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At Tessa Hunkin’s Hackney Mosaic Project book launch
By Christine Swan For thirteen years, The Hackney Mosaic Project has engaged its volunteer artists in numerous projects, some of which are on a considerable scale. Tessa Hunkin’s community of mosaicists do not need…
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A trip to the Open House Festival 2025
By Christine Swan I have travelled to London for the last three years to take part in Open City’s annual Open House Festival. Each year, I optimistically take part in ballots to tour rarely…
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A campaign for joy
By Christine Swan This week, my group of trainee teachers have been planning teaching sessions based around the theme of Esafety, which fits well with another general session, delivered by colleagues, on the topic…
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Autumn is not for me thank you
By Christine Swan In a 2024 UK Ipsos survey, 20% of the respondents stated that autumn is their favourite season. Are they mad I hear you ask? Over double that amount quite sensibly, preferred…
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Benjamin Gaffe – Huguenot silk weaver of Bethnal Green
By Christine Swan The Gaffe family have proved to be a bit of an enigma for me I am fairly certain that Claude Gaffe was born in France but, despite subscribing to, and searching,…
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Who ARE you again? – Thinking about identity and what it means in teaching
By Christine Swan It is very unusual that I write a blog post about my day job, but this is an exception. I think it also has relevance in wider life – both our…
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Frances Kinman – ladies’ shoemaker
By Christine Swan This summer, I have put pen to paper with an intention of writing my first book. I have researched my family tree for in excess of twenty five years and have…
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Flowers with everything
By Christine Swan Flowers are such a joy aren’t they? Since our relatively recent purchase of a greenhouse, I have gained great pleasure from planting tiny seeds that have grown into magnificent bloom-laden specimens…
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A trip to London Zoo
By Christine Swan I thought long and hard about whether to post this article. In a week of zoo-focused controversy, where a Danish zoo have requested pets for their carnivores to consume, and the…
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Ethel Isabel Apthorp – housekeeper
By Christine Swan Ethel Isabel was my great aunt. She was born in Southend on Sea in 1874 and was christened in the Church of St John the Baptist during the short while that…
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A trip to Birmingham to say goodbye
By Christine Swan It’s funny how the passing of somebody that I have never met, and didn’t know, could make me feel sad, but I was genuinely sorry for the passing of Ozzy Osbourne…
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April to June in theatre trips
By Christine Swan Towards the end of April, I saw the play Ghosts at the Lyric Theatre. This was a dark, twisted plot of an Ibsen play. Emotions run high and I found myself…
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Awful Rigours and Wretched Pay 