I recently Blogged about my experience in the garden so today I am going to give you a little bit of information about the garden itself.
The garden surrounding the Royal Pavilion has been restored to its original Regency splendour closely following John Nash’s plans of the 1820’s. As the architect of the Royal Pavilion, he conceived the building and grounds as a unity, an effect which has inevitably been compromised by the passage of time. The restoration has returned the garden as far as possible to its appearance in the 1820s with serpentine paths weaving through the lawns and shrub-beds in imitation of forest scenery. Naturalness is further emphasised by unedged lawns sweeping under the shrubs; unlike modern lawns the grass is kept longer in keeping with Regency gardening customs.*
*Taken from a plaque within the garden.
8 Comments CherryPie on May 29th 2010
20 Comments CherryPie on May 28th 2010
On the half day that I had free between the two conferences I decided to visit the Royal Pavilion. To save time I asked for directions at the hotel reception and found my way there quite easily although it was further than I thought. The pavilion looked rather packed so I decided just to enjoy the garden which was free. It was lunch time so before looking round the garden I nipped to the nearest baker and bought a blueberry muffin, which looked a lot more appetising than the rather gooey looking sandwiches. I then made my way back to the garden and sat on a bench to eat it The bag the muffin had been in made a bid for freedom and whilst I was trying to rescue it a small piece of blueberry muffin dropped on the floor next to my feet.
A few minutes later I was assailed by a rather large seagull who was weighing up the options of doing a duck and dive at the crumb. I had visions of my feet being skewered by his beak and he refused to be shooed away! Then I saw a squirrel running towards me, but luckily he had something else on his mind and he carried on past me without stopping. Eventually I moved to the other end of the bench so I could finish eating in peace. And yes the seagull did then dive for the crumb.
Just as I was finishing eating a youth with a beer can plonked himself next to me on the bench. Thankfully he was dragged away by his friends who told him ‘don’t annoy the lady’. There was a bit of back chat but he followed them anyway. Just when I thought I was going to get some peace and quiet at long last, I was approached by a Jehovah’s Witness…
Gardens in Brighton are not at all what I am used to!
It was more relaxing along the seafront (despite the traffic) when I took my sunset photos later in the day.
8 Comments CherryPie on May 27th 2010
Wednesday morning saw the start of this year’s PCS Annual Delegates Conference. The president Janice Godrich opened the conference and apologised for the fact that Mark Serwotka was unable to attend the conference this year.
Her speech outlined the current political situation regarding the labour legacy and what would come next from the Con-Lib alliance. She went on to explain that everyone in the public sector was now under threat and that we need to get ourselves organised for the coming storm. Of the Lib-Dems changing their values to go into the alliance, she was reminded of the Groucho Marx quote:
“These are my principles, if you don’t like them I have others”
Janice then read out a letter of support from Mark Serwotka, who was in hospital undergoing tests for a heart condition. He congratulated members on their recent victory in the civil service compensation scheme dispute and thanked them for taking part in the strike action. He will be receiving DVD updates of the conference every day and has been keeping up to date with our campaign via regular press clippings. He mentioned how the nurses cheered when they heard the news that we had won our dispute. He praised the NHS staff and said they were wonderful and this has made him even more determined to defend the NHS.
He finished by thanking everyone who was standing in for him and sent his best wishes for a successful conference.
Deputy General Secretary, Hugh Lanning went on to present the PCS annual report. He thanked members for their support in PCS campaigns, which is essential to the success of the union.
“It is important to highlight what is possible when we stand together in unity and with resolve. The ruling that the government acted illegally over making unagreed changes to the civil service compensation scheme is a fantastic vindication of our determination to fight these attacks.”
The first motions of the 2010 conference all related to protecting public services. Many other issues were debated including: redundancy pay & pensions, comercial sector, personnell policy, organising for success, protecting our reps, health & safety, international issues, affiliations, tackling pay problems, improving working conditions, evironmental issues and social & economic campaigns.
A report from each session of the conference can be viewed on the PCS website or downloaded as a word document.
2 Comments CherryPie on May 26th 2010
