5 28 MARCH 2024 News&Views THE HIDDEN STORIES OF CHINATOWN If you’re looking for dim sum or crispy wontons, the obvious destination in London is Chinatown. But this colourful neighbourhood has contributed much more to the capital than its Chinese restaurants, according to a new project which aims to preserve working class heritage. The cultural centre China Exchange, backed by funding from Historic England, will be uncovering the stories of those who have worked there from 1985, when this part of the West End New laws governing England’s farm hedgerows and the myriad life they support have been announced by the government after the end of European Union protections. Wildlife groups had been calling for a replacement, and the reinstated regulations, to be introduced when Parliamentary time allows, include a two-metre bu er strip from the centre of domestic hedgerows, no fertiliser or pesticide application and a hedge cutting ban between 1 March and 31 August to protect nesting birds. More than 80% of farmer responses to a Department for Environment, Food and Rural A airs (Defra) consultation were supportive of the hedgerow protections. Nature groups including The Wildlife Trusts welcomed the news, but called on the government to go further, with four-metre bu er zones and an extension of the cutting ban into autumn to protect late-nesting birds and rare hazel dormice. They also want an extension to cover all hedgerows, not just those on farms, as around 30% are on non-agricultural land. Barnaby Coupe of The Wildlife Trusts said: “Thriving hedgerows provide a natural pest management for farmers, hosting a huge range of bene cial insects which feed on aphids and other invertebrates which can damage crops.” Anna-Marie Julyan New hedgerow laws welcomed “The organisations we work for have a much bigger environmental impact than we do individually, so if your workplace doesn’t record its carbon emissions, start a campaign with colleagues to make this happen. If you’re passionate about waste, get into the dustbins and nd out what you’re producing and how you can reduce it. Finally, would you travel to work more sustainably if it was safer or cheaper? Ask your boss if they would be up for a green travel-to-work policy that rewards teams for getting to work sustainably. What matters is that you nd allies, then start talking about all of this.” Anna Shepard DO ONE GREEN THING Make your workplace greener, says Juliet Davenport, founder and CEO of Good Energy MELTING POT The people and history of Chinatown in London will be celebrated in a new project became o cially known as Chinatown. “This is an area with more than 150 businesses and a place of work for thousands of ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse Londoners,” says China Exchange CEO Freya Aitken-Tur . “It is home to more than 90 restaurants, bars and cafés, from Chinese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Thai and Korean to Irish and Dutch.” There are also 50 shops providing hair and beauty services, books, groceries and souvenirs, and even a noodle factory set up in 1978 to supply local restaurants. The project – 40 Years, 40 Stories: The Everyday Heritage of People Working in London’s Chinatown – will celebrate its people and their history. It opens to the public next spring. “Many people walk through Chinatown without thinking of the hundreds of businesses and thousands of workers who have made it the place it is today,” says Historic England senior inclusive heritage adviser John-Henry Phillips. The initiative is one of 56 backed by Historic England Everyday Heritage grants totalling £875,000. They include stories from a Birmingham rollerskating hotspot, pigeon breeders in She eld and the working-class history of drag in Newcastle’s ‘pink triangle’. Anna Shepard MORE PROTECTION Blackbird chicks nesting in a hedgerow The number of giant redwoods thriving in the UK, compared to 80,000 in their native California. Also known as a giant sequoia, the tree was introduced 161 years ago and is found at locations including Wakehurst in West Sussex, and Benmore Botanic Garden in Argyll and Bute. Research shows redwoods can live to 3,000 and absorb 85g of carbon a year. Forest res in the Sierra Nevada have greatly impacted US numbers. 500,000 Photographs: Getty Images
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