I am on holiday
Published by Peter | Filed under General
Back on September 21st. Anyone who posts a comment which gets held in moderation will have to wait until then to have it approved. Sorry.
Hasta luego.
September 12th, 2008
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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.
For all the mixed summer weather, just cropped a carrier bag of
grapes from the vine that comes over the garden wall.
And the French beans & toms were OK
Long live little London gardens & the slugs that patrol them !!!
Regards Bob
Have a good trip, Peter, don’t even think of Camberwell when you’re… oh, he’s gone. Did anyone go to the Sun & Doves tonight for Marks Dodd’s do? As ever, the demands of very small children left the Dagmar elders slumped in front of the telly watching the Top 100 Most Annoying Songs on BBC3 slurping Netto, winebox, credit-crunch South African red.
You missed ONE hell of an evening, Dagmar.
I actually thought it was brave to the point of foolhardy to publish an invitation to ones party on the Internet and had visions of half of South London descending on the S&D with much ensuing mayhem. But it turned out to be a really memorable night in all ways good. Met a load of new and interesting Camberwellians.
Sorry, we couldn’t all have managed a more in-tune rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ Mark, but this might have something to do with your outstanding generosity in providing limitless free booze. Nice one and roll on your 60th!
Just many thanks to everyone who came and made it such a great night. I had a marvellous time once I’d got over my appalling nerves and hot flushes. Two glasses of Fiano did that; the white wine of the night. The red was Hacienda Zorita, a Sicilian gem. The bottled beer was Lidl’s Perlenbacher. £5.25 for six 50cl bottles of very fine quality pilsner, rich, deep flavour rounded with a refreshing bitter edge. I was simply not prepared to give away poorer beer I have to buy through the tie — such as Beck’s which costs me something like £1.10 a 275ml bottle.
A special thanks to Harriet Harman and Norman Jay for finding the time to come!
Just showing off.
Actually an extra special thanks to Cas and Shirley — our school gate mum friends — for coming. It was a real pleasure to see you there.
A note from last week:
Needed lunch today on the spur of the moment on the way to ‘cash and carry’ stopped off at JJ Caterers 137 Southampton Way SE5 — only because I’d read about it here some months ago– ‘Coffee Brasserie serving Indian and continental cuisine’ — ‘Eat in or take away — delivery or to cater for your special event’.
It is a MUST. GO THERE! And be delighted. The food is wonderful, Indian, perfectly judged and produced. And unbelievably good value.
A GEM of rare proportions and a great asset to Camberwell.
JJ Caterers is very good. Got that tip off here as well. Thanks all.
Couldn’t make the party on Saturday. Very disappointed. Thoroughly enjoyed the come down late nighter in the Canning on Sunday though. Looking well Mark..
A man who is visited — visitated, has a visitation from — Harriet Harman at his 50th birthday do is bound to look well. She is a cool lady. Tony Benn was good on the radio at the weekend. He said what about the issues, like why are we in Iraq, rather than the “beauty parade” of politics, the panto, the personalities. Harriet has Camberwell in her blood, she is related to Joseph Chamberlain, that complex radical. At times like this, when the only hope for mankind lies with the hedge funds, with spread betting and CFDs, with binary betting and fixed or floating odds, with loopy derivatives fashioned by prestigitation using smoke and mirrors, string and vinegar and brown paper, it is good to know that Harriet Harman, our MP and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, a contrasting character to her predecessor John Prescott, can coolly walk into a Camberwell alehouse on a Saturday night like the rest of us.
I heard Benn on Any Qs too. As ever, he took that tack (the ishoos) to avoid answering the simple question put to him. It was a good panel though. Doesn’t Harriet Harman live in Herne Hill?
What was the question?
Yes Harriet Harman does live in Herne Hill — Stradella Road, SE24 I believe (if you recall the Fathers for Justice protested on her roof earlier this year)
That’s right. Very nice. Wrong side of the hill though. The journey over the hill changes everything. Question was should the Labour party dump Brown. Benn’s greatest moment was to celebrate Labour’s 1983 election result because 8.5m people had voted for socialism. So perhaps his view on the matter should remain private.
That’s right. Very nice. Wrong side of the hill though. The journey over the hill changes everything. Question was should the Labour party dump Brown. Benn’s greatest moment was to celebrate Labour’s 1983 election result because 8.5m people had voted for socialism. So perhaps his view on the matter should remain privat
Two fire engines and lots of hoses across Coldharbour Lane. Fire is on Cutcombe Road just up from the Corner Surgery.
There were lots of Police in Paulet Road yesterday to my alarm until I went out to have a look in my curtain twitching way and found that they were filming an episode of the Bill
yes that makes sense, we had a letter through our door a few weeks ago asking if we were interested in letting them use the house for filming.
They film the Bill a lot in Burgess. Florian, old Benn was good about pointing out that Labour never dump their leader unlike the Tories who are always stabbing ‘em in the back, he was very funny about that. What was the question he should have answered, though, you haven’t said.
I used to live on Telegraph Hill and the Bill were there en mass almost weekly. Gritty Camberwell’s come a long way if they’re doing it here now. Or maybe they just need ever more run down, ever more ‘real’ backdrops to ever more violent and sensational story lines about ever more desperate people to keep ever more desensitised viewers glued to the box.
Reply got stuck in moderation. The question was about whether Brown should go; an ishoo if ever there was one. My favourite Bennism is when he welcomed the result of the 83 election because 8.5m people had voted for socialism.
having trouble getting through moderation. benn was asked whether brown should go; an ishoo if ever there is one. my favourite bennism is his celebration of the 83 election because 8.5m people had vote for socialism.
http://www.thehill.org.uk seems OK but http://www.brockleycentral.blogspot.com is great.
Types of fruit I’ve seen growing ‘wild’ in Camberwell & its environs this week…
Apples
Pears
Damsons
Greengages
Grapes – just ripening now. Nice
Figs – going purple, but they never get edible
Olives – lots of these around (ornamental)
Elderberries
Blackberries
@ D-MAN
Where where where?
Any Opportunities for scrumping?
Moving back to less profound things…
We went to the (relatively) new Indian restaurant The Spice of Life on Church St (opposite Safa) on Saturday. Here is my review: meal reasonable, cost high, dont think we will be returning.
The meal was fairly standard Indian fare; tasty but the restaurant doesnt have the range of Safa and the service wasnt as good. Whatsmore our standard dinner (popodoms, curries, rice nan, side dish, bottle of wine) cost around £10 more (closer to £50–55 including ‘voluntary’ service charge (grr) rather than the £35–40 in Safa) and there were no red roses for the women at the end of the meal (always a highlight of Safa!).
Worringly for the restaurant in the hour or so that we were there no other customers came in and it doesnt seem to offer take aways. At the same time Safa seemed to be busy with a constant stream of customers and take aways.
Spice of Life in Camberwell is run by the same company as the Spice of Life on St Johns Hill, SW11 — I dont know why they thought it was a good idea to open up in this particular spot in Cambewell, opposite an existing popular Indian restaurant.
Shame about Spice of Life Mumu because Safa’s one of the worst Indian restaurants I’ve ever been in. Yet to visit Spice of Life, though I will as I appreciate them investing in the area.
Thank heavens for JJ’s.
Ive always found Safa to be good — in terms of range, quality and service. Some of the sauces can be a bit heavy but on the whole we found it to be the best of the three Indians (Safa, Indiahh, New Dewanaian) we tried when we first moved to the area and on a par if not better than the places in Kennington we used to go to
To my non-professional eye, Spice of Life looks about as doomed a newly-opened restaurant as I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t help that the logo makes it seem, on first glance, like a Thai place. They might also want to re-think the apparent policy of lighting the entire room with interrogation-strength 150w bulbs.
We had a fab JJ dinner delivered last night for four adults for 20 quid including tip to the chap for his prompt and cheerful arrival.
Mark — sorry I couldn’t make it, although I did raise a glass of slightly acidic Côte de Rhone, grape unknown, from home.
Congratulations to JJ, which rightly enjoys protection from the pavement parking parasites that plague local business in So’ton Way, in the form of iron fencing as illustrated by Mark@5 — great picture, too.
Exactly the kind of small characterful quality-service independent which is obviously attracting money into the area and helping to regenerate it, which a Tesco Metro would never do.
More dedicated short stay parking in side streets near small businesses in that area would do nicely, benefit JJ Catering, and assure it and similar ventures of longevity. Mention it to your councillors, and ask them to use their planning powers to help small business keep the UK economy afloat in a time when consultants and hedge fund boys have added so much value to high finance stalwarts that they have become “too large to fail”.
The Spar Cotes du Rhone is acidic and only 13% abv. The Somerfield Cotes is 14% abv and rich and satisfying for just £3.19, stupendous paired with dishes ordered by phone from JJ Catering. Cotes du Rhone is made from a blend of grapes, usually Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Carignan, the stonkingly strong grape varieties of the sun-lashed, shower-splashed, sultry and sensuous south.
Reg…Your macro-micro economic solutions are astonishing.
In one foul swoop you suggest that “consultant and hedge fund boys” have doomed the economy yet to keep UK Plc afloat we need more short-stay parking in side streets
I’m not sure I’ll be mentioning it to my councillor just yet
Alan Dale you MUST introduce yourself sometime. Were you standing at the bar at George Canning on your own near the coffee machine? Listening IN? To the crap we were pumping out?
Don’t JK. It’s not worth it.
Now they’re shorting the car parks, gah!
In these days of credit crunch could anyone advise me on the budget supermarkets to go to in the local area? I feel I must get in on the act: could anyone give me informed opinions on which of Aldi, Netto or Lidl is best?
East Street Market is quite good value. Not a shadow of its former self, but OK.
What and where is JJ?
Safa is average at best.
Spice of Life — yet to try, but if it’s £££ then why bother.
http://www.jjcaterers.co.uk are at the corner of Southhampton Way and Rainbow Street. You can eat in or take away — they deliver. Their food is way above average and way below average prices.
Netto is good on Rye Lane — expect to queue at the tills. This Danish outfit is cheaper than Lidl, though Lidl have regular excellent offers e.g. their super-strength South African wines currently selling for £2.79. People take away whole packs of basics like tinned tomatoes and condensed mill perhaps for resale, from Netto. Netto really is tills at one end and trucks at the other. Aldi is OK but way over on the Old Kent Road. Lidl and Netto are walkable.
The Joiners Arms has had a sympathetic repaint job done on it — very nice it looks too…the interior has been left well alone — good job too only a complete philistine would rip out that beautiful old carpentry and wood panelling and of course my favorite — The Socialist wall tiles mural!
Mark will be figuring out his next move shortly
Not me. That fella was easy sixty.
I was in the back with my cousin. He would have thought it odd if I mingled…
Maybe one day.. but really why spoil a beautiful friendship?
@Mumu — Comment 30
After such an excellent round-up from The Dags, further comments could seem superfluous, but here goes. I’m a recent convert to Lidl (Peckham). Their chocolate, biscuits & cold meats (particularly sliced sausage, perhaps betraying their Germanic heritage) are all great. And they do a great melon-flavoured vodka (classily branded “Rachmaninov” @ £6.99). The queues are ever-present, but they do move. You do need to build a familiarity with the stock layout, because it can be a bit confusing at first. Give it a try and see what you think.
Aldi all day. As cheap as Lidl but the packaging is far superior. Makes me feel like I’m consuming quality. The shop is cleaner and the queues are fewer. However, a trip to Lidl is always fun for a sense of being on holiday — a lot of the stock is quite alien.
I really thought that could not possibly be you but it was looking at us and listening in.
Netto I’ve only been to once — somewhere else — like Canterbury — and I didn’t realise there is one locally. It was very yellow. I shop at Lidl in Peckham at least once a week because of its proximity and because it is very good value and quality. Organic eggs £1.79 for six. Fresh meat is good and their Emmental and cured meats and coleslaw too. Kitchen and toilet rolls are great quality and very cheap… Fruit juices and bread, butter, tinned toms, tomato paste, olive oil… it goes on and on. All seems unbelievably cheap if you shop regularly at Sainsburys or Tesco and actually check prices. I think Aldi has an edge on presentation, style and quality over Lidl (I know of one high quality food supplier who provides to Selfridges and Aldi — identical products — different packaging) but as Dagmar says — it’s out in the burbs. Shop early to mid morning — any day of the week — if you can, to avoid queues. You’ll save a small fortune. The wines as Dagmar says — are great value too. They did a delicious Prosecco Veneziana over the summer at £3.79 easily worth a sixer. Sold off the last stock at £3.49 utter bargain.
I hope a few of you managed to drop into the Brunswick Park fete yesterday.
It was a brilliantly successful event and a credit to the organisers (the Brunswick Park Tenants and Residents Association).
Speaking of which, we have our AGM tomorrow night at the town hall, if anyone is interested in dropping in.
(Open to all residents of the streets surrounding the park).
The music was brilliant. I was pedalling past and heard it, that’s why I went in. Good event management technique.
Yes, the steel band was very popular.
Shame they only played a few tunes but hopefully we will be able to get them back again next time.
And next time = hopefully something around easter especially for the kids.
No reminder re open house either. Anyone make it up Billy Booth’s?
Yeah, went today and the lady said it was Open just yesterday. This year’s Open House has been a fiasco. They are now web-based but their site crashes or crashes your computer. It seems like English Heritage, sort of soft and daft, but hard and nasty.
They were distributing Open House information booklets with a full listing in the libraries around here (or certainly the Lambeth libraries)
The main draws in SE5 were the Salvation Army tower, the ‘reto eco house’ on Coleman Road. Sunshine House on Peckham Road and nearby new block of flats on Dog Kennel Hill — sadly laziness, sunshine, drinking Pimms in the garden and London Freewheel meant that I failed to get to any Open House events
Open House weekend was great. Saturday We wondered round the local area visiting The Camberwell Eco House on Coleman Road, Sunshine House on Peckham Road, 15 and a half Consort Road in the morning. Then William Booth college, DKH apartments and Julian Stairs potting studio in Dulwich in the afternoon.
Sunday coincided with freecycle day. We cycled up to Belgravia and went to Seaford house followed by the Argentine Ambassadors residence before joining the thousands of cyclists pedalling along the mall. It was a fantastic sea of florescent vests bobbing up and down around the queens house and a vision of what London might be like without cars. We peeled of down Whitehall past the reportedly 2hr queue for horse guards instead opting for the foreign office and India house. The rows of stuffy government corridors filled with grey 70’s filling cabinets and the wasted grand courtyard now a civil service car park were disappointing however the Durbar Court rooms were incredible. They reminded me of the palais de Versailles! Lots of gold and heavy Victorian lead paint colours.
From here we headed to the Southbank food festival, which was also immensely popular — the hog roast had a half hour queue but was worth the wait, before heading back to Southwark and the New Vic theatre. Which was a really cool space.
I wish I had taken more photos.. it was one of those weekends when you think.. “oh isn’t London great, unique, buzzing etc”.
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickwoodford/sets/72157607448555127/
Absolutely off topic.
THE Sun and Doves’ quiz restarts tomorrow evening at 8pm after a wettish summer when, of course, everyone in Camberwell was in Tuscany or Jamaica.
Lots of people have been calling about it. There is a guaranteed take home of £60 with wines and other winnings for runners’ up.
Here all you cyclists can have your say about keeping the Western Extension to the congestion charge. I know it is not Camberwell but you may have to cycle through the area and it shouldn’t be left to the few to decide.
https://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/roadusers/congestioncharging/westernextension/have-your-say.aspx
Here is an interesting site about the the old Camber Well. http://www.johnchaple.co.uk/camberswell.html
Well, well!
Well well well
Speaking of water there was a feature in last week’s Southwark News on the canal — http://www.southwarknews.co.uk/arts-and-listings/00,news,12093,466,00.htm — such a shame it was filled in, if it had been 15–20 years later they would have rushed to make a water feature of it and developed riverside appartments and everything would have been a whole lot different
Dirty old town, dirty old town. Well done though innit NickW for the Camberwell well feature, that was great! That was really full and great! I still think the Mary Boast theory that Camberwell means where the old Celt tribe lived and there was a well is the best. Most place names just mean: there are some folks there, maybe a couple o’pigs. Well done, though, NickW, that is a real find. We are above London in every way. Even our well is in the sky.
Yippee! Camberwell McDonalds is having a make over, oh joy the smart new corporate look comes to SE5!
McDonalds seems to be about the only thing that is doing well in Camberwell currently — the Butterfly Centre seems to have many empty shops available so if you have upwards of £35,000 a year you too could open a shop: see http://www.novaloca.com/property-details/3455 for details
£35K per year – that can’t be real. No wonder they are empty.
We really need rents that enable small business to be profitable and pay reasonable wages.
35K a year is a serious mistake if not a joke, McDonalds is one of the few shops that can afford to stay afloat in Butterfly Walk. But it’s not as profitable as it could be — obviously because rent and service charges are so high in spite of the demographics and true footfall — and the franchisee, concerned for the safety of staff, does not take trading up to the the 4am premises’ licence and closes at midnight…
William Beveridge passed through Camberwell today, not the beverage that we know, but the fellow who drafted the welfare state, in locomotive form. This nobly named engine is far more distinguished than the P&O Nedlloyd Atlas which passed through two days ago. First came the merger of P&O and Nedlloyd (Ned being Netherlands), which was itself subsumed into the merged Maersk-Sealand company, which then became just Maersk. So if the name had been regularly updated, the loco would now be called P&O Nedlloyd Maersk-Sealand Maersk Atlas.
There is a marvellous picture on the web of P&O Nedlloyd Atlas passing the magnificent old church of Kings Sutton on the Oxfordshire/Northants border. The livery and coachbuilding of today’s engines don’t seem to have the grace and presence of previous diesel engines or the marvellous, mighty Deltics in particular.
So it is, too, that engine of the economy loses its good name and becomes ever more functional.
I believe the refurbed units on Bellenden Road are around £1k month. Even that seems excessive. The traders have to eat, surely.
Tragic really because it’s so hard to make a profit and we get all this churn.
Yes, mind you, Metro-Land passed through the other day in rather gay yellow and blue livery. However, this livery was that of Metronet, the tube servicing and maintenance company created by Balfour-Beatty and other companies, which went bust last year. Gwyneth Dunwoody helped name and launch the locomotives, so to speak, one of which was called the Gwyneth Dunwoody. Talk about churn! It’s a jolly livery, though.
http://www.railfaneurope.net has some great pictures of 66718 “Gwyneth Dunwoody”.
The units in Butterfly Walk are hugely overpriced and need to come down by half or at least to £20,000 per annum
Which kinds of proves my point about that whole development being the fruit of a seed that was sown by a bunch of wideboys and conceived and delivered by some willingly fertile corrupt councillors at Southwark Council
A truly professional retail development that had people with a bit of progressive business acumen running it would realise that rents needed to be mixed and multinationals subsurdising independents for true success — this is the norm in many other retail centres
Also, they would look at the Camberwell demographic and realise once again that £35,000 is a laughable amount to expect for a retail unit in that location
But when you allow pondscum to speculate at will…you can’t expect much of a result
£35,000 a year is an amazing amount of money to pay. I see that “Options” clothes is closing down. The people that run that shop are a really nice bunch. They always say hello to me and I’ve only bought about 4 things from there over the last 10 years. Once bought a shirt there that every time I wore it, someone would come up to me and ask me where I got it. Initially, I was pleased by this (it’s never happened either before or since), but after a while, I stopped wearing it because I got tired of having to explain that it was not a Vivienne Westwood or Stella McCartney, but instead a £9.99er from a shop in Camberwell. I used to leave home with cards with their address and telephone number and which buses to get from Elephant or Oval tube.
The newly renovated Cambria pub is great. Food is quite expensive, but exceptionally good quality, so worth the spend. I just hope that it will succeed… It’s a bit off the beaten track.
Some posters on here may be interested in a new initiative: http://www.gaycamberwell.com
A previous post on the SE5 forum commented that “the best places for a bit of culture have a meaningful art, music and gay scene.” So we thought we’d help Camberwell out with the gay part.
This website will be a resource for gay events but also other events of interest in the Camberwell area. Plus there will be a regular blog about our adventures in Camberwell, a forum, and reviews of restaurants, bars, and anything else we can think of that might be interesting. All suggestions gratefully received, as would any information about events.
Hello all, I’m back from my holiday. Have been for a week, but enjoyed a week of radio silence.
@ Gay Camberwell: So where is it? I mean, obviously a lot of gay people live in Camberwell, but AFAIK there are no dedicated bar / club nights here; we’re certainly no Vauxhall. And most of the parks are locked at night, unless it’s all going on in Burgess park. That said, someone here once mentioned that there’s an active scene in the toilets in Ruskin Park, so I’m probably just ignorant of it all.
Not quite referring to any specific venue, including toilets! Rather it’s a resource about gay events that are going on. There’s a gay book group that’s held once a month in the Castle, for instance. The website brings together all the information we know — and will hopefully bring out other things that are going on. And — if our own experiences are anything to go by — may encourage more gay people to socialise locally — or indeed move here!
Dear Boy, I mean Peter, welcome back. One was going to ask how your Spanish road trip was. How was it?
Gay Camberwell, welcome! The Father Redcap used to be the best gay/other pub for miles, for Miles. Camberwell is as queer as it comes.
@Gay Camberwell
Welcome. At the moment, Camberwell appears a bit quiet on the gay front, but things weren’t always thus and I’m sure won’t always be. Good luck with the website.
Some of my best friends are gay.
@67 Stuart. The Cambria looks good.
We’ve just been having a chat about what there is to do in Camberwell and we realised there aren’t any comedy venues. Or are we just missing them? Do any of you have thoughts about where might be good for comedy?
@75 Gay Camberwell — none as far as I know although I think there was a comedy night at The Castle some time ago. I’d be interested in doing a comedy night at The Sun and Doves. But have never been sure it could work given the payout of the space. Saturday nights might be a possibility.
What do you guys and chapettes think?
Yes, we wondered whether it would work in your space, but you’re a better judge of that than we are! Maybe the area where you have the film screenings? It would be great if it could happen…
Thanks GC. Will discuss with managers. I really do like the idea of it. I know the people who used to run Comedy at EDT but they have dispersed to far flung places.
Any enterprising stand up comics out there wanting to take on a new venue and make it jump?
What do other contributors think? Would be especially useful to ahve regulars make comment. My email is mark@sunanddoves.co.uk feel free to get in touch…
A little research for my submission to the Business Enterprise Committee which has to be in tomorrow led me to Punch Inns website
Look at South East; London; business transfer. Look for Dark Horse and Black Sheep. Not good.
The good thing about Camberwell is that it’s not far from Duckie at the RVT and not far from the EDT. The Camberwell pubs are for intercourse rather than for being performed at in, all that comedy, “Thatcher, eh?” etc. The crossroads nature of Camberwell is something positive. It is not a centre for queer culture, left-wing humour or any such defining feature. That said, the Redcap in its heyday was an ideal mix of performance and people of every bent — cheap, cheerful and sleazy, a sort of beatniks’ Silver Buckle.
I liked Father Red Cap, saw some great drag acts there, knew straight away when the Dog Star boys got it that they would ruin it. It would still make a great venue but it’s wrapped up in the same kind of lease and berr tie nightmare as the two other pubs on the Punch website above — and S&D — and Hermits, Castle, Canning and most others in south east London.
Bear is free and so is Funky Munky. Most in East Dulwich are tied too — EDT; Bishop; Palmerston; Magdala; FHT; etc etc But there’s a footfall there which helps.
http://www.fairpint.org.uk
FWIW Mark, the Pu
nch business model is up the creek according to the Times. Sounds
almost feudalist to me anyway.
Miracle is Peter’s site works with the funky browser on this ‘ere dangleberry.
Thanks dman — there’s a bit of industry speak with a mention of the Sunday Times article here might be of interest to those of you who like a decent pint in a nice pub.
Not tried the site on my err. Very berry. Can you post from your little bunch of grapes too?
Just back from a week in Marseille — wonderful city with beautiful architecture and heart stopping views of the Med it also has a multicultural population that would give Camberwell a run for its money.
On the downside if you think the litter, traffic and bad parking in Camberwell is bad you’ve seen nothing till you go to Marseille!!
What a breath of fresh air, Hannah. Rimbaud not only died in Marseille but had his right leg amputated there. Part of “Baise-moi” was filmed there which was advertised by one of those cool, French, girl-with-a-gun posters. The film was part of the “New French Extremity” at the turn of the century, transgressive art. Most of the violent and rough-sex action is described as “pointless” and “aimless”. Marseille is also known for French Hip Hop, like Lille and Lyon. Somehow it’s all more appealing in French, with the whiff of the Med thrown in. I mean, if we were told Patrick Hamilton had his leg amputated in Hunstanton, it wouldn’t be so glamorous.
Claude McKay’s “Banjo” has superb descriptions of Marseille in the 1920s.
A great book. First editions are selling for $1,000.
Glad you liked Marseille… the Quatier I visited a few years ago was moody end edgy. If anyone’s seen the movie “La Haine” you’ll know what I mean.
Speaking on of McKay, his auto biography has glorious and damming descriptions of London, it’s inhabitants, and culture, in the pre-war years – he hangs out with socialist newspaper people in Fleet Street before making for Moscow.
Marseille was great. Everyone warned me it had a dodgy reputation but i didn’t see it really. In fact it reminded me in some parts of London — the groups of north African lads hanging around the back streets could be a little intimidating but not dangerous. The only time we were a little intimidated was the first night getting lost in Le Panier — no street lights and winding back streets and crumbling houses that felt a little like Naples in the 1930’s
In fact it was the first mainland European city i’ve been to that reminded me of London in someways, it had the same energy and “take it or leave it” brashness.
You have loosened, liberated, unleashed some louche, licentiousness of the spirit in us, Hannah. Why don’t we all jump the Orient Express when it next passes through Camberwell and ride down to Marseille (it will go there if we insist) and live like Rimbaud and Verlaine till the money runs out?
Monday nights at the Cambria is jazz night, already has a following and with a special fixed price of £10.00 for dinner and a bottle of michalob/or a glass of wine we had a great night last week.With a diffrent vocalist each week it’s never boring..
Going back to no.79 — does this mean the Dark Horse in its current incarnation is doomed? I really hope not. The idea of a “cafe/late night venue” fills me with dread. While the staff at the DH can be hit and miss in their competence, I think the chef is truly good. A couple of the dishes I’ve had there in the past wouldn’t have prompted a complaint in a Michelin-starred place. Their wine is uniformly awful, though.
I’m starting to get depressed about Camberwell. There’s a whole series of places I loved when I first moved here in 2005 which are defunct and have been replaced by inferior alternatives:
- The crazy but great Spanish-run “bistro” place on Denmark Hill, nr the Coldharbour Lane junction. Now the tumbleweed-blown, fire cursed Thai place.
- BRB, with its pizzas and popular-with-poor-and-boozy-students two-for-one bottle of wine offers. Now the truly dire Grove.
- The old incarnation of the Castle. Now plagued by permanent TV and music noise and with its decor looking decidedly shabby.
I’m sure there’s others I can’t recall right now. I guess we do have the Bear and Caravaggio, but I’d be sad to lose the Dark Horse.
I spent a couple of months down there (La Ciotat, just down the road from Marseille) once upon a time. Occitan music is pretty popular too — Massilia Sound System were faves with the locals. They were also very keen on smoking weed all day and listening to Bob Marley. And all the wee towns nearby are run by the Far Right. And pastis is horrible. I didn’t really like the place.
MARSEILLE LE SOIR
Dark horse doomed?
Incompetent staff, but pretty.
Who wants accuracy?
We are dreamers,
Not actuaries.
Hashish, wine, divine…
Tumbleweed-blown,
Fire-cursed Thai place,
Is she still there?
I ache to this day.
Popular, poor but boozy
Students, decidedly shabby,
But drunk, perhaps happy.
Camberwell has no pareil,
Except maybe Marseille.
Lovely verse. The Dark Horse staff are — in the main — very pretty, it’s true.
I’m particularly impressed you got something to rhyme with “Marseille”.
My local is The Cambria
Literally a 1 minute walk from my door!
It’s looking good the food has certainly improved and the garden is great — not too sure about the interior decor though, it’s a bit dark…
By the way just who are these mysterious persons who seem to like Jazz? Are they like the gideons? Everywhere yet you can never meet one for love nor money?
Hmmmmmmmm.….
That pub near that park had a jazz trio, they were good, really ideal for pubs. That big park, that’s being regenerated with big money, whatsitcalled? . Between the Junction and New Road. The sand in the sandpit was always the best in London, it looked like it was made from gold and felt like the finest silk.
Radio 3 has just had Charlie Mingus on, the really intelligent, complex modernist jazz composer and bass player. People who like jazz are often dull, but the music itself can be as rich and promising as the bouilliabaise of Marseille itself.
The house up for sale on ( I may now be out of date, 2 weeks or so ago ) corner of Denman Rd & Lyndhurst Grove, had a small crop of hops coming over the wall last year, have not looked this year.
bob