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The Three Stage Life of Imperial Court

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

Fixate your eyes girls and boys, as we’re about to give you a little potted history of a lovely neo Classical institution in Kennington Lane with a funny badge on the front of it; Imperial Court.

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  1. 1. The Licensed Victuallers School, Kennington Green

In 1794 the Friendly Society of Licensed Victuallers was established to educate the children of publicans affected by long term illness, incapacity, or poverty (take it from Peggy Mitchell, running a pub isn’t easy). As this was the era that proceeded free public education, publicans were keen to ensure their children’s education and well being. The school was so popular that admission was granted exclusively on the basis of a lottery, but over time the school was so oversubscribed that a larger building was required.

The original school was demolished in 1835 and the core of the building we have inherited was erected in 1836 (with extensions in 1890). The school was now able to expand its enrollment from 100 to 250 pupils, both boys and girls. The children were generally taught apprenticeships and educated from the age of 7-12 until they were 15, and then sent on their way with a small bonus for good conduct. The school moved to Slough in 1921.

  1. NAAFI

Following WW1 The comprehensive welfare of Forces was put into sharp focus, and from 1921 to 1992 Imperial Court again served the public proudly as the headquarters of  the Navy, Army, and Air Forces Institutes, or ‘NAAFI’. NAAFI existed (and on a much smaller scale still does) to provide catering and recreational activities needed by the British Armed Forces and their families posted overseas. This included mess services, selling British goods, and organising entertainment and activities.

Providing non combat services to troops and families required trained staff, on a voluntary and on a paid basis. To this extent NAAFI in Kennington served as a training centre for cooks, cleaners, caterers, and people interested in the logistics of getting auxiliary services to people overseas. Training at NAAFI was often undertaken by women, and their work in the war effort is duly celebrated at the Imperial War Museum (keeping it local).

Join the NAAFI - Serve the Services (Art.IWM PST 0764) whole: the image is positioned in the upper three-quarters, with three smaller images located in the lower right. The title is partially integrated and placed in the upper third, in green and in red. The text is separate and located in the lower quarter, in green and in red. The smaller images and text are held within a white inset. All set against a light green background. image: a shoulder-lengt... Copyright: � IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/23806

3. Flats

Imperial Court was Grade 2* listed in 1980, so it is luckily beyond the grasp of the wrecking ball. After it was sold in 1992 it was converted into flats and now functions as a home to your neighbours.

War Games at IWM

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We usually like to review the new exhibits at the Imperial War Museum, but had some understandable reluctance to check out their newest show. As it’s about war related video games as we didn’t think it exactly fit, lets just say, the sensitive demographic that we cater to. However, we found it fascinating and it dispelled, among other things, the dated myth that online gaming is a domain for spotty teenage boys. 

War Games: Real Conflicts, Virtual Worlds, Extreme Entertainment is a show displayed in 10 parts, or levels, starting with the psychology of why people  have a long history of gravitating to games involving tactic and strategy. We are then shown a live action game, Wolfenstein 3D (1992) next to Sniper Elite 5 (2022) to see how profoundly gaming has changed over the years. This is where we encounter two enormous screens showing war games and developers telling us in laymen’s terms (it has to be very laymen for us) how they are based on real environments, and they show us how users can play for a few minutes or plan a campaign that takes years to complete. The mind boggles.  

The largest room touches on some of the inevitable ethical complexities involved in developing products based on crushing people’s heads and then running them over. Apparently one of the largest growth areas are games which involve saving people affected by war, which is a relief. And increasingly developers are creating figures which can be succinctly personalised to give gamers a feeling that they have agency with that figure. Video games often reflect the anxieties we face at the time they were created and can be seen as mirrors of the age. For example, imagine a videogame fronted by a resurrected Liz Truss with Covid, running around cutting off everyone’s heating. 

The most enjoyable element of this exhibit can be found on Level 10 (this room is only open until the end of January) which has dozens of retro video consoles from 1980 up until the current day which you can play for free. We saw Sega, Atari, Commodore 24, X Box, Nintendo 64 and others. We won’t tell you which era we played as you’ll then be one step closer to knowing who we are. But suffice it to say that War Games is a sophisticated spread of immersive installations about a culture that many of us know little about. 

For those of you who’ve given IWM a wide berth over the years for moral reasons, we understand your reluctance. However, it is not a temple of jingoistic celebration, and if anything it is dedicated to the human spirit and survival. Galleries dedicated to the Holocaust and women on the home front are very poignant and reminders of the profound impact that conflict has on the innocent.

War Games: Real Conflict, Virtual Worlds, Extreme Entertainment is on now until 28 May and is totally free. 


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Our New Subscription Button

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We’ve added a new ‘subscription’ button to the website as the old vanished, was stolen, or perhaps eaten. So this way you can miss none of the highlights and numerous low lights here at the Runoff. Oh, you can also see pics of our Instagram feed, just to waste a bit more of your precious time!

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Baylen Leonard, Our Local Country Boy

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We recently had a chin wag with long time Kennington resident Baylen Leonard. Baylen is a presenter at the increasingly popular ‘Absolute Country’ and in fact was the first voice on the channel when it launched a few years ago. Described as the ‘oracle of country music’, Baylen just won ‘International Country Broadcaster of the Year’ at the Country Music Awards. 

Baylen hails from Bristol, Tennessee and arrived in London via New York in 2000. He started his career as a voiceover artist,  worked with Sara Cox, had a podcast with Danny Baker, and then landed his first job working at Radio 1 London. He has also presented the massive (and it must be because even we’ve heard of it) Country 2 Country Festival for Radio 2.  He also runs an online country music magazine called Holler. Whew….and to think, here in the office we get exhausted when we ask Sue to order more staples. 

Baylen is passionate about country music, pointing out that Absolute Radio wouldn’t have touched it with a bargepole unless they recognised it was probably the largest growing genre of music in the UK.. Baylen observed that what people appreciate about country is that often songs tell stories, and that people are moving back to ‘honesty and authenticity’ in their musical tastes. When asked how people can tip their toe into home grown country talent, Baylen tipped The Shires and Twinnie.

When interviewing folks we always like to ascertain what Greater Kennington means to them, and Baylen said ‘it is constantly evolving but not over run with chain shops’. When not behind a microphone Baylen can be found at his local The Dog House, The Vauxhall Tavern, or The Eagle. In terms of grub he’s a fan of Oval Farmers Market, Mimi’s Deli, Theos Pizzeria, and Kuma. For sushi it has to be Taro, and for him the best burgers can be found at The White Bear. We fully endorse all of these selections and no money has changed hands.  

As if all of the excitement above isn’t enough for our local boy, he’s even gone and started a country music festival called The Long Road with over 100 acts, and tickets are available now. On the subject of festivals, we at the Runoff are a very modest sort and we don’t like to show off. But since you asked, we did see Dolly at Glastonbury  a few years again and a short video is below *picks up name just dropped on the floor*. 

The Ten Best Restaurants in Greater Kennington #4

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(+ One Sunday Roast)

THE CORIANDER

Greater Kenningtontonians are almost as opinionated about their curry as their Sunday roast, but we find that the best hands down to be The Coriander in Vauxhall. We are aware that such a bold assertion is controversial and might make you want to hurl tarka dahl our way but since you don’t actually know who we are that’s not gonna happen.

Coriander specialises in North Indian, Bengali and Nepalese cuisine. The garlic naan is just right – not too thick and herbs going through it. For side dishes, the  baingon motor (aubergine) is  a standout treat, and their other starters cover all the bases of North Indian food. For the mains, our favourites are the chicken tikka naga (above) with hints of cloves, cumin and loads of heat.  All the good curry house standards are also in evidence, and we particularly like the handi laze, which is spicy chicken with chillies and fragrant cardamon, given some zing with added lemon. And as with most Indians, there are a range of veg options. There are also a huge range of rice options, and we prefer the good old fashioned pilau.

Honourable mention in for Indian food goes to proper old school curry joint Gandhis in Kennington Cross which just missed our list. As you can see by celebrity strewn pictures in the window, if it’s good enough for Richard and Judy, Neil and Christine Hamilton, and some lady who’s a dead ringer for Hyacinth Bucket then it has to be good enough for us mere mortals and deserves second Indian place.

The Best Sunday Roast in Greater Kennington

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24 THE OVAL

We would like to take a pause from the nail biting and profoundly moving Top 10 list to announce that the best Sunday Roast in Greater Kennington can be found at the very cheffy ’24 The Oval’. The runner up is new kid on the Vauxhall block ‘Jolly Gardeners’ which almost knocked off ’24’ for reasons petulantly outlined at the end of this post. 

What immediately strikes you about 24 is that it is truly a temple to good food and quality ingredients. The wait staff know about the food they’re serving, and the open kitchen is a symbol of their honest approach to food. During lockdown, 24 transformed itself into a farm shop with a sideline in craft bottled beers. We were very pleased to see that this little tradition continues selling everything from Cava to carrots. 

As an ‘amuse-bouche’ each table of two is served with four miniature Yorkies served with a delicious gravy probably made with beef drippings (vegan options abound, however). My dining partner and Sunday Roast connoisseur had the pork belly which was generous and nicely soft and sticky in all the right places. Your scribe had the lamb and the shoulder was served shredded, with the leg served in pink and fatty strips.  As it is one of their specialities, the Yorkshire puddings were large and just the right side of crispy. Both roasts were served with more hearty gravy served from a saucepan.  Also evidenced was pea puree with a pleasing consistency not unlike that of baby food. 

What strikes you about 24 is that they have none of that ‘small sharing plates’ BS.  The real star of the show here is the very well cooked veg. In addition to those served with the roast, you are presented with so many additional veg items that they almost fall off the table. This included cauliflower cheese and roast potatoes which were perfectly crispy but with a soft centre. The carrots possessed an intense roasted flavour and savoy cabbage also popped in for a visit. An unexpected mystery guest for us were Jerusalem artichokes. The mains run between £19 and £23 which ain’t cheap, but we feel is worth it. 

24, if you are a KR reader (and if not you’re really missing out) we need to talk about something. You stand guilty of committing a crime pervasive in London restaurants at the moment. Namely, selling hugely overpriced wine. Your cheapest bottle is a not very cheap £29, which was almost 300% above the retail price. We are letting you off the hook as times have been tough but we’re watching you *wags finger*! Otherwise you make a mighty fine roast and you know it. 

Dragon Castle

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There are plenty of things that you can experience in Elephant and Castle. For instance, being hit by a car. Or being mowed down by a Just Eat delivery person cycling on the pavement. But one doesn’t often experience high quality Chinese food there. It’s for this reason that we were devastated when our favourite Cantonese ‘Dragon Castle’ closed in March  2020, but they are now back with a vengeance. 

They taste better than they look

With the cheap chandeliers, plastic plants, lazy Susan’s and even a water feature, at Dragon Castle you delightfully experience the feel of being in a mega restaurant in Beijing without the torture of six lateral flow tests and a 10 hour flight. But alas, you are at the top of Walworth Road. We commenced our feast with the dim sum sampler. Dim sum is a speciality of DC, and they did not disappoint. Crammed with prawns and veg, they were congealed in a very pleasing way and were almost certainly made fresh on the day. 

My dining partner enjoyed a main of braised pork belly and broccoli flavoured with soy and spices which the dining partner described as  ‘delicious and  also generously sized’. A slight sweetness to balance the saltiness and meltingly soft pork was evident. It was a delicious soft fat, as you want, but with a high ratio of pork meat and plenty of it. 

Your scribe ordered the sizzling beef and black bean with green pepper, onion, and chilli. Served with generous soy sauce, the beef was extremely lean and tender. It was just on the right side of spicy with the black bean sauce creating a big, palate clinging flavour. The generous sticky rice portions were served in metal lined baskets looking not dissimilar to mop buckets.  

  • Beef
  • Pork

Dragon Castle is not as affordable as it used to be but still good value for the quality of the food. We ordered draft beer as the wines started at £25. Importantly. there were not a retinue of delivery people scurrying in and out (but DC is on Deliveroo). A fun night out, and the risk of a vehicular injury could perhaps even add to the adventure. 

Runoff Rides the Tube

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The first major addition to the Tube network in the 21st century opened today and, unless you actually live underground yourself, you’re aware that it cuts a great swathe right through Greater Kennington. Today we took a journey on the new billion pound ride (financed by property developers) with our focus on Nine Elms station in Vauxhall.  At the moment trains are running every 10 minutes. 

We started our journey on the recently reopened Kennington southbound platform now servicing Battersea, which is rather strange as Battersea is west, but that’s the tube for you. Nine Elms Station is next to the Sainbury’s in Wandsworth and is an exercise in functional steel precision with wide platforms, speedy escalators, a large reception hall and overhang in case it is raining. One of our team timed it, and if you are laden with your Sainsbury shop you are only exposed to the elements for 15 seconds in the case of inclement weather. There is no ticket window but plenty of self serve machines. 

If you dare to travel outside of Greater Kennington the line terminates at Battersea Power Station Station (yes, you’ve read that right) which we also visited. It is a grander affair, and architecturally it resembles a giant recumbent cathedral, featuring a gold painted geometric skylight as you exit. Rather dramatic and fitting with the ostentatious buildings behind it.