Alan Lodge's Blog

Nottingham City Transport using SMS

Nottingham City Transport have decided to use SMS for timetable info. WAP still quite a minority product, so they thought text messaging.

You might have seen the ad on TV a little while ago. Kids in a Swedish suberb, using a WAP phone, to get the times of the next tram, so they can throw snowballs at it when it passes! Advertising Nokia phones.

Well, I rang Nottingham City Transport [especially as we now have a tram system being built here !] and asked if we were going to have such a service and apparently, there are no such plans. [i did say i didn’t want to throw snowballs at them!].

However, the Mathematics Department of Nottingham Trent University, have developed a system using SMS. This being more common. All bus stops here, now have a reference number on them. So what you do, is send a SMS text message to the system like.

City to ma07

City is a ‘recognised word’ and ma07 is the stop outside my house. System then replies to my phone, and tells me when the next bus home is. Not quite as exciting as the Swedish example here, but hey, this is England. It’ll take a little longer, yet!

ATTAIN – Advanced Traffic and Travel Information system

The ATTAIN project is an EPSRC-funded Feasibility Study that investigates the principles and practicalities of integration of various traffic and travel information (lane occupancy, bus location, bus timetables, etc.) for the purpose of providing intelligent urban travel advice. ATTAIN is a collaborative project involving the Intelligent Simulation and Modelling (ISM) group at the Nottingham Trent University and the Nottingham Traffic Control Centre, Nottingham City Transport, MIRA Ltd., and the NSL.

Has potential though, don’t you think. More info on their site at:

http://www.dcm.ntu.ac.uk/RTTS/Projects/grr32468/attain.html

This poster describes the use of the sysytem

http://www.dcm.ntu.ac.uk/RTTS/Projects/grr32468/poster9s.jpg

Library on your WAP

Access the Library on your WAP Enabled Mobile Phone.

Hampshire County Library has launched the first public library wireless application protocol (WAP) site in the country.

The site contains details of library addresses, accessibility, opening hours and contact information. Members of the public with WAP enabled mobile phones can access the site at http://wap.hants.gov.uk/library/

Now, I’ve asked Nottingham City libraries about their plans for some of this, and they looked straight through me! Appears their are no plans here. Shame really, I would have thought that we needed the Demey Decimal System, on a wap phone, or, hand held device, as we wander up and down the shelves. Obvious really, but nothing happening.

send SMS, in a circle of friends on ICQ, send and receive Email, and now, post to a web page. Right kettle boiled now. i’m off. Cheeers.

Well, all this posted to my blog from my WAP phone. Amazing really eh? Of course, can ring someone up,

Might turn out to be a ‘biblical sky shot’. Then again, black cloud heading this way … How am i doing this? i hear you ask,dear readers.

Am waiting for the kettle to boil for a coffee. Just time for another spliff, before I try and capture the bursting rays, from behind the clouds.

Camera, loaded with Fuji Provia 100asa Colour Transparency film, and tripod set up, with a groovy view before me!

just down from Kinder Scout and Mam Tor in the Peak District National Park.

Right now, I’m sitting at the side of the forest track, with a view over the lake.

hello each. Well, this is from me to my blog! Amazing really. Am parked up at side of the Ladybower Reservoir in the Derwent Valley.

So, now we’ve had the conference, we can see that the environment, is safe in our representatives hands!

So, that alright then. No need to worry!!

I’m old enough now, to remember a lot of the progress of these meetings. The series of attempts, to save the planet, from ourselves.

The older I get, the more of an Anarchist I become. I mean it!

Representative Democracy, is a good idea. If it worked. But it doesn’t.

Like Tony Benn, I can think of not a single idea that my representatives have had, that then they have gone out and pursued in all our interests, with our consent. The whole thing ALWAYS tends to the perceived self interests of those ‘in the club’.

My representatives have usually been dragged through a hedge backwards, after civil insurrection in the street, make them pay some attention. Then times later, a much ‘watered down’ idea of law or action emerges, that is next to useless for our needs.

Sorry, but that is my understanding of politics for you!

* United Nations Conference on the Human Environment – Stockholm 1972

* United Nations Conference on Environment and Development – Rio 1992

* United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – Kyoto 1997

* World Summit on Sustainable Development – Johannesburg 2002

Much of this ‘progress’ is described in this piece:

Chronicle Essay – The Road from Stockholm to Johannesburg By Lars-Göran Engfeldt

http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2002/issue3/0302p14_essay.html

Good God! Is it not time to recognize that sustainable development has become a matter of survival, which must be given the same priority as traditional security policy. The landmark agreements from Rio show the way, but the key problem before Johannesburg is that implementation is seriously lagging. The scientific community tells us that we have perhaps 20 to 25 years to rectify the situation. The widespread insight that business as usual is not an option is inevitably tempered by our incapability to take long-term decisions in our own interest as human beings. Perhaps this is starting to change. Experiences from international negotiations over this thirty-year period give a perspective to the complex challenges of today, which could be useful to negotiators and decision makers.

Some say it will take a catastrophy, for politics to take notice. Well, we have one of those every day!

However, I think it will the loss of thousands of lives, with the clear and obvious potential, of the loss of thousand more, here in the Developed West before any of this gets the priorities that these issues deserve. Shame and idiotic, but me thinks, true!

International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)

Linkages Portal to the Johannesburg Summit 2002:

http://www.iisd.ca/wssd/portal.html

Links to further summit resources:

http://www.iisd.ca/wssd/links.html

World Summit on Sustainable Development:

http://www.earthwire.org/wssd/

Daily Summit Blog:

http://www.dailysummit.net/

The Earth Times – Daily Web Edition:

http://www.earthtimes.org/

Notes earlier in this blog at start of conference:

http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_08_25_tash_lodge_archive.html#80684273

Watching the news, and reading the paper, people seem quite disappointed in the outcomes of each of these conference. But, really, I ask you, did you expect it to be any different?

My WAP site been noted

Just got this in my guestbook, nice to get a note like this, and that folks find it useful……

Dear Tash Looked at your WAP site on my Nokia 7110 after getting the address off the latest Schnews and was really impressed, particularly by the legal/arrest info. I have been planning to do something similar – a WAP bust card – for about a month and have been learning WML. I’m particularly into putting info about s60 orders and of course the new Terrorism Act on the WAP bustcard. While the network against the terrorism act is planning to do traditional paper bust cards about the TA, I’ve always felt something more than just paper or indeed the web is needed to communicate to people about it. Don’t want to reinvent the wheel or steal your idea (even if I came up with it independently, albeit later!) on a useful use of WAP so I decided to send you this message. My plan was to have a site with just a bust card for people at risk of having their rights abused, with separate sections for party goers, protesters, normal young people etc. and separate sections on search, arrest, common offences, etc. anyway looking forward to hearin

Raif UK ralph@blagged.freeserve.co.uk

Surveillance – oh god, yet more……. !!

When I became interested in photography, dealing with ‘minority groups’, associating with various folks involved with dissent. I’d not in my wildest dreams, thought this would lead me to having any / much involvement with surveillance. Silly me!! Little did I know then.

On my main site, many of my readers, will be familiar with the surveillance sections including: All about my ‘BIG BROTHER’ http://tash.gn.apc.org/watched1.htm & the photo – gallery, I’d prepared, to try and show you, the scale of all this, when applied to me and mine. Check out this work, starting at: http://tash.gn.apc.org/surv_20.htm.

The Guardian this weekend, is starting a series, describing much of the ‘machine’ that I, and others, find so disturbing.

The search / listing page, for all this , can be seen from: 21 articles match your search “big brother”

On of the main authors of this piece, Simon Davies is a visiting Prof at the LSE, but is also Director of Privacy International.

For my work on some of these issues: http://tash.gn.apc.org/big_brother.htm

In recognition of this work, received a ‘Winston’ [ a Winny! ] from Privacy International, at the 1998 ‘Big Brother’ Awards. The citation reads: “Alan Lodge is a photographer who has spent more than a decade raising awareness of front-line police surveillance activities, particularly the endemic practice of photographing demonstrators and activists”.

Now, surveillance of communications / internet matter, proceeds apace. Have recently heard of the activities of the companies, in keeping an eye [ or many ], on some of our activities ……. Get a load of this!

Crack any password!

http://dieselprods.com/daniel/

In their FAQ’s at: http://208.56.75.101/daniel/p4.html

they say “what is the monitoring service?

we will monitor anyone online for you recording all of their internet activity including emails,chat conversations, and web activity. sending you daily or weekly reports.

email us for details”

also, testimonials: http://208.56.75.101/daniel/p3.html

all of our products and services are guaranteed.

For proof send us an email with the word ‘proof’ in the text.

daniel@dieselprods.com

well, for both these offers of proof of their services, I’ve just emailed them, as requested. It might be an interesting reply. I’ll keep you posted!!

&

Previously, I’d discussed these folks services:

Spyware Trojan sends info back, on internet activity on a ‘target’

http://www.spectorsoft.com/products/eBlaster_Windows/

“eBlaster records their e-mails, chats, instant messages, Web sites visited and keystrokes typed — and then automatically sends this recorded information to your own e-mail address,”

http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_08_25_tash_lodge_archive.html#80912478

Conversation with Chris Stewart

In addition to the previous posts, I thought I would tell you of this, as well ………. A Question & Answer session, with the man.

http://www.daviskidd.com/html/interview2.html

Driving over lemons an optimist in Andalucia read by the author:

Chris Stewart

Have just borrowed this Penguin Audio-Book 3 cd set, from Nottingham City Library. Parrot in the Pepper Tree was the Radio4 Book of the Week last week, so enjoyed it, that I had researched this chaps work, a little more. So, have now discovered “Driving over Lemons ”

For your interest, you can see details of Driving Over Lemons on Amazon

The plot: When English sheep shearer Chris Stewart (once a drummer for Genesis) bought an isolated farmhouse in the mountains outside of Granada, Spain, he was fully aware that it didn’t have electricity, running water, or access to roads. But he had little idea of the headaches and hilarity that would follow (including scorpions, runaway sheep, and the former owner who won’t budge). He also had no idea that his memoir about southern Spain would set a standard for literary travel writing.

This rip-roaringly funny book about seeking a place in an earthy community of peasants and shepherds gives a realistic sense of the hassles and rewards of foreign relocation. Part of its allure stems from the absence of rose-colored glasses, mainly Stewart’s refusal to merely coo about the piece of heaven he’s found or to portray all residents as angels. Stewart’s hilarious and beautifully written passages are deep in their honest perceptions of the place and the sometimes, xenophobic natives, whose reception of the newcomers ranges from warm to gruff.

After reading about struggles with animal husbandry, droughts, flooding, and such local rituals as pig slaughters and the rebuilding of bridges, you may not wish to live Chris Stewart’s life. But you can’t help but admire him and his wife, Ana, for digging out a niche in these far-flung mountains, for successfully befriending the denizens, and for so eloquently and comically telling the truth.

BBC Radi4 have done a ‘feature’ on Chris Stewart.. Starts at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/discover/archive_interviews/44_stewart1.shtml

Also, some interviews, that you can hear, using Real Player:

Check out these at:

1

2

3

I’d gone off, earlier in the blog, about Parrot in the Pepper Tree. Another work by Chris Stewart. Please check out at:

http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_08_25_tash_lodge_archive.html#80863370

It is possible, dear reader, that you wonder why I’m going of about this work. Well, I’ve visited the Area, a couple of years ago, and declare it to be ‘magical’. I have a family connection there also.

My son Sam, lives at El Morrion, near Orgiva, Granada. He’s bee there a few years now. After the passing of laws in Britain, outlawing many of the things I and my family have always enjoyed. The law applied to Gatherings, Festival and Raves / Parties, is a particularly obnoxious piece of work. I refer to the passing of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.

So many of my friends [and family] fucked off abroad after its passing. The south of Spain, was one of the main locations that people went to. They could have stayed here, of course. But, if you want to life the life, well, you have to leave.

I’ve made a website, to say something of the area and the things that interest English New Age Travellers / Ravers and my son Sam, in particular. Please check out at:

http://members.fortunecity.com/alanlodge/orgiva/frameset.htm

Will be moving this site in time, so somewhere with less advertising… will post, when I do.

Dave Gorman’s Webcam

well, this chap is a comedian.

Dave Gorman’s Webcam

I really enjoyed his last series on the BBC little while ago, called.’My Name Is Dave Gorman’

http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_07_07_tash_lodge_archive.html#78897923

Latest show, is an ‘experiment’ on Astrology. Check out:

http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_08_25_tash_lodge_archive.html#80840739

I’d never heard of this chap, before a couple of months ago. But now here’s famous! Well, famous enough to get a mention in the Guardain ONline Section,’shorts’ at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,785878,00.html

On a chain of beautiful deserted islands in the middle of nowhere, the following people are stranded:

Two Italian men and one Italian woman

Two French men and one French woman

Two German men and one German woman

Two Greek men and one Greek woman

Two English men and one English woman

Two Bulgarian men and one Bulgarian woman

Two Japanese men and one Japanese woman

Two Chinese men and one Chinese woman

Two Irish men and one Irish woman

Two American men and one American woman

One month later, on these absolutely stunning deserted islands in the middle of nowhere, the following things have occurred:

One Italian man killed the other Italian man for the Italian woman.

The two French men and the French woman are living happily together in a menage a trois.

The two German men have a strict weekly schedule of alternating visits with the German woman.

The two Greek men are sleeping with each other and the Greek woman is cleaning and cooking for them.

The two English men are waiting for someone to introduce them to the English woman.

The two Bulgarian men took one look at the Bulgarian woman and started swimming to another island.

The two Japanese have faxed Tokyo and are waiting for instructions.

The two Chinese men have set up a pharmacy/liquor store/restaurant/laundry, and have gotten the woman pregnant in order to supply employees for their store.

The two Irish men divided the island into North and South and set up a distillery. They do not remember if sex is in the picture because it gets somewhat foggy after a few liters of coconut whiskey. However, they’re satisfied because the English aren’t having any fun.

The two American men are contemplating suicide, because the American woman will not shut up and complains relentlessly about her body, the true nature of feminism, what the sun is doing to her skin, how she can do anything they can do, the necessity of fulfillment, the equal division of household chores, how sand and palm trees make her look fat, how her last boyfriend respected her opinion and treated her nicer than they do, and how her relationship with her mother is the root cause of all her problems, and why didn’t they bring a goddamn cell phone so they could call 911 and get them all rescued off this godforsaken deserted island in the middle of friggin’ nowhere so she can get her nails done and go shopping…

On a chain of beautiful deserted islands in the middle of nowhere, the following people are stranded:

Two Italian men and one Italian woman

Two French men and one French woman

Two German men and one German woman

Two Greek men and one Greek woman

Two English men and one English woman

Two Bulgarian men and one Bulgarian woman

Two Japanese men and one Japanese woman

Two Chinese men and one Chinese woman

Two Irish men and one Irish woman

Two American men and one American woman

One month later, on these absolutely stunning deserted islands in the middle of nowhere, the following things have occurred:

One Italian man killed the other Italian man for the Italian woman.

The two French men and the French woman are living happily together in a menage a trois.

The two German men have a strict weekly schedule of alternating visits with the German woman.

The two Greek men are sleeping with each other and the Greek woman is cleaning and cooking for them.

The two English men are waiting for someone to introduce them to the English woman.

The two Bulgarian men took one look at the Bulgarian woman and started swimming to another island.

The two Japanese have faxed Tokyo and are waiting for instructions.

The two Chinese men have set up a pharmacy/liquor store/restaurant/laundry, and have gotten the woman pregnant in order to supply employees for their store.

The two Irish men divided the island into North and South and set up a distillery. They do not remember if sex is in the picture because it gets somewhat foggy after a few liters of coconut whiskey. However, they’re satisfied because the English aren’t having any fun.

The two American men are contemplating suicide, because the American woman will not shut up and complains relentlessly about her body, the true nature of feminism, what the sun is doing to her skin, how she can do anything they can do, the necessity of fulfillment, the equal division of household chores, how sand and palm trees make her look fat, how her last boyfriend respected her opinion and treated her nicer than they do, and how her relationship with her mother is the root cause of all her problems, and why didn’t they bring a goddamn cell phone so they could call 911 and get them all rescued off this godforsaken deserted island in the middle of friggin’ nowhere so she can get her nails done and go shopping…

Here’s a story.

The owner comes up to him, in a threatening manner and says:

Get off my land!

I’ll fight you for it then..!!

At the end of the English Civil War, (The 1640s), people began to realise that after their sacrifice in fighting that war,

they had replaced one bunch of uncaring bastards with another lot….

well, that’s politics and war for you, nothing new there then!!!

I see paralells with today that are uncanny, even scary, at times. The people pitched against an unrepresentative state and aristocracy. The Church acting rather like the present day multinationals, and a lot of people who just wanted to be left alone, without interference fo church or state, on land that they respected and loved. I have included here, and throughout my site, background info, to give you an idea of what I mean and why I care.

350 years ago now, but a solid example of “DIY culture”, or what!

How then. I don’t think, that much has changed for many of us. Not really. It is about access to land, still.

On the 22nd September, the Countryside Alliance is coming to town. Well, I wont be joining them. But while they’re in town, I’ll be going out to the countryside. A stunt perhaps. there are still thousands who think like I do. Check earlier in my blog at:

http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_08_25_tash_lodge_archive.html#80867277

The True Levellers Standard Advanced:

Or, The State of Community Opened, and Presented to the Sons of Men.

A Declaration to the Powers of England, and to all the Powers of the World, shewing the Cause why the Common People of England have begun, and gives Consent to Digge up, Manure, and Sow Corn upon George-Hill in Surrey; by those that have Subscribed, and thousands more that gives Consent.

Thus begins the statement of the Leveller cause, forwarded, by William Everard and Gerrard Winstanley.

I was not told ANY of this at school. But having discovered the existence of this movement and its consequences. I tell you, it has changed my life, and unlike any religion to me, gives a cause, and reason for existence.

This fight is thousands of years old. Who has got, and who has not!

But 353 years ago now, an argument was made plain after the Civil War. Direct action taken. And the consequences for the world are obvious.

My tribe, squatters, travellers, festivals folks etc etc. are the direct descendents of this.

I went to St Georges Hill, with many friends, to celebrate the 350 year anniversary of their land occupation. I took some fine photographs of the day. Please check out my record at:

http://tash.gn.apc.org/diggers_350.htm

I tell you, to me, this is not history, but very much ‘current affairs’.

Why I’m more than a little confused as to why I was not told ANY of this at school, and , as far as I Know, is still not on the National Curriculum. This needs looking into to!

A Short Digger / Leveller History

The Diggers were a group of agrarian communists who flourished in England in 1649-50 and were led by Gerrard Winstanley and William Everard. The Diggers believed that since the English Civil War had been fought against the King and the landowners, and with Charles I executed, land should then be made available to the poor to cultivate. In April 1649 a group of about 20 men assembled at St. George’s Hill, Surrey, and began to cultivate the common land. The Diggers’ activities alarmed the Commonwealth government and roused the hostility of local landowners, who were rival claimants to the common lands.

On 16 April 1649 Henry Sanders sent an alarming letter to the Council of State reporting that several individuals had begun to plant vegetables on St. George’s Hill in Surrey. Sanders reported they, the Diggers, had invited “all to come in and help them, and promise them meat, drink, and clothes.” and that the Diggers claimed that their number would be several thousand within ten days. “It is feared they have some design in hand.” The Council of State sent the letter to Lord Fairfax, lord general of the army, along with a dispatch stating:

“By the narrative enclosed your Lordship will be informed of what hath been made to this Council of a disorderly and tumultuous sort of people assembling themselves together not far from Oatlands, at a place called St. George’s Hill; and although the pretence of their being there by them avowed may seem very ridiculous, yet that conflux of people may be a beginning whence things of a greater and more dangerous consequence may grow. Fairfax was then ordered to disperse the group and prevent a repetition of the event.

The Diggers were harassed by legal actions and mob violence, and by the end of March 1650 their members were driven off the St. George’s Hill. Despite this setback they continued their work on a nearby heath in Cobham. colony was dispersed. In April the Digger movement collapsed when a Parson Platt, the lord of the manor, and several others destroyed the Diggers’ houses, burned their furniture, and scattered their belongings. Platt threatened the Diggers with death if they continued their activity and hired several guards to prevent their return to the heath. Winstanley recorded these events as well as a final defence of the Digger movement.”

Prof. Christopher Hill – Gerard Winstanley: 17th Century Communist at Kingston

24 January 1996. Kingston University

This man is ‘the authority’ on Winstanley and this movement. Please check out his work, starting at: http://www.kingston.ac.uk/cusp/Lectures/Hill.htm

All of this added now, because of the re-showing of ‘Winstanley’, the 1979 film. http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_09_01_tash_lodge_archive.html#81194691

It is worth mentioning another.

An excellent film about the Diggers by Roy Hanney. Check out at

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~royhan/film/

You can see a preview of this film at:

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~royhan/film/index2.html#PREVIEW

Land and Freedom

Digger pamphlet by Gerrard Winstanley

A

DECLARATION

FROM THE

Poor oppressed People

OF

ENGLAND,

DIRECTED

To all that call themselves, or are called

Lords of Manors,

Printed in the Year, 1649.

http://www.tlio.demon.co.uk/poor.htm

World Turned Upside Down – song by Leon Rosselson

In 1649

To St George’s Hill

A ragged band they called the Diggers

Came to show the people’s will

They defied the landlords

They defied the laws

They were the dispossessed

Reclaiming what was theirs

‘We come in peace’ they said

‘To dig and sow

We come to work the land in common

And to make the waste land grow

This earth divided

We will make whole

So it can be

A common treasury for all

‘The sin of property

We do disdain

No one has any right to buy and sell

The earth for private gain

By theft and murder

They took the land

Now everywhere the walls

Rise up at their command

‘They make the laws

To chain us well

The clergy dazzle us with heaven

Or they damn us into hell

We will not worship

The God they serve

The God of greed who feeds the rich

While poor men starve

‘We work, we eat together

We need no swords

We will not bow to masters

Or pay rent to the lords

We are free men

Though we are poor’

You Diggers all stand up for glory

Stand up now

From the men of property

The orders came

They sent the hired men and troopers

To wipe out the Diggers claim

Tear down their cottages

Destroy their corn

They were dispersed –

Only the vision lingers on

‘You poor take courage

You rich take care

The earth was made a common treasury

For everyone to share

All things in common

All people one

We come in peace’-

The order came to cut them down

http://cres1.lancs.ac.uk/~esarie/wturned.htm

see my own pages, on the GreenNET site at:

The Levellers and Diggers …… not the rock band!!

http://tash.gn.apc.org/leveller.htm

See earlier entry in my blog, to see that this is very much all still alive.

http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_08_25_tash_lodge_archive.html#80867277

The ‘Countryside Alliance’ [Parson Platts men, are still at it!] so on the 22nd September this year, while they are agitating in London and the cities, about foxhunting, in particular…… I / we will be going out to live on the commons again. Oh, hush, they don’t know this yet……….

This will of course, only be a temporary arrangement, before the ‘troups’ return, and put it all down again 🙂 What’s new!

Winstanley

FilmFour – World Tx 5th sept 2002

Courageous depiction of Gerrard Winstanley and the Diggers’ struggle to establish a pre-socialist commune in Cromwell’s Britain. A detailed and dedicated depiction of political idealism by the director Kevin Brownlow.

Winstanley is a sombre historical drama, meticulously researched and as much a testament to the idealism of its director as it is to that of proto-Communist Gerrard Winstanley.

In 1649 Winstanley (Halliwell) and the Diggers set out to establish a commune on reclaimed land in Cobham, Surrey. Though committed to peace they were met with hostility and Winstanley’s ideal for living was doomed to fail. Brownlow presents all the grim realities of life in post Civil War Britain with fanatical attention to detail and everything from footwear to livestock were thoroughly researched. Undoubtedly this is one of the most authentic recreations of the Civil War era ever filmed and the clash between radicalism and the establishment finds a modern parallel in the presence in the cast of Sid Rawle – a leading light in Britain’s anarcho-hippie movement. [Sid Rawle: a fellow hippy and general alternative type. Here he is on the cover of some of my Stonehenge work http://tash.gn.apc.org/solst_0.htm]

Verdict

Shot in stark black and white, this is a brave, grave and deeply rewarding film that combines historical accuracy with the tragic story of a committed activist.

Film Fact

Gerrard Winstanley’s pamphlets in the British Museum were among those studied by Karl Marx as he formulated his own political theory.

Film Quote

When a man hath need of any corn or cattle, take from the next store house he meets with. There shall be no buying or selling, no fairs or markets, but the whole earth shall be the common Treasury for every man. Gerrard Winstanley

More about this film

It’s England, 1649 and with Cromwell in power, the country begins to recover after the Civil War, and the spirit of revolution lives on in a group of poor settlers who are labelled as the Diggers. Former soldier Gerrard Winstanley (Miles Halliwell) leads them, living by the belief that some of the late Monarch’s lands should be forfeited to the people, who will cultivate it and subsist as equals.

Selecting St George’s Hill, Surrey, as their new home, they begin to clear the land, causing resentment among the locals which is fuelled by the local hellfire preacher, John Platt (David Bramley). An army detachment is sent to deal with the Diggers, but its leader, General Lord Fairfax (Jerome Willis), extends tacit sympathy to the cause while remaining scrupulously neutral. His men have no such integrity, and plan breakaway attacks on Winstanley s group. Besieged, isolated and hungry, The Diggers’ resolve begins to fade.

Brownlow’s parallel career in film history and restoration is the key to his approach to filmmaking. In collaboration with production designer Mollo, he offers a painstaking recreation of fact, using Winstanley’s own works as a base. The reliance on detail makes Kubrick look sloppy, down to the rare breed societies who were asked to provide livestock of the time.

The project had been around since 1966, and only accelerated after funding from the British Film Insititute (BFI). A meagre budget prohibited the use of first-choice actors, who were replaced with a team of non-professionals – cast on appearance only – that would enable the production to shoot at weekends over one year.

Consequently it became a labour of love, reflecting that same quality which drove Winstanley’s own actions. But a production that had all the makings of earnest political polemic transpires to become a moving study of radicalism gone awry and there s even room for in-jokes, casting former BFI supremo Stanley Reed as a pedantic, exacting magistrate intent on destroying idealism.

http://www.filmfour.com/filmReview/filmReview.jsp?id=21229