Welcome to issue 43 of the Dulwich Diverter
Thank you for picking up the summer edition of the Dulwich Diverter, your free local paper for Dulwich.
As ever, working on this issue of the Diverter has taken us to all corners of Dulwich, meeting inspirational residents and much-loved local businesses along the way.
The cover stars of this edition are the Dulwich Hamlet Women’s team, who are featured on pages 8 and 9. Their 202324 campaign was a truly unforgettable season.
Since their merger just over five years ago with AFC Phoenix, triumph and disaster have often gone hand in hand for the team.
Read all about it
The SE London BookFest has announced some of the headline authors who will be appearing at the inaugural event this autumn.
Authors taking part in the festival, which will run across the whole of November, include the BBC Radio 4 presenter Emma Barnett and her husband, Jeremy Weil; and Kenny Imafidon, the author of That Peckham Boy.
Barnett and Weil began photographing their favourite south London spots last year, initially as a way to document special places and moments for their young family. When they got home they printed out the photos for their son, now six, to scribble and scrawl on, a fun activity to keep him occupied and teach him about the local neighbourhood while the couple were also on maternity leave with their baby daughter.
This simple activity grew into a colouring book series called Colour Your Streets, which now has more than 30 titles, all inspired by hyperlocal neighbourhoods including Dulwich, Peckham and Lewisham.
Kenny Imafidon will be interviewed about his memoir, That Peckham Boy, which was recently published by Penguin. As well as being an author, Imafidon is an entrepreneur and social commentator and has worked on projects with global businesses, philanthropic foundations and charities such as Unicef. He is a trustee of several charities, including BBC Children in Need.
Alongside Lord Michael Hastings, he is also the co-founder of My Brother’s Keeper, a voluntary group that supports men,
Just two months after the merger, the coach Farouk Menia sadly passed away, leaving many of the players bereft.
Ryan Dempsey assumed the coaching reins, only for Dulwich to mystifyingly be denied promotion during the Covid-19 pandemic despite topping the London & South East Regional Women’s Premier Division on two occasions.
Now, though, the years of disappointment and frustration have come to an end after a winning streak of 15 league games saw Dulwich Hamlet winning promotion to the FA Women’s National League Division One South East, the fourth tier of the women’s game in England.
The places that immediately spring to mind when the name Gerald Durrell is mentioned are Corfu – the Greek island where he lived for four years and that formed the backdrop to his much-loved book My Family and Other Animals –and Jersey, where he founded a famous zoo that is still thriving today.
Less commented upon is the great naturalist and writer’s connection to Dulwich – where few people realise he and his family lived for several years prior to their time in the Greek island. Turn to page 17 to read more.
Also in this issue, we go behind the scenes at Dulwich Picture Gallery – turn to the centre pages to see the results.
mainly serving long-term sentences, in six prisons across the UK. In 2022 he was featured in Forbes’ annual 30 under 30 list for social impact.
The local foodies Mike Davies (Frank’s Cafe, the Camberwell Arms) and the Flygerians are also taking part to discuss their debut cookbooks, which are both out this year.
Sisters Jo and Jess Edun opened the Flygerians restaurant in 2022 at Peckham
Palms, a black female-led space supporting startup businesses.
They made it into Vogue in a round-up of the best black-owned restaurants in London and have since attracted plenty of media attention and made several TV appearances.
Also appearing at the festival is Laura Dockrill, who will be talking about her brilliant adult fiction debut – I Love You, I Love You, I Love You.
The next issue of the Dulwich Diverter will be the autumn edition, which will be published in September and available until early November. As ever, it will be distributed to our many stockists across East, West, North Dulwich and the Village.
If you’re a local business or organisation who is interested in advertising, please drop us a line via dulwichdiverter@gmail.com. We would love to help promote what you do in print and online, across Dulwich, southeast London and beyond.
We hope you enjoy the issue!
MarkMcGinlayandKateWhite
Included in the Guardian’s “books to look out for in 2024” list, this is her first novel for adults and is based on her own personal experience – the ultimate love letter to her partner, Hugo White (formerly of the Maccabees).
Laura has an impressive back catalogue of award-winning young adult and children’s books and her memoir, What Have I Done?, on her postpartum psychosis after the birth of her son, was published to critical acclaim.
She was a judge for the Women’s Prize for Fiction this year and her talents in screenwriting have earned her Bafta nominations along with widespread recognition.
The festival co-founder Mark McGinlay, who is also co-editor of this newspaper, said: “We’ve had a great response from national publishers, which means we’ll be able to showcase some fantastic local talent and some exciting new writers in November.
“The festival recently ran a crowdfunding campaign to cover some of the operating costs. The £5,000 raised on Kickstarter will go towards helping to cover some of the essential expenditure.
“We’re still looking for sponsorship, so if you’re a local business, please do get in touch. And obviously, the more money we are able to raise, the bigger and better the festival will be!”
For information about festival sponsorship, please email SELBookFest@gmail.com. To keep up-to-date with the latest news from the event, follow the festival on Instagram and X @SELBookFest
The Dulwich Diverter
Editors Mark McGinlay, Kate White | Designer Mingo Mingo Studio | Cover designer Jake Tilson Photographers Lima Charlie, Julia Hawkins
Spana in the work
The animal charity the Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad (Spana) has received a bespoke artwork from the local comedian and presenter Jenny Eclair, which will be raffled online to raise vital funds for the charity.
Jenny, who is best known for her roles in Grumpy Old Women, Taskmaster and Loose Women, is an avid artist, and her latest creation will be available to the public as it is raffled online for Spana.
Jenny said: “I love painting and art is a huge part of my life. To be able to combine that passion with helping Spana to raise funds for their lifesaving work across the world is wonderful.
“Globally, it is estimated that more than 200 million working animals support the livelihoods of families in low-income communities, through such activities as transporting food, water, goods and firewood.
“Yet despite their critical importance to communities, working animals often face difficult lives and poor welfare, working in extreme conditions, with no available veterinary care when they are sick or injured. That’s why Spana’s work is so very important. I’m thrilled to donate a oneof-its-kind piece of art to raise funds for Spana, a truly worthy charity that I’m very proud to support.”
David Bassom, the director of global fundraising, marketing and
communications at Spana, said: “We are extremely grateful to Jenny for so kindly donating her artwork to Spana. This online raffle gives members of the public the chance to win a fantastic, one-of-a-kind prize, while supporting Spana’s vital work.”
“Spana works to transform the welfare of working animals across the world, through global activities that include the provision of veterinary treatment, the training for owners in animal care and the teaching of children about good animal welfare”
Spana is the world’s longest-running charity dedicated to supporting global working-animal welfare. In 2023, it provided vital care and support to more than 336,000 working animals. Spana also taught animal welfare lessons to more than 68,000 children and provided training in animal care to over 75,000 working-animal owners.
Raffle tickets are currently available from app.galabid.com/jennyeclairraffle. The winner will be drawn on 18 July at 10am
Wheely great: children celebrate new bike lane
Families from three local schools came together to celebrate the Rosendale bike lane and the safer journeys it provides for hundreds of schoolchildren each morning.
The after-school event was a collaboration between Rosendale Primary School, Rosemead Prep and Oakfield Prep, and was organised by Solve the School Run, a local group of residents and parents focused on making the school run safer; and Streets for Kids, a campaign for safe and accessible streets.
The celebration involved an array of bicycles, from balance bikes for the younger cyclists and cargo bikes for families, to mountain bikes for the more able. The bike bus made its way along the cycle lane to the soundtrack of S Club 7’s Don’t Stop Moving, emitted from a cargo bike sound system, and ended in Brockwell Park with a bonanza of biscuits.
The Rosendale cycle lane runs between Brockwell Park and the south circular. It was originally proposed in 2012 and is still unfinished. The remaining stretch, ending at Park Hall Road, is scheduled to be completed later this year.
Even in its incomplete state it is used by hundreds of families at school drop-off and pick-up times, with local children using it to travel safely to school. Secondary school children use it to reach Kingsdale, Charter and Elmgreen, in addition to the local independent schools: JAGS, Alleyn’s and
Dulwich College. Younger children cycle or are transported in cargo bikes to nearby primary schools.
Shenaz Sheikh, a local school parent and a supporter of Solve the School Run, said:
“I’m not a confident cyclist myself and I was scared to let my son, Zayd, cycle to school. But seeing so many of his friends using the bike lane every day made me realise he could do it, too.”
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Solve the School Run is urging Lambeth council to work faster on similar schemes to improve the journey to school for all children. Nicola Pastore, its co-founder, said: “Our school travel data shows us that there are 16,000 primary pupils in Lambeth already travelling sustainably. These families don’t always have time to respond to consultations, to email councillors, or attend council meetings. But catch them
on the school run and their support is very clear – families want safe routes to school.”
West Dulwich councillor Fred Cowell said: “Expanding cycling infrastructure is a cause I will always fight for. This isn’t easy, and there has been opposition, but cycle lanes work and it’s so worth seeing it in action.”
The statutory consultation for the next phase of the Rosendale cycle lane is due soon.
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Saturday stories
The Treemoot International Storytelling Festival is one of the newest and most fascinating additions to the local cultural calendar.
Described by the organisers, Guardians Worldwide, as “a unique outdoor experience”, the festival, which runs on various Saturdays until 30 November, is “an international gathering of storytellers, environmentalists, land defenders and traditional keepers of tree lore” whose aim is “to celebrate the culture and diversity of the Great North Wood in south-east London”.
The founder of Guardians Worldwide, the environmentalist Nicolas Salazar Sutil, has spoken of the need to bring about a greater communion between human beings and trees. “In Tolkien’s epic [The Lord of the Rings], trees decide to intervene in the affairs of humans and mobilise themselves to defend forests from ecological devastation caused by war on Middle Earth,” he has said. “If trees could mobilise on our Earth, what would they do?”
All the festival’s storytelling sessions take place at Treemoot Camp, which is located in the Fort on Grange Lane in Dulwich – a site in the Great North Wood that is fully equipped with toilets, showers, camping plots and picnic areas.
The historic Great North Wood is the nearest ancestral woodland to any capital city centre in Europe.
As well as storytelling, each session includes walks in Sydenham Hill Wood, and voluntary workshops where visitors
can learn about tree planting, foraging, woodland management and climate action, in order to better understand the range of threats and issues affecting trees.
The festival’s first three sessions, held in April, May and June, were all fully booked. The next scheduled session will be on 27 July and is titled Nomad Stories of the Woods. It will be hosted by Damian Le Bas and Richard O’Neill.
Le Bas’s acclaimed book, The Stopping Places, described a year spent travelling around traditional Romany camping grounds, and won the prestigious Somerset Maugham and Jerwood literary awards. O’Neill, meanwhile, is a storyteller in the nomadic tradition who is also a woodcarver and an engraver.
This event will be followed by three further sessions in September, October and November, respectively titled World Trees and Travellers: Women and the Rights of Trees, African Tree Tales and Bonfire.
All events in the Treemoot festival are free to register for through the festival website and are aimed at all ages. Food and drinks are available at the festival camp on the closing day in November, and camping is also available if visitors wish to stay overnight.
Based in Southwark and established in August 2021, Guardians Worldwide is an international movement that is aiming to “accelerate climate action through indigenous and local community protection of forests and water systems”.
A hold for Helen
Pioneering Peter
A pioneer and a prodigy, Peter Oosterhuis – who died on 2 May – was a truly great golfer; perhaps the finest, in fact, never to win one of the sport’s four “majors”.
However, there was no bitterness to Oosty, as his son Robert emphasised to Global Golf Post after his father’s death. “Dad was clear about his place in history,” Robert said.
“[He told me], while winning [a major] would have been great, he was proud of his record and he didn’t feel a sense of loss. I wish everyone could leave everything on the course, field, court or pitch and feel proud, no matter what the results. What a great metaphor for life that would be.”
Born on 3 May 1948 to an English mother and a Dutch father who had escaped from the Nazi occupation of his country during the second world war, the young Peter first picked up a golf club at the age of about 10.
“The family used to go blackberry picking on Dulwich and Sydenham Hill,” Peter later recalled. “Trouble was, I used to eat all the blackberries I picked, so I was soon dismissed from that and I started to play golf instead.”
After two years under the tutelage of the resident pro Len Rowe, Peter was playing off scratch – an incredible achievement that spoke to his natural propensity for golf. At Dulwich College, where he was schooled, Peter raised the profile of the sport to new and hitherto unprecedented heights.
Selected for England’s schoolboy team in 1964, Peter won the prestigious Berkshire Trophy in 1966 while still at Dulwich College and also competed in the Walker Cup – the premier amateur international team competition – as a schoolboy.
Helen Hayes has been re-elected as the MP for Dulwich and West Norwood – the fourth time in a row she has won the seat at a general election.
Hayes, who stood as a Labour candidate, won 27,356 votes, beating five other candidates – the Green party’s Pete Elliott, who came second with 8,567 votes, Leon Cook (Conservative), Donna Harris (Liberal Democrats), Gary Stevens (Reform UK) and Mike Spenser, who stood as an independent.
The Lewisham West and East Dulwich constituency was also won by Labour, with the party’s Ellie Reeves collecting 27,406 votes. The Greens’ Callum Fowler came second on 9,009 votes.
After turning professional in November 1968, he dominated the European Golf Tour, topping the order of merit for four straight years after its introduction in 1971. In all, Peter had an impressive eight top-10 finishes in the majors, including being runner-up in the Open twice, without snaffling one. Perhaps his greatest achievements came in the Ryder Cup, in which he represented Great Britain on six occasions. During a period of US dominance, Peter won 14 of the 28 matches he played in, also halving three. Among his victims were players of the calibre of Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. From 1975, Peter was based fulltime in the US, making him an early European pioneer on the PGA Tour. After retiring from golf in 1986, he carved out a successful broadcasting career, which only came to an end in 2015 when he announced he had Alzheimer’s disease.
Survived by his wife, Ruth, and two sons, Robert and Richard, Peter made friends wherever he went and was – in the estimation of Ken Schofield, the executive director of the European Golf Tour from 1975 to 2004 – “inarguably our finest gentleman golfer”.
All hail the Hamlet
DULWICH HAMLET WOMEN’S TEAM REFLECT ON A SPECTACULAR SEASON THAT SAW THEM PROMOTED TO THE FOURTH TIER OF WOMEN’S FOOTBALL
BY LUKE G WILLIAMS
Some football seasons are so special, they stay with you for ever. The Dulwich Hamlet Women’s team’s 2023-24 campaign was one such golden, unforgettable season.
Since their merger with AFC Phoenix in June 2019, triumph and disaster, glory and melancholy have often gone hand in hand for Dulwich Hamlet’s women. Just two months after the aforementioned merger, the coach Farouk Menia passed away, leaving many of the players bereft.
Ryan Dempsey assumed the coaching reins, only for Dulwich to mystifyingly be denied promotion during the Covid-19 pandemic despite topping the London & South East Regional Women’s Premier Division on two occasions.
Then, in 2022, the team reached their first ever cup final, only to be vanquished by Ashford Town in the Capital Women’s Senior Cup.
Now, though, the years of toil, injustice and disappointment are at an end after a stunning winning streak of 15 league games saw Dulwich Hamlet crowned London & South East Regional Women’s League champions – therefore winning promotion to the FA Women’s National League Division One South East, the fourth tier of the women’s game in England.
Reflecting on the enormity of the achievement two weeks after the club had clinched the title with a 5-1 victory away to Saltdean United Women on 19 May, Ryan told the Dulwich Diverter: “I’m still buzzing, although to be honest I haven’t had all that much time to think about it because we finished our season after everyone else, so I’ve been getting on with prepping for next season.
“The celebrations will live long in the memory, of course. Ultimately I think our success came down to our chemistry as a team, and the
environment and culture we have created.”
a high is really amazing,” Brit told the Diverter.
“Having said that, even though I’m sure the team will go on to have more success next season and afterwards, I think there’s no recreating what we had this season. It was really special. With so many of the team going their different ways, the future will be very different.”
Heartbreakingly for Hamlet fans, the formidable attacking trio of Summer Roberts, Shakira KaferoRoberts and Angel Reid – christened SAS – will now be going their separate ways, after a golden year in which they shared more than 40 goals and fuelled countless dreams destined to be a case of “for one season only”.
Although Summer is thankfully staying at the club, Shakira and Angel are heading to the US to continue their football careers and academic studies.
Two days on from completing her A-levels, Shakira admitted to the Diverter: “I’ve definitely got mixed feelings now the season is over. I’m very happy that we won the league but I’m also sad to be leaving the club.
ULTIMATELY I THINK OUR SUCCESS CAME DOWN TO OUR CHEMISTRY AS A TEAM, AND THE ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURE WE HAVE CREATED
Even now, though, with memories of their league championship triumph still fresh in our collective minds, Dulwich’s great triumph is tinged with melancholy – for this was a special group of players, some of whom will never play together again.
For starters, the legendary Hamlet captain Brit Saylor, who was one of the driving forces behind the original merger with Phoenix, has decided to hang up her boots, although she will remain involved in the club in a new capacity, having been appointed to the board of directors.
“It was an incredible season, and on a personal level to go out on such
“I was looking for a place at university here in the UK but it is so expensive,” she added. “So I made a highlights video of myself playing and sent it on to an agent who sent it off to a bunch of universities in America and I ended up getting a scholarship to North Carolina.”
Of her SAS partnership with Angel and Summer, Shakira said: “I don’t know how it happened but we just clicked. That doesn’t happen often but this time it really did.”
It’s a point that Summer expanded on, fielding my phone call straight after a session of scuba-diving on a much-deserved holiday in Jamaica.
“Me and Shakira personality-wise are total opposites,” Summer said. “But we all really clicked as a front three. Shakira and Angel made my job
Photos by Liam Asman
so easy. I’m so annoyed they’re both going to America!”
The spirit and inclusivity at Dulwich Hamlet was a theme that Summer referenced repeatedly as crucial to the team’s success. “100% the reason for our success was our bond as a team –on and off the pitch,” she said.
“We were here for each other all the time, no matter what, and we took that spirit on to the pitch. Having that sort of bond makes things so much easier.
“The fans were so important, too –I’ve played football at a higher league level, but I’ve never seen fans like Dulwich fans. The vibe they bring is so different – they really push the team on.”
The fans’ support was certainly needed early in the campaign, after a disastrous start that saw Dulwich lose their first two matches of the season.
“So much had to happen in our favour after losing those games,” Brit admitted. “The only thing we could do was stay focused on each training session and game as it came. We never got too carried away.”
It was only when it came to near the end of the final game of the season, which Dulwich would have had to lose by 12 goals to be denied the title, that Brit allowed herself the luxury of allowing the moment to sink in.
“I wanted to win the league so badly that maybe in a way I didn’t enjoy the season as much as I could have done – I was so determined to stay grounded,” she said.
“But there was a moment in the Saltdean game when we had total control and I thought to myself: ‘There’s no way we’re going to lose this!’ Only then did I allow myself to look around and take it all in – the fans, the players, and what it meant to everybody.
“That was very special – the realisation that we’d done it and we’d all created this incredible atmosphere and memories.”
Shakira also pinpointed the Saltdean match and the celebrations afterwards, including a visit to the legendary Goose Green roundabout, as particularly special.
“We came out so fast – it was a great game to play in. After the match I went to the roundabout, but I had an A-level sociology exam the next day so I could only stay for a bit!”
For Summer, the experience of the roundabout was a particular eyeopener. “On the day of the Saltdean match everyone was talking about the roundabout and I was thinking: ‘What’s that all about?’
“After we got back though we had some drinks at the club and then everyone went down there and the whole place was shut down – it was incredible. People were everywhere, all over the roundabout. There were fireworks, inflatables, car horns beeping. It was surreal.”
As memories of the roundabout fade, the female faces at Champion Hill may be changing, but with attendances for the women’s team continuing to grow, culminating in a new record figure of 1,142 for the home game against Enfield in April, the future of the club remains bright.
Players who are staying, such as the Yorkshire-born defender Jodie Lodge, will be particularly crucial to the Dulwich cause next season, as will the fans of course. “We’ve got talented players in every position and we showed our strength this season when we had injuries and other people came in,” Jodie said.
“Before I joined I didn’t realise how committed the fans would be – they
THE FANS
REALLY ARE LIKE A 12TH PLAYER OUT THERE
really are like a 12th player out there. Next season I’m super-excited to still be at Dulwich and I think we can push on, go for promotion again and hopefully have a good FA Cup run.”
And you never know, some of the faces from 2023-24 just may return to Champion Hill one of these days.
“I see myself back at Dulwich one day,” said Shakira, as she prepared to pack her bags for her new adventure across the Atlantic. “It’s the best team I’ve ever played for. I’d love to come back.”
To discuss sponsorship opportunities with the Dulwich Hamlet Women’s team, please contact Clare Keeble by emailing commercial@dulwichhamlet.co.uk
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The language of laughter
MUNYA CHAWAWA HAS GONE FROM SOCIAL MEDIA SENSATION TO CREATING A SKETCH SHOW FOR RADIO 4. WE TAKE A LOOK AT HIS CAREER SO FAR
BY LUKE G WILLIAMS
British comedy has come a long way since the days when a Cambridge education and a place in the Footlights comedy troupe pretty much guaranteed a neat segue into a contract with the BBC.
Munya Chawawa is one of the new and thrilling generation of comedians who have harnessed the power of social media – rather than the old school tie – to break their way into the mainstream.
“I want to break the mould of being from a classically trained, elitist background,” the Forest Hill-based comic and satirist told the Face in 2020.
“I’ve always been trained in my life, especially by my dad who is a very conventional Zimbabwean, that you have to live with purpose. You have to try and leave some sort of impression on this Earth when you go.”
Munyaradzi Oliver Chawawa was born in Derby on 29 December 1992 but was raised in Zimbabwe until the age of 11. It was his upbringing in the southern African state that he credits for breeding in him a sense of self-confidence, albeit a selfconfidence that was dented when his family returned to the UK to live in Framingham Pigot, a Norfolk village close to Norwich.
“We were encouraged to be proud of our personalities [in Zimbabwe],” Munya told the Guardian in 2020. “At school one day the teacher was like, ‘Right, we’re having a selfesteem lesson today’. I learned to not have any shame attached to being expressive. Then when I moved back to England, I felt many layers of my personality being sheared off. It was like your status was proportional to how discreet you were.”
Of mixed ethnicity, with a black father and white mother, Munya was always interested in comedy, and was particularly drawn to comics who straddled the boundaries of what might be considered transgressive or in bad taste, for example Frankie Boyle and Jimmy Carr, possibly as something of a rebellion against his somewhat strict and Christian upbringing.
“There were lots of parameters over what we could and couldn’t do or say,” he once reflected. “Saying ‘abracadabra’ was the equivalent of blurting out the C-word in my house, because my dad is religious and that’s a magical phrase.”
A successful student at Notre Dame High School in Norwich who then graduated in psychology from the University of Sheffield, Munya found himself battling the feeling that he never quite fitted in during his university days.
“I wasn’t a big drinker and didn’t gel too well with my flatmates. I never
fully connected with how university was supposed to be.
“The white people there expected me to be a typical black guy, but I didn’t know [the] culture because I hadn’t grown up in a place like that in England. Meanwhile, I didn’t necessarily know how to relate to white people. I still to this day do not know the hook for Sex on Fire.”
Initially, Munya tried his hand at presenting and working behind the scenes and writing for television production companies. However, it was through social media that he was to find his metier by developing a range of wickedly funny and satirical comedy characters, whose sketches he disseminates via X and Instagram – platforms where he has a combined total of more than 1.5m followers.
“All the times I’ve been trying to get into TV or radio, I’ve had to impress one person at the top,” Munya has said of why, ultimately, he believes he found fame via the internet rather than through a traditional broadcast route. “On the internet, every video could be your massive break. I want to be kind of like a young and sharp satirist from, perhaps, an untypically satirist background who is working up there with the best.”
Among Munya’s most notable comic creations are Johnny Oliver, Jamie Oliver’s “Caribbean cousin”, and the racist newsreader Barty Crease. Then there’s Unknown P, a posh rapper who raps about fox hunting or
his friends “Martin and Tabitha” who have been prosecuted for tax evasion.
“If you watch the character and you feel like this is so cringeworthy and it makes your skin crawl, that’s what I want you to feel,” Munya admits of the impetus behind this character. “That’s how I felt. I wanted people to feel the emotions I felt when I was around these people who were alienating me with their wealth and their status.”
Indeed, you could argue that for Munya, sketch comedy is a cathartic process enabling him to “re-find the person that I was back in Zimbabwe”.
Since uploading his first video in 2019, Munya’s following has grown rapidly, and spread particularly fast during the Covid-19 lockdowns. One of the secrets to his success is his incredible facility for reacting to items in the news in a quickfire and pitchperfect manner. As the Guardian put it: “Any time there’s an incident that highlights the racism in British public life, Munya Chawawa will have skewered it while it’s still trending.”
However, unlike many internet comedians, the quality and production values of Munya’s work remains consistently and impressively high. “What I want to leave behind is a quality body of work that you can’t fault in terms of production and the scripting, as opposed to being slapdash,” he has said.
So successful has Munya been online, that more traditional and
SOMETIMES COMEDY IS A LANGUAGE THAT UNITES ALL DIFFERENT KINDS OF PEOPLE
mainstream sections of the media have been forced to sit up and take notice. Through his Unknown P persona he was signed by Atlantic Records in 2020. He co-hosted the Mobo Awards in 2021 and has appeared on TV programmes such as The Great Celebrity Bake Off, The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan, The Jonathan Ross Show, Have I Got News for You and Would I Lie To You?
However, perhaps Munya’s biggest mainstream break came last month when he began a three-week long BBC Radio 4 sketch show titled Munya Chawawa’s Election Doom Scroll, which debuted in the prime 6.30pm slot in the run-up to the election.
Regardless of whether his platform is the BBC or social media, Munya’s mission remains the same and he is unwavering in his commitment to the concept of comedy as a tool for satire and societal improvement.
“I try to give a satirical take on the biggest global talking points. It brings everything into perspective. Race and class and privilege, we talk about them and there is some amazing literature out there, but some people can’t really process that information.
“Sometimes comedy is a language that unites all different kinds of people: it’s the language of laughter. If you can disguise or embed a message within that, it’s an effective way of communicating any injustices or riffs in society that otherwise people don’t want to address.”
Painting a picture
PHOTOS BY JULIA HAWKINS
In addition to Dulwich Picture Gallery’s renowned indoor space, its ambitious Open Art project has taken a significant step forward with sculptures by the acclaimed artists Yinka Shonibare and Li Li Ren. Their arrival at the gallery this summer has established London’s first gallery-based sculpture garden – which is free for everyone to enjoy –within the three-acre grounds. After the installation, the local photographer Julia Hawkins took the opportunity to take some pictures of the gallery indoors and outdoors. Here are the results...
Second nature
THE NATURALIST AND WRITER GERALD DURRELL WAS BORN IN INDIA, BUT HE SPENT A COLOURFUL COUPLE OF YEARS GROWING UP IN DULWICH
BY LUKE G WILLIAMS
The places that immediately spring to mind when the name Gerald Durrell is mentioned are Corfu – the Greek island where he lived for four years and that formed the backdrop to his much-loved book My Family and Other Animals – and Jersey, where he founded a famous zoo that is still thriving today.
Less commented upon is the great naturalist and writer’s connection to Dulwich – where few people realise he and his family lived for several years prior to their time in the idyllic Greek island.
Born on 7 January 1925, Gerald was the youngest of Louisa and Lawrence Durrell’s five children – one of whom died in infancy – and spent his early childhood in India, where he was also born, while his father worked as an engineer. Prior to Gerald’s birth, his parents had decided to send their oldest son Lawrence – known to his family as Larry and later a renowned writer himself – to be educated in England.
With this plan in mind, the Durrells came to England in April 1923. According to Larry’s 1996 biographer, Gordon Bowker, they rented a property located at 36 Hillsborough (now Hillsboro) Road, the rear of which looked out over the playing fields of Alleyn’s School. The house no longer exists, having been demolished in 1992 to make way for the building of a new junior school at Alleyn’s.
When Lawrence and Louisa returned to India in the autumn of 1923 with their daughter, Margo, Larry and his younger brother Leslie were left behind in Dulwich under the guardianship of their landlady, Edith Dyson.
About a year after Gerald’s birth, Lawrence and Louisa bought a property in Alleyn Park, a large house close to Dulwich Prep School. Most sources list the property as having been number 43 – and there is even an English Heritage plaque installed at this address, though other sources identify the Durrells’ property as having been number 48.
LOUIE, DEAR, YOU OUGHTN’T BE LIVING IN A HOUSE LIKE THIS ALONE – MOST UNWISE! WE MUST GET A MAN!
The young Gerald spent a few months with his mother in the Alleyn Park property in 1926, before they rejoined his father, who was now based in Lahore, in 1927. The plan was for the entire family to eventually leave India and settle in Dulwich, but fate intervened when Lawrence fell ill in early 1928 and died in April of a suspected cerebral haemorrhage, aged just 43.
A public notice relating to Lawrence’s probate that appeared in the Forest Hill and Sydenham Examiner on 21 December 1928 listed
the family’s address as 48 Alleyn Park – a detail that tallies with Ian MacNiven’s 2020 biography of Larry, albeit not with the location of English Heritage’s plaque and most other sources.
With the effects of the tragic death of her husband still reverberating, Louisa decided to return to England and Alleyn Park with Margot and Gerald as soon as her husband’s estate had been settled. For the majority of the two-year spell that Gerald lived in Dulwich he was alone in the house with his mother, with Larry, Leslie
and Margo being educated in various boarding schools.
Writing in later life, Gerald recalled the Alleyn Park property as “sheltering behind a grim, dripping, choking laurel hedge”. Louisa’s cousin Prue, who according to Gerald was “one of our nicest relatives”, was a frequent visitor, helping to settle the family in Dulwich and assisting with caring for the children. According to Gerald, on her initial arrival, Prue told Louisa: “Louie, dear, you oughtn’t to be living in a house like this alone – most unwise! We must get a man!”
After placing an advertisement in the local press, a gentleman named Stone was duly employed to prepare evening meals and assist in the house, but he did not live in, so Prue’s next idea was for the family to acquire a guard dog. A day later she turned up at the house with a terrifying-looking bullmastiff, which Gerald described as “about the size of a Trafalgar Square lion” and which was promptly named Prince.
The young Gerald – demonstrating the keen interest in animals that would later occupy his professional life – was fascinated by Prince, who proved a somewhat troublesome addition to the household, killing as he did several smaller local dogs on his eventful daily walks around Dulwich, with the Durrells having to pay various sums of money in compensation to distressed owners as a result.
ABOVE: A STATUE OF GERALD DURRELL IN CORFU BELOW LEFT: THE DURRELL WILDLIFE CONSERVATION TRUST IN JERSEY BELOW RIGHT: DURRELL IN ASKANIANOVA, UKRAINE, 1985
“Probably he did not consider them dogs because they were so small,” Gerald later pondered of Prince’s roll call of canine victims, which included a pekingese, a pomeranian and a yorkshire terrier among others. “He may have thought they were rats or small rabbits. Be that as it may, yells and screams from Mother and Prue, accompanied by belabouring with umbrellas and handbags, Prince merely took as encouragement.”
Prince was also present for another memorable, albeit unsettling, incident at Alleyn Park. One night as the huge dog was deployed to the sitting room, where he stood guard each night in order to protect the household from
potential burglars, he began growling and refused to enter the room. Louisa could see nothing and no one in there, but when Gerald peered around the door, he saw the ghostly figure of his father sat smoking in the large armchair.
In the end, Prince’s violent tendencies saw him sent away to the country. With typical wit, Gerald later declared that this enabled him to “pick on something more his size, like a bullock”. The dog’s departure upset the four-year-old Gerald, who admitted: “I wept passionately at our parting and gave him a bag of peppermints to remember me by.”
Not long after Gerald turned five, his mother decided that the Alleyn Park house was too large and expensive to maintain. She rented it out and the Durrells instead moved to an apartment located at 10 Queen’s Court in Upper Norwood, a part of the huge Queen’s Hotel complex that was originally built to cater for visitors to the Crystal Palace and today is a Best Western hotel.
Life in Upper Norwood fuelled Gerry’s fledgling interest in wildlife –a side entrance to the family flat led into the hotel gardens, and he spent many happy hours wandering amid the shrubs and flowers, as well as observing the snails in the hotel pond and the numerous birds that flew in and out of the grounds.
WHEN GERALD PEERED AROUND THE DOOR,
HE SAW THE GHOSTLY FIGURE OF HIS FATHER SAT SMOKING IN THE LARGE ARMCHAIR
The Durrells’ sojourn in south London was now coming to an end – they moved to Parkstone near Poole in 1931, the same year that Gerry’s older brother Leslie began an unhappy spell at Dulwich College as a boarder. The Durrells sold their Alleyn Park property in 1932 and Leslie left Dulwich College in 1933 as the family’s ties to south London dissolved.
In 1935 Louisa took Gerry, Margo and Leslie to Corfu, where they joined Larry who was now married and had moved to the Greek island the previous year. It was in Corfu that Gerry accumulated the experiences later immortalised – albeit with some exaggeration and fictionalisation for comic effect – in his brilliant memoir, My Family and Other Animals (first published in 1956) and its two sequels, Birds, Beasts and Relatives (1969) and The Garden of the Gods (1978).
Corfu, in Gerry’s estimation, was a “magic land, a forest of flowers through which roamed creatures I had never seen before”. As for Dulwich, it may not merit so much as a namecheck in the pages of his famous trilogy, but the installation of a blue plaque in his memory at 43 Alleyn Park in 2020 provides a permanent visual reminder of the brief but fascinating period that the great naturalist spent here.
7 Across is a name associated with Dulwich. ACROSS
7 NEARLYDAWDLE (anagram) (6, 6)
9 Film-set boss (8)
10 South American outer garment (6)
11 Restraining rope (6)
12 Unfancied competitor (8)
15 Distant (7)
16 London football club (7)
19 Throw overboard (8)
21 Entertain, amuse (6)
22 Beam above a door (6)
24 Actor’s trial (8)
25 Lack of ability, ineptitude (12) DOWN
1 Intentional (10)
2 Darling (10)
3 Standards, rules (8)
4 Barber’s service (7)
5 Ran off to get married (6)
6 Religious song (4)
8 Incorrect (5)
13 Demoting (10)
14 Neglected, omitted (10)
17 Genetic legacy (8)
18 Sad (7)
19 Wobbly dessert (5)
20 Wild West bar (6)
23 Flavour, taste (4)
Chelsea, 19 Jettison, 21 Regale, 22 Lintel, 24 Audition, 25 Incompetence. DOWN: 1 Deliberate, 2 Sweetheart, 3 Criteria, 4 Haircut, 5 Eloped, 6 Hymn, 8 Wrong, 13 Relegating, 14 Overlooked, 17 Heredity, 18 Unhappy, 19 Jelly, 20 Saloon, 23 Tang.
The ‘one to watch’
ROSEMEAD PREP CELEBRATES INSPECTION REPORT, GOOD SCHOOLS GUIDE REVIEW AND AWARD SUCCESS
Rosemead Preparatory School and Nursery, Dulwich, south London, is celebrating after a brilliant report from the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) and Good Schools Guide review, which commends the school as the ‘one to watch’.
The ISI inspection, which was carried out in November 2023, praised Rosemead’s academic approach to learning, pastoral care and support and the positive influence of the school’s values, vision, and leadership.
‘A highly customised approach to every pupil’s academic progress is a significant strength of the school,’ the report explained. ‘A customised learning programme in mathematics, English and reasoning caters for pupils in Year 4 and above. This, supported by an extensive enrichment programme and much support for individuals, impacts on all groups of pupils, enabling them to make good and often rapid progress over time.’
Speaking about the report, Head of Rosemead, Graeme McCafferty explained: ‘I am absolutely thrilled to share our outstanding recent inspection report with our community.
‘One standout strength that truly shines through is our highly customised approach
to every child’s academic progress. The report highlighted our dedication to tailoring personal learning programs for each child, particularly in subjects like Maths, English, VR, and NVR.’
Graeme added: ‘What’s more, our extensive learning support programme ensures that every individual in our school community not only succeeds but thrives. Speaking about the news, Head Graeme said: ‘The whole school is thrilled to receive this award. Thank you to Education Choices magazine for recognising Rosemead in this way.
‘My heartfelt thanks go to the staff, pupils and parents who have been on this journey with us in the last year.’
Rosemead’s early years’ provision was also praised in the summary findings.
‘Leaders in the early years effectively ensure staff have high expectations of the behaviour and achievement of children,’ the report found. ‘The positive relationships between adults and children in the early years help children settle in quickly and feel safe and happy.’
It added: ‘Children in the early years achieve well from their varied starting points. Adults engage with the children effectively and use appropriate questioning
to develop children’s vocabulary and understanding. Children from an early age become confident speakers and develop their reading skills well.
The report comes at an exciting time for Rosemead. Last year, the school announced a merger with St Dunstan’s College joining St Dunstan’s Community of Schools.
St Dunstan’s Group Head, Nick Hewlett, said: ‘The whole community is delighted with the ISI inspection for Rosemead. The report rightly recognises the outstanding education Rosemead is offering as one of south London’s leading prep schools. Bringing our schools together has been a wonderful opportunity, allowing our staff and students to work closer together, learning from one another and enhancing our students’ educational journeys.
‘I pay tribute to the staff, children and parents who are part of this onward journey, and I am very excited by Rosemead’s future.’
Rosemead is also celebrating after a visit from the Good Schools Guide which praised the school’s leadership and its future direction.
‘With a head and staff who are emotionally engaged with, and academically ambitious for, their pupils,
there is no doubt that children here are happy and make excellent progress,’ the review explained. ‘They (pupils) are attentive, polite and delightfully entertaining.’
The review adds: ‘A parent told us, ‘At the age of four, it is impossible to know who your child will be or where his or her interests and strengths will lie at 11.’ Here, the school, parents and children go on that journey of discovery together, so that when the time comes the right choices are made.
‘We think Rosemead is definitely ‘one to watch’ as it carves out a specific niche in this corner of London.’
In June, the school was also delighted to receive an award at the prestigious Education Choices Award, winning for best Improvements in EDIB (Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging).
Speaking about the news, Head Graeme said: ‘The whole school is thrilled to receive this award. This recognition reaffirms our commitment to providing the best possible education for every child at Rosemead, and I couldn’t be prouder of our school’s achievement.
‘My heartfelt thanks go to the staff, pupils and parents who have been on this journey with us in the last year.’
MUSICAL THEATRE SUMMER
TO THE GARDEN TO THE KITCHEN
BY JANE MERRICK
I am writing this column in the middle of the election campaign – something that has been keeping me busy in my day job as a political journalist, and away from my plot more than I would like for the past few weeks.
There have been only a few chances, in the light summer evenings, to pop down and water my sweet peas, courgettes, pumpkins and French beans.
The heavy rain we had throughout spring really helped the peas and beans in particular to grow well, but trying to keep on top of watering as it got hotter and drier in late June, while also following Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, was a challenge.
I have, nevertheless, been able to garden in my mind, remotely – planning a new area in which to sit and relax when the election is finally over.
Gardeners and allotmenteers are renowned for never sitting still. There is always something to do. If we didn’t
Peppers Piedmontese
Marinated peppers are a simple pleasure almost any way you slice it, but this classic version is king. Although this is a vegetarian dish, I’ve suggested that you might like to add some very nice salted anchovy fillets. This isn’t necessary for a delicious outcome but, if you are partial to a bit of fish, they’re an extra salty treat. This dish is perfect at room temperature, or cold even. Don’t worry
INGREDIENTS
• 4 peppers, sliced in half down the stem and deseeded
• 8 smallish but not cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp capers
• Extra virgin olive oil
• As much basil as you want, leaves picked
set aside a bench or table and chairs to pause we would never stop.
For more than 10 years at the allotment I have used a slightly rickety table and plastic patio chair jammed awkwardly between the monster grapevine and my (now teenage) daughter’s playhouse. The problem was, I never wanted to sit there.
The rusty table will be revamped and covered with a waterproof tablecloth, with a parasol to provide relaxing shade for the summer, and moved to an open space next to my bed of rhubarb and tea roses on one side and my collection of bearded irises on the other. There will be strawberries and herbs in pots nearby.
The existing mirabelle plum and apple “Discovery” will provide some shade.
The playhouse, whose roof is starting to fail thanks to a decade of stormy winters, will be transformed into an open-top potting area, for propagating existing plants, seed sowing and offering some protection for seedlings in early spring.
I have rescued an old cold frame, without its glass, that could be fitted with some recycled Perspex I’d used years ago for another project.
Maybe this urge to reorganise has something to do with the political weather, or perhaps it is a recognition that I need to sit and stare more often.
The benefits of gardening for physical and mental health are well documented, but this should not only be about being active in nature, but passive: noticing the smell of the roses, the chatter of the robins at dusk, and the gentle breeze through the ash and oak trees that run along the edge of our site.
When she’s not on her allotment in East Dulwich, Jane Merrick is policy editor at the i paper. Follow @jane.merrick on Instagram and read her blog at heroutdoors.uk
• 8 anchovy fillets (optional)
about heating it up – it won’t make it better. It certainly works nicely prepared in advance, with time to sit in its own juices, the flavour of the peppers and tomatoes melding with the olive oil. And where there are delicious juices, bread should always be close behind. I haven’t written bread into the recipe because you might not want it, but it’s definitely, definitely, definitely a good idea.
METHOD
1 Preheat your oven to 200C/180C fan and line a baking tray with baking paper and a decent splash of olive oil. Lay the pepper halves down cavity side up and season lightly with salt and pepper, then place two tomato halves in each half pepper.
2 Lightly season the tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil and add a few slices of garlic. Sprinkle over the capers and maybe a final dash of olive oil. Bake until the peppers and tomatoes have just started to collapse – this should take 15-20 minutes, but keep an eye on them; you want them to be nicely yielding but holding a bit of shape.
3 Remove from the oven and cool on the tray. If you want to keep them for the next day, put them in a container with a lid, ideally in one layer, or place cling film over the tray if it fits in your fridge.
4 Lay the peppers on a platter and spoon over the cooking juices. Tear and scatter the basil leaves over the top, and if you are keen on anchovies, lay a fillet or two over each pepper. Drizzle with olive oil.
From Cooking for People by Mike Davies, chef and owner of the Camberwell Arms, which will be published on 15 August by Pavilion
An Opinionated Guide to South London
BY JESSICA GULLIVER
An Opinionated Guide to South London is a beautifully bright and portable paperback in neon pink. It’s a new addition to the series from Hoxton Mini Press, which includes an Opinionated Guide to London Pubs, Kids’ London and London Architecture to name but a few.
It’s great to see some local favourites featured among the 70-plus south London spots that are showcased, including Meet Bernard and Rye Books. But for Dulwich dwellers already familiar with the many charms of SE22, where this 160-page book really comes in handy is as a guide to neighbouring treasures.
A number of art galleries and cultural institutions are represented – from the South London Gallery on Peckham Road through to White Cube in Bermondsey.
TO THE HAMLET
Chris Lewington
Position Goalkeeper
Born 1988
Chris Lewington began playing football at Charlton Athletic as a youngster and was with the club until the age of 13.
After one season of Sunday league football with Erith & Belvedere, he joined Dulwich Hamlet during the 2006–07 pre-season.
Following an injury to the goalkeeper Carl Emberson, he made his debut in their friendly against Dorking in a 5-1 victory in July 2006.
Lewington was dual-registered with Kent League side Beckenham Town during his time with the Hamlet, making his debut for Beckenham in August 2006 against Deal Town in a 2-1 victory.
The following month, Lewington made his first-team debut for Dulwich Hamlet in their 3-0 FA Cup preliminary round victory against Three Bridges, although he had little to do in a dominant display by Dulwich.
He made his final first-team appearance for Dulwich on 12 December when they tied 0-0 with Sittingbourne.
In 2007, he switched to Fisher Athletic, who were then based at Champion Hill, and later played for sides including Leatherhead, Dagenham & Redbridge, Margate and Cray Valley Paper Mills.
For more on the history of the Hamlet, visit thehamlethistorian.blogspot.co.uk
Dotted among them are entries on a lamp shop in Peckham (Lamp/Ldn), a community record shop (Lorenzo’s) in Brockley, and Lassco, an architectural salvage shop in Wandsworth.
Gems… and useful information, too. Who knew there was a cafe in Camberwell run by a social enterprise helping young people into employment? Not me. (Lumberjack on Camberwell Church Street.)
Then there’s beautiful Beckenham Place Park and its swimming lake, which may be a refuge to many of us if the weather does ever improve.
Of course, some of south London’s best bits are its parks: Crystal Palace Park also gets a nice mention, dinosaurs and all – and further afield, Richmond Park, too.
Back on home ground, beautiful Brockwell Park and the ever popular lido are featured. As is Nunhead Cemetery.
I’d buy this book for a Christmas stocking; I’d buy it as a gift to a friend or family member who either lived in south London or wanted to visit. I’d send it to Londonphiles. I’d buy it for myself as inspiration for what to do in this sacred land. It’s a fun and informative read.
If I were putting together my own guide, I would also include Peckham Rye Park and Common and its William Blake roots; Franklins in East Dulwich, the OG Lordship Lane culinary destination that is still thriving; our libraries and charity shops; and Dulwich Wood.
But then, it’s good to keep some things to ourselves, and to realise once again: we live in an area of abundance, culturally if not spiritually.
An Opinionated Guide to South London, by Emmy Watts, is published by Hoxton Mini Press and costs £11.95
TO THE PEOPLE
Stephen Frost
Local resident Stephen Frost is an actor and comedian who was born in Redruth, Cornwall. He is the son of the renowned artist Terry Frost.
Stephen is best known for his work with his comedy partner, Mark Arden, as part of the double act the Oblivion Boys on Saturday Live. The duo appeared in The Young Ones, and later had their own TV series, Lazarus and Dingwall, on BBC Two. Frost has also appeared on various panel shows including BBC Radio 4’s Just a Minute, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Have I Got News for You and Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
He played two roles in Blackadder: a prison guard in the first-series episode, Witchsmeller Pursuivant, and the overly cheerful head of a firing squad in the episode Corporal Punishment from Blackadder Goes Forth.
He appeared in the comedy series Mr Bean, starring Rowan Atkinson, in the episode titled Mr Bean Rides Again. In 2003 he acted in a production of 12 Angry Men alongside Bill Bailey. Frost is a regular on the London comedy circuit. He is also a veteran of the Edinburgh fringe festival and Glastonbury festival.
Illustration by Peter Rhodes
USING THE POWER OF THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES TO SUPPORT SOCIAL COHESION & COMMUNITY IN PECKHAM AND BEYOND
We’re a not-for-profit club of over 500 amazing creative professionals from more than 30 disciplines using our creative skills to support local Social Impact Entrepreneurs, Charities and Community Initiatives for free.
Founded in Peckham in 2018, our mission is to help our local communities thrive and grow by unleashing the incredible power of the UK’s Creative Industries, starting right here in South East London.
