Summer in the Light, Winter in the Shade

This week I saw the first flight of swallows come screaming into Kennington Park as I took a much-needed breath of fresh air.  I just love to see them arrive, so streamlined, so keen to be here. In London, this is the season of sudden squalls, of instant hailstorms followed by beautiful, blossom-fragranced days.

It's been a bit like that in the mother of parliaments, too. Almost three years ago, 23 June 2016 to be precise, our Prime Minister, David Cameron, put the question of 'in or out' of the European Union to a democratic vote by the British people. We weren't prepared at all for such an important referendum, except with shameless lies and deception by both sides of the argument. We voted to leave by 51.9%  - hardly a huge majority. Whilst I'm grateful to live in a democracy, and I don't underestimate how precious that is, quite frankly if there were still a pillory in London I'd like to lock that hapless former leader inside for an Easter gift.

The pillory was a medieval idea. Whoever thought of it I can't imagine, but there have been pillories in Britain since 1351, and the principle was that the perpetrator of a crime, usually one of fraud or deception, had his hands and head shut in a wooden frame, somewhere very public. Then, he was subjected to the wrath of those he had injured.

 The most prominent pillory in London was sited just off Charing Cross, where the statue of King Charles I is now. Whenever I'm in that part of town I get a vivid picture of the scene, with the criminal forced to stand there all day, the roar of the crowd, the pelting of rotted fruit, dead animals, offal, ordure or worse (if there is worse).

Where the Statue of King Charles 1 is now

It was vile, cruel and primitive - but generally reserved for those who had ruined the lives of others on a grand scale. The issue with Brexit is not so much which side of the argument one falls, but the sheer uncertainty that becomes more ruinous each day for the small British manufacturers, importers, shopkeepers and nurserymen, to name but a few. Some of those in the hallowed halls of parliament might do well to try and imagine the feeling of sheer frustration and helplessness we feel out here in the real world.

The Roar of the Crowd

'It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold, when it is summer in the light, wnter in the Shade' 

Charles Dickens 1812-1870

Jennifer Pittam has been published in: Aquarist & Pondkeeper, Astrology Monthly, Cosmopolitan,  Ether Books, People's Friend, Prediction Magazine, Romany Routes, The Lady. 

Competitions won: Coast to Coast Short Story Competition, 2nd Prize; Writers' Village Flash Fiction Competition, 1st Prize.