THE PILGRIM FATHERS AND NON CONFORMITY

The Mayflower

The very term, Pilgrim Fathers, denotes a biblical patriarchy. They called themselves, pilgrims,  a religious term describing people who go on a religious journey to get close to their God. Father denotes male dominance.However, was it entirely like that?

They sailed to the the province of Virginia to create a “new world,” based on their beliefs in 1620 during a period in English history that was full of turmoil and changing views about society and the individual.

Elizabeth 1 died in 1603 unmarried and childless. James IV of Scotland, a great great grandson of Henry Tudor was Elizabeth’s closest living relative, and so he was asked to become King of England. He became James I of England. The Reformation had already caused a great upheaval in religion in England and had been the cause of many executions, both Catholic and Protestant. Although James was a protestant his mother, Mary Queen of Scots had been a devout catholic and James had catholic sympathies. The downtrodden Catholics in England had hopes for more toleration for their cause. In fact all aspects of the religious spectrum in England hoped for more toleration.

This was not to happen. Plots were formed. Soon after James came to the English throne a group of disaffected Catholics lead by Robert Catesby tried to blow the King up and all his courtiers at the opening of Parliament on the 5^th November 1605.  The plot was foiled and all the conspirators caught and eventually executed.

The Gunpowder Plot Conspirators

During the years 1605 and 1606 separatist or non conformist religious groups were being formed in various parts of the country. In Yorkshire, Richard Clifton, who was the rector at Babworth, was assisted by John Robinson from Sturton le Steeple in setting up non conformist groups at a village nearby called Scrooby. A similar congregation was begun by John Smyth at Gainsborough in Lincolnshire. They were breaking the law because all English people had to attend services on a Sunday at their local Church of England parish church. It was an offence not to do so but these groups continued under duress.

These non conformist groups were not lead by people who formed their ideas from pure imaginings. John Robinson had been the Dean of Corpus Christi Cambridge so he was an intellectual of the highest order. Groups of people throughout the country were reading and interpreting the Bible for themselves. This was termed as self-prophesising and from this process new ideas and philosophies emerged.

John Robinson

During Henry VIII’s reign the bible was translated into English for the first time. This was called The Great Bible. In 1568 came The Bishop’s Bible another English translation.  These bibles theoretically enabled every Englishman, or rather those who could read, access to the Bible and therefore enable them to interpret it. Henry had begun the Reformation in England in response to what he saw as the interfering authority of the Pope. He believed that the monarch had direct authority from God so he became the head of the Church in England. He began to remove the excesses of the Catholic Church, first by closing the monasteries and reorganising the church. However groups of people such as the Scrooby congregation wanted to go much further. They wanted to completely purify the church as they saw it. They became known as the Puritans. They wanted to cleanse the church of all it’s finery and catholic style services. They wanted to simplify it with the individual’s relationship to God paramount. Being able to interpret the Bible for themselves was an integral part of this. The Puritans were not happy with the first interpretations of the Bible. They were too catholic oriented. Between 1604 and 1611 James had a new interpretation of the Bible written. This was known as The King James Bible. This became the standard bible used by the Church of England for centuries to come and this was not enough for them either.

The King James Bible

Groups of non-conformists such as those at Scrooby in Yorkshire were not pleased with the pace of change in the church. The system of governing the church in England had not substantially changed since Catholicism. The King was the head instead of the Pope and the same hierarchy of Bishops and rectors was still in place. The individual was at the bottom of the pile and still had to follow the laws imposed from above. These groups were finding it harder and harder to exist and worship as they wanted. They were not tolerated. Between 1607 and 1608 the groups lead by Richard Clifton, John Robinson and John Smyth from Lincolnshire fled to Amsterdam in the Netherlands. They joined groups lead by Francis Johnson and Henry Ainsworth. They wanted to pattern their life on their own interpretations of the New Testament. John Smyth died in 1612 and many of his followers joined the Mennonites. These were groups that had formed around the teachings of Menno Simons (1496-1561) Their beliefs were based on the belief and mission of the life of Jesus Christ. They were persecuted by both the Catholics and the Protestant churches in Europe so they had to retreat to the areas and states where they were accepted. Others in John Smyths group returned to England with Thomas  Helwys and John Marton and began what was termed The Baptist Church. John Robinson took his group on to Leiden. Leiden was experiencing economic expansion at the time. The cloth industry was growing rapidly there. The separatist groups in Leiden expanded and sympathisers from East Anglia, Kent and London joined them in Leiden. There was an English military garrison in Leiden and some of the soldiers of that garrison joined the separatist groups. Among the soldiers to join was Myles Standish. Theologically many of these groups were Calvinist. John Calvin lived  (1509 – 1564) The Calvinists differed from some of the other groups such as the Lutherans by not believing in the presence of Christ at the consecration and differed also in other religious beliefs and rules. Calvinists believed in predestination. This was a belief that every individual was already chosen at birth to go to heaven or hell. Other groups such as the Lutherans believed that the way we lead our lives could determine whether we went to heaven or hell.

Calvin

Within this atmosphere of the formation of  beliefs John Robinson formed his theology. He believed in predestination, (the Calvinist view), free will, lay prophesising ( the individual’s ability to interpret the Bible) and the analytical methods of Petrus Ramus and Giacomo Zaberella. This was a way of explaining the Bible and practicing it’s tenets through a form of logic. Ramus created a method for explaining Aristotles thinking. He described logic as including summaries . headings, citations and examples. He believed in a sort of binary tree system to explain knowledge.

It was these ideas that Robinson used to give authority for his explanations of the Bible to his congregation. This use of logic is why people who followed him formed strong beliefs and followed Robinson first to the Low countries from England and eventually had the strength of faith in his teachings to follow him to New England. He believed in a practice of lay prophecy where all men including women were allowed to discuss possible interpretations of the bible. Robinson also shifted away from rigid separatism which existed between the Calvinists, the Lutherans and other separatist groups. He began to believe in a cautious toleration of religious dissent and a variety of practice.

The Netherlands was becoming the home to many strands of separatist  groups. However a coup by Prince Maurice of Orange only recognised Dutch Reformed control making the various groups think that they would be forced to worship within one church again. From 1619 independent ministers were no longer allowed to discuss religion in their own private homes. The Netherlands were under threat therefore and not a safe haven for these new religious groups. This organisation of Protestantism under a national church, the Dutch Reformed Church  within the Netherlands was a powerful reason for Phillip II of Spain to try to reinforce his authority by revitalising the eighty years war. The Netherlands were part of  a Catholic dominated Empire. The Protestant English Government in response promised military assistance to Prince Maurice of Orange under the condition that the English Government would have supervision of all English language congregations in the Netherlands.

The Pilgrim fathers walked down French Street to The Mayflower and Speedwell moored at the end of the street.

 The separatist groups felt under pressure in many ways. These adverse conditions created the climate in which Robinson’s congregation planned to move to Northern Virginia then beginning to be known as New England. English investors supported the Leiden group and enabled them to obtain a charter to found a colony in the mouth of the Hudson River. In 1620 they set sail on the Mayflower. The Pilgrims had purchased two boats, The Mayflower and The Speedwell. They sailed first to Southampton on the south coast of England. They purchased stores and other Pilgrims joined them. After setting sail from Southampton bad weather and the unsuitability of the Speedwell for an Atlantic crossing forced them to take refuge in Dartmouth in Devon.The Speedwell was repaired and they set sail once more. The Speedwell once more proved unseaworthy and they called  at Plymouth, also in South Devon. This  time all the pilgrims boarded the one ship, The Mayflower and set sail. There was no going back. 

The Mayflower memorial Southampton.

The memorial is on the site where The Mayflower was anchored.

 Arriving in Cape Cod in November 1620 the prevailing winds prevented them from reaching their intended destination. Some on board, because they had landed beyond the restrictions of the charter they had obtained from the English Government wanted to set up a colony free from England. The leaders of the Pilgrims responded by writing The Mayflower Compact which all signed binding them to England and the English Sovereign. The Compact also laid out that they should elect leaders democratically and enact laws that they should choose. This early document was the forerunner of the American Constitution and in fact some of its tenets were similar to the Constitution.

The plaque on The Mayflower memorial

It is easy to think that emigration to the New World was the answer for these separatist groups but it wasn’t the only answer. The majority of non-conformist groups remained in England suffering for their faith. It all came to a head twenty years later when Charles I closed parliament and ruled independently under the belief that only he had the divine right to rule. There were many non-conformist or Puritan groups now who wanted a much more democratic approach. This rift in belief and philosophy caused a split in the country between those who believed in the authority of a democratic parliament and those who supported Charles in his belief in the divine right of kings. This brought about the English Civil war which the parliamentarians lead by Oliver Cromwell defeated the King and beheaded him for treason to the English people. This brought about a situation where the Puritans set the tone for authority and the laws of the country. They became strict and austere themselves in   not allowing the freedoms they  had struggled for. They in their turn did not tolerate those who did not hold their beliefs. Some groups went even further in their interpretation of the Bible and, “pure,” way of living. One such group was termed The Levellers. They got their name from their belief that everybody should be equal or level. An offshoot of the Levellers were The Diggers who got their name from their ways of digging the land to grow their own food. The Diggers, were formed in 1649, the year after Charles II was beheaded. Gerard Winstanley was their leader. They settled first at a place called St Georges Hill in Surrey near Weybrdge. They later moved to land near Cobham, also in Surrey. Their beliefs and way of life was more extreme than most Puritans and they were persecuted for this in their turn.

Gerrad Winstanley portrayed on a wall mosaic in Cobham Surrey

 Gerrad Winstanley wote,

“everyone talks of freedome, butt here are few who act for freedome, and the actors for freedome are oppressed by the talkers and verball professors of freedome; if they wouldst know what true freedome is it lies in the community, in spirit and in the earthly treasures…” (A watch word to The City of London and the Armie 1649)

Sentiments not far removed from what The Pilgrim Fathers might have stated.

This is a hot cross bun reputedly amongst the stores that The Pilgrim Fathers were going to take with them from Southampton. The fact that it never made it to The Mayflower is interesting. Hot cross buns had been banned since the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It was illegal to make them and be seen eating them. This continued into the reign of the Stuart kings. This was an illegal item. I can image a port official looking through the Pilgrim Fathers stores and finding the hot cross bun, 

"Sorry sir, you can't take that with you to The New World. I'll have to take that with me."

And so it has remained in Southampton for the last 400 years. A nice thought.

THE LONE RANGER AND TONTO!!! (EARLY DREAMS OF AMERICA) (The year is 1958)

It was the summer of 1958. A hot June Saturday. I was six years old and wearing my cowboy outfit; wellington boots for cowboy boots, a check shirt , a paisley scarf knotted around my neck ,a brown felt, “ten gallon,” on my head sporting a smart shiny band around the crown.  A wide leather belt with a black leather holster hung loose  against my right thigh,  patterned  with gleaming steel studs. A silver pistol in my right hand, smoked gently from the barrel after a series of shots I had just expertly aimed at Tonto. My mate Paul, who was dressed as an Indian with his mums lipstick for war paint striped across his cheeks,  had disappeared behind the side of the garages at the back of our council flats. The realistic gunshot sounds had been produced by the pistol hammer striking sharply in turn  a series of percussion caps on a narrow paper roll placed in the ammunition drum of the pistol.

My Aunt Mary, for many years, was a stewardess working for the Cunard shipping line. During my childhood she worked, voyage after voyage, for years on the cross Atlantic rout to New York sailing from Southampton. She mostly sailed on the Queen Mary but  she also worked on the Mauritania, the Saxonia and occasionally on the Queen Elizabeth. Her job was a nanny. She looked after the children of the rich and famous as they enjoyed the endless parties and entertainment provided on one of these Atlantic voyages which would take about five days. Often, Aunt Mary would bring us back presents from New York. The cowboy suit I was wearing that summer’s day in 1958, was one such present.

The Queen Elizabeth departing from New York harbour.

I remember one Christmas my dad, who worked for Cunard too after the second world war in the pursers department aboard the Queen Elizabeth, and my Aunt Mary were in New York together and went to Radio City Music Hall for its Christmas entertainments. I remember their descriptions of the show and watching the Rockettes high step across the stage. My dad, my Aunt Mary, my Uncle John and my Aunt Jess used to talk often of going to New York night clubs and how they had their favourite coffee and breakfast bars near the docks where the Queens used to dock. There are family stories of wealthy Americans paying large tips, their easy ways and their larger than life personalities; my Aunt Mary working for Elizabeth Taylor and my dad meeting Cary Grant, both, strangely enough, of British origin. There is the photograph of my Uncle John shaking hands with the Queen Mother when she sailed across the Atlantic once. I have heard stories about shopping at Macey’s and walking down 5^th Avenue, all my life, or so it seems.

My mum 1941

During the war my mother had a pen friend who lived in Brooklyn. Her friend was from an Italian family. I think my mother must have made the contact through the nuns at St Annes Convent, the Catholic school my mother attended as a girl in Southampton. My parents are Catholics and we were all brought up as Catholics.

As a little boy of six, with my brother Michael, who was then aged five years old, I remember begging and begging my mum and dad if we could stay up to see The Dick Van Dyke Show. I loved that warm funny American way of life. It seemed so lacking in any problems and not the slightest wisp of austerity. The Lucille Ball Show was an even greater draw with her mad crazy scatty ways. These shows seemed to be for adults  but they had an enormous appeal for small children too. Being British in the years after the Second World War, we British were used to austerity, living within our means and watching every penny. Everything was saved for. My mum and dad did not buy things on credit. They were strict with themselves and this reflected our life style.

 What we saw on TV in these American programmes was like another world of ease and gentle humour. It was a sort of dream world. Then there were the other American programmes that the BBC aired too,  The Munsters, ( Herman seemed so kind and idiotic; we weren’t used to benign friendly monsters here in Britain) The Beverley Hillbillies, Bewitched, oh we were all “bewitched.” British programmes made by the BBC and later ITV (independent television) were much grittier and hard hitting. This grittiness was also reflected in British films and literature of the time. The TV programmes included Coronation Street on ITV and Z Cars, a TV police drama. Our humour was self  depracating , dry and often  deeply cutting in many ways; programmes such as  Hancocks Half Hour and comedians such as Ted Ray, Arthur Askey and Kenneth Horn made us laugh at ourselves. Their sort of wit and humour lead to Peter Sellers , Spike Milligan and later still Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and then the Monty Python style of humour.  Cathy Come Home was a social commentary film that was incredibly hard hitting, Up the Junction and novels like Saturday Night Sunday Morning showed us  the seedy  harsh rough side of Britain. We British were not easy on ourselves, so American light entertainment lifted the mood a little.

Mum and dad thought they were taking a chance letting us watch the Perry Como Show, but fortunately they did allow us to watch it; and strange as it might seem, it never ever occurred to them that Liberace was rather unusual. The British have always had a great regard for pantomimes and pantomime dames. Unfortunately though, if Frank Sinatra came on, that was definitely not allowed. That was adult stuff, without a doubt. Any of the “Road,” films with Bing Crosby were Ok and watching, White Christmas, at Christmas was a good thing. We seemed to watch, and this was deemed quite acceptable, war film after war film, both British and American. Our parents wanted us to see them. Draw your own conclusions if you will. They were shocked though at Michael and myself using plastic tennis rackets as guitars, standing on kitchen stools and singing raucously and energetically Tommy Steel songs and Rock Around the clock by Bill Hayley and the Comets. Tommy Steel, before he took up a film and acting career, was a rock and roll singer. Shock horror!!

There used to be a cafe in Southampton, in the basement of one of the High Street shops, called the Cadena Café. It was always a treat to go there. My grandmother often took Michael and myself to the Cadena for the most delicious real cream cakes and tall glasses of lemonade. What was very special about the Cadena Café though were the murals on the walls. They were painted full height from the floor to the ceiling and surrounded all the walls. They were gigantic seascapes. The views showed entering New York harbour aboard one of the Queens. It was the view from the prow of the ship. The Statue of Liberty stood foremost, erect and tall on Liberty Island at the entrance to New York. Massed sky scrapers crowded behind it. The sea looked choppy with dramatic wave patterns which represented all the different shades of the sea from light turquoise to blue black; and tug boats scurried in front of the ship as it entered the harbour. That mural in the Cadena Café fixed my view of a modern, thrusting, energetic New York, with all its excitement, more than anything else. It has remained in my consciousness to this day.

Two million American troops marched through this ancient  gateway  down to  Southampton Docks between 6th June 1944 and May 8th 1945. This is the same gateway that Henry V's troops marched through on their way to  Harfleur and the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. In 1620 the Pilgrim  Fathers  passed this way  to the Mayflower and Speedwell moored close to this gateway.

Southampton in 1958, had very strong memories of America and Americans apart from the TV programmes on BBC and ITV and the shipping connection between Southampton and New York. Southampton was the embarkation point for most of the American troops entering Europe on D Day and during the year after D Day which lead to Victory in Europe. There is a plaque on the ancient medieval city gate into Southampton called The Bar Gate which commemorates this. This number might seem incredible but two million Americans marched through that gateway to the docks. The number makes me feel incredulous even now, though I know it is true. Many households in Southampton billeted American troops leading up to D Day. My family owned a large house in Swift Road, Woolston. My dad was away in Burma with the RAF .My grandmother billeted two American soldiers. She always talked about them fondly and with great affection years later.

New York 1945 showing the docks where the  Cunard ships docked. Later in the 1950's and the  decades following, members of my family were on board those ships.

 I did indeed dream as a six year old child of going to America, the land of skyscrapers and enormous cars with chrome wings that looked space age.  I dreamed of going to New York and playing with American children of my own age. But, this might seem a little strange, my dreams included quite a bit of Superman stuff. I would always be able to leap from sky scraper to sky scraper. Don’t ask me why, but in my dreams, the dreams of a six year old, I could do that.

Macey's  New York.

NOTTING HILL AND PORTOBELLO ROAD

Notting Hill is west of  central London. I went there the other day with Marilyn my wife and my youngest daughter, Abigail. It was a sunny Saturday and our British summer seemed at last to have arrived. Marilyn and I had not been to Portobello Road in Notting Hill for years.

Portobello Road

 It seemed an inviting prospect because it is a vibrant lively area bursting with new talent, entrepreneurs, artists and musicians. Outside of Waterloo Station we got on the 154 bus to Oxford Circus and then transferred to a 94 bus heading for Notting Hill. We passed slowly along Oxford Street. The crowds were immense on the pavements, coloured by the thousands wearing Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund football shirts; the two finalists in this year’s European Cup Final at Wembley. It was the day of the cup final. The traffic was slow and congested but gradually we passed from the shopping mayhem which is Oxford Street past the elegant façade of Selfridges, its fabulous art nouveau clock surmounting its broad entrance canopy, on to Marble Arch and continuing on along the leafy and cool Bayswater Road. Late Victorian and Georgian white stucco buildings were on the right and Hyde Park on the left. Eventually passing Queensway and Bayswater with its tube station on the corner and shops full of ethnic vibrancy and diversity we continued on to Holland Park Road and Notting Hill Gate Underground Station. We got off the bus near the tube station entrance. There were some road works which prevented traffic going further and the bus was directed south along a diversion route but there was a pedestrian walkway by the side of the road works so we could walk on further to the beginning of Pembridge Road which leads to Portobello Road. The Notting Hill area is full of a variety of multicultural shops. It is an area where immigrants, especially West Indians, settled in the 1950’s. For many years it was run down and poor.

Notting Hill

In the early 18^th century the area now known as Notting Hill was countryside. Portobello Farm was situated where the Portobello Road and Golbourne Road now meet at the northern extremity of Portobello Road. St Joseph’s Convent built by Dominican nuns in 1864 and now a Spanish cultural centre is on the site of the old farm. Up to 1740 the road was called Green Lane but soon after 1740 it was renamed Portobello after the Spanish town in Panama called Puerto Bello. The town was captured by Admiral Edward Vernon during an obscure sea battle called, The War of Jenkins Ear. The War lasted from 1739 to 1748 but was largely over by 1742. It had been instigated by the Spanish boarding a British merchant ship and during the affray Robert Jenkins, the captain of the merchantman, had his ear sliced off by a Spaniard. This caused a war between the British and the Spanish. The British wanted the Spanish to keep to their trading treaties with Britain. From the 1850’s onwards the Notting Hill developed as it is today with fine Victorian housing, mews and many shops.

In 1864 Portobello farm was sold to some Dominican nuns who had St Joseph’s Convent built. The high brick walled convent is still there today at the most northern part of Portobello Road once you have walked underneath the Westway Flyover and the London underground railway bridge. Acklam Road is on the right beside the flyover and Golborne Road cutting across the top of Portobello Road is not far. The convent is a Spanish cultural centre these days.

Aklam Road is an extension of the Portobello Market and local traders sell food clothing and other artefacts from their stalls. At that part of the Westway Flyover, using the roadway as its roof and taking up a large space underneath, there as a bar and free music club. Marlilyn, Abi and I had a beer and listened to a great singer accompanied by her acoustic guitar playing colleague. He was the songwriter and accompanist and she had an amazing voice. We could have stayed there forever. Three West Indian gentlemen sat impassively on a large sofa nearby, pitch black shades, fingers encrusted in gold rings resting on their knees, black leather homburg hats shading their faces, staring straight forwards, not a smile between them.

Music venue under the Westway Flyover

Walking along Pembridge Road from Holland Park Avenue Marilyn Abi and I turned into Portobello Road at the southern end. There were crowds of people. A few tourists were taking pictures of the quaint, pastel painted  early Victorian terraces with their front doors straight on to the pavement, some with small gardens with shrubs and trees  and then a young American lady, who was walking just behind, me gasped and exclaimed ,” George Orwell!” On one of these small terraced houses hidden behind a tree was indeed a blue plaque commemorating the sojourn of George Orwell. 

George Orwell lived here.

I took a photograph and we moved on into the hubbub and massed humanity that is Portobello Road with its fabulous antique stalls, bric a brac, fruit and vegetables, new fashions and second hand goods.

Stalls and shops on the Portobello Road.

Portobello Road is a tourist attraction but it is also struggling to keep its local identity. There is a Salvation Army centre for the homeless and impoverished. Half way down the street there is the old Electric Cinema which is nowadays, since 1996, the focus for the Portobello Film festival once a year and is converted into a plush avant garde art cinema inside with sofas and arm chairs scattered about for the clientele. There is a junior school and crèche and at the far end near St Joseph’s Convent there is some housing where many immigrant families still live. The popularity of Notting Hill has gentrified much of the area but there is still a vibrant core of immigrant people who live in the area and give it its distinctive character. Locals still have their food stalls and second hand clothing stalls. 

Crowds.

To set yourself up as a stall holder in the Portobello Road is reasonably easy. You have to have an approved product to sell. Another tea shirt stall is not going to get you a pitch however. You must take out a public liability insurance policy covering £5 million and then all you need to do is go along to Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall and for £12 register as a street trader. From Monday to Friday you will be given a pitch based on a lottery process and you will have to pay £12 for the day. At the weekend the price can go up to £45 for a day but of course at the weekends you will have the foreign hoards and you will make a fortune.

Street musician playing rockabilly

.

Some of my favourite stalls in the Portobello Road include those that sell second books and a stall that sells old film cameras. Another specialises in 1930’s fur coats. Some stalls sell the most exquisite silverware, gravy boats, salt sellers and ornate silver tureens. There is one stall that specialises in military gas masks. There are a whole range of shops selling high quality antiques including a variety of artefacts and furniture. The street is punctuated by restaurants, cafes and street performers. One gentlemen stood legs akimbo, clad in baggy jeans with turn ups, soft suede shoes and baggy white shirt with brillcreamed hair; his whole body vibrating, strumming vigorously,  a great loose stringed double base, pounding out old rock and roll rhythms. He had quite a crowd gathered round him smiling and enjoying the energy.

Bric a brac stall.

Portobello Road is famous in popular culture. We all know the film, "Notting Hill," with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts which was largely filmed in The Portobello Road. Madonna, when she was married to Guy Ritchie owned a pub nearby and lived in Notting Hill. Us Brits call Madonna affectionately , "Madge,” but she never did like that. In 1950, the cult film, Blue Lamp, was filmed in the area. The road is mentioned in the 1960’s novel, The Chinese Agent. It features in the childrens film ,Bedknobs and Broomsticks. It is also a favourite haunt of Paddington Bear from Michael Bond’s series of children’s books. It has featured too in television programmes such as, Minder, and ,Bargain Hunt. Blur, reference Portobello Road in one of their songs. It also features on the original Monopoly Board game.

Contemplating life in the Portobello Road.

Notting Hill has had its fair share of problems. In 1958 the Notting Hill race riots began over an argument between a Swedish lady called Majbritt Morrison and her black West Indian husband. A white woman with a black lover or husband was not easily accepted back in the 1950’s. After the Second World War many immigrants had come to this country from Jamaica and other Caribbean islands to work on the London Underground and in the National Health Service hospitals but some white groups such as the teddy boys, didn’t like this infiltration of black people and often fights would be instigated at the slightest provocation. This is what happened in Notting Hill. Some teddy boys had seen Raymond Morrison attack his white wife Majbritt. They saw him in the street the next day and attacked him. This instigated groups of black youths to roam the streets looking for the teddy boys. The riots that ensued lasted for three nights. Claudia Jones, a black woman, wanted to do something to stop this sort of aggression. The following year she began what is now termed the Notting Hill Carnival which has now become the largest carnival in Europe and is held at the end of August every year in the streets of Notting Hill. Marilyn and I went to three Notting Hill carnivals in early 1980’s. The vibrancy, colour and the music is fantastic. Half a million attend the carnival now every year over the carnival weekend. The streets are full of floats with bands playing great music. There are garishly and brightly adorned carnival dancing groups and the whole exudes peace , joy, fun and has a great energy. I remember the unbelievable West Indian sound systems with gigantic speakers booming out body vibrating base sounds. Reggae is great!!!!! So many peace loving Rastafarians too, fill the streets. Our ears have never recovered.

Erno Goldfinger's Trellick Tower in Golbourne Road.

One of the most famous or perhaps infamous places in Notting Hill is Trellick Tower situated not far from the north end of Portobello Road just along the Golborne Road. It was built in1966. It is thirty one stories high and is built in what has been termed, the brutalist style.. In other words it is made of unforgiving concrete. Many of our university campuses were expanded in the 1960’s using his very same style of architecture. Trellick Tower is an important example of this style and has become a grade II listed building. This means that it must not be demolished and its outside appearance cannot be altered. It is an example of architecture from a particular period in history. It was designed by Erno Goldfinger. Yes, you may well have a double take at that name. Goldfinger was a  ruthless gentleman and a rather aggressive character. Ian Flemming, one day while on the golf course with one of Erno Goldfinger’s colleagues had to submit to this gentleman pouring out  his feelings about Goldfinger. It was after that that Ian Flemming decided to use Goldfinger's name in one of his novels. Goldfinger threatened to sue Flemming over the use of his name but Flemming pointed out that if they went to court it would be Goldfinger who would be shown to be a bully and an unsavoury character. Goldfinger dropped the suit and Flemming used his name.

Wearing shiny silver boots walking along Golbourne Road.

Trellick Tower is mostly social housing but some of the flats have been privately bought. They provide an amazing view over London. However they do have structural problems. They are not very well insulated and can be cold in the winter. To improve the insulation the whole exterior would have to be renewed. At the present time this would cost the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea too much money. There has been both a murder and a rape as well as various assaults in the foyer over the years and this caused the residents association of the tower to get the council to provide a coded entry system and a concierge in the entrance. In 1988 the tower was used in the film, Queen and Country, starring Denzil Washington.

AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW OF CHAWTON!!!!!!

SOMEBODY'S DRIVEWAY

 "THE SIGNPOST," FROM THE OTHER DIRECTION.

WHAT IS GOING ON IN CHAWTON?

JUST ANOTHER ENGLISH COUNTRY GARDEN.

THE PAINTER OF THIS WINDOW FRAME SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE PRECISE AND CAREFUL WITH HIS OR HER BRUSH STROKES.

POTATOES, RUNNER BEANS, PEAS, ONIONS AND TOMATOES.

WAIT FOR THE BUS TO ALTON HERE.

JUST IN CASE YOU WONDERED WHAT THE CAR PARK LOOKED LIKE.

IT SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.

THE KIDS PLAYGROUND NEXT TO THE PUB CAR PARK.

CHAWTON CRICKET CLUB PAVILION.

TWO YEW TREES.

JUST ROUND THE CORNER.

AS IT SAYS, OAKWOOD COTTAGE.

SOME MORE INFORMATION.

GET YOUR TICKETS THIS WAY.

RUBBISH COLLECTION.

THAT'S MY CAR IN THE CAR PARK.

THATCHED COTTAGES.

STENCOTT and THE COTTAGE

WALK THIS WAY.

BRICK WALL AND WILD FLOWERS.

WARNING!!!!!!!

WONKY PUB SIGN.

CHAWTON PRIMARY SCHOOL.