George Orwell’s son Richard Blair came to the Spike and gave a talk on life with his father on the Isle of Jura where 1984 was written. The talk was followed by a three course lunch and the chance to ask Richard questions about his life and what it means to be the son of such an iconic author.
When Richard first came to visit the Spike he was very taken by the story it has to tell. His father also found life in the Casual Ward fascinating and worth including both in essays and in Down and Out in Paris and London.
Eric Blair, an authoritative advocate of socialism, under the pen name of Orwell, wrote volumes for the ‘common man’, witnessing the growing gulf between the classes. He experienced the true life of a tramp by purposefully living as one, staying in spikes in London and the Home Counties.
His essay “The Spike” (leading to the memoir “Down and out in Paris and London”) gives leniency to the underclasses poignantly noting the brevity of the journey from wealth to rags.
