Women in Revolt at Tate Britain

'Women in Revolt! Art and Activism in the UK 1970-1990' at Tate Britain features a huge amount of archive material from different 1970s/80s feminist currents alongside the art works which taken together give a strong sense of the visual culture and politics of the period. 

Lots of South London content included, here's a few I spotted:

'Shrew - Women's Liberation Workshop' (1970)- I noticed on the cover that this copy was at one time held in 'The Fawcett Collection, temporarily at 67 Barry Road SE22'. The Fawcett Collection later became the Women's Library. Barry Road in East Dulwich just across the road from Peckham Rye, where as discussed here previously one of the first London Women's Liberation groups was formed, a group that was involved in the production of Shrew.

'In Print' - newsletter of Peckham Black Women's Group, at one point ran Peckham Black Women's Centre, 69 Bellenden Road SE15

Leaflet for a demonstration from Brockwell Park called by the Groce Family Support and Community Defence Campaign. Cherry Groce was shot and seriously injured by police during a raid on a house in Brixton in 1985, sparking off a riot.

'Defend the black community! fascists off the streets' - a leaflet mobilising for the anti-National Front demonstration in New Cross/Lewisham in August 1977, that became known as the Battle of Lewisham. Would like to see the back of this leaflet to see who produced it.

The exhibition includes issues of Rock Against Racism zine 'Temporary Hoarding', one of which features this picture of Adam and the Ants playing a RAR gig at Elephant and Castle'. This was at South Bank Poly (now Uni) on 17 June 1978.

Chain Reaction at the Market Tavern in Vauxhall, 1980s women only SM/fetish club 

 


Quite a few visitors delighted in spotting images of themselves or friends, or things they had been involved with and by the end I was doing the same with pictures from the Clause 28 demonstrations and copies of Shocking Pink zine which my friend Katy Watson was involved with and which was based for a while at the 121 Centre in Brixton.



The exhibition closes on 7 April 2024.

The Tidal Year

 

Freya Bromley's 'The Tidal Year: a memoir on grief, swimming and sisterhood' sees the author travelling around Britain's tidal pools in the aftermath of her brother's untimely death. Along the way she visits some of my favourite swimming spots including Walpole Bay in Margate, Clevedon Marine Lake (on the Severn Estuary) and Dancing Ledge in Dorset.

But her home turf swimming spot is Brockwell Park Lido, even through the swimming there does not always come easy: 'Getting in the lido felt like a punishment, which something inside me needed. Getting out felt like a rebirth, which everything inside me needed. I took short, sharp breaths as the water burned my ankles, thighs, stomach, then chest. Crying happens on an inhale, and swimming gives me that same breathless sensation. I swam three laps, then at the deep end screamed underwater. When I emerged, I couldn't stop crying. Witnessing someone having a breakdown in a public pool must be a good way to see British manners'.

Along the way friendships and romance play out against a backdrop of familiar South London landmarks. East Dulwich Picturehouse, the Prince of Wales in Brixton, Myatts Fields, Herne Hill market, the Camberwell Arms and the Silk Road restaurant (also in Camberwell) all feature, not to mention a first date checking out the Lime Kiln in Burgess Park.

We live in Brockley baby - Roy Ayers comes to London SE4

The latest mural in the Brockley area went up last week  [in 2016]. Staring out from the side of Sids Plumbing and Heating Supplies (corner of Brockley Road and St Margaret's Road) is a portrait of US jazz/funk legend Roy Ayers, surrounded by lyrics from probably his best known track, Everybody Loves the Sunshine. It was painted by artist Richard Wilson. There's no particular connection with Ayers and SE London as far as I know, I believe it's just a matter of Paul and Siobhan from Sids being big Ayers' fans.

Although he  did he do that track... 

'We live in Brockley baby

Our time is now

We gotta make it, baby...

We live in Brockley, baby'

😉😉

Update, January 2017:

Apparently Roy Ayers has played at least once in SE London - at the Albany in Deptford, I believe in April 1989. Anybody remember it?

Update, March 2025:

So Roy has left us... he graced South London with his presence a few times in recent years including playing at least three times in Brockwell Park I believe. I've also been told by somebody who was there that he featured in an episode of the 1983 TV programme Loose Ends, filmed at the Deptford Albany (so that would be two appearances there).

Cross the Tracks 2023

Cross the Tracks 2022

Sunfall festival 2017

Support St Christophers Hospice

Five years ago my good friend Katy Watson died in St Christophers Hospice in Sydenham. A plaque on a park bench in Brockwell Park remembers her as a writer, feminist activist and mother, to which I could add many other things including DJ and Brixtonite.

In her last days, St Christophers Hospice took good care of her and her family, as it does to around 2,000 dying patients a year. The sad fact is that if you live in South London long enough it is highly likely that one of your friends or relatives will pass through there. The care is provided free of charge, but they are dependent on charity fundraising.

Katy's sister Anna and daughter Orla are doing a sponsored walk next week to raise money for the hospice. Anna says:

'Way back in 2008 my sister, Katy Watson, died of lymphoma in St Christopher's Hospice. At the time her daughter Orla was 5 and her son Joe 18 months old.

To honour Katy and to help people who need hospice care in the future, Orla and I will walk 8 miles on 19 May. I hope you can encourage us be making a donation. Last time we did it, every mile we would calculate how much we had raised - good for morale and Orla's maths!'

To help St Christophers Hospice to continue to care why not go to Anna and Orla's Just Giving page and make a donation

Katy Watson, pictured in 1997

Update from Anna, 20 May 2013: 'The walk went really well yesterday: lovely sunshine but not too hot. We managed about 2 miles per hour and only had a short break for lunch (we had to beg Orla to let us stop -- she wanted to keep going!) Great atmosphere en route and only minor aches today. Thank you all!'. Including Gift Aid, Anna & Orla have raised over £1500 through this walk.

Becoming Nancy

Becoming Nancy (2012) by Terry Roland is a coming of age/coming out novel set in late 1970s East Dulwich, where the author himself grew up.

The main character, David Starr, is growing up gay, listening to Blondie and preparing to play Nancy in a school production of Oliver. This is a pre-gentrification East Dulwich, with social life centred around places like the 'Lordship Lane Working Men's Club' (presumably a fictionalised Dulwich Working Mans Club which was at 110a Lordship Lane until 2001) and the Crystal Palace Hotel where the mods hang out (the real pub being the Crystal Palace Tavern). Various lost shops get mentioned like Chelsea Girl in Peckham and Follett's record shop in Lordship Lane - in real life the author has recalled in respect of Kate Bush that 'when Wuthering Heights was number one, I ran all the way to Folletts record shop in East Dulwich to copy the lyrics down off the back of the album cover'.

One key chapter 'A Moment of Unity' is set in the 1979 Rock Against Racism carnival in Brixton: 'Brockwell Park is awash with punks, Rastas, hippies, students and all sorts of homosexuals, male and female, under a seemingly endless canvas of azure sky'.

There were actually two big Rock Against Racism events in Brockwell Park in this period - on 24th September 1978, the bands included Aswad, Sham 69, Misty In Roots and Elvis Costello and The Attractions.  A year later on September 2nd 1979 the line up was Aswad, Stiff Little Fingers and Verdict.

Jubilee parties and protests

So in case you haven't noticed it's the 60th anniversary of the Queen coming to the throne, with various jubilee events happening. Must say I can count on one hand the number of houses I have seen displaying union jacks, though a few pubs and shops have them up.

I was a kid in the Silver Jubilee 1977 and there did seem to be a bit more enthusiasm, though even then the pro-royal consensus was a bit of a myth - most famously The Sex Pistols had a massive hit with the incendiary 'God Save the Queen... she ain't no human being.. they've made you a moron'. The song was of course banned from the radio but I recall driving my mum mad singing 'No future for you'. Last weekend in Southwark Park, artist Rachael House staged Apathy's a Drag - recreating with model boats a related moment from 1977, when members of the Sex Pistols entourage were arrested during the Jubilee after playing a gig in a boat on the Thames.

Apathy's a Drag in Southwark Park
(picture by Controlled Weirdness)

This time round many people will no doubt join in street parties, but not sure that should be taken as a whole hearted endorsement of the future role of the monarchy. Other than just wanting an excuse to party, the main sentiments underlying this Jubilee seem to be nostalgia, retro kitsch and in some cases affection for an old celebrity called Elizabeth Windsor.

In Deptford there's a Jubilee Street Party from 2 pm on Saturday 2 June at The Old Tidemill School in  Frankham Street complete with Saxon Studio International Sound System and various bands including Bastion. They are at pains to point out that 'THIS IS NOT A LOYALIST EVENT - THIS IS A COMMUNITY EVENT CELEBRATING THE PEOPLE, ART AND MUSIC OF OUR COUNTRY - ONE AND ALL WELCOME'.

In New Cross there is a Jubilee Street party on Saturday in St James Road from 2 p to 6 pm, organised by New Cross Learning with St James School and The Hobgoblin pub.

There's also plenty of explicitly Anti-Jubilee stuff in South London. More than 500 people have signed up on facebook for a 'New Cross F**k the Jubilee Street Party' on Sunday afternoon - venue to be announced. A Never Mind the Jubilee picnic is also planned for Brockwell Park on Monday the 5th June.

And on the South Bank of the Thames by Tower Bridge, Republic are planning to stage the largest republican protest in living memory on Sunday 3rd June, timed to coincide with the Queen sailing by on her Thames pageant. The event will start at 12 noon, with the main focus being between 3 and 4 pm. Speakers will include Peter Tatchell, Joan Smith and Owen Jones. Meet by the 'Scoop' next to City Hall.

Of course it's not a proper Jubilee - the kind mentioned in The Bible involved freeing slaves and cancelling debts in a 50 year cycle. That would be more like it than an extra day's bank holiday.

Painting London - Matthew Baker

Painting London is an exhibition of paintings by Matthew Baker, opening this week at Le Garage, 115 Dulwich Road, Herne Hill, SE24 (4th to 12th May).

Nice picture of the changing rooms at Brockwell Park to get you going: