Socialism and Green Spaces: William Morris’s Walthamstow

By Peter Turner
‘Have you ever wondered why there’s so much suffering in the world?’ asked the suited young man.
‘Please read one of the leaflets’, said his partner. ‘It will explain everything’.
I had to admire their dedication. Hardly a cloud disturbed the azure of this warm Saturday morning, and London seemed to have slipped quite effortlessly into the guise of a much more Southern city. Yet in the late morning heat these two young men were patrolling Forest Road, the major traffic artery through Walthamstow in the city’s North East corner.
The leaflet said ‘All suffering SOON TO END!’ Bene...