Looking to the future
Published by Peter | Filed under Development
2010. Wow. Hope everyone had a fun and relaxing Christmas & New Year’s period; the wife and I decided to have a South London holiday, trying out lots of places we hadn’t been to before. The highlights were the pizza at Franco Manca in Brixton, which is without doubt among the best I’ve ever eaten, and the Horniman Museum, which has some great cultural galleries.
So, what’s this year going to bring for Camberwell?
It could be the year of great change; the completion of the Mary Datchelor development will be bringing a lot of moneyed new residents into the area, and if the local shops don’t meet their demands they will be spending out of the area, which will be terrible.
There’s the new development at the former Snooker Hall to come as well, which could likewise bring new purchasing power. The trade-off, of course, is the extra strain on the transport infrastructure from the increase in residents.
In the North, Burgess Park is set for a major makeover (and the regeneration of the Aylesbury Estate must kick off soon), while in the South the Maudsley & King’s are investing heavily in their real estate.
On top of all that, Time Out say that we finally have our own destination eatery in Angels & Gypsies — although they also say that we’re London’s gay-bar capital, and the new Shoreditch.
A year that’s full of promise and potential.
As for me, I need to take a break from this blog. I’ve got a huge work commitment over the next four months and I won’t have any spare time. I need volunteers to take over until the Summer (and possibly beyond); please email me (peter@camberwellonline.co.uk) and let me know if you’re interested. If no-one can get involved, I’ll have to close the comments and you’ll all have to go to the SE5 Forum message boards; that’s not meant to sound like a threat, it’s just the reality.
Hello, does any of you know what they will do in Camberwell Green instead of the old Pub that has been shut?
And what will become the old Snooker Hall?
Thanks
Fair dues on taking a break. But no one posts on the SE5 Forum, not even the people who started it! Please someone step up.
@saya The Silver Buckle will become The Tiger. Oberon has been shelved I believe.
I seem to recall the old snooker hall will become a new snooker hall.
@john. There will be posting there soon; like Peter, there’s not enough time in the day.
Next Thursday at Institute of Psychiatry:
http://www.sunanddoves.co.uk/photos/?img=4276408249
Be there or be square.
AND Tomorrow (Saturday) Dusted Vinyl from 2pm — bring your LPs for a half hour set on the Doves’ decks and in the evening see great music: with http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=252506752848&ref=mf
Not a criticism Mark, just an observation. Besides, it takes as long to post here as it does there but you, like most, choose here.
It’s a must win for Dulwich Hamlet today at 3pm against Ramsgate who lie above them in the L.S. Lowry League, just below the play-off places. The rain is part of the atmosphere, well, obviously. The players are frighteningly fast and fit these days, it is a thrilling sight to behold.
Yes. The actor Ed Stoppard lives in the Cambwerwell side of East Dulwich. He recently played the Dane in the West End. He can therefore be called a Dulwich Hamlet.
Millwall are entertaining Southampton today, should be interesting, especially between here and Waterloo Station, where the Sotonians drown their sorrows in the Hole in the Wall pub when they lose.
@John, no probs — and you are, of course, right. Straightforward observation. Given the circumstances perhaps Peter might consider sliding Camberwellonline into the SE5 Forum site?
Is that a silly idea? Could it work?
SE5 has been invaded! Angels completely packed last night — loads of people standing around waiting. Never seen that before in Camberwell, not ever.
Some must’ve travelled into SE5 for it as, unlike us, they kept waiting (for ages) whereas we took one look at it and bailed to Mangal — which was also packed.
Barely got a seat. Doner and chicken babs sold out. Sold out of babs? WTF is going on? Usually we have this place to ourselves, more or less. Anyway, good to see some places doing such great business.
I note however that Vietnamese restaurant Eastern Tree near LBJunction has now shut. Wasn’t a bad place the one time I went. Probs been shut a while I’d just never noticed.
Camberwellonline has a connoisseurs’, bijou, boutique niche in our endz. We are prawns on the chessboard of life, Rodney, not municipal policy designers. I would offer to run the IT, but I need a van o’ careworkers just to tie the laces on my basque — let alone to crochet electric wires into a blogsite.
Sol Pinnock did it again for the Hamlet. The Millwall got out of jail, too. It is pleasing to see the balls in the ball pool at Peckham Pulse are made in Denmark. They are such cheery balls and have strangely, in their simple way, in the atmosphere of small children at play, made my day.
Dagmar
3–1 to the Mighty Hamlet!
Indeed the ever reliable Sol Pinnock put in another noteworthy display…
Ramsgate left Champion Hill looking like a real bunch of “Dags” (As Alf Stewart on Home and Away was so fond of saying)
Dags Dogs Digs Diggety Dog.
Camberwell is on a Cusp like it’s not been on for a generation at least.
We have a chance to make Camberwell work — Angels & Gypsies have upped the ante to where it should be. And good on them. They have cracked it. At last Camberwell is in danger of being taken seriously. We live here. Now Camberwell needs to join up. We have to shop here, we have to eat here, we have to drink here. We have to invest as much as we possibly can into where we are to make it become what it CAN be.
Or something like that anyway.
On that note see great work being done here: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4283594598_4fddb6e543_b.jpg
Hopefully The Tiger will look fantastic too…
Looking forward to the Loughborough Junction exhibition…
All we need now is a cinema
Interestingly took some mates to Angels yesterday (Sunday) for some tapas — they actually have a separate Sunday menu (bigger mains — paella etc, less tapas).
Mates (from Pimlico) suitably impressed — and more importantly coming back to try it on a weeknight (and hopefully bringing more people).
My ox cheeks were absolutely divine.
(There’s a sentence I never thought I’d see myself write).
Off to see Hazel O’Connor at The Cambria this Friday.
All this without leaving SE5!
Hazel O’Connor featured at The Sun and Doves briefly on Dusted Vinyl on Saturday. A shadow of her future self she was then…
Divine Ox cheeks. Ever wondered where the ox come from?
Doing some bored Googling of new stuff to DO in the new year.
Here’s some volunteering. Lots of other SE5 stuff on the site Timebank.
http://beta.timebank.org.uk/opportunity/19526/burgess-park-fishing-peg-construction
Cliched new years resolution nightclass stuff, I know, but it sounds like a nice club
http://strandstudioclub.co.uk/
Anyone got any more? Cos God I am bored of life.
Does Hazel O’Connor live in Camberwell, that’s at least the second time she’s been singing at the Cambria? Did she lug her records along Mark?
Does anyone know of a good local joiner? I’m looking to get some sash windows repaired when it’s a little warmer. Thankyou in advance
Time Out have reviewed Silk Road, not such a blisteringly hot review as Angels & Gypsies but still, they can’t get enough of the Camberwell food scene:
http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/reviews/22429.html
and I quote “what makes Silk Road a destination worth travelling to…”
My favourite ‘quiet’ Soho bar was inexplicably packed on Friday. We were baffled and left immediately. I noticed today it is in a top 10 of Time Out ‘secret’ London bars.
Still, good news and get em in at Silk Rd and Angels. Maybe one day I’ll turn a very modest profit on my dump of a flat.
Cos we’re all friends here and I share my finds I think the next ‘thing’ here might be some of the African restaurants. Anyone tried Canaan? It’s on my list. African food often not great, though we’ll see. Also Everest on Old Kent Rd seems to get good vibes and has Nepali fare. Let’s keep this quiet though… Shhh.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/secretlondon/sets/72157607273956563/
Do we think a Time Out food critic has moved to Camberwell?
Zeret Kitchen is dishing up some excellent Ethiopian dishes, and the woman who runs it is very sweet. Though when I managed to leave my bag there the other night, I came back for it, and she mischievously pretended not to have it (for about 5 seconds), I’m afraid I was a poor sport, hehe.
What are your top 5 Camberwell restaurants?
@southmark re Hazel O’Connor — she wasn’t at the Doves in person it was Reg Burgundy aka Mr Sunshine who bought a bunch of LPs in a charity shop in Walworth for a fiver and brought in Breaking Glass on Saturday.
@Phil G — SE5 Forum needs volunteers get in touch if you’re interested. You’d be greatly appreciated.
Zeret Kitchen IS very good from what I’ve have there. Castlemeade is a daunting location though.
This is an interesting blog entry, showing estimated journey times from Denmark Hill when the East London Line opens.
11 and a half minutes to Clapham Junction
12 minutes to Canada Water
20 minutes to Whitechapel
26 minutes to Hoxton
http://londonreconnections.blogspot.com/2010/01/ell-updates-launch-dates-and-glimpse.html
@southmark — I found an extremely good carpenter/joiner via SE5 forum — he’s built shelves — even a gorgeous gloss white cabinet (including powdered steel legs etc etc). Very good quality, and very reasonable prices.
Check out http://www.whyknotwood.com/
His name is Peter.
Peter Cooper is a legend in our dwelling, also a friend. His work is impeccable. He is a master carpenter. He does art carpentry. His carpentry is creative. His work is the finest. His pricing is extraordinarily fair. Rating *****
Are any long-term Camberwell people on here? Did you ever have any contact with Cambridge House?
If so, Natalia Kannas would like to hear from you.
Natalia wants to interview people who have been clients or volunteers about how CH affected their lives. It’s a project funded by vodafone and you can find out more at her blog: http://worldofdifference.vodafone.co.uk/uk/natalia-kannas/
Natalia is an all-round Good Person. Please get in touch if you can help.
I’ll second everything Jes has to say about Natalia and throw in a good word for Cambridge House:
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious No1 good thing.
Dagmar’s in LURVE.
Last night’s SE5 Forum/Camberwell Arts/Creative Camberwell launch of CAN — Camberwell Artists’ Network was good. Some very good workable suggestions came up which, seriously, have a chance to come to fruition. Have a look:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/se5forum/sets/72157623260394322/
Thanks to Institute of Psychiatry for letting us locals use their space for meetings. Very valuable and easy to take for granted.
Wow that Evening Standard reviewer loves Camberwell: “grubby, hectic highway.…in real rough London.…..where emergency vehicles roar past, sirens shrieking, every few minutes“
Ho ho!
He’s spot on about the sirens though.
Anyway, with this mere 3 star review I hope I’ll get a seat there next time.
Link was on the tw@t feed at the side but I see it’s twittered off, so here it is:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/restaurants/review-23797735-cheered-by-the-angels-and-gypsies.do
Phil G/Everyone
As a Londoner I’m completely ashamed that the Evening Standard is our local paper…Just who is it supposed to appeal to?
What’s worse is that Friday supplement which expects us all to admire and fawn over the lives of the inbred aristocratic nobodies who live in Kensington…
It’s the Daily Mail for London and it’s a great big pair of unwashed smelly vagrant underpants
Well the Standard, which I never read, — along with all other newspapers — may well be ashamed making for Londoners but really, the review of A&G seems a fair assessment of the area from an outsider’s point of view.
Why would anyone want to hang out on Camberwell Church Street regularly unless there was a good reason to be there?
The review points out what the street is like — no argument — then gives A&G a rather upbeat assessment finishing off with a ‘if it was in my neighbourhood I’d be there all the time’ which takes it further than it needs to go and says a lot for how good it is — against all that gritty reality out there on the street.
Anyone know what’s going on on Havil Street (Police closed the street and fire brigade ‘control units’ are there with cranes)?
@ Stuart — A house caught alight last night. It has been completely burned out. The fire engines are still there this morning. I believe that it was unoccupied as it was being renovated and I hope that no-one in the adjacent houses was hurt.
Feels to me like there might be a fire starter doing their thing around these parts.
I can’t much stand the Standard. It’s a formerly important paper that’s lost its way and now they can’t even give it away.
That said, and as Mark has already said, I do think their review sums the area up as it appears to many outsiders.
And especially to a snotty reviewer who was probably wrested away from High St Ken.
It’s not really our local paper. It’s too big and London is too big. London has papers that cater more locally than the Standard.
Anyway, I managed to get a seat at Angel this time. Full review and thoughts upcoming.
Out of Camberwell for a business lunch yesterday — we went up West without a destination in mind when, in a cab trapped in a traffic jam on Whitehall in pouring rain, not wanting to wander around the streets of Covent Garden getting wet, I somehow had the inspiration to check out Boyd’s Brasserie http://www.boydsbrasserie.co.uk at 8 Northumberland Avenue — just a minute’s walk from where we were stuck. Something jogged my memory about an email from a long standing friend, Charles Boyd, who helped us out with The Sun and Doves a long long time ago, saying that a new venture was about to open in The Grand Hotel.
My meeting associates were open to the idea of trying the unknown and we tripped into one of the most glorious and spectacular interiors you’re ever likely to see and had a totally brilliant lunch accompanied by an excellent cabsauv and gorgeous fiano.
Charles happened to be there too (‘I practically live here at the moment’) which was a bonus — we haven’t seen him for maybe six years — he had lunch with us and then gave us a guided tour of the breathtaking interiors of the hotel’s nether regions still being worked on that are in his demise before coming into use for functions, conferences, meetings and all the general catering of the hotel. The scale of the operation is stupendous. Mind boggling. The photographs do not give you a sense of scale — the main ballroom ceiling is 10.4m from the floor and I swear the room is so big you could get the WHOLE of The Sun and Doves in there from forecourt to back garden — with a bit of space to spare all round. Stunning.
Not quite what was intended but what a brilliantly serendipitous way to spend the good part of an afternoon — and we got our business done afterwards anyway at the Sherlock Holmes and a couple of other bars before coming back to Camberwell to a thankfully busy pub:
A Business Lunch http://www.flickr.com/photos/markdodds/sets/72157623141777593/
@ Rob, thanks very much, I’ll check Peter out
The Horniman Museum no longer offers the postcard of its Haitian voodoo altar. It may be out of stock, but who knows? The altar is worth sitting in front of, accompanied by a small child, as it imparts a certain joie de vivre.
A Haiti benefit night would be a good idea. The Lakanal night at the Castle was great.
Those unlucky enough to rely on our worthless buses, get this: the Waterloo bridge lane closures, which are causing huge queues, are set to continue ALL YEAR.
Incredible but true. It’ll knacker the 68, 171 etc. I may have to switch to the 12 and walk.
This after the weeks of turmoil at Elephant, and in front of Waterloo station. Before that of course we had a year of disruption on the Walworth Rd overnarrowing, sorry ‘regeneration’.
Was in the Peckhamplex the other day. I’m sure once upon a time not long ago it was cheap, like £5 or something. We paid a wallet-busting £9 to watch Avatar (rating: 6/10) and listen to some idiot talk to her kids, and another prick rustle packets for 2 hours (why do people do that?).
Anyway, just wanted to say what a state that place was in. Piles of rubbish and mess everywhere in the cinema hadn’t been cleaned from previous viewings.
My point being why is it that many places in Peckham are so badly run? Why is the service often so bad? The cinema, the gym, even the shops like WHSmith. Is it something to do with the staff and their attitude? It certainly was at the gym…
OK, so before someone says we want our eggs sunny side up only PhilG, take your bad news elsewhere, here’s the good stuff.
Angels and Gypsies. Thank God.
Finally got there over the weekend. It’s all true. It’s a destination eaterie, a huge bonus to SE5, and tasty too. We loved the ox cheek and the pork belly and the slow cooked aubergines. The chorizo, tortilla, prawns and pumpkin slices were competently turned out. I’d have been indifferent to them in Salt Yard or Dehesa, but in the middle of SE5 I was grateful.
OK so tapas and value don’t really sit together, but £30 a head with a bottle of red is fine for a splash now and then. Lovely service and a nice setting. We really liked it and will have to return to try several other options on the menu we didn’t get round to.
It just goes to show that Camberwell doesn’t have to be a regressive slide to nail bars, yam shops, bookmakers, and plastic bowls of fruit out the front. There are plenty of folk in SE5 who have no use of those things and are ready and willing to pay for something else.
Arise, educated middle class type folks with disposable income, arise. Camberwell needs you!
The reason that shops in Peckham are generally a mess and the staff often appear demoralised, is probably related to the sheer level of aggression in the area. Honestly, the number of abusive people I’ve witnessed in the shops (I’ve even seen a couple of full on fights) is ridiculous.
It’s a deprived area with more than it’s fair share of individuals living difficult and chaotic lives.
Saw some nice new windows in The Tiger (old Silver Buckle) today…They looked very impressive…Looks like a new entrance to the left hand side next to Golden Grill will be opened…I wonder if they will try to use the upstairs as well?
Looking forward to it
…and it looks like they’ve gone to the trouble of recreating and replacing the decorative corbels that were beyond repair. Top effort.
Do you think they’ll slap a vinyl sign on when they’re finished so it will blend in more sympathetically?
Yes, “The Tigre” in giant, gaudy letters. It’s a requirement of the Camberwell Green conservation area.
looks like the time has come for everahone tah join tha societah
I’m still upset that the off license which used to be called “Drink Store” didn’t take up the opportunity to put up a 20ft illuminated upvc sign of Father Jack on the building frontage from classic sitcom Father Ted…He could even have had a speech bubble coming out going “Drink! Drink!”
Shame that…It was a chance missed
Another shot of positive publicity for Camberwell in Time Out (last page) this week — Michael Hodges devotes his column to SE5, essentially saying that Camberwell has become a bit less dodgy in recent years. My favourite bit: “Inexplicably Camberwell has become a foodie destination that offers a Cuban-Mexican tapas bar, a Turkic Uighur eatery showcasing the cuisine of Xinjiang and London’s top Kazakh restaurant (to be fair, Camberwell is home to the UK’s largest Kazakh community). ”
@euse I miss that Drink Store sign too! It was classic.
The best sign for an off-license is this one in Shoreditch: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dgbalancesrocks/1346991251/
Dave Gorman has some really excellent photographs — good finds, well taken, he’s a natural.
I hate him all round really.
Nicky and I were at the House of Commons again yesterday, carrying the flag for pubs and people: http://www.flickr.com/photos/markdodds/4308997309/
Good Lembit action, Mark. Did he expense that round?
I met him and Sian (weather girl) once. She was friendly.
sorry to burst the bubbles here, but the planning application for the camberwell job centre is now up on the site
We have burned a big beam from the Bickleigh pub on Vestry Road on our open fire. The old wood burned extremely well. Three large, late Victiorian nails were left in the grate. Under Sergeant Pluck’s theory of atomic interchange as expounded in “The Third Policeman”, the beams will contain memory of the many people frequenting the Bickleigh over the decades and this information will be concentrated, condensed, saved in the nails as a psychic charge via the vibrations of the wood grain. We are studying the methodology, from arcane books, required to decode the narratives, which we hope to publish here.
@Phil G: £5.10 he paid cash. I like him a lot. He’s straight up and works incredibly hard…
Looking forward to the Bickleigh narrative Dagmar.
Just think about that beam having been placed in that building for the precise purpose of ending its physical existence in the grate at the Dagmar household in smoke free London during the age of ocean acidification.
There is no smoke with our fire. You are allowed to burn seasoned wood. The beam from the Bickleigh was extremely experienced, like me. Just as you can distil primitive wood alcohol from a spill in a test tube at school, the spirits of those in the Bickleigh — living, dying, fighting, fucking — are time-encapsulated within the nails in the beams.
One dusty tome we are perusing, a necromancer’s manual from Fifteenth Century Delft, says make a “thumb piano” with the nails and the spirits will speak therein.
There was no intended implication in the smoke free reference — I know well, being experienced in these things also, that seasoned wood makes no smoke — only phlogiston and the sprits of the trees themselves are released.
Going back to off license names my current favourite is Boss Man wines in East Dulwich.
Fairly excited by the Tiger — it’s starting to look good!
Ah, phlogiston, yes. Do you serve it? I thought it was banned, like wormwood-tinctured absinthe.
Ostroegen ought to be banned in our house — it condenses down the windows in the cold weather. The postman just has to hand over a parcel on the doorstep and he leaves with enormous knockers. Explain that back home, chap!
Our off licence continues to be Netto on Rye Lane where you can still buy well-performing wines for less than £3. Last time I was served by joy, the receipt said. You can say that again!
I once recall a fried chicken establishment (can’t remember where)called “Tuxedo Chicken” There was a cartoon graphic of a rooster in a tuxedo with monocle and silver server…Classic
Or was it a strange dream?…Maybe it was a premonition…Hmmmmmm
Ah well. Went to the much vaunted Tapas bar at 6pm. Asked if we could just have a drink and peruse the menu for future reference. Was first told “no you can’t have just a drink at this time” and then “we are fully booked”. When I questioned the fact that they were fully booked at 6pm they admitted that they were only fully booked from 7.20pm. We left. Had a very nice drink or two in the convivial Petit Parisienne instead.
Janet your experience didn’t serve you well but I’d guess Angels & Gypsies have been under enormous pressure and stretched to limits by the weight of attention they’ve deservedly had in the short time since they opened.
Doing what they’ve done in terms of quality and consistency from the outset of opening is remarkable in itself but to maintain it in the face of a constant bombardment of eager customers queuing to sample what’s on offer is a huge challenge. They need time to bed in — to get used to the pent up demand they’ve released in Camberwell.
Don’t give up on them — try again. Book — even at six pm!
Dagmar — the phlogiston was served in heaps at the outset of The Sun and Doves in 1995, it’s a mysterious element that hangs around invisibly for interminable amounts of time and Angels & Gypsies are getting it in the neck now. Perhaps, hopefully, the spark that was generated fifteen years ago has finally caught a firm hold in SE5.
Yeah, turning up at A+G on Fri and Sat seems to be a high risk approach, even at 6. The 1st time we gave up, the 2nd we went for a drink in The Castle to kill the waiting time of 45 mins or so and came back at 9pm or so. The place emptied out v quick after that. It seems to be a ‘one sitting’ place.
The same seems to go for Silk Rd, which is annoyingly busy these days. Back off hordes of people and you there in the funky hair and leggings, and you over there cos you’ve read about it The Observer or whatever — this place is MINE. Don’t remember seeing you lot in the Buckle, or Fus, or Camberwell Tandoori when it was dying on its arse, or when the Butterfly centre bookshop closed. Or when Le PP was a ghost town last year. Where’ve you all suddenly come from?
Silliness aside, the other day we went to Lamoon which is quite standard and plain Chinese fare but also reliably good, nicer decor than S Road and has a few hotpot dishes and a roast duck and prawn paste number that you don’t find in the takeaway. Give it a go next time if you’ve been rejected from Angels or wherever. Cheers.
One place that was absolutely jumping last night was, regrettably, the Noddles gaff.
I reckon the next restaurant closure in SE5 is Ambrosia. Empty all the time, though it was OK the one time we tried it.
Also my tip about African food seems to be bearing fruit. Note on Walworth Rd near Argos that there is a place called Moyo Mos or something opening soon. I’ll try Canaan next month.
Had an estate agent come around this morning.
She was saying that things are crazily busy on the property sales front in Camberwell at the moment, apparently people wanting to buy before the general election. (Not sure of the logic but there you go.)
Maybe the area is finally “on the up”.
SG don’t move, we need you. Where will you go?
Two families in our patch, with small children, are moving to Brighton and Cornwall. One lot went to Lewes at Christmas. A 3-bed in Camberwell is a commodity that will change hands easily and is a lot less pricey than the East Dulwich equivalent, to state the bleedin’ obvious.
@ Phil — returning to Australia after 21 years in London.
Total change of lifestyle, from a terrace house in Camberwell to a house with a pool and garage somewhere near the Gold Coast, hopefully.
Indeed @ Dagmar. I reckon my house is ideal for a young family from East Dulwich. They would get twice the size of house and still probably have money left over.
I feel hopeful, but will be sad to leave Camberwell.
@SG — wow, that’ll be reverse culture shock! My oldest mate who I shared a house in East Dulwich with moved to Melbourne a few years ago. His lifestyle sounds great. He was amused to find a Camberwell over there too…
Camberwell is crumbling. The pediment over 11 Camberwell Church Street crashed onto the pavement and hit a car last night. The street was closed off, there were police cars and two fire engines. The rubble was left on the pavement looking like the Elgin Marbles — “Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!” Four bendy buses were backed up, almost reaching as far as Peckham. “It’s the collapse of western society,” someone suggested to the chaps in the cheap drink shop opposite, hoping this would go down well, but as usual they made no response.
The frosts have caused immense damage. To nearly quote The Beatles’ “Day in the Life,” there are a record two million potholes in England all the way to Blackburn, Lancashire.”
Dagmar
I went to watch West Ham v Blackburn yesterday and those talentless cloggers left more than 400 potholes on the pitch…
Still, I have the mighty Hamlet for consolation…I’ve often seen better football there than yesterday and it didn’t set me back 45 Quid!
Perhaps the Hammers will field ladies in Ann Summers kit. That would draw the crowds.
Two couples our way selling up too. Rare to find couples over 35 who live here. By then you are on to house number two and kids need schools — and Camberwell is good for neither. We’re in the same boat and dreaming of East Dulwich regularly
The primary schools are OK. Our kids go to a nice school.
Not so sure about the secondary schools and levels of academic achievement. Same issue in East Dulwich, I believe.
Anyone got any recommendations?
Strangely, though, when I was at school, I thought it overrated.
in 2001, following us both being mugged in Denmark Road, the street we live in, we soul searched and decided to stay in Camberwell. That was before number two boy was born and number one was still bottom shuffling. All our friends were here and most had already decided not to evacuate SE5. One couple upgraded to the traffic jams of East Sheen, where there is a Waitrose and a long wait whenever you take to the road in a car.
Most of our friends remain. Most of us are over 35. Schools — Lyndhurst, Dog Kennel Hill, Comber Grove and the others I can never remember, most of the primary and junior schools local are more than tolerably good.
The next, Secondary, stage is the schooling nightmare but, as far as I can establish, this is a dread lottery for everyone in London who does not have their children in pryv8 educayshun.
Entrance exams to win bursaries to the private sector are a possibility, then Pimlico and Kingsdale both have good results and the Charter School has its enthusiasts too. Otherwise the system send your children into the State mincer and grinder and you feel like hell forever.
There may be other options, which I’ll ask my woman about but I’m not that aware of them.
Just seen Idris Elba aka Stringer Bell filming on Camberwell Grove! Awesome!
Elba sighting on recent post, Phil, with pix, have a look. He is exceptional chap, good actor, hero of The Wire and sex god.
Yes, primary schools very good round here, but secondary a lottery — need Lottery money. As stated before here, Camberwell needs state secondary, maybe where Mary Datchelor School was.
Peckham Academy does an excellent job in its hard catchment area. Charter is enviable — most of Camberwell is not in its catchment area, though, of course not, stupid. It is the nearest skool — but so far, so far.
Kingsdale is revolutionary in wanting to match and outdo its Dulwich private school neighbours with their ghastly weird idea of let’s make our kids like us, stuck up and uptight yurt-renting festival fodder reproducing the home counties same old same old mental mind set decade after decade.
The country is geared to killing foreigners, not to educating state children and young folks. It is a national disgrace.
BAH! Am grumpy Ghana lost last night in the African Nations. Why are the Super Magnificent Eagles of Nigeria such a useless team when they should be the best in the world? Why do Togo face a ban? Bah! SNAFU.
Meanwhile, the pasty-faced colonials of Dulwich cap the national consciousness with their pre-Cameron hurrah. BAH!
Did anyone go to George’s wake in the Hermits Cave on Friday? I hear it was a good night, so to speak.
A friend went to George’s wake — a lot of his relatives there.
The parking fees are back at Morrison — a £1 minimum down from £1.60 but the car park is empty as a result. Pay back at the check out from Morrisons from next week when you spend a tenner:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markdodds/4323611896/in/pool-32334552@N00
The Sleeping Tiger is slowly waking up:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markdodds/4322845899/in/pool-camberwell_se5/
Noodels City is piling it high:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markdodds/4322849683/
Universal Sheet Metal is likely to be going since Alan is not well; the end of an engineering era off Blucher Road:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markdodds/4323588128/in/photostream/
And a brief showing of some prints found in the art store at The Sun and Doves:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesunanddoves/4324111892/
Prior to Bill Ellis’s exhibition opening this Saturday with two bands and a DJ:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesunanddoves/4270981869/sizes/o/
Bill lives in Paris now, harassed by Gendarmes who steal bikes and scrap them if they appear not to be used daily. We’re highly privileged to have him showing here, he’s the man who set up PULLIT at Cooltan in Brixton and at Pullit in Camden.
Which brings it neatly round to the Moody French Film Season “Cinema Du Look” which opens tonight (Tuesday 2 February) at S&D with Luc Besson’s SUBWAY.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesunanddoves/4314038420/ with free popcorn and great food you pay not a lot for.
Agreed. It seems wherever you live in London, secondary schools are not good enough. Although, kids who’ve gone to Kingsdale lately seem to like it. Charter School, apparently, has a very small catchment area.
We live near Peckham Academy, but I wonder, is it worth it? — 26% got five Grade Cs at GCSE.
A lot of these schools seem set-up to contain kids for a few hours a day rather than educate and advance opportunity.
26%! Shocking eh. Nationally it’s only about 50 mind you. I read the other week that 1 in 10 now feel compelled to get private tuition for their child as they feel the state schools are holding them back. 1 in 10! This on top of all the taxes they’ve paid for education education education.
I ain’t got kids but if I do then I’m going to homeschool them like John Connor in Terminator 2. They need to get ready for The Road.
Dagmar. I saw that earlier post on the Stringer Bell filming. Classic. Funnily enough I walked past it back then too but didn’t realise Bell was involved or I’d have hung around. You feel me?
Anyway, he’s got a fresh package coming in and wants me to lead some hoppers and take the corner outside KFC. Ain’t no thing. Stash house on the Grove cos the narcos’ll never think to look there.
What’s this, George dead? Did I miss a post? That’s brought my Wednesday crashing down!
Sure, yeah, hell, heck, dang! Peckham Academy does a good job in its challenging catchment area, yergetme? Peckham is no way Cranford.
The whitewash on the windows of the restaurant formerly known as El Gallo/Willow halfway up Denmark Hill has now been removed, to reveal a nice looking establishment called Love Walk Cafe (which has more of a glamorous ring to it than Denmark Hill Cafe, I suppose). It promises fresh juices and smoothies, and looks as though it has a nice coffee set-up. Cafe style chairs. Eclectic decor. It looks quite good. It claims to be ‘opening soon’ so hopefully we’ll get to sample it in the next week or so — it certainly looks almost ready. With the lovely Bay Cafe starting to open at the weekends, maybe we’re in for a nice little cafe scene in that area…
Oui, apres le cafe, nous pouvons ambuler avec un lobster sur un string dans le parc, comme un crusty de Corby avec un dog sur un string en buvant une bouteille de “Buckie”.
Southmark, sorry, I was replying above to PhilG’s xlnt Wire banter. Yes, George de Freitas was 85, there was a big do. I know, I went. The Hermits was full of his family and friends.
In this unnervingly superficial age of celebrity angst, government inquiries and other reality TV, George was a real genuine authentic real deal.
See what Matt has to say about our dearest MP.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/matt/?cartoon=7140636&cc=7131751
Feeling nostalgic?
Google Streetview here seems to be using old pics. Marvel at Camberwell pre Noddles, pre Le PP, with old Tadim, bar Miura and the then “The Fusion” instead of Silk Rd.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?layer=c&cbll=51.474049,-0.089591&cbp=12„,1,&ved=0CBwQ2wU&sa=X&ei=QadqS5aPL9OojAeD0OSoBA
Sigh. Memories, eh?
weak
“4T4 Lip smacking African cuisine… An unforgettable experience.” was a challenge too far for me.
Alan… why weak?
Don’t forget the Bill Ellis exhibition opening tomorrow at S&D — with two excellent bands… http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesunanddoves/4270981869/sizes/o/
Heading out of town for a weekend in the West Country. Not a moment too soon. Walked out of my gate this morning to find some a-hole had let their dog crap right at the end of our path, I’ve done the best clean up job I can of the jobby but now I’m convinced everything stinks of dog poo.
Had enough.
@genfink FYI: people in the West Country also let their dogs crap on the pavement.
The cartoon about Harriet Harman was weak.
What cartoon?
The cartoon about Harriet Harman.
Anyone been to Wimereaux in France? It’s the do crap capital of Europe as far as could see, I mean step.
Rio Ferdinand? We can be proud of the Peckham boy. He is a captain of England we can be proud of — of whom we can be proud. France is very nice, but surely this is the time to declare: “Camberwell — twinned with Peckham.”
Arbroath smokies on the menu at The Sun and Doves this weekend.
And haggis as a special on Monday.
There does seem to be a lot of shyte on the SE5 pavements of late.
I see the Hermits has lost a window. Hope it wasn’t one of the etched ones.
Arbroath, the “Lichties”, named after the lights that used to guide the fishing boats back to harbour, have the football ground that lies closest to the sea in the whole of Britain. Waves lash the walls during gales.
‘Fraid it was one of the etched ones…not many left now.
Rio Ferdinand is a moron. Why should we be proud of a moron from Peckham?
No beating around the bush there, I like your style Norman Maine.
I’m almost proud to admit I thought Rio Ferdinand was a river. Well, the world is a big place and it doesn’t sound like it’s flowing through Peckham.
The new Love Walk cafe opens today, and The Tiger proclaims its launch on the 25th.
The Hermits window was broken in a freak accident.
A FREAK accident? Who is this freak?
Apparently it’s the year of The Tiger from 14 February.
‘There does seem to be a lot of shyte on the SE5 pavements of late.’
…It was national ‘get your fighting dog to shit on the pavements near schools day’, last Tuesday. I believe it is organised to give people who really loathe themselves some fun and self-esteem.
Love Walk cafe quite exciting: good breakfast, lunch, coffee and cakes. Friendly staff. Nice ambience. And open at sensible times (7–7 on weekdays, 8–7 on weekends). Had a delicious smoothie and lovely freshly squeezed orange juice. Very impressed!
Everything about Love Walk is enchanting. It’s a secret world, like Lyndhurst Square. Camberwell has many such secrets, unlike the predictable grids of surrounding areas.
Rio Ferdinand is a very local bloke who knows about living in Peckham. He is also a striver and achiever who is inquisitive about the wider world. He went to the Central School of Ballet in Farringdon on a scholarship from the age of 11, on the 63 bus. He chose to go to Bluecoats School Blackheath — another way to get himself off the Friary Estate. He is not an obvious character, he interestingly complex and imperfect. People looking to hero-worship should look elsewhere.
My brother tells a story of when he was supporting our small hometown team, sponsored by one of the biggest piggeries in Denmark, in the old Danish 3rd Division which is now called the Tuborg Championship or something. He screamed at one of his own team’s players, “Kierkegaard, you’re useless!” The player looked up with such hurt mixed with anger that my brother never did it again. In that instant, he understood.
Who ever would expect a philosopher to be a good phootballer?
Great night at S&D on Saturday a wonderful friendly crowd attracted to the art of Bill Ellis, the founder of Pullit and Cooltan — the nephew band ZooKids http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesunanddoves/4336066145/ played brilliantly — and dancing was done into the night.
Rounded off with discussions and visionings of Camberwell in a Bavent Road house party garden by a hot fire of pallets.
That’s how we should be, but we must raise our game yet again. Camberwell! We are the Brazil of London. Viva St Lucia! Come on Ireland! We are the happening and tolerant capital of the capital! Anyone who goes to see Dulwich Hamlet play in their excellent, friendly local stadium, will see it.
At the weekend I heard that Britt Ekland can now be added to the mile high pile of famous people who live work or like to play in Camberwell.
She has been seen walking her dog.
On a slightly less serious note;
Would YOU like to own a bit of YOUR local?
The freehold of The Sun and Doves may be available.
What do you say? For as little as £1,500 you could own a bit of the pub, get a return on your money, and have special ‘ownership’ privileges for the rest of your natural life.
I’m being serious. What do you think? I’d like to hear from you — without commitment of course.
mark@sunanddoves.co.uk
WE have a plan by the way…
Here’s a bit of last Saturday night at The Sun and Doves. http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesunanddoves/
Our exhibitions will be going photography only from March 2010 — although we may still have the occasional space for special people like CoolTan Arts.
Enjoy looking at your pics Mark, but perhaps a few more that concentrate on your most attractive customers?
Very interesting idea about the freehold. Sort of like having shares then? It’d have to be a few grand apiece to make the paperwork worthwhile surely?
hi Mark,
sounds like an idea that could really take off. Best of luck with it, I think you’d probably get quite a few takers. If I was staying in the area, I’d probably be one of them.
It’s worth reading Simon Jenkins in today’s Evening Standard:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23803662-boris-is-waging-war-on-our-citys-subversive-south.do
I hate Simon Jenkins…bellend that he is
Simon Jenkins. Never read him but then I don’t read anyone in the papers any more. I managed to stay awake long enough to find out what living in south London is like.
The property deal has precedents but none I know of on an urban site like The Sun and Doves — the money here is a lot more than for a quiet pub in a rural location.
Like £1.5million as opposed to maybe £400K at the outside for the village pub.
BUT there is far more potential here than in such other pubs. The Sun and Doves has an amount of potential that’s not been released and which will never be until it’s had a real nuts and bolts refurbishment.
It’s a lot of money and it will take a lot of people to raise that amount. But it’s not impossible and doing it would create a stir, a bit of high profile history, that it would in itself make the business busier. But the building needs a lot of work — from fundamentals like a new gas main and services. The existing services are mostly domestic — apart from what we installed already — and cannot cope with busy. Everything begins to break down as soon as busy begins. It’s a colossal strain keeping it all going while it wants to break down all the time; detracts from the operation and prevents the business from flowing anywhere near as well as it’s possible for it to be.
I’m not sure how clever it is for me to discuss this in public. We’re working up a business plan now. IF you are interested, from any point of view in the proposal please do get in touch. It’s mark@sunanddoves.co.uk
It seems every pub in town has benefitted from a major refurb — far from doom and gloom closures, we’re spoiled for choice! Roll on The Tiger!
Thank you James J for posting that interesting piece by Simon Jenkins which had many good points and which was entirely sympathetic to south London, even saying we are to become London’s Gaza strip because of bridge closures and isolation.
The Standard has had many good writers and is the only London newspaper. We who live and work in south London don’t get to see it any more, so its new freeness is sort of a bit useless to us.
ES magazine used to be great — we could live vicariously through its social scene photographs of knobs and posh totty gargling champers and gawping gormlessly, rather like the young miners reading Billy Bunter comics in Orwell’s famous essay “Boys’ Weeklies”.
Interesting point you make Dagmar about the Standard’s being free meaning it’s more difficult to get away from train stations and commuter hotspots.
Those bridge closures are madness.
there’s definitely something buzzing about Camberwell lately. I dropped in to the coffee shop / internet cafe near Card Corner this morning and it was packed with people, on the internet and relaxing over coffee.
And then I went to Love Walk Cafe for a quick lunch and could barely get in the door for the number of people waiting for tables or take away.
Where have all these people come from? The place seems thriving lately, and most of them were — how should I put it nicely — rather well heeled, sober and so on
Amazing — just as I decide to sell up, Camberwell comes of age.
Yeah SG, sod’s law innit. Hopefully the recent surge in niceness was reflected in your house price. I hope it will be if and when I sell up!
Likewise I was at Johannsons the other weekend and it was packed too. How long before they buy out Jungle Grill?
Anyway, I noticed that Hoa Viet has changed its name. The end of an era. I think this just reflects the change in ownership a few months back, rather than brand new ownership.
Goat curry at Good 2 Go near Love Walk Cafe is real good.
I hope the recent surge of niceness won’t reflect too much on house prices for us that are trying to get on the property ladder…
I am looking to buy my first flat/house and find it difficult to get around the overpriced pristine white ikea boxes that are available through most estate agents. Does anyone know of a way to buy a property other than through an estate agent?
On another subject, Camberwell MA Graphic Design students are organising a series of free lectures. The first one will be Jonathan Barnbrook on tuesday 16th of feb at 5pm. The next ones will be Brave New Alps (2 march, 11am), Vaughan Oliver (10 march, 3pm) and Metahaven(17 march, 3 pm), all in the Wilson Road building. Feel free to come along if you are free/interested.
Airelle — very rarely Gumtree has places for sale rather than rent. Also there’s a website called half a percent or something that is an alternative outlet.
But really the estate agent is the least of your worries and if you’re buying 1st time it’s the seller who pays them anyway.
It’s the banks and their ‘arrangement fees’ and the massive taxes just for the privilege of changing where you live that really kick it in.
Not sure what your budget is but when I was in your shoes I also looked at New Cross. With the benefit of beautiful hindsight I should also have had a closer look at Nunhead / Peckham Rye.
If we’re proud of Rio then perhaps we should be proud of this?
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_3672102.html?menu=
She HAS the rear of the year, or she IS the rear of the year?
airelle, would you send me the more detailed info about the lectures (what they’ll be on etc) & i’ll post it on people’s republic of southwark site — email me to info@peoplesrepublicofsouthwark.co.uk
thanks
Some people would say that Harriet’s rear IS a surge in niceness. She is undoubtedly “nice”, Peter, which is not altogether attractive, true. But a nice rear is beyond that. It is a bulge in the graph of animal attraction.
Harriet’s political sense may not be great — to declare at this stage that New Labour has presided over a huge widening in the gap between the haves and have nots is maybe not a wise tub thumper — but a nice rear is something to hold onto in these uncertain times. Awesome.
Cameron is awful.
Ah, mention of Cameron reminded me of a truly wonderful Youtube seen earlier today http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWut7c19SCg Look out for the Hague and hat slide; awesome.
Good CAMORON link sorry. Juvenile. I had to.
Just imagine what unimaginable things they’ll get up to in the spirit of modern conservative middle of the road equality fairness fraternity if he gets in. The video says it all.
Excellent, John, that is penetratingly amusing, as I like to say to boys. This is the sort of viral that will cut a clean course through the conventional image-building that Cameron is trying for. He is a sort of bluish Blair, but Blair surfed the zeitgeist and was overall a success. Cameron is a minor Blair.
Can anyone here bung in “Daily Mirror Cameron What the experts say”? and put it in here?
This link is to an article on 4 February in the normally boring Daily Mirror, which is a superb digest of what people who know know about what Cameron really is. It is quite scary.
The best thing in it is John Major — we should all be proud of, etc. etc. — who says, diplomatically, that he “can’t remember” anything about Cameron although bleating Cameron briefed him daily during an election.
It is a very carefully considered article. Everyone with a vote should read it, especially those with a Conservative bent.
John Major was, after all, the fellow whom Edwina Currie… also Surrey Cricket Club at the Oval… a man with a straight bat… “It’s a long way from Coldharbour Lane to the Palace of Westminster…” (it’s not, but he read his lines well)…
I think is the one your after http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/02/04/david-cameron-what-the-experts-say-115875–22017276/
good article well worth the read favourite quote would have to be…
“And former Tory minister George Walden summed up Cameron’s perceived shallowness perfectly when he claimed Cameron’s chief criterion for judging a situation is: “What would Diana have done?” But it’s not just his lack of ideological depth that is a flaw; it’s his upper-class background and the fact he has chosen to surround himself with chaps of a similar ilk.”
Ta, Robbie, well done. It’s a good read, isn’t it? Very plain. Leaves you in no doubt. All the able Conservatives — and there are loads of them — must be groaning at the prospect of having Cameron as head boy.
“What would Diana have done?” LOL! Like it! It’s true he doesn’t inspire the way Bliar did. I quite like Jeff Randall but the comments he made in that piece are quite old.
The spin on the spin seems to be turning against Dave right now. Maybe it’ll spin back before May.
Course, he gave Brown an accomplished and social policy-heavy grilling at PMQs this week, as he often does, but don’t let that get in the way of bashing the nasty toff, what!
And how many leaders could you hold up as ‘genuine’ these days anyway? Cmon Vince Cable, we need you now. GO VINCE.
Its a very good read and confirms my suspicions of DC. All fluffy on the surface, no real policies and a bit nasty underneath.
Go Vince, i second that. I just wish a vote for Lib Dems in Camberwell counted for something.
There’s an outdoor exhibition of photographic portraits of local residents entitled We Are Loughborough Junction this weekend (13th & 14th February 2010), you can find out more from their website:
http://www.weareloughboroughjunction.org.uk/
I’ll be writing up a post about the event next week.
Perhaps Jeff Randall has changed his mind, Phil, but what everyone seems to have said at that time is unerringly and unnervingly consistent. Good Lord, people don’t mind toffs. It’s snot about class war, it’s more about slime. Cameron has risen to the top of the slippery pole really quickly because he is nuancedly eye-catching and empathetically sound-bitey. He has had voice-softening therapy and bicycle thinkery-tinkery. He is a Halo magazine celebrity just like Blair, but also like him, the sloppy poshery is in his blood and background. John Major was genuine and much more experienced, to say the least, in every area, including there.
I was brought up on an estate me I was.
Love walk cafe. Gets a cautious thumbs down from me.
Not because of the problems of my order, but because of their attitude in dealing with it.
Will try once more but would rather go somewhere where they will listen to your concern and try and rectify it with grace.
@ monkeycat — what a shame: they were really sweet and attentive to us…
@monkeycat — tell us the full story! sound most interesting.
Not really much to tell.
I ordered a smoothie (it’s not actually fresh fruit but comes pre chopped and frozen from some company) and it came in a plastic cup. I asked for a glass since I was sitting in the cafe and was told “that’s the way it comes”. They did change it, but only under duress.
The other one was also minor. I asked for tuna melt panini and checked it had cheese in it. I got a tuna baguette with no cheese.
The moral of this story is that even though they have a fair few signs talking about fair trade this action doesn’t go as far as trying to cut down on plastics. In a later discussion the manager had no idea what things like recycling meant.
It was more the attitude that annoyed me than the mistakes. Will give it another go though.
Naw Monkeycat you need to cut your losses and head next door to Good 2 Go for some rice n peas. Delightful staff on the counter. Well, that’s probably overselling it a bit, but they were OK.
Returning to A&G’s.
Myself and partner were going to go tonight. Last time we tried to book but were told they didn’t take bookings.
Tonight, as he was going past, my partner nipped in to check.
It’s full anyway (damn you Time Out), but unless you are a group, they will not take a booking for later than 7.30. Their explanation is that they “don’t want to keep an empty table until 9pm”.
I’ve never heard such a strange thing. Surely they can book in two for 7:30 with the understanding that the table has to be vacated by 9 or something? I know Tapas are slow(ish) food, but I’m a little annoyed that couples cannot book a table later than 7.30.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Interesting finding Rob P. Not seen that elsewhere but then I rarely book places.
I guess they don’t want to introduce a formal two tier sitting. And if they didn’t do that then it’d be a hassle for staff to remember the arrangement with individual tables and then force folk out their seats. It never goes down well.
Back to an earlier point about the Standard. One big plus about it being free is that there’re none of those freepaper London Lite / London Paper chuggers on the streets. Thank God for that. Drove me mad they did.
Discussion point. I’ve said before how it was a shame that Camberwell Tandoori went broke. With that space now up for lease and with its permission for use as a restaurant intact, what cuisine or approach would really work there do you think?
Something higher end like A+G?
Maybe we could all club together and open a place.
Monkeycat, that’s duresse not “duress”. You must be thinking of undress and “Durex”. Nothing wrong with that, young man!
“La route est dure, mais je suis fort…”. Duresse. Hardness. Pressure. Pleasure.
Phil, listen, can I be the senior waitress in your new gastro-restaurant? What your fussy male customers will need is a mature, strong-thighed, Danish waitress to decapitate them by shoving their heads abruptly beneath the tablecloth into the black waitress miniskirt, boff! chop! Much to the shock, horror but once you get over it quicker than you might think relief of the nice girlfriend.
Good God, men of Camberwell, rise to your postcodes! Metrosexuals, get some lead in your poncho!
Metroseriously, people in the various creative and fashion-related workshops of Camberwell are very shocked about the death of Alexander McQueen.
He was the Pied Piper.
@ Phil G:
- thai
- italian that also does pizza
- a GOOD Indian
Hello! — I have been admiring you all from a distance and I thought it was about time I started contributing.
@ Phil G — I agree the one thing Camberwell is missing is a pizza joint. I suggest someone contacts Franco Manca to open up here.
@ SG — What are you talking about? a decent Indian…go say hello to the lovely chef at Ambrosia. I believe he used to work at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai. Lovely delicate flavours and a damn sight better than that Uncle Bens slop they serve at Safa. Just ignore the dodgy decor and quite unsavoury toilets (at least for the ladies!)
@ Rob P — Yes I agree irritating table policy at A&G However oh so worth the wait. I find popping in around 9:30 is quite a safe bet. It´s a little calmer and you do not feel so gulity watching scores of people being turned away at the door. According the the owner they are thinking of building a wood fired oven downstairs to cook more food the authentic way…YUMMY!
sk
The Dagmars are leaving Camberwell. We had a tip from a bloke in the ‘Spoons on the 3.20 at Fakenham, “Bunch of Snobs” at 200–1. We persuaded Coombes to take a leveraged bet based on projected, fluffy pink, oestroegen-fuelled lust for shopping. We’re off in the Reliant to pick up the winnings now. Good luck, all!
See you around Dagmar. Was nice while it lasted.
Angels & Gypsies again today — the food again was marvellous. I took a lot of photos of it. I’ll post a link when they’re somewhere viewable.
This was in between We Are Loughborough Junction — as mentioned above by others. Really good day. BBC covered it, try to get around there Valentine Sunday. Start at the station (whatever did happen to British Rail?), get the map and walk the route. Hand the map in under the bridge on Cambria Road. Get a badge, a pen, joining SE5 Forum is recommended, and a flyer for The Sun and Doves for 20% off your food if you come tomorrow or next Saturday and Sunday.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4006/4355086658_1f726ee92e_b.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/se5forum/sets/72157623304579085/
http://www.weareloughboroughjunction.org.uk/
Just a reminder about the war with pubcos. Please feel free to continue head counts at The George Canning.
It’s of national importance.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/georgecanning/pool/
… another link that’ll get my post into the moderator’s pen.
@sk — ok, we’ll give Ambrosia a go, though it doesn’t look that appealing from the street. So long as the food is decent, makes up for it, I guess
Looking forward to the Tiger opening in a couple of weeks.
Anyone know what kind of beer it will sell on tap?
There are definitely more people out and about in Camberwell these days. Hermits was packed on Friday night and the cafe near Card Corner was mobbed yesterday morning.
Good for local businesses, hopefully
Dagmar you’d be very welcome. Maybe you could do the cooking. Scandinavian food doesn’t get much of a look-in in the UK. By uniting the best of Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway we could offer something quite unique. Skandi House or something like that. Lots of herring.
Yeah a pizza place would be good. Or a ‘good’ noodle bar like the one in Brixton, the Japanese place. Though I guess we’ve got a few places that cover that in SE5, though not that well.
A nice Euro bistro would be good. Though again we’ve sort of got that covered with The Bear.
Or a cheapish burrito joint. Not sure they’d get the traffic.
Something a bit different, like a S American.
Ambrosia was OK the one time I went but not great. I’ll give it another go.