I first heard of the Park Hill estate during my undergraduate environmental psychology classes in 1986. The architect’s, Ivor Smith and Jack Lynn’s, vision for a high rise estate to replace sprawling slums in the northern English city of Sheffield with “Streets in the Sky”. Streets in the sky would recreate the strengths of the communities which had flourished in the back to back slums and provide improved living conditions at a bargain price. Taking people out of small, damp, Victorian terraces where kids played in the streets and giving them streets in the sky with views over the city, inside toilets, covered walkways, balcony’s where children could play and neighbours could chat, with room for attractive open park land around the high rise buildings. Smith and Lynn’s designs were heavily influenced by Le Corbuiser’s Breton Brut as evident in his Marseilles Unité d’Habitation. Breton Brut became known in Britain as ‘Brutalism’, simple functional form. They wanted to build in a sense of neighbourliness into these functional spaces.
These changes were intended to improve the standard of living for people now living in a slum area locally know as ‘Little Chicago’ in the gangster era. The Park Hill estate was completed in 1961 with 995 flats that could house over two thousand people overlooking Sheffield city centre. Front doors opened to a 12 ft wide balcony, a street, that runs right across the estate over bridges between buildings. Milk floats could trundle from door to door along streets named the same asthose in the original slums they replaced. People that were neighbours in the slums were rehoused next to each other.
Worthy, admirable intentions
When built, the social ideal didn’t happen
The estate soon became known as Sheffield’s San Quentin. The failure of the original design vision has been blamed on many things including
easy access routes for muggers
poor sound insulation
the streets being open to the inclement Sheffield weather
It’s difficult to tell from the publicity what is being changed to make the project work as a successful place to live this time. A recent BBC TV programme about the renovation focussed on English heritage’s aesthetic and structural requirements for preservation not mentioning any changes to the space aimed at improving the occupants expereince of living there. The programme made the vision appear less social that the original. So what will have changed since it first opened? It looks like the renovation will be
It’s prettier with bright rainbow colours
occupants will not all be council tenants, some will be home owners and some shared ownership. They will be a different socio-economic mix
the streets will not be open to the Sheffield weather
living there comes with the kudos of living in a classic listed building
The UK’s National Bullying Helpline (Charity) cited number 10 Downing Street as being a place where the bullying of 4 staff members happened. Who did it? The main assumption appears to have been that the Prime Minister is a bully.
The reaction of members of the labour party to the accusation of bullying at 10 downing street probably demonstrates something of British attitudes toward bullying. I’m not impressed. These are the responses I’ve heard so far.
Not me. Gordon Brown is my friend, he’s never bullied me. The most common response from Labour party members.
Not Witnessed. I’ve never seen or even thought of Gordon bullying anyone. For example, the BBC reports Alan Johnson as saying “ in 17 years he had “never” heard Mr Brown raise his voice”. The Telegraph cites Ed Balls as saying “I’ve known Gordon Brown for 20 years and at no point has it ever occurred to me that Gordon Brown is or would ever be a bully”
Honest behaviour. I’d rather be lead by a real person who has weaknesses and shows them than by someone calmly insincere. For example, part of this argument is illustrated by the Telegraph citing Gordon’s wife Sarah as saying “‘What you see is what you get” While this is not the dominant discourse it has been expressed by several individuals and news papers.
Expected behaviour. Gordon’s got a tough job, tensions run high, he cares about what he does, people should expect that he’s going to loose his temper and shout sometimes.
Desired behaviour. Bully’s have the qualities to be exceptional leaders you don’t want a wuss leading the country. For example, the Telegraph cites Ed Balls as saying “constituent… …would say he gets things done, he is tough, he is a leader, and that’s what we need.’“
Desired behaviour. Supporters actually demonstrating that bullying behaviour is acceptable. For example, in the Telegraph: ”I think this attack on him by this prat of a woman down in – where’s she from, Swindon? – I think that’s backfiring on her”
The BBC is one of the few sources that mentions Downing Street’s processes for dealing with bullying, calling it “rigorous” but providing no evidence of the process or rigor.
I’ve set up an anti-bullying hotline for the fluffballs but they still persist, Sampo ambushes Matrix on her way to the food bowl and Matrix pushes Sampo out of all the best sleepy spots. My rigorous processes have failed to ameliorate the problem.
Animadversions is used by the Foriegn Office (FO) to describe the contents of the last despatch (message) by the British Ambassador to Oslo in 1975, Ralph Selby. For Ralph, being a diplomat was a family business, his father and wife’s grandfather were ambassadors. The style of expression within the despatch is rather fun, I particularly liked this phrase
‘I agree with the gentleman who’s signature resembles a trombone’
In honour of this outstanding phrase I am considering changing my signature to resemble a swan.
Ralph’s animadversions included
Newer diplomats did not put sufficient time and effort into studying languages
Diplomats circulate way too much paper “the flood of paper which has grown in a single generation is fantastic”
Diplomat’s wives are not paid for their valuable contributions – this disadvantages diplomats who’s wives choose to have a career.
Domestic staff are exensive and time-demanding ‘I do not nowadays find it easy to recruit staff who are willing to lick other people’s boots’
Retirement provisions are insufficient
There is a temptation to eat and drink well – exercise is needed “our specific calling’s snare is drink; and it is profoundly depressing to see the number of members of the service who are engaged in the process of destroying themselves by it“
Human or computer? Can a computers intellignce make it indistinguishable from a human by another human? Turing test
Hererosexual or gay? Can a gay persons behavior make them indistinguishable from a heteresexual to the UK law? Turing failed this test
The UK prime minister apologises to the now deceased Alan Turing for the government removing his security clearance and hence his job when Alan was found guilty of being gay. Reprogramming involved chemical castration, Alan committed suicide.
This morning BBC Radio 4 appeared to focus on the
Prime Minister’s apology to Alan
broadening of police record checks for people that have regular or intense contact with children
Local councils are phasing out the use of apostrophes because they are complicated, confusing (to GPS units), messy and generate too many complaints.
In January 2009 the Daily Telegraph reports that Birmingham city council has updated their street name signs to remove apostrophes. From now on, no sign produced by Birmingham City Council will contain the punctuation mark. Debates over whether Kings Norton really should be King’s – or even Kings’ – Norton may rage on, but they will be useless. And nearby Druids Heath – which was never actually home to one, let alone many, druids – will never take on the possessive, no matter how furious local apostrophe advocates become
In March 2009 the BBC reported that Bristol City is removing apostrophes from public road signs. “Bristol City Council says the ban makes the road signs look “neater” and argues that if capitals are used then apostrophes should not be… …Roger Mortimer, from the Cotham and Redland Amenities Society, says residents are keen to keep the threatened apostrophes. “I think it is an example of just ignoring the English language. Punctuation is extremely important and the apostrophe is very valuable – it gives you a sense of place.”
The founder of the apostrophy protection society is quite upset. He mentiones that ‘thiscould be the first step towards linguistic anarchy’ . I wonder whether he knows about text messaging?
The colonies find this a bit amusing. 3 News (New Zealand) wittily reports that: ”the Queen’s English is now the Queens English. England’s second-largest city has decided to drop apostrophes from all its street signs, saying they are confusing and old-fashioned. But some purists are downright possessive about the punctuation mark.”
Imagine a Monty Python sketch with the team in suits and ties passionately discussing the value of the apostrophy in avoiding linguistic anarchy. Lots of arm and leg waving, diagrams and charts. Terry Jones demonstrating what total linguistic anarchy sounds like…. …and its impact on your sense of place… which probably involves falling over.
Meanwhile the Times reports that councils are publishing crib sheets to help their staff work-out where to put apostrophes for the rare occassions when they are allowed.
This post is dedicated to my many tolerant readers who refrain from correcting my spelling, typing and gramatical aberations despite the irritation and distress this causes them.
Due to temporary failure of satelite connections the BBC announced that they were sorry for the interuption in our reception of thier programming.
In my day the BBC used a collection of strangely engaging short media clips to entertain viewers during program interruption, called ‘interludes’, accompanied by classical music. These media clips included watching a potter potting, a spinner spinning (wool, not exercise) and the slightly more cute kitten-playing:
after putting on the kettle for my morning cup of tea, much as I always do, I turned the TV on to the BBC Breakfast news, much as I always do. The words below are approximate just the gist because I don’t remember the details:
someone on TV: This will be moment that you will remember vividly for a long time
someone-else on TV Like the day Lady Diana died
My attention is grabbed, Indeed Lady Diana’s death was memorable for me:
8am Sunday morning, tent taken down and packed in the boot of the car, tired and sad, I started driving from the Yorkshire Dales to Portsmouth via London with only a radio for company. All the BBC radio channels played a short loop of music and provided no other news than a regular announcement of Lady Diana’s death. After a couple of hours, hoping the loop would stop, I turned the radio off and drove through the mist and rain accompanied only by the noise of my own sad thoughts. The BBC TV followed a similar format:
With no intended disrespect, I suspect that I’ll forget all the uniqueness of the moment that I head Michael Jackson had died.
On a sunny April weekend post-youngster Brits launch into the highly risky business of sculpting their garden. This weekend I fell victim to the under-publicised gardening health hazards. Not a muscle problem from lifting, digging and carrying, or falling over a garden ornament, but a little arm-blush reaction to a local ant.
Waiting for a local bus, for local people, locally, my other brother skipped up to me with a big smile and HELLLOOOOOO Wendy HaHaHa. I jumped up to hug him (he’s 6 ft 4).
skippy: Here’s the bus, three busses at once, OooooOOOOoo HaHaha
I walked toward the first double decker
skippy: WRONG! we want the single decker, Hahahahaha
Wendy: Oh (signifying disappointment at not getting the double decker)
Skippy is on the bus and has placed himself in the centre of the back row of 5 seats by the time I’ve joined the line and paid for a ticket. I look down the bus too see him at the end of the isle, he shows me all of his teeth and claps his hands, then raises one hand and waves it at me, as if I might be leaving, while laughing. I show him my recently cleaned teeth and run down the bus to take a seat next to him. We chat loudly during the journey. I laugh everytime Skippy talks because his enthusiasm and volume is brillliant. He is clearly happy to be with his little sister and I with him.
Skippy is looking forward to the Easter special Dr. Who episode, he tells me about it. I posit that maybe this bus is a TARDIS and one of the passengers is a time lord disguised as a local, the conversation deteriorates from here on.
A gradual metamorphosis, not necessarily death. Scrawl and scribble can convey a message without well formed, legible words, as many a toddlers parent and their fridge postings will attest. That a message is penned is a message of significance in itself. The significance may change with time, but it will remain significant. Keys on boards can convey a clear and consistent letter form reducing the variety of messages conveyed by the personal and environmental quirks of pen-personship. My own left-handed scrawl gets worse in cold weather and when I get a tad over-excited, these things are not conveyed by the clear system of key-strokes. Pen or keys will always imply different messages and the messages with change with time. Just as the messages of ’hand made’ and ‘factory made’ have changed from the initial high value associated with the consistent quality of factory made to the subsequent high value associated with the craft-skill required for hand made.
The art of pen wielding will be maintained by people who take the care to love and use and explore it well, and I may shift from these keys to further pen a wobbly thing or two for your merry bemusement and befuddlement. Consider yourselves warned.
Not a European clothes size to denote adulthood or large children. An exam used in the English school system that was taken by 11 year old students between 1944 and 1974. It was used as a filter for to divide students stream students into entry to Grammar schools or State schools. If you failed you went into an ordinary State school rather than a Grammar school.
I passed an 11+ exam in 1974 at the tail-end of the tripartite school system.
I went to a Comprehensive State School, formerly a Grammar school with teachers that missed the good old grammar school days. It wasn’t an ex-Secondary Modern’ state school that had traditionally educated the children that failed the 11+
Reading is ‘worse than Beirut’, claims Terry Waite
Former hostage Terry Waite stunned Women’s Institute members in Reading by telling them that dealing with their town’s traffic was worse than being held captive for almost five years, after being delayed on his way to speak to them.
Do I think Terry is exaggerating a bit at the detriment of our glorious town’s already overly maligned reputation?
OH YES!
The town traffic may indeed be a bit slower than the executive’s posh car, or Fiat Panda, can travel. It is, however, a reasonable, leisurely, pace for the good and even-tempered people of the town to go about their honest toil.
In a nutshell, despite years of equal opportunities, the media – and the people who watch and read – prefer the stay-at-home mother over a woman who lives her life in public, particularly one who is overtly ambitious or successful in making money. There is great satisfaction among many people in seeing them humbled
I do hope no one is terribly suprised or shocked by this result.
A woman who was seen being punched by a police officer in CCTV footage has said she is disappointed after it was confirmed he will not face charges.
Punching a female suspect (guilt undetermined) five times while the suspect is on the floor after having fallen down a flight of stairs, while colleagues watch, is legally acceptable according to the ‘Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC)’ who stated that the police officer being investigated used
“justified and proportionate force”
Watch the BBC video footage which includes a brief explanation of legitimate subdue techniques that include punching. I had naively believed that the Police are trained to act in concert to restrain suspects using a range of effective techniques prior to resorting to punching.
The BBC article is at pains to state that the victim boes not think she has been racially abused. Unsuprisingly, whether this is an act of hate against females is not raised.
Public funded broadbcasting in the public interest rather than in the interest of making profit. With journalists all over the world who assume their audience has some intelligence and ask insightful rather than tabloid questions. I suspect that I have a crush on Jeremy Paxman. They produce high quality drama, comedy productions and Dr. Who. They backed Red Dwarf on BBC2 and Top Gear. They employed Dennis Potter and delivered Blue Peter who provided me with my first and enduring female role model in Valerie Singleton and gave me profound appreciation of the potential of squeezy bottles and sticky-backed-plastic to contribute to orld happiness.
Stephen fry quoted on Wikipedia’s entry about Valerie Singleton:
I have been pondering this business of fame since I was young enough to know Valerie Singleton from the Queen (for Americans and other non-Britons I should explain: one is a remote, god-like, autocratic woman endowed with powerful charismatic charm and the other is a constitutional monarch recently played on screen by Helen Mirren
I first heard of the Park Hill estate during my undergraduate environmental psychology classes in 1986. The architect’s, Ivor Smith and Jack Lynn’s, vision for a high rise estate to replace sprawling slums in the northern English city of Sheffield with “Streets in the Sky”. Streets in the sky would recreate the strengths of the communities which had flourished in the back to back slums and provide improved living conditions at a bargain price. Taking people out of small, damp, Victorian terraces where kids played in the streets and giving them streets in the sky with views over the city, inside toilets, covered walkways, balcony’s where children could play and neighbours could chat, with room for attractive open park land around the high rise buildings. Smith and Lynn’s designs were heavily influenced by Le Corbuiser’s Breton Brut as evident in his Marseilles Unité d’Habitation. Breton Brut became known in Britain as ‘Brutalism’, simple functional form. They wanted to build in a sense of neighbourliness into these functional spaces.
In 1998 Park Hill became the largest grade 2 listed building in europe.
