Eclipse 2026 in Telegraph Hill Park

The partial solar eclipse was a joyous occasion. Telegraph Hill Park (top park, pictured) in New Cross was packed with thousands of people, with sun (and moon) worshippers streaming towards it by foot and bike from all directions. It often gets crowded on New Year's Eve, and is generally busy on summer evenings, but I suspect this was the biggest ever crowd in the park.

After staying there for a while I made my way to Goose Green in East Dulwich where my T'ai chi class gathered on the grass in the strange light with a variety of  contraptions to safely look up at the heavens

What could be more natural, and simple, than gathering outside under the sky with a crowd of fellow humans (and some rather confused birds). A crowd of equals, sharing their home made tools.

Must admit I mocked the colander trick for projecting images onto paper but it worked! 

Goose Green

'You and Me' - South London ITV Drama

'You and Me', first broadcast on ITV in February 2023, is a romantic drama series shot pretty much entirely in South London. It opens with a shot of Telegraph Hill Park, a location that features in many key scenes (top and bottom parts of park), then the set up scene is in Deptford High Street at a bus stop that isn't really there.  There are scenes inside and outside Skehans pub and the Hill Station Cafe, Kitto Road SE14, on the rainbow bridge in Avignon Road SE4, not to mention Peckham Levels, The Trafalgar pub in Greenwich, Brockwell Park Lido and the Bridge Theatre by Tower Bridge. 

The series starts Harry Lawtey, Jessica Barden, Sophia Brown and Julie Hesmondhalgh.

I actually saw them filming some of this back in June 2022, bit disappointed not to feature in the scene where he jumps in cab outside Skehans as it drove past me! 

Film crew opposite Skehans, June 2022

Ben and Emma discover that they live in Telegraph Hill:

Autumn in Telegraph Hill Park

Autumn has finally come, a cherry tree down in Telegraph Hill upper park (Kitto Road SE14) in a storm last week. Some suggested struck by lightning in a storm, others that the wind alone did the damage.

Twilight skyline watchers

 

Telegraph Hill Park Sunset, July 2022

 

Vigil to remember victims of patriarchal violence - Telegraph Hill Park

There was a vigil in Telegraph Hill Upper Park last night (20th March 2021) 'to remember victims of patriarchal violence' . A list of women killed by men stretched across the ground ending in Sarah Everard,  recently killed while walking home in Clapham.

Those present read out the following together: 

'We lay down flowers and light candles to hold our sisters in our thoughts, to remind us to love and protect one another, may they rest in peace and power'

'In the last year 1300 Lewisham women were referred to domestic violence services'

Nearby on the railway bridge on Avignon Road a roadside 'Stop femicides' memorial has been pasted on the walls by Feminist Collages, with names of murdered women.

Spotted this freshly decorated barge on the canal by Hackney Marshes last week:

Black Lives Matter in South London- 2 months on

Two months after the police killing of George Floyd in  Minneapolis on May 25th, the global wave of  Black Lives Matters protests continues to make an impact around the world. This is a quick overview of the last eight weeks in South London, where the current phase of the Black Lives Matter movement in the UK started in Peckham on 30 May 2020 with hundreds of people marching across the Common and down Rye Lane.

Peckham Rye, 30 May 2020 (photo by @katyG_LSL)

Probably the largest demonstration so far took place a week later on Sunday 7 June, with a huge crowd gathering by the American Embassy in Battersea before crossing over Vauxhall Bridge and marching on to Whitehall. It was one of the biggest demonstrations seen in London in recent years, perhaps in the region of 50,000 or more.  On the way there I saw streams of people walking towards it from different parts of London due to the limited Covid 19 public transport. 

Vauxhall Bridge, 7 June 2020

A feature of the protests has been the wearing of face masks and the predominance of home made cardboard placards, well everybody seems to have a cardboard box to hand in these days of endless deliveries due to shop closures. But there were some banners to be seen, and I was pleased to see a proud Millwall anti-fascists banner at Vauxhall.

Millwall anti-fascists, Vauxhall Bridge

It seems that most local parks and public spaces have had some kind of Black Lives Matter gathering, usually 100-200 people taking the knee - a sign of the reach of the movement beyond the usual places where protest happens. I mean it's not every day (or decade for the that matter) that there is a protest in Hilly Fields or Telegraph Hill Park.

Lewisham Police Station, 3 June 2020 (photo by Mark Thompson)

Hilly Fields, 13 June 2020
(photo by Melissa Jacques full report at EastLondonLines)

Burgess Park, 14 June 2020

Ladywell Fields, 27 June (photo from SUTR)

Telegraph Hill Park, 4 July 2020 (photo from @avocadamn)

Protests have also taken place in Mountsfield Park (Catford) and outside the Deptford Lounge, among other places.

Firefighters take the knee at Lewisham Fire Station (photo from @itslukecharles, 3 June 2020)

Black Lives Matters signs can be seen in many local houses, following the recent trend for NHS rainbow window signs. Here's a few examples from around SE14.

There's also some BLM/anti-racist street art and graffiti. 

'Black Lives Matter', Waldram Park Road, Forest Hill

'Fight racism, build unity' - Thames path, Greenwich peninsula

'Racists still not welcome' - Thames path, Greenwich peninsula

What will happen next remains to be seen, in terms of  public protests all movements have ebbs and flows in their momentum. But away from the streets, this phase has kicked of a widespread questioning in workplaces, homes, sports clubs etc. There is a sense that something has to change and that is not going away. 

See also:

Black Lives Matter in Croydon

Black Lives Matter at Telegraph Hill Park

More local Black History:

The New Cross Fire 1981

Resisting the National Front 1980

The Battle of Lewisham 1977

Police raid New Cross Blues Dance 1975

Forest Hill 'Colour Bar Pub' 1965

Deptford Colour Bar 1958

Anti Slavery Meeting at Elephant & Castle 1863

Black Lives Matter at Telegraph Hill Park

The railings around Telegraph Hill lower park in New Cross - specifically on Erlanger Road and Kitto Road SE14 - currently feature cardboard placards from the latest phase of the Black Lives Matter movement that has exploded worldwide following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

It's not just in the USA that people of colour have died at the hands of the state, which is why the movement has gained such global traction. A whole section of the fence in Erlanger Road includes placards each with the name of somebody who has suffered in Britain.

The names include, among others,  South London reggae MC Smiley Culture who died in disputed circumstances in a 2011 police raid and Cherry Groce who was disabled for life after being shot during the 1985 police raid that sparked the Brixton riots of that year. 



Remembered too is Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian electrician shot dead by police at Stockwell station in 2005.

The current wave of protests in Britain really got going last Saturday (May 30th) when hundreds of people marched down Rye Lane and on to Peckham Rye. The movement returns to South London tomorrow, Sunday June 7th, with a planned demonstration at the US Embassy in Battersea from 2 pm.



Plague of Toads on Telegraph Hill?

Walking up Kitto Road SE14 last night, alongside Telegraph Hill upper park, I saw a toad. Then a few metres along another one, and then another. In fact I saw five toads in procession all on the pavement heading up hill in the direction of St Catherine's hurch, where people were queuing to watch the community production of West Side Story. Whether the toads were Sondheim fans or just migrating from one pond to another I cannot say. There is of course a big pond in the lower park, but they would have to make a perilous road crossing to get there. According to Froglife: 'Common Toads are very particular about where they breed and often migrate back to their ancestral breeding ponds each year. They follow the same route, regardless of what gets in their way, which sometimes leads to them crossing roads'. In some parts of the country volunteers have arranged toad patrols to help them cross the road, and I gather that this has sometimes happened here on Kitto Road.

Must admit I did post on twitter that they were frogs, but people there were quick to correct me so unless some amphibian expert tells me otherwise I am going with the Common Toad.

(Just to be clear I love toads and frogs, the reference to 'plague' was a biblical allusion as they were churchbound, not a negative comment!)

Election street art

So far the General Election street art hasn't been too extensive.

I did spot this grime artists/rappers supporting Labour poster under the railway bridge at Brockley cross.

Among those featured is Brockley's own Novelist. Up at the top of Pepys Road SE14 you can still read the 'Novelist - pave the way' graffiti in the road (this photo actually taken last November).

Walking down Nunhead Lane I noticed this Theresa May-mocking 'Strong and stable my arse' poster, one of a number around London. It was revealed today that the artist Jeremy Deller is responsible for them. This particular example was just down the road from where he went to primary school - St John's and St Clements's by Goose Green in East Dulwich.

Update 28 May 2017:

Spotted in Telegraph Hill upper park (Kitto Road SE14) this morning - Theresa May as 'PredaTory'

(just to be clear - it's only one piece, included a few photographs to show scale and also detail - text looks different depending on angle)

The end of the world comes to Telegraph Hill

There was a strange light at Telegraph Hill upper park (Kitto Road SE14)  earlier this week, with the night artificially brightened with floodlights to create a hyperreal landscape. The reason was that filming was taking place of a new BBC drama, Hard Sun, set in a pre-apocalypse world with only five years left. The series stars Agyness Deyn and Jim Sturgess - did anybody spot them?

Telegraph Hill Festival

I understand that the production company made a donation to the Telegraph Hill Festival, which opened yesterday and runs until April 9th. As always there lots of music, comedy, arts and other events taking place, check out the programme.

Andrew Clarke's sculpture in the grounds of St Catherine's Church, Kitto Road, SE14 as part of the 2017 Telegraph Hill Festival. Thanks to Andrew too for the photos of the floodlit Telegraph Hill Park.

New Cross in Time Out

If you haven't picked up this week's Time Out London, look out for its 'Great bits of London' feature on New Cross with its strapline of 'creativity, cheap thrills and chicken shops in the south-east student belt'. Written by Goldsmiths student Andy Hill it accurately characterises local pubs/bars New Cross House, New Cross Inn, Hobgoblin, LP Bar and Amersham Arms. Foodwise Cummin Up, London Particular and Chinwag get a mention, with a recommendation too of a walk to the top of Telegraph Hill to look over London. Other readers recommend Smokey Jerky, No 178, Little Nan's, Birdie Num Num's, the Royal Albert and the Venue - 'you're not a south-easterner if you haven't had the Big V experience'. 

Summer Solstice in Telegraph Hill 2014

Yes it's that time again.... the fourth annual Telegraph Hill Solstice Parade takes place this Saturday June 21st:

'Come and celebrate the wedding of Garlick Man of Plow Garlick Hill and the Old Nag of New Cross. Dress up - in celebration of fruit, florals, fecundity and the sun. Mark the midsummer.  Free costume/instrument/mask making at The Telegraph at The Earl of Derby from 3-5. Kids welcome. Parade gathers outside the Telegraph c.5.30 and sets off for the Top Park at 6 pm . Bring a picnic and enjoy the view and the wedding'.

2013 Summer Solstice Parade - picture by Bridget McKenzie

facebook details here

Skateboards and Sound Systems in Telegraph Hill Festival Final Weekend

[Update Sunday 6th April - because of the wet weather, the SKAM festival has been cancelled, and will be rearranged later in the summer. The Sound System RUMBQ won't be happening in the park either but WILL be taking place indoors instead - in the Narthex building at St Catherine's Church (Kitto Rd, SE14).

A few more days to go in this year's Telegraph Hill Festival, with highlights of the final weekend including open studios, SKAM 3 skate festival in Telegraph Hill Park and alongside the latter Unit 137 Sound System's RUMBQ (the latter two linked events taking part on Sunday 6th April).

Last weekend was very busy in the area around the park. In the upper park, Bark in the Park attracted more than a hundred dogs plus their human companions - think they should call it Woofstock next year. 

Outside the Hill Station Cafe (Kitto Road SE14) there was an old routemaster bus donated by New Cross bus garage emanating strange sounds and hosting events including a performance of New Cross Park Life - a year in the life of Telegraph Hill Park in haiku.

 Nunhead Municipal Museum and Art Gallery displayed some of their fictive treasures outside, including this model of the shark-limbed dancing 'Gellatly Girls'-

Saturday night (29th March) the area outside St Catherine's Church was briefly transformed by Gellatly Motion Pictures with nine projectors simultaneously beaming different films onto sheets suspended from the trees accompanied by music. There were clips from Belle et La Bete, Barbarella, Sweet Charity,  State Fair,  Bullit, and Annie Get Your Gun, among others. The latter was the Hollywood version of the musical performed the previous weekend by the 200 strong cast and crew if the Telegraph Hill Community Show and the film event finished with people singing the show's big number- 'there's no business like show business'.