News 2008

May posted items: Ken v Boris – the London Mayor Election; Ruth Frow's Memorial Event; Colour Blind? Race and Migration in North East England Since 1945; Is the Water Metering Lobby Unstoppable?; Miscellaneous History: slavery and abolition, Black & Asian, Vauxhall, Battersea, freemasonry, labour movement; social & community issues; miscellaneous; Virgin Trains excels itself

March posted items: Vauxhall and the Invention of the Urban Pleasure Gardens; Reforming the Electoral Mayor System; North East Slavery & Abolition Newsletter No. 1; Dorset's Hidden History; Who do we think we are? Education Project; 1807 Commemorated website; Lovelace Overton

February posted items: Changes to website; Stop & Search; Payphones; Offender Learning Matters; Ruth Frow; Slavery & Abolition; John Archer; Vauxhall History Walks; Robert Morrison, China & the Clapham African Academy; Thomas Robert Jones; Black History Month 2008

Ken v Boris – the London Mayor Election

It was a difficult decision for Londoners on 1 May. Who to vote for in the Mayoral elections? Voting motives were complex. Votes for Ken Livingstone did not necessarily represent a vote for progressive politics as he and others have been arguing since. Many people voted for Ken very reluctantly as the only way to try and stop Boris winning. Many have not regarded Ken as progressive. A lot of Londoners voted against an elected Mayor in the referendum on the future of London Government because it would put too much unaccountable power into the hands of one individual, who could become arrogant and contemptuous, for many Ken's eight year record proved this to be the case. For these it would have been very difficult to vote Ken in for a third term. For many Ken was more often anti-progressive than progressive.

·           The economic development strategy based on boosting the role of London as a world finance centre was at the expense of the economic needs of the majority of Londoners

·           Policies to boost the population growth of London were supported despite the ever increasing strains of living and working in London.

·           The affordable housing quota pushed up the cost price of the housing units developers could sell, which then dragged general house prices up

·           Most of London's economic development needs were sacrificed for the Olympics and Thames Gateway

·           There was a failure to achieve significant public transport improvements e.g. to the Northern Line and Thameslink

·           His obsession for high rise tower blocks often ran counter to the wishes of local communities.

·           He supported compulsory water metering.

Ruth Frow's Memorial Event

There must have been about 400 people at the memorial event for Ruth Frow in Salford University's Peel Hall on Saturday 5 April. Ruth was co-founder of the Working Class Movement Library. She died in January. There were tributes from one of her nieces on behalf of the extended family - full of humour; Dorothy Wedderburn on shared collecting obsessions; the Secretary of the Irish Labour History Society spoke and sang 'Joe Hill'; a tribute on behalf of the International Brigade Memorial Trust; and the Chair of the Library on its future. 'Jarama' was song. Various people from the audience, including myself, spoke about our links with Ruth. We all sang 'The Internationale' before tea and coffee. Some of us then went over to the Library and had a tour. There are now several obituaries which can be seen by searching “Ruth Frow” on the web. Details about the Library can be seen on www.wcml.org.uk.

Colour Blind? Race and Migration in North East England Since 1945.

Talk by Dave Renton 11 June, Newcastle Literary & Philosophical Society, 23 Westgate Rd, 6.30 for 7pm.

The North East was long seen as a region that did things differently; where the post-war generations of migrants from the Caribbean, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China were welcomed warmly with a kindness absent from their treatment in London and elsewhere in Britain. But to what extent was this true? If it was true, to what extent was this experience shaped by the memory of previous migrations, e.g. the Irish in the 19th Century and the Yemenis in South Shields from the 1890s? And to what extent, have attitudes of sympathy survived the decimation of manufacturing industry in the 1980s, and the redevelopment and the re-branding of the region from the 1990s onwards?

In his new book 'Colour Blind?' published by University of Sunderland Press, Dave Renton tells the story of migration from the perspective of those who experienced it. In so far as the region has been open to migrants, Dave argues, that the welcome has been decisively shaped by cultures of occupation and class. Inevitably the answer to the questions are complex, there has been welcome and hostility, and there non-white immigrants appear to suffer greater economic inequality than in other regions. Dave was a former research Fellow of the University of Sunderland. His previous books include a history of the Anti-Nazi League 'When We Touched the Sky'. His website is www.dkrenton.co.uk

I have now undertaken two sets of work on Tyneside. What struck me in 2001-3 was how few people I saw who were from African, Asian and other non-white backgrounds. Some were sufficiently strong enough as community groups to have their own facilities, like the Bangladeshi Community Centre in Sunderland. While there was a noticeable increase when I was back on Tyneside last year, it was still not large, from the perspective of a Londoner. When I was bassac's Policy Development Officer I remember very clearly the concern Sue Robson, who was then running Shiney Row Resource Project, about growing hostility towards refugees and asylum seekers being housed in Sunderland. It was this that triggered my interest in the North East's Black & Asian History, providing her with preliminary background information, and later sharing that more widely among representatives of Tyneside community networks. It was this background that helped me get the contract to undertake the Slavery & Abolition Project last year.

Dave, who I met for the first time at events run by the London Socialist Historians Group earlier this year, dedicates the book to our mutual friend John Charlton, because he 'has helped more than anyone to sharpen' Dave's 'understanding of the region's history.' John has organised the talk by Dave on 11 June.

UPS has also published 'When Paddy Met Geordie: The Irish in County Durham and Newcastle 1840-1880' by Roger Cooter.

http://my.sunderland.ac.uk/web/services/uosp/books.html

Dave will be one of the speakers at the London Socialist Historians Group Seminar on Monday 12 May, along with Mike Marqusee and Andrew Smith on 'The view from Beyond the Boundary – The Left and cricket.' The new issue of the Group's Newsletter (31. Summer 2008) contains a piece by Dave reflecting on the launch of the Indian Premier League. www.LondonSocialistHistorians.org.

Is the Water Metering Lobby Unstoppable?

Has the water metering lobby become unstoppable? The latest supporters are the All Party Parliamentary Water Group. In its recently published report 'The Future of the UK Water Sector', it says that it accepts that there is a tension 'between meeting the demands for further investment, in particular to deliver an improved aquatic environment, and the ability of consumers to pay for this in the absence of any mechanism to relate financial contribution to the ability to pay. ' The group believes that this tension can be eased by ensuring that customers feel that their concerns are adequately addressed in the major decisions that are made about the future of the sector. The group believes that the key to this process is the phasing in of universal metering combined with a new tariff system. Metering can better inform customers and thus empower them, in particular vulnerable customers, to take greater control over their water consumption and allow them to budget and plan more effectively. It may also help charges to be spread in a fairer way, based on relative need and the ability to pay, rather than simply on usage. The group believes that universal metering in combination with an alternative tariff system would be a significant step towards increasing affordability in the sector.'

Labour was opposed to universal water metering before the 1997 General Election. Under Michael Meacher's stewardship at the Department of Environment the policy switched to selective metering. Compulsory water metering has been on the agenda of Ofwat and the Environment Agency for years. Ken Livingstone, the London Mayor, backs it. The water companies in the South East now have the power to introduce compulsory water metering because of their so-called drought problems.

The pro-metering lobby continues to ignore the arguments put by their opponents:

·           reducing the waste of water from leakage in water companies pipe systems would save a lot of water

·           the cost of compulsory water metering could be as high as £4-5m

·           meters only have a 10 year life so it will cost even more money to replace them

·           when most people opt for water meters they do so to cut their bills because they are on low consumption not to be more water saving

·           most of those who can afford higher water bills will consume what they want despite being metered

·           investment in more water efficiency measures in the home would provide more lasting value

·           designing shorter hot water pipe lengths in new build homes would result in a genuine water saving

·           high water users on low incomes, like large families and people with medical conditions, have to reduce their consumption to reduce their bills; their water needs do not decrease

·           real and long-lasting water saving results would be achieved by investment in making homes and household machines more water efficient

·           the need for assistance is recognised as needed for households to improve energy efficiency

Proponents like the Water Group of the idea that the solution lies in tariffs do not demonstrate how that will work. There is a subliminal promise that everyone can save money by metering. That is, of course, untrue – the industry must recover its costs and if we all cut consumption, they will simply put the price up to compensate.

The fundamental argument against water metering is that it makes people consumers of a product, rather than citizens paying towards the costs of providing what should be their fundamental right: a clean and affordable water supply.

A search on the web shows that there are few signs of active opposition to compulsory water metering. Even organisations which were very unhappy about the idea now seem to accept it will happen and are concentrating their efforts on the social tariff issue.

Robust and up-to-date research is needed into:

·                       the effects of metering

·                       the effects for people with high levels of essential use

·                       the costs of metering

·                       the possible implications for water charges

Reports on water affordability issues can be seen on the website of the Public Utilities Access Forum: www.puaf.org.uk.

Slavery & Abolition History

·                     North East Slavery & Abolition Group (NESAG). The second newsletter is now available.

·                     'Sharp Practice'. On 3 April John Charlton and I went to Stanhope in County Durham to see the Jack Drum youth theatre play 'Sharp Practice', which I provided historical advice on. It was an excellent production and performance; a full house. A longer account is given in NESAG's second newsletter.

·                     Moncure D Conway. The 3 June London Socialist Historians Group Seminar will be a talk by Ellen Ramsey on Moncure D. Conway – Rationalism and the abolition of slavery'. www.LondonSocialistHistorians.org.

Black & Asian Heritage in UK

·                     BASA National Education Conference 12 July. The programme for the Black & Asian Studies Association National Conference 'Making the Most of It: Black History and British Education' can now be seen on its website: www.blackandasianstudies.org.uk

·                     BASAJISC. BASA's JISC elist is always full of interesting discussion and information. Anyone can read the contributions on www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/BASA.html but to add your own you need to join the list.

·                     Paul Robeson – Overseas Blues. My essay on Paul Robeson in the collection 'Overseas Blues' has been attacked by J B Spins on his US blog http://jbspins.blogspot.com/2007 12 01 archive.html

·                     Who Do We Think We Are? The WDWTWA website is now shaping up to be a very useful web resource. www.wdwtwa.org.uk. For further details see March news item below.

•     Vauxhall and Battersea Festival Pleasure Gardens Talk. About 100 attended Penny Corfield's talk on Vauxhall and Battersea Festival Pleasure Gardens on 3 April, at which her pamphlet 'Vauxhall and the Invention of Urban Pleasure Gardens' was launched. This is the fourth title published under my imprint 'History & Social Action Publications' – see March news item below.

·                     Vauxhall Revisited: Pleasure Gardens and Their Publics 1660-1880. Monday 14 – Wednesday 16 July. Conference organised by Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, Tate Britain and Museum of Garden History. Includes music concert at the Museum. Registration starts 1 May. Tickets from Tate Box Office. Full details on: www.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk/events/html

·                     Gasworks Walk. A photo of my leading a walk for Gasworks gallery on 1 December can be seen on www.gasworks.org.uk/exhibitions/images.php?id=326

Battersea History

·                     Caroline Ganley. Caroline Ganley, was a socialist campaigner in Battersea before the First World War who went on to be a Battersea Councillor, Battersea South MP (1945- 51) and Councillor again. She was also active in the London Co-operative movement. Her granddaughter Margaret Chapman has put up a lot of photos of Caroline and related documents on

www.webshots.com/search?query=Family+album+Norgrove  and on www.webshots.com/explore/Ganley

·             Fred Knee and Latchmere Estate. Someone has put a link to my Latchmere Estate article on the Wikipedia entry about Fred Knee, the socialist and housing campaigner who lived in Battersea for a while. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FredKnee

·             Battersea & Organised Cycling. My article 'Organised Politics and Cycling in Battersea' was cited by French postgraduate student Philippe Vervaecke in his thesis 'Dieu, La Couronne et L'Empire. La Primrose League, 1883-2000. Culture et Pratiques Politiques d'un Mouvement Conservateur' (University of Lille. 2003). The Thesis can be read in French on http://documents.univ­lille3.fr/files/pub/www/recherche/theses/vervaecke-philippe/html/these.html

Freemasonry History

·             Freemasons and Empire. Jessica Harland-Jacobs has written a book 'Freemasons and Empire. Freemasonry and British Imperialism, 1717-1927' published by the University of North Carolina Press. 2007 http://uncpress.unc.edu/books/T-8006.html. It has been partially digitalised as a Google Book. It cites the joint article on Black Freemasonry that Andrew Prescott and I wrote on the Centre for Research into Freemasonry website.

·                     Centre for Research into Freemasonry. The Centre's website is being redesigned. The basic new website is on www.freemasonry.dept.shef.ac.uk. While the development continues there is a link to the former website.

Labour Movement History

·                     Commemorating Robert Tressell. There will be no Robert Tressell Festival in Hastings this year because of activities in Liverpool as part of its European City of Culture programme. 9 May at Walton Park cemetery unveiling of a plaque. 10 May talk by Steve Binns on Liverpool in the time of Tressell, at St George’s Hall. Please phone 01424 447594 or 0151 231 6120 or email mikej@pcs.org.uk for further details.

23 May, 6-8pm at Liverpool John Moores University local writer John Fay will discuss a project he is working on inspired by The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (phone Dee for details on 01424 447594.) 19 June, 7.30pm, as part of Lewes TUC Festival of Socialism, event organised jointly with The Robert Tressell Society, includes speakers John McDonnell, MP and Billy Hayes, General Secretary of the CWU. Phone David Motley on 01273 476711 for further details

·                     Tolpuddle Festival 18-20 July www.tuc.org.uk/the tuc/tuc-14521-f0.cfm

·                     People's History Museum. While it undertakes its building programme, the Museum is temporarily housed in Manchester's Museum of Science & Industry. See: www.phm.prg.uk.

Social & Community Issues

·                     Co-Housing. For those interested in the idea of co-housing, planning permission has finally be given for the Threshold Centre scheme based Cole Street Farm, Cole Street Lane, Gillingham, Dorset.  www.thresholdcentre.org.uk. Details about co-housing can  be seen on www.cohousing.org.uk

·                     Community Engagement. The Government's new 'Community Engagement' consultation document is farcical. I submitted personal views on it to the Development Trusts Association for the preparation of its response. The response can now be seen on www.dta.org.uk/whatsnew/news/clg3.htm

·                     Safer Lambeth Partnership has been undertaking a 'Safe & Young in Lambeth' consultation. At the request of the Chair of the Vauxhall Gdns Community Centre I submitted a personal paper on the role of community and social action centres, pointing out their valuable contribution to youth work.

·                     Beaufoy Institute. Last year's news postings reported on the ideas for the future of the Beaufoy Institute on Black Prince Rd in Kennington. In March Lambeth Council finally agreed to back the proposals for an Artisan School and Arts & Crafts Museum developed by Lady Margaret Hall Settlement. Details can be seen in the March and April issues of the Enews I produce for Riverside Community Development Trust on www.rcdt.org

Miscellaneous

·                     Ann's Retirement. After ten years as Director of Prisoners' Education Trust Ann retired on 18 April. Details of the work of the Trust can be seen on:

www. prisonerseducation.org. uk.

·                     Local History Bibliographies. Bibliographies of published work on different localities around the country can be seen by doing a locality search on the Royal Historical Society's bibliography web page www.rhs.ac.uk/bibl.

·                     Rose's Story. Wimbledon Society's Museum of Local History has an excellent exhibition on until 30 November about Wimbledon suffraggettes: 'Rose's Story. The WSPU in Wimbledon 1908-1915'. Rose was Rose Lamartine Yates. In 1919 she was elected as independent North Lambeth London County Councillor. The Museum is at 22 Ridgway, SW19 (corner Lingfield Rd. It is open Saturdays and Sundays 2.30-5pm. www.wimbledonmuseum.org.uk

Virgin Trains Excels Itself

What a mess Virgin Trains made on Saturday 5 April as I came back from Manchester to London after the Ruth Frow Memorial. Admittedly they were faced with overhead line problems in the Rugby area. A train full of Chelsea fans had been held in the station for over an hour. Then they cancelled the next two trains, including mine at 18.40pm. The passengers for these two had to get on the earlier delayed one. Standard class was jammed packed, so I went into first class. I had a fascinating discussion about American politics with three Chelsea fans, one of whom was an American with Apache heritage who is active in the campaign for Barack Obhama. Then we were stuck at Maccelsfield for ages because there was a faulty door. The crew would not isolate the carriage to allow the train to move – despite two other companies' drivers who were passengers saying it could be. A train for Birmingham arrived but not all of us could get on. Eventually the faulty train was driven away leaving us to wait for the next train to London. That was delayed for lack of a driver crew. When it arrived we were told free teas and coffees would be provided. No trolley service so we had to go and queue for them in the buffet. No food on sale because it was behind the shuttered buffet counter which the train manager would not open up so as to avoid pressure from Chelsea fans to sell alcohol. When we arrived at Birmingham loads of people got on, including all those who had got the train at Maccelsfield. Further on the free teas and coffee service stopped – with no announcement. The manager would not give advice over the tannoy about travel arrangements from Euston. He simply told me that we would be met by Virgin staff who would arrange taxis. We arrived just after 12.15am. We queued to be given our taxi authorisation forms, then again for taxis. No priority for elderly, disabled or families with small children. Because Virgin will not normally pay for individuals to have taxis it took time to bunch passengers together to share them. Mine dropped me home at 1 .50pm before going on to Norbury and then 25 miles south of Gatwick!

March 2008

Thursday 3 April
VAUXHALL & BATTERSEA PLEASURE GARDENS
Time: 7.00pm for 7.30pm
Talk by Professor Penelope Corfield
Venue: St Mary's Church, Battersea Church Road
Cost (per person): £3.00 (payable on door)

www.batterseasociety.org.uk

and launch of her pamphlet

'Vauxhall and the Invention of the Urban Pleasure Gardens'

published by History & Social Action Publications

at special launch price of £4 (normal price £5)

There will be a similar event on Monday 7 April

(evening) in Vauxhall/Kennington

– email sean.creighton@btinternet.com for details

Vauxhall and the Invention of the Urban Pleasure Gardens

Vauxhall and the Invention of the Urban Pleasure Gardens

Vauxhall Gardens is a name that conjures the pleasures of big city life. It reminds us that great towns provide opportunities for communal festivities and concord, as well as the often-stressed potential for urban problems and conflict. It is with great pleasure that as the fourth title under my History & Social Action Publications imprint I am publishing 'Vauxhall and the Invention of the Urban Pleasure Gardens' by Professor Penelope Corfield, Professor of History at London University's Royal Holloway, and a friend for over 30 years. The pamphlet has emerged from the two talks she gave as part of the Lambeth Riverside Festivals I co-ordinated in July 2005 and 2006 for Riverside Community Development Trust. The study explains how Vauxhall emerged as the brand-leader of the urban pleasure garden, from among the ranks of sixty or more rival gardens in post-Restoration London. Vauxhall became fashionable; it was popular; it was brilliantly organised; it was musical; it was entertaining; it had fireworks; it was a meeting place for lovers … it had it all. But the continuing transformations of London brought changes. Vauxhall did not endure for ever. While the new Oval Cricket Ground managed to survive in nearby south London, Vauxhall’s Pleasure Gardens disappeared. It took more than fame and, later, nostalgia to keep a front-rank leisure amenity going on the south bank. ISBN: 9548943-3-2. See further details on History & Social Action Publications page on this website. To order email sean.creighton@btinternet.com

Reforming the Elected Mayor System

With the London Mayor election approaching a lot of people are having problems deciding who to vote for. They do not want to vote for Ken but they don't want Boris to win. A lot of us never wanted an elected Mayor in the first place. The options given in the referendum were rigged to prevent us voting for an elected Council on the normal model. My friend Tony Belton, Leader of the Labour Group on Wandsworth Council, has written a very good piece on the need to reform the elected Mayor system. This can be read by going to the PDF & Epapers section of the horizontal bar on this page.

North East Slavery & Abolition Newsletter No. 1

The first issue of the North East Slavery & Abolition Newsletter which I have compiled and edited can be seen on the website of Tyne & Wear Archives:  www.tyneandweararchives.org.uk/pdf/NESAGNewsletter1.pdf

Who do we think we are? (WDWTWA)

WDWTWA Is a new education project designed to engage primary and secondary school teachers in the exploration of identity, diversity and citizenship with their pupils - in their schools, local communities and nationally. The project is a direct response to the recent Curriculum Review on Diversity and Citizenship, undertaken by Sir Keith Ajegbo. The work is being led by the Royal Geographical Society, the Historical Association and citizenship consultant Paula Kitching. There will be a new website:

www.whodowethinkweare.org.uk, an online database and ‘Ideas Hub’ signposting existing resources and support for the learning and teaching of identity, diversity and community, and Curriculum Development Programmes in four local authorities: Barking & Dagenham, Bradford, Bristol and Cheshire. Schools will be encouraged to take part (23-28 June 2008) in exploring identity and diversity as cross-curricular concepts - through subject 'join up', extensive on-site enrichment activities and off-site visits to museums, archives and community-based projects, etc. The website will go live at the end of March. To find out more, please contact: Carol Dixon - Project Coordinator, Who do we think we are?  c/o Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR. 020 7591 3056.  C.Dixon@rgs.org. The Ajegbo Report can bee seen on: http://publications.teachernet.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/Diversity&Citizenship.pdf

1807 Commemorated Project and Website

1807 Commemorated is a new project developed by the Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past at the University of York and the Institute of Historical Research in London. It aims to engage with the ways in which the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade is commemorated in Britain and the public memories which are shaped by it. For more details see: www.history.ac.uk/1807commemorated/index.htm. There are already a number of papers on the website including 'Squaring the Triangle: Freemasonry and Anti-Slavery' by Dr Geoffrey Cubitt, at York University. This adds to the knowledge already begun to be documented in:

·         the joint article I did with Professor Andrew Prescott – see Black & Asian Heritage page

·         and last year's archive research and exhibition project at the Library and Museum of the United Grand Lodge of England; see:

·         the Autumn 2007 journal Record Keeping (Autumn 2007) which can be seen on www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/recordkeepingaut2007.pdf, and

·         www.freemasonry.london.museum/exhibits/triangle.php

The exhibition acknowledged the help I had given to the staff in relation to searching their data base.

Lovelace Overton – a Black Soldier

Lovelace Overton was a black soldier and freemason in the Horse Dragoons who was in Newcastle in 1824/5. He features in the United Grand Lodge work and in Cubitt's article  (see above). Overton was included in a painting of the regimental baggage train in Newcastle which can be see on the 1st Queens Dragoon Guards website: www.qdg.org.uk/pages/In-Between-Campaigning-135.php. The regiment was helped in putting together the basic story about Overton by fellow BASA member John Ellis, who is the expert on black soldiers in the British Army. Details of John's work can be seen on www.blackpresence.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=60 www.gtce.org.uk/networks/achieve/learn/basa_summer05?view=Print

www.worcestershireregiment.com/wr.php?main=inc/em_drummers

www.wellingboroughrec.org.uk/blackh/blackarm.htm

I am in the process of trying to pull the strands on Overton together and tease out more information about him, along with the details of another black member of the Guards who settled in Darlington, as part of the continuing work in the North East.

Dorset's Hidden Histories

Louisa Parker, who wrote 'Dorset's Hidden Histories' (see Slavery & Abolition page), is interviewed in the January newsletter of the South West Multicultural Network. She talks about the approach she took to the research, and about the excellent reception the exhibition received. See:

www.dorsetforyou.com/media/pdf/0/4/Newsletter_Jan_08_web.pdf

Vauxhall Gardens is a name that conjures the pleasures of big city life. It reminds us that great towns provide opportunities for communal festivities and concord, as well as the often-stressedpotential for urban problems and conflict. This study explains how Vauxhall emerged as the brand-leader of the urban pleasure garden, from among the ranks of sixty or more rival gardens in post-Restoration London. Vauxhall became fashionable; it was popular; it was brilliantly organised; it was musical; it was entertaining; it had fireworks; it was a meeting place for lovers… it had it all. But the continuing transformations of London brought changes. Vauxhall did not endure for ever. While the new Oval Cricket. Ground managed to survive in nearby south London, Vauxhall’s Pleasure Gardens disappeared. It took more than fame and, later, nostalgia to keep a front-rank leisure amenity going on the south bank. By studying Vauxhall’s rise and fall, we can understand the upheavals of the entertainment sector in the ‘modern’ city – and appreciate the message of Vauxhall’s legend.

Penelope J. Corfield teaches history at Royal Holloway. University of London. Last year she

published Time and the Shape of History (Yale University Press, 2007), on ‘big history’ from start to finish. But she also keeps her research feet on the ground, with studies of the social, cultural, and urban history of Georgian and Victorian Britain.

Vauxhall and the Invention of the Urban Pleasure Gardens is published by History & Social Action Publications. ISBN 978-0-9548943-3-7

18 Ridge Rd, Mitcham, CR4 2ET.

£5 (plus 25p post per single copy).

Please email your order to sean.creighton@btinternet.com (you will be invoiced),

or post your order to H&SAP, 18 Ridge Rd, CR4 2ET. Cheques payable to ‘Sean Creighton’ for single copies. Multiple copies will be invoiced.

I would like to order _____ copies of ‘Vauxhall Gardens’

Name:

Address:

Email:

 

February 2008

Changes to Website

The following changes are being made to the website.
l News 2008 page for this year's news items
l News 2007 page for last year's news items
l Diary of Events page to promote particular events
l Renaming E Papers button on horizontal menu as PDF & E Papers on which will now be placed papers in PDF format as well as listing papers available by email

Threatened Relaxation of Stop & Search Powers

Having been the first full-time Secretary of the Community Police Consultative Group for Lambeth (1984-9), it is with extreme dismay that I read about the Government's plans to relax the controls over the use of Stop and Search powers. The Group spent a lot of time lobbying on the issue and on the details of the Code of Practice in the Police & Criminal Evidence Act 1984, and later revisions. The statistics for stop and search published in the Guardian on 31 January do not seem to suggest that there is a major problem in the use of the powers. They do show how over representative Black and Asian people are to being stopped and searched, suggesting continuing problems of discrimination, something that observance on the streets continually seems to confirm. I hope that the Group will play a lead role in applying its historic forensic analytical powers to the details of what the Government finally proposes. The demand of the Conservatives to go back to the SUS laws that built up the resentments leading to the riots of the early 1980s' is totally irresponsible. Both Government and Opposition positions are typical knee-jerk reactions, and will not address the causes behind the increase in violence and the use of knives and guns by some young people. What is needed is to counter alienation in positive ways, and a fundamental look at the real deep seated causes like the failure of our competitive, test and exam driven education system to help all young people to grow into creative, aspirant, positive citizens. For a more detailed discussion see my joint paper 'Youth in Our Community' with Tim Saunders of Kennington based Alford House youth club on www.rcdt.org

BT Seeks To Further Run Down The Public Payphone Network

Yet another issue from my working past is back on the public agenda – BT's attempt to further run down the public payphone system. See the Public Utilities page on this website for the item on this in 2004. To keep up to date on this issue have a look at the Commswatch section of Roger Darlington's website: www.rogerdarlington.co.uk . His 2004 reference to my note is no longer in the archive of his website. It you want to see the note please email me on sean.creighton@btinternet.com .

Prisoners Education Trust Launches Offender Learning Matters

Prisoners Education Trust, of which my wife Ann is Director, launched its new policy project 'Offender Learning Matters' (OLM) at the House of Lords on Thursday 31 January. For more details of OLM see PET's new website www.prisonerseducation.org.uk

Ruth Frow (1922-2008)

Ruth Frow, co-founder of the Working Class Movement Library (WCML), died on 11 January, a month after the Library gained a Heritage Lottery Fund grant for £313,000, which will help safeguard its future - www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1028374_library_books_lotto_jackpot

My parents knew Ruth in the late 1940s. Ruth and her late husband Eddie were legends to us as a family which much admired the way they built up their library travelling around the country and turned it into the WCML. I got to know Ruth better in recent years, and we exchanged news at Christmas. Several obituaries and appreciations have begun to be posted on the web:
www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/ruth-frow-collector-of-leftwing-literature-772202.html www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=13924
www.labournet.net/ukunion/0801/ruthfrow1.html
www.barbarakeeley.co.uk/news_view.asp?id=210
www.ialhi.org/news/i0801_17.php
http://gbpeopleslibrary.co.uk/blog/?p=470
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,,2250570,00.html

Slavery & Abolition

This is a new topic on this website, and contains information on:

• the outcomes of the Tyne & Wear Remembering Slavery project I worked on last year, including PDF files with a overview of the findings
• the Dorset Hidden Histories publication
• Steve Martin's Slavery & Abolition in Lambeth publication
• Marika Sherwood's 'After Abolition' book
• The Equiano Project

John Archer

My talk at the Belonging in Europe Conference held in November is accessible on the PDF Papers page of this website.

Vauxhall St Area Local History Walks

On 1 and 8 December I led two walks for Gasworks Gallery in Vauxhall St as part of an arts project involving the temporary bricking up of most of the Gallery's frontage. The 1 December talk covered the changes to the buildings and business/industrial uses of that part of the Street, Oval Mansions, Kennington Oval, Kennington Park Estate, St Mark's School, the Georgian houses along Harleyford Rd, the Harleyford Rd Community Garden, St Anne's Church and Settlement, Vauxhall Pleasure Gdns, and St Peter's Church and the Lambeth Art School. A photo of the walk can be seen on www.gasworks.org.uk/exhibitions/images.php?id=326#Photo1240. The 8 December walk was going to go round Kennington Oval the other way to include a walk around Kennington Park. Due to heavy rain we had to abandon the walk and I gave a talk back in the Gallery.

Robert Morrison, China and the Clapham African Academy

Last year saw the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the first English missionary in China: Robert Morrison. Morrison was born in Morpeth and brought up in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He visited the African Academy in Clapham where he met a Chinese man who taught him Chinese. Dr Gary Tiedemann and I have been sharing information to see if we can find out more information on Morrison in Newcastle and Clapham. This year sees China 2008 as a theme for Museums, Libraries and Archives. Details about Morrison can be seen on www.babelstone.co.uk/Morrison/Morrison/Biography.html

Battersea History – Thomas Robert Jones

Sometime ago my advice was sought by Maureen Wilson about her grandfather Thomas Robert Jones (1854-1922), who lived most of his life in Battersea, but also for a while in Kennington. He was a member of the Ancient Order of Buffalos. The results of Maureen's research can be seen on www.greystoke.org.uk/TRJ.doc

Black History Month 2008

Some areas of the country are beginning to plan what they intend to do in Black History Month (BHM) in October. It is time for a debate about the role of BHM. It is becoming very focussed on peoples of African, with less and less input on South Asian heritage. China is also supposed to be a focus for work by Museums, Libraries and Archives this year. Can local Chinese organisations be supported during this, and be showcased during BHM? I have written a discussion paper for consideration by people involved in the Merton BHM Steering Group, and am happy to share it for others to think about how to influence planning in their areas.

Page updated February 2008