Oh don't stop the carnival...

Hearing that there had been arrests at the Notting Hill Carnival I found myself really annoyed that the coverage focussed on the negative for what had been a major success.

The music, the atmosphere, the range of foods and smells was amazing and all this with over 1 million people present.

It says something when this can be used for a negative story - it's as though an unofficial media measure is how many people are arrested each year.

Of course such arrests as took place were partly due to the increased use of stop and search - which in this situation is probably the right use of such powers.

I wanted however, to reflect back out the amazing costumes and colours that I captured on my little camera.

Most of the traditions of africa and the carribean were represented and with them often their respective national pride - the Jamaican flag is in particular prominence, as well as some more westernised cultural themes.

But also there is the god corner (above left) as well as the just loud, garish and colourful.

The history of carnival can be traced to a wide range of events, issues and themes and more detail is given here http://www.mynottinghill.co.uk/nottinghilltv/community-carnival-history.htm

But what struck me is the importance of this event today. It's the must be at event of the calendar for many Londoners and a huge huge amount of preapration has gone in...

This carnival dates from the events of the 50's with the parade from the 1960's but of course as with all things there is a reasoning and tradition that goes back further to Trinidad, slavery and beyond.

Cleaning up after the party and securing the toilets

It was the Notting Hill Carnival and so a day out not to be missed - not sure I had appreciated the full scale of the event - you hear the numbers of people attending in press reports but it isn;t until you are there that you see the full true scale.

This event is huge and the impacts upon the local area, the community are huge.

Just walking to the Carnival from where I live you could sense the growing crowds - Kilburn High Road was busier and had greater traffic - as we got to Kilburn Lane you could see the pubs were fuller and as you got to Harrow Road the queues at the bust stops were visible and vast.

For some in the community the experience has been err... negative.

There has been a bit of an elongated battle for the residents of what is called the Kensal Triangle trying to get toilet provision during the period of the carnival - well thanks to lots of noise, hassling and most especially the work of local councillor Simon Green this festival had toilets - and here are people queueing up to use them.

The are of course by the great local graffiti whihc has survived so far...

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/08/political-art-on-streets-is-that.html

For me the carnival was fun and lively and great music - but my enjoyment was partly based on the sure knowledge that I didn't have to be ivmoplved in the clean up - just how much jerk chicken can a street cleaning load into a rubbish bag?

Political art on the streets - is that graffiti?

I was having a quiet drink in the King William IV (Kensal Green, Brent) and there on the junction with Harrow Road and Warfield Road are three newish pieces of political contemporary comment - or graffiti as it is more fashionably and dismissively referred to.

Now let's be clear - I loathe graffiti - it's destructive, mindless, scruffy, unecessary and when it becomes a plague, the effect on a local community can be quite debilitating.

So when I saw these three I hesitated - all within 50 yards it causes you to pause and think - how do you define the criticism, where do you draw the boundaries, was it with consent, what if it was without consent but the community like it - does that in itself set a precedent...? All valid questions and largely without obvious or simple answers.

i assumed that someone soonish will be along to clear them off, paint them over so I'm glad I captured them on my lil-ol-digital...

Just so you don't forget Warfield Road is of course named after the landlord of the King William who rebuilt the current pub and they named the local road after him - must have been hell of a fella with a good reputation!

More advertising walls - by popular demand...

Who would of thought that this would trigger so much traffic on the issue of old local wall advertising - not the bill board type, but the old painted wall adverts.

It was kicked off with this one in West Hampstead

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2007/11/save-old-visible-painted-wall-adverts.html

followed up with this one in Kilburn, on the High Road

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2007/12/promotional-adverts-for-smoking.html

I've now been contacted by a local residents in Dyne Road pointing out that there is in fact another hiding on Kilburn High Road, literally next to the Black Lion... (pic left - not the Leftovers advert!)


Part of me likes the neatness of the grey concrete skim, more of me is hoping that the cold weather will lead to more of the skim cracking, falling off to reveal the old advert - smoking or matches I assume :-)

This is perhaps the most intriguing so far and is the one that of course raises the question about whether these old adverts merit 'saving' - my instinct is that they should not be consciously saved, but that a dialogue with land-owners about not deliverately removing them and obliterating them as they contribute to the ambiance of an area is a dialogue that would be worth having...

But more intriguingly, but much less colourful, and I'm grateful to the resident on Harrow Road who contacted me on this one, is this washed out ghost of an advert (pic right).

At first glance I thought it was in fact just the shadow from where a board had once hung, but as the resident points out "I reckon it must have been a painting, first is the shading on the white wash which you can just see, and second is the bevel indent corners which show that it was a design feature of the advert."

The resident goes on to tell me that they have looked for old postcards of this bit of Harrow Road (Queen's Park) but have not so far come up with anything. Any leads appreciated...

Tomorrow sees me exploring another tip off I have had from a reader - an advert that has apparently been staring me in the face and I have missed! More to follow.