There is a context to London's riots that can't be ignored - Article in The Guardian

This is a wise and thoughtful article: You can hover over the title above or the link below to read the full article.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/08/context-london-riots?commentpage=1

So much has been written, but this is a particularly good article from The Guardian, followed by some interesting comments - in the end, it's hard to know what to think, there are so many conflicting views. http://amplify.com/u/a1aep4

You might like to read my own comments here:London Riots

Food for thought in this Guardian article http://amplify.com/u/a1aep4

Riots in Tottenham, in the London Borough of Haringey: See the photo link:

Tottenham Riots, London 5th August 2011

IMG_9756 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
I'd like to post the actual photo on this page, but I can't because it's copyrighted, but well worth a look.

Such a beautiful Art Deco building with a carpet shop below and flats above wiped off the face of Tottenham High Road. People made homeless, jobs lost, and for what? - What idiots destroy their own community? I don't think this is anything to do with Mark Duggan's shooting - why would you burn your own shopping centre because you're cross? What would it prove?

Am I missing something?

I've lived in Haringey for 50 years, and this makes me feel very sad, because so much effort and money has gone into regeneration of the area since the Broadwater Farm incident 25 years ago, when an unarmed policeman was hacked to death with machetes during a riot. At that time, rioting got out of hand because many of the local youth were angered by the local police policy of "Stop and Search", when the police had a legal right to stop and search anyone they suspected of committing an offence. And the black community in Tottenham felt that they were being unjustly targetted.

After that, a huge effort was made to change policing, to employ more black police, have local community liaison committees and so forth; money was poured in to the bleak concrete jungle which was Broadwater Farm Estate, and much was done to make it more of a supportive community, with a community centre, and planting of trees and other cosmetic effects to make the occupants feel less alienated from society.

For years Haringey has had one of the highest council taxes in Britain, and this was to improve the lives of those living in the poorest part of the Borough. I believed in this Socialist principle, so didn't really resent paying high local taxes (just some of the wastefulness that went with it!).

Schools were improved, the whole Borough of Haringey was "greened up", with tree and garden planting, cleaning up areas where there had been fly-tipping, better street cleaning, better street lighting, improved, cleaner local parks, better sports facilities and good library facilities. There were "inclusive" policies, and positive discrimination in employment. There is a huge ethnic mix in Haringey, with something in excess of 100 languages spoken by children in the local schools. Official Local Government information leaflets are normally distributed in about 10 different languages, to help people feel loved and wanted. Many people did feel that things had improved considerably, but the youth unemployment and crime rate, much of it drug-related, remained high.

So why arson - one of the most dangerous offences in the book? In a crowded city like London, it can wreak havoc - and that's why it is a very serious crime - think "Fire of London".

I, for one, certainly don't think pouring a lot more money into Haringey is going to solve this one, because it doesn't seem to have helped much up to now. It seems to me that the people who did this, probably thoughtless youths who don't think beyond their own noses (and certainly not about actions having consequences), should now start to think about pulling themselves up by their bootlaces, like other second-generation immigrant populations before them, instead of behaving badly and then whining about their rights and lack of opportunities.

Alexandra Palace Fire 10th July 1980

Who would have thought  it was nearly 30 years ago?

 My son and I were sitting on our front wall just beyond Alexandra Park Road, chatting. I looked up and noticed a small dark smoke cloud drifting up above the rooftops. I pointed it out to Charlie, and although we couldn’t see the source, we both agreed it was probably the Palace, and we ran out to see.

I had previously seen Blandford House burn down in the Palace grounds only a few years previously. Curious, we jumped into the car, and drove part of the way up the hill where it became obvious that it was indeed the Palace on Fire. We left the car a safe distance away and went the rest of the way by foot.

We were among the first to arrive even before

 the fire engines were there.

We stood on grass by the steep slope, very close to the fire, and Charlie was so excited he wanted to run right up the slope to get closer still, and I had to haul him back as I was frightened he might be hit by falling timber or hamper the firemen, who were just beginning to arrive.

We moved back and they seemed like little ants rushing about. At that stage the fire had not really taken hold and they seemed to be getting it under control.

We could see the big window at the front of the Great Hall lit up with great orange flames licking out of it. At first it was hard to distinguish the flames from the yellow-red brickwork, but the intense moving colours soon drew our eyes.

There was scaffolding round the front of the building where workmen had been renovating that area.

I knew the Palace and Park well, from going to the Panorama Bar, courting there in my youth, working, taking my children to the ice rink, and generally roaming around. I used to work in the BBC Television Newsroom in the part where the BBC Television Tower is.

During the afternoon the flames seemed to have died down a bit, but later that evening I happened to visit someone who lived high up in a flat in Shepherd’s Hill, Highgate, with a clear view of the Palace, which was again completely engulfed in flames, and I believe it burned all night.

Oh, and by the way, there had been local wrangles all the previous year about who was to take over the Palace, and who was to pay for substantial upgrading and renovation.  Then came the fire, apparently started from an electrical fault whilst the renovations were being carried out, and there was a £3million insurance pay-out.  Was that handy or what?  Every cloud has a silver lining and this was quite a large cloud. Curious nimbus.

Here is a LINK to the BBC Television News Video Report in 1980.

And here is a LINK to the fire at St Andrew's Church, Alexandra Park Road, N10 in 2009.

And a LINK to the fire at Blandford Hall, Alexandra Park  on July 17th 1971.

And a LINK to a very detailed article dated 1993 about the history of the great organ at Alexandra Palace.

                          (Acknowledgement to I Barwell for the picture on the right)


And this LINK is to my POEM "The Fire at Alexandra Palace"

Local Sights of North London: Muswell Hill, Wood Green,Hornsey and Highgate

Here are some Photo's of local architecture and scenery in North London

This is the view of Canary Wharf seen

from the Top of Hillfield Park Road

standing in Muswell Hill Broadway, N10

Eclipse over Rhodes Avenue,

                                                       Wood Green, N22

                                                             London Mennonite Library,
                                                                        Highgate N6
   Sewage Pumping Station,
                                                         Hornsey, N8

Did you ever wonder what was behind the locked wooden gate in Rhodes Avenue N22 with a sign on it saying "Danger", belonging to the Electricity Board?

To me it was one of life's unsolved mysteries for decades, and then a year ago it was unlocked for the first time in years, for maintenance purposes, and I nipped along and took a photo.  It made me so happy!

  Snow in Durnsford Road Park, looking
 out towards Durnsford Road, N22

    

Snow on the totem pole at Rhodes

Avenue Primary School, Wood Green N22

Helicopter circling to take off from - would you believe it - Muswell Hill Golf Course N22

(you can see the Club House in the background).  Very odd, and quite exceptional

 Bust of Oliver Tambo ANC Leader

who lived in Muswell Hill

You'll find it outside Alexandra Park School and

Rhodes Avenue Primary School

in Durnsford Road Park, Wood Green, London N22




Here's a Song, Muswell Hill Billy, by The Kinks, who used to live just up the road from me

Photographs of Crouch End and Alexandra Palace in Haringey, North London

Here are some pictures of Crouch End, London N8, and Alexandra Palace, Haringey, with some lovely examples of late Victorian/Early Edwardian and Art Deco architecture

 Left:
Crouch End

Showing the Clock Tower and terraces of flats and shops

      

Below and Right:

Crouch End Town Centre

Below:  Crouch End Town Hall and the old Electricity Board building

Right and Below:                                       Alexandra Palace, Haringey