25 stops & 3 trains plus wheels

I’m settled in London now.  Hotel is nice and cheery with a window and a view onto a mews but the room is of course so miniscule that Yoga poses must be adapted to fit.  Yesterday was all about overcoming my horror at spending more than 5 hours on the motorway at speed, in heavy traffic (think west gate bridge – perhaps not peak hour but at 110k’s per hour) in a thick cloud of rain.  Visibility about 4 feet.  Frankly it was scary.  I threw a smallish tantrum some time before Manchester but nobody took any notice, so maybe it didn’t really happen.

Today was a challenge of a different order.  I had to get myself and my camera, sound gear, tripod and lighting kit from Earls Court to Enfield – about 25 stops and 3 trains away.  I have a habit of not really making life easy for myself and so it was with some anxiety about stairs that I set off.  Now I have a small inkling of how wheelchair users feel every day.

My mission today was an interview with Judy Hunt, the widow of Paul Hunt who with Vic Finkelstein started the Union of Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS) back in the 1960’s.  Judy was a gracious and generous interviewee.  We had exchanged several emails over the past few weeks and she was well prepared and had given the interview quite a bit of thought.  So I spent a fascinating couple of hours as she discussed the origins of the social model of disability, why they chose the phrase “disabled people” over “people with disabilities”, the idea of a disabled people’s union in the context of the welfare state and the impact that the dismantling of the welfare state has had on disabled people over the past 20 years or so.  Of course there was much, much more.  Some lovely personal anecdotes mixed in with challenging political theories.

I’m loving hearing about all these ideas that are still radical today (maybe more so – especially in Australia in some circles – not all) and thinking about how they can tell the story that I’ve set out to tell which seems to get more complicated by the day.

There’s a sign in the Tube – an advert for and exhibition at the British Museum – The History of the World in 100 Objects – maybe that’s an approach to take with a film that just keeps getting bigger in scope.

Tonight I’ve been out on the town with my mate Melanie Coombs who’s here working at Kudos who made Spooks (one of my favourite ways to spend a Friday night).  So nice to have some social time, sharing our love of what we do.  Then home to a big Skype with another mate so I feel like I’ve reconnected with the world – and now I need some sleep.