Battersea Rises

On Monday 8th August, the unimaginable happened & a mob of greedy, selfish thugs started "rioting" & primarily looting shops in nearby Clapham Junction.

I sat in my bedroom & heard the sirens, saw the glow from the flames of a fire which had been lit in the fancy dress shop & smelled the smoke... a few minutes before it really started I'd been on facebook, reassuring friends from around the UK, as well as in Australia & the USA that I was in a safe, quiet community, nothing like the area's which I had already heard on the news had been attacked... I was wrong!

It was surreal, to be honest... this dreadful beahviour, so nearly impossible to get your head around was on the major news channels & updates were happening in between programming on tv, but at the same time I could see & hear the helicopter from my bed where I was half sitting, half lying & typing on my laptop...

It was on my laptop that I watched a video, uploaded to youtube, which showed the very store where I had purchased it being looted... The guy making the video asked one woman, "Are you proud of what you're doing? Why are you doing this?" Her response was, "To get my taxes back..."

Seriously??? Are you honestly so ignorant & downright stupid to think that your taxes are somehow floating around in the ether, just waiting for you to claim in the form of burglary? Do you think that everyone else who wants or needs a computer just walks into a shop & steals it, or could it be possible that we work hard & save our money to purchase one??? Do you think your taxes are not used to help you? If, indeed you pay taxes (& I must say I have serious doubts as to the possibility of this...) do you never, ever visit a doctor or purchase a subsidised prescription, walk on a footpath, travel on a road, call on police, ambulance or fire brigades? I strongly supect this woman lives in housing subsidised by our taxes... Well, when I say "our taxes" I doubt she is included in that! I wanted to slap her, & I am so non-violent that it's hard for me to admit to that emotional reaction! Especially so publicly!

I was awake until at least 2am, around which time the mob started to disperse... probably because they had already got their hands on as much of the valuable goods as they could... The department store, Debenhams, was looted - as were JD Sports, The Foot Locker, 3 jewellery shops, an independant electrical goods shop, the aforementioned Curry's, at least 3 mobile phone stores, Boots (the chemist) & TK Maxx... also shops which had little of interest to the looters were vandalised, including small, family-run cafe's, a Greggs bakery, a Christian Book Shop, 2 stationers, a carpet shop, 2 hairdressers, at least 3 charity shops (charity shops which exist to help people & organisations & which are run on voluntary staffing & donations from the public!) 2 supermarkets, the local post office, 3 banks (they tried to get to money in the ATMs & although they damaged them beyond repair, they were unsuccessful!), bars, restaurants, fast food shops (including Subway, KFC & Wimpeys) Starbucks (with every window smashed despite the fact that there would have been nothing of real value within it!) and many other small shops, & outlets... the total number of people employed by these businesses would be significant.

The worst thing, however, was the Party Shop... I visit it sometimes, having purchased a wig for my 'Nessa costume (for Dragon*Con) as well as various bits & bobs for party costumes & putting on celebrations with the children I've nannied in this area... most recently I bought a pair of fairy wings & a pink tiara for the Race for Life. These morons broke in, stole masks to cover their faces (in a vain attempt to avoid being recognised on CCTV) & then SET FIRE TO IT! Not only did the shop go up in flames, with many canisters of helium gas inside, but there are several flats above it, & people were in them! A family were fortunate to escape quickly before their home & all their possessions were incinerated, but others were afraid to evacuate, fearing they would be attacked by the irrational mob in the street below... the bravery of the people who helped to evacuate them & the firemen who worked hard to put the blaze out cannot be overestimated! I feel so grateful to them for protecting us under the most difficult of circumstances!

I was relieved to head to France with the family I live & work with the next day, although London was on high alert for more possible trouble... even as we (my employer, Alex, & I) drove out of London, we saw small shops, & superstores alike, shuttered & closed by 3pm, as well as a significant number of petrol stations... which, meant it was difficult for us to find one open, & when we did there was quite a queue!

A week later I returned to the Junction to shop (having been in France for the interveining 6 days) & the photos I took of the recovery one week on inspired me to make an album on facebook. I included press photographs of the night itself & the following day, as well as the pictures I took on Mon 15th August... I am proud to be part of this community! Battersea certainly rose to the challenge, & I was reminded of the spirit of the British people in WWII... not that one night's mindless greed & violence can be compared to the months of bombing & deprivation which the people suffered at that time, but the fact that mindless, selfish violence has no chance of overpowering the community spirit... I firmly believe Battersea will rise up stronger as time goes by...

If you wish to see the album it can be viewed here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150261049286987.322019.603506986&l=f6fa0068a1&type=1 (sorry, it looks like you might need to copy & past this into your address bar on your browser...)

History on my doorstep...

When I moved to Clapham, about 3 months ago, I was interested in the history from a Victorian perspective. Let's face it, the Victorian era is the most dominant one in this area, as Clapham & the surrounding suburbs of London were mostly built & formed during the reign of Queen Victoria. The rows & rows of terrace houses which fill the streets of this pretty place are all beautifully histocial Victorian dwellings, and the streets of shops & even nearby Clapham Junction Station are all from that era.

Clapham Common at the end of the street in which I live, was the first place that caught my attention, from the WWII perspective. About a 3 minute walk from my front door, there is a large, flat(ish) platform covered in ashphalt. I did some 'googling', and found a reference in that 'ever-reliable resource', Wikipedia! These are, supposedly,"... mounds on the... common that are covered in the earliest forms of tarmac. The mounds were formed with left-over scraps by the local Victorians and covered in tarmac to form roller skating rinks." Yeah... with two close to Battersea Rise, & 3 more between Winsham Grove & Manchuria Road, it seemed an ulikely explaination, and friends & neighbours told me they thought they were 'bunkers' from WWII. I did a bit more digging, but couldn't find anything about 'bunkers' existing on Clapham Common, although there were definitely 'trench-style air-raid shelters' & Anti Aircraft Guns (or 'ack ack's' - using the WWII Phonetic alphabet for 'AA' guns)


I looked further, and found some reference to one local's belif that they were bunkers in which Canadian troops had been housed during the war, but I found a more reliable source which tells that the Canadians were housed in the Deep Level Shelter close to South Clapham Station, and this was further confirmed by other references...

The trench style air-raid shelters definitely did not have entrances in a formation like these... being very simple, and rudimentary forms of shelter. Although photos exist of these on Clapham Common, there is no resemblance to the remaining 'platforms' along either the west side, or the Battersea Rise section in the north west corner of Battersea Common.

My research would suggest that these are almost certainly nothing to do with rollerskating! In fact the reference in Wikipedia is the only mention of such an activity on the common I can find online! The air-raid shelter theory is also more likely to be later generations confusing the deep level shelter with the remnants of some activity they can see close to that shelter today. To my mind the size & shape of the platforms suggests they are the remains of the ack ack positions. They certainly were close to the South Clapham Station, as I have found first hand accounts of young men & boys coming to the common, via that station, to watch the guns in action. I have included both my photos of the platforms & a couple of reference photos I found online - see what you think for yourself...


So to do more research... I hope to visit Battersea Library soon, and see if I can't get to the bottom of this mystery, using the local history resources they hold there. I have this terrible compulsion to stop any truly elderly person I see in the street & ask them if they know anything about them...

Stuff...

I'm kind of feeling uninspired, but I want to blog more... I always have this inner monologue happening & it seems a shame to waste it! I thought I might follow my friend who's blog is called Wooly Logic, and post more photos with some explainations!
So this is what I did on Sunday - I went for a power walk on Clapham Common, but I didn't power walk for long! I got chatting with my wonderful cousin Mavis, on my new mobile, and so I slowed my pace... silly since I'd worn just jeans, a T-shirt & a hoodie, foregoing the obligatory gloves, coat, hat & scarfe as I thought I'd be warm from walking!! The cold got to me, even before I'd reached the north-east corner of the Common, where I stopped to take photos of Trinity Church. This is the church where the 'Clapham Cult' was formed & would meet to discuss social justice issues, and particularly to campaign against slavery. It was this group that William Wilberforce belonged to, and he was instrumental in getting the laws in Britain changed. His story is told in the film "Amazing Grace"
There was an eerie feeling as it was so cold that there were few people loitering, and nobody at the church at all. The lighting made it stand out among the leafless trees, & I was so cold by the time I turned for home, again!

I started at a good pace towards the western end of the Common, close by which I live! But I was barely half way when I started shivering & wondering what I'd been thinking when I'd left home with so little clothing (seasonally speaking!)? I suddenly remembered that there was a pub, nearby, which I had been meaning to check out! The Windmill, on the common, has had a lot of good write ups... I shivered & managed to make it to the warm haven of this watering hole! The cider, whilst delicious, was very expensive, but the loos were amusing, and the whole feeling was one of comfort, & most importantly - warmth! I sat for quite some time, reading the book reviews in the paper, and sipping my cider, taking the occassional photo & generally feeling the blood start to flow to my extremities!
Finally I walked home, via the historic, and pretty bandstand, then on to my home. It was good to get back to a bowl of soup & later to phone Frank! I always sleep better when I hear the sound of his voice!

Thoughts....

I'm just pondering... I haven't written a blog for months, but sooooo much has happened in that time!

I am still in love, still with a wonderfully talented & sweet, if somewhat vulgar & politically incorrect, American! I haven't seen him for over 5 months at the moment, but I hope to see him in a few weeks... just got to work out the money situation!!

I am working for a truly wonderful family in Clapham, London, with a delightful little boy who's 3 years old & fills my days with challenges, fun, laughter, imagination, play, life & love, and I adore him! I live in the attic of a beautiful Victorian terrace house close to Clapham Common, and I am revelling in the history of London as well as the history of Clapham & it's surrounding suburbs... WWII is my latest obsession! There is so much evidence of it, especially the Blitz, all over this city, and much of it is practically on my doorstep.

I have had some really tough times in 2009, but out of the worst times came the knowlege that I had family & friends who went above & beyond the call of duty to be there for me! I know how loved & supported I am, and I am so very grateful! I am honestly very blessed!

I'm finding winter in England a challenge as I did last year, the SAD (Seasonal Adjustment Disorder) is a very real condition, and I need to find ways to get on top of it! Suggestions have been to put a daylight globe in my lamp (I am having trouble locating one), and having a 20 min session on a tanning bed... apparently there is a lot of medical evidence to show this helps! At any rate the days are getting longer again, if still bitterly cold, and I am enjoying living close to the common as well as the excellent shopping strip of Northcote Road!

I hope I pop in here more often. I intend to keep up to date with happenings & photos & thoughts & feelings, but I have made such resolutions in the past & failed... so I won't promise! Just know that at this stage I am alive & well, and looking forward to good things in the coming year!