South London Pub Animal Street Art?

So here's a few street/public art animals to be found in South London pubs.

First up, never mind the famous cat model in Catford town centre, not far away on the south circular is 'The Pride of Catford' puss reaching down for a pint in the garden of the Blythe Hill Tavern (the mosaic mural is the work of Tamara Froud @mosaicallsorts, apparently inspired by the design for the Catford Beer Festival)

From the outside it's looks like a small traditional pub (which it is), but it also has a big space out of the back that is a great place to be on a sunny day/evening. The pub is a Campaign for Real Ale favourite on account of its beer selection (not to mention elderflower cider on tap) and on Thursday and Friday nights you can get a Van Dough pizza and eat it in the pub or garden.

 Thursday nights in the Blythe Hill Tavern also features an Irish music session. The pub has managed to retain its soul as an old school Irish bar while also catering for a broad cross section of the Catford population, old and new.

The car repair shop Mech-Weld next door the pub also has some interesting statues...

Incidentally Catford Beer Festival 2018 is on from 8 - 10 June at Catford Bridge Tavern

Another great pub in terms of outdoor space is The Fox on the Hill (formerly Fox under Hill) on Denmark Hill SE5, currently a Wetherspoon pub. It has big gardens at the front and the back, with lots of mature trees that make it feel quite rural even though you're just up the road from Camberwell. 

And yes the fox in question is extensively represented, including on a statue in front garden...

... and a stained glass window inside:

photo from Trip Advisor

Finally here's a magnificent stag on the side of the White Hart in Crystal Palace Road (Church Road SE19)

House of Covvens - New Moon opening at Harts Lane SE14

It was the opening night tonight of 'House of Covvens' at Harts Lane SE14 (the road next door to Sainsburys).

Conceived by artist Jodie Chinn, House of Covvens is  'an imagined political system based on empathy, inspired by ideas and practices found in Wicca, shamanism and the Riot Grrrl Movement...

From the new to the full moon (15th-29th May), ‘House of Covvens - South East London’ will create a space for local people to come together, reflect, tell stories and share ideas against the backdrop of the current social climate. It will be centred around a series of ten group discussions called ‘Covvens’, which, through their structure aim to create a non-hierarchical, communal exploration of ideas and social issues using both conversation and creativity'

The Harts Lane space was decorated with foliage gathered during a herbalist-led expedition to Nunhead Cemetery earlier in the day, and included a sound performance to mark tonight's New Moon from Chloe Owen - a soothing piece with synth tones, violin and singing bowl, felt like a sound bath after the day I'd had at work.

There will be discussions and more performances over the next two weeks, culminating with the full moon on the 29th. Further information at House of Covvens and on facebook

Interesting to see these ideas about radical witchcraft being considered again in a new context in what was once the South East London heartland of eco magic and the Dragon Environmental Network (whose main facilitator lived nearby in Pepys Road for some years).

A list of South East London Chartists

Chartist Ancestors is an excellent ongoing project aiming to document participants in the Chartist movement, arguably the first modern mass working class political movement in the UK, which fought to extend the vote  during the mid-19th century.  As part of its work, Chartist Ancestors makes freely available a databank (excel spreadsheet) which currently includes details of more than 14,000 people believed to have been supportive of the movement in one way or another. I have had a first look for South East London Chartists (searching under Deptford, Lewisham, Peckham, Old Kent Road, Camberwell, Greenwich).

The following are included because they subscribed to the Chartist National Land Company (1846-51). This was a largely ill-fated scheme which aimed to give industrial workers the chance to settle on the land and become small farmers - a side effect being that as landowners they would have the vote.

First name	Surname	Occupation	Address
Thos	Allchin	Engineer	3 Ann St Coburgh Rd Old Kent Rd
William	Batchelor	Gas Fitter	2 George Town Nr Deptford
Henry	Bigg	Cooper	Broadway, Deptford
Eliza	Booker	Mantua Maker	6 New Cottages Peckham Rye
Elizabeth	Booker	Mantua Maker	6 New Cottages Peckham Rye
Thomas	Daley	Labourer	39 Butchers Row Deptford
Frances	Danbridge	Sempstress	Elliott Sq Deptford
Elizabeth	Darling	no trade	17 George St New Town Deptford
Jacob	Durham	Labourer	Manor Farm Lee Deptford
Edmond	Earl	Labourer	Frenches Field, Deptford
Thomas	Elliott	Baker	Friendly Pla, Lewisham Rd, Greenwich
Walter	Frier	Engineer	6 Church St Deptford
Thomas	Gould	Shoemaker	3 Cornbury St Old Kent Rd Camberwell
Thomas	Grovenor	Labourer	25 New St Deptford
James	Guthrie	Labourer	1 New Court New St Deptford
Fred	Jeffrey	Labourer	3 Thomas St Old Kent Rd
Thomas	Jones	Basket Maker	53 New St, Deptford
Frederick	Leffevir	Cordwainer	3 Thomas St Old Kent Rd
John	Martin	Labourer	Black Horse Bridge Deptford
John	McCartney	Blacksmith	39 Butcher Row Deptford
Joseph	Morgan	Tallow Chandler	29 Butcher Lane Deptford
Benjamin	Munday	Wheelwright	7 Lucas St New Town Deptford
Edward	Murall	Cordwainer	Feversham Place Peckham
James	Newbery	Currier	3 Arms Pla, Old Kent Rd
Jabez	Nicholls	Labourer	2 Mason St Old Kent Rd
Frederick	Russell	Gardener	Avenue Rd Lewisham
John	Small	Cordwainer	11 Feversham Place Peckham
William	Small Jnr	Cordwainer	11 Feversham Place Peckham
William	Small Snr	Cordwainer	11 Feversham Place Peckham
James	Taylor Jnr	Labourer	25 New St Deptford
James	Taylor Snr	Labourer	25 New St Deptford
John	Thomas	Gardener	55 New St Deptford
John	Tinsley	Blacksmith	Lewisham Rd Greenwich
James	Wallage	Shoemaker	12 Castle St Old Kent Rd
Joseph	Weatherhead	Gardener	Church St Deptford
Robert	Wells	Clothier	Flagon Row Deptford
Letitia	Whiting	no trade	4 New Cott Peckham Rye
Henry	Whiting	Carpenter	4 New Cott Peckham Rye
George	Whittington	Miller	9 Avenue Sq Lewisham

Two Deptford Chartists are also identified as being on the General Committee of the 'Friend of the People' newspaper in 1869/70: James W Dean and Joseph Morgan. Although address details are not given it seems likely that this is the same Joseph Morgan listed above as a Tallow Chandler (candlemaker) living in Butcher Lane, Deptford.

See previous posts:

Deptford Chartist 'Riot' 1842

Deptford Chartist Church 1841

Chartist Meeting on Blackheath 1844