THE TWO-FOLD PATH

Autumn Leaves

When our contractors started work on site, there was a lot of concern from parents about traffic and congestion on the paths at 8.50 and 3.30, because the site compound was taking away one path, and the canalside path has parallel cycling and walking sections. So, the contractors bought warning signs for cyclists and put them up, and undertook to make sure that the cycle path was clear of rubbish, so that cyclists could always use its full width and didn’t have to stray onto the pedestrian section. This has worked very well. They have kept the cycle path absolutely clean where it runs alongside the site compound. Westminster Parks Department on the other hand have not done the same. A couple of council workmen were beginning to clear the piles of autumn leaves last week, and I heard one complain that the leaves were very heavy. Well, that’s the consequence of leaving them for four or five months to absorb large quantities of rain and snow. In my garden I can claim that they will rot down and put valuable organic matter into the soil (I know, it doesn’t actually happen that quickly) but that benefit is not available on a tarmac path. I expect that it was cost-cutting that meant that the autumn leaves were left until the spring, but the drawback with that is that the gang clearing them last week didn’t finish the job (presumably because it was hard work). So there are still sections where cyclists have to come wide. The other problem that drives cyclists onto the pedestrian path, brambles and other branches growing through the fence from the towpath, is rarely addressed either.   

An Odd Vehicle

Seen parked on the pavement outside the West London Buddhist Centre’s palatial premises in Porchester Road: a mobility scooter, with a pretend registration plate bearing the letters “VEGAN”. I expect they extrapolate their faith in veganism from Buddhism, because that is quite a common (western) connection to make. I would have supposed that the Buddha’s way of moderation implied something a bit different, but that’s only an observation.

I remember when we took a group of Helen’s sixth-formers to Nepal (eighteen years ago) and were to stay in a Tibetan refugee school, we assiduously warned the girls to expect the food to be vegetarian, since our hosts were Tibetan Buddhists. In fact (rather unattractive) meat featured regularly in the diet. The fact is that people living in harsh conditions tend to eat what is available and safe. Later on during that trip we stayed at a hotel in the Terai, and I didn’t go out with the group one afternoon, and so I was the only one there to see the kitchen staff dragging our dinner round to the back of the building to butcher it. I thought it best not to tell the girls.

Not So Angry

Angry Woman with Dog appeared at church on Sunday (obviously after Mass had finished) but she was cleaner than usual, and didn’t have the dog in tow. Nor was she angry. She was still looking for money, but was in a better state. Apparently her housing providers have moved her out into a flat in Tower Hamlets, but this is seemingly only temporary while they do the repairs necessary to her flat here. She had photos of a flat that I wouldn’t have believed was hers, and seemed proud of it. In truth, it would be better for her to move out of this area permanently, as she has so many feuds locally that having her as a neighbour will never be enjoyable, and people will always be trying to sell her drugs. She also seems to be engaging with some of the support agencies, which I have never known her do before. That is all good news. She apparently still has the dog, as there were photos, and she is still besotted with it. She says she wants me to write a letter to say she shouldn’t come back here, as apparently her excellent GP is doing; I would be delighted to do so.

Oy! No, Under Armour!

Is there a nastier home kit in the Premier League than Southampton’s this season? Seeing it in close-up in the post-match interview last Saturday I was struck by how misguided it all is. They traditionally wear stripes; red with a broad white panel is not the same, and this panel is much too broad. The shirt is effectively white in front, and red at the back and sides (I don’t like the current fad for striped shirts to have solid-colour backs, so West Brom appear to be in navy blue shirts when seen from behind; it’s not the only way to make numbers stand out, and is visually confusing). But it’s not just that white shirtfront, it’s the collar, or rather the neckline, because there is no collar. The white panel ends in a V-neck, which “reveals” a red section, as though of an undershirt, but the white panel doesn’t go all the way to the shoulders, but stops at collar-bone level, so there are red “epaulettes” connecting sleeves and sides; that red section is then edged with a white “collar”, which of course abuts the red “undershirt”. It takes a long time to describe because it is very fussy, a series of misguided solutions to design issues that should never have arisen. I admit the shirt manufacturer’s logo stands out nicely, though; perhaps that is the point.