Wednesday, May 30, 2018

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)






Tuesday, May 15, 2018

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).

Friday, May 11, 2018

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: