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Welcome to the Camberwell Online blog, a place for free and spirited exchange on anything with even a tangential connection to the South-East London district.
A lovely Saturday
Published by Peter | Filed under Eating & Drinking, General, Nearby, Shopping
Woke up early and had some nice cheese on toast for breakfast, then headed down the Walworth Road for the wife to visit the opticians. The road is being narrowed and more trees planted, to make it into a Parisian-style boulevard. I applaud the effort, I just hope they’ve made plans for the inevitable effect on traffic; that street is close to gridlocked at the best of times.
Into Paul’s Discount Shop for a coffee-maker (a present for the wife; you’ve got to keep surprising them), then a walk back up to Camberwell, stopping at Linetech Computers for some new kit, and then Edwarde’s where I bought myself a shiny new bicycle. Hooray! Back on two wheels in time for Summer.
Openings and closings: the notorious Aristocrats is being refurbished, so may open soon in another guise; the Church Street Hotel still shows no signs of an imminent reopening, although some work is still going on there judging by the sound of an electric saw I heard coming from inside; and in case you haven’t heard, it seems that The Old Dispensary is to close down soon. It’s a nice little building, and would make a fantastic coffee shop/cafe.
The wife had an appointment at Cube to do some retouching on the barnet, so we grabbed a quick lunch from Tadim - some of their lovely lamachun - and ate it in the churchyard with the squirrels, pigeons, blackbirds and magpies, and with the spring sunshine doing its best to warm us. Then the wife headed off to Cube, and I flew home on my new bicycle.
March 17th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
How long do you think the new bike will last ?
They don’t have to be chained up for long around here to be nicked - the chain/lock cut thru with bolt cutters, or have part/seats stolen off them, or most abject - smashed up with the wheels
all buckled up- and left lying on the ground until Southwark come to clean up the mess.
At least if the whole bike is pinched you can go up to the bridge at Bricklane on Sunday to buy your property back.
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March 17th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
I had a revelation yesterday. A reverse epiphany.
When 99p store in Butterfly walk opened I saw it just as yet another sure sign that Camberwell’s going down the tubes.
AS I looked around the shop yesterday the truth dawned on me.
Compared to Woolworths and Somerfield, the big important shops, it actually sells a wider range of better quality stuff at significantly cheaper prices than either.
This just doesn’t make sense.
It reminded me of Manchester city centre in the early eighties - during the depths of a major recession.
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March 17th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
Oh sorry. Saturday. Spent my time plotting the future and digging the allotment. Oddbins Dulwich on the way back and a mixed case of wine, bumping into friends I haven’t seen for years - Anne and Pieter - who are moving to Brighton. Funny thing is I didn’t know they even knew each other. Anne I knew from The Sun and Doves, she was a hat maker at Clockwork Studios in Southwell Street and had a show at S&D maybe 8 years ago, and Pieter and I were at school together in Northumberland thirty years ago. Now they’re married.
Is that a small world. Maybe not.
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March 17th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Mixed morning. Got to Seymour Bros at 9.50 (too early) so tried House. Too full.
Walked to Bay. Not open. Skipped breakfast and went home.
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March 17th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
I went to quite a few of the places you passed by through today. I was going to say “that’s funny”, but I guess its not that odd seeing as we all probably walk past each other a couple of times a day - what with living in the same postcode and all. Today I went for a walk in the church yard, spent half an hour waiting for my bike at Edwardes then popped into Tadim’s en route back chez moi.
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March 17th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
I bought a bike at Edwardes once. In 1981 I think! … I went back in for the first time since on Friday to buy a new bike lock as my old one vanished in mysterious circumstances between Thursday morning and Friday morning.
It was definately clipped to my frame when I set off to Herne Hill cycles to leave the bike for a service on Thursday morning. Mrs Dotcom insists it wasn’t clipped to the frame when she picked it up on Thursday afternoon. HH cycles claim they never saw it.
So, in a hurry, dashed into Edwardes and bought a big chunky lock … with one of those wire loop extension thingies and cycled off to work. On arrival at White City realised that the loops on the wire extension thingy were too small for the lock to fit through.
Bah … waste of £15 …
After work cycled into town for haircut in Soho … afterwards put pump on floor while unocking bike, got on bike and cycled off … only realising that pump was not attached to bike when I was half way home. Pump only 2 weeks old.
Bah … waste of another £15.
So Friday not a good day for bike accessories …
The upside is that after 2/3 weeks of regular cycling I feel wonderful, a White City commute via town on return feels very manageable and after a service my bike feels amazing.
Hope you enjoy your new bike Peter! What is it?
Quality coincidence Mark …
[Reply]
March 17th, 2007 at 11:37 pm
Bukowski333… lives in the nicest flat i’ve ever seen. and he drinks the grog big dog style on st Patrick’s day
viddy well
slainte blogger dudes
xx
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March 17th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Yes, what’s that bike Peter?
I was in Herne Hill cycles today sourcing a new bike. I’m looking for something near-zero maintenance which appears to equate to hub gears and roller brakes. Derailleurs just get so caked up with gunk and I seem to go through 3 sets of brake blocks / year. A characteristic of sales guys in non-major chain cycle shops is that they are better at talking you out of a purchase than talking you into one, and that was certainly the case today.
Then on to S&D to catch the end of the rugby and join Drew Mishmash on the front row sofa. Some discussion on who’s hosting the private party that evening (and what it’s costing).
Later that evening… end up in The Dog House, literally; a pub in Kennnington. Real ale (Bombardier & Black Sheep) not up to scratch. Regret having ventured out of SE5. Almost froze on the way home, temperature plummeting as I write. Every conversation I’ve overheard in the past 24hrs mentions “snow on Monday”. Can this be true?
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March 18th, 2007 at 7:19 am
So Buk got you back to his place Squidder? First base?
Good CAMRA work Merrick. Keep up the quest.
Happy Mother’s Day. Breakfast in bed for the childbearers.
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March 18th, 2007 at 8:03 am
Small world indeed, Mark… I knew Anne before I moved to Camberwell, through her boyfriend (at the time…) Chris. In fact they came to my wedding. She said the S&D used to be known as “The Gun and Doves”. I take it that was before you took it on…
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March 18th, 2007 at 9:05 am
Lots of bloggers roaming Camberwell yesterday, it seems.
We started the day by doing our weekly Sainsburys shopping. Not long until Starbucks re-opens
June, I think.
Then ventured to Sun and Doves for lunch. The nice thing was that though there were people watching sport on the big screen tv, where we sat, we couldn’t hear it at all. Nice food and coffee, pleasant lunchtime atmosphere and no smell of smoke at all.
On the way home, a visit into the smaller (but probably better) Somerfields, followed by a browse in the Pound Shop.
Agree with Mark - its amazing what that shop sells for a pound. There are some real bargains there.
Then dry cleaning collection from the busiest dry cleaners in London (so it seems - always packed), near the old police station.
Pleasant Camberwellian morning, indeed.
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March 18th, 2007 at 9:09 am
Off topic, now.
But does anyone else notice how many tv dramas actually mention Camberwell? There was one just the other week - in Trial and Retribution, the druggie girlfriend of the rich twin lived in Camberwell. And Camberwell is often mentioned in the Bill.
Sadly, it seems to always be the criminals, drug addicts etc rather than the victims. Oh well.
Peter - maybe you could create a new blog section on “Camberwell in the Media” and we could add examples to it each time we hear Camberwell mentioned in the news or in tv shows??
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March 18th, 2007 at 9:19 am
Well well well…
BEfore I took it on it was a sticky floored boozer with a history. Apparently in the early to late eighties it was mentally busy with builders during the week with discogoers and underage drinkers at weekends.
It was also, according to some, one of the preferred hangouts of the Richardson mob, those who rivalled the Krays. Pacific (the Stirling Castle, now the Castle) was the same supposedly. The way I was treated by Southwark Entertainments Licencing department in the late ninteties certainly suggested they thought I was a gangster with a lot of spare cash to bung in their direction. Richard Nash, I seem to remember, is the name of the Officer in point. I heard he moved on with a drink problem. I suppose that’s libellous. I take full responsibility Peter. Besides the complaints I took out against Southwark, through their internal investigation process, for the way my case was treated were all upheld, save for the one where I said the behaviour of the said Officer was tantamount to being anti business and obstructive to the development of the area; this was rejected on grounds that in the investigating Officer’s view, the problem was not the individual’s behaviour alone but a cultural reflection of the attitude of the whole Entertainments Licencing Department and that it was likely I would have been treated the same no matter which Officer had dealt with my case. I prticularly found that bit reassuring.
By the time the report was published, Pacific had been shut for ages (I more or less passed it on to the Babushka guys to try to mimimise personal liabilities) I’d missed personal bankruptcy by the hair on my teeth, the Sun and Doves was near insolvent, I was exhausted, psychologically a near basket case on the verge of mental break down, and I didn’t have the energy, money, stamina or will to take the report further. Like to a lawsuit.
All I wanted was to make a living and to help make Camebrwell a buzzy place that lots of people wanted to come to.
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March 18th, 2007 at 9:46 am
Sunday; Our hamster, Patrick Simon, escaped during the night. http://www.flickr.com/photos/markdodds/417350589/ Children bereft.
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March 18th, 2007 at 10:49 am
Mark - here’s a tip on how to catch an escaped hamster: take a jug or a jar - something taller than the hamster, and slippy so it can’t get a grip to climb up it, lean the jar at an angle against a pile of books, laid on top of each other to create a little staircase, put some food in the bottom of the jar and a trail of food leading up the staircase of books. If you’re lucky, you’ll find the little feller in the bottom of the jar in the morning.
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March 18th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
Hey Mark
I’m genuinely moved by the last para of your sorry tale, because that’s pretty much how my last few months have been. I’m glad to see that these things are survivable, and you seem to have retained a pretty combative sense of humour too. Enough creeping…
Peter can we name names on this site as I have quite a few people I’d like to drag through the dirt? No-one you would know.
Condolences for the AWOL hamster - not known for their homing instincts are they?
Is Frank Zappa really playing - spectrally - tonight?
Drew Mishmash
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March 18th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
On Friday evening at the Aldi on the Old Kent Road, the chap in front of me in the queue for the till had a bottle of “Cromwell” fortified wine and a bumper pack of “Saxon” tissues. That’s his social, cultural, romantic, and sex life sorted out for the evening, I thought. He seemed very impatient to get home.
The names of the different British fortified wines available are really quite funny in their English classicism. Sainsbury’s, that most respected of English retail marques, sells a “Stamford” fortifed wine named after that splendid town on the edge of Lincolnshire.
The coolest street in Camberwell is surely Talfourd Road. Parked there is a Nissan Pao. Many SE5 people and East Dulwich folks think that the Nissan Figaro is the ultimate in urban automotive cool, but the Pao is sub zero. Both are based on the old Micra, of course, and none the worse for that.
Meanwhile, on Addington Square opposite Cambridge House, is a 1970s Dodge GT, LHD on an old UK Y plate, probably the largest, longest, flattest 2-door car on earth and by far the coolest car in Camberwell.
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March 18th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
The bike is a Claud Butler Classic:
http://www.falconcycles.co.uk/CORP/cb/classicM.html
It is by far the most comfortable bicycle I’ve ever owned.
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March 18th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Olá Peter, que bom que vc comprou uma nova bicicleta, e que esteja satisfeito com a compra.
Espero que desfrute de bons momentos com ela. Um abraço.
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March 18th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
Dear Camberwellians,
I’m addressing you for the final time.
I won’t bore you by recounting what I did this morning, suffice to say that it didn’t involve poundsavers in SE5, and that it DID involve quaffing pink champagne in a grassy hollow of SW19. Err..then it started to rain, which is never good when you’re breakfasting outside, and especially when you’re in a grassy hollow.
Anyway, this weekend was decision time. For all you hopelessly naive punters out there who think I was being ’satirical’, there is no satire in having a 350k Halifax mortgage offer burning a hole in the top drawer of your walnut-mahogany desk. Every weekend without a purchase is a week of rental income and capital gains lost (ie approx £300, which is worth probably 5 times that in NPV terms if you take into account the lost compound interest and assume, correctly, that I have a good accountant).
So, on saturday morning I lost myself in the Golden Triangle. It was exactly what I was looking for. Huge potential. Walking distance to the bars and restaurants of Clapham High Street and Brixton (I was going to say ‘and Stockwell’, but then I realised I only know The Swan). Excellent transport to the City and West End now, with better to come (c.f. tram-link). Five mins as the scooter rides to Clapham Common and Brockwell Park. Downside risks? Not many. Proximity of Brixton Academy might sometimes result in offensive number of young goths cluttering up the place. Only real one I can think of is that I could not see any major opportunities for wholesale redevelopment. There is a wonderful old victorian red-brick school on Stockwell Road that would make superb luxury flats. But I checked with the Council and they are legally obliged to maintain it as a teaching facility until 2012. Never mind.
I jumped on the 345 and got the hell over to Cambo. I headed immediately to the Green (did I sound like a local when I said that?). Not bad - nice even. When a few of the kebab shops are replaced with global coffee chains it will be thoroughly welcoming.
Strolled around aimlessly for a while before I ended up at the Camberwell Leisure Centre. You probably know it well, so no need for me to describe its tired appearance here. I was hardly in the mood for a game of ping-pong so I was about swiftly to move off, when someone approached me with some sort of information leaflet. “Camberwell Leisure Centre to close! Residents robbed of vital amenity! Evil local Council to rape women and murder innocent pets!” I paraphrase. But the leaflet certainly contained interesting information.
I thought I may as well go and see the hospital. Once you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all, but I noted with satisfaction the number of vespas and new-style minis there were in the car park. Quick pit stop in a nearby pub - the Sun and Doves. What is it about that place - its mentioned in almost every other post on this message board? I mean, its hardly a Fine Line is it? I would have ordered a novelty eastern European or Belgian lager, but there wasn’t one on offer. No matter, I ordered a Guinness and sat down to mull over my latest plan. Simple yet brilliant. I would use all my energy to lobby the local council to knock down that waste of space that in the 1960s might have passed for a leisure centre. When I think of leisure, I think of well-heeled young professionals getting drunk on cheap wine in front of Castaway. Not doing punishing laps of a grey pool while a cold draft swirls around your ears and someone jimmies open your locker and steals your phone.
Anyway, just then an old mate of mine who was in the pub to watch the egg-throwing came up and said hello. Top man - works for a global european investment bank. Turns out he lives in the area! I set to work on him with my plan. Together we could print 1000s of leaflets and pay people to put them through every letterbox in Camberwell. When presented with the full facts, the citizenry wouldnt think twice - that leisure centre would be closed by Christmas. Thats called democracy.
But to my immense surprise he wasn’t convinced. He said that he regretted buying (and taking out a second property as a buy-to-let) in the area. He wasn’t losing money - far from it, he had made a very impressive 19% ROC p.a. over 3 years, and there was no sign of that rate of growth slowing. But he said he was worried. I asked him why.
CHINA! China was going to take over the modern world. It was already propping up the global economy and the US was in hock to it. We in Europe were totally dependent on Chinese imports of bicycles, bras, TVs etc. And don’t even mention their military strength! Basically, we Europeans have got about another 15 years as top dogs, and then we’ve had it. We won’t be speaking mandarin (we’ll be too old to learn it), but our children will. And they’ll all be doing really difficult gymnastics. Basically - we’re fucked.
I’m not someone who is easily knocked off his stride. But this is someone who knows the markets intimitely - and who has studied this question for a number of years. I trust him.
Yes, I have been convinced that the global economy may at any stage go into a violent tailspin, from which we - the EU - shall never recover our previous position.
So thats it! I won’t be investing in Camberwell, or the Golden Triangle. Instead, he and I have decided to go over to Beijing for 3 weeks in the summer to look into buying somewhere in a up and coming neighbourhood with opportunities for redevelopment and good transport links to the centre.
Good bye Camberwell!
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March 18th, 2007 at 10:32 pm
Brilliant.
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March 19th, 2007 at 6:55 am
Quick Alan, say something to change Sparty’s mind… Alan? Alan?
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March 19th, 2007 at 7:43 am
Like a benevolent Clingon, thought I’d de-cloak/lurk to publicise an event this coming saturday at Warwick Gardens (Camberwell Borders; OK SE15 - just off Lyndhurst Grove). The all new Friends of Warwick Gardens are holding a spring fair on saturday 24 March, 12-16:00. Attractions include a dog show, Dragon Racing, five a side children’s football tournament, football skills workshop, lots (over 20 so far) of food and craft stalls, face-painting, and catering by the splendid Petitou. We’ve recently persuaded Southwark to give us £12.5k to improve the playground as well as planting around the park. And we’ll be looking for people’s views on how we can best spend it. So come along to the finest green space cum thoroughfare in South West Peckham. You can even discuss property prices with the locals if that’s your bag.
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March 19th, 2007 at 8:46 am
Cycling through Camberwell in my bra the other day, I wondered where I’d rather be, London or Beejing. The new oligarchs from China, like the Russian gas kings before them, may look to buy in central London, with an ameliorating knock-on effect on the surrounding scuzz.
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March 19th, 2007 at 9:01 am
I’m afraid I am in total agreement with Sparty’s mate, have been for ages. I bought Chinese for Dummies last Christmas for goodness sake!
We’ve all seen the impact on DVD prices. You’d be a fool not to assume houses will follow suit.
I am afraid that I am completely resigned to only 15 more years of 19% ROC then I’ll be off…
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March 19th, 2007 at 9:50 am
Pah! never mind all this money talk - theres a new Camberwell Squat opened at 192 Warham St, just off Camberwell New Road (opposite Union Tavern) - go to http://www.56a.org.uk/warham.html
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March 19th, 2007 at 10:10 am
@Dagmar. I know who owns that car, rather remarkably coincidentally it’s the people who ada a private party at S&D on Saturday night.
@sparty. surprised you were surprised by your mate’s pov and think investing over there’s what you should be doing. The thrusting Chinese may accommodate you better than supplicant Europeans. Think about melamine while you’re looking for your little investment opportunity. And good luck with the laws about foreigners. We could do with learning a lot from the Chinese on lots of fronts.
As for the Sun and Doves. It is hardly Fine Line thank god but if you knew anything at all about your beers and the political culture you live in sparty then you’d know why S&D has its particular range of beers; it can’t LEGALLY sell anything else it is tied to S&N.
You may all be interested to know I went in there last night as a customer; the live music was very good, the food was pretty solid. BUT there was a REMARKABLE lack of any form of structured service whatsoever.
This gave me cause for great concern, ire and reflection.
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March 19th, 2007 at 10:20 am
Bicycle update: Rode to Farringdon in 30 minutes today; a very comfortable ride, but I should have worn gloves. The former death-trap cycle lane on Blackfriars bridge has been sorted out, thank god.
I am now one of the bicycling masses, stage one of preparation for our new Chinese overlords.
@Mark: The most common complaint I’ve seen regarding the S&D is about the service. On one occasion last summer the wife and I were reduced to frustrated laughter at the amount of time it took to get served.
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March 19th, 2007 at 10:26 am
I don’t understand Mark- do youu go to the Doves as a sort of covert secret shopper?
Went to the Crown and Greyhound in Dulwich Village for Mother’s day but was greeted by a queueof pushchairs stretching all the way to Pizza Express.
Sacked it off and went for a carve-your-own at The Grove. Was excellent and there were loads of kids in there which helps put the baby at ease. Won’t be long until they’ve got their own line of Bugaboos blocking the entrance.
Watched Arsenal lose in the now renamed Evertonian’s Cave.
Great day.
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March 19th, 2007 at 10:27 am
Which car, Mark, the Dodge or the Pao? By the way, I have 9 model Citroens for you, they will appear soon.
I have been using the word “China” on this blog for a long time as an alternative to proper thinking. When anyone talks about the economy, just say, “Ah, but China…” and people think you’re deep.
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March 19th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Peter and others
Now you’ve joined the cycling fraternity why not join the London Cycling Campaign? LCC works to make Londpon better for all cyclists, you also get discounts in bike shops, insurance etc etc - further information at http://www.lcc.org.uk. The local groups are two of the largest within LCC - see http://www.lambethcyclists.org.uk and http://www.southwarkcyclists.org.uk
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March 19th, 2007 at 10:51 am
I spent most of my Saturday in Lewisham this weekend, where i enjoyed the delights of cut price designer clother haven TK Maxx whilst my other half attempted to explain to the good people of Lewisham the fact that the Tour De France is starting in London this year. Unfortunately it doesn’t go through Camberwell, from what i understand it will be following the route of the Marathon (but excluding Canary Wharf)
In the evening we went to a pub near Waterloo to celebrate St Patricks day and being Irish, the other half was beside himself with joy at the cricket result.
And i learnt new thing this weekend - Guiness Export is not the same as Guiness - useful to know when asked to take Guiness to a St Patricks day lunch!
Alos the grocers by the Bus station on Camberwell New road appears to sell about 5 different types of perfumed toilet papaer - who buys perfumed toilet paper?
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March 19th, 2007 at 10:53 am
4 bed terrace on Grove Lane needs complete makeover. Came on last week for £450k.
http://www.yourmove.co.uk/cgi-bin/test.sh/prpdetic.htm?PropNum=527091203:acddhcQbjlwfbcrc&MODE=AC:DjinkabllNlOajka
Sold already.
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March 19th, 2007 at 11:19 am
@Hannah: “who buys perfumed toilet paper?” - people with smelly bums.
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March 19th, 2007 at 11:24 am
Well clearly!!
Obviously a lot of need for it in Camberwell as my flatmate tells me they also sell it in the 99p shop in Butterfly walk
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March 19th, 2007 at 11:25 am
Draft Guinness is really a nitrogen-filled convenience product. The real deal, Guinness Original, is far nicer. When the Chinese arrive they’re going to want to know why quality has been sacrificed for convenience.
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March 19th, 2007 at 11:34 am
Dagmar
People have argued for years that Guiness tastes better in Dublin - and I have to say I can only drink it there, so I’m one of them.
Guinness executives pop up to deny this quite often, recently while being interviewed on bbc Radio 4 about their male-focussed promotional campaign.
Porter and stout tho, are notoriously bad travellers; beer isn’t supposed to be transported too much, hence the development of IPA in the days of empire, specifically to be sent to India.
As well as beer Dagmar, you clearly know your classic cars. But I think you suggested a wee while ago that Albert Camus died in Michel Gallimards Citroen DS; not so - Gallimard drove a Facel Vega, of which Albert was, rightly, quite scared.
A bientot
Drew Mishmash
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March 19th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
By way of a spurious segue and bump, Southwark Cyclists have a stall at the Warwick Gardens Spring Fair (see 23). I can offer advice on cycle routes to EC4. And Guiness served nearby at the peerless Cadleigh Arms. Unmissable really.
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March 19th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Guinness Original has a fuller flavour. Talfourd Road has a Lancia Fulvia whilst Maude Road used to have a Lancia Flavia.
I have never said that Camus died in a DS. However, I do think that Robinson’s goal for Tottenham on Saturday has highlighted the futility of football.
As a goalkeeper himself, Camus would have appreciated that goal, that arc of the ball, that comment on the goal-lessness of all human footfall.
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March 19th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
A bunch of comments got stuck in the spam filter, but I got the plunger out and cleared the blockage. Apologies to all involved.
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March 19th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
Definitely going to Warwick Gardens on Saturday. I am going to get my face painted Panda-style and hang arouund one of the Chinese food stalls asking for advice on Sterling-Yuan carry trades.
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March 19th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Attaboy!
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March 19th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
I’ll probably be there too, as my wife has to work and I’ll be at a loose end. I’ll look out for anyone taking more than a polite interest in the Chinese, and I’ll finally know who Alan is.
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March 19th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Maybe Mark was wearing Groucho Marx disguise and his staff didn’t recognise him…
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March 19th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
If I see you Peter I will introduce myself.
I am very hairy, 5ft 1″ tall, about 14 stone and I have a prosthetic left arm.
Not even Panda face paint could hide that. Don’t expect be to be all bolshy and full of houseprice banter. I have a very weak, high pitched voice and I tremble terribly when I meet new people.
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March 19th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Warwick Gardens Spring Fair, Saturday 24th March 2007 12-4 pm. Handsomest dog, prettiest bitch, etc. Prettiest bitch! Dragon racing, food and crafts stalls, 5 a side football tournament.
The squat at 192 Warham Street looks really well organised. Reminds me of the Penguin “Self-Help House Repair Manual” that was such a scandalous publication in the 1970s.
I do not think it is to “epater les bourgeois” to applaud this constructive piece of improvisation. Their film nights on Wednesday look great.
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March 19th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
I’d rather a building was squatted than left to rot; better people than pigeons.
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March 19th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Dinner at The Grove.
The Hamburger might have been mistaken for a hockey puck. Then the ‘Hand-battered’ fish came in a bullet proof, but evidently not flame thrower proof batter. The flesh was probably succulent, but we’ll never know because I couldn’t reach it. To be fair, dad said he enjoyed his meal.
The (expensive) beers went down well and the waitress was friendly, but this fat bastard prefers freshly made pizza to reheated food. So I’ll be sticking to a liquid lunch from now on.
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March 19th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
I’d rather have no neighbours than squatters to be honest.
I find it a bit irritating that they are clearly very capable and highly organised but rather than use these skills to contribute positively they spend all their time climbing through hordings to steal dormant assets.
Take Mary Datchelor as an example. It has to lie dormant while the conflicting needs of stakeholders are assessed prior to the granting of planning permission. Completely unavoidable.
When a band of unwashed jugglers sneak in in the middle of the night and change the locks this helps nobody.
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March 19th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
Here’s some info on the squat:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/london/2007/03/365265.html
and here:
http://www.56a.org.uk/warham.html
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March 19th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
Cycling is the only civilised way to get anywhere from Camberwell as far as I’m concerned. Or else a scooter, if you’re lazy.
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March 19th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
You couldn’t make it up! Lock jugglers? Gorblimey! The squat centre is showing the 1967 film The London Nobody Knows on Wednesday, how interesting, Camberwell is featured. Squats don’t last for ever, but the disengaging of people from each other that accompanies the rise of shareholder value and private capital fiddly-diddly will last a long time, maybe until we are liberated by the Chinese who will say, “Where is the Camberwell of yore? We seem to have bought a deeply somnolent dormitory town full of never-get-stuck-in-a-lift-with, prematurely mature, robotic corporate zombies conditioned to buy and flip, pull down the trees and put up a parking lot and convert hospitals into bought-to-let flats to boost their ROC percentages. Beijing is full of ‘em, braying into their plastic mobile phones with their halitoxic breath!”
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March 19th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon wants me for a sunbeam
Squatting’s a noble thing. I think that there’s a media fuelled stereotype that all squatters are either drug saturated criminals or new-age crusty space cadets with huge sound systems.
A lot of the squatters i’ve met have been neither of the above, but are in fact really talented, committed, politically astute characters who want to make sensible use of derelict spaces for more positive outcomes than either simple profit or loss.
In Amsterdam there’s a much more relaxed view of squatting; If no-one else is using a building, and you repair / maintain it / provide something reasonably positive for the local community, then it’s okay for you to be there. My friend built an incredible, huge skateboard park in a squatted warehouse space in Amsterdam. There isn’t any indoor skateboard facilities in London as the rent’s are ridiculously high, let alone the insurance etc. Amsterdam-1, London-0
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March 19th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
There is Bay66, which although not strictly indoors, is at least undercover of the Westway.
Amersterdam-1, London-1/2.
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March 19th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
Not sure London vs Amsterdam would have been a nil nil draw if weren’t for the Dutch providing indoor facilities for people to play on skateboards.
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March 19th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
It was just an example of the progressive attitudes of our continental brothers and sisters.
Whether skateboarding is a highly complex series of predetermined, rehearsed, ritualised exercises in the redefinition of urban spaces, presenting an interpretation of city architecture in ways in which the original designer couldn’t have thought possible, or just “play” is another topic entirely.
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March 19th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
My only experience of squatters are heroine addicts in Grimsby, jugglers in Mary Datchelor and graffiti artists in Windsor Walk.
That said the threat of squatters is the only thing that seems to motivate the Maudsley into action (or talk of it) in regard to Windsor Walk.
Dagmar- The Chinese in Sparty’s mate’s prophecy are our masters not our liberators. Once enslaved the best we can hope for is that we come up with some catchy and haunting songs.
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March 19th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Glad to hear about the Lancias of Camberwell
Dagmar, I have a flavia 2000 coupe of 1971
vintage..she will be happy to have some company.
What about the corroded Triumph Spitfire & Stag on Brunswick Park? it is amazing that they still have MOTs and haven’t dissolved into puddles of rust…what fine British engineering
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March 19th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
I bet that the chinese Rovers won’t be still driving in 36 years time.
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March 19th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
In the spirit of joining the dots, I knew a bloke once who lived in a squat in Camberwell, while he was a student at the Art College. He’s now the manager of a branch of Foxtons, apparently.
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March 20th, 2007 at 7:32 am
@service Sun and Doves: What terrifies me about the level of service I get is that I might as well be a mystery shopper. There is no sign that ‘they’ care one bit about what happens to me, or my guests, or any one else who’s a customer… plenty of self indulgent preening and chit chat among ‘colleagues’ though.
This happens to me; what the HELL happens to real customers? It’s spine chilling. It’s 200K a year off the turnover. It will stop.
Squatting is entrepreneurial and risky in many senses. And if building stock comes back into use that otherwise would rot into the ground; then so the better.
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March 20th, 2007 at 8:13 am
I know it’s a bit closed minded to classify all skateboarding as ‘play’. Sorry about that.
I myself used to do my paper round on my skateboard. That’s work.
I didn’t redefine any urban spaces but I cut my chin and dropped a whole bag of Grimsby Evening Telegraphs in a beck.
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March 20th, 2007 at 8:49 am
A beck = a stream. The River Peck was a beck when it rose in Forest Hill Road. Another beck sprang up in Ruskin Park, flowed west parallel to Denmark Hill and Camberwell Road and turned right down Albany Road to join the Peck in Bermondsey.
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March 20th, 2007 at 9:09 am
@Dagmar- indeed. Maybe we should all go becking one weekend..
@Ben Patio- Is that a success story? I doubt many people head off to Art College with dreams of selling houses but then I suppose if you live in a squat you may develop aspirations beyond artistic integrity?
@Mark- I like your staff the ‘preening’ and ‘chit-chat’ is part of the image. In the old days I really liked the girl with the nose ring and body art and also the tall guy who ran a club night at the Funky Monkey - I think he got mugged for the takings once right? They put the graft in as well as fulfilling their Manga style urban caricature roles. Do you ever work in the bar yourself?
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March 20th, 2007 at 9:46 am
Manga Mark, the bar staff nark.
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March 20th, 2007 at 11:26 am
Peter, would you recommend Linetech Computers for computer equipment and repairs? I have a laptop that’s on the blink and needs looking at but I’m sceptical about the (surprisingly numberous) options around Camberwell.
By the way, I stopped and had a look at the new restaurant on Church Street, The Fusion, and it seems to do a wide range of dishes including Peter’s elusive sushi!
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March 20th, 2007 at 11:46 am
For repairs, I’ve no idea, sorry, but Linetech has a pretty good range of equipment, although not much variety within that range (if that makes sense).
There’s a place on Denmark Hill which always looks empty and didn’t have what I wanted when I went there (blank DVDs), as well as Rock-IT (I think) above Iceland on Camberwell Rd, which again didn’t have what I was looking for (a laptop) so I haven’t been back since.
Of those three, Linetech is the best, IMHO.
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March 20th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
Peter
I’ve had an eye on that place in Denmark Hill for a while; I thought they were out of business and was just about to start tracing the landlord and lease.
But I went past yesterday and the lights were on; no big business being done tho.
I could stick a lovely bookshop in there you know…ho hum.
Drew Mishmash
ps btw is there a regular Monday afternoon closing thing going on in Camberwell? I took a tour yesterday to see how the public - and their footfall! - reacted to cold and rain; a lot of smaller places seemed shut, while damp customers loitered at bus-stops.Ho hum.
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March 20th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
I can recommend the IT shop next to Oriental Culture on Denmark Hill. The guy sorted out my internal modem a treat (no euphemism).
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March 20th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
@Alan; I don’t work on the floor. I don’t look in the mirror enough to fit in. I worked it 7/7 for the two years or so and never recovered but that’s a very long story.
Now, my head brim full of stuff nothing to do with bars, I can’t multi task bar work anymore and the till system does my head in. A calm half an hour without distraction would probably be enoug but that’s such a luxury these days I’d rather be cramming something else. My role’s strategy and marketing and monitoring day to day business. Ha. What we’re going through now (it’s not all bad, while Sunday evening was like being in a self service bar, Sunday day, by all accounts was very busy and went very smoothly) is all the result of a handover last April from one general manager to another that didn’t go very well. It took until September to really realise that rot had set in; then the refurb and ongoing stuff has confused the remustering of troops with discipline and verve. It is being dealt with now but at times balls keep slipping through the juggling act. As for previous staff, Jemma was the woman, she’s making organic cakes for a living now and Ed the guy who did Sspilt Milk, he got beat up badly on Eastlake road, teeth knocked out, and his confidence for a while, he’s being a runner in Soho.
@Matt; Rock IT have fixed some pretty damaged hard drives for me in the past.
Someon on SE5 Forum’s asking if anyone knows about FU’s on Church Street. Whether they can just pluck up courage to go in for a drink one night… Does anyone know?
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March 20th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
@ Matt; Rock IT: ask for Gary and tell him Mark said so.
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March 21st, 2007 at 8:34 am
Tommy D has posted on SE5 forum to say that Mary Datchelor gets decided on 27th March.
The planning committee report recomends a ‘grant’.
It’s definitely time to get things moving there. 3 years of consultation has to be enough.
Fingers crossed.
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March 21st, 2007 at 9:04 am
But what about the poor jugglers? I can see a juggle-in happening, or a happenin’ juggling!
FU’s is or was a Sierra Leonean club where a blogger’s mate once went in plastered in the middle of the night as yer do and was looked after as he sat slumped unconscious with his beer. It must be easy to search this story here, is it?
I Googled FU’s at the time out of interest but can’t find much mention now. They have bashment nights and all sorts. I looked on urbandictionary to find out what bashment is. But I put “bashment” into this site’s search and can find nothing.
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March 21st, 2007 at 10:41 am
The search on this site only searches posts, not comments. I’ll look into that.
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March 21st, 2007 at 10:41 am
How do you kill a circus?
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March 21st, 2007 at 11:00 am
We were at the Brighton beer festival the other weekend, and bumped into the new owner of the Ivanhoe pub in Ivanhoe Rd giving out flyers - it’s getting a refurb and going to be promoted as a real ale pub. (and ‘fine wines’ and ‘gormet coffee’!) Opening in a few weeks as Hoopers Bar with a beer and cider ‘festival’ May bank holiday
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March 21st, 2007 at 11:17 am
I don’t know, Alan, how do you kill a circus?
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March 21st, 2007 at 11:19 am
Go for the juggler.
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March 21st, 2007 at 3:18 pm
Tumbleweed…
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March 21st, 2007 at 3:21 pm
There you are Foxy. What do you think of squatters? Scrounging parasites or guardians of under-utilised assets?
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March 21st, 2007 at 3:31 pm
I thought that joke was funny. Thanks.
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March 21st, 2007 at 3:33 pm
I think they are mainly work shy soap dodgers who didn’t get on with their old man but I concede that one or two (probably literally) are in it for the right reasons.
I like to keep an open mind about these things.
That said, a lot of the blokes seem to punch above their weight. Some of the hippy chicks round me in the church-owned buildings in Clapham Old Town are pretty cool.
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March 21st, 2007 at 3:49 pm
You’re right there was a really good looking lass hanging around with the Mary Datchelor carnie crowd. She only needed a wash and a bit of warpaint and she could have landed a top lap dancing job.
Aren’t they normally vicar’s kids? No wonder the Church lets them squat.
I used to know a vicar’s daughter. She had her nose pierced and everything. She didn’t get on with her old man but he was a bit pious so you couldn’t really blame her.
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March 21st, 2007 at 4:20 pm
@Ben Patio - Small World! My friend was a Foxtons branch manager and now hangs around with the squatter community looking for legal loopholes on vacant properties so that he can snap them up.
He has made a killing but his breath stinks!
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March 21st, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Has he got a beautiful vicar’s daughter to do his bi-monthly handwashing for him?
Just to join up the dots (a bit more) I have to say that I knew a guy at law school who stayed with a friend in a squat in Paris for a couple of nights in 2002. Okay so he failed his LPC but he now runs his own internet ticket tout business and he’s brilliant at ten pin bowling.
He doesn’t even have bad breath any more.
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March 22nd, 2007 at 11:49 am
@ Mary Datchelor. It’s still not good enough but the opposition has crumbled through time denudation.
I would applaud Camebrwell Society if they could manage to dig their heels in more and get the last changes made. Probably too late for that.
Circus. Juggler.
I love it. Simple Sweet.
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March 22nd, 2007 at 12:07 pm
It’s really good!
You should have pound signs in your eyes.
Once one big development is done then others will come. There’ll be a snowball effect and soon Church St, Denmark Hill and Coldharbour Lane will be teaming with jeunesse dorée looking to impart their spendo on local amenities.
It’s going to be ace.
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March 22nd, 2007 at 2:38 pm
It could be better!
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March 22nd, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Any how the jeunesse dorée will be flocking to East Dulwich and Clapham with their wads of plastic and cash.
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March 22nd, 2007 at 3:16 pm
No they won’t - well not every night anyway. Not once they realise what’s available locally.
That said Matt’s call about Sushi at The Fusion seems a bit sketchy. It was all boarded up when I went past- hardly the conveyor belt Sushi restaurant I had imagined when I saw his post.
Back to Mary D. I don’t accept that there are any problems with the latest bid but even if you think there are surely it’s better to get a less than perfect development now rather something perfect in the distant future.
Let’s have a bit of enthusiasm- it’s a new dawn in SE5. Treat it as such.
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March 23rd, 2007 at 12:33 am
NO.
I’ve been here too long and seen too many missed opportunities for good development. I’m ambitious for Camberwell and prepared to work and wait for better. Mary D has been what, four years or so? That’s quite an investment in time and patience already. St George will have seen its land value increase so they won’t be squealing and they can afford to do better; the best work possible for this area; they ought to be cajoled further into that. Camberwell Society’s done a great job so far. They should not let up until the scheme is of the quality we deserve. Quality is what’s needed not haste. At all levels, from design to completion, including how the buildings fit with the locality.
I’d wait another year to get a masterpiece.
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March 23rd, 2007 at 7:51 am
I totally agree, Mark. It’s the prime redevelopment site in Camberwell and deserves the best. Just because we all want it to happen doesn’t mean we should settle for something second rate.
Look at it this way, Alan - a really amazing development would increase the value of your house even further.
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March 23rd, 2007 at 8:16 am
“I’ve been here too long and seen too many missed opportunities for good development.” This is completely non-incremental to the decision as to whether you should support Mary D. First rule of sensible financial decision making- ignore your sunk costs.
Furthermore, I don’t accept that its second rate and I think you are moaning out of habit. Snap out of it. You’re going to be a very wealthy man!
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March 23rd, 2007 at 8:18 am
Ben- Rule 2- NEVER ignore the time value of money. Think NPV. I need this development as soon as possible.
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March 23rd, 2007 at 9:08 am
NO.
I have a long term view that values sustainabilty over short term gain.
“First rule of sensible financial decision making- ignore your sunk costs”… Exactly what I’m doing. Holding out for the long view.
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March 23rd, 2007 at 9:12 am
*thinking seven generations ahead*
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March 23rd, 2007 at 9:13 am
Don’t forget rule 2.
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March 23rd, 2007 at 9:16 am
Ha!
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March 23rd, 2007 at 9:16 am
You a poker player Alan?
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March 23rd, 2007 at 9:20 am
I saw An Inconvenient Truth the night before last.
I think seven generations might be optimistic.
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March 23rd, 2007 at 12:24 pm
True Alan but if you reach for the stars you might reach the moon
William Blake:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markdodds/431359594/
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March 23rd, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Wasn’t that S-Club Seven?
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March 23rd, 2007 at 2:42 pm
How do you get a fat bird into bed?
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March 23rd, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Piece of cake
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March 23rd, 2007 at 5:32 pm
crumbs!
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March 23rd, 2007 at 5:35 pm
A William. That’s Camberwell rhyming slang. A William Blake, piece of cake, a slice approximately 15 degrees of the circle.
Of course there are many cakes who will find bukowski333’s joke in poor taste.
Meanwhile, it’s Friday night and the fat birds are having their nails done prior to gathering in the Silver Buckle. As Jo Brand might say.
Did anyone hear her on Desert Island Discs this week? She is a graduate of the Maudsley.
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March 23rd, 2007 at 8:01 pm
I think she lives in East Dulwich. Seen her in Bury’s a couple of times. Nice lady. Not funny though.
Look out Donald Sutherland is about to bobble some fella’s Mrs on film 4 plus one…
Adverts!?
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March 25th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
It’s not meant to be taken seriously.
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March 26th, 2007 at 10:03 am
I really like Edwardes cycle shop. They gave me a rear red reflector for free when I went in to buy one, and just last week I popped in having snapped the chain on my bike, and they adjusted the gears & poppedd a new link on my chain for a tenner there and then.
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March 26th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
I would never go to Edwardes again.
The old guy there that works there is downright rude and the other staff just unhelpful.
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March 26th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
Did you think so? I’ve always found them to be helpful. I took my bike back there this weekend and they tightened the gear cables for free, and we bought a bike for the Mrs. and they fitted the locks and gave it a pre-use service all for free too.
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March 26th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
If you had to convince people from East Dulwich to come over to Camberwell to spend their cash how would you do it? Which places would you recommend? What is Camberwell’s relative competitive advantage over East Dulwich? Ideas please….
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March 26th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Wilson’s bike shop on the Peckham Road just after Persepolis are really quick and good and never surly or snide.
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March 27th, 2007 at 7:27 am
nb I’ve moved the Camberwell competitive advantage thread to SE5 forum. Please put your replies there. So far the response has been weak.
Seems that people are quick to criticise East Dulwich but find it hard to come up with any tangible reason why Camberwell is better or at least why Camberwell should be appealing to people from East Dulwich…
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March 27th, 2007 at 8:34 am
Peter - Yeah, I needed a wheel for my bike last year. It took about 10 days longer than the week I was quoted. They never called me to let me know what was going on. The guy was in such a rush to get me off the phone when I rang that he actually hung up on me and I had to call back to get an answer.
In short I thought he was really rude.
On the other hand, Brixton cycles are super friendly so I always go there nowadays.
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March 27th, 2007 at 8:52 am
Walworth Road - GAH…
Having missed my train the other morning, I got on a number 12 bus. 30 minutes later I’d only got as far as East Street Market. This was made worse when I opted to jump on a tube at Elephant & Castle. Having navigated the labyrinthine tunnels to the Bakerloo platform, I discovered that the line had just been closed. So it was back to the buses. And more appaling traffic. In the end it took one and a half hours to get to Oxford Circus.
My issue with roadworks in general is: if you’ve got to shut a lane for any reason, surely you should get it fixed as soon as possible. Get fifty people working on it overnight if neccessary. In reality, all one sees most of the time is a single bloke sipping a cup of tea and some dormant machinery. Is it not a matter of utmost urgency when there are hundreds of people being seriously delayed every single day?
Walworth Road as a Parisian-style boulevard? I’ll believe that when I see it.
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March 27th, 2007 at 8:54 am
Clarification:
RE: “…a single bloke sipping a cup of tea and some dormant machinery.”
That’s single as in solitary, not “without a partner”.
And, he’s not also sipping the dormant machinery. There should have been a comma in there.
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March 27th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Many single male dormant machinery sippers would be offended by that, Ade, they would find it male dormant machinery sippist, well, if there were many, or in fact any, probably not one.
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March 28th, 2007 at 7:32 am
When they stopped the number 12 Routemaster and brought in the road trains journey times to Piccadilly and Oxford Circus increased by about a third overnight.
Now there’s the roadworks taking place as yet another bit of London just outside SE5 gets a makeover, causing further delays.
They’re trying to corral Camberwell!
Am I right in thinking that when the Walworth project has finished there will be fewer dedicated bus / bike lanes? If so it will take less time to get to the West End from the New Forest.
This will hold Camberwell back. Buses just can’t be relied upon to get you somewhere on time. We need transport without tyres.
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March 28th, 2007 at 8:56 am
helioporters
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March 28th, 2007 at 9:55 am
On the Forum Tommy D says Mary Datchelor has been approved as well as another 60 units up near the Redstar.
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March 28th, 2007 at 10:02 am
Autogyros. There was an autogyro manufactory in Vanguard Court between 1909-1914 which produce three autogryos a year. They were all involved in fatal accidents. Fortunately, the First World War intervened and production switched to cutlery for the trenches.
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March 28th, 2007 at 11:20 am
Always with the wonderful words Dagmar; manufactory, autogyros.
I recommend particle transmogrifiers; or just walking, it’s getting to the right time of year.
Drew Mishamsh
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March 28th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
I can see you’re all really excited about Mary Datchelor. Grat progress but where’s the next big development going to come from?
I am really annoyed about Windsor Walk. My mate’s latest update is that the Maudsley are reconsidering their decision to sell off some of the buildings for private development.
They have made no progress unless you include their massive unrealised return on investment due to house price / land value increases.
Why should we put up with it?
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March 28th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Bicycle shops: I retract my earlier comments about my bike being wonderful after its Herne Hill cycles service. I suspect they’ve missed a broken ball bearing, I’ve already had to take a link out of the chain and the rear wheel is wonky so rubbing against the brakes … bah! At least my pump has been returned to me … I’d left it in the hairdressers …
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March 28th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
Where is everyone? Why are we chatting down here, and not on the top post? Where do you get all your fantastic snippets of information from, Dagmar? 5 years x 3 autogyros per year = 15 fatalities! Blimey. What is an autogyro anyway?
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March 28th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Returning to the bike shops - I’d recommend Southbank cycles on Wandsworth Road SW8 and Brixton Cycles, Stockwell Road SW9 and of course Evans in The Cut and Waterloo Road, SE1(and many other locations but these two seem to be the biggest)
All offer discounts of 5 or 10% to London Cycle Campaign members
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March 29th, 2007 at 6:28 am
Stay local: Wilsons, 32 Peckham High Street for repairs. No booking, just drop in and pick up same day. Cheap. And open Sundays too. If you’re in town, Bikefix on Lamb’s Conduit Street I reckon; again drop in and pick up same day (but get there early). I wouldn’t trust Evans with my roller scates.
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March 29th, 2007 at 7:39 am
Evans is very very expensive. I notice a massive price hike for bike repairs when crossing the Thames with shocking labour prices there.
Still rate Edwards in Camberwell, or for even cheaper repairs there was a bike shop on John Ruskin St, not sure if it is still there though.
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March 29th, 2007 at 8:23 am
Excuse me for hijacking:
Anyone out