Gulliver of Redriff

A giant Gulliver puppet was the star guest at Redriff Primary School last month (20th May). The occasion was the opening of a new Children's Centre building at the community school on Rotherhithe peninsula, which also featured a procession of children with an Old Father Thames theme and kids doing Irish and maypole dancing.

But why Gulliver? Well in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels we are told that Gulliver lived in Redriff (as Rotherhithe was then written). In fact the book's opening lines are: 'The author of these Travels, Mr. Lemuel Gulliver, is my ancient and intimate friend; there is likewise some relation between us on the mother's side. About three years ago, Mr. Gulliver growing weary of the concourse of curious people coming to him at his house in Redriff...'

Deptford Rock against Racism, 1978

Transpontine has previously featured Colin 'Bo' Bodium's 1970s/80s posters for the Deptford Albany, currently on display there in the cafe. Here's another one that wasn't originally included in the exhibition, from 1978 advertising nights 'presented by the Combination in conjunction with Rock Against Racism' (Combination was a radical theatre project based there).

Biggest name on here is clearly Dire Straits, shortly before they moved on from the Crossfields Estate to global stardom. Support Rubber Johnny were, I believe, the Combination house band. A week later (May 25th) Misty and The Ruts played there. The following Thursday's Rock Against Racism benefit featured reggae from Psalms, Patrick Fitzgerald (best known for 'I've got a safety pin stuck in my heart) and punk band Menace. Believe they are still going and released an album 'Live in Bermondsey'.

Note also there was a Brockley Boogie Band!

Walter Rodney remembered in Peckham

Red roses placed in Peckham today in remembrance of Walter Rodney (1942-80), who was killed thirty years ago on 13 June 1980. Rodney was a key figure in Caribbean radical politics in the 1960s and 70s. He wrote a number of influential books including 'How Europe under-developed Africa' and 'A History of the Guyanese Working People, 1881-1905'. In 1968 there were riots in Jamaica after Rodney was banned from the island by the Government because of his political activities. After a spell in Tanzania, he returned to his native Guyana where he helped form the Working People's Alliance. He faced intense repression, and was seemingly entrapped by a state agent into handling the explosive device which killed him.

In 2005, palm trees were planted in Peckham square (between the library and the swimming pool) in Rodney's honour. The plaque describes him as 'local resident, historian and global freedom fighter'.

According to Walter Rodney's intellectual and political thought by Rupert Lewis, Walter Rodney came to London in 1963 to study African history at the School of Oriental and African Studies. He also joined a marxist study group around CLR James (who later wrote Walter Rodney and the Question of Power), and spoke regularly in Hyde Park. In 1966 he left to teach in Tanzania. So presumably it was in the 1963 to 1966 period that Rodney lived in South London, though I haven't been able to find any more details. Does anyone know any more?

Linton Kwesi Johnson commemorated him in the track Reggae fi Radni:

The Great Skate Debate

Two rival campaigns are now up and running regarding the question of whether to have a Skate park facility in Telegraph Hill Park in New Cross. On the one hand there's the Skate Park Action Group (mentioned at Transpontine previously) who have been campaigning for a small concrete freefrom skate park in the area, and who believe that locating it in the Upper Park (also known as the dog park) may be the most feasible option. They have secured a promise of £47k funding, but with the condition that it must be spent by March 2011.

Now leaflets have been put out calling on people to 'Save the Upper Park of Telegraph Hill' arguing that locating the skate park there 'would permanently damage this wonderful green space'. Both sides are mobilising supporters to come to the Telegraph Hill Ward Local Assembly Meeting on Thursday 17th June, where the matter will be discussed (it takes place at the Haberdashers' Aske's Jerningham Road site at 7 pm).

For a flavour of the debate see the comments thread on this at Brockley Central (115 comments so far) and the Telegraph Hill Forum (130 comments and counting). Some of the anti-comment is really obnoxious - it is plain that some people would pretty much prefer young people to keep out of the park altogether and also to get off the streets while they're at it. But the discussions about where best to site a skate park are worth considering.

I am generally in favour of the skate park, and would support it going in the top park if nowhere else can be found. But I would also prefer it if it could be achieved without losing any green space, such as by concreting over any grass. There is quite a large tarmac area in the lower park, the main argument against it seems to be that the lower park is closed at night - so why not open it at night? A better option still would be use road space, such as by pedestrianising all or part of Kitto Road outside the church. The main objection to this seems to be that it would take time to achieve the relevant permissions, and therefore the funding would be lost.

Personally I think it's good that kids are playing in the streets, including skateboarding, so I don't entirely endorse the suggestion that a skate park is a good idea because it keeps children off the streets. Clearly though there are traffic and other dangers and it would be good to consider how to make the streets safer for children to play.

Save Goldsmiths Nursery

A campaign has been launched to save the nursery at Goldsmiths College, threatened with closure at the end of September 2010. The nursery currently provides 23 childcare places for students and staff.

The College states that it cannot afford to continue to subsidise the nursery at a cost of £70k per annum. The case against closure is set out on this petition:

'On 8th June 2010, parents and nursery staff were told by a member of Goldsmiths College’s Senior Management Team that in 3 months’ time, they plan to completely close the college’s nursery. Staff and Students have asked for an enquiry into the handling of the whole matter. Meetings informing staff and students were only announced with 24 hours notice, resulting in inevitably poor attendance at meetings crucial to the livelihood of many staff and students.

The atmosphere in the Nursery is special; educational, creative, friendly and safe. It is very rare to find the kind of care, support and attention to children that you find at Goldsmiths Nursery. It is a central part of College life, and should be respected and nurtured as such. The kind of care offered enables staff to return to work after maternity leave and students to return to their studies as parents, in the full knowledge that their children will be well looked after, nearby and safe.

If the College is committed to Equal Opportunities and encouraging the best professional women and men in the workplace, then the issue of childcare provision is highly pertinent. The lack of adequate on-site childcare is a classic barrier to women in terms of career development, but, conversely, the provision of high-quality childcare is a valuable incentive. Taking away the Nursery, especially when there is no comparable local provision (and Ofsted ranks the Goldsmiths Nursery as ‘good’) is a shot in the foot...'

A campaign meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday June 15 2010, 2 pm at Stephen Lawrence room, SU building, Dixon Road, New Cross.

Two demonstrations have also been planned, both to take place outside the old Deptford Town Hall building in New Cross Road. The first will be at 2 pm on on Friday 18th June, and the second on Monday 21st June at 9:30 am to coincide with the meeting of the Goldsmiths Senior Management Team.

Further information at the Save Goldsmiths Nursery facebook group

Unfortunately similar closures are happening round the country as cash-strapped colleges cut the soft target of childcare, and the national rhetoric of inclusive education is replaced by a retreat to the old style elitist model of limited access to university.

Meanwhile, Lewisham Council is planning to close eight childminding centres which provide childcare for parents using adult education centres as the Brockley Rise Centre. 26 jobs will go as a result.

Hacienda on the Hill

Brockley Max festival finished last weekend with Hacienda on the Hill. Hilly Fields was nice and busy, just like a real festival... I know that sounds patronising, what I mean is that it didn't feel like just a handful of passers-by watching their mate's band. Bumped into a few people (including Bob from Brockley and Scott Wood), sat in the sunshine, heard some good music, what more could you want?

I particularly enjoyed Maracatudo Mafua, samba from Brazil's Northeast State of Brazil - Pernambuco via Brockley.

Seemingly I missed the later restaging of the Wicker Man in the stone circle by Decodance - anybody who was there care to describe it?

Some nice Brockley Max photos by Rupert Hitchcox

There also's a whole page of photos in this weekend's South London Press

New Amsterdam

Following on from last week's British Sea Power song, here's another namechecking Rotherhithe. New Amsterdam by Elvis Costello is obviously about New York, but reflects on its connection with other port cities:

Somehow I found myself down at the dockside

Thinking of the old days of Liverpool and Rotherhithe

Transparent people who live on the other side

Living a life that is almost like suicide

Beatrice Offor of Sydenham

Tomorrow night (Thursday 10 June), Geraldine Beskin is giving a talk at South East London Folklore Society on 'The Women of the Golden Dawn'. It takes place at The Old King's Head, Kings Head Yard, 45-49 Borough High Street , London SE1 1NA . 8.00pm start, £2.50 / £1.50 concessions.

I don't think I can make it tomorrow, but I wonder whether Geraldine will cast some light on any of the South London connections to the story of this famous order of Victorian occultists.

Transpontine has previously covered the connection between Annie Horniman and the Golden Dawn, as a result of which the grounds of what is now the Horniman museum played host to mystically-minded luminaries including WB Yeats, Golden Dawn founder Samuel MacGregor Mathers, his wife Moina Bergson and AE Waite.




A looser connection is with the painter Beatrice Offor, born on the 21 March 1863 at Peak Hill Villa, Sydenham.

She attended the Slade School of Art and befriended Mona Bergson and Annie Horniman . They shared a studio together in Fitzrovia.

To what extent Offor herself shared her friends' occult leanings I do not know, but certainly some of her paintings suggest some kind of interest, even if only in the associated imagery. The bottom painting is entitled the 'Crystal Glazer' (don't know the name of the top painting.

Offor lived in Tottenham in later life, and died in 1920.

Her family seemed to have been quite interesting all round. She was one of ten children born to George and Emma Offor, though not all lived for long. Her brother William died as a baby before she was even born. A George Offor of Peak Hill Villa (presumably Beatrice's father, or possibly a brother) was listed in 1887 as a member of the Shelley Society.

Peak Hill, for those who don't know the area, is just around the corner from Jews Walk, where Eleanor Marx lived and died.

Goldsmiths Trust School Takeover Abandoned

We reported here last year proposals for Goldsmiths College to lead a Trust to take over managing two secondary schools and a Sixth Form College in New Cross. It appears though that this is no longer on the cards, at least according to this press release from campaigners against it:

CAMPAIGN SCORES VICTORY AND DEFEATS ‘GOLDSMITHS TRUST’ PROPOSAL

Staff at Addey and Stanhope School have been officially informed that Goldsmiths University has withdrawn its support for the proposed “Goldsmiths Trust” of Addey and Stanhope, Deptford Green and Crossways schools.

This news - confirming rumours that have been circulating for the last week - represents a significant victory for the joint campaign of trade unions, students and parents that have opposed this damaging Trust.

Martin Powell-Davies, Lewisham NUT Secretary, said: “This is tremendous news for everyone who supports comprehensive education. The Trust was always a half-baked idea. Its supporters were never able to show how a Trust would really benefit education. It would have taken staff out of Council employment and would have been a significant step towards the break-up of Local Authority schooling in the borough. We hope that we can now work together to strengthen genuine partnership between schools, not a divisive Trust”.

Des Freedman, UCU Secretary at Goldsmiths, said: “We are delighted that the proposers of the Trust have finally seen sense. We hope that they will continue to demonstrate their support for comprehensive education and not be swayed by the false promises from the Conservatives for more Academies”.

The “No Trust in the Goldsmiths Trust” campaign – backed by the NUT, UCU, ATL, NASUWT, GMB, and UNISON unions in Lewisham, along with Goldsmiths Students Union, Defend Education In Lewisham and ‘Hands Off Lewisham Bridge’ – organised a number of meetings and lobbies as well as street leafleting to highlight their opposition to the proposed Trust.

Campaigners are now moving on to oppose another school takeover. Lewisham Council have opened a consultation proposing that Merlin Primary School in Downham is taken over by Haberdashers' Aske's Knights Academy - just like Monson was taken over by Haberdashers Aske's Hatcham Academy. For further information, contact: Martin Powell-Davies, 0794 6445488.

Rockabilly against Racism at Cafe Crema

Coming up on Saturday 19th June, it's the Café Crema music festival at 306 New Cross Road: 'Rockabilly against Racism, Folk against Fascism, Bluegrass not Blackshirts (and some other sounds too) mini-festival, in the garden and indoors, 2pm 'til midnight. Union Canal String Band, The Henry Brothers, Reverend Jim Casy, The Lucky Strikes, All The Queen's Ravens, The A Train, Tina Pinder, The Flaming Czars, DJ Johnny Clash, DJ Fancy Girrl, DJ Nigel. Profits will go to Hope not Hate. Tickets £6/£5 advance (from the cafe)'.

Bridget Riley

There's a new Bridget Riley exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. One of the great South London artists, she was born in Norwood in 1931, studied at Goldsmiths in New Cross (1949-52) and later taught at Croydon College of Art. Apparently she also had a revelation at Peckham Rye that she should start her art practice with drawing:

'One evening in the autumn of 1949 I was walking up and down Peckham Rye station. It was dark and wet and I was trying to decide what to do. I was coming to the end of my first term at Goldsmiths School of Art and was feeling upset and frustrated. I had arrived anxious to make a start, to find a firm basis for the work that I hoped lay ahead. It seemed that I was unable to get to grips with some of the real problems of painting, which I felt sure existed but which I could not even begin to identify.

A copy I had made of Van Eyck's Man in a Red Turban had been included in my portfolio submitted for entry to Goldsmiths, and this had probably helped me to get a place. Competition was stiff. People were still returning home after the Second World War and had priority in further education. These were men and women in their thirties who, delayed only by the slow pace of demobilisation, came directly from active service. They were overjoyed to be back in civvy street and to have the chance of making a life as artists. Coming straight from school, I counted myself lucky to be there. But this cultural climate did not diminish the challenge of what to do at Goldsmiths. On the contrary, it intensified it, as it became clear that this problem was felt by many of us in different degrees.

Excerpt published in Evening Standard, 10 May 2010, from 'Bridget Riley: From Life (£15), a catalogue published by the National Portrait Gallery to accompany the exhibition.

Bridget Riley, Blaze 4, 1963

Brockley Max- forward to Hilly Fields!

Good night last night in the Ladywell Tavern with Brockley Central hosting a night of music as part of the ongoing Brockley Max festival. Evening started with a few songs from Deptford via Goa balladeer Rupert, then a set of June Brides/Wedding Present indie pop via Eltham from Tracey's Love. Even as I write I am listening to their demo CD, specifically a song called The Girl with Amsterdam Eyes about nearly being run over by a cute cyclist.

With a sound like that they just have to playing at How Does it Feel to be Loved? soon, and indeed they are, on 24th June at Jamm in Brixton. Incidentally at How Does it Feel's club night at the Canterbury Arms in Brixton this evening they are having a Meat is Murder special, playing the entire said Smiths album to mark the 25th anniversay of its release.

Next up at the Ladywell Taven last night was jazz singer Andrea Mann, playing a solo set with her gorgeously rich voice accompanied by piano. She started with a Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square and ended with the pub whooping for an encore.

Unfortuntely we had to leave before The Madding Crowd played, but not before saying hello to Darryl from 853, Brockley Nick, Moira Max, Ceri James, Mark Sampson and Moonbow John.

The latter is involved in plans for the Brockley Max finale this Saturday June 5th - Hacienda on Hilly Fields no less, with loads of music, games, theatre and children's actvities from noon to late. Not sure whether the vibe will be Hacienda (Manchester night club), Hacienda (Spanish estate) or Hacienda (situationist image of an abundant utopia - 'the Hacienda must be built'). Hopefully a bit of all three!

My first time in the Ladywell Tavern since it was refurbished, seems like a good pub. My only complaint is that I couldn't see the picture of the Ladywell that used to hang in the pub (that is the actual local well after which the area is named). A few years ago I took a group of people on an epic history/mythology/pyschogeography ramble from Camberwell to Ladywell which finished up in the pub, and coming across the picture was a fitting end to the adventure. Maybe it's still in there somewhere.

Ghosts in Deptford by Cicely Fox Smith (1921)

Cicely Fox Smith (1882-1954) was a poet and writer on ships and sailings. Her poem Ghosts in Deptford was published in her book 'Roving: Sea Songs and Ballads' (published in 1921). Not sure if this was actually written as a song, but I guess it could certainly be set to music - though I think I would probably drop the verse about 'chinks' and 'dagoes'!

If ghosts should walk in Deptford, as very well they may,
A man might find the night there more stirring than the day,
Might meet a Russian Tsar there, or see in Spain's despite
Queen Bess ride down to Deptford to dub Sir Francis knight.

And loitering here and yonder, and jostling to and fro,
In every street and alley the sailor-folk would go,
All colours, creeds, and nations, in fashion old and new,
If ghosts should walk in Deptford, as like enough they do.

And there'd be some with pigtails, and some with buckled shoes,
And smocks and caps like pirates that sailors once did use,
And high sea-boots and oilskins and tarry dungaree,
And shoddy suits men sold them when they came fresh from sea.

And there'd be stout old skippers and mates of mighty hand,
And Chinks and swarthy Dagoes, and Yankees lean and tanned,
And many a hairy shellback burned black from Southern skies,
And brassbound young apprentice with boyhood's eager eyes,

And by the river reaches all silver to the moon
You'd hear the shipwrights' hammers beat out a phantom tune,
The caulkers' ghostly mallets rub-dub their faint tattoo —
If ghosts should walk in Deptford, as very like they do.

If ghosts should walk in Deptford, and ships return once more
To every well-known mooring and old familiar shore,
A sight it were to see there, of all fine sights there be,
The shadowy ships of Deptford come crowding in from sea.

Cog, carrack, buss and dromond — pink, pinnace, snake and snow —
Queer rigs of antique fashion that vanished long ago,
With tall and towering fo'c'sles and curving carven prows,
And gilded great poop lanterns, and scrolled and swelling bows.

The Baltic barque that foundered in last month’s North Sea gales,
And last year's lost Cape Horner on her sails,
Black tramp and stately liner should lie there side by side
Ay, all should berth together upon that silent tide.

In dock and pond and basin so close the keels should lie
Their hulls should hide the water, their masts make dark the sky,
And through their tangled rigging the netted stars should gleam
Like gold and silver fishes from some celestial stream.

And all their quivering royals and all their singing spars
Should send a ghostly music a-shivering to the stars —
A sound like Norway forests when wintry winds are high,
Or old dead seamen's shanties from great old days gone by,

—Till eastward over Limehouse, on river, dock and slum,
All shot with pearl and crimson the London dawn should come,
And fast at flash of sunrise, and swift at break of day,
The shadowy ships of Deptford should melt like mist away.

Margins Music at the Albany

Good night promised at the Albany in Deptford on Saturday (5th June), with Dusk & Blackdown presenting their recent album Margins Music live for the first time. The album could loosely be described as an aural portrait of contemporary London life, encompassing dubstep, grime and South Asian musical flavours. To make it work live, they will be working with a band including British Asian musicians and singers and grime MCs (including Durrty Goodz and a special guest). All this plus some specially commissioned film.

Details here.



They have been in rehearsals at the Albany for the last week or so, as Martin 'Blackdown' Clark writes at his blog: 'I didn't know Deptford before... but it's an amazing place in the epic sunshine, as it has been this week. Bowling past the African shops selling snails as big as a grapefruit or through the bustling second hand market full of clapped-out guitars, piles of shoes and busted stereos on a Wednesday, makes me think I couldn’t have found myself in a more suitable place to try and build a Margins Music Live project'.

Black Skin, White Marx?

Two mighty radical intelligences are to be encountered in New Cross this Friday, with Goldsmiths Centre for Cultural Studies presenting Professor Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (University Professor and Director of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, Columbia University, USA - theorist of the subaltern and the post-colonial subject) and Professor Fred Moten (Professor of English, Duke University, USA - poet, writer on jazz and thoughtist). The two will be speaking on 'Black Skin, White Marx?' in dialogue with Karl Marx (sadly unable to be present) on 'issues of race, critique and the possibilities for a radical politics to come'.

It takes place on 4th June 2010, 1pm - 4pm at the Ian Gulland Lecture Theatre
Goldsmiths in New Cross. All welcome - you don't need to be a Goldsmiths student - and admission is free.

This will be heavy, your head will probably be spinning afterwards but if you come away without some things to think about I would be very surprized.

Rihanna at the Rivoli

As discussed here before the Rivoli Ballroom in Crofton Park has seen many famous faces on its stage and dancefloor - White Stripes, Florence and the Machine, Tina Turner, S Club 7, Kylie Minogue, even Brockley Ukelele Group! Now, thanks to Justin Lee Collins' Good Times show on Channel 5 being filmed there, a few more can be added to the roll call. Last week's had Meat Loaf playing darts, the show going out on June 7th has Mary J Blige singing. And pictured here, sitting in the side bar, is none other than Rihanna.

British Sea Power

Not sure mentioning a South London location in passing is enough to be included in the Great Transpontine Songbook, but Carrion by British Sea Power certainly deserves an honorable mention:

Carry on inside of your heart
Under the brine you won't notice the dark
Can stone and steel and horses heels
Ever explain the way you feel?
From Scapa Flow to Rotherhithe,
I felt the lapping of an ebbing tide

Death of a Brockley Suffragist - or not?

Here's an odd story from the struggle for women's suffrage. First of all, a report from Votes for Women, paper of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) from November 21 1913:

Death of Suffragist Protester
'Death cannot kill what cannot die' - William Penn

With the deepest regret we have to record the death of William Edward Bethell, of Brockley, who, for bravely reminding a Cabinet Minister of the Government's duty to the women of the country, was so brutally injured on November 7 by the Liberal stewards who ejected him, that he has since succumbed to heart failure as a result of the treatment he received.

Mr Bethell's brother has more than once raised his voice at Liberal meetings on behalf of the women's cause, but last Friday week was the first occasion on which Mr William Edward Bethell determined that he too would join the band of brave protestors, who, although knowing beforehand what to expect, do not shrink from running the most serious risks to life and limb when they hear that a member of the Cabinet is to address a Liberal audience. So he was one of those who went to the North Camberwell Radical Club, Albany Road, on November 7, to remind Dr Macnamara, Secretary to the Admiralty, of the women's struggle for liberty that the Government are trying so hard to suppress.

A man and a woman, both of whom had dared to utter a Suffragist protest, were thrown out before him with considerable violence. Then his turn came. He rose to his feet and dealt his first and last blow in the cause of women's freedom. No sooner did he open his mouth to speak than he was set upon by a number of stewards, dragged out of the meeting, and so savagely assailed that his nose was broken and his knee put out.

The full particulars of what followed are not yet available, but it is known that he arrived home later in the evening, his knee and head in bandages, and was so ill that he was obliged to stay in bed all Saturday and Sunday. Being a bricklayer's labourer, he made an effort on the Monday morning (November 10) to go to work, but he rapidly became so much worse that he had to return home in the course of the day and again take to his bed. He never got up again. Last Sunday he passed away.

The report goes on to mention that his brother, whose address is given as 49 Hardcastle Road, Peckham, had been beaten up by stewards in a similar incident in August 1912.

But was the story true? A couple of weeks later The Times reported that police 'have been inquiring into the matter at Brockley and Peckham, but it is understood that they have been unable to trace the death of Bethell'. Furthermore 'Bethell's father, who lives at Coldbath-street, Brockley, states that his son William Edward went to Canada last year, and so far as he knows is still there'. The Times confirms that the North Camberwell meeting did take place, but reports Dr Macnamara's denial that there had been any violence (Times Dec 1 1913).

What's more a Bethell family history site shows that William Edward Bethell did indeed go to Canada, where he lived until his death in 1951 after an active life including being injured at the Battle of the Somme. It does confirm that he was a bricklayer when he arrived in Canada, and that his parents lived at 58 Cold Bath Street (now Coldbath Street, SE13).

As for the brother, Walter the source of the seemingly untrue story, the family history site states that he was born at 98 Foxberry Road, Brockley, and that in 1905 he was convicted of fraud. Was the suffragist death story an attempted fraud for financial gain? A mischievous or malicious prank at his brother's expense? Who knows...

Elephants

There are elephants all over London at the moment, more than 250 in fact, as part of the Elephant Parade to raise awareness of the endangered Asian elephant. These fine specimens are next to the river by County Hall .

My favourite is this one by More London (Tooley Street, SE1), decorated with a map of parts of London.

It is surely the only Elephant in the world - indeed the only statue of any kind in the world - with the words 'New Cross Gate' written above its mouth.

Community Action Lewisham

Community Action Lewisham is a new activist group, planning to tackle issues such as housing and racism in the local area. They meet on the first Wednesday of the month upstairs in the Amersham Arms in New Cross. Next one is on Wednesday 2nd June, 7.30 pm.

Thanks to them I just found out that there's also a Food not Bombs group locally:

'Bexley/Lewisham/Dartford Food Not Bombs is a group of volunteers who take good quality within-date food which would have been thrown away by businesses, cook it up, and distribute it to homeless hostels and day centres... We collect food from Kelsey's Farm, Ruxley Farm Shop and Swanley Bakery (Sidcup and Swanley branch), and then cook and serve it up at St Mungo's Pagnell Street, a homeless hostel near New Cross station'.

Joe Grind

More South London rap, this time from Joe Grind (think Giggs is his brother). Step Back features the Aylesbury Estate, Portland Street, Bells Garden Estate, Peckham Hill Street and various other Pecknam and Walworth locations.

Won't repeat what I said about Giggs here before, but same applies.

(thanks to B. for spotting this)

Walking SE1 (1): Trinity Church Square

Rambling a little further afield than the New Cross, Deptford, Brockley Transpontine heartland, the first in a new series of wanderings through SE1 (who knows maybe eventually I will get to wander all the streets in the SE postcode area, but that may take some time).

Anyway to start with here's Holy Trinity Church, in Trinty Church Square in Borough (historically known as Trinity Square). Built in the 1820s it has been out of use as a Church since the 1960s and is now the home of Henry Wood Hall, a rehearsal and recording space for the London Philharmonic and other orchestras. Among the musical luminaries who have used its facilities are Leonard Bernstein and György Ligeti.

The statue in the foreground has some interesting folklore. I have read the tale several times that it is the oldest statue in London, a medieval depiction of King Alfred the Great moved to the square from Westminster Hall. However an alternative theory has recently been put forward that it was in fact the work of the sculptor James Bubb and was made at a similar time to the construction of the church (i.e. 1820s).

The arguments are quite convincing, namely that it is the wrong shape and material to be one of the Westminster Hall 14th century statues. The 'oldest statue in London' theory seems to date back to the 1920s - a 1911 survey of Royal statues in London mentions it as the only London statue of an early English king, but makes no claims for its antiquity. Indeed it was stated at the time that the oldest statue in London was actually of Queen Elizabeth, in St Dunstans Church, Fleet Street (report of a lecture on London statues by FW Hill, Ottowa Citizen, 17 April 1911).

Trinity Square was developed at the same time as the Church by Trinity House, the body responsible for lighthouses. Indeed rent and other income from the square is a significant source of revenue for the lighthouse authority. The body had its origins in Deptford - indeed its full name is the 'Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond'. But that's another story.

East East London

A great exodus from South East London yesterday on the first full day of the extended London Overground East London Line, celebrated by Brockley Central and others. I went to Columbia Road flower market in the morning and then back again to a party in Mare Street, Hackney later on. Left the party at 9:45 pm, took two buses to Dalston Junction and was back in New Cross Gate by 10:30. Others headed to Brick Lane and Spitalfields. Seemingly, as Diamond Geezer reports, many from the other side of London took the train south to check out what we have to offer. Must have been like this when the Berlin wall came down!

As I said here before, the Line could shift people's mental geography of the city to an East/West polarity rather than just a north/south divide: 'By directly linking Croydon and Hackney (or at least Dalston) via Brockley and New Cross it could generate a sense of East London that crosses the river. Today when people talk about East London they generally mean the Eastern part of the city north of the Thames, whereas in Victorian times for instance, Deptford was often described as being in East London'.

D.O.A: Canadian punk in New Cross

Canadian punk band D.O.A. toured the UK in 1990. Their last gig was in New Cross, and they split up soon after (though they later reformed). In his book 'I, Shithead: A Life in Punk', Joe Keithley from the band recalls the famous hospitality of the Venue's bouncers:

'Our last show of that tour was in London at the Venue in New Cross on JUne 7. The show was packed and we played a raunchy set. I was hoarse as hell. There was a shitty aspect to the show. The club had hired rugby hooligans to do securtiy. We couldn't see much from the stage, but Jay Scott had a bird's eye view of what was going on from the closed-circuit camera in the club's office. The bouncers were roughing up the punks at the door and bashing anybody who had been thrown out of the pit. One kid got really hurt, and somebody called the cops. Scott could see the bouncers running to throw their brass knuckles and the small truncheons they had been carrying into a bucket. The bucket was hidden in a back room before the cops arrived and the bar manager helped hide the blood evidence'.

Here's their 1980 anthem World War 3:

Goldsmiths Students Not Suspects

Students and staff at Goldsmiths in New Cross have been mounting a vigorous campaign against the new 'points based' system for immigration.

They say that the 'rules represent a serious threat to campus democracy and freedom of speech. They require non-EU students and staff to have biometric ID cards, involve demands on the financial background of applicants and mean that staff are obliged to report students to the UK Border Agency when they have not attended regularly'.

The Students not Suspects campaign has highlighted a number of cases where this bureaucratic nightmare has resulted in serious disruption to students' lives. The campaing has held a number of big meetings at the college and has produced some snazzy t-shirts for both students and staff. The staff version, below, states 'we are not border agents' - since the rules do in effect ask college staff to become an extension of the border police.

The latest initiative is a petition to Pat Loughrey, the new Warden of Goldsmiths, calling on the college managment to support the campaign:

'I am writing to express my grave concerns with the implementation of the UK Border Agency's (UKBA) Points Based System of Immigration (PBSI) at Goldsmiths. By imposing the UKBA's agenda of national security and border control on universities, PBSI has effectively turned students into suspects and staff into border agents. These xenophobic and reactionary tendencies run counter to the openness and free exchange of ideas necessary for research, teaching, and learning to occur.

Furthermore, the UKBA has transferred the financial and administrative burden of PBSI, which is considerable, onto individual staff and students, resulting in elevated workloads and stress. By increasing the cost and complexity of the visa application process, the UKBA has rendered universities less accessible and less welcoming to non-EU nationals, thus potentially damaging the reputation of higher education in the UK. The result will be less cultural and social diversity in higher education, to the detriment of Goldsmiths and the sector overall'.

You can read the full petition here - signatures are being collected until May 25th.

Given that this is an area with a high migrant population, it would be good too to link with non-students in the area who are also at the receiving end of Border Agency attention. For instance, in October 2009, the Bromley and Lewisham local immigration team raided homes across the area, detaining a Bolivian man in New Cross Road, two Turkish men in Pomeroy Street, a Nigerain woman in Catford and a Brazilian man in Forest Hill (Border Agency press release, 29 Oct. 2009; see also this raid in February 2009).

The Border Agency are sometimes to be seen out on force on New Cross Road, mounting joint operations with the Transport Police. The deal seems to be that if someone is caught with the wrong ticket or not enough money on their Oyster card they can then be questioned by the Border Agency and ultimately detained. A similar proposal in Arizona has quite rightly been criticised as outrageous, but nobody much seems to notice that it is already happening here. Perhaps next time this happens in New Cross, students and others should demonstrate against it.

Free Film Screenings at Broca

A couple of free film screenings coming up at The Broca (4 Coulgate Street, Brockley, London, SE4 ) courtesy of local author and activist Andy Worthington.

Thursday May 27, 7 pm: “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” (Dir. Polly Nash and Andy Worthington, 2009 ). This new documentary tells the story of Guantanamo, focusing on three British prisoners and providing a powerful rebuke to those who believe that Guantanamo holds "the worst of the worst."

Tuesday June 1, 7 pm, “Operation Solstice" (Dir. Gareth Morris and Neil Goodwin, 1991) - rare screeing of this documentary about The Battle of the Beanfield, on the 25th anniversary of this often-overlooked confrontation between travellers/political activists and the State (under Margaret Thatcher). I have seen this a few times and it is essential, if harrowing, viewing.

Both films followed by a Q&A with Andy who has written about both subjects. Copies of his books "The Guantanamo Files," "The Battle of the Beanfield" and "Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion" will be for sale at these events.

South London Folk Blog

South London Folk Blog is written by Dick Philpott, a singer who put on an open mic night at the Nelson Arms in Wimbledon. As the location suggests, Dicks's focus is on the western lands of South London. Good to see that he has himself contributed to the ever expanding Great South London Songbook, as he has released an album called South London Stroll featuring a sad love song to the River Wandle entitled 'The River is Dead'.

Brockley Max 2010

Loads going on at the Brockley Max festival from May 28 to 5 June: music, dance, comedy, art... You can download the full programme here, so I'll just mention a few of the music events for now. It all kicks off with the opening night (Friday 28th) from 4:30 pm in the streets by Brockley station, with bands/performers including Anita Maj, Ben Travers, Jake Twyford, Matt Dolphin, Monkey Rush and Brand Nu, bands from the Felix School of Rock, Mazaika and the Montage Theatre street Jazz dance group (last year's opening party was fun in the sun). Later that same night (9 pm), local singer-songwriter Ceri James is at the Wickham Arms - nice guy with nice voice.

On Thursday 3 June, Brockley Central will be promoting a music evening at the Ladywell Tavern. No news yet on the line up, but their night last year was apparently really good.

2000 Troubled Teenagers

Ten years ago today - that is May 20th 2000 - I was at the Paradise Bar (now the Royal Albert) in New Cross Road for the legendary '2000 Troubled Teenagers' night. Well legendary for those who were there, as it was in the pre-blogging days of the early internet there's barely a trace of it online, so now is the time for a very late review!

(programme cover - click to enlarge)

The event was styled 'An evening dedicated to the Scottish group Belle & Sebastian', and basically consisted of a packed bar of B&S fans dancing to lots of B&S with some tracks by The Smiths and various indie-poppers. I seem to recall some Japanese people playing B&S cover versions too. A whole night of B&S was not enough for some - I think some people had a picnic first on Greenwich Hill to get in the mood. Yes it was arguably the peak of B&S obsessive fandom, though I'd still say they are my favourite band of the 1990s (and indeed still made some great tracks in the noughties).

There was a competition to make plasticine models on a B&S theme, inspired by the line in the band's song Expectations about a girl 'making life size models of the Velvet Underground in clay'. It was won by a girl who made a sculpture entitled 'Fox with a Sombrero to Wear in the Snow' (referencing another B&S song, Fox in the Snow).

There were also some free gifts like this Isobel Campbell hairclip (picture from Bus Stop at Flickr).

I believe the night was mainly put on by DJs Joe Egg and Nervous Stephen Fowler. Joe also put on gay indie/retro nights at the Paradise Bar. I see from the programme that Harriet Vine and Rosie Wolfenden were also involved, the founders of Tatty Devine jewellery. The name of the night comes, inevitably, from a yet another B&S song, Beautiful: 'If you knew what's going on in her life, There'd be two hundred troubled teenagers to sit with her. And to talk to her'.

For Catalonia and St George

On St George's Day round Borough market last month there was a bit of Catalonia/England link up with food and music to remind people that it was also La Diada de Sant Jordi, when lovers exchange books and roses in Barcelona (a connection also made at Shunt this time last year).


The best thing was that it was a very sunny Friday and there were lots of people out drinking in the streets from lunchtime onwards.

Outside Southwark Cathedral (and elsewhere in the area too), the Lion's Part theatre performed a George and Dragon folk play.

Around the pubs there were also quite a few drinkers dressed up in various George and Dragon outfits. I started off the evening pondering whether, as Billy Bragg would have it, these stories and symbols should be actively wrestled from the BNP, English Defence League and co. who lay claim to them (on the same day the BNP launched its unsuccessful election campaign with a press conference where Nick Griffin was flanked by some bruiser dressed up as St George). By the time I'd moved from Brindisa, to the Market Porter and on to the Miller in Snowsfields I'd stopped pondering as my critical faculties dissolved in the drunken bonhomie.

Ask Johnny Dee

Transpontine got a mention in the Guardian's weekend Guide last month (24 April), on a list of London blogs in the internet picks of the week. Described as 'South-east blogzine on Deptford punks, Peckham rappers and the Brockwell Lido squatters' we were in good company with The London Nobody Sings, Jane's London, Boris Watch and Shady Old Lady.

The Guardian column is written by Johnny Dee, once immortalised in The Chesterfields 1987 indie pop anthem Ask Johnny Dee. I wonder if they ever played at The Fountain (now Noodle King), Deptford indie pop central in the late 1980s?

The Damned, Croydon and Deptford

The Damned were the first UK punk band to release a single (New Rose in 1976) and the first to get an album out (Damned Damned Damned in February 1977). The band had a strong Croydon connection. They played there first gig there, at a free festival, and bassist Captain Sensible (Ray Burns) was working as a cleaner at Fairfield Hall when he first met drummer Rat Scabies (Chris Millar).

But their early rehearsal studio was in Deptford. Their original manager was John Krevine, who owned the Acme Attractions shop in the Kings Road. The latter sold retro clothes and was a key hang out/breeding ground for early punk; Don Letts worked in the shop, playing reggae. According to Scabies: 'John Krevine saw this whole kind of group/punk thing going on and it was initially him who offered to manage us and it was him who had the warehouse down in Deptford that we used to go down and rehearse'. Captain Sensible recalled 'We rehearsed in Krevine's storage arch in Deptford which was an opportunity to purloin some of his retro garb while there'
(quoted in The Roxy London WC2: a punk history by Paul Marko).

So it may very well have been in a Deptford railway arch that one of my favourite tracks of all times was first written and rehearsed. For me the first 30 seconds of New Rose still constitute the most exciting introduction to a song imaginable - the opening quote from the Shangri-Las 'Leader of the Pack' ('is she really going out with him?') , the powerful drums, then Brian James's guitar chords, then the punctuating 'Ah' before the song takes off... perfection.

Burgess Park history

Burgess Park is such a huge, well-established green space that many people don't realize that it was once a densely populated area of housing, demolished by bombs and slum clearance (an area sometimes known as North Camberwell). If you want to know more about it, there a talk and slideshow on its history, entitled 'Bibles, Baths and Bombs' at East Street Library, 168-170 Old Kent Road, SE17 next Thursday 20 May, 6 - 7:30 pm.

Cuming Museum and Carnaval del Pueblo

The Cuming Museum on Walworth Road was fairly packed on Friday for its Museums at Night event, with a talk on its Lovett collection of urban folklore by Keith from the museum and Chris Roberts telling some Walworth tales.

There's a temporary exhibition on at the moment telling the story of Carnaval del Pueblo, the annual Latin American carnival held in Southwark, with costumes, masks and background information on display. Worth checking out, it runs until May 28th.

A Banquet at Crystal Palace, 1860

On a market stall in East Dulwich I recently came across a clipping from the Illustrated London News. It is undated, but various stories on it suggest that it was from Summer 1860. It includes an illustration and account of a banquet at Crystal Palace with guests including Gladstone (then Chancellor of the Exchequer) and 'many members of Parliament and eminent scientific literary men':

'On Saturday week Sir Joseph and Lady Paxton gave a charming fete at their beautiful residence, Rockhills, adjoining the Crystal Palace... After enjoying a promenade in the grounds attached to Sir Joseph's villa, the company, at seven o'clock, proceeded to the north wing of the Crystal Palace, where an elegant dinner was served, covers being laid for 350 persons. After the banquet a ball was improvised, and at ten o'clock the whole upper range of fountains in the Crystal Palace gardens were set in motion, and illumined with various coloured lights, the effect of which upon the falling water was singularly beautiful'.

Quite a party evidently.

During this period too, the Crystal Palace became a key theme in Russian literature, as Sarah J Young (a CP based lecturer in Russian) discusses at her blog. Essentially the argument was between the writers Chernyshevsky and Dostoevsky. The former, active in revolutionary politics, used the Palace on Sydenham Hill as an image of utopia in his novel What is to be Done? The latter, who wrote about a visit to the Palace in 1863, saw the Crystal Palace and indeed the whole utopian impulse as a doomed attempt at a rationalisation of human life that could never banish the human taste for doubt, suffering and chaos.

Sarah has also started exploring wider depictions of the Crystal Palace area in literature. Some of them I had heard of, but I had no idea that 'Lawrence Durrell’s The Black Book (1938) is set at the Queen’s Hotel (in the novel called the Regina) on Church Road, Crystal Palace'. More to come apparently.

Bob Marley in South London

Robert Nesta Marley died on this day (May 11) in 1981.

Back in 1999, I was playing three-sided football in Kennington Park with the Association of Autonomous Astronauts (a long story) and somebody told me that Bob Marley had played football of the more traditional two-sided variety there.

I filed this away in my brain and then remembered it today - prompted via twitter that this was the anniversary of the great man's death. A quick google search shows that this was apparently true. In fact the wikipedia entry for Kennington Park states that in 1977 Marley frequently visited the Rastafarian Temple in St Agnes Place, next to the park, while he was in London recording the Exodus album, and that 'He also enjoyed playing football with friends in the park'.

According to Bob Marley Archive, he also played a number of South London gigs including:

1972 - July 22 - Grand Midnight Dance, Commonwealth Social Club, Croydon.
1972 - August 27 - The Telegraph, Brixton.
1973 April 29 - Mr. B's, Peckham.
1973 -May 13 - Mr. B's, Peckham.
1980 - July 07 - Crystal Palace Bowl (some photos of that below)



Can anybody out there truthfully say they were at any of these, or have any other South London Tuff Gong stories?

Fierce Women and some more Southwark folklore

This Thursday May 13th at South East London Folklore Society, storyteller Janet Dowling talks on Fierce and Fearlesss Women in traditional stories: girls and women who go on adventures, get into scraps, and don't need rescuing! 8 pm start at The Old King's Head, Kings Head Yard, 45-49 Borough High Street, SE1.

The last SELFS event I went to was the excellent Southwark Lore back in March at the Old Mayfair Carpet Gallery (301-303 Borough High Street, SE1), a pop up gallery that has since popped off. That night featured a glittering array of south london mythologists including John Constable performing parts of the Southwark Mysteries (subsequently performed in full at Southwark Cathedral last month); Nigel of Bermondsey singing songs including one about Crossbones cemetery; Scott Wood performing his story The Temple of Bacchus (imagining pilgrims visiting the off license of that name in Camberwell in the hope that it is an ancient site), accompanied by the electronica of Richard Sanderson; Vanessa Woolf-Hoyle and Niall Boyce telling chilling tales of Bermondsey in the Blitz and time travel at the George Inn respectively; Chris Roberts extolling the wonders of Walworth and...er....Neil Transpontine, talking about the Lovett collection of good luck charms, held in the Cuming Museum.

On the latter subject, this Friday May 14th sees an evening of Superstition and folklore , 6pm - 8pm at the aforementioned Cuming Museum, The Old Town Hall, 151 Walworth Road, London, SE17 1RY (admission free). As part of Museums at Night 2010 there will be a chance to get up close and hands on with some of the museum's stranger objects and the Lovett collection of charms and superstitions. A chance also to share your own superstitions, stories and charms - bring them along if you have them!

They fell asleep - a Nunhead cemetery song

Written especially to be performed at this year's 'Nunhead & District Museum and Art Gallery', 'They fell asleep' by 'The Nunhead Cemeteries' (featuring one Neil Transpontine) is a song made up of lines from gravestones in Nunhead Cemetery:

The darling, the tender
Devoted and treasured
Who fell asleep
Who fell asleep

Beloved, departed
The deeply regretted
Who fell asleep
Who fell asleep

The fair and faithful and the bright
Alive at noon but dead at night
Who fell asleep
Who rest in peace

The angel, the mourned
Whose time was too short
Who fell asleep
Who fell asleep

True friend, only son
Life’s race well run
Who fell asleep
Who fell asleep

Left behind the sorrowing
Death divides, memory clings
They fell asleep
Their end was peace

Loved and Lovers
Daughters and Mothers
Together blessed
In peaceful rest

Who fell asleep
Who fell fell asleep

Download here: They fell asleep - The Nunhead Cemeteries

May Uke Box

Brockley Ukulele Group are putting on their next monthly Uke Box session at the Amersham Arms in New Cross this Sunday 8th May. Admission free, 8 pm start. Great flyer!

Music at Cafe Crema

Coming up at Cafe Crema, 306 New Cross Road, SE14:

Sat 8th May: The Lucky Strikes plus Reverend Jim Casy. The Lucky Strikes are a blues/Americana five piece delivering tales of outlaws, desperadoes and chain gangs in 1930s Mississippi. Heavy guitars, impassioned vocals, and bluegrass fiddle and banjo. They hale from Southend but dress like the James Gang. Reverend Jim Casy are honky-tonk-rockabilly preachers.

Sat 15th May: Tina Pinder plus New Orleans New Cross Honky-Tonk Acoustic Jam. Tina plays 'swamp music from the Lea Delta'. Her smoky voice and guitar picking bring you blues-riddled songs of heart-stopping drama, in a Tom Waits-meets-Melanie chocolate-and-gravel concoction. Followed by the monthly-ish jam around the old piano.

Both shows, doors open 8pm, admission £3.

Stories and Songs for South London

This is happening on Sunday May 16, 7: 30 pm onwards:

'Stories and Songs for South London at the New Cross Inn SE14: London dreamtime will tell tales of monsters in the Blitz, Nigel of Bermondsey will sing lovely songs including One Eye Grey, This is How it Feels and Maximum Wheelie. Stu will play the dulcimer, Chris will do an acoustic set and Jackie will read her own true story of children on fire from "Smoke" magazine'.

Don't know all these folk, but Nigel has a lovely voice and this sounds right up Transpontine street. £2 in.

Lord Haw Haw of Dulwich

Did you know that Britain's most famous Nazi was once a Dulwich-based young Conservative?

William Joyce, was born in New York to a Southern Irish loyalist family. According to Martin Pugh: 'After his family settled in Dulwich in 1923 he joined the Junior Imperial League, the youth organisation of the Conservative Party, but he felt betrayed by the British establishment for abandoning the Union with Ireland. Increasingly consumed with hatred towards Catholics, Communists and Jews, he saw fascism as the best means of prosecuting his crusade against his and the nation's enemies' (Hurrah for the Blackshirts! Fascists and Fascism in Britain between the Wars).

Pugh states that Joyce joined the British Fascists in December 1923, though he seems to have been active in Conservative politics for longer. After becoming prominent in Mosley's British Union of Fascists (a different organisation from the earlier BF), Joyce left for Germany in 1938. From there he famously broadcast Nazi propaganda, earning the nickname Lord Haw Haw. He was executed in 1946 for treason. So his youthful ambition of becoming the Conservative MP for Chelsea was not to be realized!

A number of sites refer to the story that his family home at 7 Allison Grove, SE21, was one of the first hit by a German bomb in the early days of the Blitz. Whether this is true or folklore I am not sure.

See also: Pro-fascist Tories in 1930s Lewisham

BNP Thug Life

One of the alarming aspects of a potential increase in votes for the BNP on Thursday is that this could be accompanied by an upsurge in violence from emboldened racist/fascist thugs.

There have been several attacks in South London during the election campaign. Yesterday, Cormac Hollingsworth, standing as a Labour candidate for Council in South Bermondsey, was leafleting an estate in the area 'when he was punched three times in the face and kicked. Meanwhile the attacker kept up a stream of insults and shouted pro-BNP slogans' (full story at TMP online). South Bermondsey is the only Southwark ward where the BNP is standing a candidate in the election, represented by Nigel Seary of Nelson Square, SE1. I suppose there's some comfort to be taken that they couldn't get anyone to stand who actually lives around the South Bermondsey/Blue Millwall heartland.

Meanwhile David Clarke, the BNP candidate for Heathfield ward (Croydon Council) was convicted last week of two separate assaults on anti-racist campaigners who had been giving out leaflets outside East Croydon station. Full story at Croydon Advertiser.

Room at the Top (of Pepys Road?)

The 1959 classic film Room at the Top is 'a savage story of lust and ambition' set in Yorkshire. However, according to film location site Reel Streets the closing shots were actually filmed in Pepys Road, New Cross. Looking at these, I think they are right. The car seems to be heading up to the junction of Pepys and Musgrove Road (on the left).

What do you think?

Kit and Cutter May Day Special

Kit and Cutter's May Day special at the Deptford Arms last night was really special. It was packed, as indeed it should have been for the presence of one of the most important figures in the last 50 years of English music - Martin Carthy. His two sets were great, a mixture of some of the finest played guitar tunes you are ever likely to hear with awesome folk songs. As a nod to his South London audience he sang Georgie, a song about poaching and gallows on Shooters Hill. A few years ago I sang this on Shooters Hill at the start of a South East London Folklore Society walk. Let's just say his version was better!

But his was not the only good voice on display. Keith Kendrick and Sylvia Needham were a revelation to me, they sounded amazing. Highlight for me was Ball O'Yarn - a song that begins 'In the merry month of may, when the men were making hay...' is followed by a predictable end nine months later.

Club hosts Kit and Cutter also sing beautifully - would like to see them do a full set some time. The Belles of London City coped admirably with the small and crowded stage to perform some high energy morris dancing (they recently explained it all to Paul Morley - check video here).

So obviously it was a great privilege for me to share the bill with this lot. The Neil Transpontine contribution was a short talk/slideshow giving a quick history of May Days in South London (will post up the talk later in the week).

That was the last Kit & Cutter at the Deptford Arms, as the pub looks set to be bookiefied. I am sure putting on a folk club there with its smelly toilets and noisy drunks in the public bar has been a bit of a challenge, but it's great to see this kind of music filling rooms in high street pubs. Hopefully they will find another venue soon not too far away.

(see also review at Crosswhatfields?)