Real Ale: Forty Years of Campaigning
Speaker: Ron Andrews
with additional material by Stuart Lascelles

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has evolved to be the most successful consumer campaign in Europe. We will hear how the organisation started & how it has developed, together with a brief outline of its 40 years progress. What is real ale? Its production will be covered & compared to the mass manufacture of other beers. ‘For this part I have the pleasure of a local expert to elaborate – Stuart Lascelles of the newly established East London Brewing in Leyton who will give details of ingredients & the process & provide tastings of his products.

‘Way down upon the Swanee River’: Stephen Foster – the sentimental myth of plantation song and the defiant reality of slave song
Speaker: Chris Howes

Chris focuses our attention on the mid-c19th American songwriter Stephen Foster (Beautiful Dreamer, Old Black Joe etc). He then contrasts Foster’s naive sentimentality with the authentic flavour & purpose of the music which really arose from the harsh existence imposed upon African descended slaves on the southern plantations. Using images on screen & sound recordings by Big Bill Broonzy, Barbara Hendricks, Paul Robeson & others, Chris reveals the rhythmic nature of the work song, hidden meanings in spiritual songs & some surprising links with c20th blues. Chris is a music historian, pianist & visiting lecturer at Cambridge University & many residential adult colleges in the UK. He brings not just his knowledge but his customary audience rapport & humour.’

The Theatre Royal: A People’s Theatre
Speaker: Murray Melvin

‘Having joined Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop company as a student in 1957, when the surrounding area was a strong community, the changes I have seen in the past 54 years are enormous. However, the ethos of the workshop continues – a people’s theatre. I see today’s young people taking control, with their enthusiasms, their love & loyalty to the building. I know the future will be as exciting, as frustrating, as inspirational as it was for the now old boys on the block.’ Murray has a distinguished career acting in theatre, film, TV & as a director. He took lead parts in premieres of ‘A Taste of Honey’ (1958), ‘The Hostage’ (1959) & ‘Oh What a Lovely War’. He won Best Actor Award at Cannes, still acts & is now Trustee & archivist at the Theatre Royal, Stratford E15.

Guerilla Gardening
Speaker: Richard Reynolds

Richard founded GuerillaGardening.org (now an international movement) in 2004. He grew up in Devon & has qualifications in Geography from Oxford University & in horticulture from the Royal Horticultural Society. ‘I do not wait for permission to become a gardener but dig wherever I see horticultural potential. I do not just tend existing gardens but create them from neglected spaces. Guerilla Gardening is a battle against environmental abuse & wasted opportunities. It is also a fight for freedom of expression & for community cohesion. It is a battle in which bullets are replaced with flowers….’ Richard was held up in traffic on the way to us in 2011, so we have invited him back.

The Voyage In: Bangladeshis and London
Speaker: Tulip Siddiq

Tulip grew up in six countries & moved to London when she was a teenager. She completed her Master’s degree in post-colonial literature. Tonight she looks at the history, culture & traditions of Bangladesh & explores the Bangladeshi diaspora in London. Amongst other topics, she concentrates on the role of Bangladeshi women at home & abroad. Tulip is a councillor in the London borough of Camden & cabinet member for culture.

The Poetry of Poverty
with poets Alan Morrison, David Kessel & Ken Worpole, plus launch of ‘Waters of the Night: Complete Poems of Howard Mingham 1952 – 84’

Poverty & its associated obstacles has historically marginalised a lineage of ‘shadow’ poets through lack of publication opportunities (the currency of reputation), denying them not only lifetime recognition, but even posthumous. Publication is a potential passport to posterity for the poet & his/her work - a perennially scarce prize to achieve, but even more so if disadvantaged by impoverishment & social obscurity. There are many past poets of whose lives & work we may never learn anything. Not even publication is a guarantee of recognition; self-publishing (chosen by many of our most celebrated poets, Blake & Eliot included) or co-operative publishing can cultivate readerships, but have a harder task getting critically noticed. Some poets of humble background managed to buck the trend: Clare, Keats, ex-tramp W.H. Davies & Cable Street’s Isaac Rosenberg..... Caparison publisher now salvages the work of one such poet, Howard Mingham, whose small but compelling oeuvre is being published in the hope of belated critical recognition through ‘Waters of the Night’. This chapbook collects all 25 of his poems, only a handful of which were published in his lifetime by Hackney Writers’ Workshop. Alan will talk on this theme & read from his poem Keir Hardie Street. Celebrated writer Ken Worpole will discuss the poems of Mingham, whom he once mentored. David Kessel, poet & friend of Mingham, will conclude by reading from ‘Waters of the Night’.

No Wealth But Life: Ruskin’s Legacy
Speaker: Dr Stuart Eagles

Stuart, author of ‘After Ruskin: The Social & Political Legacies of a Victorian Prophet’ (OUP 2100) has written & lectured widely on the art & social critic, John Ruskin, & his influence. He is currently studying Ruskin’s reception in Russia & has made a particular case study of Ruskin’s relationship with Tolstoy. Stuart will talk about Ruskin’s social & political legacies, rooting his narrative in an account of the people & organisations that agitated for reform at the turn of the c19th into the c20th. He will explore how Ruskin’s ideas ‘pointed out’, as William Morris claimed, not ‘a new road on which the world should travel’ but many different new paths. Focusing on London & nearby places, Stuart will explain how, on the one hand, Ruskin was claimed as an inspiration for Toynbee Hall, & on the other, for anarcho-communist colonies that provided an alternative to turn-of-the century industrial capitalism. Finally, he will ask what Ruskin can teach us today, as we face modern challenges.

Fair Trade in an Unfair World
Speaker: Brian Madican

Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability & fair terms of trade for farmers & workers in the developing world. By requiring companies to pay sustainable prices (which must never fall lower than the market price), Fairtrade addresses the injustices of conventional trade, which traditionally discriminates against the poorest, weakest producers. It enables them to improve their position & have more control over their lives. Brian currently works for the Fairtrade Foundation & also co-founded the Waltham Forest Fairtrade Campaign Group which campaigns for & promotes Fairtrade locally. He will talk about the FAIRTRADE Mark & the impact that Fairtrade has on small farmers & producers in developing countries, as well as showing a short DVD about Fairtrade.

Making a living as an artist craftsman
Speaker: Marshall Colman

After a career in local government & the voluntary sector, Marshall Colman now works professionally as a ceramic artist. He will talk about how he embarked on a second career & the difficulties of making a living as an artist craftsman.  He reflects on the early links between studio pottery & the Arts and Crafts Movement & its attitude to machine production, illustrated with reference to William Morris, C.R.Ashbee, William de Morgan, Bernard Leach, Michael Cardew & his own work.

Quakers and Peace Work
Speaker: Kate Green

Many people, when they get past the image of Quaker Oats, associate Quakers with working for peace. From the earliest days in the c17th & through many of the conflicts since then, Quakers have tried to help those suffering in wars & to help towards peaceful solutions. Kate has been a Quaker for over 25 years & is a member of the Quaker Meeting at Wanstead. She will talk about the origins of this peace testimony & about some of the past & present peace work carried out by Quakers nationally & internationally.

Young Historians in Leyton Take to the Street!
Martin Spafford, inspirational history teacher, & young people

History students at George Mitchell School in Leyton regularly get involved in projects aiming to bring history alive. Some of these have taken them to the heart of controversial political & social issues. In 1995 a class of 12 year olds, including refugees from Somalia & Turkish Kurdistan, decided to explore the reasons why refugees came here & how they were treated by immigration authorities & schools. They worked on the project for four years; the film they made won awards while their drama was acted in schools, universities & in front of Parliament. Those children are now aged 30 & still see the project as having had a profound effect on their lives. Together with Martin, their former teacher, they will show extracts from the film & discuss the impact of ‘Why?’ They are joined by 16 year olds who in 2010 worked with academic historians on the Battle of Cable Street, producing a film exploring the value of protest & whether multiculturalism has ‘failed’; & by 14 year olds who have been looking at issues behind the summer riots & creating workshops for young children about making choices.

The Necessity of Utopia
Speakers: Ruth Levitas

In the midst of economic & ecological crises, we need to wonder what kind of society could deliver sustainable & equitable ways of life. Understood as a method rather than a goal, Utopian thinking helps us to address this, considering environmental limits, social institutions & human needs. Political & literary utopias do this, offering stringent critiques of the present & suggesting alternatives.  William Morris remains an important example.  Utopian visions must, however, always be understood as provisional & historically shifting.  Principles of a better society must be redrawn for today to open up democratic dialogue & discuss our common future. Ruth is Professor of Sociology at the University of Bristol, Chair of the William Morris Society, & former Chair & co-founder of the Utopian Studies Society. Her publications include ‘The Concept of Utopia’ (1990); ‘Morris, Hammersmith & Utopia’ (2005); and ‘Utopia as Method: The Imaginary Reconstitution of Society’ (2012).