Clapton Pond Blog

What will take the almshouses' place?

It's sad that the Grade II listed Bishops Wood almshouses are to be sold to developer after standing on their site next to the pond for centuries. Just how sad will ultimately depend on what is built in their place. The Hackney Citizen reported in February that any buyer would have to confrom to strict conservation rules, but the aesthetics of a new development will only be only one consideration. Another will be the affordability of the new homes. Will many, if any, be within the price range of people on average or low incomes?

Oh, I Say!

From The Standard:

"The London tennis player who will meet four-time champion Venus Williams on Wimbledon's Centre Court said today the match holds no fear for her. Anne Keothavong, who started playing in Hackney at the age of three, said it is the kind of challenge she has been working towards all her life. The 24-year-old, whose parents fled Laos in the Seventies when the Vietnam war spilled into that country, said: 'It's what you play tennis for, to play these big matches. I've got nothing to lose. I'm looking forward to it.'"

Now read on.

Lisa Rigg, Triathlete

She was already Development Officer of the Hackney Society. Now she's a fund-raising triathlete too: swimming 750 metres, cycling 20 kms, running five kms and - as I write - raising in the process £3,947 for this little girl. And it's not too late to donate.

Let's Get Restful

Reader Glyn in repose following reckless indulgence in charity walk.

Glyn & His Opera Problem

Remember loyal and distinguished Clapton Pond Blog reader Glyn? He tells me that when using his usual web browser, Opera, this blog appears in a "dark, dark brown" colour with the photos and hyperlinks visible but none of the text. When he switches to Firefox, though, it's fine. "Weird," says Glyn, "This hasn't happened on any other website I use - just yours..."
I told Glyn it's because I'm special. Not sure what anyone else's explanation is.

Have You Seen This Cat?

His name's Fluffy and he went missing on Christmas Eve. The owner lives in Redwald Road, E5, telephone number 078 151 09501. More here.

By The Way

Yes, that's me on page nine of the latest Hackney Today. And, no, I haven't looked at it yet. (Big baby, see).

Is It That Time Of Year Already?

This is a Christmas card - a really lovely one, in my opinion. It was designed by my Clapton neighbour Becky George, who makes and sells them too. Her range also includes holly, bells, stars, Santas...yer basic seasonal favorites. If you want to buy some, you can contact Becky here. If you want to receive one from me, email an address and I'll oblige (as long as I like the sound of you). And now I'm off to buy a job lot of stamps.

A Reader Writes: Felix

Felix is a frequent commenter on this blog and an impressive excavator of local history facts. He's also a reader of Diamond Geezer, Guido Fawkes and our very own blogging councillor Luke Akehurst who Felix reckons has the makings of an MP (an observation that might be interpreted in several ways). I've got loads of links and stories from Felix, which I'll make use of at later dates. For now, here's his short history of his life in our borough and an appreciation of its charms.

"My first experience of Hackney was as a Chelmsford schoolboy, travelling with friends from Broad Street to Willesden in search of trains or on Red Rover bus trips. Certainly I caught the former 178 from Clapton Pond to Maryland c.1970, a double decker which scraped under the Great Eastern main Line in Carpenters Road.

I lived in Sharon Garden, Victoria Park in 1976/7 in a room owned by a shrewd Italian who worked at Bryant and May in Bow (now the Bow Quarter) My late father gave him a social history lesson about the Match Girls's strike. Shopping then was done religiously at the tiny LCS in Well Street, or the vanished Baltic Stores in Hackney Road, which served an earlier wave of Lithuanian immigrants (a Mr Stanley Vale ran a similar Victorian-style grocers in the now Victoria Park village) owned, I think, by a Mr Juras. The shop was demolished a few years ago. Their church was and still is round the corner in the Oval, home of the Socialist Worker press.

I have lived in Clapton since the end of 2002, married here and our son was born in the borough. For nearly a year I have been a house dad, but the time has come to return to the coal face. It has been a wonderful time, allowing me to walk every street in the borough and visit every playground within three miles. Yes, they are all different. I must report that Waltham Forest has superior facilities to Hackney's.

Ups...Lots of small shops, absence of huge supermarket (how on earth did basically an out of town store get planning permission in the middle of Hackney, producing massive vehicle flows and congestion?); vibrant and diverse community; proximity to open countryside and towpaths; inceasingly well-run council; it combines the advantages of urban and rural living. (e.g. cows and wildlife and 24 hour buses/cafes/diversity etcetera).

Downs...Attractive houses being ruined by unsympathetic 'modernisation'."

More from Felix soon.

James Cook MBE, Youth Worker

Former British and European super-middleweight champion James Cook will next month receive an MBE for his work at the Pedro Club in Rushmore Road. The Sun's boxing correspondent Colin Hart reports:

"At face value it doesn’t sound as if [Cook is] doing anything special or even out of the ordinary. After all, hundreds of men are doing similar jobs at youth clubs throughout the country. But the big difference between Cook and the rest is that he is operating in an area of Hackney in East London known as ‘murder mile’. Feral teenagers armed with knives and guns roam the streets at night, shooting and stabbing each other. They don’t think twice about killing as they go about their business dealing in drugs and protecting their territory. Cook, a former British and European super-middleweight champion, lives in the middle of this urban warzone."

Urban warzone? Well, yes and no, Colin. Yes and no! Anyway, sincere congratulations to James for being awarded his gong. The rest of the Sun's story is here, and there's a really good piece about James and his work at Boxing Monthly.