Joy Crookes – South London Songs

Joy Crookes at Queens Road, PeckhamSinger Joy Crookes has a new album out, Skin,  and very good it is too. She's been compared to Amy Winehouse, but she has a great voice of her own and her songs are rooted firmly in 2020s London. Joy grew up at Elephant and Castle and her songs reference ...

Little Amal comes to Deptford

At least a couple of thousand people turned out last Friday (22/10/2021) to greet 'Little Amal' to Deptford: a 3.5 metre-tall puppet of a young refugee girl that has been travelling  8000 km across Europe from the Turkish-Syrian border. Created by the Handspring Puppet Company (famous for The War Horse among other projects), the puppet ...

Open Mic at Telegraph pub

 The open mic session at The Telegraph at Earl of Derby pub (Dennetts Road SE14) continues to go from strength to strength. It was a full house last week (21st October) with featured act Bolt the Door. They started out with 'Last night's fun' which as well as being a well known Irish Reel it ...

An Anti-Slavery Speech in Deptford, 1830

In November 1830 one B.C. Challis gave a lecture that was published shortly after as 'The Substance of a Speech on Negro Slavery. Delivered at the Rev. Mr. Barker's Chapel, High Street, Deptford, on Tuesday Evening, 2nd November, 1830'. The whole text is available to read online and while some of the language is archaic, ...

Life tips from Beckenham

 

BBNO – new brewery at Mordern Wharf

Out for a bike ride round the Greenwich peninsula last weekend we saw some people drinking at tables next to a warehouse on the riverside at Morden Wharf. So of course we stopped to investigate and had a quick drink - just one, hey we were cycling. The site is the new home for South London ...

Music Monday: Broadside Hacks

Broadside Hacks is a new 'London-based collective committed to the celebration and perpetuation of folk music', with a great new album out, 'Songs Without Authors Vol.1'.  The collective have been doing a folk session at Skehans (Kitto Road SE14) and a video for one of the tracks - Willie of Winsbury by Katy J Pearson & ...

Croydon racist protest outnumbered

A small far right anti-refugee protest in Croydon was outnumbered by opposition on 4th September. Only around 20 racists got it together to turn up at Lunar House (Home Office UK Visas and Immigration HQ), where they complained about being let down by the no shows and being surrounded by anti-fascists numbering between 150-200.Far right ...

Dub London – nights of raving

'Dub London: Bassline of a city' closed last week at the Museum of London, a small exhibition documenting the impact of reggae sound system culture in the capital. Exhibits included a speaker stack from Channel One sound system, photographs and a vinyl selection provided by London reggae record shops. Naturally, South East London featured prominently, with ...

Extinction Rebellion back on Blackheath – if not now, when?

As part of this month's Extinction Rebellion 'Impossible Rebellion' in London, some supporters have been camping out on Blackheath, as they did in 2019 and as their Climate Camp predecessors did back in 2009.'If not you, then who? If not now, the when? Demand Climate Action''Let's nurse the earth''Welcome to Blackheath Camp', a Greenwich XR ...