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Mad Pride sticker on Bethlem car park sign |
Friday, August 05, 2022
Bethlem Museum of the Mind/Bethlem Gallery
Tuesday, August 02, 2022
'F*ck Covid Hoaxers'
Saturday, July 30, 2022
Telegraph Hill Park Sunset, July 2022
Thursday, July 28, 2022
Just call me angel of the morning
Tuesday, July 26, 2022
Funky Munky in Camberwell
Looking back through flyers for nights out which seem like only yesterday but were in fact more than 20 years ago. Remember when what is now the Stormbird at 25 Camberwell Church Street was the Funky Munky? A diary entry from April 2000 recalls a packed night with DJs playing Kelis, Mantronix and Soul II Soul, and a late night coffee at Tadims just down the road. I DJd there myself once, upstairs at a friend's birthday party. I also remember another night around that time, I think during Camberwell Arts Festival, when they had a street party next to the bar in Artichoke Place.
This flyer is from 2000 for 'Funky Vista Social Club'.
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Bar photo from Yelp |
Saturday, July 23, 2022
Abdul K. Kpakpa-Quartey: a Pan Africanist in 1920s Borough High Street
Recently I was browsing through the 1922 Post Office Directory in Southwark Archives, just looking at what was on Borough High Street one hundred years ago. One entry that caught my eye was for number 169 Borough High Street, listed as the address for three organisations: the Gold Coast National Aid Society, the Inter-African Moslem Association and the Ethiopian Society for Psychical Research. The secretary of all three organisations was said to be one Abdul K. Kpakpa-Quartey.
Clearly there was a link with the Gold Coast (now Ghana), but the other organisations suggested a wider pan-African interest of the kind associated at the time with Marcus Garvey for whom 'Ethiopian' sometimes conveyed a sense of Africa as a whole rather than just the country itself. As explored here before Garvey himself stayed for a while on Borough High Street (numbers 71 and 176) just before the First World War.
As for the psychical research angle, that sounds fascinating - the name presumably inspired by the Society for Psychical Research founded in Britain in 1882 to investigate all things paranormal. Sadly I haven't been able to find anything out about the Ethiopian version, but I have found a bit more about Kpakpa-Quartey.
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169 Borough High Street today (building on right) |
He seems to have been a merchant from the Gold Coast/Ghana who settled in England from the 1920s to at least the 1950s. And he strongly opposed racism internationally, possibly with a link with Garvey's movement. In an an article published in the Islamic Review, May 1921, Professor Abdul Karim Kpakpa-Quartey writes:
'To-day in Christian America the God-created black man, notwithstanding his Christian affiliations, intelligence or social prominence, is a slave and a serf, perhaps worse than in the dramatic days of the world- famed Uncle Tom's Cabin. He or she is still liable to be brutally flogged, kicked, knocked, imprisoned, shot dead or lynched at the will and pleasure of the bloodthirsty and savage American Tin God. Can you imagine the striking contrast between Caucasian Christianity and Islam, the religion of humanity? So utterly preposterous and absurd and scientifically illogical is color prejudice that I will not waste time in controversy'
It seems likely that this was the same person who wrote a letter to Garvey's Negro World paper in 1921 complaining of the treatment of unemployed Somali seamen in England; the letter of 22/10/1921 was signed by 'Prof. Karim Abdul Kpakpa-Quartey' of the African Association [Source].
What Abdul traded in is unclear. At one time he was involved in a business partnership called United States Inter-Allied Commercial Syndicate, described as 'Export and Import Brokers, Merchants and Shipping Agents'. At the time of its dissolution in 1923 his address is given as 91 Altenburg Gardens, Clapham Junction (London Gazette, 12 January 1923)
Marcus Garvey's United Negro Improvement Association was a transnational organisation aiming to link black people across the world, with part of its platform being to assist a return to Africa for the descendants of slaves. Famously he attempted to establish a Black Star Line of ships to make this a reality. So Garvey would not doubt have been interested in linking with African shipping merchants with a similar perspective.
Intriguingly another merchant from the Gold Coast with a similar name is recorded as speaking at a UNIA meeting in New York's Liberty Hall in 1919. This was Sam. G. Kpakpa-Quartey - was he a relative? His connection with the movement was a concern to the British authorities who wished to counter Black nationalist/Pan-Africanist influence in its colonies, whether in the West Indies or West Africa. Indeed this Kpakpa-Quartey is mentioned in a 1922 letter from Winston Churchill, then colonial secretary, concerning Garvey and the Black Star Line (source).
As might be expected of an African traveller, the main official records I have found on Abdul K. Kpakpa-Quartey are on passenger lists maintained by immigration authorities. A 1950 record has him travelling from Liverpool to Freetown, Sierrra Leone, while another from December 1956 records him boarding a Spanish ship in London heading to Las Palmas, Canary Isles.. His date of birth is given as 15/6/1895 and his address as 61 Albert Street, Newark, Notts. The Liverpool connection is interesting as another African organisation, the Native Union of Empire Africans, was founded there in 1935 by one A.J. Kpakpa-Quartey (source).
A 1950s consular marriage record from Dakar, Senegal indicates that he married Flora Gabbidon who, as Flora Irene Kpakpa-Quartey (dob 10/4/1919), travelled from Liverpool to Takoradi (Ghana) in 1958 with her son Matthew Ibrahim born 1952 (source: Findmypast).
That's all I know but I am sure there must be some more of his writings out there in yet to be digitised journals as judging by his Borough High Street office he was a very busy man. Today there are many people of Ghanaian heritage living in London so perhaps there might some interest in this Ghanaian activist from a century ago.
Sunday, July 17, 2022
Telegraph Hill Welcomes Refugees
Saturday, July 16, 2022
MDC and Flipper - American Punk at the New Cross Inn
Friday, July 15, 2022
Celebrating Sanctuary at the Horniman Museum
Monday, July 11, 2022
Music Monday: Carmody 'Imperfect Constellations'
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Imperfect Constellations |
'‘Well’ was written as an attempt to describe the feeling of grief. I said to a friend that I often feel as if I’m at the bottom of a well, surrounded by darkness, but I can see a pinpoint of light above my head, it just feels out of reach. And between these bouts of sadness is the feeling that the world is constant and continuing, no matter anyone’s personal loss. I wrote the track with Tom Misch and the chords he came up with were perfect for the sorrowful feel of the music'.
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
Brixton Hill Clinic Defence Campaign - defeating anti-abortionists in 1990
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Invite to a meeting to 'Organise Against Operation Rescue' at Lambeth Town Hall, July 1990 |
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A report on the campaign from Workers Power, July 1990 |
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A letter from the campaign from City Limits magazine, 2 September 1990 |
Sunday, June 26, 2022
Save South London Buses (12, 45, 78, 521)
Transport for London is currently consulting on major cuts to London bus routes, including in South London scrapping the 12, 45, 78 and 521.
A 'Save Southwark Buses' petition has been launched which argues:
'The 12, 45, 78 and 521 provide essential routes for Southwark residents without access to the tube or overground. It is vital that the most vulnerable passengers and those on the lowest incomes can get to work, school or access key services across the borough and beyond. An efficient public transport system is also vital to cleaning up the borough’s air, ensuring that residents have a viable alternative to car use.
It is disgraceful that the Government has cut TfL’s funding by £600m and has demanded that TfL makes service cuts and increase prices for the funding to survive the Covid pandemic. These cuts to services have been forced on TfL and will only serve to level London down, ensuring that those without a car will struggle to get around the capital. Hard pressed families will have to make more difficult and costly journeys...
It will have a devastating impact on areas such as Camberwell, Peckham and Dulwich on the number 12 route. The loss of the 45 route will impact on areas of Walworth with the lowest levels of car ownership in Southwark. On the 78 route it will impact and isolate areas of Nunhead, South Bermondsey and .along the Old Kent Road. For the most vulnerable living and visiting London Bridge and St George’s that rely on the 521 route, the cuts will be badly felt'.
I frequently get the 78, which goes from Nunhead to Shoreditch via Peckham and Tower Bridge and it is pretty obvious that what is being proposed as an alternative is going to be a significantly poorer service. Without the 78 you would have to get at least two buses, relying on the often overcrowded P12 to get from Nunhead to Peckham and then change. What's more the P12 is less frequent than the 78, it starts later, finishes earlier and doesn't serve the last stop of the 78 in St Mary's Road.
You can respond to the TfL consultation here until 12 July 2022, but the real power to prevent these cuts sits with the Government.
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Nouveau Quiche - a co-operative restaurant in 1980s New Cross
Thursday, June 09, 2022
'You and Me' - TV drama filming at Skehans
Lots of filming going on this week around Telegraph Hill locations for new ITV drama series 'You and Me', including at Skehans pub SE14 where one of the characters is seen getting into a black cab and heading off down Gellatly Road. The Hill Station Cafe has also been used. The series, with Russell T Davies as Executive Producer, is due to be broadcast in 2023.
Wednesday, June 08, 2022
'I hate to see your heartbreak'
Sunday, June 05, 2022
Echoes of Ukraine invasion at Peter the Great statue
Anti Putin graffiti and Ukrainian flag stickers on the Peter the Great statue at Millennium Quay in Deptford. The statue was built with the support of the Russian embassy in, shall we say, different times.
Friday, June 03, 2022
Lewisham Sound Systems Trail
Wednesday, June 01, 2022
Nunhead Cemetery Open Day 2022
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
The Peanut Factory: squatting in South London in the 1970s
I really enjoyed reading 'The Peanut Factory' by Deborah Price (Guts Publishing, 2022), her memoir of life in South London squats in the 1970s and early 80s - and specifically the scene in the Crystal Palace/Norwood area. Must admit that despite myself being a Brixton squatter later in the 80s I had no idea how much squatting there was around that nearby part of London. But this was in a period when there were plentiful empty private and council homes for people to live in if they could cope with disrepair and no hot water.
She particularly mentions a triangle of streets lower down Gypsy Hill where many of the houses were squatted and a warehouse known as the Peanut Factory became an informal community centre: 'There was big rockabilly scene down at the squats, with King Kurt and other fledgling bands, and a lot of quiffs and hair-gel. Parties happened every weekend. It was amazing how many people could cram into a small Victorian terrace'.
People living round Upper Norwood will appreciate some of the hyperlocal detail, including memories of working in local pubs, the zoo and Crystal Palace Adventure Playground. But there is a lot here for anyone interested in alternative scenes in London and their cultural history.
Price really evokes this time through her relationships with a shifting cast of friends, lovers and flat mates. There is freedom and affordable living, but also addiction and sexual abuse.
Price moves through the sub cultures of the time, leaving aside her former hippy clothes and records to enthusiastically embrace punk and then moving on to clubbing at places like the Fridge in Brixton, the WAG and Le Beat Route: 'Getting dressed up and partying was a living protest against cuts and poverty. It was fingers up to the Government'. Sometimes cultural/music historians treat these scenes as a succession of completely distinct moments, when the fact is it was sometimes the same people involved just changing their clothes.
The Fridge is probably best remembered now for its long term location at the bottom of Brixton Hill, now home of Electric Brixton. But for a couple of years in the early 1980s it was above the Iceland store on Brixton Road. Price remembers it at that time as being 'glittering white, decorated with lots of fake ice stalagmites and stalactites... lit up with silver and blue lights to get a cold icy backdrop' (I went there once to see Rubella Ballet). She also recalls regularly getting her cut at one of the famous gay squats on Railton Road.
The author is giving a talk at the Bookseller Crown bookshop in Crystal Palace on 26th May 2022, details here.
Monday, May 23, 2022
Music Monday: Naima Bock - 'Toll'
Naima Bock was the co-founder and bassist with Goat Girl, but has left the band to pursue a solo career. Her debut album is due out on Sub Pop on 1 July 2022. Naima spent her childhood between Britain and Brazil and indeed has just completed a tour of Europe supporting Brazilian singer Rodrigo Amarante. But her London years have been very much SE London, in fact she lived in my SE14 street for years and went to Edmund Waller school.
Monday, May 16, 2022
Music Monday: Belle & Sebastian video on Ladywell Fields
The music video for the latest Belle and Sebastian single “Talk To Me Talk To Me” features scenes shot in and around Ladywell Fields.
The video was written and directed by 15-year-old south London siblings Freya and Rosalie Salkeld. According to singer Stuart Murdoch, “we put out an open call to filmmakers who would be interested in making something for the existing budget, requesting an image encapsulating their idea and a 100-word pitch. The directors’ mother got in touch saying her daughters are fans of the group and keen filmmakers, and they sent in a treatment that we loved. They co-wrote and co-directed it, and got a bunch of their friends involved, and made a fresh and funny take on the song.”
The Salkeld siblings added, “Our idea had come from photos we’d taken of our friends for art projects. Casting mates we’d recently seen in a school drama production was really fun — filming them was even better!”
I believe the school that features in some scenes is Kingsdale in West Dulwich.
Sunday, May 15, 2022
Airship over Nunhead
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Reweirding: Lost Landscape and Found Lore
A packed Amersham Arms in New Cross last month for the first of a series of 'Reweirding' events there. The theme for March was for 'Reweirding London: Authors on the Secret City', with interesting talks from Caitlin Davies on female crime, Lara Maiklem on mudlarking on the Thames shore and Tom Chivers on 'London Clay: Journeys in the Deep City' (pictured below left holding his underground London map with host Scott Wood).
The next event, 'Reweirding: Lost Landscape and Found Lore', takes place on Thursday 28 April 2022, 7 pm:
'Discover what remains of south London’s Great North Wood and revel in the revival of the Deptford Jack in the Green mayday celebration. Complementary verdant short films from Video Strolls.
C.J. Schüler, author of The Wood That Built London, charts the fortunes of the North Wood from its earliest times: its ecology, ownership, management, and the gradual encroachment of the metropolis.
The Fowlers Troop Jack in the Green was revived by members of Blackheath Morris Men and friends in the early 1980s. It is a revival of a Jack in the Green from the late 19th/early 20th century which was taken out around Deptford, South East London on May Day by the original Fowlers Troop.
Sarah Crofts tells the tale of the Deptford Jack-in-the-Green and presents David Aylward’s film of the 2006 procession. Artist Sarah Sparkes demonstrates, with some help, with shadow puppets'.
(further details and tickets here).
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David Aylward with the Deptford Jack in the Green |