The History of Concrete

My Dad has been trying to get a concrete bandstand near his house listed. ( see "Malvern Gazette"). My Dad knows about a lot of things - a lot more than me. You may think that this sounds a bit over the top for a very un-insping and dilapidated piece of 1930's engineering. I know my Dad and I know that I would not know what I do today without his attention to such details. Without our history we are nothing - a building without foundations - simply a mess of people floundering about trying to do what makes them happiest. I have such a sense of frustration if I do not know where something comes from. I have mentioned before about having to trace back through trains of thought to find the start to explain why I am thinking about some obscure thing. The small details of our history make us what we are. I learned a lot in Primary school about how people really lived in history but at secondary school, it all became the acts of parliament (The Great reform Act of 1832 - Yuck!) and wars etc. We do not do enough social history - read this :- "A Social History of England" and watch this when it is on : - "One Foot In The Past. Celebrate your History. Anyway, back to the concrete - A beat up old Grandstand is just as important as a ruined castle. I don't think that even in a hundred years time, we will have sight of what life is really like today. The rest of the World already think that the UK is defined by Margaret Thatcher. In Bali in 1993, that was how people greeted me - holding a thumb in the air and beaming "Maggie Thatcher - The Iron Lady" - that was if they didn't mention John Barnes. I am not making any judgement on her politics - I would just not like to see us defined by one such obviously narrow personality.