Deptford Pudding

Deptford Pudding is apparently a kind of bread pudding with added lemon. The old recipe for it is up on The Great British Cookbook. Anybody tried it or know anything about its history?

South London Nights Out Dancing: 1954

From the South London Press, 30th April 1954, here's some adverts for going out dancing at the Wimbledon Palais, the Brixtoria Ballroom Club (205 Stockwell Road), Joyce Harrison's School of Dancing at the Peckham Unionist Club (Commercial Way, SE15) and Geoff Holden's School of Dancing (34 St Mary's Road, SE15).

Lewisham '77 events

Two events coming up to mark the 30th anniversary of the anti-fascist Battle of Lewisham. First up tomorrow night (October 27th) is a Love Music Hate Racism gig at Goldsmiths Student Union (all welcome) featuring among other things a set by Don Letts.

Then in two weeks time (November 10th) there's a free half day event, also at Goldsmiths in New Cross, with films and speakers.

South Eats London

South Eats London is a new night at the Deptford Arms by the people who used to do the excellently-named Short Skirt Long Jacket. They promise 'the shiniest in new electro, indie and artpop', this week featuring 'Dora Brilliant, the low-fat ghost music of Hong Kong In The 60s and the bubble-like dreampop of Shimura Curves. And its all FREE!' on Saturday 27th October, 8 pm - 1 am at The Deptford Arms, 52 Deptford High Street.

New Cross Stock Car Racing

Stock Car racing is a motorsport based around the premise of using ordinary cars rather than special racing cars. In its early days it seems to have been a chaotic affair of bangers smashing into each other and turning over.

Its local significance is that according to Pete Marsh (from where this fine picture was sourced), the very first stock car race on British soil took place at the New Cross speedway stadium, off Ilderton Road, on Good Friday, 16th April 1954. A 26,000 sell-out crowd attended with as many as 20,000 more were locked out of the packed venue.

The South London Press reported of the night: 'This is not a sport for the statistician, beyond a pure record that a French driver won the final. Thrills and spills are the points that count with the crowd. It gives them the thing they want in speedway, tumbles and accidents without anybody getting hurt... Cars were bumped and rolled over and over with their drivers getting out afterwards without a scratch. Wings were wrenched off as cars jostled for position. The ladies were there , and to show that the female sex give nothing away to the to the men one English girl driver won her heat. Unfortunately she was the centre of a three way crash in the final and never finished' (SLP 21.4.1054).

Two weeks later 48 drivers attempted to 'turn over or wreck each other in their bid for the £50 prize for the winner of the final'. The competitors included East London's 'Oily' Wells, the crowd's favourite on the first night, ex-New Cross speedway star George Craig and two women - 'English girl Tanya Crouch and French driver Michele Cancre d'Orgeix' (SLP 30.4.54). Not long afterwards, Stock Car racing left New Cross for Harringay in north London.

Magda Pniewska

Let's not get too carried away with our New Cross beautiful neighbourhood hype.

Passed this memorial to Magda Pniewska, 26 year old Polish care worker, on the way to work yesterday. She was on her way back from work at Manley Court Nursing Home home when she was shot dead in John Williams Close, New Cross.

Kender Street Art

I like these pictures on the hoardings around the building site on the corner of Kender Street, New Cross.

Better still, is it true they're building a new library there (among other things)? Possibly even one that has more than a handful of books and opens a bit more often than the current one in New Cross.

Shoreditch is dead, long live New Cross?

On the back of publicity about the re-launched Amersham Arms, there's been a proliferation of articles in the London papers talking up the area. A piece in Time Out this week declared 'Shoreditch is dead, long live New Cross'. Meanwhile, the Standard declared that 'Something hip is happening in New Cross', printing a picture of Sophie and Ian from Rubbish & Nasty as well as bigging up the Amersham Arms.

The discovery of New Cross is a hardy perennial that seems to crop up on a recurring cycle. A few years ago the Standard published a two page spread on New Cross called 'Welcome to the New Hoxton' (9 July 2004). Around the same time, there was all the music press interest in the 'New Cross scene'. An article in NME (27 October 2005) declared that 'there are a hundred bands, fanzines, DJs and micro-labels doing exciting, inspiring stuff'.

We like to see some acknowledgement that there is life in South East London, but at the same time we don't really want to become the new anywhere else especially if its means the life being squeezed out of the area by rising rents and prices.

It is noteable that some of the 'scene' landmarks mentioned in the 2004 Standard article have already vanished. Moonbow Jakes, described as the 'New Cross artists' hang out and cafe' has closed, while the Temporary Contemporary gallery in the Seagar Distillery was displaced to make way for the Distillery development.

There's a great quote from Ian McQuaid in the latest Standard article: 'The scene is thriving, they say, partly because it is difficult to get to, meaning that locals are forced to stay local. "It is very insular here," says McQuaid. "They're about to shut the East London line for five years to build the extension. By the time they come back we'll all have sprouted claws and wings."'

Bounty

Bounty: A Case of Preposterous Optimism is an exhibition on at the APT Gallery in Deptford Creekside, featuring work by 16 artists.

The story of the Bounty, and Fletcher Christian's mutiny against Captain William Bligh, has been mythologised in Hollywood and other versions, but it is also a story very much rooted in local history. The Bounty sailed from Deptford in October 1787, on a journey planned to take breadfruit plants from Tahiti to grow on the slave plantations in the West Indies. Indeed pots for the voyage were actually made at a pottery on Creekside itself, possibly even a pottery known to have stood on the current site of the APT gallery.

There's a couple of free talks coming up at the gallery linked to the exhibition. Next Thursday 18 October 2007 at 7 pm Scott Plear presents 'Don’t let truth get in the way of a good story', focusing on interpretation of the Bounty story in film.

Amersham Arms relaunch party

The launch party for the newly refurbished Amersham Arms in New Cross on Thursday was a good one, with The Rakes headlining. It was a bit of a coup seeing them in a small venue (the pub holds 300), as they now sell out the Brixton Academy (which holds 5000). Unsurprizingly, it was packed.

The Amersham Arms is going to be a real addition to South London nightlife, with something on every night of the week. I know it's been a good music pub for years, but it had got a bit stuck in the rut of late. I was pleased to see that the new owners seem to be going for a diverse music policy, rather than just wall to wall lowest common denominator guitar bands. There's Dubdisco next Wednesday with Don Letts DJing, and Redbricks Festival of Folk next Sunday 21st October. Today (Sunday) would be a good time to check it out if you're curious, with free entry to Sunday Best from 5:00 pm featuring Radio One's Rob Da Bank. If you get there early you might even be able to grab one of the big sofas.

53 bus

Last Thursday, Robert Elms invited people to tell tales about places along the 53 bus route, from Plumstead, through New Cross and on to Elephant and Castle. People called in with memories of the ruins of the original Arsenal ground in Plumstead, the Plumstead Radical Club, a 1960s mechanised street sign in New Cross featuring a man climbing up and down a ladder, and the Age Exchange reminiscence centre in Blackheath. Not to mention George Dyer, the legendary Walworth Road mod tailor - inevitably Robert Elms is having a suit made for him there . You can listen to it again until next Thursday.

Bolivian event in Camberwell

The United Nations recently approved the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples around the world. To celebrate, a Bolivan community group is holding a day of music and dance in Camberwell this weekend. The Bolivian Federation in the United Kingdom event takes place at Synergy, 220 Farmers RoadLondon SE5 0TW on Sunday 14th October 2007 from 1.30pm to 10pm . Ticket £5.00, the proceeds will go to help a Bolivian family in need.

Anubis Returns

Last week a giant statue of Anubis, Egyptian god of the dead was floated down the Thames. The 25-foot fiberglass representation of the jackal-headed god was taken down the river on the back of a cargo ship to Trafalgar Square, before being moved to various locations around the capital.

Basically it's all to promote an exhibition, "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," opening in November in Greenwich at O2. But the veneration of Anubis is nothing new in South London. In 1996 a Roman cemetery was excavated by archaeologists in Southwark in Great Dover Street (part of the original Kent Road). The grave of a young woman included several lamps with images of Anubis, as well as one with a gladiator image, prompting (probably unfounded) speculation that the grave was of a female gladiator.

Pretty Polly of Deptford

Another South London song to add to the list. Pretty Polly of Deptford comes from The Universal Songster (1834). The full version includes spoken interludes, which I haven't included here.

PRETTY POLLY OF DEPTFORD.
Air—" Meg of Wapping."—(C. Dibdin.)

'Twas at Greenwich fair, I shall never forget,
When my messmates and I were all merry
At the Ship pretty Polly of Deptford I met
Whose cheeks were as red as a cherry.

Her eyes shot a four-pounder plump through my heart,
And though love I had always called folly,
I spilt all my grog o'er a messmate so smart,
While looking askew at Miss Polly.

So I looked like a lubber, my messmates all laughed
While Pardon I asked of Miss Polly.

But you know, British sailors for trifles don't stand,
And Polly forgave me so sweetly,
That I asked, when the fiddler struck up, for her hand,
For at dancing I can jig it featly;

But while we were footing it, 'twas love, I suppose,
Though she smiled, I was all melancholy,
For right I went left, jibbed, and trod on her toes,
Missed stage, and came down with Miss Polly.

So we called 'Jack's alive,' and I footed away,
And came in for a kiss of Miss Polly.

So my heart struck its colours, but don't go to think
I struck only because she was pretty;
I found she'd a heart that could part with the chink,
When distress came athwart her for pity.

She was none of they vixens who scratch out your eyes,
Tip you faintings, and all that queer folly,
Could work at her needle, make puddings and pies
And wa'n't that a charming Miss Polly ?

So she blushed her consent, and a license I bought,
And next day I married Miss Polly.

South London Spooks

No, not MI6 at Vauxhall. We're talking the supernatural/imaginary/anomalous phenomena for which there is a perfectly rational explanation - take your choice, or in true Fortean style keep open the option that all or none of the above may be true.

Any way, on 11th October South East London Folklore Society presents Patsy Langley talking on Ghosts of South London, with a particular focus on Borough and surrounds. 8 pm at the Old King's Head, Kings Head Yard, 45-49, Borough High St, London, SE1 1NA, £2.50 / £1.50 concessions.

Not sure if I can make it due to being treble booked, so I will throw in my own tale now. One of my neighbours in New Cross thinks they've got a haunted piano, or a house haunted by a ghost that is partial to tinkling the ivories. There was the time she thought her daughter practicing the piano, but she was actually in another room; the time she heard the piano being played in the night; the time everybody in the house was sitting down to dinner and they all heard some strange piano music (described as like fairy music). They live in a Victorian terrace on a busy road, so you could explain it as neighbours' noise, passing car stereos, or a hallucination. If you want to explain it by something else, why pick on ghosts (spirits of the dead), rather than say aliens or fairies? I guess that's folklore, the stories we tell to make sense of the things that don't appear to fit in with our habitual way of seeing the world.

Lewisham '77 Conference - November 10th

30 years after the mass anti-National Front protests in New Cross and Lewisham, Lewisham '77 is holding a half-day conference on November 10th 2007 at Goldsmiths College in New Cross (1 pm start, admission free). The conference will provide an opportunity both to remember the events of 1977 and to reflect on their significance for today. It will include a photographic exhibition, videos, and an interesting panel of speakers including:

-Professor Paul Gilroy - sociologist, ex-Goldsmiths lecturer and author of Ain't No Black In The Union Jack and The Black Atlantic;
- Balwinder Rana and Ted Parker - veterans of Lewisham '77 and the Anti-Nazi League;
- Martin Lux, author of Anti-Fascist: A Foot-Soldier's Story;
- Dr William(Lez) Henry - former Goldsmiths lecturer and South London reggae DJ, author of What the Deejay Said: A Critique from the Street.
- speakers from Lewisham Anti-Racist Action Group (LARAG) and No One is Illegal.

Check the Lewisham '77 website to keep up to date with details.

Amersham Arms to reopen

After being closed for refurbishment for the summer, The Amersham Arms is set to re-open in New Cross on 12 October. The people behind The Lock Tavern in Camden are the new owners.

Those who worried that the pub might lose its musical character under new management can relax . It will include a 300 capacity live venue, Sunday carvery, gallery upstairs, smaller live stage, and late license from Thursday - Saturday.

Events in the first month will feature Ross Allen , Alice McLaughlin, FourTet, They Came From the Stars I Saw Them, Hatcham Social, The Gluerooms Halloween Special, Twisted Charm, Don Letts, MaryAnne Hobbs and loads more.

Save Cafe Crema

Cafe Crema in New Cross Road is apparently facing eviction by its landlord, Goldsmiths College. The Cafe is a popular student hangout, also known for its film shows and other events.

I'm not sure how imminent this threat is, or whether it extends to the other shops in that stretch, including Prangsta and Rubbish & Nasty. It does highlight once again the role of Goldsmiths as a major property owner/developer in the area - over the past 20 years or so it has expanded to take over a Church, former primary school, former Town Hall and the Laurie Grove Swimming Baths. It would be a shame if it now used its wealth/power to close down one of the few points of interest in the anonymous traffic corridor that is New Cross Road.

Supporters are asked to pop down to 306 New Cross Road to sign a petition. Inevitably there's also a Save Cafe Crema group on Facebook.

Free Parties

Tonight (Saturday 29th September), Reclaim the Beach are planning an end of summer party at the beach on the South Bank. Should be easy enough to find, look out for a bonfire.


No more parties though at Crystal Palace, where over the summer there have been a number of unofficial events in the subway under Crystal Palace Parade. Bromley Council say they have stepped up security to prevent access to the subway, which is a Grade 2 Listed Building in its own right. The acknowledge that there has been no damage to the subway, an impressive crypt like structure built in the 1850s to provide access from a now-closed railway station to the Palace.

No one is illegal

A sad story in the South London Press today, eight people arrested at a building site in Clyde Terrace, Sydenham in a raid by police and the Border and Immigration Agency who 'checked identity documents to establish whether employees had the right to work. The men arrested are from Cameroon, Jamaica, Ghana, Nigeria and Ukraine. Steps are now being taken to remove them from the country'. A couple of weeks ago there was a similar tale, with three workers from Iran, Iraq and Kosovo arrested at a car wash in Lewisham Road. Fishing expeditions for so called 'illegal' workers seem to be becoming increasingly common round here - earlier in the year I came across a big immigration/police operation in New Cross Road. They seemed to be going on to buses and checking people's tickets - anything unusual and people were getting passed to immigration people to check their papers. Behind all these stories are human tragedies - parents who went out to work in the morning and didn't come back to pick their kids up from school, lovers who were forcibly separated.

What is shocking about these stories is the assumption that people who are just going about their daily lives without harming anybody can be treated as criminals, arrested and locked up in detention centres just for having the wrong papers - and that this should be regarded as normal. The South London Press car wash story even invited readers to phone Crimestoppers to 'report suspected illegal workers'. A dangerous trend in which whole categories of people, rather than actions, can be classified as illegal and in which Gordon Brown can revive the 1970s National Front slogan of 'British Jobs for British Workers' and barely raise an eyebrow.

Greenwich Phantom

Greenwich Phantom has provoked some intense debate with a post criticising New Capital Quay, a new luxury gated community by the river in Greenwich.

Inspector Sands has weighed in, particularly mocking the suggestion that we should be grateful because our little corner of the world would be a cultural and culinary desert if it wasn't for the money being spent by the inhabitants of similar developments - You should be grateful we moved here, poor people.

Following our previous posts on Disappearing Deptford it is interesting that somebody commenting at Greenwich Phantom took great umbrage at the suggestion that Millennium Quay wasn't in Greenwich - this development is in the London Borough of Greenwich, as are many other parts of South East London that nobody would call Greenwich, but is most definitely on the Deptford side of Deptford Creek, whatever estate agents might say.

Some fundamental questions in this debate about regeneration, gentrification and public space that I shall return to when I have the time to collect my thoughts.

Deptford Arms

A new, free weekly Sunday night acoustic session starts at the Deptford Arms starts tomorrow, 23rd September. The opening night features The Redgress Collective, Hand Hat and Juke Joint Jones.

Essential Music

Last Bus Home has alerted us to the closure of Essential Music, the bargain CD shop in Greenwich market. I am sad when music or book shops close, to me they are more than just places which sell commodities since what they sell can open up windows into other worlds. More specifically they often function as places to come across like minded people and to circulate information about interesting things going on locally - so at Essential there were always flyers about local gigs and clubs as well as a great selection of music (especially indieish stuff). The late lamented Homeview video in Brockley had a similar vibe, in fact I think there was at least one person who worked in both - I always assumed that she must be one of the coolest people in South East London as a result.

More worrying still, Neil from Essential suggests that the demise of the shop is a foretaste of the further redevelopment and gentrification of Greenwich:

'Greenwich is run by Greenwich Hospital [ Basically the Government] which is supposed to be a charity for Royal Navy casualties - That is where the money is supposed to go. Oh, all of a sudden it doesn`t make enough profit despite having sold off the Royal Naval College to create Greenwich `University` [Basically pay-as-you-go]. So, Greenwich must now become a theme-brothel for stylish sophisticates [They wish] and New City overspill. No singing, no dancing, no playing of instruments, no gladrags. [Can I just mention the ONLY place I have EVER been refused entry to is the Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen-decorated INC Bar, although I guess a somewhat worse for wear Jamie Reynolds didn`t help - I expect they`ll let him in now].
We`re out of there. Mass exodus. Start barricading Deptford'.

Lewisham Bankrobber

The video for Bankrobber, one of The Clash's best songs, incudes a 'bank robbery' in Lewisham Town Centre - watch out for the clocktower.

Migrating University

The Migrating University is an initiative started by some people around Goldsmiths in New Cross, but aiming to involve the wider community in free, non-institutional and critical thinking and doing. Specifically the aim is to link in with the forthcoming No Borders camp against the building of a new detention centre at Gatwick airport - so the theme of the Migrating University this weekend at Goldsmiths is 'No Detention, No Deportation, No Borders in Education: Freedom of Movement for All'.

The event starts on Friday 14th September 10.30 and continues with two days of workshops, films and discussions, ending up with joining the Lewisham 77 walk on Saturday 15th September at 3 pm (by New Cross Inn). The aim is to reconvene the Migrating University at the No Borders camp near Gatwick next week. For details of the programme see John Hutnyck's blog, Trinketization.

Nunhead Arts Week

It's Nunhead Arts Week coming up (14-23 September), some interesting stuff including a local history walk, a folk night at the Old Nun's Head and an Irish folk night at Page 2.

Richard Cabut (known to some of you I'm sure as Richard North) has written a short story, How It Ends, for the festival which will be available in Nunhead Library during the Arts Week - or you can email nunheadarts@yahoo.co.uk for a PDF version. More details at the Nunhead Arts blog.

Stones & Bones of London

Interesting talk coming up next week at South East London Folklore Society, with Rob Stephenson on 'Stones & Bones of London' - the stories of strange stones and unusual bones in London. Rob is the convener of London Earth Mysteries Circle, so really knows his stuff.

Thursday, September 13, 2007 at The Old King's Head, Kings Head Yard, 45-49, Borough High St, London, SE1 1NA. Nearest stations are London Bridge and Borough. It is just off Borough High Street.Talks start at 8.00pm £2.50 / £1.50 concessions. All Welcome.

Some new Brockley blogs

...well new to me anyway.

The Coterie of Zombies is 'about one man, his boyfriend, his best friends and a bunny in Brockley. It's about art, knitting and gay sex'. Zombiemaster Howard James Hardiman is currently working on a participatory art project in Brockley where he's asking people to put in pictures of the local area under monsters, giant ants, zombies and their ilk to be displayed during October at the Broca café. It's called Brockzilla and people have until the end of September to submit pictures.

London SE4 is Brockley's only Italian language blog in which Moya writes a 'Blog di arte, cultura e tutto quello che (mi) capita a Londra... '. My own knowledge of Italian doesn't run much further than 'autonomia operaia' and 'Bella Ciao' but good to see anyway.

Camberwell Eviction

Camberwell Squatted Centre was evicted unexpectedly this morning by a van load of High Court bailiffs and 2 vanloads of police, who climbed in to the building at 4.30am and surprised the occupants. We had some good and interesting times there over the past 6 months, with music, film, politics, chat and even a bit of dancing.

There's a meeting tomorrow, Friday 31st August at 8pm, to plan the next move. It takes place at 56a Info Shop, 56 Crampton St, London SE17.

Fabric of Society

Fabric of Society is a piece of participatory public artwork facilitated by Artmongers at Café Orange/Telegraph Hill Centre on Kitto Road, New Cross (next to Telegraph Hill Park). To celebrate ts completion there's a picnic on Saturday 8th September, 12 to 3pm.

The great sandal strike of 1977

With the craze for brightly coloured plastic shoes sweeping the country this summer, here's a lesson from history for any schools thinking of denying the right to wear crocs! The following report was published in the Mercury, 7th July 1977:

Schoolkids went on a sandal strike - and won. Pupils at Sedgehill School, Bellingham, were told the could not wear their colourful plastic sandals in school. But a group of them organised secret meetings to plan a strike. And when the break-time bell rang pupils claim 500 stayed in the playground. One of them Sharon Williams, 14, of Morley Road, Lewisham said: 'One of the teachers came out and threatened the boys with a beating and girls with suspension. Some went back and the rest stayed'.

Veron Smith, 15, of Erlanger Road, New Cross, said: 'We said "Give in and we'll go in and do our work" and they did. The next day they announced we could wear them'. A teacher, who asked for her name to be withheld, said: 'They were told they could not wear them because they were dangerous and bad for their feet'.

After the strike last week, which lasted 15 minutes, some of the leaders claim they were picked out for punishment by being sent home. One of those sent home, David Fisher, 15, of Southend Lane, Bellingham, said: 'The plastic sandals are just cooler in the summer. I don't know why they are supposed to be dangerous. It was the deputy head, not the headmaster who stopped us wearing them'.

Headmaster James Turner declined to comment. An ILEA spokesman said: 'It was just a handful of pupils at the end of break discussing these plastic sandals which a member of staff though were slippery. The headmaster examined the sandals and felt that though they were unsuitable, they could still be worn'.

East Dulwich UFO?

From South London Press (9 August 2007):

'Stunned star spotters were shocked to see mysterious lights flying above East Dulwich on Saturday, fuelling rumours of secret military experiments or visitors from the space in the area. Lawyer Richard Pringle, 33, of Peckham Rye, was walking home with his flatmate about 11.30pm when he spotted the UFOs rise above the Crystal Palace skyline.

He said: "We were both completely sober and we could see a row of four lights coming up over the hill and over Dulwich Village. If it was a plane you would have said it was at about 15,000 feet and you couldn't see any lights flashing or anything, you could just see a constant orange glow". Mr Pringle said the lights were followed by two more chains of four lights which moved as if propelled by an engine. He added: "There is no way you would have normal planes flying like that. People have said it's possibly planes from a military base nearby."'

Some discussion of this too over at the East Dulwich Forum, with suggestions including Chinese Wedding Lanterns, and account of the sighting (presumably from same person):

'Me and my flatmate (both rational professionals and sober at the time) were walking up peckham rye on the east side of the common at about 11 pm on saturday 4 august and saw 3 or so lines of quite small orange fiery lights, each line with about 4 lights in it, moving almost vertically up from the horizon near crystal palace masts, then, when they were fairly high in the sky, their trajectory flattened out sharply and they began to travel east over east dulwich and peckham rye. the speed and altitude were similar to that of a jet plane, but the flight path, formation, numbers and appearance were quite different. we watched for a few minutes. we left the road and went into our apartment building to get binoculars and look from our roof terrace; in the couple of minutes it took to get there, they had disappeared. did anybody else see this?'

The MOD wesbite records another sighting in East Dulwich on 19th January 2003 at 1 am, with a description of 'Lights, that were formed in a worm shape, wriggling around in the sky'.

Sterile Neighbourhoods Act

A couple of weeks ago, some people organised a community event called Hillaballoo in Telegraph Hill Park, New Cross. They were unlucky with the weather - it rained all day - but a steady stream of people came through and enjoyed the views from a camera obscura set up in the park. In time honoured local tradition, the event was publicised with flyers in the area put up on trees. One of the organisers has now been cautioned by Lewisham Council for putting up the posters, and told that any further occurrences could face a fine of £75 a poster. Apparently the new Cleaner Neighbourhoods Act forbids such things. Following the suspension of The Montague Arms' music licence for similar offences, it seems that the Council has launched some kind of zero tolerance campaign against posters.

The trees in the area are mostly hardy London planes and their bark is certainly robust enough to cope with staples and drawing pins, so I don't think there's a green argument here. For years they have functioned as a kind of community newspaper, carrying news of lost pets, meetings, car boot sales, gigs and other events in local schools, pubs and community centres. I have never seen this abused by people mass flyposting for commercial advertising, and if people do put up something out of character they just get pulled down - a kind of communal editing of the local street paper. It will be a real loss to the area if this is destroyed.

Lewisham has apparently proposed a community notice board as an alternative, but unless there are lots of them this will hardly suffice. The point about the trees is that they are located all over the place and seen by people as they walk around, unlike say a board in a park which only a minority will see. The point is also that there should be a public sphere in which people can communicate with each other without needing to fill in forms or otherwise seek the permission of the Council or other authorities.

This is not just a Lewisham issue - the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 gives powers to Councils to impose on the spot fines for flyposting, dogs, noise etc. Most of these things were already covered by previous legislation, so people could be prosecuted if the offence was serious. Now they don't need to go through the trouble of actually involving the courts where evidence can be challenged. Lewisham do however have discretion in how they implement the Act.

Everybody wants 'cleaner, greener, safer neighbourhoods' (to use the Government jargon) but do we really want sterile neighbourhoods where every social interaction is regulated by the local or national state and harmless community posters are banished? Please don't tell me this is making my neighbourhood safer - there were three burglaries in my road last week and my partner had her handbag snatched! One of the things that does make communities safer is a flourishing civil society where people meet each other, talk to each other and look out for each other. Precisely the kind of things that events like Hillaballo encourage. But if people can't promote them with posters, how are we even going to know they're happening?

Brockley Tea Factory

The conversion of the Tea Factory at Brockley Cross to loft flats is continuing, not sure yet whether there will be a bar/cafe on ground floor as suggested, but this was included in the planning permission for the site

The original building dates from the 1940s, and yes was used for storing and blending tea. Apparently the tea company had a previous building on the same site that was damaged during World War Two.

I can't pass on without mentioning the casual racism of the image of the development posted on the developers' website and displayed in giant version on the Endwell Road site itself. Yes everybody in this image of Future Brockley is remarkably light-skinned, especially compared to the actual people you are likely to encounter standing there now or in the shops round the corner. Is this the not so hidden subtext of all those articles in the Evening Standard and elsewhere about Brockley being 'up and coming'?

Ziggy: Made in South London

David Bowie's origins in the suburbs of South London have been well-documented, but until recently I hadn't appreciated the specific role of Beckenham as the incubator of his legendary Ziggy Stardust look/persona.

According to 'Moonage Daydream - The Life and Times of Ziggy Stardust', it was while living at Haddon Hall, a decaying gothic mansion at 42 Southend Road, Beckhenham, that Bowie and friends put the finishing touches to Ziggy.

Bowie had the ground floor of the now-demolished house from 1969 to 1973, painting the ceilings silver and holding parties in the garden. The Ziggy outfits were stitched together at Haddon Hall under the direction of clothes designer Freddie Burrett (known as Burretti), and the songs that became The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars were rehearsed in an impromptu studio created under the stairs, as well as at the Thomas a Becket pub in the Old Kent Road.

The haircut was done by Suzi Fussey, who worked opposite the Three Tuns in Beckenham in the Evelyn Paget (now Gigante) hair salon - although she apparently copied the design from a magazine. The famous red and black platform boots were made by Stan Miller of Greenaway and Sons in Penge.

More on the Beckenham connection here.

Talks

Connoisseurs of interesting talks about South London are spoilt for choice next Thursday 9th August.

At Camberwell Squatted Centre, South London Radical History Group present 'Underground Lambeth' covering secret bunkers, lost rivers, junk-filled basements... all the stuff hidden beneath the streets and houses. 8 pm start at 190 Warham Street (free).

Meanwhile at Review in Peckham, Chris Roberts (One Eye Grey) presents 'Disappearing dancers, Pagan Estate Agents, Angels and Faceless Nuns', a talk about these as well as other singular Peckham and London Folklore, Ghost stories and other ephemera. 7:30 pm at 131, Bellenden Rd, SE15 4QY, tel: 020 7639 7400.

DIY punk night

This week at Camberwell Squatted Centre (192 Warham Road), a night of free DIY punk featuring:

- Kleber Claux "anarcho casio pop and analogue synthesizer punk" live and direct from melbourne australia

- plus South London's own butchers boy (not the Scottish indie-poppers Butcher Boy).

8 pm start.

Lewisham '77

On 13 August 1977, the far-right National Front attempted to march from New Cross to Lewisham in South East London. Local people and anti-racists from all over London and beyond mobilised to oppose them, and the NF were humiliated as their march was disrupted and their banners seized. To mark the 30th anniversary of the 'Battle of Lewisham' a series of commemorations are planned in the area where it took place, including:

- a walk along the route of the march/counter-protest, including people involved at the time. This will start from Clifton Rise, New Cross at 3 pm on Saturday 15th September 2007.
- a half day event in New Cross on Saturday 27th October 2007 (2pm start - venue to be confirmed) with speakers, films and a social event in the evening.

More at http://lewisham77.blogspot.com/

The Tower

Finally got round to watching The Tower last night, BBC's documentary about life on the Pepys Estate in Deptford. The programme attempts to wrestle some human interest from the contrast between the Pepys Estate council tenants and the affluent residents of the Aragon Tower, the former council block sold off to developers Berkeley Homes and converted to 158 luxury flats (riverside views now being too good to waste on the poor, evidently). According to Planet Pepys things might not be quite as they appear - as with most 'reality shows' there is a suggestion of scenes being staged or even semi-scripted.

Still some truth still shines through. Last night's episode followed the wedding plans of couples on both sides of the social divide, with the universal theme of love and marriage on the one hand and on the other the different class experiences of havng to get into debt to buy a ring rather than having parents buying you a starter home overlooking the Thames.

See also Andrew; Ragged School; Kate

The Old Ones take East Dulwich

I was talking to a friend last night who had been doing some writing, in a HP Lovecraft style, about Cthulhu slumbering from its sleep in Camberwell. He had become rather disturbed the next day to find an image of Cthulhu appearing mysteriously on a sign at the end of his road.

It now seems that the vision he saw was actually work in progress by Dean Kenning for his exhibition 'The Dulwich Horror- H.P. Lovecraft and the Crisis in British Housing'

The window exhibition runs at Space Station 65 in Northcross Road, East Dulwich until September 2nd, with the launch this Friday 27th July, 6.30-8.30 2007 and a closing event with performances on Sept 2nd 2007 (all welcome to both events).

According to the blurb 'The outside walls of rented accommodation constitute a vast advertising billboard for Estate Agents. They appear without warning. ‘TO LET’, ‘LET BY’ - they never seem to come down. If you live in rented accommodation, your home has been branded: you are a temporary occupant subject to the authority of the property owner and his agent. For The Dulwich Horror ‘TO LET’ signs across London will form the canvas onto which Dean Kenning will paint images representing the supernatural and monstrous entities from H.P.Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. Horrible alien beings such as Yog Sothoth, The Outer Ones, and Great Cthulhu himself are famously beyond description (the sight of such creatures would drive any human over the edge of insanity). Nevertheless, Kenning will have a go'.

Sounds great, but must admit my favourite remains the lego Cthulhu.

History from Below in Kennington Park

As part of Alt.Space Festival 2007 Tom Roberts and Anthony Iles will meet in Kennington Park this Saturday to give a short talk and distribute the pamphlet: ‘All Knees and Elbows of Susceptibility and Refusal’ a collection of extracts and commentaries on the making of ‘history from below’:

"The phrase ‘history from below’ is the product of a group of French historians known as the Annales school. It is their description of an approach to subjects and areas previously considered historically unimportant. In England this approach was taken up by a group of Marxist historians who developed a set of methodologies and a worldview at odds with existing Marxist and historiographical orthodoxies. In 1946 a group consisting of E.P. Thompson, Christopher Hill, Roger Hilton and Dona Torr among others formed the Communist Party Historians Group. Their aim was to draw out forms of agency that had been hidden by traditional approaches to history. Along with Raphael Samuel, CLR James and Peter Linebaugh we take this loose grouping as the starting point for the making and study of history as a contested field in which ‘the below’ plays an active role.

Kennington Park has been the scene of radical debate, publishing and political organisation (public speaking, meetings, protests) as well as the enactment of the powers of the State (hangings, enclosure, policing). The pamphlet looks at the methodologies of the historians from below as they worked to change their own contemporary system of knowledge production in relation to the self-produced, self-distributed knowledge of their subjects."

Date: 3PM, 21st July, 2007. Meet: Oval Fountain, Kennington Park opposite Oval Tube station

A PDF version of the pamphlet is available for download here; More info and resources: http://caughtlearning.org/all_knees_and_elbows/. More information on the history of Kennington Park can be found at Wikipedia and in Stefan Szczelkun’s Working Press pamphlet Birthplace of Peoples’ Democracy (RTF file).

Lewisham Bloggers Drink

I went out for a drink last Friday at the Honor Oak, the occasion being a meet up of Lewisham Bloggers. Present and correct were Bob from Brockley, Walking the Streets of Forest Hill, SE23 (Robert), Not Really a Diary (Max), Someday I will treat you good (Andrew), The Man from Catford (Henry), Forest Hill Society (Max), Fork Handles (Adrian), Wulf's Web Den, Green Ladywell (Sue) and Last Bus Home. Tempted as I am to theorise about the reconstitution of digital networks in the the flesh, lets just say a good time was had (we were last to be kicked out of the pub) and I felt terrible the next day. The heading of this post is Lewisham Bloggers Drink - the last word is a verb rather than a noun.

Updated 23 July 2007: Bob reminds me of something I forgot in my happy state - that on the way back several of us stopped outside 22a Stondon Park, where there is a plaque commemorating its former resident Jim Connell, writer of The Red Flag. And guess what song we decided to sing? Apologies to the current incumbents, but hey I guess that's part of living in a heritage site!

Montague Music Returns

According to Sump Puppy, The Montague Arms in New Cross is getting its music licence back on the 26th July. The venue apparently had its music licence temporarily suspended by Lewisham Council because music promoters using it had been flyposting in the area. This does seem bizarre, we are not talking about commercial operators plastering the area with huge posters - most of the posters for Montague events are photocopied A4 and their presence on the streets of New Cross is a welcome reminder that there is life here apart from traffic and Sainsburys.

Disappearing Deptford? (2): OneSE8

Following my recent post on the Distillery site in Deptford, Inspector Sands (who among other things runs the Charlton blog, All Quiet in the East Stand) commented that 'OneSE8 set the pace for this, I'm afraid - handy for the Canary Wharf so you can block out your neighbours'. So let's turn our attention to the OneSE8, St James Homes' new development alongside the railway line on the other side of the main road from Deptford Bridge station.

Once again there's a certain reticence in the official publicity about the location of this site. First of all the name is misleading - its actual postcode is SE13 not SE8. Presumably SE13 (Lewisham) has even less appeal than SE8 (Deptford). We'll let this pass, as it is clearly located in Deptford - or maybe not if the developers are to be believed. The home page of the official site doesn't mention the location, and the location page starts off as as follows: 'Commuting is a doddle. Greenwich is on your doorstep and just a stones throw from OneSE8, Deptford Bridge DLR provides a direct link to the Docklands, the City and the West End. Canary Wharf with its interchange to the Jubilee Line and rest of the tube network is just 12 minutes away'. So no mention of Deptford as such, other than the reference to Deptford Bridge station.

Elsewhere on the site Deptford does get a grudging look in... under the subheading 'Greenwich... in no time'. We are told that the site is 'Perfectly placed between Deptford, Greenwich and Blackheath' [not on the Deptford/Lewisham border].... Brimming with enthusiasm and bursting with potential, Deptford has a new lust for life – you can see it in the architecture, the gallery openings, new bars, restaurants and clubs'. Hmm, actually Deptford has always been lively and remains so in ways which prospective wealthy property investors might not find so amenable.

The most revealing insight into the thinking behind OneSE8 comes in the hilarious promotional video for 'The ultimate in urban chic lifestyle'. No Deptford reference here, instead the proximity to Canary Wharf is stressed and of course 'Greenwich is only a couple of minutes away'. Not that there's any need to go out all , with a gym, personal trainers, swimming pool and in-house bar and restaurant all on site, the latter able to 'deliver food and drink to your door' in case walking downstairs is too much.

Most bizarre is the cult-like conformity suggested: 'At one se8 it’s all about living life in a young and dynamic community' and true to form everybody in the video is white, affluent looking, skinny and aged 20-35. But wait, what's this - a black face? Funnily enough he is the concierge and he knows his place - ‘they’re there to make your life easier'. You couldn't make this up could you?

Disappearing Deptford? (1): The Distillery

Deptford is a prime target for property developers at the moment, with major building projects and other sites being snapped up. As a poorish run-down part of London, nobody could argue that people need better housing and facilities, but unfortunately most of the development doesn’t have local working class people in mind at all. On the contrary, the main emphasis is on luxury flats with their own private facilities – not only will the people living in them not need to have anything to do with the local area, they will apparently not even need to know that they live in Deptford at all!

Let's start with the Distillery, a 26 storey tower block being developed by Galliard Homes (artist's impression, left). Its location couldn’t be any more Deptford, situated next to Deptford Bridge on the site of the Old Seager Gin Distillery, more recently home to music rehearsal rooms, art spaces, a skateboard ramp and numerous other small projects.

The website for this coyly refers to ‘a high growth regeneration opportunity in SE8’ but declines to decode this (SE8=Deptford). In fact Deptford is nowhere named on the site, and anyone reading it might think it was somewhere else entirely. We are told that it is ‘Situated just 12 minutes from Canary Wharf, where employee numbers are set to rise from 78,000 up to 160,000 by 2012, these luxurious city styled apartments are a major new residential and investment opportunity’. There are two pictures of Canary Wharf, across the river, on the homepage, and several pictures of Greenwich on the site – none of Deptford.

Elsewhere on the site we are again told that ‘with prime access into the Capital’s major financial hub, it is destined to become the new benchmark for luxury living in South East London’. In other words what is being created is a dormitory for well-off City professionals (can we still call them yuppies? – I think we can) in denial of living in an area with some of the worst deprivation in London.

Magic and medicine in the Middle Ages

South East London Folklore Society presents this week:

Thursday 12th July: Catherine Rider - Magic and Medicine in the Middle Ages

"It happened once in Paris that a certain sorceress impeded a man who had left her so that he could not have intercourse with another woman whom he had married." Catherine discusses her research for her Katherine Briggs award winning book "Magic and Impotence in the Middle Ages."

SELFS meet every second Thursday of the month at The Old King's Head, Kings Head Yard, 45-49, Borough High St, London, SE1 1NA.Nearest stations are London Bridge and Borough. It is just off Borough High Street.

Talks start at 8.00pm £2.50 / £1.50 concessions.

Tour de Deptford

Down to Deptford this morning to watch the Tour de France whizz by on Creek Road, lots of people lining the route and some getting into the swing of it with banners.









We had some biscuits from the small French market in Evelyn Street, and then wandered down the High Street where the Made in Deptford festival included stilt walkers, live music and a man drinking a pint of beer balanced on his head (through a bendy straw) while juggling knives. Popped into the Deptford Arms (great bit of street art on the side of it, shown below). At the Bear cafe they were giving away free tea, coffee and cake. They even put on sunshine.







All in all, I had a bit of a francophile weekend as by then I'd also watched two French films on DVD (Jules et Jim and Le Rayon Vert). Finished off with reading some Guy Debord, Situationist Theses on Traffic (1959), where he critiques the notion of urban architecture being based around the circulation of cars (though his prediction that we would be all be flying one person helicopters within 20 years was wide of the mark!). One of the nice side effects of the Tour coming through Deptford was that Church Street was more or less closed for traffic except for pedestrians and cyclists.

Windrush to Lewisham

I've been reading Windrush to Lewisham: Memoirs of 'Uncle George' by W.George Brown (London: Mango Publishing 1999), an interesting account of one of the earliest post-war migrants from Jamaica to South East London.

Brown came over on the famous SS Empire Windrush voyage in 1948, and like many other passengers initially lived in temporary accommodation in a deep shelter in Clapham. After several other temporary lodgings he bought a house in 1952 at 79 Lewisham Road and got involved in fighting racism in this part of the world.

As he describes it, ‘I discovered that there were a few pubs in South East London who deliberately refused to serve coloured people. Some were rudely abused by customers of these pubs… In some cases it was so bad that on many occasions the coloured man could only ask someone inside the pub to purchase drinks for him. That person would hand the drinks to him outside the door’. In 1953, Brown joined with others to set up the Anglo-Caribbean Association and Club to provide practical support and social activities for West Indians and their friends. He and colleagues went round to pubs operating a colour bar and demanded to be served, arguing their right to do so with landlords and threatening to publicly expose them in the press if they refused. A similar campaign was mounted in dance halls.

The Anglo-Caribbean Association held its first big meeting in 1954 at the Amersham Arms in New Cross, and held dances and social events at Laurie Grove Swimming Baths and Deptford Town Hall before it secured its own social club in 1959 at 113 Breakspears Road. The following year the club moved t0 229 Greenwich High Road, and later changed its name to the Commonwealth Association and Club. In its early days the Association faced organised racist opposition, its organisers received abusive phonecalls and notes, and in 1954 a sign with a fascist symbol was left outside the the Royal Albert in Blackheath Road where they were planning a meeting. It read 'Keep Briton White' (sic) - spelling was never the fascists' strong point. But thanks to the efforts of W.George Brown and others the overt colour bar was broken down in South East London.

The picture was taken in the Anglo-Caribbean club.

Cool Italian Films in Camberwell

Two interesting films by Elio Petri coming up at the Camberwell Squatted Centre this month.

On Wednesday 11th July, it's THE WORKING CLASS GOES TO HEAVEN.

The following week, 18th July, it's INVESTIGATION OF A CITIZEN ABOVE SUSPICION, a 'disturbing portrait of police power as played out through twisted
eroticism and State repression'.

Both films start at 7:30 pm, free/donation.

Nights out in South London, 1927 and 1963

A couple of old flyers for nights out in South London (found at Southwark Local Studies Library). From 1927, an advert for The Mayoress's Ball at Newington Public Hall, Manor Place, SE17 (off the Walworth Road). The event was to raise funds to 'help poor Southwark mothers and babies' and featured 'dancing 7-12 midnight' a the 'Season's Gayest Carnival' with music from The Jazzarettes Dance Band and The Southwark Prize Dance Band.

The more recent flyer is for an event at the Rotherhithe Assembly Hall, Lower Road SE16 in October 1963: 'Monday is Disc-Dance Night... Dancing to top-twenty records and popular groups' with bands including The Aerials and The Wanderers. Both these nights out cost a mere 2 shillings (10p).