Big Yellow
Taxi
Joseph Paxton's
Spirit
Nursery Rhymes:-----
Pussycat,
pussycat
Tom,
Tom
Councillor
Gaster
Round and
Round
Ding Dong
bell
Hey Diddle
Diddle
Run
McNair
There was a
lass called Kathryn Gustafson
High, High,
High
As I was going in
the Park
The song recently talked about and
which might have been penned for our campaign is called Big Yellow
Taxi. The words are reproduced below:
Big Yellow Taxi
|
They paved paradise They took all the trees |
Hey farmer turmer Late last night |
©1969, Siquomb Publishing Co.
From the album: Ladies of the Canyon - Joni
Mitchell
Joseph Paxton's Spirit
Joseph Paxton's spirit lives in
Crystal Palace Park,
It shines there in the daytime and it shines there in the dark
And in the hearts of each of us it's kindling a spark,
As his soul goes marching on.
Chorus:
Glory, glory alleluia!
You don't want the multiplex, now do ya?
It can't be allowed to spoil the view here!
May his style go marching on.
In the beauty of the Palace Park he
worked for all to see
With a flourish in his fashion that transfigures you and me,
He built to win respect of men, let's fight to make them free,
As the Campaign marches on.
Chorus:
Glory, glory what a slur upon his
name!
Give us consultation and we all will play the game:
If the multiplex is built, then we won't take the blame
May his soul go marching on.
Peter Archer's lament (1999-
Campaign Stalwart) - sung to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the
Republic"
"Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.....
CRYSTAL PALACE NURSERY RHYMES
Pussycat, pussycat, where have you been?
I've been to the Palace to visit the scene.
Pussycat, pussycat, what saw you there?
Two thousand police and that thing in the air.
On March 3rd 1999 the eviction of the ecowarriors began. 2000
police from as far away as Yorkshire and Lancashire, security men and
bailiff's men swamped the area and lined the closed-off streets.
Pedestrians and motorists alike had to make long detours. The
helicopter, as usual, spent tens of thousands of pounds above the
site.
Tom, Tom the piper's son
Went to school on the good bus run;
When school was out, no bus about
And Tom was lost at the roundabout
On March 3rd the twelve bus routes which serve the Crystal Palace
Parade were diverted. The Transport operators were given 20 minutes'
notice of the Parade closure "for reasons of secrecy" although the
Protest phone tree had broadcast the news of the eviction the evening
before. Children from school, some distressed, some angry, all
confused, were unable to reach their bus stops.
Councillor Gaster* saw the vaster
Protest in the rain;
He stepped in a puddle right up to his middle
And wasn't elected again
* Chris Gaster, Councillor for Anerley
Round and round the Law Courts*
Justice without doubt
One judge, two judge
Three judges, Out!
*On December 21st 1998 Judges in the Court of Appeal ruled that it
did not matter if the multiplex did not conform with the law, as laid
down in the Crystal Palace Act 1990, nor did it matter if Bromley
Councillors had been misled by their officers as to the amount of
traffic which would be generated.
Ding, dong, bell
Bromley's on the sell;
Who put them in?
Stuart Macmillan;*
Who pulled them out?
People hereabout.
What a naughty Bromley lot
To try to sell our grassy plot!
*Stuart Macmillan, Chief Planning Officer to Bromley Council,
Environmental Services, Civic Centre, Stockwell Close, Bromley, Kent,
BR1 3UH
Hey diddle diddle
Fat cats and a fiddle
The Council thought it a lark.
Ian Livingstone* laughed to see such fun
L&R got away with the Park.
Ian Livingstone, Managing Director, London & Regional
(L&R) Properties Ltd, developer, 39 New Bond Street, London
W1
Run, McNair*, run McNair, run, run, run,
Buying our Park isn't fun, fun, fun.
We'll get by without your UCI,
So run McNair, run McNair, run, run, run.
*Alan McNair, Chief Executive, UCI(UK) Ltd., 7th floor, Lee House,
90 Great Bridgewater Street, Manchester M1 5JW, Tel 0161 455 4000
There was a lass called Kathryn Gustafson*
She planned parks with crumpled tin on 'em
The vandals came and took it off again
Poor old Kathryn Gustafson.
Kathryn Gustafson, commissioned by Bromley council to make plans
for the re-development of the park in a modern continental manner
High, high, high in the sky
Five pounds a visit where once I could lie;
Low, low, a ten minute go
Thirty eight metres with bright lights aglow.
Botton Amusements has the franchise to run a 38 metre high viewing
tower festooned with coloured lights (3 times as high as the trees
there, if indeed they still exist when you read this!). The small
area of the ridge not occupied by the leisure box and access roads
will be fenced off for this structure, expected to attract 200,000
people a year.
As I was going to the Park so fair
Singing, singing, buttercups and daisies,
I couldn't breathe the polluted air
Pity me!
My eyes did run, I was wheezing there
As I went on to the Park so fair.
Rifol, rifol, tol de riddle ay do,
Rofol, rifol, tol de riddle dee.
Kind sir "pray show me the green part" I said
Singing, singing, buttercups and daisies,
The roads are jammed and the carparks fed,
Pity me!
A concrete box and a tower in the air
With a thousand cars from the ramps up there
That's all I can see of the Park so fair
Rifol, rifol, tol de riddle ay do,
Rofol, rifol, tol de riddle dee.
The proposed 20-screen multiplex and leisure building is planned
to take 950 cars on the roof with other parking in the park where the
Paxton terraces will be strengthened to take overflow parking. Daily
visitors will be greater than at Alton Towers.
7/3/99 Last updated 7/6/04