Work

I cycled into town, Oscar running with me beside the canal, to get leaflets copied, buy some odds and ends including batteries for my cycle lights, marker pens, and a reliable steak bake from Greggs, and screws to mend the bottom hinge of our old garage door. In what was once the city of a 1000 trades I couldn't find a supplier; so instead of the 6" galvanised screws I wanted, I'll make do with half a dozen similar length coach bolts which at £5.50 cost far too much. Town was busy despite the chill with loads of people round the Birmingham Bull.

With my circulars printed at a shop on Colmore Row, I cycled back to Handsworth, headed down the Lozells Road and was called by name.
"Simon! Welcome back"
It was Aftab Rahman, with some people he was walking down the Villa Road, visitors to Handsworth
"I've been back a while, at least three days since Scotland"
We spoke of the success of the Heritage Trail and his plans for a Handsworth time capsule - local people to be trained as journalists to seek out older residents with memories of the area from their youth.
"You're ahead of your time, Aftab" I said, mindful of the view that few outsiders would want to visit Handsworth; that our MP, Khalid Mahmood, had called the trail a waste of money.

“We’re talking about the middle of Birmingham, I don’t think it is picturesque. We haven’t got the sort of sites they have in York, for example, but we’re not in that league. We’ve got to understand where we are. We’ve got better things to spend that money on than walking a group of Japanese tourists around.”

I headed a little north and...

...after fish and chips with curry sauce eaten in the street, I started the afternoon, trudging up and down Stamford Road, delivering leaflets. I detest British letter boxes - impossible to open, finger trapping, half-blocked with useless insulation, too often placed at the bottom of the door. Denise Forsyth came by, on her way to visiting a friend, and helped me for a while.
"Lin's gone to Sheffield hasn't she?"
"Taken her dad for a check-up"

Handsworth  Helping  Hands…       …working for the community

‘SKIP IT, DON’T TIP IT’ DAY Handsworth Helping Hands are committed to cleaning up our area. On Thursday June 27th a skip provided by HHH will be on the corner of Stamford Road and Putney Road from 8.30 a.m. Residents are invited to use it to get rid of bulky rubbish & unwanted items. Please do not put in household waste, green waste & recyclables usually collected by Birmingham City Council, building rubble or tyres. HHH members will be there to help and advise.

HELP US TIDY UP ALONG YOUR STREET TOO - JOIN IN WITH OUR LITTER PICK!

"Putting these leaflets round, Simon, we're going to need more than one skip" she said. 

"Can we get a discount on a second one?"

"I'll give him a call. If we just have just one it'll overflow and we'll have a bigger mess than when we started. Oh and when you get home ask Nick Reid to send a scavenger truck round Friday morning to pick up anything left"
We saw several people in the street and told them there'd be a free skip in the street, may be two, on Thursday. The word's around and I can see us wishing we'd bought three.
"Let's just see what happens. It's a pilot after all. We can afford it"
"Lin's not going to like it. Another £120!"
"OK. I'll get a second skip and you deal with Lin and phone Nick Reid at the depot"

Dear Nick. Re: Handsworth Helping Hands skips in Stamford Road - scavenger truck follow-up...Can you arrange a scavenger vehicle to roam and pick up anything left over in Stamford Road (and Putney Road where it crosses Stamford) on the Friday morning 28 June after our skips have been removed? Best wishes, Simon 

Simon. I am concerned that you may be creating a bit of a monster here! Are you going to have somebody on site to supervise and turn people away once the skip is full?  I met Denise the other day and she did say you were going to do this and I have said that I will send the ward team across to clean up any spillage at the end of the day. Nic Reid, Principal Operations Manager, Fleet and Waste Management, Perry Barr Depot, Holford Drive B42 2TU.. 0121 303 1975 Mob: 07920 750 213
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Dear Nick. This was always a pilot and Denise and I have anticipated the thing that worries you. We’ve now invested in a second skip to go at the top of the road and of course we’ll be there - several of us - with the HHH van ready to speak to people and help pick up. But many thanks for your support and help and understanding. Best Simon, Handsworth Helping Hands

It's been an out-tray day. Checking with the removal company in Inverness, instructing surveyors to prepare a Home Report on Brin Croft; trying to get Highland Council to at least acknowledge my request to review their refusal to grant executors' exemption on Brin Croft ("We get 3000 emails a day we can't..." "OK OK, but has my letter arrived?" "It was passed for actioning on the 17th" "Thanks"). I have to complete an on-line questionnaire as part of it - but it only downloads on Internet Explorer which doesn't run on a Mac - as any ful kno. I've mowed the lawns here...

...and collected green waste and tidied and filed and prepared handouts and presentations for a seminar I'm running with Catherine in East Anglia - all done on line. It's mid-summer; the weather chilly even in the middle of the day. I'm putting off working on the allotment with a plethora of smaller jobs. The plumber, two doors down, has promised to fix the long standing slow leak below the bathroom tap, confident he can join old lead to new copper. X rang, anxious. Wanted to talk. His mother is over a 100 and he doesn't get on with the council carers. I could give little solace. The estate agent, Phiddy Robertson, emailed Brin Croft's particulars...

BRIN CROFT, INVERARNIE, INVERNESS IV2 6XA
Inverness about 8 miles.  Airport about 15.5 miles.

FOR SALE AS A WHOLE OR IN TWO LOTS.

Lot 1
An attractive single storey house on an elevated site with beautiful views over Strathnairn.

• The accommodation comprises:  Conservatory Porch.  Entrance Hall.  Open plan Sitting Room and Dining Room with wood burning stove.  2 en suite Bedrooms.  2 further bedrooms.  Kitchen.  Utility Room.  Generous Storage.

• Timber chalet, car port and game larder.

• Delightful wooded grounds overlooking the River Farnock.

• A peaceful and secluded setting on the edge of the village.

• Easy access to the A9 and Inverness.

About 0.27 hectares (about 0.669 acres) in all.

Lot 2
Littlemills Lochan

• Attractive lochan with boat shed located in Inverarnie Forest approximately one mile from Brin Croft.

Inverness Residential Department
Reay House
17 Old Edinburgh Road
Inverness
IV2 3HF

Tel: 01463 224343
Fax:   01463 243234
Email:   inverness@ckdgalbraith.co.uk
Website: www.ckdgalbraith.co.uk

Littlemills Lochan

*** *** ***
I emailed Minoti in Delhi

Dear Minoti. Linda and I have just come back from a melancholy week at Brin Croft getting the house ready for sale. Linda has been a great help as we go through the tedious details of disposing of things no-one in the family wants. We go up again in mid-July, also with Amy and Guy and our grandson Oliver, to do a final clearance and probably to spread mum’s ashes on the Findhorn. How are you and how’s your work? xxx Simon

Dear Simon. I was so stunned by what you wrote yesterday. But it was so good of you to remember me at a time like this. I also got the Memorial [you sent me] down from next to my own parents' photograph where I keep her and is the object of my worship when I do pray to all my ancestors.
I cannot imagine your melancholic visit but I can feel your pain as you have lost someone like Theodora who was the throbbing heart of Brin Croft. So much sadness.
I am in India since March as you may perhaps not remember in the midst of all that you have undergone since last year. I just keep praying for Peter to stay safe on his dialysis machine since he has been doing that at home for the last five months now! I also pray he stays that way till I am able to get back to Langford and be there to relieve him from all the house work at least which  he has to do despite his condition. Human beings need such support but he has to do it alone and I have never broken any rules of the UK. So here I remain for at least another 3 months before I go back.
I have just come back a week ago from Japan where I presented a paper at the International Association of the Study of Commons Conference at Kitifuji [northern Fuji Yama]  My panel was on Law and the Commons and I presented on Corruption in bureaucracy-political nexus  and land records in India and how the Law does not protect the commoners as a result of this. I can send my paper if you have the patience to read it.  Also two of my papers have got published just this month one as a chapter in a book which the Springer publishers brought out and the other in a journal called Global Environment.  When will you get back to England in case you go back to Greece or will you stay put till October or so when I might be able to get back. I might be trying to get to Germany too in case my daughter takes up a fellowship in Heidelberg.
Thank you again for writing to me - I am grateful. Love and all the best, Minoti   

Minoti and Mum at Brin Croft

*** ***
So there have been changes - prompted by the ERT closure and reopening  - in the government of Greece but the real news is that latest government reshuffle in Athens has not made news. Said Olli Rehn, EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner "I love Greece but I'm very much looking forward to a eurogroup press conference where Greece is not going to be discussed, and a summer where we don't have any Greek crisis.
In the village they've been leaping through fire:

Λάμπατα στην Κορακιάνα

Ανήμερα τ’ Αη Γιαννιού χθες, του «Λαμπατάρη» και στις γειτονιές του χωριού ζωντάνεψε για μια ακόμη φορά το έθιμο από τις «λαμπατίνες». Στο τρίστρατο του Κουκουκή (Μουργάδες) τα μαγιοστέφανα ρίχτηκαν στην πυρά, με την προσθήκη φρέσκιας ρίγανης και μικροί-μεγάλοι πήδαγαν πάνω από τις τρεις φωτιές… Στον δε Άη-Γιώργη, το έθιμο έλαβε χώρα στο προαύλιο της εκκλησίας, με διοργανωτή το Συμβούλιο της Ενορίας και με την παρουσία κόσμου από όλο το χωριό. Η δε συμμετοχή του χορευτικού της Φιλαρμονικής έδωσε τόνο στο χορό που ακολούθησε, υπό τις μουσικές επιλογές του νεαρού Αη-γιωργίτη «D.J.» και τις ευωδίες της ψησταριάς που λειτουργούσε κάτω ακριβώς από το καμπαναριό… Ψηλά, στον καλοκαιριάτικο ουρανό, η Μεγάλη Πανσέληνος αντιφέγγιζε από το Τριοκάτσουλο μέχρι του Κόρεντι, παρά το παροδικό πέρασμα από σκουρόχρωμα σύννεφα... Υ.Γ. Από φίλους της ιστοσελίδας μας επισημάνθηκε ότι ο ένας εκ των κυρίων της ψησταριάς κατανάλωνε ασταμάτητα σουβλάκια!! Ποιος εκ των δύο άραγε?? I struggled translating this but when I asked him, Aleko D stepped in: 'Hello Simon and Linda. It was indeed a pleasure receiving your note. I thought that you would be here, this time of the year! I am now well again after my problem with the leg and I was looking forward to seeing you both over here or somewhere else! When you come in September please get in touch so that we can meet! Here is your translation': On the day of 'St John of the Fire' the village once again revived the old tradition of lighting and jumping through the three fires. At the 'Koukoukis' cross-roads (Mourgades) the Mayday wreaths were thrown on the fire supplemented by fresh oregano.Everybody, children and grown-ups were jumping through the three fires. At the church of St.John this took place at the church forecourt and it was organised by the President of the Parish. The entire village attended this ceremony. The local Philharmonic gave the tone for the dance that followed under the direction of the young man from St.George who acted as the 'DJ'. This took place under the church belfry where the grill was set-up. High up in the sky on this summer night the very large Full Moon was shining from the 'Trikatsoulo' up to 'Korendi' even though at times dark clouds intervened!  P.S. It was noted by friends of our website that one of the two men grilling the 'souvlakia' was eating them non-stop!! We are wondering which one of the two it was??

Leaving the Highlands

For breakfast I fried two eggs from the new hens in butter and laid them on buttered granary toast, added a little pepper...

...Tuesday morning, after the swift farewell mum prefers and a hug and kisses for Liz, Sharon dropped me and Oscar at Inverness station. All reservations were booked into the first coach on the platform, my seat surrounded by large fellow passengers with large children and luggage. Three coaches closer to the front. We had a table to ourselves most of the way to Edinburgh. An hour and ten minutes out of Inverness I'm alerted, as ever, to the train speeding up, even though the small river that meanders beside the single line still flows north we're descending and then - I always miss it - another similar river, is winding south, the watershed at a T-junction from the stream out of long Loch Ericht...

Past the watershed, the river's flowing south

...past the slopes of Badenoch into softer country; the beginning of the Lowlands. At messy Waverley bustling with Festival crowds I found my way by lift to the banished southern platforms and caught a Virgin Train towards London, among the last. First Group takes over the West Coast Line in December - it's winning bid for the franchise described as highly risky. I read most of the way; Jan Morris' Venice; watched Helen Mirren and Anne Bancroft in The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone, through Lancaster, Preston, Wigan North West, Warrington Bank Quay. By Crewe I'd returned to my book shrinking the journey with recognition and memory of places - not only that city but Padua, Ferrara and Bologna where I left the train to Rome, catching one south east along the coast, with time to buy a picnic, for my onward journey south through Rimini, Ancona, Pescara, to Bari for a ferry to Greece. Leaving Wolverhampton as we hurried beside familiar towpaths and canal bridges through green burgeoning dereliction I  phoned Lin who, thirteen miles later, collected us outside New Street station.

Waiting for Linda at New Street Station

Settling in at home, going through my post, an email from Sharon with a photo. She's managed, with help from Liz, to coax Mum out for a conversation with the hens.

***** *****
Wednesday: It's been pouring on and off; a sample from my in-tray - send energy meter readings and phone the energy company to ask for a refund of the credit they've collected from me, check a cheaper storage place on the Tyburn Road for my stepfather's archive - half the present price; work up Handsworth Helping Hand's (HHH) guidelines for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, circulate minutes and prepare an agenda for our meeting on Thursday night; meet up with Aftab Rahman at Soho House, moving on to Colin Simm's terraces on Hamstead Road then St Mary's Convent on Hunter's. He'd brought along a young film-maker, Amirul Hussain, and a photographer Johur Uddin, joined later by Jesse Gerald, to help assemble materials for our planned Lozells and East Handsworth Heritage Trail. We were joined by Rajinder Rattu and Cllr Waseem Zaffar. As we looked at Colin's gardens I asked Waseem what he knew about an inexpensive way to get HHH people Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checked, something we need to do to qualify for funding. Rajinder told me we must get these through a CRB registered agency, HHH being too small to be so accredited.

Colin and Simon

L-R: Colin Simms, Rajinder Rattu, Cllr Waseem Zaffar,  Amirul Hussain, Aftab Rahman and Johur Uddin

*********
Liturgy for the Madonna in Ano Korakiana...On the Eve of Our Lady, one neighborhood is preparing to share celebrations with all the village; a procession beginning and ending at the small church above Mourgadas - της Μουργάδας - where the service will be.

Marietta’s conscientious attention has spread whitewash up Tsimpani hill, reflecting off edges and old ways. The afternoon starts with decorating the Epitaphio and Icon of Our Lady. Sophia Nikolouzos will offer ribbons woven by devout sisters (from old Korakiana families), while Alexandra Spingou-Trivizas will decorate the cross with Cloves and Basil. Commissioner George Kentarhos will as usual oversee the ceremonies. Following its recent refurbishment, pictures, like the image of the Virgin of the Life-Giving Spring - της Παναγίας Ζωοδόχου Πηγής, hang on the walls at the back of the little church. The clouds thickened but the threatened storm left the village alone....By evening amid candles and cherubs, young children have early positions guarantee - Michael, Constantine, Mary, Nectarina, Ellie, Vangelis and several others.

Some reckon the unusually high numbers a sign of the times...Wednesday morning, the day of the feast, and the scene’s repeated; lots of people gathered in the small courtyard, crowded inside the church, despite the heat and humidity....Το πολυπληθές ψαλτήρι σε σπάνια αρμονία και χωρίς φωνητικές εξάρσεις συμπληρώνει μια εικόνα αγαλλίασης, όπως θα πει λίγο αργότερα ο κορακιανίτης γαμπρός, γιατρός Γιάννης Βαρβαρίγος. Στα γύρω σοκάκια, τα παιδιά δεν κρατιούνται και ξεδίνουν στο παιγνίδι, όσο και αν ακόμη βαραίνουν τα αφτιά τους οι οδηγίες των γονέων. Το τελείωμα της Λειτουργίας θα ακολουθήσει το προσκύνημα της Εικόνας και οι ανταλλαγές ευχών. Η προσφορά άρτων από την Ενορία και σπερνών από την οικογένεια Αλέκου και Κατερίνας Ιωνά, συμπληρώνουν το καθιερωμένο κέρασμα, που προσφέρει η οικογένεια Κώστα και Ειρήνης Μπαλατσινού.

Wednesday evening, the curtain fell on the last night of our Band’s Cultural Programme for August, a performance by our musical association’s dance group. As usual, three ‘generations’ of dancers performed in a composition of traditional rhythms from different parts of our country, set against austere and beautiful scenery....

...With a boat named ‘Victory’ - designed by G. Metallinos, Katerina and Alekos Jonah - sailing through blue waters and Nike Kentarhos, their skilled captain, quietly directing the performance of the dance, with the help of Francisco Koveou on sound. Wonderfully encouraging was the Association’s children's ‘set’, getting the audience’s repeated applause.

“They will be here next year” promised Spyros Savvani, Philharmonic President, celebrating the annual contributions of long term supporters of the dance section since it was founded.  
Η αυλαία των Αυγουστιάτικών Πολιτιστικών Εκδηλώσεων της Φιλαρμονικής έπεσε χθες το βράδυ, με την παράσταση του Χορευτικού συγκροτήματος του Μουσικού μας Συλλόγου. Όπως πάντα, οι τρεις «γενιές» χορευτών και χορευτριών έδωσαν το παρόν με μία μουσικο-χορευτική σύνθεση παραδοσιακών ρυθμών από διάφορα μέρη του τόπου μας, με φόντο ένα λιτό και όμορφο σκηνικό. Με ένα καραβάκι ονόματι «Νίκη», που επιμελήθηκαν οι Γεράσιμος Μεταλληνός, Αλέκος και Κατερίνα Ιωνά, να αρμενίζει σε γαλάζια νερά και με τη Νίκη Κεντάρχου, επιδέξια καπετάνισσα, να διευθύνει αθόρυβα την παράσταση του χορευτικού, με τη βοήθεια του Φραγκίσκου Κωβαίου στα ηχητικά. Σίγουρα ενθαρρυντική ήταν η παρουσία του παιδικού «κύκλου» του τμήματος, που απέσπασε επανειλημμένα τις επιδοκιμασίες του κοινού. «Ραντεβού για του χρόνου στο ίδιο μέρος», υποσχέθηκε ο Πρόεδρος της Φιλαρμονικής Σπύρος Σαββανής, κάνοντας παράλληλα μια ενδεικτική αναφορά τιμής στα πρόσωπα που στήριξαν το χορευτικό τμήμα όλα τα χρόνια, από την ίδρυσή του έως σήμερα.
*** *** ***
With various other things out of the way Linda and Denise went down to do some work for Handsworth Helping Hands, weeding, digging and planting a neglected raised bed at the top of Putney Avenue, a car-filled cul de sac. They'd a Pelagonium left from previous plantings by us, four Dahlias from a resident, and from Jill, Lin's friend, Geraniums, Bergenia and Euphobia.

Lin and Denise doing voluntary work in Putney Avenue

I took a hand-fork and a rake from them and weeded the bed on one side of Church Vale - one we'd dug, weeded and planted three weeks ago, and picked up litter in and around the bed. Ten of our ninety Pelagonia gifted by Allen Broad at the Park have been taken; but Lin was told the miscreant, a rather rickety old man, had been caught by a neighbour who'd asked him why he was taking the flowers. He'd replied "Because they're nice"