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Tuesday Sep 22, 2009

Arsenal's enchanted forest

I went to a local festival last weekend to help on our Transition Town stall. You have to be a local to find the place, tucked away in a tiny park behind Arsenal tube station. At least I thought it was a tiny park. I wandered through its gates to find a community centre full of brick-a-brac stalls, a few septuagenarians who were obviously running the show, and absolutely no-one else in sight.

I left again, disappointed, after someone asked if maybe I was in the wrong place. Back outside a scrambly path led into some woods with the kind of unkemptness you'd normally reserve for the middle of the countryside, and might not want to go into.

It was only when a woman in her forties hurried past brandishing a cake I realised I must be on the right track. "Where are you going?" I ventured. "To the festival," she said. This was becoming like a something from Rupert the Bear. With childlike glee I scurried off after her.

The sound of singing became gradually louder before a clearing appeared in the trees. A hundred or so people were congregated about stalls and a stage, complete with warbly folk music, and I stood in surprise for a while gazing at the intimidating pastoral before me, cake stand and all, in the heart of North London.

Morris dancing and dogs with bells on

It was all a bit much for a sleepy Saturday afternoon and with Jo nowhere in sight I was about to make my escape, when I noticed some more stalls along a woodland path behind me. As I walked that way I discovered some Morris dancers in full swing, with bells and leaps (and disconcerting grunts). I watched for a while, suddenly whisked back to my Somerset childhood, and chuckled at some children's reaction to the scene. It was really wonderful to watch, like looking back into Britain's ancient history. Later on I bumped into one of the dancers and his dog, fully kitted out with red braces and three little bells. "Ooh, is that a Morris dog?" I asked, rather excitedly.

Jo eventually emerged from the direction of the tea building and we talked about what we were going to do with the greenhouse project. Following the recent sticking point she offered to lend her expertise on funding, and we're going to meet the centre's staff on Thursday to see if we can collectively get something off the ground.

Tea and energy saving

While sipping the obligatory tea in the community building I met a man from the council's energy saving department. We chatted about how his work is portrayed by the local media while simultaneously laughing at the Morris dog which had been left tied to a door. What a surreal afternoon.

Pic: Martin our local "green vicar", Jo and me

I left feeling a bit more optimistic about the work ahead and like I'd discovered some secret and enchanted part of where I live. Not to mention a sense of how wonderfully quirky my community really is.

Posted by Laura ( 11:09 AM )
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