Closing Down, Everything Must Go

Written by Peter | Filed under Eating & Drinking, General, Places

More casualties in Camberwell.

The Rock-8 Tapas Bar is gone. I suspected it when I passed a month ago and it was closed, but as it was a Monday night I thought it may have just been their night off. But I passed again last week and the For Sale signs are up. It’s a shame; I liked that place. Now the only Tapas is at that dodgy-looking Marbella, or Viva España, or whatever it’s called, on Camberwell Church Street. I’m being unfair; I haven’t been there. It’s just the huge red neon sign that puts me off.

Also out of business is Camberwell Library (17–21 Camberwell Church Street, SE5 8TR). That came out of nowhere, as I hadn’t read any advance notice of it’s closure, and it went without a word of protest (as far as I saw).

With no movement at the former Blake House, Bee’s Auto Bits or 4 Real We’re D Best (I love saying that name), there seems to be an awful lot of vacant property in Camberwell centre at the moment.

With so many options available, let’s hope we don’t get any more fried chicken takeways, off-licences or mobile phone shops. A Japanese restaurant and a decent butcher/deli would be very welcome.

Anything else? Hmmm… oh, they’ve finished the little refurbishment at The Bickleigh Arms. They’ve removed the old curtains and taken the pool table out, and that seems to have had the effect of making it lighter but less welcoming (hard as that may sound).

I realise that’s not a lot of updates, but it’s been too cold to leave the house recently (plus, I got an X-Box).

Crime News: A Camberwell woman has been sentenced to life imprisonment after killing an innocent bystander with a machete after a feud with her neighbour got out of hand. You can read the full story of the attack (which happened days before I moved back to Camberwell) at the ICSouthLondon website (with the longest URL I’ve ever seen).

I love the reporter’s dramatic style:

But how could a petty squabble between friends snowball into devious criminality and ultimately cold-blooded murder?

Devious criminality? She rushed her neighbours with a machete, that’s not exactly devious.