Category Archives: culture

Sausanna and Nine Elms Laundry

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Next time you pop over to the big Sainsburys at the top of Wandsworth Road in Vauxhall, look across the street and beyond the soulless high rises that surround you. If you were in that spot 150 years ago you would have been met by raucous female ex convicts and the smell of starch and soap. This is all due to an extraordinary enterprise by a campaigner named Sarah Meredith, and we’re about to tell you what she did. 

When forced deportation of prisoners to Australia was outlawed in 1857, the government had to decide how to reintegrate people who had served their time. Work for men was plentiful in places such as factories, but a unique dilemma was posed for females. People didn’t want them working in their homes for reasons of trust, and Susanna was aware of this. She started Nine Elms Laundry in a disused and shabby Victorian building with a goal of giving jobs exclusively to women who were trying to piece their lives back together. 

Some women lived at the laundry and others commuted to their daily 10 hour shift. The rules of the laundry were prominently displayed but not enforced punitively. These included no alcohol or money on site, and the expectation that they would not leave the premises without permission. Women who served a subsequent sentence were not judged and welcomed back into the fold after they’d served their time. Women from all denominations were accepted, which was unusual at the time. 

The laundry was arranged as a self financing enterprise with mostly middle class patrons. Such was the success of the business that Sarah was able to offer to clean the clothes of poor people in Vauxhall at a discounted rate. This was crucial at a time in which your appearance alone could determine whether you could put food on the table. Susanna was also able to off free laundry services to people living with infectious diseases. 

Records show that Susanna and her sister were living in South Lambeth Road at the time so were close enough to keep an eye on the shop and give a little extra support to the vulnerable women in her employ. We all need a Susanna Meredith in out lives now and again, and we hope there are more folks out there like her. 

Thank you to the good people over at Vauxhall History who wrote most of this article. They are a great place to explore.

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City & Guilds Foundation Show

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Another milestone has arrived on the Greater Kennington cultural calendar (it’s a thing, trust us).   City and Guilds of London Art School is having its annual show and we’re on the case. These artists are completing their Foundation year, so the work is less advanced than the much grander Degree Show (we’ll get on to that in a tic). The students are studying a more proscribed range of styles than their more advanced counterparts but are much more experimental (read, slightly mad but very interesting). The themes this year seem to be 1. Saving the planet 2. Dirt 3. Saving the planet through dirt 4. Rocks. If you want to impress your friends, bring them along and when they invariably  ask ‘well, what DOES it mean’, try rolling your eyes and saying ‘it’s about IDENTITY’. Or make it newsworthy by saying ‘what’s wrong with you, it’s about THE PRICE OF EGGS’. 

24 to 30 June brings the mighty (we’re talking huge) Degree Show in the main buildings of the college. It showcases a range of up and coming artists arranged in small rooms, so you can see a larger selection of their works. What we find most interesting is that you can see the work of historic wood and stone carvers in the back garden area. Also of interest are the upper floor areas dealing with conservation and restoration. And if you don’t care for something keep your trap shut as chances are the artist is behind you. And there is an even bigger MA show from 2 to 9 September. 

`The Foundation show is open 18,19 and 20 May from 10 – 5 in the old telephone building in Kenning’s Way and is totally free. Of the three, we find this the most fun as you never know what you might encounter when you turn a corner. For example, an armchair sprouting grass (below) or fake children worshipping broken glass (also below).

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An Homage to Oval Farmer’s Market

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Greater Kennington businesses come and go and contribute to the eclectic framework of our anointed patch. However, when some of these places become part of our identity we need to fight to keep them. One of these is Oval Farmers Market, which in our opinion has never really recovered from the pandemic. At one point it stretched around St. Mark’s Church in Oval, and now it has reduced to a much smaller patch in front of the church. Nevertheless, they still have some very unique offerings and are worth your custom. 

If you haven’t been to the Market in a while most of the old standards are still on offer; olives, biltong, a range of gluten free things, cheese stalls, fresh fish, coffees, organic wine, and meats. The large veg stall that used to be there is no more, but a few smaller ones compensate for it. There is also a French/Caribbean food stall that looked pretty delicious and has the buzz. 

After a recent visit we popped across the street to an old favourite,  Mimis Deli, with memories of a delicious sandwich we had there which was the size of a baby’s leg. The former seating area at the back now includes a very tempting Italian food market/gift shop scenario, which is more experimental than Italo Vauxhall. We ate our mighty ciabatta wrapped sandwiches snugly in Kennington Park in the company of runners who had obviously never eaten a bay leg sized meatball marinara sandwich in their lives.

Oval Farmers Market is open on Saturday from 10 – 3 and a few stalls are open later in the week. We’re aware that we are in a cost of living crisis and buying a chunk of cheese for £8 might not be the top of your priority list. But there are more affordable offerings. Sourdough, anyone?

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Coronation Fun in Greater Kennington

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If you look around Greater Kennington some might say that there’s a palpable and languid disinterest in the upcoming coronation of the King who is already a King. But at the end of the day we’re getting a day to bunk off for what is in essence a church service followed by a pop concert, so don’t we owe it to the King to celebrate in a tried and true manner?

Celebration in Aukland Street, Vauxhall, 1937. The street no longer exists and is now Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens.

Because we care about our readers, we’ve unearthed a selection of street parties and other activities to occupy your time after watching a man of a certain age walking slowly down the nave of a church. Some of these events appear to be aimed at people living in adjoining streets, but as they are on public property they are technically open to us all. And as they are selling things on site as opposed to giving away freebies we’re sure they would invite our custom and it adds to community cohesion.

The Kennington Residents Association is having a knees up on Sunday, 7 May from 6 to 8:30pm. There will be a cake stall, slow roast pork, a cash bar (!), and a raffle. This will take place at the corner of Methley and Radcott Streets. The flyer mentions bringing a chair, but just wandering around will probably not be discouraged. There is also a prize for the best costume, which sounds more than exciting. 

Cleaver Square is having more of a ‘DIY’ lunch, on 7 May from 2:30 to 4:30pm. They always push the boat out in Cleaver Square (let’s be honest, they have to spend it on something) so expect loads of bunting and pretty looking things. Drinks can be purchased at the Prince of Wales pub. Or in our case, the corner shop. 

We also have intel about a coronation craft animation activity for kids on Saturday, 13 May from 12-4pm at Durning Library. We’re a bit puzzled as this is being put on a week after the event but there you go. 

If you are seeking some visual aids to get you on the mood, Tesco are offering a selection of patriotic yet strangely depressing flags, hats and napkins. And if you manage to make it home with them following a day of posh debauchery in Cleaver Square, you can repurpose your Union Jacks for Eurovision the following week. As always, we’re here to help. 

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Strike! At Southwark Playhouse

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We recently popped into our much loved Southwark Playhouse to review their latest offering ‘Strike’ and we’re here to tell you rebellious souls all about it. Those of you lucky enough to be Runoff regulars will be aware that the Playhouse now has two locations. Strike is staged at the original-but-soon-to-be-extinct venue in Newington Causeway. The new, more flashy venue is much closer to Kennington in Newington Butts at the base of curiously named high rise Uncle. 

Strike is a true story set in Dunne’s department store in Dublin circa 1984. When a worker follows through with directives from her union and refuses to sell an item made in South Africa, she is suspended from her role. However, she takes 10 like minded colleagues with her and the story evolves into life on the picket line. As their movement grows the group learn lessons from South African exile Nimrod, who had been incarcerated at Robben Island with Nelson Mandela and gives insight into daily life under Apartheid.  

In spite of opposition from Dunnes, the Catholic Church, the government and even union bosses themselves, the strikers persevere and their profile grows and they begin to spread their message as far as the United Nations and beyond. After 2 ½ years Ireland becomes the first western nation to ban South African agricultural goods, contributing to the fall of Apartheid two years later. Although the subject matter is bleak and serious, the play is at times funny, touching, and even has a few musical numbers thrown in. 

Strike is about justice, rebellion, and the right to stand up for what you believe in, which more or less sums up most Greater Kenningtonians. The only thing we could fault about this play was that it didn’t celebrate the fact that almost all of the strikers were female and had to make great sacrifices to pursue what they felt passionately about. However, with all of the strong ensemble female roles this will become evident to everyone in the audience. 

Strike is on now and runs until 6 May at the old venue. For some strange reason there are still tickets available and they can be purchased here. 

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Chartist Podcast Walk

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This week marks the 175th anniversary of the Monster Chartist Rally in Kennington Park. Chartism was a working class movement aimed at giving all men (not women unfortunately, that came later) over 21+ the right to vote. They also sought to professionalise Parliament by ensuring that MP’s get paid. This would allow regular working people ( read – men) to become MP’s as opposed to it only being a viable option if you were a property owner and had spare time on your hands during the day.

The Chartists came together on 10 April, 1848 and this so thoroughly freaked out a government who feared a revolution that they called the army to Kennington Park and later recruited thousands of special constables. They even carted off poor old Queen Vic to the Isle of Wight for her own protection.   To commemorate this event, the Friends of Kennington Park have put together a spiffy guided tour complete with podcast that outlines how the day unfolded and what happened afterwards. The whole walk takes only half an hour and like most great things we recommend is free. 

While you’re in Kennington Park building grey matter why not pop over to the History Hut at the southern end of the park? Not to be confused with the nearby Hound Hut (which we once confused for an sex shop) or indeed Pizza Hut, the Hut is full of fascinating factoids about our beloved neck of the woods over the years. 

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The Walworth Farce @ Southwark Playhouse

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If you’re a committed Runoff reader (and when you think about it, why not?), you’ll be aware that we’ve been closely monitoring the opening of the new Kennington facing Southwark Theatre and we toured the place last summer. It’s now open for business with the geographically appropriate dark comedy ‘The Walworth Farce’ and we’ve just checked it out for you. 

Set in three claustrophobic rooms in a council block in Walworth Road, Irish brothers Blake and Sean live with their father Dinny and spend their day recreating a script of their previous life in Cork. In some scenes Blake and Sean play younger versions of themselves. In other scenes they depict older members of their family in various scenarios primarily centred on murder and inheritance, to an audience of no one. As the older sibling, Sean vaguely remembers what actually happened to his family in Cork and presents this to Dinny, who has an vested interest in reinterpreting the narrative. 

Sean is the only member of the household allowed to leave the flat, and in his daily visit to Walworth Tesco he befriends Hayley, who turns up to drop off some shopping. Seemingly obvious to her presence, the trio continue to depict their series of tragic events and struggle to bring Hayley into the narrative. We won’t tell you if the arrival of Hayley becomes an existential threat to their endless play or if she can liberate Sean to safety. The play’s theme of physically and emotionally trapped characters, compelled to act out narratives in an endless loop, certainly reminded us our lives in 2020 and 2021. 

The Walworth Farce is on now until 18 March and £15 tickets can be purchased here. Or you could just sit at home and watch a programme about Katie Price doing her house up. The choice is yours. 

And only five days to go until we unveil our Ten Best Places to Eat in Greater Kennington (+ One Sunday Roast)!

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Getting Classy in Vauxhall

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OK people, now that you’ve completed that new year’s resolution of running around Kennington Park six times, it’s time to work on your grey matter. It’s that time in the Greater Kennington cultural calendar (it’s a thing, trust us) to enlighten you about the ‘Classical Vauxhall’ series of concerts at St. Mark’s Church in Oval from 2 to 5 March. The press release boldly describes it as ‘a four day festival of live music and song, featuring top artists and four centuries of composers’. While the revival of dead white men might not sound like a merry blast, it seems that these artists have their own unique twist on things. 

The concept behind these five concerts is to put on shows that are varied, lively, and accessible to people who (like us) are not habitues of the Royal Opera House and might otherwise be a bit intimidated by this genre.  Each night is set to a theme, from jazz in Hollywood to finding comfort in chaos (very hard to do in Vauxhall) and feature a range of artists performing short pieces. The last day is a freebie and is dedicated to young artists learning their trade.  

The director of the festival and the brains behind the whole thing is Fiachra Garvey and he is joined by artists Clifton Harrison, Tamsin Waley, Rakhi Singh, and the Julian Bliss Septet. To be honest we have no idea who any of these people are – But– we have seen some of their work on YouTube and it’s beautiful. Rakhi and her amazing violin are featured here.  

Tickets are £22.15 so not exactly cheap, but a great way to support local culture and artists who have probably didn’t have much work during the pandemic. Some folks from KR towers went in 2022 and they described it as both amazing and great fun.  A nice way to get a little culture in your life without venturing much further than your local pub. 

Only 10 days to go until our ‘Ten Best Places to Eat in Greater Kennington (+ 1 Sunday Roast)’ countdown, people! 

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Shorts at the Cinema Museum

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And like the prodigal child, or some random naughty kid, we are back and we hope you enjoyed our month of history writing, picked especially for you as they get the most hits the history of Greater Kennington is important.

As you may or may not know, our greatest ‘at risk’ asset in is the wonderful Cinema Museum located in Charlie Chaplin’s old workhouse. To celebrate LGBTQI+ history month they are putting on series of screenings one is coming up this Thursday (the 16th) seems particularly interesting. It’s a series of shorts about aging, coming out later in life, and disabilities. Afterwards there is a QA and we all have a chance to ask the directors and actors questions about making and acting in the films. And there’s a bar. We’ve been to a number of shorts screenings at the London Film Festival; they’re great fun and an intriguing way to learn more about how films are made.

If you’ve never been to the Cinema Museum it’s a treasure trove of cinematic ephemera and your ticket to this event will allow you access to check out some of it, from ticket stubs to chairs, lighting and props. And the films are shown amongst the collection. A great even night out regardless of sexuality or even if you’re not a film buff. Did we mention there’s a bar? 

Doors open at 18:00 for a 19:00 start this Thursday and tickets can be purchased here for £8 a pop. A lot cheaper than the BFI.

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The Quiet Life and Death of Kennington Theatre

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From the archives, the fourth edition of our month of best history posts

The fourth in our series of images from Lambeth Archives Were you aware that for a brief moment in time greater Kennington (Walworth) had a world class theatre in Kennington Park Road? It’s marble clad limelight flourished for just 23 years before being briefly converted into a cinema, and then it lay derelict before being damaged by enemy action and then final action from Lambeth council.

Screenshot 2019-07-18 at 14.45.51

Kennington Theatre was situated to the north of the park where a hefty block of flats currently reside. The frontage was executed in Portland stone, with the interiors highlighted by marble columns and fireplaces. As was the fashion at the time, the emphasis was on French renaissance and no small expense was spared on fittings and adornments.

Screenshot 2019-07-18 at 14.46.32

Following what seemed to be a successful season of pantos and plays the theatre was closed and converted into a cinema in 1921. According to records it’s last license was granted in 1934 and then left derelict. Afterwards the Odeon group purchased the property and had designs on demolishing the building but this never transpired, and it lay derelict for a number of years.

The final nail in the coffin of Kennington Theatre came at the end of 1943 when the back of the now defunct building was partially damaged by a German bomb. As it was then deemed a hazard to the public it was purchased by Lambeth under a compulsory purchase order and bulldozed. The site is now occupied by a mid century block of flats. Next time you walk by, cast your mind back to the other century of Kennington panto goers who tread before you.

If you’ve ever wondered why listing buildings is important, now you know..