UTOPIA.PHOTO

Category: Projects

  • Lifesaving – why do you do it?

    This year, I shall have been involved in lifesaving for 48 years. Friends often ask me why. Well, today gives a pretty good insight into my reasons.

    Between 11am and 4pm, a group of four lifesaving instructors, taught rope-throwing rescues to 200+ people and CPR to 50+. We were at an area of Walton-on-Thames, beside the River, as part of a multi-agency water safety event. Organised by Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, and attended by ourselves, the Surrey Search and Rescue charity, the Police, and the Maritime Volunteer Service, it provided the opportunity to engage with a broad cross-section of the community in an area in which there have been three times the number of drownings this year compared to previous ones.

    The members of the public ranged from very young children to ‘mature’ grandparents, some were on their own ‘just walking past’; there were young couples and couples who were young at heart; cyclists, joggers, and even some wedding guests!

    A few vignettes…

    • The five-year-old Asian boy, who was so excited at learning to throw a line to someone who could be drowning, that half-an-hour later he returned with three of his best friends to show them.
    • The lady in the wheelchair who surprised herself.
    • The two sisters and their younger brother whose instructions to the casualty could probably be heard on the other side of the River.
    • The guy with mental health issues who had seen a mate ‘go in’ and didn’t know what to do.
    • The six-year-old autistic boy who threw the rope dead straight to its full 15 metres length, landing it straight across the outstretched arms of the casualty… not once but three times – jumping up and down with excitement each time!
    • The group of four Russian-speaking nannies, who thought it was such a great opportunity that one of them rang her employers and asked if she could collect the kids and bring them down to the River to have a go even though it was her day off.
    • The three grannies who, independently, persuaded their charges that they should learn CPR together (“It’s a really useful skill to have.”)
    • The rowing coach who, reluctant at first, had a go then realised that this was actually something that his rowers and club members should all learn…

    I could go on. Why do I do this? Of course, there’s the grand moral purpose to save lives, prevent drowning, encourage water safety. However, those could all be achieved in other ways and I don’t think they alone would sustain someone’s motivation for 48 years. The answer is a bit deeper. I am not a religious person, but to see human beings of every background, all kinds of circumstances, and with so many personal stories, ‘having a go’ – stepping outside their personal comfort zone – wanting to know what they could do if ever they had to. There are so many horrifying things happening all around us, that it’s seeing people like this that restores your faith in humanity. It’s that kind of spiritual buzz that keeps me involved in initiatives like this. And, do you know what? I have a pretty strong feeling that I am not the only one!?

  • Global NGOs call for action on animal agriculture in the race to save planet from climate change

    The leaders of 50 NGOs have written to Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP, as President of the COP26 climate conference being held in Glasgow this November, urging him to broker an agreement that publically recognises the damage that animal agriculture has on the environment.

    This single industry sector is responsible for an estimated 14.5-16.5% of human-induced greenhouse emissions, roughly the same as the entire transport sector, globally.  Animal agriculture is the largest user of all land, taking up a massive 83% of the world’s farmland.  Providing only 37% of our protein need and 18% of our calorific needs, this is also incredibly inefficient.  Animal agriculture drives deforestation, species extinction, land degradation, pollution, and the exhaustion of water resources.

    Reducing the consumption, and therefore production, of meat and dairy has been agreed by scientists to be one of the most effective actions we can take in the race to save the planet. An unprecedented, 11000+ scientists have endorsed a paper in the journal Bioscience that summarises the evidence to support this.

    The NGOs that have written to Sharma, which include the UK’s RSPCA and Humane Society, hope that formal recognition at COP26 will encourage world leaders to commit to meat and dairy consumption reduction strategies to meet the Paris Agreement’s below 2°C target.  Currently, just a few exemplary cities and governments have taken steps to legislate for, and promote, a popular shift towards plant-based diets.

    Source: https://www.hsi.org/news-media/more-than-50-global-ngos-call-on-cop26-to-formally-acknowledge-animal-agriculture-as-major-climate-change-contributor-at-this-years-conference/

  • A kind of Photo-Roman…

    Flat Stanley on VE Day, 2020

    Flat Stanley was sent to Klint and Amanda from a primary school in Kansas. Unfortunately, he arrived a couple of days after they had left for the US to avoid travel restrictions due to Covid-19. The idea is that these coloured cut-outs are hosted by someone and returned by a certain date. So, I pulled together a few shots, added some captions, and produced a PDF “book” which was duly returned to the child responsible for sending him…

    The pictures weren’t my best, but the concept is now proven… I’m tempted to offer something like this for the Marlborough School Fun Day.

    Photo-Roman (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman-photo) – “A photo novel is a narrative genre close to comics, in which a succession of photographs, generally embellished with texts arranged or not in speech bubbles, leads the narration.”

    We saw the major exhibition of Photo-Roman in Marseille a couple of years ago and I was quite emotionally impressed by the impact of the idea. Had resolved to have a go one day, but hadn’t had the excuse or need.

    Ella’s Flat Stanley

    Incidentally, this is my second Lockdown Project completed.

  • 75th Anniversary of VE Day – Pt 2 – Celebrate?

    (to be completed)

    Celebrate /ˈsɛlɪbreɪt/ verb – to acknowledge a significant or happy, day or event, with a social gathering or enjoyable activity. “To celebrate their joint birthday, they had a big party and two cakes”.

    The 75th Anniversary

    Before the coronavirus crisis, the Government had moved the May Bank Holiday from Monday to Friday to allow a three-day commemoration consisting of a parade in London, speeches and broadcasts, a flypast by the Red Arrows, and a concert at the Royal Albert Hall.  Pubs across the country were due to remain open later, until 1am, on 8 and 9 May, while people were also encouraged to host their own street parties to get involved in what has been called the “VE Day spirit“. 

    While Armistice Day is usually commemorated, rather than celebrated, it has clearly been the intention for some time, that a celebration would be encouraged in 2020. The coronavirus crisis has, in part, thwarted this plan.

    With ‘lockdown’, all official events have been postponed until, at present, the weekend of VJ Day (August 15th and 16th).  The public are still being encouraged to take part in the ‘Nation’s Toast to the Heroes of WW2’ which takes place at 3pm on 8 May, and serves to thank those who gave their lives to ensure the freedom the country enjoys today, but to do so from the safety of their own home.

    Picnics on the front garden

    The Government department responsible for the events has now proposed that people should decorate their homes in red, white, and blue, and have a picnic “in their front garden”.

    Front gardens are a largely post-war phenomenon

    Former Manorial villages (which are typical of many rural settlements) have larger houses in the centre, often closer to the church (along with barns that have subsequently been converted), and progressively poorer accommodation further away from the Manor. The low-value properties almost always have their door directly onto the street. They have often been interspersed with, what is known as ‘regulated housing’ built between 1875 and the 1980s. The earlier of which usually also abutted the road, unless they were larger ‘villas’ which had a strip of front garden. Local authority housing, built after WW1, is virtually the only lower cost accommodation that has a front garden. A few private in-fills copied this style. However, by the 1980s, when council housing was being sold to private owners, much of this was being paved to provide standing for a vehicle, corresponding to a growth in private ownership of cars. The only examples of peripheral housing with a ‘front garden’ are private developments usually built in the 90s and 00s. Subsequent ones have smaller plots and developers again minimise the front space.

    The pattern was not dissimilar in towns, where most early development was by factory owners in close proximity to their works and mills. Until private developers began to create large estates on the edges, few had gardens let alone one in the front.

    City development is a more complex process, but again, the possession of a front garden was always, and largely remains, something that the wealthy may have, part of the middle class may aspire to, and for the majority is a pipe-dream.

    The government’s call could be, at best, a little misguided and naive, or at worst an appeal to the aspirational middle-class who they see as a pool of prospective voters.

  • 75th Anniversary of VE Day – Commemorate

    Commemorate /kəˈmɛməreɪt/ verb – to recall and show respect for (someone or something).  “A wreath-laying ceremony was held to commemorate the war dead”

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    VE Day (8th May 1945)

    This year, 2020, is the 75th Anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) Day.  The war would continue for some time in Asia and the Pacific, but for many Britons and their allies, this was the beginning of the end of the sacrifices that they had made for six years.  In London, the news created a wave of euphoria, and iconic photographs give the impression that everyone was celebrating.  Elsewhere, the mood was more constrained.  Many had little to celebrate.  Nevertheless, communities came together and street parties were quickly organised with rations being pooled, and bunting being made, however in the minds of all was the suffering so many had endured, and the personal loss felt by friends and neighbours. The celebration was as much a drowning of sorrows (the Government had been anticipating the German surrender and arranged for stocks of beer to be brought into the capital in secret) and an opportunity for parents to reassure their children that the suffering that had blighted their early years was now over.

    The deadliest military conflict in history

    In World War II, an estimated total of 70–85 million people died – 3% of the 1940 world population; of whom, 50-56 million were military personnel and 20-30 million were civilians.  There were a further 19 to 28 million deaths from war-related disease and famine.  Rationing would remain in place for almost a decade.

    The challenge of the home-coming

    Some 4.2 million service men and women were demobilised in Britain alone, and along with 30000 or so child evacuees, would ultimately return; many to shattered homes, broken families, and lost friends.  In her book, Stranger In The House, Julie Summers paints an emotionally charged image of the many ways in which families would be challenged after as much as six years of separation.

    There were millions of service personnel from other parts of the world who may not return home for two years, and 60 million people were refugees with no home to go to at all.  While VE day marked a turning point, the suffering was far from over for many.  Soon after the war, many parts of the world experienced massive political turmoil, economic hardship, social unrest, and significant changes in welfare, education, and the economy.

    War graves

    The cemetery in Upper Heyford contains 41 graves maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. This organisation oversees the resting places of 1.7 million Commonwealth military personnel, at 23000 locations in over 150 countries. The gravestones were made to a uniform pattern, and the layout of the cemeteries or parts of larger burial grounds were all designed with considerable thought, to preserve an atmosphere of respect and reflection. They are maintained impeccably.

    The cemetery came into use about 1919 or 1920, when the churchyard opposite ceased to be used for burials. During the early part of the 1939-1945 War ground in the south-western corner was set aside for service war burials, and was used by the RAF Station at Upper Heyford. This is now the War Graves Plot.

    The graves illustrate the role of the Commonwealth and the very young age of the volunteers signing up. Unusually, one grave appears to be a private memorial.

    Unrelated, but an interesting insight into the impact these young men had…

    https://www.centralwesterndaily.com.au/story/4539236/war-hero-to-professor-alex-jenkins-amazing-life-comes-to-an-end/

  • Burgess Field and Trap Ground Allotments, Oxford

    These two areas are good examples of re-greening initiatives, and attempts to improve biodiversity, within cities.

    Trap Grounds Allotments

    As with many other allotments, the site was used as a municipal refuse tip prior to the 1914-1918 war, and part of the site was still used for this purpose in the 1950s. Garden soil was then brought in horse-drawn carts from various places in Oxford to cap the tip, but the ground still contains scraps of debris and associated pollutants typical of urban soils.

    There are currently around 180 plots and half-plots on the site. A standard plot traditionally being 11 ‘poles’, a unit of length of exactly ​5 1⁄2 yards. There is no mains water on the site but there are a number of 2-3m deep wells.

    Burgess Field

    Burgess Field was the City Council open landfill site until the early 1980s, which explains why it stands higher than the neighbouring Trap Grounds allotments and Port Meadow itself. When it was closed, a clay cap was put in place and the area was roughly landscaped and partially planted with trees and hedges in the 1990s. The trees were carefully chosen to encourage wildlife, have since flourished, and now form the tall hedges that in 2019 have begun to be “lain down” ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgelaying ) by volunteers to provide better cover for nesting birds.

    HS2

    The High Speed train line heading north out of Oxford passes beside the Trap Grounds Allotments and Burgess Field Nature Reserve. Until the line was upgraded, pedestrians wanting to access these (and Port Meadow adjacent to them) had to cross the line using a wooden sleeper based crossing. When someone narrowly escaped death, the authorities got on with the creation of a large pedestrian bridge across the lines with a substantial perpendicular bridge exclusively for the use of the allotment users.

    All told, the two developments are good illustrations of re-greening of a city even before climate change and adaptation were spoken of. They make a substantial contribution to the green lungs of the city.