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This is the modern world that I've learnt about

This is the modern world we don't need no one

To tell us what's right or wrong

Paul John Weller.

I read somewhere that if you wanted to hide something precious you should hide it in the present because no one ​spends any time there. A fairly damning commentary on our lives but also, I think, somewhat ironic, as time is ​probably the most precious thing we have, and I’m not sure where we could hide it. St Augustine (354-430CE) ​believed time to be a "distention" of the mind by which we simultaneously grasp ‘the past in memory, the present ​by attention, and the future by expectation.’ Not a bad sound bite for a philosopher from the Latin Middle Ages, ​and albeit lacking - unsurprisingly- any mechanistic insight it could simply be taken to imply that time might be an ​illusion. But is it? And why does it have to go in the sequential order; past, present, future.

Let’s assume (for now) that we can agree it’s not an illusion. Then there are some fundamental ​concepts we should believe to be completely true.

Firstly, there isn’t a universal clock ticking out one set time, ​as we now know that time passes differently depending on ​motion and mass/gravity. Therefore, if you are in motion ​and/or standing on Earth, then time will tick by more slowly ​– relatively - for you than for someone at rest or in orbit ​around our planet. We can thank Albert E for that one. In ​other words, the faster we travel through space, the slower ​we travel through time – so-called, ‘time dilation’. But the ​impact of that will only easily be discernible at speeds ​approaching the speed of light and only when we are not in ​constant motion. Even so, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and ​Michael Collins will have aged just a little less upon their ​return to Earth, than those of us watching.

Secondly, whilst we can all agree that past events that we may have witnessed are readily discernible from the ​present – for example, children grow into adults and a dropped glass shatters with an obvious directionality – ​this doesn’t hold true at the level of fundamental particles. So, if you watched a video played backwards of such ​particles interacting, it simply wouldn’t be as funny as watching the reversed video of a cracked egg going back ​into its shell as used to open Cheryl Baker (from Bucks Fizz)’s late ’80s cookery show, ‘Eggs n Baker’.

Thirdly, as mentioned in ‘Firstly’, time is relative but because the speed ​of light is finite, this means there cannot be a universal ‘now’. With no ​universal present, there can’t be a universal past or universal future ​either. So, even if we could get a mobile signal to travel at the speed of ​light (although tbh I’d be happy sometimes to get one to travel at the ​speed of sound), and we called up a friend living a mere 3 light years ​away and asked them what they were doing tonight, that would be their ​tonight 3 years later in our time and they’d probably be out.

“Time is the longest distance between two places.”

― Tennessee Williams

Fourthly, although Isaac Newton, and I’m guessing most of us (albeit ​without having to prove it), believed time and space to be independent ​entities (enabling us to say e.g. “I’ll see you at Hadleyville at noon”) they ​are actually neither independent nor absolute. One recognition of their ​non-independence is that the vast expanses of the Universe are ​measured in units of time not distance, with the bonus of enabling ​accurate, four-dimensional, location using vectors. As an aside, this ​unifying of distance to units of time, although never going to be useful for ​in-car sat navs, is something we often do when, for example, we look back ​on our lives and say how we’ve come a long way. Here it’s likely that the ​distance we are talking about is time rather than miles.

Newton was aware of limitations to his ideas when he stated, “Gravity must be caused by an agent acting ​constantly according to certain laws; but whether this agent be material or immaterial, I have left to the ​consideration of my readers". Luckily, one of his (future) readers, Einstein, was able to make the corrections and ​fill the gaps through his description of spacetime as the stuff that shapes the universe through gravitational ​fields or as the physicist John Wheeler later put it more cutely: "matter tells spacetime how to curve, and curved ​spacetime tells matter how to move". So, imagine four of your friends stretching out a bedsheet onto which you ​toss a watermelon. Here the sheet is spacetime and the melon is matter. The melon causes the sheet to curve ​around where it lies and if you now toss an orange somewhere onto the sheet, it will move according to how the ​sheet has been curved, before itself causing curves in the sheet. Now imagine that for space and celestial bodies ​and using maths rather than words and you have it. Thus, gravity is the curvature of the universe, caused by ​massive bodies, which determines the path that objects travel and that curvature is dynamical, moving as those ​objects move. Einstein predicted that if two really big objects, let’s take black holes rather than extra large ​melons, collided they would cause such a disturbance in the fabric of spacetime that ripples of gravity, ​gravitational waves, would be established that would spread out from the collision site, decaying in amplitude as ​they drifted further outwards like ripples in a pond after e.g. a melon had been thrown into it. Albert thought ​we’d be far too far away on Earth from any such event (phew!) to be able to detect these tiny gravitational waves ​– so he’d have loved to have been around on February 11th 2016, when it was reported that such a wave had ​been detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) equipment, operated by the ​California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that can detect a signal one-​ten-thousandth the diameter of a proton (that’s 10^-19 meters). So, Einstein was right: space is different for ​different observers and time is different for different observers but spacetime is the same for everyone. Science, ​eh? Like magic, only real!

"Henceforth space by itself, and time by itself, are doomed to fade away into mere shadows, ​and only a union of the two will preserve an independent reality."

Hermann Minkowski (1864-1909)

A heads up on fifthly; it isn’t going to get any less strange. Time ​isn’t continuous like a flowing river but granular like a frog hopping ​between lilypads (very, very small hops, though). The smallest ‘hop ​time’ or quanta is known as Planck Time and, although, it’s much ​(much) shorter in duration than, for example, Hammer Time, it’s ​almost as odd. As such, time jumps between two states without ​passing through the intervening period. Quantum physics is only ​just warming up at this point. It’s understood that a particle can ​exist in a superposition of states, which means we can’t know ​where it is with any absolute certainty when we look for it. I guess, ​a bit like looking for your car keys when you’re in a hurry. But when ​the particle ‘drops out’ of its superposition of states, it only does ​so from the perspective of an observer. So, if we fire an electron at ​a screen and see it ‘hit’ the screen, the electron loses its ​indeterminacy and so only appears at a specific place on the ​screen when we observe it. Taking things further, since the canvas ​of spacetime is part of the Universe, then it, like a particle, must ​exist in several superposition states and so must also exhibit ​indeterminacy. So, as the electron and the screen you observe it ​on are part of a greater superposition of possible configurations, ​we can only predict probabilities for any measurement outcomes ​prior to any measurement. Very different to the natural ​deterministic world that we live in as Schrödinger’s cat would ​undoubtably testify if it were alive or dead – or even both.

Indeterminacy is the situation in which an object has a determinable property, but no determinate ​value for that determinable. Peter J Lewis

OK, so time lacks unity, direction, a universal present, independence, and continuity. Yeah, but apart from that, I ​hear you say, what is it? To answer that, we need something that we can hang a metaphysical hat upon that gives ​us some certainty in an uncertain universe. That something is the second law of thermodynamics, which is ​concerned with the direction of natural processes. Developed independently by Rudolf Clausius in Germany and ​Lord Kelvin in Scotland, this law states that a natural process can only run in one direction and is the ONLY ​physical law that is not reversible. The state of a natural system can be reversed but only by increasing the ​degree of disorder or uncertainty within the system’s surroundings such that the state of the system plus its ​surroundings cannot together be reversed. Thus entropy which this is, cannot be reversed and, if left to ​spontaneous evolution, isolated systems will move towards thermodynamic equilibrium where entropy is ​highest. In other words, entropy is the general trend of the universe toward death and disorder or, as Cheryl ​Baker might have put it, ‘You can’t unscramble an egg’. Anyone else feeling peckish? Well, hold on a second as ​here is where it gets really interesting.

The second law states that heat cannot pass from a cold body ​to a hot one and as it is the only law with a direction, this gives ​us the only valid description of a difference between the past ​and the future. Carlo Rovelli, the Italian theoretical physicist ​and writer has described this so eloquently when he says, “In ​the elementary equations of the world, the arrow of time ​appears only where there is heat. The link between time and ​heat is therefore fundamental: every time a difference is ​manifested between the past and the future, heat is involved. ​In every sequence of events that becomes absurd if projected ​backwards, there is something that is heating up.” But, what ​about time? It would seem, on the surface, that movement ​from an ordered system to a less ordered, random, one – ​entropy - might constitute a direction of time. Thus, the egg, ​pre-scramble, existed in an ordered, single configuration with ​its yolk lying within the albumen all surrounded by a shell and, ​post-scramble, we have a mixed-up egg existing in just one of ​many countless, random configurations. Entropy, right? BUT – ​who said the pre-scrambled egg was in an ordered ​configuration. We did, of course because we said the pre-​scrambled egg was particular, through our everyday need to ​limit ourselves to seeing things in certain ways; yolk, albumen, ​shell. Rovelli views this order, or particularity, arising only ​because we tend (need?) to see the world in a “blurred and ​approximate way”. In other words, what we thought particular ​may, in fact, be entirely random with the outcome being that ​every possible configuration of anything is particular.

It’s our ‘blurred’ vision then that gives rise to our misconception of what constitutes the past and the future. We ​can only ‘see’ the particular but all the countless other possibilities that must exist, but that we cannot see, ​constitute entropy. But if we could see them then entropy (and heat) would vanish, and with them so too would the ​difference between the past and the future. Simple really: the flow of time depends on the imprecision with which ​we see the world.

“Well, you have to be in the present moment, you can’t turn back time. The past is history, the ​future’s a mystery. Today’s a gift, that’s why they call it the present”

Tranmere boss Nigel Adkins paraphrases Grand Master Oogway from Kung Fu Panda.

But of course, time isn’t an illusion. I’ve only got to glance at my watch to ​know that. Instead, time should be considered a vital structural aspect of ​human existence / consciousness that arises from our inability to perceive ​things beyond a certain microscopic level. So, we have entropy and heat – ​and thus time – because of our way of engaging with our reality. ​Extrapolating this, that’s precisely why non-conscious things don’t need ​watches.

Looking at my watch it’s around 3pm and I’m heading, on foot, to North ​Ipswich to engage with the reality of Broomhill lido (pronounced ‘lee-do’, as ​Boz Scaggs kindly clarified). Broomhill lido (the term ‘lido’ deriving either ​from the Italian word for ‘beach’ (or ‘coastline’) or more specifically perhaps ​after the Northern Italian barrier island, Lido di Venezia), was part of the ​early 20th Century explosion of new outdoor pools across Britain to ‘bring ​the seaside to the city’ during a boom-time for construction when an ​optimistic national public works programme was being developed to create ​jobs and promote health. Outdoor swimming in ponds and lakes had been ​popular from the end of the 19th Century, and gained further popularity ​after the first woman, Gertrude Ederle, swam the English Channel in 1926. ​With a nation becoming obsessed with swimming, increasing concerns ​regarding the purity and safety of the water in the 1920s and 1930s inspired ​the creation of outdoor pools with concrete, tiled tanks, and water filtration ​systems and, during the 1930s, 169 lidos were built across the UK as ​recreational facilities by local councils. Indoor pools, at that time, had been ​gender segregated, but public lidos were deliberately mixed and so very ​quickly became synonymous with having a good time.

Lido, whoa, oh-oh-oh

He's for the money, he's for the show

Lido's a-waiting for the go

Lido, whoa, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh

"One more job oughta get it"

David Paich / William Scaggs

Broomhill lido occupies a space at the top of Sherrington Road in Ipswich IP1 4HT and I approach it cautiously ​through Broomhill Park. The lido has had a vibrant past, now has a derelict present but hopefully has a positive ​future. Only time will tell. Once a bustling open-air pool it now lies abandoned, neglected and in a state of ​disrepair and, at its lowest thermodynamic state, is a clear demonstration of entropy. Vegetation has begun to ​reclaim the land on which it was built with resulting mineral/vegetable hybrids at the transition zones between ​the trees, roots and grasses of Broomhill Park and the various buildings that make up the lido. Broomhill Open Air ​Swimming Pool (to give it its full, correct name) was designed by an Ipswich County-Borough Engineer and ​Surveyor, Edward McLauchlan, at a cost of £17,000 and was opened by the Mayor of Ipswich on Saturday, 30th ​April 1938. At 15ft, it was the (joint) deepest lido in Britain. The main pool was 50m long and 18m wide (55 x 20 ​yards in old money) and had 8 swimming lanes. To save you calculating it, that’s around 2.1 million litres of water. ​Diving from boards was also a thing back then and ‘bombing’ into the pool from height – preferably with some ​sort of in-air tumble - seemed to be an important part of the ‘fun and socialising’ and Broomhill had the (again, ​joint) highest outdoor diving boards in Britain at 2, 3, 4 and 5 metres plus a separate 1m springboard. There were ​changing facilities for 70 women and 108 men and a 700-seat grandstand for spectators and the area was floodlit ​both above and below the water. Importantly, for British climates, the water was heated to 70 degrees Fahrenheit ​(21 centigrade). Possibly the most critical part of any lido was its filter system and with just 3-hours required to ​clean its 2.1 million litres of water, Broomhill’s was one of the fastest in the country.

But, given my aversion to getting wet anywhere that isn’t a hot ​bath or a shower, it’s the clean, timeless, modernist style, ​reflecting the newly emerging industrial world with its embracing ​of minimalism and rejection of ornament that I’m mostly ​attracted to. Despite its present condition and despite the ​protective (and mostly opaque) fencing and boarding surround ​the site, it is possible to see glimpses of the reinforced concrete ​painted in neutral tones, the geometric forms with flat roofs, and ​the asymmetric compositions that typify this, so-called,​ Streamline Moderne, style of Art Deco architecture with its ​emphasis on function, simplicity, and rationality. It’s easy to see ​it functioning as an egalitarian ‘machine for living in’ and Le ​Corbusier would surely have approved.

By the 1960s, the rise in cheap holidays abroad, meant that more people could choose to enjoy outdoor ​swimming in warmer climes and the popularity of lidos declined, resulting in several closures. In addition, the ​1960 Wolfenden report, ‘Sport and the Community’ and the 1968 Sports Council report ‘Planning for Sport’ ​although generally positive advocates for local authorities to support sport, health, and exercise initiatives, can’t ​have helped the lidos with their recommendation that “as a general rule, [pools] should be indoors”. Broomhill ​bucked the trend for a while and at its peak, in the 1970s and 1980s, the lido would have had up to 2000 ​swimmers a day, particularly during heatwaves (including the 8-week heatwave in the summer of 1976, the ​hottest of the 20th Century) with around 50-60,000 people using the facility during its 100-day opening period. ​However, following a reduction in opening hours, health and safety restrictions (no more bombing) and an ​increasing lack of investment, people tended to stay away, and many lidos simply became uneconomic to repair ​and were steadily destroyed as councils turned their focus – and funding - to indoor leisure centres. Broomhill ​lido couldn’t escape these pressures forever and, despite gaining Grade II Listing in 2001 (with valuable support ​from the Twentieth Century Society), it closed in 2002. To reduce costs in face of increasing cuts from a ​government looking to make savings after the financial collapse of 2008, responsibility for lidos was shifted from ​local councils to charitable trusts and the Broomhill Pool Trust was soon established to ensure the lido was ​preserved for future generations. Working with Ipswich Borough Council, and the sports and leisure management ​organisation, Fusion Lifestyle, a successful £6.8m bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2015 with a further £3.3m ​contribution from the Council, enabled a planning application for restoration and re-opening to be approved in ​2017. Work on the site was paused in 2020 due to the pandemic but is expected to restart in 2025 with the listed ​diving-boards being restored to their former glory, but only the lower ones to be used due to safety reasons. ​However, the water is expected to be heated to a more-tempting 26 degrees Centigrade and there is every ​possibility that the first swimmers will be taking the plunge in 2026. Will I join them … only time will tell.

So, perhaps St Augustine’s definition of time as a ​‘distension’ of the mind whereby ‘the past in ​memory, the present by attention, and the future ​by expectation’ isn’t so far from the truth after all ​and we’d all probably benefit from spending a bit ​more time paying attention to and enjoying the ​present.

What goes around, goes around, goes around

Comes all the way back around

What goes around, goes around, goes around

Comes all the way back around, yeah

Hills / Timberlake / Mosley

From Hansard 07 February 1968 vol 288 cc1138-263

Lords Sitting 2.45 p.m.

LORD WILLIS rose to call attention to British Sport and to the work of the Sports Council; and to move for ​Papers. The noble Lord said:

... Long before man invented the wheel he invented the ball, and he has been hitting, kicking, throwing and ​catching it—and cursing it—ever since. As the wheel took over and society became more mechanised, man ​recognised that the ball, be it large, small, round or oval in shape, was more than ever important to him; ​and with the fiendish ingenuity of which only the human species is capable he devised devilish games with ​incomprehensible rules as a kind of relaxation from the tasks that the wheel and all that flowed from it ​imposed upon him. Seriously, my Lords, it provides a balance. It puts work in proper perspective; it confirms ​that life is something to be enjoyed and that work is only a means, an important means, for that enjoyment. ​Man long ago learned (and it is something we ought to remember in these days when we are all talking ​about economic crises) that work and recreation are two sides of the same coin, and that the work goes ​better to the extent that man enjoys his leisure and spends it usefully in enjoying himself. …

Prem Kumar

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Modern Times.

In this collection of photoessays, I aim to capture certain ​aspects of modern culture as seen through a lens shaped ​either by Apple, Fujifilm and/or my own perspective.

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