Skylarks on the Garth

Both Clare and I woke up earlier than usual for a Saturday morning, and decided to go out for a walk soon after breakfast. We drove up to Pentyrch and thence to the Garth, where it was less overcast than in town, just misty, and pretty cold out on the exposed hillside in the wind, but dry under foot. Later in the day when browsing to find out the age of the burial mound on top (4,000 years), I learned that that the Garth inspired the novel made into a film called 'The Englishman who went up a hill and came down a mountain', by local writer Christopher Monger, where it's called 'Ffynnon Garw'.

We heard our first skylarks of the year, a mating pair too. I got lucky with a photograph of one on the ground, and one in the air too, although this was not as detailed as I hoped for.

It was too chilly to stay out for long, so after a brisk walk we drove down to Llanerch Vineyard to have a very pleasant lunch. It was an occasion when several families were out together enjoying a 'Mother's Day' (as media and marketing now calls it) meal together. There were few voices to be heard without that distinctive mid-Glamorganshire accent of local ordinary people of the southern Valleys and Vale of Glamorgan. What I was brought up with. For me it added a little extra flavour to the occasion, as accents to be heard in Cardiff, not to mention languages (mainly Spanish and Welsh) apart from English, are quite different, whether demotic or educated in manner.

We went straight home after and slept away the afternoon to compensate for early rising. Then Owain arrived, fresh from the Wales-Ireland rugby game - he'd acquired a ticket at the eleventh hour, and was glad to have witnessed a splendid victory. He now wants to be coached in singing 'Mae hen wlad fy nhadau.' for the next time he goes. Kath texted me yesterday asking if I'd buy some flowers for Clare on her behalf, as we won't be seeing her tomorrow. Owain kindly did the errand for me when he went out to get her some flowers and a few goodies for supper. He cooked for us before going out to 'Ten Feet Tall / Undertone, the club in Church Street where he's dee-jaying tonight in support of someone called Mr Beatnick from London. He starts his new job on Monday, and wonders how long it will take him to get back into the routine of early starts, after a pleasant layoff of six weeks.

The BBC reported the unveiling of Ghandi's statue in a ceremony at Parliament Square this morning.

 

That's ol' Abe Lincoln in the background. I look forward to take a few photos of my own in due course, if sister June doesn't beat me to it.

 

Parliament Square's new arrival

Good news on the Today programme this morning. A statue of Mahatma Ghandi for Parliament Square in London. He's been one of my spiritual heroes since I was young and idealistic about changing the world. His way of non-violent action spoke so clearly of the alternative way of life that many of us were seeking albeit never quite finding. Just six weeks ago I was photographing all the statues in Parliament Square of political men that shaped the 19th and 20th centuries, effectively by force, whether this was a means they desired to use or not. Nelson Mandela was the newest addition to the Square, on the corner nearest Westminster Abbey and Methodist Central Hall. 

Where will they put Ghandiji? I started wondering. The BBC news page gave a picture of the statue being moved into place. Then I looked at my photos and identified the statue in the background as that of Benjamin Disraeli, clad in his finery as first Earl of Beaconsfield. Somewhat in contrast to the scantily clad Mahatma, portrayed as he was when staying among London's poor in 1931. Then I remembered seeing workmen re-fashioning a section of pavement in front of Disraeli. Not repairs, but rather creating a plinth for the nine foot bronze soon to be unveiled.

It's ironic that among many honoured statesmen and warriors there's now place for a non violent political activist. As he's dead and out of the way, it's not such a challenge to the status quo to include him. It can be regarded as a sign of our post-colonial liberalism as a nation. Most Brits are reconciled to loss of Empire, and no longer want the troubles that went with it. But as racism, xenophobia, poverty gap and other signs of social dysfunction still persist, it seems little was learned from Ghandi's life by the very establishment that has found a place for him in the bronze pantheon of Parliament square. Thankfully, many ordinary folk have learned the power of his methods of persuasion and this will continue to be an influence on politics in times to come.

On the way into work, I visited various photographic shops with the mounting device from the top of an old tripod in hand, to see if I could buy a replacement for the missing block that screws to the bottom of the camera. Two shops had none, Cameraland had a variety of the part for different tripod makes that I was hunting for, but none of them fitted. The tripod us useless without one, and this tripod is unusually lightweight. It also bears no brand name to help with a web search for the component. Disappointing.

I spent the afternoon preparing copies of documents for Monday's BCRP Board meeting, kick-starting a process that stalled last July in a meeting I didn't attend as I was out of the country. Top public service management types over the years have made much fuss about the absence of a working Board, but have done nothing to help make it happen. We survived and did the right thing without the support of a Board so far, but as everything now runs successfully, the effort must be made. CBS takes the lead, as I believe it's obliged to under the bizarre circumstances in which it was set up with a serious lack of interest or support from its key stakeholders. Problem is, everyone wants something for nothing, for little or no effort at all. Heaven help anyone who moans or criticises now!

I sneaked a look at our new website addresses and found they are not yet redirecting to our pages, so I must have done something wrong - but what? That's the problem. It's really too complex and jargon laden for me these days.