London's Bicentennial (Snippet 14)

   Usually these snippets are about old news relating to London. Here are a few minor snippets that are more current. 

One Small Slice For Mankind
   A while back, I noted the closing of London's cricket plant, (see, "Olde Posts Addenda (5)). More recently there was better news on the food front:
  "London-based Company Using A.I. Pizza Machine to Serve Up Fresh Slices," Lauren Stallone, CTV News, April 29, 2026.
   "Appetronix, an automation company in London, is using AI driven dispensing technology to create the ultimate comfort food.“What we have behind us is our fully autonomous robotic pizza making machine,” said Ray Schott, co-founder of Appetronix.The first of its kind, the unique machine was designed to bring freshly made food to places where it is not always available."
   More importantly, it is nice to have some news about A.I. that is benign rather than threatening. For a good example of the latter see this piece which relates to the potential harm that A.I. may do to the children, before it gets around to destroying the rest of us: 
   "What Will It Take to Get A.I. Out of Schools?:The tech world assumes that A.I.-aided education is necessary and inevitable. A growing number of parents, educators, and cognitive scientists say the opposite, Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, April 23, 2026. It begins this way:
   "I don’t like A.I., and I am raising my children not to like it. I’ve been telling them for years now that chatbots are manipulative and dangerous, that A.I. image generators are loosening our collective grip on reality, that large language models are built atop industrial-scale intellectual-property theft. At times, I find myself speaking with my kids about A.I. in the same terms that we might discuss a creepy neighbor who lives down the block: avoid eye contact, cross the street when you walk past his house, and, when in doubt, call on a trusted adult....Somehow, I was not prepared for the creepy neighbor to start hanging around my kids’ schools; somehow, I thought we had until high school."

More London Tidbits

Forest City Facts
   Local citizens will be able to get London information from sources more creditable than Mulcahy's Miscellany. According to the article above, "The project will feature 200 short historical facts displayed along the Thames Valley Parkway, in green spaces, community centres and at events throughout the city during the bicentennial year." The complete article is found in the London Free Press, May 14, 2026.
   Many of the facts and placards have already been produced and about 200 are expected by the end of the bicentennial year. So far, MM has provided fourteen snippets and more are planned. I will continue to search for some and hope they supplement, rather than duplicate the ones found on the Forest City placards. 

  The London & Middlesex Historical Society is one of the groups involved in this project and a member of the Society, Dan Brock, is publishing a new book with the title: Chronological Saga of The London and Middlesex Historical Society: 125 Amazing Years. For more information, see the website of the LMHS.

The Forest City

 

From the London Free Press, Dec. 29, 2008

  Sixteen years ago we were away for the Christmas holiday when this very large tree fell and I am sure it made a sound. The neighbour in the house, to the left of the trunk and on whose property it stood, called to tell us and said, "Don't worry, there was not much damage." I figured she was fibbing since it was a very large tree almost directly in front of our house, the one with the blue porch. I came home quickly and was quickly relieved. The damage that was done, was not major, and affected our other neighbour who lives in the house with the green roof. Had the tree fallen less diagonally, our old house could have been destroyed, even though it is a brick one. This picture from Google Street View offers a different perspective. The earliest Google view I could find was, unfortunately, the year after the falling of the big maple.

It is a good thing we weren't home because our car would have been crushed.

About the 'Forest City'
   London is often referred to as the "Forest City." The origin of the moniker is explained in the letter from Dan Brock, a local historian, found in the London Free Press on March 30, 2024:

"I'm still amused upon hearing London called the Forest City, because of its trees.
Historically, the early setters pointed to the forks of the Thames and made some disparaging remark about Lt.-Gov. John Simcoe's plans for the provincial capital to be laid out here, to be reached only on foot, by elm bark canoe, or Montgolfier's balloon.
This ridiculing of London continued after its founding in 1826, while efforts were made to rid the town plot of every tree.
By the early 1850s, however, Londoners came to take pride that they lived in "the city in the forest."
On Jan. 24, 1856, The Free Press had an oblique reference to "this city of the forest" and on Feb. 9, 1857, Forest City Lodge, No. 38, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows was established.
By this time, the nickname the Forest City had become synonymous with London. A once-derogatory epithet had now become a source of pride."
  
In recent years, many have questioned if London is still a Forest City, although the LEDC contends that:
"No matter where you live, one thing you’ll appreciate about London is the balance it offers between city and nature. Nicknamed the Forest City for its more than seven million trees, London offers tree-lined streets, 470+ parks and open spaces, and over 330 kilometres of walking and biking trails." 
Many trees in our "Old South" area have been lost to the Emerald Ash Borer, old age, or to construction, but Elmwood Avenue was certainly canopied by trees when we moved to Wortley Village. Here is an old photograph of it:

Many of those trees are gone, but the beautiful Arthur Stringer house still stands tall. For a picture of it and the trees click the link in the sentence above. 
Many businesses in London use "Forest City" in their names as does the Japanese restaurant in Wortley Village - "Mori", which means forest in Japanese.