The Hidden Palace

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157/365: The White Swan, Bewdley
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It is twenty years to the day since more than 50 people were killed and nearly 800 hurt in the London bombings, caused by extreme Islamist suicide bombers. This was the first Islamist suicide attack in Britain, as well as being the deadliest terrorist attack since the Lockerbie bombing in 1988. It was a terrible shock at the time, all the more so because the targets were public transport vehicles: three London Underground trains and one double-decker bus. At first the news was simply of a "power surge" on the Tube, and it took a couple of hours before it was fully clear that it was something more sinister than a simple fault.

On a happier note, someone on my list here asked me recently whether the White Swan pub in Bewdley was still around. I said yes to them at the time, but here's some visual evidence! The White Swan was for a long time a slightly down-at-heel pub -- not dangerous or anything, just rather shabby and tired -- but it's had a substantial makeover in the last year and has gone significantly upmarket. It's recently started to sell itself more on food than beer, and the patio area at the back has been given a good polishing up as well. It's at the top of Load Street, Bewdley's main street.

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I have such mixed feelings about the proscription of Palestine Action in the UK. I absolutely cannot stand the organisation itself -- and I'd said that even before the ban -- which has often come over as one of those self-indulgent middle-class "look at meeeee!" groups (see also Just Stop Oil). I'd go so far as to say PA has probably harmed the case by putting off so many moderate people, just as happened when fringes on Palestine marches started actively supporting the Iranian regime recently. It's also ludicrous to say, as I've already seen happen, that the ban on PA makes it "illegal to protest the genocide". That's ridiculous and no more true than saying the Provisional IRA's proscription made it illegal to protest against British forces' brutality in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

What gives me pause is that, unlike for example the Provisional IRA, Palestine Action have not actually been violent in their actions. The best known thing was when they broke into an air base and trashed the engines of some planes. As far as I can see, all the other groups who have been proscribed -- PIRA, various neo-Nazi thugs, and indeed Hamas -- are actively violent or repressive. I tend to feel that in a democracy the bar for making it illegal even to express support for an organisation (and doing that with PA is now a criminal offence) should be extremely high. As it happens I don't want a US-style near-free-for-all when it comes to free speech. I wouldn't, for example, want to allow the level of commentary on ongoing trials that exists there.

But yeah. I deeply dislike PA and think they've done far more harm than good to their avowed cause. I also deeply dislike the arrogance of some on that slice of Palestinian protest who insist on pushing their way into so many other protests and marches (even some unrelated ones such as LGBT or disability-rights events) "because genocide". I'm deeply suspicious about these "grannies being arrested" stories, because I suspect that was what PA wanted to happen. As I've said before, it's also curious that so many of these people just happened to be against providing support for Ukraine. There's at least a suspicion that they just shout for anyone who's against Israel/the US/"the West" in the same way ultra-lefties lionised Stalin in the 1950s.

But even all that said, actually making it a criminal offence not just to join PA but to express support for them? However much I dislike them myself, that's where I get uneasy.

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153/365: J. F. Kennedy memorial mosaic mural, Birmingham
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I was in Birmingham again today for some cardiology screening at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Routine stuff and nothing to worry about, but it did mean a bit of a trek on the trains. The city centre was very busy with Black Sabbath fans from all over the world who'd come for the band's last-ever concert tomorrow, so I walked down to Digbeth (where the coach station is) and passed the J. F. Kennedy memorial mosaic mural. This isn't the nicest part of town and I wasn't keen to linger, and as you can see the mural surrounds have sadly seen better days, but it seemed appropriate to post it on 4th July! The text on the right is a JFK quote: "A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on." The Presidential Seal on the mural incorporates real gold. The original mural by Kenneth Budd was commissioned by Birmingham's Irish community and appeared in another location in 1968; because of major road developments it was removed in 2007, but this new version was unveiled in 2013 with the help of Kenneth Budd's son Oliver.

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152/365: Victoria Road Cemetery, Cradley Heath
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I nipped up to Merry Hill this morning, and although it was a slow start weather-wise, things improved quite a bit later on. Today's photo is of Victoria Road Cemetery in Cradley Heath, not directly attached to a church but an overflow space for Christ Church in nearby Quarry Bank. Despite initial appearances, the location pictured here is in a very urban area -- you can just see the houses in Victoria Road itself beyond the trees to the right. The cemetery had newly mown grass, but it otherwise seems a little on the neglected side, with a lot of plants growing over graves as seen here. On the plus side, its relatively untouched nature makes it a little oasis for wildlife, although I didn't see anything interesting during my brief visit.

As for the Merry Hill part of the day earlier on, the main downside was that I managed to drip brown sauce (from a bacon butty) onto my white polo shirt. Go me. Fortunately Merry Hill is a biggish shopping centre, so an emergency Primark run sorted out the immediate issue. (Basic cotton T-shirt, quite a pleasant teal colour, £2.50.) Whether the brown sauce will come out of the polo shirt is a good question, but I have reasonable hopes. It fortunately wasn't an expensive shirt in the first place -- though not quite as cheap as the T-shirt I bought today! -- so I'm not going to expend vast amounts of effort on it. I can always keep it for doing gardening in or something if the stain doesn't disappear.

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151/365: The Shambles, Bewdley Museum
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To say the government has not covered itself with glory over the welfare bill is a bit like saying that I am not a world-class golfer. The headlines may say that the government won tonight's vote, but the week leading up to that has been chaotic for a party with a majority of 170. A few days ago the whips were briefing that any rebels could say goodbye to future payroll posts. Tonight, the government only won by making not one but two very significant concessions. Even then, 49 Labour MPs still voted against it. This one is going to run and run, and Labour only has itself to blame for that. It has been, as Labour MP Ian Lavery said, a shambles, and the modified bill is still a bad one.

Talking of shambles, the origin of the word is as applied to a slaughterhouse -- and originally from the Latin scamillus, meaning something like "small stool". What you see above is The Shambles at Bewdley Museum -- and yes, this area was indeed a slaughterhouse hundreds of years ago. It's now the main pathway through the museum, and it has to be said that the small display picturing its earlier use has been somewhat sanitised! When the museum was first opened, the path had big round cobblestones, but people kept hurting their feet on them and so it was resurfaced with setts. The doors on either side lead to galleries and craft workshops.

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147/365: Ozzy the Bull, Birmingham
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I had to be in Birmingham today for boring reasons, and the city was even busier than it usually is. The New Street Eats street food festival started today, and there was a major open day for prospective students at the University of Birmingham. Still, it wasn't as bad as it is in the run-up to Christmas! Today's photo may well look familiar as I've posted Ozzy before, just not as part of the 365 project. The concourse at Birmingham New Street station (the UK's busiest outside London) is now the permanent home for the mechanical bull that was built for the Commonwealth Games in 2022. His name, Ozzy, is a nod to Ozzy Osbourne, who grew up in Aston -- although he was actually born in Marston Green, over the border in Warwickshire.

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145/365: Working boat Swilgate, Kidderminster
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Well okay, their banks do. Another picture from the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal today, though this one was taken on the outskirts of Kidderminster rather than in Stourport. Most narrowboats these days are pleasure cruisers, but there are also a relatively small number of working boats. This one, Swilgate -- named after a minor Gloucestershire tributary of the River Severn -- was being used to support grass-cutting and hedge-trimming operations beside the canal. You can see the section used to store the cuttings at the rear (though that's actually the front, as the boat is travelling away from the camera). It probably doesn't look it from this picture, but it's only a few minutes' walk to Kidderminster town centre from here.

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144/365: Outdoor tables, Severnside South, Bewdley
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Fantastic Test victory over India today! I must admit, I was among the many yelling at Ben Stokes over choosing to field after winning the toss, but I can't argue with the outcome. It wasn't a classic test of bat and ball as apart from Bumrah in the first innings there wasn't much to write home about with either side's bowling attack. Still, you can only beat what's put in front of you -- and we did. Test cricket may be struggling in global terms, but England v India is generally worth watching. For once, "England bat deep" actually mattered, and India's tail folding in the second innings was what kept England's target reachable. A proper five-Test series this year, so what a way to start off!

The Iranian theocracy is a bloody terrible regime that executes huge numbers; disappears, tortures and otherwise oppresses its citizens; and is no kind of heroic state, regardless of what one may think of Israel or the US. I have no more time for the kind of protestor who actively supports Khamenei and his ilk than I do for the kind who decades ago used to portray Stalin as a goodie purely because he was an enemy of the Americans. I suspect more than a few of these idiots think supporting Iran is showing some kind of pan-Arab solidarity with Palestine. Newsflash to those guys: Iranians are not even Arabs.

In everyday news, I arranged my diabetes review today, which as usual with my local practice was a quick and painless operation. For those who aren't aware of how these things work, every six months I have a blood and urine test, and a face-to-face meeting with a specialist nurse, to see how I'm managing. Every other meeting, ie annually, I have a more detailed appointment which includes things like a comprehensive foot health check. It's that which I've now booked for next month. As for today's photo, it's not that interesting but I didn't get anything better. Some pub and café tables on Severnside South in Bewdley.