Need for more focus on mental health

The recent death of former England cricketer Graham Thorpe brought many tributes relating to his playing days. A great batsman and a family man. Thorpe was just 55 when he died. Strangely, at the time, there was no mention of cause. At time of death there is a tendency to only dwell on the positives. But weeks later it appeared that he killed himself by stepping in front of a train. There had been a previous suicide attempt a couple of years ago. A real tragedy for Thorpe, his family and no doubt the train driver. His wife, Amanda said: "Graham was renowned as someone who was very mentally strong on the field and he was in good physical health. But mental health is a real disease and can affect anyone. Despite having a wife and two daughters whom he loved and who loved him he did not get better." Graham Thorpe had mental health problems, still a taboo subject for many, though, less so today than in past years. I had a friend who I used to go running with a few years ago. A school teacher, a larger than life character for much of the time. But he could descend into dark depressions. There seemed no way out. He attempted suicide a number of times before finally succeeding. His family were devastated. More than two thousand people turned up for his funeral. Life is a precious thing that needs to be valued and nurtured. There is physical and mental health, both are equally important. The focus until recently has largely been on the physical, with mental issues very much secondary. Fortunately, things are changing with greater recognition of mental health issues but more needs to be done. There is also a move towards greater isolation in our modern world. Less contact, people living more in virtual reality silos - cut off. The COVID pandemic exasperated these things. People are still coming to terms with that period health-wise today. Greater resources need to be put into mental health care. But everyone can be more aware, ask if someone is ok and just greet people on a daily basis. Make the world a friendlier, more inclusive place. Be aware of the tendencies to become isolated and get cut off. And isolation is not limited to physically being alone, people can feel lonely in family units. We all really need to be more aware of our own mental health, and nurture it - as well as doing those little things on a daily basis to help others. It is so easy to start slipping down the slope to mental health breakdown. The hardest step maybe recognising the problem and seeking help. But there is no shame in it, the sooner that helps comes the quicker things can begin to improve. Thankfully, most people don't take their own lives but we all need to do more to help each other out when it comes to mental health issues.

Street parties are a great way to bring the community together

Street parties are an excellent way to bring the community together. In my own road, we have been having street parties for most years since 2016. The COVID pandemic meant a break but other than that the party has become an annual fixture. The last two have coincided with royal events: the Coronation last year and the Queen's Platinum Jubilee the year before. But our road is not particularly royal as a rule. Street parties can happen at any time for any or no reason. The street party means shutting off the street for part of the day, some may call it reclaiming the road from the motorist? Then, the tables come out, with residents providing the food and drink. There can music. In our road, there are wanna be DJs and also some talented musicians. Last year, a rock band played, other years singers and instrumentalists have played a series of songs. We are lucky having some excellent musicians. The days have always been great fun, bringing people together. Just to chat and celebrate. Now, people better know each other on the street. The network of communication has been enhanced with a WhatsApp group, which was particularly useful during the COVID pandemic. Now, in the main people exchange goods via this channel and just stay in touch. But it has been fascinating to see the community spirit grow since the first street party. Not everyone in the road takes part, so the challenge going forward must be to increase the numbers participating. In these modern days it is crucial to build community, bring people out from behind those doors to get to know each other. And, what better way than a street party in the sun ( sometimes we've had rain, which puts a dampener on things but the party goes on under umbrellas and in people's houses.) Our next street party is in September, all are awaiting with eager anticipation and fingers crossed for the weather. Why not try a street party, where you live, it'll be great fun.

Big challenges for new West Ham manager

The football season is once again upon us. It feels like it has never been away, with the European Championships running for a month from June to July. Managers have changed and the usual market in players has been turning over. West Ham are one club where there has been substantial change, with a new manager, Julen Lopetegui and seven new signings (at time of writing). Lopetegui replaces David Moyes, who got the club into European competition three years running, winning the European Conference League in 2023. Big shoes to fill. It is hoped Lopetegui will not only bring European football but a new more entertaining style of play. A style more in the tradition of the club and the so called West Ham way. This, sometimes mythical, belief goes back to the 1960s and 70s, when Ron Greenwood, then John Lyall were the managers of the club. It emphasised entertainment, often over results. These were the halcyon days of World Cup winners Bobby Moore, Martin Peters and George Hurst. The mythology surrounding this period often filters out the fact that West Ham were often at the wrong end of the table fighting relegation. Odd, given the quality of player at the club at the time. Underperforming is a consistent theme in West Ham history. Remember the 1990s with the crop of outstanding young players that came through, including Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole and Jermaine Defoe. All were sold to balance the books and satisfy player ambition. Then there was the team that was too good to go down in 2003, with the likes of Paulo Si Canio, Glenn Johnson, Cole and Carrick. So, this is the history and challenge Lopetegui faces. Winning but in an entertaining West Ham way - no small ask. He seems to have made a good start. But what would please fans would be to see some of the younger players coming through. West Ham again have some outstanding youngsters but few are ever given the chance to develop at the highest level. They tend to be sold on to fund the academy, with the hope that occasionally a Declan Rice comes along. Among the present crop of youngsters, Freddie Potts, Lewis Orford, Callum Marshall and George Earthy are among those, who should be given the chance. If Lopetegui manages to blend the new signings with this young talent in producing an entertaining winning team, he will be the toast of West Ham. He may also ofcourse be difficult to hang onto in this commodified world of modern football. What is for sure is anticipation levels are high at the London Stadium as the new season kicks off.

Review -Thank you Mr Crombie - lessons in guilt and gratitude to the British by Mihir Bose

Journalist Mihir Bose has produced a fascinating book chronicling his life: growing up in India, then moving to Britain, where he eventually works his way into journalism. The title, Thank You Mr Crombie, refers to a letter Bose wrote some years later thanking the civil servant, John Crombie, who confirmed his permanent right to remain in the UK in 1975. The great attraction of the book is the many avenues it travels down. These include the world of being brought up in a traditional Hindu family, in post independence India. Then, the changing face of Britain that the young Bose encounters in the 1960s and early 70s. A world that changes in the second half of the 1970s, as racist attitudes harden, with the National Front on the streets. Bose encounters racism from football supporters, as well as landlords - turning him away from renting rooms, due to the colour of his skin. Bose makes his name as a writer on sport, getting the stories behind what goes on in the sporting arena. He becomes the BBC's first sports editor in 2006, before leaving in 2009. But he has many strings to his bow. In the early days, he works in an engineering firm, then onto accountancy, with writing his passion, yet a sideline at that stage. He gets his break, writing for the Sunday Times, then the Daily Telegraph. Readers of the Morning Star, will be interested to learn how in the early 1980s, Stan Levenson, Sports Editor at the Morning Star, was football editor on the Sunday Times at the weekend. He was joined by Alan Bromley, who subbed for the Daily Mail during the week. Bose declares:" under Stan the Star had developed a superb sports desk which was a nursery for many journalists who then went on to work for the Sunday Times and other papers." Bose sporting scoops, like the football bungs story and the inside story of the 2012 successful London Olympic bid will fascinate sport enthusiasts. Also, how football manager and business man Terry Venables sought to sue him personally, rather than the title he wrote for. But this book goes much wider than just sport and journalism There is much on the British Empire and the relationship between Britain and India, particularly in the post independence period - all viewed through the lense of Bose own personal story. He looks at the role of Indians in collaborating in furtherance of the British Empire. How the British managed to control such a large part of the world, with a relatively small military force. The co-opting of native peoples ensured this was done for them. He also highlights the somewhat reductionist take on history adopted by Europeans, with a view to their own imperialist pasts. Bose is a great observer, highlighting how football changed, with traditional white working class people moving out from areas around city centre based football grounds. They were then replaced by migrants communities, who in the early days had little interest in the sport. Another observation is the evolution of Indian food to suit the British palate - how this went from an alien form to the most popular food in the UK. Bose admires the abilities of Indians and English to adjust to each other. The flexibility of society to react and change. If there is a criticism, it is when Bose chronicles the early years of growing up in a traditional Hindu family in Mumbai. Fascinating insights but the at times too detailed a coverage of all the religious customs can drag a bit. The lack of any photos accompanying a life in the media is also a little odd. However, overall this is a fascinating read. Accessible, entertaining whilst covering a vast canvass through the story of one man ,- highly recommended. Published by Hurst Publishers - £25

Review of the Grapes of Wrath at the National Theatre

It is a very difficult task to adapt John Steinbeck's brilliant 1939 book, the Grapes of Wrath, for the stage. It is a brave dramatic act to even try, let alone achieve. This attempt at the National Theatre, using Frank Galati's adaptation, makes a great effort, encapsulating many of the moods of desperation and defiance of adversity but whether it totally gets there is open to question. There is a fine effort to depict the dust belt existence of people living in poverty stricken 1930s America. Migrating to find work and survive, whilst being constantly harassed on the journey by a variety of agents of officialdom.They move on in the belief of salvation, among the grape pickers of California but this proves a false dream The casting of the Joad family is imaginative, with Harry Treadaway as Tom, Gregg Hicks as Pa and Cherry Jones as Ma. Natey Jones also excels as the fallen preacher Jim Casey. The set design of Alex Eales is excellent, with the overloaded car dominating the first half of the performance. The imagery portraying the whole family loading everything onboard, then travelling to California is striking. Rivers appear centre stage and the depiction of a number of fires is intriguing. Scenes change more rapidly in the second half, with sprawling shanty town style camps dominating. The depiction of the family, being tossed around, whilst increasingly powerless to control their own destiny is cleverly portrayed. The fight director Kate Waters and movement director Ira Mandela Siobhan deserve credit for bringing a vivacity to the fight scenes. The slow motion action works really well. The way in which those trying to organise the workers to collectively bargain, then getting beaten down, is clear in the narrative, though more could have been made of this element. Throughout, there is the wandering band of players, led by Maimuna Memo , whose folk score brings a haunting, atmospheric to proceedings. It would have been good to see a 21st century adaptation make more of the backdrop of man made environmental devastation causing people to migrate in order to survive. It is a message as true today as in the dust belt of 1930s America. But then Galati's original adaptation was done in the 1980s. Director Carrie Cracknell does a good job of bringing the book to the stage. A challenging task, done with imagination, if limitation. Overall, this is a good effort to adapt the Grapes of Wrath. The sheer suffering of the people but the resilience of the human spirit comes through strongly. Well worth seeing but do read the original book afterwards, to complete the experience. Runs to 14 September

Trip around the beer festivals

The beer festival season is in full swing. Last week, the Epping & Ongar beer festival took place on the Epping Ongar railway line. The privately run line operates all the year round, staffed by volunteer train enthusiasts. On the beer festival days, diesel and steam trains operate between North Weald and Ongar stations. The trains also go out into Epping Forest, stopping in the middle of the forest before returning to North Weald station. Beer and cider are served on the trains. What better way to spend a sunny afternoon that travelling through forest and fields with a glass of beer in your hand? The non-mobile bars operate under marquees at North Weald and Ongar stations. This year there was also a gin bar at Ongar. The journey from Epping or Sheffield stations is all part of the package - revellers being picked up by vintage routemaster buses to be taken to the venue. It was all aboard for the last bus out of North Weald, as everyone crammed on. The journey back from Epping to Snaresbrook was made all the merrier, with the musicians from the festival accompanying. So there was music and beer fuelled song to end the day. A couple of weeks before Epping and Ongar came the Ealing beer festival - an easy trot on the Elizabeth line. The Ealing beer festival is held in Walpole Park. On a sunny day it is a perfect venue, with a big marquee and hundreds of beers to choose from. A rainy day is less fun. Last year was damp, with drinkers left sheltering under the marquee, watching the rain come down, whilst looking for a break to run to the toilets. But it was still fun. Happily, the sun shone this year, with much beer and cider consumed at an excellently organised event. Both Epping & Ongar and Ealing Beer festivals are organised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), with members of our local East London and City branch prominent among the volunteers running both events. A big gap in the CAMRA beer festival calendar this year comes with the absence of the Great British Beer Festival at Olympia. The biggest beer festival in the UK, it usually takes place in the first week of August but not this year due to refurbishment of the venue. It will return next year. The next big thing around this way is the Wanstead Beer Festival on 12 October. The second year of the event, organisers are hoping to build on last year's success. Sold out in advance last year, there is increased capacity this year. More beers and ciders to choose from plus a gin bar. So don't miss out, tickets are available via the website,- https://wansteadbeerfestival.co.uk. Cheers.