Saturday fun up Peckham way

An announcement of a local community festival, the Warwick Wingding, reaches the East of Dulwich offices via rather unusual means -- being shouted at as I cycled through Warkwick Gardens in Peckham on Sunday morning.

At first I thought I was about to be reprimanded for being on a bike in a public park but no, it was merely a "friend of the park" publicising this undoubtedly worthy event. We are told that Chas (or was it Dave?) from "Chas and Dave" (or was it "Dave and Chas"?) will be in attendance and I see that there will be a wealth of local talent inlcuding Alero, Peaches Cadogan, Beaty Heart and Lime Headed Dog.

I may have inadvertently given away the surprise guest! So forget I said anything about any member of a Spurs-supporting, comedy act duo. You didn't hear it here first.

Still waiting for my invitation to the "aftershow party extravaganza" though which will held at the famous and salubriuos Ivy House in Nunhead.

Warwick Wingding Music and Arts Festival is on Saturday 25th September 2010 from noon to 7:30pm at Warkwick Gardens, Lyndhurst Way, SE15. And it's absolutely free.

More details on something called "Faces Book"

Bowled over

It's been a while since the departure of the Peckham Rye Bowling club has left the green bereft of stately figures in white, sighing to the soft clock of wood upon wood. For a while, it seemed that the manicured rectangle in the heart of the park would soon be reclaimed by weeds, or worse. But into the breach strode the brave young entrepreneurs of the Cafe on The Rye to revive the great tradition although in a more democratic and open incarnation, charging a bargain three pounds per hour to hire a set of balls or "woods" as we bowls aficionados call them. There's also a paperback book exchange so you can save trees and money by bringing along your read novels and self-help books that didn't help and swapping them for some serendipitous treasure.

So the other Sunday, being visited by family from the Basque Country, we thought we'd introduce them to the gentle art. My nephew and niece, aged 10 and 13 respectively are more into their own traditional sports of pelota, rock-lifting, wood-chopping and, well, football. When I said we were going bowling, they were expecting something like the kind that involves pins, but they took to the more subtle style of lawn bowling like ducks to water and beat the adult teams by a wide, in fact rather embarrassing, margin.

Are you getting enough Sexby?

The Sexby Garden in Peckham Rye Park may be at its best right now. Boasting all the charm of an old English garden, it displays a gentle riot of colours to enliven the tranquillity of this space that never fails to make me feel that all is well with the world.

Personally, I do wish that when they re-did the park, they had found some cash for a new ornamental fountain which would form the centrepiece of the garden. But, maybe that would be churlish -- the work that has gone into the planting and maintenance of this loveliest of nooks, deserves to be rewarded with, at the very least, gratitude.

The Nation has Mumbled

I'm kind of reminded of what happens when a stewards enquiry is called after a horse-race. The bookies tell all the expectant punters to go for a walk while The stewards decide the outcome behind closed doors. Difference is that this time we already know the outcome (give or take three seats).

And here it is: roughly one in three people who voted wanted (or said they wanted) the Tories. The other 64 per cent said they wanted some other party. Given that hundreds of people in Lewisham, Hackney, Sheffield and elsewhere were told that they couldn't vote at all, I'm not sure if its even worth talking about democratic outcomes in this country. But it is worth mentioning that it takes 284,566 votes (and some chance confluence of minds in Brighton) to get one green MP.

Anyway, while you're waiting for the final result, enjoy this rather nice film from the Guardian about three of the candidates for Camberwell & Peckham who won't be representing us this time round.

The Greens show their colours!

In response to my questions about libraries, local shops and cycling and walking Labour Tom Chance from Southwark Green Party writes:

Here are our candidates' answers:

Libraries - yes, we would fight to protect libraries from public spending cuts. Whichever of the three grey parties form the next Government, all three are committed to large cuts in public spending and locally the axe often falls first on services like libraries. Whilst access to the internet is increasingly used as an excuse for neglected or shrinking library services, the reasons you cite in addition to the relatively low level of internet access in Peckham Rye make them all the more important.

Shops - the Green Party has long campaigned to protect local independent shops. We have published an action plan for Peckham town centre (http://southwark.greenparty.org.uk/peckham) and would apply the same principles to Lordship Lane, Forest Hill Road and other smaller arcades with handfuls of shops throughout Southwark.

Walking and cycling - we would press for three simple measures: first, actually implement the council's dormant policy of providing cycle lanes and infrastructure whenever road works are carried out, extending this to also include the widening of pavements for pedestrians where there is road space; second, prioritise roads on cycle routes such as LCN 22 and 25 when filling potholes and other road maintenance; third, more consistently implement a 20mph zone across the entire borough on all residential roads and ensure the police are taking road safety more seriously.

A Labour candidate answers

This is the reply I received to my questions about libraries, local shops and cycling and walking from Gavin Edwards, Labour Candidate for Peckham Rye:

1. On Libraries, All three of us recognise the importance of Libraries in our local community. I am a regular user of Peckham Library myself. We will all fight to defend funding for local libraries.

2. I agree entirely with the sentiment expressed in your question and this is precisely the approach that we would like to see taken in regard to both rents and the application of planning rules.

3. Yes. We think the cycle network in Southwark should be expanded. The more people we can encourage to cycle in our borough the better. If we were elected as councillors for Peckham Rye, this would be a policy that we would campaign for in the town hall. On a connected but slightly different issue, we have got involved in the local green chain walk. See here for more details: http://peckhamryelabour.blogspot.com/2010/01/peckham-rye-joins-green-chain-walk-try.html

A Conservative response

This is the reply I received to my questions about libraries, local shops and cycling and walking from Conservative candidate for Peckham Rye, Andy Tuck:

Libraries
We would wholeheartedly agree with you over their importance and recognise their role as invaluable intellectual resources for local communities. Therefore we would, if elected, fight to defend our local libraries from budget cuts and neglect.

It would be worth mentioning here that as a Conservative Team across Southwark we also plan to push for the refurbishment of Camberwell Library after the election.

Shops
We highly value small businesses and local enterprises in Peckham Rye Ward and throughout Southwark. We are keen to pursue policies that will help nurture and grow the local economy. Small independent shops are integral to this.

As part of our new purposed recycling scheme, through a voucher system, we would hope to encourage local people to spend money earned through their recycling in local shops. This will help keep money in the local economy and make small businesses more viable and competitive.

Walking and Cycling
To answer your questions in a word, yes. Encouraging walking and cycling is a great way of cutting down on both congestion and pollution. By expanding cycling routes and making sure that pedestrian needs are prioritised we would hope to achieve this.