Barcelona Metro

Sant Andreu Station

On the recent trip the Celtic Sage stayed some 3 miles from the centre of Barcelona in the city suburb of Sant Andreu which was a short hop on the Red Line (L1) to the main central transport interchange of Catalunya on the Plaça Catalunya. This was more of an introduction to the commuter system than I banked on as there are two lines which go through Sant Andreu, not just the Metro but also the suburban line which has a metro like feel with similar carriages. There were two giveaways to uninitiated tourists like ourselves that we were NOT on the Metro. Firstly steps came out from the automatic doors and you had to step up into the carriage and secondly, and somewhat alarmingly, after the next station of Fabra i Puig the train continued non-stop to Catalunya. No harm done as we got into the centre quicker and over the next few days we came to know and rely on this impressive and comprehensive integrated transport system as we travelled around Barcelona.



In the 83 years since its opening, the Barcelona Metro has grown to a network of six lines, spanning 86 kilometres and serving 115 stations. Backed by enormous investment and vision on the part of its parent company, Ferrocarils Metropolitans de Barcelona (FCMB), the city transit authority (Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona, TMB) and the Catalan government, the system is poised for impressive growth. Various extensions and state of the art upgrades will provide Barcelona residents with one of the most expansive and sophisticated metros in the world by the end of this decade.


System Map

Faced with crowding population and outward urban expansion, the post-industrial revolution Barcelona of the late 19th and early 20th centuries drastically needed public transit. The city initially found relief in a fleet of street trams that entered operation in 1872. However, the trams were limited by increasingly dense traffic and the convoluted street layout of the city's Gothic Quarter. In 1907, after an exhaustive study commissioned by the city on traffic conditions and transport options, the urban planners Pau Muller and Gonçal Zaragoza recommended the construction of an underground metro system. Although the project had been approved within a few years, construction did not begin until 1922. On 30 December 1924, the Catalan capital finally inaugurated its first underground route - Line I of the Gran Metropolitano, from Plaça Lesseps to Plaça Catalunya.





Construction of the second line of the Gran Metro, from Aragó in the central Eixample Dreta neighbourhood to the central post office near the port, was complicated by several factors - not least of which were an abundance of subterranean water and a city council ruling that prohibited diverting traffic for construction under Via Layetana, one of the city's busiest streets. Nonetheless, Line II entered into service in 1926 with two new stations, Urquinaona and Jaime I, as well as a connection to line I at Aragó. The then lines I and II correspond to segments of today's lines 3 (L3) and 4 (L4), respectively.

The Barcelona Metro today is a conglomeration of two operating companies, the "Ferrocarril Metropolita de Barcelona" (Metro) which operates metro lines 1 through 5, and "FGC", Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya, which operates two city-only lines, U6 and U7, and several suburban lines all from a terminal station at Placa de Catalunya. Fares are integrated into Autoritat del Transport Metropolità, a city-wide system that also includes local and regional buses and some regional train services. 98% of the rail tracks are subsurface.

The Metro lines 1-5 were built in the beginning of the 1920s and several lines are still being extended today. In May 1999 a new plan for metro and light rail lines in the Barcelona metropolitan area was approved by the ATM. The plan includes some 50km of new lines, intended to be built within 10 years. Line 9 will be the longest tube line in Europe, stretching between Santa Colomna and the airport. A very similar plan was approved in 1971 for the period up to 1979 to create a network of 111km and 142 stations. But almost 30 years later, the Barcelona Metro had only reached 83.5km.




Fabra i Puig Station

This time it would appear that the politicians mean business and there will be a vast expansion of the network to cover the urban expanse of Barcelona. Construction work is taking place currently on L9 / L10, which will run from Badalona and Santa Coloma to the Zona Franca district and El Prat International Airport. The lines, which will share a central section between Bon Pastor and Torrassa (L1), will be the longest underground metro line in Europe, at 26.6 miles (42.6km), and will have 52 stations. The project was approved in 2000 but has been challenged by some technical difficulties and some of their sections are pending further geological analysis, which of 2007 is the reason for the delay in the construction of some of the mentioned sections, which won't be ready until 2012 or even as late as 2013. As of mid 2007, there are currently 150 operational stations in the Barcelona Metro, served by the 9 lines in current use, which will increase to an impressive 209 when lines L9 and L10 are finally completed. The average distance between stations is of 650 metres.





The evolution experienced by the public transport network in Barcelona has taken place in a parallel manner to the urban growth of the area, and has both adapted itself to and promoted the expansion of the built-up areas. Since the launching of the first tramway line, in 1872, the public transport in Barcelona has gone through several phases. The metro was born from the need to complement the existing road transport network in the city and in 1908 there were tunnels built below Via Layetana.

However, it was not until 1924 that the first metro line was inaugurated. Today the Barcelona Metro has five lines in service, 115 subway stations and 83.5km of track (two whole new lines are being constructed and four others are being extended). Its rolling stock is made up of 105 five-carriage car trains, of which 93 are, unlike the London Underground, equipped with air conditioning. TMB (Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona) is the corporation that manages 86% of the public transport system.

The Barcelona Metro is one of the most under-used resources available to tourists. It is safe to use at any time of day and it comprehensively covers most of the city and is pretty cheap. Metro maps appear on most Barcelona maps and guide books usually say which stop is the nearest to a particular sight (it is an 'M' in a diamond shape in most guide books) so you will always know where you are going. The Metro in Barcelona is open until midnight from Sunday to Thursday, until 2am on Friday and through the night on Saturday.


Line Diagram

One of the most important things to get your head around is the various tickets available. Choosing the right ticket is essential to taking full advantage of the low prices of the Barcelona Metro. The ticket machine display can be put into English, so the first thing to do is press the British flag at the bottom of the screen (unless you are really confident in your Catalan!) You should see a screen like in the picture on this page. The options available to you are:




Ticket Machines

Single ticket (Price: 1.30€) The most expensive ticket and not worth buying unless you really only plan on making one journey. Worth buying for your journey to the airport, when your other ticket has run out.

T-10 Ten Journeys (Price 7.20€) Much cheaper than buying individual tickets, each journey works out at 72c, which is a fraction over half price and at 50p compares well with the cheapest cash fare of £2.00 in London! More than one person can use the ticket at the same time too - you can pass the ticket back and your companion can pass it through the machine too. A “journey” lasts 75 minutes, so you can change metros as many times as you want in that time and can even go onto a bus. You have to remember to validate your ticket each time in the machine provided.

So, really, the T-10 is the only ticket worth buying. If you come to your last day and have a busy day ahead, buy the T-DIA, and if you come to your last journey, get a single ticket. But, fellow visitors use the Metro, No more expensive taxis all the time! The Barcelona Metro is cheap and will get you to your destination so much quicker, allowing you more time to explore new areas of the city. Go on now, don't be scared, try it!


Sagrada Familia entrance


Sagrada Familia Station

The Funicular de Montjuïc, a funicular railway, is fare-integrated and listed on maps as part of the metro network, being connected directly to the metro at Paral•lel station. In addition to those, Renfe and FGC trains and the increasingly important Trambaix and Trambesòs routes and stations are displayed on most recent maps, including the info maps in the metro stations, all in a single variety of dark green.








Funicular de Montjuïc

An overwhelming majority of stations in the network lack related buildings or structures above ground, as opposed to other subway networks as the London Underground, mostly consisting of an access with stairs, escalators and sometimes an elevator. The official TMB metro indicator, a red rhombus with a M inside, isn't still used by FGC lines, which use their company logo and a different rhombus-shaped logo inside stations. Below ground their decoration is remarkably sober, with the exception of a few stations.

The ambience of the system is good even if the entrances are lack lustre lacking any real drama or great presence at street level. However step free access is far better than, say, London Underground with numerous lifts, occasional “stair lifts” and permanent ramps on platforms. Unlike London, which tends to over engineer such items, here the platform ramps are yellow poly ramps permanently at the front and back of the platforms serving 3 carriage doors each. Simple, cost effective, visible and easily understood. Where it does fall down is like of access information on maps so passengers cannot easily work out the step free access / egress and connections to enable them to plan independent journeys.




Carriage Interior

Station lighting is good, normally back lighting, resulting in bright platforms and the standard of surfaces is also generally good due to the amount of newly built lines and the whole system being upgraded for the 1992 Olympics so that the whole system has a similar “look and feel”. Cleaning is OK but of course Barcelona has a great advantage over London in that several tons of “free” newspapers are not dumped on it each day, not to mention “strays” in the tunnels to cause line stopping tunnel fires (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/09/litter-is-disgusting-so-are-those.html ). System security is taken seriously with highly visible CCTV, armed Police, and sniffer dogs, security guards and visible staff. The Police presence is throughout the system and not like London where it tends to be show piece “high visibility” policing gestures with the system generally abandoned the rest of the time. Obviously the visible, continuous and clearly integrated security on the Metro is a response to the Madrid train bombings but certainly results in a high degree of reassurance for residents and visitors alike.


An assault being captured on CCTV

On platform the train time displays are obviously driven off sophisticated signalling and control systems as they count down the arrival time of the next train in seconds, a revelation to somebody used to the notionality of London Underground minutes and an excellent value added perception for waiting passengers! Once on the carriages they are bright and well maintained with no sense of crowding due to all the doors being doubles and well spaced and the rolling stock being at least 2 feet wider than London Underground surface stock as they are running on the Spanish gague of 5 ft 5⅔ in. (1,668 mm ). This is the same as surface stock as there is no “tube” stock and this certainly results in roomy carriages with good circulation and most carriages have comfort cooling similar to that which will be introduced on London Underground sub surface stock up to 2012. Traction power is by high voltage overhead wires which is more efficient and requires fewer transformers than rail traction power. It also greatly simplifies track maintenance and increases safety compared to rail traction power systems, as in London.

Information is very good with displays and Digital Voice Recorders (DVRs) announcing the next stations. Two nice features are; Stations illuminate on the Line diagrams over the door to show you which stations the train has gone through giving passengers a quick visual reference on where they are and at the top left and right corners at the end of the carriages a green arrow illuminates to indicate the side on which doors will open at the next station. Generally these are staggered at alternate stations in the central area. Most train sets have walk through connectors (as proposed on the new London Underground stock) giving an airy and secure feel to the train sets as commuters don’t feel isolated in individual carriages.


Plaça Espanya Station

Many of the newer carriages have airline style video displays in the carriage vestibules and I was expecting these to contain advertising. However I was pleasantly surprised as in a refreshing reflection both of the public service ethos of the Metro and the pride the citizens of Barcelona feel in their system they contain short passenger safety informercials and public service notices. More tellingly, and in sharp contrast to the balkanised operation on the London Tube, there were longer informercials on the operation and maintenance of the system. For Barcelona Metro is a vertically integated operation and does everything cost effectively “in house” so it builds up and controls its own operational expertise. So there were informercials on track maintenance, signalling, train operations, security and much more. The effect of this vertical integration was apparent in the quality of the operation on the ground with excellent ambience, no delays, clean carriages, good information and an overall impressive look and feel to the system. The combination of roomy carriages, comfort cooling and a smooth ride due the combination of high track quality and automatic train operation with soft start / soft stop and regenerative braking made for a pleasant experience in transit in contrast to the jerky uneven ride on London Underground. Indeed what London has lost from its “Alice in Wonderland” PPP model can be seen in many other aspects of the service such as soft start / soft stop on escalators which go into slow “sleep” mode until passengers approach them and trigger the movement detectors. Far better not to waste energy in the first place than have heat build up due to waste power being dissapaited in the Underground! Indeed I have probably been unfair to Alice in Wonderland as it was written by a mathematician who was aware that things need to add up!


1924 Stock


New Barcelona 9000 series

Metro stations occasionally hold events, and the TMB has recently organised a Music in the Metro series with scheduled live performers. Service is also extended for certain holidays, such as all night service during New Year's Eve or the city's annual festival of La Mercé, once again a reflection of the flexibility and ability to respond to customer needs which comes from being in control of your system. From what I saw the pride of Barcelona’s citizens in its transport system is well justified as it displays an impressive quality in its management and operations due to the simple focus on public service and operational competence which goes in hand with the vertical integration of operations and maintenance functions. This in turn is reflected in staff pride, customer identification and lower operating costs reflected in fare levels which are, on average, 40% of those charged per kilometre in London. The Barcelona Metro has been serving city residents for more than eight decades and is on track to becoming one of the most sophisticated and user-friendly in the world.

URBEATZ Liverpool - Combating Knife Crime

Caught in Between Showcase - Young People lead fight to combat Anti-Social Behaviour and Gun and Knife Crime‏

Hello,

On Friday 28th November a group of young people from across Liverpool are aiming to combat the growth in youth anti-social behaviour and gun and knife crime with a multi-arts showcase about these hot topics. The night is a culmination of their learning from a course entitled 'Caught in Between' that looked at the phenomenon of youth gun and knife crime and anti-social behaviour.

"This group are choosing not to adopt the names they are labeled with. This group have chosen to follow their dreams and this will reduce the chance that they will be caught in between. They have chosen to lead in a new direction that will celebrate their unique gifts and inspire others to do the same"

A Celebration of Life. Music. Dance. Poetry. Drama. Film. Comedy.



November 28th 7.30 -10.30 at Novas Contemporary Urban Centre.


To attend please contact Jernice : jernice.urbeatz@gmail.com

Performances by: KOF, J Will (1Xtra), MD Productions, Cody Urban Dance, DJ Kwame and so many more
Speakers: Basil Reynolds, Geoff Thompson and more

Hope you can come and support.

--

URBEATZ
"...quality in every endeavour..."

Download ALL of KOF's Best Tracks for FREE at www.kofmusic.com

* ICE Creative Business of The Year 07-08
* MBHMG Business Sector Award 2008

a. URBEATZ, PO Box 90, Liverpool, L31 9WA
m. 0797-011-0709
e. yaw.urbeatz@gmail.com
w. www.urbeatz.com
w2. www.kofmusic.com
w3. www.compressedmag.com

URBEATZ is an Urban Music, Media and Youth Culture Company.

Antoni Gaudí and Barcelona Modernisme style

Antoni Gaudí

I felt some excitement at a long overdue first trip to Barcelona to see the works of Antoni Gaudí and the other architects associated with the Modern Movement in Barcelona. As an architectural student in Dublin there was little exposure to this movement. True, we had the example of Michael Scott and Busáras (the Central Bus Station) and the architects own house at Sandycove but these were post-war and isolated and we knew little of the Irish designer who was at the very vanguard of the Modern Movement, Eileen Gray and the wonderful E1027 at Roquebrune in the South of France (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/09/e-1027-roquebrune-cap-martin.html ). Instead we tended to associate the movement with disciples of Berthold Lubetkin and Tecton in England who were at the more brutalist end of the International Movement. So seeing the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow School (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/07/charles-rennie-mackintosh.html ) emphasised both how far adrift Ireland had been from the zeitgeist of European Architecture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries due to political turmoil and the conservatism after independence. Mackintosh also showed how he was part of a “Glasgow School” of fellow architects, artists and crafts people and showed how this was a great opportunity lost for an independent Ireland to establish its own identity, a point further reinforced when you see how an independent Latvia embraced Art Nouveau during its remarkable period of independence between the wars (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/08/riga-capital-of-country-in-transition.html ).

Like many visitors before me I had come to Barcelona to experience the animal-, vegetable- and mineral-like buildings that have made this architect's work synonymous with the city they adorn. Barcelona equals Gaudí. This makes sense, because Gaudí was a fervent Catalan nationalist, and an equally fervent Catholic, whose architecture has been a rallying point in stone, concrete and his hallmark broken glazed tiles. The Modernist architects expressed themselves in different ways, some wanted to revive Romanesque architecture, others imported the French neo-Gothicism of Violet le Duc, others still searching for a modern style in Germany, Austria or France. What seems to be characteristic is the use of nature-forms: flowers, plants and animals, decorative forms in ironwork, ceramics and stained glass. The aim was to create a modern art based on Catalan traditions, mixed with the use of new materials, like cast and wrought iron.



Three buildings of the early 1880's seem to mark the beginnings of Modernism : The publishing house of Montaner i Simon(1880), Josep Vilaseca's factory for F. Vidal (1884) and Gaudi's Casa Vicens (1883- 5). All three flow from a revival of a Spanish style: the neo- Mudéjar, with the use of Moorish decorative forms and techniques as characteristics. Modernism seems to have begun earlier and ended later than in most countries in Europe. Modernismo was the term which in Spain described the fin-de-siècle style which in Germany and Austria was called Jugendstil, and in France Art Nouveau. For this reason Gaudi's work is never at the “form follows function” end of modernism but incorporates colour in the Moorish manner as transferred to Spain and reflects his obsession with natural forms which gives his designs an organic feel which gives them a feeling of humanity which transcends architectural conceit or grandiosity.






Casa Vicens

This single-family residence for Manuel Vicens was the first Gaudí designed. The site was small (smaller today after the widening of the street) and conventional structures already existed in the area. This early work exhibits several influences, most notably the Moorish (or Mudéjar) influence, particularly evident at the top. The house is constructed of undressed stone, rough red bricks, and colored ceramic tiles in checkerboard and floral patterns. Manuel Vicens was the owner of a brick and tile factory so the ceramic tiles pay tribute to his employment. The yellow, zinnia-flowered tile, designed by Gaudí, was manufactured by Vicens.



The son of a coppersmith, Antoni Gaudí was born in Reus, Spain in 1852. He studied at the Escola Superior d'Arquitectura in Barcelona and designed his first major commission for the Casa Vincens in Barcelona using a Gothic Revival style that set a precedent for his future work. Antonio Gaudí was a unique architectural talent, not easily compared with other architects in the terms used by architectural historians. Not only was his work strongly individualized, but Antonio Gaudí was fortunate to have loyal clients to support him. From early in his career, wide attention was given to his work, although Gaudí shunned publicity becoming almost hermit like in later life.

Antonio Gaudí has been identified with the Catalan Modernisme movement of the late nineteenth century and, by extension with the international art nouveau style. His strong personality drew like-minded people of talent to him, and the collaboration of structural engineers, sculptors, and metalworkers was needed to carry out his ideas. It is often possible to identify the artists and engineers involved.








Gaudí's House & furniture - Parc Güell

The nationalist desires of Catalonians had been a problem of long standing for Spain. By the late nineteenth century, Barcelona had developed strong trade relationships with the UK and Western Europe. The wealth created contrasted with the difficult economic times in the rest of Spain and the loss of its last possessions in the war of 1898. The artistic activity in Barcelona was supported by business clients who by their travels were well acquainted with other countries, particularly with the arts and crafts movement in the United Kingdom. The development of illustrated periodicals further spread the art news to Barcelona. The cafe Els Quatre Gats, where Picasso's early work was shown and for which Antonio Gaudí designed menus in 1899, was an example of the international influences of the time.

Over the course of his career, Gaudí developed a sensuous, curving, almost surreal design style which established him as the innovative leader of the Spanish Art Nouveau movement. With little regard for formal order, he juxtaposed unrelated systems and altered established visual order. Gaudi's characteristically warped form of Gothic architecture drew admiration from other avant-garde artists. Although categorised with the Art Nouveau, Gaudí created an entirely original style. He died in Barcelona on July 10, 1926 after he had been knocked down by a tram three days before. He was buried in the Crypt of the Sagrada Família on the 12th July and it is said that the whole city turned out to honour Gaudí.

After the traumatic Civil War Franco despised Barcelona and Catalonia, where even the speaking of the Catalan language was outlawed. Not only was it one of the key centres of opposition to his petty and spiteful fascist regime, but the city was a commercial and cultural rival to Castilian Madrid. It suffered during the Franco years, yet Gaudí's architecture gave it a mystery, a swagger and a wilfulness that helped to keep its head held high.







From the very beginning Gaudi's designs were different from those of his contemporaries. His work was greatly influenced by forms of nature and this is reflected by the use of curved construction stones, twisted iron sculptures, and organic-like forms which are traits of Gaudi's Barcelona architecture. Gaudí's style of architecture went through several phases. On emergence from the Provincial School of Architecture in Barcelona in 1878, he practiced a rather florid Victorianism that had been evident in his school projects, but he quickly developed a manner of composing by means of unprecedented juxtapositions of geometric masses, the surfaces of which were highly animated with patterned brick or stone, gay ceramic tiles, and floral or reptilian metalwork. The general effect, although not the details, is Moorish - or Mudéjar, as Spain's special mixture of Muslim and Christian design is called. Examples of his Mudéjar style are the Casa Vicens (1878-80) and "El Capricho" (1883-85) and the Güell Estate and Güell Palace of the later 1880s, all but "El Capricho" located in Barcelona. Next, Gaudí experimented with the dynamic possibilities of historic styles: the Gothic in the Episcopal Palace, Astorga (1887-93) and Casa de los Botines, León (1892-94) and the Baroque in the Casa Calvet at Barcelona (1898-1904). But after 1902 his designs elude conventional stylistic nomenclature.

Except for certain overt symbols of nature or religion, Gaudí's buildings became essentially representations of their structure and materials. In his Villa Bell Esguard (1900-02) and the Güell Park (1900-14), in Barcelona, and in the Colonia Güell Church (1898-c. 1915), south of that city, he arrived at a type of structure that has come to be called equilibrated - that is, a structure designed to stand on its own without internal bracing, external buttressing, and like, as Gaudí observed, as a tree stands. Among the primary elements of his system were piers and columns that tilt to transmit diagonal thrusts, and thin-shell, laminated tile vaults that exert very little thrust. Gaudí applied his equilibrated system to two multi-storeyed Barcelona apartment buildings: the Casa Batlló (1904-06), a renovation that incorporated new equilibrated elements, notably the facade; and the Casa Milá (1905-10), the several floors of which are structured like clusters of tile lily pads with steel-beam veins. As was so often his practice, he designed the two buildings, in their shapes and surfaces, as metaphors of the mountainous and maritime character of Catalonia.



Gaudí also adorned many of his buildings with coloured tiles arranged in mosaic patterns. This added another important dimension to his buildings which is so often overlooked by architects - the use of colour. The combination of original design, interesting shaped stonework, and vibrant colours in Gaudi's work give the viewer a truly breathtaking visual experience.

One of Antonio Gaudí’s loyal clients and friends was Count Eusebio Güell, for whom Antonio Gaudí designed many projects. For the housing development near Barcelona, Antonio Gaudí designed his famous park (1900-1914) on a sloping site. The Park Güell extends over a market area and is supported on columns sloped to reflect the transfer of loads from the plaza above. The use of coloured tile is most remarkably evident in the curving bench at the edge of the plaza. The tile work was designed by Antonio Gaudí’s collaborator, Josep Maria Jujol I Gibert (1879-1940) and is considered an important work of art. The park was left incomplete because the development project failed to attract investors, particularly with the start of World War I.


















Parc Güell

This park is a place of great plastic beauty. A grand stairway divided by a mythological dragon or lizard leads to the large hypostyle hall. Originally intended to act as a “market place” for the planned community. This is built with 84 inclined columns. These in turn support the great upper plaza, a fine balcony over-looking the city and the sea and feature superb tiled circular designs on the underside. The large plaza is delimited by an extraordinary balustrade-bench which twists in serpentine manner to form winding course, recesses and small semi-enclosed areas where the facing of brightly coloured ceramics creates a spectacular collage which seems to have anticipated a vein explored later avant-garde artists.

Casa Milà has become known in Catalan a "La Pedrera" - 'the quarry'— which was the name an astounded Barcelona population gave to this completely unique building. It could be compared with the steep cliff walls in which African tribes build their cave-like dwellings. The wavy facade, with its large pores, reminds one also of an undulating beach of fine sand, formed, for example, by a receding dune. The Casa Mila apartment house is a late example of Antonio Gaudí’s apartment house was a late example of Antonio Gaudí’s commercial design. On a corner site, the building facade is curvilinear in form and based on organic concepts. The heavy facade is tied to the floors behind. The most successful portions of the design were the roof vaults, clustered chimneys, and balcony railings designed by Jujol. This design caused much public comment, and Antonio Gaudí was forced to defend his organic forms in general terms. Apartment block built between 1906 and 1910 in Barcelona for the Milà family.












Casa Milà - "La Pedrera"

The façade is an impressive wave-like mass of rough-shipped stone. The windows and doors seem to be dug out of this stone mass and are trimmed in exquisitely crafted wrought iron work with vegetal forms on the balconies and astonishing grilles on the two street-doors. On the stepped terrace, coming as an elegant surprise are the huge stair exits of sculptured spirals and faced with broken ceramics and marble. The chimneys bring to mind knights wearing visors. All of this makes up a fantastic and futurist space. The interior marine decoration - ceilings, columns and the furniture designed by Gaudí for this house are extremely modern.

Casa Batlló has been described as “Mighty pillars that appear to resemble the feet of some giant elephant are the first thing to meet the eye of the passer-by from street level. The roof reminds him of a completely different animal: it is bordered by a jagged line similar to the backbone of a gigantic dinosaur.” Apartment block totally renovated by Gaudi between 1904 and 1906 in Barcelona for the Batllo's family. One of the architect's most complete works, it produces an indefinable sensation of lightness in spite of the profusion of forms and motifs. At the first floor level of the undulating façade is a striking stone structure in the form of loggia supported by columns which frame fine windows decorated with stained glass.






Casa Batlló

The ceramics and multi-coloured glass mosaics of the upper part are interrupted by iron balconies in the form of Venetian masks. Crowning the whole is a suggestive tile roof over double garrets, which evokes the back of a fantastic dragon. The first floor was decorated by Gaudi who created some of his best interior design pieces for it, a magnificent built: fireplace, plaster whirling ceilings, stained glass, wrought iron elements, wooden doors and "avant garde" furniture.

The Palau Güell is a town mansion (translated literally a "palace") in Barcelona, Catalonia, designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí for his great patron industrial tycoon Eusebio Güell. The house was greatly expanded and remodelled from Antonio Gaudí’s designs from 1885 to 1890. The facades are more severe than in Antonio Gaudí’s other works, except for the extensive wrought-iron work, the polychrome roof forms, and the principal internal event, a central space rising up through the house to the capping cupola. Drawings of sections of the palace were displayed in Paris in 1910.









Palau Güell

This was the first large-scale work by Gaudi to clearly show the search for new ideas in construction as well as a totally personal, innovative interpretation of historical styles, with Moorish elements. The building is centred on a grand vertical space crowned by a large parabolic dome with star-shaped windows. The others areas: salons, corridors, living rooms are organized around this space which constitutes the main salon. The luxurious interior decoration is a magnificent compendium of the taste of the time- marble columns, ceilings panelled in precious woods; elaborate iron work, incredible stained glass windows, paintings and astounding furniture. On the roof there are eighteen chimneys in various suggestive forms covered with broken pieces of ceramics. UNESCO classified the Güell Palace as World Heritage in 1984.

Casa Amatller is a building in the Modernisme style in Barcelona, designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch. Along with Casa Batlló and Casa Lleó-Morera, it makes up the three most important buildings in Barcelona's famous "Mançana de la Discòrdia" ("Block of Discord"), noted for its unique modernist buildings. The building was originally designed as a residence for chocolatier Antoni Amatller and was constructed between 1898 and 1900. The Casa Amatller is beside the Casa Lleó Morera and the Casa Batlló. This building with its stepped gable (more reminiscent of northern Europe than Spain) is Puig i Cadafalch's most elaborate creation. The facade is largely influenced by religious Catalan Gothic (especially the window surrounds on the lower floors) but the architect has added some playful touches. The facade is covered in ceramic tiles with a slight metallic sheen.












Casa Amatller

Gaudí had a bad temper (there is a Catalan saying: "Gent de camp, gent de lamp," which means "People from the country are quick-tempered people"). He said that his bad temper was the one thing he was never able to control in his life. On the other hand, Gaudí took interest in the social problems of the workers, and felt attached to the people. In his old age, Gaudí was a man who conformed to little in the way of convention and dressed without much care; so much so that the day of his accident nobody recognised him as he lay on the ground. On June 7, 1926, he was run over by a tram at the intersection of Carrer de Bailén and the Gran Vía, and the taxi drivers refused to take a poor vagabond to the hospital (the municipal police fined them later for not assisting an injured man). He did not seek out contact with journalists and he avoided cameras, so there are few photographs of the architect.

This change in attitude may have been caused by a series of events that took place beginning in 1912. That year, his niece, Rosa Egea, who lived with him in Barcelona, died. In 1914, his faithful collaborator, Francesc Berenguer Mestres, died, and for matters of professional fees, he was involved in an acrimonious legal case with the Milà family. In 1915, the continuity of the construction of the Sagrada Familia was endangered by a serious economic crisis. En 1914, construction of the Colonia Güell was interrupted by the war. Two years later, his friend, Doctor Torras i Bages, Archbishop of Vic, died. In 1918, his best friend and patron, Eusebio Güell, passed away. They were sad events that affected him but did not limit his energy and desire to see his greatest work, the Sagrada Família, come into being but from his appearance and behaviour it probably left him without a sense of balance in his life.


Sagrada Família

Gaudí died at the age of 74 (June 10, 1926), but if it hadn't been for the tram he may have lived many more years, since his father had lived to the age of 93, with all his vigour. Half of Barcelona dressed in black to give final homage to a man that had become very popular, although few had ever met him personally. His body was buried in the crypt of the edifice where he had worked for the last 43 years of his life, the Sagrada Familia. Gaudí himself was unlike other architects before or since. An intensely religious celibate vegetarian ascetic who lived increasingly like a hermit and dressed in what seemed to his contemporaries like rags, he nevertheless designed some of the most highly charged, highly wrought buildings yet known.



For me on this journey to Barcelona it was better to arrive as to travel for the legacy of Modernisme and of Antonio Gaudí is a remarkable statement of design, of craftsmanship and of the spirit of Barcelona and Catalonia. This is even more remarkable as this was the architecture of a wealthy elite in a city riven with class tensions which were often expressed violently. However with the resurgence of Catalan identity this unique legacy is the patrimony, not of an elite, but of all the citizens of this unique and artistic city and of a proud and dynamic Catalonia.

Falling Comets

There is Blood on British High streets as the declining consumer retail spend is cannibalised by deep across the board discounting by all the major retailers. Marks and Spencer is cutting prices in its clothing and homeware departments by 20% for one day only on Thursday, its first one-day sale for four years. "The customer is not conditioned to expect M&S to do these things very often," retail analyst Fraser Ramzan, of Nomura, said. Some M&S stores will stay open until midnight for the discount day. BHS reacted to this unprecedented deep discounting by Marks and Sparks by launching a 3 day 30% discount event the very next day and Debenhams launched a 2 day 25% discount event whilst the same day Mark One, the fashion retailer, announced it had appointed administrators, no doubt the latest of many such retail failures.

Yesterday Sainsbury advertised 1 litre of Bailey’s Irish Cream Liqueur at £10, down from £17.99, today Tesco hit back with one litre at £8.00. I don’t like Tesco (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/11/tesco-supermarket-which-arte.html ) but nobody can accuse them of being slow in responding to competition. M & S launched two dine in for £10.00 for a main course, side dish, desert and a bottle of wine for two, Tesco have launched a similar offer for £9.00 with wine and £5.00 without. Meanwhile Tesco have responded to the discounter challenge from Aldi, Lidl and Netto by branding themselves as “Britain’s Biggest Discounter” and launching copy cat ranges. Truly, in 2008 Credit Crunch Land retailing is strictly for the brave!



Debenhams, Marks & Spencer and Sir Philip Green's Arcadia clothes empire have all been slashing prices this week in an attempt to lure shoppers. The John Lewis decline extended the near 10% fall suffered in the previous week. Waitrose, the supermarket owned by John Lewis, joined the gloom. Its weekly sales fell 4.6%, a performance that suggests even large food retailers may have a tough Christmas. Retailers hope recent interest rate cuts will filter through to shoppers in time to rescue Christmas. The Bank of England is expected to cut rates again next month perhaps to 2.5%. Marks & Spencer saw like-for-like sales fall 6.1% in the 13 weeks to 27 September, while Arcadia Group, the owner of such retailers as Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Burtons, experienced a 2.8% drop from 2007.

Sales on the UK's High Streets fell by a lower-than-expected 0.1% in October, figures from the Office for National Statistics have shown. The decline was much less than the 0.9% drop that analysts had predicted after sales fell by 0.4% in September. Retail sales grew at an annual rate of 1.9% compared with 1.7% in September. Many retailers have opted to hold pre-Christmas sales in a bid to boost spending at what should be their busiest time of year. Food sales rose 1% in October, but non-food sales fell 1.1%. Sales of household goods were down 1.5% and clothing sales fell 3.4%. "The drop in non-food sales clearly suggests that discretionary spending is taking a hit," said Vicky Redwood at Capital Economics.

The retail sector is continuing to suffer at the hands of the housing market slowdown with the Comet electrical goods chain warning yesterday that it is heading for a loss because of disappointing sales of refrigerators and washing machines. The company, part of the pan-European Kesa Electricals giant, believes that people are unable to move home and are not splashing out on new household appliances. Comet is also suffering because more people are shopping online. The scale of the setback during the three months of the year to the end of July surprised analysts. Sales at the chain of 251 stores fell by a thumping 9.9 per cent. This is far worse than the rival electrical chain Currys, which has reported sales 7 per cent lower.



However at the weekend the Celtic Sage at Comet’s out of town store in Aylesbury the Celtic Sage gained an insight into why Comet is such a poor customer proposition. The outlet is fine from the “Big White Shed” school of retailing and as you go in helpful young staff are on hand to assist and guide and the layout is clean and open with an air of activity to draw you in. However all the Sage wanted were 5 hoover bags for his Miele vacuum cleaner. These are £6.99 in John Lewis but here in Comet they were a whopping £11.99, an amazing 72% MORE EXPENSIVE than on the high street. I bought the bags under protest but made a mental note not to darken the door of Comet again for like every customer I know when I have been treated like a fool. So don’t bother to sell me a big ticket item, Barrow boy in Comet’s marketing department you have lost this customer’s loyalty. This is a mistake failing retail propositions make in thinking that customers will be price insensitive on accessories. Jessops the camera shop did the same to me by trying to charge twice what Argos would charge for rechargeable batteries; result I’ll never buy a big ticket item like a camera there.


The luxurious £11.99 vacuum bags from Comet!

Comet tries to defend its position and said it had protected margins by refusing to slash prices to draw buyers into its stores. "One day the cycle will tick up – in the meantime the business is refusing to chase unprofitable revenue," said an adviser in September 2008. Well I’m sure this sounded sensible then and he has left to pursue “new opportunities” elsewhere by now! Sales of laptops and televisions were more resilient, although the company admitted "we now anticipate Comet will make a loss in the first half". Kesa's arguments did not satisfy the stock market, which marked its shares down by nearly 10 per cent. Analysts slashed profit forecasts for the current year. Overall, Kesa, which takes in the French electrical chain Darty and other retail outlets operating throughout Belgium, Holland and Slovakia, reported a 4.7 fall in sales for the opening quarter. Darty fared better than Comet with sales down by 3.2 per cent, but conditions in France remain tough and the scale of the slowdown also caused concern in the market. Unconnected with the Celtic Sage’s rip off vacuum bags the CEO has fallen on his sword (sorry; “decided to retire”) and Jean-Noel Labroue will leave after a handover period to Thierry Falque-Pierrotin who is joining the Group on 5 January 2009 as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). I hope he does well but he will do it without my help, once you lose a customer he stays lost, and that is a home truth the Barrow Boys in marketing don’t understand and there is no point in paying large amounts of money to Finsbury PR whilst squandering customer loyalty!


Oxford Street

Another company which is surprised that shoppers are shunning it is The John Lewis Partnership. Weekly sales at John Lewis's flagship London stores lurched downwards once again as shoppers held off on making purchases in the hope prices will keep falling. The Oxford Street store that usually does well whatever the economic weather saw sales off 12.6%. Other stores in highly affluent areas also struggled. The Peter Jones branch at Sloane Square was down 18.6%. Cambridge down 26.7%, Bluewater off 15.7% and Kingston down 17.9% continued the trend. This was part of a wider slump at John Lewis in the week to 15 November when sales across the country fell 14% on average. This is the worst weekly sales performance in at least a year and suggests that consumers are ignoring the lure of sales in the expectation that stores will be forced to slash prices again before Christmas. Barry Matheson, the retailer's head of selling development, said: "There can be no getting away from it that last week was a disappointment. "We are not immune from the reality of the economic crisis that grasps every headline. “Even John Lewis's internet arm is struggling, with sales down 8.8%.”

Well Barry Matheson, let me help you to understand why sales in Oxford Street and elsewhere are falling. Recently I went into the store to buy a pair of gray casual trousers. In the large Menswear department there was only one type for sale, A German “No Name” Brand I had never heard of but actually manufactured in Bulgaria and a rather frumpy looking wool / polyester mix amazingly priced at £80.00. I left and down the road at M & S they had over 20 different types in stock and I bought a smart looking wool / cashmere mix for £35.00. Similarly I went into Peter Jones in Sloane Square to look for a casual jacket. The cheapest available was a £220 “designer” jacket that looked, well, like nothing. Strangely under their “Never knowingly undersold” policy a stereo would be more expensive in John Lewis’s Milton Keynes store than in Peter Jones, Sloane Square. For the price comparison policy applies to retailers within 3 miles so there are lots of electrical discounters for audio equipment in Chelsea but not in Buckinghamshire! Look for an Irish “Claddagh Ring” or Indian style jewellery in John Lewis you will be disappointed for its buyers’ are firmly stuck in a twin set and pearls Home Counties mindset. And it is owned by its staff which frequently translates into overstaffed shops where customers are ignored whilst staff cluster with each other or, as in Milton Keynes, have to take a ticket and queue to speak to a staff member, a rather quaint approach to people who want to give you money. Or I could mention the ludicrous pricing and slapdash service in the “Place to Eat” which is always chaotic and is by any standards a premium priced self service. No doubt this is lost on Andy Street, the CEO, as he leaves the John Lewis Palace at 171, Victoria Street in his chauffeur driven Jaguar, how retro!




Happy Xmas, John Lewis?

Earlier this month, the Bank of England cut interest rates to 3% from 4.5% in the hope of putting more money in consumers' pockets and encouraging them to spend. However, some analysts say that any positive effect - if it comes at all - will be too late to boost sales in the run-up to Christmas as rising unemployment has also dented consumer confidence. So expect the “Dog eats Dog” atmosphere to continue on the UK High Street. And in this climate consumers will be unforgiving to retailers who underestimate their intelligence. Be they Comet with its rip off “bits and pieces” and bias towards overpriced warranties and John Lewis which consistently gets its price point wrong and is that bit “too popular with itself.”

Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

Nativity Facade

The Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia or simply Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudí's unfinished masterpiece, is one of Barcelona's most popular tourist attractions. Construction on this church will continue at least until 2014, but it has already become Barcelona's most important landmark.

Gaudí devoted more than 40 years of his life to this great and still unfinished masterpiece, in fact he dedicated the last 12 years of his life exclusively to it from 1914 – 1926 declining any other work he was offered. He even moved within the precincts of the church to devote himself to this project. Funded by private donations the church you see today transcends Gaudí representing the separate identity of Catalonia and the many people, craftsmen, designers and architects and in this is far more a medieval building in character representing the will of the people to rise above the mundainity of their surroundings and build a breathtaking expression of their belief. Indeed in its abstraction (for all its figurative sculpture) I’m not sure that a cathedral is the best comparator; maybe it should be compared to something from outside the Catholic world such as the Mezquita (Spanish for "mosque") of Cordoba or the Shah Mosque of Isfahan as buildings which completely transcend their surroundings.

When Antoni Gaudí met his untimely death under the wheels of a Barcelona tram in 1926, he took with him to the grave his vision for his masterpiece, the church of the Sagrada Familia. Since then, a succession of architects has laboured to finish the fantastical spired building which has come to symbolise the city. Hampered by Gaudí's eccentric way of working, not to mention the efforts of anarchists to destroy the original plans for the turreted temple, their job has been far from easy.






Passion Facade

But as the work finally draws somewhere close to an end - 125 years after it began - an influential group of Spanish artists, architects and art gallery directors are increasingly concerned the result will bear little resemblance to Gaudí's original vision of an architectural homage to God. Instead, they claim, millions of tourists visiting the surrealist structure will find it impossible to tell "where Gaudí's work begins and ends".

Manuel Borja-Villel, the influential director of Madrid's Reina Sofia art Museum, leads a group of 100 members of the Barcelona artistic and architectural establishment who have signed a manifesto protesting at what they see as a betrayal of Gaudí's spirit. They claim those entrusted with finishing off the temple are putting their own stamp on the works instead of faithfully following the ideas of the architect who devoted much of his later life to the Sagrada Familia.

In a statement, the group said: "What stands out is the mediocrity of a group of technicians and developers who are well-meaning but full of an anachronistic paternalism in the best of cases and are once more using Gaudí to leave their personal mark on the building to the detriment of the original work."





Sagrada Familia or the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia was begun in 1882 by public subscription. A year later Gaudí became director of the project, a post he would hold for more than 40 years until his death in 1926. After the completion of Parc Güell in 1911, he vowed that his architecture would not be devoted to secular aims. His commitment to this project is indicated as well by the fact that he lived in a studio on the site. "He was assisted by architects Berenguer, Rubió, Jujol, Canaleta and Ràfols, and in the last stage, by Sugrañes and Quintana; these last continued with the work after his death in 1926, until the towers of the Nativity facade were completed. After the Civil War, progress continued under Quintana, Puig i Boada and Bonet Garí, with the help of Bergós, Martinell and Dapena. In most recent decades, it has been Cardoner and Bonet Armengol assisted by architects Margarit, Buixadé and Gómez"

Work continued on the church based on Gaudí's general plan and studies. Unlike many churches, it survived during the Spanish Civil War, when many churches were burned; it was and is seen as a kind of symbol for the city of Barcelona. Although it is not the cathedral of Barcelona (which dates from the 13th century), it is sometimes called Barcelona's third cathedral. It is still unfinished today and it is anybody's guess when it will be completed, although 2014 is the official date. It is a combination of Modernista elements and a unique version of the Gothic style - seen primarily in its height, use of rose windows and arches, triple portals, and architectural sculpture.





The Sagrada Família is a temple of basilica type with a shape of Latin cross in which the central axis is occupied for four lateral naves of 7.5 meters wide each one and a central nave of 15 meters wide, a total of 45 meters. The total length of the temple, including the nave and the apse is of 95 meters. The transept is formed by three naves with a total width of 30 meters and a length of 60. This transept has two exits, one to the Nativity façade and the other to the Passion façade. The main nave has the exit to the Glory façade, the most important one and still not built, the Glory façade will be the main gate of the temple and will be located on the Mallorca street. These façades have the mission to illustrate in a understandable way the mysteries of the birth, passion and resurrection - glory - of Jesus.



The first sight to greet tourists as they approach the cathedral's spires is the original Nacimiento facade which Gaudí lived to see completed. But since his death, the Sagrada Familia has tripled in size. A 170-metre dome which is to crown the building and an elevated flight of stairs are the biggest challenges ahead for those finishing Gaudí's masterpiece. As if that were not enough, the planned route of a high-speed rail link between Madrid and Barcelona lies within metres of its foundations, raising fears it could be damaged.

There are two things to be said about the Sagrada Família. Firstly it is a miracle that it exists at all let alone become a great symbol of Barcelona and Catalan identity for this is a city which lived through a troubled and often anticlerical 20th Century. Tragic Week (in Catalan la Setmana Tràgica, in Spanish la Semana Trágica) (July 25-August 2, 1909) is the name used for a series of bloody confrontations between the army and the working classes of Barcelona and other cities of Catalonia, backed by the anarchists, socialists and republicans. Many of the rioters were antimilitarist, anticolonial and anticlerical. The rioters considered the Church to form part of the corrupt bourgeois structure whose sons did not have to go to war, and the flames had been fanned against the Church by anarchist elements within the city. Thus, not only convents were burned, but sepulchres were profaned and graves were emptied, with many of the rioters dancing with the corpses taken out of them.


Bell Tower finial


Hyperboloid Leaf

Barcelona was peopled by the rural poor who had come there to work in its burgeoning industries and their poverty made them highly politicised. The power and wealth of the Catholic Church was greatly resented by many. It was closely identified with the wealthy classes and was seen as an enemy of change. Although the majority of Spaniards did not go to mass it had a strong following in the countryside where religious devotion was strong. It had a virtual monopoly of education. Curbing the power of the church was seen as essential if a fairer Spain was to be created. The Republican government of 1931 brought in a series of anti-clerical measures e.g. the Jesuits were dissolved and Church and State were separated. Civil marriage was instituted and divorce was allowed. It granted Catalan autonomy.





In May 1937 the divisions on the Republican side were clearly shown by events in Barcelona. This civil war within a civil war saw the Socialists and Communists fight street battles with the Anarchists and Trotskyites. The former won and a bloody purge was carried out against enemies of the communists. Also at this time the original drawings and models of Sagrada Família were destroyed by the anarchists. The models were to be of particular importance as the church is very much a 3 dimensional building with much of Gaudi’s design being three dimensional, replicating natural forms and very plastic.


Elevation of completed church


Section


Floorplan

Since work began again on the church in 1954 on the Passion Façade there has been much carping from Gaudí purists about his vision being lost. I think this criticism misses the point because the scale and vision of Sagrada Família is greater than any one man and indeed any one generation. Walking through the church in progress you can see Gaudí’s vision of an interior which reflects the natural world in being a forest and widespread use of natural forms to reflect God’s creation; the one-leaf hyperboloid reflected in the vaulted ceiling encrusted with stones to give the vaults a jewel like quality or the helix of the snail’s shell in reflected in the stairs to the crypt. There is also the sheer scale of what is proposed, the 18 towers with the central five representing Jesus (rising to 170 metres) surrounded by the 4 evangelists; Or the bell towers emerging from the vestibule and rising to 100 metres in a spiral structure where Gaudí foresaw placing tubular bells to combine with the 5 organs and the 1,500 voices of the choir that would extend along both sides of the nave and the Glory façade.


Sagrada Familia from top of Bell Tower


Bell Tower staircase


Bell Tower

Truly this is a monumental undertaking on a scale not seen in the modern world but which strikes a deep resonance with the people of Barcelona and Catalonia as an assertion of their identity. As such it is wholly appropriate that it is an organic building which, whilst it will always be associated with the genius of Antoni Gaudí, is the result of the efforts of many people, designers, masons and architects but will belong not to them when it is complete but to all the people of Barcelona. And in its conception, execution and scale when it is finished all the debate will peel away as people continue to travel in their thousands to marvel at Sagrada Família, one of the greatest buildings in the world and one of the finest expressions of mankind’s longing for something beyond ourselves.

A Gaelic Irish Joke

A Paddy walking through a field sees a man drinking water from a pool with his hand.

The Paddy shouts "Na ol an t-uisce, ta sé lan de chac bo" (Don't drink the water, it's full of cowshit.)

The man shouts back "I'm English, speak English, I don't understand you".

The Paddy shouts back "Use both hands, you'll get more in."

Longford Lecture 2008 - We Can't Build Our Way Out of Britain's Prisons' Crisis

Once again on a cold London night we proceeded across the yard of Church House, Westminster, to the Hall for this year’s “Longford Lecture” organised by the Longford Trust and sponsored by the excellent Independent Newspaper which is owned by Tony O’Reilly’s Independent News and Media. I mention this as the Celtic Sage has read the Independent and admired its non-aligned journalism (Its original strapline was “A Newspaper, not a Views Paper” – although some, including Tony Blair, would dispute this now) even before it was Irish owned. Tony O’Reilly has long been associated with the Ireland Fund and the support for the lecture is admirable.


Lord Longford (Frank Pakenham)

Lord Longford (Frank Pakenham) was from the Anglo-Irish tradition and remained sentimentally attached to Ireland even though he probably broke every tradition of his Anglo-Irish ascendancy family. He was born into a military, Protestant, Conservative and Unionist clan, and educated at Eton and New College, Oxford. As an adult, he embraced the Roman Catholic Church and Irish nationalism. His failure to follow his soldier father, who was killed at Gallipoli when Longford was nine, remained an open wound. Longford's memory will live on, if not for the scale of his achievements then certainly because of his courage, tenacity and nobility in trying. He was a man of great intelligence and moral strength and the speakers and themes of the “Longford Lectures” reflect his life’s work. Last year’s lecture was on the theme of “Changing History” by the President of Ireland, Professor Mary McAleese, (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/11/longford-lecture-2007-changing-history.html ).

This year, as a one-off, the trustees decided to stage a debate, chaired by Jon Snow on the theme “We Can't Build Our Way Out of Britain's Prisons' Crisis” The four principal speakers were Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Jason Warr, former Longford Scholar, now a Cambridge criminologist, and Phil Wheatley, director of NOMS, the National Offender Management Service.

This is the latest in the annual series of lectures organised by the Longford Trust on questions of social and penal reform. Past speakers have included President Mary McAleese of Ireland, Clive Stafford Smith, Brenda Hale QC, Cherie Booth QC, Archbishop John Sentamu and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The Trust also awards an annual Longford Prize to an outstanding individual or organisation working in the field of prison and social reform. It funds Longford Scholarships for ex-prisoners who want to rebuild their lives through education. And it offers financial support to Inside Time, the national newspaper for prisoners.

Offenders sentenced to community punishments should be forced into uniform to restore flagging trust in the criminal justice system, Sir Ian Blair declared last night. In his first public appearance since his resignation a month ago, the outgoing Metropolitan Police Commissioner argued such sentences had to be shown to be effective to win public approval. Sir Ian also called for early intervention with youngsters to deter them from carrying knives and cast doubt on the drive to build more prisons.

Speaking at the annual Longford lecture he said: "One of the things we are going to have to do is move towards is the very unpalatable situation where community punishments are visible.”They are in uniform, on the streets, doing jobs and people can see people are being sentenced to community projects that do not seem very pleasant." He explained that the public needed to see that community punishments were not a soft option. He added: "If they don't understand it's happening they will want people locked up."


Sir Ian Blair

The Commissioner asked: "Why do so many people think prison is the only answer? An element of the media and political community argues that the only good thing is to lock them up and everything else is namby pamby." Sir Ian, who leaves his post on 1st December, refused to discuss the background to his departure or shed light on his plans. Turning to the spate of knife murders in London, he said: "We can't arrest our way out of this. The only way we can stop this is to stop young people believing they have to carry a knife for their protection."

The Government has drawn up plans to open another 10,000 prison places, with up to 7,500 in three "Titan" jails. But Sir Ian suggested prison should be reserved for violent and persistent criminals. The public had to be confident fines were paid and bail bandits were punished by prison, Sir Ian argued. They should also be informed about the outcome of local court cases.


Church House, Westminster

The Labour peer Baroness Kennedy, a leading human rights lawyer, attacked "Titan" jails plans, saying that large prisons were less effective than smaller jails at rehabilitating offenders and tackling suicide and self-harming among inmates. She condemned the booming prison population as a "shame" on the nation, stating that Britain had more prisoners per head than Libya. Lady Kennedy said: "There is no way we can build our way out of a prisons crisis. It is a shame on society that we have as many people in prison as we do. Since 1992 we have doubled the number of people in prison. We are the prison capital of Western Europe. We have seen a Dutch auction between the political parties about who is tougher."

Baroness Helena Kennedy QC

Phil Wheatley, director general of the National Offender Management Service, said he had no direct influence over the number of people behind bars. He argued that the size of prison estate was the result of politicians' and judges' decisions. But he acknowledged that the public tended to take a hard-line view on dealing with offenders and politicians had to take that into account. Before the lecture, Grendon Prison, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, received the annual Longford Prize in recognition of its work in rehabilitating violent offenders through intensive group therapy.


Frank Longford said often during his life that he would like his epitaph to be ‘the outcasts' outcast’. It summed up a long career as a politician, writer and campaigner on social and prison policy which was all about standing up for the unpopular, the unloved, the underdog and those on the margins of society. He was first a minister in Clement Attlee’s post Second World War Labour government, where as Deputy Foreign Secretary he played a pivotal role in the reconstruction of West Germany. From 1964 to 1968, he was a member of Harold Wilson’s Cabinet.

He started visiting prisoners in 1930 and continued until his death. He was assistant to Sir William Beveridge on his landmark report of 1942 which laid the basis for the Welfare State. In 1956 he founded New Bridge, one of the first organisations in Britain seeking to create links between prisoners and the community, and in 1963 chaired the committee on crime whose recommendations led to the establishment of the parole system. On leaving the government, he launched New Horizon, a charity for young people in need.

The Pakenham Family have roots in both Ireland and England and have influenced both countries over the years. In Dublin they are commemorated in Longford and Aungier Streets and the former Pakenham Hall near Castlepollard in Co. Meath was renamed Tullynally (The Gaelic name) by Tom Pakenham (The current Lord Longford, although he does not use his titles) when he took it over in 1961. Tom Pakenham is himself an author and historian of note as are his sisters, Lady Antonia Fraser, Rachel Billington and Judith Kazantzis.


Tom Pakenham


Lady Antonia Fraser


Rachel Billington

The plight of the underdog motivated Frank Pakenham throughout his life and although he is associated in the public mind with his campaign to free the Moors Murderer Myra Hindley, many would argue she was an unworthy focus of his attention and obscured his wider message about penal reform, a concern which is even more pressing today when Britain, despite the evidence of failure, locks up proportionately more of its population than any other European Country.

In its bid to establish itself as the party of law or order, Tony Blair’s Labour government introduced a series of draconian measures, including a tougher sentencing policy for petty offenders. The fact remains that in the UK so many prisons are bad and most prisoners are not re-educated or rehabilitated but come out more corrupted and go onto re-offend. Of the current prison population of over 80,000 shamefully it is estimated that over one in eleven prisoners are ex-service personnel who have developed mental, alcohol or drug problems after leaving the forces and 8% are foreign prisoners. A high proportion of the convicts interviewed in the study had suffered some form of post-traumatic stress disorder after leaving the forces. Often their convictions were for drug- or alcohol-related violence. Ex-services charities said the findings highlighted the difficulty which many former soldiers face in making the transition to civilian life. The National Association of Probation Officers (NAPO), which carried out the research, called on the Government to do more to tackle mental health problems suffered by people who have fought in war zones. It said that around 24,000 veterans are either in jail, on parole or serving community punishment orders after having been convicted of crimes. They make up around nine per cent of the prison population.

The relative number of women prisoners is rising even more sharply than that of the male inmates—more than doubling since the mid-1990s. Twice as many women are jailed for their first offence compared to men, while few female offenders pose any threat to the public. The frequent imprisoning of mothers has an enormously disruptive effect upon their children and family life. One third of women imprisoned in British jails have children under the age of five.

Prison Inspector reports in some prisons show eleven per cent of inmates claimed to have been assaulted by officers at the jail and one mentally-disturbed prisoner had been denied a wash or change of clothes for weeks because staff thought he was faking his illness. The Prison Officers Association has said that because of understaffing at many prisons “they have been unable to provide the basics, like showers, clean clothes and mail, on a regular basis." They said this had also led to high levels of sick leave among officers. Their General Secretary commented; "At the end of the day cash is king and while there are votes in health and education, there are no votes in prisons, which means they will continue to be under-resourced," he said.

So the cause that Lord Longford espoused and which his charity and the Longford Lecture seek to remind us of is even more relevant than ever and Britain as a society remains challenged by the disconnect between cause and effect in its Penal Policy. As for Frank Pakenham himself we should remember the quality of his humanity and commitment to the underdog best, and affectionately, summed up by his daughter Judith Kazantzis in her introduction to the Longford Prize;


Judith Kazantzis

“While he had his strength, he never failed to answer the prisoners, often despairing and lonely, who appealed to him for practical help or just friendship. When I think back over the years to countless phone calls from unknown men, ringing to ask for Frank, or for Lord Longford, maybe to report progress on their case, or just to confide, I see how he was an inspiration from my student days, in the deepest sense: in his belief in equality and justice, those two pillars of a truly free society.

No one is less free than the prisoner. How simply I heard my father put this: how irrefutably. He said that society cannot go on punishing and punishing the prisoner, who is already punished with the loss of his freedom, with the key thrown away. The prisoner must be treated with human dignity. He or she absolutely must be offered the chance of a new life after prison.

My father drew every day until he died from the teachings of Jesus Christ. The prodigal son was a story we read to him on his deathbed. He himself was prodigal in his prison visits, often in the worst of weathers, seeing complex, long incarcerated people at the end of exhausting journeys. He was prodigal just as much in his public speaking out for reform of our prison system. I believe he had it right: to work for the individual, to fight for the wider change, like one hand holding the other hand.”

Follow the Cat Code!

It's a dogs life!

Well the ability of a Cat to train its human is well known but in the UK there is now, in addition to animal welfare legislation a new Dog and Cat Code of Practice setting out good practice and what owners should do to look after their moggy and doggy! While this may seem another example of the “Nanny State” going over the top any rescue centre will sadly prove that common sense and humanity are not always universal when it comes to our little friends.

Cat and dog owners are to be told to provide "entertainment" and "mental stimulation" for their pets under new government advice. The code of practice also includes advice on diet and providing "somewhere suitable to go to the toilet". It says owners should watch for signs of stress and advises on introducing cats to dogs without the fur flying.

Owners will not be fined for breaking the rules but failure to comply may be used in animal cruelty prosecutions. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it wanted to remind pet owners of their responsibilities under the 2006 Animal Welfare Act.


The Code is too late for Freddie

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/10/should-we-mourn-cat.html

The 26 page document on cat welfare begins with a warning to owners: "It is your responsibility to read the complete Code of Practice to fully understand your cat's welfare needs and what the law requires you to do." The document, which will be published as a leaflet and on Defra's website after an eight week consultation period, says owners must provide their pets with a "suitable place to live" including "somewhere suitable to go to the toilet". It also advises providing a separate litter tray for each cat.

And it adds: "Cats need opportunities to climb and jump, such as a simple 'platform' type bed or safe access to shelves and the tops of cupboards. Cats that are not very tame, such as some farm cats, may prefer to live outdoors in more basic shelter but you still need to look after them."

The guidelines warn owners they could face prosecution for cruelty for leaving animals in hot cars. And they give a detailed description of what constitutes normal behaviour - such as scratching and clawing - and tells owners to "watch your cat closely for signs of stress or changes in behaviour. Dogs should be introduced to cats very carefully; the dog should be held safely on a lead at first so that it cannot chase the cat," it adds.

On diet, it advises fresh food every day but warns "an obese cat is an unhealthy cat" adding "it is a good idea in a 'greedy' cat to have the measured food divided up into a number of meals per day". And it tells owners to provide suitable toys and "entertainment" for their cats. "You should ensure that your cat has enough mental stimulation from you and from its environment to avoid boredom and frustration. It is your responsibility to provide opportunities for your cat to satisfy all of its behavioural needs, such as play and companionship." But, the guide adds, cats are solitary creatures and the most common cause of stress is "coming into close contact with other cats they do not like".

Ringo has new leverage

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/02/castle-cat.html

Dog owners, by contrast, are given detailed instructions on ensuring their pets do not become lonely or isolated as "dogs are a social species and need the company of people, dogs or other animals". There are similar guidelines for horse owners under the proposals, which are subject to an eight week consultation period. The proposed leaflet also includes the relevant sections of animal welfare legislation.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said: "These three new codes of practice will outline the responsibilities under the Animal Welfare Act and give practical advice on how to fulfil them. This means no one will be able to claim ignorance as an excuse for mistreating any animal."

You look after our relations or else!

However the animals I really feel for are the large breed dogs bought by Humans who treat them aggressively, don’t train them properly and treat them as aggressive status symbols in their Chav sub-culture. Perhaps there is a strong case to make that before a Human is allowed buy a large dog they have to do a training course and undergo a home inspection before they get a licence. Large breeds are demanding, need proper care and exercise, proper living conditions and both they and their owners need training. I’m not sure if there are dangerous dogs or merely dangerous owners who mistreat them. So a qualified welcome for the Code of Practice but rather than condemning it as the thin end of the Nanny State, I’m not sure if it goes far enough in protecting our trusting little friends from incompetent Humans?

Obama Nation

Barack Obama has triumphed despite the snide undertone of smear campaigns and the racism which dare not speak its name with the innuendo “He is not like us...” “He is not really an American” “He is a secret Muslim.” Good on Colin Powell who was so annoyed by the negative smear campaign against Obama that he ringingly endorsed him whilst respecting his old friend John McCain;

"I come to the conclusion that because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities - and we have to take that into account - as well as his substance - he has both style and substance - he has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president," said Powell in his sweeping endorsement. "I think he is a transformational figure. He is a new generation coming into the world -- onto the world stage, onto the American stage -- and for that reason I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama."

But Powell said he found the implicit religious bigotry troubling and tellingly remarked "He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, 'What if he is [a Muslim]?' Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country?"

The cheer leader for the smear campaign was Jerome Corsi who received a Ph.D. from Harvard University in political science in 1972 and has written many books and articles, including, Unfit for Command: “Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry”. This was the discredited smear against John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential Election by the Republican Front Organisation, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. John Kerry it must be remembered, despite his privileged background, served his country in Vietnam, was decorated for bravery and had three purple hearts, unlike George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld who when they had a choice didn’t fight for their country. Given his previous form Jerome Corsi parades his “Ph.D.” on the front of his book ”Obama Nation” as if this makes the shallow smear by association contents more believable. In this attempted political hatchet job he tries to show why the alleged “extreme leftism of an Obama presidency would leave the United States weakened, diminished and divided, why Obama must be defeated - and how he can be.” Luckily the American People saw through this warmed up partisan pap masquerading as analysis and Jerome Corsi, Ph.D. or no Ph.D., is now a discredited busted flush.



After Barack Obama's historic victory, one of the greatest taboos in American politics has been put to rest. Almost 400 years after the first African slaves were transported to Jamestown, Virginia, the United States at last has a black president. When Barack Obama takes the oath of office in January, he should say a heartfelt thanks to the pioneers who led the way in the aftermath of the US Civil War.

For it was not until the 1860s, with the exhausted, slave-holding Southern states beaten and occupied by Union troops, that the first great wave of black politicians swept into Washington. Liberated from slavery by Abraham Lincoln, Southern blacks enthusiastically chose other blacks to represent them, sending a total of 17 black senators and representatives to Congress during the "Reconstruction" years of the late 1860s and 1870s.

Tragically, Reconstruction was a false dawn. When Northern troops pulled out of the South after 1876, the old white landowners reasserted their power. Blacks were steadily stripped of the vote, and the last black US congressman finished his term in 1901.



It took the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s to restore the vote to millions of Southern blacks. But although civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King and Jesse Jackson dominated the headlines, few were elected to Congress. They preferred to work on the streets than in Washington - and so, even today, Obama is only the fifth black senator in history.

It's hard to see what this will mean for the world yet. Obama himself has written: "I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views." Is there any better symbol of how the American Revolution can correct itself than the realisation that the first 16 Presidents of the US could have owned the 44th President as a piece of property?

However before we get too excited we need to remind ourselves that the United States is still riddled with racist outcomes which President Obama will need to tackle. To give just one example: the American Civil Liberties Union found in 2006 that although the races use drugs at the same rate, black Americans – who comprise 12 per cent of the population – make up 74 per cent of all drug offenders sentenced to prison. Obama could very easily have slipped into this vortex when, as a young man, he occasionally snorted coke. If he had been arrested and jailed for it like one in five black men, he wouldn't be President; he wouldn't even be able to vote. This election shows a desire by American people to move beyond the sterile stupidities of racism, but it is the middle of the story, not the end. Obama and Black Americans have had to work against “voter suppression laws” which are a disgrace to democracy in states such as Tennessee and Kentucky which work to disenfranchise Black voters. And then there is the great distortion and fetish at the heart of America’s Criminal Justice system – the desire to devote huge resources so America can kill mainly Black and Hispanic prisoners after poor trials, poor defence and poor jurisprudence to ensure it is up there with China, Iran and Saudi Arabia as a State Killer. (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/09/stay-granted-for-troy-davis.html )



But Obama’s world view will be more complex? A man with a background among the colonised has never before become the head of the world's largest empire. Obama's grandfather was detained in a British Guantanamo for six months during the bloody occupation of Kenya. As a child, Obama watched helpless as the CIA armed and funded the crazed dictator Suharto to commit mass murder of civilians. Yet how much has this informed Obama's policies, as a pragmatic politician working within a system riddled with undemocratic pressures? He certainly disagrees with many of the vicious extremes of Bush, from Iraq to torture. His plans for a massive investment in renewable energy to wean the US slowly off its addiction to oil will have transformed the country's foreign policy, ending its need for the Saudi tyranny and bursts of war in Mesopotamia. (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/04/britain-in-iraq.html )

But the main effect of will be the demise of the Great American Warrior fighting false and meaningless wars – internal wars against Abortion, Gays, Immigrants and Gun Control, and external wars against Drugs, Terror, Muslims and its totally illegal blockade of Cuba which more than anything has kept Cuba as a communist state, albeit one with a health system and hurricane preparedness which puts the US to shame. America needs to rediscover partnership and give and take – it can not continue to be the spoilt child who only thinks of what it wants and then throws a tantrum when the other kids don’t want to play. Obama will also have the tackle the great poison at the heart of American Foreign policy which, surprisingly you might think, did not rear its head in the Election debate, the issue of Middle East “Rogue States.”

You will not be surprised to hear that this doesn’t include the Middle Eastern “rogue state” which has attacked each and every one of its neighbours including destroying the EU funded infrastructure of Gaza, dismembering Lebanon, occupying the sovereign territory of Syria, occupying East Jerusalem and the West Bank which it is settling and applying collective punishment to the civilian population (in defiance of the “quaint” Geneva Conventions), which has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty and which has developed nuclear weapons. And did I mention that its previous Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, had personally led a terrorist massacre of women and children? During the raid on Qibya, Jordan in 1953, a total of 69 Palestinians were killed and forty-five houses, a school, and a mosque were blown-up. The act was condemned by the US State Department, the UN Security Council, and by Jewish communities worldwide. And the previous Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s father was Quartermaster of the Irgun terrorist organisation (you know the guys who killed both the British and UN Peace Envoys and hanged three British soldiers including a Jewish lad from the East End). Current Prime Minister’s Tzipi Livni’s father was the leader of the Irgun group which carried out the King David Hotel massacre which killed 91 people including 17 Jews. And did I mention that another previous Israeli Prime Minister, Menachim Begin, was the Irgun leader who gave the order? But less of rogue states with terrorist links whose support by the US is entirely contrary to America’s strategic interests. But perhaps Barack might suggest to Israel’s leadership that if it is to survive and prosper it will not do so by military means and it is now a time for change?


Sears Tower from Grant Park, Chicago

Barack Obama’s rally and speech in Grant Park, Chicago on the 5th November inspired more than the American electorate and I am sure, unlike his predecessor after 9/11 he will not squander the goodwill and longing for partnership the rest of the world feels. I spent some time in Chicago in 1982, staying up the road from Grant Park in the wonderful University Club at the corner of Monroe and Michigan and with an office in a law firm high up in Sears Tower, then the highest building in the world so I have some insight into the Chicago he moved to and Chicago law firms which he and Michelle Robinson worked for.

Whatever about “State Street being a Great Street” Chicago was "My Kinda Town" and I came away with an abiding affection for the place. But unlike New York the Windy City was no melting pot. Chicago was the city which bound America together and where it did real business in the products of the Great Plains at the Chicago Mercantile exchange. 22,000 ton “Lakers” ships could come up the St Lawrence and the amazing Great Lakes from the Atlantic Ocean and connect by barge with the Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, Red and Arkansas Rivers through the wonderfully named “Chicago Navigation and Sanitary Canal.” All railway lines led to Chicago including the great express trains; the “20th Century Limited” from New York, the “Superchief” from Los Angeles and the “Spirit of New Orleans” from the Mississippi Delta.


Downtown Chicago


And from the 1920’s black people and many others fleeing from the failed agri-economies of the southern states, the dustbowl and the Great Depression arrived in Chicago looking for work in the stockyards and abattoirs which once encircled the downtown “Loop.” So Chicago was a black majority city but black people did not exist in the city government which was carved up by the Democratic Party machine under Mayor Richard Daley and others which played to the white ethnic groups who shared the spoils of patronage, the Irish, Poles and Italians. That was until 1983 when Harold Washington united the fractious black groups with Hispanics to redress the balance until, sadly, he died in office of a heart attack in 1987. The lesson of Harold Washington’s campaign was well learnt by the young Barack Obama who has widened the dragnet of inclusion and reaching out to the uncommitted but has done it with an iron discipline and focus. He was, like all successful candidates, indeed lucky, no more so in having George W. Bush as his campaign manager spectacularly arranging a financial collapse and engineering “socialist” solutions which the Wobblies could only have dreamt of! But Obama has made his own luck and I’m sure will capitalise on it, as he said himself in Grant Park;


Harold Washington - Mayor of Chicago 1983 - 1987

“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours: "We are not enemies, but friends… though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.

This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: yes, we can.”

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/11/government-of-people-by-people.html

Never has the motto of the United States “E Pluribus Unum” had more meaning. And as for Jerome Corsi Ph. D. and his seminal work ”Obama Nation” do rush down to your discount bookstore to snap it up now for 50 cents, as it certainly won’t be reprinted!

Paparazzi Insight

Last night walking across St James Park, the Carlton Steps and up Regent Street to Piccadilly I obtained an insight into the slime ball world of the paparazzi, those hungry photographers who feel anybody is fair game for the “money shots” which appear in newspapers the next day. Here was the coverage and the photos in today’s papers



“LILY Allen was the talk of the GQ 20th anniversary dinner last night at St Alban. She arrived in one outfit, changed before dinner got under way and by the end of the evening had slipped into a third costume. No wonder she laddered her tights in the process. As the Veuve Clicquot flowed, guests, who included Nancy Dell'Olio and David Walliams, were still digesting the results of the American election. Historian Andrew Roberts revealed he had been to five parties on election night cementing his reputation as London's most ubiquitous party goer.”

And here is the panting porno prose description from the restaurant’s web site;

“St Alban is the latest restaurant from Chris Corbin and Jeremy King, owners of The Wolseley and former proprietors of Le Caprice, The Ivy and J. Sheekey. The restaurant's comfortable, contemporary interior has been realised by Stiff & Trevillion in collaboration with Michael Craig-Martin, whose murals decorate the walls and windows and complement the artwork of Damien Hirst. His works are displayed throughout the restaurant and include the gloriously titled 'Jubilation'. The 22ft long painting is made up of hundreds of butterfly wings in a mandala-like pattern, and expands on the iconic motif of the butterfly as a symbol of beauty, love and fragility.”


St. Alban

Well that is the glamorous public image and what appears in the papers but from what I saw last night the reality of paparazzi London which results in these pictures in the papers is very different. Indeed it provoked sympathy for Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse, Naomi Campbell, Sienna Miller and others who are subject to continuous intrusion from that most parasitic of occupations the paparazzi. Indeed I would applaud Sienna Miller who has launched a legal battle against News International and photo agency Big Pictures at the High Court.

Law firm Carter-Ruck has served a writ for breach of privacy against the News of the World, the Sun, and the Big Pictures agency relating to a series of articles about the star. It is believed that the writ relates to two articles that appeared in the Sun where Big Pictures contributed photos. The stories and pictures reported on Miller's holiday in Italy and also referred to her friendship with Balthazar Getty, heir to the Getty oil fortune. Miller is taking action over a further two articles that appeared in the News of The World.

As I walked up the road I was nearly knocked over by a Vauxhall Astra reversing at speed off Regent Street into a side road by a young driver who turned out to be one of the Paps. When I berated him for his dangerous driving he was abusive, as obviously I was interfering with his right to run over pedestrians and park illegally on a corner whilst driving without a seatbelt in pursuit of the “money shot”. At the next corner where there is the entrance to St. Alban there was a scrum of 12 photographers already waiting. The Restaurant keeps its entrance clear with two rope barriers so the photographers blocked the pavement and pedestrians were forced onto the road.


Victoria and David Beckham leaving St Alban

As I crossed to the far side of the road a Mercedes with a driver and a passenger in the back drew up and there was roaring and shouting and an outburst of flashes. A small and rather beautiful young woman got out of the back – it was Lily Allen looking in the flesh somewhat lovelier than she does in photos wearing a beautiful ruffled light pink number. A scooter with a photographer and an “L” plate on it pulled up behind Lily Allen’s car and the guy jumped off leaving his scooter running in the middle of the road – he had obviously been following Lily from her home. The Pack of Paps crowded around her pushing each other out of the way and sticking lenses into her face and flashing away all the time while barking in braying unison “here Lily” “ Smile Lily” “This way Lily”. Lily performed, smiled and eventually they parted slightly as the bouncers led her on a zig zag route into St. Alban. No doubt if Lily had scowled, inadvertently showed some underwear or tripped that would have been the next morning’s “money shot” no doubt with a fabricated heading such as “Lily’s love agony” or “Lily shows the strain” or some such nonsense.



Looking back there were two car parked on double yellow lines on the corner with photographer’s boards on the dash – it occurred to me these were deliberately illegally parked on a corner so drop offs to St. Alban could only take place (also on a double yellow) in front of the Paps lenses. Public space is just that and belongs to us all and should not be stolen from us be it by the Paps or Tesco. Just one block away from St. Alban is the club “Tiger, Tiger” where currently there is a trial underway about two car bombs which were similarly illegally parked. So what are the Metropolitan Police and Westminster Council doing about the danger of public space being abused, telling us that if something else happens in the west End they’ll have good CCTV pictures to show us after the fact?



So, good luck to Naomi Campbell, Sienna Miller and others who are taking firm action against this appalling intrusion and harassment. As for Lily Allen I truly felt sorry for her having to endure this rubbish everywhere she goes and making a Faustian pact with the Shabby Pap Pack to keep smiling, grit her teeth and hope for the best in next mornings papers. So shame on the toothless and useless Press Complaints Commission and to the supine editors who buy and publish the shoddy goods of the Pap Pack 10 years after they hounded Princess Diana to her death.

Shame on;

Veronica Wadley, Evening Standard
Rebekah Wade, The Sun
Paul Dacre, Daily Mail
Richard Wallace, Daily Mirror
Lloyd Embley, People
Colin Myler, News of the World
Sarah Ivens, OK Magazine
Miranda Priestly, Hello Magazine
Melinda Shaw, Heat Magazine

Shame on them all in their plush offices and false respectability whilst financing the Pap Goon Squad and its tawdry trade. And shame on the Paps who have so little respect for themselves and those around them. But there again from what I saw, lack of self respect seems to be a qualification for being a Paparazzi in the first place!

Social Networking – An Opportunity or a Threat?

Nothing seems to have exposed the “Fat Controller” tendency in British companies more than the introduction of Social Networking. The first reaction has been simple, BAN IT!! Frequently this has been also the second and third reaction as they welcome Social Networking with the same enthusiasm as anthrax spores being introduced into the air conditioning system. Sites such as Facebook, MySpace etc; are derided as “time wasters” as if telephones, water coolers and sterile corporate newsletters and ritualistic away days are time expanders. Where they do take an interest in Social Networking it is to abuse employee’s privacy and trawl sites for personal dossiers. There is no presumption of privacy where employees use corporate systems but if your employer starts trawling for information by deception, for instance by setting up false “friends” on sites which are not accessed from work then they are in legally uncharted and potentially explosive waters.

So instead of getting into control mode should companies not embrace Social Networking within clear guidelines and use it like any other tool to communicate, engage and influence? Is the management task not to engage in knee jerk reactions but the same as any other management issue to examine, to implement and to manage Social Networking within the organisation?

Certainly common sense and an etiquette is needed from employees who must maintain productivity and behave with respect and consideration for others as they would on the phone, email, correspondence or in face to face interactions so there is no excuse for profanity, defamation, bullying, breach of confidentiality or malice in people’s behaviour but Social Networking is no different in this sense but because it is novel some people abandon common sense and forget the basics. But it is also up to companies, in this area as in others to encourage good behaviour and a positive culture. The Celtic Sage argues this is best done by the company itself positively embracing Social Networking along with Blogs, WiKis and developing Collaborative Working and Communities of Practice. Whatever way they go they need joined up policies – not like one company whose Chief Bottle washer updated his Blog on MySpace one March morning last and his company’s firewall blocked MySpace in the afternoon.



One company showing Fat Controller tendencies is Virgin Atlantic which has sacked thirteen staff who labelled customers "chavs" and criticised the maintenance record of the airline's fleet of Boeing 747s flying from Gatwick. The staff criticised the cleanliness of Virgin's fleet and of its passengers. All 13 have now been sacked for their comments. Seems staff at Gatwick spend most of their time on Facebook – British Airways staff are also in trouble this for using the public forum to slag off customers. A Facebook group of BA Gatwick ground staff showed they were less than impressed with the opening of terminal 5 at Heathrow and with many of their passengers. One post described passengers as "smelly and annoying" although the biggest complaint was passengers who put their boarding cards in their mouths before handing them over to staff, the Mirror reports. But the airline, so far, seems to have taken a less hysterical route in response. A spokesman for BA told The Register: "We are talking to the individuals concerned about their disappointing and unwise comments which are totally unrepresentative of our staff at Gatwick."

A recent Demos study (reported by the BBC) suggests companies should not dismiss staff who use social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo at work as merely time-wasters, Attempts to control employees' use of such software could damage firms in the long run by limiting the way staff communicate, the think tank said. Social networking can encourage employees to build relationships with colleagues across a firm, it added. However, businesses are warned to be strict with those who abuse access.



Firms are increasingly using networking software to share documents and collaborate in ideas, the research found. And while more work-specific systems, such as LinkedIn or bespoke in-house software tended to be used for work matters, the likes of Facebook, Bebo and MySpace still had a place, said Peter Bradwell, a Demos researcher and the report's author. Banning Facebook and the like goes against the grain of how people want to interact.

"They are part of the way in which people communicate which they find intuitive," he said. "Banning Facebook and the like goes against the grain of how people want to interact. Often people are friends with colleagues through these networks and it is how some develop their relationships."

Using technology to build closer links with ex-employees and potential customers could also boost productivity, innovation and create a more democratic working environment, Mr Bradwell added. "In today's difficult business environment, the instinctive reaction can be to batten down the hatches and return to the traditional command-and-control techniques that enable managers to closely monitor and measure productivity.”Allowing workers to have more freedom and flexibility might seem counter-intuitive, but it appears to create businesses more capable of maintaining stability."

The popularity of social networking showed that there was a desire to connect with others and socialise, said Mark Turrell, chief executive of Imaginatik, which develops bespoke networking software. "Being able to see a photo of colleagues, or knowing what they are up to, can be incredibly useful for businesses, especially if a firm employs thousands of people," added Mr Turrell, whose firm took part in the study. By focusing the minds of a group of people on a specific task, you can find a solution much more quickly than you would do otherwise

But he argued the use of networking sites "must be tied to a business goal". He said his customers used the software to set out problems which they faced and then threw them open to employees. "The first people to respond might not know the answer, but they could suggest somebody who does," he said. "Within a few days, they are able to get enough people from across the organisation with the right expertise to work on it.”And by focusing the minds of a group of people on a specific task, you can find a solution much more quickly than you would do otherwise."



Younger employees who have grown up with e-mail, mobile phones and social networking want their employers to adapt to new technology, he added, saying this put pressure on older employees to adapt. "The key questions are, how do you get the brightest people to work for you, and then, how do you get the most out of them," Mr Turrell said. "Organisations need to give their employees physical and virtual space to grow and explore their ideas.”In today's new world, employees expect and require sophisticated enterprise social networking tools to shine."

The report's authors said that clear guidelines needed to be set out about appropriate use of social networking. And there should be no hesitation in telling employees who spent "unreasonable" amounts of time using technology for non-work related activity that their behaviour must change, they added. It is good for companies to be aware of the tensions and look at deploying practical guidelines which will protect the positive impact of networks, not hamper it

Mobile phone and broadband firm Orange, which commissioned the research, is currently building its own in-house social networking platform for staff. "The profile and significance of social networking is increasing now, because of the proliferation of new technologies that enable us to connect to each other in our personal and professional lives," said Robert Ainger, Orange Business UK. "But it is also good for companies to be aware of the tensions and look at deploying practical guidelines which will protect the positive impact of networks, not hamper it."



Another study has suggested that Facebook can encourage people to be more sociable. The Cambridge University findings go against other studies which suggest using online social networking sites makes people less social. Researchers discovered Facebook gave people more choice on how they conduct relationships and was "a way of storing biography and enhancing social memory". The study showed many people used it to track people they liked or to find out what ex-partners were up to.

Members log on to Facebook to look at profiles and pictures because more information can be gleaned from it than a phone call or letter, the study said. But people also used it to keep in touch with old school and university friends who they might otherwise lose contact with. As a result it could change the way people associated at a fundamental level, meaning former relationships and associations can be revived, according to the study. The findings are based on focus groups with students and interviews. More than 15 people took part in focus groups and seven people had in-depth interviews about Facebook lasting several hours.

So the question companies should be asking is should we BAN IT or could you USE IT!

Companies are taking a more proactive approach both to Talent Management and Knowledge Management (KM) and the use of Web 2.0 where companies are attempting to embrace changing trends in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design in a way that aims to enhance creativity, secure information sharing, collaboration and functionality of the web. Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and its hosted services, such as social-networking sites, video sharing sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies. As such it encourages positive KM behaviours of finding, using, sharing, managing, creating …..



There are other benefits of using social media over other tools such as capturing history, developing organisational inclusiveness and capacity building. And them what are the alternatives?

• More face to face communication?
• More email?
• Less communication?

Blogs tend to identify those whose ideas are worth listening to and develop effective uses of staff time. Wikis are a development of collaborative writing which is an effective and developing form of Knowledge Capture; an area where most organisations are actually nervous about their abilities. Social Networking is a way of establishing a culture where people recognise how valuable collaborative working can be. The organisations task is to encourage knowledge sharing; finding ways of linking tools directly with staff jobs and priorities. There are risks but they are generally the same risks we have in a more covert form at the moment so what is the worse which can happen?

• Hacking?
• Bullying?
• Silences?
• Confidentiality issues?
• Retention of info for the rest of your working life?

So the Celtic Sage, as you will be clear from the links on the Blog, is clear what side of the debate he is on. Organisations need to treat Social Networking as an opportunity not a threat, to engage and embrace with it and use it positively to drive positive collaborative behaviours as part of their Knowledge Management Strategy. Above all they need to ask themselves the fundamental motivation question in terms of their People; what sort of 21st Century working Environment is going to attract the best, brightest and most motivated people to our organisation in the future?

Government of the people, by the people.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

President Abraham Lincoln

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
November 19, 1863

Signs of the Times

The past week brought two examples of signs which brighten up our lives on these dark winter days. Cambridge University might have been home to some of Britain's brightest minds over the years, but that doesn't mean everyone there is a literary genius.


Sidney Sussex Collage

A misspelt sign at the university car park has prompted a wry smile from visitors - especially those from Oxford - by referring to Sidney Sussex College (alumni include Oliver Cromwell and Carol Vorderman) as a collage. The sign which reads "Entrance To Collage Car Park Only" was installed during the month-long closure of a road to repair a broken sewage pipe. But academics are keen to stress they had nothing to do with it stating it had been created by contractors employed by Anglian Water.


I am not in the office at the moment

When officials asked for the Welsh translation of a road sign, they thought the reply was what they needed. Unfortunately, the e-mail response to Swansea council said in Welsh: "I am not in the office at the moment. Please send any work to be translated". So that was what went up under the English version which barred Lorries from a road near a supermarket.

However my favourite sign is the one at Dunstable, Beds. This reads “Baptist Church Recycling Centre.” It’s good they are finding new uses for all those old churches!

Guy Fawkes Night

Remember, remember the fifth of November!

This week in this Sceptered Isle they will commemorate on Bonfire Night, the 5th November, the 403rd Anniversary of Guy Fawkes and friend’s unsuccessful experiment in direct democracy. Some say Mr. Fawkes and Co. were the last people to enter the Houses of Parliament in Westminster with honest intentions. Bonfire Night is an annual celebration on the evening of the 5th of November celebrating the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot of the 5th of November 1605 in which a number of Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London, England. It is primarily marked in the United Kingdom where it was compulsory, by Royal Decree, to celebrate the deliverance of the King until 1859.

This tasteful commemoration consists of the ritual re-enactment of the burning of Catholics on Bonfire night normally followed by fireworks to remind us that the Gunpowder Plot did not work out greatly to the advantage of the plotters. After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, English Catholics who had been persecuted under her rule had hoped that her successor, James I, would be more tolerant of their religion. James I had, after all, had a Catholic mother. Unfortunately, James did not turn out to be more tolerant than Elizabeth and a number of young men, 13 to be exact, decided that violent action was the answer.



A small group took shape, under the leadership of Robert Catesby. Catesby felt that violent action was warranted. Indeed, the thing to do was to blow up the Houses of Parliament. In doing so, they would kill the King, maybe even the Prince of Wales, and the Members of Parliament who were making life difficult for the Catholics. Today these conspirators would be known as extremists, or terrorists.

To carry out their plan, the conspirators got hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder - and stored them in a cellar, just under the House of Lords. But as the group worked on the plot, it became clear that innocent people would be hurt or killed in the attack, including some people who even fought for more rights for Catholics. Some of the plotters started having second thoughts. One of the group members even sent an anonymous letter warning his friend, Lord Monteagle, to stay away from the Parliament on November 5th. Was the letter real?

The warning letter reached the King, and the King's forces made plans to stop the conspirators. Guy Fawkes, who was in the cellar of the parliament with the 36 barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it in the early hours of November 5th, was caught, tortured and executed.


Lewes Bonfire, Guy Fawkes Effigy

It's unclear if the conspirators would ever have been able to pull off their plan to blow up the Parliament even if they had not been betrayed. Some have suggested that the gunpowder itself was so old as to be useless. Since Guy Fawkes and the other conspirators got caught before trying to ignite the powder, we'll never know for certain.

Even for the period which was notoriously unstable, the Gunpowder Plot struck a very profound chord for the people of England. In fact, even today, the reigning monarch only enters the Parliament once a year, on what is called "the State Opening of Parliament". Prior to the Opening, and according to custom, the Yeomen of the Guard search the cellars of the Palace of Westminster. Nowadays, the Queen and Parliament still observe this tradition.

On the very night that the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, on November 5th, 1605, bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of the King. Since then, November 5th has become known as Bonfire Night. The event is commemorated every year with fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire.

Some of the English have been known to wonder, in a tongue in cheek kind of way, whether they are celebrating Fawkes' execution or honoring his attempt to do away with the government! On 31 January 1606, Fawkes and a number of others implicated in the conspiracy were tried in Westminster Hall. After being found guilty, they were taken to Old Palace Yard in Westminster and St Paul's Yard, where they were hanged, drawn and quartered.

For aficionados of such things, hanging, drawing and was in a league of its own in what the U.S Constitution calls “cruel and unusual punishment; Until 1814, the full punishment for the crime of treason was to be hanged, drawn and quartered in that the condemned prisoner would be:

1. Dragged on a hurdle (a wooden frame) to the place of execution. (This is one possible meaning of drawn.)
2. Hanged by the neck for a short time or until almost dead (hanged).
3. Disemboweled and emasculated and the genitalia and entrails burned before the condemned's eyes.
4. The body divided into four parts, then Beheaded (quartered).
Typically, the resulting five parts (i.e. the four quarters of the body and the head) were gibbeted (put on public display) in different parts of the city, town, or, in famous cases, in the country, to deter would-be traitors who had not seen the execution.


Traitors being taught a lesson

Even in the unstable times and despite the many conspiracy theories suggesting Guy Fawkes was framed the Plot was a shock and impacted on the popular imagination as can be seen from the popular rhymes still extant.

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

Or this more robust number is truer to the original Anti-Popery of Bonfire Night celebrations.

A penny loaf to feed the Pope
A farthing o' cheese to choke him.
A pint of beer to rinse it down.
A fagot of sticks to burn him.
Burn him in a tub of tar.
Burn him like a blazing star.
Burn his body from his head.
Then we'll say ol' Pope is dead.
Hip hip hoorah!
Hip hip hoorah hoorah

In these days of diversity and inclusion it serves to remind us of a certain institutional prejudice on the part of the British state. The Statute Law of England, in the Act of the Williamite Succession, describes the Pope as “An Anti-Christ and Object of Perdition” – In this of course it is repeating the words of the same King Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up along with his parliament, James VI of Scotland and I of England in his preamble to the official bible of the Church of England, the “King James” Bible. His mummy, Mary Queen of Scots, would have been very cross with him if she had not been beheaded by his predecessor, Elizabeth I.

More seriously, the same act prohibits both the Sovereign or their Consort from being Catholic or the heir to the throne and their Consort. It goes further and says that neither the Sovereign’s First and Second Lords of the Treasury (namely the Prime Minister and The Chancellor of the Exchequer) nor The Lord Chancellor (The head of the English legal system and successor in office of Sir Thomas More) can be Catholics thus institutionalising sectarianism at the very centre of the British state and legitimising the somewhat snide anti-Catholicism still fashionable in some quarters. They of course can be any other religion or indeed none but they cannot be Catholics.

It is not, one suspects that the Royal Family particularly identifies with this sectarianism. The Queen has shown herself immune to such instincts over the years meeting with Popes on several occasions, her husband was reared as Greek Orthodox and his mother became an Orthodox nun, Prince Charles has often signaled that he feels he has a wider brief than as a defender of the State Church of England and a senior member of the family, the widely admired Katherine Kent, has converted to Catholicism with no signs of family disapproval.


Their Non-Catholic Majesties

So where is the agenda for maintaining this sectarianism at the heart of the British state? I suspect there is no agenda here and it is a bit like the embarrassing drunken uncle at the family wedding, all are agreed it needs to be evicted but are not sure how it should be done.

So next week another Sovereign will arise in the Houses of Parliament, but not before the Serjeant at Arms and his men have searched the basement, and she will deliver the programme of “Her Government” for the next year, The Queens Speech. Whilst delivered by the Queen it is somewhat misnamed as it is written by “Her Prime Minister”. So perhaps that son of the manse, Gordon Brown, will take this opportunity to remove this unpalatable anomaly from the heart of the British Constitution and give a clear lead on diversity and inclusion, two highly fashionable causes close to the heart of New Labour. I suspect as the Queen delivers the lines abolishing The Act of Succession with her famous deadpan delivery she will give a wry smile and be relieved that this embarrassing uncle, who is well past his sell by date, is being removed from the proceedings, never to return. It can only lead to better humour all round.