Meet local councillors and learn about plans for your area, such as: Improved homes; New library and resource centre; Burgess Park transformation; Street improvement schemes.

Also it’s the College of Arts MA show next week; find out more at MA Digital Arts or MA Fine Art, which has an impressive list of events.

McDonalds on Denmark Hill want to open 24 hours at weekends. I know that in the past the area outside McDonalds has been marked as one with a high incidence of crime, so I hope that’s taken into account when the planning decision’s being made.

Last weekend I went to the new bar where Funky Munky used to be, which is currently nameless (well, I know what the name is but I’m going to let the owners unveil it when they’re ready; suffice it to say, you’ll never guess what it is). It’s bright and spacious and has a fantastic range of beers; they offer the new 1/3 pint measure so you can experiment many different beers without getting too hammered.

It’s not officially opened yet but I’m already optimistic that this is going to be a great addition to the area; finally a place which serves more than the standard choices provided elsewhere (to be fair, The Phoenix has a pretty decent selection too).

I really, really hope they keep the NEVER GIVE UP sign.

Update: More stuff! Saturday is the Brunswick Park fete, from 12–4 in Brunswick Park (obviously). And at 9am on Sunday the Bikes for Books team departs from Camberwell for a ride to Burwash, some 50+ miles away.

Went with the wife to The Recreation Ground last Sunday; had planned to eat there but they were only serving roasts, so decided to just have a drink instead. The refurb isn’t immediately apparent; it’s obviously cleaner and the walls are bare, but the biggest difference is in the fantastic toilets, now down in the cellar. The area where they used to be has a DJ booth and dancefloor. It was a bit empty when we were there — not helped by the bare walls and big space at the back — but the staff were mega-friendly and the food looked good, so we’ll be going back soon.

On the Friday before we went to check out Wuli Wuli, the new Chinese on Church St. As has been mentioned before, they have a traditional ‘English’ menu, but also more typical real Chinese dishes (offal seems to feature strongly). I had a dish which was strips of beef and chilli and it was absolutely delicious; much spicier than I’m accustomed to. They still have a 15% opening discount, so you should get down there and give it a go.

Also, we went to the GX Gallery last week to see the exhibition by local artist Martin Grover. I loved his work, but the big revelation was the gallery itself; I’d never been down to the cellar before, and it’s astonishing. It’s a converted bakery which still has the old ovens in the wall, and the rest of the space is beautiful old brick with hidden nooks. If you haven’t been, go; I had no idea it was so lovely.

Okay, on to proper news. Lewisham Council recently commissioned a report on options to extend the Bakerloo line [PDF, 410kb]. Only one of the options involves passing through Camberwell, but interestingly that’s the second cheapest option (the cheapest goes through the Aylesbury Estate to Peckham) and they note that this line has been extensively planned in the past. If it does happen it won’t be for many years, but useful to know that it’s still being considered.

Activism: Carter Place Garden, the only green space on Walworth Road, is in danger of being developed on. This post on the SE5Forum explains the context, and what you can do to help.

Also, there’s a public meeting at St Giles Church on Nov 3rd to discuss the Camberwell Baths Campaign. Phase 1 of the work — including the pool, changing rooms, and cafe — has been completed and recently an extra £50,000 was granted for Phase 2, which is the gymnastics hall (and why the Baths remain closed until next year). But there’s apparently still £1.8m needed to complete all the works, and the Campaign needs your help to support their petition to the council. Full details here — please get along if you can.

Update: Since writing this post this morning, the matter has been cleared up. The Jazz at the Crypt is not ending, it’s just that the original promoters have moved on; they sent an email to their subscribers (which I’ve included at the foot of this post) which raised some alarm, but it’s all been put to rest now. There is still Jazz every Friday night — you can see what’s on at the Camberwell Crypt website. Now let’s get on with some real news.

The reopening of the Leisure Centre has been put back to February 2011, ‘following the recent inclusion of additional works’. I don’t know what those works are, but this project is now severely delayed; if it does reopen in February, that will be the end of a 15 month closure.

New stuff: the new cafe in Chumleigh Gardens officially opens this Saturday; there’ll be music, food samplers, and the chance to see the new plans for Burgess Park, as well as a workshop with the developers. Also, a new bar/cafe/gallery has opened on the Peckham Road (it’s SE15, but we’ll let it slide). It’s prosaically called the New Gallery, and there’s a brief review by Gay Camberwell.

Finally, we got a nice little mention in The Guardian (online) today. Thanks are due to every reader, author and commenter, because you make this blog what it is.

Update: Below is the full text of the email from Jazz Live.

Dear Jazz Live Fans

It is with great regret that we have to report to you that , after 15 years of successfully promoting jazz concerts, we have been sacked from the Crypt of St Giles Church by the church authorities and that the Jazzlive@theCrypt project no longer exists at St Giles Church. We have moved our jazz promoting operation to Le Petit Parisien Brasserie on Sundays where we will continue to promote high quality live jazz at accessible and affordable prices for you, along with the usual atmosphere and unbeatable vibe we are known for.

As you know the vicar of St Giles Church the Rev’d Nick George has installed new management at the Crypt led by Mr Mark Dodds of the Sun and Doves pub in Camberwell, with his associate Mr Steve Corbett as venue manager. Unfortunately the venue manager gave us one week’s notice to remove all our equipment from the venue and stop promoting jazz.

Please let us know (jazz@looksouth.net) what you think about this decision, whether you would like to know more about it or do anything about it. We will get back to you soon!

In the meantime the Jazz Live team and the Company and Registered Charity behind it, Jazz Umbrella, would like to thank all of you for visiting and supporting the club and our music at the Crypt of St Giles Church for the last 15 years, at what will go down in history as one of London’s legendary jazz clubs. Please support us in our new venue!

(Photo taken last week prior to opening)

I feel that this is a positive addition to the local shopping scene — maybe not clothing to everyones taste but I’m sure useful for lots of people. The best thing is that its increases the diversity of shops available in the town centre and it is not another fried chicken, betting, nails or off licence shop — not that I have anything against these shops but we do seem to have several of these types already.

In other news whilst walking to Sophocles bakery today I see that a new Polish delicatessan is due to open on Camberwell Church Street approximately opposite the Jungle Cafe — this I hope will be a useful addition to the area.

And I read in the South London Press last week (and its been mentioned here) that the Antic Pub Co are considering opening up a microbrewery in  the Tiger Pub. This would be fantastic news for the local area — imagine sipping a pint of Camberwell Tiger as you watch the world go by.  A quick google shows (see the results here) that in olden days (ie 19th century) the Camberwell Brewery Company established in 1860 and owned by Mr Richard Ray was located on Camberwell Green producing beer for the local market — it was taken over in 1895 by the company that eventually became Marstons and closed at some point but it may have even stood on the current Tiger site?

And in other Camberwell news I have just come back from a very sunny Glastonbury Festival where Camberwell’s own Florence and the Machine played an amazing set to 50,000+ people.

And finally do not miss the Big Dance at various locations across London this weekend — including events in Myatts Fields and Ruskin Park. See the latest edition of Lambeth Life (available online or pick up a copy at any Lambeth library or council office) for further details.

“Cross Kettles Yard in Cambridge with Barbara Hepworth’s studio in St Ives, throw in a quirky café and you’ll have the latest addition to the Camberwell Art Scene: the all-new South London Gallery.“

Friday saw the long awaited opening of the new SLG extension. The Matsudaira Wing now seamlessly extends into the once dilapidated neighbouring terraced house increasing the size and scope of the exhibition space along with the addition of a funky new café and an artist is residence apartment.

On the other side of the original 1891 Victorian gallery is now a large garden courtyard. To the right the huge floor to ceiling doors of the Clore studio swing open while a ceiling lantern runs the length of the building allowing more natural light to flood in. The outside tables and chairs are overlooked by the Marie Curie block of Sceaux Gardens, devastated by fire in 2009 the high rise has found a new lease of life with a bright buoyant mural by Yinka Shonibare.

Through the Clore Studio a beautiful brick path weaves through the newly planted Fox Garden back towards the back of the house where a new Atrium furnished simply with a long wood table stands beneath a sumptuous golden work by Paul Morrison. Beyond waft the smells of the ‘No. 67’ café. The ‘front room’ is taken up with tables and chairs and the neutral sludge colours sit well with the bulb lights and rough wood floor. Out front are more tables and chairs with a fine vista across the Peckham Road!

Upstairs are three more small exhibition rooms while the top floor has been transformed into an apartment with roof terrace. 6a Architects have striped and hacked illuminating the fabric of the building removing the ceilings to reveal the roof joists and do away with plasterwork to expose brick walls. From October the outset flat will be used for artists in residence.

The current exhibition ‘Nothing is Forever’ aims to seamlessly marry art and architecture; works have been made directly onto the walls to become part of the fabric of the building forever.

The SLG hosts five contemporary art exhibitions each year. Exhibitions and many of the SLG’s events are free. There is also a shop selling books and magazines relating to the works on view as well as those covering art theory and philosophy, artist monographs, live art, film and music.

I think the gallery is a great addition to our area and would recommend everyone visit.

Opening: Tuesday – Sunday, 10am-6.30pm, Wednesdays, 10am-9pm

www.southlondongallery.org

more photos at: flickr.com/photos/nickwoodford/sets/72157624357938986/

The events I’m personally looking forward to this week are:

The Myatt’s Field Park Tea Dance, taking place today (Sunday 20th), courtesy of Home Live Art.

Also today,  Daniel Lehan’s ‘Your Art Here Too’ on the Green, which follows on from last year’s successful event that drew many passers-by to have a go at creating some art and exhibiting it on the railings.

The Green becomes Speaker’s Corner on Monday evening, and, this being Camberwell Green, who knows how that will pan out…

The mysterious promise of ‘An Introduction to the Art of the Funerary Violin’ on Tuesday will, I expect, maintain the feeling that we’re entering the unknown where anything could happen.

Summertime Sounds in Grove Chapel should bring a sense of calm and civility back to proceedings on Wednesday.

Just in time for the Camberwell Beauty (see what they’ve done there?!) Fashion Day, hosted by the SE5 Forum, on Thursday.

We’ll get back to Midsummer Madness on Thursday night, though, as Creative Routes do what they do best in their Muses Cafe in the Crypt.

And the unpredictability continues on Friday with some story-telling and much more from the Honourable Society of Faster Craftswomen.

All of which brings us to next weekend, featuring a pop-up travel agency on the Green and the now traditional mayhem of The Chutney Preserves Fair on Sunday.

Phew!  I’m going to be busy.  And besides all that I have to fit in a visit to the Camberwell School of Arts end of year show, get a gander at the expanded and refurbished South London Gallery opening on Saturday 26th, and have a quick nosy in the various artist studios open this weekend and next.

There’s lot’s to see and do folks — so get out there and have a look.  The Camberwell Arts Festival is run on a small grant from Southwark Council, put together by our impressively serene and cheery Director, Kelly O’Reilly, and relies on the goodwill and enthusiasm of lots of artists.  It’s no mean feat, and it’s something Camberwell should be proud of.  Make the most of it!

Full info about all events can be found here: www.camberwellarts.org.uk

Just went to this lovely event that is on all week at our local theatre The Blue Elephant.

At spark events, storytellers, some amateur, some not, tell true stories from their lives. Tonight, the six stories were all connected to the theme ‘Animal magnetism’ and were woven together by Silver Lining – a duo that played floaty, folky tunes between anecdotes. The silver lining here was definitely the exception to the rule though, because there certainly wasn’t a cloud in sight in this intimate and funny evening.

A young girl told us about how she became an unlikely ‘sparkie’ in the film industry – from hauling huge lights around as a runner to driving a HGV full of lighting equipment to the rocky heights of Spain for a Bond film – when she was confronted by man who demanded she weigh up his elephant-sized bollocks.

We ventured (further?) into the dark side with a recount of someone’s conquest over the magnetism of cocaine and heard about love triangle between two teacher friends and their ‘baby giraff’ student. Messy it was.

As a total sucker for cat stories, I loved the one about Pablo the cat’s disappearance and the mad-capped plan to find him back which involved leafleting their mobile phone number to all of Brixton’s crazies.

Our animal instinct to tell a good story saw dumped bloke get revenge by hooking up with girlfriend of guy deemed ‘more man’ than he. And a drama graduate mourned the King. King — the ‘illegal immigrant’ penguin that is.

All in all, it was a great bag of goodies held together by some beautiful signing and music. In keeping with the local flavour of the night, as the audience dispersed, the band sang of ghosts in the Old Kent Road.

Check out one of the other nights this week if you can, every day has a different theme: guts, home, special delivery and close call. You can also get involved yourself and tell your own story on the open mike night on Friday.

It’s only £5 for Southwark residents and if you really get into it and want to see more than one show, you get the rest of the nights half price once you’ve seen one.

More on the Blue Elephant Theatre site: http://www.blueelephanttheatre.co.uk/whatson

Hello there, and yet another post by another guest poster. Apologies for the very long post but just couldn’t get it any shorter.

As many of you will no doubt have heard by now the former cinema and bingo hall has been bought by Merinbrand (whoever they are) on behalf of (we assume) the Redeemed Christian Church of God or RCCG for short. We believe that contracts have been exchanged but completion is not due to take place until the beginning of March. The chances of us stopping the sale are slim, but I do not think that should prevent us from trying.

We started a campaign this Monday to try and get more information and transparency over the sale of the building by Gala Bingo. Last week I was told that the information was confidential and that I would have to wait until the sale had gone through. I think it is safe to assume that they were a little surprised at how quickly we managed to gather the troops, and very soon after our photo in front of the cinema today we had the head of PR sending out emails absolving themselves of all responsibility and hanging the new (potential) owners out to dry.

This is thanks to people like Victor, a.k.a. Eusebiovic, who set up a Facebook page which has nearly 200 fans already and is growing by the second. Also thanks go to Copeywolf (James), Liliana of PROS,Melanie Rimmer of Camberwell Arts and last but not least Mark Dodds and Barbara Pattinson from the SE5 forum for all their help. I have created a website (www.CamberwellCommunityCinema.webs.com) for the campaign to keep the cinema for the community and I have no idea where all you people are coming from but the response has been (almost) unanimous against having RCCG move in.

I think this is a real chance for Camberwell to come together as a community. And I don’t just mean those who use the internet. I mean all those who loved the bingo and now have to go to Surrey Quays (because that’s convienient). I mean all those for whom Christianity is not their religion. I mean all the artists looking for a space. I mean something to stop Time Out banging out yet another edition about the “great” East End. I mean all those who want Camberwell to have a focal point we can be proud of.

RCCG will have to change the commercial use from D2 (Cinema, music and concert halls) to D1 (Places of worship and Church Halls). This is where we as a community come in. We cannot let this happen. There are so many reasons why this should not be allowed. So, write to your MP, write to your councillors. Tell the press, tell Boris. Shout it out. Email your friends. Join the facebook page. Tell your friends to join the facebook page. Write to famous Camberwellians. Make people notice. MAKE A FUSS!

To be fair I think most councillors are firmly behind us and John Friary has been helping already to ask questions. There is a Camberwell Community Council meeting next Wednesday 3^rd March at 7pm at Southwark Town Hall. Please go. We need to let Southwark Council know that Camberwell matters. We need them to stop palming us off with disjointed plans which come to nothing. On top of that, there is an election coming up. That should concentrate the mind wonderfully!

We will be getting some posters to put around Camberwell. I will put them on the website for you to download and print off. Stick them on windows of shops. Talk to your neighbours.

MAKE A FUSS!

Camberwell deserves better.

Tom.

a.k.a. Monkeycat.

Hello all, my name is Joe and I have previously written a post on this blog and am delighted that Peter considers me up to the job and has allowed me back to make a further contribute during his absence.

On Saturday I went to see  We Are Loughborough Junction, an exhibition of black and white portraits of Loughborough Junction residents taken by local photographer Conor Masterson. What made this particular exhibition different to most is that the images are displayed outdoors on the sides of houses, on railings and for sale sign boards around the local area.

There are a total of 169 portraits in all, I managed to see 167 as 2 of the photos had been removed by over zealous security guards from a derelict site on Coldharbour Lane who were unaware that the event was taking place. The size of the portraits vary from 16 inches (40cm) to around 8 feet (2.5 metres), some containing individuals and some containing families or groups.

I happen to know Conor but I don’t think I’m being biased in saying that the photographs in the show are fantastic and, for me at least, the project was a real success in terms of concept and execution. Viewing the portraits on the streets made them not only accessible but much more resonant than if they had been hung in a gallery.

I thought this was a really exciting community project  and thanks should be extended to all involved including Paul Adlam, Matt Matterson as well as Conor along with the Loughborough Junction Action Group and SE5 Forum and The Sun & Doves for providing the maps.

You can still see the photos which will remain on display until this Friday, 19th of February. I’d recommend printing out a map of the exhibition route although you may have to hurry as, according to Conor, 3 pictures have been removed or stolen.

It’s a busy week for the Arts in Loughborough Junction as Friday also sees the opening of the new Whirled Cinema which, according to their website, is a 60 seat cinema featuring HD projection and surround sound, along with a fully licensed bar and even an outdoor balcony.

The South London Press is also reporting that there is to be an investigation into the three huge fires in Camberwell and Peckham in the last 8 months. According to the BBC the investigation into the Lakanal House fire will not be complete for two years.

On a personal note I’m really looking forward to the opening of The Tiger (formerly the Silver Buckle) on the 25th. Having patronised The Sun & Doves, The Hermits Cave, The Joiners Arms and The Grand Union at the weekend as well as The Phoenix, The Castle, Le Petit Parisien and The George Canning in the last couple of weeks I’ll be well qualified to offer a comparison of local boozers.