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Edition 16 FREE
November 2013
Traders to vote on Brixton ‘BID’ levy
BY TIM DICKENS
Brixton businesses are to decide whether or not they want to create a Business Improvement District (BID) this month. All traders are being balloted on the idea, which would create a budget of about £435,000 to be spent on boosting local business, and they have until November 12 to respond. If the vote is successful, each business over a certain size will pay a 1.5% levy on top of their business rates, which will go straight into the fund. Chairman of the Brixton BID, Elly Foster (right), said: “This is an exciting opportunity for us as business people to
make a real difference in Brixton, increase our footfall and profile. “A ‘yes’ vote for the Brixton BID will mean that hundreds of thousands of pounds can be spent supporting our business people through training, improvements to our environment, safety, marketing and lowering business costs to name but a few.” Under government legislation, if more than 50% of respondents vote yes to the BID, it will go ahead. It will be run by a board of 18 local business owners. But not all businesses support the idea. Patrick Kelly, who has owned Bookmonger’s, on Coldharbour Lane, for over 20 years, said he would vote against the scheme. He told The Bugle he
felt that improvements already made to Brixton in recent years made investment in things like marketing “obsolete”. He added: “If they had done this five years ago it would have made sense.” Mr Kelly also had an issue with a voting system that also gives voting rights to traders with who won’t be liable to pay the levy, but will reap any benefits. Consultations carried out earlier this year by the BID development group identified that traders wanted better communication and an improved environment from a business partnership. Three BIDs already exist in Lambeth in Vauxhall, Waterloo and Streatham. The deputy leader of Lambeth council, Jackie Meldrum, said the
Right royal riding club
INSIDE...
Turin Brakes
We catch up with them ahead of their UK tour, and discover the influence Brixton has had on their lives and music. Culture, p11
BID would give businesses a stronger voice. She added: “Brixton is a very special place, dynamic and diverse , and there is always something new going on. “It’s a great place to do business with its busy town centre and superb public transport connections.” If Brixton votes yes to the BID, the full organisation will formally launch on January 1 2014. Over the next five years it will raise an estimated £2.3million in investment from the levy and outside grants. Visit www.brixtonbid.co.uk
The Queen came to Brixton on Tuesday (October 29) to visit a rather special inner-city riding club. The monarch, accompanied by the Duchess of Cornwall, dropped in on Ebony Horse Club, Millbrook Road to meet riders and horses of the organisation. She met the riding club’s founder, Ros Spearing, before being given a tour of the stables. Pic: PA
What’s On?
The lowdown on what’s hot, and what’s not, in Brixton thoroughout November. Listings, p12-13
What’s cooking?
Make your very own Brixton Bugle guava Jammy Dodgers thanks to a recipe from the tireless Miss South. Plus exciting news about her new book, Recipes from Brixton Village
Tweet us @brixtonblog Facebook ‘Brixton Blog’
Food, p17
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Brixton Bugle November 2013
NEWS The Brixton Bugle & BrixtonBlog.com are edited in Brixton by Zoe Jewell and Tim Dickens. Both the website and newspaper are published by a not-for-profit community organisation. It’s run by a committed team of people from Brixton. Brixton Blog and Bugle The Piano Club 9 Brighton Terrace SW9 8DJ » Tel 020 3730 1312 » @brixtonblog » @brixton_bugle » www.brixtonblog.com Circulation: 10,000 copies Readership: circa 15,000 For advertising enquiries contact Tous Davy: ads @brixtonblog.com Tel: 07507 150 701 NEWS newsdesk@brixtonblog.com DEPUTY EDITORS Luke Massey Kaye Wiggins politics@brixtonblog.com FEATURES Keith John Lewis features@brixtonblog.com CULTURE Barney Evison / Ruth Waters arts@brixtonblog.com WHATS ON Faye Lipson listings@brixtonblog.com FOOD Miss South food@brixtonblog.com SPORT Laura Dickinson newsdesk@brixtonblog.com A massive thank you to everybody involved in making this issue, and the Blog & Bugle project, a success.
ROLL OF HONOUR ISSUE SIXTEEN Lucy Burton Fiona Law Tim Bird Josie Gardiner Kaylene Alder Pam Williams Jeannine Mansell Emily Churchill Jen Ewbank Andrea Talarico Jack Burt Ed Davie Katrin Magnussen Tom Ewbank Lucy Binnersley Miles Byrd
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Pressure builds against college campus sell-off
BY TIM DICKENS
Students and staff have begun a petition against the sell-off of a central Brixton college campus. As revealed in The Bugle in August, Lambeth College are planning to dispose of their centre on Brixton Hill for housing, taking advantage of recent increases in land value in Brixton. More than 300 people have now signed an online petition against the sell off. The petition states: “We see this attempt to sell our college to residential property developers as a further transference of wealth from the community to the private sector. “Our college has been at the heart of our community for decades. We strongly believe any sale is a short term view that will affect our community permanently.” Protestors also plan to lobby collge governors at a meeting
Police are appealing for witnesses after a brazen attack in central Brixton left a man with stab wounds. Four men approached the 34-year-old victim as he waited for a 37 bus in Acre Lane on October 6 at about 6pm. The victim was treated for two stab wounds at a South London Hospital. His mobile phone was also stolen in the attack. The suspects are described as four black men wearing hooded tops and possibly balaclavas. Call Lambeth Police on 0208 649 2196 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
FIREMAN SAM on November 14. The college has said that it has 20% more space than it needs across its three sites in Vauxhall, Clapham and Brixton, but has committed to keeping a strong presence in the centre of Brixton. Speaking earlier this year, college principal Mark Silverman said: “Against a backdrop of public spending reductions, the redevelopment of our Brix-
ton campus offers us a great opportunity to generate the necessary resources to maintain our presence in Brixton and secure the long-term future of Lambeth College as a whole. “With the proceeds of the sale, we can build a new, fitfor-purpose facility in Brixton as well as invest further in the delivery of first-class education, learning and skills for local people across the Borough.”
Row over ‘Our Town Hall’ BY TIM DICKENS
Lambeth council has come under fire for failing to properly consult Brixton residents over major plans to redevelop the town hall and surrounding area. Three developers unveiled proposals in October to demolish council-owned buildings around the historic town hall to consolidate office space and develop new enterprise space and housing. But only a handful of people were said to have attended the unveiling at the Ritzy, and people say they feel left out of plans they feel are being “rushed through” with no consultation. Alan Piper, secretary of Brixton Society, said he was even told the unveiling consultation event was cancelled when it wasn’t. Piper told The Bugle: “The council must involve the community more at an early stage so they can head of problems later. “Where there’s secrecy it tends to make people defensive. I would urge Lambeth to involve the community so they can head off problems at an early stage.” Mr Piper claims he was
BUS STOP ATTACK
SWISH: How the new civic centre could look “sworn to secrecy” over which developers were involved at an earlier event in July. He added: “It was all a bit strange and Lambeth council should be more open about it all. They should have said what they had in mind.” Cabinet member for finance, cllr Paul McGlone, said: “We have been very open about our plans for Your New Town Hall. A website has a great deal of detail about the project and resident involvement in the project. “Once we have made a final decision in November about which of the three developers
will be chosen we are committed to continuing to work closely with residents. “We also made extra time for people to have their say on the Your New Town Hall project. I would encourage as many people as possible to comment on this crucially important project.” A spokesman for Lambeth also said it had worked with “hundreds” of residents over the plans, and that it had received 180 comments on the town hall plans. That is less than 0.3 percent of the 60,000 residents in this part of the borough alone.
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Attendees of the borough’s legendary firework display on November 5 can rest easy knowing there is an experienced firefighter present. Animated hero Fireman Sam will be on hand at Brockwell Park throughout the event to give families safety advice for the bonfire night period. Fireworks begin at 8pm, with stalls and funfair from 4pm.
PRISON TOOLS Lambeth residents could win their very own set of garden tools, thanks to an innovative recycling charity. The second hand tools were refurbished by prisoners at Wandsworth Prison through the Tools Shed organisation, and are to be given away as a thank you to Lambeth residents for their support. The spades and forks were originally unwanted items given to the Lambeth Reuse and Recycling Centre, before inmates at HMP Wandsworth worked hard to repair them and restore them to their former glory. http://lambethenvironment. wordpress.com/
BY-ELECTION
A by-election has been called for Vassal ward in north Brixton following the resignation of cllr Kingsley Abrams (below). The ballot will now take place on November 28 in the ward, which include the Myatts Field and Cowley Estates. It emerged last month that Abrams had resigned to stand as a Labour Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC) in Brent Central.
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NEWS FLATS BLAZE More than 80 people had to be evacuated from a block of flats as a blaze swept through an apartment in Shakespeare Road, Brixton, on October 21. The fire, which broke out in Loughborough Court, started after a woman fell asleep while cooking. Four fire engines along with 21 firefighters and officers were called, and rescued a woman who had suffered smoke inhalation. The woman was taken to hospital, but no-one else was injured in the blaze.
SCHOOL JOURNOS Budding journalists from a Brixton primary school are to put their skills to good use, by writing for The Brixton Bugle! The Blog and Bugle has teamed up with staff and pupils at Hill Mead Primary School, Moorlands Estate, to start a journalism club. Children from across the school years will develop their skills by writing reports for The Bugle with the help of the paper’s editors. Look out for the first school reports in the December edition.
www.brixtonblog.com
Owner defends ‘peaceful’ restaurant after shooting
BY TIM DICKENS
The owner of a popular Brixton bar has appealed to the council and police to work closely with him following a shooting at the venue. A man was allegedly shot in the leg by a mystery gunman at Veranda, in Acre Lane, on October 19. Police were alerted to the incident, and say that the victim presented himself at Kings College hospital not long after the shots were heard, suffering from a slashed face and gunshot wounds to his thigh. A damning report by officers at a licensing meeting the following Wednesday led to the bar and restaurant being immediately shut down by the council, pending a review in November. Co-owner Paul Bassey told the Brixton Bugle that he’d been devastated by the incident, and feels his restaurant has been unfairly portrayed. Mr Bassey said: “The most upsetting thing for me is that we have been here for two and a half years and not had one single incident. But now there has been a gun involved and we’ve been closed down for three weeks.” Bassey, who is also vice chairman of the Brixton BID partnership, added: “We’ve had customers
UPSET: Co-owner Paul Bassey at Veranda on the phone asking why we are closed, and they have been reading things about us [in the police reports on the incident], but I want people to know that isn’t how it really is. This is a peaceful restaurant and bar that is well known in the community.” In a report written for Lambeth council’s licensing committee after the incident, police superindent Zander Gibson said: “This is a serious incident where a firearm was
PLEDGE BRIXTON
A new crowd funding initiative will give residents a chance to support Brixton businesses by loaning money to them. Community Capital already received over 500 pledges from locals who would invest £10 pounds in local businesses. When a business is in need of a loan, Community Capital will send an email to the people who pledged to invest, encouraging them to lend them the money, with Community Capital providing the administration. The businesses will repay the loan, with interest, over a number of years. A number of Brixton businesses have been approached and are interested in joining the scheme. Jonathan Godwin, one of the founders, said: “We loved going into local coffee shops and being able to say hi to the owner. We would all be willing to loan them £10 and if lots of people could do it we could support local shops better.” Mr Godwin added: “Brixton residents feel a strong connection with local businesses, and would like a way to show their support when businesses need it.pledges.communitycapital.co/
Youngsters flocked to Brixton Windmill last weekend for a spooky halloween event. Families carved pumpkins and listened to spooky tales of menacing flour millers of the past at the mill in Blenheim Gardens, Brixton Hill. Picture by Nick Weedon
taken into Veranda bar and a male was shot, at no point did the venue call police, and the firearm was taken into the venue despite security on the door.” He added: “I do not have confidence that this venue is managed correctly and there is a high risk of crime and disorder.” Mr Bassey refutes a number of the claims made by police, like the fact that the police were not called as they were already outside after
the shots were fired. But he told The Bugle this week that he wants to work closely with both police and Lambeth council to ensure his venue is kept safe in the future. The bar and restaurant plans to appeal against the decision, before a planned review hearing on November 13. No arrests have yet been made, and police say they are treating the shooting as attempted murder.
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Brixton Bugle November 2013
NEWS FEATURE
www.brixtonblog.com
SHORTLIFE: ‘when they get sold off, these houses become decharacterised’ In the third of a Brixton Bugle series on the residents of ‘shortlife’ housing, politics editor Kaye Wiggins meets Jules Hall at his house in Clapham’s old town. He lives there with his partner Sarah and their cats, Monica and Anya.
I’ve lived here since 2003, but I knew this house before I moved in. The lady who lived here before me was a friend of a friend through university. Her circumstances changed for the better financially, so she was able to move and get her own place. She felt it was no longer appropriate to be here, she didn’t need to be. She suggested that I should move in, because at the time I was having financial difficulties. I’d done a course to try and change my job and it hadn’t worked out and it left me quite heavily in debt. Being in the house has helped to stabilise things and bring some balance to my life, to avoid having to start from scratch. I work from home as a freelance writer, so the house is where I work and live, it’s everything. The rent is a nominal fee of £10 a month but the onus is on us to repair and maintain the houses. I’ve really enjoyed looking after
the property and doing it up, putting in central heating and fixing the window frames which were quite rotten. It’s hard to quantify how much I’ve spent on it over the past decade but I suppose it’s around £10,000. It’s been a labour of love. More recently my partner Sarah has moved in with me. She’d tell you there are three people in the relationship – me, her and the house. And the cats, of course. The sanctity of your home is a key thing for me, and that’s what’s under threat here [from the council’s plan to remove short-life tenants from their homes and sell the houses at auction]. It was a few years after I moved in, probably about 2007, that the eviction threat really resurfaced. I think before that there’d been a feeling that because it had got past the 30 year marker [of shortlife tenants occupying the houses] it would become impractical for the council to effectively move on people. The real D-day was early last year, when I realised things had hit the fan. My way of dealing with that was to go headlong into campaigning to let us stay in our homes. When they get sold off, these
AT HOME: Jules Hall in the Clapham house he’s lived in for ten years. Pic by Kaye Wiggins houses become decharacterised. ship with shortlife. Because if we’d But the fact it’s being sold for We call the house at the end of our paid Lambeth any money, that hundreds of thousands as part of road ‘bleach house’ because literally would’ve made us tenants which gentrification doesn’t please me. they’ve bleached the outside of the would’ve been a much better outIf our plan fails, the council will house. come [for us]. rehouse us in social housing. In The character has leaked out of it I don’t really know how much it other circumstances I don’t think I really. I’m worried that the develop- would cost to rent this house. On would be eligible for social housing. ers don’t or won’t respect the period social rent it might be £100 to £150 But I certainly didn’t ask to queue features. per week, or a market rent is going jump, that wasn’t the intention of When people like Cllr Pete Rob- to be over £200 a week. being here. I would much rather bins say ‘none of these shortlife The shortlife tenants have pro- stay in the home I already have. people have paid rent’ I think, yeah, posed an alternative to the counIf the council sets a precedent of who to? Because actually it’s the cil’s plan called the ‘super coop’. It raising money to add to their cofcouncil who would make those ar- would let me pass this house on to fers through the eviction of long rangements. someone on the council’s housing term residents of the borough, I And Lambeth council wanted waiting list, and that would please think that is very dangerous. What no meaningful financial relation- me immensely. will they do next?
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NEWS
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Parks closed after storm brings down 40 trees
BY TIM DICKENS
Storm-force winds brought down more than 40 trees in Lambeth last week, blocking roads and leaving children’s clubs closed. Lambeth council also closed all parks while a team evaluated more unsafe trees. Gusts in central Brixton reached nearly 60mph overnight, according to Lambeth Meters, a weather station situated at the top of Blue Star House, in Stockwell Road. The Lambeth Meters Twitter account tweeted: “The strongest gust this morning has been 57.6 mph we have had 16 mm of rain over the past 10 hours – it was a storm!” Cllr Sally Prentice, from Lambeth council, said: “Our teams have been working hard to tackle the disruption caused by the storm. At
least 40 trees across the borough were brought down and we have been working with the police and fire brigade to minimise disruption. “In one incident an antenna was left hanging dangerously over the street at Morris House, Brixton. Our housing management firm Lambeth Living are dealing with the situation. “Our parks teams have been advising the public that our open spaces will remain closed until they are safe. The team is currently working hard to remove damaged tress, other debris and assessing damage to building in our parks.” Readers have been sending us their own WINDY: Greg Jones inspects the damage outside his Gately Road home (Pic above by pictures of the damage, which can be seen at Dean Dallender), while a number of fallen trees in Brockwell Park (below) left it closed to the public for several days (pic by Alex Hadden) www.brixtonblog.com.
Three-legged pooch helps police catch theft suspects A three-legged dog helped cops track down a gang of suspected moped thieves who rammed two police cars. An unmarked police car was rammed by three men in a white citroen van when it tried to stop them in Cherry Close, Brixton on October 24.
Knife victims remembered
Around 200 people attended a memorial service in Brixton on Sunday to remember young victims of knife crime. The emotionally charged service was conducted by Bishop Dr. Rudolph Parkinson at the New Testament Church of God, Brixton. During the service, a number of young people joined the gathering and watched silently from the back row. Among the attendees were the mums of three young men who fell victim to knife crime: Junior Nkwelle’s mother Stella Muma, Edwin Johnson’s mum Genevive and Zac Olumegbon’s mother Shakira. Fighting back tears as she spoke, Stella said: “I wake up every day and I think ‘is it really real that my son is not here today. It’s not an easy place to be and I don’t want another parent to go through what I’m going through’”. Event organiser Pauline Miller
EMOTIONAL: The victims’ mums bring the service to a close of the Personal Touch Funeral “At the end of the service, Planning Consultancy said: a number of young men came “We set out to show the life of forward to say it had been a very each of these young people, not powerful and emotional experijust to remember their deaths, and ence.” this is exactly what we achieved.
Blog and Bugle appoint business development whizz
Brixton Blog and The Brixton Bugle are please to welcome their newest member to BBHQ. Tous Davy, pictured right, joined the team last week as business development consultant. Tous, who has a succesful background as a magazine publisher, will be filling a remit to increase the financial sustainability of the
organisation through advertising and partnerships with local business. He can also be found on weekdays at his sugar cane stall in Station Road, or selling Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee online. Email tous@brixtonblog.com or call him on 07507 150 701
The van was then chased by a marked police car, which it also rammed, before the three occupants fled the vehicle in St Saviours Road. The details of the van’s occupants were circulated, including one particularly distinctive description of a grey haired man seen carrying a three-legged black dog. An hour later officers in Leigham Court Road spotted a man with the black dog, they pulled over the car and arrested the three men inside for for a variety of offences including GBH, failing to stop, possession of a
bladed article and driving offences. They were taken into custody at a south London police station. Borough Commander for Lambeth, Chief Superintendent Matt Bell, said he was “immensely proud” of his officers: “I am thankful that the reckless actions of these people has not resulted in any serious injuries to my officers, but this incident once again demonstrates the dangerous work that police officers carry out on a daily basis. “This series of events demonstrates the best qualities of Lambeth officers.”
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NEWS FEATURE
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What happened to Brixton’s Remploy workers? BY EMILY CHURCHILL
When Brixton’s Remploy factory closed in 2008, its workers were told they would be better off in mainstream employment. Emily Churchill meets two who fear they will never work again. Ray Dearman is dreading Christmas. Although he is a hard-working volunteer for a mental health charity, he hasn’t received a pay cheque for over five years, and is struggling to get by. “Christmas has to be cancelled because I just can’t afford it,” says the 54-year-old. Ray, who has a learning disability, was one of 47 people to lose their jobs when the Remploy factory in Effra Road, Brixton, shut its doors in 2008. It was one of 29 state-subsidised plants, which employed disabled people across the country, to close that year. At the time, several disability charities backed the closures, saying disabled people were more likely to lead fulfilling lives if they worked in an “inclusive environment”. But others questioned whether this was a realistic prospect for most disabled people - including the London Assembly, which argued that in deprived areas like Brixton, it would be “extremely difficult” for former Remploy workers to find jobs. If the debate sounds familiar, it’s because it was resurrected last year when, to the outrage of many disability rights campaigners, the coalition government shut down dozens more Remploy plants. Whether the promises of finding mainstream work have been fulfilled is debatable at best. In April, Minister for Disabled People Esther McVey said more than half of former workers on the government’s support programme were in employment or training. But this only amounted to 308 people in paid work of over 16 hours per week less than a fifth of the 1,600 who lost their jobs. Desperate to work Five and a half years on, Ray Dearman is still looking. A forklift driver at the Effra Road factory for 14 years, he suffered a mental breakdown after it closed. “It was really good, you felt part of a team,” he says of Remploy life. “But in the outside world Remploy people don’t stand a chance.” Due to his mental state, Ray was initially granted incapacity benefit, but was later deemed fit to work and moved onto Jobseekers’ Allowance. His palpable pride at what he
and his colleagues achieved at Brixton Remploy is in stark contrast to his description of life on the dole, which, at 54, makes him feel like he has “no future”. Ray doesn’t know for certain why the job hunt has been so hard, although he feels his physical health and lack of computer skills are barriers. And while it is illegal not to give someone a job because they are disabled, it’s not hard to imagine that in the current climate, employers sifting through stacks of CVs might not be as open-minded as they should to someone with a work history at Remploy. One thing’s for certain, and that is Ray desperately wants to work. If his breakdown had a silver lining, it was that it brought him through the doors of mental health support programme Wandsworth Your Way, where he has been volunteering for the past three years. “I’m really proud of what I’m doing at Wandsworth Your Way,” he says, describing the programme “saving people’s lives”. But it doesn’t pay the bills, and Ray, who lives with his elderly mother, is worried what will happen if his Jobseekers’ Allowance is cut as conditions on benefits get tighter. Even if he does manage to find a job before then, he is not sure that mainstream work is the best option for him. Remembering how he 'got his leg pulled' at a previous job at London Transport, he remarks that at places like Remploy, “you’re not taken the rise out of ”.
‘They don’t want to employ you’ Ray Ludford worked alongside Ray Dearman for seven years as a factory operative at Effra Road. But unlike Dearman, the father of two, who has cerebral palsy, says he would prefer to work in a mainstream setting if he could. “If it was a job I could physically do, I would go for it,” he says. But it’s not an option the 56-yearold feels is open to him. Despite applying for thousands of jobs over the past five and a half years, he hasn’t had a single job interview since he left the factory floor. “I do [apply for jobs] but there isn't a lot of point,” he says. “When they get your application form, the first thing they look at is your age, and they chuck it in the bin.” As far as Ray is concerned, arguing that disabled people should work in a mainstream environment is academic, because employers aren’t prepared to take them on. “The argument for closure [of Remploy factories] was complete
Ray Dearman (above); Ray Ludford (below right) and the Remploy employees (below left) nonsense,” he says. “The argument at all is more important than where we'd prefer to be in work'.” was if you spend that money else- that job is. Yes, there are no doubt good reaAs Ray Ludford puts it: “If sons to question the 'sheltered' emwhere you'll create more jobs. But the problem for disabled people is you said to [any disabled person] ployment model. But for these two employers don't want to employ 'would you rather work for a Rem- men, the closure of Brixton Remploy-type organisation, where most ploy simply meant the beginning you.” “Because from an employer's of the workers round you are dis- of almost six years without work. point of view, if an able-bodied abled, or would you prefer to be on Which feels hard to defend, espeperson can do something faster benefits?’, they'd say 'don't be silly, cially with Christmas coming up. than you can, from a competitive point of view, they're always going to employ that person. And that's true of most disabled people.” However, Richard Farnos from Lambeth Resolve believes the blockage lies primarily not with disabled people's capacities, but with employers who suffer from prejudice and a lack of awareness of the support that is available for disabled people in work. “If people are giving right equipment and support they can perform as well as able-bodied colleagues in lots of roles but disabled people are discriminated against, and bringing a discrimination case is very difficult,” he says. Any job better than no job The debate over how the state should support disabled workers will no doubt rage fiercely for years to come. But for Dearman and Ludford, it’s clear that having a job
Until 31 November
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Brixton Bugle November 2013
NEWS
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Sports teams hit by Rec closures BY ZOE JEWELL The main hall of the Recreation Centre is to close for seven weeks from December to replace the floor. The original flooring was last refurbished a decade ago and will be replaced with a new semi-sprung wooden floor. The works will mean that the main hall of the Rec will be closed from December 12 2013 until Jan 30 2014. Local sports groups who train in the hall are to be relocated temporarily to the new Streatham Leisure Centre, which opens in November. However, members of sports groups such as the Brixton Topcats basketball club have pointed out that there have been ongoing roof leaks which could jeopardise the new flooring if they are not dealt with before the closure. In a somewhat Kafkaesque system of management, the roof is the responsibility of Lambeth Council, while GLL who manage the Rec are
BY LAURA DICKINSON
in charge of replacing the floor. A council spokesman said: “The Rec will remain open throughout December, but the main hall will be temporarily closed while the floor is replaced. The new floor should
be a great improvement. “There are also repairs to the roof to be carried out, but these will not delay installation of the hall’s new floor.”
Youth put on Black History Month gigs
Young people put on a series of events in Brixton in October to mark Black History Month. Films, discussions and live music charting black cultural achievement took place at Raw Material, Robsart Street, from October 22 to 25. Contributors included Brixton-based band the Soothsayers, Potent Whisper and Floetic Lara. With coverage from Jamaica to Haiti and Senegal. Raw Materials is a youth production house which works with young people around the media. It relies on outside funding to support all of its work. For a Black History Month Special turn to p19.
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Community football project struggles after price hike
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In the face of competition from for-profit sports groups, a local community football project for faces a big hike in hire costs for local sports facilities. The St Matthew’s Project, a club for youngsters from the St Matthew’s, Tulse Hill and St Martin’s Estates in Brixton, was informed that the cost for hiring the football pitch at the Evelyn Grace Academy on Shakespeare Road will rise from £30 to £70 per hour, a 130% increase. Lee Dema, founder of St Matthew’s Project, was told that the reason for the hike is to “maximise revenue” and look after the facilities. St. Matthew’s has used the pitches at Evelyn Grace Academy for some time now and Dema asked why the club has been charged £30 an hour to-date if that hasn’t been enough to look after the pitches. The pitches at Evelyn Grace are also used by Go Mammoth, a company that organises sports leagues
and fitness classes for adults across London. With companies like Go Mammoth able to pay the increased hire costs for the pitches, community sports projects like St. Matthew’s are in a tough position. St. Matthew’s also uses the pitches at Ferndale Community Sports Centre for training but can only book the facilities until 6.30pm on a weekday. “Ideally, explains Lee, we’d like to book the facilities from 5 to 7pm but TopCorner have block booked the pitches.” Evelyn Grace and Ferndale have the only floodlit pitches in the area. “If we can’t use Ferndale or Evelyn Grace, that basically means that we can’t train in winter,” says Lee. Councillor Sally Prentice has informed the team at St. Matthew’s that she is looking into the matter and Lambeth Council are set to have a meeting with Greenwich Leisure to look at the issue longterm. “There has to be a better corporate and community balance”, argues Lee.
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Brixton Bugle November 2013
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Some of your #Brixton tweets:
Toussaint Davy
@RowenaSan: Heard about it [town hall plans] 2ndhand for 18 mnths but first direct contact frm Lambth ws invite to Ritzy event at too short notice
JamaicaBlue Mountain coffee importer, quality Caribbean produce market trader and our business development knowit-all, Toussaint Davy, has this part of town flowing through his bones.
@BarneyEvison: Interviewed the awesome @TheThirst last night in their rehearsal space underneath @HandinHandSW2 for @BrixtonBlog what a lovely bunch! @Revbengoodyear: Chaos at Brixton tube due to painting and decorating accident on the escalator. No joke! @brixtonhatter: I would have preferred to have been asked whether we wanted £50m spent on the new town hall in the first place!
YOUR PICTURES: The picture above, called ‘Brixton Security’, was taken by Tim Topple and uploaded to our Flickr group. It shows Roof Pup, one of the fearsome guard dogs to be found patrolling the roof above The Windmill pub, in Blenheim Gardens. See more photography by Tim at his website www.timtopple.co.uk
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Social cleansing of the poor and disadvantaged is abhorrent
When I first came to Brixton in 1974 I squatted in abandoned Lambeth Council property on Railton Road. Eventually as a gay community we squatted 12 houses back to back on Railton and Mayall roads with a communal garden in between. All of the houses belonged to Lambeth Council. In those days the Housing Corporation was set up specifically to fund various organisations providing social housing with a guarantee of cheap rents and secure tenancies. Often as an interim measure pending redevelopment the council would grant squatters short life
tenancies. I am not sure how this came about but the council negotiated with the Solon Housing Association to take over the properties we occupied as well as others in the area for redevelopment. Having done this, far from evicting squatters to take vacant possession of the properties, we were decanted as single people into hard to let flats while also becoming part of the self-managed Brixton Housing Cooperative. During that period the architects responsible for redesigning the new dwellings liaised with the decanted squatters who were encouraged to design their own living space. Where to put
bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, lounges etc. Eventually everyone moved en masse back in to the new flats and they are still there today as secure tenants. The question raised by all of the above is this - why can’t Lambeth Council make similar arrangements now as they did then? Instead of evicting squatters as in Rushcroft Road and potentially elsewhere why could they not have negotiated a different route instead of flogging off homes to profit-hungry developers whose main aim is to attract a more cash worthy clientele. Social cleansing of ordinary working people, the poor
and disadvantaged is abhorrent and should have no place in a so-called civilised society. It seems that the requirements of capitalism and the profit motive take precedence over the right to a decent roof over our heads. Without secure homes, a basic need, progress is not possible. With the bedroom tax, welfare cuts and increased housing costs I can see a situation where things will become as bad as they are in America where the homeless have been forced to occupy public land and build tented cities to live in. Comradely yours, Ian Townson Unite Community Member
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The
by numbers
»47 people lost their jobs when the Remploy factory closed in 2008 »22 dates on tour for Brixton musicians Turin Brakes »ONE Fireman Sam at the Brockwell Park fireworks on November 5 »200,000 Latin Americans estimated living in the UK, many in Lambeth » 0.3% percentage of people in Brixton who commented on town hall plans »85,000 page views on Brixton Blog in October »40 Trees in the borough were downed by the St Jude storm »THREE legs on the pooch which proved the clue to tracking down theft suspects
Brockwell Park I love this uncompromising, hulking piece of green lung in the heart of Lambeth. One of the city’s best-kept secrets and a personal jogging fave of mine. If you can run up and down the cafe on the hill without breaking a sweat, you’re a better man than me. Looking forward to the free fireworks show on Nov 5! Brixton’s markets From Station Road via Electric Lane to Granville Arcade, these markets are now the smart destination of choice for discerning buyers of quality goods or world class food. I’ve seen the transformation of Brixton over the years and for all the controversy such change inevitably brings - my opinion is that Brixton is now fully deserving of the praise it has been so richly overdue in receiving. Long may it continue. Marks & Spencer OK, I’m a glutton for quality puddings which is why M&S makes the list. I have a quiet weakness for their chocolate tortes. Don’t tell everyone. This particular M&S has been a well-established part of the local community for some time. I’ve been a fan of this place for as long as I can remember and it’s comforting to know that among the recent rapid development of the area the staff turnover appears to be low, so they must be doing something right! Brixton Recreation Centre One of Brixton’s unsung heroes providing real value for money to the community and schools in the area. Fancy a swim and a sauna or want to go to the gym on limited finances? The Rec has price points to fit all budgets, so there’s no excuse not to shift those unwanted pennies and pounds. I remember it most fondly when Nelson Mandela came over in the early ‘90s and gave an historic speech as a guest of Prince Charles. You had to be there! :) The 02 Academy From my first music concert I attended here (It was Public Enemy in 1988, in case you’re wondering!) I simply can’t get enough of this place. The Tardis-like inside, the ambience and the history all help make this one of the capital’s most-loved venues. It’s like living music history on your doorstep. If you ever get the chance go to a gig and wallow in the nostalgia.
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Brixton Bugle November 2013
OPINION
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The view from Westminster
The Brixton Blog and Bugle Est. 2012
On the last Sunday of October, Stella Muma stood up in the New Testament Church of God to speak about the death of her son, Junior Nkwelle. She was there along with 200 others to remember the young victims of knife crime who also include Edwin Johnson, Zac Olumegbon and Damilola Taylor. Knife and gun crime is still a real threat for youth in Brixton. And that shouldn’t be forgotten as the outward image of our area begins to spin on the trendiness and foody-ness of the market. Many worlds exist along side each other in Brixton, often not communicating. The council has to communicate to all those worlds, though, and Lambeth council has in recent years prided itself on its “co-operative” model, built on the principle of “co-production” in which everyone in the community is supposedly given real ability to produce the kind of services they want from the council. In an issue of the Bugle a year ago, we wrote an editorial questioning whether the council was truly co-operative. And that has come to the fore again as Lambeth council come under fire for failing to properly consult residents over their plans to redevelop the town hall – see page 2. In another area of its plans for the future of Brixton, Somerleyton Rd, the council has consulted widely – look out for how that is borne out in the final report which goes to Cabinet on November 4. This month, hundreds of Brixton businesses are being asked to vote yes for a Business Improvement District in Brixton. Some businesses feel hacked off that they could be paying hundreds of pounds per year above their normal rates. At nearly £500,000, the BID will have a big budget and the potential to do some real good to support trade, but care needs be taken over where the money is spent. Will independent businesses be truly supported? On page 4, Kaye Wiggins continues our series hearing direct from the people who live in short life housing and, on page 6, Emily Churchill reports on what happened to Brixton’s Remploy workers. And while we hate to blow her Bugle, Miss South, our food editor, has more good news with the imminent publication of her book of recipes from Granville Arcade. We welcome November in Brixton too, mainly because it means it’s time for fireworks in Brockwell Park...
Chuka Umunna MP
One of the privileges of being a local MP is the chance to help constituents at my regular MP’s surgeries. But lately I have often left feeling immensely frustrated. My constituents are having to cope with scarce jobs and scarce hours. Childcare costs cause horrendous worry and every-day bills are rising. The energy companies announce yet more price hikes. At my surgeries, the pain is obvious. The bedroom tax has punished those least able to pay, the work programme is performing disastrously, and the degrading treatment of disabled people by ATOS is disgraceful. People also face growing insecurity at work, with problems like the abuse of zero-hours contracts, the use of which has spiked in recent years. A huge number are working part-time even though they want to work more. Far too many are out of work altogether. In my constituency, the number of young people claiming JSA for more than a year has doubled since the general election. The number of over-25s out of work for more than two years has gone up fivefold. The Labour Party will act on these
problems. The Brixton Bugle has been right to highlight some of the real consequences of what the government has done – the Liberals and Conservatives have made the wrong choices and failed to do the right thing. We will act on the cost of living by freezing energy prices until 2017 to reset the energy market and introduce a tough new regulator. We will help parents struggling with childcare costs, expanding free childcare for three and four year olds from 15 to 25 hours per week for working parents. On social security, we’ll work with disabled people to design services and benefits and strive to make the right to work a reality for people with disabilities. We will abolish the cruel and counterproductive Bedroom Tax.
We will act on insecurity at work and tackle zero hours contracts that exploit people: banning employers from insisting zero-hours workers be available even when there is no guarantee of any work; stopping zero hours contracts where employees are in practice working regular hours over a sustained period of time, and introducing a new code of practice. On unemployment, we will guarantee real paid work that people out of work and claiming JSA long-term will be required to take - a line in the sand that will get people work and stop the devastating cost of long-term unemployment. Right now, for the area I represent, that would mean 800 people would be ensured of a job and relief from the personal tragedy of unemployment. We have to be tough on the causes of the cost of living crisis and tough on the causes of unemployment, and we have to build a stronger economy. Labour will do all of these things because we know the pain and cost that government failure is causing, and we are determined to act to right that wrong. Chuka Umunna is the Labour MP for Streatham ward, which includes part of Brixton
Recognising ‘invisible’ Latin Americans in Lambeth Cllr Martin Tiedemann
When my mother arrived from Argentina 40 years ago, she was one of a small number of Latin Americans in London. Basic Argentine staples like polenta, aubergines and gnocchi were footnotes in fancy cookbooks. Born a few years later, I grew up in a small Latino émigré community of Chileans, Peruvians, Argentines and Mexicans, made up of refugees from dictatorships and homophobia, embassy staff and those simply looking for a better life. Fast forward to now and Argentine malbec fills supermarket shelves, there are Argentine steakhouses across London and some of Argentina’s finest footballers, from Ossie Ardiles to Carlos Tevez and Crystal Palace’s Julián Speroni, have graced the pitches of the ‘English game’. And of course, there has been the small matter of a war. And that’s just Argentina. Sitting on a bus through Brixton you’ll hear Colombian, Ecuadorian and Brazilian accents. Local Tesco and Sainsbury’s stores here in Brixton even have Latino food sections, cashing in on a growing market for cassava and guaraná. There are an estimated almost 200,000 Latin Americans in the United Kingdom, with the largest number in Lambeth and Southwark. For all their impact on Britain’s cuisine, sport and economy, Latin Americans remain invisible in official eyes. The recent report No Longer Invisible: the Latin American community in London from Queen Mary University estimated some 113,500 Londoners are first or second generation Latin Americans, with something like 186,500 across the UK. In parts of my ward of Brixton Hill and neighbouring areas
of Streatham, the last census revealed some 10% of residents speak Spanish or Portuguese as a main language. Most Latin Americans in London 85% - are in work. This is much higher than other foreign-born Londoners, or London as a whole. Some work at the highest levels in London’s banks, businesses and legal firms. Many other Latino Londoners are London’s cleaners. Colombians, Ecuadorians and Bolivians make up the backbone of the cleaning industry, hoovering the skyscrapers of the City and Canary Wharf and scrubbing down the restaurants of the West End and government offices in Whitehall. Half work in low-paid and low-skilled jobs, with long hours and often exploitative conditions, despite their often higher status back home and relatively high levels of education. The Latino contribution to the London workforce and economy can’t be disputed. Yet this community remains largely invisible. Concentrated in less fashionable parts of London and working at night in hidden industries, with few political champions, we should also recognise that 1 in 5 are in the UK without valid documents. Latin Americans have also failed to bring a coherent sense of common identity with them from a continent that reaches from close to Antarctica to the Texan border and beyond. Many Latinos live in London with Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and British passports and are keen to make clear a European identity. But most of all, crucially, there is no opportunity for Latin Americans to identify ourselves - no box to tick on official ethnic monitoring forms, no place on the census. The Latin American Recognition
Campaign has been quietly gaining support. Its last conference was hosted by the Argentine Embassy in the presence of Ambassadors, Jeremy Corbyn MP, councillors, a Catholic bishop and the Metropolitan Police. It scored its first success last year when the London Borough of Southwark made the decision to officially recognise Latin Americans in September 2012. Now Lambeth, our borough, is hoping to join Southwark later this year. Campaigners are meeting officials from other boroughs and Westminster. Recognising Latin Americans officially would mean officials would have sound data about the level of access of Latinos to public services. We estimate that a fifth of Latin Americans in London have never been to a GP and 40% use private health services despite the average Latino wage being just £7.07 an hour. It will make the needs and barriers experienced by Latin Americans, like the struggle for a London Living Wage for cleaners, more visible. Resources can be more fairly allocated and local authorities and service providers can develop better provision. But above all, by official recognition of Britain’s growing, hardworking, vibrant Latin American community - a year away from Brazil’s FIFA World Cup - a community of almost two hundred thousand can come out of the shadows and become a proud part of the UK’s melting pot. The Latin American Recognition Campaign is organised by the Coalition of Latin Americans in the UK. Martin Tiedemann is a Labour & Co-operative councillor in Brixton Hill.
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Brixton Bugle November 2013
FEATURES
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Sartorial fairy tales in Brixton BY ANDREA TALARICO Pics by Jeannine Mansell
Brixton based fashion business Valour and Valkyrie lies at an intersection of stories: the romance of its creators, the myths that inspire their collections and the tales of community participation. All this helped David and Jo Morton bring their ideas to life. The result is seven unique collections that have led to comparisons with Vivianne Westwood. David and Jo Morton married around twelve years ago and moved to Brixton, where they are raising two sons. Jo told me she has been working in fashion since graduation. Encouraged by David, she soon decided to take the leap into launching her own brand. David starts telling me that he has no background in fashion and Jo humorously interjects: “But you’re very clear on what you like” she says. She should know. They’ve been working together all that time. David takes care of the marketing and business, leaving Jo free to fo-
cus on the creative aspect. Jo begins to explain the name. “My ancestry can be traced to Scandinavia,” she says. “I used to read as much as I could about legends and folklore so the Valkyrie comes from there. She was a figure that accompanied brave soldiers’ souls after they died in the battlefield.” The Valour, she went on to explain, comes from the bravery necessary to start your own collection and do something that probably every fashion designer dreams of. The legends that Jo read as a child are also reflected in the design process. Each collection begins with a mood board. “The mood board is always geared around a fairy tale or folklore or some kind of story,” says Jo. She points at some of her work. “This is called the Midas collection, which relates to the story of King Midas. It started with the idea that everything we touch turns to gold. So everything has something glittery. That’s how I started building it.” From the mood board, Jo begins designing individual pieces. She then sends her specifications to the manufacturer who sends her some fabric samples. “I design quite quickly, but it’s the fabrics that bring it all to life”. Once the
fabric is selected, the manufacturer makes samples that Jo then fits on her model. Photographs are taken, and Jo sends her comments to the manufacturer. She must then decide which designs will make it into production. David’s objectivity helps when it comes to choosing the designs. “He can be a bit more matter of fact,” she says. “I try not to inhibit the creative process at all,” adds David. ”But for some things I need to say ‘That doesn’t make sense’. We’re still building the brand so we need to think about cost effectiveness.” The finished garments are distributed in boutiques across the U.K. and Ireland, as well as through House of Fraser. Despite the Scandinavian name, the company’s roots are firmly planted in Brixton. Currently producing its seventh collection (Spring 2014) the couple are keen to tell of the role that family and friends have played in their success. With the exception of a sister living in Finland, the team is local. “Years ago,” says David, “I thought ‘Let’s build something so we can employ our entire family’. That’s a bit far fetched. But it was a noble idea.” They haven’t done badly though. The fit model (who is also a model in the catalogue) is a local mother who Jo met through the school run. One of Jo’s sisters does the photography, while the other has done their public relations work. And the website was created by Jo’s brotherin-law, the makeup for the photo shoots by a friend. “It’s nice,” says David, “because
when I take the kids in to school in the morning, I see some mums wearing our range.” When their sons’ school organised a “swish night”, where people were invited to bring in clothes to swap, Jo was invited to set up a stall to sell her collection. The experience proved extremely successful and she was encouraged to have another sale four weeks later, with
a portion of proceeds going to the school. From there, another mum invited her over for a gathering where Jo tells me she struggled to keep a tally of all the purchases. “You feel good because local people are wearing our brand, it’s a local band, and something is going back into the school.”
Film Africa fest rolls into town BY KATRIN MAGNUSSEN
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“Cinematic. Contemporary. Classic.” This is how Suzy Gillett, the curator of Film Africa 2013, describes the exciting film festival about to hit the Ritzy Picturehouse this week. “I would love to reach a new audience and engage young people,“ Suzy enthuses. “People who like American blockbusters would be surprised by how much they would enjoy African films!” The selection covers all four corners of the African continent and features classic and contemporary titles, short films as well as a celebration of Nollywood. The threshold when selecting all the films was high, according to Suzy: “Every time I sat down to watch a film I asked myself ‘would I pay £10 to see this?’” The resulting line up is a tempting mix including the 1966 classic ‘Black Girl’ by lauded Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene and the UK premiere of South African documentary ‘2morrow Far Away.’ “I am incredibly enthusiastic about people seeing the films,” beams Suzy, “So I am very evangelical about them.” Film Africa 2013 opens at Hackney Picturehouse on Friday November 1 with dark and disturbing film noir ‘Of Good Report’ then kicks off at the Ritzy the next day with the Moroccan/Tunisian ‘Horses of God’. The festival closes on November 10 with ‘Grisgris’ by the only filmmaker to come from Chad this year.
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Brixton Bugle November 2013
CULTURE
Turin Brakes Picture by Tom Ewbank
INTERVIEW:Turin Brakes Formed in Balham in 1999 by childhood friends Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian, Turin Brakes burst on to the UK music scene with their Mercury Music Prize nominated debut album The Optimist in 2001. Twelve years on, the now Brixton-based folk rock band are celebrating the release of their 6th studio album We Were Here. As they prepare to head off on their headline
tour of the UK, Jen Ewbank talks to Gale Paridjanian Friends since they were in short trousers, Olly and Gale met at Macaulay Primary School in Clapham Common and spent their teenage years getting stoned and listening to old blues and folk records in the their bedrooms.
After the success of their debut album, the band played two sold-out dates at Brixton Academy to cap off their Ether Song album tour in July 2003. “Brixton Academy was always the venue we went to watch bands at”. Olly had his first live music experience there with Transvision Vamp at the tender age of 10. “So when we played there, for us it was a sign that we were
having a similar effect on other people. I couldn’t really enjoy those gigs as it was such a big deal to be playing there, I just couldn’t relax!” Turin Brakes’ third and fifth studio albums JackInABox and Outbursts were recorded in Brixton and their fouth album Dark On Fire was demoed here. Until recently the band had a studio at Loughborough Junction where lots of their music was written, including much of the latest album We Were Here. “I always felt like the local environment was influencing some of our tracks musically. Songs Sea Change (from Outbursts) and Ghost (from Dark On Fire) both had a pace to them that felt like walking down a busy Brixton High Street”. A fan of and contributor to the Brixton music scene and “great venues supporting live music like the Hootananny and the Windmill”, Gale is also involved with a local ‘Afro-rock Maggot Brain’ band called ZAZA. Based around a master drummer – Henri Gaobi - and a load of singers, Zaza fuses African drumming with Western instruments and melodies, demonstrating perfectly the multiculturalism and diversity that the Brixton music scene has to offer. As the band prepare to head out on a 22-date tour of the UK with long-time collaborators and now official band members Rob Allum on drums and Eddie Myer on bass guitar, Gale explains how the band feel a London audience compares to the rest of the country. “London’s a big big mix of people and that’s a unique thing, people from everywhere all doing the same thing. It’s always nice to be home - there’s a strange kind of understanding in your home town, that you can read people better and they understand what you’re saying. You could all get a bus home together after the show”. Turin Brakes will play Shepherd’s Bush Empire on November 20, Zaza will play the Hootenanny in Brixton on Sunday 24 November 2013. Keep an eye out for some familiar faces on the bus journey home!
The play where raw Brixton meets the warmth of Spain
BY LUCY BINNERSLEY
A play about a surreal artist needs a surreal setting. Nestled under a railway bridge, the venue Brixton East, a former furniture warehouse has become the home of Olives and Blood, a play on run here until November 10. The rawness of Brixton East seems perfectly juxtaposed against the flamenco music invitation being performed by Spanish guitarist Maria Camahort. The roots of Brixton meet the roots of Spanish culture. As soon as you walk in and are greeted by the friendly steward you know that you will be rewarded for braving the chilly evening. Director, Prav MJ has pulled out all the stops to ensure that this is more than just a play, this is an experience. Music, food and drinks have all been themed. It is these little touches that make this a unique evening. Brixton East is a great venue. It has a refined character. It is like a hipster who has managed to stay hip even though everyone has copied his beard. The lighting, managed by director Prav MJ, is beautifully dark. It captures how each character is under the spotlight of history. The intensity is sporadically ruptured by the rumblings of the trains outside, a reminder that life goes on elsewhere. But for now we are lost to Spain. The play tells the story of the assassination of the Spanish poet, playwright and “the nearest thing to pure genius” Federico Garcia Lorca. (A quick history lesson-) Lorca was murdered by the Franco regime in 1936 and his body has never been found. But it is about more than just this one unlawful death.
Olives and Blood is at Brixton East until November 10 TICKETS: £10/£5 020 7737 4210 www.olivesandblood.com Using the technique of flashbacks, the playwright Michael Bradford cleverly charts how the death of Lorca defines the life of one of those involved in his murder, Trescante, who we meet forty years later. Trescante has spent the intervening years bragging about his involvement in silencing Lorca’s “voice”, and playing up his role in the Nationalist militia. Yet by the end of the evening, I was left feeling just as much pity for him as they feel for Lorca. It was a disturbing feeling, one that is no doubt entirely intended. Through the mixture of history and fiction, this play has a point to make. And it makes it in a superbly unsettling way. The acting by all involved is passionate, yet
not over the top. “Lorca’s women” played by Melissa-Kelly Franklin and Alice Pitt-Carter deserve much praise. They add personality and moments of humour to the dark and intense subject. Unlike the male characters, they perform the play in Spanish accents. This really helps to set the scene and is a continual reminder of the historical base of the play. Louis Labovitch shines as Lorca. He manages to get to the core of the character. And yet he does not overshadow Charlie Kerson, playing Trescente. He believably portrays the character as a man of dignity. Which is alarming as we know that he is capable of unlawful brutality. Trescente could easily have been portrayed by Bradford as a pantomime-esque
villain. Instead, one feels like a voyeur witnessing the internal conflicts and destruction of Trescante. It is frustratingly heartbreaking. Morally we know that we should feel no pity for this person. Here is a man who was involved in the murder of others during the Spanish Civil War. Yet it is in his utter belief that he acted rightly and saved Spain that we end up pitying him. For unlike Lorca, he was dead long before he ever reached his grave. In contrast, Lorca’s creative works are still alive long after his murder. Bradford’s playwriting is completely compelling. The play never loses sight that it is a drama, not just a mere historical tale to be told. Lorca’s life gives it a poetic base, a doorway into something larger. But it is through the action and relationships among the characters that the echoes of history can still be heard. Yes, sometimes the big questions that this play demands seem overwhelming. But, it never strays from being true to the essence of the story that it is trying to tell. Bradford never preaches. He just reminds us that we are never far from the effects of history. And we are never far from being human. For even in contemporary society there are those that remain deluded by their own actions and beliefs. It is a provoking commentary that there are those who still try to crush creativity and the human soul. The threats remain. Yet art remains a totally worthy counter-balance to such terrorism. Life and art, like Lorca and his genius, go on. And you should go to. Go to see this play. You won’t regret it.
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Brixton Bugle November 2013
WHAT’S ON The pumpkins are in the bin and we’ve all got upset tummies from too many Halloween sweets. But it’s not all doom and winter gloom, because the fireworks are returning next week to Brockwell Park for the second year running. Plus there is a month packed full of Brixton fun. From percussion classes to horror movies, Brixton Bugle listings editor Faye Lipson reveals all... Friday 1 Electric Social’s Club Return to Forever is all zombied up tonight in an effort to make Halloween stretch into November. If this is your scene, you can get your spooky disco rags on and pay £6 on the door. 9pm until late.
Saturday 2 Dee Dee’s Jazz on Herne Hill hosts a swing night in honour of Sinatra, the Rat Pack and other smooth favourites from 6pm. Sunday 3 Tuck into a delicious Sunday roast at Mango Landin’ and enjoy the live jazz for a seriously smooth Sunday. Monday 4 Lambeth College proudly opens its new salon and spa at its Clapham Centre today, with prizes and treats on offer for the first 50 people to book appointments. A full price list is available at www.lambethcollege. ac.uk/life-at-lambeth/facilities/ sw4-hair-beauty-and-spa-therapy/ Tuesday 5 Brockwell Park is the venue for this year’s spectacular firework night display organised by Lambeth Council. With a ‘four seasons’ theme, the park will be divided into four separate areas offering food, drinks and
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CRITIC’S CHOICE: Chocolate festival, Nov 2
The Chocolate Museum on Ferndale Road is hosting a one-day long festival in celebration of glorious chocolate. There’ll be tastings, demonstrations, workshops for young and old and much more. Plus for just £12 a head you can book the Cocoa bean package which includes a sumptuous fivecourse meal. Details at thechocolatemuseum.co.uk
entertainment. Times were still to be confirmed when we went to press. Wednesday 6 Enjoy a hand drumming and Afro-Brazillian percussion class at the Grosvenor. These fab classes are open to all levels and take place every Wednesday.
Thursday 7 Brixton East, together with Liminal Space Productions, present the European premiere of Olives and Blood, a play about the life and death of Spanish playwright Lorca. Tickets and full dates available here: www.olivesandblood.com/ Friday 8 Horror classic Nosferatu The Vampire is being screened as part of a spooky late showing at the Ritzy tonight and tomorrow night. Check their website for details and prices. Saturday 9 Get your sparkle on at a jewellery workshop run by Jo Spilman. You will learn how to make bracelets and cuffs. Numbers are limited so be sure to arrive early at this popular event. 2-4pm at Brixton Library. A maximum of £5 will be charged to cover craft materials.
Sunday 10 Electric Social hosts a weekly open mic night which welcomes audience talents from all art forms. Do a turn or just sit back and enjoy the local talent. Free entry. Monday 11 Join a community of singers and celebrate Jamaica’s musical contribution to London’s culture. As part of the London City Reggae Choir you will sing
ska, reggae, and dancehall classics and work towards paid performance. Bring your voice and love of this music and meet friendly like minded people. A warm welcome will be given to professional and amateur singers alike. Every Monday. 7:30-9:30 at The Lost Theatre. Tuesday 12 The gorgeous Whirled Cinema in Lough-
borough Junction is screening award-winning documentary A River Changes Course, raising money for the Health Poverty Action charity. The film follows three Cambodian families facing momentous urbanisation and change. Tickets, times and info here: http://www.healthpovertyaction.org/get-involved/ events-2/film-screening-a-riverchanges-course/
CRITIC’S CHOICE: Makers’ Market, Nov 9 Support talented local craftspeople at Brixton Makers Market, where you can buy everything from bread and cakes to art, homewares, textiles and jewellery. Even better, the market is a cooperative run by and for traders, with all profits ploughed back into the market. We can’t say fairer than that! 10am-5pm on Brixton Station Road. Picture below by the lovely Martha Loves on Flickr
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Brixton Bugle November 2013
WHAT’S ON Wednesday 13 It’s Burger Wednesdays at The Lido Cafe, which means that tonight you can get a burger, pulled pork or halloumi bap with a beer or glass of wine for just a tenner. Thursday 14, Tuesday 19 & Tuesday 21 Ever wanted to get into digital photography but felt intimidated? You can learn from a pro at Starting Digital Photography, a course specially tailored to the beginner. Learning takes place in the evenings over three dates at the Photofusion gallery, with the price starting at £114 for members. See http://www.photofusion.org/photography-courses/ for more details. Friday 15 Brit and Mobo Award winner Finley Quaye returns to Jamm to perform live with his full band. The multi platinum selling artist will set the venue alight with his signature sound that is known across the globe but never recreated.Doors 7pm, tickets £12 + booking fee from www.ticketweb.co.uk/event/87227 Saturday 16 The Dogstar hosts Noise, a night of beats including DnB, dubstep, jungle, house and hip-hop.From 8pm. Sunday 17 Rock titans Motorhead are playing Brixton Academy tonight. As we went to press a previous date was already sold out, and we don’t expect this one to last much longer. If you like them you’d better step on it: www. o2academybrixton.co.uk/event/54437/ motorhead-tickets Monday 18 September 16 Brixton Fiction is a new monthly writing group for writers of prose, meeting on the 3rd Monday of every month, 6-8pm. If interested please email Emma Allotey at brixtonfiction@gmail.com Tuesday 19 A night of storytelling is being hosted tonight by Spark London. From 7.30pm and £3 entry. Wednesday 20 Budding writers now have their own group, based in Loughborough Junction’s SIA Community Cafe. All are warmly welcome, from the amateur and first-time writer to published authors. Runs 6:30-8:30pm every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month. Free, but please support the cafe by purchasing refreshments. Thursday 21 A new night at restaurant Gremio de Brixton, MOJO HANNAH’S brings you the best funk, soul and groove night in town. Foley and Sven will be down the
www.brixtonblog.com crypt every Thursday playing out what they think you want to hear. 8-11pm. Friday 22 Get your dancing shoes on for the surreal western swing music of Rum Buffalo, playing tonight at Hootenanny alongside eastern european folk band Gorgeous George and balkan beats DJs Sacha Dieu & Ms Manray. Free before 10pm, £3 after. Saturday 23 Try something new with a drop-in coaching session at Brixton BMX Club running every Saturday and Sunday from 10-12pm. They have a selection of bikes and protective gear for the unequipped, and it costs just £4 for non-members. For more info see http://www.brixtonbmx.com Sunday 24 The Dig the Park programme at Brockwell park ranges across pruning and clearing overgrown areas, planting shrubs, herbaceous plants and bulbs, trimming lengths of native hedgerows to improve growth and habitat value to wildlife. You can volunteer every fourth Sunday of the month. Contact thoare@lambeth.gov.uk for more information on how to get involved. Monday 25 Brixton Triratna Buddhist Centre offers an antidote to the stress of modern life with a weekly meditation class for beginners. Classes are £6 for beginners and £4 for the low waged or unemployed and run from 7.30-9.30pm. They work on a drop-in basis. Tuesday 26 Release your inner artist with a life drawing class at Brixton Art Gallery on Brixton Road. The classes run from 6-8pm every Tuesday and participants explore a number of drawing and painting techniques. A 12 week course costs £96. See http://www. brixtonartgallery.co.uk/lifedrawing. htm for more info and contact details. Wednesday 27 The Ritzy is hosting Doc Con, an informal meet up for documentary makers and journalists. Free entry upstairs from 7.30pm Thursday 28 Cool new(ish) rock trio London Grammar have been making waves in the music industry. Catch them on their national tour at Electric Brixton tonight at 7pm for just £12.50. http://www.seetickets.com/Tour/LONDON-GRAMMAR Friday 29 English Disco Lovers (the fun-loving counter attack against the racist EDL) comes to Brixton’s Prince of Wales pub with excellent DJs
CRITIC’S CHOICE: Tasty Tuesday
The weather may have turned, but there’s a new reason to be out and about on Tuesdays and we think everyone will want to be involved! The Brixton Blog is excited to announce its brand new campaign, Tasty Tuesday, offering special food deals to entice you out for midweek grub. We’ve worked closely with local businesses to ensure that Tuesdays are no longer a day to stay tucked away, but the perfect excuse for a midweek meal. Tasty Tuesdays will see a different venue offering an irresistable deal every Tuesday over the next month, making midweek meals a bit more interesting.
CRITIC’S CHOICE: Oh my GOSH, Nov 15 Have a great night and make the world a better place at Oh My GOSH, a charity rave at Electric Social in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital (hence the GOSH). On the night there will be free gifts on entry for the first 50 people, pop up stalls and lots of fun and surprises throughout the night. Tickets can be pre-bought for £5. Numbers are limited so this is well advised. Contact Nicole on 07917886566 to arrange payment and collection.
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Brixton Bugle November 2013
CULTURE Destination Brixton for the Ovalhouse Theatre It’s all change for theatre in South London: Ovalhouse, currently based in Kennington, is set to relocate to Brixton as part of the multimillion pound Future Brixton initiative. The theatre will form part of a new development on Somerleyton Road in Brixton, standing alongside over 280 new homes and a host of community-centred start-ups. The Brixton Bugle met Rebecca Atkinson-Lord, co Artistic Director of Ovalhouse Theatre, due to move to Brixton in 2016, and founder of Loughborough Junction-based Arch 468.
Rebecca Atkinson-Lord, co Artistic Director of Ovalhouse
How do you feel about the proposed relocation, Rebecca? It’s really exciting. The theatre has been here in Oval in some form or another since the thirties, with this building dating back to 1963. There’s such a history on this site and that’s amazing but it feels that the focus of the arts has moved to Brixton, and it’s now a more natural place to be based for us. So many of the people who come here actually come from Brixton, so the move will just stop them having to walk down the main road or hop on the 159 bus and it will help us to grow and develop new audiences too. Our current location is a
Brixton illustrated C.L.R.James
bit of a quiet spot - no one ever turns right out of Oval Tube station, unless they’re a cricket fan - it’s going to be great to be right in the centre of things.
Is the prospect of having a new, purpose-built space one you’re relishing then? I love this building dearly but it has so many problems. It will be amazing to have a new place which will support an improved quality of work. We’ll really be able to tailor what we can provide for artists and audiences to what they need. One of the things we’re really keen to build into the new building is a space where people can come and get a sandwich and a coffee a place where people who aren’t necessarily theatre-goers will feel comfortable, and maybe will go on to see a show. As the founder and director of Arch 468 [a performance resource and rehearsal space, based in Loughborough Junction] do you feel that the move will allow the two halves of your creative work to come together? It will be amazing on a personal level. I live in Brixton and it will mean that I’ll be able to walk to both my jobs. Arch 468 and Ovalhouse are, of course, distinct entities. Having said that the two companies came together to co-produce a
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show, Cuddles, this summer which we’re hoping to take on tour next year. The thing I’ve really discovered through my work at Arch 468 is that there are so many artists and performers living in Brixton, Loughborough Junction, Herne Hill and Camberwell. It’s also amazing how involved people want to get with community arts in this area of South London. What does Ovalhouse bring to the local community and the wider artistic community? We really invest in new work in a sustained way. I don’t think there’s another venue in London which invests in emerging artists to the same extent. Ovalhouse is a venue where emerging playwrtights will put on their first show which they get paid/can pay people for. Do you think Brixton has enough of an audience to support a new theatre in its midst? It’s not pinned down how many seats we’re going to have, but I think the footfall is going to be really good. If we continue to produce work of a national standard, which is interesting, challenging and engaging, then why shouldn’t we attract audiences from all over London and from all round the country? Ruth Waters, Arts Co-Editor
This month’s famous Brixtonite was very popular, but it was Rizwan Butt who suggested him first, saying “In Brixton, on Railton Road, lived the amazing Trinidadian writer, political activist and cricket lover CLR James. He wrote one of the the great books on cricket and colonialism called Beyond The Boundary.” Rizwan will receive a free print of the illustration. Keep those famous Brixtonite suggestions coming (@kpictures) and win a print for your genius! See more of Kaylene Alder’s Brixton illustrations at www.kaylenealder.com
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Brixton Bugle November 2013
CULTURE
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Interview: The Thirst
really changed. The core of Brixton is still there. Where do you guys go out around here? Mensah: We’ve been everywhere in Brixton, of course! Marcus: There’s different places for different nights. The Jamm is one of our favourite places - it’s like a pick ‘n’ mix that’s fallen on the floor but bits of it are still alright. Hootananny and Plan B are good too. Kwame: We know a lot of the door staff now so we get in free. That’s why we haven’t felt the pinch of going out in Brixton.
people. Kwame: When we played in Japan it was great because it was just us. The crowd there really liked it. How would you describe your music? Kwame: At the core it’s rock, but then it has all these other influences as well. Mensah: It’s influenced by garage, hip hop, grime, drum ‘n’ bass. Vocally, there’s a lot of rap influences.
Suppor Sex Pis ting for the experie tols was an What are you working on at the moment? crowd nce...the Kwame: Material for our w new [second] album, which ting an ere spitwill be out next year. We’ve d s proper wearing, got a new single out soon punk. called ‘True’.
Have you played a lot of the local venues? Kwame: Yeah, we’ve played at the Hootananny, here [Hand In Hand], Jamm, Academy, Dogstar, Windmill. Brixton has been good to us. This pub has been really good to us. We rehearse here for nothing.
What was it like playing at the Academy? Kwame: It was a support show for the Sex Pistols. It was an experience. The crowd was mad - they were spitting and swearing at us, but at the same time dancing to our music! Proper punk.
The Thirst above and below. Pictures by Kingsley Davis Arts Co-Editor Barney Evison met up with homegrown band The Thirst in their rehearsal space under the Hand In Hand pub to find out more about their career to date and plans for the future. The Thirst is Mensah (guitar and vocals), Mark (guitar) Kwame (bass) and Marcus (drums). My first question is, why are you called The Thirst? Kwame: It’s about a thirst for music, for life, for doing what you want. Marcus: It originally came about from First Class. The only thing that makes First Class on the trains is that little piece of material on the chairs. We took one of those back in the day and put it on one of our chairs at home. How did you guys all meet? Kwame: Mensah is my brother, and we met Mark at Sudbourne Primary School. Mark: I met Kwame first day of school and we’ve been friends since then! Mensah: Then we met Marcus at secondary school when we were teenagers. How long have you been The Thirst? Marcus: About 6 years now. Kwame: We were a band a long time before we were The Thirst. We used to DJ and MC - we called ourselves 2 Much Crew. It’s always been us four hanging around together, and it was just an obvious progression. Marcus: It was the same good energy when we picked up our instruments. It must have been quite a leap, going from MC-ing and DJ-ing to playing instruments. Kwame: Yeah, it was a bit of a wild card really. Men-
sah got a guitar for his 14th birthday and he didn’t really want it at the time. After a couple of years he tried to sell it but mum stopped him. Eventually he picked it up and then he started playing it day and night, non-stop. Have you been in the local area your whole lives? Marcus: Pretty much, we all grew up around here. We’ve moved out to other areas like Wandsworth and Clapham because they’re cheaper. Mark: We’re always drawn back to Brixton though. We’re here every day. Mensah: We were here before it was trendy, when there was just one crackhead. Now it’s full of... trendy crackheads. Marcus: We’ll be back to buy one of them big houses on Brixton Road! Is it good for music? Marcus: Brixton’s always been good for music. Lots of people have moved in and it’s got a lot more expensive but you can never draw the inspiration out of Brixton. You walk past the market and it still smells of nasty fish - it’s always gonna be there. Kwame: A lot has been added but it’s never
Where else has your music taken you? Kwame: We’ve been to Chile, Texas for SXSW, Argentina, most of Europe, Japan, Croatia, Scotland and lots of other places too. Mensah: Not forgetting Streatham, Croydon, Mitcham...
Do you like recording? Mensah: Yeah, it’s a completely different experience to gigging. A gig happens and it’s over - if you mess up, it doesn’t really matter. As a musician, your recording is all you stand by. There’s two ways we do it - either it’s a song we’ve been performing already and we get it recorded quickly, or it’s something we create in the studio together and record it. Kwame: We jam together and get a feeling for what could become a song. Little things like a riff or a beat can be a catalyst.
What are your plans for the future? Kwame: Everything is around the album. We’ve got the release, then we’re touring. Mensah: A big focus for next year is America. Marcus: We’ve got a long road ahead of us!
The band’s next gig is at The Horn, St. AlWhere was your first gig? bans on 9th November. To find out more, Kwame: It was at the Dogstar. We were there go to thethirst.co.uk. handing out a 4-track demo and they asked us if we wanted to play a 2-hour set. We only had those 4 songs! Marcus: We had to make up 20 songs in a week! Not all of them Beautiful | Sustainable | Fashion lasted... Autumn Collection Which was your 32/33 Brixton Village |thekeepboutique.com best gig? Marcus: I think there’s probably one that was amazing for all of us; supporting the Rolling Stones on a beach in Croatia in front of 40,000
Wednesday – Saturday: 10 – 6pm Sunday: 11 – 5pm Late Night Shopping: Thursday & Friday
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Brixton Bugle November 2013
COMICS
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Brixton Bugle November 2013
FOOD
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Book: Recipes from Brixton Village BY MISS SOUTH
I am pleased and slightly apprehensive to tell you that Brixton Village is getting its own cookbook next year. The pleasure comes from the fact the book will celebrate all the food traders and sellers in Granville Arcade, not just the well known
ones. The apprehension comes from the fact by the time you read this is in the Bugle, I have just one day left to get the manuscript to the publisher and may be panicking ever so slightly... Luckily I'm writing it for the fantastic Kitchen Press books based in Scotland and I have the full support
of all traders who have been generous with their time, recipes and their food as the project has come together over the last nine months. Entitled ‘Recipes from Brixton Village’, the book seeks to capture the unique atmosphere of the former Granville Arcade by gathering together recipes from those who
Pic by Damon Hope
Recipe: Guava Jammy Dodgers
BY MISS SOUTH
Who doesn't love a Jammy Dodger? All that sticky caramel-like jam and shortcake biscuit? Now imagine if you could customise them and pick your favourite flavour of jam? Make the biscuit more buttery? Or spell out the name of someone you love? Or just make more than a packet holds for half the price? Your time has come. Meet the easiest biscuit in SW9. You can have a batch of these babies ready to eat in next to no time and everyone will be incredibly impressed. I used guava jam as I had some left from the Brixton trifle I made here a few months ago, but you could use anything you fancy, including marmalade if you want to be the person who crosses the Jaffa Cake with the Jammy Dodger... Guava Jammy Dodgers: makes about 30 biscuits 250g plain flour 100g icing sugar 125g cold butter, cut into small pieces 1 egg, beaten 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 150g guava jam Start by sifting the flour and icing sugar into a large bowl. Add the cubed butter and rub it into the flour and icing sugar with your fingertips. It should end up resembling fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg and the vanilla extract. This allows you to start bringing the breadcrumb texture together into
a dough. Use your hands and start kneading and squeezing it until it becomes a large blob. Bring the dough together fully and put it on a piece of clingfilm and wrap it up tightly before chilling for around 30 minutes. It will be a slightly wet dough rather than stiff. Put the guava jam in a saucepan and heat it gently. You want it to become a little bit darker and cooked down to a slightly caramel texture. Heat it slowly for a long time rather than boiling it and risking burning it. Line your baking trays with greaseproof paper. Tear off two extra sheets of greaseproof paper. Lightly oil your work surface and put one sheet on top of it. Take the dough out of the fridge. Cut it in half and place on the greaseproof paper. Keep the rest of the dough in the fridge. Put the second sheet on top of the dough and start rolling it out with a rolling pin. Roll the dough until about 4 millimetres thick and
cut circles out with the neck of a jar or a cutter. I used a 4.5 centimetre cutter. Cut a hole out of the middle of half the the circles. These are the tops of the biscuits. I used some fancy mini cutters I got in TK Maxx. Leave the other half plain and check you have the same amount of both. Place on the lined trays and bake at 170ºC for 10 minutes. Once you lift the biscuits out of the oven, pour some boiling water into a mug and put a teaspoon in it. Then use the heated spoon to drop about half a teaspoon of the hot guava jam on the base of the biscuits. Dip the spoon in the hot water each time to help the jam dollop more easily. Press the cut out tops onto the jam covered bases and press down. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes minimum before eating or you will fill your mouth with molten jam and want to scream. Enjoy with a cup of tea and everyone's praise...
run both the newer restaurants and the more established stalls and grocers. Some are favourites that people will happily queue for on a Friday night for, some are dishes the traders cook at home and others are there to show you how to use the wonderful fresh produce Brixton Village still sells. There are over 100 recipes featuring meat, fish, vegetables, side dishes, seasonings, sweet treats and drinks. We've got the recipe for Lab G's salted caramel ice cream along with Kaosarn's Green Curry. Fish Wings and Tings have given their codfish fritters and there's even an idea for what do with the famous African Land Snails. You can tour the market, finding out about the food, the history and the traders and deciding where to visit next. The book is being illustrated by fellow Bugler, Kaylene Alder, and will be published in spring 2014 (exact date to be confirmed). My mind is already wandering towards just how great the launch party will be with all those traders coming together to celebrate their skills and businesses. And of course, the venue will be pretty special. However it's not all about good nights out. I'm hoping the book will draw attention to the fact that Brixton Village isn't just about the new restaurants, but a fully functioning retail market that needs to be used
and valued. If you're worried that it will become too gentrified or too white or leave the community behind, you need to try and use it for the day-to-day items and ingredients whenever you can and encourage others to do the same. At the moment, Brixton Village is made up of independent businesses and still very much a part of the wider market. Most of the traders are local to Brixton or have a very strong connection to the area and care deeply about the market and its impact on the community. I hope the book helps remind people of that and encourages them to support the market. I hope it is only one of many chapters in the life of Brixton Village rather than a footnote. But most of all, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it...
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Brixton Bugle November 2013
LIFESTYLE
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Growing Space BY FIONA LAW
Tulips look great in pots and window boxes in April and May, and now is the time to plant them. Put them 15 – 20cm deep, pointy end up, 4 -5cm deep and make sure your container has at least another 10 cm below that. You can put in a layer of. Plant winter pansies on top, to have great colour in the meantime and hopefully deter raiding squirrels. You can poke small early bulbs like crocus or snowdrops through the gaps so they are about 5cm from the surface. Chives will survive in the garden but not put on a lot of growth. Pot them up and bring them to the windowsill to snip into salads and on potatoes. Look after open soil by sowing green manures such as grazing rye. It’s just about ok to still sow. Green manures protect the soil from battering rain and their roots give refuge to soil micro-organisms that’ll be all the more ready to process nutrients when conditions warm again in spring. Beneficial insects such as pollinators and predators can be helped to over-winter. Don’t be
Pic by Tom James
too tidy in the garden and leave stems as places to hibernate. You can also make a very simple insect hotel by stashing some cut stems in a sheltered spot that receives a bit of sun. Come the spring they will be ready to spring into action and start the next generation. Roses get their main pruning in spring but for now cut stems back about half way on shrubs. This avoids the plants rocking in the wind. If you are lucky enough to have climbers and ramblers and tie in the new canes to supports with soft string. Oriental leaves withstand the cold, and do really well outside if you can cover with ‘fleece’, actually a mesh a bit like what is put round scaffolding to stop masonry falling. Mizuna, pak choi, komatsuna and mustards are all really tasty and also do well in a window box.
Fiona Law is a garden designer and horticulturalist, also working on community growing projects in Lambeth. Follow @vivekagardens @lambethpoly
LITTLE BRIXTON: Our local city farm
BY LUCY BURTON
Little Brixton recently took a holiday to the depths of rural France. A starker contrast to Brixton would be harder to find - it’s possible to walk for half an hour without seeing another person, let alone a car. The littlest Brixtonite took to her new surroundings very enthusiastically, demanding to go out and see the local cows and sheep approximately once an hour, so when we got back I thought we would go and check out our local city farm. Not strictly Brixton, but it’s so quick on the tube (or the number 2 if you want a buggy friendly option) it’s a very feasible quick trip. The farm is in a corner of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens (if you get there early enough you’ll probably see people coming out some
of the clubs, which is always a bit discombobulating as a parent of a young child - why would anyone voluntarily stay up all night??), so a 3 minute walk from the tube. It’s only open from Wednesday to Sunday, which we found out to our cost earlier in the summer, but there are often a few animals in the paddocks visible to the park even when it’s closed. There is a also a large enclosure where they have riding lessons. The farm itself is pretty compact, so unless your child is particularly obsessed by animals I wouldn’t plan for the trip to take more than half an hour. They have sheep, goats, horses and alpacas, as well as a well stocked duck pond, and smaller animals. My daughter was particularly fascinated by the ferrets, despite me trying to interest her in the
far cuter (but admittedly more boring) rabbits. There’s also a great nature garden which is probably best suited for older children who can be trusted not to pick and eat any plants that come within their reach. They also offer children’s parties, and schemes for local young people to learn more about farming - their website has more details at www.vauxhallcityfarm,org. We had a great time, and the baby learnt a new noise - an approximation of a goat - and I struggled to answer questions about what noise an alpaca makes; anyone? And the best bit (for me) is that it’s pretty close to the Vauxhall Theatre tea rooms, which is not only child friendly, but does amazing cakes.
COMPETITION: Win Hairy Jayne hair products To celebrate the launch of her new range of home-made haircare products, we’ve teamed up with Brixton-based expert Hairy Jayne to give away a hamper of her goodies worth £50! To be in with a chance of winning just answer the following question: Is Hairy Jayne: A. a biker B. a marsupial C. a hairdresser Send your answers to info@brixtonblog.com before November 14 for your chance to win!
Brixton Bugle November 2013
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
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How important is Black History Month? BY MILES BYRD
of Akyaaba Addai-Sebo and the History Month has been a victim co-operation of the greater London of it’s own success. Initially fought for, it has arguably become a token I’m 23 years old and wasn’t really council. But just how imgesture; rather than being taught much about Black history. celebrated the event often I was schooled in South London, portant is Black Histobecomes an afterthought, grew up around Brixton, and would ry Month? “It is neceswith questions raised over often hear Black History Month sary because minority its long-term effectivementioned in passing during the histories have always been at the periphery, ness. month of October. I wondered if Black I know it’s appreciated for its rather than the centre, History Month was still efforts in educating those about of any discourse about relevant, and if Black histhe history of the African diaspora history”, says Steve, tory had been trivialised throughout the UK, but I wanted an idea that rings true Steve Martin as it was segregated and to find out more, so I tracked down when thinking about delegated its own month Steve Martin; journalist, author, the histories of other in which to be celebrated. tour guide and renowned histori- ‘outsider’ groups. Without Black History Month However, in looking at the bigan, who offered unique insight and helped answer a few questions I I don’t know if the average British ger picture I’m in agreement with had about the future of Black His- resident would have much knowl- Steve’s view that “It jumpstarts recedge of the history of the African ognition about a group of people tory Month. Started in 1926 in the USA, diaspora in England. Why should who were and are important, espeBlack History Month has taken they? If you consider the 12 million cially to these islands. Black Histoon various incarnations since its Africans that were displaced in the ry Month shouldn’t necessarily be a creation as ‘Negro History Week’ name of profit, mainly European permanent fixture, but it should be by Carted G. Woodson. Initially profit, with Britain one of the lead- appreciated for starting the converused to encourage the co-ordinat- ing countries and Liverpool as one sation about the African diaspora.” ed teaching of the history of Black of the world’s busiest slave trading I began to realise this is the main people in America throughout ports, it would be pretty helpful to point of Black History Month. “It should be more community led, so public schools, it eventually found know more. It could be argued that Black there’s more ownership and people it’s way to the UK with the help actually take pride in it” suggested Steve, a point I agree with. It does need to be revamped so that it can be appreciated for what it is – an opportunity to share a culture and a history with the wider public. Black History Month is important, it is crucial to informing the whole narrative of British History. In order to have a complete picture you must look at all stories from as many perspectives as possible. Rational discussions about British history are always complicated, we each have a set of ideas about our own identities that are closely linked to our heritage, that come hand in hand with inherent prejudices and agendas about others. Nonetheless, it is an awkward but PROUD: Local character George Walters outside the Black Cultural vital discussion that needs to be Archives site - due to open in 2014. Pic by Francis Marden
Black History Month marks launch of mental health comission in Lambeth
BY EDWARD DAVIE
October is Black History Month and the London Borough of Lambeth, home of the one of the UK’s largest and most established black communities, has begun a commission to improve mental health amongst Caribbean and African people. Over many decades, whilst often struggling with discrimination and poverty, Lambeth’s black communities have made a massively positive political, academic and cultural contribution to the area and the whole country. But despite their collective resilience a disproportionate number of black people develop serious mental health conditions, are subject to compulsory treatment orders and are detained under the Mental Health Act. In Lambeth, with a black population of 21 per cent, over 50 per cent of people admitted to acute psychiatric wards and 65 per cent on forensic secure wards are from
Caribbean and African communities. There is a 15 fold difference between prevalence in black men compared with white men. Whilst black people are massively over-represented in the most serious end of the mental health system they are consistently under-represented in mild and moderate treatment areas. In recent years the deaths of Sean Rigg and Olaseni Lewis, black patients killed whilst being restrained by the police, have done nothing to reassure people that they will be treated fairly. This creates a vicious circle where black people stay away from services until they are so unwell that treatment is less likely to be successful and they are more likely to react negatively. It is this combination of factors that led Lambeth’s health and adult social care scrutiny committee to ask the new Health and Wellbeing Board to act. The Board has started work involving hundreds of people in co-designing new adult mental health services over the next year
and a Black Mental Health Commission has been established with the assistance of mental health charity the National Survivor User Network (NSUN). I will be co-chairing the commission with Jacqui Dyer who is, among many other things, a local black, service-user and carer. We are joined by experts from South London and the Maudsley NHS Mental Health Trust, Lambeth clinical commissioning group, NHS England and academia. These participants bring a committed and enthusiastic approach to identifying improvement opportunities within a challenging and long neglected area of health and community healing. Across the borough and the country there are good examples of improvements in these areas. For example pastors, imams and even barbers have been trained to deliver therapy in contexts some people find more comfortable and elsewhere service-user run crisis services have provided people with
HISTORY: Steel band at Lambeth Festival, Rosendale Road, 1961. Photograph courtesy of Lambeth Archives. had as Black history aims to be- history. come a part of the wider version of Sitting down with Steve gave British history. me the opportunity to discuss I feel we should appreciate it’s Black History Month It opened my presence, what it stood for and mind and made me realise there’s what it achieved, but also be ready far more that each of us can to do to see it evolve hand in hand with educate ourselves about the world British culture. Black History we live in. The danger of having a ‘Black History Month’ potential“Minority histories ly trivialises Black history, but it also still stands as an opportunity have always been at the to champion key events, people, periphery, rather than times and Black history itself. This is where we are lucky, as the Black the centre, of any disCultural Archives opens it’s doors course about history.” in Spring 2014 and will help tell the story from a new perspective and Month should be heralded for its could potentially allow for the celefforts to educate and inspire, but ebration of Black history every day, also noted that it reflects the most not one month a year. flawed part of British history, that there are still far too many untold Miles Byrd is a copywriter and stories to be heard. From the Brit- strategist at the Champion Agenish army Gurkha’s to the stories of cy, based in Brixton. Romany travellers, there’s much For more info visit we can learn from one another in thechampionagency.com order to create a broader British
Commission co-chair Jacqui Dyer also features in its poster alternatives to formal hospital ad- disproportionate cuts, our public missions. health settlement is less than half At the prevention end we know that of places like the City of Lonthat parenting, poverty, housing don and the NHS funding formula and community all play an import- will further disadvantage younger, ant part in a person’s mental health poorer populations like ours but we and we must find better ways to are determined to make the best of support people in all these areas. what we have for our residents with It does not help that authori- the greatest need. ties like Lambeth are dealing with
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Brixton Bugle November 2013
SPORT FEATURE
www.brixtonblog.com
Brixton legend looks on as BMX riders impress BY LAURA DICKINSON
BMX biking has surged in popularity over the past decade. Now an Olympic event with riders like Shanaze Reade becoming household names, more and more people are taking up the sport. Brixton BMX, London’s oldest BMX club, has been at the heart of this resurgence. Ken Floyde who established the club in 1981, beams with pride as Brixton riders take part in the BMX South Championships on September 29 2013. “BMX has come a long way since we started our club,” says Ken as he looks out at the new 400 metre national standard BMX track in Burgess Park, Camberwell, where the Championships are taking place. “Just ten years ago Brixton was one of only three clubs in the southern region, but now clubs from across the south of England have come to take part.” Brixton BMX started the same year as the Brixton riots, 1981, when Ken encouraged young people across the area to join him and ride at Stockwell Skate Park. The club grew quickly and soon moved to a temporary BMX track behind
Brixton police station. Eventually Ken secured funding to build a track in Brockwell Park in 1990. The club’s most famous alumnus is Charlie Reynolds, a legend in the sport. He won multiple British and European championships and was ‘Champion of Champions’ an incredible six times. He’s one of the few riders in the world to have had signature bike named after him. Charlie grew up in children’s homes in Brixton in the 70s and 80s. Ken spotted him at the skate park and asked if he’d like to give BMX a go. “I was the first black BMX star STARTERS ORDERS: Above, picture by Billy Wright. Below right, Jason Lewis, Charlie Reynolds and foundin this country and it’s because of er of the club Ken Floyde. Pic by Laura Dickinson. Below left, on the course, pic by Billy Wright Ken,” explains Charlie. “He set up display from Gabor Deli in the Mens' Cruisers category, finishing To the untrained eye, BMX can the track, he would hire mini-buses Masters event. second overall. seem pretty harum scarum. I ask to take us to national comBrixton BMX welcomes another Brixton parent, Jean-Mapetitions. Ken took people “This is all to do with people like riders of all ages and there’s a rie, whether he’s anxious watching to places where they’ve nevreal family spirit at the club. his 12 year-old son Cassius comer been before. You’ve got to Ken, giving people in the communi- Mike Woof started BMX a pete. take your hat off to him be- ty belief that there is something out few years’ ago when his son “No, not really,” he tells me. “Because no-one else would have there for all of us.” joined Brixton BMX for their ing a part of the club has done a lot done it for us.” Saturday training sessions for Cassius. It has given him confiAt the South Championin Brockwell Park. He’s now dence, social skills and shown him ships it was hard to miss the BrixGabor came first in all four of his competing regularly and took part how to bounce back after a fall. I ton team, kitted out in black race races, including the final, and was in the South Championships over have a lot of trust in the club.” tops emblazoned with red and gold crowned South of England Mas- 45’s races while his young son, There's a new track now too flames. The team’s performance ters Champion 2013. Alan Hay also Tom, competed in the 10 year old at Burgess Park and it is superb. drew attention too with a dominant impressed in the 17 to 29 year-old boys event. Completed this summer at a cost of £1.2 million, it is one of the jewels in the crown of British BMX. It will doubtless be home to future champions. Charlie Reynolds is impressed: “This facility is a massive achievement. I take my hat off to everyone that made it happen.” He adds that the track is a tribute to all those who strived to establish BMX and who introduced the sport to local youth like him, “with bags of energy and nothing to do”. “This is all to do with people like Ken, giving people in the community belief that there is something out there for all of us.” Find out more about Brixton BMX at brixtonbmx.com/. Coaching takes place on Sat and Sun at Brockwell Park BMX track. All riders welcome.
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