Leisure

A pre-dinner walk around the neighbourhood brought out some sights that we hadn't really noticed before, including this modest house,

whose plaque informed us was built in 1831 by Thomas Cubitt, one of London's master builders. Cubitt's building firm revolutionised the industry, with everyone involved in the realisation of a building contracted out of one office. Along with his architect brother Lewis (best known for his design of King's Cross station), Cubitt was responsible for building entire streets, squares, and districts, including parts of Buckingham Palace, Belgravia, Bloomsbury, and Pimlico. Our walk took us from master builders of the nineteenth century to building disasters of the twenty-first century in a matter of blocks as we passed by Stoke Newington's Clissold Leisure Centre:

Initially slated to open in 1999, but eventually opened in February 2002, the centre closed in December 2003 for what was supposed to be three months' worth of structural repairs, and has remained closed since. So far, the centre has cost Hackney approximately £30 million more than initially planned, and the community is angry, to say the least. The centre is finally scheduled to reopen next month, and people seem to be taking the I'll-believe-it-when-I-see-it attitude, and our peek in the windows didn't really reveal a centre that looks ready to open. Of course, Bob and I haven't lived here during the entire Clissold Leisure Centre saga, so we don't feel all the bitterness of the neighbourhood, but after reading a bit about the disaster, I'm definitely beginning to feel the anger. This is especially true when I think about our council tax going toward this debacle--one estimate I read said that every Hackney resident has contributed about £500 into the leisure centre--critics have even suggested that Hackney residents should get a year's free membership as a token for waiting so long for the expensive centre to reopen. (On a related note, if I haven't ever had a discussion--more like a rant--with you about council taxes, then consider yourself lucky! Basically, council tax is the equivalent of Canadian property tax, paid to the borough council for the provision of services. Unlike in Canada, UK council taxes are the responsibility of property residents, not owners, which means that tenants' already astronomical rents are increased by a substantial tax--ours is £116 per month. Almost a year into our time here, Bob and I still dream about low Vancouver rents with all-inclusive water and heat, dirt-cheap electricity, and property taxes paid by property owners. But where was I? Ah yes, our walk.) Considering the close proximity of the leisure centre to home, we will definitely be watching for its reopening. Surely all the design and structural flaws will have been seen to in the last four years, and the centre will be an asset to the community, right? Right? Stoke Newington School is across the street from the leisure centre, and we must not have passed by it before in such low light, because we couldn't remember noticing this strange tower on previous walks:

With no apparent purpose other than to liven up the building that houses the school's mechanical works, the changing lights made us smile on this cold, rapidly darkening afternoon. Perhaps the speed at which dusk arrived caught this stuffed animal off guard, as it sat all alone in the cold "night" (the 5:00 P.M. darkness), hoping that the neighbourhood foxes were far, far away.