Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea July 2021, Newsletter (# 145)

1. 1 June. I was walking along Trinity Road, in Wandsworth Common, when I saw this magnificent hearse. Obviously, it marks a sad event for someone, somewhere, but it also provides a spectacle and an insight into cultural diversity, between the sombre nature of some funerals and the joyous celebration of a departed life “enjoyed” by others. (please note this version of the blog is without pictures – techie problem! I hope to sort shortly)
   
   

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2. 5-6 June. Penny and I went Eastbourne for the weekend. On the Saturday we went to Pevensey Castle, five miles from Eastbourne, where William the Conqueror landed at the start of his conquest of England. The magnificent ruins of the Castle command a splendid view over the coastal plain/marshes and of the sea, which has retreated a couple of miles since 1066. This photograph of the Norman castle ruins is not the best – of the castle – but I chose it for one very special feature and that is the gun emplacement set in the Norman Tower during the Second World War – an eleventh-century pillarbox defence. So, from some fortifications at Pevensey in Roman times through to its military use in the twentieth century, it has had an active history of 16 centuries – a truly unique British castle.
   

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3. On the Sunday, we went on the “Annual Family Walk” from the Birling Gap to the top of Beachy Head. I was a little doubtful about whether I could make it all the way, but managed OK. The trouble was that, whilst the rest of the country was basking under a beautiful sun, we were trapped in a sea fog and couldn’t see the sea, the Beachy Head light-house or almost anything else. And the day had started with this beautiful and tranquil, if unspectacular, dawn at about 3.45 am!
   

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4. 7 June. I went to a lecture organised by Labour Heritage and given by Baroness Dianne Hayter. She was talking about a book that she had written in 2006 on the centenary of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) and about the 29 MPs, who in 1906 got together to form the PLP and, effectively, the Labour Party. The book, called Men Who Made Labour, is a record of the lives of these 29 men and their experiences as the first Labour MPs. Nearly all were what we might call “working men”, with very few having had any formal education beyond the age of 12 or 13. Almost none had ever been to London before their election and none had had any exposure to life in Parliament. The challenges they faced were immense compared to most modern-day experiences. But nevertheless, through self-education, hard-work and endless commitment they became over time Cabinet Ministers and, in at least one case, Prime Minister. Dianne, an old friend, told the story with passion and understanding – it was an hour’s Zoom well spent.
   

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5. 10 June. This time, I was doing the talking – to Croydon Trades Council. Croydon Borough Council recently decided to hold a referendum on 7^th October this year, when the voters will be asked whether they want to have an elected Mayor or to keep the current Leader and councillors model. As it happens, one of the Trades Council members recalled reading an article I had written in 2007, on why elected mayors are “bad news”. Hence I was invited to speak. My speech went well but I think most of the audience was on my side before they had even heard a word. Nevertheless, it was good to get a good reception. If you are interested in my arguments against elected Mayors, then you can see the article on my blog at tonybelton.wordpress.com/
   

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6. Constituency Boundaries. Boundaries are extremely important to people deeply involved in politics. It may seem very boring to most but it is a matter of life and death to real politicos. It is because they have manipulated electoral boundaries so efficiently that the Republican Party is stronger in the US House of Representatives than its poll numbers would suggest. Indeed the word “gerrymandering” is an American word of abuse, originally aimed at the Democratic Governor of Massachusetts called Elbridge Gerry and the boundaries he drew up in 1812 for a new voting district, shaped, it is said, like a salamander or as the Boston Weekly Messenger called it a “Gerry-Mander”.
   

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7. This comment is a long-way round to introducing the fact that the Boundary Commissioners have recently produced their latest proposals for parliamentary boundaries. The whole point of these proposals is, of course, to try and bring some kind of democratic equality to bear on the electoral process by making parliamentary constituencies of more or less of equal population size – the law actually allows a 5% variation. Unfortunately, geography is nowhere as neat as arithmetic, and so five constituencies are defined by geography and not by population numbers. They are the islands of Orkney and Shetland, the Hebrides, Anglesey and two on the Isle of Wight.
   

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8. Fortunately on this occasion, the growth in Battersea’s (and the Borough’s) population more or less reflects the growth in the country’s population, hence no gerrymandering is required. The three Wandsworth constituencies of Battersea, Putney and Tooting, as proposed, are almost unchanged. But Tory Party MPs may be less keen than they were to implement the boundary redistribution, because, since the 2019 General Election, they do not stand to gain as much as they had previously expected – or at least that is what I have heard Labour cynics say! And, if that is the case, then maybe – as so often before – nothing will happen. We really ought to take these crucial decisions out of the hands of active politicians, and into the hands of the independent Electoral Commission.
   

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9. 22 June. I had a meeting in the morning of the North East Surrey Crematorium Board – and after its routine business, I was shown the grave of John Archer, famously the first black Mayor of a major local authority when elected Mayor of Battersea in 1913. I must confess that the grave itself is fairly unremarkable but it has its place in Battersea history, even if the graveyard is located deep in Merton! Or even Sutton?
   

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10. On the way back home from the Crem Board, I passed an unusual scene in Christchurch parsonage garden. Not exactly where I expected to see a rehearsal of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Ernest but that is what it was – and I never found out when and where it was produced but it made for an entertaining surprise for anyone walking along Candahar Road, just off Battersea Park Road!
    

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11. That same evening there was a meeting of the Planning Applications Committee and, as regular readers will know, there is usually something of interest on the agenda. But on this occasion – nothing. So, I pass on to the Education Committee, which had two items that sparked an interest. The first was a Report on Wandsworth Independent and State School Partnership. Now, with one of the largest private-sector engagements in public education in the country, one would think that this issue has to be of major significance to Wandsworth local education authority. But with the final recommendations saying “This paper sets out the plans to strengthen the relationships between Independent and State schools in Wandsworth with a view to establish a long term mutually beneficial cross-sector partnership adding value to both sectors and securing targeted support for disadvantaged pupils in the borough…There is no additional financial implication for Council” – the heart sinks.
    

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12. The second item that caught my eye was the Report by the Director of Childrens Services on Wandsworth catch up strategy – that is, to catch up on education following all the disruption caused by the Covid Pandemic. How exciting and demanding one thinks, until reading the recommendations which say, and I quote, “No decisions are required on it by the Council”. That was Council politics in June, that was!

My Programme for July

1. 1. On July 1^st we have the result of the Batley and Spen by-election – of course Labour won but more about that next month!
   2. I am taking Battersea’s MP, Marsha de Cordova, to Wimbledon on 6^th July, which will be fun.
   3. On July 12^th I have a meeting of Battersea United Charities, where Marsha will be a guest.
   4. On 15^th July both Kambala Cares and the Battersea Society are having their summer parties.
   5. A meeting of the Special Neighbourhood Team is due to be held on 20^th.
   6. There is a Council Meeting on 21^st July.
   7. On the 23^rd July the Falcon Estate Residents Association Committee is having an annual dinner.
   8. The Planning Applications Committee (PAC) is on the 27^th July.

Did you Know: Last month I asked, “How many pubs are there in Latchmere ward? Their names? And how many have closed to your knowledge in the recent past and their names?”

Not one of you tried a reply, and I don’t know the answer but let us work it out, working from west to east. There is the Anchor in Hope Street, the Asparagus and the Suburb in Falcon Road, the Latchmere and the Clockhouse in Battersea Park Road and the Flag in Culvert Road, and that is that – I think. Closed: in the recent past: the Grove, the Duke of Wellington, the Meyrick Arms, the Prince’s Head, the London, Dover and Chatham Railway Tavern, pictured right, and the Havelock Arms. So, 6 down and 6 remaining; pubs really are an endangered species in our current environment!

And for this month can you tell me:  

Where in Battersea was the location of a pioneering aircraft factory, named Omnia Works, where WW1 fighter aircraft were made? And where, again in Battersea, did its owner and managing director live?