Chemical contamination on the Sussex coast and experiencing and planning new cultural experiences in Tyne and Wear

Events which appear loosely connected are usually not.

A week ago, my attention was drawn to an appeal by Sussex police for residents in the Eastbourne to Birling Gap area on the coast to keep their windows and doors closed because of the impact of a chemical haze which had come inland from the sea. The BBC also carried a report which said that the number of people affected and requiring attention had risen from 50 to 150. Kent live reported that 200 people had been decontaminated at hospital.

There was a news report in the Telegraph which stated that scientists believed the cloud had been created from shipping and not the continent. The Guardian presented the views of several experts. One suggested it could have been a discharge from a water treatment works but this was immediately dismissed by Southern Water.

One expert pointed to the similarity with chlorine gas and Sky online included a notice to the door of a McDonalds saying the store had closed because of a discharge of chlorine gas. Another reported said this was not chlorine gas.  While police investigations were reported to be continuing there appears to have been no further report explaining what had happened. Fortunately, the cloud had dispersed sufficiently in time not to affect the expected numbers coming to the coast on the Bank holiday and the stay home request was lifted.

My first reaction at the time was that this was a terrorist attack from a craft off the coast.

Yesterday, I went to the new Cineworld  Cinema at the Gate restaurant, and entertainment centre in the heart of the City of Newcastle to see the second performance of the new British film directed by Simon West called Stratton and based on the novel series by former special boat services officer Duncan Falconer who since his service with the British Security Services has become a specialist for a  British based international enterprise  and which includes outsourced work for government intelligence and defence departments. The extraordinary aspect of my attendance at on an evening opening performance at the start of the weekend is that I was the only person in the theatre.

I was not aware from what I had read beforehand that the plot involves a terrorist creating four drones to disperse clouds of a lethal gas in an attack on a major city. I am tempted to explain in more detail but given the negative review by Mark Kermode, in the podcast checked this morning will say no more. In fairness it is an old fashioned British action film divorced from the sophisticated CGI technology we have now come to expect with Derek Jacobi playing an old sea dog anchor  father figure for the hero. The Danish actress Connie Nielson plays the MI6 chief in a stilted and slow English way which I interpreted as the attempt by the director to create the illusion of a real-life documentary but which only added to the lists of negatives which make Kermode’s criticism valid. However, I looked beyond the film as a film or coherent and plausible story into the potential reality that Terrorists would attempt this kind and level of atrocity if they have not already thought of it. It is however the kind of attack which the authorities will have anticipated, monitored and planned to defend against. In the film, it is said that the only way to prevent the airborne generated number of fatalities is to incinerate the device before it can be used but I wonder if this can be so and that while it should eliminate most of the toxicity is not possible to prevent some damage using such a method.

It is noteworthy that coinciding with the Bank holiday weekend the public were reminded to be vigilant and a senior counter terrorism specialist said there appeared to have been  shift to using social media to incite existing UK based fanatics to commit atrocities in part because of the extent  to which  those returning from fighting in Syria and Afghanistan are being monitored The implication is that local fanatics were being shown how to make simple but lethal explosive devices or to use simpler weapons such as knives. I am taking the warning seriously, paying close attention to what is happening around me when I am out and about.

This was second visit to Newcastle and to the cinema in two days.  Given that Newcastle has become a party city since the first days of organised cheap holidays to Spain in 1970’s, it has continued to surprise that cinema going has not been a major activity. When I arrived in the North East there were three cinema Theatres. The multiplex was to the East side of the city centre across from the dual carriage underpass for main route from the south over the Tyne going northward and on to Scotland with one branch towards the coast and Whitely Bay. Since that time there are now two road tunnels under the Tyne between Jarrow and Wallsend and where the road then loops into the AI from Newcastle going northward. The number of road, rail and pedestrian bridge crossing over the Tyne has also increased.

The multiplex on the East side has been demolished along with the restaurants to enable the expansion of Northumbria University which now has more undergraduates and other students than Newcastle University although combined there are now over 50000 attending the two universities plus academic staff together with art and dance schools and a college of further education. The serious film student is more likely to visit the Tyneside Cinema, an independent arthouse which was recently developed with four theatres showing a balance of current films, those from other countries and from yester year together with an upmarket event cinema experience.  A more traditional cinema a few doors on the opposite side of the main road leading from the Tyne Bridge closed and recently fell during demolition causing havoc but no injuries. Like Sunderland City centre, for a time there was no multiplex cinema in the city centre and cinema goers had to rely on Cineworld at Bolden in South Tyneside and Odeon’s located at the Silverlink shopping centre at one end of the Tyne Tunnel and the other within the Metro centre shopping extravaganza at one edge of Gateshead on the Banks of the Tyne on the way to Hexham.

The past two decades has witnessed a major transformation.  To remain the largest out of town shopping complex in Europe the number of indoor malls at the Gateshead Metro centre has increased from three to four and a new link between the red and yellow malls became a restaurant quartet leading to a state of the art Odeon with Imax theatres, a VIP experience and a trendy bar. Earlier this year a multimillion refit of the main part of the restaurant quarter was completed and I was impressed on a visit to see the film Dunkirk in Imax just how busy the restaurant quarter had become. This was surprising because the indoor shopping centre in central Newcastle, Eldon Square, has also had a major refit at Monument end on three floors bringing the number of restaurants and bars there and in the immediate vicinity to over thirty.   

This quarter now completes with the Gate Entertainment centre which near Newcastle football stadium, China town and the former huge Cooperative Department store between Monument and Haymarket Metro stations. The Cooperative store is now the second Premier Inn hotel in the city with many restaurants on the ground floor.  The Gate is huge complex on three floor which opened in 2002 and at the top of which is a large multiplex with 12 individual theatres plus three studios theatres all accommodated on one floor (with access by two lifts and escalators).  The entrance to the cinema also the biggest space I have seen at any multiplex and unusually there are two areas of tables, chairs and benches. The escalator from first to the ground floors involves a walk passing several restaurants towards the Casino and it was at this point I noted the closure of the Handmade Burger restaurant which on my way to the Monument Metro home through Eldon Square I also noticed was closed, suggesting the financial collapses of the chain and which on checking is in administration with immediate closure of nine of its twenty-nine establishments, including that at the Metro centre.

The Casino does not require membership and is open 24/7. It features a sports bar with 25 individual screens and one cinema style screen, a restaurant and full range of gaming opportunities where there are also 25 individual sport screens. The centre offers a free discount card for those who work in the city. For everyone else the online site reveals a wide range of special offers. There is a 266-space underground car park free Sunday-Thursday if one goes to the cinema and eats at one of the named restaurants. On the ground, there is the ubiquitous Wetherspoons and the coloured large one price eat as much you want for £9.99 food from the world Za Za’s Bazaar featuring Sushi, Tex Mex, Italian Pizza and Pasta, Indian, Chinese and American Grill, Vietnamese and GB classic twenty separate food bars in total cooked with fresh ingredients by up to 30 chefs. There are two sports bars with banks of TV screens plus a cinema size screen. One bars provide topless female dancers when I once visited to watch a relay of a Newcastle game. It is possible to watch Newcastle (and Sunderland home as well as away games at bars in the respective cities for the price of a round or two of drinks).

The Cineworld at the Gate is only three months of age replacing the previous cinema chain(Empire) which managed the cinema when the centre was first opened as it continues to do in the City of Sunderland which is across a pedestrian area from the Casino built to one side of the multi storey carpark. I now have a a Cineworld subscription which after its first year provides 25% off in-house snacks and concessions off the full price of meals at many adjacent restaurants. Learning that Cineworld had taken over the Newcastle multiplex I was interested in visiting the Newcastle development because of its intention to have a 4D screen. Until recently the only Imax cinema in the North East was at the Metro Centre and apart from the senior discount, it was necessary to pay the full price plus the petrol on an hour’s travel each way.

More recently a super screen opened at the new Vue cinema in Gateshead built as part of the shopping complex on the site of famous car park which featured in the cult crime film centred on Newcastle and the North East, Get Carter, (although there is also an American remake. As a Lloyds Bank club customer, I am issued 6 Vue tickets a year and where it is possible to pay an additional fee to see Imax films and/or use a VIP seat. It has and remain possible park in the car park below the Tesco store when using the cinema and although not ‘policed’ until later this month it had been possible to use the car park as a customer of the supermarket without any requirement on the amount to be spent. Parking for any purpose is restricted to four hours until 6pm when there has been no limit. This has mean that I have been able to visit the car part to shop, have a meal or visit the theatre in Newcastle always purchasing something from the supermarket, sometimes do some shopping, especially from the indoor Granger Market or Marks and spencer food store, returning to the car and then going to the theatre or a lecture at the University.

On Thursday afternoon, I drove the car first to the Bridges shopping centre car park in Sunderland (parking £1.40) to get a substantial discount for Operas on successive nights in January by the Ellen Kent company which if purchased online would cost £47.25 for an aisle seat in the middle stalls close enough to see the faces of singers on stage but without the having constantly look upwards for the translation into English. By booking at the theatre before 1^st September I obtained a discount with the price per ticket reduced to £34.42, a total saving of £25.46. I hurried back to Morrisons Seaborn for petrol and a comfort break before going to Gateshead via the Boldens, passing close to Cineworld by the Asda supermarket when I was given a voucher for 3000 points when spending £30 in store. At Gateshead, I purchased a box of Croissants and a meal deal of a cheese and tomato roll, a bottle of Diet Pepsi and a packet of salted popcorn. It was at this point I discovered a voucher for £2 had been left on the desk at home.

After the roll and a swig or two of the Pepsi I made my way over to Metro station replacing the walking stick with a full-size umbrella because of the threat of thunderstorm taking the train to the Monument stop and quickly to the Theatre Royal to seek a refund for the cancellation of a concert back in June, One Night at the Opera when because the principal singer Lesley garret had pulled out.  I booked three new shows which did involve some payment over the £45 reimbursed. One show was at the Theatre Royal on the Sunday evening of Remembrance Day November 12^th when a company of service military men the Bravo 22 company perform Unspoken. The month before I going to Northern Stage, the former University theatre to see a performance of Ian Hislop’s production, The Wipers Times, the magazine produced at the front by serving men   during World War 1. The second show purchased was at the Civic Hall theatre for an evening with Agers, Jonathan Agnew and Bumble David Lloyds now internationally recognized cricket commentators and former Test players although their appearance was few. David Lords comes into his own each year on the 20 20 finals day competition held for five years at Warwickshire’s County Cricket ground in Birmingham (Edgbaston) close to the university which I attend for one year   to obtain qualification as a child care officer. During the interval between the two semi-final games Bumble holds a race for the mascots of all the first-class counties. This year he was also the centre of attention with Freddy Flintoff when he performed a Karaoke during the interval between the semi-finals and the Finale as the Country singer Johnny Cash while Freddie dressed up Elvis Presley and they both led a crowd rendering of Sweet Caroline. The three games today occupied a great deal of my time although I missed the last part of the finals as the latest Montalbano took priority. Of the four teams contesting the trophy this year I could only support Nottinghamshire with enthusiasm as I had when they won the 1-day trophy at Lords earlier in the season. They are also likely to gain promotion at the first attempt back to first division leaving Durham even more isolated in the second Nottingham did win and even more pleasing was the award of Sammi Patel as man of the match.  Over a decade ago on a visit to the Nottinghamshire cricket ground when Durham was visiting team I had told my companion that Patel was an excellent player who I expected would play for England because of his ability to bat as well as bowl

The third purchase was for June 2018 for an Adele tribute show where there was a wife choice of seats so I selected a centre aisle seat at the front of the second block from stage.

I then made my first visit to the new Cineworld cinema to see a Theatre relay of a contemporary adaption of the 1930’s Lorca play Yerma part of his trilogy challenging the social conventions and moral attitudes of a Catholic dominated Spain as the Republicans faced the growing threat from fascism. In the update of this joint National Theatre production at the Young Vic the focus is the marital relationship between two central characters. The play is about the decision of Yerma, played by Billie Piper, to have a son and her descent into a frustration driven madness as all her efforts fail including a succession of IVF treatments which plunge the couple into £60000 of debt, losing home and business. The experience was harrowing and not enjoyable. The audience was small and into a state of shock at the explicitness of the language.  What struck me was the cinema appeared generally deserted when I left as were the streets of Newcastle.

Dunkirk, Cars 3 Women's Cricket World Cup Final at Lords

On Friday 12 July, I set off for Newcastle station to travel first class to Kings Cross in the same week. Even when I served on several national committees it was rare to undertake to make the journey  more than once and in this instance I was engaged in writing  what I hoped would be a helpful information  communication to Labour Party interests as well as setting out about the reorganisation of the Artman  project and the recording and  location of the material in my home and the  self-storage facility hired and which is essential before commencing the writing with appropriate refences if what I hope to publish will have substance.

On the Friday morning, I was using the last of the Virgin open 1^st class tickets which meant that although I had booked a seat in the 10 am I could travel on any train on the selected day.  Getting to and Newcastle and back requires planning because of the road works on both possible routes, the first heading from the A1M and then joining the main road between the city centres of Sunderland and Newcastle or join in this road via Jarrow and Hebburn.

I decided to take the main route which proved surprisingly quiet all the way into the city and central station where I could park close to the covered area of the station although to do so meant taking the luggage out of the vehicle before parking in a reduced space because of the proximity of the neighbouring vehicles. I then made my way to the ticket office which is now located at the furthest end of the station from the car park having converted the previous booking centre into coffee shops and other commercial outlets and where to one side is the lift for the underpass which is mainly used to bring the supplies for trains travelling to Scotland and to London and where there is also a change of train crew.

In this instance because the train to London due to depart just before 9 was 15 mins late I could board and find a vacant table seat for four vacant, and had the table to myself for throughout the journey.  I did not have to wait long for a full English hot cooked breakfast with a round of toast, but before this I had accepted a croissant with butter and jam, and a second was also provided later in the journey, with two lemon muffins served with two of the four rounds of coffee. Before boarding the train, I had collected a free copy of the Times and the Metro.

I had printed out what I had considered the first completed pages of my communication to the Labour Party and the covering letter but upon re reading I realised the covering failed to communicate my purpose clearly and noted many changes necessary to the completed text. The main decision was to alter the order of the three parts and the strengthening of what was now the second with three ‘case’ studies.

Because of the early start on arrival at King Cross I made my way to the First-class lounge to sue the toilet, for a can of Diet Pepsi as my mouth had become dry, for a banana which I kept for later together with a packet of crisps. Despite the break I arrived early at the Premier Inn by East Croydon station where the reception assistant was happy to issue the door key car as I had already confirmed my booking on line. I have not seen the same assistant twice despite making several stays each year so there was opportunity to repeat my story of being born in the town in March 1939 close to what was London’s main airport and that my earliest memory was watching a V1 rocket come towards the family home in day light, cutting out and falling short before exploding. However, the main purpose as all the assistants tends to be non-white and non-English born was to make the point that my family were the first refugees in the neighbouring borough of Wallington (Beddington and Wallington) to be precise) in the   whose first language was not English but Llanito and going on to explain that this was the first language of Gibraltar. In this instance, this commenced a long conversation during which I was bombarded with questions as the young man was leaving at the weekend to travel to Spain for the summer to learn to speak Spanish. This was a great coincidence because on my previous visit the receptionist was in fact Spanish so we had had a good conversation about the Gibraltar Question. In this instance, the conversation extended to the Falklands and Brexit. For once I brought out chat to an end to an end as others had commenced to arrive for the 2pm booking in period. The receptionist had hoped I would come back when the rush was over to continue the conversation but I had other plans.

After unpacking and setting up internet I made my way to the George, a Wetherspoons for the afternoon special of gammon, egg and chips with a pint of Fosters. I then made my way to Surrey Street where I could buy a kilo of Cherries for £2.20, not the highest quality in terms of sweetest but close, and exceptional value. It was good to see the stalls back in the street and not cluttering the pedestrianised Hight. I was too busy to on an explore to find the work which had justified the move for a month.

The reason for the comparative rush was the decision to go and see Dunkirk at the Vue in the former Department Store of Grants where only the upper facade remains. There is no one of my generation who is unfamiliar with the story of the familiar of the British and French forces  to prevent Germany capturing Paris and the  surrender of that country and of several hundred thousand members of the British and French armies being trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk with in sufficient ships naval and air defensive power to prevent the slaughter but also the escape of hundreds of thousands to fight another day, and the Amada of small ships which answered the call to help ferry the men back home.

The facts are that just under 340000 were rescued against a hope that the figure would be at least 50000 with a third wading out off the beaches on the small ships which either transferred to the larger craft or ferried across the channel. 3500 military were killed and 13000 wounded and others captured with the loss of tanks and guns and other equipment. 6 of 38 destroyers were sunk and about half the others damaged. Nearly 700 British ships were involved about two small craft manned by naval crews and over 300 small craft manned by civilian volunteers. Some 226 were sunk with off these 170 were civilian crewed.

This is a remarkable film which some say the best war film made. The film considers three perspectives land sea and air and from the period of one week, one day and one hour, condensed into 106 minutes without any perspective and little back story of the individual characters. There has been complaint that this makes the film cold which is absurd. The film covers all the emotions from terror to the elation of survival from failure and defeat which is what happened, to horror at the slaughter and great courage for those who went into the face of war. It is the story of the British but also of the French whose heroic defence on the outskirts of the Dunkirk gave the time needed for the retreat evacuation to take place. I saw the film in a comparative small screen and not the large Imax in London or elsewhere and well do so Gateshead Odeon Metro this weekend.

On the way, back to the Premier Inn I purchased a £3 meal deal at the local Tesco store of sandwich, hot crisps and Pepsi Max which I enjoyed immediate on return with a good helping of the cherries

There was time to read the free Evening Standard which was a special edition with a copy of articles which appeared in the paper during the paper in June 1940 when I was just a year old at a cost on one penny with blackout from 9.38 until 4.19am. Call up was being accelerated during the month to twice the previous level and an advert to join the women’s land army.  I played the Windows 10 Microsoft patience challenges of the day with only one game not completed this month having complete all 150-last month for the first time.  I caught up with pointless but cannot remember what else apart from going through emails, Facebook and twitter. I was not in the mood to work or to read he China Daily

The following morning, I had an early breakfast of porridge, the banana and some cherries with coffee and made my way on was a cloudy and rain threatening day to the station for an all zones Travel card with a senior rail card concession with reduced the price from over £12 to £8.10. Trains were busy as usual even at the earlier time but I could get a seat and at Victoria found there was no circle line or Victoria line going south and other stoppages for engineering works. I took a district line train to the Embankment and from there to Leicester Square maiming my way to the redeveloped Vue cinema to exchange Lloyds bank vouchers for tickets to see the 7.30 evening performance of Cars 3. I need not have worried about getting four seats togethers as no else had booked. All the seats were said to be VIP so I selected the middle of a row of more back than middle from the screen. Mission accomplished I went to the Wetherspoons in the Square for a bacon butty and filter coffee where I had two cups for the single price of £3.35. There were some people in but plenty of space available.

I then walked from the Square to the Embankment Tube station crossing The Strand by St Martins in the Field and down towards the gardens alongside Charing Cross Station for the District Line to Monument to locate the Premier Inn St Marys Walk at Hill which I did eventually as main streets were badly marked signed and I lost my sense no sense of direction

I had intended to remain in central London until meeting family at four but with the activity my shirt and jacket were soaked with condensation more than perspiration and decided return to Croydon, but on reaching Victoria station I needed the loo so went to that in the food court and decided I needed more coffee from Mc D’s sitting in the main area and noting a woman at the table get up and leave her case with a coat on top. On call out to her she said in French she was going for a coffee.

Time went on and she did not return so I alerted table cleaning staff and hen at rhea counter and they said alter security where there was a communication device at the entrance door at the far end in the Mc D’s seating area. Some came out and the woman returned just as the officer was arriving but disappeared off again. He followed her and I left.

I change shirts, left the rain coat and went off with an umbrella to see if I could find a replacement summer linen jacket going first to M and S when I had purchased the one I was wearing from their shop at the Metro centre. They various options but none in my size. I enjoyed a pot of tea and juicy Danish Pasty for the best part of a fiver.  There was no success at Debenham and by the time I return to the room I needed a second change of shirt. The skies were leaden and commenced to rain hard. This continued for most of the day.  On a previous visit I had walked from Victoria to the office of the Department of Work and Pensions at Caxton House close to St James Park, station and within sight of the Houses of Parliament. I took the district line to the station and crossed to pub which stands at the corner leading to entrance to the Park and opposite the former Home Office building which is now the exceptionally fortified  Department of Justice I treated myself to a small glass of red wine for the best  part of a  fiver. It was a good Merlot tucked away in a corner of the small basement  restaurant to this  ancient Inn which also boasts  a separate entrance to an upstairs area. You find a table and book in food at the bar when only during the week lunchtimes can you get fish and chips or sausage and mash for a tenner and even a sandwich will set you close to a tenner. The event being attended till four I wait outside and we then made our way to the station and on the district line to the Monument and the Premier Inn which is located close to Pudding Lane where the fire of London started in a bakery, a Pointless programme question on Tuesday evening. when I wait after checking in and settling.

The intention was to visit the nearest Nando’s but it was closed so we walked to Bank and took the Tube to Holborn where a Nando’s was open. This is an attractive venue with what looked like real contemporary oil paintings on the walls. We arrived just after several other dining groups so we had to wait some time. I enjoyed a Mediterranean salad and a heavily watered unlimited diet Pepsi. Wee then made us from Holborn to Leicester Square for the Vue Cinema and Cars 3. I do not believe I have seen Cars 1 or 2 and although I enjoyed the film longer than Dunkirk by half an hour I will not rent from Sky to come to any judgement as to how Stars stands alongside the first two. The film is topical with its main themes of female inequality and the youth having no respect for their elders and their past achievements.

All the seats in theatre 9 at the top of the cinema with both escalators and lifts are VIP seats with tall backs and excellent for adjust because one can sit back and view the full screen without impediment, or so I thought. The problem is that young children cannot see and it was necessary to go back to the ground floor to gain a seat enhancement. The parent in front was clearly bored and solved the situation by put his elbow at odd angles above the back of the chair obscuring my view and that of my neighbour.  I appealed and then threaten to contact a staff member but gave in too tired and not sufficiently engaged with films. Had I been on my own I would have acted. It was still raining the of the film which was close to the but I was back at East Croydon before 11 where I raided the rest of the cherries and some biscuit for cheese without the cheese. I slept well counting the number of trains and tubes experienced during the day plus more walking than usual. I set the alarm for 7.

Although rain was forecast for later in the day the rain clouded sky raised an earlier likelihood but I decided to take the shopping bag with umbrella and radio with headphones but no rain coat, a mistake as it became cold at times with just the jacket over a short sleeved shirt. There was more engineering works  with no trains platforms  1 and 2  but a good flow of trains to Victoria from platform 4. Crowded but I got a seat.

I considered the Wetherspoons above Smiths and McD’s on the way to side exit as I had set off later than planned but decided to try the Wetherspoons Willow Walk across from the bus stop for 13 which goes direct to Lords and a short walk to the East Gate. This proved a brilliant decision for two reasons. I was the first customer oft eh day and breakfast arrived almost immediately I sat down back at my selected seat. However, the big surprise was that the branch is testing out a new coffee machine like those now being used by Morrisons which means a much better standard and range of coffee. I had the full English Breakfast with the two cups at just over £6 and given paying 2.40 for a dreadful cup at Lords this was great value and I could have had the two cups with a bacon butty for the same price as that at Leicester square 3.35.

There was a good queue and a little wait before the 13-bus arrived but I could get a protected seat at the front. I also remembered the small local store on the way from the bus stop and purchased a spicy chicken wrap for £2, my only food purchase until binging out from the coop on return. I did not remember where I had booked the seat but the entry RR was familiar and IN fact I had my usual seat under cover, aisle at the front of the section with passage way leg space. I was joined early on by a Single Surrey man and we had a good chat before the match commenced but during with headphones there was little conversation.

There was talk of a sell-out crowd with a general email asking for returns if seats could not be taken up with the consequence there were lots of touts wanting to buy unwanted tickets. In the event the ground was never full of space in the lower area of the Compton and Edrich stands. The big disappointment was the main pavilion less than half I would say by MCC members. There was a good representation of Indian team supporters in the Mound Stand including an enthusiastic drummer and one irritating young woman with a large sign asking for camera shots so her family in India could see her.  This made a good cover when it rained for a short period in the morning and then again later.

England won the toss and elected to bat which I was not sure about. The oldest female England Cricket aged 105 rang the bell and there was applause for Rachel Hayhoe Flint whose son was interviewed during the day and who rang the bell for the start of the Indian Innings. There was a sense of this being an important potential game changing situation. The Cricketeers volunteers were given seats in the stand opposite. There was an enthusiastic Gospel choir at the interval who also were evident in their enthusiasm as the game reached its climax.

England lost wickets at regular intervals and although the radio commentary suggested a low score could be expected and that 228 for 7 this would be a challenging score the prospect of 250 at one point appeared to have been the kind of challenge which India might find difficult especially. The most significant innings was that of Scriver 51 and her partnership with Taylor 45. I will also highlight the rear-guard contributions of Brunt 34, and Gunn 25 and Marsh 14 both not out.  In commentary, early in the competition mention was made that Natalie Scriver had not fulfilled potential in Internal competition. This is something she remedied with her 107 in partnership with Heather Knight 106 against Pakistan and 129 against New Zealand. Scoring 369 runs overall, she is 6^th of the top 5 batswomen. Top of the list is Tammy Beaumont with her average of 45.55 and 410 runs with Sarah Taylor 4^th who kept wicket and Heather Knight 7^th the captain 5h on the list is the India opening batswoman PG Raut whose 86-looked match winning until she was leg before wicket by the undoubted star performer of the final Anya Shrubsole whose final bowling session of 5 wickets created the collapse which led to the unexpected victory.  Shrubsole had raised all our hopes when she bowled Mandhana in the first over and who had an Ok overall performance in the event It can also be argued that the brilliant running out of Raj on 17 by Scriver removed the other great threat, as Raj average was 1 run less that Beaumont and therefore came second in the list. The most outstanding single batting performance came from   Kaur in the semi-final with in magical 171 starting slowly and who scored her third 50 in 17 balls.

Such was the batting control by India that I considered leaving early but England were bowling sufficiently tightly to create the situation where India had to score more runs per over as the match drew to its conclusion.  The bowling of Anja Shrubsole has resulted in her match winning first and penultimate innings ball four in the semi-final when England were also losing wickets quickly being quickly forgotten, something she will not have minded given her bowling performance in the final of 6 for 96 in 9.4 overs and which ought to earn her a noticeboard place somewhere at Lords.  The performance has led to her moving into the top ten of world bowlers at number 7

The excitement at the end matched anything previously experienced at a cricket match but I decided to make my way and not stay as the majority for the celebrations and the presentations.

As I waited for the traffic lights to change to cross over the Wellington Road to the bus stop I noted a number 13 already there and amazingly it had not set off and I boarded and also found a seat. At Victoria station, I need the loo and considered stopping for a celebratory meal in the food court having purchased a New Stateman to read while waited for the meal to arrive. However, feeling tired I changed my mind and took the train to East Croydon and went to see what goodies I could acquire from the Coop store which forms part of the ground floor of the hotel site.                                    F

I commenced with a mixture of olives for £2.39 followed by smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich part of a £3.50 meal del which included a bottle of Pepsi Max and some spicy crisps. To end there were two lemon cheesecakes £1 total £6.89. I then watched on Sky Go which cost £5 the latest two episodes of the Spanish murder serial I know who you are and caught up with Jeremy Corbyn’s appearance on the Andrew Marr show before the BBC has a long political holiday.

With an open ticket and a seat booked on the 12 .30 to Newcastle I did not rush my getting up but did set the alarm for seven. I was ready to depart just after 9.30 and was surprise to find it had commenced to spit rain coming down heavy the last few yards before reaching the Lift. Dud not have to wait too long for the delayed train to  St Pancras  an on arrival decided to go straight to the platform for the 11.30 to Edinburgh where I was able to get a table for four to myself for the fast journey nonstop to York and then only Darlington before Newcastle.

The variable nature of Virgin catering for 1^st class was again in evidence. The hot food came before the sandwich packs I enjoyed a lamb couscous more filling than expected with later a chocolate and hazelnut muffin and crisps but there was no return of the snack trolled and coffee only once. However, there were four visits for cold drinks. I ordered three whiskies with ginger ale on the rocks, saving the whisky for home return and  one red wine which to the University Kings Building  built within the past couple of years opposite  Haymarket station and which covers student registrations, accommodation,  careers advice. Alumni and help and care during attendance. This is a  large several level building which demonstrates the needs  to cover these issues with a student population of 24000. Obtained a copy of the university site map but also relevant was a walking tour of the main buildings and their function.

On the way to the comparatively new City Library which is alongside the Laing art gallery I enjoyed three lots of  buskers playing and  students  playing table tennis in the pedestrianised thoroughfare. I made one stop to check on the availability of a linen jacket but my visit to City Library was more successful find a copy of the pocket guide and also some info of interest to me. I also called in at the Grainger market for winkles which continue to rise in prise. There is a huge new development planned for Newgate which has been demolished.  550 students’ beds in courtyard form a 250 room hotel and 20000 sq. feet of shopping and leisure. On the way along Grainger Street to the street I found a second Tall and big shop but did not like the contemporary linen jackets which they had in stock.

Unsure of the level of workings on the main road into Shields I went via Hebburn and Jarrow only to find that road is now blocked going in Jarrow Shields direction. So, I had to take A19 towards Bolden and come off on the main rad at the roundabout to find the new three lane system fully in operation. I called in at Lidl’s for immediate supplies only to find a £5 voucher waiting when I got in and sorted through the post.

1710 Our Way My way

When a national politician, particularly a Government Ministers talks of the need to defend our way of life they mean, my perception of the way of life we  have or ought to have and this usually means government by the ideology of the political Party they are dependent upon for their power, their religion if they have one, their wealth or lack of it, and their caste or social class. At times, the British can be the greatest of hypocrites having imposed their particular way on large sections of the globe often at the point of a gun and cannon and which at times was used against defenceless men, women and children, and yet as Sir Patrick Stewart reminds in a Youth Tube video to attack the European Convention on Human Rights is absurd in that we imposed a whole raft of our good values on Germany and the rest of Europe at the end of World War II and which one suspects is why when we first attempted to join the European Community, the French President who we had sheltered and then spilt our blood to free his land from Nazi tyranny, he said Non.

For the greater part of the last decade I have been attempting to relive the years from my birth to the age of 65, researching ancestry and reporting on the experienced of continued living from the perspective of the failures of experience. In truth, I never anticipated living to sixty-five let alone to my present age of 78 but having reached what is inevitably the last chapter I hope it will be a long one.

For the past month, my priority has been collating as much information as possible over the murder of a friend in Dean Street Soho one October evening in 1963. On Sunday May 21^st, I visited the street where her death occurred and photographed the places she was said to have frequented, later through Google looking at images for the period of the 1950’s and 1960’s, and then going through the Inquest papers and my statement to the police at the time, I needed to visit again before referring concerns to the appropriate authorities over why the crime has remained unsolved. One of the places visited had been Carlisle Street which runs from Soho Square and dissects Dean Street and where for a few sessions in 1961 I had cleared tables in the basement of number 7, then the Partisan Coffee House where on the first and upper floor was the New Left Review and New Left Books Publishing house, with the notable book Out of Apathy. Number 7 is now known for being next door to Private Eye at number 6.

Late on Friday 26^th while researching Google for information on the places my friend had frequented I discovered that over the past month the Four Corners Learning, Production and Exhibition Centre for Film and Photography at 121 Bethnal Green E2OQN had an exhibition of photographs and material concerning the Coffee House from its inception in 1958 which coincided  with the formation of the C.N.D, the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War and the Committee 100, all of which I became actively involved and about which I am researching to write about for  potential commercial publication in order to try and raise funds for some good causes. The exhibition ended the following evening so I checked the available cost of travelling by train with rail card and on impulse despite the forecast of a very hot day booked a seat in the quiet coach of the 7.25 from Newcastle and with a 7pm return. I had hoped to travel free as earlier in the week I had received a telephone call from Virgin trains to say I was one of the 24 people who had each won 110000 nectar points in a raffle worth £550. But the amount was not credited until a few days later and for the time being one cannot in any event spend the points on buying Virgin train tickets. 

I am using at Sainsbury’s so the cash freed can be used for more train travel should the need arise. With rail card the cost was £123.05 plus parking at the station at the special weekend rate of £8. This compared favourably with regular day trips to the capital in the 1980’s when I became a member of a Home Office Advisory Committee and the first Committee where all the separate local authority association in Britain. Then, it was cheaper for the local authority to purchase a first class return which included cooked breakfast in the dining car and an evening meal on return, with parking at the station than meet the cost of overnight stay in a central London Hotel. Now it is possible also get food free with the standard first class ticket, and mid-week this will include a cooked English Breakfast with one or two rounds of toast and later some fruit, crisps a muffin and even a round of drinks, with on return a hot cooked dish, a round of drinks and with several more rounds offered for those not travelling home from the destination station by car. In this instance, I was in for a major disappointment as there is only a partial service on Saturdays and Sundays with nothing hot and no alcohol, and with limits on the what is available such as only two items, I chose a pain au chocolate and banana for the breakfast, although followed by three cups of cup at intervals. There was also no newspaper in the first-class lounge at Newcastle which has also stopped providing biscuits.  In the evening having arrived at Kings Cross with a couple of hours to spare the newspaper was the China Daily which I wondered if this was the shape of things to come when we lose our European Citizenship and perhaps de facto Chinese is offered.

The following morning I had woken just before the set alarm at 6 am and was on my way  to the station at 6.30 able to take the direct route out of South Shields which is closed overnight between 8pm and 6am for road work improvements and for once all the traffic lights were green on the way into the station so that I had parked and was making  my way over the ramp bridge to the 1^st Class lounge on platform 3  by just after  7am. It was only then looking at the notice board I realised that the 7.25 was leaving from platform 2 and was already in. There was time for a quick cup of coffee before crossing back and boarding the train.  I had booked a single forward-facing seat in the quiet coach but on arrival noted that there were three sets of four seats with table available and selected the one away from the coach entrances.

Because I intended to do some walking on what promised to be the hottest day of the year I did not bring a portable computer having decided to take the opportunity of the journey to commence to read Sir David’s Ormand Securing the State. David as he prefers to be known had an important professional career in various major departments of state concerned with security and defence including the Cabinet Office, the Home Office and the Department of Defence. I have recently read many major works on the role of security intelligence in countries with democratic forms of government since World War II, including the Oxford Handbook on Security Intelligence and Ormand’s book provides the thinking framework for what is and should be done, especially on the balance in achieving security in an open society. The train journey also provided the opportunity to think and make month on an investigation which has been given priority over the past month and which would form my first activity on arrival in London. One of the issues noted from recent reading is that although MI5 and former spies such as David Cornwall  better known as John Le Carre are open about the infiltration of the Labour and Communist parties, Trade Unions, Universities and other left of centre groups and clubs, there is  surprising coyness about the successful penetration of the peace movements 1959 to 1964 and when one task was to provide intelligence to disrupt our activities and to use assets in the media to turn the public against and ways to blackmail or turn activists to work against the cause  they had supported.

Before setting off I read through entries attached to the Facebook page about the exhibition and read the Guardian article and which comprehensively  covered the photos and the  role of the Coffee House and where one evening when clearing tables I had noted the Committee 100 organiser and  personal secretary to Bertrand Russell enter and encourage everyone to the sign the required 3000 pledges for the proposed mass sit down outside the Ministry of Defence advising  that by signing they did not need to participate but the pledges were necessary to ensure the protest went ahead.

The train was on time and it was so good not to have the burden of the large case which includes the breathing machine and with which I made the same journey the previous Friday. On the Sunday morning 21st^t May I had taken the train from East Croydon to Victoria, arriving too late for a sausage and egg muffin with coffee breakfast at Mac D’s in the food court so had taken the Victoria Line to Oxford Circus to revisit streets and buildings in the Soho district of central London that I first known since leaving school at sixteen in 1955 and working in the motor licencing section of the finance department of Middlesex County Council which was located at a seven story office bock at 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, close to the Thames Embankment. Now the building is part of the Penguin Random House close to the MI6 building on the other side of the Bridge. Another recruit to the local government service introduced me to Jazz clubs in Soho and pints of mild and brown in surrounding pubs and salt meat sandwiches in a place opposite the Windmill Theatre during the intervals between sets. From 1957 when I had moved to work in the Finance Department of Croydon County Borough my visits had become less frequent and between early 1960 and the autumn of 1961 when I went to Ruskin College the visits reduced further relying on family financial support and generosity of friends. From the 1970’s my visits to Soho itself became less occasionally for meals prior to a nearby theatre or walk through when going for books along the Tottenham Court Road, and noteworthy I do remember a walk through Golden Square when staying at hotel off Piccadilly Circus.

On Saturday, the 27^th I had intended to go back to Oxford Circus to re do the same route this time with images of the district from the 1950’s and 1960’s fresh in mind that I had found on Google and other information the fruits of further research over the previous days. However, I decided to take the bus from opposite the National Library which became snarled up for what seemed like ages over the short distance before reaching Tottenham Court Road, so alighted and decided to approach the itinerary from Soho Square and Carlisle Street where there is no marker for the former Partisan Coffee House.  I needed to confirm that the establishment on a police street map with locations of places visited frequented by former friend murdered in 1963, also a Coffee bar was on the other side of Dean Street. The list of places is written in fading blue Ink so the name of the coffee bar is unclear but from the mark on the map the venue could have been number 17 which is now the Tucan which is renowned for its Guiness Irish Stew and Soda bread and next to the Jazz at the Pizza Express next door at the corner with Dean Street. Having solved this issue and then completing my revisit of locations from the previous weekend including Golden Square and the site of an infamous club in Carnaby Street I went onto to Oxford Circus and the Victoria Line to Kings Cross when the Circle line was taken to Bethnal Green. I have visited Bethnal Green before but then as now could not remember the circumstances. The Four Corners centre is a little walk along Roman Road from Underground with the gardens to one side. Passing the Fire station and various stores, cafes and pubs on what was not as warm a morning as anticipated because of a sharp wind and changing sky

If I have come across the Four corners film centre in the past memory has also failed. The project was funded by Channel Four in the 1980’s having been established in 1974 by four young film makers to both make and show films in what became a small raked theatre.  When the funding ended with the help of BAFTA and Turner prize nominees the centre trained unemployed people for the film industry.  In 2003 grants from various bodies such as the Arts Council. London Development and the EEC Regional Development Fund and the local authority of Tower Hamlets enabled a move to the present location at 121 and which included a £1 million building improvement.

The Facebook exhibition page had reminded of an event during my two years at Ruskin College, which although not a University college had an arrangement which enabled participation in the university clubs and societies, the Oxford Union and which in my instance also enabled a transfer at the end of the first year to the University Department of Extra Mural Studies for tuition in the University Diploma of Public and Social Administration. I had been asked by fellow students to represent the college on a Labour Club committee set up to oppose our original proposal to join the Economic Community because doing so was regarded as joining small elite group of European states promoting their own economics at the expense of all others. The group has commenced its first meeting when one of the leading young socialists and Union speakers of the day Lydia Howard arrived, said what was needed to be done and left to complete the essay assignment on which she had been engaged. I believe this was our only meeting because soon after the French president, General de Gaulle vetoed our application and at least one headline in a Daily Paper was Non. I do not recall seeing anything subsequently about Ms Howard until there she was photographed some fifty years late at the exhibition.

Moreover, at the exhibition were photographs of the posters for two series of meetings held at the Coffee Lounge for teenagers at school and one separately for University students.  The mother of Ms Howard was listed as giving one of the talks.  So too was the scientist Ritchie Calder where two meetings of the Youth CND group with which I was associated was held at his home as two of his sons both dead attended meetings.  Also of interest is what is still known as the French House in Dean Street a short distance from the infamous Colony Room at 41 where one of the witnesses could describe the attacker had looked out of a third-floor window on hearing the scream; The French House at 49 then as now a public house is where General De Gaulle is said to have written one of his great rallying speeches to the French people. Other notable regulars over the year have been Dylan Thomas who left the manuscript of Under Milk Wood under a chair, Brendan Behan who wrote portions of his play the Quare Fellow and the playwright John Mortimer.

I checked out the book of comments and was disappointed to find no one I knew and which at one level is not surprising given that I was also one of the young(erg) people who visited the Coffee Lounge. The aspect which caught my eye was a note on the wall alongside one of the photographs of people playing chess in the ground floor area. This made the point that is was assumed that among those involved would be members of the police and security services. However, in addition to special branch and MI5 were would have been those under cover from the Soviets on the lookout for additional assets and from the CIA. I for one have speculated if Russell’s secretary and Committee 100 organiser, said to have been a USA student had a dual role for the CIA. I was not surprised when he reappeared in an interview during the so called Arab Spring and the revolution by the Egyptian people which alerted the world leaders to the potential power of the Internet Social media.

In 1961, I had resigned from the Committee 100 because of a series of situations when I queried the role of its organiser. I had written of my concerns to Russell and received a letter from his wife saying her husband had been upset by my comments and that she he had full confidence in his secretary. I sent her letter to Christopher Driver, the author of the Disarmers. Several years later Lord Russell wrote his Private Memorandum denouncing the individual explaining how he had been taken in, without mentioning the warning that I had given. The twelve-page apologia is published in full as an Appendix in Ronald W Clark’s biography The Life of Bertrand Russell.

I will confess that it is sometimes difficult to confront what I wrote during what was a dramatic period of transition for me from Local government clerk, to a British Olivetti office machine salesman, to working in the Houseman’s Peace News bookshop, choosing to go to Ruskin College rather than become the London region CND paid organiser. Deciding that I did want to work in child care having had  to agree to study social work and undertake practical work placements in order to study Criminology and Psychology on the Public and Social Administration Course, and then with the help of the Home Office gain a place and Home Office funding to attend a child care qualification course at the University of Birmingham where  soon after my arrival the news of the murder of my friend was relayed from family members after the police had called at the home.

It is also important when considering the behaviour of young people in the early sixties is to understand the  sense of freedom from the past juxtaposition with the sense of   impending world catastrophe from fear of an atomic and then nuclear holocaust  It is only on reading the inquest papers that I have become concerned at the implication of the police statement that she contributed to her demise because of the places she frequented, the people with whom she associated and her approach to relationships, yet  during the five years since leaving school she had remained a civil servant with access to confidential and classified information

One of the extraordinary aspects of her death is the number of witnesses including one who gave a detailed account of what he heard and saw where there were about twenty people in the immediate vicinity with about 70 totals with her when the police arrived within minutes. One of the things I wanted to do on the Saturday was to walk from Dean Street, into Meard Street, where the attacker was said to have been followed then crossing Wardour Street into Brewer Street passing the then Lex garage where the man was lost in the crowd going into Great Windmill Street towards Shaftesbury Avenue.  On the previous Sunday, I had first visited an address in Carnaby Street, then to Golden Square where it was believed the Murder weapon may have been found early the following morning and then headed for Great Compton Street where four of the places listed as frequented were located. What struck me on the Saturday morning is that given the location of the attack it was surprising the assailant did not retreat into Bateman Street where he was seen to have come and had gone into Meard Street rather than the nearby alleyway which would have taken him direct into Brewer Street. Had he wanted to reach Shaftesbury Avenue he would have continued along Dean Street. This suggest to me that he had lain low for a while perhaps he had a room locally.

The other concern is that it was someone on the third floor of 41, the Notorious home of Colony Room who was quoted by the police at the Inquest. Perhaps no one else heard the cry and looked out too engrossed in alcohol consumption and the other alleged goings on. In establishment which at the time was used by artists, politicians, writers and musicians, with many of clientele Gays during the period when homosexual and lesbian sex was illegal.  Among those known to have frequented the out of licencing hours drinking and social club were Francis Bacon, Peter O Toole and Lucian Freud. George Melly described the owner as a benevolent witch. Molly Parkin described the room as a character building glorious hell hole and that everyone left their careers outside before climbing the stairs and plunging into questionable behaviour.  Others who said to be members included Dylan Thomas. Jeffrey Bernard. Tom Driberg, E M Forster. Christopher Hitchins. Trevor Howard, Charles Laughton, Frank Norman, Will Self, Suggs, Tracy Emin, Sarah Lucas, and Damien Hirst. There are dozens of photos available on Google Images.

Almost immediately opposite the crime scene at the Corner Dean Street with Meard Street was the more fashionable Gargoyle Cub with its ballroom and drawing room as well as restaurant and bar. The clientele ranged from Fred Astaire and Noel Coward to Graham Greene, the traitors Donald Maclean and Guy Burgess and included Dylan Thomas, Augustus John and Francis Bacon. Today the premises and has been converted in to the impressive Dean Street Town House and Hotel with a row of tables behind railings which were fully occupied by those enjoying a later breakfast on a Sunday morning. The Town House occupies buildings 69 and 70 Dean Street.

At the North corner of Batement Street was as it is today a Public House next to which is still London’s most internationally known strip club and next to this the famous restaurant which at the time was Leoni’s Quo Vadis where I was taken to dine after giving a talk to the Albany Society on prison reform chaired by Hugh Klare. At the other corner of Batement street was a restaurant. To-day close if not immediately behind the crime scene is a walk in sexual health clinic.

The one establishment in the district which I am surprised she is said to have frequented is that in Carnaby Street with an extraordinary history of drugs, crime, and racism including a white only policy in one period. and two if not three unnatural deaths associated in his history from 1936.   In fairness, the premises were used by different managements for different purpose and it is unlikely that those visiting, especially if they were taken by a partner, would be aware of what had gone on before. I have been able to establish that it was only opened as the Roaring Twenties Jazz Club in 1962 for Jewish young people by Jewish owners and where there was a Whites only policy at the door.  However, it is said that an Afro Caribbean was hire as DJ and bouncer who commenced to let his friends in so that quickly the clientele changed. One source claimed that the police checks for drug use were perfunctory while another claimed that dozens of black’s kids went to jail after raids. Among the groups said to have played there in the early sixties were the Animals, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles.

In 1946 as the Blue Lagoon Club, perhaps named after the original film of the same name, an exotic dancer was shot outside and where claims she had been assaulted in side were reported to the Inquest as false. Another young woman was found gassed the morning after attending a birthday party at the club and I have seen anther report of an unnatural, unconfirmed. In 1950 its life as a Bebop Jazz Club 11 was short-lived closed by the drugs squad within six months. As the Sunset club frequented by USA servicemen jazz was played until 7 am.  It was also in the 1950’s that serial Killer John Christie was hung and where the doorman at the club, an ex-boxer was his landlord at 10 Rillington Place.

With more time to spare than anticipated I decided to take the opportunity to explore the new developments at Kings Cross. I may have only been once to the station before going to the Underground station there in 1959, and before the direct route from Victoria was created and the journey involved a change at Embankment for the Northern Line, before making the short walk to 5 Caledonian Road to work at Houseman’s bookshop Peace News. I have no recollection of exploring the area between Kings Cross and St Pancras up to the Camden Lock.

There are now two developed areas on both side of the Regent Canal. The first consists of a large area between the two stations office block towers including one for Google with restaurants and bars at ground level. The major surprise was on crossing the bridge over the canal and discovering huge space with low level water spouts which in the day of my visit had become a playground for hundreds of young children watched over by their parents. From here at one side there is park land which is being used for the great part for a beer festival. There is also a mixture of preserved former railway buildings and new apartment housing, plus a huge Waitrose, an indoor shopping centre being developed and a large arts display area. There are countless restaurants and bars packed with those enjoying eating out. The Camden Lock market is but one of half a dozen in the area providing street, organic and artisan foods, arts and crafts and fresh fruit and veg. There is also a 32-armchair seat film theatre with food and drink able to be enjoyed alongside each seat part of the Everman chain and premium prices with unlimited membership at £600 a year compared to the £210 at Cineworld to which needs to be added the additional part expenditure for event cinema, bringing the total expenditure to around £300.

To understand the changing nature of London it is necessary to explore the similar high-rise development across from Victoria Station where the previous weekend I visited the one of the new entrances to the Underground in Victoria Street with lifts and escalators. I was making my way for a meeting at St James Park Station where in my judgement is easier to walk than take the underground. I became familiar with the station when attending meetings of an Advisory Committee at the Home Office across the road and to one side of the Park. It is now the heavily fortified Department of Justice. I swapped the train for bring the car for an overnight at the family home and car park space at the Home Office until finding out the impossibility of getting into central London for the meeting time. Then I had shown by letter at the gate and followed someone else into the building before questioning if I should be there unaccompanied given the security markings on the various office doors and retreated and out to the front of the building and the main reception where an escort was required to where the meeting was being held.

I am reminded of what happened when a couple of years back I returned to the House of parliament for the first time in several decades having booked tickets for relatives to take the tour and have afternoon tea overlooking the Thames. In the days when I was the Parliamentary Officer for the Association of Child Care Officers one simply advised whoever was the main door of where one wan going or had arranged to see and was nodded through, and this included a subsequent visit in the 1980’s when as a Director of Social Services, I had arranged to meet the Labour Party Deputy Chief Whip to attend a debate on the Butler Sloss report on the Cleveland Scandal. I had sat where the Peers can sit if wish to listen in on debates and this enabled the Deputy Chief Whip to sit within the House just in front and comment on the contributions. Margaret Thatcher say in for the opening speeches after the earlier P.M. Q’s and noticing my presence checked with her PPS who went over to the civil servants to find out if I was the then Director of Social Services for Cleveland, and who in fact I had known from before his appointment when he worked direct to me as the area children’s officer for Rotherham in the West Riding County Council Children’s Department.

According to ticket information for the Tour and Tea there appeared to be a separate entrance to the heavily fortified main public entrance which I could not find and therefore w steps a foot or so through a gate to ask a policeman for guidance who was standing at the side of the Houses. I was sharply ordered to get back and pointed to the main entrance where I had to take off my braces and pout everything metal in a tray before going through body scanner. On one hand the sense that the Houses of Parliament reflect the equality of all in a democratic state, albeit a representative form of democracy has significantly changed because of the terrorist threats. We have lost and they have won in this respect. That more recently a terrorist did enter the precincts and kill an unarmed policeman explains the need for the measures being taken and if I had stepped over the line as I did two years ago, the shoot to kill approach may have meant this would never have been written

Two weeks ago, my attention was also directed to another huge development of office, retail, apartment, restaurant and bars at the site of the former Metropolitan Police headquarters by the entrance to the St James park station. I am also familiar with the established developments at Canary Wharf the West India Dock and the former Millennium Dome. and at Stratford where a family member lived for a time and we would go to the Cineworld at West India Quay and where there is also a Cineworld at the O2 centre and arena. I have only had a little explore around London Bridge Station   and on the same weekend noted the proposed development at Waterloo station arising from the new bus route from Victoria on my way to the National Theatre. The Train from East Croydon passes the development around the former Battersea Power station. These and no doubt there are other developments of a similar nature throughout the capital with West and East Croydon a very good example explains how the city is changing for a new generation for educated and trained new Europeans and workers of the world which explains the reality of the Brexit decision. The contrast between the lives of the 21^st century Londoner is fundamental and extremely different from my life as preschool child growing up in an area where more V1 and V 2 rockets fell than anywhere in the capital and there is even a more extreme difference between the lives of the young Londoner in work today and those of the common people in Africa, the Middle and far East, Middle and South America, together with parts of Eastern Europe. In Britain, there is still an outside possibility of fundamental change from Thursday. In any event the genie is out of the bottle and there are many who will work to ensure it is not put back.

Life will go on without fear

Life will go on without fear.

There were times over the first weekend of June 2017 when I could not give an affirmative answer to this question, and despite experiencing through television the wonderful Love Manchester concert last night I went to sleep concerned that my children and their children will not have the length of life I have so far experienced or if will free from the poverty and fear, or the ignorance or evil behaviour of others.

The concert was exceptional and will remain memorable and from the many young faces, predominantly female, of joy mixed with awe at the concert it will have influenced many lives in a positive way.

This contrasted to the evidently organised group of white male men planted with the help of the BBC Election Question Time editorial team on Friday to chastise Jeremy Corbyn over his unwillingness to exterminate millions of civilian men women and children in North Korea. The worst example of the kind of disingenuous politics of spin which Dimbleby’s programme promotes was the ex-public school white male said to have been round the world before going to university and who complaining about the plan to abolish the tyranny of the zero hours contracts imposed by the God of the profiteers and exploiters of the wish of poor people to give better lives to their children. The intent of many of these white men is as evil and dangerous as those who commit individual murders or orchestrated acts of terrorism in that they are insensitive of the suffering, harm and life changing impact on their victims and victim’s families. I accept it is not the fault of the BBC that under the rules of their charter and the nature of our general and other election policy it is open for fascists, racist, fanatics and dangerously mental and emotionally disturbed to be given voice, however one expects editorial staff and experienced interviewers to exercise greater responsibility than was shown.

I had a good Saturday having completed two priority projects on which I had been focussed over the past month. I walked from home to the Greengrocers in the town centre under the entrance to Metro station for cherries although the purchase was a disappointing mixture with only a few sweet. The Britain’s got Talent final was another disappointing mixture of talent from the ordinary to the exceptional with the public under the panel direction rejecting half a dozen superior acts. However, all’s well that ends well as the winner is an interesting compelling piano player bringing classical music to a younger todays audience reminding of the success of Nigel Kennedy in times past. I predict this young man will feature in the best of concert halls worldwide as well as Glastonbury. Later, Saturday, I watched what has been a year-round excellent series of drama serials but Cardinal which opened this weekend neither engaged or offered different slant or new experience. I will not bother with the rest. I switched over to the news before bedtime to see if there was any new Opinion Polls on Jeremy Corbyn over May to witness the aftermath of the horrendous events close to London Bridge and in the neighbouring streets until the assassins were terminated and the inquisitions commenced.

The following morning as I anticipated there was talk of postponing the election presumably coming from Tory HQ sources given the slide in the polls against them. Mrs May tried to pretend her significant fall in personal political reputation was yesterday’s news and put on her Presidential I am safe and stable leadership role forgetting she had caved in to Treasury demands to cut the number of frontline police which subsequently all the other political parties were able to exploit. However, the polls still show a likely Tory win with an increased majority. It will be important that Labour voters in Lib Dem in seats they cannot hope to wino do several Richmonds in the South West and along the South coast.  It was difficult to judge if both Leaders believe the results will leave the Prime Minister with an increased majority or this was a tactic to persuade votes to vote for them and not for Jeremy Corbyn. Meanwhile in Gateshead in the rain another huge crowd assembled to cheer on Jeremy.

There was a hint of rain on Sunday afternoon when I decided I need to walk off a good lunch and undertake my first long walk along the sea front of the season so walked quickly along the North Marine Park towards my destination where I knew there would be cover. Crossing over Ocean Road into South Marine Park I took the route close to entrances crossing the little railway which now charges £1.0 for a couple of circuits around large water area where there are now mostly ducks with only a few Swans evident from the fifty plus of previous years.   A new development is a powerful scale model boat crossing back and forth managed by a couple of elderly enthusiasts on either side. The presence of some stakes with coloured tops at this side of the water suggests this is now a regular feature.

I crossed the road on exit to the sea front and along the vehicle free promenade with sand dunes before the long sandy beach into the North Sea with on my right the Sundial restaurant which offers a curry deal with drink for £5 and poster saying This Week Golden week 2 courses for £4.45 and a check on return reveals this is regular offer together with two mains for £8 and various other bargains on each day of the week. Although it was mid-afternoon a look through the windows as I passed suggested few vacant tables if any.

At the other end of both my walk and the restaurant food scale is the new Coleman’s seafood restaurant which is a clever and attractive conversion of the Temple rotund (and former public toilets) next to Sand Dancer by the former Gypsy Green stadium which now once a year houses the charity support tents at the end of the Green North Run. Coleman is the award-winning fish and chip restaurant among some twenty mainly Asian restaurants on one side of Ocean Road which won the national award a decade ago and where the former South Shields’ Member of Parliament, David Miliband brought Tony Blair and Cabinet for a meal. The new seafood restaurant is even more ambitious so there are no prices outside or at the entrance where there is a small lift which can take a wheelchair or use the steep stairs.  From below one feature is that the tables appear well spaced each with a view over the shoreline. A bottle of wine begins at £16 and rises to £67. Lindisfarne oysters are £2 each and smoked salmon dish £12. Traditional Fish and Chips around £10 so with a pub and coffee, a glass of bottle of beer or soft drink £20 a head for two courses will be average, although with Lobster or stead this will be doubled.

On Saturday morning on my way for the cherries I had also taken the road by North Marine Park which was said to have a couple of million Lottery fund money for a major refurbishment back to its original Victoria splendour although there are no signs of the work yet and which hopefully will not commence until the autumn. The reason for taking the route to the town centre was to peek at the latest eat as much as you can restaurant attempt in the town. The first was commenced on the top floor of a large supplier of Asian foods in the district non-way out to the Newcastle Road and to Jarrow and Hebburn. The roof caught fire in a lightning strike and the building was badly damaged and has taken some time for repair with no sign of the restaurant reopening.  There was also an attempt to make a similar enterprise work at the town centre end of Ocean Road Close to Museum and Art Gallery and Kirkpatrick’s with its unique and impressive façade which also does a pie meal and a pint for under a fiver. The focus on Saturday morning was Adriana’s a small new fixed price eat what you will next to the Subway which I had spotted festooned with balloons as it opened on my way home on Friday evening from going to see the first big screen Marvel Comics Wonder Woman film which was very interesting as enjoyable because of its moments of realism about the horrors of war and the evil which some are capable of. I had book in advance my favourite seat to the right of one aisle at the front of the staired seating with a railing in front. However, a family of three arrived during the advertisements branding a mobile phone and insisting that he had been allocated the first three seats and not those alongside. I decided not to argue took the seat behind and showed him the printed ticket and email printing which proved the right seat location. His wife gave him a long look and she and their child remained silent and I suspect embarrassed by his behaviour. I decided not to make more of the situation then or at the end of the film when the family made a quick exit. There was a time when I would have reacted because of the unfairness. The man came across as the kind of individual who would take out his frustration on wife and child and I feared for them more than for me.

Next to the new Coleman’s on the sea front is the Sand Dancer which I used to visit for an early evening meal on a regular basis usually in time to see the overnight ferry to Amsterdam leave the mouth of the Tyne. The venue is much as it was inside although is now aimed as a haunt for young people with live music on a regular basis. A party of Geordie Shore young women arrived for a Sunday afternoon drink no doubt to review their weekend adventuring. I did note that one can pop down in the mornings from 9am to 12 for a cooked English breakfast £5 plus drinks. It also looks as if Minchella is getting a  an additional fixed site in the carpark close to the two restaurants which  is also not from their previously expanded ice cream parlour and tea room which is much loved by bikers from throughout the North East and close  to the covered walkway, fountains and amphitheatre which was the scene for the first of the Sunday afternoon band concerts from 2 to.4 with the first featuring the former Westoe colliery band some 20 strong and featuring the families of former miners as well as a few of the remaining former pitmen.

When I first arrived to work in South Shields in 1974 nearly a thousand men a shift travelled ten to twenty miles under the north to hew coal and with many accommodated in local authority housing on the Whiteleas and Biddick Hall estates. One of my early functions to visit the Westoe Club for a Sunday drink with over 500 plus men on the two floors of club supping pints with quiet crack and most looking at the sports pages of the News of the World, the People or the Sunday Mirror until just before 2am the Bingo game was played and one individual could put a month’s wages before his missus when. On arrival, I was taken to meet the club committee and the Chairman said to his former colleagues, you contact Colin if you have a problem, and they did although after a while the point was taken that with over 200- staff it was better idea to contact the heads of the six fieldwork teams or the 24/7 duty service but every single came to my desk when it was made and of our response unless I determined I wanted to see what was proposed beforehand.

I found myself a seat on the wall overlooking the instrument cases and about the only seat left out of an unpleasant wind. I stayed for half an hour before deciding to stand and then walk. Next time I will take the shoulder bag seat. There are three other concerts now in June and the first of those in July with the remaining four commencing at 3.30 to 5.30. This is because there are four major free concerts in Bents park, the exhibition park across the road from South Marine and next to the mobile home park. The headliners this year are KT Tunstall, Busted and Sister Sledge with several X Factor stars on July 23^rd Louisa Johnson, Jedward and 5 After Midnight. In August, the amphitheatre concerts revert to 2 to 4 with the highlight the Bright Street Big band which plays music from the era of Swing. These concerts are also free and it is disappointing that many visitors do not make the walk to the hear them. I estimated about 120 listeners with I suspects a quarter to a half were friends and relatives of the performers as they had intermingled during the interval.

There are seven free concerts at the Victoria bandstand in South Marine Park on Saturday afternoon 2 to 4 commencing in mid-July and one evening concert on July 2^nd Proms in Park 7-9.  Between 2 and 4 every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon in August there are entertainment programmes for young children at the Amphitheatre. In addition, there is live music for the teenage audience Thursdays and Saturdays throughout June, eight concerts in total.

On the walk, back I noted that there is now no menu posted outside the Rattler a converted railway carriage with extensions and used to feature Italian emphasis meals. Dogs are admitted to the bar area from 12 to 4. On either side of the Ratler with entrances on the pedestrianised promenade the two pairs of six Sandhaven Chalets which include a kitchen, dining table, lounge TV and WIFI and onsite free parking, sleeping from three to five with prices ranging from 2 nights for £150 low season to £560 for seven nights in the High. Given our indifferent summers and unpredictable weather the development for all weather facilities for children makes the accommodation all round attractive for families with their two bedrooms. In addition to the large area of indoor and outdoor traditional fairground amusements, there is ten pin bowling and pool tables and a soft play and indoor adventure facility with a safe climbing area and now there is the large traditional laned swimming pool with separate large leisure pools plus learning pool with fitness, sauna and jacuzzi. Between these developments is the Sea Hotel which I noted now offers the tradition afternoon tea of sandwiches and cakes for £10 a head, Fish and chips meals as well as   the Sunday lunch. There is another pub restaurant within one   of the indoor complexes, three other fish and chip restaurants as well as two sea front kiosks. There is also provision for meals and snack at the indoor swimming and fitness centre. A new development in a purpose built large marquee/chalet style unit is an outlet selling a wide range of ice creams which had attracted a long queue on my visit. The small Westhovian Theatre before entering North Marine park is hosting Mr Corvan’s Musical Hall a play about one of the original North East musical hall artists with the world premier recently in Durham and which I will be experiencing on Friday at the Sage. I then made may way up the hill through the park to a change of shirt and a cup of tea followed by a news catch up as the opposition Parties led by Labour reminded voters that Mrs May had yielded to Osbourne pressure to cut police numbers by some 20000.