Kevin has heeded our call and says he will always have a home in Kennington.
Category Archives: North West Kennington
Karen Gillan and Dr Who: the Kennington connections
Karen Gillan, who played “Dr Who’s sexiest sidekick ever”, lives in Kennington and was spotted working behind the bar at the Pilgrim pub on Kennington Lane.
In the 2005 Christmas episode, the Tardis crash landed on the Brandon Estate in East Kennington.
Colin Baker, the Sixth Doctor, was born in North West Kennington.
Bob Baker, the creator of Doctor Who’s iconic K9 robotic dog, appeared at the Cinema Museum recently.
Haus of Hair
Black Prince Road is the scene of much transformation right now: a theatrical carpentry workshop is in the midst of a rebirth that will see it open its doors next year as a grand Museum of Damien Hirst, an old ragged school has been carved up to become part luxury apartments, part Buddhist centre, but no building has seen such a dramatic remodelling as the Haus of Hair.
Some readers may remember a dark, Dickensian cobblers just past the Jolly Gardeners pub on Black Prince Road, staffed by a foul-tempered elderly man who would sooner abuse you than fix your shoes. It is hard to believe that this is the same place as you enter Haus of Hair, surveying the gilt mirrors, the latest copy of Vogue on a coffee table, the cappuccino on tap, the antique armoire:
The spirit of the grumpy cobbler may live on in the form of Rupert, the in-house terrier, who likes to yap as you enter his property, but head stylist Fabian, who runs the salon with Jarmane, couldn’t be more charming. He used to work at Marylebone’s Michael Van Clark salon, but struck out on his own when he opened Haus of Hair. They do cuts and colours, use products from a line owned by Katie Holmes, and will be the official private view hair stylists for Damien Hirst once his gallery opens.
Here’s Rupert:
Tamesis Dock
The good ship Tamesis (formerly the English Maid) is a converted 1930s Dutch barge, moored permanently between Lambeth Bridge and Vauxhall Bridge. It’s a floating pub and party venue, with one of the most spectacular river views in London from its jolly, higgledy-piggledy deck.
There’s a lively music scene going on down at the Tamesis Dock, having seen gigs from bands – including Deap Vally and Bastille – who’ve gone on to grace much bigger stages than their cosy bunk.
If you’re worried about your sea legs, rest assured that we’ve never felt the barge shift much on the many times we’ve ventured aboard, and when the tide is out it’s just perched prettily on the sandy banks of the Thames. However, they do occasionally have their own version of a lock-in, involving going for an unannounced ride up to Tower Bridge, so if you’re drinking there late at night and need to get home, be prepared to make a leap for shore if the boat starts moving.
They have free wi fi, their kitchen stays open till 10pm, and the bar is open till 1am on Fridays and Saturdays or midnight the rest of the week, making this one of London’s most enjoyable after-hours drinking venues. Tonight they’re hosting a (free) Hallo-boaty-ween party for those who like their fun as murky as the Thames.
Open House Kennington
Open House London is this weekend and Kennington is well represented.
First up, places that are varying degrees of difficult to visit outside of Open House:
60 Ambergate Street, a “small but well-crafted flat renovation” near Kennington tube
The Mobile Gardeners Park, which we wrote about here
Morley College, the adult education centre in North West Kennington. While you’re there, why not visit London’s largest guerrilla gardening site, located directly in front of Morley College in the giant, lavender-filled flower beds in the middle of Westminster Bridge Road:
Guerrilla tulips in bloom at the Guerrilla Gardening on Westminster Bridge Road, London April 2011, by Richard Reynolds
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain
The Cinema Museum, a true labour of love in the former Master’s House of the Lambeth Workhouse, a Victorian Gothic building where Charlie Chaplin once stayed with his destitute mother. It can be a little tricky to organise tours of the Cinema Museum normally, and there’s a charge, so going during Open House is recommended.
Perronet House, a concrete council block on the north roundabout in North Kennington. If this looks or sounds unpromising then wait till you see the inside – fantastic views across London from two sides, outstanding use of period features, and a sun-drenched terrace full of plants. The photo of Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre below was taken from Perronet House.
Then there are these places which can be visited easily enough outside of Open House:
Beaconsfield, which we wrote about here
Siobhan Davies Studios, which we wrote about here
Lambeth Palace, the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury in England which dates back to the 13th century, is fully booked during Open House, but you can buy tickets for future tours here.
Quiet London
We were recently given the book Quiet London by Siobhan Wall, which features “over 140 quiet places to meet, drink, eat, sleep, read or browse”.
Nine of them are in Kennington:
* The Cuming Museum which is currently closed due to fire, but their events programme continues
* Bonnington Square Garden, a magical place which we will write about another time
* Italo Delicatessen on Bonnington Square
* The Tibetan Peace Garden in Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park, which also deserves its own entry here, being one of London’s nicest and quietest parks
* G Baldwin & Co., a health food shop and apothecary on Walworth Road, which according to Siobhan has “probably the largest selection of essential oils you can find anywhere in England”. Entering the apothecary side of the shop does feel like stepping back in time (it has been open since 1844).
* Danielle Arnaud Gallery – another of Kennington’s art galleries. It is based in one of the lovely Georgian houses on Kennington Road and we can testify as to how quiet it is – when we went we were the only visitors.
* The Ragged Canteen at Beaconsfield
Quiet London by Siobhan Wall
Beaconsfield Art Gallery and the Ragged Canteen
Beaconsfield, based in a former Victorian Ragged School, is the biggest and architecturally most impressive of the surprisingly large number of art galleries in Kennington, although it’s likely to be trumped by Damien Hirst’s new gallery which is due to open just up the road in 2014.
Art at Beaconsfield tends towards the modern and the conceptual, and they are funded by the Arts Council.
On weekday lunchtimes their Ragged Canteen serves really great vegetarian food (at other times they serve drinks and cakes). In an area with various good veggie cafes in surprising places – see also The Garden Museum and the Jamyang Buddhist Centre – The Ragged Canteen is the best. If only it were open more often and for longer.
The door is permanently locked – ring the bell to get in.
The Garden Museum
[Update July 2017: The Garden Museum and Cafe have been redeveloped since this post]
The Garden Museum (formerly the Museum of Garden History) is in the deconsecrated St Mary’s church next to Lambeth Palace in North West Kennington. Even if you’re not interested in gardening, it’s worth a visit for the good quality vegetarian cafe and the lovely garden (there’s a charge to enter the museum but not the shop, cafe or garden).
The knot garden with the walls of Lambeth Palace in the background:
William Bligh lived in Kennington, on Lambeth Road in a house that is now a B&B, and was buried at St Mary’s. Appropriately enough for a site that was to become a garden museum, his grave features the breadfruit plant which he discovered and brought back to England. Presumably whoever designed his grave was hoping he would be remembered for this, rather than for being the ship’s captain who inspired the Mutiny on the Bounty.
The well-stocked shop featuring gifts for gardeners and books:
The interior of the museum:
The Imperial War Museum has reopened after refurbishment
One of London’s finest museums is back. The current special exhibition is on spies – topical. We haven’t been since the refurb so more when we have.
Kennington: celebrity party zone with Cara Delevingne and Rita Ora
We may be a little late in covering the #DKNYArtworks party that took place at the old Lambeth Fire Station on Whitgift Street earlier this summer, but we have good reason: we pride ourselves on lack of hype here, and we wanted to make sure that when we said that Kennington hosted this summer’s hottest party, nothing was going to trump that. Now in mid-August, it’s safe to say that SE11 can take the crown, after a night that featured Cara Delevingne stagebombing Rita Ora’s set (attempting a duet and showing off her very own take on the twerk), and appearances from an array of London’s bright youngish things including Eliza Doolittle, Henry Holland, Nick Grimshaw, Professor Green, Millie Mackintosh, and Bella Freud.
The old Lambeth Fire Station is part of an historically important fire brigade complex, sitting just behind a fire practice tower, and the more architecturally remarkable art deco moderne London Fire Brigade Headquarters on the Albert Embankment.
