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A stroll into our past
• OFTEN great events happen which escape people’s attention. David Rosenberg guides walks through Islington on “Visionaries, dissenters and rebels”, which are most exciting (It’s a radical roam through Islington, October 9).
When I came back from his latest walk, on October 10, the photos and sites brought to life by David’s explanations about social history kept me thinking for hours and days on end.
We decided to join another of his walks in the East End on “Anti-fascist footprints” the following week. This second tour, relating the story of the defeat of fascism in 1935 – the year of my birth – made me think about what we need to do to stop the British National Party – and this was before Nick Griffin’s appearance on the BBC.
Mr Rosenberg is not only an excellent researcher of history, but he combines his knowledge with a really superb presentation. He excels as a teacher and interprets the urban environment with narrative, old photographs, papers and quotations to aid understanding of the events and the era.
His tour through Islington started with an overview of the various migrations that have formed the urban community over the past centuries. Each of us had a chance to think of our own various migrant or refugee backgrounds. He motivated us to put questions or add our own experiences and knowledge so it became a dialogue with him and between us.
David’s next Islington tour will be in support of Yibna. He is contributing half the money raised for the people of Yibna refugee camp in Gaza. It will be an opportunity to meet Islington Friends of Yibna.
The walk is on Saturday, November 14, at 10.30am (£5/£3.50). Booking at Islington_Yibna@yahoo.co.uk or call 07880 731 865.
Jörn Janssen
N7
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