Drunks, closures, park
Published by Peter | Filed under Crime, Development, Eating & Drinking, Events, Shopping
Bit of a palaver on Lyndhurst Grove last night, as a drunk driver rammed into a car, reversed, rammed it again, drove off when the victim got out of his car and told him to stop, then rammed two more cars before fleeing on foot. I saw the lot; it was both exciting and scary. Police arrived about half an hour later.
We were on our way back from il Giardino in Peckham, a place which should be recession-proof because its staff are so bloody nice that you’d never consider not going. One place which isn’t recession proof (segue!) is The Dark Horse, which as everyone must know by now has closed down. And on the subject of closures, we now have photographic evidence that Somerfield in Butterfly Walk will close on April 29th. I honestly can’t wait to see a Co-op in there; I was in Co-op today and it’s miles better.
Further good news about Burgess Park; as well as the £6m already pledged, apparently there is a further £1m to spend on the Chumleigh Gardens area. Looks like we’re on course to have a radical transformation; I’ll be first in the queue when the zoo opens.
I tried Amaryllis on Coldharbour Lane for the first time on Tuesday, as the wife wanted to watch Volver in the S&D and I wanted to watch Arsenal beat Hull in the FA Cup. It’s nicely decorated inside, and they serve decent Chinese food at reasonable prices — £3.50 for a plate of chicken in black bean sauce and egg-fried rice (I had rice instead of noodels).
Finally: Prince William was in Camberwell last week; our very own Eyechild has the report.
Enjoy the weekend, everyone.
Great news!
Incidentally, I was talking to one of the hairdressers in ‘Teamwork’ t’other day and she has been told the Funky Munky is closing too — has anyone else heard this?
Interesting to know that Il Giardino is good — I’d always thought it looked a bit grotty — but I will try it on your recommendcation … Interestingly Toptable lists its nearest station as New Cross Gate BR, even though its on the same road as Peckham Rye …
Peter
i don’t think there are any plans for a Zoo in the scheme. You may have to start a campaign, the £6 million is for (from Southwark website);
Secure better access to nature (planting, habitat creation etc)
Remove redundant roads and paths.
Improve the borders of the park,to make the park’s boundaries a lot clearer to the public
Install new and striking art work to give Burgess a unique identity
Improve entrances and create more user friendly paths around the park.
You may get one under habitat creation, there will be lots of public consultation so all those wanting a zoo can get their voice heard there.
saying this Victoria Park has £12 million budget from the Heritage Lottery Fund. I guess Burgess Park being the only large post war park in London is not old enough.
Peter, you’re a caterer’s nighmare and I like it! The Dark Horse was “nice (if a little overpriced)” and now “£3.50 for a plate of chicken in black bean sauce and egg-fried rice” is only classed as “reasonable”!
Our problem round here is that 90% of the myriad food outlets are spectacularly crap, which makes what they charge irrelevant. If only standards would improve in enough of them competition would take care of pricing.
I dread finding the fridge empty of an evening.
Bon weekend tout le monde. Allez Wales!
Munky closing! You’re kidding?!?!?! That place is an institution.
But then so’s the Maudsley…
@Robp: If true, that’s a real shock; that would mean the students have abandoned us, and where will we be then?
@Gnomee: If there’s no zoo in Burgess Park, I shall boycott until there is.
@copeywolf: £3.50 is reasonable, isn’t it? I only meant it as a binary, ie not unreasonable.
we went into Munky the other week, it seemed fairly quiet and they had run out of many of the beers on tap. Shame.
I had a feeling then that they might not be long for the world.
As to bargain meals, the Hoa Viet must be one of the cheapest places to eat around here, and the food is excellent. Just popped in this evening to collect a takeaway and the place was packed.
Caravaggio is good but I wish they’d do more of the food like they do at La Luna, which must be THE best Italian in this general area.
Unfortunately not the Co-Op
Morrisons to Somerfield to Morrisons
Now you know who is going into Butterfly Walk
Hello. New to the forum. Just to say that I asked a guy behind the counter in Somerfield who was taking over the store and he said Morrisons. I know the chain is being taken over by Coop but that was what I was told. As you say, anything is better than Somerfield. Roll on May.
P.S Just seen the post above! Duh. Sorry!
I’ve live in Camberwell all my life, and can’t wait to see the back of Somerfield!!!
Second Robert Waller’s comment, Coop would have been better.
Is Morrison’s better than Lidl? Far better it had been a Co-op.
Morrison’s is so much better than Co-Op, come on. There’s no comparison.
Better it’s one of the big uns, and thus not Co-Op / Lidl / Somerfield.
Co-op would have been better. If we want a Morrisons, we can go to the big Morrisons in Peckham. Now Co-op is expanding nationwide, it is going to thrash Morrisons. Co-op financials are merging with Britannia Building Soc — the future is in mutuality for a very long time, maybe 10 whole years.
Consider the parable of the talents. Today, the son who buried his talent is the hero. “You mean you didn’t invest it?” says his dad in awe. “Awe this is now yours, son!”
From tomorrow (23rd) you can get a train direct from Denmark Hill to St Pancras International (& beyond) they leave at 25 & 55mins past the hour and it takes 18mins!
Thank you NickW. That’s great news! Very useful.
On the Morrisons/Coop thing. C’mon, anything is better than Somerfield. I’d have even settled for yet another 99p shop.
Morrisons in Peckham is a pretty good store and seems preferable to the somewhat shoddy example of a Coop on Camberwell new Road.
The Munky seemed to be open this eve. Any news?
Did anyone notice that The Bear was runner up for best Sunday lunch in the Observer Food Awards for the London area.
@ Leo. No. But good on you for pointing it out here.
Hurrah for direct trains to St Pancras. Will this also mean direct trains south to Gatwick and Brighton in the future?
Re the whole supermarket thing. Surely, since Somerfield is being taken over by Co-op we will now have both a Co-op and a Morrison’s. The Co-op on Denmark Hill and the Morrisons, which Co-op had to sell due to competition regulations, in Butt Walk.
Anyone interested in what the Council concludes about Camberwell’s future based on legnthy discussion, numerous surveys/meetings and years of work, should read this:
http://www.southwark.gov.uk/Uploads/FILE_40663.pdf
And the reply in terms of timing for focus from the head huncho (Item 11)
http://www.southwark.gov.uk/Uploads/FILE_41191.pdf
And the plans for how to arrive at a plan for Burgess Park via hearings:
http://www.southwark.gov.uk/Uploads/FILE_36536.pdf
Great links, newroad; I’ll have a proper read through them at home tonight.
yes, thanks newroad, that’s really helpful and what peter said more or less, had a quick look earlier but it certainly needs a proper read.
Nice train pointers, thanks.
On a related subject, does anyone know of any stations on either Peckham or Denmark Hill lines which aren’t too far away yet are a suitable base for country — or at least green and suburban — walks?
If you’ve read the Time Out walks round London guides then you’ll know what I mean.
Coulsdon South is an example, though it’s not on our local lines. It’s in zone 4. Epping Forest is another.
It’d be useful to have a bolt that wasn’t too far away (say 30 minutes) for when the weather turns good.
Sorry, Coulsdon is in zone 6. How comes the editing thing has gone?
Phil G, The Darenth Valley between Eynsford and Shoreham is beautiful. From Denmark Hill 1–2 per hour and about a half hour ride.
I can’t get the editing thing to work, haven’t for weeks. The Kentish Drovers is a really cheerful pub. The 99p a pint beer is Ruddles Best and is excellent.
The Co-op on the New Camberwell Road and elsewhere are offering 3 bottles of usually brilliant Californian Crow Road Shiraz for £11. Don’t touch it. It is off. For us less well off, this is something of a miserable disaster.
Country-walk-wise from Camberwell I would recommend getting the train from Denmark to Sevenoaks (around 50 mins) where Knole House (http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-knole) has extensive grounds (and a house obviously) and there are lots of other walking options around Sevenoaks.
From my reading of the business press the Somerfields that have not been sold off will be coverted into Co-Ops within 18 months. The small Camberwell Somerfield fits well with the Co-Op’s neighbourhood convenience store format
Morrisons v Co-op; the new Co-op stores (there’s one where I work, near Shoreditch Park) are clean, friendly, and have a great range.
@Phil G: For nice country walks you could do worse than Dulwich Woods; head over to Herne Hill and jump on a train to Sydenham Hill.
I will look into the comments editing.
Scadbury Park near Sidcup is magic. Look for the ruins of the moated Tudor grange, deep in the woods. There is a great plate H8 WHY in Camberwell. That’s a poem on a numberplate. Not just “War, what is it good for?” but “There must be reasons for the hate.”
Seven laps around Dulwich Park is the same as a country walk.
QUICK. Photographers, scoot down to Scope in Peckham. There is a gorgeous black lady in the window wearing only a necklace. She has no arms and legs to speak of, nor even a head, but she looks absolutely lovely, which just shows the value of effective accessorising.
Thanks for the walk tips, will put them on the list to try, not that there is a list.
Just passed Noodels while hungry. The tempation was strong. Trays of salty grease and all I could eat for £4.95? Really? All I can eat? I can eat a lot. And are those prawns? And ribs too, I love those.
But I stayed strong. Must not support such an eyesore. Must stay strong. Must stay strong…
Salty geese sounds good, Phil. Goose fat cooks at a higher temperature than any other bird’s. You can get a whole goose at Lidl for 20 squids.
There is now a giant lobster in the aquarium at the Horniman. It is like the latest generation tank being field-trialled by the Israelis in Gaza. Soon it will cut through the glass of its tub and splash water all over the frightened children. It is probably not a giant lobster but a colossal lobster.
It was a sickening sight, but with great luck, there were dancers from Laban doing some sort of improvisation in the main peformance area. They were fascinating — especially to tiny Dagmar — and incredibly graceful. The word fit comes to mind.
Agree with Leo on the walk front. Darent Valley is beautiful, and easy to get to on the train:
http://www.kent.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/explore-kent/walking/darent-valley-path-walk.htm
http://www.walkingclub.org.uk/
This is a web version of the Time Out Books of Country Walks near London. There are lots of walks that you can do from Denmark Hill.
The missus and I went from on the circular walk from Otford a few weeks ago
http://www.walkingclub.org.uk/book_1/walk_43/index.shtml
and also on we bastardised this one and walked around the Ashdown Forest and played poohsticks.…Bliss.
http://www.walkingclub.org.uk/book_3/walk_29/index.shtml
There is a lovely country pub or two in Hartfield, whilst the Fox and Hounds in on the first walk is ok. Just avoid anything involving fish if you eat there. Fish cakes were of the not really fish and just slightly fake looking breadcrumbs…yummm!
You can ge direct trains from Denamrk Hill to st Pancras — how so? Where do the trains go? wish i’d known that on Monday when i paid an eye watering £22 to get a cab to St Pancras cos i couldn’t face getting on the 45 bus with my bags.
On an aside i have been in Brussels for the last 2 days and spotted at least 2 Greggs the bakers in the usually very smart and cosmopolitan European quarter of Brussels — maybe they’ll get a Noodels City next!
They go to Blackfriars then dive underground and continue to City Thames Link, Farringdon and King’s Cross.
I’ve seen the biggest prawn in the world, much bigger than anything Noodels can offer:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe_damage/3163164978/
Tourists flock from far and wide, even geese probably.
Speaking of prawns did anybody watch dpmq’s today?
Our MP sounded like a schoolmistress trying to shout down, and losing it before a classroom of children. I loved the retort Tory William quipped at her, about her being the niece of a rich Countess; a clear cutting remark to the double standards she and the other Champagne socialists loved to forget when they spout on about their socialist roots.
She kept on about IHT (inheritance tax) stating that only the super rich would get a break if the threshold was raised to £1million, but she has little understanding that ordinary people with parents who have houses in Camberwell, and its surrounds where houses have risen in value that were bought cheaply years ago and now worth £300,000 to £500,000 will have to pay a huge amount of tax if the threshold is not raised to that level.
I cannot wait to see this NuShiteLabour government kicked out of office.
However Chunters equally you could say those people who brought houses cheaply in Camberwell years ago have benefited from a huge amount of unearned income that has come from their house price rises and they should be taxed.
Well, I bought a poky flat in Camberwell and would lose money if I sold now. Back then I used to think the place was on the up and up. Silly, eh. But doubtless Labour’ll tax me backwards if I ever sell it.
I saw PMQs. I respect a few of the Labour cabinet, but not her. She really is a cretin, and sounded like it today. They need someone better than her.
On a related point, did you know The Bank of England has today failed to sell UK gilts for the first time?
Possibly some will not fully understand what that means. Basically – we have no credibility as a nation. Bankrupt Britain here we come.
Cheers Gordon! And all that public spending, long before Northern Rock and RBS mind you, really made things better didn’t it.
The ironmongers and hardware store in Kennington is closing down, thronged by rats hustling aggressively for discounts greater than the offered 75%, with £12 an unacceptable price for a toilet. Perhaps a 99p shop will appear instead, in that deafening red route location.
Phil’s point about the gilts shows that UK Services plc is a busted flush. The City, Wharf and pin stripe are discredited, and small business is the only way for growth for the foreseeable future.
If we are to get out of this mess, inefficiencies and imbalances built in to the system must be addressed. This includes buttressing the Post Office network with extra investment, to promote the ease of circulation of goods, information and money beneath the digital divide (which includes many businesses). Motorists in cyclist boxes must be aggressively taxed, as they intimidate pedestrians away from the high street. Empty or land banked commercial space must be forced into use, and cars must be cleared off the pavements, again to increase pedestrian circulation for the benefit of the economy.
Many of these powers lie with local authorities. Let us hope that they realise the full extent of the crisis unravelling and step outside procedural timetables to force through emergency measures to protect and encourage small businesses, the true harbingers of growth.
I am bored of this ranting about how bad things are. The vast majority of you have jobs and will continue to do so. The vast majority of you have somewhere to live, and will continue to do so. Boom and bust, it is a never ending cycle, so go with the flow, enjoy what you have and please, please, I beg you all.…stop whining.
Awesome prawn, joe. Monkeycat is right, we should be grateful not hateful. Sometimes the prawn of life is big, pink and plastic; sometimes it is a little squinny of a thing like those jigging around in the huge surges of the tidal Thames. We have been told countess times, seize the day.
Monk’s go see these videos and you will see that your kids or the ones you have later in life will be born with at least a debt of £ 20,000, and that’s before they can speak.
http://flyingwarpigs.blogspot.com/2009/03/gordoom-savaged-twice-in-one-day.html
http://flyingwarpigs.blogspot.com/2009/03/brown-smirks-at-truth-from-dan-hannan.html
That’s why you cannot go on being happy on this blog, things are, and the country are going broke.
All you have to do is go see what the Governor of the Bank of England has to say about this.
So Flash Slot Gobbler Gordon is, instead of getting us out of the shite is covorting around South America.
I couldn’t agree more with Phil G but then of course Reg has to blame the whole fiasco on cars. Reg you are obsessed and a fool.
Monkeycat, you’re right, this isn’t the place for it anyway. It was Harman what got me started. She is our MP after all.
Just one question — do you work in the public sector? You’d have to be to be that confident about jobs.
Correction on the gilts — it wasn’t the 1st time ever, it was the 1st time in a very long time, and is in any case a very unusual event. Thought I’d clear that up before someone said I was wrong so we’re all going to be OK. I was very slightly wrong, and we’re probably not going to be OK.
Anyway, I will desist. Looking forward to this country walk anyway.
well said Monkeycat — things could be far far worse. So the “good times” are over, get used to it and make some adjustments.
You must all have access to the internet, somewhere to live, some money in your pocket — it’s not really that bad, surely.
Where’s my last post?
I’ve started looking at sewing machines so I can repair some of my clothes. I can handstitch — was taught at school back before they did whole lessons about Twitter — but a mini sewing machine is kinda cool.
Monkeycat, you’re an upbeat kinda gal/guy, if you’re interested in a nice little flat in SE5 all of your own then let me know, I’ve got just the thing…
you have to refresh it sometimes Chunters
Beg ya pardon there it is.
I beg ya pardon but my post was out of place.
Which gives me the feeling I am being over scrutinised?
Why aren’t there more refreshing, breathy girls like me in tiny ever-fraying denim miniskirts whispering on this bloggering blogsite? Scruntinsed? Come ‘ere you hairy old fawn. I’ll scrunt yer nises!
Nope, not in the public sector, I’m a freelance photographer. Probably the least secure of all jobs ever. Still got enough to live on though.
But think about it.…if the majority of people lost their jobs and homes, every time there was a recession you really would hear about it. When unemployment hits the dizzying heights of 10% that still means 90% of the work force have their jobs…
Recession…so what? We are…almost all of us…doing just fine thank you very much…And on top of that no-one is going to dare raise the price of a pint and a lot of people are not going to buy stuff they never needed in the first place, like yet another new skirt or car or whatever it is you think you need…I love recessions.
Regeneguru
I genuinely don’t understand your 3rd and 4th paragraphs and I’m sure many more people don’t either. Please try to write more clearly and don’t be afraid of using smaller words if they describe what you mean more succinctly.
I also think you should open a shop in Camberwell as you have lots of ideas about how it should be done.
“breathy girls like me in tiny ever-fraying denim miniskirts”.
Yes. But no opaque tights. That would help us all through these tricky times.
Fair nuf MCat, that is indeed an exposed line of work. Good luck.
Where’s that troll who was supposedly from the Camberwell Society. Man, she made me laugh. Come back and cheer us up!
@phil g: hahahha that troll only trolls me so i’d better post something controversial?
hm
right, here goes
elephant and castle regeneration has come to a standstill, partly due to no money, but mostly, i think, due to some seriously bad planning.
elephant and castle is such a focal point in southwark, that anything that happens there will affect people in the other areas too, including camberwell, and south bank, london bridge, peckham, bermondsey…
elephant amenity, a group of local communities and business is asking the council to conduct open masterplanning, ensure that the area benefits all, and that the housing is really affordable — you can read more about it here. http://www.peoplesrepublicofsouthwark.co.uk/index.php/The-News/regenerate-that.html
There’s more on that here…
http://www.boriswatch.co.uk/2009/03/23/red-boris-hounds-the-motorist/
Reg will love this as cars are more or less excluded.
I see the Camberwell Arts Festival are asking for submissions to their brochure for this year’s festival (20th — 28th June) by 13th April (e-mail info@camberwellarts.org.uk ). Just thought I’d let people know of the deadline in case you have any events you’d like publicised as part of the festival. Gay Camberwell will hopefully have a few events going on…
March scrunteth,
April chunteth,
May be where
Herne hunteth.
June know,
July hell,
August of wind
In Camberwell.
This looks good. At the Auto-Italia dealership on Old Kent Road:
http://www.upsettherhythm.co.uk/yesway/
Also on Saturday is the Put People First G20 demo. It’s big and very mainstream:
http://www.putpeoplefirst.org.uk/
September seven,
October eight,
November nine,
December ten,
January, look both ways, then,
February, March!
Golden Grill back room restaurant. Great starter plate included in the price, superb value, top kebabs, and beer is served too. Go go go!
Peter, yes, the car-ramming incident. It was a Mercedes A Class, which the driver eventually rammed into a lampost on Lyndhurst Grove near Vestry Road, which was severely bent, the light snuffed, with the electrics sparking and the smell foul, but which was fixed early the next morning. Usually the police are prompt. But that was when there were police.
Mark McGowan is perfoming ‘The Role of The Village Idiot’ tomorrow (Saturday 28 March) from 2pm — 6pm in Peckhame Square and then till late at The Bunhouse.
The Council buildings in Peckham Road (but not the Town Hall) are on the market: http://tinyurl.com/d34tdg
The documents called “Draft Conservation Report” and “Listed Buildings — Significant features” are particularly interesting for anyone interested in local history.
Fascinating. What a pity to lose the Registry Office with its fabulous weddings. Camberwell House was the loopy bin whose gardens are now Lucas Gardens. The list of trees is interesting — I wonder why they’re itemised, though. Slightly worrying.
Number plate on a Prius parked on Vaughan Road AR UI2 not sure what the message is.
I much prefer the H8 WHY that Dagmar saw.
That may be Gary Glitter’s motor. It’s a good game, Gnome, number plate poems, Really tight discipline. Makes haiku look like Russellbrandorrhoea. He’s good, mind, I bought his booky wook in the Cancer, Butterly Walk, this week — I gave the money to charity. He has good phrases, but so many, strung together by crazy addiction to words, girls, drugz, attention. He writes many of Greater London psychogeography, growing up. He makes Jonathan Ross look braying and hectoring. Of course, the fat man Ross sat on Brand’s shoulders, like the equally porky Richard Littlejohn that he is, braying and bellowing.
If the registry office is closing, where will people around here go to get married?
Shooting on the Lettsom last nght, Vestry Road closed off, the tale of the tape.
Mercedes sports silver soft top on Denmark Road: S1 NGH
Not being one for pedantry it’s the Register office what’s for sale.
Number 29 should be made into the courts and the courts should be made into an arts and culture centre.
Ate at the Cambria for the first time yesterday, it was delightful, I think they were short staffed so the service was a bit slow, but in all fairness we were in no hurry. Started off with houmous and pitta, lovely but pretty hard to get wrong, then for mains I had the veggie sausages with roast vegetables and the boy had a burger, apparently one of the best he’s EVER tasted. Better than the Bear– strong words! We shared the chocolate brownie for desert which was delicious.
The bloody mary I ordered was a bit small but other than that it was pretty spectacular! I feel very spoilt with three such fantastic pubs within a 10 min walk from my flat (Cambria, Bear, S&D) I have yet to try anywhere else to eat in Camberwell but as my other half is facing imminent unemployment it may be some time before we get an opportunity. The Cambria was as good a place as any to have one last blow out lunch before we batten down the financial hatches and sit tight for a while.
regards
GF
We ate at Hoa Veit on Friday night. Business seems to be booming. The place was packed and there was a queue at the door.
Hermits was also quite busy, the only sign of harder times was that the beer prices appear to have gone up.
@sg the prices HAVE to go up or we’ll all be going out of business. We’ve all been absorbing price increases from our freeholders, suppliers and increased duty for years.
The most important measure (in the short-term at least) that can be done to rejuvenate the pub trade is to go back to restrictive off-licensing laws…
I want it to go back to before it was de-regulated and have only one or maximum 2 off licences per town centre with restricted opening hours…
This would also be a huge boost to health and social problems (street crime, local casualty unit full of boarish piss heads who have been getting wasted all day long outside the plethora of 6 cans of Stella for £5 grocery stores etc)
I should be an M.P — but the majority of the ignorant, lumpen proleritat would shout me down and pay absolutely no attention whatsoever…
I wouldn’t even claim dodgy expenses…
@GF
Agree. The Cambria is truly in a class of its own food-wise round these parts. Have had two exceptional meals there. Can’t be long before it wins some awards if it hasn’t already.
To spread the accolades around, I had the chorizo in pitta bread at the S&D for lunch today which was absolutely top notch. Excellent quality main ingredient.
And for any families out there who were puzzled why about a year ago the S&D stopped advertising on its menus that selected mains could be split for child portions, I’ve discovered the work-around — just order the main of your choice and as many extra plates, forks and spoons as you need. Simple really!
@Merrick thanks and That Menu Omission is a dreadful oversight missed in changing menu format or something like that — lost and forgotten because we didn’t notice. Unforgivable really. It will be corrected!
@Mark — totally understand the need for pub prices to go up. No problem with it. Faced with the choice of higher prices or no pubs, I know what I’d prefer.
Just saying that it was good to see that it didn’t appear to have affected the number of customers, judging by Friday night anyway.
Although I’ve been doing it with dedication for the past 20 years, I’ve got quite tired of forking out for pints in the past few years. £3.60 and rising for a pint is just really poor value. OK so I’m not going to start drinking cider in the park but I’m cutting back on casual pints, and going out less. Or maybe I’m getting old.
And when summer comes and the farce of standing around outside pubs in Soho starts again, well, a mate and I have already discussed how when standing on the pavement we’ll be mixing pints with cans we’ve brought ourselves.
Sorry Mark. Your pub is great and I understand the economics of it all aren’t stacking up. The offies are largely to blame but it’s not just that, as offies are not a true alternative. Even if I couldn’t get a bottle of red for £4, drinking in pubs would still seem quite expensive. I’m just getting tired of BAM! £20, £25 going on a few quiet rounds. That’s a cheap meal for two, clothes, half the gym membership I cancelled to save cash etc.
Mmmm feeling thirsty now… I guess at the end of the day I’ll still pay pub prices, if less often, as as I drink too much and there’s not much else to do on a night out. And it’s not all about the price of booze, or we’d all be in Wetherspoons (though I like it there). Cheers!
The situation with pubs is crazy. The tie forces us to charge at least 60p a pint more than we would be if we could buy from wholesalers instead of through the landlord. And we’re still not making money.
But the Almodovar film tonight is free and the food is good value. So is the wine. And cocktails. And spirits. And ambience.
For those who feel there’s too much focus on the darkside of SE5, here’s some GOOD NEWS instead:
Camberwell Baths has been successful in the recent funding bid from the Free Swimming fund. It was given the largest award in England, at £1.45m.
That is good news! Where did you hear that?
As an ex hack I can’t reveal my sources Peter, but it’s all here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/mar/31/free-swimming-olympics
Amaryllis now shows football games on Sky (no big deal) and Setanta (bigger deal — only other place I know doing that is the horrible Silver Buckle).
They have however decided to charge a whopping £1 extra per drink for all drinks bought while ‘big’ games are on. £4 for a pint while the match is on? I’m guessing a lot more people will be nursing pints for the whole 90 minutes.
Agree that the Chinese food at £3.50 is good value though and better quality than you might expect. Strange cuisine for the bar — have seen many puzzled looks when the chef comes round giving out free prawn crackers to the tables.
@Ben: That’s just a deterrent to people who drink more, isn’t it? They’re punishing the people who spend more money with them!
Better to go to my local, the Cadeleigh Arms, which shows Sky & Setanta, and only has a £5 minimum spend (two pints) for big games. As well as that, it’s a great friendly local pub, something which is rarer by the month.
Was lovely to see so many people out for The Castle’s first comedy night last night. (also relaxing to attend an SE5 event that Gay Camberwell has no responsibility for organising or promoting!) — there must have been about 50 people there, and it was a very good night. Kudos to the Castle for getting comedy up and running. Think it’s on the last Tuesday of every month.
With that sort of policy I wouldnt have thought that Amarylis can continue in business for much longer — its hardly as if the place has more than four or five people in it at any time.
I couldn’t believe the price hike in Amaryllis when I went in last Saturday. Whenever we go over for the football there’s at least 6 of us that buy rounds every 20 mins or so. Don’t think we’ll be going back very often
Amaryllis: Seems a strange business model, whenever I’ve been in there for football I’ve always thought they have a problem with people not buying drinks. So increasing the price for those who do seems odd. I’ve been in a few pubs that charge on the door for games, but you can redeem the entrance fee against drinks or food.
On another subject, does anyone read Cantonese?
Here’s a strange business model. MP final salary pensions. Very expensive and fast becoming unworkable in the private sector.
For MPs, we pay in a massive 29% of their contributions. The MPs pay 8%.
Hark at our very own MP, H Harperson, saying that the MP scheme should get more taxpayer funding. That’s “equality” isn’t it Harriet! But doubtless you think it’s OK cos the bankers got even more. You and your union hubby retire nice and early and I’ll just work til I’m 70 to fund your pension shall I?
To hell with these people. The Swimming Baths group have shown that Camberwell has a voice. So let’s get this cow out at the next election.
Young man I think your anger would be better expressed on a ranting website such as the Daily Mail — your opinions have little to do with Camberwell.
Like here or not our MP and her husband have worked hard through their lives to make the world a better place.
http://www.camberwell-baths.blogspot.com/
So, now what? Does this mean that we’ll be seeing renovated any time soon?
And what’s next? No rants allowed. Really, really, what can we get sorted next?
Hurrah for Harriet if she has helped the big splash for Camberwell Baths. Treble expenses all round! The next step is to fill the new Mary Datchelor/Grove development with, say, people who may be keen to escape the very Pimlico, Fulham or Highgate neighbours that their financial products have impoverished — to raise the general snoot of Camberwell, the snout, the nose, the tone, the diversity, the perversity, the proboscis, the prognosis and overall perfume. There is a now slightly dated parfum range called Hummer, branded after the military vehicle. Hummer! Like minger! Anyway, Camberwell, like a crafty bottom feeder, appears to be hoovering up, cleaning up after the crash.
Course it’s about Camberwell. She’s our MP for God’s sake. How Camberwell is that? Don’t make out like she’s from a Coke ad, she’s failed at everything she’s touched. We need a change in SE5. A change for the better. An independent candidate representing this forum. I vote for Dagmar.
You flatterer! I would be in hot water in no time! Cliveden here we come!
@PhilG — seems like your main issue with Harriet Harmen is that she has been (relatively) financially succesful?
Or is it something else?
Fwiw, I’m not keen on misogynist language.
@regeneguru — City of London is pretty much car-free today. It’s better.
Few too many choppers buzzing about.
I can’t believe someone, on the entire internet, used the mode of address ‘Young man’.
Booze is well expensive.
That might be because I’m old though.
And a bit drunk.
*goes to bed*
It really was very misty this morning, Eyechild, it wasn’t you. A large area of mist from the North Sea covered Camberwell and is only now just clearing. Only sheds or ying-yings as gricers call ‘em, are passing through the parish at the moment — the unloved, utilitarian, no-name, all-purpose Class 66s made in London, Ontario, none of them fancy enough to boast a nameplate. The next named locomotive to appear here should surely be taken as a sign…
Dagmar, you need to go to the National Railway Museum in York, you would love it.
How do I get there?
Drive.
Harperson — where to begin?
Suffice to say my dislike is not focused on her finances (though that’s different to her backing the MP pension gravy train, and blocking laws on expense transparency).
She’d probably have got more cash if she’d stayed in working in law, and for less aggro. She was born rich but lives in Herne Hill, not Mayfair. I recognise that.
Gabe excuse the language but if you find “cow” offensive, you should hear what her people at the MoJ (including women) said to me about her.
I’ll leave it there. No point going into it all, a lot of it is to do with Labour more widely. If folk here like her then fine.
This is how much your MP claims…
1.
Cost of staying away from
main home
£0
2.
London Supplement
£2,812
3.
Office running costs
£9,241
4.
Staffing costs
£99,397
5.
Centrally purchased stationery
£1,876
5a.
Stationery associated postage costs
£3,774
6.
Central IT provision
£1,158
7.
Staff cover & other costs
£0
8.
Comms Allw*
£9,074
Grand Total
£127,332
That’s £127,332 over and above her salary and the fact that her pension will make her even more of a millionaire than she and her husband already are.
The wosrt of champagne socialists.
Is that all?
What’s all the fuss about. In terms of the uk budget that is nothing.
I’m sure she must work hard. Shame it doesn’t seem to be to Camberwell’s benefit though.
Peter Mandelson was talking about “lick quid itty” today in a prince of darkness way on the radio. Harriet is also a goody two-shoes, there is no doubt, which means there must be a dark side to her, too. What is the point of being nice? Good God, Tony Blair is, you know, so saintly he makes the Creator look like Peter Sutcliffe or Fred and Rose West rolled together, or Fritzl and Hitler minced up, burgered and served up with chips to unwitting children in the cafe in Dulwich Park.
The alternative, though, is the wosit of canape conservatives, the worrit of respectacled curtain-twitchers, the wreck of democratic self-respecters, the rue of blue-rinsers and their sink-unblocking golf-playing cardigan-wearing squires, they are the wazzocks of hazard, the sudden whoosh of champagne through one’s nostrils at the tense formal marquee British summer event where the Bateman cartoon colonel gurgles his last at the thought of the great unwashed cleaning up their act and taking the nation to a higher level of patience, intelligence, inspired imagination, collective sense of purpose and solidarity based on common humanity.
Good post Dagmar.
So strictly speaking we’re all stuffed one way or the other.
What this country needs are more unemployed politicians.
– Edward Langley, Artist (1928–1995)
First named engines spotted today since the flurry of no-name Class 66s are Janice 73204 and Lisa 73206 running together free of freight, from the famous Class 73 which can operate on electric or diesel only in necessary — the two girls can act as “Thunderbirds” to rescue broken down trains. They are named after FirstGBRf staff, a sign that the time of the common woman has come.
My wages bill is quarter of a million pounds a year. Quite frankly what Harriet Harman achieves on £127,332 I’d say is a bloody bargain and YOU carping on LOT should all get real about how hard it is to be a conscientious politician… YOU wouldn’t like what goes with it and that’s why you’re not career politicians. So stop slagging her off and try telling her stuff instead.
Even so I feel she doesn’t do enough for Camberwell. Other than help it get the highest grossing grant in the UK for the baths.
But then I’m highly sceptical as to what use this modest amount of cash will do for that building and the people who should be using it ALL the time but who don’t because it’s such a mess.
@ Sophie. Well said. I think I fell in love with you the moment I read ‘Young Man’. You could have been a Steven for all I cared at that moment.
Harriet’s husband is Jack by the way.
@Mark. Well said about Harriet.
BTW, hats off to you. Had an excellent lunch yesterday at the Sun and Doves. Great food, great staff, great service.
Highly recommended.
No, Mark, I’m Jack.
So the controversy rages, in every restaurant and gastro-alehouse in Camberwell: which oil makes the best chips? Some cheap chicken outlets use sump oil. Some chippies use beef dripping. Most use some sort of vag oil. But which one — which is the most flavoursome and fragrant Sunflower? Evening Primrose?
As we lounge like Romans in the largest bath in Britain in the happy days to come, surely we can turn our minds away from personal politics to this most lubricious of gourmet issues, the slippery question of oil.
Beef dripping. No question. Anyone that says otherwise is a damn fool.
Beef dripping’s also nice on toast, I hear.
I am so glad that Somerfield is closing…
They are expensive and offer poor quality fresh food
Let’s hope the CO-OP have decided to make Butterfly Walk one of their flagship community stores, and we get a better supermarket there for everyone’s needs…
Haven´t you heard?
It’s closing and going to be a Morrison’s.
As far as I know it closes at the end of this month and opens again in June. So I presume (hope?) that it is having a complete refit and sprucing up. Hope they spruce the staff up too.
It’ll be beef dripping. As it so often is hereabouts.
Is it going to be Morrisons? I thought it was Co-Op?
Indian takeaway from Zest on Coldharbour. Not superb, but not an oily mess either. A useful standby. Their £8 special dishes aren’t really worth it IMO.
Sunflower oil. Better flavor. No animals.
FAO: Town Center Manager, Camberwell
Can you please have somebody collect the bottles and beer cans from the kid’s play area on Camberwell Green?
Thanks.
You’ll be lucky — there is no Town Centre Manager in Camberwell which in my opinion is a large part of the problem.
Interestingly the Southwark Scrutiny Committee (a group that monitors Council decisions) proposed that Southwark should appoint a town centre manager for Camberwell in a report in January — http://www.southwark.gov.uk/Uploads/FILE_40459.pdf .; Southwark have six months to respond
Dagmar, next time you find a chippie that fries in vag oil, let me know will you? It’s not a cooking medium I’ve had much opportunity to try…
lots of places compete for best chips in Camberwell — including the Flying Fish, Sun and Doves and the Castle.
All do great chips!
Hi, i used to live in Camberwell for 20 years. I do remember a Chinese restaurant call New Peach Blossom they had great food is it still there?
Does any one remember that place and the people worked there?