TOWN SQUARE

The Fourth Industrial Revolution will bring many challenges. As the world goes virtual, the role of public gathering places will need addressing. The Town Square must again become the centre of local discourse. If not, the 4IR may become known as the Period of Polarisation.

From Wikipedia

“A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or piazza) is an open public space^[1] commonly found in the heart of a traditional town used for community gatherings. Related concepts are the civic center, the market square and the village green.”

Piazza della Signoria, in Florence, Italy, a historic example of a traditional public square

Announcement of the establishment of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs on Congress Square in 1918

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_square

Warning

Town squares will become contested during the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Technology will permeate every part of daily life. As it does, the need for physical gathering places will rise. The risk is that such public spaces become battlegrounds.

Urban planners need to pay close attention, particularly in England. The virtual world is changing behaviours. These changes are spilling out into the real-world streets. [1]

Class system

Since the Edwardian period, England has neglected public spaces. Public squares that encourage the mixing of cultures are rare. The Georgians began the trend to fence off public spaces and streets. The policy was steeped in the British class system. In recent years, the privatisation of public space has accelerated.

Sample of English public spaces

In Southern continental Europe, the opposite is the case. Town squares are the centre of the entire community. The design, construction and purpose are all geared towards civic pride and participation.

Sample of Spanish public spaces

Spanish Squares

In Spain, all urban planning revolves around public space. There are plenty of elaborate squares and boulevards to be happened upon. Most though are of simple design and materials. They work for all occasions. Organised events, family gatherings, meeting friends or eating a sandwich. Finding a public space with a fence or a locked gate will be a challenge in Spain.

Some squares have a cafe or restaurant bordering the parameter; many don’t. It is unusual to see a cafe in the middle of a town square. Modern Spanish libraries and museums spill out onto public squares. Public spaces in Spain are welcoming and well used because of their simplicity. [2]

Comparison

The two photo galleries above show the public realm where people live. These are not tourist areas or places of commerce. Public spaces are there, in theory, for the local community and visitors to use and enjoy. The public realm in Spain sits at the very heart of a community. Unless there is a commercial reason, public space in England is a low priority.

Metaphor

Town Squares can be a metaphor for what is happening in the virtual world. Some people wish to see them controlled with restrictions on who has access. Others want them completely open, freeing and welcoming to all. [3] [4] [5]

Demonstration

Recent history has demonstrated how the virtual world can spill out into the real world.

Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, is the most prominent example. Protests in 2013 began online, discussing government corruption and policies. WhatsApp groups and Facebook posts began to grow and to spread. Soon these virtual spaces were not enough. People had to come together. Tens of hundreds of thousands of people started filling Tahrir square. Night after night protests continued until Egypt’s President Mubarak toppled.

Similar scenes with different results played out across the Arab world. These 2013 protests became known as the Arab Spring.

Although not on the same scale, most areas of the developed world have seen similar protests. The rise of the online protest hashtag has been instrumental. #MeToo and #blm (#blacklivesmatter) are the most successful to date.

Brexit

Britain’s exit from the European Union was a direct result of online campaigning. What followed has been years of disruption, strife and polarisation. The struggle between the Leave and Remain camps manifested physically in London’s Parliament square. The argument has continued right up to the present day. [6]

Brexit supporter carrying Great Britain cardboard cutout, Parliament Square.

Rise of technology

As life moves further online, the need for real-world gathering forums will increase. Failure of authorities to not plan for this change could lead to dire consequences.

Reasons for people to engage within the physical world has been declining since the 1990s.

The internet changed the world of work, allowing employees to be more distributed. The onset of the pandemic brought a further scattering of the workforce as people work from home. Retail has been shifting steadily online. Restaurant food can now be delivered directly to the family dining table. The world of supermarkets without cashiers is upon us. Online gaming transformed from a table gathering to global competitions. The gaming industry now dwarfs, by revenue, the movie and music industries combined. [7]

There are plenty of Apps that anyone can access for free. However, to receive the full benefit requires buying a subscription. Public squares in England surrounded by cafes and shops are similar. To fully partake in the space requires a certain amount of purchasing power.

Two-tier England

English Extremes

Above photos from the Argent development, Kings Cross, London (2020). Below, public squares managed by Great Yarmouth borough council (2021).

In Spain, public squares are places where people congregate, play and celebrate. The public realm encourages the community to come together for serendipitous moments. Spending power is not relevant except in the most exclusive of shopping areas.

Public forum, with permanent outdoor screen, multilevel seating, no barriers. Eivissa, Ibiza, Spain, 2022. [4]

In England, the opposite is too often the case. There is heavy reliance on the private sector to create public amenity spaces. It is another aspect of Britain’s two-tier society. Money buys access.

Fenced public spaces, ‘Keep off the Grass’ signs and other rules are commonplace around England.

Bridge-building

Public space needs to become the bridge between the virtual and physical worlds. Some may believe this is about introducing VR – virtual reality. VR will soon be playing a much larger role, but this is more about the physical spaces themselves.

The layout, ambience and purpose of the public domain in England should be along Spanish lines.

Free to access town squares must have 5G connectivity. Multipurpose seating and tables that encourage gatherings, games, meetings and work. Architectural flair can overcome issues around Britain’s inclement weather. The public realm needs to be attractive to all cultures, ages and abilities.

Without change, England risks further polarisation. Addressing the poor quality of places for public gatherings is now urgent.

Conclusions

The internet has slowly eroded the need for people having to meet fellow citizens. The pandemic has further reduced real-world interactions. Technology seeping deeper into everyday life raises the potential of a more isolated society. Free to access public spaces is critical for communities to stay in touch in the real world.

The political discourse around local issues cannot be online alone. To allow this will lead to unhealthy debate and will undermine stable democracy. Views are best challenged and debated in the open, in places where alternative voices can be heard.

Open, free, real-world forums, like town squares, are the best spaces for such discussion to happen. Being open will also allay some fears around privacy, censorship and freedom of expression.

Britain is in the grip of a mental health crisis, with loneliness and a sense of isolation increasing. Social media gets some of the blame. Not much is written about the lack of public amenity spaces.

England needs to rethink its approach to the public realm. Design should encourage serendipity and random conversations. Learning from Spain’s public spaces would be a good start.

We are in the fifth decade of the internet. It will be one that will see the virtual world and the physical world merge. Successful societies this decade will be the ones with the most engaging public realm.

Introducing technology into these spaces is the next phase around the world. Creating buzzing ambient public spaces will be essential for community lifeblood. Animated public squares will also attract the next generation of innovators.

England needs to rethink the public realm urgently! This is where ‘levelling up’ has to begin.**

John M

** Levelling Up. A Conservative government manifesto pledge. What does it mean? https://www.centreforcities.org/levelling-up/

[1] see Public Space

[2] see Eivissa

[3] see Censorship

[4] see Apple Privacy

[5] see Leiston and Sizewell

[6] see Brexit

[7] see AI Supermarkets

CENSORSHIP

The lines between privacy, censorship and freedom of speech blurred as the internet evolved. This blurring is where the battle for social media is happening. Only real-world dialogue and understanding will produce a solution fair to all.

It‘s unfair accusing governments of abdicating duty around online communication. The issues are complex. Every decision a government makes will have long term ramifications. Unlike laws within a country’s borders, the internet requires global solutions. What one country deems libellous will be satire in another.

Culture. Economic standing. Educational attainment. Religious and political norms. Many considerations have to feed into the internet debate. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides the first step.

Overlords

In January 2021, Twitter removed the account of Donald Trump. During this period, Donald Trump was one of the most popular accounts, by followers, on the platform. He was also the sitting President of the United States of America. In removing the account, Twitter effectively issued a D-Notice.

A D-Notice is an old UK government device sent to media editors to voluntarily not report on a story. The fundamental difference between a democratic government and Twitter is one is elected, and the other is not.

And herein lies the rub. Who gets to decide what is and what is not acceptable online?

Has Twitter become a new form of democratic state? Rather than built on votes, Twitter runs on Tweets and sentiment.

Sentiment

Marketers use sentiment analysis to ascertain campaign effectiveness. It is a powerful tool for understanding how the public reacts to a topic or event. What it does not have are policy setting attributes. And this is what sets a government apart from corporations. Governments, in theory, set policies for the overall good of society in its entirety. Corporate policies set strategic goals for the company, shareholders and customers.

Distributed power

Aside from politics, the Trump episode highlights a dispersal of power. Beyond a vote, citizens can now vocalise their views, demands and concerns globally. This vocalisation has brought benefits and worrying situations. The storming of the US Capitol in January 2021 is one case in point.

Printing press politics

At the time of its creation, the printing press was the social media platform of its day. What followed sparked the violence of the Protestant Reformation and widespread education. One saw families and communities torn apart while the other brought societies together.

Our present period is no different.

The 2011 Arab Spring was, in part, attributed to social media as much as the underlying discontent. In Syria, a brutal war ensued. In Saudi Arabia, women began forcing reform around equality.

Protests, Black Lives Matter (BLM) and #MeToo went global due to social media. Groups opposed to change also use the same platforms to maintain the status quo.

So who is the referee for social media? And who was the referee for the printing press?

Public space and the arts

Public space has been the one constant throughout the history of societal change. Back to the time of the Greek agora, public space has proven pivotal, along with the arts, in forging progress.

Technological interaction is integral to progress. Real-world interaction is essential to peaceful co-existence.

It has never been more critical to have open gathering places and public spaces. Real-world environments challenge opinions and viewpoints. There is more exposure when people meet in person. More reactions are on show; body language, sweat, pupil dilation. These reactions can be positive or negative, depending on the situation. It is a different dynamic to sitting semi-anonymous behind a keyboard.

Fourth Portal

Public space, where people come together remains the best place for consensus to emerge. The arts will play a pivotal role as always. The ability of artists to see beyond the mundane will light the path.

The haphazard business journey has been to uncover what a hub of the future will look like? What does it need to convey? What will make it different?

The Fourth Portal hub needs to counter-balance the online environment. A hybrid meeting place, operating in both the real and virtual world. Open discussion and dialogue are intrinsic to the hub.

A successful Fourth Portal will spill over into other public forums. The reassertion of the historical value of public space is needed. Encouragement is required to reevaluate the importance of the town square and marketplace as places to gather. Urban design needs to incorporate hybrid relatedness into all future buildings. A well designed public space will be both physical and virtual.

Conclusion

Censorship demands by one group will be freedom of expression for another.

Measures to balance different views have not kept pace with the growth of online platforms. Meanwhile, the internet has become an extension of everyday life. It has allowed mass connectivity. Despite this, there is an increase in isolation and dis-association. Something is not right!

Censorship and privacy laws will be unable to address the problems of online interaction. Only real-life engagement and dialogue will solve these issues.

Governments are struggling to draft legislation. Big tech presently fills the void with their own rules.

We are only on our second-generation since the creation of the World Wide Web. The printing press has had dozens of generations shaping laws, regulations and principles, and we are still tinkering.

Public space, where people come together, remains the best place for consensus to emerge. It may take a long time. Discussion allows a better understanding. Ultimately, new online manners will emerge through real-world conversations – not on Twitter. The Fourth Portal will play a small part in nudging this conversation towards equitable consensus.

John M

STAYCATION PICTOGRAPHIC

Pictographic of Great Yarmouth capturing the middle and last weekends of the holiday peak season and indicating the hoped for 2021 summer staycation boom was a muted affair, leaving a bleak outlook for the businesses still operating.

Staycations

With the Covid-19 pandemic still spreading across the globe, international travel has been a less attractive proposition in 2021. There was expectation across hospitality and tourism for a staycation boom with the British public choosing to stay in the UK for the summer holidays rather than travelling overseas. Despite the UK summer weather being generally poor with weeks of grey, rain and often chilly, many regions and towns have been booming as predicted, particularly Cornwall and North Norfolk. Unfortunately, Great Yarmouth seemed to have bucked this positive trend.

Weekend 20-21st August 2021

Bleak outlook

Visiting Great Yarmouth on two separate weekends during summer peak season, it became apparent that the town was not having the staycation boom that other UK holiday destinations were experiencing. This once vibrant holiday destination was again struggling, with sparsely populated restaurants and few retail customers to be spotted. Many more shops have closed since leaving the town in May 2021 and the outlook for a good number of the businesses that remain operating looks bleak indeed.

Saturday 05th September 2021

Sunday 06th September 2021

Sunday 5th was the busiest day observed during my time in Great Yarmouth. A classic car event was taking place and the weather was good, warm, sunny, no wind, just a gentle summer breeze. The seafront was comfortable, certainly not packed and there were plenty of spaces to park a car. Away from the seafront the town was empty. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, many businesses were not open, including a whole stretch of the Pleasure Beach at 1pm. It is a mystery why the businesses are not open until 11pm throughout the summer to maximise trade, one of the many mysteries of Great Yarmouth.

Delusion or obfuscation

This post documents, for the record, the streets and seafront of Great Yarmouth over two weekends of peak season during summer 2021, regarded locally as the most important and busiest weeks of the year. It serves to counter any claims from those in power in the town that Great Yarmouth thrived throughout the entire summer.

John M

BEYOND CAPITALISM

Seeing Kamala Harris huge happy smile brings me back to what I wrote exactly 4 years ago, as Donald Trump was confirmed US President. Vice-President Harris represents ‘the first flower open[ing] through a crack on the rocky path where only the ignored moss seemingly existed.’

Listening to the Vice-President’s humble speech acknowledging ‘the strength of vision to see what can be unburdened by what has been, and I stand on their shoulders’, recognises that positive change is a fluid process, built over time, and by many who had to sacrifice themselves to the cause.

For me, Trump’s arrival signified the ‘Last Throes Of Capitalism’; he has represented, and continues to be, the personification of capitalism in its most grotesque form.

As the new world begins to emerge, it is essential that there is not a seeking of retribution or punishment for the white man, whose hands continue to drip with the blood of the earth. Our new world has to begin as it means to go on, taking the hand of the scared, confused, frustrated and angry and show them how beautiful the world really is, and the size of the universe and the joy ahead.

Like providing experiences for a child who has never experienced joy, the challenge now is to embrace and lead not through punishment but through love, and then we can really begin to create a new world that lives with our mother earth, not against her.

Trump | Last Throes Of Capitalism

John McKiernan | Nov 9, 2016 | 1 min read

There is an observation of the death throes of the capital system, beached as it is on the shifting sands. The huge tail swings wildly as it gasps for air. The white man keeper is becoming desperate as he watches the enormous beast slowly dying, and with it his power. He knows the game is up. He looks around observing the emptiness, it was all an illusion, nothing actually ever existed in his world besides the youthful conjuring trick.

Suicide beckons as fear engulfs the scarred mind of deluded dominance. Now alone, watching the only thing he ever truly loved, flailing in front of his own eyes, he scans the horizon for whom in which to blame. He sees no one. There is nothing left. He will need to sleep soon as he is hungry and weak. In his angry daze, full of confusion, contorted by hate, he stumbles inadvertently under the last great flap of the monstrous tail. There is silence. Serenity returns. The first flower opens through a crack on the rocky path where only the ignored moss seemingly existed. The sun begins to shine brightly again.

Read the original blog post here

Headline Photo: New York Times

Sunset on Capitalism | John McKiernan

John M

POSTCARD DECAY

Postcards From Great Yarmouth | Town Hall 2020

The English coastal town of Great Yarmouth is a picture postcard that the local government and many residents of Norfolk no longer see, leading to atrocious architectural planning decisions and requiring a new lens in which to view the town.

Postcards From Great Yarmouth | Broad Row Sunset 2020

Broad Row at Sunset

Atrocious Planning

Seeing some hoarding with architectural visualisations for a new swimming pool due to blight the seafront from 2022 onwards, I decided to post this series of postcard-esque iPhone snaps of attractive locations in Great Yarmouth. Photographed over the past 9 months, while I have been living in the town, the intention is to foster debate and conversation, both inside and well beyond the town.

Some Caribbean Sunshine

Car Park Affliction

One of the strongest impressions on my first visit to Great Yarmouth in June 2019 was the sheer number of hideous car parks that afflict the town, see bottom of page. In conversations that have followed, it appears to me that the majority of people in Norfolk are almost blind to these unnecessary eyesores.

Postcards From Great Yarmouth | Desolate Beach 2020

Old Beach Building

In conversations with locals, I almost universally hear moans that the council is not doing enough to tarmac over more of the beachfront to create further parking spaces.

Protected Dunes

Although I have not personally met anyone locally who shares my horror at these monstrosities, clearly there are people who do fight to try and protect some of the natural beauty from car park developments. The dunes on the Caster side of the pier is the finest example I have noted.

Postcards From Great Yarmouth | Beach Shadow 2020

A Mental Health Haven | Caster Dunes

Get Out More

My conclusion, or should I say assumption, from what I have learned is that people who make decisions in this town don’t travel very far and seem oblivious to how the market for UK visitors, and those from abroad, has changed – and changed dramatically.

Postcards From Great Yarmouth | Bike River 2020

Back of Asda

Seafront Blight

Swimming Pool Hoarding

Who is the new 25m swimming pool on the seafront for? Is it meant to be an attraction, and if yes, who will it attract? What is the business case for blocking off the seafront and creating even more parking spaces, when the existing 100,000 car spaces – slight exaggeration – are empty about 80% of the year!

And are major new build public building projects exempt from seeking to be net-carbon neutral and generate at least a portion of their own energy usage? If there is to be a solar-panel roof or photovoltaic cells or other forms of energy self-generation it is not clear from the promotion.

Rethinking Attraction

Britannia Pier 2020 (advertising 2019 events)

Great Yarmouth desperately needs to attract a new range of visitors who are not constrained by having a fixed daily budget to spend. Tourists can go anywhere to play slot machine amusements and there are many fine and attractive piers around the country. For most urban dwellers there will be a 25m pool within the borough they live and will not need to travel to Great Yarmouth to swim.

Wind Farm Shelter

Photography, Port and Pursuits

When comparing Great Yarmouth to Margate, Hastings, Morecambe Bay, Torquay or even Brighton, it is pretty easy to see where the town has competitive advantages.

Structural Decay

The town does not need to build any more new buildings for visitors, it needs to broaden its understanding of what people outside Great Yarmouth like to do, then it could excel at a fraction of the cost.

Postcards From Great Yarmouth | Water Slide Sunrise 2020

Water Slide at Dawn

For photographers, urban geographers, historians, students and the general public interested in industrial design, architecture, urban change, history, environment, climate change, and so on, the town could be a mecca. It has everything from interesting structures, which are truly unique to the town, to open spaces that should really have World Heritage Status.

Surrounding Marshland

Year Round Visitors

Postcards From Great Yarmouth | Tree Wall 2020

Wild Tree

Great Yarmouth is much bigger than Margate or Folkestone in Kent, and any of the Essex or Suffolk seaside towns that I have visited. It would be difficult to cover the whole area on foot in one day. This presents a fantastic opportunity for the short stay market at any time of year as the light is always changing as is the port.

Postcards From Great Yarmouth | Wall Flower 2020

Wall Plant

The town is awash with stunning buildings going back through the ages, with the Medieval town walls dating back to the 1200s and King Henry III.

Great Yarmouth town has one of the best preserved and most complete Medieval town walls in England, dating from 28 September 1261 when King Henry III granted Yarmouth the right to enclose the town with a wall and a ditch to protect them from pirates and ensure taxes could be collected. As a Scheduled Ancient Monument, large sections of these walls and eleven towers still survive today.

More on the wall available on the Tourist Information website

Postcards From Great Yarmouth | AirBnB 2020

Airbnb Holiday Let

And there are plenty of more recent buildings that are not only of architectural interest but also perfect for repurposing.

Control Tower

Postcards From Great Yarmouth | Brutal Sunrise 2020

Brutal Shelter

Seemingly lost spaces will have design and architectural interest to many people and offer professional event organisers ample opportunity to develop interesting events that could pull a different audience to the town.

Postcards From Great Yarmouth | Barn Store 2020

Store House

The beach offers opportunities for a multitude of club activities, like open water swimming, which is an all year round pursuit and that could utilise the pier with competitors using the theatre changing rooms and as a warm up arena.

Glorious Beach

Nature Walks

Environment and nature walks, with two rivers, the Broads National Park and marshland that attracts migrating birds right on the edge of the town should be one of the biggest attractions for Great Yarmouth.

Bird Hide

At Portal B I have created the Paget Garden to begin highlighting the natural beauty that grows wild all over the town and particularly behind the huge Asda superstore and train station.

Sunset over Breydon Water and Rotting Jetty

The rebuilt Norman-era Minster Church of St Nicholas, along with the vast cemetery attached offers a further opportunity to entice nature lovers, walkers and historians.

Postcards From Great Yarmouth | Cemetery Sunrise 2020

New Cemetery

Allowing more wilding and becoming a nature reserve could quickly make this part of town a must see for the millions of annual visitors.

Postcards From Great Yarmouth | Cemetery Tree 2020

Minster Dawn

New Narratives

The local authority needs to realise that there is a whole new audience that can be attracted to the town beyond those wanting to play a penny-drop and buy an ice-cream or chips.

Discarded structures with fascinating histories can quickly establish new narratives through storytelling and repurposing.

Postcards From Great Yarmouth | Dutch Barns 2020

Beautiful Structures

Fourth Industrial Revolution

The repurposing can be through events, with particular focus on new technology and putting Great Yarmouth at the forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), which is also the main purpose of Fourth Portal. Creating work hubs and learning spaces are other purposes that can be suggested.

Commissioner’s House

Postcards From Great Yarmouth | Queen Street 2020

Restored Queen’s Street

Big Idea | The Winter Gardens

The best idea in town is Mark Duffield’s moving the 1800s Winter Gardens from its hemmed in location on the seafront to a desolate waste of prime riverside on North Quay.

North Quay | Potential Winter Gardens Location

As a local estate agent owner, whose business has been operating for several generations, Mark understands the history, the context and the risks to Great Yarmouth if it continues on the present trajectory. Shifting this heritage building offers a chance of a new beginning and provides a much stronger business case as an event and botanical garden, in addition to creating an iconic beacon on entry into the town.

Postcards From Great Yarmouth | Winter Garden Dispair 2020

Postcards From Great Yarmouth | Winter Gardens Sunbathed 2020

Seafront Winter Gardens

Spending £27m pounds of scarce public money on a manciple swimming pool, double the £13.65m (BBCNews) new build cost of the Turner Contemporary in Margate is madness. Read more on the Ambitious Gateway post.

Dreaded Car Parks

As warned, just a tiny sample of some of the car parks that litter the town.

Postcards From Great Yarmouth | Car Park Lorries 2020

Postcards From Great Yarmouth | Car Park No Parking 2020

Car Park Afflictions

Great Potential

Great Yarmouth has Great Potential post Covid-19 if, – a huge IF – if the local authority and elected officials take a step back and ask, what does the world outside Norfolk look for in a trip to an English coastal town?

There are recent building projects around that show there is potential. The Venetian Waterways is a beautiful space enjoyed by locals and visitors alike and does not require vast sums of public money to be maintained, however this is a rarity.

Venetian Waterways at Dawn

Further Discussion

Regardless of your views, I do hope this post has sparked a few thoughts and I encourage comments below if you will please? A few more images to end the post.

From Outta Space

The Rows

Water Slide

Britannia Aloft

John M

CATCH THE TIDE

Believe in Yarmouth: Catch the Tide is Gillian Harwood’s personal manifesto to turn the fortunes of Great Yarmouth and assist with the transition into becoming a Fourth Industrial Revolution town.

Gillian Harwood owns the site of Fourth Portal B and is investing in restoring buildings in the town of Great Yarmouth to a high standard, recovering their architectural richness. This manifesto has been a joint effort to encourage other like-minded people to potentially invest to create a blueprint for collaboration and commerce in a post-Covid-19 world full of challenges.

Download Catch the Tide e-Manifesto Download

Believe In Yarmouth | Catch the Tide August2020 p1

Download Catch the Tide e-Manifest Download

John M

CONFORMITY PRESSURE

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is very likely to tear up the rulebook and opening the Fourth Portal in an old alehouse may provide a good real world example of how people react when old rules are overturned.

St John’s Head

The Fourth Portal could have opened in any physical space almost anywhere, it is only through circumstance that Portal B has happened to open in an old traditional English Ale House. Fourth Portal is about visualising the Fourth Industrial Revolution and how towns outside the great cities will adapt to the Tsunami of change that is afoot.

St John’s Head Real Ale House, where Portal B has just opened has been a traditional English boozer for at least 30 years and an alehouse going back possibly centuries. Besides flat screen televisions to show the football, little has really changed in the pub since it was renovated in 1960.

Photo of pub 100 years ago on table for plant exchanges

Cask Ale

Even before Coronavirus, the decision was taken not to serve tap beers for the initial period as the equipment and site needs to be completely ripped out. Once Covid-19 caused all pubs to lockdown, ruining billions of pints, it seems incredibly risky to buy cask ales while the threat of another lockdown hangs over all bars. So for this initial period the bar will only be selling bottle beers, mostly sourced from breweries in Norfolk and surrounding counties. Despite the pandemic and providing local ales, not having pump beer has not gone down well with some of the old regulars of the previous publican.

What is an Ale House?

The ale house or pub has gone through numerous reinventions over the years, each time causing disruption to habits, culture and taste. Technology, pandemics, laws, social norms and many other factors have shaped the boozer.

The period 1550–1700 saw the ‘golden age’ of the English alehouse. Although ale had long been consumed as part of a daily diet in England, it had mostly been produced on a domestic scale, and its retail had tended to be sporadic and temporary. In the 16th century, brewing came to be transformed from a domestic activity to a larger commercial trade, and between 1550 and 1700 the number of alehouses in England rose, as did the ratio of alehouses to people. Alehouses become unrivalled places for recreational drinking, sociability, and ‘good fellowship’. But the growing popularity of alehouses prompted mounting concerns, hostility, and attempts at regulation by the state. Concerns about disorderly behaviour loomed large, and many early modern governors feared that alehouses not only promoted drunkenness and intoxication, but also fostered political subversion and sedition among the ‘lower sort’. Thus at the same time as alehouses enjoyed new heights of popularity among ordinary people, they were simultaneously identified by the state as a prime target for regulation and suppression.
Alehouses and Good Fellowship in Early Modern England (Reviews in History)

How did historic alehouses, taverns and inns evolve into the pubs we see today? (Morning Advertiser)

Pubs have always evolved and adapted to circumstances, some close, some open and new variations appear and disappear. However, ‘traditional’ often has a baked in perception for many people of ‘what a pub is’.

Breaking the Mould

As expected, many of the old customers who have ventured in are disappointed with what they have found, most have been polite and open about not liking the change and only a few have been rude (see the Fourth Portal daily journal here). Although it carries traditional pub label, on many levels it never was that traditional, and has not even been in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide for a number of years.

Good Beer Guide | Some of Beers Available Today at Portal B

I would claim it is not the traditional English pub or the pump ale that the old regulars are bothered by, it is the disruption to the familiarity that they are used to. Although there is certainly a difference between bottle and draft beers, those who had a bottle still found it very good. Going to a place where everything remains almost unmoved, month in month out, year in year out has a certain comfort but it can also bring stagnation. In nature, although the forest may look the same to the human eye, it is constantly evolving, if it does not adapt to constantly changing conditions it will die. The analogy can also be applied to Great Yarmouth, home to Portal B, if it does not adapt, particularly now as Coronavirus and 4IR collide then it is likely to fall so far behind the world that it will become a ghost town.

Architectural Conformity

The balancing act of Portal B is not to alienate anybody or create confusion, which is why it will be a very slow transformation. Ultimately Portal B remains a pub, meaning it will need to conform to English licensing regulations, even if the space will not really be operating as a bar in the traditional sense. This may cause discomfort to some people and makes explaining difficult. For me personally there has been a palpable sense initially to conform; to run St John’s Head as a pub in the traditional sense, despite clearly stating that it will not really resemble a pub in how it operates.

The Portal B scenario provides a fine example of how we are shaped by the architecture and iconography that surrounds us, which then informs and often dictates our movements and decisions. We normally conform simply because we have no option, if a street is gated we will have to walk around to reach the other side. If a premises looks like a pub then surely it should run like a pub? If a decision is made to climb over the gate then there is a risk of consequences, for example being accused of trespass. If a different type of business is carried out in a traditional setting then there is a pressure to make it sure it is successful, as failure will be blamed upon not following the rules and keeping to tradition. Yet the 2020 pandemic seems virtually immune to human tradition and control and is tearing up the rulebook. Is this the time for society to unshackle itself from the constraints of looking through an iconographic lens and being dictated to by forced traditions?

Mark Cator Photography Books on Great Yarmouth

Photo of Paget Garden taken from elevated position early August 2020

Plants Exchange and Portal B Internal Photo

Representation of Change

The set up of Portal B is to become a physical manifestation of the enormous change that we are all now undergoing. As with the St John’s Head still looking architecturally the same, only cleaner, serving beer and resembling a pub, the Paget garden at the rear, the plant exchange on the pool table and the old Apple Macs dotted about indicate something different. This will be the same as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, people will still shop, eat, travel, connect, meet only the surroundings, methods and communication will be changing whether it is noticed or not. Burying the head in the sand and pinning for a traditional time will do nothing to halt the fundamental change that has already begun.

John M

References

Bishop, Jennifer. REVIEW, Alehouses and Good Fellowship in Early Modern England, Reviews in History, Online, https://reviews.history.ac.uk/review/1738

Mellows, Phil. (5 March 2019), How did historic alehouses, taverns and inns evolve into the pubs we see today?, Morning Advertiser, Online, https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2019/03/05/How-did-historic-alehouses-taverns-and-inns-evolve-into-the-pubs-we-see-today?utm_source=copyright&utm_medium=OnSite&utm_campaign=copyright

BEYOND COVID-19

Post-Lockdown Pub Opening | Soho 04 July 2020 | Credit: Daily Mirror

UK Prime Minister Johnson ululates ‘return to normality’ as pubs in England reopen post lockdown, however things are not returning to pre-2020 normalcy and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is only going to further accelerate the process of fundamental change to the way we live.

Cover Photo: Soho Frith Street, 04 July 2020 Post-Lockdown | Daily Mirror

Pubs and Restaurants Reopen

Yesterday, 4th July 2020 pubs in England could reopen after almost 4-months of Covid-19 lockdown. There was excitement in some quarters, yet within the industry there is some trepidation, with many smaller operators delaying opening for a few weeks to watch what happens. Viewing Twitter, it was a mixed bag, some places very busy, others empty. Great Yarmouth at 7.00pm was pretty quiet with seats to be had in all pubs and bars that were open.

Fourth Portal is opening in a traditional English pub so is subject to the same rules and regulations as all licensed premises. The plan opening is for the middle of July 2020 and then only on reduced hours. My barometer has been to watch Texas and Florida in the US, where there was a gun-ho approach fuelled by rising populism that saw pubs and bars open within a few weeks of initial lockdown. Now Texas hospitals are on alert for a patient ‘tsunami’ as cases rocket upwards.

John Hopkins University Texas Cases | Source: Sky News

See Sky News report Friday 3 July 2020 23:38, UK (click)

Race to Normalcy

Commentators early on in the pandemic were already predicting politicians, big business, and many institutions would attempt to return things to normal – however unlikely! Screenwriter Julio Vincent Gambuto predicted an onslaught of marketing to return a sense of normalcy ;

Pretty soon, as the country begins to figure out how we “open back up” and move forward, very powerful forces will try to convince us all to get back to normal. (That never happened. What are you talking about?) Billions of dollars will be spent on advertising, messaging, and television and media content to make you feel comfortable again. It will come in the traditional forms — a billboard here, a hundred commercials there — and in new-media forms: a 2020–2021 generation of memes to remind you that what you want again is normalcy. In truth, you want the feeling of normalcy, and we all want it. We want desperately to feel good again, to get back to the routines of life, to not lie in bed at night wondering how we’re going to afford our rent and bills, to not wake to an endless scroll of human tragedy on our phones, to have a cup of perfectly brewed coffee and simply leave the house for work. The need for comfort will be real, and it will be strong. And every brand in America will come to your rescue, dear consumer, to help take away that darkness and get life back to the way it was before the crisis. I urge you to be well aware of what is coming.
Julio Vincent Gambuto

Allowing pubs and cafes to open is the UK government’s attempt at returning to that ‘normalcy’ and encouraging silly hashtags like #supersaturday to build expectation, as if it is a big international football tournament.

4IR Concertina

The World was on the cusp of dramatic change even before the Covid-19 pandemic as the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) began to emerge, in essence the virus has just hastened that change. Zoom meetings, online shopping, in-store shopping apps, sharing technologies have all boomed during the pandemic. Even grandma learned pretty quickly how to use Apple FaceTime once she became cut off from visitors. The health sector, from care homes to Intensive Care Units (ICU) has had to embrace advanced technologies at speed to cope. Technologies that were predicted to take a good number of years to become everyday, have literally been adopted overnight, with the adopter curve virtually losing all meaning.

There are many benefits to this sudden shift, however there could be significant downsides in the short-to-medium term as the economy struggles to readjust and adapt, as my post on AI Supermarkets (Dec19) discusses;

“How much are the authorities and government preparing for the potential tsunami of job losses that may incur because of this technology and changing consumer behaviour? What new skills do people need to learn to still be economically active in the coming Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)?”
AI Supermarkets, Haphazard.Business, 18 Dec 2019

The AI Supermarkets blog post surmises a 3-to-5 year timeline for governments to build training programmes and prepare. Now with Coronavirus still raging that timeline will be concertinaed into 6-to-12 months!

Leadership Failure

Much of the horrific slaughter of the early battles in World War One (WWI) came about because ageing generals applied Napoleonic War tactics in a time of mechanical technological change. Almost incredulous to a modern observer, when looking through the lens of hindsight, men on horses were sent to cavalry charge tanks and machine guns. There is reasonable evidence already available that when historians look back at the Covid-19 outbreak it will be noted that it was not that the technology to limit the devastating impact did not exist; it was an old mindset, incapable of adapting strategy and using new tools available that led to such devastation of lives and livelihoods.

The UK Track and Trace system is a shambles and does not work. Tens of thousands of people have been employed to use pencil and paper to phone people when many other more efficient methods could be implemented and to great effect. The whole concept is a car-crash of old and new cultural thinking about security, data, privacy and greater societal good. Meanwhile large technology firms have had a boom period, with a large proportion of the global population forced to stay at home with nothing but the internet and phone to communicate with the outside world.

Big Tech’s billionaire class will have more power after the crisis than they had before, argues Sally Hubbard of the Open Market Institute. Brick-and-mortar retail is hemorrhaging jobs at a time when Amazon is adding hundreds of thousands of their own. Google is gaining even more of a foothold in the home as educators across the country deploy Google Classroom to teach students remotely — whether you want your family to use it or not.
Vox| Recode

With populism ravaging the Western democracies and authoritarian regimes cracking down hard on dissent, it is difficult to predict how the power of these giant private enterprises will be curbed. Regardless how disinterested an individual may be towards these issues will not indemnify that person from being buffeted by the consequences. A key objective of the Fourth Portal, and these Haphazard blog posts, is to raise the awareness of these competing forces and assist people in negotiating the rapid changes we are all undergoing.

Near Future

Once/if a vaccine is secured, or enough people are immune to this strand of Coronavirus, the planes will begin flying again to a schedule and the pandemic will seem like a vivid abstract distraction, distant and almost unbelievable. Of course, this will only be for those unaffected or uninvolved. For those who lived through it on the frontline, whether in health, care home, bus driving and many other risky roles, and for the survivors and those who have lost loved-ones, the pain, and maybe terror, will live on, possibly indefinitely. For the rest, the world will have changed dramatically and the years ahead will continue to change dramatically as technology and new systems infiltrate every single aspect of daily life.

John M

Reference

Julio Vincent Gambuto, 10 April 2019 · 9 min read, Prepare for the Ultimate Gaslighting* | You are not crazy, my friends, Forge. Online 13April2020 https://forge.medium.com/prepare-for-the-ultimate-gaslighting-6a8ce3f0a0e0

Theodore Schleifer @teddyschleifer ( Apr 7, 2020, 6:00pm EDT), These are the trade-offs we make when we depend on billionaires to save us | Now more than ever, the coronavirus crisis has Americans living in tech billionaires’ world. Vox. Online 14April2020. https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/4/7/21203179/coronavirus-billionaires-philanthropy-bill-gates-larry-ellison-mark-zuckerberg-jack-dorsey

SILENT CACOPHONY

With Covid-19 ravaging populations and the World trying to come to terms with lockdown, it seems an appropriate moment to reactivate this Platform-7 project from 2013 exploring the trauma that follows on from a sudden shocking change in circumstance.

https://www.silentcacophony.info

History

Silent Cacophony took place in a multitude of locations simultaneously on Remembrance Day 2013 exploring the abstract nature of events like we are presently experiencing with Covid-19. The disease is inflicting mass death, suffering and forcing populations to adapt behaviour, and it can be assumed, leading many people to reassess what being human means.

Meaning of event

Increasingly over the past century the word ‘event’ has become associated with some form of performance, whether pop festival or football match. However, ‘event’ is really a moment in time when something extraordinary happens, which can be bad like a car crash or great, as when a healthy child is born. Daily life is full of small personal events that make up an individuals’ personality and worldview, then occasionally these small events are overtaken by a major personal event, as in being diagnosed with cancer or winning the jackpot on the lottery.

Recreating the feelings, emotions and empathy an individual feels at the moment of experiencing a major event is very difficult to recreate outside the bubble of that actual moment. The pain of hearing of death of one that is dearly loved or joy of first-love are very personal and acute sensations. In my view, only art can offer a close proximity to such emotions, by twanging the atoms deep within that foist upon humans the extreme emotional response that only appear in times of rare circumstance.

Silent Cacophony

Silent Cacophony inception came from reading personal diaries of people living through the two World Wars, particularly those who were exposed to sudden explosion, whether a bomb landing on their house or a bombardment from artillery while in a trench. A pattern began to emerge where people would describe life before a particularly incident in rosier terms and the time afterwards using deeply disturbing language. Similar accounts can be found when reading witness statements from victims of terrorist atrocities and major accidents. Terms like ‘it was so peaceful you could only hear the birds sing’, ‘life was all so perfect before…’ or ‘not a sound could be heard before the first explosion’ proliferate such writing. What I found fascinating was whether there was any reality to these accounts, the ‘before the explosion’ moment where they claim to be actually aware of the world surrounding them. My challenge was fairly mundane, people notice silence when they go on holiday to the country from the city or find themselves on a deserted beach, however in the general hubbub of daily life the sounds of aeroplanes, the worry about going into overdraft and picking up the kids from school fills the conscious mind. For soldiers during war, concerns about mother’s health at home or finding some extra rations become the daily normal. Basically it is rare for people to note such change in their daily life except in exceptional circumstances, like going on holiday, going to war or, as in now the present case, a global pandemic.

A mother’s cry

Silent Cacophony sought to try and mimic the experience of sudden change. Anyone who has listened to the wailing of a mother on hearing of her child’s death will often say it is one of the most harrowing sounds that can be heard. Such a sound, which can only be truly created by such grief penetrates the consciousness as no other. The loud bang of an explosion, or the internal crunch of bones one hears when in an accident, offer very precise moments in time, an event few ever forget. These moments are so abstract to daily existence that it becomes a struggle to interpret, both internally within the mind and externally when explaining to others. The philosopher Walter Benjamin wrote of the silence of those who returned from the trenches of the First World War, they would not discuss the horrors, and took the experiences to their graves without ever sharing. The silence hides the trauma, almost a cacophony of competing thoughts, processes and arguments going on within the mind. Self-challenges, ‘could I have done more’, self-loathing, self-doubt and many other competing internal discussions churn over and over, days, weeks, years and too often for lifetimes.

‘Was it not noticeable at the end of the [First World] war that men returning from the battlefield grown silent – not richer, but poorer in the communicable experience?’ (Benjamin, 1990, 84)

Covid-19 abstraction

The world is now sharing a worldwide abstract experience, as if it is a global abstract art intervention in which everyone is a participant. In the UK at least, there is a resounding Silent Cacophony dichotomy. Street of cities and towns are in the most part silent, beyond birds and occasional distant vehicle, yet it can only be guessed at by us on the outside of hospitals the noise, bustle and horror that is occurring within those buildings.

As with war diaries, and with accounts of those who have experienced terrorist attacks, there is likelihood of some rearranging the pre-Covid-19 memories; money was not such an issue, there was enough food, actually the relation with father was OK. A gloss will be painted over the top of peeling flakes in hope it will deceive the eyes to the reality of these events, it will be the only way for people to restart their daily lives. However on a wider scale, a collective change is in motion and only time will be able to reveal what it will look like.

Reflection

For me, I suppose, is that following this crisis more people will be willing (or able) to appreciate the importance of abstract art and performance, and the unique role it plays in preparing everyone for the unknown. Abstract art intervention events like Silent Cacophony seeks to safely challenge people to consider beyond the hamster wheel that we are all collectively engaged in turning, while rushing about in living daily life. Life will return ‘to normal’, however the normal will not be as it was. Only through reading, watching and listening to our words and actions pre-Coronavirus that we might be able to understand who we were then, as our own minds will distort the past, no matter how hard we try.

Coming of sound

My one forecast beyond this period will be the increase in those interested in sound, soundscapes, soundart and concepts of noise. When the planes begin flying again, people will notice the noise, it disruption to sleep, to conversation and to life – and this will lead to a fundamental revaluation.

John M – 11th April 2020, Easter Saturday

References

Benjamin, Walter. (1990/1955) Illuminations, Ed. Hannah Arendt, Translated by Harry Zorn, London, Pimlico

MARGATE

Lacking any individual with the required leadership skills, Margate needs Turner Contemporary or Dreamland to step up and lead the town into the next stage of development while weaning it off public purse dependency (4min read).

Margate is a town I know well, having visited regularly as a child and adult, running a 4-month art intervention there in 2011 and having made a host of good friends who live locally. This is a short update post as there is plenty online discussing the town and more from my previous posts here.

Rejuvenation

The urban fabric of the Old Town, High Street and Margate beachfront continues to improve with every visit. A beautiful day in mid-summer, the beach was busy and many visitors milling around. The Turner Contemporary gallery had healthy numbers entering and exiting. The town feels on the up and should be in an ideal position to become a Creative Industries hub and weaned off its public funding life support system. Yet scratch the surface a little and it’s clear there is still a way to go before it will be able to stand on its own feet, and the risks it will go backward remain vivid.

Suspicious Minds

Since I have known it, the Margate population have always been suspicious of how decisions are made, money spent and where money for investment has originated; and this is not without its reasons! Corruption was rampant from 1970s up into the 1990s, destroying the town and trust. Some will claim there still is corruption, if correct I would suggest that is not so much financial corruption now, more nepotism. With one of the most dysfunctional local authorities in Britain, there was hope that the public money poured into Turner Contemporary and Dreamland might counter this culture. Yet again we see, with the Turner Prize coming to the town, with all the international publicity it will bring, the town is full of angry people at Turner and Dreamland and the process of selecting participants and employees.

Margate is building its brand on nostalgia, old fairground rides, retro furniture, slot machines, and the like, which is fine yet this does not allow Turner and Dreamland to indulge in archaic ways of working. Within the town, people speak of the lack of transparency, particularly with the large amounts of public funding and how it is spent and distributed. This is just a distraction, unnecessary and easily remedied.

Images top left to right: 1. The Kentish Pantry, 2. Margate Book Shop, 3. Mannings Fish Stall, 4. Dog Admiring Himself In The Window, Anthony Wait Gallery | Photos John McKiernan

Inward Investment

What Margate desperately needs, as does its conjoined twin, Cliftonville – see blog post, is some major investment from a professional creative industry employer; an ad agency, publishing house, post film production company. As well as such investment bringing well paying jobs, security and confidence to the town, it will dilute the pressure on Turner and Dreamland to lead. For this to happen, big companies have to be sure that their investment and brand is not at risk from dodgy deals, backhand shakes or tarnished by even being close to any corruption, or perception of corruption.

Until a big private employer emerges, Turner and Dreamland are obvious candidates to be at the forefront in leading the town towards prosperity and garnering inward investment – the local authority is simply incapable. Yet both these organisations must lead by example and this is clearly not happening at present, as people were telling me over and over.

Conclusion

Margate Sunset From Resort Studios | Photo John McKiernan

For all the ills of the area, Margate and Cliftonville are friendly places full of kind and interesting people. For it to become a Creative Industry hub it needs to be embracing incomers and new businesses, have healthy commercial competition by those already established in the town (prices are way too high), and outreach to the existing residents by those who newly settled. This does seem to be happening in patches but not fast enough to gain the momentum that will make it appear to outsiders as a progressive place worth investing in, as can be seen in Brighton, and increasingly Folkestone – blog post pending. Margate is in need of a leader, a charismatic conductor.

Please feel free to comment below, negative or positive, and join the discussion.

Related Blog Post: Maestros and Impresarios

John M

Header Image: Dan Thomson’s Margate Collection | Photo John McKiernan

DONATE

Haphazard Business is presently self-funded. If you would like to support the project please follow link below. Thanks, John

£5.00