Issue 5 of The Lewisham Ledger

Food for thought

A FREE NEWSPAPER FOR LEWISHAM

The Lewisham Ledger I S S U E 5 | F E B R U A RY/M A R C H 2 0 1 9

Poonam Dhuffer's Punjabi pop-up PA G E S 24 , 2 5

Dancing queen

Performance pioneer Beverley Glean PAG E S 28 , 29

Phoenix rising

Celebrating a community heroine PA G E S 1 8, 1 9

Yizzy heights The Brockley MC achieving grime greatness PAGES 20, 21

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Welcome to The Lewisham Ledger, a free newspaper for the borough. his issue of the paper features a special focus on Brockley, in addition to your regular borough-wide news, views and interviews.

The Brockley pages shine a spotlight on a variety of interesting folk from SE4, including legendary barber Paul Neophytou and Brockley Station stalwart Sylvain Grigbale. There’s also an interview with Tim Livesey and Helen Clarke from craft beer hub Waterintobeer, and a photo essay on Brockley Market.

Our front page features local people ranging from ultra-talented grime artist and rising star Yizzy, 19, to 91-year-old community heroine Sybil Phoenix. Starring alongside them are dance entrepreneur Beverley Glean and supper club supremo Poonam Dhuffer.

We’re now working on issue six of The Lewisham Ledger, which comes out in early April and covers the months of April and May. As ever, it will be available to pick up in more than 150 places across the borough, which are listed in full here: tinyurl.com/llstockists.

We crowdfunded our first two issues through a Kickstarter campaign that was backed by 100 brilliant people, but we now rely solely on advertising to keep the Ledger in print.

If you love Lewisham, enjoy reading the stories of its people and places and would like to support our local publication through advertising, please get in touch via lewishamledger@gmail.com. As you can see from this issue, you’ll be in excellent company.

Thanks for reading!

t

Mark McGinlay and Kate White

The Lewisham Ledger

Entrepreneur Mariatu Turay in her former shop in Deptford Market Yard

Local trader tells of tough two years in market yard An entrepreneur who was based in Deptford Market Yard said her business has been badly hit by scant footfall and developer U+I’s failure to create the thriving marketplace envisaged in the project plans, writes Rosie Parkyn.

The £46 million scheme next to Deptford Station is a public-private partnership between Lewisham Council and U+I, which specialises in the regeneration of “overlooked and underestimated” urban spaces.

It aimed to revitalise a derelict area with an eight-storey apartment block and the restoration of the railway arches, which now contain retail units looking out onto a concourse intended to be a “busy public realm”.

Mariatu Turay shuttered her shop Gitas Portal before Christmas. A former Deptford High Street stallholder selling clothes made from African wax prints, she was approached in 2015 to take a unit in the yard – her first “bricks and mortar”.

She was both excited about scaling up and nervous about the increased overheads, but said U+I assuaged her concerns, adding: “They said, ‘We really want to invest in small businesses,

Cover photograph Yizzy by Lima Charlie Editors Mark McGinlay, Kate White Creative directors Andy Keys, Marta Pérez Sainero Type designers a2-type.co.uk londontype.co.uk Photographer Lima Charlie Features editor Emma Finamore Sub-editor Jack Aston

so there will be support, and there will be help’.”

Mariatu, who spent almost £2,000 on her launch party in 2016, said U+I also promised extensive marketing and community outreach. “They promised they would circulate thousands of leaflets,” she said. “I live two minutes away, none of my neighbours got anything.”

In response, U+I said it has invested heavily in public relations and has taken steps to integrate Deptford Market Yard into the community, providing free space to local groups.

Matt Potter, head of U+I’s direct investment portfolio, said: “We care about the places we create and the local communities in which we work. Putting the community first isn’t just the right thing to do, it also makes commercial sense.

“By creating places where people want to live, work and play, the area is more likely to thrive. That’s why we are committed to supporting the local businesses who occupy the arches at Deptford Market Yard.

“From the start our aim was to bring in young and fledgling businesses, many of whom had never had a permanent home for their businesses, and this brings its own challenges. We could have put recognised national chains in the arches – we chose not to do that.”

U+I added: “Since opening, we have provided a high level of financial and practical support to our tenants – from an initial rent-free period to help them get established and contributing circa £200,000 to the fit-out of each arch, to guidance on setting up a new business. We remain committed to ensuring that the arches provide a successful and profitable development for all businesses trading there.”

Contributors Seamus Hasson, Ronnie Haydon, Rosie Parkyn, Anviksha Patel, Peter Rhodes, Miranda Slade, Paul Stafford, Alice Troy-Donovan, Luke G Williams, John Yabrifa Marketing and social media Mark McGinlay

Mariatu said she regards the rent holiday as partial compensation for the fact that retailers were only able to move into the yard nine months after the initial occupancy date, as well as the lower-thanenvisaged amount of passing trade.

She also said “mould, water leakage and falling dust from displaced brickwork and unsealed holes was a problem for a number of months”. U+I accepted that damp has been an issue and said expert advice has been sought due to the age of the buildings. It is not clear whether this has been resolved.

Mariatu said she did not receive any business advice and has not heard of others who did. She said this matters, given the council’s wish for Deptford Market Yard to form part of a wider initiative to support small enterprises, and questioned whether there is sufficient accountability around the scheme.

The weekly market run by events company Eat Me Drink Me will no longer operate in Deptford Market Yard on a regular basis, but will still put on ad hoc events. U+I said it has brought forward proposals for a more “traditional” market in the yard and will “continue to activate the space with events and activities throughout the year”.

After we started work on this story, a series of meetings between U+I, the retailers, Lewisham Council and local MP Vicky Foxcroft were tabled for February and March.

But asked if she’d consider returning to the yard, Mariatu said: “It’s unlikely as [U+I] have shown they are unwilling to budge on the rents and haven’t made good on the promises they made, which would stimulate footfall and help businesses like mine. I’ve done everything within my power and resources.”

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Punk, poetry and possibilities When punk, writer and musician Richard Cabut first moved from Bedfordshire to London as an 18 year old in 1978, the capital was a very different place.

“The first area I lived in London was Tufnell Park, which at the time was like most places in London – dank and grimy but so exciting,” he said.

“There were still lots of bombsite type places. Everywhere was full of corrugated iron and there always seemed to be fires burning in empty spaces. But it all seemed very poetic, mostly untamed and full of possibility.

“You don’t get that these days because everything is kind of neat and ordered and corporate and everything is in its place. But it didn’t used to be like that, and I think that was part of the atmosphere in the 1970s which allowed punk rock to happen.”

Richard will be taking part in a punk rock literary event at Crofton Park Library this month, which will centre around his book Punk is Dead: Modernity Killed Every Night. It’s a collection of essays, interviews, memoirs and manifestos that chart the journey of punk, from its underground origins to the “most analysed youth cult ever”.

Organised by Crofton Books to benefit the community library, the event is part of the London Bookshop Crawl, which takes place on the same weekend.

In the mid-1980s, Richard squatted in a grand Georgian house at the top of Camberwell Grove, which famously featured in the acclaimed BBC series The Secret History of our Streets. At the

Richard Cabut in the early 1980s, when he was about 22

time he played bass guitar in a punk rock band called Brigandage.

“It was absolutely fantastic,” he said of his five years living on Camberwell Grove. “There was a real sense of community. All the misfits and the artists and the ne’er-do-wells lived there.

“It had an energy, a youthful zest and an artistic zest, and it was a great way to live. It was like the fruition of a lot of the stuff we’d been talking about in punk, about how to create alternative futures.

“Eventually they [Southwark Council] flogged the place off to the private sector and now it’s worth millions, you know.

Things change, money intervenes, big business happens and people move on.”

Richard wanted to take part in the literary event to support Crofton Park Library. “I believe in community, and that stems from the very inception of punk rock in the mid-1970s,” he said.

“Back then I was living in the suburbs in a place called Dunstable, 30 miles outside of London. At that time it was a place that was characteristic of many places, including very probably some of the suburbs of south-east London.

“What you had really at that time was conformity. Conformity was everything.

Things like irony and individuality meant nothing, and if you didn’t fit in with your peers then you were deemed a weirdo or even worse.

“But when punk came along, suddenly those kingpins of conformity at school were nothing. Because of punk rock, there was a wider world to explore, and you didn’t care what people thought of you anymore. The world suddenly

seemed different; it was as if you had been asleep in a dream that had been scripted by someone else.

“What punk did, it showed a way out, a way forward, and it did that by mapping possible routes. And those possible routes made the connection between the strangest and the most marvellous things, like being different, council estates, fashion, sex, pleasure, survival, radical art. But mostly what it did, it created a place, a community, where outsiders could interact with each other.

“That was the whole glory of punk rock and that’s why I believe that people who have subsequently encountered the ideals of punk rock, they understand and they believe in community.”

Richard, who now lives in Honor Oak Park, has written for the NME, ZigZag and the Guardian among others, and also published his own fanzine Kick.

He will be joined at the library by a stellar line-up of local poets and punk rock luminaries, including John “Boogie” Tiberi, the Sex Pistols’ tour manager and photographer whom Sid Vicious described as “the fifth Sex Pistol”.

Also taking part is Tony D, editor of Ripped & Torn fanzine; and poets Kirsty Allison and Jason Shelley, who runs Crofton Books.

There will be readings, food, music, a Q&A and books for sale “at really cheap prices”, Richard said. “Otherwise, just come along and enjoy. It will be a laugh.”

The free event takes place at Crofton Park Library, 375 Brockley Road, on February 9 from 3-5pm

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Tackling empty homes Owners of empty homes across Lewisham borough will see their council tax doubled from April – and they will pay treble the current figure from spring 2020 if national legislation allows.

Lewisham Council is introducing the move to encourage absent property owners to open up their empty homes to tenants. The tax will apply to all private properties empty for two years or more.

It is thought that more than 370 empty homes will qualify and by doubling council tax on these properties, almost £460,000 extra cash will be raised in 2019-20. If the government allows further increases, the council will treble tax on empty properties in 2020 – and could quadruple the levy in 2021.

Councillor Paul Bell, cabinet member for housing, said: “In Lewisham, we will be doing everything possible to bring empty homes back into use. We are sending a very clear message that with the housing crisis and people facing being forced out of their homes, society cannot accept long-term empty homes.”

The council provides grants and loans to help homeowners refurbish empty properties. To find out more, email housingassistance@lewisham.gov.uk

PHOTOS BY BENEDICT O'LOONEY AND LIMA CHARLIE

The Brookdale Club in Catford is set to be transformed by entrepreneur Mickey Smith, pictured below

Cool for Catford A rundown former working men’s club in Catford town centre is to be brought back into use by Mickey Smith, founder of the CLF Art Cafe at the Bussey Building in Peckham.

The CLF is renowned as one of London’s most exciting and diverse venues for music, theatre and art, and is home to the hugely popular South London Soul Train night.

Mickey, who also runs Rye Wax record shop, bar and cafe in the basement of the Bussey, will bring the Brookdale Club back to life as a music, theatre and cultural destination.

He is working with Peckham architect and heritage expert Benedict O’Looney, who has lovingly restored some of Peckham’s most treasured historic buildings.

The Brookdale Club is set to reopen to the public as soon as this summer.

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“Instead of leaving it empty for a year and then doing the whole thing up, the idea is to hit the ground running and get the ball rolling as soon as I can,” Mickey told The Lewisham Ledger.

“There will be a main multi-function room of 180 square metres, a bar that’s 100 square metres and a nice kitchen.

“The upstairs used to be loads of bedrooms. The idea is to convert two-thirds of the upstairs space into a fringe theatre or multi-use space.

“Then at the other end we’ll have editing studios and recording suites, so we can basically tap the sound from downstairs, record it and broadcast it.”

Musicians will be invited to take up residence at the club. “There will be an artist’s apartment, so artists from around the world can stay here for a week, do a residency and do some shows,” Mickey said. “They will teach young people, record stuff with them and get all that kind of interaction going.”

Elsewhere in Catford, the Black Horse and Harrow pub, which closed in 2017, was set to reopen under new ownership as this issue went to press.

The Rushey Green boozer, which has been renamed Ninth Life, is now owned

by Laine, a pub group that operates taverns in Brighton and London including the Old Nun’s Head and the Honor Oak. Ninth Life will offer local beers, Sunday roasts and a street food market by Street Food Union, which operates Rupert Street Market in Soho. Live music, drag-queen bingo, games nights, spoken word and art shows will all feature, along with a nine-room immersive theatre experience upstairs.

Laine CEO Gavin George said: “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to breathe life back into this fabulous building.”

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Mixed views over Gateway scheme The final application for phase two of the Lewisham Gateway development has received 68 expressions of support and 25 objections from the public.

The Gateway masterplan was greenlit

by Lewisham Council in 2009, and a second application for phase two, over building heights and the amount and type of residential and commercial uses, was approved in March 2018.

The new reserved matters application, submitted in late November, relates to the architectural design of the buildings, landscaping and access for the scheme, which will comprise 530 flats for rent, a nine-screen cinema, restaurants, shops, leisure facilities and public green space.

According to the council, people in favour of the plan, by developer Muse, said it will bring “important benefits for Lewisham town centre, including 106 affordable homes, new jobs, new independent shops, a business hub for start-ups and a cinema”.

The tallest block proposed (pictured right) is 30 storeys high and is described as an opportunity to create an “iconic piece of architecture” in the plans. Last year phase one of the Gateway scheme was shortlisted for the Carbuncle Cup, Building Design magazine’s annual award for the ugliest new building in Britain that is chosen by a panel of architecture critics and experts.

Objectors to phase two of the scheme criticised the design of the four new blocks, branding “the use of so many different materials” as “jarring” and “a mess”.

A view of the proposed scheme from opposite Sakhi Fabric shop on Lewisham High Street

They described the 19- and 30-storey tower blocks as “too high”, “tall and congested”, adding that the tall buildings will “dominate surrounding historic buildings and conservation areas”.

Others criticised the proposed coliving element of the accommodation

and its “small rooms”, and objected to the lack of social housing in the scheme. Phase one of the development contained 362 flats all for private rent or sale, while phase two will offer 106 “affordable” rental units and 424 for private rent.

Creative opportunities A multipurpose arts centre in Deptford has secured almost £400,000 in lottery funding to launch a creative hub for young people.

The project at the Albany will run for three years, establishing an access point to the creative industries for youngsters in Lewisham and beyond.

The Albany has helped 5,000 young people to get involved in 1,800 courses, enabled 200 youngsters to achieve arts awards and provided 100 placement and employment opportunities over the last five years.

The project will focus on developing four skillsets: digital (including coding, web design and gaming), filmmaking, creative music and performing arts and business skills for career development.

“Young people in Lewisham are incredibly creative, hardworking and entrepreneurial,” the Albany said.

“Young people then work alongside us to make extraordinary and provocative theatre, dance and music performance.

The support of the Big Lottery Fund will allow us to translate this creativity and entrepreneurial spirit into access to the expanding, creative industries.”

Cinema with a twist in Lee

A photo-book that captures the spirit of the FA Cup, from grassroots to glory, has been published by a local photographer.

Que Sera, Sera, by Orlando Gili and his friend Joseph Fox, is named after the familiar chant that reverberates around the terraces during Cup games.

“In today’s big-money football industry, the focus is typically on star players and managers,” Orlando said.

“We saw the FA Cup as an opportunity to reverse the camera and capture fan culture from the top teams down to the grassroots, taking you on a footballing rite of passage from the perspective of the fans.”

Millwall are one of just 16 teams left in this year’s FA Cup, after a 95-minute thriller against Everton that saw Murray Wallace score a winning goal for the Lions with just seconds to go. They will take on AFC Wimbledon for a place in the quarter finals on February 16 at 3pm.

Film-lovers can now watch a variety of movies in the atmospheric surroundings of St Margaret’s Church in Lee, thanks to a new pop-up cinema.

Olly Ruff, who lives in Ladywell, was inspired to launch the Collective Cinema after enjoying a number of other film nights in London in unusual locations – including the Rivoli Ballroom in Crofton Park, Manor House Gardens in Lee and the Union Chapel in Islington.

He also wanted to counteract the lack of cinemas in his local area.

The Collective Cinema screens an eclectic line-up of films, with upcoming movies including family favourites ET and Toy Story, Simon Pegg comedy Hot Fuzz, Ken Loach’s acclaimed drama I, Daniel Blake and sci-fi thriller District 9. Two screenings of Moulin Rouge will be accompanied by live performances from the Blackheath Centre for Singing, as well as music from the church organ.

Drinks and snacks come from local places such as Brockley Brewery and chocolate company Doisy & Dam, which is also based in SE4. Young people from the church youth group have the chance to earn some extra cash by helping out at the events, and Olly has also made free tickets available to local charities, volunteer groups and other good causes.

“St Margaret’s is such an impressive venue,” he said of the Lee-based location.

“The surroundings really add something to the experience of watching a film.”

Que Sera, Sera, published by Bluecoat Press, costs £25 and is out now

For full listings and to book tickets, visit collectivecinema.co.uk

An outtake from Que Sera, Sera taken at Millwall

Magic of the Cup

The Albany will help young people break into the creative industries

Those against the scheme added that high levels of noise pollution in the area will have a negative impact on future residents, and said the tall buildings will cause wind tunnels, reduced light and overshadowing.

Further objections include the lack of “civic and community facilities such as public meeting rooms or a library”, and “insufficient local amenities such as community or youth centres”.

There was also criticism of the preapplication public consultation, which was described as too short and “not sufficiently advertised”.

In response, a spokesperson for Muse said: “Our final application for phase two of Lewisham Gateway was submitted in November last year. This followed an extensive public consultation that was attended by over 300 local residents.

“Heights for phase two of the proposals were agreed in March 2018

by Lewisham’s strategic planning committee. Our current application seeks approval for the detailed design and proposed uses for the scheme.

“We’ve been delighted by the response so far from members of the public, having received over 60 expressions of support. We look forward to our application being determined by the London borough of Lewisham.”

The council’s strategic planning committee is expected to make a decision on the reserved matters application on the evening of February 14. If it is approved, phase two of the Lewisham Gateway scheme will be completed by the end of 2022.

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Residents bid to buy their local boozer A community group from Grove Park is attempting to buy the historic Baring Hall Hotel pub, which was put up for sale in November last year just months after achieving grade-II listed status, writes Alice Troy-Donovan.

An intention to bid was submitted in December by the Baring Trust, which was set up by local resident Stephen Kenny to save the Victorian building from demolition and redevelopment.

So far it is the only community group that has shown an interest in purchasing the pub.

The Baring Road boozer and its curtilage were designated as an asset of community value in 2013. Under the 2011 Localism Act, this gives community groups a chance to bid for its ownership if it is put up for sale.

“Buying the pub is part of a broader aim of making Grove Park and the Baring Hall a destination again,” Stephen said.

“We want to work with the GLA and Lewisham Council to realise this.”

The Baring Hall Hotel was previously set to be redeveloped into shops and flats in 2009, but was saved by a community campaign backed by Stephen Fry and RIBA that culminated in a high court

injunction, before it was acquired by Antic.

The group runs 47 taverns in London, with five more in the pipeline. It recently sold the Jam Circus in Crofton Park to another pub group, while its Lewisham pub, Suttons Radio, is on the market for £1.75 million. The company behind Antic, Downing, is a London-focused property developer and pub operator.

The Localism Act stipulates there should be a six-month moratorium period for community groups to develop their bids, but the pub is now on the market with property agent Fleurets. It is unclear what legal loophole allowed Antic to put an asset of community value up for sale without attending to the moratorium period.

The trust is now in the process of developing a business plan for the project, which will include keeping the pub open, restoring the hotel and using the space to the rear of the property for a farmers’ market. It will work to return the pub to its “former glory”, said Stephen, who grew up in Grove Park.

He added: “We hope to work with the property agent and Antic/Downing in a funding consortium to move forward with the purchase.”

The Baring Hall Hotel was built in 1882 to a design by Ernest Newton, co-founder of the Art Workers' Guild PHOTO BY SACHAB/FLICKR

“Our current funders exit early [2019], and are pushing for a sale. Unless we can find a credible alternative, it will be difficult for us to stay.”

If the Baring Trust’s bid is successful, it will make the Baring Hall Hotel the third community-run pub in London, along with the Ivy House in Nunhead and the Antwerp Arms in Tottenham.

Charity's royal visit

A very fine achievement A shop in Catford has reached the final stages of a prestigious competition that celebrates independent food businesses.

Good Food has been shortlisted in the Guild of Fine Food’s Shop of the Year awards, which recognise and promote retail excellence. More than 100 local shops from across the UK and Ireland enter the competition each year.

Good Food is a grocery, deli and social enterprise that focuses on local, organic and artisan products. It was opened by Catford resident Vicky Skingley in 2015, following a crowdfunding campaign that was backed by more than 350 local residents and businesses.

Vicky also secured funding from the mayor of London to take over what was then a derelict premises and transform it into a shop. Surveys showed that local residents were tired of losing high street shops to residential conversions.

The Sandhurst Market store is a passionate supporter of local producers.

Nearly 200 of its products are made in south-east London, by companies including Perinelli Salami in Penge, Cooper’s Bakehouse in Brockley and Penola Granola in Catford.

Alongside the deli, Good Food also runs a not-for-profit veg box scheme, which has seen it donate more than 12,700 eggs to the local Whitefoot and Downham Community Food Plus project since it began.

Vicky said: “When we opened, we wanted to put local, quality food back on the map in Catford, and create jobs in our local economy. We now employ

In the meantime, the site is on the market and there is no obligation for Antic to accept the trust’s bid. There are fears that it could be sold and the threat of redevelopment raised once again.

Antic founder Anthony Thomas said: “It is difficult to tell at present whether the Baring shall remain with us [Antic], or go.

Good Food in Catford, which champions south-east London producers PHOTO BY JOHN YABRIFA

five staff paying the London living wage who all live locally.

“We are passionate about food and we are always striving for something interesting for our customers. I hope that we are able to offer a service that reflects our personalities too – it is obvious that we have fun working here and are proud of what we have achieved so far.”

Speaking of the ethical ethos behind the shop, she said: “We are a valueled organisation and every decision we make is based on the following principles: Good Food is good for you, good for the community, good for the environment and good for everyone.”

The Shop of the Year competition is judged by an expert panel including a senior buyer from Harrods. Following the first round of judging, the panel will now conduct a series of secret shopper and announced judge visits to all the finalists’ businesses, with the results set to be announced on March 11. Good luck Vicky and team!

The Duchess of Cambridge visited a local charity in Perry Vale last month to launch a new helpline for families.

Family Action, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, aims to improve lives by offering practical, emotional and financial support to families who are experiencing poverty, disadvantage and social isolation.

Its vital work includes the provision of children’s centres, emotional health and wellbeing services, counselling, mediation and assistance in schools through breakfast clubs and holiday hunger support.

The Duchess visited the charity to launch FamilyLine, a new confidential helpline for families that can be reached by phone, text or email. It was set up after research by Family Action found that family members who want to talk about their problems don’t always know where to turn.

She met with FamilyLine volunteers and managers during a training session about mothers struggling with mental health issues, led by an expert from the charity’s perinatal support service, and watched a short film on the subject.

She also chatted to some of Family Action’s young carers, whom the charity supports by organising meet-ups with other youngsters in the same situation.

It also encourages young carers to cope with the pressures they face by focusing on their own wellbeing, as well as the family members they support.

Family Action chief executive David Holmes said: “We are so grateful to HRH the Duchess of Cambridge for visiting Family Action’s services, for her interest in our work addressing family pressures and for officially launching FamilyLine.”

To find out more about the FamilyLine service, visit tinyurl.com/familyline

The Duchess of Cambridge with young carers and staff from Family Action

10 POL I T I C S

ewisham’s new young mayor Adam Abdullah has only recently celebrated his 16th birthday – but after a short time spent in his company, it’s quickly evident that he is wise beyond his years.

Established by former mayor of Lewisham Steve Bullock in 2004, the young mayor scheme elects a representative for young people’s views each year. The young mayor advises the council and oversees a budget of £25,000.

Adam, a pupil at Addey and Stanhope School in New Cross, juggles this responsibility alongside typical teenage concerns, like his fast-approaching maths exam.

GCSEs seem small fry compared to his impressive knowledge of global politics; surely not every teenager can deliver an impromptu lecture on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (nor many adults, for that matter). So where did his passion for politics begin?

“I guess my earliest memory would be my dad telling us to be quiet while the news was on, then after watching it we would talk about it,” he says, when we meet for a chat at Goldsmiths college.

Adam’s enthusiasm continued to grow from conversations with those around him. His motivation to run for young mayor came from “lots of people encouraging me – I think because they know me as the guy who doesn’t shut up about politics.”

Conversation is one thing, but campaigning meant public speaking at schools across the borough was a must. “I almost decided not to run because I felt so anxious”, he says.

“Our first event was at Hilly Fields [college] in front of 100 sixth formers.

I’m this really short kid standing up in front of all these tall ones. It was frightening, but I got up and just explained each of my policies.”

One of Adam’s pledges is to provide free sanitary products in secondary schools. Wouldn’t talking about this make many schoolboys run a mile? “It was a little awkward, but the more I learned the more confident I felt,” he says. “Also, I really believe that if guys had periods then this would have been dealt with a long time ago.”

A particularly distressing issue facing London is knife crime, and Lewisham is no exception. In 2017/18 knife crime offences in the borough rose 12% on the year before, according to a government research briefing.

Adam wrote to the UN special rapporteur voicing his concerns. He wrote: “We have murder after murder in Lewisham, as caused by the spike in poverty and austerity, as caused by this government. We feel hopeless, alone and angry because of them.”

What inspired this powerful letter?

“People from my school have been affected by knife crime,” he says. “It’s sad and really concerning.”

Adam believes young voices need to be heard to better understand the causes. “The most aggravating argument is blaming youth culture like drill or grime music. That is nonsense.

“Take a young person who has known nothing but bailiffs, negative interactions with police, mum’s housing benefit being cut… then one day they’re offered a way out through hustling. They’re going to take it.

“The government is failing. They should be creating opportunities by

The new young mayor of Lewisham, Adam Abdullah, stands outside Deptford Town Hall

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Adam’s ambitions WORDS BY MIRANDA SLADE

PHOTO BY PAUL STAFFORD

Adam Abdullah was elected young mayor of Lewisham in October, on a manifesto that promised to deliver change in the borough. We caught up with him to find out more about his first months in the role

his election, Adam hosted livestream Q&As on Instagram and used Snapchat to broadcast his manifesto.

“Social media inspires people to reach out,” he explains. “A lot of young people feel isolated, which I think comes from not knowing where to place their anger. If they learn to register it with elected representatives then I’m happy about that. I enjoy being held accountable.”

There are also drawbacks. Talking about fellow mayor Sadiq Khan, Adam focuses on online abuse: “Sadiq isn’t doing a bad job, but read some of the replies he gets on Twitter, the racism and Islamophobia… but you’re always going to come up against that.

“I get that kind of stuff all the time – I’ve had some really nasty things said to me. I believe in engaging people who disagree with you, but there’s no point in arguing with trolls because that’s exactly what they want.”

With social media delivering mixed messages, I ask Adam what he believes is the biggest challenge facing young people today. He thinks for a moment, then says: “Nelson Mandela said education is the most powerful weapon to change the world with. It makes me angry that when children grow up in poverty and schools have no money, that opportunity is stolen from us.”

People from my school have been affected by knife crime – it's sad and really concerning increasing funding for youth services and providing more opportunities for work experience. To say they are out of touch implies they don’t know what’s going on, but I believe they do.

“Some politicians do a fabulous job: Vicky Foxcroft [MP for Lewisham Deptford] chairs the Youth Violence Commission. Other politicians either don’t care or it’s simply not on their list of priorities.”

Adam’s point underlines the importance of roles like the young mayor to amplify young people’s concerns to politicians.

One of the inspirations he cites is 77-year-old Bernie Sanders. Today’s key political players also include Donald Trump (72), Theresa May (62) and Jeremy Corbyn (69): where are all the young people?

“Personally, I feel like if you’re down to earth and have the right message then you will get in,” he says.

Adam’s principled optimism is admirable, and his focus on key messages is crucial. His insight is already shaping the council’s communications with young people.

“Youthquake” was Oxford Dictionaries’ word of the year in 2017 after young people took to using social media to campaign. In the run-up to

It feels timely to ask about a historic decision made without input from younger citizens: should 16 year olds have had a vote in the EU referendum?

“Sixteen year olds should have a vote full stop,” he says. “We go to school, we learn about citizenship, we pay taxes – why don’t we have the right to vote?”

I press Adam on how older generations were statistically more likely to vote to leave the EU, and he says: “Young people need to be allowed to vote, but I respectfully disagree with the implication that we discount older voters. Older people have contributed so much to society over their lives, I don’t like any argument that implies their vote shouldn’t have currency.”

It’s a typically perceptive answer from our young mayor: respectful, hesitant to accept assumptions and intrepid about looking at issues from every angle imaginable.

Adam says there have already been many memorable moments in his new role: “Seeing more of the community, meeting amazing people and doing new things. I got to attend my first Jewish ceremony for a Chanukah event, which was incredible. I’ve become more confident in myself.”

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t’s not often you see local cafes listed on Resident Advisor – the online home of electronic music, artists and events – but Sugahill is not your average caff.

Just a five-minute walk from Sydenham railway station, the independent coffee shop on Kirkdale is a fully licensed venue selling craft beer, spirits and wine alongside hot drinks, juices and small plates of vegetarian and vegan food – as well as tempting homemade cakes. But it’s also a record store and venue, serving up regular events for music fans and selling everything from soul and reggae to hip-hop.

It’s the first Sunday of the month, which at Sugahill means it’s their monthly record fair: the Sunday Social. The small, bright space – with colourful racks of records running along one side and a coffee counter (complete with DJ decks) at the back – is full of friendly customers, some catching up over warm mugs of tea and coffee, others crate-digging for new vinyl, some even hopping on and off the decks to spin a few tunes.

Sugahill owner Chris Arch is at the centre of this buzz of activity, playing records and conversing with customers, persuading them to play a few records while he sits down to chat.

The music side of the business might be unusual when it comes to most cafes, but it makes complete sense when you speak to Chris: he’s been playing records to crowds of music lovers and frequenting record stores since he was just a teenager in school. He’s especially drawn to jazz, funk and reggae music, which is reflected in Sugahill’s events and record selection.

“I’ve been DJing since the 80s,” he explains, “and more recently at Wax On Wav Off at the Four Quarters in Peckham, Diggers Dozen at Ace Hotel in Shoreditch [a night where DJs bring 12 records each, are only allowed two turntables’ play, and mustn’t use bootleg records – always original vinyl] and the Great Exhibition in East Dulwich, where I have a monthly spot.

Plus I always play a few records at our events.”

This love of music explains the fact that there’s a double-page spread from a recent edition of The Lewisham Ledger pinned up on the wall of the cafe: it’s a history of the borough’s deep sound system and reggae roots, which Sugahill also likes to celebrate.

Chris says the article was especially relevant to his cafe not only because of the genre, but because it talks about Freddie Cloudburst, who once ran a soul music sound system (where roots reggae legend Jah Shaka famously started his career) in the borough and whose son – Tiny T, AKA Mighty Cloudburst – has actually played at Sugahill.

Other south London reggae DJs have taken to the decks here too, including Dubplate Pearl – who has spun records for high-profile places like Somerset House and Boiler Room, and has a regular show on Peckham’s Balamii radio station.

There’s also Toby Broom (AKA Mr Swing Easy), who’s another Balamii regular and author of Englishman, a book exploring the world of the British reggae DJ. The cafe has even been the location for video interviews with people like soul singer and songwriter Eshe Escoffery.

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What we like most about running the cafe is the people we meet

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Chris Arch has been running his popular Sydenham spot Sugahill for 11 years. He tells how he turned the cafe into a destination for coffee lovers and crate-diggers alike

Sugahill wasn’t always such a hub of musical activity though. Chris and his wife Yasemin took the business on from its previous owner in 2007, and set about making big changes – literally.

Chris says to create the space they wanted, he and Yasemin had to alter the layout of the building, moving the entire kitchen to the back of the cafe and even lowering the floor.

As the business changed, with Chris introducing the music side, so did the neighbourhood around it: Sydenham was named on the Evening Standard’s “where to buy” list in 2018.

Chris is positive about some of the changes, and welcomes new life being breathed into the locale. In fact, he sees it as a sort of return to the Sydenham he knew in his youth.

“It was quite a lively place in the 1980s – there were nightclubs and record stores – and now it’s getting there again. Recent openings have helped bring back some life to the area.

“There’s some real cool stuff going on too, like directly opposite us – Nick Garrett signwriting [he gestures to the building opposite the cafe, where one of its regulars has his signmaking

Above: Chris Arch at his cafe Sugahill, which is renowned for its excellent music offering

business], and Inkwa Tattoos [a friendly, family-run tattoo parlour] are a cool, creative bunch.”

As with all change, other things fluctuate with it, but Chris maintains a positive outlook – which is probably why Sugahill has such a welcoming atmosphere.

“We’ve definitely lost some customers since the changes,” he says.

“But we’ve attracted new clientele at the same time. And then we have regulars who have supported us since the beginning, and have stuck with us through all the changes.”

That’s reflected in his interactions with people at the cafe – they’re friends as much as they are customers – and their involvement with it.

The signwriter across the road is responsible for the smart Arch Records sign on the shop’s left window – a nod to the importance of the music side of the business, but also to how much a part of the neighbourhood the place is.

Dave, one of Sugahill’s regulars, demonstrates this too. He explains how some mates (who actually arrive while we’re chatting) originally introduced him to the cafe, but that he and Chris later realised they’d met before: Dave worked in the record store that Chris used to frequent as a schoolkid.

Sporting a Stüssy jumper emblazoned with a Slick Rick photo (which he points out was taken

by London photographer Janette Beckman, who used to live in a south London squat and worked at a Streatham youth club), Dave has grown up immersed in music – DJing and working on little-known (but influential) Crystal Palace pirate radio station, Starpoint FM. “It’s a bit like a big boys’ club,” laughs Dave, when asked why he keeps coming back. He doesn’t mean it in an exclusory sense; more as a chance for him and likeminded music fans to come together regularly to catch up and enjoy some tunes.

“And look at the weather,” he gestures to the surprisingly bright and sunny January day. “It’s January and we’re sitting outside – it’s always sunny for the Sunday Social.”

There are plenty of other events in the pipeline too: in addition to the Sunday Social, Chris throws a regular vintage reggae night (the next one is on February 9), and for all the music lovers feeling a bit romantic this month, he’s holding a Valentine’s dance, playing Lovers’ Rock and soul music on February 14.

“What we like most about running the cafe is the people we meet,” says Chris.

With such a busy schedule lined up, and so many great records up for grabs, he’s bound to meet many, many more.

14 LET T E R TO L E W I SH A M

Brockley Station attendant Sylvain Grigbale

’ve been in London for quite a long time now, since 1994 actually. I love the area and I love the people. I love what I do as well and I’m passionate about my work. In my life generally, I try to be the same man anywhere and everywhere.

Before I came here I was a soldier in France, I was in the French army.

My cousin, who was already living in London, said to me, “I’m alone here, why don’t you come and join me?” So I thought about it and decided to come here. I thought it would be a good opportunity to improve my English.

I started working at Brockley Station in early 2015. My first shifts for TfL however were the previous December, at New Cross Gate.

I remember I had been there for about a week when something strange happened. A Nigerian lady whom I had never met before came up to me and asked me, “Where did you learn to do this?” And I said, “I don’t know what you mean.” She said, “Oh, you’re just always so happy and friendly and helpful.”

I didn’t really get it at the time because I just love what I do. Later, the lady came back into the station with her partner and brought some food for me from the African food stall there to say thank you. I was so surprised.

From that point on I knew there was something about what I was doing that was having a very positive impact. I try to be very understanding and conscious of the fact that people go through life facing different challenges. So when I’m working, I always make sure that when I’m approaching someone I do it in the right manner, with a lot of respect, dignity and understanding.

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AS TOLD TO SEAMUS HASSON

PHOTO BY JOHN YABRIFA

Sylvain Grigbale brightens up countless commutes in his role as an attendant at Brockley Station.

He explains why he's on a mission to spread some positivity on the platforms

We all need to be able to hold conversations with each other without any fear When I started doing what I do in Brockley, people were not used to it, so it came across as a bit strange and a bit different – but people have got used to me now and my character. The reason I love what I do is that it is a platform for me to help people beyond the actual job.

People don’t have time for each other these days. You see it on trains, people sitting reading a paper and not talking to one another, ignoring each other. You know, a smile can change everything. For me there is no such thing as a good person or a bad person – we are all people.

When I was approached to make a documentary [titled Sweet, by film company Solaris2] I was reluctant at first. It took a week for me to make up my mind. Garfield, who produced it, told me how happy he was with the service I provide and said that what I was doing was affecting the area positively. He said that he and his team would like to make a documentary about me and the area.

It wasn’t easy to be filmed. It was a strange feeling to talk in front of a camera in that way, because in your mind you are very self-aware about how you will be seen and whether you are saying the right things, not something that could be misinterpreted or misunderstood.

When I saw the film I was very happy. I thought, “Whoa, that’s a great job”. Looking at myself, I thought, “Is that me?” Everyone has seen it, my family, my mum and my dad. No one was expecting it and it’s a wonderful feeling.

While my mum and dad both live in France now, my home is Côte d’Ivoire in West Africa. My wife and five-yearold son live there. I love them dearly.

Each year I travel home, I’m travelling soon and my son is doing great. I talk

to him twice a week to see how he’s getting on and I talk to my wife every day. I send them money and do what a father and husband must do, which is to look after them in every way possible.

I would like to go home for good actually, but it’s something you have to organise properly. I’m trying to build myself up in stages. I love being here but sometimes it feels like I’ve been here far too long and I miss my family.

One of the things I talk about in the documentary is my cousin, who sadly died in 2016. My cousin was a very good man. He was the only family I had here but he wasn’t well and had some medical issues. When he died I had to organise everything for the body to be returned back to Côte d’Ivoire. I took his body home.

It was extremely difficult because the only people I have around now are friends. I don’t have any blood-related family members, it’s just myself. But I do have friends, a lot of friends and I am very grateful.

When you don’t have your son and your wife with you, of course you can feel lonely. I know though that a lot of people love me here and I do love people. But it’s different; you cannot compare those feelings with actual family.

After the documentary was shown I started writing quotes. One of the quotes I wrote was “Love is everything, everything else is worthless.” We all need to love each other, we all need to respect each other, and we all need to be able to hold conversations with each other without any fear. We don’t need to know someone to engage with them.

I’m someone who loves to see people be able to smile, joke and be playful and enjoy their life. This world is sweet, believe me.

16 LEWI S H AM I N PI CT U R E S

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Below: stalls at Brockley Market range from vegan cakes to street food to organic vegetables from farms in Kent

market forces WORDS BY JACK ASTON PHOTOS BY LIMA CHARLIE AND PAUL STAFFORD

n empty car park on Lewisham Way might not sound like the most inspiring of places, but when Toby Allen walked past the stretch of grey tarmac next to Lewisham College back in 2011, it sparked an idea.

“I’ve always been interested in food, produce, seasonality and where food comes from,” says Toby, a photographer and picture editor who lives in Brockley.

“I walked past the car park one Saturday when it was empty and I had the ridiculous idea to start a food market. I contacted the college and asked if they’d be interested and they said yes.”

The first market took place in September that year with about 17 stalls and was an instant hit.

“The market began around the same time that social media was kicking off, with Twitter and food blogging,” says Toby. “We were also really lucky with the weather for the first 12 weeks, so it established very quickly.”

Today the market hosts about 40 traders every Saturday, selling a mix of top quality produce and hot street food. Fruit and vegetables are supplied

by Perry Court and Brockmans farms in Kent, as well as Wild Country Organics in Cambridgeshire, which offers seasonal salads and greens.

Fresh fish and seafood comes from fisherman Chris Veasey of Veasey & Sons, who has a day boat that goes out from Eastbourne. There’s a dairy stall from East Sussex farm Hook & Son, and meat is sold by Fosse Meadows poultry in Leicestershire and The Butchery, which has a shop in Forest Hill and is “one of London’s best butchers”, says Toby.

Brockley-based tea company Good & Proper Tea also trades at the market, as does Kompassion, whose kombucha tea offers “goodness for your gut”.

Further stalls include Aston’s Bakehouse, Cookoo, a nursery in Kent that specialises in culinary plants and sells boxed chillies, and Crosstown Doughnuts, whose range of vegan doughnuts were available first at Brockley Market.

There’s cheese from Mons and also Blackwoods, whose award-winning variety William Heaps is named after a convict who was shipped to Australia from England for stealing cheese.

The Greenwich Cooperative Development Agency charity makes ready meals using produce from some of the stallholders at the market; while Vadasz Deli owner Nick sells pickles, kimchi and sauerkraut inspired by his grandma’s Hungarian recipes.

Hot food on offer includes Filipino street food by BBQ Dreamz, sourdough pizza from Van Dough, fried chicken with Korean hot sauce from Spit & Roast, burritos from Luardos and burgers from Mother Flipper.

Quite Nice Wines and Le Grappin, which supplies some of the world’s top restaurants including Noma in Copenhagen, are also regulars.

“There’s a really nice vibe at the market,” says Toby. “People tend to eat and share and chat and that’s what food to me is all about. Hopefully the market gives people a better understanding of where their food is coming from.”

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Clockwise from left: Lee Gentry from The Beer Shop London, Luardos Mexican food, Mons Cheesemongers and Kamil Shah from Olive Branch

There's a really nice vibe at the market – people eat and share and chat, which is what food is all about

18 LEWI S H AM L EG E N D hen the social history of the last 60 years in south London comes to be written, Sybil Phoenix OBE will be worthy of a chapter in her own right.

Now 91 years of age, Sybil’s immense contribution to British society – and to the borough of Lewisham in particular – was formally recognised in 1973 when she was awarded an MBE, becoming the first black woman to receive one.

She has also received an OBE and the prestigious Guyanese Medal of Service.

However, surveying the list of honours and awards that Sybil has accrued – from Freedom of the City of London, to Freedom of the borough of Lewisham, fellow of Goldsmiths and former mayoress of Lewisham to name but a few – barely tells half the story of what has been and continues to be a quite remarkable and truly inspirational life.

Born in Georgetown, Guyana on June 21 1927, Sybil moved to the UK in 1957 and the wide scope of her achievements and activities since – from her work as a Methodist minister to fostering hundreds of young girls and women, to developing community relations and establishing Britain’s first ever black youth club – cannot be done justice by a mere 1,500-word profile.

A pioneer within the field of community work, Sybil has proved herself to be a woman of uncommon compassion, whose commitment to social justice has never wavered.

Remarkably, she has also enjoyed an extremely successful career as an entrepreneur. She put her formal

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AREMARKABLEWOMAN Sybil Phoenix OBE has changed countless lives in the borough of Lewisham for the better. We take a look at the life of a true community heroine WORDS BY LUKE G WILLIAMS

training as a seamstress to good effect by founding a sportswear and leather goods business in Guyana before she moved to the UK, and later established an influential dressmaking school called Phoenix Afro-European Fashions. A true renaissance woman, she is also an accomplished and trained classical singer.

One of the many valuable legacies she has bequeathed to Lewisham, where she lived and worked for many years on Tressillian Road in Brockley, is the Marsha Phoenix Memorial Trust, a supported housing project for single, homeless women aged 16 to 25.

Sybil founded the trust in 1979 and named it after her daughter Marsha, who tragically died in a car crash in 1973.

This year, as the trust celebrates its 40th anniversary, it remains a beacon of hope within the Lewisham

community for young girls and women living in tremendously challenging circumstances.

Rebecca Long, director of the trust, knows Sybil well and happily spoke to The Lewisham Ledger about her remarkable life and career, as well as the trust’s continuing mission to maintain her legacy.

“I have worked for the trust for 17 years,” she says. “I report to a voluntary management committee chaired by Sybil’s son, Woodrow, who carries on the family tradition.

“My job involves doing practically everything day to day, from overseeing service delivery through to HR, strategy and finance to building maintenance of the 90-92 Tressillian Road hostel.

“The trust’s aim is to house homeless young women with support needs and in so doing, enable them to

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Left: Sybil in her garden in Brockley in 1994 Opposite page: with her husband Joe at a wedding in 1982

gain the skills required to move on to live successful independent lives, in whatever way that works for them.

“To achieve this we support them in a number of ways, including through gaining an income, finding training or education and supporting them with health and emotional issues.

“We are helped in this through working with a range of partners and provide an on-site counselling service, one-to-one support and a monthly NHS nurse service. We also run social and educational events and provide a food service.”

Rebecca points out that the food service is a “direct legacy of Sybil’s influence”.

“Sybil is a great believer in providing for and nurturing people through a home-like environment,” she explains. “It also provides a secure routine, a healthy diet, food even when money is short and provides a basis from which people can go out into the world and achieve.

“However, this service is something we lost all our funding for in 2013 and we are only able to continue it through fundraising initiatives like our annual Hilly Fields fun run each September.”

In terms of her experiences working with Sybil, Rebecca speaks in glowing

Sybil's greatest legacy is the hundreds of lives she has helped to improve

and respectful tones of Sybil’s wisdom and energy. “In my early days at the trust, she was very hands on and was a daily presence, so her influence was quite extensive.

“She was particularly active on running community and fundraising events and making friends in high places very successfully.

“She is also very wise and knows when to speak and when to remain silent, which are both very important attributes when getting involved in the confusion of other people’s lives.”

Due to health issues, Sybil is no longer as active today in the trust’s work, but her philosophies still permeate the trust and underpin its ethos. “I still ask myself when presented with knotty problems, ‘What would Sybil do?’ as a guiding principle,” Rebecca says.

When asked to describe and evaluate the contribution that Sybil has made to society, specifically in south-east London, Rebecca does not hesitate to provide a detailed response, which unites various strands of Sybil’s professional life.

“She has made a lot of contributions in a range of areas, spanning well beyond the charity she set up to house young women,” she says.

Sybil’s son Woodrow adds: “She also set up the Moonshot youth club in New Cross, which turned into the Pagnell Street Centre, Britain’s first purpose-built community centre for black people, enabling a lot of young people to develop skills and find positive paths to follow.

“As a Methodist minister, she worked closely with the British Council of Churches, travelling to conferences worldwide and working with many denominations to implement her anti-racist programmes, training theology students and priests based on her own

Above: Sybil and her son Woodrow in 1963 Below: arriving in Geneva in 1969

early experiences of exclusion within the church.”

Rebecca also emphasises the importance of Sybil’s campaigning work within Lewisham, which has seen her spearhead and contribute to many community causes, including supporting the families of the New Cross fire victims.

She adds: “For many years she was the borough’s ‘go-to’ consultant on matters of racial equality. Throughout all this she pursued her passion for education and supporting young people.”

In 1977, the building where the Moonshot youth club was based burnt down, in what was widely thought to have been a racially motivated attack.

Sybil pledged to rebuild it, vowing: “My name is Phoenix and, so help me God, out of the ashes I will rebuild Moonshot.”

Four years later her mission was accomplished, and in 1981 Prince

Charles attended the opening of the Pagnell Street Centre, which is known today as the Moonshot Centre.

Sybil became a foster parent for the borough in 1966 and fostered and housed many young people, helping them onwards towards successful lives. By 1974 more than 400 children had passed through her home.

She has also fundraised for and set up educational projects overseas, including in her native Guyana.

As for the woman herself, Rebecca characterises Sybil’s personal qualities thus: “She is a very determined person but has always conducted herself with humility and charm.

“She has been visionary in seeing what needed to be done in the society around her and seeing ways to meet that need in the best way possible.

“She has always been an advocate of forgiveness as a starting point and it is that ethos we try to carry forward, by giving our young people the space to make mistakes without condemning them and giving them another chance to learn from those mistakes and get things right if we can.

“She is very kind and approachable and with a good sense of fun. She could be stern if the occasion demanded it and is probably an exemplar of the ‘tough love’ maxim which guides and yet forgives.”

Rebecca goes on to point out that Sybil’s achievements are all the more remarkable given the historical and sometimes turbulent social context of the last few decades.

“Within the larger Lewisham stage, Sybil has promoted successful race relations and paved the way for better integration and interracial understanding,” Rebecca says.

“This was achieved against the backdrop of an era of a lot of racism in the area, as exemplified by the British Movement and National Front presence nearby, the Stephen Lawrence murder and race riots.

“Throughout this period Sybil worked hard to ensure this borough had a good grip on overseeing an integrated community.”

However, as Rebecca emphasises, in order to truly appreciate Sybil’s meritorious life and work we need to consider the human dimension of her achievements, notably the countless human lives that she has influenced, guided and changed for the better.

“I would say her greatest legacy is the hundreds of young lives which have been improved through housing and support, both at her home and at the Marsha Phoenix Memorial Trust.”

It’s an assessment that is impossible to disagree with. But with specific reference to the trust itself, if Sybil’s legacy is to continue, then more financial help is needed.

“Being a small independent charity in the current climate presents many challenges,” Rebecca says, “especially in a world when funding cuts reflect an apparent lack of value being placed on work that cares for people, in monetary terms at least.

“We aim to continue to exist and continue to help homeless young women for as long as we are able. That is our modest goal.”

To contribute to the Marsha Phoenix Memorial Trust’s work, visit justgiving.com/mpmt/donate. To volunteer, email Rebecca on rlong@marshaphoenix.org

20 BR O C K L E Y S P EC I A L e’s recently been dubbed the “grime artist proving Lewisham’s still got it”.

It’s high praise, especially since the MC in question – Brockley’s Yizzy – is only just 19.

It’s even more impressive given who said it, too: the influential NME, which last month featured the Lewisham rapper in its NME 100 list of essential new artists for 2019.

Yizzy’s only a few years into his career, but he’s already being tipped as the new big thing in grime, and as someone who is taking the genre back to its roots; his rapid-fire style being likened to none other than Wiley, the “godfather of grime”.

Last year’s SOS (Save Our Sound) EP and hard-hitting, old schoolstyle single, Hype Ting, released in October, made waves in the music industry – and he’s already worked with big names in grime like Ruff Sqwad’s Rapid. Now the young MC is about to release a new single, Yeah, in February, as well as joining forces with more grime greats.

“I love it – it means something is going right,” Yizzy says, reflecting on his inclusion in the NME’s top 100.

“And it means somebody somewhere is definitely watching, which is always a good sign. To be included with a bunch of other people all with different sounds, at different levels, it’s a good place to be.”

Describing himself as Brockley “born and raised” – “I was literally born in my house. I’ve never moved, never left” – Yizzy’s rise to grime greatness began in SE4.

He started getting into music while at school in Crofton Park, and recorded his first music at TNG Youth

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GRIME WORDS BY EMMA FINAMORE n PHOTO BY LIMA CHARLIE

GREATNESS

Brockley MC Yizzy has only just turned 19, but he has already been tipped as one of the most exciting new voices in grime. The rising star tells us how he got to where he is – and what's next

and Community Centre in Sydenham.

The centre played a vital part in helping to boost his early career, especially for someone without the means to pay for recording space.

“I didn’t really have any money for a studio and I didn’t know any studios, so I started there,” he says. “You had to get there early to get a slot, you had to be the first one through the doors.”

Like many young MCs, open mic nights and pirate and community radio sets were also an essential part of starting out. Yizzy says sets on stations like Mode FM, Deja Vu (renowned for its role in early grime, with legendary appearances from people like Meridian Crew, Roll Deep and Nasty Crew) and Reprezent Radio were his training ground, where he honed the craft of spitting bars.

Since then he’s also appeared at places like Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds festivals, and has had tracks played on Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra – and it’s down to sheer hard graft.

“I’m always working till dumb hours of the morning. I stay up working late till like 4am or 5am, I literally don’t stop,” Yizzy explains, of the work ethic that’s set him on this trajectory.

“But it’s great because things progress quicker the harder you work.

I think I work a lot harder than most people, and it’s because I love it and I want to get somewhere.”

Older grime figures from Lewisham have inspired him in this effort too – he cites rappers like Novelist (who shouts out Lewisham in his bars), MC Koder and P Money as being vital to his work.

“The first person who ever taught me anything about music was Koder – who lives in Brockley as well, literally

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at the bottom of my road,” Yizzy explains.

“He’d take me to shows he was performing at so I could get used to it, I was in his bedroom recording, things like that. He properly looked after me.

“And that was how I met Nov [Novelist], through Koder, and it was the same thing with him – when there were low points in music, and it was all getting too much, I’d ring Koder or ring Nov, and we’d just talk about stuff.

“It was great to have, especially going into the music industry. And of course they’re both grime artists too, and that’s what I wanted to go into, so it was a great help.”

Yizzy’s borough – and his local neighbourhood of Brockley – have undoubtedly influenced his music; and this is something that still holds true, especially when it comes to the words he uses in his tracks.

He talks about the little turns of phrase that only people from his direct area will know and understand – where they play football, what chicken shop they go to, where they meet up after school or at the weekend.

It’s a sort of shorthand for Brockley teenhood.

“It really is home,” he says. “Just the other day we filmed a music video here – me and Koder were sitting on

the rooftop of a truck driving through main Brockley.

“You can’t put it into words… it’s mad to know you’re doing all this because of music. A lot of the love stems from the area – I’m a product of my environment, and the environment I live in is Lewisham.”

Yizzy’s latest single – Keep Chasing – is full of this love and positivity. It’s an honest, emotive track, exploring the realities and low points of young adulthood, but with a positive message. The accompanying video (also directed by Yizzy) and his bars trace the issues faced by many young people: competitiveness, drugs, feelings of anger and inadequacy, issues in the home, conflict.

But it also focuses on the positive struggle to achieve a dream, and finding the power to overcome obstacles. Its melodic chorus centres on an essentially hopeful word: redemption.

“I’ve met a lot of people through music who have their own stories, as well as my own, so it’s kind of an incorporation of both,” explains Yizzy, of the characters in the Keep Chasing video.

“I don’t want to tell people how to feel, but if my music was going to inspire anyone to do anything, it would be facing barriers: grow

through what you go through. It’s about believing and wanting to move forward, striving to do more and be better.”

This striving spirit spills over into all aspects of Yizzy’s work: he wrote the script to the music video (a sort of shot-by-shot direction of the action to accompany the track) himself, and collaborated on the video with producer Zdot, who has worked with artists like Lady Leshurr, Wiley and Stormzy.

This work ethic has led to an impressive amount of music releases in just three years: how has his sound developed? “It’s not to say that the quality of songs was ever bad, but the quality of the songs goes up,” reflects Yizzy.

“As time goes on you have more experiences in your life, you might meet someone who changes how you approach things – it could be your tone, it could be how you project your voice. I’ve experienced more, I’ve met more producers, I’ve picked up different styles of spitting now and of crafting a song and a body of work.

“I understand how to put a body of work together a bit better now.

The conceptual elements, the catchy elements, the deeper ones, the life stories... I understand that a lot better now. So essentially this project [the

Brockley grime artist Yizzy, whose next single, Yeah, is out this month, is one to watch

Grow through what you go through. It's about striving to do more and be better

music he’s putting out now] is the product of all that learning.”

The idea of learning runs deep with Yizzy, who’s been something of a music scholar since he was a kid. He describes himself as being permanently “attached” to his headphones when he was younger – and he still is – devouring everything from the old school hip-hop of Nas, to The Movement (Ghetts’ grime collective) and Lil Wayne, to rock bands like Skillet.

“I know pretty much every Linkin Park song there ever was,” he laughs.

“I listen to every type of music, and growing up it was the same, so now I’m able to draw on all these different elements.”

The heroes he spent hours listening to as a teen are now people he’s working with, and Yizzy’s even set to play legendary grime night Eskimo Dance in March – a party founded by Wiley, which has been a part of grime for as long as grime has existed – along with legendary MC D Double E, and others like Jme and Jaykae.

May will see his first headline show at the O2 Academy in Islington, where fans can expect performances from some high profile guests.

“In life, if something interests me, I’ll study it,” says Yizzy. This approach sure seems to be paying off.

22 BR O C K L E Y S P EC I A L

hat started off as a punk fanzine with a complementary football team based in Leeds has somehow morphed into a mecca for homebrewing enthusiasts in Brockley.

Waterintobeer is the brainchild of Tim Livesey, an avid punk fan and craft beer aficionado. It’s a homebrewery, bar, off-licence, music venue, community space and cultural hub that brings together people with diverse interests, who are attracted by its niche events and exquisite selection of beers and ales.

Tim opened the Mantle Road-based business in August 2016, following a trip to Washington with his partner Helen Clarke. The name however originates from early noughties Yorkshire.

“We went on holiday to the States to a place called Olympia in Washington, to look at Riot Grrrl stuff basically, because that’s where Riot Grrrl comes from,” Leeds native Tim, who has been living in south-east London for the past eight years, tells me.

“I was working in administration for a construction company at the time and we came across a homebrew shop.

We thought, ‘There isn’t one of these in London’, and it went from there.”

While the name Waterintobeer might sound self-explanatory, it is in fact the moniker that Tim gave to a fanzine he ran in Leeds some 15 years ago with his friend Luke. They went on to start a Sunday league football team of the same name, and the punk DIY ethos that drove Tim’s earlier ventures is very much present in the homebrewing shop today.

Helen, a former journalist who now works in PR and has been present in the business from the beginning, says: “I think the idea behind the homebrewing side of it was that Tim was brewing a lot at home and he would buy everything online.

“There was nowhere you could go at the last minute – instead it was, ‘Oh, I’ve not got the yeast, I’ve not got the malt, so I’ll have to put everything off for another week.’

“Now, with the shop, we often get people running down saying, ‘I’ve forgotten to get this’, so it’s just somewhere for homebrewers to get their bits last minute.”

“We brew a bit of everything – we brew IPAs, pales and then there’s Helen’s brewery day,” Tim adds. “The good thing about homebrewing is that you can experiment a lot with the flavours, you can basically chuck anything in. So, when Helen’s brewing she just throws in things like Jaffa Cakes and marmalade and oranges.”

“I do a lot of stouts,” Helen adds.

“I’ve done things like coffee stout.”

Before meeting Tim, Helen ran a feminist punk fanzine and the couple are passionate advocates of the punk DIY ethos.

Waterintobeer is much more than another craft beer shop; it’s a community where people experiment and share their ideas. Tim rents out his homebrew kit at the shop to people who don’t have space to brew at home or want some advice.

“We have a mix of people who come here for the homebrewing [equipment and supplies], from students who just want to do something quite cheap and get five pints at the end of it to people who have been brewing for 30 or 40 years,” Tim says.

Helen Clarke and Tim Livesey at Waterintobeer, their homebrewery and bar in Brockley

W

A crafty couple WORDS BY SEAMUS HASSON

PHOTOS BY LIMA CHARLIEr

Waterintobeer stocks over 200 craft beers to take away or drink in, while events include a homebrew club, acoustic nights, comedy and a "ridiculously hard" quiz. The duo behind the homebrewing hub tell us more

There are hops growing wild around here, which people use for homebrewing “With the homebrew club, everyone shares the beers they make, so that’s the only time we would taste the homebrew,” Helen adds.

“Our homebrew club is usually about 15 to 20 people and they never just say, ‘Here’s a lager I made or here’s a pale ale.’ It’s always, ‘Here’s an oak-smoked beer’, or something completely bonkers.”

Tim and Helen also have an allotment across the road from the shop where they grow their own hops for the homebrews. They do monthly challenges where people bring along ingredients they have grown themselves, such as hops and chillies.

“A lot of people come in here during the summer to do their own elderflower wine or elderflower champagne,” Helen explains. “Or cider when it’s apple season. People come in and use the apples they’ve grown in their garden or they’ll go out and forage for their own ingredients.”

“There are hops growing wild around here, so people use the wild hops. This is old Kent basically, which is a fertile hop-growing region,” Tim adds. “You’ll find them growing all around the train station and so on.”

The shop sells a wide selection of beers from independent breweries across London and as a Leeds boy, Tim also stocks breweries from

Yorkshire, allowing Londoners to sample flavours from the north.

Aside from selling beers and homebrewing, Waterintobeer is also gaining a growing reputation for its often niche cultural events.

“We do monthly acoustic nights, we do a monthly improv night, a monthly comedy night, there’s a board game night and we do monthly quizzes,” Helen explains.

“Music is a big part of the shop,” adds Tim. “We try to incorporate it into everything we do. We’ve had an American artist come here for the acoustic night, and last night we had a Scottish touring artist.”

Tim describes improv as a subshoot of jazz. “They all call themselves jazz musicians,” he explains. “One person starts playing and another plays off them, so it’s improvised compositions that are made up on the spot. The results can be very weird.”

“There are three local musicians who run the night,” Helen adds. “They all live in Brockley and they invite someone to do a duet with them. All the events that we have here are run by locals, we just kind of hand over the space to them.”

Another evening that has recently been added to the repertoire of events is a seven-inch singles night, where people are encouraged to bring their favourites along.

There is also, of course, the homebrewing club, which is an evergrowing community of homebrew enthusiasts.

“It’s brought together different aspects of the community around here, because all the stuff we do is quite niche,” Tim says. “Even the quiz is ridiculously hard. It’s run by our friends who wanted to put a quiz on, it’s their baby.

“We’ve built up a community and have brought people together who haven’t had a space before, because like I say, a lot of what we do is quite niche – but there’s a huge appetite for trying out new artistic things around here.”

24 BR O C K L E Y S P EC I A L

B

Poonam Dhuffer, founder of Brockleybased supper club YSM8

Food SOUL WORDS BY ANVIKSHA PATEL n PHOTO BY LIMA CHARLIE

Punjabi supper club YSM8 is renowned for its tasty food – but it's not just about eating.

Founder Poonam Dhuffer explains how storytelling, sharing and Sikh family values are at the heart of what she does

of it. I want people to leave with an experience.”

When I ask about how she came up with the name YSM8, Poonam says she wanted it to have a south-east London flavour as well as a Punjabi one. “When I meet my friends, I will very rarely say, ‘Oh hello’. I’m like, ‘Yes mate, what’s going on?’” she says.

“I’m not trying to give this a twist.

I’m born and bred in south-east London. I am Punjabi, I am Sikh but then there’s also a British kind of element to this. So why would I want to call it anything other than that?”

If you go to a YSM8 event, you will sense Poonam’s personality

FOR THE

rockley supper club YSM8 (pronounced “yes mate”) is a sensory and special experience. Run

by Poonam Dhuffer at Masala Wala Cafe on a monthly basis, it offers not only delicious, homecooked, vegetarian Punjabi food, but good conversation and a chance to meet new people in a welcoming and colourful environment.

Bexleyheath-born Poonam didn’t initially plan to create a supper club.

With the support of her parents, she set out to study textile design at Birmingham City University after deferring her entry for a year.

“They were very supportive and transparent in the same sentence,” she explains. “They said to me, ‘Look, if that’s what you want to do, that’s fine – but have a contingency. If it doesn’t work out, then what?’”

Poonam hails from a large family, which made the move to university somewhat daunting. “I remember having dinner on my own for the first time and thinking, ‘This is weird’,” she says. “I had never experienced that.”

Luckily, with extended family living around the corner, home comforts weren’t too far away.

“At that point I could cook, but it was certain things like saag [spinach] or maa ki dal [black lentil dal], which take ages. I hadn’t got eight hours to make that,” she says.

Eating together has become a core element to the success of YSM8, but it is not just about the food.

“Food nourishes your body,” explains Poonam, “but the conversations you have, they nourish your soul. You might not be eating something lavish – it could be something very simple, but that becomes so precious because you hold that moment in time as something to be cherished, and then you associate that memory with the food.”

The value of stimulating conversation at YSM8 all started when Poonam took some leftover sabji (runner bean and potato stir fry) into work one day and her colleagues asked her about traditional Punjabi food.

“The whole lunchtime we literally just spoke about what I would eat for dinner,” she recalls. “I remember thinking, ‘I know what I’m trying to create now’. Sometimes I’d do small dinners or brunches for my mates and they would say, ‘Poonam, you should do this more often.’”

Sharing a good meal with friends and family with great conversation is integral to Poonam’s vision for the club. She says that people should come along even if they don’t have anyone to bring. “YSM8 is about making friends,” she explains. “You come on your own because you’re going to meet new friends.

“I didn’t want it to be cliquey, where people feel like they can only come along if they’re a certain kind of person. No mate. Those are the values that have been instilled in me, and essentially what Sikhism is about. It’s about oneness and equality.”

Storytelling is key to the equality and inclusion that are the hallmarks of YSM8, and it’s something that isn’t always emphasised at supper clubs.

“I’ve been to supper clubs or events where I’m the only brown person there,” says Poonam. “There’s not really a true connection there and it’s £50 or £60 just for the food. I’ve left hungry and I didn’t really make any nice conversation.”

At YSM8, “if someone said to me, ‘The food was amazing but I didn’t feel welcome’, that’s a failure in my eyes, because food is just one part

everywhere. She utilises her textiles knowledge in the colour-clashing, patterned decoration of the tables, the bold colours and the round logo.

“All my shapes are quite like, blobby, and it’s quite fluid because I am not an angular person. It’s a bit of a running joke in my house. My face is really round and my name means full moon,” she laughs.

The sensory experience doesn’t stop there. The music that accompanies the food and chat is carefully thought out and true to Poonam’s roots. Every Dhuffer family member’s taste is catered for throughout the dinner – and it’s an eclectic mix.

My mum's maa ki dal is so moreish.

It's one of her signature dishes

“My older brother is a musician and he plays the tabla and the harmonium,” Poonam says. “He’s got a small Qawwali group and we’ve grown up listening to Qawwali, which is devotional Sufi music.

“My dad is obsessed with Santana and Earth, Wind & Fire. My mum loves 70s and 80s music, so music is a massive part of us. My first idea was to do a live Qawwali performance or some kind of live music set and then have a dinner afterwards.”

Taste is, of course, imperative to a successful supper club. Awakening the senses at each YSM8 event is a menu made up of dishes that Poonam grew

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BROCK LEY S PECIAl 25

F E B R U A RY/MA R CH 201 9 up with, including all of her family’s favourites.

“The last menu [featured] maa ki dal, which is whole urad lentils made with red kidney beans. We call it gurdwara dal, because that’s normally what they serve in the gurdwara. The way my mum makes it, it’s so moreish.

It’s one of her signatures.”

Although YSM8 isn’t the only supper club that offers Punjabi food, the variety of dishes on offer, all of which are personal to Poonam and her family, is what makes it unique.

As we chat about the food from our respective childhoods – mine Gujarati and hers Punjabi – it’s interesting to learn that her family dishes can also vary depending on who cooks them.

“Look at the way that we have certain types of food. You can’t generalise and say Punjabi cooking is one thing, because it really isn’t,” she says. At YSM8 events, Poonam explains the provenance behind each dish and the ingredients that go into it.

Looking back, it seems that YSM8 was always bubbling away in the background of Poonam’s personal and professional life.

After her degree, she got a job at a trend-forecasting company and worked her way up to become an editor. However, four years into the job left her feeling creatively unfulfilled. “It got to a point where I needed to make a change, and the only person who was going to make that change was me,” she says.

After a break in Peru, when she longed for her parents’ cooking, she started freelancing for brand insight agencies, which gave her time to work on creating the base sauce of what was to become YSM8.

Maa ki dal, which Poonam made with her mother Manjit and slow-cooked for eight hours, served with aloo gobi and tandoori roti

First, she volunteered at Zaad, a Palestinian dinner club run by Nisrin Abuorf in Nunhead, to gain some supper club insight.

“From the moment I got in to the moment I left, I was on my feet and that opened my eyes,” she says. “If I wanted to do this, I saw that this was the kind of level of service I needed

to be giving. You need to get a food certificate, insurance, and those details I overlooked. All that was on my list [before] was what type of sound and feeling I wanted to create.”

By chance, Poonam stumbled upon Masala Wala Cafe while writing an article about how Punjabis do supper clubs.

“To kind of assume that all Punjabi people eat the same dish was a bit ignorant, because obviously Punjab is split,” she explains.

“I was reaching out to people who I thought would be interesting to interview and one of them was Saima [Thompson] at Masala Wala Cafe.

Literally from the moment I spoke to her, I was like, ‘This girl’. I don’t know why, but I sensed a very good connection with her.”

Saima suggested Poonam should do a trial at her cafe and one year later, YSM8 is going strong. It has started to collaborate with like-minded people to host events, including LMJP Yoga, which hosts yoga vegan brunches.

In the spirit of speaking things into existence, Poonam says she sees the potential of YSM8 to expand within London, hosting supper clubs at places like Asma Khan’s kitchen, Darjeeling Express.

If sharing is at the heart of YSM8’s values, then it’s a no-brainer that Poonam wants to branch out and become more than just a supper club.

She plans to start hosting panels and collaborating with more creatives.

“For me it’s really important to share my experience of what bringing creativity means,” she says. “Just because you work in one industry, it doesn’t mean you need to be boxed into only doing that.”

26 BR O C K L E Y S P EC I A L Brockley barber Paul Neophytou gives customers a warm welcome at his hairdressing salon on Malpas Road

THE MANE MAN

Paul Neophytou has been responsible for the haircuts and happiness of the people of Brockley for more than half a century. We called in for a chat with a bona fide local legend WORDS BY SEAMUS HASSON

uring the busy run-up to Christmas I manage to book an appointment at Paul’s Unisex Hairdressers on Malpas Road late one Saturday afternoon.

I’m here not for a haircut, but for a chat with the man who has owned the salon for almost 50 years – and has worked here even longer.

Paul Neophytou has been on his feet since eight o’clock in the morning, sculpting hairstyles with his scissors and comb while offering advice and sanctuary to his customers, many of whom he has known for decades. It’s a routine he has followed since moving from Cyprus to live with his brother in Peckham in 1964.

Although he has already put in eight hours of work, I arrive to a warm welcome from Paul, who embraces me as though we are old friends. “Come in, come in,” he tells me. “It’s awful weather outside, have a seat.”

D

PHOTO BY LIMA CHARLIE

The salon, like Paul, has a warm and traditional feel. Among the pictures on the wall of chisel-jawed hair models are photographs of family and friends. It’s something he holds dear.

“I consider my customers to be my family,” he says.

“People appreciate it when you give them a good haircut. In the meantime, I’m 72, nearly 73, but I love my job, I don’t want to retire. I always say that as long as I’m healthy and my arms and legs are OK, I’ll carry on.”

Over the years Paul has built up a bond with his customers that’s much more important than a short back and sides. He has become a close friend, a brother and a confidant. One of his customers, who now lives in Southampton, has been coming in since the very beginning.

“My customers come from all over the place, they move away from the area, but they still come back,” he explains. “They move to

Margate, Southampton, Lincolnshire, Peterborough – but they still come back.

“They may not come in as often – instead of every month, it might be every two or three months – but they’re still regulars. They try other places but come back and say to me, ‘Oh, it’s nothing like you Paul’. And I always say, ‘Better the devil you know’,” he laughs.

Paul’s first break into hairdressing was at a salon in Forest Hill, where he spent a few months working before moving to another, larger salon on Peckham High Street. While there he was approached by a man called Jan Wisniewski, who hailed from Poland, to work in Frank’s hairdressers in Brockley.

“He found me working at a salon in Peckham and he said, ‘I’ve got a job for you and I can give you more money’,” Paul recalls. “I was very ambitious in those days. I was a young man, 18

I love my job, I don't want to retire. I always say that as long as I'm healthy, I will carry on

years of age and I worked hard. From then on I never looked back.”

Jan’s own route into hairdressing was far from conventional. Captured during the Second World War, he was given a clipper and comb and told to cut the hair of other prisoners. When he was released, he found sanctuary in Britain and in 1966 he bought the salon where he had recruited Paul to work, moving it to its current premises from across the road.

“From there on he said to me, ‘Stay with me and I will sell you the business’,” Paul says. “I did stay with him and then eventually, in 1972, he was good to his word and decided to sell it to me.”

By that point Paul had built up a loyal customer base and was ready to fulfil his lifelong ambition of becoming his own boss. “I paid £700 for the salon, which in those days was a hell of a lot of money,” he says.

“I was working from eight o’clock in the morning to sometimes nine o’clock at night, six days a week – it was really hard. I got married in 1970 and had my first child in 1971, so I had to work for my wife and child, I had to make ends meet.”

Paul remembers the early days on Malpas Road fondly. “The shopkeepers were helping one another. My friend had a little caff, he would be short of staff sometimes and he would ask, ‘Paul, can you help me?’ and I would go in and help him wash the dishes and things,” he laughs.

Paul met his wife Georgina while on a trip back home to the town of Paphos in Cyprus. He has two sons and a daughter. His eldest son Paul, who is also a hairdresser, now lives in Cyprus, where he has his own salon.

During our chat I notice a picture of former Arsenal midfielder David “Rocky” Rocastle on the wall. The iconic ex-England international sadly passed away in 2001 after a battle with cancer aged just 33.

“I still miss him,” Paul says, showing me a copy of the funeral order of service which takes pride of place on a shelf.

“He was just like my own son. He used to come in here after training, have a cup of coffee and read the paper before going home to his mum.

He came from such a lovely family.”

Paul attended the funeral, which was held at Windsor Castle and was invite-only.

He had cut Rocastle’s hair since the football star was a young boy and even after he was transferred to Leeds United, he still came down to visit Paul. “He used to come all the way from Leeds to have a haircut. I used to arrange it on Sundays for him to come in with Ian Wright.

“I don’t think he ever visited another hairdresser since he met me.

He was always around and he never left me.”

Paul talks affectionately about his customers who have now passed away. It’s a testament to his knack for forming friendships in the first place.

“When I started here, I was 18 and all my customers were older,” he says.

“Now a lot of them have died, it breaks my heart.

“My customers are lovely, lovely people. They like the atmosphere here, that’s what brings them. I always say, ‘I don’t have enemies – only friends.’”

28 DAN C E

W

hen Beverley Glean was launching her Lewishambased dance theatre company in 1985, there was only one name she

could call it.

“When I was in Jamaica,” she chuckles, “this word was everywhere.

People said it in greeting, to express joy, or to say goodbye. ‘Irie’ for Rastafarians means to be at one with nature. It’s wholesome, organic and feeling good.”

Fast forward 34 years to 2019, and Irie Dance Theatre is synonymous with everything that’s fresh and exciting in the world of African and Caribbean dance.

Beverley has danced, taught, directed and inspired her way to national recognition as a pioneer of African People’s Dance, with a particular focus on the Caribbean culture and aesthetic.

Irie Dance Theatre has grown up with her, from its early days as an eyepopping festival celebrating London’s black dancers and choreographers, to its current incarnation as a renowned seat of learning for young dancers.

Since September it has offered the UK’s first ever BA degree in diverse dance styles, accredited by Roehampton university, which gives equal weight to African, Caribbean, contemporary and urban dance forms.

To have achieved the respect and validation of these dance styles to the level of an accredited degree format must be especially poignant for Beverley, whose career was set in motion by a visionary PE teacher at her Lewisham secondary school, much to the bemusement of everyone else.

“When I was at school in the 1970s, I would never have chosen dance as a career pathway,” she says. “My mum, like most parents, saw dance as a social thing to do, but not a way to make a living.

“Joyce Ablett was my teacher. Every student needs a Joyce. She picked out a group of us who she saw as talented and recommended we try for Laban [now Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in Deptford].”

Beverley was accepted to study at Laban, and graduated in 1980 with a head full of ideas and a slight feeling of dissatisfaction.

“I looked at the kind of dancer I was, and what I wanted to be,” she recalls.

“My training at Laban focused on western contemporary dance, and the Caribbean forms of expression that I grew up with were not encouraged at that time.

“The course was great, creatively and choreographically. We were encouraged to think outside the box, which helped us develop our own creative language.”

Beverley’s dance language was already forming from the Caribbean dance moves she loved, and she wanted to explore their African roots.

“I had learned contemporary dance [at Laban] – techniques such as Cunningham and Graham, which was fantastic, but there was nothing in the course that favoured me and the way I wanted to use my body. When we learned about black dance, it was from the United States.”

Beverley looked for a place she could work in Lewisham where her vision would be understood. She found it at the Albany in Deptford.

“At first I led one weekly community dance class, then I was asked to deliver after-school and holiday classes for young people. These were successful, so I was offered a job as dance animateur, which allowed me to choreograph for the in-house shows.”

African and Caribbean dance pioneer Beverley Glean MBE is a true visionary in her chosen field. She tells us how she launched her trailblazing company Irie Dance Theatre, which is based in New Cross WORDS BY RONNIE HAYDON PHOTOS BY MARK SIMMONS AND PAUL STAFFORD

Right: an Irie Dance Theatre performance.

Below: founder and artistic director Beverley Glean

LET‚S

DANCE

Beverley’s work at the Albany led to devising and coordinating dance festivals, by which time she felt the need to further her education in African and Caribbean dance culture.

So she went back to school: this time, in Jamaica.

“I did a course at the Jamaica School of Dance, where I became immersed in the culture and the way the dancers there express their heritage through dance,” she says.

“I believed then, as I do now, in dance as a creative language, which has the power to communicate cultural understanding and change lives.”

The more formal ballet classes that Beverley had experienced, had, she felt, excluded many black dancers from their rigid code of movement.

“Ballet is beautiful, but it is an unnatural way of moving.

Nevertheless, in the world of dance, it is seen as the superior dance form. For a long time black dancers were told we didn’t have the body for ballet – our feet were too flat and our bums were too big, our frames weren’t quite right – and this narrowed our options.”

Beverley was in search of less restrictive but equally beautiful forms of dance, a whole new template for movement and expression. When she found it in Jamaica she couldn’t wait to bring it home to Lewisham.

“From a cultural perspective, if you’re able to create something in which audiences can see themselves reflected back and feel proud, you know that it’s an exciting and eloquent form of communication,” she says.

Beverley had fallen in love with the traditional folk dances of Jamaica and on her return, she was bubbling with ideas for the first Irie festival of black dance in London. She commissioned her teacher from the Jamaica School of Dance, Carlton “Jackie” Guy, to create

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F E B R U A RY/MA R CH 201 9

Learning dance can trigger a positive sense of self in young people a suite of Jamaican folk dances and did lots of local research.

“We did some reconnaissance work and brought together an audience of elders to watch us perform the piece,” she says. “Some were moved to tears when they saw it, saying, ‘We never thought we’d see these dances again’.”

The festival piece morphed into the dance company, which became a registered charity in 1991. The community, outreach and teaching work continued, and Beverley employed more dance teachers.

In conjunction with City & Islington College, she designed a foundation degree course with her colleague Rosie Lehan that centred on diversity, mining the rich seam of dance culture from the African diaspora.

Irie relocated from its base at the Albany to the Moonshot Centre in New Cross in 2007. It houses dance studios, a library and archive, music, teaching and seminar rooms, a cafe, shower and changing rooms and looks out over Fordham Park.

Today, in addition to the highly motivated degree-course students,

who are already invested in a future career in performance, arts management or education, there’s another cohort of youngsters whom Beverley has ambitions for.

Irie recently received a grant from the mayor’s young Londoners’ fund to work with young people from Lewisham’s pupil referral units (PRU). Called Stage 7, the three-year partnership programme will build relationships and develop creative and training opportunities with young people who have been involved in criminal activity, are at risk of exclusion or at risk of involvement in criminal activity.

The seven-step programme will help them to express their identity, their situation and how they can move forward. It’s a new direction for Irie, but Beverley is typically upbeat about how dance and movement helps people see things differently.

“I think this work will trigger a positive sense of self in these young people,” she says. “We’ve commissioned experienced tutors and freelance staff. Students from our courses are keen to be involved.

They can shadow the experts and learn about education and community engagement. We have a team ready to start. A small team doing big things.”

Beverley expects that many young people from the Lewisham PRU will be inspired by Irie graduates to try out dance workshops at the Moonshot Centre, and maybe even apply for a dance qualification.

So the PRU students could be the BA students of the future, who go on to help young people like themselves.

It’s all pleasingly circular, organic and irie, in every sense of the word.

30 LEWI S H AM L E I SU R E

SOMETHING TO EAT Morcilla-filled filo parcels with mango chutney Serve this tasty tapas dish from Spanish restaurant L’Oculto with fresh mango and chilli chutney 3 At the top of each strip, place about 25g of the morcilla and onion mix. Fold the top corner so that it covers the mixture and forms a triangle. While doing this, make sure the mixture is tight within the pastry. Try not to flatten the mixture.

4 Following the triangle shape, carry on folding down until you get to the end.

5 Neatly trim any excess pastry.

6 Lightly brush the parcel with a little butter and bake in the oven until golden.

(Spanish black pudding) filo parcels with pine nuts and onion, finished with a fresh mango and chilli chutney. Here’s how to make it...

Ingredients (serves 2) 100g morcilla (skinned),

CROSSWORD NO. 5 ACROSS

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6 AACIIMPRS (anagram) (4, 5) 9 Arm or leg (4) 10 Curved entrance (4) 11 Indian tea-growing area (5) 12 Rabbit colony (6) 14 Underwear (6) 15 Park pool boat (6) 16 Plant barrier (5) 18 Skin irritation (4) 19 Saviours (9) 22 Cab (4) 24 Verona’s country (5) 26 To do with minute particles (6) 28 Floor covering (6) 29 Structured argument (6) 31 Scope (5) 32 Indication (4) 33 Dreadful (4) 34 ABEEGILLR (anagram) (9)

1 Lowest rank of soldier (7) 2 Traffic light colour (5) 3 EM Forster novel (1, 7, 2, 5) 4 Brass instrument (8) 5 Largest ocean (7) 7 Long-legged bird (5) 8 Witty and ironic writer (8) 13 Fencing sword (4) 17 Very exciting (8) 20 Tirade, rant (8) 21 Staple grain (4) 23 Astonishing (7) 25 Word-for-word (7) 27 Perfect (5) 30 Bathroom item (5)

available at L’Oculto 50g onion (poached in olive oil) 10g butter 2 sheets of filo pastry For the chutney 150g fresh mango pulp 50g granulated sugar

Method 1 Mix the already

BY ALDHELM

6 Across and 34 Across are both singers who have lived in Brockley.

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skinned morcilla with the poached onion. Set aside.

2 Gently melt the butter in a pan until liquid. Using a pastry brush, lightly cover a sheet of filo pastry with melted butter.

40g cabernet sauvignon vinegar 1 clove 1 tsp cumin seeds ½ star anise 10g red chilli

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Place the other filo sheet directly on top, trying to match the corners. Lightly cover the second filo sheet with butter, then divide the double-layer pastry into four equal vertical strips.

For the chutney 1 Dice the mango pulp into cubes of 1cm and place in a saucepan.

Add the vinegar, sugar and spices. Leave to macerate for 30 minutes.

2 Deseed and finely chop the chilli. Add to the mango mix.

3 Bring the saucepan to the boil and simmer until the mango is tender and the liquid is reduced, leaving a lovely thick and silky texture. If necessary, add a little water.

4 Transfer to a jar and allow to cool. Once cold, close the jar and keep refrigerated.

A lewisham LOCAL KATE BUSH In 1978, aged just 19, Kate Bush topped the UK singles chart with Wuthering Heights, becoming the first female artist to do so with a selfwritten song.

Kate, who was born in Bexleyheath, composed the hit track in her flat on Wickham Road in Brockley, using a secondhand piano bought in Woolwich.

According to fansite gaffa.org, she said of this time: “I actually remember the summer of 76, which was really hot here. We had such hot weather, I had all the windows open. And I just used to write

ILLUSTRATION BY PETER RHODES

L’Oculto tapas bar on Loampit Hill has just opened the doors to its second site.

L’Oculto restaurant and wine bar launched last month at 325 Brockley Road. It can seat up to 40 people and has an open kitchen, which will allow the team to host cookery classes and tasting events with producers and chefs from across Spain.

There is also a larger display of small-batch, natural wines, all of which are imported by the owners Ana Gomez and Teresa Holmes. L’Oculto recently picked up an award from Decanter magazine for its allSpanish wine list.

“We have a strong connection with all of our producers and have always looked for ways to share our knowledge of Spanish gastronomy and viniculture with the local community,” Teresa said.

“This new site allows us to do just that. A little more refined, it maintains the warmth and intimate approach that we know our customers love.”

A popular L’Oculto tapa is the morcilla

until you know, four in the morning, and I got a letter of complaint from a neighbour who was basically saying, ’Shuuut Uuuup!’ because they had to get up at like, five in the morning. They did shift work and my voice had been carried the whole length of the street I think, so they weren’t too appreciative.”

ACROSS: 6 Mica Paris, 9 Limb, 10 Arch, 11 Assam, 12 Warren, 14 Briefs, 15 Pedalo, 16 Hedge, 18 Itch, 19 Redeemers, 22 Taxi, 24 Italy, 26 Atomic, 28 Carpet, 29 Debate, 31 Range, 32 Sign, 33 Dire, 34 Gabrielle.

DOWN: 1 Private, 2 Amber, 3 A Passage To India, 4 Trombone, 5 Pacific, 7 Crane, 8 Satirist, 13 Epee, 17 Gripping, 20 Diatribe, 21 Rice, 23 Amazing, 25 Literal, 27 Ideal, 30 Bidet.