I have known Jamie since he was a young activist in UNISON and lately, as a member of UNISON National Labour Link Committee, I have appreciated his officer support to us and also his enormous everyday cheerfulness and enthusiasm.
UNISON's loss is the Labour Party's gain.
I have no doubt he will be doing more than his bit as a Labour staffer to win the next general election.
It was great to see our former General Secretary, Dave Prentis here to thank and wish Jamie farewell.
She was one of the leaders of the successful strike over fines and working conditions in 1888 at the Bryant & May Match factory in Bow.
"Chapman and others involved in the strike have since been recognised as "pioneers of sex equality and fairness at work who left a lasting legacy on the trade union movement".[4]
It was great to meet in person and speak at long last to Sarah's great granddaughter, Sam Johnson and her husband Graham, who together with over relatives, supporters and local residents have formed the Charity "The Matchmaker Memorial". The Tower Hamlets Mayor, Lufter Rahman attended as did local Councillor, Asma Begum.
Sarah is buried in a privately owned cemetery in Manor Park Newham and I was able to speak to residents who had also come to support the campaign.
After some words of welcome and explanation by Sam we were treated to some songs by a wonderful singer (whose name I sadly missed) dressed in period costume. I particularly enjoyed :-
"The Matchgirls' Song"
We'll hang old Bryant on a sour apple tree...(see full wording in photo)
(to the tune of "John Brown's Body").
By coincidence, many years ago I used to occasionally work in the old Housing office (Lanfranc) that used to be on this site.
I shall look forward to the memorial headstone to Sarah being laid in the Manor Park cemetery as soon as is possible.
Yesterday morning I went to a consultation on a proposed LTN in my ward then taking advantage of a better weather forecast for Saturday compared to Sunday travelled with Gill by TFL trains to Rickmansworth. This circular 6.2 mile walk is listed in the book "More Great Chiltern Walks".
It was an amazing walk and I was astonished at the size and number of the lakes (former gravel pits). We had lunch first at the Park cafe then started the walk around Bury Lake but found recent heavy rain had meant that many footpaths were closed or impassable due to flooding. We both had gaters above our boots but this was serious "welly" territory and we had to alter our course. We had to go along the south side of Stockers Lake (a wonderful nature reserve - see main picture) rather than the north.
We passed a sign indicating that a camera had been placed overlooking a Gray Heron nest and you could check out the progress of the nesting and next month hopefully see the chicks. At the moment you can only see the parents taking turns to sitting and incubating the 3 eggs that have been laid. Check out https://www.fosl.org.uk/n for the live feed.
We kept being warned by walkers coming from the opposite direction that the path ahead was impassable without Wellies. We chanced our arm but found it was too deep to keep going. However, some local children living on boats moored at the nearby Grand Union Canal had built a bridge (of sorts) which we were able to cross and continue the walk along the canal.
We walked along the canal for a while then left it near a World War 2 Pill box and tried to walk around Springwell Lake. We got most of the way around but had to retreat when we found the path totally submerged. Time was now pressing so we took the short route back along the canal into park. We will come back another day to finish it (when it is not so wet!) but it was still a lovely walk and well recommended.
Stopped off at the Rickmansworth Spoons for a quick pint of Doombar then train back (about 1 hour 30 mins). More photos on walks around London Facebook page.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO FACE THE MUSIC ON YOUR OWN! Join UNISON, and we'll all be singing from the same hymn sheet".
https://join.unison.org.uk/
(#1 Normally, nor for any issue that began before this date as well - I use to work as a barman in a dodgy nightclub in Edinburgh many,many years ago and the DJ used to play this song every night as the last track)
Good luck to the many Labour candidates there who are standing for the GLA or winnable Parliament seats.
