george's triumph
respect mp george galloway was treated to a tumultous ovation when he arrived at the trafalgar square rally following the free palestine march in london on may 21. it's a cause that galloway has long supported, and he has always been popular, but the mood reached a different high plane because of his performance earlier in the week in front of the us senate committee, greeting him with a warmth and exultation i've not seen from a british crowd before.
probably most of us there had watched the recordings of the hearing; i started meaning to flick through the highlights, but ended rivetted to the screen for the full 45 minutes. the senators were clearly outclassed and outgunned as galloway gave them a verbal 'glasgow kiss.' it was an impressively sustained performance of concentrated power, a pit-bull seeing off a pack of ineffectual spaniels.
clearly the committee had not done its homework - either in checking the evidence or on the man.
george galloway was not the only fine speaker at trafalgar square. tony benn is always worth listening to, probably the best living political speaker at least using the english language, like me he was happy to miss some football match that was taking place to take part in the real world, and his performance today was as good as ever. jeremy corbyn, not so happy to be missing the football as his local team were winning the cup, is another fine speaker, as too is paul mackney of the higher educaction teachers' union, natfhe.
but it was clearly galloway's day, and he was in a mood to enjoy it, though there was certainly passion and fire in his words about palestine. after his speech, many from the crowd came to meet him, to congratulate him on his performance earlier in the week, and to have their photographs taken with him. in particular he has built up a great rapport with the many muslims now living in this country, not least in his own bethnal green constituency, the youths from bradford were excited when he promised to come and visit their city.
i don't know how long it took him to make his way out of the square, there was still a large crowd surrounding him when i left.
earlier, there had been a reasonable but not huge number of marchers from embankment past the houses of parliament to trafalgar square. arriving at the square they were met by a group of outrage! protestors led by peter tatchell, supporting the palestinian struggle for freedom and justice, but demanding an end to the "so-called 'honour' killing of palestinian women, and the arrest, jailing, torture and murder of lesbian and gay palestinians by factions of the plo, hamas, islamic jihad and the palestinian authority."
at first, police stood between the outrage! supporters and the demonstrators,
but after a complaint by tatchell, allowed them to hand out leaflets. although
some of the march stewards tried to stop the marchers taking them, there
was little of the actual interference seen at last year's march, and many
of the marchers took leaflets and expressed their support for this protest.
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the weather alternated between sun and heavy rain, at times making picture-taking
impossible. earlier in the day i'd been at primrose hill, where the parade
from the top of the hill to cecil sharp house for a 'may fete with a twist'
was abandoned. activities at the house and in the garden there, organised
by 'stacked wonky dance company' and the english folk dance and song society
were going ahead. i was sorry to have to leave just as things were getting
going.
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the bbc had an africa week and as a part of this there was an african event
in kingly court, off carnaby street, but there didn't seem to be a great
deal happening while i was there. carnaby street always strikes me as a
very sad mega-commercial remnant of the sixties, where you want to shout
out to the crowds of tourists they are forty years too late. kingly court
is a new development, a shopping court on three storeys with a central courtyard,
and it needs something rather more going on it.
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chelsea flower show is the biggest event of the gardening season, and the
crowds are huge. this year an extra day was added to cut down on the jams,
though i don't know how effective it is. unless you are a gardening photographer,
the most interesting part of the whole event is the end, when many of the
plants on show are sold off and proudly carried home by their purchasers.
as you can see from the pictures, they carry them along the streets to the
bus stop or car park or coach, providing a rather unusual spectacle.
more pictures
the beltane bash takes place annually in london during late may, and is a gathering of "pagans of all traditions, whether they be witches, wiccans, druids, odinists, asatru, shamans and egyptian traditions" to celebrate the changing seasons of the year. the event starts with a pagan pride parade around bloomsbury, with a dance and a certain amount of splashing around the fountain in the middle of russell square. the fountains have a number of jets which rise and fall, and some play is made of this in the proceedings. the procession, led by the green lady, includes the jack in the green - a dancing bush - along with a whole band of green men, the bogie drummers, giants including herne, lord of the forests, the ravens and much more.
beltane bash is also a fund-raising event, helping to ensure the future
of an area of 25 acres of ancient woodland, raven's wood, near tring in
buckinghamshire
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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
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