We are relatively recent converts to the Friends of Friendless Churches and have still not managed to see any in England; but in North Wales, they look after some of the most profound and moving chapels and small churches and they do so in the most unobtrusive and sympathetic way – lowkey, keeping the churches open, trusting visitors to respect what they are seeing, with minimal intervention and interpretation. I greatly admire this approach to the preservation of the past. It allows the buildings to survive without telling one what to think or feel. So far as I can tell, it is run by one person only, so its overheads must be minimal. This is only a way of saying that it’s a very good cause. See attached.

https://friendsoffriendlesschurches.org.uk/become-a-friend/?s=09

For anyone like me interested in examining the effect of the Olympics, good and bad, and the incredibly complicated politics behind it, I recommend Dave Hill’s very detailed account in his self-published book on The Olympic Park (see below). It’s hard now to track the changing policies which Hill details. Ken Livingstone and particularly Tessa Jowell come out of it well. The issue which Ollie Wainwright raises in the Guardian yesterday is how far Boris Johnson then hijacked the Legacy Corporation and thwarted the realisation of their original ideals.

https://www.onlondon.co.uk/shop/olympic-park-when-britain-built-something-big/?s=09

Following my last post, I have discovered that I am behind the times. The City of London Corporation has indeed already recognised the weaknesses of what was proposed for the redevelopment of the Custom House and has endorsed the alternative plans put forward by the Georgian Group before Christmas as economically viable. So, hats off to the Georgian Group for not only effectively objecting to the scheme on historical grounds at the Inquiry, but for then putting forward a realistic and fully costed alternative, which retains the integrity of the historic fabric and will allow much better public access. Let’s hope the current owners will move forward on the basis of the Georgian Group’s proposals.

https://georgiangroup.org.uk/2022/04/29/city-of-london-custom-house/