour there was a knock at the door. It was a policeman asking him to come to the police station as something had been handed in for him to collect. And lo and behold! When he arrived he was handed his mobile, his note book, the medical card, and of all things £50 in notes!

The police were astonished and said they had never known such a thing before.

Was it a person with a strong conscience!!

Beware they want to renage on our pensions

Dear Holbornites

It's your Ace reporter El Moano.

I would like to bring to the attention of the great British public that certain members of the House of Lords can meddle with the pensions of postmen who are in danger from foreign invasion of the Royal Mail.

It's alright for Lord Mandelson to tell us it's okay with his pensions (yes plural - he has more than one). It is a sad sign of the times that essential services are now in the hands of companies whose headquarters are on foreign soil - so they are more responsive to the country of their ownership - it looks very gloomy?

There is one bright hope our heroic hero in shining armour is Frank Dobson MP who has said in an email to El Moano that he is totally against any partial sell off.

I know Sir Frank will slay the privatisation dragon.

London today

Today is the 10th of June 2009. The underground workers are on strike for 48 hours. The effect on central London is alarming. The road system is clogged with traffic and even though people are walking and cycling to work it is clear that transport in London is at breaking point.

There is no lack of discussion. We are being told that oil and coal are non-renewables and that we must develop "sustainable systems" of energy. The discourse does not include people.

A city, any city, is extremely vulnerable to disruption. The electricity shuts down and nothing works, no lights, no heat, no escalators, no underground trains. People's behaviour must change and change in ways that favour survival...survival in a manner compatible with being human. Survival that means civilised as well.

After all, the dinosaurs became extinct. Did their underground train system cease to function?

Footsore

Hello all at Millman Street. Just popped in to say hello! I've been keeping up to date with all your posts. Very very interesting. Such a great variety of experiences, stories, information, tips and opinions being voiced! ... and the whole connected world being able to access and read your work! Great stuff. Keep it up.

You will of course forgive me if I make a point! It would be good if your individual posts always had an author who signed their work consistently with their name or a Nom Du Plume, so to speak! That way, for me at least, it would help link the ideas and opinions etc. of each author. At the moment lots of them are anonymous! ;-)

I myself have been living mostly in Ireland since Christmas. I needed to go there to support a family situation that arose. I am now coming back to London more frequently and am establishing myself here in the city once again. My time in Ireland, especially these last few weeks has been very pleasant. I have been gardening. I have sown Broad Beans and Peas. I have also sewn 7 varieties of Tomato in the Greenhouse to see which variety does best!

Back here in London I am involved in a variety of things mainly Art and Design and Computer work. I have been creating and maintaining some Blogs for other people and other centres and I have also been attempting to establish a Web Design and Graphic Design Business called Pumping Engine Films. If you click on the name you will see my site. I also continue to do a lot of private, one to one Computer lessons and tutorials and am always available for that.

Here are some links to a couple of the Blogs I have created and maintain.

Charlie Ratchford Centre's Wormery.

Brent's African Caribbean Community Network Service.

Hope you like what you see and if you know anyone who wants a website, blog or private lessons do get in touch.

I trust that all of you are doing well and I am so pleased that your Blog is developing and it will, I'm sure, become an important platform for all of you to express yourselves.

Kind regards always and keep up the good work!

Charles xx

Image sourced from HERE

Why London Transport is dangerous today

I would like to know if I'm the only person who finds that London Transport buses are far more dangerous in their braking now than they ever were when they were under the L.C.C. If a driver's braking was complained about, he would be retrained - because they were always properly trained. Nowadays it seems that every driver is dangerous. Even when inspectors are on board they will still brake hard. 25 years ago, the driver would have been reported to Management.

What records are kept, if any, of accidents caused by buses? Broken arms, legs, sprains, bruises are A&E hospital cases. Who keeps these records and why are they not printed in daily newspapers every 6 months?

Also the elderly travel with their shopping trolleys. Drivers never stop near the kerb. They just don't care about the elderly and the time it takes us to heal because of our age.

They forget they will be senior citizens one day - so I say a plague on all drivers!

Pauline's photo

Millman Street
in February.

Urban agriculture

Urban agriculture is a major topic in the present climate of sustainable living. In essence the central idea is to produce food on land in the urban environment. This will reduce the cost of food, use arable land in urban areas, reduce transport costs and above all, use methods of food production which avoid dependence on chemicals.

This idea relating to food production has been adopted worldwide. The idea is not a new one. The "allotment" movement in Britain is well established and proved to be an important addition to the diet of the urban population during the last war. What is new however, is the necessity to adopt production processes which are "environmentally friendly".

An example of a local initiative is an enclosed area in Coram's Fields set up by the University College London, Development Planning Unit (DPU). A number of vegetable crops will be planted in this area and grown organically. The DPU will provide information and advice on the growing of crops in an urban setting.

It is hoped and expected that these methods will lead to a real change in our behaviour relating to climate change and our use of natural resources.

Eighth Wonder of the World? TAJ MAHAL

They say perhaps this is the most magnificient building and it's architecture at its supreme. It was built by the Mogul Emperor, Shah Jehan, then ruler of India. After the death of his beloved wife and soul mate, Mamtaj, he wanted to show the World his true love and devotion for his departed queen.

With this huge project there was vast expenditure and more than 20 thousands labourers working for days and nights for many years and when it was finally built it had the diamond stone 'Kohinoor' displaying its charm and grace, reflecting on the River Jamuna. This splendid structure was a joy to behold. But many of the workers lost their lives and most of them did not live to see the finished building.

Princess Diana sat near the visitor's bench alone! She went there after splitting from Prince Charles.

Visitors from all over the world specially go to Agra, Delhi to behold and try to understand the meaning of true love. I hope the readers of this blog could one day go there and could spend a memorable holiday.

India is a friendly country and one has to go there to enjoy the scenery.

Mintu

Living in London

I have been asked by my tutor to write a post entitled “Why I like living in London”.

Now that’s a tall order! Do I?

I asked my husband for some advice and all he did was to pretend to strum on a piano and sing “Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner “ like the old song, which was not at all helpful as I’m not one!

Perhaps I can turn to Dr. Johnson who said, in a more serious vein, about if one is tired of London then one is tired of life. I’m certainly not the latter but I wonder what the good doctor would have thought of travelling on a bus, standing up with a stick in one hand and heavy shopping in the other while some burly man sat in front of one in comfort.

Anyway I must return to the main theme. I live in a very nice part of London, Bloomsbury, which is convenient for various shopping areas. I am not in favour of the West End having lived there. Knightsbridge and Oxford Street are definitely out in my books. The places I like most are the East End and further west - Ealing. We lived there for a few years and really enjoyed its different atmosphere. I used to enjoy Spittlefield Market before developers took over. To travel further east to Epping Forest, which has a haunted feeling about it, is a must with me.

I wonder how many people get on the D.L.R, get off at Islands Garden and walk to the Tower near by or go down in a lift to the seabed and walk under the Thames to Greenwich and the Cutty Sark! Different? Something to interest one, that’s the main thing, not to be bored.

If one is fit and able to get around there’s always something to do and new places to explore.

That’s why I like living in London!

Budget for growth or survival?

Budget Day was last week. The Chancellor of Exchequer, Mr A Darling, delivered his second Budget statement under very difficult economic circumstances as he had to juggle cutting public expenditure and raising both direct and indirect taxes and has borrowed to balance the book. Both he and Gordon Brown stressed fiscal stimulus to keep the economy running. The economy is in its deepest trouble since the second World War.

For the first time since the 60's we are in a deflationary situation as RPS has gone down to -2. With the co-operation of the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervin King, the Treasury has resorted to quantitative easing.

Let us hope the medicines prescribed by the current Chancellor will work. Let us hope the scandal of expenses claims by our lawmaker MPs are genuine and more transparent. They must give examples of honesty, sincerity and humanity. They must pause for a thought for the millions of underpaid workers, pensioners and people living in genuine hardship who have to live within their limited incomes.

Where there is fairness and genuine distribution of the national cake, the society benefits and we don’t need to create have and have not’s. We need to encourage business people to invest in Britain so that they can be wealth creators. This will support economic growth and could increase employment.

We can not go back to taxing and spending days.

The Isobel Plantation

'Earth has nothing to show more fair'. This quotation from Wordsworth said it all. The Isobel Plantation is a cordoned off area in Richmond Park about 500 metres wide and the same across. I came to the plantation on a coach trip from a ladies club.

When we alighted from the coach what a sight met our eyes. The Rhododendrons were in full bloom. They were tiered, one bush on top of the other like a great wall of vivid colour lining the sides of the path ways. All the colours of the rainbow stretching up to the sky.

The plantation was set in walkways intermingled with little streams of clear water. As you walked along these pathways you felt that God’s hand was in this panorama. That he had used his paint box to create this breath taking scene to magnificent effect. It was too wonderful to be the work of man and too perfect to be other than the hand of God! As you wondered along the pathways this scene assailed your senses.

Your eyes were dazed by the striking beauty of nature in it, vivid, most beautiful. Your ears were overwhelmed with the sweet melody of the little streams as they gambolled over the sparkling stones. You could taste the coolness of the clear water, the freshness of the vegetation so crisp and sharp. The songbirds added beautiful background music to this scene. The whole effect was dazzling as hues of reds, blues, pinks, purples and all the colours of the spectrum bombarded your eyes. You could touch the velvety smoothness of the petals.

I felt the peace and wonder that true beauty brings. I walked around the gardens in awe and silence almost on tiptoe so as not break the spell and spoil the magic. Then it was time to go and I was very reluctance to join the bus for the return home journey.

The spell stayed with me for long time to come, filling me with peace and joy. I used my camera but nothing could recapture the wonder of the real experience of The Isobel Plantation. I felt that I had met with God’s creation in the flesh.

Salutations

Happy Easter to all. A time of year to celebrate, poets greet the cheery blossoms, the magnolias burst into flower and the pigeons are noisy. Camden has attached nesting boxes on the trees in Brunswick square, bringing the country to the city. Proust describes this time of year in a burst of poetic ecstacy as "Winter falling into the arms of spring" Wally

VAN GOGH

Van gogh painting . I am going to publish it for everyone to see.

Thanks for your attention.

Mintu

Holiday in Ireland

When I was a nurse in the Navy just after the war had finished, a friend of mine, also a nurse decided we would have a really good holiday somewhere where there was no rationing and the dreaded food coupons! Eventually we decided on Southen Ireland and set about getting tickets and sorting our leave out. Of course tickets were free which meant we could travel any distance we wished!

When the time came, we caught a train from Plymouth to Fishguard changing at Cardiff on the way. We had a good crossing and disembarked at Rosslare where we spent the night to recover, and to give us energy for travels to come. We got a coach to Cork stopping at various towns on the way including Waterford where we visited the glass factory and eventually arrived at Cork which is a lovely city. I was thrilled to see my surname (no prizes for guessing!) in large letters on a hotel!

After exploring the city the one thing we simply had to do was to go to Blarney Castle and kiss the Blarney stone to make us 'full of the blarney' as they say! It is quite a difficult feat to accomplush. You lie on your back near the edge of the castle on the summit, lean over to reach the stone while someone holds your legs to stop you hurling down to your doom! Make sure you have a very good friend with you!!

After that adventure we got another coach to Glengarriff which is right down south and on the coast. We hired a boat and rowed ourselves out to an island called Garnish. which had a beautiful Italian garden on it. In the evening we went to a hop with some nice young men who were staying in the same hotel as us which was fun and useful as they told us places to see which were not on the map.

We got a train to Killarney which was simply lovely. We hired a jaunting car which is really a horse and governess car and drove around the lakes known as"The meetings of the waters"which were quite beautiful.

Our holiday was slowly coming to an end. We felt our last port of call had to be Dublin. So off we went. When we arrived we had difficulty finding a B&B for the two nights we intended to stay as the Dublin horse show was on. Eventually we found one. We sorted ourselves out and started to explore the city.

When we had seen all the main places, including Trinity College, we felt it was time to call it a day and return to the Navy and nursing. We packed all our "goods and chattles" and caught a train to Dun Laoghaire where we got the ship for Holyhead and so ended our adventure!

Difficult Times

Since the end of World War II, we have continually faced economic boom and bust, on average every 8/9 years. Sometimes we blamed current government policies and lack of an industrial base. Since the late 1960’s we have continually shifted our emphasis to service industries and insurance. We could get away with that as long as China, India, Thailand, Brazil, Philippines and other developing countries economic structures were not so strong. We always captured the lost markets and emerged from bust to boom. So whatever industries we had, we could satisfy domestic and overseas demand and bolster the economy again.

This time the economic outlook is very gloomy. India, China, Brazil and other nations have developed their economies. They can export their goods and services to the world market place cheaper without sacrificing quality and delivery. Bankers' bonuses and greed have destroyed the national coffers of the US, Britain, Ireland, Germany and other G7 countries. The Prime Minister and Bank of England have approved the quantitative easing approach to liquidity, so that Banks can start lending to businesses and home buyers. Effectively Britain has resorted to printing money, which means pound in our pockets has been devalued. The present government has blamed the world downturn but the bulk of blame must fall on Tony Blair and Gordon Brown as they borrowed money in good times and did not make any provisions for bad times. Gordon Brown, when Chancellor of the Exchequer, said that he had abolished boom and bust. His tax credits have benefited single parents and penalised couples living together. His policy means if you have worked hard and saved some money for the future, you are excluded from home help, tax credits and other support. If you have not saved anything and never worked you are entitled to all benefits. When he abolished the married couples allowances he devalued the institution of marriage.

Returning to the present recession, I think it will take more that 2 years to recover. Many jobs are taken by migrant workers on low wages. Some people do not want these jobs as they can get more money in benefits. In addition, we have lost or sold most of our manufacturing industry and are not in a position to compete.

North Sea oil and gas revenues have been squandered. A lot of the infrastructure needed to be updated or renewed. Whether it was Norman Lamont or Gordon Brown, they all put dogma before the country's needs. When one creates an economic bubble and then it bursts, it's always the people who put their faith and trust in the political parties who suffer most.

Parties of all colours should sit down together and formulate a plan of national recovery. They blame each other and again the slinging match has begun and we are back to square one!

Letter from Dryden

Dryden is a small town in N.Ontario, Canada. The main industry is a paper mill which is gradually shutting down resulting in widespread unemployment in the area.

In the summer Dryden is a tourist destination. It is famous for hunting (Moose and Deer) and fishing. The summer is attractive to nature lovers because of the numerous lakes and forests.
In winter the landscape is stunning. Everything is covered with snow. The only contrast is between the green conifers and the blinding snow. The outdoor temperature is often 20 degrees below zero. This is cold even with the proper clothing. I ventured to leave the house when it was sunny and the temperature just below zero. I slithered along after the snow plough had cleared a path and after 20 minutes returned to the house, painfully cold.

Ice fishing - that is boring a hole through the ice on the lake and fishing through this hole - is a favourite winter pastime for the locals. I have declined several invitations to try this or to ride on a ski-doo.

Life is healthy otherwise. All the germs have been killed by the cold and I have eaten Moose, Deer and lake trout. London will seem very warm and ordinary when I get back -- Walter

Greetings to all at Millman Street!

Your blog is looking great!
Have been reading all your posts regularly and with interest.
Keep it up. Kind regards,
Charles xx

Water

Machines and I ....

I am sore distressed! Today I went to my doctor for a check on my blood pressure. I was directed to a machine with the following instructions:

Sit on the chair, make yourself comfortable, Relax...

Put your left arm in the sleeve if you are right handed.
Put your right arm in the sleeve if left handed.

I lost my way at this point.

However, I think that you press a button, a green light appears. Something else happens and a result is printed. You remove this paper and take it to the nurse or doctor.

I fled with my blood pressure elevated to an alarming level. I can imagine the day when I do not see a doctor or nurse. I step into a telephone booth pick up the receiver and all my symptoms (even state of mind) are recorded and sent somehwere.

I feel measured, counted and unwell...
Am I making mountains out of machine mole hills?

Comments please.....Walter

Request for information

The sentiments of 19th century brutalists which we are mending in the 21st century.
E.g.

I am monarch of all I survey
My right there is none to dispute
From the centre
All round to the sea
I am lord of the fowl and the brute.

Walter would be grateful for author, date and rest of poem....thinks it is related to loneliness and isolation.

My Birds

When I was young a lovely thing happened, or so I think. I was walking around my parents' garden which was large and in the country, and saw that the gardener had cut a hedge fairly drastically and had bared a bird's nest. There were four baby birds in it, and of course the mother had flown and would definitely not be returning.

I took the babies with me and made a nest out of a small box with plenty of straw which luckily we had. The first day one baby died but the others thrived well and started to grow and demand to be fed with much noise everytime they saw someone!

They turned out to be thrushes and I named them Pip, Pop, and Pam.

Eventually they were growing up very quickly and needed to have exercise and to meet the outside world. I used to take them onto a lawn and they would walk around and try flying short distances with not much success! They became very daring, and actually flew up into a tree but couldn't fly down, so I had to climb up and rescue them!

After a while they became very grown-up and I felt it was time they could cope alone. I thought I would ignore them completely and hope for the best. And after a while they became wild birds, but for ages came down and sat on my arm and demanded to be fed!!

Polly

The picture is from the Official Web site of Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. www.outdooralabama.com

Paranoia

Am I paranoid, hyper-sensitive or just untrusting?

The other day I was struggling with my shopping. Dragging a wheeled container down some stairs, when a charming young lady offered to help me. My first re-action was an urban mugging. I immediately thought of losing my shopping. I smiled nervously, refused help with as much civility as I could manage and muttered "Thank you" more relieved than grateful.

After a while, the thought came to me that I must look more decrepit than I feel, I needed a new coat, I must stop struggling with shopping, I should not refuse help, do I look confused, bewildered, down at heel, do I need new shoes?

I said all this to my daughter who then told me that there are nice people in the world and I am really ok..... Walter

Counselling and Mediation

When I first entered a class at Mary Ward I always felt very self conscious as I thought I'd encounter a lot of young people and at my age I didn't want to make a fool of myself. Normally I get on with young people and in mediation you get a mixture of ages. Mediation is the reason I joined the counselling class and I felt it would enhance my mediation skills.

This class highlights the structure of counselling, listening, reflecting-back and feedback. I feel that positive regard is the way that the counsellor approaches his cases. For example, with empathy, having genuine regard for the feelings of those in need of counselling, accurately reading the signs of distress, not leading or advising but letting the patient come to a sensible conclusion by way of sensitive questioning.

Counselling in one sense is like mediation except that usually counselling it is one to one. In mediation more that one disputant can be involved. But the same feelings and method can be used in both cases. For example, overseeing the situation, standing back and letting the conversation flow, asking careful open questions to draw out the relevant information so that the client’s emotions are responded to and a true picture can emerge. It is important to listen to your own gut feeling. This skill can help you know the whole situation, and be used as a guide to bring your patient the relief they seek.

I liken the counsellor or mediator sessions to a conductor of an orchestra where he weaves the musical pieces with his body, arms and emotional and physical awareness of himself and the other person.

I enjoyed the course very much. I learnt so much and I know it made me a much better mediator for participating in these classes.

Peggy