1985 Handsworth riots 1500 police officers drafted into the area, about 45 shops looted and burnt, and a trail of damage running into hundreds of thousands of pounds. As well as racial tension, unemployment was seen as a major factor in the riots; by the time of the riots, fewer than 5% of the black population to have left school that summer had found employment. The riots were the first of a series of similar riots across the country during the autumn of 1985, notably the Broadwater Farm riot in London which also resulted in a fatality (the murder of policeman Keith Blakelock).
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly was an old lady who swallowed a bird; <br>How absurd to swallow a bird! There was an old lady who swallowed a cat; <br>Imagine that! She swallowed a cat! There was an old lady that swallowed a dog; <br>What a hog, to swallow a dog! There was an old lady who swallowed a goat; <br>She just opened her throat and swallowed a goat! There was an old lady who swallowed a cow; <br>I don't know how she swallowed a cow! There was an old lady who swallowed a horse; There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly There Was