Anna Male

Been out and about in north or west London and noticed some shiny blue plaques? Residents of (or visitors to) Brixton and Fulham may well have seen that plaques have been installed commemorating two pioneering photographers, Christina Broom and John Thomson.  Christina Broom was the UK’s first female press photographer, while Thomson was an early photojournalist and one of the first British travel photographers to travel to the Far East. Thomson’s plaque is affixed to his Brixton home on 15 Effra Road, Brixton, while Broom’s is on 92 Munster Road in Fulham.  Christina Broom (1862-1939) started taking photographs at 40 years old, in part due to her husband suffering a cricket injury that meant he could no longer work. Needing to support her family, she picked up photography – and went on to be the first female press photographer in Britain, active from 1903 to her death in 1939. Broom notably covered the suffragette movement, capturing the movement’s breadth and day-to-day activities.  John Thomson’s (1937-1981) series Illustrations of China and its People (1873–4) was the first documentation of Chinese people and landscapes for a Western audience. He travelled to Singapore and Hong Kong before moving to the Brixton address where his plaque now stands. He published Still Life in London (1877–8), a collection showing the lives of the working class poor in London. It’s thought to be the first social photography in Britain.  Rebecca Preston, English Heritage Historian, says ‘The

Paris 2024 was, without a shadow of a doubt, a triumphant Olympic Games for Team GB. British athletes won a total of 65 medals, beating the tally from Tokyo 2020 by one and putting Great Britain seventh in the final rankings.  Athletes from London made up a substantial number of those 65 medals. From Lewisham-born Alex Yee, who triumphed with both gold in the men’s triathlon and bronze in the mixed relay triathlon, to diver Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix, who picked up bronze in the women’s synchronised 10m platform, the capital really made its mark on Paris this summer. A grand total of 21 Londoners picked up medals at Paris 2024.  Prepared to well up in pride for your hometown? Here’s a breakdown of all the medal-winning Londoners from Paris 2024.  RECOMMENDED🏅 Meet the people campaigning to get new sports into the Olympics💬 All of the Olympic jargon you need to know🇫🇷 Paris 2024 Paralympics: start date, tickets and everything you need to know🇺🇸 When and where are the next Olympics? Gold 🥇 Tom Dean: Men’s 4x200m freestyle relay final Dean won two gold medals in Tokyo 2020, as well as gold in major relay events, at the Worlds, European Championships, Olympics and Commonwealth Games. Dean started swimming at the age of eight, born in London before growing up in Berkshire.  Alex Yee (Lewisham): Men’s triathlon (and bronze in mixed team relay) Yee, 26, grew up in Lewisham and Paris 2024 was his second Olympics, having won a gold and a silver in Tokyo 2020.  Lola Anderson (Ric

Kew’s Royal Botanical Gardens has released a plan on how to deal with rapid global warming and climate change, responding to fears that it could suffer from extreme tree loss.  In the past few years, temperatures in the UK have reached record-breaking highs, with 2022 being the country’s hottest year on record and 2023 not lagging far behind. For Kew, droughts in 2022 caused major concern, causing 400 trees to die in the year – a mammoth increase in tree deaths compared to the annual average of 30. Kew’s plan, titled ‘Planting for the Future’, maps how the garden intends to plant trees according to projected climate change and affects. These predictions are based on climate mapping, using rising temperatures, sea levels, novel plant pests and diseases and changing rainfall to model changing climates. These figures also show Kew losing over 50 percent of its species, with additional modelling suggesting a lesser 30 percent.  The models show common British trees, such as the silver birch and common oak, are most at-risk. They also show which trees from around the world are already adapted to where Britain’s climate will be – predicted in 2050 to resemble the climate of Barcelona in 2019.  However, current Kew species like the common oak are already found in different environments, stretched across Europe to West Russia and Kazakhstan. By planting these variants, Kew intends to continue to support native species and help with biodiversity, an important tool in preventing disease

Londoners are being encouraged to ditch their cars and celebrate World Car Free Day this September. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is inviting neighbourhoods to embrace the worldwide celebration with shut streets and street parties on September 22. Working in partnership with the charity Play Streets, the mayor is offering free space hoppers to participating streets.  The mayor’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner Will Norman said: ‘The Mayor and I are committed to enabling even more Londoners to incorporate walking and cycling into their daily lives. ‘We are delighted to once again be supporting the activation of play streets on Car Free Day, a unique opportunity to transform streets into playful and social spaces, where all members of the community can come together to scoot, bike, walk, space hop and socialise safely.’ Play Streets encourages residents to have frequent car-free days, both so children can have safer play and for neighbours to get to know each other. Through shutting roads, the Mayor is hoping to reduce car use, road dangers and air pollution, improve mental and physical health, and help edge closer to towards environmental goals.  London marking Car Free Day will coincide with the official opening of the Windrush line, the newly-renamed Overground line travelling from Highbury & Islington to Clapham Junction. Where the line passes through, neighbourhoods will be encouraged to have carnival-style celebrations in the streets. Hackney is one borough participating,