Hackney Riots, August 2011 - a personal view

    The first indication of trouble to me was that the announcement that the library would close at 4.30. There had been the trouble in Tottenham on Saturday and reports of incidents in Wood Green and other places on Sunday. Now on the Monday it was spreading to Hackney. As I left the library there seemed to be a certain tension. I walked down towards the railway line it was noticeable that shops had closed early and put their shutters down. A newsagentts was still open but the owner was at the door assessing the situation. By the railway line there was some activity of youths and the police were taking an interest. Wanting to avoid any trouble I headed away back in the other direction going south down Mare Street. There seemed to be a lot of people going the other way. Many of them seemed just curious as to what was going to happen but they were all a bit excited that they might see some action.
    Having got home, I decided to see if there was any news of trouble in Hackney on the TV. YThe first pictures I saw on the BBC News channel where overhead pictures of what turned out to be Mare Street where I had just been. There were close up pictures from a helicopter so it took a moment to work out the location. A few shop windows had been smashed and the police were gradually forcing the crowd back down Mare Street, following the route I had just taken. It was strange to see on TV aerial pictures of streets so familiar to me. Gradually the ploice moved the crowd back as far as the traffic lights at Well Street. Some recycling bins had been used as a source of weapons to throw at the police and a car was set alight in a side street, but in general the police seemed to be containing the situation.
    Then the helicopter moved to the north end of Mare Street. In Clarence Road there was a stand off between the police and a small crowd. Some people were throwing objects at the police who occasionally advanced but then retreated. The police were clearly not wanting to go too far up Clarence Road as part of the road was overlooked by a housing estate. A newsagents was broken into and looted. The more the police hesitated the bolder the rioters became. They seemed to enjoy taunting the police. They set alight to a large rubbish bin and seemed to enjoy taunting the police who appeared unable to respond. Then one by one a few cars were set alight.
    Then news came of riots in other parts of London such as Clapham Junction and Croydon. The news channels began to show pictures of these other areas rather than Hackney.
    The next day it was possible to assess the damage. In the morning many people gathered outside the Town Hall to see if they could help with the clean up but the council had already cleared the burnt out cars and broken glass from the street. Most of the shops were undamaged but a few had been broken into along Mare Street. In the southern part of Mare Street, a convenience store at a petrol station had been badly damaged along with a nearby store which dealt in second hand electrical goods. Both had been outside the police corden so had had no protection from the police. Going north along Mare Street the pattern was repeated with most shops okay but a few badly damaged. Near the library a sandwich shop had its window smashed and an estate agents across the road from the Hackney Empire had been looted. However in general there had been sufficient police presense to control the situation. Other areas of London such as Croydon and Greenwich had suffered more damage because of the lack of police.
    Everyone was cautious over the next few days with again shops closing early on Tuesday but there was no further trouble. By Thursday there were sufficient extra police around, including some from Wales with Welsh writing on their vehicles, for shops and offices to open normally.  For the shops that were badly damaged and looted it took longer but the work seemed to be quickly done to restore the shop fronts and restock. Soon the extra police went back home and things returned to normal if things can ever be normal in Hackney. 
      Hackney was spared the worst of the rioting to some extent in that no buildings were set alight, so the repair work was fairly straightforward. There were many arrests of those identified from cctv footage and there was a street party in Clarence Road on the following Monday afternoon to show support for the community as opposed to the rioters. The newsagent in Clarence Road received a lot of support and was able to reopen within a few weeks. Indeed the reaction to the riots was mainly positive in that people came together to repair the damage and support those affected such as Siva the newsagent.

Anjelica Huston on the King's Road

    One afternoon I was wandering down the King's Road in Chelsea and thinking that I had not seen any celebrities. I do not often go to Chelsea but when I do I often see a famous person on the King's Road. As I was walking along I heard a vaguely familiar American accent behind me. There were two American women having a converation as they walked behind me. Then one of them said "I was John Huston's daughter and could not get a break."
    The only John Huston I knew of was the American film director and he had a daughter Anjelica Huston. The other woman replied "That was why I got married". As they both laughed I glanced round and it was indeed Anjelica Huston, Morticia Addams in The Addams Family. So that was why the voice sounded so familiar.
   I did wonder if the other woman had got married in order to get a break or because she could not get a break. I later found out that Anjelica was in London for the filming of  "The Golden Bowl". At least it goes to show that there is always a celebrity somewhere on the King's Road and it is really helpful if they identify themselves so clearly so that you can recognise them.

©Conor Cotter

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Kylie Minogue on King's Road?

    One afternoon I was walking along the King's Road in Chelsea, London. As I crossed the road I noticed a young man and a young woman walking past. They were both wearing dark glasses. As I neared the pavement I had a side view of the woman who was wearing a black sleeveless top and I thought that her bare arms were very thin. It then occured to me that she looked like Kylie Minogue from the Australian soap Neighbours. By the time I reached the pavement they had gone passed. I paused and watched them for a moment. As I turned to go in the other direction I heard a female voice say "Well he thinks it is Kylie !" and two female teenagers walked past. Clearly there were following the couple to see if it really was Kylie. To be honest I was not sure at the time if it was her, so I did not follow them. I did wonder however how obvious it had been that I thought it was Kylie. I did not expect to be watched so closely.
    I later found out that at the time Kylie's boyfriend was Billy Zane who resembled the young man and Kylie lived in Chelsea, so it probably was Kylie. A few years she said in an interview that she had been learning karate for the Jean-Claude Van Damme film Streetfighter and it had made her arms bigger, so her arms were no longer as thin as before.

©Conor Cotter

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Kathleen Turner - a London crossing

    When you see a celebrity you do not expect them to be staring back at you. So when I looked across the road while I was waiting at a zebra crossing I was surprised to have Kathleen Turner staring back at me. Yes, that Kathleen Turner, the one that was in Prizzi's Honour with Jack Nicholson, in Romancing the Stone with Mchael Douglas and Danny Devito, in Body Heat with not much on and whose voice made a female rabbit sexy in Who Framed Roger Rabbit,
    The crossing was outside BBC Radio in Upper Regent Street in London but still it was surprising to see a Hollywood star in London. I was sure she did not have a film coming out at that time, so I wondered why she was there.
    There was not much time to think as the traffic stopped and we started to cross. Personally I am just happy to make it to the other side without being hit by anything. However to a Hollywood star this is a runway with an live audience. You could not help watching as she strutted across the black and white lines as though on a stage in front of cameras. Except that you hear of cases of celebrities causing accidents as motorists are too busy looking at the star to look where they are going, so being on a pedestrian crossing did not seem a very safe place to be. Hence I scuttled across as she strutted pass me. At least I made it safely to the other side.
    It was some weeks later that Kathleen Turner appeared on the front cover of the Radio Times. She was in a radio production of V.I. Warshawski which she had recorded in the summer at the BBC. It must have been strange for her acting to a microphone in a radio studio. So she must have enjoyed showing off as she crossed from her hotel, the recently reopened Langham Hotel, on one side of the road to the BBC studio on the other. It is just not what you expect to see when you are an accountant merely going to collect some mundane information from a client.
    I think she was just assessing her audience but it was still a surprise to look up and see her looking back. And if you have seen Who framed Roger Rabbit, you will know how she walked across that crossing.

©Conor Cotter

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The Hat and the Actress

I  had  been  Christmas  shopping.  At  least  I  had  been  trying  to  do  some  Christmas shopping.  I  had  not  been  very  successful.  In  fact  I  had  not  been  at  all  successful.  Nothing  seemed  to  be  suitable.  Giving  up,  I  decided  to  go  into  a  bookshop  on  Piccadilly  before  heading  home.  I  knew  that  in  the  basement  they  had  some  bargain  books  so  I  went  down  the  stairs  and  through  the  door.

   As  I  entered  the  basement,  there  seemed  to  be  a  strange  atmosphere.  Something  was  not  quite  right.  Then  I  noticed  the  hat  moving  around.  From  the  way  it  was  moving  there must  be  a  person  under  the  hat,  but  the  hat  was  so  broad  that  it  was difficult  to  see.  It  was  as  broad  as  a  sombrero  but  flatter. It  was  completely  flat  apart  from  a  small dome  towards  the  middle  of  the  hat.  It  seemed  to  be  a  very  large  hat  but  a  very  small  head.  It  was  dark  red,  perhaps crimson.  Who  would  wear  such  a  hat  in  a  bookshop ?

    As  I  moved  towards  the  bargain  books,  the  hat  moved  towards  the  assistant  behind  his  large  desk.  The  hat  leaned  forward  to  talk  to  the  assistant.  It  was  only  then  from  my  view  from  the  bargain  books  that  I  had  a  glimpse  of  the  person  under  the  hat.   It  was  only  a  brief  glimpse  but  I  could  make  out  that  the  person  was  female  and  she  looked  like  a young  actress  who  was  in  a  play  in  nearby  Shaftesbury  Avenue.  There  had  been  a  story  about  how  she  had  been  attacked  on  the  way  to  the  theatre  a  few  days  before.  Despite  the  incident  she  had  “bravely” performed  in  the  play  that  evening.

    If  it  was  her,  it  would  explain  the  hat.  She  would  have  not  wanted  to  be  recognised  and  she  would  have  worn  the  hat  for  protection.  Clearly  she  was  not  used  to  wearing  hats  apart  from  special  occasions  such  as  weddings,  so  had  ended  up  with  an  absurdly  large  hat.  In  trying  to  hide  herself,  she  had  unwittingly  draw  attention  to  herself  as  nobody  could  fail  to  spot  such  a  wide-brimmed  hat.  It  must  have  been  awkward  to  wear,  as  while  it  stopped  other  people  seeing  your  face  it  also  hindered  you  seeing  where  you  were  going.  She  did  have  a  female  companion  with  her,  presumably  as  a  guide.

   I  just  needed  another  look  to  confirm  that  it  really  was  the  actress.  It  so  happened  that  the  bargain  books  were  the  perfect  position.  In  order  to  leave  she  would  have  to  walk  around  the  assistant’s desk  and  turn  left  just before  the  bargain  books  to  the  door  to  go  upstairs.  I  just  had  to  wait  for  her  to  leave.

   She  took  a  while  talking  to the  assistant  but  then  her  companion  walked  towards  the  door.  Her  companion  had  short  blonde  hair  and  looked  quite  cute  in  jeans.  She  had  that  peculiar  smile  on  her  face  while  looking  at  the  floor  as  she  left.  The  hat  paused  before  leaving.  It  was  working  out  beautifully.  The  companion  left  through  the  door  as  the  hat  gathered  up  her  shopping  bags  and  started  walking  towards  me.  She  even  lifted  up  her  head  so  I  should  get  a  good  look  before  she  turned  to  go  out  the  door. 

    But  then  2  things  went  wrong,  2  things  that  I  had  not  anticipated.  The  first  was  that  because  of  the  broad  rim  of  the  hat  her  face  was  completely  in  shadow.  I  could  not  see  her  face  at  all.  The  second  thing  was  that  she  was  looking  straight  at  me.   I  was  not  wearing  a  hat,  so,  although  I  could  not  see  her  face, she  could  see  mine.  Indeed  there  was  a  moment  when  our  eyes  seemed to meet.  Assuming  her  eyes  were  in  the  right  positions  I  must  have  been  looking  right  into  them  but  I  could  see  nothing. 

   The  moment  soon  passed  and  she  turned  towards  the  door.  She  seemed  not  to  react,  but  then  after  she  had  gone  out  the  door  she  suddenly  said  very  loudly  “How  embarrassing !”  She  was  clearly  saying  it  to  her  companion  who  must  have  been  waiting  on  the  stairs. However  what  the  actress  was  probably  not  aware  was  that  the  door  had  not  fully  shut  behind  her  and  her  remark  was  clearly  audible  in  the  room  she  had  just  left.  Nobody  seemed  to  react  in  the  room. The  door  then  shut  behind  her  so  the  rest  of  the  conversation  could  not  be  heard.

    So  what  was  so  embarrassing ?   Had  I  missed  something ?  Was  it  really  the  actress  or  was  it  somebody  completely  different ?  I  tried  to  think  things  through.  I    think  she  was embarrassed  because  she  was  not  aware  that  I  could  not  see  her  face  when  our  eyes  met.  Even  then  it  should  be  me  who was  embarrassed,  not  her. Perhaps  her  companion  had  deliberately  gone  out  ahead  and  that  the  actress  had  for  some  reason  wanted  to  get  a  look  at  me,  only  to  find  me  looking  at  her.  But  why  would  she  want  a  look  at  me ?

    Possibly  she  was  just  embarrassed  about  the  awkwardness  of  the  hat  or  she  had  had  some  problems  with  the  assistant.  Perhaps  it  was  something  that  happened  before  I  entered  the  scene.  Perhaps  it  was  not  the  actress.  Sometimes  it  is  better  not  to  know  and  allow  yourself  to  come  to  your  own  theory,  but  the  moral  of  the  story  seems  to  be  to  always  make  sure  the  door  is  shut  behind  you  before  you  say  anything,  unless  you  want  to  be  overheard.

©Conor Cotter

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(The actress was Tara Fitzgerald. For her biography, see this web page )