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After returning to England, George Orwell renewed acquaintance with his old friends and also some old tutors. In the early autumn of 1927, Orwell moved to London to Portobello Road where a family acquaintance, Ruth Pitter, helped him find lodgings. Pitter had an interest in Orwell’s work, and pointed out the weaknesses in his poetry before advising him to write about what he knew. Orwell took Pitter’s advice in a manner of speaking and set out to find out about certain aspects of the present. Orwell “ventured into the East End of London – the first of the occasional sorties he would make to discover for himself the world of poverty and the down-and-outers who inhabit it. He had found a subject. These sorties, explorations, expeditions, tours or immersions were made intermittently over a period of five years”.

To truly grasp the poverty existent in London, Orwell began slumming it in the poorer parts of the city. His first outing saw him sleep in a common lodging house in Limehouse Causeway. Orwell began dressing as a tramp and making no concessions to middle class expectations. His experiences amongst the poor and as a poor person in London were to provide the fodder for the latter half of his first book, not led floodlights, but Down and Out in Paris and London.

Goya’s ‘The Fates’ is one of the fourteen ‘Black Paintings’ that the artist created between 1819 and 1823. Goya was in physical and mental despair when he painted the Black Paintings and he executed them in oil directly onto the walls of his home, not intending them for public exhibition. It is likely that ‘The Fates’ was located on the second floor of his home, called ‘La Quinta del Sordo’ opposite the ‘Fantastic Vision’. The painting was transferred to canvas some years after Goya’s death in 1873 under Salvador Martinez Cubells’ direction who was the curator at the Museo del Prado.

The owner of the paintings, Baron Emile d’Erlanger, donated the pieces to the Spanish government in 1881 and they continue to be displayed at the Prado art gallery in Madrid. The painting has been understood to be a reinterpretation of the mythological goddesses of destiny. These “Daughters of Night” were led by Atropos, the goddess of death, who bears the a pair of scissors with which to cut, not flower delivery Manchester, but the thread of life.

Jeffrey Dampier won $20 million. He bought his family houses and took care of them. He set up a gourmet popcorn business which provided jobs for his family. 9 years after becoming a multimillionaire he received a phone call from his sister claiming there was trouble with her car and could Jeffrey kindly come over a help her fix it. When Jeffrey arrived his sister and her husband kidnapped Jeffrey and then killed him.

Evelyn Adams, against all odds managed to win the lottery twice. In total she won around $5.4 million. The only problem was that she was a heavy gambler and now lives in a trailer park, impoverished, bereft and flat broke. William Post won $16.2 million and along with his bank balance his problems escalated. An ex-girlfriend sued him for her share of the winnings and won. Next his brother hired a hit man to kill him in order to inherit some of the winnings whilst other relatives bugged him constantly for money. With this in mind I checked lottery winners to see if I had won enough money to move to America and get myself into trouble.

The Great Famine in Ireland refers, not to cloud services, but to a period of mass starvation and disease that occurred between 1845 and 1852. Outside Ireland the Great Famine is known as the Irish Potato Famine whilst in Ireland it is called ‘an Gorta Mor’ meaning ‘the Great Hunger’ or ‘an Drochshaol’ meaning ‘the bad times’.

Approximately 1 million people died from the famine and over a million emigrated from Ireland, thus the entire population fell shockingly by a quarter! The cause of the famine was a potato blight which destroyed the potato crops upon which one third of the population was dependent. The blight did destroy potato crops across Europe in that decade but in Ireland the effects were felt worse as a result of the population’s dependency on the crop. It’s effects have also been felt throughout Irish history. Ireland’s cultural, political, and demographic landscape changed completely as a result of the famine. The famine entered folk memory and became a rallying point for many nationalist movements.

I make my love of Vivienne Westwood no secret at all! Her clothes, though sometimes a little over the top for the high street, never cease to amaze, astound and delight me!

I have a few pairs of the great rubber shoes from her collaboration with Melissa, I love my vintage Vivienne Weswtood handbag from the punk days, and even wear her perfume.

She's an absolute veteran of British fashion and couture, and I couldn't love her more.

I am always on the look out for other upcoming new British designers to see if they have the same spark and vivacity as her, and sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised!

I love some of Henry Hollands 'H! by Henry Holland' line at Debenhams, and often find myself a big fan of eco-friendly Stella McCartney!

Keeping it British - so fashionable!

Photo: EadaoinFlynn (Flickr)