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!