Let’s revisit our Kennington predictions for 2014 and see how we’re doing

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

We predicted that Sally White would provide mindfulness training for all staff – we are very touched to see they now have a book on their counter about mindfulness, although we have noticed occasional lapses in mindfulness towards closing time.

We predicted that Kernel Brewery would open their first pub in the site next to the Old Red Lion – watch this space for something even better for Kennington-based Kernel fans.

We predicted that Waitrose would expand in Kennington; they had their eyes on the site of the Kennington Post Office until that was saved from closure.

We predicted that The Imperial War Museum would reopen with catering from Ottolenghi. We should have said ‘The Imperial War Museum will briefly reopen then close again shortly afterwards for no apparent reason’. Fingers crossed they are just concluding negotiations with our man Yotam for their July relaunch.

We predicted that Russell Brand would perform at Always Be Comedy; it can only be a matter of time.

We predicted that Damien Hirst’s gallery would open in West Kennington – chop chop Damien.

We predicted that Dirty Burger would introduce a veggie burger. This happened! So for our next trick, we predict that Dirty Burger will introduce a veggie burger without mushrooms in BECAUSE MUSHROOMS ARE DISGUSTING, OK.

We predicted that Kevin Spacey would return to the Old Vic – and he will.

We predicted that Florence Welch would launch her guest column for Kennington Runoff by performing Addicted To Love at the Kennington Runoff pop up shop. That was a hint Flo. 300 words please on why you love Kennington to kenningtonrunoff@gmail.com. Deadline December 31st, else we’re giving your slot to Dot Allison.

Florence Welch with Sourberry at South London Pacific, warming up for her Kennington Runoff party performance

http://kenningtonrunoff.com/kennington-predictions-for-2014/

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.

Fashion & Gardens at the Garden Museum?

Posted on April 13, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

No, us neither, but it’s worth going to visit the Garden Museum while the Fashion & Gardens exhibition is on (until April 27th) to see floral artist Rebecca Louise Law’s installation called ‘The Flower Garden Display’d’. She has hung over 4,600 flowers from the roof of the museum (a former church), and it’s quite something.

Join Rebecca Louise Law under ‘The Flower Garden Display’d’ for a discussion with photographer Rachel Warne about The Beauty of Decay, dying flowers and the afterlife of gardens, on Tuesday at 6.30pm (tickets £10).

The museum is open every day and admission costs £7.50 for adults, but it’s free if you just want to go to the cafe, which is good and vegetarian, and you’ll walk under ‘The Flower Garden Display’d’ on your way through.

On your way out, you can check out The Garden Museum’s expansion plans, which involve re-creating part of Tradescant’s Ark. Tradescant’s Ark was Britain’s first museum open to the public, started by John Tradescant and his son John Junior, who are buried in what is now the garden of the Garden Museum. The original Tradescant’s Ark was in North West Kennington and featured a stuffed dodo, drums from Africa, weapons from Java, and a series of complaints from Walworth.

London, Westminster and Southwark illustration

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

If you get beyond the intimidating entrance of Greengrassi/Corvi-Mora gallery, you’ll see this rather splendid illustration of London, Westminster and Southwark on their wall. Unfortunately we can’t read the date but we’re guessing 1854?

more images from Everything is about to happen

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

This time they are all safe for work.

An illicit cookbook (mushrooms are banned in Kennington remember):

An Atlas of the New Testament:

FT III:

Road and Rail Links Between Manchester and Sheffield:

Preston Bus Station:

Selwyn’s Law of Employment (but is it art?)

Ex-library book and 1 Day Diary:

Everything is about to happen is “an ongoing archive of artists’ books selected by Gregorio Magnani” showing at the Greengrassi/Corvi-Mora gallery until April 26th.

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

Kennington guerrilla gardening

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

The nice people at Kennington Flowers have made Kennington Cross even more colourful by planting flowers in the tree pit in front of St Anselm’s Church. Perhaps fuelled by Coffee Mob coffee, they’ve broken away from the staid confines of traditional garden design and gone for something akin to a Skittles spillage:

While we’re on the subject of guerrilla gardening, would anyone like to claim responsibility for the cyclamen in the tree pits further up Kennington Road? North Kennington is home to the founder of GuerrillaGardening.org Richard Reynolds (Britain’s 24th most influential gardener), but we’re assured these cyclamen are not his handy work.

Anyway, well done everyone – keep planting.

Charlie Chaplin at age 27 in 1916, when he lived in Kennington

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

Looking like he was in Mumford & Sons

“Did you think I’d forgotten you? Perhaps you hoped I had.” House of Cards is back.

Posted on February 15, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

The second series of the TV drama that took Kevin Spacey away from Kennington is out now on Netflix.

We’ve watched some of it already – it’s just as good as season one, but the bit where Francis murders the president is way OTT.

Kennington residents can get a free trial of Netflix here.

Lambeth Walk

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

Lambeth Walk was immortalised in a music hall song from 1937. When the song was written, 159 shops lined the street and catered for every need, including eleven butchers, two eel and pie shops (one with a tank of live eels outside), a bird dealer and a tripe dresser. To read about the history of the street, go here or to this site which has some great old photos and maps, dating back to a time when it was surrounded by fields.

While the street declined in the second half of the last century, it’s on its way up again, along with the rest of North West Kennington, with lots of cool, creative businesses opening up nearby such as architects, a violin maker, a poetry school, pop up bars, and of course Damien Hirst’s new gallery coming soon.

Here’s the former Pelham Mission Hall, now the Henry Moore Sculpture Studio which is part of Morley (adult education) College:

On the left of the photo, on the first floor, you can see the outdoor pulpit, once used to offer two-for-one perfumes to the market-goers below in exchange for their attendance at church.

(Incidentally, there’s a Henry Moore sculpture on display close to Kennington, in the middle of the Brandon Estate.)

Lambeth Walk’s other great surviving building is the former Lambeth Baths, which since 1971 has been the Lambeth Walk Group Practice award winning GP surgery (who knew that there were awards for GP surgeries?):

The Kennington Observer (formerly Kennington Runoff)

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

Category Archives: culture