Happy Hallowe'en/Samhain Greetings

As I have said before, I do love an excuse for a party/celebration. If there is a chance that I can dress up in fancy dress and act silly, all the better. So Hallowe'en/Samhain is a lovely chance for me to have fun...

Hallowe'en - or to give it its proper title All Hallow's Eve - is a Christian Festival. As with many Celtic or Pagan festivals, the early Christian Church 'adopted' an early Celtic/Gaelic festival, Samhain, which celebrated the end of harvest and also to some extent the advent of the darker, winter months.

[Samhain has been 'readopted' and 'rejuvenated' by other pagan and wiccan movements in this century and these can also be read about on the above Samhain link]

All Hallow's Eve is the night before the Christian festival of All Saints [the 'Hallowed'] Day. The following day is All Soul's Day - the festival of the 'Faithful Departed'

Like other Christian festivals - Christmas and Easter - the 'religious' bit has been largely forgotten and the celebrations and fun have taken over. However every year Hallowe'en gets lots of bad press with not all trick or treaters behaving well and commentators suggesting that those who do behave well but dress up in witch or ghoul costumes are celebrating the black magic or practising devil worship. Obviously such commentators haven't read my links....

I think that apart from the innocent fun that can be had on Hallowe'en [and yes Other Half and I do dress up and go and trick or treat our grandchildren whether they want us to or not. But breaking with tradition we take sweets for them!] the nicest thing about these few days is remembering on All Soul's Day all those we love who have departed from this life. Of course we remember them all year, but an extra thought or so on that day is always good.

I thought you might like to see a photo of my teddy dressed for tonight's fun. He looks much more handsome in his fancy dress than I... So wishing everyone a Happy Hallowe'en/sending Samhain Greetings and remembering all those who have departed.

The Legacy of Dale Farm

Well most of the fighting and violence is over. At Dale Farm anyway, but the basic problems still remain. Plus additional problems engendered by the events of the past few weeks.

Mention of the fact that one lives not far from Dale Farm to anyone living elsewhere in the country and the other person has a definite view on the events of the past few months/years. Sometimes that view is obviously coloured by which newspaper the individual reads. The orator will tell me they are very knowledgeable about the history/geography/social make-up of the area - despite the fact that it is only a very few miles away from where I am typing this and have lived for over forty years and I possibly know a little bit more about it.

It seems that prejudices do seem to abound - for and against the travelling community. And for against Basildon Council which happens to be Conservative, not my favourite political colour it is true but a council that has changed hue over the years that this problem has been ongoing and has had to deal with changing national laws as well as the local issue. And for and against those who arrived at Dale Farm and actively supported the Irish travellers who were living at the 'illegal' part of the Dale Farm settlement. These protestors/supporters were variously called amongst other labels 'activists' or 'anarchists' according to which media source is being followed.

The local newspaper to the Dale Farm has published over the past few months lots of facts and figures about the history of the dispute which can be found by searching the archives. Possibly these articles give the clearest, most disinterested account of how the situation arose as presumably they have been double and treble checked by the paper's legal team. [I have had stories checked by that legal team and can tell you they are good!]

The awful press photographs and media filming of the violence of Wednesday's eviction process were not a surprise to local people. The travellers had been threatening such violence for a long time. However I certainly wonder whether those threats were purely from desperation on the travellers part and would not have been enacted if it had not been for the glare of publicity plus the assistance of some of the more pro-active protestors and supporters. There were plenty of peaceful protestors and travellers on site who sadly did not seem to attract the same attention from the cameras.

So the legacy? Well it would seem that a lot of people have had their prejudices about travellers confirmed and entrenched. This is very sad for the travelling community as a whole, most of whom around the country integrate well with their surrounding communities. Basildon council is facing massive bills and a lot of censure for their handling of the long running legal process. Various 'bodies' have become involved and various accusations - like 'ethnic cleansing' - hurled about which will take a long time to settle. Any campaigner with any sort of cause will be labelled as a trouble maker 'like those at Dale Farm' - ignoring the fact that the peaceful protestors and the peaceful travellers did not cause any hurt or harm to the police, baliffs or anyone else.

Wednesday was a very sad day to be in this part of Essex. Parts of our main roads could not be negotiated, helicopters were circling constantly overhead [police and media] and watching the fires burning and the rhetoric from both sides at Dale Farm on the TV screen juxtaposed with news reports of similar scenes from Greece was depressing. Essex is a nice, friendly county - honestly.

Nobody 'won'. Civilisation regressed a bit. Where communities can't or won't integrate everyone loses. Magnify this and we have wars.

Antiwar Mass Assembly, October 8th

We joined thousands of others at the Antiwar Mass Assembly in Trafalgar Square on Saturday. There is always a warm feeling when surrounded by like-minded comrades although even pacifists were surprisingly calm when I misjudged handling of my 'Stop the War' placard.

It was good to bump into friends who had made the same pilgrimage [although by different tube routes] from our village, and hear other friends speak and sing. The speeches from the 'platform' were many and inspiring. Each speaker was allowed two minutes: Brian Eno read out a list of things upon which the money the war is costing could be better spent. Eno's two minutes was up before his list was finished. Lots of other inspiring speakers including Joe Glenton and Hetty Bower, aged 106.

Hetty has led many peace marches and led the march later in the day to Downing Street. Addressing the assembly in Trafalgar Square she told how she could remember how, at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 when she was aged nine, she could remember her father saying [and I am mis-quoting from a bad memory!] 'the first casualty will be truth'.

It was sad that our gathering was to mark the anniversary of our ten years of intervention in Afghanistan. How much better it would have been to have been celebrating ten years of world Peace. Or one hundred years. Or more. We can only work for this together by being and staying together.

Below is a snippet of my mate Roy Bailey, who appeared with Tony Benn, singing 'I Ain't Afraid' by Holly Near



The photograph top right was one of the many memorials to those killed in the war around the Square. It shows an art work [for a clearer image of the words, click here ] by the fabulous Robert Montgomery To see another memorial go to Elizannie's sister blog Clarice's Book Room

And Ordered Their Estate

I have been enjoying our Indian Summer for the past week or so, roasting in the tropical temperatures on our West Country cliff top camp site. Unfortunately the tropical temperatures meant that broadband and mobile 'phone signals were frazzled so I couldn't comment on the Labour Party conference although I watched it as much as I needed.

This week, back in the South East, I have tried to avoid watching the Conservative Party conference. Especially after Theresa May's piece yesterday of what I initially thought was a stand up comedy routine, but realised was in actual fact sheer ignorance and prejudice. She involved an illegal immigrant, deportation and a cat - you know what I am talking about I am sure. If not, click on the link.

However, listening to the prognostications of the Conservative politicians this week, and to a lesser extent some of the younger Labour politicians last week, I thought back over all the conferences I have 'listened in to' over the years. I can remember being told that I was too stuck in the mud and things would never go back to what they were, politically, and I was worrying unnecessarily, hanging on to old ideals... I was too firmly left wing and 'Old Labour', I was told around 15 years ago - nobody would try and destroy the Welfare State. Nobody would stand for it. Well we all know that story about 'Nobody'[see below*] and should take heed of it...

Now we have a government here in the UK who seem intent on destroying the NHS [yet David Cameron's election quote was 'We are the party of the NHS'] and taking away any benefit it can from the poorest and most dispossessed in our communities whilst preserving low taxes and large bonuses etc for the highest earners. Our government seen to believe in very 19thC ideals such as those Mrs Alexander expressed in her 1848 hymn:

The Rich Man in his Castle
The Poor Man at his Gate
God made them High & Lowly
And Ordered their estate

[The original third verse of the poem All Things Bright and Beautiful. Now ommitted from most Church Hymn books by popular demand...] When the hymn was sung in the past including that verse I always felt it sounded like the Conservative Party at prayer and refused to sing it, much to the embarrassment of The Children.

And now to redress the balance, Eldest Daughter's favourite hymn:

They Who Tread the Path of Labour
They who tread the path of labour follow where My feet have trod;
They who work without complaining, do the holy will of God;
Nevermore thou needest seek me; I am with thee everywhere;
Raise the stone, and thou shalt find Me, cleave the wood and I am there.

Where the many toil together, there am I among My own;
Where the tired workman sleepeth, there am I with him alone:
I, the Peace that passeth knowledge, dwell amid the daily strife;
I, the Bread of Heav'n am broken in the sacrement of life.

Every task, however simple, sets the soul that does it free;
Every deed of love and mercy, done to man is done to Me.
Nevermore thou needest seek me; I am with thee everywhere;
Raise the stone, and thou shalt find Me; cleave the wood, and I am there.

Henry Van Dyke

Now those are Socialist ideals to be proud of! I am not sure of the tune name, can't find my Socialist hymn book to check right now but maybe my friends at CSM will know?

In other news I am surprisingly happy with my photo for my bus pass. Yet rather shocked that when we were shopping in Glastonbury last week, along with our normal 'ethnic' and 'alternative' shopping we somehow managed to also buy a vacuum cleaner and a lavatory seat. Does this mean we are growing-up at last? Our Children do not seem to agree.


*This is a story about four people: Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it.
Everybody was sure Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.
Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when actually Nobody asked Anybody.


The photograph : 'Well Met in Glastonbury'. Just because.

Dale Farm

I have been reluctant to write about Dale Farm. Not like me at all, usually with an opinion on everything and an open mouth to match, you say. So why have I been silent on this topic?

Firstly, let me say I have no axe to grind about Travellers, Roma, or any individuals who live outside the 'normally accepted' housing 'standards'. I agree that empty houses should provide homes for the homeless rather than be left deteroriating for years accumlating value for greedy individuals who do not need the capital they have expended. But those who move into an empty dwelling whilst the owners are on holiday and whom it takes months to remove via the courts are a completely different case and law breakers to boot. I also agree that local councils should make provisions as the law demands for traveller sites.

I live in the same county as Dale Farm, not near enough to be affected by the inhabitants so please don't accuse me of being a NIMBY. I don't have friends or relatives in the neighbouring villages/towns to Dale Farm and I don't think I know anyone who teaches in the local schools. I have taught in schools where there were traveller children [not from Dale Farm] and I have certificates to say that I have undertaken and passed the relevant Traveller awareness courses.

I abhor any form of discrimination: be it on the grounds of ethnicity; religion; social culture; gender choices; educational attainments; political leanings. I have marched and lobbied for civil rights. Yet this situation has seen me until this week quite silent on the issue, although reading and watching much of the media coverage. Clever manipulation by the latter of fact on both sides has made me feel - for once - that whatever I say could so easily be misrepresented that I really have hung back. I have read and heard politicians across party lines saying and doing things with which I agree and disagree, celebrities who seem to know little of the real facts making rather silly statements and others making really cogent comments. I have seen organisations I respect and to which I belong drawing what I consider most odd conclusions. I totally abhor the amount of money [estimated at £18million] which it is going to cost to carry out the process of the law by evicting the Dale Farm Travellers from the illegal site] but surely cost along should not stop the process? Sadly that has never been an argument accepted for the country not going to war.....

But a few days ago, at a family get together, relatives asked me what my views on the Dale Farm situation are. One [from a distance away from Essex] paid me a compliment by saying that he thought I would give an unbiased point of view and why didn't I write about it. So here goes:

The Travellers at Dale Farm, Crays Hill, Essex and Basildon Council have been in dispute for ten years. If one wants to trace the history there are numerous hits if one googles: lots of press articles, questions in the House of Commons and the European Parliament, blog entries [there is a blog in support of the travellers which also contains lots of links] These hits give both sides of the argument and it must be difficult for those not living in the area to make up their minds who is in the right. A support camp, Camp Constant, has been set up adjacent to Dale Farm to disseminate press reports and gather supporters from all over the UK and Europe in the hope of preventing the eviction of the Travellers from the illegal part of the Dale Farm Travellers site on the 19th of September.

And that's the rub: 'The illegal part of the site'. The whole of the Dale Farm site was bought a long time back by Travellers. Part of it [the 'legal site'] had planning permission for the around 40 dwellings that are there. Although some of the neighbouring villagers were against this that was just one of those things - they could equally have ended up with a factory or something else they didn't like next door. Someone always complains about something.

And so it might have ended there. Until a further 80+ dwellings moved onto the part of the farm that did not have planning permission and which is classified as green belt [the 'illegal site'] In itself,developing a site without planning permission is a not uncommon story and many of us will have read about similar council actions against individuals, maybe just extending their property without permission, in our local press. But this story is a bit bigger than that. The illegal part of Dale Farm has far more inhabitants that the original, legal part and has had quite devastating effects on the neighbouring village. National press have often cited how property values have dropped in the neighbourhood, and this may seem somewhat mercenary to an outsider but to those living there it is devastating and it is not the only effect. Village life has changed considerably, whereas early on in the history of this dispute villagers were happy to talk to the press and media about the problems Dale Farm was causing, by the time that the BBC 9 o'clock news was reporting earlier in the summer on the situation, the residents of the village were refusing to be interviewed for fear of reprisals. Yet this has been reported in the National Press as 'apart from one man, no villagers have any complaints'. Local press has a list of complaints in their 'comments' common under pseudonyms - but these range from the extremely reasonabe to downright malicious and as full of hatred as the threats of violence by individual travellers referred to above.

The inhabitants of Dale Farm have also become nationwide media heroes and heroines by their appearances in 'Big Fat Gypsy Wedding' and the documentaries made about the problems at the site between the Travellers and the council, aired earlier this year. Thus many people country wide feel some sort of ownership of the problems here in Essex.


Accusations and cross accusations have flown backwards and forwards for the past too many years. The Travellers have accused the council of attempting 'Ethnic Cleansing'in their eviction proposals [The Irish Traveller community is designated an Ethnic Grouping by the European Parliament] Yet if the council were trying to stop any illegal development by a non-ethnic minority community, would it have received a second glance? Individual Travellers have threatened violence if the eviction is carried out and of course the media has jumped on these threats. These individuals do not help the claims of their larger community. Claims of non-payment of Council Tax and other bills have been bandied about regarding the Travellers. Eventually no-one knows which side to believe.

Meanwhile solid facts have emerged, many of the Travellers do own properties and sites in other parts of the UK and Ireland. Basildon Council may have turned down reasonable offers to come to some agreement. Latest news today is that Basildon Council are preparing accomodation for any travellers who have nowhere to go on eviction. Some travellers have already left the illegal part of the site in the last few days. Basildon Council have repeatedly offered alternative accomodation to those Travellers who do not have alternative sites, but - perhaps understandably - the Travellers say that they do not want to live in bricks and mortar and want to keep up their own cultural mores. But it still remains that where they are living now is in an illegal site that does not have planning permission and that if the eviction is carried out the Travellers will not be homeless.

I have tried to present an unbiased 'guide' to the way the 'situation' has arisen at Dale Farm. I do sympathise with any small community trying to retain its cultural background and traditions. However, when moving and living within another community's mores it is not always possible to exclude one's own, smaller community from the larger community. If some of the benefits of the larger community, like schools and hospitals are enjoyed, surely it is necessary to also obey its rules, like the planning laws?

I still really hope for a peaceful solution and dread any violent confrontation next week. Children around the country are the real losers - children at Dale Farm are growing up to regard themselves as 'others' and children outside Dale Farm will also regard those children as 'others' due to the intense media interest. We need integration not segregation. If only we could all live peaceably together.

Its the Same The Whole World Over

It's the same the whole world over,
It's the poor wot gets the blame,
It's the rich wot gets the pleasure,
Ain't it all a bloomin' shame?

Its strange how one thing leads to another. Discussing economic growth on one site, I was suddenly taken with the urge to start singing the above refrain, which of course comes from the old music hall song, aka She Was Poor But She Was Honest . A monologue version performed in the 1930s by Billy Bennett is shown below

[BTW the sound of my singing is not good, especially as my voice has disappeared thanks to a the gift of a sore throat from Other Half]

The economic report which sparked my awful singing was a report on the BBC news online yesterday with the title UK manufacturing output shrinks as export demand falls. To quote from the article:

The Markit/Cips manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 49 last month - a 26-month low. Any level below 50 implies contraction.

So why the singing? Well, looking at the chart supplied by the BBC, the slowdown is global with the only two countries above that worrying '50' level being Germany and Japan. Unsurprising, Japan has fallen since July considering all their ongoing economic problems due to the earthquake and tsunami, but still have only fallen by 0.2 points. China is the only country to have increased but by a meagre 0.6 points and is still just below 50, at 49.9

Whilst the global economy is in such a parlous state thus showing there is a world wide problem, our present government constantly blaming the previous government here and employing swingeing cuts to those who can least afford it does not actually help. It seems as if the coalition government takes the same sort of attitude to its electorate as the character in the monologue below and:

[Goes] riding in a carriage
Past the gutter where [the poor] stands.

Perhaps it is time to show we really are all in this together, not a time for our leaders to be standing on the bridge ignoring the rest of the country floundering in the water below.

Oh, and whilst I am having a rant I would remind the Government that it is also not a time to be spending lot of money on weapons etc and I will be marching to affirm that on October 8th.

Billy Bennet monologue
She was poor but she was honest,
Though she came from 'umble stock,
And her honest heart was beating
Underneath her tattered frock.

But the rich man saw her beauty,
She knew not his base design,
And he took her to a hotel
And bought her a small port wine.

It's the same the whole world over,
It's the poor what gets the blame,
It's the rich what gets the pleasure,
Isn't it a blooming shame?

In the rich man's arms she fluttered
Like a bird with a broken wing,
But he loved her and he left her,
Now she hasn't got no ring.

Time has flown - outcast and homeless
In the street she stands and says,
While the snowflakes fall around her,
'Won't you buy my bootlaces.'

It's the same the whole world over,
It's the poor what gets the blame,
It's the rich what gets the pleasure,
Isn't it a blooming shame?

Standing on the bridge at midnight
She says, 'Farewell, blighted love!'
There's a scream, a splash, good 'eavens!
What is she a doing of?

Soon they dragged her from the river,
Water from her clothes they wrang.
They all thought that she was drownded,
But the corpse got up and sang:

"It's the same the whole world over,
It's the poor what gets the blame,
It's the rich what gets the pleasure,
Isn't it a blooming shame?"

She was poor but she was honest,
Victim of a rich man's game.
First he loved her, then he left her,
And she lost her maiden name.

Then she ran away to London
For to hide her grief and shame.
There she met an Army captain,
And she lost her name again.

"It's the same the whole world over.
It's the poor that gets the blame.
It's the rich that gets the pleasure.
Ain't it all a bleeding shame?"

See him riding in a carriage
Past the gutter where she stands.
He has made a stylish marriage,
While she wrings her ringless hands.

See him there at the theatre,
In the front row with the best,
While the girl that he has ruined
Entertains a sordid guest.

"It's the same the whole world over.
It's the poor that gets the blame.
It's the rich that gets the pleasure.
Ain't it all a bleeding shame?"

See her on the bridge at midnight,
Crying "Farewell, blighted love".
Then a scream, a splash, and . . Goodness!
What is she a-doing of?

When they dragged her from the river
Water from her clothes they wrung.
Though they thought that she was drownded,
Still her corpse got up and sung:

"It's the same the whole world over,
It's the poor what gets the blame,
It's the rich what gets the pleasure,
Isn't it a blooming shame?"

NB There are several versions of this monologue/song. Some more respectable than others. I have heard/read most of them during my research for my dissertation Victorian Literature and the Fallen Woman. So I will not be including any others, but there is a lovely, clean version here: http://poemsandprose.blog.co.uk/2006/01/04/it_s_the_same_the_whole_world_over~439049/

The picture is of one of my favourite 'Fallen Women' paintings, 'Found' by D.G.Rossetti, 1853.

Give Peace a Chance on October 8th

Trying to collect my thoughts after travelling from the South West of England to the South East yesterday, and also after collecting all the dirty washing from a three week family holiday, I have spent longer trying to catch up with emails, tweets and facebook messages than maybe I should today. But an important email was from the http://antiwarassembly.org/* asking for pledges to attend their Mass Assembly at Trafalgar Square on Saturday 8 October 2011, 12 noon.

Other Half and I were glad to add our pledges to those of many of our friends and political comrades including Roy Bailey, Tony Benn, Billy Bragg, John McDonnell, Len McCluskey, Owen Jones ..... the list goes on and it is easier for you all to visit the website and pledge your own attendence! The pledge we signed:

I pledge that if British Troops are still in Afghanistan on the tenth anniversary of the invasion I will join the mass assembly in Trafalgar Square on Saturday 8 October to make it clear to the government that they must not continue this brutal and pointless war in defiance of the will of the people.

Those pledging were also asked if they wished to add their own reasons for wishing to attending the assembly. My unoriginal contribution is:

I will be there because all my life I have wanted to live in a peaceful world. I was born in 1950, with the shadow of World War 2 hanging over my family. As a teenager in the 1960s I lived in fear of the bomb and joined CND. No decade since has been peaceful and I wish for my grandchildren to live without the terror hanging over them that has followed our lives. Cessation of the illegal action in Afghanistan will be a step toward this.

Please visit the website and if you cannot attend send a message of support.


*The Antiwar Mass Assembly has been called by Stop the War Coalition, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and British Muslim Initiative.

Photograph courtesy of the website http://antiwarassembly.org/