A bunch of copies of the Dulwich Diverterhave been distributed in advance – to Rye Books (pictured), Café Viva, Franklins, the Palmerston, Roullier White and perhaps other places besides. As far as we know, it's been produced by the same people responsible for the Peckham Peculiar, and without giving too much away, the Dulwich sibling has the same high production values and focus on decent writing.
Anything that helps local businesses and community organisations in the area can only be a good thing. Unless of course it's a bad thing, in which case it isn't.
But looking at the first edition, which even includes our name as one of the backers of the publication, we have to say isn't bad at all. We at East of Dulwich have always welcomed competition to our leap-yearly online journal (next post due out in early 2020, subject to remembering our password).
And so we would like to take this opportunity to wish the Dulwich Diverter, its staff and contributers the very best of luck with their worthy enterprise.
Are you one of those people who leaves Christmas shopping to the last minute? Well, no need to make the journey to hell that is Oxford Street the weekend before Christmas. Here are five top tips for great gifts to be found right here in lovely East Dulwich: 1. Get in their good books
No one has too many books. Well actually maybe we do and Mrs Eastofdulwich has been on at me again to get rid of some so that there's actually somewhere to put the new ones I keep bringing home. But all the same, as Marx* said, “Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.” At the small but beautiful Rye Books on Upland Road, Alistair will ably suggest the ideal present for parents, children, siblings, aunts and uncles. And he makes a mean latte too.
Everyone should learn to play a musical instrument and few come easier than the ukulele. And children can easily get there little hands around these bite-sized marvels. What's more unlike recorders, they won't wake you up at 6am with a shrill ear-shattering squeal. And they're not just for kids, either. Ukuleles have been clinically proven to reduce stress, lift depression and cause giggling. As a good friend once told me, you can't see a grown man with a ukulele without smiling. You can find a superb selection of ukes at South London Music – starting at a mere £20 – with lovely and helpful staff to assist your choice.
Why not give the man or woman in your life a case of their favourite tipple, or a selection to savour? The last couple of years have seen an explosion of craft beers, and I've not seen a better bitter selection – not to mention India pale ales, lagers and stouts – than at Boss Man Wines on Lordship Lane. I would particularly recommend the Forty-niner from Ringwood Brewery but you can find beers from as far afield as Iceland and New Zealand. Boss Man Wines: 79 Lordship Lane, London SE22 8EP Tel: 020 8693 6623.
4. Say Cheese
Why have nightmares thinking what to buy when you can give your loved ones weird dreams instead? Mootown sell delectable artisanal cheeses, mainly from England and Wales, including a Stilton to die for. They can knock you up a gift box too, I believe. You can find their stall on North Cross road on Saturdays, Herne Hill Farmers Market on Sundays. www.mootown.co.uk
5. And finally...
If you've got a present for everyone you know, why not buy something for someone you don't? Pick up a few extra items when you go shopping and take them down to the Southwark Foodbank run by the charity Pecan. Then somebody who is struggling gets food for them and their family, to tide them over a crisis. There's a shopping list of the kinds of food they need on their website.
With thanks to the very excellent Dulwich Ukulele Club who will be playing Chrismas Eve at the at The Great Exhibtion on Crystal Palace Road, East Dulwich - "with massive kazoo a long too, carols and what have you."
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.
Heading East from East of Dulwich, one arrives in another of South East London's hidden gems, the hamlet of Brockley. It's always been one of those parts of London that you can't quite remember where it is but maybe with the advent of the London Overground Dalston Junction to Crystal Palace Line, now known as the Culture Line, all that looks set to change.
At the moment there's at leat one good reason to go there and that's an exhibition Tree Paper Tree at Brockley Mess, by artist Jane Jones. It's a small space and Jones has filled it with quite remarkable collages using what seems to be paper cut from magazines, creating intricate mosaics of trees, flowers, and people. Different shades and colours are used to skilfully produce the impression of aerial perspective. But in case this sounds 'clever but so what?', there is something sensitive and subtly sensual about Jones' response to the forms she depicts. And you really have to see them in the flesh, look up close and personal before moving slowly backwards to really appreciate how delightfully they work.
Tree Paper Tree is at CueB Gallery at the Brockley Mess, 325b Brockley Road, SE4 2QZ. Ends 14th October
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.
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.
