Bermondsey Biscuit & Rotherhithe Docker - summer 2023

New building, new name, new chapter

Embark on a new chapter of educational excellence at Charter School

Bermondsey, led by Principal Marcus Huntley. Our school radiates an inspiring culture of ambition, exploration and connection that nurtures young minds.

At Charter School Bermondsey, we strive for excellence in all aspects of education.

Our students enjoy a diverse and engaging curriculum, further enriched by a strong sports, technology and creative arts offer.

Charter Bermondsey broadens horizons by organising captivating trips to theatres, galleries, outward-bound residential programs, and even overseas visits, exposing our students to a world beyond the classroom.

Contributing to the community is central to Charter Bermondsey’s values. Every student actively participates in charitable initiatives.

Through programs like:

• the Greenhouse Table Tennis and Sports Leaders

• coaching to local primary school pupils

• charitable fundraising for many organisations including support for Ukrainian charities, the Manna Homeless Centre in London Bridge, and Breast Cancer Awareness.

We challenge our students to aim high, develop their character and forge lasting friendships while relishing their learning journey.

Principal, Marcus Huntley

Step into our state-of-the-art building on Keeton’s Road, conveniently located near Bermondsey Underground. With small year groups of 110, we ensure that each child is known and receives personalised attention.

“The decision to choose this school was truly the best for my child’s progress and well-being.”

- Charter Bermondsey parent

This autumn, we invite you to visit us and witness first hand the vibrant atmosphere we have cultivated. Experience the infectious culture of aspiration, exploration and community connection that sets us apart. A warm welcome awaits you! Sign up for news updates including admissions and open events.

charterbermondsey.org.uk

Charter Bermondsey

Keeton’s Road, SE16 4EE 0203 542 6506

About us

We’ve been based in the old Biscuit Factory in Bermondsey since 1994.

Our flagship publication, the Southwark News launched in 1987 and is now London’s only independent, paid for newspaper.

We created the Bermondsey Biscuit and Rotherhithe Docker in 2018 with support from sponsors including Sellar, Grosvenor, British Land, and many other local businesses.

We also publish the South Londoner each month, and the Greenwich and Lewisham Weekender every week.

We are proud to be a London Living Wage employer.

We use 100% recovered paper from the Ortviken paper mill in Sweden, a green energy provider who use biofuel instead of oil and provide heat for 10,000 single family homes.

Editor Eliza Frost

Writers Michael Holland, Debra Gosling

Design Lizzy Tweedale, Dan Martin, Ann Gravesen Marketing Clarry Frewin, Katie Boyd, Sophie Ali Media Partnerships Anthony Phillips

Finance Emrah Zeki

Managing Directors Chris Mullany and Kevin Quinn

contents

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5 What’s on? Summer is for getting out and about –pubs and parks are calling our name. Check out our diary highlights for the season

6-10 food & drink The Biscuit takes a trip to Baccalà for a taste of Italy, SE1 restaurant In Horto presents The Dish and find out more about a new Disappearing Dining Club

22 community Have you ever wondered how your favourite pub got its name? Well, we’ve got the answers…

24 history Debra Gosling uncovers the history of The Bermondsey Bookshop of the 1920s

Email enquiry@bermondseybiscuit.co.uk

PhonE 020 7231 5258

facEbook BermondseyBiscuit

instagram @ bermondseyBiscuit

WEbsitE www.bbandrd.co.uk

26-28 PEoPlE Bermondsey’s Goldfinch Furniture supports young people into the life of work – and creates high quality furniture. We talk to director Mike Biddulph to find out more

30 mEmory lanE ‘We’ve created an environment where people can forget about work and all the day-to-day pressures, and just have a few drinks’: Michael Holland takes a trip to The Victoria

a thank you to our sponsors

We'd like to acknowledge all our sponsors and supporters for helping us bring the Bermondsey Biscuit and Rotherhithe Docker to life.

What’s on in SE1 and SE16?

souThWark PlayhousE

If theatre is your thing this summer, Southwark Playhouse has you covered. At its Borough branch, you’ll find Under the Kundè Tree by Clarisse Makundul – showing until 17 June, and at Elephant and Castle, it’s a new musical of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, book and lyrics by Jethro Compton and music and lyrics by Darren Clark – showing until 1 July. Under the Kundè Tree is set in the ‘50s during the secret Cameroonian War of Independence. It follows Sara, a young woman, struggling to strike a balance between her heart’s desire and the pressure to fulfil traditional familial obligations.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button sees an individual born in rather unusual circumstances: Benjamin Button is an old man, not at the end of his life, but at the beginning. Locked away from the world and branded a monster, Benjamin dreams of the chance to live a little life. More than anything, he dreams of love. With no hope of finding it, Benjamin resigns himself to a life of solitude, until, one day, a miracle occurs – the local barmaid, Elowen Keene. But as the years come and go, time and tide threaten to tear the two apart.

southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Elephant and Castle: Dante Place, 80 Newington Butts, SE11 4FL Borough: 77-85 Newington Causeway, SE1 6BD

souThWark Park gallEriEs PrograMME

Southwark Park Galleries’ 2023 exhibition programme launched earlier in the year with a new immersive and performative installation by internationally renowned choreographer and visual artist Florence Peake. Enveloping both galleries, Lake and Dilston, Peake’s major solo commission will present a body of monumental paintings using her distinctive gestural, and movement marking techniques. The exhibition is showing until 2 July.

southwarkparkgalleries.org

1 Park Approach, Southwark Park, SE16 2UA

bErMonDsEy squarE sunDay Jazz Days

Spend your summer chilling out to some smooth jazz: the Bermondsey Square Jazz Days have returned every Sunday until 3 September. Get down to Bermondsey Square from 2pm each week for the free community event, now celebrating its sixth season.

The organisers said: “Bermondsey Square Jazz Days over the past five years have proudly supported many fine musicians, inviting several students and graduates from London’s leading music conservatoires, including Royal Academy of Arts, Guildhall and Trinity Laban.” And this year, they have made the event more inclusive than ever with additional seating and a disability-access toilet.

bermondseysquare.net

Bermondsey Square, SE1 3UN

roThErhiThE FEsTival

Head on down to King George’s Fields for the 2023 Rotherhithe Festival on 22 July. Access through the main entrance on SE16’s Moodkee Street, the festival is on from 11:30am to 8:30pm.

The line-up: Robin BiBi – 2pm to 3pm, Chris Corcoran Band – 3pm to 4:30pm, Paul Cox and the Soul Intention Band – 6:30pm to 8pm. rotherhithefestival.com Moodkee Street, SE16 7BJ

lonDon’s largEsT rEal ciDEr FEsTival is back

Cider Dog Festival is back on Saturday 15 July, from 12pm to 1am, serving all of your cider needs. At The Miller in SE1, you’ll find live music, DJs, street food and a selection of over 100 ciders to wet your whistle –and they’re only £4 a pint. With free entry! Music to our ears.

www.themiller.co.uk

96 Snowfields Road, SE1 3SS

ThE MusEuM For biscuiT lovErs

The Peek Freans Biscuity Factory is a well-known symbol of Bermondsey’s industrial past. But far from just a manufacturing plant, it was also a place of confectionary creativity, where some of the UK’s bestloved treats got their lucky breaks.

Known for their unique knobbly appearance and “love it or hate it” Marmite-like taste, Twiglets were invented by the Peek Freans Biscuity Factory in 1929.

And now, visitors can learn more about the history of these busy biscuit makers at the Peek Freans Museum. Artefacts include a salesman’s display pack of Peek Freans finest from the 1940s and lots more memorabilia.

@peek_freans_museum on Instagram

To arrange a visit, email: peekfreanmuseum@hotmail.com

100 Drummond Road, SE16 4DG

bitesize

Eliza Frost

these days opens aperitivo bar

These Days are doing things differently. They’ve opened an aperitivo bar slap bang in the middle of London’s famous beer mile. The bar will offer a progressive Spritz menu, banging bar snacks, alfresco seating and a modern approach to aperitivo.

The bar opened in early May and is led by These Days founder Oli Man, previously of The Culpeper. Taking over an old archway, the bar holds up to 50 people, and offers an opportunity to explore new flavours and ways of experiencing aperitivo, showing there is more to it than just the big orange Spritz.

Leaning into the Italian custom of nibbling on moreish snacks alongside bitter cocktails, These Days has a short and concise bar snack menu. Using produce from their neighbours on the beer mile, the menu features bread and oil from St John Bakery, cheeses from Neal’s Yard Dairy, as well as charcuterie, olives and crisps.

Oli says: “We’re so excited to open our brand home, get back to our bartending roots, experiment with new Spritz flavours and show how great aperitivo can be.”

We love a spritz here at The Biscuit, so you know where to find us this summer.

thesedaysdrinks.com | 100 Druid Street, SE1 2AN

trinity25 gin wins award

Spirit of Bermondsey’s Trinity25 gin was awarded a bronze medal at the 2023 London Spirits Competition, marking a significant achievement for the brand.

Despite being a Session Spirit™ pouring at 25% ABV, Trinity25 competed against full-strength spirits from around the world and was recognised by a panel of judges for its high-quality taste and craftsmanship within the gin category.

Trinity25 is a premium-quality Session Spirit™ distilled for longevity and adds a consistent approach towards moderation. It’s made from a unique blend of botanicals, including cardamom, coriander seed and black pepper that gives it a citrusy-spiced kick. This now award-winning spirit offers a smooth and refreshing taste that's perfect for any occasion.

www.spiritofbermondsey.com

Jo-Jo’s bagels

Bagels for breakfast or lunch, introducing Jo-Jo’s Bagels on Bermondsey’s Blue market. Open Tuesday to Saturday, from 9am to 4pm, the regulars include salt beef and breakfast bagels to satisfy any hunger.

Jo-Jo’s also does specials Thursday through to Saturday each week, follow their Instagram @jojos_bagels to find out the next day’s special and head on down to the Blue for a bagel.

@jojos_bagels on Instagram

The Blue Market, Market Place, SE16 3UQ

ethiopian food on the blue

Wagay Ethiopian Kitchen opened on the Blue last year after owner Temesgen Melese saw no one else in the area was selling food like his. Now, he is bringing his culture to the community by selling food bursting with Ethiopian flavours.

Open from Monday to Friday, from 9am to 3:30pm, diners have a choice of vegetable, chicken or beef – served with rice or an Ethiopian fermented soft flatbread called Injera. Prices are £7-£8 for a meal.

The Blue Market, Market Place, SE16 3UQ

crol + co opening new site

The independent speciality coffee company Crol + Co are opening a new site in SE1. The coffee-by-day turned bar-by-night has two existing locations in Bermondsey and London Bridge, with information on the new site to be shared soon! Keep your eyes peeled.

www.crolandcocoffee.com

77 Dunton Road, SE1 5TW

66A Newcomen Street, SE1 1YT

Fresh loaves at Alma mill and bakery

In April, Bermondsey saw the opening of Alma; a grain-first mill and bakery from the same team behind Natoora. Miller and baker Graison Gill, James Beard finalist and founder of Bellegarde Bakery, is at the helm.

Working with a clear mission: to reinstate the integrity of wheat by freshly milling on site and baking flavour-first, whole-grain loaves at a scale that will have a palpable impact.

Undertaking every step of the process from grain to loaf, every choice that is made is geared towards building flavour and nutrition into the final product. This means they work side-by-side with heritage and population wheat growers across Europe who are building grain resilience, ecosystem biodiversity and complexity into wheat.

You can head down to the mill every Saturday to grab a fresh loaf.

@almamillbakery on Instagram

Open Saturdays, 10am to 2pm 57 Stanworth Street, SE1 3NY

rEviEW seafood sensation

Eliza Frost

bringing ThE iTalian coasT To bErMonDsEy

sTrEET: ThE biscuiT rEviEWs rEsTauranT anD WinE bar baccalà

When I think of Italy, I think of the zesty lemons of Sorrento, I think of drinking Aperol Spritzes in a piazza – drops of condensation dripping down the glass, I think of sauces made from tomatoes crushed by hand and only the best olive oil. I think of sun-dried and layers upon layers, of egg yolks and the richest Parmesan.

I fall in love with the place, the feel, the food with every thought. And when a restaurant brings a taste of that to your home turf, that’s pretty special.

On a particularly dreary day of April showers, I could’ve been sitting in a secluded restaurant off an Italian side street, sipping vino and waiting for my antipasti…

I entered Baccalà soaked through, protected from the rain only from the shared umbrella of my dinner companion. The restaurant offered us a welcome refuge; the host took us to a table along a long bench of diners, each person eyeing the menu with the same eager hunger.

tonnata and whipped salted cod, mussels, borlotti and puntarelle. Baccalà translates to salted cod, and the namesake didn’t disappoint. A fresh and flavourful start to the meal.

««««

Moving to secondi, it was time for pasta, where I ate a dish that I never wanted to end. The linguine with prawns, lemon and three peppers was moreish as I twirled it onto my fork. Mouthful after mouthful of rich sauce cut through with black pepper and the freshness of lemon. The second pasta dish of artichoke lasagne with langoustine, native lobster and crab was nothing to scoff at either.

ThE DaMagE For TWo

Bread and olive oil: £5.50

Tuna tartare: £23

Whipped salted cod: £19

Prawn linguine: £22

Lobster lasagne: £35

Monkfish: £34

Tiramisu: £11

Bottle of wine: Approx. £40

We were presented with three menus – wine, food and a whole menu dedicated to extra virgin olive oil. As the chef talked us through the menu, he highlighted one with notes of basil from his home region of Marche. We dipped fresh bread into the Leccio del Corno olive oil, green in colour and delicious in taste.

Total: £189.50

We then shared the monkfish, artichokes and broad beans – and praised the chef for flavour combinations we hadn’t seen anywhere else.

We finished the evening with one tiramisu and two spoons. It towered on the plate, a perfect square of a perfect dessert. It was the standout dish of the evening, or perhaps I just have a sweet tooth – but it was a truly perfect creaminess blended with the notes of Italian espresso.

Sitting on the pricier side of a meal out, it’s the perfect occasion dinner for when you’re ready to splurge on highquality Italian dishes.

Moving to starters, the primo piatto, we shared tuna tartare, asparagus, caper leaves, horseradish and salsa

A note from the hosts…

www.baccalalondon.co.uk

194-204 Bermondsey Street, SE13TQ

"Contemporary but true to our roots, Baccalà is a genuine Italian restaurant and wine bar in Bermondsey, serving seafood and wine, tailored with fresh, seasonal produce for those who want to become our friends and family.”

takes the next step for local start-ups

As the first new buildings begin to reach full height, people living and working in Canada Water are seeing the development take shape.

But establishing London’s first new town centre in 50 years isn’t just about the construction: British Land wants to help to grow a vibrant local economy where businesses based in the area can serve the needs of the people who live around them. The developer is creating a place where businesses of all types and sizes sit side by side, with jobs at all levels, and where independent operators help forge the new town centre.

In 2017 business enterprise charity Tree Shepherd and British Land partnered to set up Thrive, an affordable workspace that offers local startups a place to grow while paying significantly cheaper rents, as well as access to free expert training and mentoring. Thrive currently supports and provides networking and other services for 31 member businesses, ranging from filmmakers to beauty therapists to counsellors, with many having already moved into their own premises.

After six years, Thrive has now moved into a new, larger space next to Tesco in Surrey Quays Shopping Centre which 12 of its member businesses use as their base. This prime location, in the heart of the local area, gives Thrive the platform it needs to continue its work in supporting traders from the area.

Sandra Ferguson, CEO at Tree Shepherd, says:

We’re excited to have moved to a busier space frequented by more people. This puts the independent businesses we support right in the heart of the action at Surrey Quays Shopping Centre. The new location offers them a base where they can develop and grow to make sure they remain vital parts of the local economy and community.

As Thrive starts life in its new space, one of the businesses it has nurtured over the last few years is making the most of its new home.

Innovative drinks company Strongman’s Tipple is masterminded by Tomas Lenko and his business partner Lukas Etus. With 20+ years of experience in the beverages industry between them, the award-winning duo advise bars and restaurants and run cocktail events for luxury brands across the UK. They also produce their own line of pre-mixed bottled cocktails in their ‘lab’ at Thrive. Thrive has been an “absolute godsend” in helping the business grow, says Tomas, with the access to professional advice and support making it “a wonderful incubator space”.

Strongman’s Tipple is now set up in spacious new premises at Thrive’s new location, in the former Carphone Warehouse in Surrey Quays Shopping Centre. This provides the opportunity for greater product development and warehousing that Tomas and Lukas need to expand their business.

Lukas has a new space in which to grow his business

Thrive members (l to r) April, Genevieve and Lucy outside the new space. Rotherhithe resident Lucy sells her crafty creations on Etsy

The magic of Maltby street

ThE biscuiT MEETs ThE

PErsonaliTiEs oF MalTby

sTrEET MarkET, WhErE

you’ll FinD EvEryThing

FroM EsPrEsso MarTinis

MaDE WiTh FrEshly grounD

guaTEMalan coFFEE To banging sausagE sanDWichEs

WhErE Dogs EaT FrEE

The hustle and bustle of a food market is a whole kind of bliss. Customers are picking up tasters on toothpicks, vendors are hard at work juggling pots and pans and card machines and chatting and smiling. They’re magic, and when it’s a not-so-hidden gem like Maltby Street Market (@maltbystmarket on Instagram), each element shines as you stroll down SE1’s Ropewalk. For our summer issue, The Biscuit met the personalities of Maltby Street to discuss what makes the market what it is.

Ian Banfield, operations and market manager at Maltby Street Market and owner of Malt Bar (@malt. maltby), says the market is a place where people come to escape the bustling streets of Bermondsey. On choosing vendors, he says: “I search for the very best street food dishes from across the world so that people will keep coming. It's always a pleasure to greet new people and discuss their street food flavours.”

And an abundance of flavours there is…

ThE gyoza guys

Chef Amir Pem of The Gyoza Guys (@ gyozaguys) was raised in Bermondsey and started on the market in 2015, after returning from New York where he was a private chef to Sir Paul McCartney.

Unsatisfied with the gyoza offering in London, he decided dumplings needed a spotlight: “Gyoza Guys is my own unique representation of how I think dumplings should be made and served. I’ve currently been at the market coming up to eight years, and it’s a base for us to try new products and welcome the hordes that come and sample my unique gyozas each weekend.”

Pem says the market is a “hidden oasis, with some of the best street food traders that London has to offer”.

ThE bEEFsTEaks

Borrowing their first Big Green Egg BBQ to open a pitch in 2014, The Beefsteaks (@ thebeefsteaks) know how things are done at Maltby. The stall cooks ex-dairy beef over a fire: “Everything is freshly made on the stall and sustainably sourced. We're best known for our steak and chips with chimichurri, but I always say don't sleep on the steak sandwich with the classic horseradish cream.”

If you’re stopping by, expect to hear a lot of metal and hip hop as the “pounding rhythm helps us to serve faster”.

la PEPiá

Maltby Street has been home for La Pepiá (@pepialdn) since 2018, you’ll find them there every weekend, and it’s the place they developed their most popular dish, The Cheese Blanket: “Made by accident one weekend at Maltby Street Market, our signature cheese blanket has become what we are most known for. An ooey gooey layer of cheddar melted directly in front of you, before

being thrown over an arepa with a healthy dose of our green herb salsa.”

You can almost envisage the cheese bubbling before your eyes, and what do they recommend tucked under their cheese blanket? “It’s the pepperoni and jalapeños arepa” for them.

viv’s coFFEE

“One of my favourite things about coffee is how easily community can form around it if you give it the right love and attention,” says the owner of Viv’ Coffee (@vivs.coffee).

Starting at the market in December 2022, Viv of Viv’s Coffee says: “Maltby is such a friendly and nurturing market environment from both other traders and locals.”

Serving single-origin Guatemalan coffee from Hackney Rascal (@rascal.coffee), the “Finca Filadelfia” is a medium roast with a delicious milk chocolatey flavour. She also does a mean espresso martini…

Continues overleaf

Eliza Frost

“the market is a hidden oasis with some of the best street food traders that London has to offer”

Women at war in Cameroon in Under the Kundè Tree

Set during the ‘Hidden War’ of Cameroonian Independence, the empowering production Under the Kundè Tree is coming to Southwark Playhouse this spring. Under the Kundè Tree, written by Clarisse Makundul and directed by Ebenezer Bamgboye, follows a young woman, Sara, struggling to balance her heart’s desire and the pressure to fulfi ll traditional familial obligations during a time of confl ict and the fi ght for decolonisation.

Inspired by her grandmother’s generation in Cameroon, Makundul explores the challenges that women like Sara faced every day in the 1950s during a violent and turbulent period. The drama tackles issues of colonialism, family, love, identity and freedom, grappling with these important topics that have signifi cant contemporary relevance, while also revealing an often overlooked and unknown part of world history.

Under the Kundè Tree is the only production in the UK to explore the Cameroonian Independence War through the lens of women. The conflict is often called the ‘Hidden War’, as it never made global headlines and to this day isn’t taught in schools around the world. This powerful

production highlights this important moment in the decolonisation of Africa, and the history of Cameroon and its people.

Director Ebenezer Bamgboye comments: “A true honour to be bringing this gripping, visceral and virtuosic play to life; telling the story of the Cameroonian fi ght for independence for the fi rst time in British theatre history. Alongside a stellar creative team, we are seeking to create an immersive, visually arresting and deeply theatrical production that entertains audiences whilst confronting them with the previously hidden, dark history of the Western world.”

Wednesday 24th May – Saturday 17th June 2023

Southwark Playhouse Borough, 77 Newington Causeway, London, SE1 6BD

Photo by Elsie Lusty

Photo by Elsie Lusty

ThaT’s banging

Formerly Bangers, That’s Banging (@thats.banging) was born from brainstorming for a unique offering for the market: “We started with giant sandwiches filled with luxury sausage, cheesy mustard mash, pickled shallots and rich gravies. And recently expanded to generous burgers and breakfast buns – and we’ve collaborated with Viv's Coffee to offer a banging Friday night burger and espresso martini deal.”

Maltby Street Market is a “home away from home” for That’s Banging: “As soon as I walk down the Ropewalk, my mood lifts. There's an amazing sense of community among the traders and it granted me access to real heavyweights in the street food industry who have offered me their insight and guidance.”

And don't leave your dog at home. Dogs eat free at That’s Banging!

MalT

Ian Banfield created Malt (@malt.maltby) in 2020 in one of the vacant railway arches. He says it had been home to the LASSCO furniture workshop, “where I spent many years cutting flooring and repairing antiques”.

Adding: “Malt has a workshop feel as I kept the benches and worktops from its earlier incarnation. It has become a place for the enjoyment of the very best craft beer, wine and cider the UK has to offer where punters can savour the experience of Maltby Street Market. In the evenings we turn down the lights and host live music. The faint whiff of old motorbikes and furniture polish doesn’t seem to faze anyone – it’s part of the everchanging story of the Ropewalk!”

ThE grEEk PoT

At The Greek Pot (@the.greek.pot), customers can expect authentic casserole recipes: moussaka and pastitsio, vegan stuffed peppers (their favourite dish), Greek salad with Kalamata olives and extra virgin Greek olive oil, and a variety of filo pastry pies and oven-baked zucchini patties.

Joining the market more recently, they explain: “When you receive a call from one of the most popular and beautiful markets in London, you grab the opportunity.”

brEaDWinnErs

Looking for a loaf? Breadwinners (@wearebreadwinners) at Maltby Street Market serve artisan organic bread and pastries, and it is also a not-for-profit social enterprise and charity that supports refugees through employment and work experience programmes.

Martin Cosarinsky Campos, managing director, says: “Maltby Street is one of the most interesting and fun markets that we get to work at, with its super vibrant Ropewalk featuring other really cool food vendors. Working at this market has allowed us to support so many young people by employing them as market stall managers or giving them voluntary work experience.”

Stall manager Sakandar loves talking to customers: “I enjoy letting people know that Breadwinners is a charity that helps refugees. It’s the main point that I tell the customers when they come to buy their bread at our market.”

Taylor’s oF MalTby sTrEET

When the market started looking to expand its fresh produce offering, Taylor’s of Maltby Street (@taylorsofmaltbyst) got the call. They pride themselves on providing the freshest fruit and vegetables, “which we source directly from farms across Kent, Surrey and Sussex”.

They tell The Biscuit: “We try and stock items that you can’t buy in supermarkets so that when customers come into the shop, they see things that aren’t normally on the shelf. One of our core values is trying to keep seasonal eating at the forefront of our business, and we only ever sell English asparagus, sweetcorn, rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries.”

Adding: “Working on Maltby Street Market is like being part of a big family! The traders all look out for each other and help out when needed. We have also got a regular customer base who are now more like friends than customers.”

buMPin’ rinDs

“Flavour is queen for me,” says the owner of Bumpin’ Rinds (@bumpinrinds) juice stall, “so I always use the maximum quantity possible of fresh herbs and aromatics to provide a really exciting flavour profile in each juice.”

A seasonal vendor, Bumpin’ Rinds is open for business again on Saturday 3 June and ready to welcome back regular customers, saying: “I love the community we've got here, both among traders and our customers. We all look out for each other and that's quite special in London. My pitch is opposite my lovely suppliers, Taylor's, and I do trades throughout the day with my pals, we all eat like kings here.

“We have a really distinctive atmosphere and aesthetic, nowhere else in London looks like Maltby Street Market, locals describe it as a hidden gem – and it really is.”

www.maltby.st

Friday 6pm-late, Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 11am-4pm Ropewalk, Maltby Street, SE1 3PA

“‘it’s part of the ever-changing story of the ropewalk’”

World class indoor climbing wall in Borough, SE1.

combines bouldering, functional fitness, speciality coffee, craft beer and great pizza.

www.the-font.co.uk/borough Unit 1b, Triptych Place, 185 Park Street, Bankside, London, SE1 9BL

e: info@the-font.co.uk t: 020 8161 4450

Book here: Wandsworth: www.the-font.co.uk/wandsworth/timetable/intro-to-bouldering Borough: www.the-font.co.uk/borough/timetables/intro-to-bouldering

50% off Introduction to Bouldering coaching sessions. Use promo code: NEWCLIMBER3

The Dish

in horTo’s WilD garlic, ToasTED sourDough anD goaT’s curD gnocchi

Inspired by nature and fuelled by fire, new Southwark restaurant In Horto is an evergreen oasis. Translated from the Latin “in the garden”, In Horto is an ode to the wild, where diners can tuck into rustic wood-fired cooking and botanical alchemies – and come the sunny season, their shutters are open to let nature really do its thing.

The wild is exactly the inspiration for our dish of the moment – we’re here to celebrate In Horto’s wild garlic, toasted sourdough and goat’s curd gnocchi.

Chef Richard Teague told The Biscuit: “At In Horto, we focus on using fresh British produce wherever possible and are acutely aware of integrating the beauty of

seasonal change into our restaurant. As a chef, an interest in seasonality is paramount to the task, and the more thought that goes into the seasons, the more it becomes instinctive in your menu development.

“Though it has only a short season, wild garlic is a fantastic and versatile ingredient to cook with and was the perfect choice for our gnocchi dish as it pairs fantastically with the goat's curd and gives a real flavoursome lift to a great dish.”

inhorto.co.uk

Wednesday to Saturday, 12pm to 11pm 53b Southwark Street, SE1 1RU

Eliza Frost

aWarD-Winning Dining club announcEs launch oF sEconD EaTing, Drinking anD lisTEning Pub aT bErMonDsEy’s siMon

Disappearing Dining Club, one of London's original pop-up restaurants, has been feeding people in hard-to-find locations in London (and beyond) since 2010 – and has now set up shop in the heart of Bermondsey at Simon the Tanner.

Founded by Stuart Langley and Fred Bolin, we asked what brought the dining club to SE1: “We decided on this location for our second site because we love Bermondsey! Stuart lived in Bermondsey for over 10 years and Fred helped the previous owners of Simon the Tanner with their kitchen when they re-opened the pub in 2010, and Disappearing Dining Club has been keeping an eye on the place ever since.

“We talk about our pubs being ‘Local Pubs for London’. We want them to be the kind of place every Londoner might want at the end of their street, but that is also worth travelling to if you don’t live in the neighbourhood. Our guests can expect laid-back vibes and a real focus on quality at a fair price. Good service,

great ingredients, tasty drinks and carefully selected background sounds.”

Simon the Tanner’s menu, designed by Fred (who is also Disappearing Dining Club’s head chef), features a selection of large and small plates. Highlights include crispy cod cheeks; a twist on an old-school Swedish classic, beef Lindström; and grilled bavette.

And for those who enjoy the crackle of vinyl, the warmth of Hi-Fi and the sound of other people’s record collections, there’s a record deck on the bar, and guests are free to select something to play from the pub’s growing record collection.

www.disappearingdiningclub.co.uk/simon-thetanner

Monday to Thursday: 4pm to 11pm, Friday: 12pm to 12am, Saturday: 12pm to 12am, Sunday: 12pm to 9pm 231 Long Lane, SE1 4PR

Planet summer at the southbank centre

Find care, hope, connection and activism in a season teeming with talks, performances, music and family events responding to the climate emergency at the Southbank Centre, from Wednesday 21 June –Sunday 3 September.

The Southbank Centre’s Planet Summer season of climate care, hope and activism takes its inspiration from the pioneering Hayward Gallery exhibition, Dear Earth: Art and Hope in a Time of Crisis, a group show itself inspired by artist Otobong Nkanga’s suggestion that ‘caring is a form of resistance’. Planet Summer inspires a call for action that all of us, making change together, can address the challenges of the climate crisis.

Planet Summer draws together a powerful group of perspectives on the climate crisis, hosting talks with Greta Thunberg, Mikaela Loach, Dominique Palmer, Rebecca

Solnit, Thelma Young Lutunatabua, Mark Carney, Tori Tsui and Cerys Matthews.

But Planet Summer also delivers a season of artistic and communal responses. Theatre pioneers Ontroerend Goed bring a boundary-pushing new show about the future of humanity, Are we not drawn onward to new erA, Plot 17 throws a hip-hop garden block party on the Riverside Terrace, and the Southbank Centre’s longest-running festival Poetry International makes a triumphant return. Musical contributions in the season include Earth Makes

No Sound’s fusion of choral singing, movement and body percussion, and MELTWATER, a haunting composition focusing on the melting of a polar ice cap.

And because young people hold the key to the future of our climate, there’s plenty of ways for families to get involved, too. Children and their grown-ups are invited to play side by side at REPLAY: A Limitless Recycled

Playground which runs throughout the summer. Families will also love Bird Rave’s colourful interactive performance, The SpongeBob Musical, The Marvellous Myth Hunter Ceilidh and the return of Jeppe Hein’s ever-popular Appearing Rooms fountain. At the end of the summer, families are invited to hurtle into a timetravelling adventure exploring themes of friendship and the environment at Zoe’s Peculiar Journey.

Free events on the Riverside Terrace also include Pedal Power parties with DJs BORN N BREAD, Guava Jamz and Heart n Soul and a free night of cabaret performed by Bi-curious George and guests.

Planet Summer also sees outdoor artworks pop up across the site, including famous banners speaking to the history of road protest, and flags marking the rising water levels of the Thames in a call to action.

Planet Summer intends to inspire us all to reconnect to the natural world, and to find new ways of treasuring and protecting our climate.

#PlanetSummer2023

Book tickets now at www.southbankcentre.co.uk/ summer

 Are we not drawn

Photo by Mirjam Devriendt

 Greta Thunberg, The Climate Conversation

Photo: Kim Jakobsen To

 Zoe’s Peculiar Journey Photo: Susanne Hassler-Smith

a buzzing hive for london bridge

The Biscuit: What does your day-to-day job at London Bridge Hive look like?

Nekane Cherrie: No two days are the same, I deal with the bookings for the Hive from beginning to end, show the room to prospective bookers, welcome attendees to events and manage the running of the office.

Tell us more about London Bridge Hive…

London Bridge Hive is a versatile community venue. We offer a space to encourage collaboration, creativity and the strengthening of partnerships in the community. We can provide a variety of layouts from boardroom to theatre style – or, if you prefer, we can work with you to facilitate a bespoke arrangement. We are professional and friendly, our pricing is very competitive and we work to be as sustainable as possible.

Why did Team London Bridge launch the Hive?

Team London Bridge is at its most successful when it’s able to bring the community together to work collaboratively and make connections, and what better way to do this than to provide a physical space in which this can happen? In addition, many BID members had told us they struggled to find space for events and meetings at an affordable rate, so we set about creating a community venue that provided just that.

Can you give some examples of events that have been held in the space?

There are so many to choose from! We’ve hosted eco film festivals, a poetry writing room with Apples and Snakes, the Royal College of Arts master’s

programme, a talk with artist and local legend Andrew Logan, yoga classes, stem-cell embroidery and stand-up comedy workshops as part of our MediCulture Festival.

What is your favourite thing about working at the Hive?

I find it exciting to meet people face to face – the attendees, the trainers, the facilitators – and learn about the event itself. It’s rewarding when you see how successful the event has been and the satisfaction on everybody’s face at the end of it. Hosting events is a very positive experience in general.

I know we are now more used to connecting online, but there is nothing that can rival the human interaction of meeting in person. In a way, we are all still quite tribal, it is part of human nature to want to gather as a group and share ideas.

What is your favourite thing about working in SE1?

I had always lived and worked north of the river until I joined Team London Bridge, but SE1 has been a very pleasant discovery for me. I love my walk from Waterloo Station to London Bridge along the river in the mornings.

There’s so much to do right on our doorstep, too – I can pop out on my lunch break and discover somewhere new to grab a bite, visit the Fashion and Textile Museum, one of the Bermondsey Street galleries, stroll around Potters Fields Park, or catch a show at the Bridge Theatre after work – the list goes on!

londonbridgehive.org

8 Holyrood Street, SE1 2EL

Eliza Frost

What’s in a london pub name?

Eliza Frost

Join auThors JaMEs PoTTs anD saM cullEn as ThEy ExPlorE ThE MEaning oF ThE naMEs bEhinD our FavouriTE locals

What links a champion bare-knuckle boxer, a pioneering general who inspired the invention of Ordnance Survey maps and a runaway cat? They’ve all given their names to London pubs.

The book What’s in a London pub name? by James Potts and Sam Cullen features over 650 pub names across all 32 London boroughs as well as the City of London, revealing the stories of Elizabethan actors, puritanical plotters, Titanic survivors, treasured cuddly toys and many many more.

The authors say: “Each pub contributes to our understanding of London, taking in its political, cultural and social history.”

Adding: “The book is for anyone wanting to learn more about London through the unique medium of one of its most enduring and endearing institutions, pubs. Read this and you’ll never look at your local in the same way again!”

So, what about in our beautiful Bermondsey and Rotherhithe? The two have kindly given The Biscuit a sneak peek at the meaning behind some SE1 and SE16 institutions…

Ancient Foresters

This derives from the friendly society (a sort of community-led organisation providing banking, savings and other financial products) set up in 1834 called the Ancient Order of Foresters. The organisation still exists today, albeit with the shortened title of Foresters Friendly Society. Foresters is a more common variant of the pub name, with a handful in London and the South East alone, those retaining the “Ancient” prefix are rarer.

282 Southwark Park Road, SE16 2HB

moby dick

This pub surfaced in the 1980s as part of a massive redevelopment of the Greenland Dock area, which included new residential luxury property developments. The use of the name Moby Dick hints back to Greenland Dock’s early use in the 19th century by the whaling industry.

6 Russell Place, Greenland Dock, SE16 7PL

simon the tanner

The Bermondsey area was once a hotbed of the tanning industry (the name for the process that takes the animal hides to create leather, as opposed to the type popular with reality TV stars). Simon the Tanner is thought to refer to the patron saint of this trade from the Coptic Orthodox Church, who was a shoemaker and is said to have moved Mokattam Mountain in Cairo in the 10th century. There is now a monastery and church named after

Saint Simon carved into Mokattam Mountain, which was featured in Levison Wood’s Channel 4 Documentary, Walking The Nile

231 Long Lane, Bermondsey, SE1 4PR

market Porter

A double meaning here, with a porter both being someone working at the market (in this case, Borough) as well as being a type of strong dark beer.

The pub has also become famous worldwide for being used in one of the Harry Potter films as the Third Hand Book Emporium.

9 Stoney Street, SE1 9AA

You can buy What’s in a London pub name? online at: www.capitaltransport.com/whats-in-alondon-pub-name-856-p.asp

 ©Shepherd Neame

The bermondsey bookshop

Who would have thought that amid the fug of the tanneries, the tea warehouses and the breweries, a sophisticated bookshop once thrived? This was a place where grubby little kids could come and read fairy stories; where the wharfingers and lightermen could hear talks by literary giants of the 1920s.

The concept of the Bermondsey Bookshop was that of Ethel and Sidney Gutman, two educated people from West London.

At twenty-four, young Ethel Lion was already a journalist and author who lived in a leafy part of Maida Vale with her stepmother and sister, in a rather grand house. She met and married Sidney Gutman, apparently “something big in shipping”, although, in the 1911 census, he is more humbly described as a manager to grain merchants.

It may be assumed that Ethel’s connection to Bermondsey was through her late father, Henry Lion, who had been an affluent boot and shoe manufacturer and was no doubt very familiar with the tanneries. It was here that the Gutmans found a rather decrepit

shop on Bermondsey Street, which they saw as perfect to set up their new venture into the world of books. It must be noted that 1920s Bermondsey Street was not the fashionable, swanky hangout it is today – rather it was a place for leather business and warehouses for tea and spices.

Through her journalism, Ethel already had some pretty “big name” contacts who pulled together to form this new literary association. Authors Pett Ridge and Gilbert Frankau sponsored the opening of the shop, along with Alexander Paterson, who would later be known in the area for his work with the youths of Bermondsey (Paterson Park is named after him).

The bookshop was more of a club than anything; people paid sixpence per month to use the reading room, which was tastefully furnished and decorated with blue and orange stencilling. Fringed lampshades and artwork were dotted between the bookcases filled with the best literature of the age. After six months, those that had paid their dues could choose a book to take home and keep.

The shop even had its own publication, the Bermondsey Book, which was filled with short stories, articles, poems and drawings by Max Beerbohm, another friend of the couple. Another supporter of the bookshop was Aldous Huxley, whose sister Maria taught at Bermondsey Central School when it was on Monnow Road.

In the evenings, there were talks by such notables as Virginia Woolf, Alfred Noyes and Sir Walter de la Mare – poetry and bluestockings in smoky old Bermondsey!

However, in 1925, tragedy struck when Ethel died suddenly. Poor Sidney carried on for another five years, even moving to bigger premises along the street, but finally closed it all down in 1930. He died in 1955 and was laid to rest next to his wife in Golders Green cemetery.

The original bookshop returned to its previous shabby state and was demolished in the 1980s. However, its memory lives on through another Bermondsey author, Mary Gibson, who has devoted a whole novel, The Bermondsey Bookshop, to the Gutman’s work – and it is a fascinating read.

Debora Gosling

The golden touch

“Everyone has the right to a stable job that can sustain them,” says Mike Biddulph, director of SE16’s Goldfinch Furniture.

The company makes ethical, custom design furniture pieces and supports young people from the area into work through job opportunities: “We set up Goldfinch to act as a vessel to employ young people whom no one else is going to employ. A lot of young people have a lot of skills and potential but, for whatever reason, dropped out of school early, get caught up in the wrong stuff, or don’t have the support or drive, it’s really complex.”

Biddulph explains that there is an inequality in job distribution: “In the area, there is a lot of wealth, but there is also a lot of deprivation juxtaposed to it.”

But he says that “Bermondsey is fantastic”, adding: “It’s such a wonderful melting pot of everyone. There are so many different businesses and opportunities in Bermondsey but, also, you have pockets of Bermondsey where young people are destined to not succeed if they follow the natural trajectory that’s been put in front of them.”

Biddulph was a youth worker in the local area before founding London Reclaimed – the larger piece of work behind Goldfinch – in 2011. Realising there was a lot of talk around a lack of jobs for young people, he wanted to change that: “We decided, naively, let’s start creating some jobs.”

He tells The Biscuit how his dad was a furniture maker growing up, “so I was used to the furniture”. He set up making pieces as London Reclaimed using old wood, working under a railway arch in SE16, and the furniture-making side morphed into Goldfinch a few years ago as the business grew.

The business also processes London trees that have to come down and then use the timber to make beautiful furniture – and always champion grown in Britain, certified and ethically sourced timber for their products.

“We’re kind of the antithesis of that flat pack throwaway culture,” he tells us. “It’s undeniable that the people who buy furniture from us are in the privileged position that they can afford to. Where we help in society charitably is our employment of people, as opposed to giving furniture to people that are in most need. It’s giving jobs to people that are in most need.”

Although, Goldfinch is in the process of trying to fundraise to be able to create a line of furniture for people who don’t have any. Biddulph is in conversation with food banks and other local places where the

recipients of food bank parcels or other situations in need can be identified and Goldfinch would be able to provide them with “quality but lightweight furniture that can be assembled and disassembled and moved”.

The “most important part” of the business is the young people that enter the doors. Goldfinch’s current head of design is a former young person, and one of the main baristas at Lumberjack – a cafe that London Reclaimed set up in January 2016 in Camberwell – is also a former young person.

Each year, the business hires around 15 to 20 young people, who mostly stay with them for a year, says Biddulph.

Young people get in touch with Goldfinch through referrals from different charities and, having been in the area for so long, they also get people walking into the workshop saying: “You helped my cousin”. So people self-refer that way as well.

Jeuwel, a workshop assistant at Goldfinch, says: “Getting a job for young people in my area seems impossible, most people call it a day before they have even tried.”

Tarell, also a workshop assistant, says Goldfinch has “given me an opportunity to work when I believed I wasn’t able to, and I can’t imagine where I’d have been without them”.

And a trainee at Lumberjack Cafe in Camberwell, Naliah, says: “This (paid) trainee job has helped me gain confidence and experience in hospitality.”

The aim of London Reclaimed, Goldfinch and Lumberjack is not to give young people a niche – like becoming the best furniture maker or the best coffee

Eliza Frost

maker – but, as Biddulph explains, it’s a “catalyst for change” and, more than anything, what they’re learning is soft skills. He says: “You’ll often have young people that have no work history or knowledge, it’s the soft stuff like turning up on time, conflict resolution, expectations, there’s a whole host of things that they’ve got to master for any job. And they are some of the biggest things we do.”

Building beautiful, sustainable furniture and supporting young people into work are “not mutually exclusive”. Biddulph tells us: “People buy furniture because it’s good. They go into Lumberjack because it’s nice. We were quite clear at the beginning that we didn’t want to sell products or services based on a charitable cause. What we wanted to do was sell exceptional furniture and have an exceptional cafe. And it’s also about employing, mentoring and training local young people, not at the expense of the product or service. But if you strip everything away, what we are really passionate about, and why we actually started, isn’t because we want to get known as the best furniture, we want to be known as the place where you could turn up with a good attitude and get a job in an industry that it would be very unlikely for you to be able to get a job in otherwise.”

Biddulph explains how craft is a privilege: “Most crafts people have had the privilege of time to learn,

have had the privilege of low paid or completely non paid positions. I’m not talking about manual labour, I’m talking about artisan craft – furniture makers, painters, artists, poets – real craft, in that sense, is dominated by white middle class men. It’s a privileged industry.

“We don’t hold the key to a demographic widening of furniture making, but what we can do is open the eyes of young people and give them an opportunity and say: ‘This world exists.’”

When Goldfinch looks at young people, in Southwark, in Bermondsey, what they are saying is: “This is a world that you could get into and you might just get that bug.”

Although it’s not the primary reason for Biddulph and Goldfinch’s work, the primary reason is employment full stop and getting more young

people into paid jobs. Because, as he explains: “Having a job, I think, is the single biggest factor for change, for social mobility, socioeconomically. If you have a stable job, and you get enough money to live and to enjoy life, and you have been provided an alternative positive, then I think that’s huge for society. However, very specifically in furniture making, occasionally a young person comes along and doesn’t even know it’s a job. Then it’s our job as London Reclaimed to say, right, we are now going to do everything we can to even things out and to get this young person trained.”

Biddulph adds: “We always want to operate from a place of hope. We don’t want to operate from a place of fear mongering or being condescending. There’s so much potential in our local young people. It’s about us, as the wider society, creating opportunities for that potential to come out. We’re an opportunities-based organisation rather than a needs-based organisation. There are lots of opportunities and talent in our local young people, and it’s about engaging with that.”

goldfinchfurniture.co.uk

Unit 2, 7 Spa Road, Bermondsey, SE16 3QP

wearelumberjack.co.uk

70 Camberwell Church Street, SE5 8QZ

Since our interview, Goldfinch experienced a fire in one of their units. After coming to terms with the event – and the damage caused – they want to bring a new lease of life to the space and are raising money to create a youth training hub to aid their work with young people in the area. The hub will help Goldfinch to provide more space for their young trainees to practice what they are learning with them.

Support them via Crowdfunder: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/londonreclaimed---youth-training-hubopportunity

“Goldfinch has given me an opportunity to work when i believed i wasn’t able to”

Pat, Mike and The victoria

Michael Holland

Pat and Mike McKenna were brothers who got things done, which could be because of their Coldstream Guard father, Jack, or their Bermondsey upbringing in the Guinness Buildings in Snowsfields, and a Catholic schooling that began at Our Lady of La Salette in Melior Street and ended with them running The Victoria in Pages Walk, writes Michael Holland.

Pat, the eldest, was born in an army hospital in Germany while their dad was based in the Rhine, and Mike in Shepherd’s Bush, but their lives have been firmly set in SE1.

After primary school, the boys and their little sister Siobhan all moved on to good schools: “Pat went onto St Michael’s, I went to Clapham College

and Siobhan to Notre Dame,” remembers Mike. It was after school that Mike had his first taste of pub life when he would ‘bottle-up’ for his aunt and uncle, Alice and Fred Bamber, who had The Woolpack on Bermondsey Street. “I did that from the mid-’60s to the early ‘80s,” he says.

On leaving education, Pat began working in the City and Mike was a clerk at a publishing company before moving to an advertising agency. Not happy with being a mere clerk pushing the post trolley around, Mike put a folio together and became a copywriter. From this, he went on to work at other advertising agencies, eventually getting on the board of the prestigious Saatchi & Saatchi.

In between times, Mike’s mum, Anne, asked if he could help run The Victoria while the present owners looked for a pub further out of London. “When they sold The Vic to John and Gilly Routledge,” begins Mike, “I came with the furniture and worked with them as they’d never run a bar in their lives!”

By 1984, the Routledges also had Gilly’s in Wilds Rents and found having two pubs too much

so put The Vic on the market. Mike takes up the story again: “We applied for the pub (without telling anyone) and – to my utter astonishment – Truman’s agreed. But once we had it, I dragged Pat out of the City to run it!”

And now, as the legendary pub comes up to its 40th anniversary in the hands of Pat and Trish McKenna, you can see that very little has changed in its appearance outside. “That’s why it has been used in so many TV dramas and adverts,” Mike explains before listing some of its TV highlights: “It was in the recent series of The Gold, ‘burnt down’ in the second version of Minder, and seen in London’s Burning, Ashes to Ashes, Waking the Dead, Life on Mars and numerous music videos.”

Mike was now on a name-dropping roll: “We’ve served Gordon Jackson, The Chemical Brothers, Liam Gallagher, Craig Charles, Brian Glover, Jim Carter, John Cooper Clarke and Keeley Hawes.”

“That’s an impressive list,” I said.

“We also hosted a Gavin Turk art piece and have been the location for many independent films,” he added without a hint of a boast because Pat and Mike are all about the people who have been with them all the way rather than film shoots and celebrities: “We’ve been very lucky in that people still use the pub who were here on our opening night.”

But there have been some changes. “Many of the locals we’d grown up with moved away in the ‘90s and in their place came a more mixed group, a lot of younger people especially, as Bermondsey became gentrified. They discovered us and our old chums, and we’ve all got on swimmingly ever since.”

Pat says, “We’ve done well here because we create an environment where people can forget about work and all the day-to-day pressures, and just have a few drinks… Plus, I stock over 90 different gins!”

Over the decades, that friendly atmosphere has been exported on beanos to “Ascot, Epsom,

Lingfield, Margate, as well as trips to Calais, Tenerife and Cyprus. Plus, innumerable charabancs up and down the country following Millwall”.

Fundraising is also a regular feature of The Vic, and something they are very proud of. In 2022, a reunion was organised where over £1,200 was collected for Breast Cancer Now. It was deemed

so successful that another is scheduled for summer 2023.

“But after so many years,” Mike reveals, “I’ve hung up my drying cloth and Pat and Trish run the pub now,” which doesn’t stop him from being found on the other side of the bar drinking with friends these days. The customers, both new and old, wouldn’t have it any other way.

 Mike, Pat, sister Siobhan, with mum Hannah, dad Jack, and Nan

“We’ve been very lucky in that people still use the pub who were here on our opening night”

Dachshund to southwark Park

Eliza Frost

ThE biscuiT hEars FroM

ThE FounDEr oF Dogboxx, a Dog Walking sErvicE in sE1, on ThE ‘MaD circus Train’ oF gETTing ThE

PuPs To ThE Park in an ElEcTric cargo bikE

Have you ever seen a pile of pups in the basket of an electric bike? Chances are, if you live near Southwark Park, you’ve seen Lydia Maxwell, the founder of DogBoxx, doing just that.

DogBoxx is a dog walking service in SE1, Maxwell tells The Biscuit how it “started as a lockdown project in 2021” when her teaching work had reduced dramatically. She was “bored and stuck” until a dog walker friend put her in touch with a few pups and suggested she got a bike – “she was very much my inspiration”.

She says: “I started that summer with three dogs and a second-hand pedal-powered cargo bike. I now have a client list in the thirties, two electric cargo bikes and a new colleague that started recently. I’ve quit my other jobs as there just isn’t time. I was lucky to get some funding from Team London Bridge to help buy the second bike.”

But, how is it cycling the cargo bike with the pups in tow? Maxwell tells us it is mostly fun: “They love the smells and being out in the fresh air. It can get a bit stressful when we pass other dogs as they sometimes like to shout and tell them who’s boss. The looks on people’s faces as we pass are fantastic, especially now there are two of us. When we travel in convoy it looks like some mad circus train.”

The best thing about dog walking is being out in the fresh air – rain or shine, she says. Adding that it’s hard to ever be in a bad mood when the dogs are playing and getting into mischief.

They walk twice a day, morning and afternoon, and they always do a full hour of walking and playing in Southwark Park. Maxwell says their morning crew is generally the high-energy, bigger dogs. It’s lots of “ball chasing and zoomies” with a gang of Spaniels, Whippets, Terriers and more. Then, the afternoon is usually more chill, with Dachshunds and small toy breeds, “a gentler crowd”.

DogBoxx chose Southwark Park because “it’s the only big area of green space where the dogs can really let rip and race around,” says Maxwell. “That’s the great thing about the bike: we can get there really fast, instead of being constrained to the smaller parks like Tanner Street Park or Leathermarket

Garden, then the dogs have a whole hour to go nuts.”

Plus, it’s “such a beautiful spot”, she adds, “I love the mature trees and the great social history of the place. There’s a sense of being a tiny part of something much bigger.”

As we approach summer, the park is looking extra green and people begin to picnic, it’s truly a time when parks come to life. We ask Maxwell, what is your favourite thing to do in SE1 when the sun is shining – apart from walking the lovely pups? “A

stroll along the Thames Path with a few cold drinks at some of the lovely pubs is the perfect afternoon. I’m especially fond of the Rotherhithe Village area. We got married at Brunel Museum last year, so it holds a very special place in my heart.”

Dog walks are £17 with pick-ups from your door in London Bridge, Tower Bridge and Shad Thames areas. Follow DogBoxx on Instagram @dogboxx.walks | www.dogboxx.org

 ©Honor Elliot @dogsbybike9

AT IN A FIELD BY A BRIDGE

Are you a PASSIONATE COOK?

Do you have a SIGNATURE DISH that is a real winner at home? Interested in developing NEW SKILLS in the kitchen?

If so, Feast in a Field could be the perfect opportunity for you to share your dish with the wider community, all whilst learning professional kitchen and business skills.

Feast in a Field is part of In a Field by A Bridge, a brandnew celebratory summer event this July in Potters Fields Park and St. John’s Churchyard.

Be part of this epic professional upskilling journey with social enterprise, Beyond Food and Brigade Bar+Kitchen on Tooley Street - working with renowned chefs Simon Boyle and Leon Aarts

In a Field by a Bridge takes place on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd of July, and will showcase the best sustainable food practices alongside arts, crafts and festival fun all curated by the team at HemingwayDesign and Team London Bridge and supported by Potters Fields Park Management Trust.

WHAT TO EXPECT?

• We are looking for 10-15 cooks

• Bring along your signature dish, introduce yourself and share your food with the team

• Meet the rest of the cohort and local businesses and try each others dishes

• Get partnered up with local business leaders & chefs

• Attend 5 x evening workshops to include recipe refinement, upscaling, marketing, H&S, field events, public consumption, and business among other skills

• Dry run / feedback event

• Event delivery 22nd & 23rd July 2023

If this sounds like you, for more information and to register your interest by the 5th June, please get in touch with jo@beyondfood.org.uk or inafieldbyabridge@hemingwaydesign.co.uk

We look forward to hearing from you!

light shines down on old operating Theatre

Eliza Frost

in 1956, ThE oPEraTing ThEaTrE oF sT ThoMas’ church Was rEDiscovErED – in DarknEss, slaTEs covEring ThE skylighT – iT oPEnED as a Public MusEuM in 1962 anD noW, in 2023, ThE skylighT has bEEn rEsTorED

Sarah Corn, director of the Old Operating Theatre Museum, tells The Biscuit about the history of the hospital and the museum’s latest restoration project – made possible by government funding, along with a contribution from the landlord and the museum trust itself.

Light now floods into the museum once again, with the introduction of a visually-sympathetic steel and aluminium-hipped roof lantern skylight.

Corn has worked in the sector for nearly 20 years, having been drawn to museums with intrigue and excitement at university. Visiting the Old Operating

Theatre as a student, she says: “Those spiral steps never left me”, so had to apply for the director role.

The Biscuit: Firstly, please tell us the story of the skylight…

Sarah Corn: The original Georgian skylight (installed when the operating theatre was built in 1822) made countless operations possible. When the operating theatre opened, electricity was not yet in use and operations took place, one after the other, in the hour between noon and 1pm, with the sun at its

height and daylight pouring in; the skylight played an essential role in enabling the surgeons to better see their patient and perform the operation.

What were operations like in the 1800s?

Before the arrival of anaesthetics, all operations had to be quick, a matter of minutes, which limited surgeons to only a few procedures, such as lithotomies (the removal of bladder stones), trepanations (drilling a hole into the skull), and amputations (the removal of a limb or external tumour). These operations were carried out as a last resort to save a patient’s life, and while the whole process could be gruelling and painful, at least the patient had a chance of survival. The three main causes of death were shock, blood loss and infection. Anaesthesia was introduced in 1846 and allowed surgeons to perform deeper surgery that could take longer. But this increased the chance of the patient contracting an infection because, until the 1860s, there was no understanding about how germs spread, so very little effort was taken on general hygiene.

How was the theatre used?

The theatre in the roof of St Thomas’ Church, part of the old St Thomas’ Hospital, was only for female patients. It wasn’t general practice for the patients to be separated when it came to operations. But, at the time St Thomas’ Hospital was in use, it initially only had one operating theatre, and that was over the other side of the large hospital complex (it stretched from St Thomas' Street, Borough High

Street, Tooley Street to just before where the Shard is located), meaning it was too tricky to transport patients. Therefore, operations were performed on the ward, which was not only very unsettling for other patients, but it also didn’t provide enough space for student surgeons to observe an operation and learn their craft.

The governors decided it was time to expand and so identified the roof space of the church, which was being used to store and dry herbs, as an ideal location. The new theatre was entered directly from the Dorcas Ward on the top floor of the hospital. A door in the middle of the west wall was used to bring patients in from the ward, and a small antechamber next to the theatre opened onto a staircase where others attending entered from the main hospital grounds.

What can visitors expect from the restored skylight?

The new skylight has opening and closing vents to allow a breeze to pass through the space, and soon, a new blackout blind will be installed, which will help keep excess heat out, but hopefully, some warmth in during the colder months. This allows us to better control the environment for our visitors, but also the collection itself.

Plus, the new skylight has clear glass meaning visitors can get a great view of the Church tower and even peak the top of the Shard.

oldoperatingtheatre.com

9a St Thomas Street, SE1 9RY

Camberwell Lodge Care Home

Luxury residential, dementia and respite care

Our care is the kind we’d all want our loved ones to receive. Camberwell Lodge Care Home provides the highest standards of family-led residential and dementia care. Our state-of-the-art home is luxurious and beautifully furnished, whilst retaining a warm family atmosphere that makes Camberwell Lodge feel extra special.

• 98 Spacious en-suite bedrooms

Bistro café and themed pub

• Sociable lounge and dining areas

• Daily fine dining and hospitality suite

• Roof terrace and landscaped gardens

• Hair and pamper salon

• Tailored meaningful activities

If you would like to learn more about life at Camberwell Lodge our friendly Customer Relations Manager Jessica O’Connell is more than happy to have a chat.

Please call Jessica on 07939 296 992 or email jessica.oconnell@countrycourtcare.com.

020 4579 2199

Picton Street, Camberwell, London, SE5 7QH

www.countrycourtcare.com

A new chapter for Compass School...

A new state-of-the-art building just a stone’s throw from Bermondsey Underground will be home to The Charter School Bermondsey. The new school campus will be an inspiring learning environment, with everything pupils need to thrive and succeed.

• Ambitious leadership and great teaching

• A stimulating curriculum which encourages pupils to enjoy learning and reach their potential

• New high spec science laboratories and technology workshops

• Dedicated visual and performing arts spaces

• Fantastic sports and recreational spaces including roof-top sports pitches and a terrace boasting fantastic views over the City and Canary Warf

• A broad range of exciting after school clubs including photography, leatherwork and video game design

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