Long lost lido

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A picture tells a thousand words #2

The second of your photos was taken during the great heatwave of 1932 in Kennington Park. Believe it or not, between 1931 and 1987 the park had it’s own lido, and some of you might have lived here long enough to remember it. 

Built in 1931 by the LCC, the lido and an adjacent paddling pool measured 165 x 66 feet and contained 350,000 gallons, with a deep end of 7ft 6ins. The pools were high-tech for the day, offering continuous filtration and aeration. The substantial buildings on the site included staff accommodation, first aid rooms, refreshment kiosks, plus individual and group changing rooms.

In it’s heyday the lido attracted an estimated 1800 people a day and was free to all. As one swimmer remembers ‘a whole day would be spent at the park culminating with a dip in undeniably the coldest water it has ever been anyone’s misfortune to swim in’. Oops!

The lido was closed in 1987 but the remains lived on behind a fence in a zombie like fashion until 1995.  The remains were removed in 1995 and replaced by the current tennis courts. The only trace of the lido is an oval (how apt) shaped area of grass between the tennis courts and Camberwell New Road where the edge of the paddling pool can be seen. 

The children of Walnut Tree Place

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A picture tells a thousand words #1

If you’re a regular reader then you’ll know that we love old photos of Greater Kennington. We have unearthed three very different photos and over the next three days we will take on little journeys to let you know what they tell us about our community. 

These lovely kiddos were residents of former Walnut Tree Place and the photo was taken in the summer of 1921. If you look closely you can see blackout boards on some of the windows (although obsolete after WW1 ended in 1918). These homes were built during the first half of the 19th century mostly to house the families of people who worked in factories along the Thames. 

Poor housing conditions became a pressing issue after WW1 and these homes were torn down by London County Council not long after this picture was taken. Between 1928 and 1934 the homes were replaced by what is now the China Walk Estate on the south side of Lambeth Road. The buildings were named after renowned China manufacturers. Walnut Tree Place has changed quite a bit in the past 99 years.

Gasworks Gallery (breathspace)

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This review was written before ‘Lockdown fois deux’ was announced on Saturday evening, but it will invariably still be around when we are allowed to visit cultural institutions again, so put this in that little pocket diary we’ve been telling you to keep for the past two years, and think of it as something to look forward to. 

The exhibit at Gasworks is the first UK solo exhibition from Buenos Aries based artist Eduardo Navarro and, according to our guide, (breathspace) was originally scheduled to premiere in April. Navarro’s plans were meant to transform the gallery into a living, breathing organism in the shape of a gigantic lung. The lung was meant to encourage visitors to synchronise their most vital functions with one another ‘offering a space for collective meditation and oceanic breathing’. 

Given that sharing breathing and bodily functions isn’t exactly…lets say, ‘on trend’ at the moment, in a post lockdown Buenos Aries Navarro decided to relocate this work inside his head. The 100 drawings featured in the exhibition represent a synthesis of the body and what he found in his home at the time, reminding us that our homes and bodies are not somewhat differentiated display lockdown and we are compelled to rely on inanimate objects. Through a little portal you’ll find a video display of pulsating quantum physical lights, maybe alluding to the idea that society won’t be destroyed no matter what is thrown at it. 

The central feature of (breathspace) is a tiny stuffed humanoid creature on a stool. It reminded us a little of something a three year old niece would give you for Christmas, requiring you to say ‘well, isn’t THAT something?’. Apparently, at a time of social distancing the doll serves as a metaphor for a loss of communication and loneliness. The doll is fitted with a microphone and at certain times of the day Navarro himself speaks through the doll and communicates with people. If that had happened we would have probably run into the street in screaming panic. To see the doll actually talking to people click here….

(breathspace) is not open now and will not be open for the foreseeable future. But write it down for a random date in January and prepare yourself for a bit of fun. 

A mysterious model village in Vauxhall

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If you’re anything like us (and you know you are) you probably spend a fraction of your working week thinking ‘if only there was a miniature mock Tudor village of homes no larger than two feet high in greater Kennington’. Well guess what dear reader, you’re in luck. A mysterious village exists in Vauxhall park, but if you blink you’ll miss it. 

Our little Smurf village was created in 1949 by a retired engineer from West Norwood but not a great deal more is known about it. It was originally intended for Brockwell Park (where the rest of the  village still stands) but this assortment was moved to Vauxhall park in the 1950’s. I mean really, why should Brockwell Park have all the fun? The village consists of six homes and three outbuildings and something vaguely resembling a pub. Cast in concrete and lead, these diminutive dwellings were meant to last, but the reason still remains unknown. 

A nice gawp at the tiny homes in Vauxhall park is just one reason to check it out. It’s also a delightful place to spend a few hours, even in the midst of autumn. They have tennis courts, a kids area, and table tennis amongst other attractions. A few years ago a local benefactor even donated an interesting human sundial to the park. The method by which time is told by the use of the body is suggestively called an ‘analemmatic sundial’. We would love to have been a fly on the wall when the following conversation took place – 

“Hi, is this Vauxhall Park? I’m a benefactor who is really interested in anatomy and I’d like to install an analemmatic sundial into your garden. Any chance of that”? 

Blanco – Kennington on video

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We would like you to believe that Blanco has been on our turntables for AGES, but to be honest we’d never heard of him until a handy (and younger) reader sent us this intriguing video.

Blanco is the pseudonym of 20 year old rapper Johshua Eduardo. A Kennington native, this video is shot almost entirely on the Kennington Park Estate (behind the Post Office). Look carefully and you’ll also see glimpses of Vauxhall and the Kennington side of Elephant. Enjoy!

That funny house in Kennington Park

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You have doubtlessly walked or run by these little brick cottages in Kennington Park a million times, but have you ever stopped to wonder what it is or how it ended up there? Well, dear reader, consider yourselves to be demystified. 

The first clue to our mystery is the inscription ‘Model Houses for Families Erected by HRH Prince Albert’ on the side that faces the street. We doubt that Prince Albert himself took off his ermine lined gloves to build the edifice but with the Prince as patron, it was erected by the ‘Society for Improving the Conditions of the Labouring Classes’ for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The cottage was located outside of the exhibition grounds in Hyde Park and entry was free, unlike the Exhibition itself. After the Exhibition closed, the cottages were moved to our sanctified patch of green and became a minor Victorian tourist attraction.

The model cottages were designed to house four families, with two flats on each level. It was envisioned that the cottages would provide suitable accommodation for people from “the class of mechanical and manufacturing operatives who usually reside in towns or in their immediate vicinity”. Each family was designated a living room, kitchen/scullery, three bedrooms and a toilet – but no bathroom, as was still generally the case in houses built at the time.  What we see in our park was a protoype, and it’s unknown whether any were actually executed. 

Since 2003 the cottages have been inhabited by the wonderful charity ‘Trees for Cities’ so it isn’t open to the public.  However, have a spin around it and contemplate that this one little building was meant to house at least 16 people. It makes you appreciate the era we’re in.    

Damien Hirst at Newport St.

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Without a great deal of fanfare, on Wednesday Newport Street Gallery reopened with  a survey of Damien Hirst’s early work called ‘End of a Century’. The timing of this retrospective might be a coincidence or an intentional and very prescient observation of the world around us in 2020, as Hirst’s early work explored themes of death, healing, life saving medication, infection, and anatomy.  We checked out the show on it’s opening day. 

In the first gallery we were introduced to one of Hirst’s trademark dissected animals; this one being a baby shark in formaldehyde. Moving into the main galleries you might think you’d just wandered into aisle three at Iceland, as there were several freezers stuffed with frozen cow heads (we asked, and they are real). Also on show were Hirst’s trademark medication cabinets and a variety of medical implements. After an enormous anatomical model we’re left to ponder the slightly humorous ‘Shut Up and Eat Your Fucking Dinner’ (pictured at bottom) which was fashioned as a butcher shop window featuring a variety of meats encased in formaldehyde. Is meat murder? 


On the first floor we got to grips with several of Hirst’s spin paintings and dot paintings, with one actually spinning in the room. Surprisingly, there were several cubist inspired collages of found materials which Hirst created before he was a student at Goldsmiths, even then showing his early interest in mortality and resurrection. The most arresting work upstairs was ‘A Hundred Years’, in which a bloody severed cow head is being eaten by maggots who turn into flies who then get executed by  an inect-ocutor. We’re not making this up. 

Some of these works are almost 30 years old and don’t have the shock value they once possessed. But if your artistic taste embraces decapitated cow heads, meat, pills, blood, dead flies, and medical implements then this show will be right up your street. Vegetarians might want to steer clear. And lest you don’t give your mortality much of a thought during the pandemic, this show is a reminder of the profound fragility of organic matter. 

End of a Century is on now and until the end of March, 2021. Tickets are free and can be booked here.

24 The Oval – the place to be for Sunday roast

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If you’re a regular reader you are probably aware of two things. First, we have a serious addiction to eating out. Second, we would rather be jabbed with rusty ice pick than give a biased review. If we feel passionate about something or it’s quirky we write about it. If it isn’t reviewed here we either didn’t like it or it just isn’t on our radar. 

The restaurant 24 The Oval seems to have been on the radar of everyone but ourselves for ages, so recently we went to sample their Sunday menu. Early in lockdown they converted the front of the restaurant into a farm shop. It ‘s still going strong and we reviewed it here.  The setting of the restaurant at the back is unpretentious and the open kitchen and wealth of cookery equipment attest to a restaurant that is led by confident chefs. And 24 defies the current ‘small plates’ trend proudly.  

As it was still warm we were sat in the garden with orchids and succulents and a nice 80’s soundtrack. In an attempt by the staff to sabotage our dream of washboard abs, as an ‘amused bouche’ we were given four mini yorkies and served a further four between courses – and between us we downed nine of them….Moving on…your scribe defied convention and had the seared Cornish cod. It was very meaty and delicately cooked slab served with peas, dill, and preserved lemon. Your scribe was also getting flavours of celeriac..

My very ambitious associate had the lamb roast, which consisted of a pink leg and slow cooked breast, served with a pot of mint sauce (homemade, not Coleman’s). This is definitely posh roast territory so there was some artful piling in the centre of the plate with a construction of various roast vegetables (including some lovely cabbage) and crisp roasties. Then, if that wasn’t enough, there was a separate dish of extra veg and roasties plus a pot of cauliflower cheese. Although at the pricier end of Sunday roasts, this was super quality – and super quantity. 

The crowd at 24 was an eclectic and diverse mix of white middle class people with lots of hair who were under the age of 45. If this describes your good self then you’ll fit right in. If, like us, you do not fit that category you’ll still be greeted heartily. As for the service, it was very causal yet well drilled. 

A celebration of Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre

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Well it’s finally happened. Like that scatty aunt you loved dearly but never bothered to visit, Elephant and Castle shopping centre is finally gone forever, and we would like to mark the event with a visual celebration. 

The shopping centre was the sight of many ‘firsts’ for staff here at Runoff HQ and will be hugely missed. For example, it was the first time we ever had our shoes nicked at a bowling alley, the first time we were ever frisked before entering a restaurant, and our first ever experience of being sexually aroused by a massage chair.  

The centre was also reminiscent of a bygone era of truly one stop shopping and formica. Where else in London could you buy Christmas ornaments in June, have your phone unlocked, score plantains and have a vegan sausage roll all under one roof?  To be serious, while never fully realising it’s potential even after 55 of years of existence, the wonderfully eclectic centre served a vital function to parts of the population often overlooked by retailers and put food on the tables of the people who worked there. In addition to offering food and clothing from around the world which acted as symbols of our diverse community. 

Some of the smaller independent retailers have set up shop in a temporary structure in Elephant Street, behind the centre. The iconic Elephant sculpture will also find a new home there. However, it is only a matter of time until they close and we’re left with another identikit shopping centre catering to a small element of our varied population. But please remember a better era by the photos we took several years ago. And a mind boggling illustration at the bottom of the Elephant of the future. 

The future site of the now former shopping centre is circled.

Spirits in the Drawing Room

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With the Gasworks gallery closed for now (reopening on 1 Oct) and Newport Street Gallery closed for the foreseeable, you might be feeling a tad culture deprived. We would like to share with you a little gallery in Elephant and Castle that has recently come to our attention, The Drawing Room.

The Drawing Room is a space to discover both historic and contemporary drawing in an open and accessible manner. They have an impressive art library and (probably not right now) have a series of talks, artist led projects, and hands on learning. The show currently on until the end of October is called ‘Not Without My Ghosts: The Artist as Medium’ and features work by Victor Hugo, Yves Tanguy, Sigmar Polke and William Blake, with many newer artists who, unlike those guys, are still very much of this mortal coil. 

It’s hard to overestimate the importance of the metaphysical, occult, and communicating with higher powers to 18th and 19th century society. This was not missed by artists and writers, who often considered themselves to be mediums who could communicate with the dead and other spirits. The output which resulted from this communication was strikingly at odds with prevailing artistic tradition at the time, which was increasingly concerned with learned artistic forms and rigorous training. The exhibit moves into the 20th century by examining current artists who continue using the concept of the unseen to grapple with the ambiguities of the world around us. Quite prescient given how 2020 has unfolded.

Not Without my Ghosts is totally free but it’s best too book first. It should be noted that most of the works in this exhibit are sketches and drawings, so don’t go in expecting a blockbuster experience. But on the bright side, after the show you might find a way to have a nice chat with your auntie Vera who popped her clogs back in 2015.