UPDATE FRIDAY, 9 SEPT. CANCELLED! SORRY DOG LOVERS! As you can probably ascertain from the small black bags strewn here and there, Greater Kennington is awash with dogs and now our canine compatriots are even getting their OWN SHOW on Sunday, 11 September!
The Kennington Park Dog Show has been made possible by our good friends over at Friends of Kennington Park and not so good friends at Berkeley Homes. It’s also being sponsored by ‘Hound Hut’ in Clapham Road. For years we’ve walked by the place with its window displays of leads, cages, and chains and always just assumed it was an S&M/bondage establishment. Well as it turns out its actually a very smart dog shop.
And for all you singletons out there, if you’re looking for love we all know that parading around with a cute pooch increases your pulling power by 60%. So pop over to Hound Hut, buy that S&M lead, and borrow the nearest poodle as this looks like great fun. Details below.
Under the flimsy guise of being actual journalists, we just attended the private view of the huge MA degree show over at City and Guilds in Kennington Park Road. This year does not feature the usual staples of woodcarving and conservation, with a larger emphasis on painting and sculpture. However, it extends over to the old telephone exchange in Kennings Way.
The themes this year seem to run the gamut to contemplations over solitude, to Japanese anime, to broken pottery. The MA show is totally free and open this week (Tues-Thu) from 11:00 to 17:00. It’s open until 20:00 on Friday with the tantalising caveat ‘bar from 18:00’. It closes on Saturday, 10 September at 17:00.
Do you ever wake up and think ‘I really need to buy some food today’ but the thought of going to Tesco makes you want to stick a pencil in your ear? Well we’ve recently come across what is in reality a well established food cooperative called ‘Fareshares’ in Walworth and were here to tell you all about the place.
Fareshares emerged from the thriving squatting movement established in the Pullens Estate in the 1980’s (and we wrote about it a few years ago) and continues as a volunteer based experiment to provide mutual aid and as a counterbalance to capitalist shopping. Most items are sold at 15% above cost and overheads are kept to a minimum, as there are no shareholders or profit, and the place is run more or less like a cooperative. All foods sold are animal, sugar and GMO free. And, when possible, organic and locally sourced.
In the shop we had a conversation with volunteers Chloe and Holly as regulars popped in and out for a shop and a chat, with real feeling of unity and camaraderie apparent. We asked them what staples shoppers can expect, and they led us to rices, lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans, and barley. Also a selection of sauces, herbs, oat milks, grains, and an ever changing list of veg. on offer. The best place to find out about their current offerings is their Instagram feed. And at the end of the day, wouldn’t you find fishing your pulses out of giant bins strangely rewarding?
As Fareshares is volunteer based, I asked Chloe and Holly how our illustrious readership can get involved. Before even finishing the question Holly replied ‘money’, which means ‘please do at least part of your weekly shop with us’. However, there are also ways to get involved by working the till, stock taking, or helping to clean up. They can be contacted by their social media feeds or just by popping into the shop and talking to them. But be aware that they trade for only a few hours at the end of the week. Hours below.
Finally, we asked Chloe and Holly if all hell would break loose if a person rocked up with a Tesco bag for life. They confirmed that this would be acceptable, and in a strange way even collectively embraced by the family of customers.
We have an intriguing exhibit and sauna (?) to tell you about at the ever avant garde Beaconsfield Gallery in Newport St. The exhibit is ‘Monica Soo – The time is NOW and it is overdue!’. Soo was a feminist Swedish painter who explored subjects which are now researched and discussed but were at the time still mostly not part of the common vernacular. Namely, anguish about the environment, systemic violence against women, and non binary ways of living. This is told through the vehicle of the celebration of the Goddess culture. This isn’t the most uplifting giggle of an exhibit, but it is thought provoking and in a way is even immersive, as the paintings and drawings snake up the wall.
Sticking with all things Scandi, also being exhibited is ‘The Finnish Sauna’, created by architect Sami Rintala in collaboration with architecture students from the University of Westminster. We had a chin wag with gallery staff about just how in the world a mobile sauna ended up in their car park, and they explained that it has been transferred from the London Festival of Architecture, who they have collaborated with for years. Inside you’ll find all of the usual accoutrement associated with a sauna, such as coals and a giant ladle to pour water over your head. Also in the car park is a watchtower associated with the Soo exhibit. We’re not sure what it was for, but it afforded sweeping views towards Pimlico Plumbers.
Monica Soo – The time is NOW is open until 10 September and the Sauna until October, and private bookings for the sauna can be found here. When a show is on (which isn’t very often) Beaconsfield Gallery is open Wednesday – Saturday from 12-5 and is totally free. However, getting inside the sauna costs £20 and Runoff bosses refused to sign off on it. Perhaps we approached the topic wrong when we said ‘please give us 20 quid to visit a sauna in Vauxhall’. We’ll try to be more subtle in future.
If you’ve ever strolled through Vauxhall you’ve certainly walked past Casa Madeira multiple times. Madeira is the restaurant in a quartet of Portuguese establishments in Albert Embankment and is flanked by a cafe, supermarket and further down by a further bar/café called ‘Pico’. Outside you can usually find clusters of folk drinking Sagres under umbrellas and chatting in Portuguese, which makes you feel as if you’ve just stumbled across a delightful bar in Lisbon as opposed to a railway arch in Vauxhall next to a petrol station.
We chose to sit outside on what was a balmy, lovely evening and without a reservation, which was fine. The space was large and well set up, with some high octane background muzak and screens and plants which provided helpful sensory deprivation from the road and aforementioned petrol station. The service staff were friendly, efficient and drilled to near perfection about the food on offer — with our waiter’s specific knowledge of the fish market in Funchal leaving just this side of aroused. We therefore started our journey with deep fried whitebait which were nicely plump, breaded, and plentiful. Served with lemon and tartare sauce, their little silvery tails popping out to remind us of the goodness inside.
Portuguese mains are more or less variations on a theme, and this is the case at Madeira. We saw whizzing across the pavement chorizo, lamb cutlets, and chicken escalopes. However, we came here for the fish and seafood and to satisfy you, dear reader, we splashed out on the fish grill for two. This huge dish consisted of two chargrilled pieces of seabass, blackened salmon, black scabbard fish, and this was topped by two enormous butterflied king prawns and a scattering of calamari rings. All soaking in olive oil with sides of carrot, beans and new potato. Delicious and grilled by a person who knew what they were doing. This was perfectly matched with a Portuguese white (wines start at £26)
Prices at Madeira are reasonable, and at times remarkable, based on what they are serving and given the joint’s proximity to the West End. We paid £41 for the seafood but you can blow the bank on turbot for two (£75) or just pop in for a pint and pastal de nada (£1.50). We recommend the fish and seafood and also the meats on offer. Pizza and burgers also make an appearance for some surreal reason but if the spirit takes you there then go for it. And if you’re wondering just what the hell scabbard fish is, lets just say that it resembles one of those deep sea creatures that washes up on beaches every few years that people assumed was extinct.
It’s almost as if our friends over at Vauxhall City Farm have read our Runoff minds as they have managed to roll three of our most cherished concepts into a single destination. These are, in no particular order, 1. Charitable causes 2. Farmyard animals 3. Cocktails.
Set inside and out of their buzzy café, we recently visited the Farm’s newish pop up bar ‘Faiths Place’ on a sweltering early evening (and to the Runoff mandarins this WAS a work event). Faith’s Place is open Thursday – Sunday from 5 – 11 and during our visit had a clientele of after work people peppered with a few families who were a bit befuddled that their kiddie café had been transformed into a bar. The beers on offer were four different offerings from Brixton Brewery and a further four from Gipsy Hill Brewery, all served in cans. Also on offer were four different reds and four whites. On the spirits front we’re afraid its only gin and tonics, but they had some good looking gins and that posh Fever Tree tonic. All were very reasonably priced.
On the nibbles front, we encountered a range of sandwiches and some very inventive sounding crisps. We enjoyed Adnams citrus beer flavoured crisps, but for the more conventional souls there are staples such as cheese and onion. We were unsure about the ethics of eating a hoisin duck sandwich when there were actual ducks only a few feet away so we didn’t go down that road. But, while you’re in the place knocking a few back, there’s no ethical quandary in buying something from the impressive line of City Farm related merch on offer.
Unlike other areas in south London, Greater Kennington is awash with tube stations. Two of them, Kennington and Oval, were the first deep level electric underground stations in the world when they were completed in 1890 (aren’t we always ahead of the curve). The line was built by City and South London Railway Co. and originally stretched from Stockwell to King William St. (near Bank). It proved such a wild success that it inspired other speculative builders to rip up streets and dig routes into the City from places like Shepherd’s Bush (Central Line) and Waterloo (W&C Line).
In 1890 alone our little stretch of what would later become part of the Northern Line attracted over five million passengers. The price of the fare was low enough to attract not just snooty bankers living in Kennington Lane, but also people who worked as clerks, in factories, or as teachers. The line also attracted sightseers to gawp over our anointed and hallowed patch and get some R&R in Kennington Park. And by 1897 more nerdy types might have been enticed by the first electric lift of any tube station (remembered by the now redundant dome).
Entrance hall, 1934
For our forebears, all of the giddy thrill associated with travelling through a hole in the ground did have certain drawbacks. The carriages were described as ‘padded cells’ and people faced stifling heat in addition to near blackouts when the train accelerated. As the novelty wore off electrified trams began scuttling down Kennington Park Rd. and into the City. Not only did trams minimise the risk of getting touched up in the dark, they also had many more stops. So profits began to decline for our pioneering Railway Company, and by the 1920’s shareholders gladly sold up to the ever expanding tube network.
Sadly, while researching this piece we made little headway in ascertaining the source of the great pong of Kennington tube. For those who weren’t around, the smell was somewhere between just stomped on cheddar cheese and wet cat hair.
Trams on a very different looking Kennington Park Rd. at Oval tube.
There’s a brand spanking new 300+ seat theatre set to fling open its cutting edge doors in Greater Kennington and we’ve just had a behind the scenes sneak preview of the place. Located in the surreally named ‘Uncle’ building in Newington Causeway, Southwark Playhouse is actually just moving from the other side of Elephant. The old site will be open for a few more years, but this will be the new permanent home of one of the most acclaimed theatres south of the river. The opening is set for the end of 2022, and if there’s a gala opening party we’ll play the ‘but we’re Kennington INFLUENCERS’ card to bag an invite*.
The design of our new playhouse is actually something to behold in itself. The theatre is fully adaptable with the ability to remove all of the seats or even the galleries (!) to create theatre in the round, traverse, or proscenium staging. The new space also prides itself on its green credentials: Much of the wood is reclaimed and kept to a minimum, and there are a few living green walls in the cafes. One thing we love about the other venue is the very cool and somewhat ramshackle café area, where you can get a cheap pizza and cocktail before a show or at other times of the day. They’re hoping to recreate this in their new venue with council approval. Southwark, we’re wagging a fat Runoff finger at you as we type!
What really makes Southwark Playhouse special is its free outreach programmes for young people aged 11 – 18 (Southwark residents). They also have acting groups for people aged 65+ and a ‘people’s company’ geared towards all adults who are interested in different aspects of the stage, from set design to acting. There is a studio in the building for the bespoke use of these groups.
If you’ve never been to the Playhouse, it focuses primarily on new writing and emerging artists in a manner similar to that of the Young Vic. Sometimes this work is challenging (the current offering is a musical about yeast), but at other times fun and delectable. Earlier this year we saw a Romeo and Juliet re-imagined in a south London council estate in 1981 set to a soundtrack by Madness. We also had underpants thrown at us but we’ll ignore that.
It may come a surprise that a post war high rise complex in Elephant and Castle is Grade II listed, but it is and we’re here to tell you how it happened. You’ve probably walked by Metro Central Heights a million times and never taken notice of it. It is fact the creation of Brutalist architect Erno Goldfinger, who was also the brains behind probably the most iconic high rises in Britain; Trellick Tower in N. Kensington and Balfron Tower in Poplar (pictured at bottom). In spite of this, he always considered his achievement in Elephant to be his most significant work.
The building complex was christened Alexander Fleming House and when it opened in 1963 housed the Department of Health and Social Security. While many found the building soulless, the blocks were praised for their ‘clarity and vigour’ and for the added addition of public courtyards (not public anymore, but we’ll get to that) and green spaces between the juxtaposed buildings. It was also seen as an inspiration for the then mostly bombed out Elephant. Alexander Fleming House served the DoH dutifully for 30 years until it developed a nasty case of sick building syndrome and the civil servants were forced to flee to alternative premises.
Luckily for our sick and unloved building, Goldfinger designed it speculatively and intended it for a variety of then unknown reasons. It lay empty for almost 20 years and was almost bulldozed (an attached Goldfinger cinema faced a sorry downfall in 1988) until it it was converted into 400 flats and rechristened Metro Central Heights in 2002. It was geared towards young professionals (that’s code for hideously overpriced) and the open public areas made not so public. Next time you walk by the complex you might want to reevaluate your opinion by looking at the angles, jutting windows, and over the railings into the courtyards
Goldfinger was a notoriously fickle and humourless character, sometimes firing his employees on a whim and upsetting his snooty Hampstead neighbours by mowing down a row of Victorian cottages to erect his Modernist home (now a museum) at 2 Willow Road. One of these neighbours was none other than 007 author Ian Fleming. Unable to prevent Goldfinger’s builders from mowing down the cottages by traditional methods, Fleming exacted revenge in the only other way he knew how…..By naming his most famous Bond villain after the architect.
The building still continues to totally divide opinion but, like it or not, was granted Grade II listing status in 2013. If you have a spare half million to toss around you can even be part of the experience. Apparently it has a pool.
If you visit us regularly here on the Runoff you’re aware that when a new show arrives at Gasworks Gallery in Vauxhall we like to check it out for you. If you’ve never been to Gasworks it’s located at the Oval end of Vauxhall St. and is perfect if what you demand from a gallery involves Styrofoam coffins or dolls that talk to you.
The new exhibition at Gasworks is called ‘Earth is a Deadname’ by Rotterdam based artist Lou Lou Sainsbury. This show was commissioned by Gasworks and is an exploration of transgender life outside the limiting language of medicalisation. The exhibition revolves around a performance film which touches on aspects of intimacy, feelings of difference, chance encounters, and evolution. A giant cymbal also features on screen and over your head but were going to leave that interpretation up to you. There is also a bedroom cabinet in the room with a range of items telling us that the trans experience is a collective one of unmaking and making the body.
The larger gallery is dominated by a large scale glass installation with fluctuating levels of transparency, again alluding to the trans journey. As the journey is rarely straightforward, imbedded in the glass are trapped cigarette butts, dried flowers and other debris. The exhibition is punctuated by flesh like texts on the walls which swell like scars or stigmata. All very thought provoking for a little gallery in Vauxhall, and time well spent.
Earth is a Deadname is on now until 18 September and is totally free. Gasworks is only open in the second half of the week so have a look at their website. The amber resin on the floor is part of the exhibit, so in your leaving comments please don’t write ‘Sainsbury, clean up in aisle one’!!!!! (we couldn’t help ourselves).
