AT THE EQUINOX

Tower Blocks

The vehicles around the foot of Princethorpe House, which caused me such anxiety because of their reversing alarms, turn out to be engaged in removing the cladding from the side of the block. This has also begun on Wilmcote House as well. The contractors appear to be throwing away both cladding panels and insulation. This is surprising, since residents were assured by CityWest Homes and Westminster City Council that the cladding was safe, with rockwool insulation and adequate fire stops between compartments. Now it's possible that the panels have failed the government tests, as most apparently have, so it might be appropriate to change those, but why dispose of rockwool insulation? It seems a bit fishy, and rather concerning. I will make enquiries.


A Trip to the Cinema

My neighbour (and old friend) the Vicar of St John's Wood and I went to see "Victoria and Abdul" at the cinema together. It was slightly bizarre to find that we were sharing a small sofa, clearly designed for customers desiring rather more physical intimacy than two middle-aged clergymen, but it was actually jolly comfortable. The film was great fun, with Judi Dench clearly enjoying herself hugely doing her Queen Victoria turn.again. I became concerned at one point that I was laughing too loudly, because it was genuinely funny. The late Tim Pigott-Smith gave another excellent performance as the Queen's Private Secretary, Sir Henry Ponsonby, whose brother was a famous Anglo-Catholic priest, the Vicar of St Mary Magdalene's, Munster Square. I found myself location-spotting (as one does when one's own premises get used as a location) and thinking that they must have used the Painted Hall at Greenwich right at the start of filming, because it has been full of scaffolding for ages. They had clearly been to Agra quite genuinely, though there was a horrible bit of CGI with the Taj Mahal at the end. Their great coup was to get permission to film at Osborne, which was so recognisably itself: no set designer would ever propose something as overbearingly ugly as the Durbar Hall, which still houses the vast carpet which was the beginning of the story. The film is thoroughly to be recommended.


Changing Police Priorities

The Police Ward Panel met recently in Paddington Green Police Station, which was a rare privilege. I think we were all rather childishly excited about penetrating behind the scenes at this formerly famous "high security police station". I remember that when we first came to London you would know that terrorists had been arrested by the television satellite vans parked outside Paddington Green. The building seems to be pretty much dormant now, pending its sale to the developers of the site next door, and we met in what was clearly the canteen. Proceedings were enlivened by the sight of a mouse crossing the illuminated panels in the suspended ceiling.The Superintendent was keen to hear our responses to the proposed further closures of police stations, including the loss of front desk facilities at Paddington Green, but I pointed out that for our people the pass has already been sold, as Harrow Road station was the one which was convenient for them to go to report things. That one is now being developed as luxury flats, and frankly Paddington Green was always a bus ride away, and so not much better than Kilburn or Charing Cross. The Met don't seem to want to interact with the public any more.


Bright College Days

At the weekend I attended an "Old Members' Gathering" at my Cambridge College, which was very enjoyable. It was rather reassuring to see how many of our contemporaries had been doing socially useful things for the past thirty years. There were one or two disillusioned doctors (and by the end of the evening very drunk doctors) and a number of people planning to do (or already doing) things that they really enjoyed and were interested in having given up climbing the greasy pole. This was a big contrast from last time, nearly ten years ago, when I remember a general crackle of careerism and networking. Some things about Cambridge are completely changeless, others much altered. In the latter category the rail service to Kings Cross, which enabled  me to leave College just before 9 and be back to celebrate Mass at St Peter's at 11. Back in our day it was only electrified to Royston, and you had to change trains there, so the longer ride into Liverpool Street was the route I took more often. Some things do change for the better!