What's going on
Sometimes, it is hard to imagine that you could find anyone else in the Barbican to socialise with. Quite a lot of the time, I only ever see the same three people from my block on their way to Tesco's. The traditional greeting when encountering a neighbour in the Barbican is, "Good God, are you still alive?"
Maybe someone will tell me what else is going on, and then I can provide some information on it. These are what I am aware of.
Amigos
There is a group set up for socialising called "Amigos in the Barbican" and they have a website www.amigosinthebarbican.com. Their motto is: "Strangers are just Friends you haven't met yet". My motto is "Friends are just Strangers you should never have struck up a conversation with." So I am not Amigos material. But if any of you gringos fancy an evening out, these are the people to contact.
Barbican Wildlife Group
This is a really worthwhile group you can contact via Paula Tomlinson on 7628 3557 or paula@johnandpaula.com. They are committed to such things as creating a wild flower meadow in the Fann Street garden, planting seedlings, putting up bird boxes, nurturing bumblebees and blue tits, and they don't even smoke cannabis (allegedly).
Barbican Horticultural Society
The Barbican Horticultural Society is the most unlikely of societies to flourish in the Barbican of all places, and yet it does, just like one of those ferns which somehow flourish in the middle of a brick wall. The society is both venerable and still highly active -- like so many Barbican residents. You can pretty well guess who are members from a quick look at the front of many of our blocks in the summer months. (I would not make a suitable member - I murder three window boxes of flowers each year). I know they have a glorious history, because there are trees planted in the gardens with plaques recording their triumphs in the early years of the Estate. I believe members are responsible for the huge tubs and troughs of flowering plants which are all around our estate, and which seem miraculously to be full of the most wonderful flowering plants even in the dead of winter (miraculous to me, the plant murderer). I am sure they are enjoying themselves, but I want to thank them anyway. Their efforts raise our spirits. You can find details in Barbicanews or from the Barbican Estate Office.
