David wrote with great warmth about St Anne's community spirit in the first chapter of his marvellous Some Lives memoir:
“It still stands with its mysterious churchyard, Solemn and Awful, the octagonal summit of its steeple constructed of columns and obelisks visible from throughout the borough, its flag once a familiar landmark to returning seamen. Once a year in its churchyard a festival is held. Everyone mucks in: the local firms give wood, scaffolding, paintbrushes and tent pegs, the OPA club makes bunting and cakes, community transport provides electricity and parking, the school's community group helps with the play centres and the urban farm, the Chinese Welfare and the Bangladeshi Youth Association all contribute. In a kind of way Limehouse is a village, although it's hard to completely ignore the thundering of the A13 traffic which grinds incessantly past the churchyard.”
You may have stumbled on David Widgery’s memorial in the churchyard and wondered who he was and why he merited a garden on his death. David came to prominence in the late 60s as a left wing columnist writing for The New Statesman, New Society, and Time Out magazine, amongst others and was briefly editor of counter-culture magazine Oz.
In the 1970s, in reaction to the alarming growth of far right wing activism in the East End (and elsewhere) and the electoral success of the National Front, David founded, with collaborators, Rock against Racism. Between 1976 and 1982, RAR activists organised national carnivals and tours, as well as local gigs and clubs throughout the country. RAR brought together black and white fans in their common love of music, in order to discourage young people from embracing racism.
David’s medical career existed alongside his literary and political work. He trained at the Royal Free, worked initially at The Bethnal Green Hospital (where he campaigned unsuccessfully to prevent its closure in 1990), and then for the main part of his career until his death, as a GP at our very own Limehouse practice in Gill Street, a stone's throw from St Anne's.
In spite of a very heavy workload, in an era when GPs were on house call at all hours, David continued to write numerous columns, including in the British Medical Journal, and also a number of books, including his account of the RAR and its impact. The marvellous Some Lives memoir, written just before his death, is a passionate account of his challenging work tending to patients – most in poverty – in the social housing estates of our ward and its neighbours. A book which veteran politician Harriet Harman has called “the human story of how vital the NHS is”.
If you missed the event, you can catchup by watching it here - https://youtu.be/3nC0dMPQx1c
