Pompeii: The New Dig

Documentary-makers from the BBC and  Lion TV have been following a team of archaeologists over the last two years as they have excavated a new site in Pompeii. A third of the ancient city still lies beneath volcanic debris from the disaster 2,000 years ago but the new dig is providing fresh insights into ancient Roman life. Last year a huge banqueting room with jet-black walls and breathtaking frescoes was discovered but further finds are exciting archaeologists.

Frigidarium

Plunge pool

One of the exquisite frescoes in the spa complex

An entire block of Pompeii has been uncovered to reveal a laundry, bakery and a large, obviously wealthy, private house. It is likely that the entire site was owned by one rich individual, quite probably Aulus Rustius Verus, an important Pompeiian politician. The excavation of a bath-house at the heart of this grand mansion, further confirms  the elite status of its owner. The modest title, 'bath-house' undersells the actual suite of bathing rooms including a splendid changing room with red walls and a complex mosaic floor featuring geometric patterns inlaid with marble obtained from sites across the Roman Empire. It was more of a spa complex than a simple place to get clean! Bathers, having changed, would have headed to the hot room, briefly dipping into the very hot water with the heat provided by a suspended floor which allowed hot air to flow underneath, with cavity walls to allow hot air to circulate. And then on to the brightly-painted 'warm room' where oil would be rubbed into the skin then scraped off with a strigil, a smooth, curved, hand-held instrument fashioned for the purpose. After which, to a spectacular area with red columns and frescoes of athletes; this was the frigidarium, or cold room, with a plunge pool to host up to 20-30 people. One of thearchaeologists, Dr. Zuchtriegel, suggests that the frigidarium was an ideal spot to linger, feet dipped into the cold water, to enjoy socialising with friends. There can have been few, if any, Pompeiian dwellings with such a luxurious set of bathing rooms; this spa complex must have been for the most wealthy family or individual in town. 

Part of a ceiling fresco which collapsed under the blast
and killed the young man with the keys [the other skeleton]

In a small, undecorated room close by, two skeletons were found; Pompeiians who had obviously sought refuge from the eruption. The woman, curled up in a foetal position on a bed, was clutching gold and silver coins and jewellery. The man, in a corner, having been crushed by a wall collapsing beneath the torrent of pyroclastic flow; he was holding some keys. The woman's bones and teeth were in good condition, indicating her high status and in spite of her having been quite mature, between 35 and 50. The other, a young man in his late teens, probably a slave, as his bones, despite his youth, were already showing signs of wear. There was also a table in the room on which glassware, pottery and bronze jugs were scattered; perhaps brought in haste for protection to await the end of the disaster.

This high-status woman was found, clutching gold
and silver coins and jewellery

Dr. Sophie Hay describes this recent discovery as a 'once in a lifetime' event  but points out the realistic, darker, side of Roman life inherent in what was found. Just behind the hot room is a boiler room; a pipe brought water in from the street with some syphoned off into the large cold plunge pool andt the remainder heated in a lead boiler before being piped to the hot room. There were valves, quite modern in appearance, which regulated the flow and were operated by slaves. Beneath the hot room was a furnace, fed by the slaves, so that conditions in the whole area where the slaves worked all day to keep the system flowing, must have been appalling. 

Perfectly preserved bodies, caught by the eruption
mid-task

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD79, Herculaneum was almost totally destroyed, situated as it was several miles closer to the mountain. Pompeii was burned and buried beneath mountains of pyroclastic flow, extraordinarily hot volcanic gas and ash moving at speed, but it continues to offer stunning insights into the lives in a Roman town 2000 years ago, often with glimpses of lives apparently only just interrupted.     

And another beautiful wall painting

                              

Pair of pearl and golden ear rings 
similar to those pictured in many frescoes

Fine collection of spoons, still intact

Right To Buy

 

I hadn’t thought of ‘Right To Buy’ for years and did not even know if that right still existed. But recently, from an issue of New Statesman I discovered it did and does!  I also learned some astonishing facts:

Council houses providing capacity, affordability and
high standards of housing for renters.

1. Between April 1980 and March 2023, 2,020,779 council houses and flats have been sold through Right To Buy schemes.     

      2. Under the same scheme, 14,085 social housing sales were completed in 2022-23 and 90% of all recorded social housing sales were through Right to Buy. 

3.   3. Government spending on housing is now at its highest level at £30.5 billion [2021-2022] In 1975-76, it was £22.3 billion. 

It was towards the end of 1979 that the Conservative government announced plans to allow council house tenants to buy their homes at a discount. I remember hearing that news and approving of it hugely though never considering the implications of such an idea. At some point after its introduction, I remember someone I knew in my Kentish village asking me to help with completing the admin side of her transaction to buy her council home, and I strongly remember her tears at what she regarded as a total miracle for her family. They had always assumed that this had been an impossible dream but now it was within reach.

Goole. Council house kitchen.

In a sharp lesson, I now learn that since Right to Buy was introduced, just over four decades ago, over two million council houses have been sold with many not replaced. I think I also recall my indignation at the Thatcherite refusal to allow councils to spend the sales receipts on replacement homes in those early days. In fact, until 2023, councils were obliged to give 25% from council house sales receipts to the Treasury and despite the 75% retained, there has been a steady decrease in council house building during those 45 years: the figures are startling. In 1980, 94,140 new social housing units were built; in the year ending 31 March 2024, the U.K. built just 700 social rent homes.  

The current Labour government has confirmed that Councils will be able to retain 100% of the Right to Buy receipts and it has also reduced the amount permitted as a Right to Buy discount. Clearly, an

Caerphilly: Rent hike in council houses set to rise by 6.5%

official acknowledgement of the continuing drain the scheme has on Council funding but one wonders why the scheme has continued. No Government or, by definition, no Council, can advance a successful housing policy under the strictures of such an unrealistic, if worthy, policy. Councils are simply unable to match the rate of replacement to the rate of sales, especially given the 25% Treasury 'tax' That being so, why hasn’t the scheme been scrapped? This apparent lack of logic must be based on the evidence that we voters really like the idea of Right To Buy; clearly A Good Thing, while, at the same time, being unaware

The Govt. has pledged to build 1.5 million more homes
by the end of this current parliament.

 that there simply isn’t the finance to fund such a dream. Councils are desperately short of money; witness the national lack of the upkeep of municipal libraries, museums, schools. Right To Buy is popular but it cannot but impede progress on dealing with the housing crisis. The only answer appears to lie within some form of providing finance through taxation but any mention of such a solution is unlikely to be heard in the perennial search for votes. 

20/21 to 22/23 Comparisons

BUT I have found the most recent Govt. pronouncement on Right To Buy which is as follows;

"From November 21, 2024, the maximum discount for buying a council home is between £16,000 and £38,000. The discount depends on where you live. The period for properties built or acquired after April 1, 2012 has increased to 30 years. The discount will be reduced if your landlord has spent money on your home in the last 10 or 15 years. You may need to repay some or all of the discount if you sell your home within five years. If you sell within 10 years, you must offer the property back to the council before selling it on the open market. "

Stylish modern council housing.
Two in three of renters never expect to own
their home.

Good Intentions

 

 

2001/2 to 2022/3
Net additional dwellings, England

Wildfires in the Palisades, driven by winds of over 100 mph

Two events have prompted this blog; the Govt has recently announced its intention to increase the number of social housing units. And secondly, this morning I heard an American woman describing her family’s amazing luck as, having fled the raging fires in the Hollywood area, they returned to their Palisades' neighbourhood to see the miracle that was their intact home which had somehow escaped the fire while many adjacent houses had been completely burned out. Their comments of joy underlined the exceptional but essential, existential core of the meaning of home.

Daniel Hewitt in front of some of the Croydon flats

Perhaps no reminder was required of how precious one’s home to the physical, mental and emotional health of any individual is, but it was an excellent political response by the Labour Government to commit to increasing the supply of homes in England. Indeed, its 2029 manifesto included a commitment to build 300,000 new homes annually by the mid-2020s and to supply 1 million new homes by the end of the current parliament. Currently, the housing supply in England is below that ambition of net additional dwellings at 234,000 during 2022/23. ‘Net additional dwellings’ is the main measure of the total housing supply used by the Government and is based on local authority estimates of their gains and losses of dwellings during the stated period.

 One example of many mouldy, damp corners

In early 2021 an ITV reporter, Daniel Hewitt, visited a block of flats in Croydon after being tipped off that the excuse of the Covid lockdown was being used by some landlords not to keep up with much-needed repairs. To his horror, he found rooms with ceilings and walls covered with furry black mould; dirty water pouring down walls into buckets or on to electrical sockets; sodden carpets squelching underfoot. His broadcast went viral after which his team began to receive emails which underlined that his Croydon example was not a horrifying single exception. There were numerous other similar cases in other areas. The result is that three years later there is The Trapped, an eight-part series which details what the original team of reporters found in Croydon and in other areas.

There appear to be differing housing standards in the 
local authorities of England

The most horrifying information for me is that the owners of these appalling flats and multi- occupational buildings are not the vilified rogue landlords of old ripping off defenceless families, but councils and housing associations, and the tenants, in the main, are ordinary working people paying regular rent and making repeated requests for repairs and basic improvements, often desperately needed. Interviewees testified, again and again, about how their accommodation was exacerbating existing illnesses or causing new asthma and skin conditions leading to anxieties and stress. Many expressed frustrating feelings of powerlessness and shame at their shocking living conditions and of their

desperation to escape.  Daniel Hewitt, the original reporter who stumbled on this appalling chapter of conditions existing in a relatively rich country, sums up the situation rather well: “This isn’t a story about housing; it is a story about power.” As an example, he quotes the case of a woman featured in The Trapped, living with terminal cancer in a squalid, mould-infested room and experiencing difficulties in breathing. Once ITV’s involvement was revealed to the local council, she was re-housed in decent living conditions within days.

See the text above.

Keeping Up Appearances

One of many pretty streets in central Bruges

I noticed that there was a draft blog in my Bruges file recently which I had begun and then forgotten so I am including and extending it today. Probably written during my last year in Bruges [2021] as mention is made of the positive effect of Covid and Lockdown which happened in 2020. "As I wander the Bruggean streets, I keep noticing the eye-catching results of considerable efforts on the part of owners of restaurants, cafes, bars, hotels, to beautify their outside spaces and add extra appeal for visitors and tourists. Almost every terrace on the Markt, for instance, can boast flowering plants in containers, little trees in large pots, greenery and floral flourishes in one guise or another.. It is aesthetically delightful and Covid with Lockdown can take much of the credit. It is a significant celebration in an already beautiful little city; rather like a splendidly accoutred dowager pinning a luscious rose in her hair."

Hyacinth alias Patricia Routledge

The long-suffering Richard 
played by Clive Swift

As I wrote the above title, I welcomed the familiar phrase from long ago, one which always raises a smile. Obviously I was referring to Brugge polishing up its image, but the smile which generally accompanies that expression comes from the inevitable association with a 90s TV sitcom with that title, Keeping Up Appearances. 1990-1995.  Instantly, happily, one remembers Hyacinth Bucket [ALWAYS pronounced, incorrectly, Bouquet!] a snob and social climber, played exquisitely in the series by Patricia Routledge. Hyacinth, formidable though she was but so fondly recalled, was an almost divine inspiration for the ever-class-conscious Brits; she was perfectly formed for every class-based social minefield as she desperately tries to hide her working class roots and emphasise her middle class exclusivity. She always answers her phone thus, “The Bouquet residence; the lady of the house speaking.” There is always a Northern undercurrent to her working class attempted RP [Received Pronunciation] as she struggles to impress others with her refinement and pretended affluence. She adores to give ‘executive-style’ candlelit suppers with her Royal Worcester Avignon plus the Royal Doulton china with “the hand-painted periwinkles.” One of four sisters named after flowers, she desperately tries to hide her two ghastly lower-class sisters, Daisy and Rose, the latter a sexy man-eater, and probably promiscuous to boot. And of course, there is Daisy’s proudly non-working slob of a husband, Onslow, who probably lives on Benefits! In fact, Onslow, sofa-bound and vest-clad, proudly unshaven

The cast.

and definitely unbowed, becomes Hyacinth’s nemesis throughout the series. Daisy and Rose turn up, from time to time unexpectedly, [obviously they are never invited] often with Hyacinth’s senile father, conveyed in a totally run-down, scruffy, back-firing Ford Cortina; NOT a car for anyone in the aspiring middle class. They are unfailingly, proudly and noisily, working class, lacking, and indeed, oblivious to, any social pretensions whatsoever, Meanwhile, Richard, [Clive Swift] Hyacinth's husband, wearily tolerates her social-climbing ambitions, and tenaciously continues his long-suffering endurance, all made even more difficult when he has to take early retirement from his Council job and he is home all day. Before his early retirement from some lowly bureaucratic job, Hyacinth always referred to him as 'a power in the local authority.'

"The Bouquet residence; the lady of the house speaking."

Hyacinth’s much-lauded son Sheridan, about whose intellectual prowess she frequently boasts, despite the fact that he is following a course on embroidery at a Polytechnic and lives with his friend. Tarquin.We never actually meet Sheridan, and  Hyacinth is blissfully unaware of her son’s real relationship with his flat-mate who makes his own curtains, wears silk pyjamas and has won prizes for his embroidery. Though never clarified, Richard’s calm manner over Sheridan suggests that perhaps the son has confided his real sexuality to his tolerant father. Meanwhile, Hyacinth boasts about the frequent letters and phone calls from her son, suggesting their close relationship, though in truth dear Sheridan never writes and only phones when he needs money.

Rose, Hyacinth's sex-obsessed sister

There are countless, priceless memorable lines from the series, always uttered by Hyacinth oblivious to any deeper signifying message. Her fourth sister, Violet, though never normally seen, quite often phones. Hyacinth always wears a satisfied, rather superior, smirk as she announces, "It's my sister, Violet, the one with the Mercedes, sauna and room for a pony." Hyacinth complains, "Sometimes on sleepless nights, my head is swimming with the responsibilities of organising another candle-lit supper." Richard has a frisbe at one point which he claims has been given to him but poor doubting Hyacinth says, " And sometimes I wonder ......... did he REALLY buy that frisbe?"

Judy Cornwell as Daisy, the more
lovable sister though she IS 
married to the ghastly Onslow.

She abhors people who try to pretend they're superior and "make it so much harder for those of us whe really are."    She enquires innocently, " What is the missionary position in China these days?" And vows to protect one character from "sinking into moral turpitude." Oh, dear Hyacinth never fails to evoke gusts of knowing laughter and is still remembered fondly nine years after the series finished. It ended because Patricia Routledge decided that she should do other things. Rumour has it that her decision was greeted with dismay by cast and writer alike but the series folded as Patricia had feared; she had indeed become Hyacinth!!

Post Script 

"On 3 September 2024, BBC Four, aired a second retrospective 15-minute special interview, with the leading role actress, Dame Patricia Routledge.   In the short documentary Routledge recalled how the character of Hyacinth Bucket had entered her life, how she was cast in the role as one of televisions most formidable comedy characters. Routledge also explained her pleasures of working with her fellow cast members and shared her thoughts of why the character of Richard Bucket endured many years of his marriage with Hyacinth. She explains why – despite her fondness for every element of the sitcom, that it was her own personal decision, to call time on the show, when the BBC and all of the other cast and crew members would have loved for it to have continued."

 

 

Hyacinth and Richard
two enduring comic characters