Lea Valley Walk 3: Three Battles over Water

There's a lot of history behind the Lea Valley, for its river brings all sorts of opportunities to many different types of user. But they can't all be satisfied at the same time, which leads to conflict, of which these are just three.

1. Navigation vs. Power 

At the top of Hackney Marshes, where now the Lea River and Lee Navigation part, there used to be water mills. These were used to all sorts of tasks, from grinding corn, to boring tree trunks to even grinding the points to pins and needles (see history panel above).

These water mills needed water (obviously) so the millers wanted to control the water flow. But that caused problems for the bargemen who had different needs. The millers sometimes abused their power, deliberately lowering water levels so barges were grounded.

The solution was the Hackney Cut, so each could keep using the Lea, the mills grinding corn and the barges transporting it down river. That split continues to this day, with the Lea River and Lee Navigation.

2. Narrow Boat Owners vs. Water Safety Zones

This one is more recent - in fact it is still ongoing. All along the Lee Navigation were these banners and fly posters:

So what were they all about?

I had a search and came up with this story about a protest against "water safety zones". Apparently the Canal and River Trust (CRT) are concerned about "very high or competing waterway uses" and want to put in additional signage and restrictions in parts of the Lee Navigation such as in Hackney.

But boat owners say it could displace boat to move elsewhere.

This is not a new problem: boat numbers in London have been rising and putting a strain on 200 year old canals and resources. See this post from the CRT and this from the National Association of Boat Owners.

The wider picture is the high price of living in London which makes the low costs of narrow boats seem attractive. Of course the reality of boat life can be pretty tough, with sometimes basic facilities and lack of permanent moorings means a constant need to move on.

It's also the case that this overcrowding can make the canals and navigations a bit of a mess. I much preferred walking down the Lea River to the Lee Navigation as the latter was basically a long boat park. And many boats were pretty tatty - it felt at times like a cross between a trailer park and a scrap yard.

There must be some sort of compromise as the current situation seems unsustainable. Maybe placing tighter limits on number of boats in exchange for better facilities?

3. Water Companies vs. the Environment

The day I walked this bit of the Lea River was a bit of a scorchio and so locals had headed into the waters to cool off:

This might look fun but is actually rather risky, as all along the Lea River were signs like this:

I don't get this. 

Hackney Council admits the Lea River is "very polluted water" and its response is not to clean up the river but to put up signs against swimming.

This is just bonkers but alas is part of a trend. Last year, water companies discharged raw sewage into English rivers more than 400,000 times!!

Look at the yuck left on the trees:

There are only a small number of chalk streams worldwide and 80% are them are in England - they are a natural resource to be protected and the water companies first extract clean water from them and then discharge raw sewage into them.

This is a disgrace!!

If you want to find out more about this issue, follow campaigner and ex-Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey on Twitter.

AIPAC declares all dead on Titanic "terrorists"

Today representatives of the America Iceberg Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) declared that all those that died in the Titanic disaster were "terrorists".

"The iceberg was just defending its borders" said the AIPAC representative. "So what if some of those that died were children - they should have been at school! There were no 'passengers' - the iceberg focused only on targets of terrorist activity".

Donald Trump was declared the best ever friend of icebergs when he said that "the responsibility for these deaths rests squarely with those terrorists on-board". He said he fully supports the "great" iceberg as it was "big, powerful and white - just like me!"

Thames history fades

This is the Lots Road Power Station, built between 1902 and 1904, and it stands where Chelsea Creek meets the Thames.

The photo above shows the view as of spring 2018 (in black and white) and you can get an echo of what it must have been like for about a hundred years: focused on a working river - much like the previous post about Greenwich.

Not for much longer, though, as this empty shell is about to be transformed into Chelsea Waterfront including two glass and steel towers containing apartments that gleam with polished granite.

But I have decidedly mixed feelings about this: what London needs is affordable housing, costing between £ 300 - 500k not multi-million pound condos for those looking for "a study in sheer opulence".

Does their glossy brochure describe the London I know?

Boris Staysail's vinning sailing "alternative truths"

Zdravstvuj!

Vings are looking up for Boris! P. in Moscow approves big time! I am in the inner circle viv security clearance - vanks to my alternative sailing truvs.

I told T. that it was good news! America has von the Vendee Globe!! Great America IV has stormed to victory after Armel Le Cleac'h sank and Alex Thomson was eaten by a giant shark! Is all true!

I hav a new bestestish plan, big, big money, big, big win. Ve show that America is open to all! Yes, everyone is velcome to the next America's Cup apart from those from the following countries:

• France
• Japan
• New Zealand
• Sweden
• United Kingdom

Alas sailors from these countries will be denied entrance until we can work out what they are up to.

Some may say that this is illegal, immoral and unconstitutional but ve say, our hackers be interested in knowing your email? So maybe you joke? Ve are the best jokers:



 Do svidaniya!

Sleaford Mods going down like B.H.S on the Thames

Just spotted this video recorded at Chelsea Harbour here on the Thames by the band Sleaford Mods in which they sing about going down like B.H.S.

For those wondering what this TLA (three letter acronym) means, its a reference to British Home Stores which went into administration in a way that become a bit of a national scandal here in Blighty-land.

The previous owner, Philip Green, took hundreds of millions out of the company, ladening it with debts and leaving a huge hole in the pension fund, and then sold it for £1 just before it crashed to retire to the Med on this £100 million yacht:

I don't think the Sleaford Mods approve.

More background from the Guardian here (which is also where the photo came from).

10 reasons why sailing is SAD

Our new top correspondent Boris Staysail has been interviewing the topest persons and has come up with this Top Trump list of 10 reasons why sailing is sad.

1. Water sports are sad. I know nothing about water sports so don't know what they are but know they are really sad

2. Colour. I've seen those Aeros that some sad sailors go on and on about but you can't get them in gold, and gold is the only not sad colour

4. All good things can be done in one of my hotels, if you can't do it in a hotel then that is SAD. And you can't sail in a hotel so that is just sad

5. One sailor I have heard of is John Kerry and he is a Democrat and they are sad so sailors are sad

6. I am the smartestish of all but haven't won the America's Cup, so it must be sad, so sad. I feel sorry for it!

7. I was told that the Vendee Globe was a big sailing race but when I went on to the web site to watch the virtual regatta I noticed they were all fake, not real - FAKE - that's sad

8. My friend Putin doesn't sail, so it must be sad

9. America is the topest nation, greatest at everything - so why didn't America get the most sailing gold medals in the Olympics - it must be that its FIXED against America. Its FIXED! We should build a wall otherwise against these SAD sailors

10. The main stream media reports about sailing and they are just garbage, so biaised, its SAD. So SAD!

London's navy spotted out on manoeuvres

Spotted on the Thames recently was MTB 102 (as posted on earlier), heading upriver, no doubt to guard against an invasion of London from those crazy UKIP brigades.

Ok, maybe it was going to some classic boat festival, but apparently 34% of Londoners want either independence or an assembly similar to that in Scotland.

And London already has a light cruiser capable of hitting anything that were to cross the M25 orbital motorway:

It must be admitted that HMS Belfast might not have the most up to date electronic systems but its a start!

Independence?

It's fair to say that things went badly overnight.

It only took a few hours for Scotland to announce it was planning another independence referendum - and who can blame them, given the alternative is sharing a country outside the EU with Nigel Farage and his supporters.

But there are other ideas afoot. There is one bit of the UK (as it is called at the moment) that was even more in favour of remain than Scotland, namely London (see graphic above).

Already there's a petition for London to go for independence as a city state and follow Scotland and it quickly exceeded 50,000 signatures. Other voices support this.

Or maybe a new union, "ScotLon" anyone?

It appears we are living in "interesting times" as they say.

Remembering Jo Cox, MP, on the Thames

Yesterday Jo Cox would have been 42.

As part of the memorial, this dinghy was covered in roses and named in her honour the Yorkshire Rose.

It was towed from the family houseboat at Hermitage Moorings to Westminster:

In attendance were boats from the river police, PLA and the fireboat which made its own tribute:

Then the Yorkshire Rose was moored to a yellow buoy just outside the exclusion zone and the barge left, taking those on-board to the nearby Westminster Pier for the event in Trafalgar Square:

Jo's husband and two children were such a sad sight.

A tragedy.

Buff and Sassi Battle for Britain on the Thames!!

Last week saw an epic battle (pic actually from this old post) between the Brexit flotilla and the Bremain-inners right here on the Thames.

This blog has an EXCLUSIVE interview with two of those actually involved, namely Sassi on the IN-boat and Buff on the OUT-boat. Let's hear first from Sassi:

Hi Guys!

OMG, last week was just awesome. Me and Saint Bob..... poor Paula and Peaches.... breaks my heart, but we were fighting the good fight!

See, the EU is like Glastonbury. Yes it might sometimes rain and get a bit muddy but even then its fab as you're in it with your mates. All types of people dancing, laughing sharing, enjoying - TOGETHER! And those nights when the band is inspired and the moon is glowing over those fields - wow, it becomes a wonderful SHARED experience. And similarly with the EU: together we can be richer and stronger than ever!

Sure you could be totally in charge of the music, sovereign-like, alone at home with Spotify, but then you'd be a no-mates type like Buff - looser!

I want a Jo Cox type of future not a weirdo like Nigel Farage! I mean look at this picture she tweeted of her husband and two kids out on the Thames... its just .....[sniff]....its...

Ed: at this point Sassi had to take a break so its time for Buff:

G'day all, Buff Staysail here! Buff by name and Buff by nature!

Yours truly's been busy last couple of weeks. Little known fact that ol' Buff has been key adviser to the Brexit campaign. You read any Brexit press release? More than likely it was a bit of pure BS!!

So why is Buff for Brexit? Well its simple: enough is enough! At the 2012 Olympics Team GB got 65 medals and Australia only 35 - and things look like they can only get worse!

If our figures are right, should the UK remain in the EU it might become its richest, most powerful country! Yes, wealthier than Germany! This could be catastrophic for Australia's chances to humiliate you poms!

There is only one hope: if the UK exits, then it will be poorer, so less money for sport. Plus if Scotland breaks away it will be smaller, and a poor, little England will be easy to defeat!

So make England little again and vote exit!


Editorial

Should be clear by now this blog is firmly of the opinion that the way to vote is:

REMAIN

The flaws of the EU are small compared to the benefits its brings, and we will be safer, richer, stronger, more harmonious together with our European neighbours.

It is much easier to solve issues that we have if we have the resources to do so, and Brexit would leave us poorer and more alone in an uncertain world.

Science, economics, geopolitics, trade, values, arts, travel, history.... the list of the benefits and connections between Britain and Europe is endless.

Hermitage Moorings mourns Jo Cox

Such a tragedy.

A woman who showed how selfless and committed our politicians can be shot dead leaving her husband and two children behind.

Jo Cox lived on a barge on the Thames at the Hermitage Moorings which I visited on their open day back in 2014.

They paid their own tribute to her, sounding their barge's horns which mournfully echoed across the river up to Tower Bridge and beyond into the city.

Politicians sail for charity

John Kerry and Ted Heath are two politicians that have sailed, but the reactions on either side of the Atlantic to their exploits on the water were very different.

The former's windsurfing exploits were apparently "bad" for reasons I still can't fathom (though compared to the present race....) while the latter's competition in the Fastnet race was not a handicap in him reaching the highest political office in the land.

Today in the UK politicians are still open about their sailing and today did just that in full view of the public on the River Thames beside the Palace of Westminster.

It was a charity race between the House of Commons and the House of Lords, each competing in two person Enterprise dinghies, designed here in Putney 60 years ago. They were raising money for the Westminster Boating Base and Sail4Cancer.

Alas I was unable to witness this titanic political battle in person but the word on Twitter is that the Lords were victorious, hence their flag (from here) above.

Thank you Scotland

I was looking at this photo last night while wondering about the referendum results.

It's from inside the Olympic Stadium during the 2012 Paralympics and shows huge crowds waving the Team GB flag. People from Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Island united in their support for our team.

Was it to be the last hurrah, I wondered?

It was not and I am very relieved. Now we can move forward and remember that slogan written high around the stadium during the inspirational Olympics opening ceremony.

This is for everyone

Scotland: Keep the best of both worlds and stay

Another diversion, but with the referendum on Thursday its hard to keep quiet.

I'm half Scottish but do not have a vote. I'm not alone, as C4's Jon Snow pointed out we could see the break up of the UK caused by just 2.5% of the population voting against it.

The debate has been incredibly depressing for the amount of misinformation coming from the likes of Alex Salmond and the SNP.

It's hard to take Salmond's accusation of the dirty politics of Westminster seriously given his behaviour. To business he promises low taxes while to the left wing higher spending, then his currency pledges are fantasies and oil forecasts unbelievable. Against those that question him there are bullying tactics to silence including personalising the debate and the squashing of reports in Holyrood's parliamentary committees.

There are real issues to address like the currency and EU to which Salmond et al's only reply is Scotland will be able to do what ever it wants despite these two issues being reliant on externals. Currency union with the pound is incredibly unlikely, ruled out by all concerned with a single voice, which leaves Scotland with the choices of having its own currency or using an external one (pound or Euro most likely) without political control.

In either case there would have to be a period of many years building up reserves and higher interest rates, at a time when North Sea oil is flagging and jobs would be heading south of the new border. There is a strong likelihood of austerity to the level of Greece with high unemployment - the complete opposite of the social agenda we hear so much of.

The attitude to the English has become borderline racist - at times crossing the line. If there is to be a divorce it will not be a clean one, and Scotland shouldn't feel it could avoid paying its share of the national debt without strong push back. The description of the pound as an asset rather than a financial instrument is again a sign of misleading statements.

It really doesn't seem like the right time to be increasing tribalism and reducing the ability to have flexibility of identity. To be part of the UK means you can be Scottish, English, Welsh, British or many other variants, including Glaswegian or Londoner. That flexibility, the openness is a true asset, and the venom aimed at the English by many Yes campaigners is truly worrying.

And is Westminster so horrific that its worth paying any price to get away? Seriously? When I travel round the world I return with a new outlook. In Italy, Spain and Greece there is really high unemployment and stagnant economies, France has flatlined, the US has political grid-lock and dominance of lobbyists, while others are totalitarian or corrupt or controlled by the military.

In the UK within days of election of a hung parliament we had a stable coalition, economic policies making the UK the fastest growing country in the G7, lower unemployment than Europe, free at point of access national health service and one of the highest levels of support for international aid and development. Yes there are flaws, things I disagree with, sometimes strongly, but that is democracy: each decision will leave some voters unhappy. In three of the four last elections Scotland has got the party it wanted in control in Westminster - that's a higher ratio than for many, including me! 100% of control and approval is unrealistic.

I hear much talk of Scotland being transformed into Denmark, but again there are rose tinted glasses on. Ask the Greenlanders about what they think of Denmark (as I did) and the answer is its a colonial occupier. And Copenhagen has much less diversity and openness than London. Then there's Sweden with the rise of the far right and bankrupt Iceland.

The yes debate seems flawed on so many levels. If the SNP said that there would be 10 years of hardship, unemployment, austerity etc. during which Scotland has its own (devaluing) currency followed by the option to join the EU we could have a proper debate, but the current argument is more fantasy than fact.

And the alternative is so positive. Scotland shares values, history and people with the rest of the UK, and devolution allows the best of both worlds.

Scotland is already a nation with its own parliament, legal system, flag, culture, sports teams etc but doesn't have to duplicate institutions such as embassies and can share the currency with proper political oversight.

I like the fact that the UK gives the flexibility to be Scottish, English, British and a Londoner. I like the fact that the wonderful highlands and islands are part of my country.

It would be tragic and highly destructive (in particular to Scotland) to end a union that brings so many benefits and gives Scotland the best of both worlds.

Please vote no.

Buff in Gaza: the 6 billion dollar question

Darn it, by the time I got back Clemmie had gone. Shame, she seemed pretty cool in every way.

I ended up playing a game with other journos in which you chose the best way to spend 6 billion dollars from:

1. Rebuild Gaza, spending $5b on housing and use the rest for infrastructure, schools, hospitals, power plants, sewage works and a working sea port
2. Nearly a year's worth of Israeli support for its settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), every one of which is illegal under international law and an obstacle to a just peace
3. Two years worth of the $3b / year US's military support for to Israel to assist it in demolishing Gaza and committing war crimes
4. Sixty America's Cup campaigns at $ 100m a pop

Ok, that last one was my idea, and it didn't get many votes.

Maybe I should have said 30 campaigns at $ 200m a pop to have a chance to win.

Time for Buff to check out that port....



To be continued...

Buff in Gaza: Talking to Hamas

Woo hoo! Buff's found a hotel!

It was great to have a proper bed though water and power are still luxuries. There's also all sorts of fellow journo's and bloggers here.

Over coffee I got chatting with Clemmie who was from Code Pink and admitted I wasn't sure about Hamas from what I'd read in the papers.

She laughed. "Buff, you shouldn't believe all the MSM's nonsense. Our founder, Medea Benjamin, is an American Jew and she came to Gaza to meet Hamas and they treated her with respect. They said repeatedly it was Israel policies they had a problem with, not Jews."

I thought about that as I read what my Norwegian doctor chum (who I met at the hospital) Mads Gilbert (great name btw) had said. 

He reminded people about the time that Norway had been occupied and how they hadn't like that either. Not that Israel has reached Nazi levels but that occupation makes people angry - like in France in the 40s or Kuwait when Iraq invaded so it will be the case while Israel occupies Palestine.

The CEO of Buff Enterprises is by no means a commie, but the presence of communists in the French Resistance was not a reason to support the Germans in their occupation. The French Resistance didn't "renounce violence" while France was occupied so why should they?

And Hamas have said many times they would accept a two state solution based upon the 1967 borders - unlike Israel - and seem to be better at keeping ceasefires:

People are people, kids are kids, the world over.

Surely at least worth talking to?

But first Buff's going for another coffee....maybe Clemmie will still be there!




To be continued...

Buff in Gaza: The people of the wastelands

Woo hoo! Ol' Buff's just had a great nights sleep!

Then it was time to head out to meet some of the people of what can only be described as a wasteland (above, from here), a landscape of pulverised buildings, courtesy of Israeli F16s.

I got chatting with some of the locals, asking them who they blamed. Silly question really, given whose F16s it was that did this to them.

They seemed a good bunch of cobbers and I constantly met highly educated people who spoke English: a "cheerful and friendly people".

And it was clear they weren't going to just give up on fighting for their rights, one way or other.

The problem, as they put it, was that Israel wants land more than peace - just look at how Israeli settlements increased constantly during the talks that went nowhere:

But an end to Israel's occupation of Palestine, so all can have peace, sounds like a winner.

If even Buff can get it, why can't everyone else?




To be continued...

Buff in Gaza: The Siege of Gaza

It was a bit quieter this morning so I could get out and about.

Jeez, what a catastrophe.

As well as journo yours truly is of course CEO of Buff Enterprises so I tried to find a fellow executive and bumped into Mohammed who was in charge of a biscuit and fruit juice company.

Well he was, as it too has been flattened. It was the biggest in Gaza but Israel wants to "destroy the economy" - why else are businesses and the power station targeted?

Even the sewage works was destroyed, targeted again and again by Israeli tank fire.

As a jet setting CEO I know it is crucial to be able to trade freely, but look at how Israeli has stopped exports since 2007:

This is an example of what they mean by the siege of Gaza: collective punishment of an entire population.

The key Palestinian demand is freedom, what we take for granted, which Israel denies them, and apparently that demand is considered unacceptable.

Why? I just don't get it.




To be continued...

Buff in Gaza: Hospitals under Attack

After the school massacre I went back the beach and found washed up on the shoreline some of the medicines that had drifted away after the Israeli's bombed our boat.

It was time for Buff to do good so I took them to a hospital.

Jeez, what chaos, even here we weren't safe from Israeli attacks:

Later Clemmie was to tell me that over half Gazan hospitals had been hit one way or other.

There was one glimmer of light - a baby born of a women killed by an Israeli attack (top), kept alive in an incubator.

Then the Israelis bombed Gaza's power station and the electricity went, and then the baby followed her mother.

Jeez.

What sort of country bombs power stations, schools and hospitals?

And what sort of country arms them, then re-arms them?




To be continued...

Buff in Gaza: Carnage at School

I have to say that after the modern Guernica bombing of Shuja’iyah even a tough old journo like Buff was shaken.

Jeez, this was just crazy, homes being bombed, women and children killed.

In a daze I found myself in a school where I met this brit, a chap called Chris Gunness. I thought he said Guinness to be honest, which was a word with some good memories, but even so he was a sold chap, a bubble of sanity.

I needed somewhere to sleep so crashed in his office.  I thought it had to be safe given it was a UN run girl's school and Chris had told the Israelis 17 times where they were and what they were.

Then the Israeli bombs fell, shattering bangs splitting reality from the dark country.

Many Palestinian children died, the survivors covered in scars like the one above.

Jeez.

There are no words, though Chris had a go:




To be continued...