13 thoughts on “The beginning of my end?”

  1. It is fit for purpose, as they say, excellent. I’m not sure I registered right. I would like my delightful Danish name to be my “screen name” but so far the machinery is addressing me by my initial and surname “D. Road” kind of thing.

  2. You can change the name it displays by clicking PROFILE (at the top), then choose ‘Account Related Settings’ from the left.

  3. Many thanks. I was pedalling past Pharoah’s on Peckham Road today and various bits and pieces of detritus had been thrown out on the street. One was an old pendulum clock in a wooden case and I thought, hello, here’s a bit of Camberwelliana, but on further inspection the clockface just said QUARTZ — MADE IN CHINA not “George Peckham, Camberwell, 1865”. I had wanted to turn the clock back, hold a seance and question the clock about what it had witnessed…

  4. I have now brought the clock home despite or because of its wretchedness and it still works — I bunged in two new AA batteries and the pendulum swings, but the clock hands won’t rotate. This is another “project” that litters my long-suffering partner’s back yard. I will persist in fixing it.

    The clock is very fragile and may be 30 years old — its components and painted wood casing are incredibly frail. A clock made in China now would be far more robust.

    China is a big theme in Camberwell, in that many of the issues we have are related to the dynamic vortex of the global market that sucks our will down the New Camberwell Road, over Vauxhall Bridge, over to the Stock Exchange and blasts it out again into the world.

    I used to drink in Pharaohs when it was the Walmer Castle. A mate of mine worked at the Lister Health Centre and I was due to met him in the Walmer Castle on the evening of his 30th birthday. But he meant the Walmer Castle in Notting Hill. He is a psychoanalyst, so he’s bound to make mistakes. I realised the misunderstanding and pedalled up there pronto, boy was I thirsty when I got there.

    Anyway, when the clock is fixed I’ll turn it back, ask it about life in the Walmer and Pharoahs before the fire, and report back.

    This is a far better project than the Naked Cycle Ride which may confirm to car drivers that cyclists are cranks. I can also watch the England-Paraguay game.

  5. Looks good Peter and best of luck to all of you for the re-launch of the site and the forum.

  6. I hope it’s not the end, I quite like the blog, I’ll miss it if it goes but if the SE5Forum proves more successful at gaining a more collective response from people living in all the parts of Camberwell then that would be a very good thing indeed

  7. Don’t worry, eusebiovic, even if SE5Forum.org takes off in a big way, I’ll still be here. All I need is people telling me they “quite like” my work.

  8. Peter — I’ll continue to modestly praise your impressive work. I wouldn’t want you to get an inflated head or a simular serious condition…

  9. Morning all! The Se5 forum site looks good Peter.

    A couple of nice positive Camberwell stories to share with on on this sunny morning.

    1. I had family round on Sunday for lunch — an being an immigrant from deepest rural Kent my people aren’t familiar with the charms of Camberwell. My Dad commented on how much he liked Camberwell and was particualrly impressed and cheered by the huge range of national flags flyting around Camberwell for the Football — “i think it would be much better if Kent was more like this place” he said — which is nice i think!

    2. Second was the dramatic duck rescue on Denmark Hill!! Saturday morning i was pottering up to Sainsburys when i noticed a flock of very lost ducklings by Kings college hospital. As it became obvious their mother had been killed on the road,with the help of passers bye i tried to usher them into Ruskin Park. The ducks had other ideas so for the next hour almost everyone who passed by became heavily involved in a frantic duck rescue mission, all running across Denmark Hill trying to rescue this little flock of frightened ducklings. Eventually we managed to get them all in to a box and the lady from the florist called the RSPCA. Not a dramatic story i know bu a nice little example of how Camberwell people do care sometimes!

  10. The ducklings story is great. So are Peter’s photographs, Eusebiovic’s insight, TommyD’s knowledge… All these things obviate the need for me to make perilously troll-like entries about a Chinese clock from Pharaohs. As it happens, the refurbished clock sent me to get a packet of cheap fags from Spar, then rattled on about life in Pharaohs and the Walmer, all in Chinese.

  11. Oh no! Please tell me the quiet on here isn’t a result of competition from the new SE5 Forum site.

    Just posted there about the upcoming Camberwell Community Council meeting on Monday 26 June, 7pm at the Camberwell Leisure Centre.

    Clever venue. Hope a large turnout won’t cause undue stress and lead to structural damage 🙂

  12. Talking of Cambridge House, I lived there for 5 years. I was a volunteer receptionist at the Law Centre there for much longer. The solicitor I worked for was a fantastic, blind community lawyer who won the Elizabeth Frink award for blind women of achievement. She was so insightful about people, she even knew what they looked like. Mind you, I was glad to leave Walworth for Camberwell.

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