Category Archives: buildings

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!

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!

The Great Stink of Kennington

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We imagine that a on a daily basis a large number of you think ‘will the Runoff EVER do a feature on sewage and foul smells’? Well dear reader, your time HAS COME!

 

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The Victorians gave London many architectural gems; the Houses of Parliament and St. Pancras to name a few. In Kennington they endowed us with probably London’s most attractive example of a  Stinkpipe, and it’s right above your nose in central Kennington. If you’re wondering what we’re talking about, the Victorians solved many problems but struggled with sewage for years. This was called The Great Stink of London and resulted in some radical methods to solve it.. Stinkpipes were one such method and were installed around London to divert the smell of poo and their more noxious byproducts. The idea was to elevate the odours from sewers and subterranean rivers above sensitive Victorian noses.

So while the Great Stink might have been deplorable, it realised great advancements later in the industrial age, such the creation of the Embankment and cleaning up of the Thames. More recently the Stink has also been credited with a number of interesting and slightly unsettling blogs dedicated to Stinkpipes and other above ground sewage devices.

We Are the Lambeth Boys

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You could probably spend a day few days, or in our case years, exploring the BFI Film Archive of old films about London. We recently discovered this treasure called ‘We Are the Lambeth Boys’ and it gives a fascinating insight into Kennington circa 1959.

The film depicts the lives of the girls and boys of Alford House youth club, which still flourishes in Aveline Street, pictured below. To 2019 eyes the 49 minute film appears slightly condescending, but it was in fact intended to dispel conceptions of ‘Teddy Boys’ (hence the conversation about apparel early in the film) and the culture of youth clubs in general.

Examining the (nerd alert!) outside shots of the estates, we think they were filmed around Newburn Street. If you are a fellow fan of ‘ohh, I know where that is’ viewing, scroll to (nerd alert 2!) 33:30 for a distinct view of 50’s Kennington Cross (shown below). If you’re still on board scroll back to (nerd alert 3!) to 26:10 for a glimpse of Cleaver Street toward Cleaver Sq. If you have any further nerd revelations please drop them in the comments box….

I need some nicer clothes…..

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Ta Ta Tesco

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For those of you new to the area, or those who are of a forgetful disposition as we are, you might not be aware that Tesco Kennington Lane will be closing forever in June. It will be replaced by a Tesco (probably the Metro variety) in the soon to vanish car park.

How can this be happening, you ask? Well several years ago Berkeley Homes purchased the Tesco site and the redundant gas holders behind it. After several years planning permission was granted for the construction of 728  new homes ranging from 4 to 17 stories, and 23, 000 sq. feet of commercial space. And taking a page out the King’s Cross book, one of the gas holders will have flats in it. The Lambeth planning application  (great for insomniacs) indicates that this will take 30 months (a gentle way of saying 2.5 years) but the Berkeley homes website indicates ‘Phase 1’ will take 40 months.

Not to worry, dear reader, when all is said and done there will be a new all singing and dancing Tesco, and a pic of it is below. The footprint is slightly smaller than the old store, but according to a consultation I went to last year it will be better laid out. Precisely how Berkeley Homes know how Tesco will lay out its store I’m not exactly sure.

If you want to make yourself feel all warm inside about our neighbourhood, have a gander at the slightly fictionalised description of Kennington/Oval on the Berkeley Homes website . Oval Village beckons!

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two of Kennington’s finest institutions are under threat

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Read more about the threat to Bonnington Cafe and sign a petition here.

Read more about the threat to the Cinema Museum and sign a petition here.

Both of these institutions are magical, unique and irreplaceable. The area will be much worse off without them.

See our original piece about the Bonnington Cafe here.

Bonnington Square Cafe - kenningtonrunoff.com

See our original piece about the Cinema Museum here.

The bar and shop at the Cinema Museum - kenningtonrunoff.com

The Migration Museum and The Workshop

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The Workshop is the former fire engine workshop on the corner of Lambeth High Street and Whitgift Street.

The Workshop - kenningtonrunoff.com

It previously played host to VIP parties and the Scumoween illegal rave before the developers Vauxhall One took it over and turned it into a temporary community and events space. It’s becoming an increasingly vibrant destination, playing host to the monthly Vintage Vauxhall Market, and seeing queues stretching all the way around the block when it hosted the Art Car Boot Fair.

The Art Car Boot Fair at The Workshop - kenningtonrunoff.com

The Workshop also has two more long term residents – the Fire Brigade Museum:

London Fire Brigade Museum - kenningtonrunoff.com

And a timely arrival in the area, the Migration Museum:

The Migration Museum figurines - kenningtonrunoff.com

We are big fans of migration and found this a thoughtful and moving museum with a lot of relevance to the local area:

Outside Bar Estrella, July 2006, after Portugal won World Cup Quarter Final against England at the Migration Museum

Outside Bar Estrella, July 2006, after Portugal won World Cup Quarter Final against England at the Migration Museum

The Migration Museum is on the first floor of the Workshop with no step free access. It’s open to the public Wednesdays–Sundays (plus bank holidays), from 11am–5pm.

The Migration Museum exhibit - kenningtonrunoff.com

Address: The Workshop, 26 Lambeth High Street, London SE1 7AG.

The Garden Cafe

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Watch out Brunswick House, steady on Louie Louie, there’s a new contender for the title of Best Restaurant in Kennington – The Garden Cafe at the redesigned, refurbished Garden Museum.

Let’s start with the negative – the Garden Museum have only gone and destroyed their beautiful garden! This was the best feature of the old museum – an oasis of calm and quiet featuring a 36 year old knot garden, and the grave of local, ahem, hero William Bligh. What has replaced it is a courtyard that’s nice enough but not an oasis. We’re so annoyed we might actually start paying attention to planning applications.

The Garden Museum courtyard - kenningtonrunoff.com

The old Garden Museum had a real community feel to it, whereas the new one feels more like a corporate events space. And it costs £10 to get in to the museum, so you’d have to be really interested in gardening (the cafe is free to enter).

gravestone chic

gravestone chic

But it might be worth it because the food in the new-look cafe is so good, and the space isn’t bad either – nice and light, with the courtyard along one side.

The Garden Museum cafe interior - kenningtonrunoff.com

The food is fresh, modern, seasonal and full of flavour, with a constantly changing menu.

This was a melt-in-the-mouth chicken leg, with rainbow chard and borlotti beans:

Chicken leg, rainbow chard and borlotti beans at the Garden Museum - kenningtonrunoff.com

The menu is fairly short and there aren’t as many vegetarian or vegan options as we’d like (unlike the old cafe which was all veggie), but this farro, courgettes, aubergine and mint was good:

Farro, courgettes, aubergine and mint at The Garden Museum - kenningtonrunoff.com

On a subsequent visit we had this starter of pigeon, cooked rare and not as tender as we’d hoped, with radicchio and elderberries for £8.50:

Pigeon, radicchio and elderberries at The Garden Cafe Museum - kenningtonrunoff.com

But this beef shin lasagne more than made up for it – an awesome, mouth watering dish for £14:

Beef shin lasagne at The Garden Cafe Museum - kenningtonrunoff.com

Likewise this pappardelle with courgettes and parmesan, a bargain at £10:

Pappardelle, courgettes and parmesan at The Garden Cafe Museum - kenningtonrunoff.com

Kennington’s leading restaurant critic Jay Rayner got there first of course, so read his review for more details including where the chefs came from (very good restaurants).

As Jay points out, the only snag with the Garden Cafe is the opening hours:

“Lunch is served from 12pm – 3pm daily (12pm – 2pm on Saturdays).

Dinner is served on Tuesday and Friday evenings from 6pm.

Due to the busy lunch period, the restaurant only serves meals from 12 – 3pm, but outside this time tea, coffee and fresh pastries are available.”

Address: The Garden Museum, Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB.