West End Research Articles

Migrants in the Old Train Wagons Borderland in Thessaloniki: From Abandonment to Infrastructures of Commοning

The article examines the living and infrastructuring practices of homeless newcomer migrants who find shelter in abandoned train wagons in the west end of Thessaloniki, an area described as “one of the biggest train cemeteries in Europe.” Hundreds of train wagons have been abandoned there over the years, especially after the 2010 financial crisis, when the state-owned railway company was faced with significant financial difficulties. These abandoned wagons form an urban borderland and have provided temporary shelter to numerous homeless and unregistered migrants who stop in Thessaloniki on their route to Central and Northern Europe. Although there is a significant number of studies which discuss the formal infrastructures provided by the state and the NGOs, little attention has been given to the various ways by which homeless and unregistered migrants create and self-manage their own infrastructures to meet their needs. The article aims to shed light on this shortage while examining the (re)production of arrival infrastructures by the migrants themselves. In doing so, the article builds upon the concept of abandonment and attempts to enrich it by drawing on the theories of arrival infrastructures and urban commons. It combines spatial analysis and urban ethnography in order to explore how an urban borderland with abandoned infrastructures, like the train wagons, are re-used and transformed into commoning infrastructures, where newcomers and settled migrants join their forces in their attempt to support each other, meet their needs and of “becoming otherwise.”

Design, Development and Commissioning of the Boldrewood Towing Tank – A Decade of Endeavour

The process of design, build and eventual commissioning of the towing tank on the Boldrewood Innovation Campus is described. The design brief required a facility that would have a capability to test models at a commercial scale but that would be effective as teaching environment for the next generation of Naval Architects as well as providing a flexible space for future fundamental research. Each of these provided their own challenges but the eventual solution of a 138 m long, 3.5 m deep, 6 m wide facility has more than met the initial aspirations. Equipped with 12 independent 0.5 m wavemaking flaps at the West end, a passive beach at the East end, a deployable side beach along the South wall for post run wave absorption and a monocoque Aluminium alloy carriage, the Boldrewood towing tank has now been successfully operating for more than a year. The carriage position and speed are controlled by a twin winch arrangement using a laser positioning system and low embodied energy composite cables. The carriage can reach a maximum speed of 10 m/s with controllable acceleration rates and can have up to four constant speed phases per run. Initial commissioning results and comparisons with benchmark data for the KCS hull confirm the accuracy and repeatability of the facility. In particular, the position and speed of the carriage are known to a high level of precision. To date research and consultancy work has spanned the performance of high speed vessels, uncrewed underwater and surface vessels, wave energy and tidal current systems, floating platforms for wind turbines, performance sport work for sailing, kayaking, rowing and swimming, open water propeller tests as well as conventional displacement vessel testing for self-propulsion and resistance. All ship science and maritime engineering students use the facility as part of their taught modules in every year of their programme as well as for individual, MSc and group projects as appropriate. It has also made a strong impact on the many thousands of visitors a year to the campus for science and engineering open days.

Abstract PR003: An examination of tobacco and alcohol outlet density in Boston to identify priority areas for cancer prevention efforts using environmental justice mapping

Abstract Background. Inequitable access to health-harming substances in the built environment can create and exacerbate race and SES-based disparities in cancer incidence and mortality. Availability and density of tobacco and alcohol outlets is associated with increased experimentation, initiation, and regular use of alcohol and tobacco products. Prior studies examining the sale of tobacco and alcohol indicate that these outlets tend to be concentrated in communities of color and low-income areas. Massachusetts has highlighted environmental justice (EJ), one’s right to be protected from hazards and live in clean, health-promoting environments, as a priority issue and identified block group populations who are at most risk of environmental burdens. The objective of this study was to (a) examine the distribution of tobacco and alcohol outlets in environmental justice block groups in Boston, and (b) compare outlet density in more deprived neighborhoods to more privileged neighborhoods. Methods. Publicly available licensing lists for tobacco and alcohol retailers with geocoded data were obtained from the City of Boston’s open data hub. Lists were de-duplicated so that retailers that sell both tobacco and alcohol products were only represented once. The environmental justice block group layer (2020) was downloaded from Mass.gov. EJ block groups meet one or more of the following criteria: ‘high minority’ (>40% non-white population), ‘low-income’, or ‘high English isolation.’ ArcGIS Pro software was used to spatially join retailer data to Boston block groups and calculate tobacco and alcohol outlet density (the number of retailers per 1,000 people). Sociodemographic and cancer mortality data from the Health of Boston Report was used to classify neighborhoods as ‘more privileged’ (Back Bay, Beacon Hill, North End, West End) or ‘more deprived’ (Dorchester, Hyde Park, Mattapan, Roslindale, Roxbury). Results. Of the 560 Boston block groups analyzed, 458 (81.8%) were considered environmental justice block groups with 60% of EJ block groups classified as ‘high minority’. There were 931 retailers that sell tobacco or alcohol products for off-premises consumption in Boston, with 86% of these retailers (n=811) located in EJ block groups. On average, tobacco and alcohol outlet density was greater in EJ block groups compared to non-EJ block groups (2.09 vs 1.25 retailers per 1,000 residents). Nearly half (48%) of environmental justice block groups in Boston are located in the most deprived neighborhoods compared to only 3.7% in the most privileged neighborhoods. Tobacco outlet density is significantly higher in deprived neighborhoods compared to privileged neighborhoods (1.25 vs 0.98, p < 0.01). However, alcohol density is lower in more deprived block groups compared to more privileged ones (0.35 vs 0.74, p < 0.01). Conclusion. Environmental justice mapping can be used as a tool to identify areas where cancer prevention efforts may be enhanced by modifying the built environment to reduce clusters of alcohol and tobacco outlets. Citation Format: Lindsay Kephart. An examination of tobacco and alcohol outlet density in Boston to identify priority areas for cancer prevention efforts using environmental justice mapping [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 16th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2023 Sep 29-Oct 2;Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2023;32(12 Suppl):Abstract nr PR003.

A Message From the Pluriverse: The Spiritually Fluid Gift of Philip Cote’s Walls of Welcome

Called Walls of Welcome, Philip Cote—an Anishinaabe-Algonquin artist and spiritual elder—created a large-scale panorama inside the interior walls of the Roncesvalles United Church’s sanctuary in late 2021. Located in the west end of Tkaronto/Toronto—and believed to be the first Indigenous art mural inside a church in Turtle Island/North America (if not globally)—the wall painting visually narrates the Ojibway creation story and alludes to “The Eighth Fire.” The latter stems from an Anishinaabe prophecy that we (human beings) can unite in our shared humanity. Walls of Welcome gives us all a message from the pluriverse and a spiritually fluid lens for seeing our foundational stories. My paper explores how this mural brings communities together through the power of art and builds a new world for trust-building and healing that epitomizes truth and reconciliation.

Social housing stigma in Toronto: Identifying asymmetries between stereotypes and statistical actualities of health, crime, and human capital

AbstractResearch on social housing stigma has proliferated due to growing concern over the effects of territorial stigmatization. The stereotyping of social housing as a site of ill‐health, criminality, and low human capital stems from empirically ambiguous narratives created and recirculated through popular modes (e.g., social media platforms, news coverage). This paper combines principal component analysis, k‐means cluster analysis, and geographic information systems to create and visualize clusters denoting different levels of health, crime, human capital, and dwelling composition in the city of Toronto, Canada. The quantitative research design allows for the identification of “asymmetries,” which are census tracts or neighbourhoods assigned to clusters indicative of high social housing density, and one of either sound health, low crime, or high human capital. The results reveal a spatial patterning of asymmetries in the inner city West End and Downtown, and in inner suburban North York, Etobicoke, and Scarborough. Overall, the paper illustrates the need to assess the empirical foundations of social housing stereotypes. Critically assessing stereotypes is important as they belie the rationale for social housing residents' living situations; pathologizes their identity, behaviour, and home; and generates public support for neoliberal solutions that displace long‐term residents from their communities.

Hume Village and Castle

A three-year community archaeology project was completed on behalf of the Hume Castle Preservation Trust at the village of Hume in the Scottish Borders. The project engaged with over 300 members of the public, providing training and volunteering opportunities in a suite of archaeological skills. The project work focused on Hume Village and its surrounding landscape; in particular Hume Castle and the remains of the former medieval village immediately surrounding it, and the associated kirkyard which housed the former Hume Parish Church. Extensive survey work was completed in the kirkyard and adjacent Glebe, in the grounds of Hume Castle, and at the castle itself. Excavations were completed in the castle grounds, the Glebe, and in the garden of West End Cottage in Hume Village. The results of the survey and excavation works portray the changing settlement pattern and use of land in the village area, particularly highlighting occupation and use of the former buildings surrounding the castle up to 200 years after its destruction. A similar pattern was found in the kirkyard, with continual use of the cemetery over 300 years after the abandonment, and probable destruction, of the former kirk. The results indicate that despite the destruction of its castle and kirk, the village of Hume has persevered, maintaining an important sense of place and memory in the landscape.

Scattered light monitoring system at the Virgo interferometer: performance improvement and automation based on O3 data

Scattered light, also referred to as scattering, is a nonlinear non stationary noise that can affect data acquired by ground-based laser interferometers for the detection of gravitational waves. A methodology for the identification and daily monitoring of scattering sources, based on the tvf-EMD algorithm, was applied to a large dataset of 132 days of data. Time series of the differential arm motion (DARM) degree of freedom acquired by the Virgo detector during the third LIGO-Virgo scientific run, so called O3, which lasted from 1 April 2019 to 27 March 2020, were considered. The analysis focused on correlation with suspended West end optical bench (SWEB) position data, as SWEB was a known culprit of scattering witnessed in DARM during O3. Different configurations were tested, improving performances with respect to previously obtained results and at the same time making the methodology fully automated. This allows to employ it as a monitoring system both during the phases of detector’s upgrade and in scientific runs such as the fourth scientific run, O4, currently scheduled to start on 2023. The higher values of correlation obtained suggest that tvf-EMD could improve the performance of scattered light noise subtraction from DARM.

Women’s knowledge and musical form: adapting historical identities in Martin Guerre

Abstract This essay assesses the afterlives in film, theatre, and scholarship of a sixteenth-century legal proceeding in which a Basque peasant named Martin Guerre was subject to identity theft. Focusing on the 1996 West End musical, the essay proposes that the conventions of musical theatre allowed this adaptation to revise earlier versions of the story in response to then-current concerns in historiography, in particular, those of new historicist criticism. It argues that the musical’s focus on the female lead’s knowledge and consent, informed by the cultural context of the 1990s, constituted a key intervention in the adaptive history of the Martin Guerre story. And it examines the musical’s engagement with new historicist ideas about the contingency of early modern identity, noting that the lyrics and structure present a contrast between a contingent identity reliant on property ownership, kinship bonds, and religious community with a more ‘modern’ identity based on psychological continuity and unique selfhood. In conclusion, the essay proposes Martin Guerre as a case study for broader questions about how historical individuals’ agency can be represented in adaptation.

Out-of-plane arrivals recorded by drifting hydrophones during the Northern Ocean Rapid Surface Evolution Experiment.

This paper reports on an observation of three-dimensional (3D) arrivals for which the change in the direction of horizontally refracted sound is nearly 180°. The experimental site is Jan Mayen Channel (JMCh), which connects the Greenland and Norwegian Seas. During the experiment, signals from a moored source transmitting a 500-1500 Hz sweep every 4 h were recorded by three surface drifters equipped with hydrophone arrays. Over a 3-day period, the drifters moved north across JMCh toward the moored source. In each recording, an in-plane arrival is identified. In a subset of these recordings, a second arrival is observed, having travel time consistent with propagation from the moored source, turning at the ridge on the south side of the channel, and arriving at the drifters. In a smaller subset of recordings, a third arrival is also observed having travel time consistent with a turning point on the face of the bathymetric rise on the west end of the channel that forms the Jan Mayen volcano. A 3D ray trace is employed to show the change in direction results from repeated reflections from the seafloor such that it is classified as horizontal refraction and not a single-bounce reflection.

‘For Pretty Frocks’: Upper Class Female Consumerism and the Criminality of Abortions in Newspaper Reports of the Uzielli Case 1898

AbstractIn the spring of 1898, Emily Edith Uzielli, a married member of the London elite, underwent an abortion, which was illegal at the time. Mrs Uzielli died as a result of the procedure, and the abortionist, Dr Collins, was accused of murder. This article examines the interconnectivity between conceptions of femininity and ideas on consumerism and the criminality of abortions in late Victorian England. It demonstrates that contemporary discourses of gender and high‐powered consumption infiltrated and shaped the popular discourse of the criminality of abortions, which was depicted as closely linked to transgressions of domesticity. Through the exploration of press representations of the Uzielli case, I show that women's newly acquired liberty of promenading West End streets and shopping centres were paralleled with their alleged freedom to control family size, independently of their husbands, through the means of abortion. Abortion procuring was portrayed as yet another manifestation of such ‘feminine’ consumer practices.

The Wonders of the West End (SIERZ, Aleks: Good Nights Out: A History of Popular British Theatre Since the Second World War)

The Wonders of the West End (SIERZ, Aleks: Good Nights Out: A History of Popular British Theatre Since the Second World War)

New Constraints on the Complex Subduction and Tearing Model of the Cocos Plate Using Anisotropic Pn Tomography

AbstractTo better understand the structure and process of the Cocos plate subduction, we obtained the first Pn velocity and anisotropy model of the uppermost mantle in southern Mexico using the Pn tomography method and new ISC‐EHB data. This study confirms that the subducted Cocos oceanic plate exhibits mid‐oceanic ridge‐perpendicular anisotropy, and there is an arc‐parallel anisotropic structure beneath the subduction arc. The variation of the Pn velocity and anisotropy structure at the east and west ends of the flat‐slab subduction zone in the Guerrero area provide new and clear seismological images for a plate‐tearing model which might be caused by the Orozco and O'Gorman fracture zones. The Pn low‐velocity and trench‐perpendicular anisotropic structure found north of the flat‐slab subduction zone support the slab retreat model of the Central Cocos plate. The Pn structure supports the existence of tearing corresponding to Teuhantepec Ridge in the Cocos plate beneath the Isthmus of Tuxtlas. Our study provides a reliable tomography basis and new constraints for a complicated subduction dynamics process in the southern Mexico subduction zone.

The Blackwater is not a Back Water: Locating the Mesolithic and its Environment at Eversley Quarry, Fleet Hill Farm, Finchampstead, Berkshire

Archaeological fieldwork at Eversley Quarry, Fleet Hill Farm, Finchampstead, Berkshire documented evidence of Mesolithic activity, associated with paleoenvironmental deposits, on the Blackwater River floodplain, a river for which activity of this period was previously unknown. The discovery evolved from initial recognition of worked flint artefacts across a well weathered, stripped subsoil surface in part of the site. Additional material was collected subsequently from the summit of an adjacent low knoll. The findings were of sufficient extent and importance to warrant supplementary archaeological fieldwork using a gridded test pit strategy to evaluate the Mesolithic potential in remaining parts of the site. This resulted in the identification of additional clusters of worked flints, which were preserved in situ.The clusters were predominantly of Mesolithic date but also included Neolithic and Bronze Age artefacts, indicating prolonged use of the landscape. Concentrations were consistently located on slightly elevated sand bars flanking palaeochannels of a formerly braided river system. The contemporaneity of the palaeodrainage and Mesolithic activity has been confirmed by radiocarbon dates from peat that formed during the Holocene. The collective results mark a significant contribution to knowledge of the Blackwater River valley, a major communications artery in the Mesolithic period linking the west end of the Wealden Greensand to the Rivers Thames and Kennet. These findings also highlight the importance that river valleys can make to locations that have been less well studied but nevertheless enjoyed prolonged use.

BED PROTECTION FOR EXTREME STORM SURGE INFLOW THROUGH FAILING SLUICEGATES

At the northern part of The Netherlands the closure dam Afsluitdijk is situated. It is the primary flood defense that closes off Lake IJssel from the Wadden Sea to protect the northern provinces against storm surges. This structure was built in the 1930’s and needed to be improved to withstand the foreseen increase in storm surge conditions and sea level rise. It consists of a 32 km long dam with five discharge sluices for regulating the water level at Lake IJssel. Three of these sluices are located in the west end of the dam and two in the east end. Due to climate change larger discharges are foreseen. Therefore two new sluices were built in between the three old sluices at Den Oever in the west end of the dam to increase the capacity. A new bed protection was designed at Lake IJssel to ensure the stability of the old and new sluices. This bed protection needs to withstand the inflow during the worst case scenario that one sluice does not close during a 45 hour storm surge. This event has a probability of occurrence of 1/1,000,000 per year. During this extreme load case, water flows from the Wadden Sea through the open sluice gates into Lake IJssel. The water level difference is up to 6.6 m. This causes discharges up to 3600 m3/s and currents that are supercritical with speeds up to 9 m/s. Erosion of the bed cannot be prevented entirely with these high velocities. The length of the bed protection is designed large enough to keep the scour hole away from the sluices. The bed protection consists of a structural and a natural part. The natural part was introduced to minimize the length of the structural protection, reducing the construction costs and CO2 footprint. For this design approach the erosion resistant boulder clay layers in the subsoil were taken into account as natural bed protection, ‘Building with Nature’. To achieve the custom made design was a challenge. To predict the flow behavior in combination with the erosion process was extremely complex. This could not be predicted with the conventional formulas and methods. Therefore multiple approaches were used and combined. This resulted in the design being based on the combination of computer simulations, 2D and 3D model tests and calculations with conventional formulas. The structural part of the bed protection has a length of 24 m. The first 19 m is a concrete slab with a sheet pile at the end. The last 5 m consists of grouted rock. The thickness of the concrete slab and grouted rock is 1-1.5 m. This large thickness is required to prevent uplift due to the supercritical flow. Further downstream of this structural bed protection a scour hole will develop. At this location the boulder clay forms the natural part of the bed protection. The expected development of the flow field and geometry of the scour hole during the 45 hour storm surge was determined. The scour resistance of the boulder clay was based on laboratory tests with samples taken on site. This lead to the conclusion that the boulder clay reduces the development of the scour hole enough to ensure the stability of the structural part of the bed protection and the stability of the sluices.

“Something has to change”

“Something has to change”

Camp Comedy and “Submerged Trouble”: Molly Keane's Queer Collaborations

ABSTRACT In the 1930s and 1940s, the Anglo-Irish writer Molly Keane embarked on a collaborative playwriting career with her close friend and co-author John Perry, facilitated by a network of gay men in London’s West End. Through a comparative reading of Treasure Hunt, a collaboratively-written play that was adapted into a single-authored novel by Keane, this article argues that her unique camp sensibility was honed through her collaboration with queer creatives. Collaborative work opened up new sexual and gendered possibilities for Keane and helped her to become attuned to the dynamics of the closet as a framework for repression, trauma and “submerged trouble”. Ultimately, she depicts Anglo-Ireland—a colonial class studiously ignoring the changing world around them—as an exercise in closetedness, as engaging in a camp response to the “bad feelings” that pervade the Big House in independent Ireland.

Palaearctic leaf beetle Chrysolinafastuosa (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Chrysomelinae) new to North America.

The univoltine leaf beetle Chrysolinafastuosa (Scopoli, 1763) is native to in the Palearctic Region from eastern Siberia to western Europe. First North American records are presented for C.fastuosa (Scopoli, 1763) (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Chrysomelinae), as confirmed by vouchered specimens from Canada: Nova Scotia. Additional citizen science records from USA: Vermont are also discussed. Diagnostic information is presented to distinguish C.fastuosa from other North American Chrysomelidae and a species distribution model to assess its potential spread in North America is presented. This insect is expected to cause some feeding damage to above-ground parts of ornamental and invasive Lamiaceae, especially species of Galeopsis L. The species distribution model and the range of its host plant Galeopsistetrahit, suggest the north-eastern US and south-eastern Canada, from the Atlantic coast to the west end of Lake Superior provide the most suitable conditions for this species. The United States of America and Canada are now known to be home to 70 or more species of adventive Chrysomelidae.

‘A kind of republic’: The City of London Theatre, 1837–1870

Theatregoing in nineteenth-century London was a mass activity. It was also one that extended beyond the playhouses of the West End. Between 1837 and 1870, the City of London Theatre was one of a number of venues catering mainly to the inhabitants of the East End. Locating the City within a distinctive East End theatre complex, this article traces the life cycle of a significant social and cultural institution that combined entertainment with elevation in an accessible and attractive way. Demonstrating the growing interconnectedness of metropolitan life, the article shows how theatres like the City of London worked hard to give audiences the best in dramatic presentation that the capital had to offer. It also highlights the importance of different managerial strategies, the interplay between theatres and the authorities, and the crossovers between theatres and political movements such as Chartism.

Do Jews count in klezmer? The problem of ‘Jewface’ in the British world music industry

ABSTRACT Klezmer has become an established genre in world music, but its performance is dominated by non-Jewish musicians. Against the backdrop of the ‘Jewface’ scandal in London’s West End, I explore the issue of Jewish representation in klezmer in the British world music industry, examining recurrent trends of cultural appropriation that result in the exclusion and exploitation of Jewish musicians and the exoticisation and erasure of Yiddish culture. I highlight how this systemic marginalisation illustrates a double standard in the industry, providing another example of how Jews are being left out of the progressive drive towards diversity in the performing arts.

Theatrical Affordances to Stage the Perceived-Experienced Reality of People with Dementia: Florian Zeller’s Dramaturgy of Porosity in The Father

This article investigates how French playwright Florian Zeller positions his writing with respect to realism in his play The Father (Le Père, 2012) and what his dramaturgy of porosity adds to the representation of dementia in contemporary theatre. Through an analysis of the text of The Father and its West End theatre production (2015), this article demonstrates the ways in which this play challenges the dominant perspective in theatre that depicts dementia from the perspective of the outsiders – i.e., those who do not have dementia. On stage, the perceived reality of persons living with dementia has often been portrayed as an illusion, in contrast to the ‘true’ reality perceived by neurotypical people. This article examines how Zeller’s dramaturgy of porosity, by making the audience see the reality from the perspective of the protagonist living with dementia, generates encounters with alternative ways of perceiving and relating to the world. While drawing on theoretical discussions on neurodivergent aesthetics, this paper argues that contemporary theatre can evoke divergent consciousnesses of persons with dementia by using dramaturgical and theatrical strategies.