Drunks, closures, park

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.

Author: Peter

Long-time resident of Camberwell, author of this blog since July 2004.

129 thoughts on “Drunks, closures, park”

  1. I beg ya pardon but my post was out of place.

    Which gives me the feeling I am being over scrutinised?

  2. 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!

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. “breathy girls like me in tiny ever-fraying denim miniskirts”.

    Yes. But no opaque tights. That would help us all through these tricky times.

  6. 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!

  7. @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

  8. 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…

  9. March scrunteth,
    April chunteth,
    May be where
    Herne hunteth.
    June know,
    July hell,
    August of wind
    In Camberwell.

  10. September seven,
    October eight,
    November nine,
    December ten,
    January, look both ways, then,
    February, March!

  11. Golden Grill back room restaurant. Great starter plate included in the price, superb value, top kebabs, and beer is served too. Go go go!

  12. 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.

  13. 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.

  14. 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.

  15. 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.

  16. 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.

  17. 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.

  18. 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.

  19. 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

  20. 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.

  21. @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.

  22. 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…

  23. @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!

  24. @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!

  25. @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.

  26. 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!

  27. 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.

  28. 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.

  29. 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.

  30. @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.

  31. 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.

  32. 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.

  33. 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

  34. 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?

  35. 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.

  36. 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.

  37. 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.

  38. 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.

  39. @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.

  40. @regeneguru — City of London is pretty much car-free today. It’s better.

    Few too many choppers buzzing about.

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