It’s so brave and high concept. We really like it
Kennington’s own Florence & The Machine is back with a new song and video
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Category Archives: culture
The Boule-In
Brocket Gallery now occupies the whole of The Boule-In’s site and Peter and Cathy are focusing on their original Suffolk business.
We’re starting to think we can make things happen in Kennington just by writing down our wishes and posting them on the internet. When works started at the site of the former ASM Music shop at the junction of Windmill Row and Kennington Road, we asked on Twitter what it was to become and Kennington’s leading celebrity tailor Earl of Bedlam replied “an architect”. We responded “Not a lifestyle boutique then?”. Pure wishful thinking – but here’s how it came true.
Cathy and Peter Bullen are the couple behind Kennington’s most exciting new shop, The Boule-In. Having lived in Provence for a spell, Cathy started selling French antiques and vintage goods from her barn and garden in Bildeston, Suffolk in 2011.
So how did they end up opening their second shop in Kennington? Their artist son Jack studied at Kennington’s own City & Guilds. Cathy and Peter have a flat in South Kennington and were having a coffee in Sally White (where else?) while pondering how to secure permanent premises for Brocket, Jack and his partner Lizzie’s contemporary art gallery which had been temporarily located above The Three Stags. They looked straight in front of them and saw the former music shop being converted, so crossed the road and met the owner who happened to be there supervising the works.
Our friends at Earl of Bedlam were right – it was supposed to be an architect’s office, but that wasn’t permitted under planning regulations, so Peter and Cathy snapped up the ground floor for The Boule-In, and they’re currently converting the basement for Brocket’s gallery (watch this space for more on that once it has opened).
Back to The Boule-In. Cathy and Peter travel to France regularly and source all their stock over there – mostly vintage collectables, homewares and textiles from France, but some from Italy and beyond.
The prices are a fraction of what you’d pay at LASSCO, and the Kennington shop has already been so successful that they’ve had to head back to France and restock.
They’re open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am till 6pm. If you go on a Saturday you’ll probably find Peter and Cathy themselves there and keen to chat – they are very friendly.
As our Central Kennington predictions for 2015 stated, we’re anticipating “The Boule-In Effect” taking hold in Windmill Row and its surrounds, with a number of ever-so-tasteful boutiques opening up in the coming months, diluting the high concentration of estate agents that dominate Kennington Cross. We can’t wait.
our West and North West Kennington predictions for 2015
2015 will put North West Kennington on the map. This is the area south of Westminster Bridge Road and west of Kennington Road, and it is arguably the least visited, least known part of central London, despite some lovely buildings and smaller parks, Lambeth Palace, and Beaconsfield. Plus it’s yards from Parliament and it has the Thames running down one side.
Old Paradise Gardens, North West Kennington
2014 was already a big year for North West Kennington with tonnes of new riverside developments plus the new look Duchy Arms. 2015 will be even bigger thanks to the opening (finally) of Damien Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery. The gallery will feature works from Damien’s collection including artists such as Francis Bacon, Banksy, Tracey Emin, Jeff Koons, Sarah Lucas and Pablo Picasso. Entry will be free of charge. More info here.
Under the leadership of the entrepreneurial Justin Welby, surely this will be the year that Lambeth Palace opens to the public all year round.
West Kennington (previously known as Vauxhall) will also experience another year of change and growth. We are cautiously optimistic about the plans for the gyratory. New housing developments will lead to more scenes of sheikhs looking bemused as clubbers pass them on the way home.
Watch out Russell Norman – Counter – a new restaurant in the arches near Vauxhall station – will open soon and looks set to be a new entry in our Best Restaurants in Kennington list.
Come back tomorrow for our central Kennington predictions for 2015.
And the winner is…. Kennington!
Young Fathers won the Mercury Music Prize tonight. They are signed to the most interesting hip hop label in the UK, Big Dada/Ninja Tune, which is based right here in Kennington. It’s the fifth time Big Dada have been nominated and their second winner.
Good luck to Kennington’s own Big Dada/Ninja Tune Records at the Mercury Music Prize tomorrow
They have two of the twelve nominations so they’re already winners in our eyes.
Kate Tempest is the second favourite at the time of writing:
and Young Fathers are outsiders in more ways than one, but Low is great:
the new look Imperial War Museum
The Imperial War Museum marked the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I by closing for refurbishment, briefly reopening, then closing again without much explanation. Anyway, they managed to reopen for good in July, and we finally made it along a couple of weeks ago.
The cafe has relocated to the Kennington Road side of the building and now has outdoor tables in Geraldine Mary Harmsworth park which is a big improvement.
The food was good too – it’s run by Peyton & Byrne (not Ottolenghi but right up there), and we had a deliciously moist marinated herb fed chicken with slaw for £8.50.
They also have a good selection of cakes:
We were less impressed with the new look atrium, designed by Foster and Partners, which is slightly less spacious and seemed darker.
There are fewer vehicles on the ground floor to get up close and personal with although, thanks to Jeremy Deller, there is the arresting presence of a bombed out civilian’s car from Baghdad:
Admission to the museum is free but at busy times (most of the time), you’ll be a given a ticket with timed entry for the World War I exhibition, which includes a recreation of a WWI trench. That’s the huge queue in the photo of the atrium above – and one thing you can say for the new look museum, so far it seems to be even more popular than before.
The Londonist have a more detailed review of the museum itself.
Kennington’s own Steve Lamacq makes his acting debut…
…in this video by the indie rock group Catfish & The Bottlemen. His performance is rather good – well done Steve.
Elefest, or as we liked to call it, North Kennifest, starts today
Open House Kennington
Open House London is this weekend and the following Kennington places are participating:
Lambeth Palace, but all the tours are booked up there
Mobile Gardeners Planting Station, which is the new incarnation of the Mobile Gardeners Park in the former Shell garage, 137-149 Walworth Road, SE17 1JZ. Help them construct the garden on Saturday from 1pm. More info here.
Morley College (Sunday only)
Perronet House (Saturday only – more info here)
Roots and Shoots (Saturday only)
Siobhan Davies Studios (Saturday only – more info here)
The Cinema Museum – more info here
Sidewalk Stories at Hotel Elephant
Last night we went to a screening of a wonderful, moving film, and it’s coming to (near) Kennington on Friday.
Sidewalk Stories is a largely forgotten silent film from 1989 that inspired the director of The Artist. Imagine The Kid by Kennington’s own Charlie Chaplin, but set in the New York of Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing. It features great performances from writer/director Charles Lane and his very cute young daughter, and a truly impactful ending.
Read more about the film here and buy tickets for the screening at Hotel Elephant on Friday at 8pm here.
