Month: September 2007

Nice legs, shame about the boat race

I had to pick up some clothes from the dry cleaners/menders on Camberwell Church Street today, but had to make a quick detour via Clerkenwell first as I’d left some meat in the fridge at work. As the wife’s out having lunch with a friend, I made it a leisurely voyage and allowed myself the luxury of stopping frequently to look around me.

What it reminded me is what a lovely place Camberwell can be; lots of Georgian & Edwardian terraced housing; long, straight leafy roads; little parks and squares dotted around it; plenty of sports facilities; nice pubs & bars.

What lets the whole area down is what most people see: Camberwell Green and its surroundings. Traffic-choked, dirty pavements, an abundance of off-licences and no shortage of clients for them. It doesn’t look nice, it doesn’t feel nice; it isn’t nice.

At the end of the voyage I dropped into the menders to pick up my clothes; two pairs of trousers, both of which had been fixed well, and at a very reasonable price. The name of the shop escapes me at the moment; it’s on the side of Cruson/Sophocles, further towards the Green. I’d like to know the story of the co-owner who, tragically, died on his 50th birthday, but I’m afraid to ask.

I noticed that work is still ongoing in the former Zara’s Kitchen; whatever’s going to open there, it involves a substantial refit. The former Rumeli has now definitively changed to Grills, etc. KFC is having a refit too; at first I thought they’d closed down, but no such luck. Still no sign of life in Angels & Gypsies.

Finally, a few nights ago I was in the Spar on Vestry Road, where a young man and his girlfriend were buying chocolate. Nothing seemed amiss, but the young man suddenly said “I want to shoot someone tonight, man; I feel like shooting someone up”. I wanted to slap his silly little baby-gangster face.

Highs and lows

On Saturday we had the privilege of seeing Camberwell (and the rest of London) from above, as we took advantage of the Open House day at the William Booth Memorial College to climb the pigeon-shit-encrusted spiral stairs of the tower and take a look at the fantastic vista it overlooks. I have some nice pictures, which I’ll post shortly. At the top of the tower I met Merrick, of this blog’s comments fame. Not sure if anyone else was around at the time I was; I was there at about 3pm. I was the one with the scruffy beard and the sun-kissed look.

On the way down to the Chinese supermarket to get some fish, I noticed that Willow has closed down. Restaurants just don’t seem able to hold their own in this area.

I didn’t attend the march to save Camberwell Baths; call me cynical, but I think marches have to be backed up with something a little more substantial. We live in a society where facilities are judged not by their usefulness, but by their ability to turn a profit; in order to show that the Baths are of use to the community, they need to be used more — however, in order to be used more, they need to be cleaned up and reformed. Catch 22. Instead of a march, there should have been a swim-in; everyone pays their money and fills the pool. The sight of all that money crossing the counters would have the owners far more interested.

Finally, here’s possibly my favourite bit of Camberwell history I’ve ever read:

Army and Navy pensioners held a cricket match between one-armed and one-legged veterans in Camberwell, London, in August 1841. The Army lost by 19 runs to 176, allegedly because they had more one-legged players.

What’s Going On?

Just got back from a nice relaxing holiday on the sunny Adriatic coast, and I hear there’s been another murder and Kennedy’s Sausages are to close down; both, in their different ways, indicators of a direction for the area I’m unhappy about.

I haven’t read all the news about the murder in Burgess Park, so I’ll hold fire (no pun intended) on that for now, except to wonder: is crime going up around here? Or is it just being more commented upon? That is, is this just anecdotal evidence of an increase?

As for Kennedy’s, I can’t claim to be bitterly upset about it; although they had their fans, I always found the selection far too limited and they hadn’t moved with the times. It’s a shame to see one of the long-time independents disappear from the area, however, and I’ll miss their landmark signage. One can only wonder what marvel of 21st-century low-cost, high-turnover, disposable consumerist society will replace it.

Sorry if I seem to be in a bad mood; I’ve just come back from a country where vegetables taste like they’re supposed to, and been forced to buy the bland imitations we sell in the high street here.