Author Archives: Kennington Observer

About Kennington Observer

Surreptitiously observing Kennington, including the suburbs Vauxhall, Oval, Walworth, and Elephant since 2012. We're fiercely independent and never boring.

Church of England Society for Waifs and Strays, 1935

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Do you recognise the festive, festooned building below? The date is 1935, and the kiddos outside are eagerly awaiting a visit by King George V to their home. The building still very much stands at the base of central Kennington, but is now largely empty except for a video production company around the back.

The neo-classical, Grade II building you are looking  at below was built in 1852 and was the Vestry Hall (essentially the Town Hall) for Lambeth until things started getting a bit tight at the turn of the century. That’s when the Town Hall abandoned us for bigger spaces in Brixton. Lambeth then leased the building to the Church of England Children’s Society as their headquarters. Also known as the Waifs and Strays, the charity arranged pastoral care and fostering for poor and destitute kids who lived there, and the kids feature in this photo.  It served this noble purpose until another Charity, the Countryside Alliance, moved in behind the columns in 1986.

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Vauxhall Cross – 1958

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We have a shameless obsession with old photos of greater Kennington here at the Runoff and here is a little mid week fix for you, the first of a series over the next month. My predecessor Jamie put up quite a few  last year and they are delightful.

This picture is of a very different Vauxhall Cross circa 1958. The shot is looking east up Albert Embankment, and might have been taken on the top floor of the building were Starbucks now resides. The buildings on the left are now occupied by the bus shelter, and were the billboards are is now an expanded approach to Albert Embankment.  So changes to the flow of traffic is not a new occurrence in Vauxhall! Lambeth13877

North Lambeth Parish Fete – It’s a Thing

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The annual North Lambeth Fete is back on 22 Jun from 12:30 to 4:30pm, and its a thing.  We’ve never been as we usually opt for the Cleaver Sq. Fete, which has apparently been moved to Christmas in order to avoid clashing with this event. This is a bit of a shame, as we’ll miss the annual Cleaver summer spectacle of Kate Hoey getting heckled, a slightly drunk Vicar acting as MC, and a wholly inappropriate Punch and Judy show for the kids. But life goes on…

While we may have never before been to the Fete, we have been to the gardens of Lambeth Palace and they are stunning, extensive and almost never open to the public. The price of the ticket itself justifies a wander around.   According to our sources, the North Lambeth Fete is more kid friendly than its Cleaver counterpart and is known for its dog show and features prizes, including fastest sausage eater and least obedient (we assume these prizes are for the dogs and not humans). There is also face painting, live music, and races for the kids. And if you don’t have kids there’s a Pimms tent to keep you sane. And if you do have kids there’s a Pimms tent to keep you sane.

To whet you appetite we found this totally manic video on YouTube. Free coffee mugs!!!!

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The Gardening Museum and a Scary Tony Blair Gnome

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Our second gardening blog in a week, you lucky devils! Over the weekend we popped over to the Gardening Museum to inspect it’s not so recent (2017) renovation and to see if it’s worth getting your hands dirty for.

The museum is set within a 12thcentury church next to Lambeth Palace (and visitors can climb the original tower). Surprisingly, the church was  almost demolished in the 1970’s but saved by gardening enthusiasts (and Charlie Chaplin)  keen to preserve the memory of John Tradescant, who’s garden themed tomb still stands in the outside garden. The deconsecrated church setting is one of the primary features.

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The museum itself is on the small side and encompasses bedding design, implements, seeds, and how ‘plant hunters’ brought plants to the UK from around the world which still flourish to this day. There are also paintings and sketches. The exhibits also includes interesting displays of old lawn mowers, FlyMo’s and even (wait for it) a collection of garden gnomes!  Our favourite is a slightly psychotic gnome which bears an uncanny resemblance to Tony Blair:

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The author of 90% of content here on the Runoff was undertaken by my brilliant predessesor who heretofore shall be referred to as ‘Jamie’. Jamie was a big fan of the café at the Gardening Museum and s/he made it their number one pick for best local restaurant earlier this year (In case you wondered Jamie isn’t dead). It is bright, open to the gardens and very informal if not a bit pricey. A little courtyard in the middle of the restaurant is dominated by the tomb of William Bligh (of Mutiny on the Bounty fame) and family. The inscription to his wife being every bit as moving as that of his on the front.

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At £10 the museum is a bit on the steep side but if you want to get the dirt on gardening it is certainly the place to be. And it has a nice shop!

Walworth Garden

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We live in a lovely and luscious enclave of central London, but to be frank it isn’t the greenest place on earth. If you are ever in need of a little botanical realness in your life you could do a lot worse than pop over to the little gem that is Walworth Garden in East Kennington

In addition to being a great place to stroll around, sit and reflect (they have loads of benches), they also sell plants. If you’re fortunate enough to have a garden they can give you great ideas about what to plant and how to plant things. If your garden is in your front room they also sell a range of indoor plants. Walworth also has an apiary. When we first heard this we got very excited about the possibility of seeing actual apes. An apiary is in fact a place where bees are kept and feature centrally in what they do. Their honey harvest in July is an annual feature.

In addition to the many luxurious plants, Walworth also offers training courses for gardeners and a range of workshops including making eco friendly cleaning products, incense, oils, cosmetics and soap. Imagine the fun you could have by giving rosemary infused window cleaner as presents to your friends for the fifth year on the trot.

Walworth Garden is not a garden centre per se but it a registered charity, and they accept donations. However, they also have a  very good gardening service, as recommended by a friend of the Runoff.

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Lambeth County Court

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Do you like architecture? Do you like site specific art stuff? Well the Runoff loves both, and if you are a kindred spirit you’re in double luck. We’ve just noticed that the old Lambeth County Court building in Cleaver Street, which closed forever at the end of 2017 after 90 years hard service as a housing court, is hosting a site specific art installation and it is open both this weekend (1-2 June) and next weekend. This will probably be your last ever chance to see the 92 year old art deco beaut  before it is handed over to developers and probably turned into _______  ________ (I’ll leave you to fill in the blanks, but it isn’t ‘subsidised housing’).

The artist in question is called Greta Alfaro and the show is called ‘I Will Not Hesitate to React Spiritually’. I’ll let the website do the talking about the content of the show. Meanwhile, open to Kenningtonians is the main reception area, the stairwell, a courtroom, and a further room which features a video installation of a person in a powdered wig and a veil tap dancing on a table. Enjoy!

I also accidentally opened the doors to some other rooms which were unlocked, but I couldn’t possibly recommend that you do likewise. Photos below…..Image-5.pngImage-1.pngImage-2.pngImage-4.png

How a Beefeater Ended Up In Kennington

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Most of you are aware that the world famous Beefeater Gin is distilled right here in mighty Kennington, but have you ever wondered why? Well we’re about to tell you.

As Gin became newly acceptable and ‘on trend’ in the 1860’s (much like the 2010’s) a pharmacist named James Burrough bought an old school distillery in Chelsea and decided to add ‘London’ and ‘Beefeater’ to it’s name as a break from the past and as an homage to it’s origin. By 1908 the factory in Chelsea was proving too cramped and they packed up and moved near the Royal Douton factories in Black Prince Road. The move was strategic, as Doulton made many of the kilns in which the ‘mother’s ruin’ was brewed.

By the mid 1950’s the premesis was again proving too old and cramped and Beefeater decided to move to an old pickle factory in Montford Place, where it remains to this day (this is not how we get the phrase ‘getting pickled’, but wouldn’t that be fun). This is when Beefeater really took off and became a global brand. At the time the site was much larger as Beefeater also bottled it’s gin on site. In 1988 the Burrough family sold out to a brewing chain who quickly moved the bottling facility to Scotland. This left a lot of excess land, which was sold to Tesco (and then to Berkeley Homes but lets not open that can of worms again). The company is now owned by French giant Pernod Ricard.

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A number of years ago we visited the distillery, before the visitor centre and shop were introduced in 2016. It is a fascinating place. Apparently it employs ‘about 5 people’ which might explain the desolate atmosphere around the place. However, The £15 charge for touring the place might also explain the desolate atmosphere around the place. On the upside, the shop offers a range of unusual gins that you won’t find in places elsewhere in London. Shame more Kennington pubs don’t fly the Beefeater banner proudly!

City and Guilds Foundation Show

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It’s that time of year again! The ever expanding City and Guilds of London Art School in Kennington Park Road is having it’s annual Foundation Show right now and as we love you so much we decided to take a break from Loose Women working to investigate it for you.

The artists are completing their foundation year, so the work is less advanced than the much grander Degree Show (I’ll get on to that in a sec). The students are studying a more proscribed range of styles than their more advanced counterparts but are much more experimental (read, slightly mad). The themes this year seem to be 1. Saving the planet   2. Nudity   3. Saving the planet through nudity  4. Rocks

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The Foundation show is on tomorrow (Friday) from 10 – 5 and Saturday 10 – 5. It is in the old telephone building in Kenning’s Way

Coming up from 26 June to 30 June is the mighty (we’re talking huge) Degree Show in the main buildings of the college. It showcases a range of up and coming artists arranged in small rooms, so you can see a selection of their works. What we find most interesting is that you can see the work of historic wood and stone carvers in the back garden area. Also of interest is the areas dealing with conservation and restoration on the upper floors. And if you don’t care for something keep your trap shut as chances are the artist is within earshot. Ta!

Ghost Signs

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Next time you are out and about in SE11, SE17 or SE1 look up and you might detect something slightly less fading than the value of your home. They’re called Ghost Signs, and we are the lucky recipient of fast least three of them (and I challenge you to find others). The most intriguing is for a motorbike shop called ‘Ariel’, and it once inhabited the small courtyard next to  Durning Library. The image below is old, as the sign now has now faded almost into obscurity. There are whole websites, blogs, apps and even tours dedicated to fading signs. The most comprehensive is called ‘Ghost Signs’, 

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There are two more Ghost Signs that we’ve found with images below. The top is to be found at the top of Brixton Road and advocates the virtues of smoking,  The other is to be found in Iliffe Street in Walworth.

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Seveni Bar and Grill – The Real Chinese Deal

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An underlooked gem on the gastronomic  landscape of greater Kennington is a newish place called Seveni Bar and Grill, at the top of Kennington Road across from the Imperial War Museum. Kennington Runoff has recently been to central China (not for this specific review, mind you, as the budget usually ends at tea bags) and we can assure you that this joint is the real deal, organs and all.

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What first strikes the patron is the presence of Chinese pop music (tick) and actual Chinese diners (triple tick). As a starter I had the lamb intestine. I’ve never actually eaten an intestine before, and I can only describe it as kind of like squid. It was heavily seasoned with cumin (as a lot of dishes are),  sesame, and a great deal of pepper. I thought about ordering the pig brain, aorta, or tongue but then thought that my table would end up looking more like a post mortem dissection, so I gave them a miss.

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For the main course I decided to go a bit more mainstream and order the stir fry sliced beef with sour pepper. I got the mild version (you can choose the hotness) but it was so hot that I had to order an extra 5 Tsingtao beers (oops). The peppers can be avoided to make it less hot, but it was excellent. Slightly fatty beef and a great combination of sour and slightly sweet and the portion was huge….And you ain’t gonna get that in Gerrard St, mister.

All of the tables are set up with BBQs for on table grilling and on the night I visited there was a  mix of couples and larger groups. So great for a date, work ‘do, or just ‘we don’t feel like cooking;’ night.

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