Editor’s Letter
Hello, and a very warm welcome to our autumn issue. As we go to press, the world has spun on its axis yet again. We’re still in semi-lockdown, though the opening up has led to alarming scenes on our beaches and the similarly appalling aftermath – 40 tons of rubbish collected from Bournemouth on one night alone. What on earth is that about?
We’ve also seen the Black Lives Matter protests both here and in America, and have seen Winston Churchill’s statue daubed and then encased in a box to protect him. We’ve seen a lot of anger on the streets, and Twitter has been full of even more self-righteous vim than normal.
Is it because the world, all of a sudden, feels alarmingly out of control? Is it because we’ve spent too much time in our own heads and online? Are we just scared? Does a catastrophe like COVID present an opportunity to reset, making people more animated about what that reset should look like?
While we were working on this issue, things became more pertinent as someone scrawled “Dickens Racist” on the side of the Dickens Museum. Charles Dickens is our Great Briton this issue. While clearly defacing a building is wrong, is that fair comment? Was he? Should we acknowledge that in our piece? Or should it just be a simple celebration of his acknowledged genius? Should we be judging our greats of the past by the more enlightened and inclusive standards of today?
Dickens is an interesting one. There seems little doubt that he had some questionable views, as did many then, but he also campaigned passionately against poverty and child exploitation, was appalled by slavery and had both the platforms and the reputation to communicate this. Despite some undoubted flaws, he would seem to have had a more positive than negative impact on society.
I’m sure, though, the way I judge will be different to the way another person would. Probably it’s different from the way the man vandalising the museum judged. Where do we draw the line? I think I’m not alone in not knowing, but I think there might be many more figures from our past re-assessed through the lens of today.
Moving on to something a lot less controversial – poultry. When we awarded a Silver Cross of St George to Jane Howorth for her work with the British Hen Welfare Trust in 2007, who knew that her charity would develop so much? Simone StanbrookByrne has an uplifting account of the work that she’s been doing.
Elsewhere, we revisit the 1920s a hundred years on for a very colourful piece about how the country rebuilt, which seems strangely apt at this time. Another story that seems apt as our schools prepare to open is Derek Lamb’s Forget-me-Nots on his hazardous school days.
I hope as our country calms down and opens up that you’ll have a peaceful time, reunite with friends and family and manage to keep safe.