Were-Tigers and Jack-in-the-Green

It’s May Day and time to enjoy traditional working-class customs like getting drunk with a bloke dressed as a hedge.

SELFS-folk have been going along to the Deptford Jack in the Green for two years now and it’s always fantastic fun (see pictures from previous years).

Meanwhile at SELFS we’ll be talking about men in Sumatra who take on the aspects of tigers. “Were-tigers” are a quick and simple way to describe a world of living jungle-shamanism and communication with the cat spirits. I won’t be about, as I did this. Andy Worthington will be introducing. Be nice to him.

8th May: Jon Hare - The Were-Tigers of Sumatra.
Centre for Fortean Zoology member Jon Hare encountered the “were-tigers” while searching for ape-men in Sumatra. This is his first hand tale of living shamanism, martial arts and spirit cats.

South East London Folklore Society meets every second Monday of the month upstairs at The Spanish Galleon, 48 Greenwich Church Street, SE10 9BL. Talks start at 8.00pm and costs £2.50 / £1.50 concessions.Greenwich Mainline & DLR: Turn left from the main exit, walk about 5-10 minutes, the Galleon is on your right, at the cross-roads.

Cutty Sark DLR: Turn left from the station, right when you get to the road, the Spanish Galleon is across the road.Buses: 177, 180, 188, 199, 286, 386.

Zine Symposium

Went along to The Square Occupied Social Centre in Russell Square on Saturday to see Elephant and Castle Post-Hardcorists Butchers Boy in action. It was all part of the London Zine Symposium 2006, with lots of stalls, chat about zines, DIY publishing,music, a radical Bloomsbury walk hosted by South London Radical History Group, and readings from zines. I caught Kitty Chronic of Chroncicles of a Cheating heart zine (as well as riot grrl band Candy Panic Attack reading some interesting stuff about eating disorders.

We are not afraid of the ruins

Derelict London is one of my favourite photo sites with lots of pleasing images of dereliction and decay. Check out the mournful gallery of dead South London pubs, air raid shelters, and graffiti. The only improvement I would like to see would be a section on buildings we would like to see as picturesque ruins in the future!

The Ballad of Peckham Rye

The death this week of author Muriel Spark set me reading her 1960 novel ‘The Ballad of Peckham Rye’. The story tells of the mayhem spread by Douglas Dougal, a trickster figure employed in a Peckham factory but doing very little work. Along the way, it provides a fictional snapshot of south London life in the 1950s, with pubs (the Rye Hotel is mentioned on the first page), dancehalls and lovers fumbling on Peckham Rye. Like William Blake, who had a vision of angels in a tree on Peckham Rye, Spark’s Rye is a place of visions – Douglas manages to draw a crowd by pointing upwards and declaring ‘A new idea. Did you see it in the papers? Planting trees and shrubs in the sky. Look there – it’s a tip of a pine’. Another character sees ‘the Rye for an instant looking like a cloud of green and gold, the people seeming to ride upon it, as you might say there was another world than this’.

Spark also makes use of a local legend about a tunnel linking Peckham and Nunhead, supposedly an escape route for nuns in the time of Henry VIII. The novel features the discovery of a tunnel that stretches ‘roughly six hundred yards from the police station [in Meeting House Lane]… to Gordon Road’ and ‘formerly used by the nuns of the Order of St Bridget’. The excavation uncovers the bones of nuns in the tunnel.

Variations of this story crop in local history accounts, not least on the sign outside the (currently closed) Nunhead Tavern itself. There does not seem to be any real evidence for it, and I wonder whether in one of those folklore loops Muriel Spark’s fictional telling of the legend entered local folklore itself to become the source of some of the later stories. Anyway, good news on the pub itself, it is apparently due to be reopened by the people who run the Gowlett Arms in Peckham, a pub with a good selection of beers and delicious pizza!

Song of the South

'Song of the South' is the working title for a new musical project I have started, aiming to collect, record, perform and maybe even write songs linked to South London locations. My vision is of a floating pool of collaborators chipping in for the odd song or two, gradually building up to a body of work. As a first small step I performed a couple of songs at the Telegraph Hill Festival Blues Night on 25 March at Page Two in Nunhead. I started off with Georgie, a poaching ballad set in Shooters Hill (or other locations, depending on the version), and then accompanied by Juleigh sang modern folk classic The Only Living Boy in New Cross. If you are interested in participating in this project let me know.

Midnight Notes

Radio Noodles is a newish free podcast site. Early stuff posted there includes XChris's interesting 'Night Exploration' recorded on a late night stroll along South London's Walworth Road with Chris reflecting on the night accompanied by the sound of passing traffic and drinkers. It ends up with a nice quote from Maurice Blanchot: "Midnight never falls at midnight. Midnight falls when the dice are cast, but they cannot be cast till Midnight".

Tales of the Fountain

Dave 'Fountain Boy' Fennessy has been in touch having seen our earlier posting about the indie pop club at the Fountain in Deptford Broadway (now Noodle King). It was Dave who put this club on from June 1990 until a year later when, in his own words, he 'completely fell out of love with music'.

The club particularly highlighted bands on Sarah Records, with St.Christopher, the Sea Urchins, Another Sunny Day, Brighter and Heavenly all playing. Dave says that he 'solely supported the anorak scene because they couldn't get gigs anywhere else in London, not even at the Falcon [legendary Camden indie pub]. Bands that nobody liked included Fat Tulips, Strawberry Story, Groove Farm, Thrilled Skinny... I was a big supporter of south London bands but not many fitted the bill - I was keen to keep the music specifically non-rocky and very indie poppy. My fave locals were Screeming Custard who used to pack the place out. We also had Brain of Morbius, Violet Circuit, Moral Panik, Buick Circus Hour'.

Dave is now planning to devote a website to this 'very independent haven for the unloved, the twee, the sick and the ill', doubtless including the night Bob Mortimer stepped in and tried to stop two guys were having a pretend fight. We look forward to it.

Archaeology of the Future

Archaeology of the Future is an excellent site on the history of British science fiction. I particularly liked the pieces on Science Fiction and the Suburbs and on the Greenwich Emotion Map.

Previously at Transpontine we have considered South London horror film locations, but what of science fiction? We've had Dr Who on the South Bank and Chislehurst caves. Then there's The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), where an astronaut returns from outer space harbouring a deadly alien life-form. He runs away and spends a night on a derelict boat at Deptford Creek, before causing havoc at London Zoo and Westminster Abbey. Any other candidates?

Marmalade Skies

Marmalade Skies is a wonderfully obsessive archive of flyers, gigs, happenings and everything else connected with British psychedelia, 1966-70. Did you know that The Bee Gees played in Lewisham in 1967 at a charity show in aid of the Hither Green train disaster fund (40 died on 5th November 1967)or that Pink Floyd played Woolwich Poly the following year? Most interesting sounding was an event at The Albany Institute, Deptford in June 1967 featuring 'Films, Strange Sounds plus Psychedelic Poetry!', with artists incuding Michael Chapman, Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth.

I will also have to check out some of the forgotten psychedelicists like East of Eden, who played in New Cross at the South East London College of Further Education in 1969, and Focal Point, a band signed to The Beatles Apple Records who lived for a while in East Dulwich.

Did you see the stylish kids in the riot?

South London Radical History Group have a talk coming up this week on the 'Stop the City' actions of 1983-4 in the City of London. There will be a video, a brief talk by Stop the City activists, followed by a discussion about other anti-capitalist efforts then and now.

Its on Thursday 30th March, 7.30 pm at The Pullens Centre, 184 Crampton Street, SE17, five minutes from Elephant & Castle. Entry is free. More details from: mudlark@macunlimited.net

Down in Albion

Just noticed this Deptford reference on The Babyshambles Albion, never saw Pete Doherty and Kate Moss walking down the Broadway but maybe I missed it:

Down in Albion
They're black and blue
But we don't talk about that
Are you from 'round here?
How do you do?
I'd like to talk about that
Talk over
Gin in teacups
And leaves on the lawn
Violence in bus stops
And the pale thin girl with eyes forlorn

Gin in teacups
And leaves on the lawn
Violence in dole queues
And the pale thin girl behind the checkout

If you're looking for a cheap sort
Set in false anticipation
Ill be waiting in the photo booth
At the underground station
Now come away, won't you come away
We can go to
Deptford, Digbeth, Tuebrook
Anywhere in Albion

Flying Carpet over New Cross

Edith Nesbit was one of the most popular children's authors of the early 20th century, as well as an interesting socialist, feminist and general bohemian. Most famously she was responsible for The Treasure Seekers and The Railway Children (filmed starring Jenny Agutter, who in another south London connection, now lives in Camberwell). E. Nesbit lived in various parts of SE London, and her books feature a number of local locations, including in The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904) a flying carpet adventure accompanied by said Phoenix:

"On and on the carpet swept, still keeping much nearer to the chimney-pots than the children found at all comfortable. And then, just over New Cross, a terrible thing happened... both Robert and Jane suddenly, and at once, made a bound to try and get on to the safer part of the carpet, and the darn gave way and their boots went up, and the heavy heads and bodies of them went down through the hole, and they landed in a position something between sitting and sprawling on the flat leads on the top of a high, grey, gloomy, respectable house whose address was 705, Amersham Road, New Cross.

The carpet seemed to awaken to new energy as soon as it had got rid of their weight, and it rose high in the air. The others lay down flat and peeped over the edge of the rising carpet... 'Stop!' cried the Phoenix; 'the carpet is dropping to earth.' And indeed it was. It sank swiftly, yet steadily, and landed on the pavement of the Deptford Road. It tipped a little as it landed, so that Cyril and Anthea naturally walked off it, and in an instant it had rolled itself up and hidden behind a gate-post. It did this so quickly that not a single person in the Deptford Road noticed it'.

Deptford Fun City Revisited

A very good turn out (50+) at my 'Sounds of SE14' New Cross and Deptford musical history talk last night at St.Catherines, thanks for everyone for coming. For me it was great to have a mixture of some of the people who make the area interesting in one place, and in some cases ‘networking’ in the pub afterwards – those present included Caffy from Music Tourist Board, Mark Sampson (whose ‘New Cross Sympony’ was played), Ceri James (whose 'Deptford Broadway' was also played), Catherine from Cartridge, our very own Scott from South East London Folklore Society, Andrew from Ragged School Blog, Paul from Deptford Free Radio (who recorded the talk for a future podcast) and Paul Hendrich from Goldsmiths' Town Hall Pirate, the latter a new initiative looking to contest Deptford's colonial legacy as seen on the old Town Hall (now a Goldsmiths building) with its statue of the slaver Francis Drake. If you want to find out more sign up here and select 'Town Hall Pirate'.

Here's the music I played last night. If you want to know more about the connections between them and SE London, you'll just have to come along to my next event, likely to be in May during the Made in Deptford festival.


Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine – The Only Living Boy in New Cross
Roy Harris – Ratcliffe Highway
Robert Wyatt – The Red Flag
Marie Lloyd – A Little of what you fancy does you good
Fats Waller – The joint is jumpin’
Spike Milligan – The Q5 Piano Tune
Bonzo Dog Band – Monster Mash
Velvet Underground – Black Angel’s Death Song
Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel – Come up and see me make me smile
Dire Straits –Sultans of Swing
Squeeze - Cool for Cats
Alternative TV - Action Time and Vision
This Heat – SPQR
Kate Bush - Cloudbusting
The Flying Pickets – Only You
The Fabulous Poodles – Mirror Star
… and the Native Hispters – There goes Concorde again
The Chords – Maybe Tomorrow
The Only Ones – Another Girl, Another Planet
Japan – The Art of Parties
Homosexuals – My night out
Johnny Osbourne – 13 Dead
Linton Kwesi Johnson – New Craas Massahkah
Test Department – New World Order
Band of Holy Joy – Mad Dot
Ozric Tentacles – Sploosh!
The June Brides – Every Conversation
Blur – Girls and Boys
Placebo – Nancy Boy
Blak Twang – Trixsta
The Violets – Laxteen
The Swear – Ch ch eh!
Shortwave Set – Is it any wonder?
Mark Sampson – New Cross Symphony
Zen – Deptford Broadway.

Blowing Up Greenwich

Here’s an art exhibition in south east London inspired by a peculiar piece of Greenwich History:
Greenwich Degree Zero

It's on until 2 April 2006 on Wednesdays to ­ Sundays 12-6pm.

“Greenwich Degree Zero is the first collaboration between artist Rod Dickinson [of various crop-circles and the "air loom" fame] and artist/novelist Tom McCarthy. The artists' starting point is a strange late nineteenth-century event: on the afternoon of February 15th, 1894, a French anarchist named Martial Bourdin was killed when the bomb he was carrying detonated. The explosion took place on the slope beneath the Royal Observatory in London's Greenwich Park, and it was generally assumed that his intention had been to blow up this building — the place from which all time throughout the British Empire and the world was measured and regulated.”

"In Greenwich Degree Zero, Rod Dickinson and Tom McCarthy re-imagine Bourdin’s act as a successful attack on the Observatory. The resulting installation reports an event that did not quite happen, blurring the distinction between fact and fiction and relocating the genuine public outrage and hysteria about the threat of anarchist terror that prevailed in the 1890s in this ambiguous space of non-event."

For more information, contact Rachel Fleming-Mulford,T: 020 7582 6465 E: rachel@beaconsfield.ltd.uk

The Beaconsfield is at 22 Newport Street, London SE11 6AY.

I Love New Cross so much I'l frame it.

This just came in, no idea who the other bands are but nights down the Monty are always good:

"Hello all, We, 23frames, are playing the good 'ol Montague Arms this Friday night - 24th March.

It's an 'I Love New Cross' night and there'll be three or four other bands playing too. I think most people know the Montague by now, but here's some info if you don't.

We're on second I think, so probably about, ermmmmmm, 9:30? ish "

Bopp bopp bopp

HOT CLUB DE PARIS (oo-laa-la ect.) and The Dolly Daggers

+ Wolf Gang DJs playing out twisted rock n roll, retro grooves and bleak disco…


Date: Friday 7th April
Doors: 8pm – 12.15am
Price: £3
Venue: The Montague Arms, 289 Queens Road, New Cross, SE15 2PA
Tel: 0207 6394923
Nearest Tube: New Cross Gate
Nearest BR: Queens Rd, Peckham.

Camberwell walks

There are three free walks round north Camberwell coming up: March 19 (10.30am), 25th and 26th (both 2pm). All leave from Camberwell Green and take in some of the hidden green spaces of Camberwell, local artists, the history of the Grand Surrey canal and Burgess park, Robert Browning, with a break for tea and cake at Chumleigh gardens. Free but please book if possible 020 7277 0571 or greencamberwell@fsmail.net
There's a new map that covers the same territory, available now in local libraries and cafes.

New Cross Music Talk

A talk on at The Telegraph Hill festival on Tuesday 21 March 2006 on the musical history of New Cross and Deptford. To quote from the programme:

"Neil Gordon-Orr explores the rich musical history of New Cross and surrounding area, from music hall to punk, reggae and beyond. Which glam star went to Edmund Waller school? Where did Louis Armstrong play? What connects the Velvet Underground and the Bonzo Dog Band to SE14? A talk with music and visuals by the author
of 'Deptford Fun City'".

It takes place at the Narthex community centre at St. Catherine's Church, Drakefell Road, New Cross SE14 (the church at the roundabout by the top of Jerningham Road), price is £3 (£2 concessions). Start time is 8:30 pm.

Visions, Ghosts, Goddesses... same old same old South London

More local themed weirdness coming up at South East London Folklore Society:

13th March: Jack Gale - The Track way of Carnal Desire: Holda & the Sacred Landscape.

Local history expert and respected magical writer Jack Gale presents his researches that followed a vision in Greenwich Park. This is a tale starting with the sacred landscape of Germany and takes us to the histories, mysteries and scandalous past of King William Walk in Greenwich.

10th April: Malcolm Godfrey - Ghosts of Deptford & Greenwich.

Malcolm C Godfrey is well known for his deep interest in the Greenwich. Always enthralled by the past and particularly the supernatural, Malcolm has now embarked on recounting tales of Greenwich's departed inhabitants from the very famous to the
virtually unknown. Malcolm's talk will be followed by an open forum for anyone to
discuss or recount tales of local ghosts.

SELFS meets every second Monday of the month upstairs at The Spanish Galleon, 48 Greenwich Church Street, SE10 9BL. Talks start at 8.00pm and costs £2.50 / £1.50 concessions.

South East London Folk Songs

I have been collecting folk songs/ballads that refer to South East London locations. So far I have come up with the following:

- Georgie - Martin Carthy's version of this poaching ballad mentions Shooters Hill;
- Wapping Old Stairs - mentions stepping out with 'Susan from Deptford';
- Buxom Joan of Deptford - a song in Willliam Congreve's play Love for Love (1695);
- Wings of a Gull - whalers' song where the singer longs to be 'snug in a Deptford pub';
- Ratcliff Highway - not SE London I know, but at the end the hapless sailor returns to his ship at Deptford;
- Sweet Thames Flow Softly - Ewan McColl's song starts 'I met my girl at Woolwich Pier'. McColl and his partner Peggy Seeger lived at 35 Stanley Avenue, Beckenham from the early 60s until his death in 1989;
- Lady from Lee - I think McColl and Seeger did a version of this.
- Fair Betsy of Deptford - a song from the 1830s about a sailor called William returning from sea to marry the aforementioned Betsy;
- Stormy Weather - a Thames barge song (no relation to the Billie Holiday song) that mentions Surrey Dock, Greenwich Beach and other places along the River. It was recorded by Bob Roberts.

Some of these I only have titles for, others just lyrics. Any guidance on tunes, or any other suggestions, let me know.

Dirty South

Lots of interesting stuff coming up at Dirty South in Lewisham (formerly the 'Rose of Lee' pub). On March 26th, Alabama 3 present 'outlaw club', while on April 1st there's a DJ set from Terry Hall (ex-Specials and Fun Boy Three). Its at 162 Lee High Road, SE13 (020 8852 1267).

For a listing of South East London gigs in April, check out Rocklands.

FAIRYKAMAIKAZEGIGSTUFF

Thank you, Philbin.....

Date : 14 March
Time : 8pm
Line Up : THE FAIRIES BAND + WHITE MAN KAMIKAZE with DIRTY SOUNDS DJs and friends.

Venue: P.O.L.E., New Cross Inn, 323 New Cross Road, Rocklands, London SE14 (right near New Cross Station)
Entry : £3
Beer £1.50 a pint, DJs bar until 1am.

THE FAIRIES BAND

"...Shouty, funny, poppy, punky fairy rock n roll..." - Claire Sturgess, XFM
"It's the first time a group has induced pop rapture in too, too long" - Drowned In Sound

WHITE MAN KAMIKAZE

"This is pure whisky soaked trailer trash ripping up the rule book." (Smash Music)
"White Man Kamikaze are like a gang of ASBOs doing the The Clash on karaoke" ( [a rather lazily written review from] South London Pulse)

Who owns South London?: 1. Greenwich Market

Recent concerns about a threat to demolish Greenwich covered market has brought to light who actually owns this piece of land. It appears that it is owned by The Greenwich Hospital Charity- but what is this charity? The name is confusing - the charity has nothing to do with providing modern health services. It is in fact a relic of the body set up to run the Royal Naval Hospital for Seamen in the 18th century. The hospital has been closed since 1869, the buildings subsequently housing the Royal Naval College and now the University of Greenwich and Trinity College of Music.

The remaining charity is now effectively a property company, owning most of the centre of Greenwich, including the freehold on the old hospital buildings. Its main charitable work is running a boarding school! Furthermore, whereas most charities have a board of trustees, the sole trustee of the Greenwich Hospital Charity is the
Secretary of State for Defence. Its Royal Patron is the Duke of York. The royal and miltary interests that once dominated Greenwich might appear to have lost their influence, but seemingly not when it comes to the question of land ownership.

It appears that the market is safe for the time being, but we will be returning to the mysteries of 'who owns South London?'.

Tag: greenwich

Let's Go To The Bopp

Philbin then reached under her wing to deliver the following proclamation:

"The Wolfgang Bopp presents Ladyfuzz , Chik Budo and Wolf Gang DJs playing out twisted rock n roll, retro grooves and bleak disco…"

This the same Wolfgang Bopp that appeared in the Metro last week.

Again, this is Friday 3rd March, Doors: 8pm – 12.15am and Price: £3.

Venue is the venerable The Montague Arms, 289 Queens Road, New Cross, SE15 2PA.

Tel: 0207 6394923
Nearest Tube: New Cross Gate
Nearest BR: Queens Rd, Peckham
Email: wolfgangbopp@hotmail.com

Films Going On Underground

Today Philbin, my polished ivory and steel clockwork magpie, brought me the following in her little metal beak:

"Exploding Cinema, London's most notorious and longest running Underground Filmclub, returns in ten daysfor a night packed with low budget and underground gems, great decor, prizes and general fun.

NEXT EXPLODING CINEMA SHOW:Friday 3rd MarchThe Hatcham Social ClubHall Entrance (on right hand side)369 Queen's RoadNew CrossLondon SE14DOORS 7.30pm. £4 entry (no concs)

Buses: 36, 171, 53

Tube: New Cross GateRail: New Cross Gate or Queens Road Peckham (6 mins from London Bridge)"

Directors & Map

Save Greenwich Market

Save Greenwich Market, click here to join the campaign to save Greenwich undercover craft market.

FREE STUFF BONANZA

This Sunday (5th Feb) get along to the Pullens Centre, Walworth for the... FREE STUFF BONANZA NEW YEAR (chinese) FESTIVAL FETE THINGEE featuring cake, tea, DJ's but most of all FREE STUFF. It goes like this:

1pm Bring your stuff, put it into correct position in the room. Then visit the cake stall, eat, drink, play some records, browse what others are bringing in.

2.15pm OPEN SHOP. frenzy where everyone takes what they want, argue with friends over trinkets etc etc

1. Books/Magazines/records/Videos/CD's etc
2. Clothes/Shoes etc
3. Household Stuff
4. Kids Stuff
5. MISC

Address is PULLENS CENTRE, 184 crampton street, SE17 3AE
Elephant and Castle tube, buses many 12, 35, 40, 45, 68, 133, 148, 155, 171, 176, 468

Peace in Camberwell

Stop the War vigil in Camberwell Green tonight, one of many across the country to mark the 100th death of a British soldier in Iraq. 20 or so people braved the cold.

Battle for the Trees

All this week, Tribal Voices are holding their Imbolc Gathering at the Synergy Centre, 220 Farmers Road, Camberwell SE5. Thursday night is film night, with films of various land struggles in England in the 1990s. Main feature is "Whose land is it anyway?", plus films covering the anti-Criminal Justice Act march (July 94), Claremont Road ant-M11 movement 1994, Camden and Islington Reclaim the Streets 1995, Newbury bypass protest 1996, etc.

Let the memories flood back and enjoy, or get yourself a history lesson on protest culture in this country. Ital, Vegan, Organic, Sattvic and Raw food served from 7pm, films from 8.

A kids film will also be shown from 6pm, and the main room is non-smoking. Suggested donation to the upkeep of the Centre is three pounds.

Rock Out Against Racism

LOVE MUSIC HATE RACISM presents OLYMPUS MONS (fresh from Babyshambles UK tour support) + LONG WEEKEND (baggydelica (remember that?)) + NATIONS VIBRATIONS (roots rock reggae) + SOUND SYSTEM with local MCs on Saturday 28 Jan 006 within the hallowed rooms of the Hatcham Club, Queens Road, New Cross SE14 .

Doors 8pm-1am late bar. Entry £5 + £2 concessions Info 020 8314 1303 / 077 3094 4159

Planet of the Vampires

Tate Modern is showing a free season of Italian B Movies between now and the 10th February. Most enticing, for me at least, is the 1965 film Terrore nello Spazio ('Planet of the Vampires', although the correct translation is 'Terror in Space') showing on Wednesday 8 February 2006 at 6:30 pm. The blurb for this reads 'The crew members of two spaceships, drawn to an unexplored planet by a strange call for help, are overcome by a sudden urge to kill and start slaughtering each other. Those who survive the massacre return to normality, while the dead become zombies whose only aim is to exterminate the living. Everything stems from the planet’s original bodiless inhabitants, who can only survive if they take over the corpses of the dead and feed on human blood'. Sounds fun! This and the other films are showing in the Starr Auditorium at Tate Modern, Bankside SE1. Further details at Italian Kings of the B’s: Secret History of Italian Cinema 1949–81.

Atheistic Communistic Scorcher

South London Radical History Group are back with a talk by Terry Liddle on Dan Chatterton on Tuesday 24th January 2005. Chatterton is an almost forgotten 19th century figure, a Chartist,radical, atheist and class warrior who published his own paper ‘the Atheistic Communistic Scorcher'.

The following date (Thursday 23 February) promises a talk on the radical history of cycling.

Venue is 56a Infoshop, 56 Crampton Street, London SE17 (admission free).8 pm start. Nearest tube: Elephant & Castle. For more info email: mudlark@macunlimited.net

The Shortwave Set

Finally got round to listening to The Shortwave Set’s ‘The Debt Collection’ LP, released by Independiente last year. The trio are Deptford-based, playing their first gig at The Amersham Arms apparently and make what the sleevenotes describe as ‘wonky psychedelic hangover songs’. This involves a Lemonjelly-like eclectic mix of samples from charity shop records (e.g. Waikiki Beach Boys and Engelbert Humperdinck), but with ‘proper’ songs beautifully sung that put me in mind of Dubstar. Definitely worth checking out - the band start a residency at Soho Arts Club on Monday so that might be a good place to start.

Plough Monday in Greenwich

Yesterday was Plough Monday - in ye olden days the first day back to the plough after the festivities. Last night in Greenwich saw the Fowler Molly Troop doing a series of folk dances in the Undercover Market to mark the occasion; people dressed up like 'Oliver' extras with ribbons pinned to their clothes and the obligatory man in drag, all good fun.

Round the corner straight away afterwards to the Spanish Galleon for an excellent talk on 'British Cunning Folk' by Christina Oakley at South East London Folklore Society. Cunning men and women, sometimes known as white witches, were the people you went to for divination, healing or psychic assistance when you were having a bit of trouble with the evil eye, lost cows, love affairs etc. They flourished in Britain from as far back as records exist until the beginning of the 20th century when their roles were supplanted by a new wave of specialist healers, spiritualists and occultists.

Next time at SELFS looks good with Chris Woods on 'The Sacred Landscape of South East London'. Was Deptford the real centre of ancient London? What mysteries are buried under Brockley cross? All will be revealed on 13th February, 8 pm start at the Spanish Galleon, 48 Greenwich Church Street, SE10 (£2.50/£1.50 concessions).

June Brides at the Easycome

Top night out for my birthday last week at The Easycome Acoustic Club in the Ivy House, Peckham Rye. The main purpose was to see a rare reunion gig by 1980s indie darlings The June Brides, playing an acoustic set to mark the launch of a new retrospective double CD on Cherry Red, 'Every Conversation: the Story of The June Brides and Phil Wilson'. It was a great set, with their melodies lending themselves to an acoustic treatment, including my personal faves 'Every Conversation' and 'Sunday to Saturday'.

I was also amazed by the amount of talent on display at the open-mic session before the band played, particularly Trevor Moss of whom Skitser said 'His playing was
good but his voice was bloody amazing, either he's doing the best pastiche of Robert Johnson that a white, south-east London bloke could do or he's been down to the crossroads at Peckham Rye and Nunhead Lane and sold his soul'.

Trevor's band, Indigo Moss, are playing the Easycome Acoustic club on 18th January and will be worth checking out as will any Wednesday night in the Ivy House pub, Stuart Road, Peckham Rye, SE15 (£3/£2 concessions).

Radical Map Exhibition

Last year there was a great Festival of Mapping at 56a Info Shop in Walworth, featuring a range of weird, wonderful and generally swell maps, including a radical Southwark map and other treasures. Now there's a chance to see this material again, in a Radical Map Exhibition at Pogo Cafe, 76 Clarence Road, Hackney, E5 8HB. Worth crossing the river for, particularly if you are also partial to vegan food.

Philosophy in the Pub

Lots of philosophy is pondered in the pub, this SE1 group just a bit more official...

"What is Happiness?The topic is ‘What is happiness?'Will the upcoming holiday season make you happy? Why or why not? What makes a person happy - material success, achievement of goals, stability and an absence of suffering?I want to look at what different philosophers have said about happiness, from Aristotle to the rather austere Germans to thinkers like Bertrand Russell and John Stuart Mill. Can we make ourselves happy, and is happiness a goal worthing striving to achieve?I will ask for a donation of £3.50 towards expenses, and those who are on lower incomes can pay what they are able. The Rose and Crown, 47 Colombo Street, nearest tube, Southwark. "

The Future for Brockley?

Come & have your say on Brockley Common, Brockley Max, the market & Brockley Cross development
Brockley Cross Action Group’s AGM at John Stainer Primary School, Mantle Road, Brockley, SE4
Thursday 1st December, 7.30 pm - 9.15 pm.
Entertainment by The Strawberry Thieves Choir

Brockley Cross Action Group, PO Box 47615, London SE4 1RT.
Registered charity 1111176

Tramp along to Walworth's new film club...

This is from Andy Worthington....

Film-maker Neil Goodwin ('Operation Solstice') is launching a new film club, The Little Tramp' (named after one of Walworth's most famous sons) at the Pullens Centre, 184 Crampton St, SE17, every Tuesday evening from November22nd. 7.30pm start, £3.50/£2 concs.

First up (Nov 22) is 'Normal', Jane Anderson's affecting portrayal of gender dilemmas starring the excellent Tom Wilkinson and Jessica Lange.

Nov 29: Bill Hicks' 'Relentless' and Bob Fosse's 'Lenny', starring Dustin Hoffman as Lenny Bruce.

Dec 6: 'Shadows', the John Cassavetes classic.

For further info call Neil on: 07930 255233.

The Cuttings Nature Reserve: New Cross

I've just heard that The Cuttings Nature Reserve, Vesta Road, New Cross / Brockley has been proposed as a site for development by a 'neighbour' of the reserve.

This is a green site alive with flors and fauna and I have had many happy hours working there. This is to be opposed from the start (before we have to get the monkey wrenches out) and Rob Whittle, volunteer co-ordinator of the reserve, suggests this:

This is precisely the type of insidious threat that all too familiar to urbangreen spaces and now it has come to ours. The good news is that here issomething we can do about it but it needs doing urgently.

You can voice your disapproval by emailing: planning@lewisham.gov.uk and telling them what you think - it doesn't need to be long.

Alternatively you can write to them at the listed address on page 1 of thePDF by completing the form and posting it.

THE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT WE HAVE TO DO THIS BY MONDAY! If you have already responded then many thanks.

Art stuff

At the always wonderful Dog and Bell pub,at the moment there's a wonderful exhibit of artworks by Dawn Fincham- huge blocks of wax in icecream colours, with eerie embedded photographs and text- very appealing.

More esoteric perhaps is a forthcoming exhibition at The Art House, 140 Lewisham Way- TIME TRAVELLER, promising a retrospective installation of 50 years of Fred Aylward. Close examination of the postcard advertising the event reveals a negative picture of a bald bespectacled man with a spirit level, for yes, some 20 years ago Fred Aylward was "Les" in Vic Reeves' Big Night Out. (but to be fair has done an awful lot of stuff since)
The exhibition runs from 1st to 18th of December.

The Wolfgang Bopp presents:

Velofax, The Mules and tired irie plus Wolf Gang DJs playing out twisted rock n roll, retro grooves and bleak disco on Thursday 17th November from 8.00pm – 12.15am at The Montague Arms. Nearest Tube: New Cross Gate, Nearest BR: Queens Rd, Peckham

Price: £2/£1nus before 9, £3/£2nus after.

If You Go Down to the Woods Today...

It's SELFS time again

14th November: Steve Wilson - The Kibbo Kift.

Long before the emergence of Wicca in the 1950s, Britain's first modern pagan revival was spearheaded by "Kibbo Kift - The Woodcraft Kindred". This group mixed Saxon heathenry with a desire to transform the entire world by developing a group of people who had experienced the whole of human culture by starting at hunter-gatherer level. The parent group - The Boy Scouts - were not amused! Learn abut the group that spawned The Woodcraft Folk and their occult sister group The Order of Woodcraft Chivalry at SELFS..........

SELFS is a monthly meeting / moot in Greenwich, south east London, which has a different speaker and Q&A each month (except December). The regulars, who're made up of pagans, forteans, folklorists and many others, are a friendly, open-minded and intelligent bunch.

SELFS meets every second Monday of the month upstairs at The Spanish Galleon, 48 Greenwich Church Street, SE10 9BL. Talks start at 8.00pm and costs £2.50 / £1.50 concessions (except December which is free).

Greenwich Mainline & DLR: Turn left from the main exit, walk about 5-10 minutes, the Galleon is on your right, at the cross-roads.

Cutty Sark DLR: Turn left from the station, right when you get to the road, the Spanish Galleon is across the road. Buses: 177, 180, 188, 199, 286, 386.

Calling All Bands, Artist and the like

Artful was October, now Deptford X is now on us in November...

Order out of chaos, or not
We will be in residence at Open Arts Platform as part of Deptford X, every weekend throughout November. We hope to have a series of guests dropping buy to add their input to the project as well as a few experiments of our own.

If you want to drop by with an instrument, gadget, gizmo, or just yourself, feel free, and visit the above web page to add yourself to the list!
OAP
The Old Seager Gallery
6a Holland House
Brookmill rd
London
SE8 4JT
Every Saturday and Sunday in November (5,6,12,13,19,20,26,27)
12 - 6pm

Her Noise

Went along to the opening party last night for Her Noise at the South London Gallery in Camberwell. Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth) and Jenny Hoyston (Erase Errata) did short performances but due to the queue/crowd madness I missed them. I did get to have a lie down on Kaffe Matthews’ Sonic Bed (which is just that) and browse through the archive of records and zines - all the Riot Grrl and related classics present and correct, including L7, Huggy Bear and Le Tigre. As well as the exhibition of interactive sound installations, there are various interesting events coming up, including a gig on 19th November with ex-members of The Raincoats and Bikini Kill, and a weekly Saturday afternoon ‘We’re alive, let’s meet’ get together to share music and experiences, and produce a zine.

Mucky Needles

Sickidlehappy, gig organisers of some note, are putting their best punk rock friends The Dirty Pins on at Goldsmiths Student Union (Dixon Road, off New Cross Road) this Thursday: the 3rd of November. It's something called 'Livewire', nearest tube is, of course New Cross andNew Cross Gate. 8pm - 12am. On stage at 11pm. No cost mentioned and there's a cheap bar.

Artful

So that was Artful. How was it for you?

systemspacecitytechnologyangst

KERNEL PANIC (systemspacecitytechnologyangst) is an exhibition running from 29th October to 20th November, Sat & Sun 12-6pm at the Old Seager Distillery, 2nd Floor Atlantic House, Brookmill Road / Deptford Bridge, Deptford, London SE8 4JT. Old Seager Distillery is right by Deptford Bridge DLR and a short stroll from both New Cross and Deptford rail. Here's a map and directions.

The details are: "Kernel Panic brings together digital arts and architecture in a physical and entropic mode: enveloping net art, digital ephemera, computer structures and sculptural installation, the exhibition presents participatory performance, social image making systems and group collaborations together in a pluralistic experience."

Opening the exhbitionis a private view / party on 28th October with music by Man from Uranus and friends, Ninki V, Sculpture "audio tape, circuit bent instruments", and Dogheads and a 'performance' by/from Dædalus. Man From Uranus is far better than his 'joke' name, Sculpture and Ninki V looks jolly interesting too (though I'm not such a big fan of Dogheads, myself).

October Plenty

Another Borough Ritual event:

OCTOBER PLENTY

Sunday 23rd October at 12.00pm

An Autumn Harvest Celebration beginning on the Bankside by Shakespeare's Globe, mixing ancient seasonal customs and theatre with contemporary festivity, joining with the Historic Borough Market, Southwark.

A huge CORN QUEENE effigy heavy with 'Plenty' - wheat, barley and other grains, and apples, root vegetables and foliage will appear in a procession around the front of the Globe, Bankside, with the Company of actors, music, the time-honoured HOBBY HORSE, strung with cakes and loaves and the BERRY MAN - our autumn incarnation of the original Green Man - decked with wild fruits and foliage leads the company.

THE PROCESSION to the MarketWe process through the streets to the famous BOROUGH MARKET. There in the Green market, savour the delights on offer:, soul cakes, conker fights, cider from the New Forest, apple bobbing, a great beer selection and the wonderful market stalls and more DANCING.

THE PLAY The Company performs FASTNACHTSSPIELE or NONSENSENIGHTPLAYS. Vibrant old tales of pastoral life, these ebullient 16th Century verse plays by Hans Sachs are rarely performed. Witness them today in new translation for the occasion, spiced with present day festive spirit and song.

Apples cascade out into the crowd as the CORN QUEENE is opened up at the end of the play and this is followed by the celebrated EXECUTION OF JOHN BARLEYCORN.

THE STORY ORCHARDA glade of young English apple trees creates a space for children to gather. There they can re-clothe the trees with green wishes (paper apples) and listen to stories about apples, markets and harvest time.

There is tasting of old apple types from London by Brogdale Horticultural Trust and a colourful display created by ROOTS and SHOOTS, the Lambeth community gardens environment project who created the Corn Queene.

OCTOBER PLENTY is a collective celebration of the seasons, weather and food, in a public place, with access to everyone. For that reason too, the event is FREE. We are pleased to be supported by the Pool of London Partnership (PLP) Small Grants Fund in association with PricewaterhouseCoopers Contact Us! the lions part0208 452 3866 / 07736 1502 25 / info@thelionspart.co.uk

The Halloween of Cross Bones VIII

From John Constable:

Southwark Mysteries presents the eighth annual ritual to honour the outcast dead of Cross Bones graveyard.

Halloween Night, Monday 31st October 2005 from 6pm

Upstairs @ The Ship, corner of Borough Road and Borough High Street, SE1
(5 minutes walk from Borough or Elephant and Castle tubes)

admission: £7 (after 7pm); £5 members (anyone attending the AGM: 6-7pm)
Numbers limited to 70. Please come early to avoid disappointment. All attending the AGM (6-7pm) become members and pay only the £5 concession price.

No admission after 7.30. Those arriving later are welcome to have a drink downstairs at the bar and then join us for the procession at 8.30.

6pm Southwark Mysteries AGM – become a member of Southwark Mysteries, hear the full story of Cross Bones graveyard and join the campaign to reclaim part of the site as a memorial garden and people’s park.

7pm Southwark Mysteries Network – meet old friends, make new ones, make your offerings at the altar to the ancestors, and enjoy a drink or a bowl of soup.

7.30 The Halloween of Cross Bones – performance of The Southwark Mysteries by John Constable aka John Crow, with Niall McDevitt and friends. Samhain ritual blessing by Priestess Jacqui. Tantric blessing by Jahnet de Light.

8.30 Procession to Cross Bones graveyard - to honour the outcast dead with blessings, songs, candles, flowers, ribbons and other totemic offerings.

On admission, you will be given a ribbon bearing the name of someone buried in Cross Bones graveyard. Please take care of their spirit for the evening, releasing it when you tie the ribbon to the gates of Cross Bones graveyard.

You are also invited to bring your own totems and offerings, including mementoes of loved ones you’d like to remember, for the altar to the ancestors and for the people’s shrine at the gates to Cross Bones. Halloween dress encouraged!

For more details, please contact: mysteries@boltblue.com