Clapton Pond Blog

Mother Goose At The Empire

As usual, it's worth taking a quick look at the national newspaper reviews of the Empire's pantomime. It seems there's always one that has to take a passing snipe at the borough, and this year it's - surprise! - the Daily Telegraph. Its reviewer Dominic Cavendish - wonder which inner city comp he went to - opened his column with a political speech in which he blamed Gordon Brown for all the country's economic woes before attributing the absence of credit crunch jokes at the PM's expense in Mother Goose to Hackney being "right on." Nitwit. 

In keeping with the same tradition he then proceeded to be quite positive about the show. It seems that critics from the posh Tory press cannot allow themselves to enjoy these prime local productions without first covering themselves against possible charges of succumbing to "political correctness" or "multiculturalism" or whatever fairy tale about the end of civilisation that constituency is scaring itself with at present.

More fool them. I saw mother Goose on Boxing Day with my 86 year-old mother, my wife and our younger kids and a bunch of other relatives and it was, as always, terrific. Clive Rowe is a true giant among dames and the rest of the case was brilliant too. In fact, there was an anti-government joke - about the disappearance of post offices - but the defining character of Hackney Empire pantos is that they capture something of the flavour of Hackney: the look of it, its energy, its forms of speech as well as well as making comic local references. It is this that the snipers feel oblige to take exception to. Shame on Suzie McKenna - director, writer and wicked witch performer - for being inspired by the community the Empire serves! 

Mother Goose runs until Saturday 10th January. If you haven't already booked tickets, do it now.              

  

Hackney Homes Awards

I've decided to believe in the essential goodness of humankind. No I haven't been drinking, unless you count the glass of wine I sipped at the 2008 Hackney Homes Active Resident Awards dinner on Wednesday night. It was there that my faith in the species was restored. You know Hackney Homes: it's the "arms length management company" that manages and maintains the borough's council housing. Not everyone approves of ALMOs and, along with some real strengths, the Audit Commission found room for improvement in ours when it inspected it last year. But it seems to be on an upward curve - the expectation is that its rating will soon increase from one star out of three to two - and if the commitment and goodwill on display in the Town Hall Assembly Hall was anything to go by, the prospects for Hackney Homes and those it serves are good.

There were three categories of award: Young Resident, Resident Group and Resident. The first two were won by Ben Woodley and Jammie Dickens from Hawksley Court estate in Stoke Newington and the third by husband and wife team Jill and Vince Murrain from the Kings Crescent Estate near Finsbury Park. Runners-up in each category stepped up for prizes too, with the exception of elderly Claptonian Ron Devoti who has become very poorly recently. Though present, he was unable to step up to the podium. So after paying him a special tribute, Hackney Homes chair Rupert Tyson went down to Ron's table and embraced him, to a standing ovation from the other guests. Sneery journo I may be, but this was a very moving moment in an altogether stirring evening.

Other highlights were a farewell speech by now former Councillor Jamie Carswell, who's off to Tower Hamlets (and will, I was assured, be greatly missed) and a very funny one by youth worker and former boxer James Cook who, you may recall, recently received an MBE for his work in the Pedro Youth Centre. I met and spoke to some very good and generous people. Trudging home at around 10.00, I had the usual encounters with "saved" street evangelists and beggars and, slightly surreally, a couple of blokes in reflective jackets up to their necks in a hole in the pavement next to St John's churchyard: small reminders that this can be a sad and discomfiting place to live. But the earlier part of the evening had been a warm reminder that, at it's best, it is truly beautiful.

Mayor Pipe Approved Iain Sinclair Library "Ban"

From the Hackney Citizen:

Those who suspected that Iain Sinclair's views on the Olympics might have been at the back of Mayor Jules Pipe's mind when Hackney Council un-invited the renowned author from one of its libraries can enjoy the warm feeling of vindication today. The Hackney Citizen can exclusively reveal that Sinclair's invitation was withdrawn after the Mayor said he was uncomfortable with the author speaking in council-owned premises.

It certainly can. And Mr Locker has expressed a view. 

Hackney Podcast: Iain Sinclair

Fran Panetta's latest fine effort is devoted entirely to an interview with the Hackney author, who talks about his next book, the Olympics and, of course, the Council. Enjoy. 

Hackney Buswall

You can't have too many London buses, except occasionally.

A Sensitive Bailiff

Did you notice the police checkpoint at the Palm 2 corner of the Pond last week? It was there just before EDF began digging up the road. Well, they were doing insurance spot checks. Later the same day, as I walked round to fetch the kids from school I saw a vehicle being hoisted on to a pick-up truck. I took a quick snapshot and was continuing on my way when a man called out to me to stop. It was the driver of the truck and he wasn't very happy. "I don't like people photographing me when I'm working," he said, slightly unpleasantly. I asked him why, although I already had an idea. "Because sometimes photographs of me working have ended up in places I'd rather they hadn't," he replied. "How do you mean?" I asked, sympathetically. He thought about it and replied, "I'm a bailiff." Fair enough. I erased the photograph there and then. He thanked me then said, "You would be amazed how many people are driving without insurance. It's incredible how many they've caught." I was pleased to have obtained this information. I am not, however, all that amazed. 

  

Olympic Media Centre: Latest Good Cheer

You might have read reports of Tessa Jowell's appearance before the parliamentary culture committee, during which she confirmed that, "There is at the moment no private sector contribution on the table and that is a change since the contract was first signed." The developer Igloo has pulled out and although the builder Carillion is still involved, ODA chief executive David Higgins has said they they won't be putting in any equity. And so again the question is, how gloomy should we be? Jules Pipe, I am assured, is in continuing, constant contact with all the main powers that be: Jowell, Boris, Hazel Blears and so on. His goal remains for both parts of the media centre - the bit for the press the bit for broadcasters - to be built at Hackney Wick rather than one of them being in Stratford instead and for enough of it to be permanent to deliver the promised legacy benefit. He has produced the following statement:  

“The Council is continuing to fight for permanent buildings for our deliverable legacy vision of a ‘digital village’ that will allow for the growth of Hackney’s ever expanding creative industries. As well as a global growth sector, it is an area of interest and relevance to Hackney’s future workforce of young people. We are determined to retain this much needed employment legacy in Hackney. 

“The media centres represent the single most significant opportunity for an economic legacy forEast London from the Games. London’s bid to host the Games was won largely on promises to regenerate East London. The media centres are a critical part of transforming one of the most deprived areas in the country. The legacy cannot be allowed to fail. It would be a betrayal of the promise made to the International Olympic Committee and, more importantly, the people of Hackney and east London, if the entire Main Press Centre/International Broadcast Centre is not built at Hackney Wick as planned.”

Fighting talk. Let's hope it gets results. A contingency fund exists but, said Jowell, "I'm not conceding that either of these projects will be wholly publicly funded." Sounds like at least some private sector money has still got to come from somewhere. But where?

   

Tonight At Pages Of Hackney

Authors Sarah Wise and Ken Worpole make a joint appearance at Pages of Hackney this evening. Proprietor Eleanor writes:

Sarah's newly published and much acclaimed history, The Blackest Streets, deals with 'the Old Nichol', the former slum district of Shoreditch, which came to international notoriety through the publishing of Arthur Morrison's novel, A Child of the Jago in 1896. Ken's well known study of radical fiction, particulary in the East End, Dockers and Detectives, is back in print in a new edition. 

Both will briefly talk about how writers and social commentators have described this part of East London, with Ken concentrating on the post-war fiction of Hackney-born writer, Alexander Baron, one of whose best novels, King Dido, was inspired by Achild of the Jago. Sarah Wise is also the author of The Italian Boy, a history of body-snatching in London. Ken Worpole is the author of a number of books on landscape and social history.

It all starts at 7.00, tickets cost £3 and you get a free glass of wine. 

Wonder Of Woolworths

I'd hate it if we lost our branch of Woolworths. Hardly a weekend has gone by over the past countless years when I haven't spent at least half an hour standing patiently by while one or more of my kids browses the toy aisles, or eyes the pick 'n' mix, or makes terrible faces in the photo booth. And it's not just the nippers who would miss it. One Christmas, several years back, I was given one of those fancy, mock-chrome, mock-Fifties toasters. It blew up after a week. Needing a replacement fast, I bought a blue plastic one from Woolies for about four pence. It's still going today. As the search for a buyer continues, all stores have slashed their prices in a desperate attempt to look more profitable. It's certainly brought in the punters on Mare Street. On Saturday, queues for the two pay stations stretched halfway round the store. When eventually my son and I were served, a remarkably cheerful cashier told us that he and his colleagues were hopeful that their branch, which generally does good trade, would be saved. Please, Santa, make our Christmas wish come true.  

Live Music At Pages Of Hackney

Better late than never I hereby draw your attention to the latest evening event at Pages of Hackney. It's tonight at 7.00 and features klezmer music from Ilana Cravitz (violin) and James Siverly (accordian). There will be hot drinks and an opportunity to buy Ilana's instructional book on the art of klezmer fiddling.