Ian Tomlinson

In the noise and bustle of the City it is easy to miss this: the location where Ian Tomlinson died during the G20 demonstrations last April.

This poignant little scene is in Cornhill.

“Ian Tomlinson was attempting to find a route home from work through the protests when he was struck by police near the Bank of England. Video footage revealed that he had his hands in his pockets and was walking away from lines of police”.

The Crown Prosecution Service has said that the case remains under review and a decision on whether to prosecute for manslaughter would not be taken for a few months.

Steve Bell's cartoons

Steve Bell’s cartoon in the Guardian today neatly responds to the news that Murdoch’s Sun has now removed its support for Labour.  I can’t reproduce it on this post, but you’ll find it here.  Take a close look.

Steve Bell’s work has been a feature of the Guardian for almost 30 years. If you can spare 3 minutes then click here and see a short video where he shows how he devises and draws the cartoon which appeared in yesterday’s paper

And there is a generous archive of several hundred pieces of his work right here.

Anish Kapoor

Go And See This.

I offer no apologies for being so emphatic - this is a ‘must see’ exhibition for anybody who is able to get to The Royal Academy in London’s Piccadilly.

The Royal Academy of Arts presents a major solo exhibition of the work of the acclaimed artist
Anish Kapoor, winner of the 1991 Turner 
Prize, and one of the most influential and pioneering sculptors of his generation.

"Tall Tree and the Eye” 2009 by Anish Kapoor, at The Royal Academy

I went yesterday with close friends, one of whom said “I have never been to an exhibition which made me so happy” and I must agree. It was only the second day of the exhibition, and a Monday, and yet it was crowded with happy people looking at and enjoying Kapoor's wonderful sculptures.

Not being allowed to take photographs inside the Academy, I can only show you this piece which Kapoor made specially for this exhibition. It stands in the courtyard of the Academy and is itself brilliant. But wait till you get inside.

Small pieces, huge pieces, in corten steel, paint, fibreglass, cement, with a cannon, (yes, ‘bangs’), and other things I don’t want to tell you about. One piece weighs 30 tons and occupies 5 galleries. Unusual materials, wonderful use of brilliant colours – I won’t tell you any more.

By the third gallery we noticed that visitors were smiling, were talking to strangers, and to the (very informative) wardens; people were chuckling, young children were shrieking with delight. This isn’t how one usually behaves in London galleries - all very tight lipped and serious.

Friends: It’s a delight. GO!

A short biography of Anish Kapoor.

John Tusa interviews Anish Kapoor here

One for the birds

Julian Metcalfe and Sinclair Beecham opened their first Pret a Manger in 1986. In 2008 they sold the firm for £350m. It's a remarkable story, since all they do really is very simple food and good beverages.

It may be relevant that they do it all themslves, with no franchises, and no really obvious attempts to stretch the brand nor dilute the offer.

Up North - part two

This is the second part of my short journal of my recent trip to the north of England.

After Manchester I drove northwest onto the Fylde peninsula and up to Lytham St Annes, an attractive small coastal town facing out onto the estuary of the river Ribble and Morecambe Bay.

I was looking for the house where my father was born in 1910 and where he spent his early years, and this is it, in Mythop Avenue.

Those who knew him won’t be surprised to read that there was and still is a railway line at the bottom of the road – so he did catch the railway bug very early.

And then onwards, for another seventy miles into the southern Lake District. This was the objective of my visit north, to catch-up with close family who I haven’t seen for many years and who all live in the valley of the river Leven.

The river runs from Windermere out to the sea at Greenodd and links the small villages of Newby Bridge, Backbarrow, Haverthwaite and Greenodd, all places where my mother’s family had lived and grown up, and where I spent much time in my childhood.

The MV Tern, which operates on Winderemere, was built in 1891 and still carries passengers between Lakeside and Bowness

The river Leven at Newby Bridge. My uncle Peter walked me across this weir when I was quite young. Thankfully the water level was lower, and I’m sure we didn’t tell my parents about it.

These are Bridge cottages, standing above the River Leven, in one of which my grandfather Edward was born in 1891.

Bare Syke in Backbarrow, my mother’s family home and centre point of the Bevins family for 100 years. I have many, many memories of happy days here.

Directly across the road is the Leven Valley School, which my mother and her siblings attended. They left school at 14, which was the norm in those days. My mum then went into service, working at a big house up near Windermere until she was old enough to go to Manchester to train at the Royal Infirmary.

From the southern end of Windermere the river Leven runs 8 miles and out to the sea at Greenodd. Six generations of the Bevins family have been river bailiffs or beck watchers, managing and maintaining the river and its stocks.

I walked with Richard up into the woods and rocks known as Haverthwaite Heights where as children we spent many happy hours climbing up, scrambling down and generally playing.

The war memorial in the small town of Ulverston. Two members of the family lost their lives in the Great War and are commemorated on the memorial.

And of course I visited the small graveyard at Haverthwaite where many of my family are buried, including my parents. A very peaceful setting beside the river.

Turning south, I drove down to Oldham where I spent a very pleasant lunch and afternoon with my aunt, Richard and Sue’s mother. She and her sister have recently holidayed ‘down under’. This photo shows them climbing the Sydney harbour bridge, something I flunked on my two visits, thinking I might be a bit old for it. I now regret that.

And so to home. Seven days, and only seven hundred miles: It has been a very enjoyable week which I will repeat soon.

Cats and Dogs

I saw this cat and mouse graffiti in Whitecross St last January.

Today I see it's been joined by three pups at play.

I wonder if it is by the same artist?