Action needed to save deteriorating lakes in Wanstead Park

One of the saddest sights of the summer has been the emptying lakes in Wanstead Park.

The picturesque Ornamental Lake has been particularly hard hit, with the water levels reaching record lows.

The wildlife has adapted. Herons and little egrets have descended on the lake, seeing the possibility for rich pickings, as the fish struggle to survive amid disappearing water.

The hot weather has obviously played a big part in the emptying of the lakes but there have been problems for many years now.

Back in 2009, Wanstead Park was put on the English Heritage at risk register, partly because of the state of the waterways in the park. Almost a decade later, the park remains on the register.

The exasperation of many locals at the failure of the parks custodians, the City of London Corporation (CLC), to seriously address the situation, has been regularly vented on social media.

At present the only water supply to the lakes comes from a pump linked to a bore hole that supplies the Heronry Lake. This then flows onto the Perch and Ornamental lakes. However, the licence with the Environment Agency limits the amount of water that can be pumped.

The pump can only ever be a part of a much bigger solution to provide water supply for the lakes.

Foremost, people need to know why (beyond drought) the water is disappearing and what can be done to address the situation.

There is already much evidence. The Heronry has always leaked water, going back to war damage that has never been adequately repaired. The Ornamental remains more of a mystery.

Recently, a calvert was discovered, which sees water run away, when the lake does hold water to a certain level – though, this would not be a concern at present. 

There has been talk of applying for a lottery grant but this seems to be a continually moving panacea.

At the last AGM of the Friends of Wanstead Park, members heard how the CLC has to address the flood risk or incur fines from the Environment Agency. This is likely to result in £10 million of expenditure over the next three years.

The irony of such work, set against a background of leaking and sometimes empty lakes, will not be lost on those who regularly visit the park.

Chair of Friends of Wanstead Park John Meehan recently suggested that the non-statutory elements in the work to strengthen the dams in the park could be used as match funding for a lottery fund bid. A good idea.

What is for sure is that something needs to be done. At present the lakes look in a terribly neglected, dilapidated state.  If the CLC came forward with a plan that linked the flood prevention work to restoration of the waterways in the park that would be a major step forward and would receive universal support.

One move forward whilst water levels are so low would be to at least remove all the debris that clutters up the lakes. This would be a forerunner to more comprehensive measures being taken to ensure that the lakes hold water for the foreseeable future.  What is for sure is that something needs to happen and soon.

Published in Wanstead & Woodford Guardian - 30/8/2018

Stalwart of Greenham Common protest Sarah Hipperson dies at 90

26.10.27 to 15.8.2018

Indefatigable peace campaigner, Sarah Hipperson, has died at the age of 90.

So ends a remarkable life dedicated to peace and justice.

Sarah lived in the east London suburb of Wanstead for many decades but it was her decision in 1983 to up sticks and move to join the peace protest at Greenham Common that brought her to national prominence.

Sarah was in her mid-50s when she took the momentous step to go to Greenham.

There she joined the women’s camp, getting directly involved in peaceful direct action, like cutting fences and obstructing vehicles, to stop the siting of cruise missiles in the area.  

Sarah finished up serving 22 sentences, the longest being 28 days in Holloway prison for criminal damage. It was her proud boast that she “never paid a fine.”

Indeed, the court cases were seen by the women as a chance to make the case against nuclear weapons. The justification for their action being the prevention of the greater crime of nuclear war.

Sarah was very clear on what she saw as the abomination of nuclear weapons. She saw it as an offence against humanity and in defiance of God.

“The work is to achieve complete nuclear disarmament. We have all been involved in the crime that presents itself as nuclear deterrents. The bottom line is that we will use weapons more than 80% more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb, in the case of Trident, as part of the defence of this country. As a Christian I have never been able to live with that,” said Sarah.

As time went on, Sarah and the other women saw their cause at least partially fulfilled. The Americans left Greenham Common with their weapons.

In the courts too, there were subsequent successes, with the Law Lords declaring the bye-laws used by the Ministry of Defence to remove the women from Greenham Common as invalid.

Sarah was part of the group that built a commemorative garden to all that had gone on there - a symbol of peace.

Greenham Common was returned, in its natural state, to the people of Newbury.

In 2005, Sarah wrote a book, Greenham, which chronicled the time on the peace protest, including a number of the court cases.

Sarah Hipperson had a tough upbringing. A native of Glasgow, she became a nurse and mid-wife in her late teens, delivering babies in the Govern area. She then decided to emigrate to Canada, where she lived for 16 years, nursing, getting married and having five children. She returned to England in the 1970, settling in the east London suburb of Wanstead.

Sarah became a parishioner at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, where she continued to attend mass until her death.

Life in the 1970s involved being a member of the local justice and peace group at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, as well as sitting on the bench as a Justice of the Peace.

During the early 1980s Sarah became increasingly frustrated in Wanstead with trying to raise awareness of nuclear weapons .

She showed Helen Caldacott’s film “Critical Mass” about the dangers of nuclear weapons. “There would be a numbing effect but it went no further than that,” said Sarah, who became a member of CND and worked with Catholic Peace Action.

This all proved to be part of the formative process, that would lead to her dramatic move in 1983 to Greenham.

Sarah returned full time to Wanstead in the noughties, where she continued to campaign against nuclear weapons. She was also often called on by the media for comment on Greenham Common and nuclear weapons.

Sarah became involved, post 9/11, with the local anti-war Peace and Justice in East London group. This included some work in the campaign to oppose the interning of people without trial.

Sarah was always indefatigable in her approach to the struggle for justice. I remember her saying that the work was all that mattered – nothing must get in the way. Egos and personality clashes must all be put aside.

In later years, Sarah spoke from the pulpit at Our Lady of Lourdes about peace and justice, as well as taking a part for a time in the justice and peace group.

In her private life she was supported by her family, particularly over the past months of her final illness.

Last October, Sarah celebrated her 90^th birthday – a joyous event for all of us who attended. She was on good form, ever defiant on matters of justice but still with that mischievous wink and smile.

A devout Christian, peace campaigner, mother and grandmother – a great person, who did much to make the world a better place.

She is survived by her children Mark, Jane, Martin, Alistair and Matt.

* Published - Wanstead & Woodford + Ilford Recorder - 20 & 23/8/2018
Morning Star - 20/8/2018
Wanstead & Woodford Guardian - 18/8/2018
Tablet - 25/8/2018

 

West Ham fans wonder how much difference £100 million will make after Bournemouth triumph at the London Stadium

^{West Ham 1-2 Bournemouth}

^{The only people more confused than the West Ham fans after this performance will be the owners, who must be wondering what they have got for their £100 million outlay on players.}

^{On this showing the team looks less organised than under David Moyes, with some of the most expensive signings, such as Issa Diop (£22m) and Andriy Yarmolenko (£17.5 m),  left warming the substitutes bench.}

^{The swings and roundabouts of selection were underlined by the fact that three players who started against Liverpool last week – Ryan Fredericks, Michail Antonio and Declan Rice – were not evens subs for this encounter and they were not the worse three against Jurgen Klopp’s team.}

^{New West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini seemed unperturbed by the latest display, acknowledging that it was always going to take time for things to settle with a new manager and so many new players.}

^{Pellegrini highlighted how the team played well for the first 45 minutes but in the second half made mistakes.}

^{He acknowledged that the struggle of last season could still be on the player’s minds and contributing to a lack of confidence when things go wrong. “We need to work for 90 minutes, not 45,” said Pellegrini.}

^{West Ham started brightly enough, with some sharp interplays between Felipe Anderson and Chicarito. One such exchange on the half hour saw the Mexican striker’s legs swept from under him, resulting in a penalty, which Marko Arnautovic converted with ease.}

^{There were though some warning signs in the first half with Calum Wilson having his shot easily saved by Lukasz Fabianski when clear in the penalty area and new striker David Brooks shooting narrowly wide.}

^{Bournemouth were a different side in the second half, pushing on all the time and regularly carving the West Ham defence apart.}

^{The equalising goal when it came was something special, with Wilson picking the ball up deep and ghosting past Fabian Bulbuena and Pablos Zabaleta before putting the ball wide of Fabianski.}

^{Five minutes later, Angelo Ogbonna gave away a needless foul on the edge of the penalty area. The resulting free kick saw Steve Cook power between defenders to plant his header in the back of the net.}

^{Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe was pleased with the reaction he got from his players in the second half. He credited “Callum’s individual moment of brilliance” for swinging the game in the vistor’s favour.}

^{West Ham fans though will not be unhappy with another poor start to a Premier League season, with the next opponents being Arsenal at the Emirates. And despite all the spending they must be wondering is this the beginning of another season of struggle at the wrong end of the table?}    

Growing your own

I have been growing my own vegetables for many years now. The whole back garden is turned over to veggies plus I have an allotment.

There are good and bad years for growing. The present heatwave conditions mean it is a battle just to keep the crops alive, in the hope that the rains come one day.

The whole process though of trying to live off what you can grow, really does bring a special type of discipline to life.

It means really only eating things in season. So tomatoes start coming in late July, early August, running through to late September. Lovely fresh tomatoes throughout the summer. But if you are going to stick to growing your own, it is only then that tomatoes should be eaten. It’s not a case of tripping to the supermarket and buying whatever you want whenever you fancy it.

Broad and runner beans come from June through to September. Excess of these can be frozen and eaten during the rest of the year.

Courgettes and squashes also come in during these months. The latter can be stored to eat as winter closes in.

Kale and broccoli prove good staples for the winter months, providing excellent greens from around November through to April and beyond.

There are many other things ofcourse. Onions, potatoes, salad crops like lettuce, spring onions, radishes etc.

The aforesaid represent my very limited efforts to be self-sufficient in vegetables. The plus is the satisfaction that comes with growing your own, the freshness of the food and the joy of being able to go out and pick the crop whenever you want it.

Drawbacks are sometimes a lack of variety and over production.  I’ve found there is a limit to what can be done with a courgette. I regularly produce far too much of one crop.

Last year, it was broccoli, which I was trying for the first time. It is a great crop but so much was produced that I ended up supplying the road for a while.

It can be a case of over production or total failure on a variety of crops, so its always touch and go. What growing in this way does do is to offer an insight into the challenges that  face the farmers, who produce food for us all.

When growing on an industrial scale to live, you cannot afford to have all your onions fail for some unknown reason. The challenge must be immense.

What is interesting if you try to grow all your own veg is the mixture of the joy that comes from achieving that goal but also an appreciation of the limitations that such an approach places on eating habits throughout the year.

It is though an exercise that I would recommend to all, a chance to reconnect with the earth, create something special and enjoy the rewards of your own endeavours.

published in Wanstead & Woodford Guardian - 16/8/2018 -"The discipline of growing your own dinner"

So many political lessons for today in the brilliant dramatization of Robert Harris’s Roman trilogy

Imperium I – Conspirator / Imperium II - Dictator

The Royal  Shakespeare Company has produced a fantastic dramatisation of Robert Harris’s trilogy of books covering the life of Roman politician and philosopher Cicero.

The seven hours of theatre flies by in the two performances at the Gielgud theatre.

The first play Imperium I – Conspirator covers the period of Cicero’s ascent from a humble background to become consul of Rome. After that it is downhill, as Cicero struggles to safeguard the principles of the Republic and the rule of law against the mob, cleverly manipulated by rising dictator Julius Caesar.

The second play: Dictator covers Caesars time in power, his demise and the fall out that follows.

Mike Poulton brilliantly adapts Harris’s work for the stage, bringing nice touches of humour to lighten the atmosphere – a technique he used previously to effect in adapting Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies for the stage.

It is amazing how much of Harris’s books, Imperium, Lustrum and Dictator, that Poulton manages to retain in the stage narrative. Much of the first book, which focuses on the rise of Cicero, is condensed down to a brief look at his sea change prosecution of the corrupt governor of Sicily Varres

 

Then the focus is on the battle to offset powerful forces, with power hungry individuals like Caesar and Marcus Crassus, continually conspiring to overthrow the republic.

Beyond Rome, much of the time, is Pompey, with his massed armies. He holds much power, demonstrated when he delivers a list of what he wants on return to Rome after a victory. The implication being that if his demands are not met, he will simply march his legions into Rome and take over as dictator.

Cicero himself experiences a momentous ascent to the heights of being lauded as the father of Rome, for saving it from a rebellion led by Cateline but backed by Caesar.

Pride though then takes over, leading onto a fall that forces Cicero to be stripped of many of his possessions and forced to leave the country.

Poulton’s linking with the present day political situation gives the production added poignancy. Pompey (played by Christopher Saul) is a hardly concealed characterisation of Donald Trump. The hair is obvious but cleverly from some angles Saul really does look like the US president.

There are the amusing asides, such as Cicero declaring stupid people elect stupid leaders.

But perhaps where Poulton most clearly makes the link between present and past is in bringing home the rapid change there can be in political situation. How once the mob is rallied institutions like the Republic and rule of law can so easily be swept aside.

Robert Harris himself made the point that the assumption that democratic institutions of the type that we have enjoyed over the past century have some preordained permanence is a mistake. They are relatively recent constructions that can just as easily be swept away - in the same way as happened in Rome.

Democracy today is still in its infancy, with a long way to go. We don’t for instance have an educated and informed electorate – something that is crucial to the effective working of democracy.

At present democracy is on the retreat in many areas of the world, whilst authoritarianism is on the ascent – often backed by the ignorant mob.

Imperium – Conspirator and Dictator offer seven hours of fantastic absorbing theatre. Brilliant performances abound across the cast, with particularly outstanding contributions from Richard McCabe as Cicero and Peter de Jersey as Caesar.

The power of the adaptation of Harris’s great trilogy is in condensing so much of the story into a lively narrative that has contemporary relevance for today. One of the best dramatisation of outstanding books to hit the West End for some time.

*Imperium I Conspirator/ Imperium II Dictator run at the Gielgud Theatre till 8 September 2018

10th anniversary of the death of Denis Donovan - republication of an article from the Tablet magazine - written a month before he died

Journey into the dark

PAUL DONOVAN - 5/7/2008

“Hi mate, how are you?” is a rather ordinary phrase but it is one that has haunted me over the past few months. It keeps resounding because when I heard it during a January visit to the care home where my father now lives it reminded me of what my Dad used to be like.
Dad suffers with dementia. Usually when members of the family visit, he sits, occasionally acknowledging us but usually just fiddling with things. It is most unbearable when he appears to be in some kind of torment.
The home on the south coast seems a good one, and the care assistants see to his basic needs. As well as dealing with problems like his incontinence, they do their best to stimulate responses and seem very attentive.
It has been difficult for all the family to come to terms with my father’s situation. My parents have been married for 52 years and Mum copes, partly by reminding herself of better times.
Dad was always very much in control. He had come up the hard way. The son of a postman, he worked as a messenger in Mount Pleasant Post Office in London at the age of 14. He progressed in the Post Office before joining the navy during the Second World War. At the age of 19 he was flying a Swordfish plane on and off aircraft carriers. He came down in the Channel twice.
On leaving the navy, after the war, he trained as a teacher. He met my mother working at a school called Kensington in East Ham, east London. He later became a deputy head and then head of Elmhurst School in Upton Park, a stone’s throw from West Ham football ground. The school is one of the biggest primaries in the country.
He was a good father and never happier than when with the family. He wasn’t one of those men who constantly seem to be trying to run away from their family responsibilities, and if he were able to recall I have little doubt that his best times were on the beaches of Camber Sands, Hastings and Bexhill when we were all together in the school holidays of the 1970s. He loved swimming.
From my perspective he was always some one who was there for you in time of trouble or at any other time. Today it seems that the backstop of my life has gone and I am very much on my own.
Now 85, Dad first started to show serious signs of dementia around 2001 and it has been a gradual slide since then. He became more withdrawn. I remember him sitting more on the side at Christmas 2003 rather than being in the thick of things as had always been the case before. The situation became a great deal worse in May 2004 and was followed by 18 months of rapid drift downhill until he went into the first home. Since then he has been in three homes. The doctor mentioned there could have been a minor stroke.
I can trace his decline by reading his diaries. The entries begin to thin out and become a lot shorter around 2003. There are entries about how worried he is about not being able to remember things he did in the morning. He kept all this to himself and it must have been a very difficult time, being aware of his own deterioration and not being able to do anything about it. I think he always had worries about dementia, though, given that his mother had suffered from dementia.
Visits to his south coast home are particularly difficult, recalling the alert and vigorous man he once was. But however difficult it is for the family seeing Dad in this state, what might it be like for him? We don’t know how dementia sufferers feel. They may not be in torment at all, but in their own world where they are very happy. It is something we will probably never know.
When we visit the home, we do sometimes wonder whether there is any point in our visits. Does Dad remember anything? Does he know who we are? Then there are phases when a dementia sufferer has greater lucidity and remembers things from the past. The “Hi, mate” moment was one of those. Sometimes when Dad looks at us and then turns away, we do wonder if he is ignoring us in protest at being stuck in a home. The feelings of guilt arise.
There is always a worry about whether it is right to put someone you love in a home. Given what they did for you, surely the time has come to give up some of our lives for them? The questions and self-recrimination can go on and on and eventually a decision does have to be made. There is no manual for dealing with mental illness. That is why it is so encouraging for people like me for the Catholic Church’s Day for Life (the day in the year dedicated to celebrating the sacredness of life) to be used this year to highlight mental-health issues and raise awareness across parishes of the needs of people suffering with mentalhealth problems.
Today, one in four people suffers with some form of mental illness. Gratifyingly, most do get better. But as to chronic conditions, there are 700,000 dementia cases in the United Kingdom and around 25 million people, or 42 per cent of the population, are affected by dementia through knowing a close friend or family member with the condition. Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia. According to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, there is one new case of dementia every three minutes in England and Wales.
It is important that there is support not only for those with mental illness but for the carers. Looking after my Dad as he plunged deeper into dementia over a year and a half took its toll on my mother’s health. She lives with the consequences. She is now very nearly blind, and lives alone, supported in the main by the family and local parish.
The support of such networks is crucial to help people survive such traumatic times. While we are fortunate to have the NHS and social services, there is a kind of care, of love and support, that they cannot provide. It would be good to see as a result of Day for Life this year the question of mental illness become far more of an issue in parishes.
Mental-health problems can lead to a very lonely existence for patients and carers. But mental illness is a growing problem, not least because dementia and Alzheimer’s cases are growing in number as people live longer. It can only really be dealt with by the community coming together and offering its collective support.