Patty, Lollipop lady, Bow

Stepping out in front of rush hour London traffic in a luminous yellow jacket and hat while holding a giant lollipop sign might not appeal to everyone as a career choice, but it’s clear that Lollipop Lady Patty is completely in her element.

Having lived in the area all her life, Patty feels a strong connection to the East End and its ever-changing community. Watching her greet each passer-by with friendly banter is a heartwarming sight. There is something comforting about the sight of lollipop people in our neighborhoods. Perhaps it is because it harks back to a more innocent time when we were children and the act of crossing the road was taken very seriously, before we got older and started stumbling off night buses like disorientated lemmings. Maybe it’s time to revisit the Lollipop Lady mentality.. and remember to never underestimate the power of a simple “good morning!”.

SNIPE: What do you enjoy most about this job?

Patty: I get to meet people. I get to meet a load of children, and I do like children. I just enjoy the job. If you’ve got a smile then they’ve got a smile to give back, which I think makes the world go round.

S: It seems like you must have to have a caring personality to do this job.

P: I was off for a couple of days last year, I’d had a little accident, nothing major, but they got a relief in and when I went back in on Monday morning I’d missed a day and a half.. and they all complained about how miserable it was. I mean, they didn’t get a “good morning” or a “good afternoon.” He just stood in the road and done what he had to do, so I think they missed that “Good morning, how are you?” that kind of thing. I think it’s not so much a caring attitude but it helps if you ask how they are and if they had a nice weekend. I say “have a nice weekend, don’t do anything I won’t do” to the adults, to the kids, “enjoy the holiday”.. then you get a nice smile. Most of the time you do get a response, which I think is really good.

S: Does the job make you feel closer to your community?

P: Yes, you get to mix with all types of people from different places all over the world. They may run each other down, but they all talk to me, which I think is good.

S: Do you feel like a kind of meeting point for people?

P: Yes because I say “Good morning” to different people, they might not even normally look at each other, but they both say “good morning” back and then they might look at each other and give each other a smile. So you are getting the community together, even for that short “good morning.”

S: You must have to be a good judge of the traffic.

P: Yes, because where I am is a difficult corner. Sometimes you have to have eyes where they shouldn’t be—in the back of your head. Like, most of them now know that I’m there, you still get one or two that can be quite abusive, we have to be careful what you say back, we do have to mind our Ps and Qs. You just have to let them know that you’re there for a reason—to see the child across the road safely at the end of the day—and most of them will accept that—because most of them have got children. I’ve had one or two shouting “you shouldn’t be doing this job!” You just have to say—“if you don’t like it, complain to my governor.” I’ve had two incidents where they’ve had to report it to the police, where they’ve gone round me. The second time we took it to its level and they got a warning, but if they did it again they’d get a £1000 fine, because at the end of the day you can’t put a price on a child’s life.

S: No. Do most drivers respect you though?

P: Yes and I get a lot of “good mornings” and people that go past all the time, you get to know them and you get a wave. I’m lucky, because most of them know me and if I have my back to them and I don’t see them, they give me a beep to let me know I’ve gone past them, because they like their wave as well. They like that smile first thing in the morning.

S: In London—do you feel road traffic safety has got worse?

P: We could do with another two dozen [lollipop people] in the East End alone, especially now we’ve got the Olympics as well. The roads are terrible, you get so much traffic. We just need more money. It’s the going and the coming home from work that you need more people there for safety. traffic lights are great, but who takes any notice of them?

S: Sometimes I feel the traffic lights don’t seem to give you enough time to cross the road.

P: Yes, especially for the elderly. I mean kiddies, they like to cross the road as fast as possible. Let’s be honest about it. If I see a kiddie running towards me I stop the traffic for a couple of minutes more, to let that kid cross the road, because they don’t like slowing down. Especially if the mum is a big lady coming up behind, and the kiddie is running well in front of them, because those kiddies don’t like to stop. they want to go straight across the road.

S: You’ve lived here a long time…

P: All my life.

S: How do you feel the area has changed?

P: For a start you have people from every nation under the sun here, which is good. It has changed a hell of lot, buildings, attitudes, shops. Everything’s changed. When I was a kiddie we had the Docks, we ain’t got that no more here.

S: Were things safer here?

P: We could leave our doors open when I was a child. Now some people have computers and some people ain’t. Or they’ve got a 60 inch television and some people ain’t, there’s a lot of jealousy because people are so money orientated now to what they were when we were kids. I mean no one had nothing, we had to play with an old piece of rope, or a couple of balls up the wall and that was it. Kids now have got so much, but those that ain’t got, want the same. Which is only natural but there is a lot jealousy which causes theft. I’d love to win the lottery, who wouldn’t? But until I do, I say good luck to you if you do even if you’re my next door neighbour. If I can’t have it—you might as well. You’ve got to have that attitude.

S: Were people happier when they had less?

P: Yes because you were all striving to get more but when I was a child my door was open all day. The only time it got closed was when we all went to bed. Other than that your neighbours used to walk in and out and you’d walk in and out of theirs—to sit down and have a natter and a cup of tea. Television, I think is another thing. We had a television but it went on at certain times, now it’s on 24-7 which kills the art of conversation besides anything else. I think—the more you have—the more people seem to want.

Email: katherine.blamire@snipelondon.com

London agenda for Friday 25 May 2012

1.Eexplore the tastes, textures and smells of a fantastical, three-dimensional mythical landscape by artist Gayle Chong Kwan [Run Riot]

2. Listen to Vinyl Black Stiletto at Cargo [Don’t Panic]

3. The Horrors? We guess so, Time Out [Time Out]

4. Get one’s evil scientist on with free range chemistry [Ian Visits]

5. Attend Speakeasy & Swing at the Half Moon [Tired of London]

London agenda for Thursday 24 May 2012

1. Spend one’s last shilling on comic books at the French-influenced BD & Comics Passion Festival [Le Cool]

2. Experience a ‘new boutique electronic music festival featuring fun from Bearded Kitten and more’ at Noisily Festival [Run Riot]

3. Head to Hoxton Hall for some ‘raw, forward thinking music by local up-and-coming bands, producers and MCs’ at No Sitting [Don’t Panic]

4. Don’t be one of those people who dismiss the Barbican Centre’s brutality and take a tour [Ian Visits]

5. Wander on Mitcham Common [Tired of London]

Waters by White Birds

There’s something quite magnificent lurking under the sub-aquatic production on this new track from Philadelphia’s White Birds. Waters is available physically through Grizzly Records July 10. Download below.

Brainlove Festival: Napoleon IIIrd

Napoleon IIIrd should be no stranger to anybody thinking of heading to this weekend’s Brainlove Festival. Appearing there for a few consecutive years now, he’s become somewhat of a fest veteran. A bill staple, if you will. Like the beer that holds everyone together on the day.

But if you haven’t been able to catch the LDN-based electronic maestro yet, do check him out at this Saturday’s event. Here’s what he had to say when we threw a few questions at him:

Could you introduce a little about yourself to those somehow not acquainted yet?
Hello, I am Napoleon IIIrd, the musician, producer and coffee enthusiast. I moved down to London last year and am working on my follow up to 2010’s critically aclaimed album, ‘Christiania’. I also like fish.

For people who haven’t seen you live before, what can they expect?
Drones, loud bass, dancing, shouting, reverb, guitars, drums, tuna.

How many times have you played or even been to the Brainlove Festival?
Once or twice or thrice.

What do you think makes it unique?
It’s a day of the unexpected, there are constant surprises and the veggie burgers are always cold.

Who are you excited about seeing live?
Loads of people! Especially AK-DK, they will probably be playing with me too.

How do you find festivals compared to normal live shows?
I love festivals. Especially when there is Cider.

Do you enjoy the prospect of people that necessarily aren’t that familiar with your music getting the chance to stumble upon you?
That’s how I generally work anyway, so most certainly. I am very much looking forward to it.

Listen to N3’s track ‘The Hardline Optimist’ below:

Brainlove Festival takes place at Brixton’s Windmill this coming Saturday (26th May).

Tickets & Lineup Info at: www.brainloverecords.com/festival.

Úlfur - Black Shore

Icelandic instrumentalist Úlfur (trans: wolf) made an online stir recently when the video for “Black Shore” hit the front page of Vimeo out of the blue, picking up 50k hits as a result. It’s easy to see why they chose it: his caped figure creeping across the dark landscape with a planet sized moon rolling through the cosmos behind him is a captivating sight. The song itself is pretty representative of the orchestral, sweeping compositions that make up “White Mountain”, his debut album, which will come out worldwide later in 2012. He plays the Reykjavík Music Mess festival this weekend, and will no doubt be prowling for the greener shores of England soon.

London agenda for Wednesday 23 May 2012

1. Watch insanely brilliant poet Ross Sutherland entertain with a reading and a Q&A after the screening of Every Rendition on a Broken Machine at a Secret Location [Le Cool]

2. Spend an evening on the Queen of Hoxton’s rooftop watching The Troll Hunter [Run Riot]

3. Listen to Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs at Koko [Flavorpill]

4. Hear a chamber orchestra performance based on American neuroscientist David Eagleman’s cult book of short stories Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives [Don’t Panic]

5. Agitate the city with a people’s history of London [Ian Visits]

6. Maintain one’s bike with Islington Cyclists’ Action Group [Tired of London]

A Burnt Out Case by The Savage Nomads

Having already caught the eye of London’s punk rock glitterati, namely The Clash’s Mick Jones and Paul Simonon, The Savage Nomads are currently conquering the airwaves with recent single Tension in the Middle (above). 6 Music’s Tom Robinson describes it as ‘the most astonishing single of the year so far’: he’s not far wrong. It’s a very British spoken word piece, combining The Streets at their most melodic with Mark E Smith’s vocal attack and a hint of Ghost Poet’s urban melancholia.

Today’s MPFree is the equally fine album cut A Burnt Out Case, taken from their debut long-player Coloured Clutter, available here. Catch them at the Notting Hill Arts Club, May 30.

Interviewed: @FaBPeregrines on the wild hunters stalking the city skies

“I just love them,” says Nathalie Mahieu. “The first time I saw one I was immediately hooked.”

Nathalie is talking about Tom and Charlie, a pair of peregrine falcons who have been living on the roof of Charing Cross Hospital in Fulham since late 2007. Each year since they have roosted there. Each day they have killed something.

Nathalie feels very close to them. Five years ago it was she who spotted their arrival, and now she is their representative in the human world. She’s their Twitter feed, their blog, their Flickr group and the recorder of their lives. This closeness is no surprise, for she can see the birds from her living room.

This spring, so can everyone else. A live webcam, set up by Big Cat Diary and Springwatch naturalist Simon King, is trained on the nest and can be watched online, from any living room, iPad or phone, 24 hours a day.

The webcam has changed things.

“There’s been a huge upsurge in interest this year,” says Nathalie, whose Twitter following has quadrupled in the last few months. “When the chicks hatched, the webcam site crashed.”

There are three chicks (the adults trod on their fourth egg), fluffy bundles of down who can look adorable until they are chomping down macerated parakeet flesh, as lurid green newly-plucked feathers swirl around them on the breeze. The webcam doesn’t come with a watershed. Songbirds are filleted for lunch. It’s unedited, brutal truth, like reality TV was always supposed to be.

As Springwatch has shown, live coverage of the animals amongst us can make compelling viewing. The storylines are the made from the most elemental dramas: heroes and villains, chance and fate, life and death. The setting, above a hospital, with the gravestones of a cemetery visible in the background below the nest, is a location manager’s dream.

Peregrines make fine stars. If charm can be defined as “a hint of danger”, then these birds almost have too much. And they have the looks to go with it: sharp talons, sharp beaks, sharp eyes. They seek the limelight, having been spotted on Tate Modern, the girders of the O2, and the Houses of Parliament. And what’s more, says Nathalie, “they are happy to nest in man made boxes with cameras near them”.

They also have a history, and a language, so rich it can’t help but compel. Their ancestral nests are called eyries, their chicks eyasses, the adult male is a tiercel. Their attack dive, which reaches world-beating, scarcely credible speeds in excess of 250mph, is called a stoop. This is the specialised vocabularly of a very special bird.

Driven almost to extinction in the UK by pesticide use in the middle of the last century, they have rebounded in recent years and made cities their home in a way few big wild predators, save perhaps the urban fox, have managed.

Nathalie says there are a certain 25 pairs in the Greater London area, though the number of individuals will probably be higher. It’s a story repeated in cities across the world. From the cathedrals of Barcelona to the skyscrapers of New York , the birds are coming back. They find cliffs in our sheer concrete buildings, and plentiful prey in the pigeons plumped up by human crumbs.

Humans tend not be good at living with wild animals, especially ones which kill as much as we do. But perhaps the webcam points to a more tolerant future.

“It’‘s a very positive thing. When you involve local people [they] become their birds,” Nathalie says. The more people know, the more people will look out for them, and the better their chances will be.

And yet the camera can only convey so much. I ask Nathalie once more, what it is about these birds which draws her in. “I just love them”, she says again. She’s not alone. In 1967, in the darkest days of the pesticide plague when peregrines were almost driven from the land, an unknown librarian called JA Baker published a book which remains a classic of natural history. In remarkable prose, he describes a winter spent chasing the birds through the Essex countryside. For him, as for Nathalie, it was love at first sight.

“I…saw a falcon flying towards me. It veered to the right, and passed inland. It was like a kestrel, but bigger and yellower, with a more bullet-shaped head, longer wings, and greater zest and buoyancy of flight. It did not glide till it saw starlings feeding in stubble, then it swept down and was hidden among them as they rose. A minute later it rushed overhead and was gone with a breath into the sunlit mist. This was my first peregrine.”

These birds have made the city their home. The question now is whether we will let them stay.

See also:

The live webcam
@FaBPeregrines
London Peregrines website
Peregrine by JA Baker

Follow Mike
Twitter: @MikPollitt
Email: michael.pollitt@snipelondon.com

London agenda for Tuesday 22 May 2012

1. Visit the artists and studios of Clerkenwell Design Week [Le Cool]

2. Listen to Egyptian storyteller and performer, Chirine El Ansary, tell some of the most intriguing and deliciously seductive episodes from the Arabian Nights at the Crick Crack Club [Run Riot]

3. Hear jazz-soul singer Krystle Warren [Flavorpill]

4. Give some rare love to Mayfair by advocating debauchery at Love Machine Wrap Party [Don’t Panic]

5. Ask if Wager was an anti-semite or an ANTI-SEMITE at the Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust

6. Attend London Reads at the Deptford Lounge [Tired of London]