>Re:PHOTO Peter Marshall - Thoughts on Photography

Art Deco, Houses, Bingo and King of Lee – 1990

Art Deco, Houses, Bingo and King of Lee: The final part of a short walk around Lewisham which took me to Ladywell before returning to catch a train in Lewisham. The previous post on this walk was Ravensbourne, Quaggy & More -Lewisham – 1990.

Tickitape House, Works, Art Deco, 59, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-43 — Tickitape House, Works, Art Deco, 59, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990 *90-4c-*43

This classic Art Deco factory, at one time ‘Tickitape House’, home to Adhesive Specialities has sadly been demolished.

In Lewisham Council’s St Mary’s conservation area supplementary planning document it states:

“This building was built in the 1930s as Neuk Laundry in a simple ‘Moderne’ style by a local builder, Mr Howkins. It was altered in 1988-9 by another local firm, Rainey and Rainey, which added metal windows and a clock and heightened the parapets, giving the building a more Art Deco style.”

Tickitape House, Works, Art Deco, 59, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-45 — Tickitape House, Works, Art Deco, 59, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990 *90-4c-*45

Unfortunately local listing and being a popular local landmark that, according to the council “makes a positive contribution to the character and appearance of the conservation” area and their comment that “Any development on this site should therefore retain the main body of the Art Deco building” fell on deaf ears of the developers, and despite considerable local opposition it was completely demolished and replaced by undistinguished student housing around 2009.

*Tickitape House, Works, Art Deco, 59, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-46*

Perhaps the building did not fall within the criteria needed for national listing, though many far less interesting buildings have been listed. But the architectural community and particularly as this was represented by such vital figures as Nikolaus Pevsner in the past had a very snooty attitude to Art Deco and Moderne buildings, regarding them as of little merit compared to the true modernism of the age. It doesn’t get even a fleeting mention in London 2:South.

*Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-44*

My interest was caught by the rather ramshackle buildings in the centre of the picture and I wondered what their original purpose could have been, with what appear to be doors at first-floor level and ventilators on top. My first thought was pigeon lofts and others have suggested stables. I think they have since been rebuilt in a similar form in Mercy Terrace.

*Houses, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-33*

Breeze blocks fill the windows and doors of the foreground house in this terrace and I think were there to prevent squatting of the property which has since been renovated.

*Mecca Leisure, Lewisham High St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-34*

The Bingo Hall was built as a Temperance Billiards Hall in 1910, and I wrote more about this in my previous post. Left derelict for some years after the last Bingo session it has been slowly and carefully restored by the Tabernacle Church.

*King Of Lee, Motors, Lewisham High St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-35*

No trace remains of King of Lee Motors at 256 Lewisham High St, a scrap yard offering a wide range of reconditioned and reclaimed motor spares from stock, immediately south of the railway bridge on Lewisham High Street. They apparently paid “TOP CASH PRICES” for “FAILED MO.O.T., DAMAGED, NON RUNNERS, INSURANCE WRITE-OFFS” and their buyers will call to collect them – evenings and weekends.

Curness Street now runs here,. leading to new flats built between 2003 and 2006

*King Of Lee, Motors, Lewisham High St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-36*

Finally I took three portrait format near identical images of the gate, fascinated by the remains of a telegraph pole with its various wires and strands of deadplants. Although the yard claimed to be open ‘7 DAYS’ I had managed to find one where it was firmly closed with a car wedged against its frontage.

It was time to make for the station and go home.

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Women Protest Against Rape – 2012

Downing St, Wednesday 19th Sep 2012

Women Protest Against Rape: I was going to be out of London for the ‘Slutwalk’ which was to take place on Saturday 22nd September – though I had photographed the first Slutwalk in 2011, and was pleased to cover this earlier event organised by by Women Against Rape and supported by other groups including the English Collective of Prostitutes which preceded it and highlighted the issues behind the larger protest.

The protesters demanded justice for rape victims, whose claims are often dismissed or downgraded by the police who often blame the victim not the rapist. Many rapes are not reported to the police and of those that are, only less than 1 in 7 result in a conviction of the rapist.

Women who do report rape have often been accused by police of lying and some have been prosecuted for making false accuesations and sentenced to jail. The great majority of rapes go unreported – estimates vary between 70-95%.

There are seldom any witnesses to the actual crime other than the rapist and victim, and their impressions of the event and certainly the stories they tell may be very different. Most of the cases that result in successful convictions are those when the defendant pleads guilty.

Most rape – outside of war zones – is by men who are known to their victim and has nothing to do with what they are wearing, but reflects the unequal relationship between men and women which is at the base of our society.

The women taking part in the protest stripped to their underwear, holding up placards with the word SLUT and posters against the current failure by the law, police and courts to treat rape seriously. Most had slogans painted on their bodies, and they sang and chanted and spoke, some from their own experience of police failures to respond appropriately.

Women of colour feel they are discriminated against by police, and asylum seekers and refugees are under threat of deportation if they make a complaint. Sex workers are sometimes told that rape is a consequence of their job that they should expect, and police often go out of their way to enforce laws which put them at risk, rather than doing anything to protect them. Cases are often dropped because police or CPS feel the witness ‘lacks credibility’.

More at Women Protest Against Rape.

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The Pope & Apprentice Boys of Derry – 2010

The Pope & Apprentice Boys of Derry: Pope Benedict XVI was in the UK on a State Visit from 16-19th Septemnber 2010, the first ever official papal state visit to the UK. There was a large protest in London on Saturday 18th September 2010 against his visit because of his hiding of evidence of child abuse and more widely against religious bigotry. By coincidence the day was also the day of the annual Carson Day parade by the City of London branch of the Apprentice Boys of Derry, also no friends of the Pope.

Apprentice Boys London Parade

Whitehall

The Pope & Apprentice Boys of Derry - 2010 — *City of Westminster Apprentice Boys of Derry Campsie Club*

Because of the large protest against the Pope, police made the Apprentice Boys make an earlier than usual start so that they could lay their wreaths at the Cenotaph before the large march arrived.

I was unaware of this and arrived at the published departure time oon the Embankment I found no one there, and had to rush to Whitehall, arriving just in time to photograph them laying wreaths at the Cenotaph, and after to photograph them marching away.

As I wrote in 2010:

“The Apprentice Boys, along with the other organisations taking part in the march are Ulster Protestants, dedicated to upholding the Protestant faith. Several standards were for the London Somme Association, celebrating the part played by Ulster regiments in the First World War, listing some ofthe battles in which they suffered heavy losses – Ypres, Arras, Cambrai, Thiepcal, Fricourt and more. But one of the flags was for the Protestant Action Force, a name used for the Ulster Volunteer Force, formed in 1966 and actively involved in the ‘troubles’ until it declared a ceasefire in 1994 – it only officially ending its armed campaign in 2007.

The Orange institutions in London, though presumably providing support of various kinds for allied groups in Ulster, have always been more about the social and cultural aspects of Unionism, and their marchers through London have never attracted the kind of controversy that exists in Northern Ireland.”

Apprentice Boys London Parade

London Protests Against Papal State Visit

Piccadilly and Whitehall

Widespread publicity around the Pope’s State Visit clearly swelled the numbers who came to march against his locking away evidence of child abuse by priests and for an end to religious bigotry, and it united many groups who are opposed to the religious fundamentalism of the Catholic church and to its interference in politics.

Both organisers and police were surprised by the number of marchers and the rally had to be moved further down Whitehall to where there was a larger space and the crowd filled the entire street for some distance on each side.

*Peter Tatchell at the front of the march*

Speakers including some militant atheists, made clear that this was not a march against religion and certainly not against Christmas, but against a particular man and his actions locking away evidence of child abuse and trying to smooth over cases of abuse rather than investigate and bring those concerned to justice.

*This woman gave me a surprise when I photographed her*

“It was also against a church organisation that meddles in politics at the highest level, pretending that the Vatican is a state (and even persuading the UN to treat it as such.) Of course it isn’t really a country but an NGO and should be treated as such.”

Because of its influence in the UN and on governments around the world, millions have died unnecessarily of AIDs through its opposition to the use of condoms.

Unlike many other churches, the Catholic Church remains an entirely male hierarchy, still insisting on male celibate priests – with predictable consequences. Among those marching were Catholic women calling for the church to ordain women – as have many other churches for many years – and also gay Catholic clergy. The speakers included one priest whose work caring for Aids victims in New York and London had been condemned by the Catholic Church.

Others were survivors of child abuse by Catholic priests, covered up both by the church and even by their own mothers because of their allegiance to the church.

Maryam Namazie reminded the crowd “it isn‘t just the Catholic church that imposes its religious laws on people, but other religions such as Islam.” In Iran under Shariah law stoning is still in use, particularly to keep women in a state of submission.

The rally was cut short when police insisted that the PA system had to be turned off as the area was still covered by the ban on amplification in the area around parliament covered by SOCPA (the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act, 2005.)

You can read a longer account of the rally – and far too many more pictures including several of each of the many speakers – on My London Diary:
London Protests Against Pope.

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Short Walks in London & Staines -2005

Short Walks in London & Staines: As I mentioned a few days ago in my post on The New Trafalgar Dispatch, in September 2005 I was suffering from a knee injury. Over the next few days, from September 11th-17th I did manage to get out for some short walks close to home, and managed a short walk in London around Highbury Fields on my way to visit a friend.

I had been advised by my doctor that gentle exercise was likely to help, but had to do rather a lot of stopping and resting when the pain became too intense. And after a couple of days I had to give up taking the strong painkillers he had prescribed because of the side effects on my stomach and could only rely on paracetamol.

By Saturday17th it was beginning to feel a little less painful – and after Highbury I even made a short visit to St Paul’s Cathedral and Paternoster Square. The next day it felt good enough for me to risk going up to London again to photograph the Thames Festival.

I didn’t take a great many pictures – and here I’ll post all of those I thought worth putting on My London Diary in 2005.

Staines

Daybreak, a Hull-registered Humber Keel was moored by Church Island Staines, next to the Lammas where we listened to the Staines Lammas Brass Band.

Highbury and Holloway

St Paul’s & Paternoster Sq

It took a few months – as my doctor had said it would – for my knee to get entirely back to normal, and twenty-two years later it still seems in reasonable shape. I hope it will keep going for a few more years.

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Ravensbourne, Quaggy & More -Lewisham – 1990

Ravensbourne, Quaggy & More -Lewisham: The real end of my walks on April 1st 1990 was a short walk around Lewisham. The previous post from these walks was Monkey Business, Wrecked Cars & Roupell – 1990.

*River Ravensbourne, River Quaggy, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4b-11*

Arriving at Lewisham Station I crossed to the opposite platform and walked along it away from the exit to photograph this view looking south along the River Ravensbourne which curves away to the west – towards the right of the frame. Just after the river runs down a small slope it is joined by Lewisham’s other river, the smaller flow of the River Quaggy. There is now a small park, Confluence Park, where the two rivers meet, opened in 2021.

The scrap yard and the car sales and Allied Carpets are gone replace and the whole area redeveloped with tall blocks since around 2020. There is now another tall apartment block – around 15 storeys tall – to the left of the river,

Maggie's Cafe, Silk Mills Path, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4b-14 — Maggie’s Cafe, Silk Mills Path, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4b-14

Silk Mills Path runs alongside the north platform of the station and Maggie’s is still there now offering Breakfast-Lunch-Dinner. It gets excellent customer reviews for its reasonably priced meals and friendly staff. At right one of the arches leads under the railway to Station Road.

Lewisham did have a number of mills using power from the flow of the Ravensbourne, and the silk mills were a short distance downstream on its east bank at the end of Conington Road, close to Elverson Road DLR station. The site is now occupied by flats, built around 20 years ago. The mill had a large mill pond, part of which is now Tesco’s car park.

Although there are still some mulberry trees in the area, the essential feed for the silk worms, the Lewisham mill apparently relied on imported silk.

*Houses, Lewisham High St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4b-15*

The River Quaggy runs in a an open channel in front of this long terrace at 15-31 Lewisham High Street, some way below street level, emerging into this from a tunnel under the central streets of Lewisham. It can next be seen from a bridge on Clarendon Rise just south of Lee High Road – see below.

*River Ravensbourne, Riverdale House, Molesworth St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-64*

The Ravensbourne runs under recent flats on Molesworth Street and can be seen from the west side of the street where it runs under the railway line there. There is a small park, River Mill Park, with a bridge across the river.

This section of the river was channelled between tall concrete banks I think in the 1960s to alleviate the flood risk. The rather fortress-like Riverdale House was designed by Frederick Gibberd in 1981 as offices. In 2013 planning permission was granted for its conversion into luxury flats.

The site had a mill at the time of the Domesday Book and Riverdale Mill was restored as flats when this new building was erected on the rest of the site. It was built on the site of earlier mills as a leather mill in 1828, later becoming a flour mill and in 1901 was bought and turned into the John Wallis bakery, closing around 1970. It is the only remaining mill building in Lewisham.

*Houses, St Stephens Grove, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-66*

The River Quaggy emerges from a tunnel under the end of St Stephen’s Grove where it meets Lewisham High Street at the south side of Saint Stephen With Saint Mark, Lewisham, a Grade II listed Parish Church by Sir George Gilbert Scott built in 1863. This and St Stephen’s Terrace also date from the mid-1860s.

90-4c-52-Edit — *River Quaggy, Clarendon Rise, Lewsiham, 1990, 90-4c-52*

The Quaggy apparently got its name for being very muddy – a real quagmire. Here it runs along the backs of the buildings on Lee High Road.

Following pressure from and plans developed by the Quaggy Waters Action Group under the name Operation Kingfisher in 1995, parts of the river have been restored to a more natural state and brought back above ground. Much of the work already completed has been driven by the need to control flooding by the river.

*Mecca Leisure, Lewisham High St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-54*

Taken from the pavement in front of the building at 233-241 Lewisham High St, this shows some detail of the building, built as a Temperance Billiards Hall in 1910, architect Norman Evans, the company architect for Temperance Billiard Halls Ltd. This Grade II listed building was derelict when bought as new premises for The Tabernacle Church around 2010 and is slowly and carefully being restored – details on their web site.

Later on the walk I photographed the building again from across the road which gives a far better impression of the building when it was in use as a Mecca Bingo Hall – I’ll post this picture in the final post on this walk shortly.

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Crime, Cleaners and Lewisham – 2007

Crime, Cleaners and Lewisham: On Saturday 15 September 2007 I went to Brent for a march against gun and knife crimes. Next I was in the City of London, usually deserted on a Saturday, but this was Open House Day and cleaners were taking the opportunity to protest at Lloyd’s of London where people were queueing to visit the buildings. Finally I travelled to New Cross where an event was taking place to remember the Battle of Lewisham on 13th August 1977, a month after its 30th anniversary.

Below are my three posts from My London Diary in 2007 (with usual corrections) and a few of the pictures and links to those I posted back then.

Not Another Drop – March against Gun and Knife Crime

Stonebridge Park, Brent

Crime, Cleaners and Lewisham - 2007 — *White doves were released just before the start of the march*

Brent has suffered more than most London boroughs from gun and knife crimes resulting in the deaths of far too many young men (and women) on its streets.

The annual police march was started in 2004 by Patsy Hopwood, whose son, Kavian Francis-Hopwood was shot dead on the Stonebridge Estate in 2003, and is part of the ‘Not Another Drop’ campaign organised by the Met and Brent Council.

Around 250 people including two large church groups set off on the march across the borough to South Kilburn.

More pictures on My London Diary at not a drop more

Cleaners picket Lloyd’s Building

City of London

Cleaners at Lloyd’s Of London – a bastion of wealth and privilege in the City – are among the lowest paid workers in London and don’t get sick pay or holiday pay.

Open House Day provided a good audience for the London Citizen Workers Association to publicise their appalling treatment.

[The cleaning at Lloyd’s – and almost all other office buildings is outsourced with cleaners being employed by contractors, notoriously poor employers.]

More pictures at Picket at Lloyd’s.

Remembering The Battle of Lewisham

New Cross to Lewisham

*Photographer Red Saunders talks about his experiences in Lewisham on 13 Sugust 1977*

It is now just over 30 years since the battle of Lewisham in which protesters humiliated the National Front when they attempted a march through the area.

*The event began outside the New Cross Inn*

Having escorted the National Front home, the police then turned on the anti-racist protesters, using horses, batons, and, for the first time on the British mainland, riot shields.

*Batwinder Rana describes what happened to him in 1977*

At this incredible outbreak of police violence, the community came out onto the streets and the police lost control. Lewisham now has a massive police fortress.

*Our route took us past Mr Brenton Pink’s painted house on Loampit Hill*

On a walk around the area, a number of those present [in 1977] talked about the event and their own experiences on the day.

*and on to Lewisham High Street where the police used riot shields for the first time on the UK mainland*

*Here more people shared their experiences and the event ended.*

On My London Diary you can see many more pictures including of others who spoke at the event at Lewisham77

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Christian Aid Trade Justice March to the Treasury – 2006

London, Thursday 14 Sept, 2006

I like to bring back to life many of the posts I wrote in the first six or seven years of My London Diary not just because of their interest and that many of the issues are still very relevant 20 or more years later, but also because as the site developed it became harder and harder to locate things and to find both images and particularly the text I had written about them.

These problems with My London Diary were largely resolved with a redesign of the site for new posts in 2008 which kept pictures and text together and a search facility. I also moved away from the lower case only text which had seemed appropriate when the site began around 2000. Revisiting posts from back then on >Re:PHOTO allows me to reunite text and some of the pictures (with links to the rest) and also to correct the many typos and misspellings from them. So here with these minor corrections is what I wrote back in 2006.

In Mary Harmsworth Park, waiting for the Christian Aid organised March On The Treasury to start I bumped – literally – into the Archbishop Of Canterbury. He looked even more distracted than usual. A couple of minutes later I returned to take his picture. Moving in his direction I took my eye off him for a second, and he vanished, leaving not even a cloud of smoke. Later we were told he had another appointment and so couldn’t stay.

*And the Mad Hatter was having his tea party*

However there were plenty of other people to photograph, perhaps a couple of thousand in all. We were there to march on the Treasury, to demand that the government withhold funding from the International Monetary Fund, because of the unfair economic conditions they impose on countries that want loans. When the IMF insists on free trade in agricultural produce for example, cheap EU subsidised tomatoes from Italy can flood local markets and put the local tomato farmers out of business.

Daleep Mukarjee, Christian Aid’s Director was able to tell us (as most had heard on the radio earlier in the day), that Development minister Hilary Benn had announced that we were holding back £50 million for that reason. It would stretch belief to think that this announcement, coming on the day of this major demo, had no connection with the six-month campaign leading up to it. Of course it is only a first small step in what needs to be done.

Among the other speakers was former Boyzoner Ronan Keating, (since going solo he has an impressive list of top ten singles and albums, though I’ve never knowingly heard any of them.) He gave a decent speech and spoke movingly about his trip to Ghana for Christian Aid.

Then we were on the march, across Lambeth Bridge and up past the Houses Of Parliament to Whitehall, where the two thousand or so of us paused outside Downing Street while a small group went in to deliver an African drum and the Christian Aid petition to Gordon Brown’s door.

*People in the Treasury were listening – But will more action follow?*

The parade came to a halt outside the Treasury Offices in Whitehall Place, with more drumming and speeches. At least some of those inside took a little interest in what was going on, breaking off from their tea break to listen to the speeches.

Many more pictures beginning here on My London Diary.

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Al Quds Day March – 2009

Marble Arch to Waterloo Place

The annual Al Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) march in London as usual attracted controversy, with various groups coming out to protest against it. In 2009 these included Iranian democrats, royalists and socialists as well as far right groups including the English Defence League and March For England, but there seemed to be few organised Zionists on the streets.

Al Quds Day was initiated by Ayatollah Khomeini when he became Supreme Leader of Iran in 1989 as a day on the last Friday of Ramadan (the London march is on the following Sunday) to oppose the Israeli occupation and control of Jerusalem, and at least one of the groups involved in organising the event is said to received funding from the Iranian authorities – which accounts for the Iranian protesters.

The march has become a wider protest calling for freedom for Palestine and an end to the Israeli occupation of land which for many centuries was Palestine. For many of the marchers this also means support for those fighting against Israeli occupation, both in Palestine and Lebanon.

A few of the marchers carried Hezbollah flags, the flag of both the Lebanese Shia political party and its military wing. The military wing had been proscribed in the UK in 2008, but it was only in 2019 that this ban was extended to cover the political wing, making carrying the flag an offence. You can see a few of these yellow flags in my pictures. There are also some placards supporting Hezbollah and Hamas for their resistance to Israel.

In 2009 the march was carefully policed to keep the marchers and protesters against the march from coming into contact and I saw some from both groups being stopped and searched in the area around Marble Arch where the march gathered.

People come to the march in coaches from mosques around the country and many come as families. Although there were separate men’s and women’s blocs the organisers announced that those who wanted to march as families were welcome to do so, and many, particularly the younger marchers, took advantage of this.

*Rabbi Ahron Cohen who spoke at the rally at the end of the march*

At the front of the march were Muslim clerics and two Neturei Karta Jewish leaders. These ultra-orthodox Jews are anti-Zionist and believe that Jews are forbidden from establishing a Jewish state until the arrival of the Messiah and support the peaceful dismantling of the state of Israel to become a part of Palestine.

The main counter-protest came at Piccadilly Circus, with most of those taking part encircled around ‘Eros’ by a double line of police. They protested noisily as the march went by but most of the marchers followed the advice of the march stewards and ignored them. Some held up their posters and there were minor scuffles when a few marchers tried to leave the march and approach them.

As well as shouting insults at the Muslims, the counter-protesters were also making threats, gestures and shouting at the photographers, and I was glad not to be too close although the police bodies between made taking pictures difficult.

Police had also told the march organisers that they could not march to Trafalgar Square but must end with a rally in the much smaller area of Waterloo Place, which became extremely crowded. I left after listening to the first few speakers.

*The head of the march comes to Waterloo Place*

Many more pictures on My London Diary: Al Quds Day March.

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Guantanamo & Nanas Against Fracking – 2018

Guantanamo & Nanas Against Fracking: On Wednesday 12th September 2018 I went to Parliament Square where the Guantanamo Justice Campaign was holding a monthly vigil calling for an end to the illegal torture camp at Guantanamo and Nanas from Lancashire with others were calling for the government to end fracking. Later I went with the Nanas who marched to protest at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in Victoria St.

Trump told to close Guantanamo

Parliament Square

Guantanamo & Nanas Against Fracking - 2018 — *Baroness Jenny Jones came to visit the vigil*

Another monthly vigil opposite Parliament called on UK Prime Minister Theresa May to make urgent representations to President Trump to close Guantanamo and end the brutality and torture which is continuing against the 40 men then still held there in indefinite detention.

They demanded Trump respect human rights and internation law, saying the illegal camp is a legal and moral outrage and a symbol of US torture and injustice.

The protesters were joined briefly by Green Party member of the House of Lords Jenny Jones, Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb.

Trump told to close Guantanamo

#100Women against fracking

Parliament Square

Following 3 months of “Love & Defiance” that took place from April-June in Lancashire by the Nanas they came to London to tell the government to stop ignoring science and the will of the people and ban fracking.

As well as threatening the areas of the country in which it was taking place with earthquakes and pollution, fracking is also a threat to the future of the planet through its high level of carbon emissions.

Many of the protesters wore suffragette costumes to mark the 100th anniversary of women first getting the vote in 1918 and called on the government now to make voting mean something. The rally took place in front to the statue of suffragist campaigner Millicent Fawcett.

Speakers at the rally included Ruth George, Labour MP for High Peak, Jenny Jones, Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb, Mike Amesbury, Labour MP for Weaver Vale, Lancashire Nana Tina-Louise Rothery, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and Green Party Deputy Leader Amelia Womack.

Also speaking at the rally were women against a proposed move of the statue of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, funded by suffragettes in 1930, from Victoria Tower Gardens next to the House of Lords to Regent’s Park, which they described as an “act of vandalism against women’s history“.

More pictures including most of the speakers at 100Women against fracking.

100Women protest at BEIS

Dept for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy

*Nanas sing in protest against fracking at the BEIS*

At the end of the rally in Parliament Square, the anti-fracking women protesters in Suffragette dress marched around the square and on to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in Victoria St for a noisy protest there.

*Women get ready to march to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in Victoria St*

*Outside the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy*

One woman climbed on the low wall in front of the delivery bay at the centre of the frontage and others followed with more moving inside behind to support them.

The protest continued between the two wings of the offices and on the pavement in front with much shouting and singing.

100Women protest at BEIS

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Suicide, Arms Dealers & Letting Agent – 2015

Suicide, Arms Dealers & Letting Agent; Friday 11th September 2005 I began with a protest outside Parliament on a matter which is still being debated inside Parliament today, having been talked out by opponents in the House of Lords earlier this year – Assisted Suicide. I went on to the continuing protest outside the DSEi Arms Fair at the Excel Centre in Newham before finally going further east to Goodmayes in Redbridge where United Voices of the World were supporting a member to get back his life savings from a letting agent who failed to provide the property and was refusing to repay the money.

Assisted Suicide Debate Lobbies

Old Palace Yard, Westminster

Suicide, Arms Dealers & Letting Agent - 2015

Rival groups of protesters for and against the Assisted Suicide Bill were protesting at Parliament on the day that the bill was being debated.

Not Dead Yet UK were opposing the bill and were supported by disabled protesters who had recently lost ILF support now feel threatened by the Bill.

The Campaign for Dignity in Dying had come to support it, calling for our broken law to be fixed. There were also some disabled protesters supporting them, and claiming the support of 86% of disabled people.

There was a barrier between the two groups and there were some quiet arguments across it. The current law is certainly not satisfactory but it is hard to see how it can be changed without putting some at risk. For good reason the activities of doctors are now much more in the open – we remember Harold Shipman, thought to have killed around 250 of his patients over 24 years as a Manchester doctor, but perhaps now there are too many who “strive needlessly to keep alive” rather than risk allegations of misconduct.

More pictures: Assisted Suicide Debate lobbies.

Refugees Welcome, Arms Dealers NOT

Excel London, Royal Victoria Dock

I arrived at the protest camp close to the East Gate into the Excel Centre while a rally was taking place on the side of the road leading into the centre.

*‘Welfare NOT Warfare’ was the message of a long banner held on the central pavement*

*Green Party Leader Natalie Bennett speaks about the UK’s failed foreign policy and massive arms supply at the root of the world’s worst refugee crisis since the Second World War.*

Speakers, including Green Party leader Natalie Bennett, Simon from Occupy The Arms Fair, Rita Chadha of Refugee and Migrant Forum of Essex and London, Cecil of Black Dissidents, Spike of Veterans for Peace pointed out the injustice in allowing free movement of arms while restricting the movement of the refugees the use of arms creates.

*Cecil of Black Dissidents speaks about the racism behind the treatment of migrants*

Arnold (from Sierra Leone) and Kiarash (from Iran) talked of their personal experiences of the problems faced by those seeking asylum in the UK, and some refugees waiting to come here from Calais were able to speak by phone.

When the rally ended a group of protesters formed themselves into an ‘Alternative Border Farce’ and stood in the road in front of lorries attempting to go into the Arms Fair. Police warned them they might be arrested but while I was there simply pushed them, occasionally rather more forcefully than seemed necessary, out of the road when each lorry approached.

The protesters managed to hold up several lorries for a few minutes, but more police arrived and by the time I left they were able to escort the lorries through with a line of police on each side.

More on My London Diary at Refugees Welcome, Arms Dealers NOT.

UVW tell Estate Agent to Pay Up

Hunter Home Properties Ltd, Goodmayes

*Hunter Home Properties Ltd* is this single desk by the window

United Voices of the World trade union member Carlos had paid his life savings of £6,500 to estate agent Usman Bhatti of Home Hunter Properties Ltd in Goodmayes as deposit and 2 months rent on an house for his family. But the house was not available and he was now homeless and unable to get most of his money back.

The UVW had been trying to get Carlos’s money back for several month, and had been promised it would be paid and even given a cheque – which bounced. But now Mr Bhatti was not answering calls so the union decided to pay him a visit.

I went with a dozen members of the UVW and Carlos to the office in Goodmayes which Bhatti shares with other businesses – he had a single desk by the window though his company name was prominent on the shop front.

They went inside the shop and began a noisy protest with drums and horns, bringing in their banner and placard. UVW General Secretary Petros Elia then talked to Bhatti and the others went to continue the protest on the pavement outside.

Mr Bhatti promised to pay but could not do so immediately and said he would do so within two weeks, but the protesters were not convinced as he had make similar offers in the past and not kept to his promises.

The protesters went back into the shop and Mr Bhatti then lost his temper and tried to grab a vuvuzela that Elia was blowing in his direction, assaulting him. But he soon calmed down and took Carlos and Elia into a back room for more talks, accompanied by the videographer who was also recording the protest.

Shortly after they came out, two police officers arrived, talked to both the protesters and people inside the office. There seemed to be no problems and the protest was ending so I left to catch a train back into London.

Back home I I heard that shortly after I left the police had arrested Petros and another of the protesters, and that Petros was being charged with assaulting Mr Bhatti. I was shocked, not least because I had seen the opposite happening.

There is a longer account of the event with many more pictures on My London Diary at UVW tell Estate Agent to Pay Up.

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