East End Round Up

As planned I went down to the Spitalfields Pancake Race on Tuesday. It turned out to be a fairly small affair down a side street, though that was fully lined with an enthusiastic crowd. The event was well stewarded by some folks in clown costumes, though rules were bent all round. Several of the teams had made an effort with costumes, and put full effort into relay races up and down the road, with a few people ending up on the floor!











I think most of the teams were from local offices etc, and most of the spectators were their friends. That was reflected in the catering: I was very disappointed to find a pancake would put me back around £4! That might be OK for yuppies wanting ‘crepes’ but they really needed someone churning them out at £1 a go. It was good fun, and raised money for charity, but I decided against celebrating the day with an overpriced pancake and went round the corner and for £2.50 bought some rashmallai (Indian sweet) instead.

I spent my first session in ‘my’ garden demolishing a dead bush and cutting back the live one underneath. Very satisfying! Also discovered massive numbers of snails. I’m contemplating following Gordon Ramsey’s instructions on turning them into lunch.

Hackney Freecycle included a note about some free gigs:

There is a free gig every Friday night with great local bands in atraditional east end boozer…on a rotating basis, with either Morning Bride - soaring country tinged pop, Brick Lane Boogie Boys - sun studio rock’n’roll, Slym’s Cyder Co - cajun country or Nigel Birch and The Flea Pit Orchestra -Brechtian cockney’n’roll. The Carpenters Arms, 135 Cambridge Heath Rd, E1. Tube: Bethnal Green. Bands on stage from 9pm till very late

Think I might check that out sometime, though too late this week! I have a long run on Saturday anyway. In the last week I’ve done one run of 55 minutes without stopping (1 hour here I come!) and an interval run (run 8, walk 1) on which I reduced my recent times to do 3 miles. It’s an annoying fact that right now the more I run the slower I go! My fastest times were done with running intervals of 5 minutes and walking 1 (or even less running on longer distances…). I’m hoping though that with persistence I’ll eventually be able to maintain reasonable running speed for more than short bursts!

Oh, and some good news… The ODA (Olympic Delivery Authority) has been allowing The Celia Hammond Animal Trust some access to the Olympic demolition site to rescue cats, including areas they’ve never been able to get into before. It’s good news, but not a reason to sigh with relief and forget about the whole thing as the ODA have made ‘gestures’ then gone back on their word before. I’d suggest anyone who hasn’t done so still signs the petition, says thanks to the ODA and ‘keep it up’. Let them know they are being watched! During recent access the Trust have rescued two pregnant cats and heard the sound of toms fighting: suggesting females in heat in the area. There really are only weeks to get the cats out if kittens on site again are to be avoided. News page and link to petition here.