RVT Sports Day in Spring Gardens

Posted on August 24, 2026 by Kennington Observer

Our sports reporter Mark has been collecting a great deal of dust so we’ve finally given him an assignment. He wholly recommends the very fun, charity raising, and inclusive Royal Vauxhall Tavern Sports Day at the back of Spring Gardens on Monday 31 August from 1pm. Because we’re all about charity.

For the uninitiated, Sports Day is our own little Notting Hill carnival, with soca and steel drums substituted with handbag throwing, tug of war and drag queens. The event is composed of approximately 10 teams, usually dressed up and with great names. As you can imagine, there is a definite comedy element to the proceedings but is MC’ed by some professional sports reporters who corral events into a semblance of actual competition. The various tasks (egg and spoon, the 50 metre mince, drag race relay, etc) are constructed in a knockout format with the winning team being crowned at about 5pm. All proceeds go to charity LGBT Hero, which promotes health in the lesbian. trans and gay communities.

This event is free but bring some cash or a tappable phone as there will be charity buckets and volunteers about, and there is also a raffle. The day is certainly not limited to a specific demographic and there are a number of families there with kids, older folks, and an overall sense of mirth abounds. There are bars, music and mirth being consumed. We would never presume to tell you how to live your life, but for maximum enjoyment we might suggest a picnic consisting of ultraprocessed food scored from the corner shop. The website indicates a kickoff at 1, but is usually about 1:30.

Why there aren’t more events like this is a mystery to us, like the continued existence of phone boxes or announcements on the tube banning E-unicycles. And whats an E-unicycle?

How much has the Kennington pub scene changed?

Posted on July 5, 2020 by Kennington Observer

As much as we’ve cherished the experience of standing in the middle of Kennington Cross drinking takeaway beers out milk containers, we were brimming with giddy thrill when we learned that pubs would be re opening on 4 July. Unfortunately the top brass at Kennington Runoff got wind of our excitement and demanded we work over the weekend undertaking a covert pub crawl. Oh, we do suffer for our craft.

Yesterday your intrepid reporter and three safely selected associates began our journey at the Dog House, as there is outside seating. Ordering is at the bar behind a Perspex screen and you can drink by spaced seats either indoor or out. It didn’t feel different to many other afternoons there, and if anything was more quiet (and they were even showing football). Afterwards we decided to move to the Duchy Arms, as they seem to be the perpetual underdog in the area. With a large garden they are perhaps having their long overdue moment, and the manager at the door explained that they were at ‘safe capacity’ (pic below), which was about 60%. He also helped us to clarify a puzzling riddle we’ve had of late – ‘can you book a table just for a drink’. And the answer is yes.

Dog House
Duchy Arms

Undaunted, we then moved into Vauxhall and tried to get a table at the ever popular Black Dog. The chirpy doorman explained that they were also at safe capacity and he suggested that we saunter to the other end of Spring Gardens and try the Vauxhall Tavern. The place was very buzzy, gay and straight, and we sat on a table on the stage (!). This was unusually the only place where we needed to leave our name. It also had a very handy method of scanning a QR code and ordering at the table. Afterwards we went to The Pilgrim, but to be honest dear reader this is when our journalistic skills became a bit compromised. But we do remember that people were standing and drinking at the bar, which we’re not really sure is recommended. Hand sanitisers were readily available everywhere.

The Black Dog
The Vauxhall Tavern

Overall our little tour revealed a pub landscape that, while different, was more normal than we had previously believed. For instance, we thought the toilet situation would be a ‘raise your hand like you’re in year 6’ affair, but it seemed very straightforward. And while people sitting at tables were not distancing, different tables were spaced apart adequately. The success of Kennington pubs and the livelihoods of the people who work there depend entirely on our ability to use them safely, and our verdict is that you can.

A celebration of Kennington pubs

Posted on June 23, 2020 by Kennington Observer

Do you remember a halcyon time when we could go to a place and have a drink with people we didn’t live with? Well those days will be upon us again in some kind of fashion on 4 July. Some of these pubs are gone forever, some others rebuilt, and few looking amazingly familiar. We could stare at the pictures all day, and enjoy….