SUNDAY IN LONDON

Evening Star, Issue 20371, 31 December 1929, Page 11

SUNDAY IN LONDON

THE CONTINENTAL CUSTOM EALING’S BRIGHT EXCEPTION. In the view of Mr H. IT. Martin, .secretary of the Lord’s Day Observation Society, Ealing _ is the “best Sab-bath-loving suburb in London, while Bristol, Newcastle, and Plymouth are the most praiseworthy among provincial cities. “In Ealing,” said Mr Martin recently, “there are no Sunday games in the parks, no Sunday cinemas, and no dance halls flouting the Divine commandments. Wimbledon, Croydon, Ilford, and Bernet also come out well from the Sabbath point of view, but Ealing is an easy first. “The worst Sabbath-desecrating area in London is Lambeth. There Sunday trading is rampant, cinemas are open, and games are played in public open spaces. Rowland Hill’s old chapel in Blackfriar’s road is the scene every Sabbath afternoon of ghastly prize fights, which are attended by huge crowds, who watch men batter one another for money prizes. Sometimes purses as high as £4OO are _ offered. Church attendance in the district is appalling. _ . , “Richmond has, in our opinion, a Continental Sunday, as opppsed to what ive would call the English Sunday. Tottenham is steeped in secularism and Sabbath desecration, and Netting Hill, with its Sunday trading and Sunday street market, is turning the Lord s day into a day of merchandise.” _ “London’s Sunday,” Mr Martin continued, “is becoming Continentalised by the forces of commercialism; but, speaking generally, attempts to break down the distinct character of the English Sunday almost invariably arouse storms of opposition in the towns and cities of the provinces. The opposition to the Sunday opening of cinemas is_so strong in the .provinces that sixty-nine of the leading towns and cities have refused to allow Sunday cinemas opening on any condition whatever. “ Bristol is probably the most Sabbathobsefving city in the provinces. There the people have a quiet, reverend, English Sunday, and the religious forces are a real power. The same can be said of Newcastle and Plymouth. “Brighton is on the slippery slope so far as Sabbath observance is conforned. Southend is also bad. From Southend Pier to the Kursasl—almost a mile of front—on Sunday morning there is an almost indescribable babel of voices and pandemonium, caused by Sunday trading of all kinds. , “Blackpool, with its whirligig of Sunday pleasure and amusements, is regarded by many of its best townspeople to merit the term ‘ Black ’ Blackpool.” '