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 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.
…in this video by the indie rock group Catfish & The Bottlemen. His performance is rather good – well done Steve.
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
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.
Corsica Studios is home to some of London’s finest underground dance nights, and what many hail as the best sound system in town. It’s an intimate club located in a warehouse-style space under a railway arch on Elephant Road in North Kennington, round the back of the Elephant & Castle shopping centre.
Here’s the bar, which serves Mexico’s finest Modelo Especials amongst other drinks:
This is the stage (when we went, Snakehips were playing, the future sound of London according to Radio 1):
Visiting Corsica is a flashback to how nightclubs used to be – dark, dingy, functional warehouses where anything could happen. The clientele are invariably young and cool. It’s all rather exciting. Let’s hope it survives the gentrification of Elephant & Castle and the re-development of the shopping centre (fellow North Kennington venue The Coronet is under threat).
Corsica recently launched a new open-air venue – The Paperworks – in partnership with The Peabody Housing Trust, featuring DJs, street food, craft beers, cocktails for £6 (like in the early noughties!) and giant Jenga and Connect 4. Technically it’s outside the borders of Kennington but it sounds like such fun that we’re planning to visit and report back.
Another of our Kennington predictions for 2014 comes true – Russell Brand tours Kennington from 3 minutes 30 in this video:
Bob visited and played football in Kennington Park in 1977. We recently came across this photo:
Plus, quite a coup for the North Lambeth L&R Club – they’ve only got Elvis and The Beatles performing tonight:
Is this a genuine Invader piece above an estate agent at Kennington Cross?
How long has it been there?
Some kind of trailer for the Damien Hirst Gallery perhaps?
And how about this huge one above the Windmill Pub in North West Kennington, just behind Albert Embankment?
