
Despite it’s controversial history and, some might argue, “dodgy” financial underpinning, I can’t help but admire Greenwich. It’s a part of London relatively untouched by the progress of time; where the city-at-large surrounding it has left it be, as a kind of comforting “nod” back to its imperial glory.
These days, of course, it’s not the done thing to refer to the British Empire as glorious. Oh no, that’s far, far too politically incorrect. Instead, we must loosely use in reference words such as “enslaving”, “pillaging”, “disempowering” and, simply, “colonising”.
Such are the mists of time, allowing us now to moralise on a spirit of adventure and exploration, taking for granted that the world is now known, the risk of travel is small and our collective enlightenment a “given”.
Yet I pause for thought when considering the next leap into the unknown – space, and what harvests me may assume ours to take and do with as we please.
If ever there was a time to unify people towards common goals, for the betterment of us all, now is it.