We met Mr John Hawks (who owns Toby the dog) who personally introduced my daughter – Mei-An to a computer screen and keyboard featuring a Minecraft programme relating to the exhibition! Mei-An skilfully navigated the challenges and completed all the tasks without a hitch and with John Hawks watching! All very impressive! We were also pleased to meet other Chinese people visiting amongst the multicultural crowd! Please enjoy the following photographs and happy learning!
Anyone who interacted, stroked, played with or threw a stick for ‘Toby’ – the resident sheepdog – was presented with a beautiful postcard of this well-behaved and genteel Sheepdog! He appears to be the pet of resident archaeologist – Mr John Hawks – the Curator of Chapter House, as he was the person who presented the postcard and seemed to know ‘Toby’ the best! Mr John Hawks has been featured in a number of articles about this very important ‘dig’ which has received a boost recently with the Priory ‘arched’ wooden gate being added to the already amply exhibition! There is much to see – such as the UK’s oldest Parliament and Lord Nelson’s Chest!
Abbey Mills has always seemed to be a busy commercial area of South London and has a long history – like much of this area. In the old days, much of the UK was covered with Catholic monasteries, churches and many other similar buildings, Following the dissolution of the monasteries during the late 1530s, all this Catholic dominance came to a sudden, dramatic and violent end when Henry VIII decided he would no longer recognise the dominance and authority of the Pope! This single act changed the world forever and ushered in modernity, individualism and capitalism! The Old Church was replaced with a ‘new’ version that was then spread throughout the world through British (and European) colonialism! The point is that we are all the product of history – that is ‘of what came before’ – and that these strata of our being lies primarily buried beneath our feet and awaits rediscovery! Experts, governments, individuals and special interest groups can argue about the provenance of these finds, but one point everyone involved in this debate agrees upon is that history is undoubtedly beneath our feet!
THE SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 