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

Zipper Queen

Lots to do today so have a flyer. I think all you need to know is there....

The Wolfgang Bopp presents

More "twisted rock n roll, retro grooves and+ bleak disco..." from the Wolfgang Bopp DJ's with Larrikin Love and Roland Shanks live. Good, good, good.

Thursday 20th October, Doors: 8.00pm - 12.15am, Price: £3'
Venue is The Montague Arms, 289 Queens Road, New Cross, London, SE15 2PA
Tel: 020 7639 4923

Nearest Tube: New Cross Gate
Nearest BR: Queens Rd, Peckham

Artful

The big south-east London news is, of course, The Artful Festival, an October wide celebration of DIY, independent, get stuck in, have a go, don't be shy, RRAARGH!, events. So far I've managed to dodge mosto f it 'cos I've been busy and stuff but for a full list of events, go here. There's plenty.

Angular fun at the Venue

Set in the heart of New Cross behind a crushed velvet curtain, 'An Angular Disco' is musical ordnance in the face of something less linear. Acute sounds from London's most obtuse record label. THIS FRIDAY 14th OCTOBER 2005 Angular Recording Corporation hosts a night of anti-post-art-punk-electro-new-wave-pound-shop-dandy-pop. Badges and brogues welcome, virtuosity will be confiscated...!

with... Neil's Children, The Violets, These New Puritans, The Answerfone, JUNK DJ's , and Greenwich Pirate

At The Venue Basement, 2a Clifton Rise, New Cross, SE14, £4/3with flyer or NUS, 9pm-2am.

...and the Native Hipsters

One of the things we do here is gather together the musical history of south-east London so it's with great interest that Richard Sanderson has bought the continued existence of ...and the Native Hipsters to Transpontine's, and everone elses, attention on his livejournal blog.

Interesting history and sound:

"Tom Fawcett was also multi blessed with the ability to force squawking sounds out of inanimate objects. He played the early synth Wasp on Concorde. He throttled that thing to death, wringing every last ounce of twiddleiness out of it. Tom was squatting with Jim Moir in New Cross. They recorded a few things together. Tom went on to form 'Design for Living'. I'm not sure what happened to Jim."

Like all right thinking folk, they're now planning "the future". Only Forward, as I used to say. I expect to see them gigging at the Montrgue Arms pretty soon.

Sunday Night

If you tried being nice to someone near Deptford Bridge on Sunday night, and they were distracted by a broken phone, a bit tired from morris dancing and, frankly, a bit rude, I'm sorry. Please go here.

Fantasmagoria

New Cross's premier troubadours Fantasmagoria return to south-east London on Thursday 29th September to gig at the Montague Arms, the dusty old, skeleton strewn, stuffed-animal decorated venue that probably suits their crusty-gypsy-tango-goth sound the best.

No time, but time in the Montague is always fun and no details on cost but they're well worth seeing. If you don't know where the Monty is, (why not?) it's on Queen's Road, SE14, nearest stations New Cross Gate and Queens Town Road, Peckham. Look it up here.

Stick Around for the Gluerooms

The Gluerooms is one of our favorite local clubs, providing experimental music once a month at the Amersham Arms, 388 New Cross Road, across the road from New Cross train and tube.

This Wednesday, 28th September, they have Craftwork, described as a "performance piece Dr. Polly Fibre (Christine Ellison) creates rhythms, loops and shadows by manipulating sewing machines while producing cloth "manuscripts" from interfacing fabric."

Obfuscator: "Improvised Laptop duo."

Temperatures: "Drums & Bass duo With a bit of synth for people who know they like sound relatively great in volume"

DJ's Body Damage & Possibly Sick and regular house Dj's Tendraw & The Gypsies

Avast!

The slightly cliquey local zine group the Greenwich Pirate are launching their fifth issue, Neighbours, on Tuesday 27th September at the New Cross Inn with gig putter-onners The Public Gets What The Public wants, putting on Theoretical Girl, I couldn't find anything sensible written about her so read "stylish chic has some classy vignettes in her post punk box of delights" (sounds good, I think) and punkers 52 Pick Up plus djs Greenwich Pirates vrs Knight of the turntable.

The numbers: 8pm to 2am. £3/2 nus entry.

Punk Rock Breakfast

Here's a thing, a morning gig this Sunday (25th September) from 9am to noon. This'll either be for those fresh faced sorts who're up with the wrens or the crazy kids who've been out all night and are trying to work out if they want to go to a gig or go back to a super-groupie model's penthouse to snort coke off her tummy in the company of reality television programme presenters (or something).

The Line-up is Kimya Dawson of the Moldy Peaches, Strand of Oaks, Debbie from cardiff (one of them, anyway), Truly Kaput "enthralling folk--inspired solo performance of sharply-written and earnestly executed songs", Grip Right Swing Right andToby ( I've no idea where Toby is from).

This is put on by those fine sorts at The Bakery, costs £2, which includes tea but bring money for Breakfast. The venue is The Pullens Centre, 184 Crampton St, SE17, off the Walworth Road, map here, nearest tube and train is the Elephant and Castle or Kennington Tube. Many, many buses pass this way.

Morris Man Alert

Richard Sanderson infroms me that "Blackheath Morris, have their End of Season/Byron Daniels Memorial Tour on Sunday [That's 25th]. This involves going to three pubs in Greenwich, dancing outside them and drinking some beer. It'll also be the last chance to see me dancing in public before Boxing Day.12.00 Noon- The Ashburnham Arms, Ashburnham Road.13.30- The Morden Arms, Royal Hill.14.30- The Richard 1st (Tolly), Royal Hill.We will be accompanied by our guests- the excellent local ladies team Dacre Morris and the redoubtable Royal Liberty Morris."

3-D Images in Crystal Palace

Ping Pong

Flat Sort of Day? See Films!

I'm suprise people aren't dancing in the street to this one but this Friday, 23rd September, from 7.30pm, Bob Godfrey is giving a talk and presenting a selection of animated films at the Lewisham Arthouse, on the Lewisham Way for a mere £2.50/£1.50 concessions.

Who is Bob Godfrey? Only the greatest living British animator after Oliver Postgate and the man who gave us such sublime works as Roobard and Custard. BLOODY ROOBARD AND CUSTARD! This is the man who MADE the cartoon. Ring 0208 2443168 for tickets.

Now, if you're mad, don't like wonky cartoons of a green dog humiliating himself in front of crows and a pink cat or if you think we should all just bloody well get over the television we watched as nippers then perhaps the films at Café Crema, put on by Fresh Films might be more your thing.

They're celebrating their first anniversary with an evening of shorts, animations and live music on the same Friday night (23rd). Starts: 8.00pm. Doors open 7.30. Price: £4.00 includes meal.

The animations include Last Rumba in Rochdale which includes the voices of "Anna Friel, Jane Horrocks, Timothy Spall, Peter Kay, [...] and Radio I djs Mark and Lard", Jo Jo in the Stars and the film Dog Years (more dog fun there).

Screenings will be followed by live music "a chaotic mix of music stuff going on/some open mic, some planned, in a smoky café crema style".

To reserve tickets phone 020 8320 2317 during café opening times Mon-Fri 9.30-6.00. They can only hold reserved tickets until half an hour before the screening start time. Or guarantee your place by coming to the Café and buying tickets in advance. Café Crema, 306 New Cross Road. Close to New Cross and New Cross Gate tube stations on the East London Line.

P.O.L.E. Dance

P.O.L.E. Dance and The Dirty Pins, Little Death and OK Junior this Saturday, 17th September, door 9pm to 2am. This is within the be-tiled walls of The Walpole, New Cross Road which is right by New Cross tube and train station and not too far from New Cross Gate tube and train and Deptford Bridge DLR.

Not heard of Little Death but, le Petit Mort, like it, that name promises wry and kinky fun or pretentious nonsense. Who knows? Could help you out with OK Junior either.

Still, it's music, its late drinking on a Saturday night; it's a possible boogie and brush against someone with asymmetrical hair and a pleasing, patterned nylon top. It's what life's all about.

I Want to Tell you a Story

It's not all blues soaked wizards, god killing punk rockers and anarcho-psycho-geographers at Transpontine, y'know. Well you probably didn't know, probably because it's not true, we're old and cheese-ridden and folky. We like beardy things like morris dancing, real ale and entering pickling competions (I am, in fact, holder of first prize in the 2004 Dog & Bell Pickle festival, Pickle section.)

As well at the Dance of the Morris, the folk sessions in Greenwich and chugging the old pint of Sarsen Stone Ale, we also enjoy a good story-telling session and, while it's easier to do than play the melodian or expertly pickle a shallot, a would-be story teller does, often, still require a bit of guidance.

So here comes the "People Like Us" Storytelling workshops for adults at the Old Royal Naval College.

Details are: "An introduction to storytelling through the lives of the ordinary folk who have given Greenwich its rich heritage: immigrants and emigrants; slaves and pressed men; women where you’d least expect them: all travellers on the Thames and beyond.


This short course introduces basic storytelling techniques using traditional tales, and goes on to look at how those skills can be used with historically based stories.

Workshop leaders: June Peters, a nationally renowned storyteller and Rich Sylvester, creator of the “Journey Through Time” Greenwich story walks

Dates:
The workshop is being run three times, offering a choice of day and time:

Friday 23 September 10.00am - 2.00pm

Sunday 25 September 11.00am - 3.00pm

Wed 28 & Thurs 29 September 7.30pm - 9.30pm

Cost:£5 full price, £3 concessions

The workshops are part of the Greenwich Maritime Stories Project run by the Storytelling-in-Hope Club, in partnership with the Greenwich Foundation, which has been researching local, maritime stories.

The climax of the project is Yarns, Shanties and Good Red Herring, a community storytelling performance of these stories in the Admiral’s House at the Old Royal Naval College on Sunday 27 November 2005.

Workshop participants will be offered the opportunity to take part in this performance.

For more details and bookings please contact Pennie Hedge, telephone 020 8699 0675 or email."

Story-telling is the greatest, lo-fi, scaled down form of entertainment there is and it would be great if this was a sucess. I am thinking of tootling along myself.

London Geek Glory for Deptford Man

We are, let's face it, a bit geeky about London town and our own niche of it. It's a big city, full of stories and wonders and our interest almost certianly doesn't do the place justice.

Here's a story from the BBC about one Deptford resident's own London adventure. It's not how I'd get about but, heck, they did it becuase they could, I suppose:

Tube station visit record broken

record for visiting all 275 London Underground stations has been broken by 43 minutes. Geoff Marshall, 32, from Epsom, Surrey, and Neil Blake, 31, from Deptford, south-east London, recorded a time of 18 hours, 35 minutes and 43 seconds.

But they finished so late - 0005 BST - that they could not take a Tube home and had to hire a minicab. It was seventh time lucky for Mr Marshall, whose earlier attempts were scuppered by train failures and injury. Taking no chances this time, Mr Marshall spent about six days of practice runs before being joined by Mr Blake.

The pair are keeping their exact route a secret to protect the record, but they did begin at 0529 BST at Amersham in Buckinghamshire on the Metropolitan Line and ended at Upminster in Essex on the District Line. Mr Marshall told BBC News Online that it became a personal challenge after completing the task for the first time for Cancer Research.

"We did not break the record that time, but it became something I became obsessed with," he said. "I tried many times before, but not managed it because of the trains or injuring my knee."

It took four months for the Guinness Book of Records to acknowledge the feat.
"We had to send them digital photos with the time on from every station - we even got the driver of the last train we were on to confirm it," Mr Marshall said.

Microcosmographia

Art is often at its best when it meets nature so the new exhibition at the South London Gallery looks a good one. ‘Microcosmographia’, by American artist Mark Dion is a show running from 9th September to 30th October.

The blurb says: “The centre piece of the exhibition will be a life-sized replica of a beached prehistoric aquatic animal, known as Ichthyosaur, with relics from the history of the natural sciences spilling from its belly.”

"The work of Jean Henri Fabre, provides the inspiration for Les Necrophores-L’Enterrement. A giant mole, crawling in giant beetles, will be suspended by a noose from the Gallery ceiling.”

"Biological Field Unit, a team of botanists, entomologists and artists will conduct a detailed survey of plant and insect life in the SLG’s Secret Garden. Working from a specially constructed research station, the team will collect, document and display their findings using traditional hand illustration and photographic methods.”

Entry is free; South London Gallery is on 65 Peckham Road, London SE5 8UH. A map and direction is here.

South London Gallery.

Saucy, Sacred, Secret, Scary Southwark

John Constable, who spoke at SELFS waaaay back in July 2003, is the shamanic poet of ‘The Clink’, the area around Borough that was once the sex, drinking and gambling den of London during it’s time under the Bishop of Winchester (we’ll skirt around the prostitution and bear-baiting here).

All sections of the city has their own spirit, created by history, psycho-geography and goodness knows what else. John has truly been captured by his part of London and will be taking some guided walks around this ‘outlaw borough’ of London.

See and here more of John at the Southwark Mysteries site.

Details of each walk are as follows: each walk in on either on a Tuesday or Wednesday from 7pm. Assemble in the covered area outside John Harvard Library, Borough High Street, SE1.

Borough tube.

Each walk lasts roughly 1½ hours and is free.

Tuesday 13th September: The Outlaw Borough: The medieval Liberty of the Clink, outside the law of the City of London - prisons, theatres, bear-pits, taverns, and stews - outlaws, actors and Winchester Geese.

Wednesday 14th September: The Ghost Walk: Haunted inns, a Roman cemetery, Cross Bones graveyard and the legend of Mary Overie.

Tuesday 20th September: The Bermondsey Walk: Celebrating people, crafts and industries from Roman times to the present.

Wednesday 21st September: The Secret Elephant: Magic and myth around the Elephant and Castle

Tuesday 27th September: The Healing Walk: Guy's Hospital to Bedlam - via parks on the sites of former prisons andthe Cross Bones people's shrine.

Wednesday 28th September: What The Dickens? Marshalsea Prison, Lant Street and The Mint - the criminal underworld ofDickens' childhood.

Avalon in London Autumn Equinox

It’s the Autumn Equinox this month and The Avalon in London Autumn Equinox ritual will be held on Sunday 18th September 2005 at Stockwell Studios, Annie MacCall Close, Jeffreys Road, Stockwell (close to Stockwell tube station on the Victoria and Northern lines) at 5.30pm (for a 6pm start).

Here’s a map: http://tinyurl.com/aytty

The theme is “Banbha: Blessings of the Fruit of Autumn”, so bring “along fruit for the feast and any items representing Mother Earth which you wish to place on the altar. These will be returned to you after the ritual.”

"We will be asking for a £5 (£3 unwaged) donation to cover costs."

Avalon in London and a friendly and open group and Jacqui, who runs the group, welcomes any enquires about the rituals.

Contact her on 07711 515017 or join the Avalon in London email list at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Avalon_in_London (for announcements only join the list at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Avalon_in_London_announcements)

Bonjourno Bopp-Fans!

The August / September issue of the Rocklands Star described Transpontine as "the essential local news site" so, um, we'd better get our acts together and post a bit more.

The Wolfganf Bopp, fine and witty gig put-er-on-ers are back at the The Montague Arms this Thursday, 15th September, from 8pm with two bands, each scintillatingly named Envelopes and Objects.

If I could pass you over to mein hosts: "Objects are an electro-punk 3-piece on a mission. Expect debauched synth n roll shenanigans a-plenty. ENVELOPES are so impossibly lovely they make us want to curl up in the foetal position and eat cake. This Swedish/French, York-based outfit make suitably quirky, lo-fi indie-pop to fill your heart with delight".

Wolf Gang DJs playing out twisted rock n roll, retro grooves and bleak disco. Thursday 15th SeptemberDoors: 8.00pm – 12.30am

Price: £3. The Monty is on, if you don't know, 289 Queens Road, New Cross, London SE15 2PA. Nearest Tube: New Cross Gate. Nearest BR: Queens Rd, Peckham.

I've now stuck a review of this gig here.

Phantom Black Dogs

12th September: Simon Sherwood - "Phantom Black Dogs: A psychological perspective"

Phantom Black Dogs have been reported for centuries and are still being reported today. Parapsychologists have concentrated upon human apparitions and there is very little consideration of animal apparitions, let alone apparitions of Black Dogs. This talk will consider the extent to which psychological/parapsychological theories of apparitions can explain these phantom Black Dogs?

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.
A map is here.