St George’s Day 2023

This Sunday 23 April 2023, there will be a free celebration of St George’s day in Trafalgar Square, from 12:00 noon until 6:00 pm.

There will be comedians, folk dancing, food stalls, and much more.

Included in the line up is young Camden musician Faith Palmer who will be playing a couple of songs on the main stage.

And if you get there earlier, you should be able to see runners from the London Marathon!

https://www.london.gov.uk/events/st-georges-day-2023

Vaisakhi 2023 – Trafalgar Square

Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar
Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar

This Saturday, 22 April 2023, there will be a free celebration in Trafalgar Square to celebrate Vaisakhi, from 12:00 noon until 6:00 pm.

Vaisakhi is a spring harvest festival, and also a new year festival under the Indian solar calendar. It is especially celebrated among the Sikhs, but is also celebrated by Hindus and Muslims in Northern India.

So experience Sikh food and culture, Dhol drums, Tabla playing, and popular and traditional music. You might even be able to learn how to tie a turban.

https://www.london.gov.uk/events/vaisakhi-2023?ac-172593=172588

Busy time of year for religions

Pantheon in Rome, to illustrate all faiths.
Sun coming into the Pantheon in Rome. Image by Andreas H. from Pixabay

It has been a busy time of year for religions.

In no particular order we have had:

  • Ramadan
  • Passover
  • Easter (Western Christian Churches)
  • Easter (Eastern Christian Churches)
  • Vaisakhi

So our best wishes to all who have been celebrating. And those who don’t, may you be invited to celebrate together with your neighbours.

St Patrick’s Day Celebrations 2023

St Patrick’s Day is on 17 March.

There will be celebrations in Trafalgar Square on Sunday 12 March from 12 noon. There will be a parade through central London, followed by a FREE concert in Trafalgar Square, with music, Irish dancing, and Irish food and drink.

Continue reading “St Patrick’s Day Celebrations 2023”

Holi 2023

Children covered in coloured powder as part of the Holi festival
Children celebrating Holi Image by shekharchopra85 from Pixabay

Holi, often know as the “festival of colours” is being celebrated this week. The festival celebrates the coming of Spring. One of its most notable features for outsiders is when participants throw coloured powder over each other.

https://www.standard.co.uk/reveller/attractions/holi-london-celebrations-restaurants-parties-events-b1065055.html

There is a ticketed event happening at Haverstock School on Saturday 11 March from 1 pm.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/besharam-rang-holi-party-tickets-525730402787

A large ticketed event is also being held at Swiss Cottage on Sunday 12 March from 11 am.

https://www.magicofindia.org/

Some Indian restaurants are putting on special Holi menus, so look out for them over the next few days!

Happy International Women’s Day

Globe on a white background. The globe is covered in squares, each with the face of a woman. The women are of all ages and ethnicities.

Today is International Women’s Day, a day backed by the United Nations to celebrate the contributions of women everywhere. It also highlights the many struggles that women still face with violence, discrimination, gender pay gaps, gender equality, reproductive rights, and other issues.

The theme this year is how technology can be used to help achieve gender equality,and what things can be done to make the digital world safer for women.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Women%27s_Day

https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/in-focus/2023/03/in-focus-international-womens-day

P.S. International Men’s Day is 19 November.

Congestion Charge is 20 years old

The once-controversial Congestion Charge is twenty years old!

It was a world-leading scheme and has lead to similar schemes being set up around the world. It initially had a significant impact and reduced traffic in central London by about 30%. This has gradually increased over the years, but is probably only now getting back to the levels that were being experienced before the Congestion Charge was introduced.

The Congestion Charge scheme formed the basis for the newer ULEZ (Ultra Low Emissions Zone) which is due to be extended to the whole of London later this year. In central London, the ULEZ has enabled a significant improvement in air quality. In some ways, the ULEZ is instead of a Congestion Charge for outer London, as a car is more necessary in the outer suburbs. It could be argued that it is more effective to improve air quality by reducing everyone’s vehicle emissions, than to just try to reduce the number of vehicles on the road.

https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2023/february/congestion-charge-marks-20-years-of-keeping-london-moving-sustainably

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_congestion_charge

HS2 in Euston: Update 21 February

Update from HS2:

We’re writing to update you on works taking place in Euston Approaches area.

Welfare office in the northern end of Camden Cutting worksite

We need to provide a welfare and office building at the northern end of our worksite for our team constructing the Euston Approaches tunnels. ‘Welfare’ includes bathrooms, changing rooms, a kitchen, and a medical room.

We need to install this building as close as possible to the tunnel entrance, so our teams working inside the tunnels can access it during breaks, accidents, and emergencies. 

This building will also include a small office for our lead tunnelling team who will monitor and oversee our day-to-day tunnelling operations.

For further details of above works please follow the link here.

Hoarding maintenance works on Hampstead Road

Continue reading “HS2 in Euston: Update 21 February”