Rooms at The Tommyfield – Kennington’s newest and nicest hotel

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

Another of our Kennington Predictions for 2014 has come true – Ace Hotels have opened their latest outpost in Kennington.

Errrrr……OK, that’s not 100% true (yet), but Kennington does now have its own super-bijou boutique hotel in the form of six hotel rooms above The Tommyfield pub on Kennington Cross, and they’ve been decorated in a rather refined shade of industrial chic that isn’t a million miles from the Ace Hotel aesthetic. Our room was all white-washed brick walls, a chair that we’ve definitely seen in the Conran Shop, and a typographic ‘We not me’ print on the wall from the Changethethought collective.

Lovely bathroom too, with marble topped double sink and huge walk-in rain shower:

They launched without any fanfare at all in mid-May, and we were the first guests to stay in Room 3, although we have it on good authority that Russell Kane will shortly be lounging on the very same Super King Hypnos bed shortly.

A launch price of £119 per night per room (including breakfast) is reasonable for rooms that can more than compete with the very best that Airbnb can offer locally, minutes from the geographic centre of London.

If you stay on a week day it’s a DIY breakfast in your room from a pick of porridges, muesli, fresh fruit and juices, and our favourite Teapigs teas, plus a Nespresso machine.

At the weekend, guests breakfast downstairs in the pub from a more extensive menu, available until a very civilized 11.30am. But more of that later.

North Lambeth L&R Club

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

We’d always assumed this place, in between houses on Kennington Road, was derelict. Then a BT Sport banner appeared outside:

Soon followed by an advert for an event:

Now we have so many questions.

What’s it like inside?

When does it open? It never looks open.

Can anyone go, or do you have to be a member?

What does L&R stand for?

Is it on brand for Kennington Runoff? (Do they serve Kernel beer?) We fear not, but as you may have guessed, we’re running out of places to write about that are.

Hula Boogie Bunnyhoppin’ at South London Pacific Tiki Bar

Posted on April 16, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

If, as evening draws in on Easter Sunday, you’ve dropped a couple too many of Sally White’s Speckled Praline Quail Eggs and you’re looking for some vigorous physical exercise within staggering distance, let Hula Boogie come to your rescue. The award-winning 1950s-obsessed night will be celebrating Easter at the South London Pacific Tiki Bar with a Bunnyhoppin’ vintage dance on Sunday 20th April, where they hope to form the longest bunny hop line ever. Oh, and there’s also an Easter egg hunt in case you haven’t yet over-indulged.

Club founder Miss Aloha will be on hand at 7.30pm to lead a 1950s jive/rock ‘n’ roll taster class, followed by a class in the exotic Hawaiian hula dance, the Hukilau, at 8pm.

Free Easter eggs and £1 off the entrance fee for those who attend wearing bunny ears (entry without bunny ears is £7). Or FREE ENTRY for one lucky Kennington Runoff reader and their friend with our exciting competition. To win two guestlist places just tell us which Kennington musical celebrity performed onstage last year at the South London Pacific:

a) Morrissey
b) Florence Welch
c) Chilli from Palma Violets.

Send the correct answer via email to kenningtonrunoff@gmail.com by midday on Good Friday, please.

Hula Boogie is held at South London Pacific Tiki Bar, 340 Kennington Road, London SE11 4LD. 7pm to midnight.

Greengrassi/Corvi-Mora art gallery

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

You could live in Kennington for decades and never happen across Kempsford Road. You could live on Kempsford Road and have no idea there’s an art gallery there. But there is – Greengrassi, AKA Corvi-Mora. Even the doorbell is hard to reach – presumably short people aren’t big art buyers.

If you can find the gallery, we recommend visiting between now and April 26th as the main room downstairs is showing Everything is about to happen, “an ongoing archive of artists’ books selected by Gregorio Magnani”.

All the books and pamphlets are either self-published or from small publishers. So yes, what we’re talking about here is a load of art books by people you’ve never heard of, laid out on a huge wooden table. It’s much better than it sounds because so many of the books are intriguing and/or beautiful, like the room in which they’re displayed.

These books celebrate the mundane, cheap jokes, puns, sloganeering, and porn… all the classic themes of modern art are here. If you want to read them in depth you are supposed to take them into the reading station and don white gloves.

Or rubber gloves if you want to look at the top ones below (n.b. this next image is NSFW, unless you work in a modern art gallery or The Locker Room):

Opening hours: 11am to 6pm Tuesday to Saturday

Address: 1A Kempsford Road (off Wincott Street), London SE11 4NU

The Coffee Mob

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

The Coffee Mob is a ~~notorious Clerkenwell-based gang~~ relatively recent addition to the Kennington Flowers stall outside St Anselm’s Church at Kennington Cross. This coffee van is a joint venture between Tomorrow’s People and The Coffee Mob, who say they source all their coffee ethically and donate all their profits to Centrepoint.

Want to know what a cup of Coffee Mob coffee says about you? Their website has the answer: “I appreciate a great cup of coffee but I want to help others too, and I have a high tolerance for cringe-y brand messages”.

Like Kennington Flowers, The Coffee Mob van is open from Tuesday to Saturday from whenever they feel like till whenever they feel like, so snap up a coffee for £2 while you can. But if you’re in the market for a decaf soy macchiato, prepare for a blank stare.

Kenneth Clarke’s house

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

Kenneth Clarke is one of many politicians who live in Kennington, and squatters visited his home in 2011 when, as justice secretary, he was responsible for removing the 700 year old right to shelter in unoccupied residential buildings (we got that fact from the guy in the video; who knows if it’s true?). See the video here.

Squatting in commercial premises remains legal and squatters briefly occupied The Duchy Arms, a former pub at the top of Ken’s road Courtenay Street, in 2013, turning it into a community centre.

Fathers for Justice also staged a protest at Ken’s house once. It’s like the Trafalgar Square of Kennington. We might head down there ourselves for a dirty protest if no-one does anything about the dog poo on Kennington Road.

Kennington Park Skate Bowl

Posted on January 5, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

Kennington Park’s skate bowl is London’s oldest, having been here since 1978. It was closed soon after due to a design flaw that made it easy to fall through the safety rail, which of course made it hugely appealing to skaters. Then in 2011 Converse came along and ~~ruined everything~~ refurbished it, making it safer, and it reopened in 2012.

Meditation at the Jamyang Buddhist Centre

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

Happy new year.

Are you starting the new year in need of spiritual sustenance? Get yourself down to the Jamyang Buddhist Centre on Renfrew Road in North Kennington, one of two Buddhist centres in Kennington with a third one on the way in the former Beaufoy Institute.

On January 6th from 7.30pm till 9pm is one of Jamyang’s regular Introduction to Meditation sessions. We’ve been to one of these sessions before. What can we tell you about it?

– You’ll have to take your shoes off.
– It’s not a brazen attempt to convert you to Buddhism – Buddha barely got a mention.
– There are opportunities to ask questions. Someone else asked the question we should have asked – how to stay awake during meditation? The instructor did provide some practical suggestions but also said it doesn’t matter if you fall asleep, at which point we nodded off.
– They do a nice quiche and salad in the cafe during the day.
– It’s free but donations are welcome.
– Meditation is scientifically proven to boost concentration, reduce stress, depression, anxiety and addictive behaviours, and can even help with physical problems like heart disease and chronic pain (sorry we can’t lay our hands on the scientific proof right now).

So, all in all, an ideal opportunity to have a look around the Buddhist centre – which has a nice, welcoming vibe whatever your religious beliefs – and to try ~~napping~~ meditation.

Read about the history of the building – and old courthouse – here.

The Courtyard Cafe, featuring a Buddha in a glass cage made from pure Nepalese gold:

Kennington Park

Posted on December 8, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

It’s a beautiful day so, on your way to the Pullens Yards open day, why not take a walk through Kennington Park?

This is is Lambeth’s oldest park, having been established in 1854, and was previously Kennington Common where up to 300,000 chartists rallied in 1848, as well as being the site of many other protests. Nowadays it plays occasional host to fairs and London’s version of Oktoberfest, but the rest of the time there’s plenty to look out for:

There are football and hockey astroturf pitches. Bob Marley used to play football in Kennington Park while recording the Exodus album and staying at the Rastafari temple on St Agnes Place (a long-standing squatted street alongside the park that was needlessly demolished in 2007).

Oh, and Kennington Common was the place where football began – the Gymnastic Society played regularly on Kennington Common during the late 18th century.

There are also tennis, netball and basketball courts, outdoor gym facilities, a community cricket area, a skate bowl, and these outdoor table tennis tables which are a recent arrival:

Delicious local honey from Bee Urban is harvested in the grounds of the Keeper’s Lodge, although, controversially, they are due to be relocated within the park as a consequence of the Northern Line extension. You can purchase the honey from the cafe in the middle of the park, as well as at local fetes, and it really does taste great.

Prince Consort’s Lodge was originally built for the Great Exhibition of 1851 as an example of a “model dwelling” and was re-erected in the model location – Kennington – from 1852-3. It was sponsored by Prince Albert, hence the name:

Look out for these trees with weird triangular-shaped trunks (technical term), and there’s also a nature trail through the park (look for the silver signs):

Generally the park looks lovely at this time of year, although the English Flower Garden doesn’t really come into its own until spring:

So how did Kennington Park become so desirable and have so much going for it? Remember the Friends of Durning Library? Well, there’s another mysterious Kennington organisation that are equally feared and equally powerful – The Friends of Kennington Park – and they have a very informative website here. There’s also an exhaustive and exhausting Kennington Park Wikipedia entry.

The White Bear Theatre Pub

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

The White Bear, on Kennington Park Road, is a pub of two halves. The front half is an Irish sports pub with lots of regulars and rather an edgy atmosphere. The back half is an extraordinarily intimate, award-winning fringe theatre with a capacity of just 50. It was established in 1988 and actors who’ve appeared there include Emily Watson, Tamzin Outhwaite, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Mark Little, Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Natalie Imbruglia.

Plays we’ve seen here:

* One about Byron, the Shelleys, and their frantic sex lives.

* A play featuring objectionable middle class couples arguing and cheating on each other over barbecues – or we saw half of it anyway (the problem with leaving a theatre this small during the interval is your absence will definitely be noticed in the second half – sorry about that guys).

* A good production of Noel Coward’s Still Life, the play on which Brief Encounter was based, which is about an abortive affair.

* Recently we saw Coward, a rather unflattering depiction of Noel Coward and his sex life.

So is the White Bear the theatre equivalent of the Locker Room? No – they had a play by Ayn Rand recently so we’re guessing that was a sex free zone. Check out their programme here and get along.

Here’s a photo of Coward (that’s him, sitting down):

Kennington Runoff

Surreptitiously exploring Kennington, including the suburbs Vauxhall, Oval, Walworth, and Elephant since 2012

Category Archives: Central Kennington