Republican Borough of Greenwich

At a meeting at Woolwich Town Hall last month, Greenwich councillors formally agreed to change the name of the London Borough of Greenwich to the Royal Borough of Greenwich from 3 January 2012. The local museums (National Maritime Museum, the Queens House and the Royal Observatory) are to be rebranded as the Royal Museums, Greenwich, and the Queen herself will be visiting next year to re-open the restored Cutty Sark.

Thanks to Darryl at 453 you can listen to the speech made by Greenwich Council leader Chris Roberts proposing the motion, in which he outlines the 'great Royal Heritage' of Greenwich and its 'history... defined by royal presence and patronage'. It is true that there is a deep historical connection between Greenwich and royalty, though this is somewhat overstated. The royal palace at Greenwich was a key location for the Tudors (Henry VIII etc.), but was only built in the 15th century when the royal park was enclosed (or stolen from the commons if you prefer). Less than 200 year later its time as a royal residence came to an end with the execution of King Charles I during the English Civil War, when a significant proportion of the population successfully fought against the absolute power of the monarchy. The royal palace was used a biscuit factory for a while, then pulled down after it fell into decay.

Of course there have been 'Royal' connections since such as the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich and the Royal Naval College in Greenwich itself, but their names simply reflect the convention of naming government institutions as 'royal' rather than any actual royal presence.

Republican Greenwich

It is equally arguable that Greenwich should be renamed as the Republican Borough of Greenwich. Let us recall the figure of 'Freeborn' John Lilburne, a prominent figure in the anti-Royalist camp in the Civil War and later jailed as a Leveller. He claimed to have been born in the Royal palace at Greenwich, where his father Richard was a courtier (though he grew up in the North East). What is not in doubt is that he died at Eltham in 1657.

Let us remember too the thousands who gathered on Blackheath and fought and died against the tyranny of Kings - the Peasants Revolt of 1381, Jack Cade's rebellion in 1450 and the Cornish rising of 1497, which ended with hundreds being slaughtered by King Henry VII's forces at Deptford Bridge.

Or John De Morgan, the Republican and radical who was jailed for his part in the campaign againt the enclosure of Plumstead Common in the 1870s - when workers from the Arsenal and others rioted against plans to extend the parade ground of the Woolwich barracks.

Royalty and Empire
In his speech, Chris Roberts referred to 'the great navigators, soldiers and sailors who... fought for the Empire' without the slightest acknowledgement that this history was not always so glowing. For the ancestors of many of the people living in Greenwich today, the experience of this royal/colonial adventure was conquest, plunder and slavery. And yes, South East London was deeply implicated in this, with slavers living in Blackheath, and slave ships heading out from Deptford.

To uncritically celebrate Greenwich's royal/colonial connections is to the deny the crimes and the complexity of the past, and also has implications for the present. It is no coincidence that the fiercest guardians of this royal pageant version of history are also extremely reactionary about present events. Take the royalist historian David Starkey (no please, take him). He is curating an exhibition at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich next year on 'Royal River: Power, Pageantry and the Thames'. His response to the recent riots? A rant on Newsnight that Enoch Powell was 'absolutely right' and that the problem is that 'the whites have become black.' I hope Greenwich Council won't be welcoming this racist to the borough in future.

Seriously though there is something very sad about an acceptance of Greenwich's status as a Royal theme park, resting on some imagined feudal heritage rather than looking to the future. Greenwich needs a new story as a place where history is being made now rather than simply conserved - maybe the 'Tinie Tempah Borough of Greenwich'?!

Tinie Tempah on Old Kent Road

Nice to see Tinie Tempah talking up the Old Kent Road in the Guardian at the weekend:

'Life is good when you're Tinie Tempah. The Plumstead-raised artist – otherwise known as Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu Jr – has won a tonne of praise for uniting the disparate music scenes of grime, underground rave and radio-friendly pop without selling any of them out. He's had two No 1 singles, a No 1 album and two Brit awards. One of the fringe benefits of fame is that you get to discover new experiences in eating. Born in London to Nigerian parents, Tinie has always appreciated his food.

Nigerian food is a fundamental part of his life. It's what he grew up with and it builds up the palate because it's packed with flavour. "Nigerian food is lots of flavour, lots of tomato purée, rice, yam, beans… it's a whole load of stuff, really good." His favourite would be pounded yam with egusi soup, a savoury soup with meat and spinach which exists in countless variants across West Africa.

He has a couple of favourite Nigerian restaurants, both on the Old Kent Road in south-east London: the classy 805 and the more home-style Presidential Suya Grill. They're both family-run businesses, friendly and personal. Presidential, in particular, is one of those places where you feel like you're in Nigeria, he says. "There is a real nice atmosphere. When I come back from travelling the world, I do like to go there and chill. It's humbling."

South London Pop Star of the Year (1): Tinie Tempah

The 2010 South London Pop Star of the year (male department) was undoubtedly Tinie Tempah. He's had two number one singles in the past 12 months, "Pass Out" and "Written in the Stars", and a number one album "Disc-Overy". Born Patrick Okogwu, he told the Evening Standard earlier this year:

"I lived in Peckham for the first 12 years of my life and then my mum and dad decided they really didn't want to bring up their children there. So they saved up money and bought a house in Plumstead, semi-detached, three bedrooms. I remember going into it the first day and the first place I ran into was the back garden. I was saying, 'Oh shit, we have a back garden!'"

His most recent single, Invincible, features some film of him returning to his old school in Abbey Wood (SE2): St Paul's R.C. Secondary School, now known as St.Pauls Academy. On Radio One on Boxing Day he highlighted his visit to the school as one of his best moments of the year, mentioning that they now have a Tinie Tempah Music Studio. He went on to study A Levels at St Francis Xavier Sixth Form College in Balham (SW12).



Earlier this year he was asked to respond to the Chris Ofili exhibition at Tate Britain, and he chose Ofili's painting No Woman No Cry - a tribute to Stephen Lawrence, who as Tinie Tempah mentions, was murdered in 1993 not far from where he lived (Lawrence also grew up in Plumstead).



Tinie Tempah performed a piece at the gallery reflecting on the painting, the murder ('RIP to Stephen Lawrence') and on his connection with Ofili (they are both from Nigerian backgrounds):



According to the Tate website: 'No Woman No Cry is a tribute to the London teenager Stephen Lawrence. The Metropolitan police investigation into his racially motivated murder was mishandled, and a subsequent inquiry described the police force as institutionally racist. In each of the tears shed by the woman in the painting is a collaged image of Stephen Lawrence’s face, while the words ‘R.I.P. Stephen Lawrence’ are just discernible beneath the layers of paint. Despite these specific references, the artist also intended the painting to be read in more general terms, as a universal portrayal of melancholy and grief'.

Tinie Tempah - South East of the Thames

When I described Blak Twang as London's best rapper earlier this week I guess I was thinking of the older UK Hip Hop generation. Obviously there's a whole lot of younger rappers coming through working more at the grime/hip hop interface. Which brings us on to Tinie Tempah, currently number one in the UK singles chart with Pass Out.

Tempah lived in Peckham and then moved to Plumstead, but gives the whole of the southlands a shout out in his early (2005) track South East of the Thames - 'Shout out to Brockley... Catford... Sydenham... New Cross... Peckham... Woolwich... Croydon... Deptford... Norwood.... Thamesmead.... yeah it;s all good' (similar vibe to Southside All Stars 'Southside').



Tinie Tempah is playing at the Coronet at Elephant & Castle this Friday 12th March at Together, and at Rar! underage club at the Albany in Deptford on Friday 19th March.

Also check out his take on the Chris Ofili exhibition at Tate Britain.