Doin’ the Lambeth Walk (Tuesday 26 May 2009)

“In England’s green and pleasant land”

At first sight a walk going from Lambeth North to Peckham seems to owe more to Will Self than William Blake but stay with me for a moment and I’ll try to explain.

William Blake, renowned for writing Jerusalem and quite rightly revered as one of England’s foremost painters and poets, only once journeyed further than a days walk from London. (And people call me London-centric!) Furthermore, he lived in Lambeth across the road from present day Lambeth North tube station, for 10 years between 1790 and1800. So while I’m wholeheartedly in Will Self’s camp in blaming the English Romantic movement (seminal figure – one William Blake) for ‘sanctifying the picturesque’ there’s no getting away from Blake in Lambeth.

A short stroll, or the average ‘arrow of desire’ flight, brings you to Centaur Street and its mosaic display of some of Blake’s better known work located in the railway arch. These many railway arches shape the physical geography round here and just seem to scream ‘sarf Lahndun’ to a Lewisham boy like me. Street art though is a relative new comer with the close-by Leake Street hosting a Banksy exhibition this time last year.

Weaving under the railway lines then crossing Lambeth Road brings you to Lambeth Walk. The Lambeth Walk, is the show-stopper from the 1937 musical Me and My Girl, starring Lupino Lane. (Post-war Lambeth street namers missed a trick there didn’t they.) The Nazis used it as an emblem ‘Jewish mischief and animalistic hopping’ while the British countered in 1942 with a propaganda film using footage from Leni Rieffenstahl’s Triumph of the Will of leading Nazis ‘doing the Lambeth Walk’. Oi indeed.

Lambeth Walk parallels the rail tracks and leads to Vauxhall Walk which leads In turn to Vauxhall Spring Gardens. Home these days to Vauxhall City Farm it was once the site of Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. Hard to imagine now but from the mid 17th through to the mid 19th centuries this was one of London’s hottest locations for entertainment and in 1817 the Battle of Waterloo was re-enacted here with over 1000 soldiers participating.

Heading towards Kennington you encounter yet more greenery and history when you get to Kennington Park. Formerly known as Kennington Common it was the site of public executions and where the Chartists held their biggest rally in 1848. It’s bounded on one side by St Agnes Place. Once the home of organised London squatting in the 1970’s and 80’s it also housed the Rastafarian temple. Bob Marley visited the temple in 1977 but it seems mostly to play football in the park. Leaving the park you quickly find yourself in the Brandon estate. The 1960’s design is much loved by film crews with many episodes of the Bill and Dr Who shot here.

Ducking and diving through Camberwell’s back streets you arrive at Burgess Park. This is most definitely not an Edwardian or Victorian London park. It was carved out of a highly built-up but badly bomb damaged part of the city in the aftermath of WW2 with virtually all its land previously comprising of housing, industry or transport infrastructure. The park also often plays host to the ubiquitous film crews with many scenes from Ashes to Ashes episodes filmed here.

The final leg of our journey takes us up the Surrey Linear Canal Park to Peckham. Opened in 1826 as a short branch of the Grand Surrey Canal it was closed (and drained) in the 1970’s and converted to a park. At the top you find Peckham’s new and acclaimed library building. A visit to the local and extremely handy Wetherspoons rounds off a walk that would surely quicken the step of Will Self, and his love of most things urban.

More information
OS Map used – Explorer 161 London South
Pay less when you order this map here: http://www.ramblers.org.uk/fundraising/shop/anquet-map.htm

See the route here: http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/gb/london/917124402355795116

Useful links:
o The Ramblers http://www.ramblers.org.uk/
o Lambrt North station http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambeth_North_tube_station
o William Blake http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRblake.htm
o Banksy http://www.banksy.co.uk/
o The Lambeth Walk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lambeth_Walk
o Box Hill http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-boxhill.htm
o Trig pointing http://www.trigpointinguk.com/
o Magnum Ice Creams http://www.mymagnum.co.uk/
o Box Hill School http://www.boxhillschool.com/
o Mole Gap Trail http://www.ruralways.org.uk/walking/routes/detail/164
o Leatherhead http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leatherhead

Listen to:
http://www.last.fm/music/Django+Reinhardt/_/The+Lambeth+Walk
http://www.last.fm/music/Emerson%252C%2BLake%2B%2526%2BPalmer/_/Jerusalem
http://www.last.fm/music/Little+Feat/_/Down+on+the+Farm
http://www.last.fm/music/Bob+Marley/_/Sun+Is+Shining

Slowing Down London (Thursday 30 April 2009)

Slow Down London is a new project to inspire Londoners to challenge the cult of speed and to appreciate the world around us. One of the things suggested is that we should ‘look up and around’ more. As their blurb says: ‘Rushing around the city we often forget to see what is around us’ – too true mate. All this made the Ramblers a perfect partner in the Slow Down London project and they led many walks during the couple of weeks it was up and running.

Beginning at Vauxhall (see past blog Up the Junction for a description of the area) this evening’s walk headed east along the south bank of the Thames. I was leading the walk and getting into the spirit of it quickly (or should that be slowly?) I got so slow I stopped. The 28 or so walkers in the group got used to this by the end of the evening as I often stop on the walks I lead and give a short commentary on sights.

Vauxhall to Borough is a route that features prominently in the Metropolitan Walkers’ programmes – it was either the 1st or 2nd evening stroll that was put on by the group and there’s been a couple of film location themed strolls as well. (Hmmm funnily enough I led all those too.) Soon we were stopping again – this time just before the underpass at Westminster Bridge to point out the space invader. This street art was new to me but is all over the world with quite a few examples here in London. By now it was just after 7.30 pm and although not quite sunset the next stretch of the south bank takes you past Waterloo Bridge and put me in mind of the Kinks’ song Waterloo Sunset. If you fancy doing this walk on your own or with friends it’s definitely worth a slight detour to look at the view from Waterloo Bridge and it’s even better at sunset.

Not much further on is the street skateboarding park situated beneath the Queen Elizabeth Hall. At first sight this seems all frenetic motion accompanied by wooden clacks, raucous cheers and high fives. On closer examination however most of the participants are actually standing around admiring their companions’ ‘ollies’ or watching the commuters scurry past while they wait for their next skate. It’s a great part of London full of verve and life and owes everything to enthusiastic people and nothing to local government who keep trying to close it or strangle it with rules and regulations.

The walk continued, with plentiful stops, along the south bank to Borough Market. I’m told this is one of the largest food markets in the world. The wholesale part goes on between 2 am and 8 am when most normal people are asleep but it’s probably here that you see celebrity chefs buying their incredibly fresh produce for their latest culinary creations. We finished up in The George Inn which is tucked away on a cobbled courtyard just off Borough High Street. This is London’s only surviving galleried inn and I think it’s owned by the National Trust.

These short sedate London strolls are very popular and if they sound to your liking why not pop along to a Ramblers Get Walking Day Walk on Saturday 30 May. Indeed I’ll be leading a 7.5 km stroll one that goes from Tower Hill tube station to Greenwich. We start at 11 am and everybody is welcome.  (I anticipate this walk will end by 2 pm at the latest. This’ll give you plenty of time to go shopping in the local market or join me in a pub to watch Chelsea beat Everton in the FA Cup Final.)

More information
OS Map used – Explorer 161 London South
Pay less when you order this map here: http://www.ramblers.org.uk/fundraising/shop/anquet-map.htm

Useful links:
o The Ramblers    http://www.ramblers.org.uk/
o Slow Down London    http://slowdownlondon.co.uk/
o Get Walking Day   http://www.ramblers.org.uk/campaigns/GWD.htm
o Metropolitan Walkers   http://www.metropolitan-walkers.org.uk/
o Ordnance Survey   http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/
o Skateboarding    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skateboarding
o space invaders   http://www.space-invaders.com/
o George Inn    http://www.pubs.com/pub_details.cfm?ID=187

Listen to:
http://www.last.fm/music/The+Kinks/_/Waterloo+Sunset