Deptford Urban Free Festival 1995

 Deptford Urban Free Festival was a great event that took place in Fordham Park SE14 every summer from 1990 to 1996. It got bigger and bigger, squeezing bands, sound systems and tens of thousands of people into what is quite a small space. I have scanned and uploaded the July 1995 programme on to archive.org (see full thing here).

'you can't kill the spirit' - a reference to the Criminal Justice Act which had come into effect

Just part of the line up - headliners were Skunk Anansie and Asian Dub Foundation, others playing included Back to the Planet, Here and Now and Grateful Dub

Sound systems including RDK Hi-Fi (dub), Innervision (including Liberator and Institute of Goa DJs) and Avit Army ('from South London combine gabba/techno/acid/hard trance and industrial styles. Free parties are the order of the day'. I remember dancing a lot that day.

See also: Deptford Urban Free Festival 1992

Brixton Hill Clinic Defence Campaign - defeating anti-abortionists in 1990

The anti-abortion movement in the UK will no doubt be emboldened by recent events in the United States, and while the scope for them to challenge current laws seems to be limited there is a risk that they may step up direct action against health services. In recent years anti-abortionists have picketed St John's Medical Centre in Loampit Vale SE13 (including in 2015 and 2018) and sporadically protest in Brixton and Streatham.

These documents are from an earlier campaign that successfully stopped similar protests, at least for a while. Back in 1990, a Brixton Hill Clinic Defence Campaign was set up in response to anti-abortionists picketing the local clinic.  The Campaign was set up at a meeting at Lambeth Town Hall in July 1990. As the invite issued by the socialist group Workers Power explained:

'As you may know, anti-abortionists have been regularly picketing the Raleigh Clinic in Brixton Hill and the Leigham clinic in Leigham Court Road. Streatham. The pickets have included supporters of Operation Rescue, a US derived organisation noted for its militant and often violent tactics. The pickets take place every Saturday at Brixton Hill between 8am and 12 noon, and as far as is possible to tell, between 10am and 12 noon at Streatham on the last Saturday of the month only.

The anti-abortionists tactics have so far included leafletting and harrasing women going into the clinic.  It is vital that all those who support choice and the right of women to control their own bodies get organised against the anti- abortionists. While there are not very many of them at present, if they are left unchallenged, they will attract support and their tactics will become more and more militant. Informal counter-pickets have been happening every Saturday at Brixton Hill. Such counter-pickets need to be organised properly and built for in the Labour movement.

It has also been argued that there is a need them to be carried out with sensitivity - there is a danger that large unruly counter-picket outside a clinic would have the same deterrent effect on women seeking abortions as the anti-abortionists themselves. 

We have taken the initiative of booking a room in Lambeth Town Hall on Monday 9th July in room 121, in order to hold a meeting to discuss the way forward to defeating the anti-abortionists. We need to discuss what tactics to use and how to mobilise people against Operation Rescue. We would hope that some sort of organising committee could be constituted to organise the counter-pickets, and any other action deemed necessary. We hope everyone who is concerned about the threat that the anti-abortionists represent and wishes to organise against them will either attend or, if an organisation, send a representative'.

Invite to a meeting to 'Organise Against Operation Rescue' at Lambeth Town Hall, July 1990

In the early protests the police did not seem to have been interested and when an anti-abortionist had run towards the clinic and been stopped by a counter-demonstrator it was the latter who was arrested (though later released without charge).  

At the meeting at Lambeth Town Hall the main political difference was on how to respond - representatives attending from the alphabet soup of left/anarchist groups active in Brixton at the time. Broadly speaking the Socialist Workers Party wished to mobilise counter protestors at the clinic. Others present - the majority at the meeting - felt that having a crowd there, even a sympathetic one, would be very uncomfortable for women attending. It was agreed to have enough of a presence at the Clinic to challenge the anti-abortionists and if necessary escort women past them, but not to seek to mobilise large numbers directly outside it. Instead, efforts would be put into preventing Operation Rescue getting to the Clinic in the first place

A leaflet given out at the clinic declared 'A Woman's Right to Choose... Raleigh Nursing Home is one of the few places in Lambeth that performs abortions. We are here today outside it because we believe that every woman should have the right to control over her own body. That means she should have the right to an abortion if she wants one.

Unfortunately there are some people who seek to prevent women from exercising that right- by force, by threats and by terror. You may have seen them here too. As often as not they are the ones on their knees. You may have been given one of their glossy horror pamphlets full of photographs of "dead

babies". If we had the same vast wealth behind us as they do - and the same twisted logic - you could be reading an equally glossy pamphlet full of pictures of dead women; just some of the hundreds of thousands who die every year throughout the world whilst attempting backstreet abortion. Because that is the reality in countries without even Britain's limited legal abortion facilities.

[...] we aren't trying to frighten anybody away. We don't even want to be here ourselves. It can be traumatic enough for women to come for an abortion without a crowd of people on the gate as they go in. We are only here because if we weren't the militant anti-abortionists - who in the United States have resorted to fire bombing clinics - will count it as a victory'

Meanwhile a crew drawn from Workers Power, Red Action, South London Direct Action Movement and other local anarchists, all of whom had a presence in the area, put in place the plan to stop Operation Rescue in their tracks. These people were in effect the backbone of Anti Fascist Action in South London and weren't mucking around. As the anti-abortionists made their way up from Brixton station they were ambushed, and as they used to say 'acquainted with the pavement'. It was a long time before they returned to Brixton Hill.

A report on the campaign from Workers Power, July 1990

 

A letter from the campaign from City Limits magazine, 2 September 1990

The following account, 'Bouncing the Bigots',  comes from Direct Action, October 1990:

'[...] In Brixton a group was formed to oppose Rescue by mounting a counter picket. Over the weeks, our tactics evolved and developed. Members of a variety of groups and organisations  (DAM, Red Action and others) formed the Clinics Defence Campaign.

Our main concern is not to add to the intimidation of women going into the clinic. A vast crowd clustered round the entrance is inherently frightening. We use what we call "them plus two": if they have five people, then we have seven and we surround them with our banners supporting a woman's right to choose. We also have back up in case of any trouble and also relief pickets for when the constant singing and praying gets too much!

Week after the were they have appeared and been met with a hostile reception. Slowly their numbers decreased as weaker souls got too scared to face up to vigorous local opposition. On one appearance due to a certain incident they left en masse (well, there were only 3 of them) in an ambulance. For almost 2 months now, they've been happily absent from Brixton'

[The address given for the Clinic Defence Campaign in this article is 121 Railton Road - the squatted anarchist centre that was used by many local groups in this period]

(updated February 2024 with addition of Direct Action article)

New Cross Venue, Christmas 1990 (and other 90s flyers)

Some more flyers from the New Cross Venue in the 1990s, when the place was a key indie venue.

December 1990 - A Certain Ratio, Band of Holy Joy and Teenage Fanclub (with the Pastels and BMX Bandits) on consecutive nights. According to someone who was at the latter, Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream joined Teenage Fanclub on stage for an encore version of  'Get Back'.

Teengage Fanclub at the Venue Christmas Party, 21 December 1990 -
'bands finish 11 pm, club till 2 am, coach after club to Traflagar Square'

May 1990 with bands including Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry, Soho and The Oyster Band:

November 1991, including Therapy, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Pastels/Heavenly and Spiritualized (think I was those last two).

February 1992: Meteors, Godfathers, Planet Gong with Here & Now:

June 1992 - Pulp supporting Boo Radleys:

March 1993 - including Goats Don't Shave, Gang of Four and Dodgy:

May 1993 - Sheep on Drugs, The Lunachicks etc.:

October 1994 - Gary Clail, African Headcharge, Dreadzone, Ultramarine:

December 1994: Sleeper, Loop Guru, Shed Seven:

January 1995: Test Dept, King Kurt - also an early example of a tribute band 'English Rose' (Jam covers) which were to become the main acts at the Venue later in the 1990s.

May 1995 - Pale Saints, Cardiacs, Sidi Bou Said (a great South London band):

 See more Venue flyers and stories here

Je Suis Music at The Paradise Bar (1999)

News this week that The Royal Albert Pub (460 New Cross Road) has changed hands - it is one of a number of pubs previously run by Antic which have been taken over by Portobello Brewing. The start of another chapter in the history of this long established pub and sometime music venue (see previous posts for some of its history)

I found this flyer for a night out there in April 1999 when it was in its incarnation as the Paradise Bar. A note in my diary records that I went there with my late friend Katy Watson for 'Je Suis Music' a 'self-proclaimed pop-retro kitsch night' with DJs Joe Egg and the Futurist Girls playing 'a never-ending stream of 1980s pop', lots of Fun Boy Three, Smiths, Heaven 17, Soft Cell and Aha. All with the lit up multi coloured disco dancefloor. It was one of a range of campy nights put on by Joe and Nervous Stephen, including French Disko and Pretty in Pink themed nights (not to mention the Belle & Sebastian fanfest 2000 Troubled Teenagers which I've mentioned before)

There was a Pop Culture Quiz which me and Katy won, she took the Suede CD prize. I would still get the music questions right but not sure about the TV ones!

 

(It was a strange weekend, on the Saturday I had been on a demonstration about the war that was raging in Yugoslavia and a nail bomb had gone off in Brixton, planted by a far right activist as the first of a series that also targeted Brick Lane and the Admiral Duncan pub in Soho). 

A Joyful Noise Unto the Creator SE17

At a neighbour's moving house sale earlier I picked up a vinyl copy of Galliano's acid jazz album 'A Joyful Noise unto the Creator' (Talkin Loud, 1992). Looking at the cover photo I thought I've been to parties on roof tops like that in the Pullens Estate off Walworth Road. And looking in more detail at the background I think you can make out the now demolished Heygate Estate and the Newington Library building on Walworth Road.

Compare building on right of background with Newington Library picture below (not curved roof with two windows underneath, and chimney stack on right of building)

Any one no any more? No doubt somebody who knows those streets better than I will be able to narrow down the location further.




Update




Rob Gallagher, lead singer of Galliano, has confirmed photo was taken on roof of his flat on the Pullens and that Constantine Weir, the band's other regular vocalist, lived round the corner. Interesting times in which different scenes overlapped and flowed into each other. I went to some 'acid jazz' nights like Flipside at Iceni in Mayfair and was also very politically active in that post-poll tax period, then came the anti-rave Criminal Justice Act and the road protests at Claremont Road and Newbury, and Galliano got amongst it with their last album 'The Plot Thickens'  aligning themselves with that movement.



Rave at the Crypt - St Paul's Deptford 1988-1991

As mentioned here before, the crypt of St Pauls Church in Deptford was extensively used for gigs and parties in the 1980s and 1990s. From the great phatmedia rave flyer archive, here's a couple more to prompt your memories. 

Mary's House in November 1988 promised '100% pure house sounds' with 'DJ Merran and Graham Meacham'

Insanity Promotions' Hallelujah was a fortnightly event starting in August 1991, with DJs including Andy Nichols, Scott Smith, Danny Monk with forthcoming guests Steve Lee and 'Andy Weatherall (unconfirmed)'. Wonder if he ever made it? In those pre-internet days, membership was available from promoter Alan Main at an address in Lenville Way SE16 - that's on the now demolished Bonamy Estate:

See previously:

Babylon filmed in the Crypt

More tales from the Crypt - pyschedelic club, reggae sound systems and gigs

Saxon International at the Crypt

'Psychedelic Nites' at the Crypt - late 1980s flyers

Will Greenwood and Ozric Tentacles at the Crypt

30 years of Band of Holy Joy - including their early days at the Crypt

Subconscious deep house at the Crypt 1989

Spiritualized at the Venue: 'Trendy Spot' in New Cross, 1991

Came across this in archive of LSE student magazine, The Beaver, 9 December 1991. 'Baby Lemonade' reviews a gig at the New Cross Venue by Spiritualized - 'a band for the post rave 90s' no less'.  The bands at the Venue at this time were only part of the night out, as the author notes: 'The night wasn't over there though. The post show club featured sounds as diverse as New Model Army and the Shamen. Trendy spot it must be too, as at one point I found myself dancing on the heels of Mikki from Lush'  (see previous post on Lush at The Venue).

The gig was on Friday 29 November 1991 - see flyer below (more Venue flyers here)

More New Cross Venue Memories

Over at the great Irish blog Cedar House Revolution, I came across some more recollections of the Venue in New Cross (see previous posts on this subject, especially comments here).

Damian O’Broin recalls that he  'spent the summer of 1990 – and the one before it – working on building sites in London' and that he went to see the band 'Kitchens of Distinction, on a Summer’s night at a little place called The Venue... The Venue was in New Cross, which was pretty much the complete opposite end of London to us. I remember almost nothing about the gig itself. I do remember trooping around the roads of New Cross looking for The Venue. And I remember dancing to Sympathy for the Devil and Fool’s Gold at the club after the gig. It’s strange the details you remember. I think it was a good gig. I have no idea how we all got home'.

In the comments Eamonn from Cork writes:

'The Venue was a great spot which I went to many weekends between 1989-1992 because I was living just over the road in first Brixton and then Peckham and then New Cross itself on Jerningham Road.

It wasn’t a little place though, it was a huge barn of a spot which had originally been an Irish club called The Harp Club. In 1988 when it was still the Harp it had hosted some very full-on acid house nights. My abiding memory of the place is the strawberry smoke which would gust forth in huge quantities, the thorough search you got on the way in and the fact that they only served drink in plastic glasses. And that the club night afterwards was often better than the gigs. Though I saw rising indie hopefuls The Would Bes play very well there.

The Venue ended up being owned by the gang who owned The Swan in Stockwell, South London’s version of The National in Kilburn, and from 1990 onwards had more of an Irish orientation though it still leaned towards the rock side of things. I saw Paul Cleary and The Fleadh Cowboys there and also Dave Fanning DJing and being rather puzzled when people kept asking him to play The Wolfe Tones. There were also several excellent pubs nearby, notably The Amersham Arms which ran acoustic gigs and where I saw Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick be brilliant, The Wishing Well [think he means the Dewdrop Inn], on the same street Clifton Rise as The Venue which was a Crusty hang-out, the Goldsmiths Tavern which had a fine indie night Totally Wired and was full of students from the art college of the same name and The Marquis of Granby, which was the home pub for the Sligo village where I come from and not trendy at all. But welcoming'.

Also at Lush site Light from a Dead Star, Guy Marshall recalls seeing the band there on October 12 1991:

'This was the first proper Lush gig I went to, Steve was still in the band. Set list was: Stray; Bitter; Breeze; Laura; God's Gift; Scarlet; Ocean; Nothing Natural; For Love; Covert; De-Luxe; Second Sight; Downer; Baby Talk; Monochrome; Sweetness & Light. I have a tape of this gig, brings back memories of how nervous(!) I was being on the edge of the mosh pit and that Lush was the band for me! Perfect set list. First time meeting Miki, Steve, Chris and Emma. Miki changed my friend's ticket to SLUSH.

Other memories: Stood next to Boris Williams - drummer with The Cure - during support band Shelleyann Orphan's set. He was "going out" with Caroline Crawley of the band. I was totally dumb struck for a while (luckily my friend plucked up the courage to say Hi!) then we had a quick chat and he signed a Lush flyer & my Boys Don't Cry T-Shirt which I happened to be wearing at the time. Also saw guitarist from Curve Debbie Smith. Probably other "Indie" stars I didn't recognise. Someone in the crowd had Tom and Jerry hand puppets(??) which Miki is heard asking about'

Lush ticket from The Venue - signed by all the band.

There's actually film of a whole Lush set at the Venue earlier in March 1991 on youtube

Oasis in the Rivoli Ballroom (2005) and at the Venue (1994)

Yet more in the ongoing 'here come's everybody' saga of the Rivoli Ballroom in Crofton Park . Here's late period Oasis (2005) at a photo shoot in the Rivoli. The photos were taken by Zed Nelson for Mojo, who mentions that despite the venue being used so often for shoots it is actually quite a tricky place to take photographs:  “The Rivoli Ballroom was such a massive space...It looked beautiful, but lighting it was a nightmare. It meant a really slow shutter speed, which in turn meant the band had to stand really still. But controlling Oasis is hard enough at the best of times. It’s like going into a zoo and having to tame the silverback gorillas.”

photos above © Zed Nelson

And here's Liam just down the road in the band's early days - in the Venue, New Cross, where Oasis played on 13 May 1994. 'In Oasis: The Truth' (2013), original Oasis drummer Tony McCarroll recalls the New Cross gig 'After another barnstormer we were met in the dressing room by a pack of music journalists. Few people could have had any doubts about who the hottest act in town was. There was now a real intensity surrounding the band. Each gig was more and more frenzied'. Immediately after the gig the band headed across town where they bumped into Prince. Sadly there is no record of the artist formerly known as ever being spotted in New Cross.

Liam in the Venue 1994 - found the picture on Twitter,
looks like it was snapped from a book

I've previously posted a flyer for this gig here - on that Friday night they were supported by Cast and Shed Seven. Oasis had released Supersonic a month before and were on their way.

Oasis at the Venue in 1994, photo  © Paul Slattery

From the excellent  Manchester District Music Archive

Peckham Dolehouse Revisited

Tonight (Friday 3rd May) the spirit of late1980s/early 1990s London squat culture will reappear at the Peckham Palais, 1 Rye Lane SE15 with 'The Dolehouse Reunion'.

The Peckham Dolehouse was a famous squat that ran from Spring 1989 to October 1990 in an empty Department for Health & Social Security building in Collyer Place off Peckham High Street (the buiding still stands by Peckham Lidl).

The Dolehouse Crew and Green Circus put on many gigs and parties. As recalled by John Heathcote: 'Downstairs, in the signing on office where the booths still lined the far wall, would be a selection of DJs playing everything from ambient dub to banging Techno, and upstairs would be the live area, followed at about 3 or 4 a.m. by dance floor DJ's. The venue acted as a catalyst for the many diverse elements of urban and traveling culture under threat from the Tory laws on everything from squatting to free assembly'.

Bands who played there included RDF, One Style MDV, Ruff Ruff n Ready, Snapus, The Levellers, Back to the Planet, The Sea, Dread Messiah, Suicidal Supermarket Trolleys, BTF, Citizen Fish, Tottenham AK47's, The Fatcats, Poisoned Electrick Head, Ululators, Moksha, Arriba Mundi, Dave Howard Singers, 7 Kevins and Bulbous Skunk Cabbages, to name but a few.

Viva La Dole House badges

Some of these bands  became massive for a while in the so-called Crusty scene, particularly Brighton's The Levellers who played at the Dolehouse. Of the South London bands, Peckham's Back to the Planet had the most success - remember seeing them headline at the Camden Palace (now Koko). Ruff Ruff & Ready supported The Stone Roses at the legendary 1990 Spike Island gig.

The Dolehouse was also one of the places that  paved the way for the 1990s free party scene, which was much more sound system than band based. Back to the Planet's drummer Henry Cullen went on the help develop the London Acid Techno sound (along with the Liberator DJs and others) as D.A.V.E the Drummer.

The first party at The Dolehouse, 10 June 1990 complete with vegan cafe and bands
(I believe the Seven Kevins played)

The Dolehouse, 31st March 1990, with bands including The Levellers, The Sea, Wat Tyler and Suicidal Supermarket Trolleys.  The promised 'chill out lounge' was no doubt much needed after a long day of rioting - that was the day of the Trafalgar Square Poll Tax riot.

Anyway tonight there's a Dolehouse Reunion at the Peckham Palais put on by Reknaw and Virus Sound Systems with some of the key bands from the Dolehouse days, including Back to the Planet, The Sea, RDF and Dread Messiah. It's £12 on the door (facebook event details here - from where most of the photos here have been sourced)

Many of these bands also played at the 1990s Deptford Urban Free Festivals in Fordham Park

 - see earlier post.

Mat Fraser

One of the surprizes of the Paralympics closing ceremony tonight was seeing Mat Fraser drumming as a guest with Coldplay.

Mat, who was disabled as a result of thalidomide, has has quite a big stage, TV and film profile over the last few years. But we remember him as a stalwart of the 1990s South London squat party scene, including playing with the band The Grateful Dub at Cool Tan in Brixton and other places.

Skeletal punks 1991 and 2012

As discussed at Transpontine before, the Lewisham Arthouse building on Lewisham Way was a library until 1991 and was sporadically used for squat parties until the Arthouse took over in 1994. There was a Spiral Tribe party there in November 1991, and now I have come across this flyer for another 'free party' there on Saturday 28th September 1991.  'Live bands' were promised and the look of the flyer suggests it was probably fairly punky. Anyone remember it or other similar parties?

Then I came across this poster for a forthcoming gig at the New Cross Inn. On 5th May 2012 'Si and Breno celebrate 70 years with friends, bands and beers', with bands including Extinction of Mankind. Very similar skeletal crust punk imagery - could the same person be designing flyers in New Cross over a twenty year period? If you are the artist(s) let me know.

Music Monday: Eternal

A retro turn in this week's Music Monday, as we recall SE London's greatest ever girl group (at least in the soul category - we can talk about Shampoo another time).

Eternal was conceived of by manager Denis Ingoldsby in 1992 as a UK version of En Vogue. He put together sisters Easther and Verna Bennett, with Kelle Bryan and Louise Nurding (the latter of whom Ingoldsby had met in London club The Milk Bar).

Three of the four were from South London - the  Bennett sisters were from Croydon, and were steeped in gospel music via their family's church. Nurding was born in Lewisham Hospital and grew up in Eltham - she went to St.Thomas More RC Primary School in Appleton Road. In fact her grandad had a stall on Lewisham market where she sometimes helped out.

The original line up of the band only lasted until 1995 when Nurding left the band to go solo (she later became known of course as Louise Redknapp); Bryan left in 1998 after a split with the Bennett sisters.

Just a Step from Heaven is one of their better earlier tracks, nice slice of soulful pop plus the slightly surreal sight of the band cavorting to Black Panther Party/Public Enemy imagery (dancers in berets and combats, clenched fists etc):

s

"I Wanna Be the Only One", a duet with BeBe Winans, was a UK number one in 1997 and a bona fide 1990s soul classic:

Three Sided Football and the One Tree Hill Astronauts

Mentioned here recently that three-sided football was about to take off once again in South London with a game in Deptford Park. Apparently it went well, as Mark reports:

'Post first match report. I am very happy to say that the inaugural game went ahead and went very well. We kicked off with three a side and played three ten minute thirds with scores of 4:3:2. Only nine men on a full size 3SF pitch was a bit exhausting as there was much distance to cover but the forming and breaking of alliances which lie at the heart of the game were very much in evidence. It was fascinating to see how different the ownership of goals became though all of us clearly have the rules and tactics of traditional footie locked in our DNA. More games will clearly be necessary before the full essence of this amazing game begins to be properly experienced. Deptford Park also houses two normal football pitches for traditional Saturday morning games and our activity generated much interest.

After our short three sided game we were joined by players from the other pitches and proceeded to play another game but with five players per team over three twenty minute thirds with scores of 7:6:5. This was quite different in feel; much less exhausting and with fixed goalies but the exigencies of two sided soccer exerted themselves more noticeably. It was also clear that inter-team communication of shifting allegiances needed to be better explained as sometimes half of one team were playing with/for the second team while the other half were playing with the third. Very confusing...  All in all an excellent experience and everyone has committed to playing again. We have set up four more matches; March 10th & 24th and April 7th & 21st. Everyone welcome'.

So please note, next match is this forthcoming Saturday at 11.00am in Deptford Park - all welcome. The basis of the game is that the 'winner' of the three teams is the one that concedes the least goals, which encourages all kinds of shifting alliances.

There's some discussion at South East Central. See also some information at wikipedia and this video primer.

The Astronauts of One Tree Hill

Back in the late 1990s, three-sided football games were held in London and elsewhere as part of the training programme of the Association of Autonomous Astronauts (AAA), an outernational network promoting community-based space exploration which declared 'technology is developed by the military and intelligence agencies as a means of controlling their monopoly on space exploration; economic austerity is manufactured by the state to prevent the working class building their own spaceships; governments are incapable of organising successful space exploration programmes. WHAT WE NEED TODAY IS AN INDEPENDENT SPACE EXPLORATION PROGRAMME, ONE THAT IS NOT RESTRICTED BY MILITARY, SCIENTIFIC OR CORPORATE INTERESTS. An independent space exploration programme represents the struggle for emancipatory applications of technology'.

Denied access to rocket ships and space stations, we decided to use the means at hand for acclimatising ourselves to liberated life in zero gravity - raves in space, astral projection and three-sided football, the latter to get used to thinking beyond two dimensions (there is no up or down in space).

In October 1998, as part of a series of events entitled 'radical? Southwark!' we held an 'AAA training mission' on One Tree Hill in Honor Oak. A procession of cyclists set out from 56a Info Shop (by Elephant and Castle) to take part.

There was an astral projection exercise on the  concrete platform (site of the old anti-aircraft gun) on top of the hill - basically getting people to use their imagination to visualise being in space. And in that flattish clearing  half way up the hill we had a game of Three-Sided Football. I remember that some curious passers-by joined in (a feature of the game whenever it is played), as well as a couple of BBC researchers who were thinking about making a programme about the AAA. They never did, though we did make it on to the Robert Elms radio show.

Back of 1998 flyer - some poetic licence perhaps - the Battle to save One tree Hill
from enclosure as a golf course certainly happened; Blake's visions were on Peckham Rye,
but in those days One Tree Hill would have been seen as the far end of the Rye; the Boudica
legend is shared by many places, no real evidence the battle took place here; I haven't
been able to substantiate the Aleister Crowley story either (though he did marry
the Vicar of Camberwell's daughter).

Here's a short film about the AAA, including some historic three-sided football footage (not the Honor Oak game unfortunately)

Music Monday: Ceri James

Ceri James and his guitar have been a feature of the New Cross music scene for some time. His third solo album, The Lost Souls Parade, is out now and includes the song The Real Coffee Shop - not only a catchy upbeat number, but also a nice slice of cultural history celebrating an actual cafe in early noughties New Cross Road (think it was open for around 18 months from around 2000 to 2002, coinciding with the last days of the Goldsmiths Tavern in its wild south east phase). 


The Real Coffee Shop

Do you remember the coffee shop?
Well I admit that I almost forgot
And It was run by Robbie who was loved by Melanie
And it was open whenever you wanted to throw a party

I once saw the crackheads who were smoking in the alley
Beneath the posters of the latest rally
Did you get involved?

At the Coffee Shop A
 place that starbucks couldn’t stop
Somewhere South of The Thames
It was a real Coffee Shop

The building was in desperate need of some renovation
But inside you could always find a decent conversation
It opened just before the internet super highway and you could read a book there by Chomsky or Hemingway

Let’s say the toilet wasn’t always a pretty site
But you could smoke in the lounge all through the night or pass your spliffs if you liked
And it happened a lot

At the coffee shop
Somewhere in New Cross
They had things Costa didn’t stock
It was a real coffee shop

Student philosophers, artists, punks and hippies
All showed up to satisfy their curiosity
Side by side but never in complete harmony
But they tolerated each others company

Outside in the garden there were art installations
But the Police talked about the legal complications
There were undercover cops
At the coffee shop

Where we used to dance alot
It was South of the Thames
A place that Costa couldn’t stop

It attracted outsiders, travellers and renegades
And all kinds of music was DJ’d
Marathon guitar jams with mandolins and banjos
And someone playing on the out of tune piano

Live performers and other festivities
But I don’t remember ever buying a cup of coffee
It wasn’t necessary
When you went

To the coffee shop
Where we used to drink a lot
It was Somewhere in New Cross
They had things Starbucks couldn’t stock

Yes I remember the coffee shop
But the shenanigans had to stop
It all seemed to disappear somewhere into the ether
And the class A’s didn’t help much either

When Robbie needed to move away
The businessman next door opened a new cafe
And it was the end of the cabaret
At the coffee shop

A store that high streets haven’t got
Where we smoke a lot
Somewhere South of The Thames

The real Coffee shop
The real coffee shop

The video was shot in New Cross Road and includes some old footage from the Coffee Shop itself, which I believe was located at 310 New Cross Road. In fact the video was directed by Robert O'Meara, who was involved in running the Coffee Shop - apparently he is the Robbie mentioned in the song, and Melanie is the Mel who still runs Prangsta. Robert recalls: 'The Coffee Shop was a squat which turned a run down empty space into a vibrant hub and resource for the community'.

The Coffee Shop

The shop today - next door but one to Cafe Crema

Deptford Broadway

Back in 2004, Ceri's former band Zen put out another South London song: Deptford Broadway.