Inside City & Guilds of London Art School

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

Kennington Runoff presented itself at the Private View of the MA Fine Art Show tonight, a giddy high point in the Kennington art world calendar. If you’ve never been inside City and Guilds Art School, housed in a row of Georgian buildings along Kennington Park Road, the final shows are an excellent opportunity to poke around this labyrinthine space.

The show, titled Red Thread, runs from 12th-15th September, and is so-called because ‘in East Asian mythology the gods tie a red cord around the ankles of those that are destined to share the same fate – be it death, love or working on the 2103 MA Show at London’s City&Guilds Art School.’

The Kennington Runoff Prize goes to Mark Morgan, for tricking us more than once with his clever excavations. Special mention also goes to Jelena Bulajic and her mammoth-scale portraits. Go and see the show in person, because these photos don’t really do it justice.

Tarek Tuma:

Anja von Kalinowski:

Jelena Bulajic (this is impressively huge in real life):

Mark Morgan:

Kennington curry houses

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

We can highly recommend two curry houses just outside the borders of West Kennington: Mumbai Delight on South Lambeth Road which makes a point of using natural ingredients and has a good vegetarian selection, and Hot Stuff on Wilcox Road, a family-run, BYOB restaurant that gets very busy thanks to the reputation of its food and its low prices.

Kennington itself has two renowned curry houses: Kennington Tandoori and Gandhi’s. Both trumpet their celebrity fans. Gandhi’s displays Seb Coe, Richard & Judy (whose Channel 4 show used to be filmed in Kennington), regular Kennington Oval visitor John Major, Kennington residents Ken Clarke and Jack Straw, former Kennington resident Geoff Hoon, Gordon Brown, Jerry Springer, Neil and Christine Hamilton, and a former prime minister of Bangladesh in its window.

Kennington Tandoori has a more discreet rotating selection featuring Matt Lucas, Jon Bercow and various cricket players. The whole front of the restaurant opens up which is welcome on a warm evening. And the owner responds to criticism on TripAdvisor which makes for an interesting read.

A plot to oust Gordon Brown as prime minister is believed to have been hatched by Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt in a private room at Gandhi’s, which perhaps inspired its new colour scheme of black and blood red, not to mention the LOOK RIGHT sign on the pavement outside.

Balfe’s Bikes Workshop

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

Before Cycle PS arrived, Kennington already had a cool independent bike shop – Balfe’s Bikes on Kennington Road. We thought they’d started to compete with Cycle PS on the bar front by selling lager for the rather expensive sum of £4.30 per bottle, but it turns out SE Lager is a type of bike and they’re selling it for £430.

Kennington Cross: one of London’s most colourful areas

Posted on September 1, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

Even estate agents and chain restaurants look nice in Kennington.

Bouquets & Beans (now called Kennington Flowers by Tomorrow’s People)

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

Kennington Flowers is the flower and plant stall outside St Anselm’s church in the heart of Kennington. It’s a social enterprise from Tomorrow’s People – they provide unemployed young people with paid work and work experience, and the stall provides a nice complement to what was already one of London’s most colourful areas.

The prices are low, and right now you can get a memento of BBC Television Centre – when it closed, the BBC gave Kennington Flowers hundreds of large plant pots to sell. They’re down to the last few, and they start at £5 for the small ones.

They’re open from Tuesday to Saturday so get down there today if you fancy a pot, but make sure you go towards lunchtime because they arrive late and leave early.

The Dog House: an appreciation

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

We once read something online complaining about the Dog House due to its late opening and its liberal use of the pavement for seating. These are the two best things about this Kennington institution. It’s right in the heart of Kennington at Kennington Cross, and the fact that people are always sat outside enjoying themselves until the early hours of the morning makes the area feel vibrant. It’s a little rough around the edges and we rarely visit a pub past 11pm nowadays, but when we do, it’s nice to know the Dog House will be open and buzzing. They have window boxes in full bloom at present, and they lend their tables to the Kennington Association for their occasional table top sales. Regulars at the pub include Morrissey* and Steve Lamacq**.

Flowers:

The Dog House at night:

And in the day:

* Clarification here

** Steve Lamacq actually does drink in the Dog House sometimes.

Sally White now have a rather attractive sign on their shopfront

Posted on August 10, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

For more on Sally White, see our earlier post.

Florence Welch went to South London Pacific, got drunk, and covered Daft Punk and The Gossip with the house band

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

South London Pacific (geddit?) is a tiki bar in Kennington. Florence Welch is a Kennington resident and front woman of Florence & The Machine. She jumped on stage while house band Sourberry were warming up, and performed Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Standing In The Way Of Control by The Gossip. Highlights include her downing a tequila shot then discarding the glass, and stage diving off at the end.

This is the stuff that Kennington Runoff dreams are made of, and we’re not making it up.

n.b. should you read the Daily Mail?

The eighth annual Kennington Village Fete is this Saturday in Cleaver Square

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

As you can see from all the elements on the flier below, it’s really more than a fete – it’s a hyper-fete.

Although the alarmingly popular Bat the Rat stall has sadly departed for pastures new, the Amazing Human Fruit Machine still remains – and it really is amazing, or at least highly amusing the first time you see it.

Several Kennington restaurants will be serving food including The Lobster Pot which is one of London’s finest seafood restaurants, and definitely the most fun.

There will be live music, and who will the surprise special guests be? Morrissey? Florence? The Machine? Dot Allison? Giles Fraser performing A Change Is Gonna Come?

Finally, be sure to buy some Walworth Honey as harvested in East Kennington – previous years’ batches have been deliciously lemon-y like nothing you can buy in the shops, and eating local honey is supposed to be good for hay fever.

See you there.

The Kennington Bookshop

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

Kennington Bookshop is now closed but the site became Vanilla Black Coffee & Books.

The Kennington Bookshop is an excellent independent book store in the heart of Kennington. It’s great for last minute gift shopping (they also sell cards and wrapping paper), and they have a second hand section in the basement. Local author Will Self has been spotted in there, so it may be the bookshop referred to in this article.

~~Also if you want a less common, more Kennington twist on the ultimate smug middle class London accessory, the Daunt Books bag, get a Kennington Bookshop bag instead:~~

Kennington Runoff

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

Category Archives: Central Kennington