Photo credit: Vardhana/Flickr

You’ll never be alone in London. But the crowd, the opportunities and the openness that the city is praised for is not always enough to cure a problem that many of its inhabitants face: Loneliness.

Being lonely is nothing new. But the way people live in cities has changed a lot over the last couple of decades. Although a lot of people come to London to enjoy the feeling of independence, many find it difficult to shake off its clingy cousin – loneliness. Research from the Mental Health Foundation shows that more people live alone than ever before, people spend more of their free time commuting to and from work, and more young people move away from their families and the communities they grew up in, in search for education and careers.

London is a magnet for these lonesome career-seekers. Many of them come from abroad, with few or no connections in the city. Being alone or without a good network in London can make the hurdles of career hunting and the dark evenings at home even harder to get through. Many people end up feeling lonely and depressed, sometimes to a life-threatening degree.

Sabrina, 30, moved from Germany to London to study in 2005. A string of unlucky housing arrangements made her feel so lonely that she considered committing suicide.

“There was a time when I really wanted to jump in front of every train that I saw. I was living close to Dulwich in Herne hill with this crazy flatmate who later harassed me. At that point he still wasn’t too crazy, but I was living with two guys I didn’t know and I had just come out of an abusive relationship.”

Being in a big, new city did not make it easier for Sabrina: “I needed comfort, desperately, and London isn’t the place to get comfort, necessarily. So I didn’t get that comfort and I even thought of moving to my cousin who lives an hour away on the train because I just felt like I had to get out of that crazy, big, cold city. I got seriously suicidal at that point, so I went to a councillor.”

So many people, so few friends

Sabrina’s counselling helped, and her suicidal feelings went away soon after. But she believes that the size of the city makes it a difficult place to be for people who are prone to loneliness or depression.

“London makes you feel lonely because it’s very, very big. So even if you have good friends in the city they might live an hour away, which means that if you’re already at a low point, making the effort to travelling around town, say in autumn when it’s cold and rainy and dark… You don’t really make that effort that easily so your loneliness perpetuates.”

Sabrina is not alone in feeling isolated in the Europe’s most populated city. A survey made by the Mental Health Foundation last year shows that 53% of young people between the age of 18 and 34 have felt depressed because of loneliness. The situation is particularly bad for immigrants and asylum seekers, and London is the place in Britain where most people feel a need to be closer to family.

Combating loneliness

Loneliness is increasingly becoming a target not just of big organisations like Mind and the Mental Health Foundation but also of smaller NGOs such as Escape Artists, a London- and Cambridge-based organisation that runs arts projects for mental health service users and marginalised groups. Escape Artists is currently experimenting with the internet as a resource for people who feel isolated and lonely.

Simon Webb, a marketing officer at Escape Artists, stresses that the use of the internet for socialising is nothing new, but that there is a potential to be explored in new media tools such as Twitter and blogging.

“We have a website called interstellar and what we’re trying to do there is have twitter discussions or just forum discussions where people who do feel lonely or isolated can start to interact with other people. I think making that first connection is actually the hardest part. Once you’ve made a connection with one person it then becomes easier to make connections with two, three, four, five, six, you know… and so I think what we are trying to do on that front is a really good thing.”

Social media against social exclusion

Escape Artists is particularly active on Twitter. With its limit of 140 characters, Twitter allows for real-time conversations, not just about loneliness but about anything at any time. Simon Webb uses the current Ashes cricket series as an example.

“Because cricket is on in the middle of the night and you can’t watch it in the pub with all your mates like rugby, for the most part people are watching it by themselves. Whereas during the daytime you would come into the pub and you would have people all around you to watch it with, sometimes Twitter or Facebook or just anything on the internet comes into its own as a kind of shared experience.

“There are a lot of people who don’t know what Twitter is for, but this is one of the occasions where it is actually quite good.”

Offline options

Gathering around a common interest is also recommended by the Mental Health Foundation. And, as the organisation points out on their website, it is not necessary to use technology to meet like-minded people. There are many local interest groups out there, and it should be possible to find a group for almost any interest, whether it be sports, knitting or politics.

The Mental Health Foundation also recommends volunteering as a way to meet people. Mentoring and befriending projects can be a source of both support and volunteering opportunities.

In London, Mind runs several mentoring and befriending programmes and The Mentoring and Befriending Foundation lists a range of organisations to approach in the city. Mind City and Hackney provides people who are experiencing depression and isolation with regular one to one support from a trained volunteer, and holds befriending support groups where people can do social activities together.

Get to know yourself

Sabrina managed to get herself out of her loneliness. Her experience suggests that it can help to look inwards before reaching out.

“You really have to look at the reason why you’re feeling lonely. If it has to do with the absence of people around you or if it has to do with where you live. If it has to do with your own behaviour at your workplace or something, then you can try to change that. And then take a decision to not be stuck in that situation.”

She adds: “I think that’s in a way how London challenges you all the time. Because it always forces you to make decisions about your situation. […] you can’t really lie back and take things as they’re coming in London because that could potentially be dangerous for your mental health.”

Online inclusion – dating and otherwise

Like Sabrina, Simon Webb agrees that many people could overcome their sense of loneliness if they put themselves ‘out there’ a bit more. But he acknowledges that this is easier for some than others. For people with disabilities, for example, reaching out or mixing with the crowd can be even harder.

“Say there’s something that makes being in a wheelchair more difficult to involve yourself in whatever people are doing, or if you can’t see, it can be quite a daunting thing just to walk into a pub as a complete stranger when you don’t know anybody and try and start a conversation with people.”

But this is what Escape Artists is hoping will change. Advanced software and new communication opportunities online means that excluded groups get more chances to socialise. Simon Webb explains:

“On Facebook a while ago I saw a discussion amongst a group of predominantly blind people talking about how they felt that their disability had gotten them into a situation where the were feeling quite isolated. But one thing that they were talking about was the fact that things like Facebook meant that they did have a way of connecting with the outside world whereas maybe 20 years ago they wouldn’t have done.”

There is, of course, also the online dating option. From speed-dating to matrimonial services, London with its 8 million inhabitants has a huge market for romance. Sabrina found it easy to meet people online, although it only led to fleeting relationships.

“I had two blind dates on Shaadi.com, the biggest online matrimotial website on the world. They make a match every three seconds or something – It’ insane. The whole Indian community is on shaadi.com. Since London has a big, Indian community, it wasn’t too hard to find someone to date.”

As Sabrina’s and Simon Webb’s stories show, possibilities are emerging from the constant development of technology and interconnectedness – some of the same forces that bring lonesome career-hunters to isolated flats in London in the first place. Increased attention to loneliness at charities and research bodies is a good sign of change. As humans and their technology evolve, new forms of interaction might, at least partly, replace the isolation that came as part of modern big-city life.

Loneliness makes you who you are

As long as it doesn’t get the better of you, feeling lonely in London is not all bad, says Sabrina.

“In Berlin where I’m from I know people and I have family. If you’re in a city that’s less challenging, you slip into your comfort zone, and once you’re in that comfort zone you don’t develop anymore as a person. And that’s ok, but if you want to go somewhere at least for a period of time, it’s very helpful to have to struggle. Because it makes you more resilient and less scared of things because you know what can go wrong, […] so you’re not as easily scared anymore. You have a much bigger standing if you use this experience in a wise way. And from there you can also make a decision about where you want to be – you can sort of choose your comfort zone in a better way. It makes you as a person.”

Read more from The First Pint, the international's guide to all that London offers.

What is behind the Polish Poems in the Underground programme? Photo credit: Annie Mole / Flickr

Since June 2011, the London Underground has featured poems from several of Poland’s most celebrated poets. To mark the centenary of internationally renowned late poet Czeslaw Milosz, his poem Blacksmith Shop, along with Nothing Special by Zbigniew Herbert and Star by Adam Zagajewski are on display on various London tube trains, each poem celebrating the creation of new work from the remnants of the old.

Founder of Poems on the Underground, Judith Chernaik, stated, “We hope that Londoners and visitors alike will enjoy this latest collection of poems which celebrate one of the greatest Polish poets of our time.”

Milosz, Herbert and Zagajewski were all close friends and, writing during the suffering of Poland from the aftermath of World War II, shared their work with one another. Milosz immigrated to America in 1960 and soon became a lecturer of Slavic Languages and Literature at the University of California in Berkeley. It was there he translated the works of Herbert and Zagajewski into English, and introduced Zagajewski to English-speaking readers. Zagajewski also wrote the Introduction to Herbert’s Collected Poems, a work that gained Herbert international fame and praise.

Billboard in the underground. Photo: Kathrine Anker

In addition to these poems, three more by British poets will be featured alongside their Polish contemporaries, each poem continuing the theme of the power of poetry in recording the world and celebrating the small moments of ordinary life. In particular, Ourstory by Carole Satyamurti celebrates the ‘awkward’ women of the past who fought for the rights women of today enjoy. Other poems include The Windhover by Gerard Manley Hopkins, which details in religious overtones the flight of a windhover, and At Sixty by Christine de Luca, written in native Shetlandic about a man turning sixty in the Shetland Isles.

The project is supported by the organisation Poems on the Underground, which began in 1986. With the support of the British Council, London Underground, and Arts Council England, Poems on the Underground has enabled founder Judith Chernaik to provide people from all walks of life the opportunity to enjoy poetry. Since its inception, the programme has moved from strength to strength, with over 3,000 posters featuring poems from some of the world’s greatest masters posted all over the London Underground. Recently Poems on the Underground has gone abroad, with several projects in Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo, and Vienna. It has also inspired similar projects on the subway systems of Dublin, New York, Paris, Sydney, and Shanghai to name a few.

For those looking for more information on the mentioned poems, or just interested in Poems on the Underground, check out TfL or Poetry Society.

As for those who do not ride the Underground frequently, head to the South Kensington, Embankment, Covent Garden, Russell Square, and Moorgate tube stations for a free pamphlet on the poetry.

Read more from The First Pint, the international's guide to all that London offers.

What is the future for pubs in the UK? Photo credit: Ewan-M / Flickr

From Charles Dickens to Eastenders, pubs are certainly a defining and historic aspect of British culture. Famous for their quirky names, wooden interiors and rows of brass beer taps, they are a familiar and well-loved institution. But according to recent figures, the future of the ‘local boozer’ is in a perilous state.

The Campaign for Real Ale says two pubs are shutting down in the UK every day. Another survey by the British Beer and Pub Association found that some 1,300 pubs were closed in 2010, with London being one of the worst regions.

A combination of factors seems to be responsible for this astonishing trend – rising beer duty and overhead costs, faltering economic growth and changing consumer tastes. Alcohol price wars in supermarkets and declining disposable income have forced people to seek entertainment elsewhere.

However, there could be a silver lining: microbreweries are experiencing a revival, as demand for crafted cask ale is booming. In the capital, microbreweries are now open for business in Greenwich, Twickenham, Battersea and Camden.

Will this be enough to save Britain’s pubs? The First Pint investigates whether there is still hope for these iconic venues.

Filming locations:
Sambrook’s Brewery – Unit 1 & 2 Yelverton Road, Battersea, London SW11 3QG
The Bricklayer’s Arms – 32 Waterman Street, Putney, London SW15 1DD
Society Bar & Restaurant – 33 Blackfriars Lane, London EC4V 6EP
The Prince Arthur – 80-82 Eversholt Street, Euston, London NW1 1BX

View Is British pub culture dying? in a larger map

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Photo credit: Alessandro Bergonzoni

Here at The First Pint, we know that amazing sensation of crossing the venue gates with a cheap ticket in your hand. That’s why we’ve approached both experienced music journalists and shameless scalpers to give you the essential handbook for gig-goers.

Trust the organisers

Buy your ticket from the official website of whoever organises the gig – the most straightforward way is also the cheapest. Music venues like HMV Forum have their website set up to welcome all credit cards. Royal Albert Hall, Royal Opera House or Barbican will deliver the tickets to your postbox in just a couple of days.

Charing Cross

Vendors in Charing Cross generally set their prices cheaper than online. However, as music critic Antonello Furione reveals: “they are not fixed and vendors can make them up on the spot according to some abstract criteria”.

On the other hand, when it comes to musicals “it’s better to head straight to the box office and bargain the price at the theatre,” Furione said. “It sounds absurd, but we got a third-row ticket for £17 in a few minutes before the musical started. The original price was around £70”.

The TKTS booth in Leicester Square sells discounted tickets, sometimes up to half price.

Watch out for bogus websites

“Get it from legitimate sources if you don’t want be disappointed,” recommends an experienced NME journalist who preferred not to be named.

In 2009, for example, some people were jumping for joy after having found the leftovers for the Reading and Leeds festival only to find out later that the website they’ve bought from was bogus. “They seemed legitimate websites, yet, people just got ripped off,” our NME insider said.

Ticketmaster or ripper-master?

Even if your ticket will be a 100 per cent guaranteed, be aware of Internet ticket sales and distribution companies. They could have different names (Ticketmaster, Stargreen, See Tickets, Sonisphere, Ticketline, Ticketweb, etc.), “but they are all the same when it comes to charging you unreasonable booking fees. They don’t even do text messages on the mobile, you still have to print the ticket yourself. We live in bloody 2011,” our NME insider said.

From 1994 to 1998, Pearl Jam boycotted Ticketmaster-affiliated venues because of the company’s high booking fees. The band was then forced to give up its dispute so as not to disappoint concertgoers struggling to find tickets for small venues.

Don’t e-buy

You can never eliminate the risk from online shopping. Websites like Gumtree and eBay could be your worst nightmare, but remember if something bad happens, it is always possible to raise a query. However in the worst-case scenario you could end up spending your summer in court instead of the mosh-pit.

Therefore, trust only sellers living in your town and avoid the digital divide – arrange a meeting and feel the ticket with your fingertips before buying it.

Scalp the scalpers

We would never recommend that you do something illegal. Always remember that scalpers are only there to make money. However, sometimes there’s no other way in than asking touts for tickets outside the venue. Our reporter has spoken with Michael, local tout at the HMV Forum in Kentish Town, right before the latest Wolfmother concert. Here are his golden tips:

• Always come with the exact amount of cash you want to spend in your wallet, hide the rest in your pockets before talking to the scalper
• Start bargaining for half the sum and then hold your ground as much as you can
• Get to the venue a few minutes before the concert starts since scalpers will be more eager to get rid of surplus tickets
• Keep in mind that scalpers usually get their tickets from insiders in the venue or buy them in huge stocks. Since they pay almost nothing for them, there’s no reason why you should pay more than the original price given.

Give it a name

Recently a lot of venues introduced a new scheme to jeopardise scalpers’ business – releasing tickets with the name of the buyer or his credit card details printed on them. “The tendency is on the increase, it is a good thing,” an anonymous NME journalist told us, “as it is impossible to sell those tickets on the black market. The only problem is that if your daddy bought the ticket for you, you have to bring him to the very gate to guarantee your entry with the bouncers.”

Be careful in your choices
If an artist plays for more than one night at the same venue, try to go on the very last day. The performer may not deliver the same brilliant performance of the first gig, but tickets on the black market will be cheaper and easier to find.

Once-in-a-lifetime events like a Pink Floyd reunion, however, are fat cows to milk for scalpers. “We can make whatever price we want with the certainty people will always buy tickets,” scalper Michael revealed.

Read more from The First Pint, the international's guide to all that London offers.

The men's bathing pond Hampstead Heath

Relaxing swims in rivers and ponds are all the rage right now. A vigorous society of outdoor swimmers have launched a campaign against ‘chlorinated captivity’. Lidos beware! The motto of the revolution could well be: tributary, estuary, sea.  Our reporter James Purtill ventured into the algal deeps of the Hampstead Heath ponds to find out what the fuss is about.

Something had gone wrong. I had caught two trains and crossed London for a dip in the great outdoors. But on the way to the mixed bathing pond, I found myself standing before the iron gate of the men’s. I had overshot and missed the turn-off 15-minutes back. Inside these walls, a website had whispered, the regulars enforced a nude bathing rule. Enough said.

‘We advise you not to swim due to poor water-quality’ read a sign tacked on the gate. I stood awhile contemplating my options.

Chronic lung infection the least of my worries, I pushed open the gate.

The ponds's swans have earned a fierce reputation

Nature red in tooth and claw

The walled open-air concrete changing room was empty. There were no voices. A man in a tracksuit poked his head out of a little weatherboard-shack. He was the lifeguard.

‘Would you swim?’ I called out.

But he was not allowed to comment. The most he could say was: ‘not on purpose’.

‘I blame the health and safety nazis,’ said a man with gold-rimmed spectacles. He was sitting in his underwear on a bench in the shade. He also looked like he hadn’t swum.

I asked about the ritual of nude-bathing.

‘Oh no,’ said the lifeguard. ‘Loads of people think we have a nude rule for some reason. Although there is a nude sunbathing area.’ He nodded to a tin-fenced enclosure. Low murmurs issued from within. We silently considered this example of wild nature.

The pond was larger than I expected – maybe a hundred metres wide and shaded at the edges by tall trees. The water was dark green. Visibility like sago. The only swimmer was a plump white-bearded man who swam overarm to the jetty, climbed out and began rubbing himself down with a frayed towel. His beard puffed out and he looked a bit like Tolstoy. He retreated to the changing room, changed into a dark suit and departed without a word.

‘Is Leo still coming down?’ gold-spectacles asked the lifeguard.

‘No. He’s getting older,’ was the reply. ‘It’s a 4 hour roundtrip from Croydon.’

The Plunge

Eventually I got changed and jumped off the end of the jetty. Came up sputtering with cold and trace algae. Swimming a quick circuit I passed a duck perched on a buoy. It watched with barely concealed disgust.

‘Do you get many people down here?’ I asked the lifeguard when I had climbed out.

‘Oh loads,’ he said. ‘It’s a completely different crowd in summer. We get hundreds. In winter the bubble machine keeps the ice-off. Though at the mixed pond you have to chop a hole.’

Then I changed and went home; invigorated, proud of having faced down a fear of nudists and algae. Beneath the calm surface of my tube-demeanour, dear reader, I was beating my chest like a marching drum.

The Heath's many picturesque ponds once supplied London with drinking water.

 

 

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Jonas Aurell shows some pickled herring and liver paté from the grocery shop of the Scandinavian Kitchen. Photo: Anna Struth

On Great Titchfield Street, just around the corner from the shopping mecca of Oxford Circus, lies a little piece of Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

At the Scandinavian Kitchen you can lunch on Swedish meatballs on rye bread or have a cinnamon bun with your coffee in the Nordic-style, streamlined café, or you can fill up your shopping basket with Danish liver pate, Dumle caramels and salty liquorice in the adjacent, Scandinavian grocery shop, which stocks over 600 different Danish, Swedish and Norwegian products.

The popular, little Nordic place was launched by Swedish Jonas Aurell and his Danish wife, Bronte, in 2007.
“Exactly a month and two weeks before the recession began… Precisely a day before we had our first child,” says Aurell with an expression as if the interview is his first chance to sit down since the day of the opening. “I still haven’t slept. I am tired, but not half as tired as Bronte is – that’s where I take my comfort,” he laughs.

Liquorice with a laugh

Having a laugh while taking your business seriously - that's the way Bronte and Jonas run the Scandinavian Kitchen. Photo: Anna Struth

The café with the colourful open sandwiches lined up along the counter is buzzing with life on a rainy Saturday. The till is manned by smiling, young people of Nordic stature. Even when they turn their back to make coffee, they ooze a sense of hospitality with the amusing slogans on the back of their staff t-shirts. May the Norse be with you and Speak up, I’m hard of herring. The toilets are adorned with old LP covers of ABBA and Vikingarna.

“It’s probably quite Scandinavian, our informality,” says Aurell, and adds: “We might not take ourselves very seriously, but we are very serious about what we do.” IKEA is another example of that kind of Scandinavian business, according to Aurell. “They do some rather fun, tongue-in-cheek things, but still, the main thing is cheap furniture. And the message seems to hit home.”

Triangles are so last season

The café attracts a lot of non-Scandinavians. Photo: Anna Struth

The idea for the Scandinavian Kitchen arose when the Aurells realised that London’s many eager sandwich munchers only really had three types of sandwiches to choose between for their lunch-on-the-go. Wraps, triangle-shaped sandwiches and Italian ciabatta. “Nobody was offering anything different. Our idea was something along the lines of ‘less is more, as in less mayonnaise and big chinks of bread, more quality ingredients. Bread that fills you up, not mayonnaise that fills you up,” says Aurell.

It paid off to do something different. People who work in the neighbourhood have learned to eat rye bread for lunch, and Aurell is proud that only 10 percent of the café punters are Scandinavian. The Scandinavians make their pilgrimage to the café during the weekend, to satisfy their craving for pickled fish and dark bread, but generally, Aurell is proud to say that it’s a very mixed crowd who have opened their eyes to the Nordic way of lunching.

The black stuff

There is one thing that is difficult to sell to the non-Scandies: the strong, salty liquorice. “It’s like whisky, it’s something you have to have grown up with to appreciate,” says Aurell. “But at least you gain something from learning to drink whisky – I don’t think people see any reason to get used to liquorice,” he laughs.

Homesickness can be cured in the grocery shop at the Scandinavian Kitchen. Photo: Anna Struth

Contrary to the café, which has converted people of many nationalities to Nordic fare, the grocery shop is more targeted towards Scandinavians in London, who know what they want. But they are difficult to advertise to. “It takes time to reach a scattered group like the Scandinavian immigrants in London – especially if you don’t have the marketing resources. There is no easy way in. For a long time we were thinking ‘now we’ve got it’, ‘now we’ve got it’… but now I think we’ve actually cracked it,” says Aurell.

The shop has been harder work than the café, though. Importing products from Scandinavia is expensive, and it has so far been impossible for the Scandinavian Kitchen to find an affordable source of imports from Finland. But increasingly, Scandinavians are finding out about the shop. Aurell thinks it is mainly to do with the sweets. “We have a terribly good selection of sweets,” he smiles, “The Scandinavian expats, and actually also the Dutch, come here to buy their liquorice – it seems like a cure against homesickness.”

The different approach of a foreigner

It seems fair to assume that the hard work of starting a business London is even harder for someone who is not from here. But Aurell disagrees. “You will have some benefits if you’re local and know how everything works. However, I suppose the one advantage you have if you are not local is that you will approach things in a different way. The learning curve can be quite steep, but once you get to a certain point, your way of doing things slightly differently might be your competitive advantage. So my only advice for people setting something up is a general one – stick with it, and keep the main thing the main thing.”

Read more from The First Pint, the international's guide to all that London offers.

The NHS recently celebrated its 63rd birthday. Photo: Comedy Nose / Flickr

The National Health Service (NHS) was created in 1948 as part of Britain’s post World War II reconstruction. Before the war good health had been a luxury only the rich could afford, whilst those in the working class suffered from the diseases caused by poverty. The most prestigious hospitals were voluntary: small institutions that funded themselves.

Not a hospital in London was left undamaged by the Blitz and when peace came, many men returning home were in desperate need of treatment after fighting for their country. The newly-elected Labour government considered good health a priority for rebuilding the nation and sought a radical move to create social solidarity in an unhealthy country with a framework based on democratic ideals. And so the National Health Service – the oldest ‘single payer’ system in the world – was born under the auspices of Aneurin Bevan, the Secretary of State: “No society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means.”

Population Changes

However, during the last 60 years the NHS has had to expand to meet the demands of population growth. This has coincided with an increase in the cost of many aspects of medical care, economic crises and trouble in the Middle East. Labour under Blair and Brown attempted to feed it with funding and coax it back into health but as it bloated the funds ran out and the problems remained untouched. It was riddled with the disease of inefficiency.

Proposals

Over the last 6 months David Cameron, the Prime Minister, has put forward a health and social care bill designed to improve and reform the NHS, but after the bill failed to be passed in the House of Commons it was adjusted to meet public and professional demands. Prior to this the majority of ‘improvements’ had been merely rebranding which changed little and simply overcomplicated the system. Cameron insisted that “Pumping in a bit more money and sticking with the status quo just isn’t going to cut it”. He pushed for more radical change such as: “Shifting money from the back-room to the front-line. Passing decision-making power from bureaucrats to doctors and nurses. Giving patients more choice over where they get treated”.

There has been serious opposition to the government's proposed reforms. Photo: Amy Bradshaw

Confusion

Many were sceptical and sought further detail – what would such a transition actually entail? Were the medical staff trained to successfully cope with the inevitable increase in their administrative workload? Would sufficient funds actually be transferred? Who exactly would have ultimate responsibility over healthcare if not the government, and who would stop the private sector from creating a market within healthcare?

The Guardian summarised the bill’s reform: “Clegg said: ‘Patients, doctors and nurses have spoken. We have listened. Now we are improving our plans for the NHS. Yes to patient choice. No to privatisation. Yes to giving nurses, hospital doctors and family doctors more say in your care. No to the free market dogma that can fragment the NHS. The right reforms at the right pace. Evolution, not revolution.’”

Reformation

It seems clear that simply increasing funding will not solve the problems that threaten the future of the NHS. The coalition insists on change but can their reforms address an accumulation of problems? If they want to preserve the social ideals the NHS was borne out of and designed to encourage, it will have to accommodate shifts in societal trends or it may fall back into disarray again.

Read more from The First Pint, the international's guide to all that London offers.

With a little forward planning, getting away from London’s high rise buildings and into the green, green grass of Britain’s countryside is really very easy and doesn’t have to be expensive.  Leave the city behind this summer, don your flipflops and head for the beach!

Bournemouth

Bournemouth is probably the busiest beach on the south coast. During the summer months, thousands of sun-seekers flock there to pop up their wind breakers and frolic in the chilly surf. Bournemouth boasts plenty of seaside attractions and seven whole miles of award winning beaches that are perfect for sand castle building.

On the waterfront you can lounge on a hired deckchair, get some shade under a rented parasol or just lay your towel out on the sand and get tanning! You could even give in to the British stereotype and hire yourself a painted beach hut.

There are plenty of seafront establishments to fulfil any beach goer’s need for ice cream or fish ‘n’ chips. And if the sky clouds over for a while there are plenty of amusements along the pier (get your 2p coins at the ready!) or cliff-side walks for those who have bought appropriate footwear.

A return train to Bournemouth will set you back around £30 but you could find a cheaper fare if you booked in advance. Alternatively, you can book in advance and jump on the mega bus for as little as £9 return.

West Wittering

West Wittering beach is well worth the traffic jams you’ll have to plough through on your journey to get there. The long stretch of sandy beach edged by bleached sand dunes is the perfect place to escape to on a hot summer’s day. The perfect spot for a sunbathe or secluded picnic, the unspoilt coastline offers unfettered views of the solent, passing sailings boats and the odd wind surfer.

Behind the sand dunes lie big grassy fields where you can shelter from the cold if the wind picks up. Or, on a warm day the grass is the perfect place to pop your picnic blanket or start a game of Frisbee.

A return ticket to Chichester will cost you about £10 if you book the week before and are around £25 if you buy on the day. To get to West Wittering beach you need to jump on the 52 or 53 bus from Chichester bus station to the Old House at Home pub and follow the footpath to the beach.

Isle of Wight

If you fancy venturing a little further afield, the Isle of Wight is the place to go. A trip on the ferry to the Isle of Wight really will feel a million miles away from London’s dusty pavements. Easily accessible from the capital, the little island boasts fifty-six miles of seashore and an impressive twenty-three beaches.

All the Isle of Wight’s beaches are different but equally worth a visit. If you only have time for a couple, Alum bay and Sandown Bay are definite must sees. Alum bay’s multicoloured sand has been a tourist attraction for decades and from the steep cliff face, you are only minutes away from The Needles. Although the cliff edge is not exactly the place to pop up your windbreaker, and flipflops are definitely not recommended footwear, if you make it to that end of the island it is definitely worth a look.

Sandown bay joins up with Shanklin in the southwest and Culver Cliff to the north. A long arc of golden sand, Sandown bay provides the perfect spot for all sorts of beach visitors. Along the shore there are quiet sections, seaside attractions and popular surfing areas.  The bay is never crowded, ideal for safe bathing and houses a pier in its centre. Sandown pier and the surrounding town are teeming with enough shops, cafes, parks and amusements to entertain any daytripper during a cloudy spell.

With around 350 daily ferry crossings, getting to the Isle of Wight is relatively simple. You can get a train from London Waterloo to Southampton Central for £34 on the day. Ticket prices will go down if you book in advance though. The ferry port is a very short walk away, or an even shorter trip on the free bus. Ferries from Southampton will drop you at either East or West Cowes and take between 23 and 55 minutes. Ferry ticket prices cost around £15 return.

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Even in the middle of a metropolis, llamas can find repose in London's City Farms. All photos: Kirsten Amor

It may be surprising for anyone living in London to learn that barnyard animals and green fields could be just around their corner, but in fact there are a large number of City Farms throughout London.

These rural spaces are community-managed projects that promote awareness of gardening and farming to the local community. Most of these farms provide free entry, making them a great day out for families and small children. In addition to this, many of the city farms also participate in a wide range of voluntary projects in the local community, such as day visits for disadvantaged children, work experience placements, and visits for the elderly.

Each farm has different facilities or animals, so it is well worth visiting each one and seeing what they have to offer. Take a look below and see where your nearest farm is.

Freightliners City Farm

Originally built on wasteland behind King’s Cross station, the animals were housed in disused railway vans, hence the name. Today this working farm is nestled in the heart of Islington, with a wide array of rare breed animals and plants to see. Moreover, Freightliners Farm hosts regular of events and classes to involve the community: on Wednesdays there is a gardening club, they provide teaching for qualifications in bee-keeping, and even host Shakespeare plays in the summer!

Newham City Farm

One of the oldest working farms in London, Newham City Farm is home to a wide variety of animals, including cows, pigs, geese, and Shire horses. The central attractions however are their rare pygmy Golden Guernsey goats and birds of prey. This farm is particularly good to visit if you are organising an educational trip, as the staff help develop educational activities and allow children to get involved with any activities going on.

In a city where you can't even have pets in some flats, a farm is a welcome alternative

Mudchute City Farm

The llamas are the main attraction at Mudchute City Farm, which also houses donkeys, goats, pigs, turkeys, and sheep to name a few. This is one of the largest city farms, and as such also hosts an equestrian centre that caters lessons for all ages and abilities. Whilst you are there pay a visit to their Mudchute Kitchen, which according to them ‘is the perfect place to get a taste of the countryside without leaving the city’.

Vauxhall City Farm

This farm has a lot to offer visitors, with a wide variety of facilities and over 80 animals, including alpacas and ferrets. Like the Mudchute, Vauxhall City Farm also offers a riding centre, but also a herb and vegetable garden and a textile group called ‘The Spinners’, which cultivates plants to extract the dyestuff from them to produce yarns for sewing, knitting, etc. Vauxhall City Farm also runs a charity project called SLaM, which teaches people horticultural therapy as a means of mental well being and self healing.

Llamas, pigs, goats - London City Farms have it all!

Wellgate Community Farm

Have you ever wanted a pet you could not have? At the Wellgate Community Farm Animal Share scheme, you can give them the barnyard pet of your dreams, and they will care for it with the other animals, allowing you to visit and help take care of it whenever you wish. Along with this scheme, the farm also works in partnership with a local outdoor centre to provide work placements and qualifications in farm-based and outdoor vocational activities to young people. Other than that, the farm is home to a number of animals, such as ducks, turkeys, and Shetland ponies, and provides a picnic area to spend an enjoyable day out.

The Woodlands Farm Trust

This 89 acre farm is part of a charity that aims to educate visitors about conservation and sustainable farming with their small collection of farm animals. For anyone wanting to get involved and try their hand at farming this is the City Farm to visit. Volunteers are welcome to get involved in all aspects of running the farm, including animal care, rural crafts, even publicity. The Woodlands Farm Trust have a busy schedule hosting events like barn dances and farm shows throughout the summer, so visit this farm often for fun days out.

See The First Pint London City Farms Guide in a larger map.

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Be wary when swimming in the River Thames, especially in London. Photo credit: Metro Centric / Flickr

Paris has one. Berlin too. So does Oxford. Even the residents of Lochgoilhead are participating.  Sunday 10 July was the day of the Big Jump. At 3pm thousands of screaming half-naked Europeans, Brits and bemused tourists took a running jump into their local river. One name is conspicuous in its absence: London. People are getting wet and wild either side of the Channel and, quite naturally, Londoners are eyeing the Thames. But could it be a fatal attraction?

The short and the long answer from the Port of London Authority is: stay away. Once the pulse beat of the British Empire, the River Thames running through London these days is largely travelled by rubbish barges. Moored traps scoop up beer cans and plastic milk bottles. Swimmers can contract a fatal disease colloquially known as Rat Catcher’s Yellows, or Weil’s Syndrome. This summer, 450,000 tonnes of raw sewage overflowed into the river, turning fish belly-up and leaving condoms, faeces and pollution on the riverbanks.

Since 1957 the river has been deemed biologically extinct.

The aphorism goes that you can’t step into the same river twice. In the case of the Thames the sage advice is an urgent warning: once you step in, you won’t step out again.

The times are changing

The River Thames has improved somewhat in the last decade or so, health-wise. Photo credit: Des Runyan / Flickr

Recent years have seen an improvement in water quality. More than 125 species including salmon and trout have returned. Seals and dolphins have been spotted as far upstream as London Bridge. The river is said to be at its cleanest in 200 years. Last year it was awarded the world’s biggest prize for environmental conservation, the Theiss International Riverprize.

Unsurprisingly, the first human species to return were charity swimmers. Swim safari companies are now operating. A book dividing the river into 77 sections (Michael Worthington, I ♥ the Thames) has inspired a new generation of ‘wild swimmers’. The Outdoor Swimming Society is on a mission to free swimmers from ‘chlorinated captivity’.

But different rules apply for the Thames. Heavy river traffic and strong tidal currents (the Thames rises and falls 7 metres with each tide) makes the river unsafe downstream of Teddington Lock. A recent exception is the annual one-mile Chiswick Pier swim. Proposals for swimmers include a ‘bathing ship’ modelled on a facility in Berlin, a sandy beach (proposed by Mayor of London Boris Johnson), and throwing open the gates to the rejuvenated Docklands facilities which host the popular annual British Gas Great Swim.

Dip a toe in history

Despite all, the Thames is indeed flowing history. Photo credit: William Warby / Flickr

Once these problems are solved, the not-quite-pristine waters of the Thames may prove an attraction. “The Thames is liquid history,” turn-of-the-century English politician John Burns wrote. This is the river through which the Industrial Revolution flowed. Where prison-hulks rotted at anchor. Where convicts left for the antipodes. Year by year artefacts are being filtered and combed from its mud. Fish are returning. A proposed ‘Super-Sewer’ will take care of sewage-overflows.

But for the moment the river’s history is all too palpable.

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