In May I was elected and then handed a Cabinet role that hasn't existed here in this form before the year 2000. So I now sit in an executive that is twenty-six years old, in a ward that traces the edge of a much older parish, in a borough named during an argument from 1963, in a district first organised for tax and justice by people who spoke Old English.

The current workings of the council were essentially set in the Victorian era. Every part of it has been replaced since then, every officer, every desk, every form. And it is still, in every way that matters, the same machine.

That's the Ship of Theseus, more or less: swap out every plank over the years and you may still have the same ship. There is, as it happens, a ship on the Lewisham coat of arms.

A short explainer on Theseus, if you haven't come across it: https://www.britannica.com/topic/ship-of-Theseus-philosophy

You can read about Mural Crowns here: Mural Crown - Livius

Some thoughts on doorsteps and a threshold on a leftover bit of Brookdale Road next to the Broadway.

It's been 109 days since the last episode, a lot has happened.

Here's a link to the documentary Another Catford - https://youtu.be/6jZ_PFgUdF4?si=Z_KpRq9Tw6ZrZiHT

The future of Catford arrived with a monkey...

I started off with a vague idea for an episode on staircases, based on what my toddler likes around the house, and ended up with this.

A staircase is never just a staircase, because small steps, done properly, really can shift the mood of an entire neighbourhood.

Here's an article about the missing Catford Green bridge - https://ladywell-live.org/2021/01/17/austen-steps-up-campaign-for-catfords-missing-bridge/

and another - https://www.salamandernews.org/is-catford-station-links-project-moving-at-last/

This is the book I mention by Jos Boys - https://disordinaryarchitecture.co.uk/start-learning/doing-disability-differently-book