december started a drab month, with little light, but the forecast for
saturday 4 suggested the mist and cloud would clear, so i set off for stanford-le-hope.
single or return asked the ticket seller, i wouldn't want to stay there
i told him.
from the station i turned left and then south towards mucking and the river.
disappointingly the church in mucking is now a private house, and the churchyard
only open by arrangement. the footpath led through a nature reserve, the
largest bog of its type in england, and then turned past a large complex
of unfilled gravel pits towards mucking creek.
names on maps can have a fascination, and mucking marshes, mucking flats,
mucking and mucking creek were places i needed to see. in good light they
would have been great, but on a dull grey day they lacked sparkle.
the footpath led along the riverside towards corringham and shell, but
disappointingly the bridge across a small creek had disappeared. there was
an unmarked detour along the goods line, but not the same. i returned to
stanford le hope splashing through huge puddles in the rutted lane. one
of its few claims to fame is as the home of writer joseph conrad, but the
cottage in which he lived is surrounded by a high fence and there is little
to see.
more pictures
just a few pictures i took on my way to a meeting in the city, walking
over london bridge, then along by the thames before heading north.
more pictures
santas came to town en masse to demonstrate for fathers 4 justice on dec
18. several hundred men, women and children dressed in santa gear (and a
couple of individualists, including a young spiderman), a band, and a large
and unwieldy baloon gathered at green park and then began a parade around
the west end.
fathers 4 justice have hit the headlines several times, not least when
batman and robin turned up at buck palace a few months back. batman managed
to shin up a drainpipe and sit on the roof for several hours, but robin
got held up by the police.
neither was charged for their demonstration (new laws announced shortly
after will outlaw protests on royal property, but until then it isn't a
crime) but robin was found to have a stanley knife, getting him in court
on the pretext of 'carrying a bladed weapon'.
their campaign is for access rights for parents and grandparents to see
children after the breakup of relationships. although courts may grant this
at the moment, where they feel it is in the best interests of the child,
there is seldom any enforcement of such decisions. so currently access depends
entirely on the cooperation of whichever parent was granted custody.
fathers 4 justice (and they include many mothers, as the number of mother
xmases in the demonstration showed) want enforceable rights of access, keeping
a relationship between the child and both parents.
many of the protestors carried images of their own children (or grandchildren)
who they can no longer see, and there were some children also demonstrating.
the main message on the placards was "put the father back into xmas"
and they carried an image of david blunkett in a santa hat and the message
"i'm the daddy". the march was taking place as blunkett was forced
to resign after having been found to have eased an immigration application
for his former lover's nanny. he is currently fighting in court to be recognised
as the father of her children.
more pictures
the next day i was busy writing, but the sun came out and i couldn't resist
a short ride on the brompton. i took the bridle path next to the m25, which
was a mistake. the path has been moved to allow widening of the motorway,
and the poorly surfaced temporary path was full of puddles and potholes.
cycling through a foot of water i hit a large rut, and almost went flying,
putting a foot down into some very cold water.
more pictures
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
some of my work gets put into nice organised websites.
this isn't meant to be like that, but you can see some of the
rest at
london pictures
londons industrial history
and you can read what I think about photography at
>Re: PHOTO
All pictures on this section of the site are ©
Peter Marshall 2004;
to buy prints or for permission to reproduce pictures or to comment on this
site, or for any other questions,
contact
me
your comments may be added to the site - or
not.
Payment may be waived for acceptable non-profit uses.
