A legendary king who tried to fly, a neighbourhood that hears too many engines and a roll call of animals with better manners
Monday, A King With Wings
British legend includes a king named Bladud, said to have founded the city of Bath and to have died while trying to fly. In the tale as medieval chroniclers told it, he built himself wings and crashed, in London, on the temple of Apollo. Historians treat the whole line of ancient British kings in those chronicles as legend, not record, and I do too. I put the king to modern use in King Bladud built wings and crashed into London, the roadster is only late.
The joke in the title is that a delayed roadster is a mild failure next to a royal flight that ends in a crash. The deeper point is that Britain has always told stories of ambitious inventors, and the stories usually end with a thud and a lesson.
On Medieval Chroniclers
The chronicler who set down the legend of the early kings was Geoffrey of Monmouth, writing in the twelfth century. His history was hugely influential and is now treated as a mix of older tradition and his own creative work. That does not make it worthless. It means a reader must be careful to ask what each part is for, and to remember that a good story survives long after its facts are challenged.
Tuesday, The Sound of Exhibition Road
Closer to my door, a different kind of legend is made by engines. Exhibition Road, home to museums, has been the site of gatherings of expensive cars, and residents have complained about the noise. I looked at one local councillor’s plan in Car meets on Exhibition Road: a councillor's three-point plan, reading it with care, since a plan on a party website is a statement of intent, not a result.
Here, as everywhere, there are two serious positions. Residents argue that repeated noise at night harms sleep and quality of life, and that enforcement is the council’s duty. Enthusiasts argue that most gatherings are peaceful and that a few bad actors should not spoil the hobby for the rest. A sensible resolution probably lies in clear rules, fair enforcement and a willingness to listen on both sides.
Wednesday, Quieter Animals
For the sake of peace, I read about animals that make little noise and ask for little. The woolly pig is at mangalitsa.org. The freckled hen is at speckledsussex.org. The register of rare breeds is rarebreeds.win.
The cattle hall of fame is cattlemenhalloffame.org. The young farm leaders are at ffapresident.com. The general library is agriculture.click. The black beef breed has a page at angusbeef.fyi. None of them has ever revved an engine at midnight.
Thursday, Police and Place
The London Prat joked about policing structures with Police Force Mergers: Met Chief Wants 43 Cut to Ten. The question of how forces should be organised divides opinion. Supporters of mergers say they bring efficiency and shared expertise. Critics worry about distance from local communities. A resident disturbed by engines at midnight will likely want one thing above all: that someone answers the phone.
Friday, The Quiet Hour
On Friday the road was quiet. A cyclist passed, then a child with a scooter, then a man carrying a very large flat parcel that might have been a painting or a door. The museums were closed for the evening, and the stone fronts glowed softly under the lamps. I stood for a while and listened to nothing. In Knightsbridge, that is a luxury item.
I walked home with my notebook and wrote a sentence about King Bladud falling slowly out of the sky, with a look of mild surprise. It is a good image for a Friday.
Saturday, Ambition and Altitude
The history of flight in Britain includes many ambitious attempts that ended badly and a few that ended well. King Bladud belongs to the first group, if he belongs to history at all. Medieval and later stories describe other people who strapped on wings and leapt from towers, and the results were generally disappointing. Eventually, patient engineering did what enthusiasm could not.
The moral, which I draw each time I tell the tale, is that ambition needs preparation. A good idea without testing is a leap, and a leap without a landing is a story. The great inventors of later centuries spent far more time measuring than flying, and the world benefited.
Sunday, Neighbourly Noise
Living near a famous street means sharing it with a great many people. There are tourists in the daytime, delivery vans in the morning, revellers in the evening and the occasional roar of an engine. Most of it is a normal sound of a city. Some of it is a nuisance. The sensible approach is to report persistent problems through the council or the police, keep the tone civil and trust that rules will be applied evenly.
I should say that I am not a lawyer, and nothing here is legal advice about noise rules. For specific concerns, residents should consult their local council. I merely observe that in Knightsbridge the silence is expensive and the noise is free.
Where to read next
The rest of the shelf lives at prat.uk, bohiney.com and farm.fm. For a second opinion on the week, The Daily Squib keeps its own counsel and its own hours.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/