Back to the Old School

It was fantastic to visit my old comprehensive secondary school today as an alumni. Our objectives were to inspire and motivate a group of year 12’s to achieve in their summer A Level exams.

The idea was initiated by ‘Future First’, a government and privately funded group who are proactive in setting up alumni networks among comprehensive schools.

As an ex-student at John Roan (my old state funded secondary school) I think this is a fantastic idea. Students in comprehensive schools are at a disadvantage from private and grammar school leavers.

Realistically, these schools can entice a better proportion of higher quality teachers and enjoy much better learning environments by being more selective with their pupils.

When I was at school motivation and morale was incredibly low. There was a lot of negative behaviour at school, although the atmosphere seems to have drastically improved at John Roan since I was there. The same fantastic architecture remains.

A lot of pupils from private and selective schools end up in better positions in better jobs where nepotism is rife.

Thankfully, now it seems that this scheme could help to level the playing field a bit.  

I enjoyed reflecting on my good times at John Roan. For example the eclectic mix of pupils which was on the whole a big plus for the school. Remembering some of my inspirational teachers, notably in History and English, was also nice.

I talked a lot about my experiences in journalism, and how competitive the industry is. But I hope this doesn’t dissuade any of the pupils from practicing journalism and broadcasting/writing as these are enriching and fulfilling creative skills which a person can get a lot out of doing. Seeing my documentary screened at a film festival in Bristol and managing to get my own radio packages aired at the BBC were fantastic accomplishments for me.

It’s just important to remember to keep yourself afloat with other skills, like I’m doing with my teaching assistant work. But to never stop doing what you like to do.

Snus Podcast.

What is Snus? It's another 'smokeless tobacco' product. The EU are attempting to tighten up their restrictions on it. Hear more about what exactly it is, where in the world it's popular, and about its presence here in the United Kingdom.

Snus Package Audio

Southern Observations Made With the Heating Up

'North-South Divide' stories resurfaced in the news at the beginning of this year. Particularly in relation to housing costs.

Labour politicians were warned to stop talking about a‘North-South divide’ because it alienates southern labour voters. I’m a southerner who spent some time up North because that’s where one industry was booming.

‘You’re from London? So what are you doing up here?’

 …is the response I commonly heard after telling people up north from where I was born and bred. Ironically, what I was doing up north was looking for paid work. With the difference in housing costs, there may be a lot more Londoners moving there too. I say ‘ironically looking for work’, because over time hundreds of British people have traveled from the top of the country down to the capital, risking death from cold weather, disease and starvation for the chance to earn an honest salary. People going ‘on the tramp’ during the economic hardships of the 18^th century are well documented- a good example is written by the ‘Anonymous Navvy’- an agricultural labourer who was looking for work in the 1840s.

But I have traveled in the other direction. With the BBC moving to Salford, and the development of ‘MediaCityUK’, the media industry is booming in the North-West. Local news thrives too in all the smaller and prouder communities. I made the choice to study up north for many reasons. Our country is tiny compared to the likes of Mexico and Australia, and I think we should know our own countries well. The north of the country is a part of our industrial heritage- and I have family up there. The north is a place which has historically suffered, and that suffering seems to bring a strong local feeling to the place, and stronger local identity. It’s a colder, harsher climate, and there is resentment to places like London. London is traditionally where the money was, and increasingly it is, but it seems to be reaching a new phase, whereby it’s outdoing itself, and now industry is expanding elsewhere.

London is a place without a face. There are a lot of characters, but community there is harder to come by. It is a melting pot of differences, and this is great, but sometimes it’s hard to feel roots in London.

I think this is mostly because of the business and development there- the prices of rent which young people now have to pay. In March this year, the typical mortgage for first time buyers was estimated at over £84,000. Just under a quarter of Londoners rent privately (23%). This is with rising rent costs. My point is, the gentrification of London and growth of business in Manchester will surely push people out and into the second city, up north, where I’m writing from. This would not only benefit the North, but the country as a whole.

So what might northerners make of this situation? If my experience with some of my colleagues is anything to go by, they will feel unsettled by the influx of foreign Englanders. But I don’t think they should be. This is good for the local economy, good for refreshing the culture, and educating people from the south who may have been too London-centric (me). Since studying journalism there I have had to do a lot of ‘local’ news, and it’s been hard, partly because of preconceptions of Londoners. But local news should reflect a place- and if people are moving into a place, from the south, or an entirely different country, they should have a place in the local community too.  

FCUM football match

When I traveled in Germany and spoke to people all over the world they often seemed incredibly disappointed about their travels in England. They expected so much because they heard so much about our culture, but then found everything too expensive. They found the place too exclusive. I have to say that I would agree with these views, especially in London. If you don’t know where to go, the whole place feels like a tourist trap. The people are nowhere near as open and community minded as they can be overseas. England is a country which brought football and beer to the world. Now it exploits its own people by overselling both. Manchester is the heart of football, with two once great clubs- City and United- and these now price so many of their own fans out. Thank god for movements like FC United of Manchester. 

It seems, for the younger generation at least, England currently doesn't compare to some countries, like Germany for example. Germany’s a country where rent is cheap and housing easily available. Even the football is cheaper, and of course, so is the beer- as well as tasting better.

The point of this article is that gentrification and top-down development is a dangerous thing; it’s happening all over London, and the rest of the UK. It can destroy communities. But people migrating communities definitely does not- not if they bring with them a positive ethos and the right attitude.

Pub Closures

I wrote this article some time ago, when I had returned from Mexico in the summer of 2010, to find the pub I used to work in closed-for-good. The pub was the beating heart of a very localised community, and I was very sad to see it go. Unfortunately decent drinking holes continue to disappear. 

Public Ouste

Following my leave of university last year, I decided to put my pretty successful history degree temporarily to one side and begin looking for bar work. The kind of work that you never have to take home with you, where you can forget about the pressure of writing dissertations and the only interviews occur across the bar when you’re serving white wine spritzers. Of course, having jostled for endless hours in university libraries to find the last copy of an essential journal, and having wrestled with two dissertations to see me through to my final exams to finish a campaign of blood and gore (I’m referring to my study on the Mexican Revolution) bar work was not a job I intended to do forever. But after gathering the cash (in hand) and enjoying a fantastic time in southern Mexico, I returned not to the lively joking and banter of the Deptford Arms and its artistically decorated exterior, but to the plastic green and yellow of another tacky bookmaker’s dominating the high street, and so my temporary bubble had burst.  

This was a big loss for me, but undoubtedly a bigger loss for many of the locals. And not just the locals of the Deptford Arms but other locals in other regions across the country, because it symbolises an epidemic of failing profits and closing pubs which have stood to serve as public houses for the people of Britain. The statistics of the BBPA claim that in July 2009 52 pubs were closing per week, reducing jobs by 24000 per year, at a huge cost to the treasury in the form of unemployment benefits. Apparently this was the steepest rate of decline in the business since records began in 1990.

So who or what can be blamed for my post-travelling blues? Perhaps the higher taxes on alcohol our New-Labour led government introduced. With the help of the media the ‘Binge-Britain’ campaign was launched attempting to turn the quieter members of our community against ‘lager louts’ and ‘alcoholic’ adolescents. We became familiar with images of Newcastle city centre on the razz and tanked-up scouser birds. Of course this wouldn’t be the first time alcohol has been publicly attacked. The great gin scare of 1720 linked the popularity of gin and its popular taverns where it was drunk to increased violent crime and death rates. A government licence scheme costing retailers twenty pounds was introduced, to be repealed later by Lord Walpole following the pressure of vested interest groups. This is the kind of history you can read on the walls of good pubs, such as the Walpole pub in New Cross. All good pubs have a history intertwined with the experiences of local people, and a story to tell, which is why it feels like a large part of popular British history has been lost with every converted bookie’s.

Of course many pubs are lost to money hungry bars, eager to turnover customers quicker than an angry landlord in Bermondsey, but in the sense of getting punters in and out without having them hang around too long if they’re not paying. When a pub is bought out to become a new trendy looking bar, have a large restaurant section dropped in or to introduce a café-style slant, often the old punters and local customers aren’t happy and reject the business. The places make a profit, as the BBPA states Café style, gastro and trendy-bar style pubs are much more resilient. But when the old locality is lost, so is the easy going atmosphere that was based on friendship and familiarity rather than wallets. Again, this has a parallel with the historical work of Peter Clark, who mentions the rise of commercialism in 1750 threatening taverns and inns leading to many attempted changes to coffee shops. Innkeepers were said to exploit French fashions to try and stay in business. These days commercial chain pubs are ever more present, which have tied-trade business models.

All classic, good local pubs have a history and a story to tell which probably doesn’t compare to the countless stories which would have been told inside. One day two aging rockers told me over the bar about the time Squeeze played overlooking the garden of the Deptford Arms, and how one poor punk lay on the floor following a riot. The vibe in the pub could often be tense, but it was always real. It suited a cash-in-hand economy, in a place where you’d serve customers catching you off guard, taking orders in proper cockney one minute and yar-man patois the next. I really miss some of these characters that wonder around living their day to day lives and relied on our place as the centre of a community. So the next time I’m out, I reckon I’ll be drinking one for the D’Arms, and dreaming that one day she’ll be back. Even if it’s in the rambling tales of old Mickey the Fish.

Tattoo Safety Standards

I made this package earlier this year. I think the issue is still relevant however as it's ongoing, and raises some important questions regarding the tattoo world. It's especially important as more and more people are getting painted.

 

We expect high standards when buying food from a takeaway or restaurant. Health experts now want to see similar hygiene regulations in Tattoo parlours. I found out more!

 

 

 

Radio Package- Bats and bacteria

'The Art of Squatting' Documentary. Part One

This documentary takes a contemporary look at squatting in England. Mostly filmed in South London, it is set against the backdrop of the approaching olympics and the new law (passed today) which makes the practice of living in unused properties illegal. It explores the kinds of people who live in squats and why, and addresses how these places contribute to society. The film takes the view that squatting in itself is an artform.

Part 1 explores an underground punk gig at a squat, and we meet some of the people who help the night happen. We also learn a bit about squatting in the 1970's.

(Apologies for the lighting, which is bad in parts, as is the sound. This was because I was struggling alone without a crew.)