GROW ELEPHANT

Grow Elephant sofa - kenningtonrunoff.com

Today was our first visit to GROW ELEPHANT, a new community garden just off New Kent Road (enter by the red telephone box opposite Falmouth Road).

Grow Elephant welcome mural - kenningtonrunoff.com

They’re open until 10pm tonight as part of Open House London and there will be a BBQ and DJs.

Grow Elephant - kenningtonrunoff.com

Mobile Gardeners are behind the garden, as they are behind the Wansey St and Elliott’s Row Pocket Parks, but this venture is much bigger in scale and in an even more dramatic location, surrounded by the new and half built tower blocks of North Kennington.

Grow Elephant and Strata - kenningtonrunoff.com

It’s free to join and one of these tubs could be yours to tend:

Grow Elephant tubs - kenningtonrunoff.com

Grow Elephant wheelbarrow and camping van - kenningtonrunoff.com

our North and East Kennington predictions for 2015

North Kennington (formerly known as Elephant & Castle) will be a messy snarl up from some time very soon for at least a year because of two massive Transport For London projects: the reconfiguration of the North roundabout, and the installation of the new cycle superhighway on St George’s Road. The number of cranes is expected to increase too, and associated construction beneath them, as Lend Lease commence work on the portion at the top of Walworth Road, including a 31 storey tower.

Ministry of Sound will get what they want in terms of planning approval, because they love to fight hard and win.

What will become of the shopping centre? Whatever it is, let’s hope it manages to keep the downtown Bogotá/magical realism vibe that makes it so vibrant at present. Likewise the Coronet and the bowling alley – North Kennington needs these!

The good news is the new Castle Leisure Centre will open in the heart of North Kennington with its two lovely pools (one of them 25m long), sports hall, gym, crèche, café, and a wooden ceiling for those doing back stroke to admire.

The Castle Leisure Centre

The Castle Leisure Centre

There will continue to be havens of green space in the area, including a new Mobile Gardeners event and gardening space opening on New Kent Road called Grow Elephant.

The modernist Perronet House (between St George’s Road and London Road on the North roundabout) will join Metro Central Heights in being listed. See this article about one of the top floor flats.

Like The Duchy Arms, North Kennington’s Marcel & Sons will cease to be a best-kept secret and become a destination eatery.

As for East Kennington, Walworth Road could become a foodie haven if some of the establishments would just sort out their Food Standards ratings.