The Grumbling Times Supplement - February 2024
Thoughts on Conservative factions and architecture.
This month’s summary of writings elsewhere will be much shorter than the previous instalment, since a number of things currently being worked on will not bear fruit for some time yet. In the meantime, my output here should increase. The next piece should be an essay on the political intrigue surrounding the 1918 election, then something likely shorter focussing on an aspect of Hesiod’s thought; both are already very far along.
Un-Popular Conservatives
Available in print only via Bournbrook Magazine.
Notes
This article focussed on the rather uninspiring launch of the Popular Conservatism group in London a few weeks ago, in particular their baffling choice to tie their identity to the concept of ‘popular’ whilst headlining the group with a decidedly unpopular former Prime Minister. None of the factions which have emerged within the Conservative Party in recent years have the potential to avert defeat at the general election later this year, nor to revive British conservatism thereafter.
As for the fate of the Popular Conservatism group, I doubt much of note will be heard from them in the future. As mentioned in the article, the group appears to be little more than a means to promote tired policies with new slogans.
We Must Escape Subtopia
Available via The Critic website.
Reference List - Extracts from ‘Outrage’
Extract from conclusion of ‘Outrage’.
The Architecture Review website puts up a paywall after one prior article has been clicked/read. I mostly quoted from the introduction to ‘Outrage’ in the article.
Notes
Aside from the above, I recommend watching the BBC documentary on Nairn’s life, then some of his programmes, if readers are interested in his ideas and perspective. His discussions are enjoyable for those who prefer modernist and traditional architecture alike, all centred on the idea that places have unique identities which must be nurtured and cherished. He demonstrates this is achievable through new developments as much as conservation of the historic, but Nairn too often observed heedless destruction by planners or straightforward neglect instead.
I am unsure how many are aware that Britain still builds new towns to this day, albeit on a lesser scale than the mid-C20th. Northstowe, a few miles north of Cambridge, is one such locality, but stands to suffer from Subtopia as much as new estates on the edges of existing towns. As mentioned in the article, Poundbury is an exception to prevailing trends, principally due to the influence of King Charles’s personal philosophy on the project.