yep, there are actually a few chapters devoted to Dicken's epic wanderings.
Most of the main literary figures from history, who have a fleeting connection to London, get a mention; inc. Wordsworth, Blake, Johnson, Coleridge, Baudelaire, Bacon, Bentham, De Quincey, Hogarth, Milton, Pope, and Shakespeare...
In addition to walking, drugs (opium / laudium mainly), strong liquor and prostitution appear to be the main interests/vices shared in common.
Or,.. if none of these vices interested them, chances were they got their kicks from 'spirituality' and 'god bothering' (I'm keen to try what Blake was on when experiencing divine rapture painting and writing).
,... it's comforting to discover the sight of young men and women, pissed up and strung out on dope, mooching or stumbling around late at night has been a common feature of urban areas since time immemorial. I find it reassuring to know that the practice of 'taking a midnight stroll', particularly when 'twatted', has been a favoured past time throughout history.
But we can't be complacent about this activity being enjoyed in the future, and we should be on our guard,... our liberties and freedom to access and use public land as dictated by longstanding social convention is under threat!!!
(I believe the same thing is happening in the USA, but forgive me as I can only talk about the UK with confidence and accuracy).
Illegally and stealthy, private business is barring the public from publicly owned land. On the sly, large corporations are quietly erecting fences around public land and hiring security guards to keep out undesirables. Without causing a fuss or even the slightest commotion, access to public land has been piecemeal denied to the public at night; most people aren't aware that after they leave their jobs and travel home, the public park they eat their lunch in is illegally locked up and the public locked out at night. Everyone is affected but those mostly targeted by these measures and most affected are the homeless and drug users. These groups also targeted with metal blunt small 'spikes' set in concrete to cover flat public spaces, thus preventing anyone from sleeping there or even sitting down(!) (google for photos of this)
[I'm reminded of Orwell's description of a policeman persistently preventing him from sitting on a curb in central London (in 'Down and Out in London and Paris)]. These moves to victimise the homeless further and bar the public from what is rightfully theirs are recent developments in urban planning (in London anyhow) with roots in the neoliberalism of Reagan and Thatcher and their push for denationalisation and privatisation. Barring the public from public land is mainly the result of bankrupt local government leasing public parks, buildings and land to private business who offer a very competitive deal, cheaper and undercutting public sector competition. In exchange for promising to maintain public estates at half the price private business expects certain favours, such a speeding through planning permission for new builds in historic centres. Their tenders for public estates are so cheap because they have no intention of fulfilling the duties that come with running them. For example, by fencing off public land around central munciple buildings and locking out the public 'after hours' almost halves their security bill and cleaning / maintenance costs. Moreover, once they've fenced off public parks and barred the public at certain times from public buildings, private business is able to capitalise on their investment by hiring out public estates for private functions. In central London, private landlords of public land (I know,... I can't get my head around this contradiction in terms either...) are making a killing doing just this: kicking out youth clubs and community groups, and hiring out parks, public community halls and library meeting rooms to private business at outrageous charges.
And should you, a member of the public, wish to use the public amenities we own at the time they're hired out... well, tough... 'move on and don't linger!'
The issue has become worse with the whole Public Private Partnerships and Finance Agreements local government have made with multinational companies... but I won't go into this now. Suffice to say, unfettered access to public land, in the night especially, is being curtailed. The author of this book, Will Self, organises mass public 'trespassing ' of public land (a contradiction in terms) regularly in central London.
Apologies for going off on a tangent in my response to 'what drug do you enjoy walking on', but hopefully members can see the relevance of the threat I describe to the freedom of 'druggies' to enjoy a midnight stroll in the park.
*moderator, please indicate whether this ought to be posted under a different forum / thread.
