黑洞社区

A spoke in the wheel

As a keen cyclist, I鈥檓 all for a bit of cycling infrastructure but I鈥檓 not sure how building a permanent cycle lane across Hammersmith Bridge is quite the game-changer for the reopening of a structure that closed to cars, vans and buses in 2019 because of cracks in the pedestals. Still, transport secretary Mark Harper seems to think it is, adding that the 拢2.9m cost is 鈥渁nother important step towards fully reopening the bridge for motorists鈥�. One question: how? 

Estelle who?

My hack recently visited a new affordable housing scheme in east London, where each block in the development was named after a figure in the women鈥檚 suffrage movement, including one named after a Pankhurst. The building鈥檚 name? Estelle House. If you don鈥檛 remember an Estelle in the Pankhurst family, don鈥檛 write an angry letter to your GCSE history teacher 鈥� Estelle is in fact the middle name of Emmeline Pankhurst鈥檚 second daughter, Sylvia, who adopted the socialist cause and helped organise working-class women in the East End. The responsible housing association鈥檚 project director explained the trouble 鈥� all of the Pankhurst names were already taken. 鈥淚f you鈥檝e ever done block naming, it is a pain,鈥� he complained. 鈥淵ou end up with 40 different options, because the fire brigade come back and say 鈥榥o, we have got one of those in Hammersmith鈥�.鈥�  

The RSHP architect who designed the 122 Leadenhall Street landmark 鈥榟ates鈥� the nickname Cheesegrater, he told my hack. It really grates on him, apparently

 

Just the ticket

A nice story, this, from Jamie Ratcliff, chief communities and sustainability officer at housing association Sovereign Network Group. He and his seven-year-old have been doing something called the FA Cup challenge. This involved starting at Wembley FC v Bearsted in the Extra Preliminary Round on 5 August and then following the winner of each match. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen some great matches along the way, including Swindon 4 Aldershot 7, the Black Country derby and in the quarter-finals Coventry鈥檚 epic injury time comeback,鈥� Jamie says in a post on LinkedIn. He took to the platform to make a plea for tickets for the semi-finals, which sees Coventry playing Manchester United at Wembley this Sunday. He was struggling to get tickets and so would have seen his and his son鈥檚 hopes of being the first people to complete the challenge from Wembley FC to Wembley stadium dashed. He needn鈥檛 have worried. His post got loads of support and he鈥檚 on his way to Wembley. Just needs Coventry to win now.

Tables turned

A former hack was celebrating two years as a City PR recently. Unfortunately, our lunch to mark the occasion was rather rudely interrupted by the sound of his mobile pinging to deal with story queries from the financial press. What鈥檚 the biggest pain with the new job, I wondered? 鈥淒ealing with people like you,鈥� came the reply.

Hard cheese

Word of advice: if you meet Graham Stirk, do not mention the Cheesegrater. The RSHP architect who designed the 122 Leadenhall Street landmark 鈥渉ates鈥� the nickname, he recently told my hack. It really grates on him, apparently, although personally I would say its comparison to a kitchen utensil should be taken as a compliment. After all, it is a sign that the building at least has enough character to get a nickname in the first place, unlike others 鈥� I鈥檓 looking at you, 22 Bishopsgate.