Money for Dunblane
I AM seldom to be seen in the Hope and Anchor pub in Poplar, which may be why no one has rattled a collecting tin under my nose and asked for money for Dun- blane. That is just as well, for it is a popu- lar cause. Footballers are playing matches for it. When the Hope and Anchor's collec- tion (and the manager) went missing, the residents of the Costa del Sol started rais- ing money to replace it. I do not impugn their generosity, but I think it misplaced. There seems to be a human instinct to pile up money, like flowers, at the scene of a disaster — but of course there are losses that money cannot touch. One such loss befell the mining village of Aberfan, when a spoil heap slid down a hill and crushed a school. An Aberfan Fund was raised, fol- lowed as night follows day by bitter argu- ment about what should be done with it. A princess suggested sending toys to Aberfan. At least Dunblane has been spared that.
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