A free newspaper for Camberwell August/September 2022 GOOD DIMES The trio behind Camberwell’s popular podcast CUTTING EDGE Much-loved local salon Alberto’s BURGZ IS THE WORD Meet national radio DJ Remi Burgz 004 Fields of glory The Myatt’s Fields Park Project
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NEWS | 3 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022
Welcome to issue 4 of The ClarionCamberwell
Local resident Barbara Hall – who was Britain’s longest serving crossword compiler –has passed away. In a brilliant career spanning many decades, Barbara created, edited and set puzzles for many prominent national newspapers, including the Observer, the Daily Mail and the Sunday Times, where she was crossword puzzles editor from the early 1980s until her retirement just 12 years ago. Barbara was born in Derby in 1923 and grew up in Aston-on-Trent. After gaining a scholarship to attend a local grammar school in Derby, she had her first crossword published when she was just 15, in a regional edition of the Daily Mail. This was as a result of winning a competition, for which she was paid the generous sum of two guineas. She had initially hoped to become an elocution teacher but her plans were disrupted by World War Two. During wartime, she served with the Wrens for three years, working as a coder. After the war, she married the journalist Richard Seymour Hall and then set off on her hugely successful career as a crossword compiler and writer.
A life not as simple as black and white
She received an MBE in 2007 for services to the newspaper industry and retired from the Sunday Times in 2010 aged 87. She continued to compile crosswords for the Australian newspaper’s weekend edition until late 2011 and on a voluntary basis for local charities for some years after that.
During her 30-year marriage she had five sons. After her divorce in 1973, she never remarried and spent her brief retirement in Camberwell before passing away on 18 April 2022, a few months after she had turned 99.
We’re always looking for interesting local residents and businesses to feature on our editorial pages too, so if you have a Camberwell-related story that you think could be of interest to local readers, please get in touch at the same address. Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of the summer!
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Marjorie Landels and Tori Sherwin are members of the Myatt’s Fields Park Project – a group of local residents who have worked tirelessly over the years to transform the park into the community space it is today. They tell us more about MFPP’s work – and its current project to turn the park depot into an exciting new food and education facility – on page 18. Also appearing on page one is longstanding local resident Remi Burgz, who explains how she went from volunteering at local station Reprezent Radio to carving out a successful career as a Radio 1Xtra DJ. With her customary infectious energy and enthusiasm, she discusses her love of music and radio – and why she’s crazy about Camberwell – on pageAlberto’seight. Hair is also featured on the cover. The family-run salon, which is based on Camberwell Green, has been cutting and styling the hair of Camberwell residents for more than 60 years. Owners Loretta and Vincent share the story of how their dad Alberto set it up on page 16. Last but not least, Rhymes Like Dimes is a popular Camberwellproduced podcast that has just aired its 75th episode. The three founders, who launched the show back in 2019, give us an interesting insight into the inspiration behind Rhymes Like Dimes – a must-listen for any fan of hip-hop – on page 14. We’re now starting work on issue five of The Camberwell Clarion, which will be published in October. If you run a local business or organisation and are interested in advertising with the Clarion or our sister titles, The Peckham Peculiar, The Lewisham Ledger and The Dulwich Diverter, please drop us a line at camberwellclarion@gmail.com – we would love to hear from you.
Mark McGinlay and Kate White
As the seemingly endless hot summer weather continues, we’ve particularly enjoyed spending time in Myatt’s Fields Park, with its fantastic water play area for kids and abundance of shady trees that provide a welcome respite from the heat.
The family moved to Africa in the mid1950s where she worked on the Central African Mail, which was edited by her husband and later became the Zambia Daily Mail. During her 12 years living in Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia when it became independent in the 1960s) she wrote numerous feature articles. Her advice column was one of the paper’s most popular features and resulted in a book, with a foreword by Dr Kenneth Kaunda, the first president of Zambia. The book was translated into many languages. She continued to support her husband’s work and write articles and puzzles both before and after he became the editor of the Times of Zambia. While working in the newspaper industry in Zambia she met many eminent people including Jomo Kenyatta, Indira Gandhi and Chiang Kai-shek. She had a deep love of the country and tirelessly helped to promote its independence. She was also a founder of the Zambia Society and stayed close friends with Dr Kaunda and his family. After returning to the UK in the late 1960s, she continued to compile crosswords, puzzles and other writings, which appeared in a wide range of publications. She developed a loyal following for her quiz in the Sunday Times and many of her crosswords were syndicated worldwide. She was a regular interviewee and spoke about her life as a crossword compiler on the BBC and other prominent broadcast media.
The park is much-loved locally for its beautiful landscaping and excellent facilities, but as our two cover stars for this issue point out, that hasn’t always been the case.
THE CAMBERWELL CLARION Editors Mark McGinlay, Kate White Designer Mingo Mingo Studio Photographer Lima Charlie Sub-editor Jack Aston Contributors Rosario Blue, Meg Fozzard, Julia Hawkins, Miranda Knox, Luke G Williams Marketing and social media Mark McGinlay
outSchool’s
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Serge was a student at St Gerard’s Secondary Modern (later Clapham College) where he excelled in PE, which he later qualified to teach. After spells at Walworth School (1979-1983) and his alma mater Clapham College (1983-89) he joined Sacred Heart in 1989, working his way up to become headteacher in 2008.
Legendary local teacher Serge Cefai has retired as head of Sacred Heart Catholic School in Camberwell after a long and meritorious 43-year career. Serge arrived in the UK from Tunisia in 1961, unable to speak a word of English. His positive experiences of education as an immigrant bred in him a determination to forge a career in education supporting students “from a similar background to me”. The lessons Serge learned in childhood helped form the “tough love” and “no excuses” ethos that he has applied consistently throughout his career.
Serge helped transform the school from one populated by under-motivated staff and under-achieving students into an Ofstedrated “outstanding” institution which customarily topped the education league tables for Southwark. He also oversaw the complete rebuilding of the Sacred Heart premises as part of the Building Schools for the Future programme, as well as the introduction of a sixth form, which has sent students to Oxford and Cambridge universities.In2012,in addition to his role at Sacred Heart, he was appointed executive head of St Thomas the Apostle in Peckham, then the poorest performing school in the borough. Over the next decade, alongside headteacher Eamon Connolly, he dragged STAC out of the mire, turning it – like Sacred Heart – into one of the most successful schools in the country, a feat recognised in 2017 by the Times Educational Supplement, which named it secondary school of the year. A spell as executive head of St Matthew Academy in Blackheath (2015-18) was similarlyReflectingsuccessful.onhisretirement, Serge said: “The vital and important job of a teacher is, at times, taken far too lightly. In the best schools the ability to teach your subject well, provide a role model and develop relationships can change pupils’ lives for the better.“The desire to help pupils reach their potential has always been my motivation. I sincerely hope and believe that Sacred Heart will continue to flourish after my retirement.” Serge will continue to serve as STAC’s executive head, as well as a consultant to the new head of Sacred Heart, Richard Lansiquot.
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Quince Garcia, who grew up on the Elmington Estate in Camberwell, is a real local success story. The 43-year-old is the director of Roadworks Media, a south London organisation that runs a variety of creative projects for young people, with a specific focus on helping those who are disenfranchised, isolated or at risk of offending or re-offending.
This summer Quince is turning his attention to perhaps his most ambitious project yet – a feature film titled The Escape Plan, which is being filmed in and around Camberwell over the next few weeks. The screenplay for the film has been written by two young people who were referred to Roadworks by Southwark’s Youth Justice Team and have been working with Quince for over a year now.
Quince’s quest
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“I’ll be producing and directing. We are working in association with Theatre Peckham. They reached out to us and loved the idea of the film. They offered us their space to use for casting sessions, rehearsals and as a production base. “We will also be using their postproduction services and facilities and we will be screening the finished film there as well, which will hopefully be at the end of September.”Quince’sown background and experiences have informed his passion for working with vulnerable youngsters. By his own admission he grew up in a “very dysfunctional home”. “I ended up getting involved with crime and I went to prison,” he explained. “The last time I went to prison I told myself, ‘Enough is enough.’ After I got out I went to university and turned my whole life around. I got a film and animation degree, then I led workshops for three years aimed at reducing youth unemployment. After that I worked in the film industry for two years at Pinewood Studios and in Soho and then ever since I’ve been working in cooperation with the Southwark Youth Justice Team. “I try to engage with hard-to-reach young people to deter them from gangs, crime and violence. I hope this film will send a positive message to young people in the community about how they can get involved in film and other creative industries and activities.”
and we will promote you
Quince told The Camberwell Clarion: “The project has enabled us to reach out to members of the community and provide a summer programme with the aim of preventing and reducing crime, gang activity and violence and connecting marginalised members of the community to the creative industry.“Thefilm is about two young guys who are aspiring rappers who commit a robbery because of a desperate situation they find themselves in and then find out they have secured a recording deal.
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“This is now our fifth book on the area. They’ve proved so popular that the publishers keep coming back to us. In this volume readers get to see direct comparisons and contrasts between what Walworth was like in the past and how it is today.”Headded: “It’s amazing how much interest there is in Walworth given it’s not even two square miles in size. The books keep selling. I think it’s down to pure nostalgia. The area has gone through so many changes and a lot of us rejoice in those changes over the years and the people who have left love to come back – they come back for the pie and mash, for the [East Street] market and for the local pubs.”There is no bookshop in Walworth currently, but Walworth Reflections, like Mark and Darren’s previous books on Walworth, still finds its way into local stores. “We sell it in newsagents and so on and also sell literally hundreds of copies in Arments pie and mash shop,” Mark said. He pinpoints the images of the Elephant and Castle shopping centre in the book as perhaps his favourite. “When it was built in the 1960s it was seen as the future. But it never totally won people over or became what it should have been. And now that it’s gone people are moaning that it isn’t there anymore! The memories the book will stir up are very special I’m sure.” As well as a writer, Mark is also a wellregarded film producer and – in his own words – “a practising catalyst” who gets all sorts of things done. Walworth Reflections, which was published last month, is available from all good booksellers, as well as the great pie and mash shop on Westmoreland Road.
Out of this world
A local journalist has teamed up with her husband to write a book titled On the Scent: Unlocking the Mysteries of Smell and How Its Loss Can Change Your World. Paola Totaro, who lives with her family in Camberwell, lost her sense of smell to Covid-19 in the early days of the pandemic, leaving her “trapped in a sensory vacuum without fragrance or flavour”. Since then, she’s been on a mission to get it back by discovering just what is known about this least understood of the senses. In the book, which is co-written with her husband Robert Wainwright, she details her dramatic scent loss and her journey to recover her sense of smell, while talking to scientists, fellow sufferers and charities like AbScent.Paola is an award-winning reporter who has written for the Guardian, Independent, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian and the New York Times. Meanwhile Robert is a prize-winning author and journalist, whose non-fiction titles include the international bestseller Sheila and The Maverick Mountaineer, which won the Times biography of the year at the 2017 Cross British Sports Book Awards.
On scentthe
“We have met so many new schools as a result of JET to Space – not just in our five winners – and we hope this will be the beginning of our journey with them as we look to increase the reach of the STEMinspired support programmes we deliver, which we know make a significant difference to the outcomes for young people who are struggling with school engagement.”
NEWS | 7 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022
A wondrous wander around Walworth
Dr Emma Egging OBE, CEO of her late husband’s trust, said she hopes the competition will widen the charity’s reach across the “ThroughUK.running this competition, we wanted to ensure that the inspirational ripple effect from the UK’s first satellite launch reached areas of the country where employment opportunities may be lacking, and where we know many young people are facing adversity.
Mark Baxter’s latest book Walworth Reflections looks set to be another big success for the prolific Camberwell author. Co-written with fellow local resident Darren Lock and published by Amberley, the book presents a series of 180 images of Walworth both new and old, which have been merged in order to highlight the changes in the area over time.
Highlights of the JET to Space camp include a VIP tour of Spaceport Cornwall, a robotics and rocket propulsion challenge at RAF St Mawgan and an opportunity to complete the Cornish Challenge – a surf and coasteering adventure which explores Cornwall’s extraordinary marine conservation areas.Inaddition, all schools who entered JET to Space will be invited to take part in a virtual space seminar in September, which will be hosted by the brains behind the satellite launch.
Ark All Saints Academy in Camberwell has been named as one of five national winners of the prestigious JET to Space competition. Students won a four-day residential space camp in Cornwall. The competition is run by youth charity the Jon Egging Trust (JET) and is aimed at schools in areas of the UK where employment opportunities are lacking and families face hardship.Teacher George Jack said the experience will have a hugely positive impact on the winning students. “We were so excited to hear that we were one of the winning JET to Space schools,” he said. “The itinerary will inspire our scholars as well as providing an amazing experience not normally accessible in south London. “We hope that the camp will provide a positive impact on aspirations and future employment prospects which will help us achieve our main aim of saving lives through education in our local community.”
“We started our series of books on Walworth in 2010,” Mark explained. “Darren turned up one night at a gig where I was DJing and said, ‘I’ve got all these photos of the local area. What can we do with them?’
On 30 January 2021 Remi began as the new host of the BBC Radio 1Xtra weekend breakfast show. A year later, she took over weekday afternoons, where she remains. If it hadn’t been for radio, Remi’s calling would have been politics. First on her agenda? “Camberwell Station Road. I was actually gonna put a station there! I need Camberwell to have a station. It can’t have a Station Road and no station! Where did it go? What happened? I know we have Denmark Hill, but that’s not ours, is it?”In addition to her regular show at Radio 1Xtra, Remi fronted the channel’s Africa 360 – a week of specially curated content celebrating African music and culture. She has co-hosted BBC Three’s Tonight with Target, as well as The Rap Game UK’s official podcast with musical artist LadySheIce.has hosted various festivals and is co-founder of online publication Sistem Magazine. She’s also the creator of Rêveur, a “collective creating safe spaces for queer black womxn”.There’s no stopping Remi. She is a force to be reckoned with, and the epitome of “your local energy provider”.“Whatever it is you want to do,” she says, “put it first. People don’t have to understand. Only you have to understand. Don’t put it second, put it first.”
BY ROSARIO BLUE
Remi Burgz is a BBC Radio 1Xtra DJ, producer, writer and presenter from Camberwell. Nicknamed “your local energy provider”, when meeting her you see within seconds why: her energy is infectious. Remi was born in Peckham and moved to Camberwell when she was two.“Iwent to Comber Grove,” she says, “which is a primary school in Camberwell, and then I went to St Saviour’s and St Olave’s [on New Kent Road]. The only time I stepped out of the endz was to go to college.” That college was based in west London, an hour and a quarter bus journey away. But Remi had deliberately chosen to continue her education a long way from home. “The reason I wanted to leave Camberwell was to try and meet other people,” she says. “Because I was so attached to the area.” After college she studied at the University of Kent, but her love of Camberwell never vanished: she still lives here today, not too far from her mum.Remi’s love affair with music began when she was very young, nurtured by her supportive parents. They bought her CD players, Walkmans and MP3 players and their music tastes influenced hers. “My dad used to play a lot of reggae, a lot of gospel music. My mum was more the Yoruba [influence] – ’cause I’m Nigerian, innit. She was the person who would play all the drums, the ones that would make you lit in the hall party and make you look cool.” Remi went through different phases musically.“Therewas one time where I was listening to rock. Well, not just ‘rock’, but the rock at that time that would penetrate [black] culture, like Fall Out Boy, Linkin Park, all dem man there.” By the latter years of secondary school, R&B was close to her heart. “That’s because there’s a power in R&B. When you start finding your feet with your feelings, start liking people, all of a sudden these songs make you feel like you’re in love.” Of the genres she’s had “moments” with, Afrobeat has remained firmly fused to her heart. “We’ve come a long way with African music. We used to beg for 10-minute sets at the club, but now it’s all over the radio.” Her first radio job was at Reprezent, then based on Asylum Road in Peckham and now in Brixton. However, it was a long time coming, as when Remi first mentioned the idea to her mum, she was less than impressed. “Asylum Road was quite a dark road, very quiet. I said to my mum one time when we were walking, ‘Mum, this
8 | CAMBERWELL PEOPLE
Multitalented resident Remi Burgz on her love of Camberwell, music and making waves as a BBC radio DJ
Energy in the endz
Then one day a presenter couldn’t make it into the studio for their show. “I was in the room on a day that I wasn’t supposed to be there, and one of the production managers just looked at me and was like, ‘Come on then.’ I was like, ‘What?!’” By this point, Remi couldn’t even remember how to do radio. It had been too long. “She [the manager] just taught me how to put the mic up, how to press play on the songs, drag them into where I needed to drag them and Bob’s your uncle, I was now covering someone on the radio.” When they asked whether she’d be available whenever the station needed cover, she replied, “Put me everywhere.”Shesoongot her own weekly show. “My show was on the Sunday, at first pre-recorded, then they moved me to live radio on a Friday. Even when I was ill, I would still go in.” During the three years Remi worked for Reprezent, she also acted as a producer for DJ Semtex, DJ Tiiny and DJ Manny Norté at Capital Xtra, and studied for her master’s in radio at Goldsmiths.“Iwentand learned everything I could possibly learn about radio. Not just the modern stuff. I went back to see how radio was created, I worked in a newsroom, did all types of radio. It kinda gave me a well-rounded perspective.” It also cemented her ambition to work in radio. “I felt like, ‘This is where I wanna be.’” Remi’s opportunity to work with the BBC came in 2020. “I was in conversations with [BBC radio]. Then the pandemic happened, and I thought, ‘Oh, this is gonna be a delayed conversation.’”
perspectivewell-roundedgaveofdidaIaboutpossiblyIeverythinglearnedcouldlearnradio.workedinnewsroom,alltypesradio.Itmea
Catch Remi on BBC Radio 1Xtra on weekdays from 1-4 pm I went and
Above: RemiresidentCamberwellandradioDJBurgz
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 is where Reprezent Radio is. This is what I wanna do.’ My mum was like, ‘Don’t ever let me see you here.’ I was pretty law-abiding as a kid, in terms of listening to my parents, so I just – didn’t.”Someyears passed, and Remi went to university. While there, she flirted again with radio. During uni breaks she thought, “I’ve got spare time. Let me go and learn about radio, because Reprezent was doing introduction courses.”Remicontinued with these courses for some time after finishing university, but gave them up when she got a job. It was well-paid but clashed time-wise with her radio ambitions. Radio found her again after some years. This time she worked with children through charity The Challenge. But she had to give it up when a tragedy meant she had to be with her family. “Then one day the opportunity came back. The woman [at Reprezent] who I was speaking to was so lovely. She said, ‘I’ve got another space opening up, if you still wanna do radio?’ I took that as a sign of, ‘Wow, I keep running away from you, but you still find a way to come back to me.’ “In that moment I told myself, ‘I’m going to put radio first from now on.’ I promise you, the moment I said that, my whole life changed.” Remi went above and beyond. Instead of working her expected one day a week, she worked three. “I was at the radio on days that I wasn’t meant to be there. I was helping out, I was hoovering, I was fetching water for guests, I was helping with editing, I was clearing songs, just helping the radio station out.”
But they picked her up rapidly. “It was the year a lot of people were struggling. It felt so crazy to receive such a blessing.”
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Lou normally buys her fabric in person as she likes to feel the quality. She had to adapt to buying fabric online, but she was not too concerned because she has a good relationship with the shops that she buys from, so she knew that the quality would still be there.
“Customers are never taken for granted and I like to think that if you treat people well then they treat you well.”
“Let’s face it, sometimes it [school] is not for all of us but that doesn’t mean you cannot be successful in something that you are passionate about with hard work and dedication.”
“I met with them and spoke about the fact that you can still achieve a lot in life without necessarily excelling at school,” she says.
love of handmade items stems from her “make do and mend” attitude, which she inherited from her parents.“It’singrained in me,” she says. “My dad was in the army during World War Two and married my mum in 1946. As you can imagine, starting out with nothing, that ‘make do and mend’ attitude was their only philosophy.” The large family was never flush with money so nothing was ever thrown away. “I am still the same 55 years later,” says Lou, the youngest of the five daughters. “Maybe I don’t hang on to things quite as long these days but nothing ever just gets chucked out. “I get great satisfaction from recycling. I have tins and pots with sewing ‘bits’ in that were quite possibly from my grandparents.” Family was very much on her mind when Nicholson & Walcot was established in 2008, after Lou decided to leave the rat-race of the fashion industry where she worked for 27 years. She wanted to spend more time with her elderly parents when they needed her most and also wanted to support her sister, who was their main carer.Throughout the years the business has always been based in the home that Lou shares with her husband Mark, who is a huge support and sounding board. She still takes business advice from her two eldest sisters as well. There has been one change to the household though – Lou and Mark now have a rescue puppy who is currently in training to not run off with everything that is not nailed down. Lou tells me more about the early days of the business. “At the start it was purely scarves for the guys who didn’t want to buy from the high street,” she says. “We adapted the business to include ladies and scaled down the sizing for children. We then introduced a bag range, which has been a huge hit for presents for all genders and all ages.“The purchase of fabrics remains constant – we only buy small runs of fabrics so that we can be flexible in buying for a range of customer tastes.”Thecompany’s buying practices had to change slightly during lockdown.
Lou has had a number of celebrity clients over the years, including the likes of Paul Weller, Martin Freeman, Johnny Harris and Kevin Rowland. She even has a handwritten note from Weller thanking her for the “very lovely scarf” – and her company Facebook page brims with reviews from happy customers.
Lou Baxter’s stylish handmade scarves and accessories are coveted by actors and musicians among others
FASHION | 11
Nicholson & Walcot has also engaged with the local community through working with the Creation Trust, a charity that was established for residents of the Aylesbury Estate to ensure that everyone living on the estate received the benefits of the regeneration of the area.
The make do and Above:meingrainedattitudemendisin
With the masks costing £5 a pair, many customers chose to donate extra cash for more coverings to be produced, which were then sent free of charge to NHS workers and also to Bede House, a local charity that does amazing work in Southwark for young people, victims of domestic violence and people with learning difficulties.
Lou worked with local young adults to help them understand what is involved in running your own business.
BY MEG FOZZARD Lou Baxter is the absolute definition of the term “born and bred”. The name of her company, Nicholson & Walcot, comes from the fact that she grew up in Walcot Square in Kennington – notable for its unusual triangular shape – and she now lives just down the road in Camberwell. Meanwhile “Nicholson” was her maiden name and because she is one of five daughters she didn’t want to see it forgotten. Nicholson & Walcot sells stylish scarves in patterns ranging from dogstooth to tartan to polka dot, as well as printed bags, pocket handkerchiefs, cushions and more. Everything is handmade in London with close attention to detail and a lot of Lou’scare.
The young adults then opened a pop-up shop on East Street to learn the retail side. “It was great to watch them evolve and grow and I often used to just pass by to say hello and give them a little support,” Lou says. “I was brought up to be community-minded and can’t see that ever leaving me.”
Lou Baxter Below: a selection of Lou’s fabrics, bags and scarves PHOTOS BY LIMA CHARLIE
She’s made it
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022
Lou is very appreciative of her client base, whether they are a famous face or not. “It makes me feel very proud when a customer takes the time to write a nice comment,” she says.
“In some places maybe bespoke or handmade items cost more and I’m sure in some cases far too much more than they should,” Lou says. “I like to think that we are very keenly priced as I have a real sense of fairness in everything I do. I don’t see the point in pricing yourself out of the market.”Likea lot of local business owners, Lou pivoted to meet the demands of the pandemic. During the summer of 2020, the company produced more than 700 non-profit face coverings that were sold nationwide to individual customers.
We all know that purchasing handmade items is of course more expensive than buying from high street chains or large online retailers. But with garments from Nicholson & Walcot you are getting something special.Loucarries out her work on a cottage industry basis, which enables the finer details of each item to be carefully overseen. The bespoke side of the business flourishes, with Nicholson & Walcot working closely with each client to fulfil what each one requires –whether it’s a football scarf of their favourite club, a bag for mum, a pocket square for dad or a colourful printed bag for the kids.
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I’m from Paris, and in 1995 I came to London to study graphic design at Camberwell College of Arts. I never left. When I was at Camberwell, I did a bit of painting in my spare time, but not much. At the end of my BA I had a baby. I then took a year out and went to the Royal College of Art and did communication, art and design. I did no painting at all. I completely stopped painting when I had my daughter, because I had no space, no time, and I really thought I’d given it up forever. I never really thought of painting as being my thing, anyway. But then, about eight, nine years ago in the summer holidays in France I started picking up the brush again and did a few paintings. The next summer, I did a bit more. About seven years ago, I came back and decided I really wanted to continue painting in London and not just on holiday. So I got my studio, which is two minutes from my house, and it’s great and now I’m here every day and it’s really taken over my other work. I’m delighted to be painting all the time. My work is figurative, but not always; I do some abstract work. It’s very precise, with an emphasis on lines and gradients of colour. One series I’ve developed is called Moments. It’s a series of urban landscapes, set in places that people pass every day, such as the bridges at Loughborough Junction, which are near my studio. I work in oil paint. I mix it with lavender oil because I react badly to turpentine – it causes terrible inflammation. My studio space now smells of lavender. Marie Lenclos will be exhibiting at the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea in October and at Curious Kudu in Peckham in November. Visit marielenclos.com and follow her @marielenclos_painting on Instagram
masterpiecesMarie’s
AS TOLD TO COLIN RICHARDSON
12 | CAMBERWELL IN PICTURES
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 CAMBERWELL IN PICTURES | 13
Rhymes
Above:audiencetogettingsouthourintensifiedfriendsTolocallocalseeingstartedYoumorerappers,heroes.meandmythatprideinLondon,itoutalarger Like Dimes crew PHOTO BY VICKY GROUT
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 14 | MUSIC BY EMMA FINAMORE
When it comes to rap music, fans can spend hours debating the finer points of the genre. Who’s got the best bars, the most impressive flow, the best beats? Who makes brilliant albums, who’s better as a featured artist on other people’s tracks, and who truly deserves that often overused title: genius? Then there are the more divisive, complicated questions such as misogyny (not just in lyrics; many female rappers find it harder to cut through than their male counterparts, even more so for producers) and violence, which have been a difficult part of the conversation for decades. Now, three bona fide rap obsessives have turned this endless potential for discussion into a regular podcast.
Rhymes Like Dimes – named after a track by the iconic MF Doom, whose death shook the music world when it was announced on New Year’s Eve 2020 – released its first episode in March 2019. Brothers Peter and Yemi Abiade, who grew up in Camberwell near Burgess Park, teamed up with east Londoner Moe Yusuf after Yemi and Moe met on a production course at Reprezent Radio. “We were arguing about J Cole within an hour,” laughs Yemi, describing how the three just naturally fell into deep discussions about music, laying the groundwork for their eventual podcast. After honing an idea and figuring out the technical side of things, the group started recording Rhymes Like Dimes in Peter’s Camberwell bedroom. Aptly, the experience of listening to it is almost as if you’re overhearing mates chatting about music at home or down the pub. “It’s just organised talking,” explains Yemi, “having a bit of structure to what would be an everyday conversation.” That doesn’t really do the podcast justice though; between them these three men are incredibly knowledgeable about all forms of rap music – from hip-hop and grime to drill and trap – and despite its casual tone the composition of each episode has been thought through with imagination and care, while Yemi’s day job as a journalist helps keep all that chat a bit more focused than it would be between your average group of friends.With episode titles that would pique the interest of any rap fan –“I made love to a DMX song once” and “I didn’t know you had JayZ’s WhatsApp number?” –
Like Dimes goes in for everything from album reviews and discussion points (imagine, for example, if Tinie Tempah’s Pass Out, a pivotal moment in UK rap music, hadn’t been released) to interviews with guests. The trio have spoken to music journalists like Complex’s Joseph “JP” Patterson (also founder of the vital Trench magazine, focusing on black British music and culture), Birmingham-based rapper Kofi Stone, Blazin’ Squad’s Melo and fellow podcaster Eboni from the TBH Podcast, discussing misogyny and colourism in hip-hop. Despite being Londoners fully behind the UK music scene, all three of the Rhymes Like Dimes team say they first got into rap music on the other side of the Atlantic (the pod’s MF Doom-referencing title and accompanying artwork, a homage to A Tribe Called Quest, speak to this love of classic US hip-hop), citing 90s icons like Busta Rhymes, Tupac and Ice Cube as being among their first loves. But the emergence of So Solid Crew out of Battersea, Brixton and Peckham in the early 2000s – the group famously credited by Godfather of Grime, Wiley, as being the originators of the genre, with their track Oh No (That’s the Word) – was a big deal to Peter, Yemi and Moe, as well as rap fans all over the UK. “They were very, very important,” recalls Yemi. “In terms of London, UK, giving a glimpse of what we could do on this side. Seeing So Solid Crew on The Box [a pre-internet music video request channel], at the Mobo awards, the 21 Seconds video, then that rolls into Heartless Crew, Pay As U Go... for our generation that time was very, veryTheyimportant.”weregrowing up in the early 2000s, just as grime first exploded out of east London and changed UK music forever – an exciting time to be a young British rap fan. Peter remembers seeing Dizzee Rascal’s pivotal Mercury prize win in 2003 for his seminal debut album, Boy in da Corner, featuring the smash crossover hit Fix Up, Look Sharp. “That was one of the first UK songs I remember memorising the lyrics to,” he says. Going to school in Camberwell and Peckham, for Peter and Yemi there was a gratification in seeing rap music being made in south London. “You started seeing more local rappers, local heroes,” Yemi recalls. “I remember Giggs shot his video for Don’t Go There around Peckham, and there was a shop around the corner from the school I used to go to that was filmed. To me and my friends that intensified our pride in south [London], getting it out to a larger audience.” The podcast aims to strike a balance between US and UK music. “We want to show that we’re proud of where we come from and the scene that’s emerged, especially now it’s getting bigger,” explains Yemi. “Things like interviewing local rappers about how they got into it and how they see themselves as Londoners, as UK artists.”Andhow did they find making a podcast during a global pandemic? “The interaction helped,” Peter says. “Just talking to people outside of your house!”“Itwas always something to look forward to,” agrees Yemi. “Something to aim to try and improve. It was definitely a welcome distraction from, like, the world!” This distraction is getting them noticed by a growing audience too. Rhymes Like Dimes was featured in a Complex magazine piece about podcasts, alongside some big-hitters like The Receipts. “That was surreal,” laughs Moe. “Yemi was all, ‘Mr Cool, Calm and Collected’ because this is normal for him [as a music journalist] but for me and Pete it was kind of crazy. Nas was on Complex... and I was on MaybeComplex!”it’stheir truly diverse range that listeners enjoy. As we chat, Yemi and Peter talk about recent projects from UK artists, while Moe brings in the likes of Lil Durk (making Chicago drill) and Lil Baby (Atlanta trap). As the conversation darts from Drake and Dizzee to Kano, Kanye and Kendrick, the trio’s passion for music is clear in their spirited, good-natured debates. Even though podcasting is growing more and more popular as a format, Peter says Rhymes Like Dimes is still pretty unique in focusing purely on music, rather than folding in wider cultural topics. “UK-wise there aren’t that many [podcasts] that just focus on the music, which is why I love what we do. We thought, ‘Let’s hone in on this, be real nerds about it!’” And despite all the other debates, this is something Moe agrees with wholeheartedly: “Let’s just talk about what we want. And that’s music.”
the Rhymes
Dimes like these
The music-loving trio behind Camberwellbased hip-hop podcast Rhymes Like Dimes recently made their 75th episode. They tell us how their love of rap inspired the popular fortnightly show
Alberto’s is a Camberwell institution that – for over 60 years now – has been synonymous with quality barbering and hairstyling services. The much-loved Alberto Petrozzi established the eponymous salon in the 1950s at premises on Camberwell New Road, before moving in 1961 to the Grade-II-listed double-fronted building overlooking Camberwell Green that the business still occupies today.Alberto sadly passed away in 2019 aged 87, but the business remains safely in the Petrozzi family and is now owned by his daughter Loretta and son Vincent. They have recently overseen an impressive “retro style” refurbishment of the establishment that looks set to maintain Alberto’s iconic status in Camberwell for many decades to come.
Alberto’s personal history is a fascinating story in its own right. His parents lived just outside Rome and life was tough, leading them to emigrate to South Shields in the north of England, where Alberto was born in 1932, the youngest of six siblings. At a young age, however, his parents took him back to Italy, his father serving in the Italian army during World War Two, while Alberto’s older brother stayed in England and served in the British army. By the time Alberto returned to England post-war in 1949, he had trained as a barber and hairstylist. He found work in the fashionable Gerrard Street area of Soho, where many Italians were resident and owned businesses. Alberto’s friendly patter and skill with the scissors won him many admiring clients, encouraging him to start his own business in Camberwell, by which time he was living nearby on the Walworth Road. After moving from Camberwell New Road to the building on Camberwell Green, Alberto’s was originally two shops within one building with their own separate entrances – a men’s barbers on the left-hand side and a women’s hairdressers on the right. It was undoubtedly Alberto’s personality and sunny disposition that was the key to his long-lasting success and popularity.
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BY LUKE G WILLIAMS
Founded Camberwell more than 60 years ago, family-run hair salon Alberto’s is still going strong
in
“We wanted to keep part of that feel of what Alberto’s would have been like in the 60s. Most important of all, Dad’s comb and scissors are framed on the wall now near the reception desk, so he’s still here with us as it were.”
FA Cup final day was always a memorable occasion; Alberto would bring a huge television into his shop and people would queue up down the street to watch the football while getting their hair cut. “The shop would always be absolutely packed on FA Cup final day,” Vincent says. “Pubs didn’t show the football in those days. That day always used to make me smile.”Formany years Alberto’s brother Mario ran the cafe next door to Alberto’s – then named The Green –and so for around 30 years or so, the two brothers worked within yards of each other, merrily cutting hair and serving food respectively. The family business ethos of Alberto’s was also accentuated by the four years that daughter Loretta spent working in the ladies’ salon as a “Saturday girl”. “The shop was so busy every Saturday that I’d hardly see my dad,” she recalls. “Occasionally he’d pop across and say, ‘How are you getting on?’ To Dad, Saturday was the most important day of the week and he was totally devoted to the business. “Even if a niece or nephew was getting married he wouldn’t leave the shop on a Saturday but would come down to the wedding later in the day. He wouldn’t miss a Saturday at work forInanything!”theearly 1990s, Alberto decided to convert his premises into one shop serving both ladies and gentlemen. He carried on working until just two weeks before his death in 2019. His funeral mass in Surrey was a sad occasion, but also a celebration of a man who brought friendliness and joy to so many people within his family and“Atcommunity.hisfuneral there were customers who travelled all the way down to Surrey from Camberwell to pay their respects,” Loretta says. “That’s a real tribute to him. Even today a lot of the customers who come to the shop are customers who knew Dad and have been coming here for years. They still talk about how lovely he was. Everyone always seems to have a good word to say about him.” Vincent and Loretta stress that it never entered their heads to close or sell the business after their father’s death. “There was no reason not to carry on,” Loretta says. “Our lead stylist Anna has worked at Alberto’s for 21 years now and continues to work here. The shop did need updating though. So we decided to upgrade, hence the transformation lastTheOctober.”offerthat Alberto’s provides continues to be broad and cover all bases. “We offer barbering and for women we offer a full range of styling and quite a lot of colouring,” Loretta explains. “We also offer treatments. We use Wella products and Olaplex treatments for the hair.” Most important of all, Loretta and Vincent have ensured that the newlook Alberto’s – through its thoughtful refurbishment – honours the legacy of their father. “We were quite careful to use some of the materials that were already in the shop,” Loretta explains. “The original 1960s hair dryers that were here and installed by our dad we have kept and made into lights. We’ve kept the chairs that went with the hair dryers originally and have re-covered them. We’ve also still got Dad’s original barber’s chair, which has also been re-covered.
Above:luckyhappy-go-HeinthealwaysDadsawpositiveseverything.wasaverychap
Anna with a customer Opposite page: the salon’s stylish interior PHOTOS BY JULIA HAWKINS
“Dad always saw the positives in everything,” Loretta explains. “He was a very happy-go-lucky chap. He loved to chat to his customers and had a great way of striking up conversations withVincentpeople.”expands on this point. “He never had a bad word to say about anyone or anything and a lot of his customers would keep coming back, even if they moved away from the Camberwell area. He had some very loyal customers. He was very wellknown and loved in the community so there was never any need for him to move his business from Camberwell.” This writer, whose hair was cut by Alberto for the best part of 15 years while working down the road at Sacred Heart school, can attest to the man’s charm and warmth. While he cut my hair “alla tedesca” he would entertain me with stories from his youth, all the while singing, humming or dancing along to the music which always seemed to be playing on hisVincentradio. remembers fondly the huge popularity his father’s business enjoyed in the 1970s and 80s. “The shops were really busy,” he says. “Dad had himself and two other barbers working in the men’s shop and three people working in the ladies’, including a shampooist and a receptionist.”
HEALTH & BEAUTY | 17
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18 | COMMUNITY
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022
Heritage Lottery Fund and that was to do a whole park plan. “It’s about the community and it’s such a hub. It’s a place where people can meet and get to know each other. “A lot of people around here live in flats and there’s a string of big estates [in the surrounding area]. Green spaces are so important for wellbeing.”Graphicdesigner and MFPP chair Marjorie Landels was also one of the founders, and lived opposite the park for 25 years before moving just down the road to Kennington. She says: “For the first three or four years we just didn’t go in [the park] at all. Then we got a dog, so I started walking the dog there – it was lovely but really run-down. The children’s playground was just a concrete open space, and there was a sunken sandpit but cats and foxes mainly used it. “Firstly we just wanted to improve the One O’Clock Club, and that’s where I met Tori. It’s a free drop-in session that Lambeth used to run, a stay and play run three or four days a week. You’re so desperate for a cup of tea and company when you first have a baby!“Initially, we had paths widened, fences put up – the infrastructure was redone. Alongside that, we had a new One O’Clock Club built and it snowballed from there.” The park has an interesting history, with its current layout dating back to the Victorian era. The land was originally part of a 109-acre estate, purchased by Hughes Minet in 1770, and was later named after a tenant market gardener called Joseph Myatt, who grew strawberries and rhubarb there.The park first opened to the public in May 1889, and was designed by Fanny Wilkinson, Britain’s first professional female landscape gardener and an active women’s suffrage campaigner. She went on to create more than 75 public gardens, and was recently recognised with a blue plaque.
When we first moved here we didn’t go in the park at all. When we got a dog we run-downbutItusingstarteditthen.waslovelyreally Park life
Tori says: “She created a fantastic design – you can have lots of activities going on alongside each other. [It’s
“We started talking in 1999, when the park was really rundown. I had a new baby and had just moved to a new area and was really desperate to meet people, which was really difficult. “It was a collection of different people, and we came together and formed a group initially. We started with a small grant and then eventually got development money from the
Over the last 20 years, Myatt’s Fields Park has been transformed from a run-down space into a much-loved community hub. Two residents who’ve been instrumental in the project tell us moreBYMIRANDA KNOX With an impressive playground, 19th-century bandstand, wildlife area and greenhouse among the numerous attractions it offers, Myatt’s Fields Park really fulfils its aim to be a “true community hub”, as a space designed for everyone to enjoy. Situated a short walk from Camberwell New Road and nestled just off the beaten track between the heart of Camberwell and Oval Tube station, the 14-acre community park has been a lifeline for those in London seeking a green space, and it was especially busy during lockdown. But it hasn’t always been that way. While the space now boasts the family-run Little Cat Cafe, play equipment including water fountains for hot summer days, tennis courts and a football pitch, there was a time not so long ago when the park had becomeThankfully,run-down.since then it’s had a transformation.Myatt’sFields Park Project (MFPP), which was set up in 2000, now runs the space in partnership with Lambeth Council, and it’s become a project for the community, essentially run by members of the community. While Lambeth looks after basic maintenance, including water play, opening, closing and cleaning, MFPP is responsible for other areas including employing staff and recruiting volunteers, raising funds and running community events and activities. The group achieved charity status in 2005. Tori Sherwin is one of MFPP’s founding members. Now the project’s development manager, she first moved to the area in 1998, and was looking for a place where she could meet new people.Shesays:
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“We’ve also got a depot where we grow food, and we have a greenhouse, which is one of the few left in Lambeth.”Constantly striving for improvement, the group is now working on renovating the park depot, which will have an entrance on to Cormont Road, to create community meeting, cooking and education spaces. These spaces will also be available for private hire, with all income invested back into the park. Tori says: “The depot is the next big project.“We’re developing it into a community building with a sustainable food focus, but that’s the last big thing.”
At one point, years later, it housed air raid shelters during World War Two.Staggeringly, the team have raised approximately £4 million over the years to give the park a refresh, including funding from partners such as City Bridge Trust, the Heritage Lottery Fund and Lambeth Council, and from football pitch, tennis court, children’s parties and wedding hire. In 2010, £3 million was raised to renovate the park, providing a new playground, children’s centre and toilets.Marjorie says: “We’ve got a huge playground with a water feature, and it has that soft rubber flooring everywhere and about six or seven water play areas. In the summer it’s absolutely rammed. “We have two tennis courts, a football pitch where Lambeth Tigers play, a wildlife garden, an orchard and honey bees.
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 amazing] she did that over 100 years ago and it still works. “It’s a series of spaces. There’s the playground, the picnic area, the fields, the wildlife area, the tennis courts and the quiet garden. You can have football going on at the same time as a wedding easily and it works because of the Backdesign.”thenthe park cost £10,000, and was paid for with the help of a grant from the lord mayor of London’s fund for the unemployed.
Marjorie adds: “We got gold in London in Bloom last year and they’re coming back to judge us [this summer].“Wehave a wildflower meadow, which our horticultural manager Tony has been putting in over the years, and every year it gets better and better. “There are so few wild areas in London now – anything that we can do to put in a wildflower area [is beneficial].”Whilethe physical development of the park is clear, it’s important to recognise absolutely none of this would have been possible without the MFPP team, their partners and the volunteers, who are all dedicated to looking after the space. Which is why we all, as park users, need to be mindful of looking after the space, with many parks in the area overwhelmed during the busy summer months.Marjorie adds: “Please look after your parks and take your rubbish home, because it’s our number one expense, and our bins on a nice day are“Itoverflowing.takesforever to clean up, but we have 30 volunteer litter pickers who are“Webrilliant.can’t thank them enough.”
For more information and to see what’s on, please visit myattsfieldspark.info
There’s a honeyorchardgarden,aTigersLambethpitchatennishaveareas.watersixfeaturewithplaygroundhugeawaterandorsevenplayWetwocourts,footballwhereplay,wildlifeanandbees
This and opposite: Myatt’s Fields Park is one of south-east London’s best green spaces
PHOTOS BY JULIA HAWKINS
COMMUNITY | 19
BY LUKE G WILLIAMS
Despite living in an age characterised by injustice and intolerance, longtime Camberwell resident John Coakley Lettsom was a man who stood up for the timeless principles of philanthropism and benevolence. In professional terms, Lettsom was a renowned physician, but his contributions to British society also extended to horticulture, entomology, agriculture and natural history, as well as social and moral matters, including the movement for the abolition of slavery. His generosity of spirit and attitude to life can be summed up by one of his most renowned sayings: “Who will thank us for dying rich?” Expanding on this philosophy, Lettsom once wrote enthusiastically in favour of the idea of the redistribution of wealth, declaring: “I have often calculated that if all the money in the English European dominions were equally divided, each person would possess about 45 shillings. “All I possess above this sum, is so much more than I deserve; for what right have I to keep more than my share? For so much therefore I am an accountable steward; as I conceive it to be superabundantly given to me, to disperse and to make those happier who have not got 45 shillings in the whole.”Lettsom was born on 22 November 1744 in the Virgin Islands to Mary, an Irishwoman, and Edward, a West Indies-born planter. The tenets of compassion and philanthropy were doubtless bred in Lettsom by his family’s Quaker faith, which would underpin his actions for his entire life. When Lettsom was six he was sent to England to be educated in Lancashire, where he came under the guidance of Dr John Fothergill who helped mentor him and steered him towards a career in medicine. In 1766, Lettsom began to study at St Thomas’ Hospital, but his progress was interrupted by the death of his father. He travelled back to the Virgin Islands to deal with his father’s estate and – in a striking display of compassion – promptly freed all the slaves he learned he had inherited. Lettsom’s act of kindness – which occurred fully 20 years before the
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AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 formation of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade – was sadly unusual for the time in which he lived. “In giving my slaves their freedom I acted from an impulse I could not overcome,” Lettsom later explained, while also admitting that the act left him “penniless”. After a spell applying his medical knowledge in the Virgin Islands, Lettsom completed his medical studies at the University of Leiden in Holland in 1769 before returning to London. He proved an energetic and compassionate physician, funding the General Dispensary on Aldersgate Street, where the poor could receive free medical treatment, and also establishing several soup kitchens. Among the many organisations Lettsom supported or was a member of were the Royal Humane Society, the Royal Jennerian Society, the Society for the Relief of Widows and Orphans of Medical Men, the Society for the Relief of Debtors, and the Philanthropic Society. Indeed, countless institutions and individuals benefited from his generous patronage.Lettsom was also an innovator – in 1773 he founded the Medical Society of London, with the intention of giving doctors “frequent opportunities of meeting together, and conferring with each other concerning difficult or uncommon cases which may have occurred; or communicating any new discoveries in medicine which may have been made at home or abroad”. The society is still in operation today, and is England’s oldest surviving medical society. By now Lettsom had married a wealthy heiress, Ann (Nancy) Miers, and the couple set up home in Camberwell in 1779, initially buying a two-and-a-half acre plot of land in Grove Hill, attracted by the area’s leafy suburban beauty and the lack of pollution compared to central London. “For three quarters of the year,” Lettsom observed, “the wind blew from the south towards London, and consequently for that part the air is as pure as the most rural situation can afford.”Onhis newly purchased land, Lettsom built a large and striking villa – a three storey, red-brick building with marble chimneys and an east and west wing. The west wing would become Lettsom’s personal library and museum, while the magnificent and seemingly ever-expanding gardens –stocked with peach and apple trees as well as grape vines, beehives and a range of other botanical and horticultural delights – were his pride and joy. In establishing his gardens, Lettsom was encouraged and inspired by his old mentor Fothergill, who had established extravagant gardens of his own at Upton House in Essex. After Fothergill’s death in 1780, Lettsom acquired over 2,000 specimens from his estate, which –he said – he watered “with tears that are due to the memory of their late possessor”.By1804, Lettsom’s estate in Camberwell had extended to 10 acres in size and was renowned for its beauty and variety. Not only were there formal flower beds, but also numerous classical statues, a “Shakespeare walk”, various water features and a small working farm where agricultural experiments were carried out. Explaining the impulse behind these experiments, Lettsom wrote: “He who improves the soil and augments its products by increased vegetation, who discovers new articles of diet, or a better method of cultivating the vegetables already known, is a benefactor to the community.”Lettsom’s gardens also contained a menagerie housing a bear, squirrels and an owl, although legend has it that the bear escaped and had to be killed. Lettsom even built a small observatory tower to cater for his passion for astronomy and take advantage of the magnificent views across London from Grove Hill. Lettsom opened his estate to members of the public and even published an invaluable book to help guide visitors around, while many prominent members of London society also flocked to Grove Hill, including the famed diarist, biographer and lawyer James Boswell, who enjoyed playing bowls there on numerous occasions.In1810, Lettsom sold his beloved estate, probably due to financial difficulties. He died five years later – on 1 November 1815 – ironically having inherited 1,000 slaves from his daughter-in-law whom he had not yet had the opportunity to free.
COURTESY OF THE WELLCOME TRUST HISTORY | 21
a plan of Dr Lettsom’s Camberwell estate; a view of the villa; the Lettsoms in their Camberwell garden Opposite page: an engraving of the Lettsoms’ Camberwell home IMAGES
Sadly, Grove Hill was demolished in the late 19th century. Traces of it remain, but its magnificence during its heyday can only be imagined. As for Lettsom, his legacy and achievements live on, as does his name in Camberwell, memorialised in the Lettsom Estate and Lettsom Street.
It’s even said that the mulberry tree there was one planted by Lettsom himself more than 200 years ago. Something tells me the good doctor would be proud of that.
However, it is Lettsom Gardens, the community gardens in Camberwell bordered by Grove Hill Road and Grove Park, that provide the most apt tribute to the remarkable Dr Lettsom.
left:Thisrich?’uswillsayings:renownedofupsummedlifeattitudeLettsom’stocanbebyonehismost‘Whothankfordyingpage,clockwisefrom
Obituarists praised his “high character for benevolence, and medical and literary knowledge”, arguing that the name Lettsom would “long be held in veneration”.
Camberwell history
“Dulwich Manor extends
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Camberwell connections
and
this stone eastward nine feet.”
The Camberwell crossword 7 Across is a Camberwell feature. ACROSS 7 CLEANSGUARDS (anagram) (5, 7) 9 Impertinence (8) 10 Rich shade of blue (6) 11 Lessened, eased (6) 12 Shining (8) 15 Spanish city and site of the Alhambra (7) 16 Genius (7) 19 Power, might (8) 21 Nullify (6) 22 Clinging mollusc (6) 24 Type of well (8) 25 Late dictator of Zimbabwe (6, 6) DOWN 1 Sudden heavy rain (10) 2 Acknowledgement, acquiescence (10) 3 Rose, climbed (8) 4 Corridor (7) 5 Look up to (6) 6 ____ Blyton, locally born author (4) 8 Incorrect (5) 13 Island nation off south-east Africa (10) 14 Had discussions about (10) 17 Appear plausible (4, 4) 18 Tuscan red wine (7) 19 Divide (5) 20 Collect, harvest (6) 23 Pond, small lake (4) SOLUTION ACROSS:7LucasGardens,9Rudeness,10Indigo,11Abated,12Gleaming,15Granada,16Prodigy,19Strength,21 Negate,22Limpet,24Artesian,25RobertMugabe.DOWN:1Cloudburst,2Acceptance,3Ascended,4Passage, 5Admire,6Enid,8Wrong,13Madagascar,14Negotiated,17Ringtrue,18Chianti,19Split,20Gather,23Pool.
each parish.
Dotted all over London, the city’s historic boundary markers were designed to show the borders of This one, dated 1874, is located on Champion Hill on the edge of Camberwell East Dulwich. It sits next to another, smaller marker that reads: from
Actor Michael Caine was born Maurice Micklewhite at St Olave’s Hospital in Rotherhithe in 1933. His mother Ellen was a charwoman and his father, also named Maurice, was a porter at Billingsgate fish market. Family finances were tight. When Caine was a baby the Micklewhites moved to a two-bed flat on the top floor of 14 Urlwin Street in Camberwell. They shared the old terraced house (which still exists today) and one outdoor loo with three other families. The documentary Candid Caine, made in 1969, is available on YouTube and is well worth a watch. In it Caine visits his former home on Urlwin Street, where a wonderfully spirited old lady called Mrs Kettle, who knew Caine as a boy, emerges from the house next door and asks if he’s Maurice Micklewhite. A colourful conversation ensues. War broke out when Caine was six and he was evacuated to a village in Norfolk with his mother, a time he said was “one of the happiest of my life”. The family later returned to London to live in a prefab in Elephant and Castle. Caine’s first ever acting performance took place in Camberwell when, aged 14, he appeared as a robot in the play Rossum’s Universal Robots. The venue was Clubland, an influential youth club at Walworth Methodist Church on Grosvenor Terrace, where the old club sign is still visible today.
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