Pool of knowledge
Growing obsession
Hamlet’s hot-shot
Freya Bromley’s tidal year
Botanical photographer Kevin Dutton
Dulwich’s talented teenage striker
ue Iss 40
c De 3 v/ No 202
Helen’s heaven A local baker on the rise
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NEWS | 3
Welcome to issue 40 of The Dulwich Diverter Thank you for picking up the November/ December edition of the Dulwich Diverter, your free local paper for Dulwich. Our cover star for this issue is Helen Evans, owner of Eric’s, the wildly popular bakery that opened earlier this year in East Dulwich. Pastry fans eagerly queue around the block on Friday and Saturday mornings to secure Helen’s mouthwatering creations. The talented baker, who previously worked at Flor in Bermondsey (now sadly closed), tells us how she’s been overwhelmed by the support of the community – and what is next for Eric’s – on page 17.
Also featured on this issue’s front page is Freya Bromley, a local resident who, consumed with grief following her brother’s death, decided to swim every tidal pool in Britain in a year with her friend Miri. The result of this endeavour is her new book, The Tidal Year, a true story that is an “exploration of grief in the modern age” and a testament to the healing power of wild swimming and the space it creates for reflection and hope. Read more on page eight. Taking centre stage for the photo essay is Kevin Dutton, whose passion for photography and gardening led him to create a unique project using plants and
flowers from his West Dulwich allotment. See his beautiful images on page 12. We also caught up with Shakira Kafero-Roberts, a new signing at Dulwich Hamlet who, at the age of just 17, is taking Champion Hill by storm with her goal-scoring abilities. Read her interview on page 11. We’re now starting work on the next issue of the Diverter, which will be published early next year. If you’re a local business or organisation who is interested in advertising, please get in touch via dulwichdiverter@gmail.com to find out how we can help promote your business across Dulwich, south-east London and beyond, in print and online.
We’re always on the lookout for stories too, so if there’s an interesting resident or business that you would like to see featured on our pages, or an issue or story you think our readers should know about, we would love to hear from you. Please contact our editorial team via the email address mentioned above. Last but not least, we would like to say a big thank you to all our brilliant advertisers for your continued support in 2023. And on behalf of the whole team at the Diverter, we wish all our readers a good Christmas break and a happy new year. See you in 2024!
Mark McGinlay and Kate White
Dulwich dining scene expands with new restaurant openings Gourmands in Dulwich are spoiled for choice at the moment with three recent additions to the area’s ever buzzing food and drink scene. Churchills – a new wine bar and kitchen – has taken over the space at 84 Park Hall Road that for many years was occupied by a branch of Cafe Rouge. Churchills opened its doors for the first time in the first week of November. The proprietor, Lee Curtis, has worked in the hospitality trade for 30 years and is thrilled to be opening a business in Dulwich, where he has lived with his family for 10 years. “It’s all come together and I’m very excited,” he told the Dulwich Diverter. “I’ve got a good team who I’ve worked with for years and a lot of local talent working to make Churchills a success. “We want to cater for what local people and residents want. We’ve got a brunch menu for Saturday and Sunday, a roast menu for Sunday and an à la carte menu to run throughout the week.” Lee emphasised that Churchills will focus on sustainability and sourcing as many local products as possible. “With our water options, we’ve decided to partner with Belu, as we can eliminate transport costs by using a filtration system on site,” he said. “This not only reduces carbon footprint but I also give 50% of the profits to WaterAid. “Our tea supplier, Birchall, is located in Sydenham, it’s a superb product along with being a local business. “The eggs we use come from Coastal Farm, a local Kent farm that keeps transport to a minimum. We have been testing the menu out with these and our famous scotch egg is a real winner.
“Our beer, wines and spirits all have a London theme – the Real Al Company headed up by Alice [Churchward] is championing all the smaller craft breweries we have, and our opening draft options include the East London Brewing Company,
Hackney Wick’s Howling Hops and a small batch crafty apple cider. London gin will be featured on the list and our friends at Dulwich Vintners and La Cave de Bruno are always on hand should we need to collaborate with wine makers.”
Over in SE22, meanwhile, Kokum, an Indian restaurant and bar that opened in July on East Dulwich Road has been attracting admiring reviews. “Our mission is to provide a setting and menu that will redefine people’s perceptions of an Indian restaurant,” co-founder Simeron Patel told the Diverter. The head chef, Manmeet Singh Bali, formerly head chef at the Turnberry hotel in Scotland, has developed a menu that blends traditional Indian dishes with bold and punchy flavours. The main courses include dishes such as butter chicken, lamb rogan josh and sea bass with dosa potato, white moilee, mustard and sambar dust. His endeavours have been rewarded by a series of glowing reviews, with Jimi Famurewa of the Evening Standard declaring that Kokum’s “brilliance [has] to be proclaimed to every postcode”. Another exciting addition to the local food scene is Evi’s on North Cross Road, a Greek restaurant that is a permanent bricks and mortar off-shoot of the streetfood stall Souvlaki Street. Founded by Evi Peroulaki and Conor Mills about 10 years ago, Souvlaki Street proved highly popular during its time at North Cross Road market in East Dulwich, as well as during stints in Brixton and Hackney. In addition to its famed souvlaki, Evi’s also features a variety of mezze sharing plates, an all-Greek wine list and delicious homemade sodas laced with cucumber and lime. Like Kokum, Evi’s has won enthusiastic reviews, with the aforementioned Evening Standard critic Famurewa hailing its “curious magic and subtle, urgent power”.
The Dulwich Diverter Editors Mark McGinlay, Kate White | Designer Mingo Mingo Studio | Cover designer Jake Tilson Photographer Lima Charlie | Features editor Luke G Williams | Subeditor Jack Aston | Illustrator Peter Rhodes Contributors Katie Binns, Lawrence Diamond, Jessica Gulliver, Julia Hawkins, Caitlin Otway Marketing and social media Mark McGinlay For editorial and advertising enquiries, please email dulwichdiverter@gmail.com dulwichdiverter.tumblr.com | @dulwichdiverter | @dulwichdiverter | @dulwichdiverter
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023
THE DULWICH DIVERTER
4 | NEWS
A Rye look at the area Given the widespread acclaim that greeted her debut novel, The Silence, in 2020, Susan Allott’s second book, The House on Rye Lane – which will be published in January – is an absolute must-read. The fact that her new work is set in the local area and takes inspiration from its history is a further bonus. “I love this part of London because it is a community, people who live here tend to stay,” she said. “It’s an interesting, buzzy place, on the edge of the city, but it’s also very green. Peckham Rye is one of my favourite places in the world, we are so lucky to have the park and common as a public space where we can take a breather from urban living.” Susan also described the genesis of her latest book, and how its inexorable links with the topography and history of the local area were forged. “When I started thinking about this novel I knew I wanted to set it in London but I wasn’t set on any particular spot. Then in January 2020 I went to a talk that the historian Jon Newman was giving at Dulwich Books about London’s lost rivers. After that – coinciding with lockdown – I got more and more interested in the River Peck.” In terms of what to expect from the novel, Susan explained: “I write literary crime novels, sometimes referred to as literary thrillers. Before I was published, before I knew anything about genre, I used
to tell people I was aiming to write ‘a wellwritten page-turner’, which is the kind of book I enjoy: something with a gripping plot that doesn’t compromise on the quality of the prose. I’d say my books are atmospheric, with a big emphasis on place, and they are character-driven.
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“The House on Rye Lane is about the history of a house, where some bad things have happened – no spoilers! – and the way this history echoes into the present when a young couple move in in 2008. A few early reviewers have called it ‘a haunting thriller’, which I think is a good description.
“It has also been compared to The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters, which I think is a real compliment.” The House on Rye Lane will be published on 18 January by the Borough Press and will be available from local bookshops and online
NEWS | 5
Linking up As winter arrives, local charity Link Age Southwark is seeking Dulwich-based volunteers for its befriending scheme, which is designed to alleviate loneliness among older residents in the area and across the borough, as well as those suffering from dementia. So far this year, Link Age has already created 199 befriending matches. In total the charity’s regular work supports about 700 people across Southwark. However, demand is high for its unique services and Link Age is now on the lookout for more volunteers who are willing to give up time to befriend and talk to older residents in need of a friendly face and social interaction.
Sophie Wellings, the chief executive of Link Age Southwark, told the Dulwich Diverter: “Link Age Southwark has enjoyed a longstanding and very positive relationship with Dulwich’s residents – they have continuously given us both their time and support. “We hope to galvanise this kind of response once again, to help us plug some of the current gaps in our volunteering offer. Demand for Link Age Southwark’s services goes up and up, and many of the people we support are hugely affected by the cost of living crisis and winter pressures. Community support can make such a wonderful difference to their lives.” Mark, aged 62, is one of Link Age’s existing Dulwich-based volunteers. Each week he drives four older women from diverse backgrounds to and from singing sessions in East Dulwich. “I enjoy listening to them chat when I’m driving them,” he explained. “Hearing about their lives and families is fascinating – they may have limited mobility now, but one of them told me that at 18 she’d been a long jump champion. “They seem to really appreciate the interaction – they’ll ask about my sons,
my dogs – it’s lovely to just be me. I retired last year from a very high-pressure career as a chartered surveyor. I was constantly ‘on call’. I wanted to explore other aspects of what I can bring to the world. I’d always wanted to volunteer, and a dog-walking friend of my wife mentioned that Link Age Southwark needed drivers. I have a roomy car, and it was an opportunity to give my brain a rest, while hopefully making a difference.
“Getting out seems to give my ladies a different perspective. For example, one of them was involved with inspecting schools, and if we pass one, she’ll share her memories. Driving for Link Age Southwark makes me feel good: you’re taking time, listening and being there for others.” To apply to volunteer for Link Age Southwark, visit linkagesouthwark.org/ volunteer-application
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Landscapes on show Dulwich Picture Gallery will present Soulscapes, a major exhibition of landscape art that will explore our connection with the world around us through the eyes of artists from the African diaspora. Featuring more than 30 contemporary works, it will span painting, photography, film, tapestry and collage, from leading artists including Hurvin Anderson, Phoebe Boswell, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Kimathi Donkor, Isaac Julien, Marcia Michael, Mónica de Miranda and Alberta Whittle, as well as some of the most important emerging voices working today. The exhibition, which opens in February, will consider the power of landscape art and reflect on themes of belonging, memory, joy and transformation. It is curated by Lisa Anderson, managing director of the Black Cultural Archives and founder of Black British Art. She said: “Soulscapes grew from the periods of enforced lockdown that millions experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic. During the same period, the question of racial equality in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement helped ignite conversations about inclusion and social justice. “These historical moments gave way to new possibilities for landscape art, which is being interrogated by artists in new and expansive ways. At a time when global consciousness has been profoundly attuned to the precariousness and power of the natural world in our lives, I hope this
exhibition will challenge perceptions of our relationship with nature.” Artist Kimathi Donkor said: “My ‘Idyl’ paintings celebrate tender and contemplative moments shared by families and friends as they enjoy serene meadows, lakes, mountains, forests, rivers and beaches together. As an artist who has often focused on ‘the struggle’, these works represent hopeful visions that honour what the fulfilment of black liberation might sometimes feel like – even if only fleetingly.”
Concert from Clein
Flocking together
The Dulwich Concert Series at Alleyn’s has announced that world-renowned musician Natalie Clein will headline its first concert of the 2023-24 season. Cellist Clein will begin the series with works by Bach and Kodály at Alleyn’s on 27 November at 7.30pm. Clein, who studied at the Royal College of Music, rose to prominence after winning the BBC Young Musician of the Year award and the Eurovision Young Musicians competition. She made her debut at the Proms in 1997 and now performs at major venues and with orchestras worldwide. The south London-based concert season, formerly called the Alleyn’s International Concert Series, is known
Contemporary artist Jose Campos, whose work goes by the name of Studio Lenca, recently launched an ambitious project to raise money for Harris Girls’ Academy in East Dulwich. Pupils had the opportunity to showcase their work in collaboration with Studio Lenca at Soho Revue, a renowned central London gallery. It was part of Studio Lenca’s largest European show to date and ran for one month. The project also provided a chance for collectors and fans of Jose’s work to purchase a Studio Lenca piece for £100. Jose and the students worked together to create 50 individual printed birds, which were suspended from a mobile-like installation. Titled Flock, the collaborative sculpture was designed as a symbol of migration through a kinetic representation of a bird flock. Students contributed by hand-printing birds, highlighting unity and diverse forms of knowledge. All proceeds went to purchasing a new kiln for the school. As a former teacher, the initiative is close to Jose’s heart. When he was a child he was forcibly displaced from his home in El Salvador due to the violent civil war and was one of the first wave of child migrants who moved from the Central American country to the United States. Travelling illegally with his mother, the family lived with no fixed address and cleaned houses to make ends meet.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023
for attracting world-class musicians in an intimate setting at the 300-seater MCT theatre at Alleyn’s School. The series has a history of showcasing emerging and established musicians of international stature, including Steven Osborne, Alison Balsom and vocal group the Swingles to the accessible and modern venue. Artistic director of the Dulwich Concert Series at Alleyn’s, Jonathan Beatty, said: “We are thrilled to welcome a musician of such world-class calibre as Natalie Clein to perform the first concert of the 2023-24 Dulwich Concert Series. The series aims to bring leading international artists to wider audiences in south-east London in an accessible and friendly setting.”
Having faced the challenges of living as an undocumented migrant, Jose understands the importance of supporting young talents facing difficulties, and he advocates for collaborations to bridge the gap between galleries and educators, connecting with a broader audience and creating opportunities for inclusion. Now based in a Margate studio complex created by Tracey Emin, he describes himself as “an artist that doesn’t belong anywhere apart from the world he creates”.
THE DULWICH DIVERTER
8 | BOOKS
In the swim of things AFTER TAKING TO THE WATER TO COPE WITH HER GRIEF, FREYA BROMLEY WROTE A BOOK ABOUT THE HEALING POWER OF WILD SWIMMING BY CAITLIN OTWAY
Freya Bromley is fiercely loyal to her adoptive south London home. So much so that she has convinced her east London partner to move south of the river. “It’s a modern-day Romeo and Juliet love story. We’re starcrossed lovers,” she laughs, “but I’ve finally converted him.” South London is full of “amazing, creative people and independent businesses”, Freya says. “Feeling like you have a community in London can be really hard, but if you live somewhere that feels like a village, like I do, you can go into the same bookshops and coffee shops and speak to really interesting people, and that’s so valuable.” Much of Freya’s life revolves around Herne Hill, from meeting friends in the market to walking in the park or going for a swim at Brockwell Lido, which she describes as “the epicentre” of her world. In fact, it was swimming that really cemented Freya’s commitment to Dulwich. “When I started swimming at Brockwell Lido, my radius for where I wanted to live suddenly became very small!” she grins. The first time Freya went cold water swimming, it had a huge impact on her, she explains. A friend invited her to the new year’s swim at Hampstead Heath’s ladies’ pond. Since then, “swimming has become a way for me to find my own community”, she says. “Even if you’re not talking to everyone, people nod, they say hi, and it feels like they’re just looking out for you. That has been hugely important in these past years.” It was swimming that helped Freya to cope with the tragic loss of her brother, Tom, six years ago, and it was swimming that led her on a painful and transformative journey towards healing. “The pain was awful,” she tells me, matter-of-factly. “I felt like I needed the pain to stop. I didn’t think I’d ever move past how painful it was. Lots of us are used to compartmentalising things and shutting things away deep inside ourselves, but suddenly there was this grief that touched everything.” As well as her devotion to swimming, Freya’s passion for writing also helped her following the death of her brother. Being home alone became intolerable, she tells me, and writing became a way of keeping herself busy. “The pain was unbearable and I felt like I had to find something to fill every minute,” Freya says. She tries to write little and often. “In a world where we have so little control over anything, I can take control and dedicate even a small amount of time every day to creativity and something that is purely for me.”
THE DULWICH DIVERTER
Not having the space to talk about her loss became painfully isolating for Freya. “No one really acknowledged what had happened to me,” she remembers, “so I felt like I had to live alone with these big, repressed feelings. And it made me into quite an angry person.” Despite writing every day, Freya didn’t feel like she had the confidence to write stories that people would want to read. “I’d actually written a whole novel about grief. But it didn’t feel like it was working. I was hiding my own feelings from the page.” Around this time, Freya decided to address her grief head on, by harnessing her other great passion: swimming. She made it her mission to swim in every tidal pool in Britain in a year with her friend, Miri. It would become a journey that would take them from tiny fishing villages to coastal quarry lagoons, meeting many kind strangers along the way. Tidal pools are a unique combination of natural formations
and man-made elements including metal steps or cement boundary walls that fill with seawater as the tide comes in. The sea can be dangerous and unpredictable with its rip tides and powerful waves, but a walled tidal pool protects swimmers from the full force of nature. Freya travelled to pools like Margate’s Walpole Bay, which has both man-made and natural elements, and others such as Dancing Ledge in Dorset, which was built using dynamite. The adventure gave Freya the space she needed to dip into her grief and write more honestly about her loss. “Going to all these tidal pools suddenly gave me an excuse to write about myself and my pain,” she says. “I didn’t have any confidence before, but the swimming became this avenue for me to write about grief. It gave me a push to finally do it. And having the structure of swimming all of these tidal pools in a year gave me great scaffolding to overlay a complex emotional story.”
SWIMMING IN ALL OF THESE TIDAL POOLS GAVE ME GREAT SCAFFOLDING TO OVERLAY A COMPLEX EMOTIONAL STORY
The resulting book, The Tidal Year, is an immersive story about the healing power of wild swimming as well as the space that swimming and nature can create for personal reflection and hope. The book has allowed Freya to explore the loss of her brother and what it means to be a sister. It is sad and honest but also funny and uplifting. By presenting her own story of loss in such an open way, the book also encourages readers to address their own grief and it has allowed Freya to make connections with people she would never otherwise have met. “Most people are living life without the opportunity to talk about their grief or the big things they’re going through,” she explains. “We all want to smooth things over; that’s such a British way of dealing with things. But being able to just talk openly about the grief we are living with is so powerful. And writing this book has allowed me to do that.” People are very generous in sharing their own loss having read her story, Freya tells me. “I meet lots of strangers who have read the book, and within minutes, there is this great connection because they feel like they know and understand me from reading it. And you know what, often people just want the chance to say the name of the person they’ve lost.” It has been almost six years since Freya’s brother Tom died and his death is beginning to feel “quite far away”, she tells me. “When Tom died, people would tell me that I’d never forget him and that even though my brother isn’t around any more, I’ll always have my memories of him.” But as time went on, Freya found it harder to imagine her brother’s face clearly or remember specific details about him. “Memory is finite and you do forget. So, writing this book became an exercise for me in trying to travel back and remember him.” Six years on and Freya has begun to feel better again. “Most days I feel pretty good. And in some ways, that’s quite sad. Feeling better can make you feel further from the person who you’re missing,” she says. “It does get easier but that’s the hardest advice to believe. Knowing it’s going to get easier when you’re in the throes of grief seems impossible.” As well as being a memoir on grief and a dedication to Tom, The Tidal Year is a love letter to south London. “I love books that write about places I know,” Freya says as we wrap up our chat. The book is dotted with many of her favourite south London spots. “It was important to me to include some of my favourite places in the book and I hope this resonates with other people too.”
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023
10 | SPORT
Forward thinking SHAKIRA KAFERO-ROBERTS IS ONLY 17, BUT THE SUPER-TALENTED STRIKER IS ALREADY MAKING HER MARK AT CHAMPION HILL BY LUKE G WILLIAMS
Shakira Kafero-Roberts was the Dulwich Hamlet women’s team’s first signing of the summer off-season, and the pacy and prodigiously talented 17-year-old forward might just turn out to be one of the most significant arrivals at Champion Hill in recent years. At the time of writing, Shakira had already netted seven goals for the Hamlet, as well as snaffling five player-of-the-match awards. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that manager Ryan Dempsey regards the former Haringey Borough standout as a huge part of his plans for the future. “Based on last season’s performance we needed to add more creativity in the final third,” Ryan tells the Dulwich Diverter. “We had a few options and we thought Shakira was the best fit. She can play across all of the front three positions – she’s skilful, quick, aggressive and works incredibly hard. “We’re really pleased that Shakira made the decision to join us. She had opportunities to join clubs that play in a higher tier than us, but we feel that we are the perfect match.”
When we catch up with Shakira she is accompanied by her mother Mary, and the bond between the duo is clear from the outset. Throughout the interview mum and daughter
often finish each other’s sentences and Shakira is clearly grateful for the support and love her mother has given her. “Growing up it was just me, my mum and my sister,” Shakira
ABOVE: IN THE PINK: STAR SIGNING SHAKIRA KAFERO-ROBERTS Photo by Liam Asman
explains when asked to reflect on her upbringing in north-west London. “We’re still in the same house that I’ve lived in all my life. I wouldn’t be doing any of this if it wasn’t for my mum. She comes to every single game and training session. She’s my biggest fan!” Mary says Shakira demonstrated an informal aptitude for football from an early age, although her official introduction to the game didn’t come until much later. “From about the age of three years old Shakira loved kicking a ball around the house,” she says. “But it took a very long time for me to clock on that she actually wanted to play football properly – she was 11 years old when she really started playing properly.” Shakira adds some further details to the story of her formative football years. “I got into football when my sister started training in athletics at the Linford Christie stadium [in Wormwood Scrubs, west London]. That’s where it all started. “Immediately I felt a lot of freedom when I played football. Before I had done a lot of athletics. I used to switch
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SPORT | 11 between sprinting and cross-country. In athletics there’s only really one thing to do: run! I wanted to switch things up a bit. Football let me do that.” When Mary saw Shakira on a football pitch for the first time, she was stunned by how accomplished her daughter was, and how confident and graceful she was with the ball at her feet. “As soon as I saw her on the pitch, here was this wonderful player,” she says, a note of disbelief still lingering in her voice. “You would have thought she’d been playing football her whole life. “The way she moved through the opposing players... her secret is her speed. Give her the ball at her feet and she will get that goal – or set one up!” Shakira’s ascent was rapid. She played for her school, then her local borough of Brent, and also had spells with junior sides at Brighton, Watford and QPR before making the step up to senior football with Haringey Borough in the Premier Division of the Eastern Region Women’s Football League. In her first full season, Shakira was nothing short of a sensation, scoring 24 goals in 21 appearances to finish six goals clear of her nearest challenger at the top of the division’s top scorers’ chart. Dulwich soon came calling. “Dulwich invited me to watch some of their games and training sessions and that was the main factor in deciding to join them,” Shakira explains. She soon made her mark at Champion Hill, with a goal against Millwall Lionesses that helped Dulwich to a 2-0 victory against the fellow south-east London side. She went on to score further goals in games against Aylesford, Barking, Headstone Manor, Enfield Town and Eastbourne United. “She needed a new challenge,” Mary says of the decision to join Dulwich. “Something to take her out of her comfort zone and to a completely new environment. We felt like that was the next step to help her come further out of her shell because she’s always been a very quiet player. “I’m seeing her now do interviews on YouTube and so on, which I could never have imagined before. She’s becoming more and more confident, and that’s showing on the pitch as well as in the way she’s communicating more and more with her team-mates.” I get the impression that Shakira – who is naturally quietly spoken, introverted even – prefers to let her skills rather than her voice do the talking. “I don’t find interviews all that exciting to do, to be honest,” she admits, with admirable candour. “I take a bit of persuading!” Nevertheless, it is clear that in her short time thus far at Dulwich, Shakira has made huge strides in terms of confidence and becoming more vocal and outgoing. “This is the happiest I’ve seen her in terms of engaging with her teammates and so on,” Mary admits, while Shakira adds: “This is the most fun I’ve had in football so far. It’s a really welcoming environment at Dulwich.”
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023
HER SECRET IS HER SPEED. GIVE HER THE BALL AT HER FEET AND SHE WILL GET THAT GOAL – OR SET ONE UP
THIS PAGE: SHAKIRA IN ACTION ON THE PITCH Photos by Liam Asman
The big unanswered question is exactly how far Shakira’s talents can take her. The player herself is unsure whether she sees her longterm future in higher level football or not. Currently studying for A-levels in business studies, sociology and geography, she has applied to study environmental science at university. “I still want to play football when I’m older but I’m not sure at what level yet,” she explains, although it’s clear from her unfazed attitude that she views the dilemma as a happy rather than a burdensome one. Shakira is similarly equanimous when addressing the question of how she balances her academic studies with her football. “It’s quite easy to be honest. I get quite a few free periods so I do all my school work then so after school hours I can focus more on football. It was much harder when I was doing my GCSEs because I didn’t have any free lessons.” Whether Shakira pursues football at a higher level or not, it has already – as her mother admits – been quite a journey from kicking a ball around the house as a three-year-old to banging in goals at Champion Hill. “It has been an interesting journey, for sure,” Mary says. “Looking back on it now I’ve learned a lot about football politics, but I won’t dwell on that! “I’ve also seen a lot of tears, a lot of frustration and times when Shakira felt she could have done better. So to get to where she is now is amazing. “It’s been an interesting journey but it’s also been a fantastic journey to watch her grow and develop.”
THE DULWICH DIVERTER
12 | DULWICH IN PICTURES
Still time BY KATIE BINNS PHOTOS BY KEVIN DUTTON
Kevin Dutton, a professional photographer for 30 years and a resident of East Dulwich for two decades, has had a long and varied career. Starting as an assistant for a still life advertising photographer in the West End, he initially worked on high-end product photography for big billboard adverts in the UK and Europe. A decade as a portrait photographer for newspapers and magazines followed, which saw him snapping the likes of Kate Moss, Danny Boyle, Steve Coogan, Michael Parkinson and Helena Bonham Carter. Keen to work in a studio again, Kevin then went on to work as a TV still photographer for the BBC and Channel 4, taking pictures of production teams and casts on sets for publicity and documentaries, before doing studio photography for the Sunday Times.
In the background, he was a gardening obsessive, growing plants and vegetables not only in his back garden but in his personal plot, just eight by 16 metres, on the Rosendale allotments. “In 2010 I had a sudden moment where I realised what I really wanted to do was to take photos of my plants in the studio and create a piece of art that you can put on the wall. I wanted to do something creative, not commercial,” he says. His early results were striking – his photographs are elegant and have something of a high-end fashion quality about them – and quickly caught the eye of others. “I did some alliums that I had grown in the garden and one of those images was used by Apple for the iPhone campaign in 2014. Then a record company in Italy that produces classical music albums contacted me because they wanted an ultra-minimal set of pictures that were flower or seed heads on black backgrounds.”
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He enjoys views of Canary Wharf, Crystal Palace transmitting station, Dulwich College, fruit trees and colourful sheds while working on his plot in Rosendale allotments, one of the largest allotment sites in London, with more than 450 members and a waiting list of 800. “It’s mainly summer produce from May to November: gooseberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, whitecurrants, blackberry, loganberry, strawberries and also rhubarb. I have cherry, plum, apple and greengage trees and this year I’ve grown shallots, potatoes, carrots, french beans, radishes, courgettes and squashes in the vegetable department.” It’s quite a slog, he admits. “I’d be lying if I said it was an easy thing – planting, tending them, pulling them out of the ground and photographing them – and it just doesn’t work sometimes and you have to let it go and have a go the next year. I photographed hellebores on and off for five years before I finally got the
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023
DULWICH IN PICTURES | 13
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023
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14 | DULWICH IN PICTURES
photo, for example. It’s tricky to be patient but there’s always next year if you cock it up!” There have been many highlights: the Affordable Art Fair has taken his work to New York and Stockholm, he won a gold medal from the Royal Horticultural Society for his photography of hellebores while it hung in the Saatchi Gallery and, of course, he has participated every year in the Dulwich Festival’s Artists’ Open House for the last decade. “I’m currently preparing for the Open House in May 2024,” he says. Kevin knows he’ll continue to be inspired in his botanical photography: “There are enough plants in the world for me to photograph for the rest of my life and I like the idea of that.” To see more of Kevin’s work, visit kevindutton.net
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023
Adult Learning Lewisham
All photos are of our classes
DAY, EVENING AND WEEKEND COURSES
Our courses can help you develop your creativity or gain the skills and qualifications you need for work and further education. Enrol now for January 2024 More information is available at: www.lewisham.gov.uk/adultlearning Adult Learning Lewisham ALL TOGETHER WE FLOURISH
portions for the table, for two or more to share.
CHRISTMAS BY
Our festive menus are served ‘family style’ with generous portions for the table to share, for two or more.
Jerusalem artichokes, burrata & hazelnuts A plate of house smoked treacle cured pork neck, pickles & sweet mustard Overnight braised beef shoulder, horseradish cream & tarragon Vacherin dauphinoise Watercress and pickled walnut salad Sticky prune pudding, clotted cream & calvados sauce Vegetarian and vegan menus available
To make a booking, please get in touch: enquiries@thecamberwellarms.co.uk
FOOD, DRINK & FUN LIVE MUSIC & DJS ART & EXHIBITIONS FAMILIES & EDUCATION CHRISTMAS PARTIES
FOOD AND DRINK | 17
Evans sent ERIC’S BAKERY IS THE PLACE TO BE FOR PASTRY LOVERS, WHO QUEUE AROUND THE BLOCK TO SNAP UP HELEN EVANS’ MOUTHWATERING CREATIONS BY LAWRENCE DIAMOND
Researching interviews is usually a joy. Reading books that people have written, listening to music or podcasts they have created or just generally finding out how the creative and inventive residents of Dulwich got to where they are now is usually a fascinating and mind-expanding experience. And although reading about Helen Evans and her journey from Peterborough to Melbourne to Lima, and from the much-loved Flor bakery in Bermondsey to her current home of Eric’s in East Dulwich is a lovely story to discover, having to look at pictures of her beautiful bakes – be that a grilled aubergine, fava bean miso and sheep’s milk cheese scroll or a roasted opal plum, brown butter and panela danish – without being able to partake in them is a strange kind of torture. It seems I’m not alone, as from the moment she opened the doors to Eric’s just before Easter this year, the response has been quite incredible. Queues around the block are forming every Friday and Saturday morning as people scrabble to get a literal slice of this wonderfully skilled baker’s unique talents. And when your opening hours are 8am or 9am till “when everything is sold” it means those precious morning hours are swiftly becoming a whirlwind weekly staple for Dulwich foodies and in-theknow Londoners from further afield. Sitting down with a cup of tea for a chat on a balmy autumn evening, I had planned on discussing Helen’s background in baking and how she came to have such a special way of approaching her craft, but immediately the talk turns to the amazing community she’s found in East Dulwich. “The response and the support that I’ve been receiving from the locals has just blown my mind,” she tells me. Indeed, East Dulwich played a big part in Eric’s coming into being – as despite building a fantastic reputation through her work at Flor, and always having had the dream of opening her own space, it wasn’t until her partner happened to walk past the empty shop on the corner of Upland and Hindmans roads where Eric’s now resides that the dream suddenly took a step closer to reality. “I suppose I’ve always had this dream of opening my own place, but it was never a fully formed idea in my mind until I saw this space,” Helen says. “Suddenly overnight it materialised in front of my eyes and I realised, ‘yes, I do want my own place.’ “Originally my partner saw this space and he just sent me a photo and said this is up for sale, wouldn’t it be perfect? And I could just see it, and I thought, ‘well, yeah, let’s do it!’”
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The people of East Dulwich are very happy she did, because the produce that Helen is creating is unique, of the highest quality and just flat-out delicious. Using wheat from suppliers with whom she has forged personal relationships, including Henry Astor from Bruern farms in the Cotswolds and Andrew Gilhespy from the Fresh Flour Company in Devon, both of whom grow heritage and modern varieties and mill their own flour, she is part of a wave of bakers who have taken the craft back to its roots and ensured the food we’re eating can be traced from the fields it is grown in, via the people who shape it, on to our plates. Building relationships with unique suppliers is a huge part of what Helen is doing at Eric’s, but even before it opened she realised the importance of building relationships with her potential customers too. And the first part of that was to run a crowdfunding campaign to help with the purchase of a dough mixer and pastry sheeter. At first Helen considered trying to find another way to borrow the money on an already tight budget, “but then a friend pointed out that actually by crowdfunding it helps get the community feel involved in the project”, she says. “And it worked. So many of our customers now are regular customers. And when I say regular, we see the same people in the queue every single week, which blows
my mind. I love that we’re learning people’s names and we’re learning a bit about them, and we can ask how their kids are. I love that part of it.” Ah, there’s mention of that queue again. It’s hard to avoid if you’re taking a morning stroll down Upland Road on a Friday or Saturday, and has even been the subject of an article in the Times. But when you’re a one-woman show, with such a commitment to the quality of the produce you’re creating, how could it be any other way? And as Helen points out, there are silver linings to having to wait in line for your favourite pain aux raisins. “Literally every week, we hear people exchanging phone numbers in the queue with the person ahead of them. They get chatting and all of a sudden they’ve made a new friend. And I really like that. I think people are actually coming to enjoy this experience, it’s very social and I like that social aspect.” Not that she doesn’t wish she could open longer and provide more. “I can assure everyone that I work really hard during the week as well. I don’t just work hard on Friday and Saturday. But it’s a small space and we’re at capacity. “For the last six months every single week I’ve been attempting to do more and more and more and more. But now we’re at the point where there aren’t enough hours in the day. So even on Tuesdays I’m working 12, 13 hours. But I don’t just
WE SEE THE SAME PEOPLE IN THE QUEUE EVERY SINGLE WEEK, WHICH BLOWS MY MIND
ABOVE: HELEN EVANS Photo by Lima Charlie
want to do it to make more money. It’s really important that everything is handmade and it’s handmade with love to ensure that the quality doesn’t dip. That’s my biggest worry, to maintain the quality really.” In this modern world of instant gratification and domination of the high street by big, faceless chains, it’s heartening to hear from someone who is creating something special for their local community all for the love of the craft and for the serving of their customers. The success of the last six months has meant that Helen is now able to take on another baker and is hoping to open at least one more day a week, as well as offering more produce on the days she is open. But all of this is to be figured out as she tries to get her head around her success so far and move forward into an exciting new future in her happy space in East Dulwich. “Having moved around a lot to different countries and different jobs, always wondering where I might end up, I don’t think I could have wished to end up anywhere more lovely,” she says of SE22. “Actually I think for the first time in a long time I feel very much at home in East Dulwich. I’ve got a lovely community around me and yeah, I couldn’t be happier really. It’s great.” One bite of anything from Eric’s and you’ll agree that the feeling is truly mutual.
THE DULWICH DIVERTER
18 | HISTORY
All hail Mary MARY HALFORD ACHIEVED WHAT MOST THOUGHT WAS IMPOSSIBLE WHEN SHE ENDED ONE OF THE LONGEST SPORTING MONOPOLIES IN HISTORY BY LUKE G WILLIAMS
The name of Mary Halford is rarely sighted these days – even within tennis circles – but the Dulwich-born talent made significant waves on and off the court in her heyday. Indeed, in her role as non-playing captain of the British Wightman Cup team, Mary succeeded in ending one of the greatest periods of sporting dominance ever seen in tennis. Born Mary Eileen Whitmarsh on 14 December 1915, the young Mary was a child star on the tennis courts of south London and Surrey. Among her early stomping grounds was the Covered Courts Club on College Road, Dulwich, a state-of-the-art indoor tennis facility built in 1911, which featured a wooden floor and 14 huge gas lights on each of the courts, enabling play at night-time. Junior champion of Surrey several times, Mary also enjoyed success in the prestigious girls’ events held at the famed All England club at Wimbledon. In 1930 her match against Josephine Harman of Ireland made national headlines when both girls refused to leave the court despite heavy rain. The Daily Herald observed – somewhat patronisingly – that the display of these “plucky girls... set an example to the boys”. In 1932, Mary came close to winning all three junior events at Wimbledon, clinching the girls’ doubles and mixed doubles trophies, only to be denied the singles crown by Harman, who won the final 6-4, 6-4. The following year Mary was once again runner-up in the junior singles, going down 4-6, 6-8 to Nancy Dickin. However, she won the girls’ doubles, teaming up with Dickin to lift the title. Now 17, Mary also made the step up to senior level in 1933, entering the ladies’ singles at Wimbledon, in which she was the youngest competitor in the draw, although she lost her opening match to Sybil Edwards. Between 1933 and 1939 Mary competed in the singles at Wimbledon
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every year, reaching the fourth round in 1936, but never progressing further. With the outbreak of the Second World War, international sport was put on hold. During the war, Mary married Peter Halford, an engineer officer in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and a lieutenant in the Fleet Air Arm. Peter was a talented ice hockey international who had helped Great Britain finish as runners-up in the 1938 world championship. Soon after the couple wed, they had a son, Timothy, with whom they were photographed by Tatler in 1946. They later had a daughter, Candy. Wimbledon returned in 1946, and Mary equalled her best prewar finish by making the fourth round on three further occasions: 1946, 1948 and 1950. Sadly, though, her final singles appearance in 1952 ended in ignominy with a 6-0, 6-0 thrashing at the hands of the future world number one, Shirley Fry. Truth be told, doubles rather than singles was Mary’s metier. Her best performances in the ladies’ doubles at Wimbledon were quarterfinal appearances in 1948 (playing alongside Bea Seal) and 1952 (with Molly Blair). Playing with Frank Wilde she was also a mixed doubles semifinalist in 1936, losing to eventual winners Fred Perry and Dorothy Round, and reached the quarter-finals with South African Owen Williams in 1952 and 1954. It was in a non-playing role in the Wightman Cup, however, that Mary would carve her name into tennis folklore. Founded by American tennis star Hazel Wightman, the tournament was an annual showdown between ladies’ tennis teams from the United States and Great Britain. Although the two countries won four each of the first eight tournaments, from 1931 the US assumed utter dominance, embarking on a run of successive victories that eventually stretched – by 1957 – to 21. In 1954 Mary was tasked with trying to break one of sport’s great
monopolies when she was made nonplaying captain of the British team. From the outset she made her mission clear: to regain the Wightman Cup for Britain for the first time since 1930. “I think it’s a great honour,” she said on assuming the role. “The American girls are very good, but I think they are beatable, and one of my tasks will be to make the British players believe they have a good chance. If they have the confidence they are halfway there.” Initial progress was outwardly slow, but behind the scenes Mary was quietly plotting a tennis revolution. She introduced a new training regime for the team, including weight-lifting to improve players’ strength, and also put her faith in a crop of emerging youngsters such as Shirley Bloomer and Christine Truman. Despite further defeats against the Americans in 1954, 1955 and 1956, Mary did not lose faith. After watching the national junior championships in Dulwich in 1957 she was “full of smiles” and told reporters she was confident that the American dominance could be broken “before 1960”. Few believed her. Mary’s hopes of winning the cup on American soil in Pittsburgh in 1957 were dashed by a 6-1 loss, but the youngest British team in the competition’s history put up some spirited displays. “I am very proud of the team,” Mary declared afterwards. “They all fought hard for every point, and it was very encouraging to see that the margin of American victories in the individual matches was not very great.” She added: “I think we should have a good chance of breaking the American monopoly next year if present progress is maintained.” To many Mary’s words seemed like empty rhetoric, but they proved prophetic, with Britain finally wresting the Wightman Cup from the Americans’ steely grasp in June 1958 with a sensational 4-3 victory. Christine Truman was the star of
THE AMERICAN GIRLS ARE VERY GOOD, BUT I THINK THEY ARE BEATABLE
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: MARY HALFORD; FRED PERRY AND PAT HUGHES; ALTHEA GIBSON AT WIMBLEDON IN 1957; HUGHES AND PERRY IN 1934
the show, with a sensational victory against the great Althea Gibson proving decisive. On being presented with the impressive silver trophy on centre court by the Duchess of Kent, Mary hugged and kissed it with joy. The triumph was, in the words of the Birmingham Daily Post, “the fruit of long hours of unremitting practice throughout the winter” during which Mary had focused her team’s mind on working “devotedly towards the one goal”. “The highest praise is due to Mary Halford,” the newspaper concluded, labelling her leadership “an inspiration”. Her mission complete, Mary stepped down from her role as captain, and after a spell commentating for ITV in the 1960s, settled into a contented family life. When she died – on 1 November 2009 at the Sunrise nursing home in Esher – she was 94. Twenty years earlier, the Wightman Cup had been contested for the final time, consigned to tennis history, but one of its greatest chapters remains the year that Mary Halford achieved the impossible and got the cup back in British possession.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023
Incubator Grow
Free start-up support for physical and digital innovation, in Peckham Applications open 13 November 2023
6 month offer Specialist mentors Free workspace Prototyping lab Maker spaces Software and tech Follow-on support www.arts.ac.uk/ual-incubator-grow
CREATIVE WRITING FOR BEGINNERS 10 WEEKS / 12 PLACES / £385 10% discount if pay in full upfront
NEW TERM 31 JAN – 10 APRIL 2024 (not 6 March) WEDS 7 – 9PM VENUE ZOOM BOOK NOW LITERARYKITCHEN@GMAIL.COM
“This course provided both inspiration and the techniques and tools to harness my creative spirit. I learnt about creating a character, theme, and how to structure a story. Andrea’s incredible knowledge and enthusiasm was just what I needed. It’s very exciting to have finally written a short story and shared it with others”. Katy Driscoll, July 2023
Using in-class exercises this course focuses on aspects of the craft of constructing narrative fiction and creative non-fiction, such as characterisation, point of view, dialogue, setting, structure, theme and voice. We will discuss ways to build writing into your lifestyle and the processes of editing and rewriting. You will have fun with words and create a deconstruction collage piece. Writing and sharing in class will enable you to feel comfortable sharing your work, to learn critiquing tools, as well as benefitting from valuable feedback. You will be guided through the process of creating a piece of 1,200 words for a final night of readings. Students who wish to continue with their creative writing in a supportive environment may choose to graduate to the Literary Kitchen Writers Workout.
WWW.LITERARYKITCHEN.CO.UK
DIVERSIONS | 21 TO THE BOOKSHOP
Ruskin Park: Sylvia, Me and the BBC BY JESSICA GULLIVER
The retired technology correspondent from the Beeb, Rory Cellan-Jones, has been warming our hearts for a while now with chronicles of his beautiful rescue dog (#SophieFromRomania) on X (formerly Twitter). And now more delights in the form of Ruskin Park: Sylvia, Me and the BBC, his new memoir whose title reveals an intriguing local connection. Rory’s mother Sylvia left school aged 14 and married an older man, Leslie Rich, in 1937, with whom she had a son called Stephen. During the Second World War she took a job as a secretary for the BBC Talks department, where she commissioned names such as Dylan Thomas and John Betjeman to provide wartime content. Sylvia loved the role and when Leslie wanted her to quit after the war ended, she refused. The marriage fell apart
and after a difficult period living in bedsits while waiting for a council flat, Sylvia and Stephen finally moved into the purpose-built block Ruskin Park House, which gives the book the first half of its name. Following an intense love affair with a colleague, a rising star at the BBC called Jim Cellan-Jones who was quite a lot younger than her, Sylvia was in her early 40s when she became pregnant with Rory. Despite the social and financial ramifications, she went ahead with the pregnancy and with dogged determination, she strove to secure Rory’s father’s surname for her son, illustrating her singular attitude towards her boys – both of whom would access the best possible education they could, with Rory going on to study at Dulwich College. Ruskin Park is a biography of a remarkable family, a single mother
who raised her two boys – 15 years apart in age – with the full force of her love, steering them through the choppy waters that any unconventional family faces. But it is also the biography of the BBC – founded in 1922, it comes of age as Rory does, with the Senior Service (radio) bowing to its glitzy younger sibling, TV. A clever, flexible, fast-thinking woman, it’s not hard to imagine the career Sylvia might have had there if she had not been born a working-class woman who had the temerity to have children outside of wedlock. Ruskin Park is testament to a strong, single-minded, resourceful woman who raised her sons to thrive. Can’t do much better than that, really. Ruskin Park: Sylvia, Me and the BBC, by Rory Cellan-Jones, is published by September Books (hardback £18.99)
TO THE GARDEN
On the allotment BY JANE MERRICK
After our extraordinarily hot July and August of 2022, I was relieved that August 2023 was a bit closer to normal for a British summer – even though my tomato plants suffered in spring’s dull weather, and produced a fraction of the harvest I normally enjoy. These very average conditions reminded me that, even in London and in the changing climate, growing tender vegetables like chillies can often require a cold frame or greenhouse to produce a decent crop. I have grown chillies in pots outdoors on my patio, just like the tomatoes, and they have done well in hot summers. But if you want a guarantee of a good crop of the hot fruit by September, a greenhouse
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023
or, failing that, a plastic cloche or metrehigh mini-greenhouse in a sunny position is best. Chilli plants need several months of growing time to set flowers in time for the fruit to swell at the height of summer, so the earlier you can sow the seeds the better – and January is a good month to start them off. They should be sown in modules or pots in a heated propagator or on a windowsill over a radiator – the soil needs to be at least 25°C for good, reliable germination. Unlike tomato seedlings, which are eager to break through the soil in five to seven days, chillies can take about two weeks to germinate, so be patient. They should be kept in the propagator indoors until they have grown their first true leaves, the ones after the seed leaves that emerge first, and potted into slightly larger pots as they grow. Transfer to an outdoor, undercover spot like a greenhouse by the middle of April, and keep the leaves misted with water to encourage flowers that will turn into delicious chillies. When flowers emerge, the plants should be fed with an organic tomato food, high in potash, once a week, and watered well. Franchi Seeds (seedsofitaly.com) has a good selection of heritage variety chillies, including Grisu Ibrido, which is very hot and produces fruit earlier than most. Personally I prefer something a little less fiery, like a cayenne – which produces
long red fruits that look stunning when dried and tied together and hung up in a ristra. In addition to these, Franchi Seeds also has seeds of the green Spanish padrón pepper, which are mostly mild and are delicious when chargrilled and sprinkled with sea salt. The key word here is “mostly”, as between one in four and one in 10 padrón peppers are very hot – a Russian roulette for vegetables. When she’s not on her allotment in East Dulwich, Jane Merrick is policy editor at the i paper. Follow @jane.merrick on Instagram and read her blog at heroutdoors.uk
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22 | DIVERSIONS TO THE PUZZLE
TO THE PEOPLE 7 Across is a place in Dulwich.
ALDHELM
DOWN 1 CHANGE OVER (6) 2 FACED (10) 3 INQUIRE (3) 4 ADULTHOOD AGE (8) 5 GRATIFY (6) 6 COMING BACK TO LIFE (13) 7 FANATICAL (7) 8 SCOTTISH BREED OF BEEF CATTLE (8, 5) 13 FORBEARANCE, PATIENCE (10) 15 LAWLESS (8) 17 OPPRESS, DISTRESS (7) 19 ANTICIPATE (6) 20 TENSION (6) 23 MALE CHILD (3) ACROSS: 7 Dawson’s Hill, 9 Identify, 10 Phrase, 11 Crash, 12 On the mend, 14 Radiant, 16 Lineage, 18 Alexander, 20 Sofia, 21 Impact, 22 Starling, 24 Chiropodist. DOWN: 1 Switch, 2 Confronted, 3 Ask, 4 Eighteen, 5 Please, 6 Reincarnating, 7 Diehard, 8 Aberdeen Angus, 13 Toleration, 15 Anarchic, 17 Afflict, 19 Expect, 20 Strain, 23 Boy.
SOLUTION
TO THE HAMLET
TO THE PAST
Ron Crisp
This drawing, which depicts the windmill that once stood on Dulwich Common, was completed in 1814 by the artist David Cox. The windmill was demolished six years later in 1820. Cox exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy from 1805. His pictures never sold for high prices, and he earned his living chiefly as a drawing master.
Position Utility player Born 1938 Ron Crisp was a skilled footballer in a range of positions and played for teams in England, the United States and South Africa. Crisp began his career with Dulwich Hamlet and then secured a move to the Football League with Luton Town in 1959. He departed the following year, having failed to make an appearance. He then signed for Third Division club Watford in July 1960. Crisp departed Watford five years later, having made 102 appearances and scored 17 goals during his time with the club. After a brief stint at Brentford, he moved to the US in 1967 to sign for the National Professional Soccer League club the Los Angeles Toros. The franchise relocated to San Diego the following year and transferred to the new North American Soccer League. The team went all the way to the NASL final, but were beaten on aggregate by
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Illustration by Peter Rhodes
ACROSS 7 SHALLOWDINS (ANAGRAM) (7, 4) 9 RECOGNISE, SPOT (8) 10 GROUP OF WORDS (6) 11 CAR ACCIDENT (5) 12 RECOVERING, RECUPERATING (2, 3, 4) 14 GLOWING, SHINING (7) 16 ANCESTRY, PEDIGREE (7) 18 “GREAT” ANCIENT RULER OF GREECE (9) 20 BULGARIA’S CAPITAL (5) 21 EFFECT, CONSEQUENCES (6) 22 COMMON “MURMURATING” BIRD (8) 24 FOOT EXPERT (11)
Deirdre Borlase was a painter and printmaker who was born in Dulwich in 1925 and grew up in Margate. She studied at the Bromley School of Art during the Second World War, followed by the Royal College of Art. While a student at the latter, Borlase met the artist Frederick Brill, whom she later married. The couple’s work was the subject of an exhibition in the mid-1980s.
Borlase’s paintings also featured in the exhibition The Secret to a Good Life, which opened at the Royal Academy in 2018, just a few months after she died aged 93. It was curated by one of her three children, the artist Bob and Roberta Smith, who wrote in the Guardian that he had once asked her the secret to a good life. She replied: “Get a good pencil, a 2B or a 3B, not an HB... they are for architects.”
Atlanta Chiefs. Crisp later moved to South Africa where he ended his playing career. To read more about the Hamlet, visit thehamlethistorian.blogspot.co.uk
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JOY PRODUCTIONS AND BROADWAY THEATRE
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• Learn at your own pace Alongside instrumental and vocal studies, Dulwich Music Academy offers additional academic support for those taking GCSE and A Level Music, plus preparation for the Music Aptitude Test (MAT) for students seeking entrance to local state secondary schools. For further details, please visit www.dulwichmusicacademy.co.uk
DULWICH MUSIC ACADEMY CHRISTMAS CONCERT Sunday, 10 th December 2023 at 14:30 (doors open from 14:15) Old Library, Dulwich College, London SE21 7LD Tickets: adults (£12) and under-16s (free)
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