Merry England.
London Squares and Play Streets.

The England of the folk-dance is not as dead as we thought. Though “Rufty-Tufty” and “The Black Nag” survive only among a few enthusiasts, the “Lambeth Walk” is being danced by the people in London squares and on a London common. The young folks of Finsbury and Wimbledon, encouraged by their local councils, and the provision of bands and amplifiers, assemble on warm summer evenings to practise their “routines” on the grass.

It's all very jolly. No charge is made and there is no red tape, except that in the Finsbury squares the children, who would swamp proceedings, have to stay outside the railings with the crowd of spectators. Residents of the square have a fine “gallery” view from windows and balconies.

The Wimbledon Corporation is interspersing ten minutes' physical jerks, organised by the borough instructor, but this shouldn't prove a pill in the jam. It all adds to the “get-together” spirit and the fresh-air feeling of well-being.

The hoi polloi are not the only ones to respond to the open air. The Georgian Society recently held a dance in Mecklenburg Square. This wasn't part of the “keep fit” movement, but was planned to draw attention to the beauty of this square of Georgian houses. The dancers spent some of the time at coconut shies and other diversions run by costers in their “pearlie” suits. For a sitting-out place, one could choose a barouche or some such old-fashioned vehicle, charmingly sequestered among the trees.

How about it? I suggest Albert, Newtown and Hagley Parks for trial spins. The corporations would surely be willing to supply bands once a week.

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So that London children may have somewhere to play when they are turned out of school, the Minister of Transport is trying the experiment, successful in Salford, of closing certain streets entirely to through traffic. Where Salford has nearly two hundred closed streets, London is starting with four. It is hoped that this scheme will go a little way towards solving the big problem of lack of play areas.

Some recent letters to the press advocate the opening of London's squares, which are little used, to the public, but well-to-do residents of quiet squares naturally resent the suggestion.

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