2017-03-11 21:35
New piece by Artful Dodger on Peckham Road by Southamton Way junction, a Trump era lamentation featuring Captain America and referencing Simon and Garfunkel's Mrs Robinson too 'Where have yo… Read More
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Transpontine Blog
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South East London blogzine - things that are happening, things that happened, things that should never have happened. New Cross, Brockley, Deptford and other beauty spots. EMAIL US: [email protected] Transpontine: 'on the other (i.e. the south) side of the bridges over the Thames; pertaining to or like the lurid melodrama played in theatres there in the 19th century'.
2017-03-07 20:31
This Thursday night (March 9th 2017), South East London Folklore Society will be examining The Pendle Witch Trials of 1612 - some of the best recorded and famous witch trials of the 17t… Read More
2017-02-22 17:58
The funeral took place in Beckton on February 10th of Steve Wilson (1955-2017), who died recently after nearly two years of serious illness.A man of multiple enthusiasms including Leonard Co… Read More
2017-02-08 21:31
Siouxsie and the Banshees played at Lewisham Odeon on 13th October 1979, supported by The Cure,It was the 'Join Hands' tour, and on it The Cure's Robert Smith temporarily stepped in as Bansh… Read More
2017-02-06 19:28
This row of houses in Slaithwaite Road, Lewisham has some interesting connections - I believe the white house on the left is number 22, with number 20 to its right followed by number 18 and… Read More
2017-01-28 11:40
A good turn out this morning for the protest to launch the Save New Cross Post Office campaign. As mentioned here before, the busy community facility is threatened with closure.EastLondonLin… Read More
2017-01-24 22:33
A campaign has been launched to save New Cross Gate post office. There's a petition which states the case clearly:'On the 10th January 2017 the Post Office Limited proposed to close 93 Post… Read More
2017-01-12 22:56
Writer and mental health activist Robert Dellar sadly died last month (December 2016) just after his 52nd birthday. Robert was one of the founders of Mad Pride, which brought a n… Read More
2017-01-01 17:36
There's a new Carrie Fisher/Princess Leia mural in Peckham, 'The Rebels' Princess' was painted by Artful Dodger yesterday just a few days after Fisher's death. It is located on the outside o… Read More
2016-12-29 09:51
The film director Franco Rosso, best known for the classic sound system movie Babylon (1980), has died (see John Eden's obituary). Born in Italy in 1942, he attended Camberwell College of Ar… Read More
2016-12-28 10:12
As in previous years, a couple of houses in Nunhead Grove SE15 have brightened up the area with their Christmas decorations. Favourite feature for me is the Christmas hat wearing meerkats.Th… Read More
2016-12-18 22:25
'ANARCHIST DISCIPLE’S DEATHThe body man of a man found shot through the head, at Lambeth Meadow, Plumstead on Wednesday morning, was on Thursday identified as that of Leone Povinelli… Read More
2016-12-08 20:46
Charitable appeals from Victorian New Cross:'Poor Children's Dinners Sir, —The time is drawing very near when it is customary to give the poor little destitute children a Ch… Read More
2016-12-05 23:55
This picture has been doing the rounds on facebook, pinterest etc. and has caused some excitement as it purports to show soul legend Marvin Gaye dancing in Deptford - the caption actually sa… Read More
2016-11-30 20:00
Tupac Shakur, corner of Deptford High Street and Comet Street, SE8.Speedy Auto Service Ltd, Creek Road, SE8 - I like this, anyone know who these people are? Read More
2016-11-27 08:25
The Pantomime season is upon us. At Greenwich Theatre, Peter Pan: A New Adventure by Andrew Pollard opened last week, and Peter Pan is also to be found at the Broadway Theatre in Catford thi… Read More
2016-11-19 07:24
A couple of interesting musical events in Deptford this afternoon/evening (Saturday 19 November):First up from 5 pm at Vinyl Deptford (cafe/record shop at 4 Tanners Hill), there'… Read More
2016-11-18 07:46
I have been peering again into the murky waters of the history of the far right in South London. One of the more depressing specimens is John Beckett (1894-1964).After the First… Read More
2016-11-16 21:52
Coming up next weekend at Goldsmiths in New Cross:'I am Human - Precarious JourneysTrace the precarious journeys of refugees as they navigate the perils of land, sea and a deadly human lands… Read More
2016-11-14 21:55
A fundraiser for Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network takes place this Saturday 19 November at The Ivy House, Stuart Road SE15. The family friendly event from 1 to 5 pm includes music from t… Read More
2016-11-10 18:15
'United Kingdom' is a new movie starring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike, based on the true-life interracial romance between Seretse Khama (first president of Botswana) and his wife Ruth Wil… Read More
2016-11-09 19:34
Coming up tomorrow (Thursday 10th November 2016) at South East London Folklore Society, Bob Askew will be given a talk on 'Robin Hood Ballads: The ‘Real Robin Hood’?'The Robin Ho… Read More
2016-11-07 08:24
As a young man, the artist Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) spent a couple of years living in London. Thanks to his practice of sending regular letters to his brother Theo and others, we kn… Read More
2016-11-04 19:34
Good to see that the recently started New Cross Folk Club at the Amersham Arms is going from strength to strength. This Sunday November 6th (7:30 pm) they are hosting veteran radical singer… Read More
2016-10-31 15:24
For Halloween, here's a ghost story written by Elliot O'Donnell for the London 'Weekly Dispatch' and then reprinted in the Australian 'Express and Telegraph', 6 August 1910.The location of t… Read More
2016-10-28 11:45
As reported at Brockley Central and elsewhere, pub chain Antic is closing The Ravensbourne Arms in Lewisham High Street (near to the hospital), possibly as soon as this Sunday. The pub, form… Read More
2016-10-27 06:00
Lewisham Odeon opened as the Gaumont Palace cinema in 1932, and was renamed the Odeon in 1962. As mentioned here before it was the scene of many iconic gigs before it closed in 1981, b… Read More
2016-10-25 19:39
Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore is playing a night of improvised music with David Toop and Tania Chen at Goldsmiths in New Cross next month. The performance on 4 November 2016 takes pla… Read More
2016-10-23 19:59
'Denying police charges, an angry wife who stood with her husband in a court witness box, described a chief inspectors's evidence as a 'tissue of lies' after allegations that couples had bee… Read More
2016-10-18 19:07
You can spend many hours browsing round the old Ordnance Survey maps of London and elsewhere that the National Library of Scotland has made available, free of charge.A feature of the 1893 ma… Read More
2016-10-12 06:32
Students at Goldsmiths in New Cross are planning to step up their campaign for a reduction in rents. Some students are continuing a rent strike they launched last year, and next week Goldsmi… Read More
2016-10-03 18:35
The latest mural in the Brockley area went up last week. Staring out from the side of Sids Plumbing and Heating Supplies (corner of Brockley Road and St Margaret's Road) is a portrait of US… Read More
2016-10-03 05:00
South London band Goat Girl have recently signed to Rough Trade after making some noise locally with gigs at The Montague Arms, Peckham Safehouse and elsewhere. Actually one of them used to… Read More
2016-09-17 17:37
As part of Open House London this weekend, the old Crystal Palace Subway is open this weekend and I went along today. The subway, which opened in 1865, once linked the High Level Station to… Read More
2016-09-16 10:24
Bermondsey Folk Festival concluded in the sun last Sunday 11th September with a fine music stage at the Bermondsey Summer Fete at Compass School SE16,There was Irish dancing from Bermondsey… Read More
2016-09-13 19:32
Ten years ago a rather grand but decaying house at 117 Lewisham Way, near to Goldsmiths College in New Cross, was demolished. The house had an interesting history, including a brief period a… Read More
2016-09-08 20:38
'On Saturday 10th September, a Lewisham Council plaque will be unveiled to mark the Catford residence of Captain William Colbeck (1871–1930). Captain Colbeck moved to 5… Read More
2016-09-07 06:56
Test Dept are surely one of the most influential bands to emerge from the local area, starting out in New Cross in the early 1980s (some band members lived at 8 Nettleton Road) and pioneerin… Read More
2016-09-03 21:34
The free film festival scene continues to grow, easy to take them for granted but seeing lots of great movies for free at interesting venues on your doorstep - how cool is that?Peckham and N… Read More
2016-09-02 06:59
Tomorrow (Saturday 3rd September) sees the New Cross Party in the Park returning to Fordham Park, a free community festival 'for all ages, with family events, arts and crafts, stalls, s… Read More
2016-08-22 07:10
An interesting account of apparent arson at a rocket factory in New Cross, from the Evening Mail, 9 March 1842. The location, given as Minerva House, seems to have been on what is now N… Read More
2016-08-11 16:35
Health visiting and school nursing services are facing cuts in Lewisham as a result of a £4.7 million reduction in the public health grant that the Council receives from central govern… Read More
2016-08-10 07:55
The London Metropolitan Archives Collage London Picture Archive, 'Collage' has lots of great photos from across the capital. The Lewisham section includes some photographs by Chris Schw… Read More
2016-08-08 21:21
Former Brockley resident Nazanin Ratcliffe has now been in jail in Iran for four months, having been detained while attempting to fly back from a family holiday there. Her two yea… Read More
2016-08-01 18:30
The Launderette in Endwell Road, Brockley, SE4 is to close. A sign in its window gives a closing date as Sunday 18th September. I don't know why, businesses close and indeed open all the tim… Read More
2016-07-31 16:32
A picture posted as part of the ongoing argument within the Labour Party has prompted me to dig up an episode in local history - the commemoration of the 600th anniversary of the 1381 Peasan… Read More
2016-07-19 06:10
Zoe Konez, singer with Cat Bear Tree (featured here previously), has a new solo single out this week. The video for Bones was filmed by Gareth Gray at Antenna Studios in Crystal Palace… Read More
2016-07-18 06:00
Channel 4 are the latest to make use of the Rivoli Ballroom in Crofton Park, filming part of the uplifting 'We're the Superhumans' trailer for the Rio Paralympics there.While Wheelchair Ball… Read More
2016-07-15 19:45
A tough day, stumbled into something joyful in Peckham. Investigating further, I tried the door - well it said 'Open' - and found myself inside MOCA gallery on Bellenden Road, SE15. &nb&hell…Read More
2016-07-14 20:35
From the Daily Mirror, 1 October 1960:'The Mirror drops in for a night out at The Savoy in Catford SE6''from Dixon Scott, Catford, Friday Night''Lots of hugging - but no kissing! Tell her yo… Read More
2016-07-13 17:47
Tomorrow night (Thursday 14 July) at the always interesting South East London Folklore Society, at the Old Kings Head off Borough High Street SE1, a talk on contemporary Wicca:'The past cent… Read More
2016-07-12 21:14
On Thursday night (14 July) there's a tribute night for Muhammad Ali at Curzon Cinema at Goldsmiths in New Cross, featuring a chance to see the great documentary 'When we were Kings' on the… Read More
2016-07-12 18:54
There's a lobby of Lewisham Council's Mayor and Cabinet meeting tomorrow (Wednesday 13 July) in protest against cuts to library services in the borough. Another lobby is planned for th… Read More
2016-07-10 08:43
Surprized that amongst UK newspapers, only The Daily Mail seems to have picked up on the jailing of an accountant for nine years for the 'biggest ever education fraud' seen in the UK. Sam Ka… Read More
2016-07-10 07:33
Really enjoyed Kathryn Williams' gig last month (June 18th) in the theatre space at Canada Water Library. She was performing songs from her Sylvia Plath-inspired album Hypoxia as part of Sou… Read More
2016-07-03 13:13
A new David Bowie mural was painted in Bromley shopping centre on Saturday, by Marvellous Murals. Bowie may have been born in Brixton, but he grew up as a Bromley boy, living in Canon R… Read More
2016-07-03 12:55
New Prince mural in Camberwell on Daneville Road next to GX Gallery:Maxi Priest on shutters of Goldstar Office Furniture, Honor Oak Park, SE23:Bob Marley by Brockley Station, painted last ye… Read More
2016-06-28 20:02
Sad to see the final ever episode of The Good Wife, one of the best programmes on TV in recent years. The last series was enlivened by the character of up and coming lawyer Lucca Quinn, play… Read More
2016-06-25 18:17
A couple of weeks ago (12 June) I went to a live performance by Ghetto Priest and Adrian Sherwood at Dilston Grove in Southwark Park. The event was part of the 'The Mighty Scheme' exhi… Read More
2016-06-20 06:54
Political divisions arising from the EU referendum are shaking all political parties, and a little earthquake has rumbled the Lewisham left with a split in 'Lewisham People Before Profit'. … Read More
2016-06-10 19:12
Following the recent exhibition at the South London Gallery of work by Jamaican reggae/dancehall record sleeve artist Limonious (featured at Transpontine recently), there's a very interestin… Read More
2016-06-04 21:44
Student nurses, midwives and associated health professionals marched in London today against Government plans to scrap bursaries for NHS students and replace them with loans. Protestors sat… Read More
2016-06-04 10:51
As part of the burst of new street art associated with this month's Brockley Max festival, Kirstin Wood (@kirstinpainter) has painted Dizzee the ginger tom on the hoarding in Crofton Park … Read More
2016-05-31 18:45
New Prince mural in Camberwell on Daneville Road next to GX Gallery:Maxi Priest on shutters of Goldstar Office Furniture, Honor Oak Park, SE23:Bob Marley by Brockley Station, painted last ye… Read More
2016-05-23 06:19
So I was having my hair cut at the great KR Barber Station in Brockley last week and I met this guy in there for the same reason as me, talking excitedly about the fact that Dillian Why… Read More
2016-05-21 06:46
There's a demonstration today (Saturday May 21st) to opposed proposed cuts to Lewisham Libraries. As part of a £1 million cut to the libraries budget, Lewisham Coun… Read More
2016-05-20 06:44
Yet more Rivoli Ballroom action. Alison Goldfrapp held her 50th birthday party at the Crofton Park ballroom this week. Not too many photos around of this private event, but seemingly t… Read More
2016-05-16 06:26
Deptford High Street has some famous visitors' albeit only in 2D representations. Jim Hendrix (I think): Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia meet John Lennon and Yok… Read More
2016-05-12 20:02
Last weekend coming up for the Dora Project at Peckham Platform (in Peckham Square by the library). A very interesting exhibition that 'combines art, WW2 London and early rocket e… Read More
2016-05-09 06:45
Somewhere in SE14 there is a hidden pond where gnomes, rabbits and other creatures sit next to a waterfall. These poor things had been cast aside and abandoned, bu… Read More
2016-05-03 18:16
Another May Day, another procession through the streets of Deptford and Greenwich with the Fowlers Troop, featuring the Deptford Jack in the Green. As in previous years it all sta… Read More
2016-04-27 06:50
Good to see a Prince tribute in the window of Broca. His purple majesty has always been honoured in that Coulgate Street café by Brockley station, and as on many other times when I've… Read More
2016-04-26 06:54
So many great films to see for free in fine locations this week in the New Cross and Deptford Free Film Festival. To choose just a few: - tonight (Tuesday) there's a chance to see Roman… Read More
2016-04-26 06:31
South East London is becoming quite the centre for experimental and improvised music - so much so that SEEM (South East Experimental Music) has been established as 'a not-for-profit co… Read More
2016-04-18 17:23
'Miss you already' (2015) stars Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette as life long friends dealing with breast cancer and infertility in London. Good film with some lovely moments, and some sad b… Read More
2016-04-18 07:04
The main part of the Telegraph Hill Festival 2016 has been and gone, but a Telegraph Hill Festival Extra weekend is coming up on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 April) with a series of… Read More
2016-04-17 12:22
Lewisham Pensioners Forum is holding another Big Book Sale fundraiser later this month - in fact the last it will be holding in its present location of the Saville Centre by Lewisham Ho… Read More
2016-04-16 18:51
Tomorrow afternoon (Sunday 2.00 pm to 6:00 pm) at Rye Wax in the Bussey Building SE15:'Cunning Folk Music invite you to a free afternoon of drone folk at RyeWax. Analogue synthesis… Read More
2016-04-13 20:40
Last November staff at The John Roan school in Greenwich took strike action against plans to turn the school into an Academy. While 'academisation' (horrible word) was put on hold, it i… Read More
2016-04-13 20:20
Last year's London Radical Bookfair, held at a warehouse in Tanner Street SE1, was a great success. The 2016 event is even closer to home (for me at least), taking place at Goldsmiths … Read More
2016-04-13 19:51
The new building at Somerville Adventure PlaygroundSomerville Adventure Playground in New Cross (in Queens Road opposite the Montague Arms) has been going through a period of redevelopm… Read More
2016-04-12 21:00
CITYSCAPES is an exhibition of paintings and drawings by Ben Smith at Xavier White’s Gallery in Blackheath: 'Ben Smith draws and paints the urban fabric of South London, draw… Read More
2016-04-10 20:15
Mysterious passageways under the railway line opposite Nunhead station, now filled with plants and scented candles... A shrine to Venus in a lime grove next to the track... … Read More
2016-04-09 17:29
It is now a week since campaigners occupied Carnegie Library (Herne Hill Road SE24) in an attempt to prevent its closure by Lambeth Council. The Council claim the closure is only temporary a… Read More
2016-04-08 16:43
The No Frills Band are playing at the Birds Nest (Church Street SE8) in Deptford on Saturday afternoon - April 9th 2016 - so expect some fine traditional folk music. Check faceboo… Read More
2016-04-07 17:15
Interesting event coming up next week:'St George's Church in Westcombe Park is pleased to host a showing of a free educational exhibit entitled "Socialist Opposition to World War I". The ex… Read More
2016-04-07 01:00
photo from Dr Tony O'Sullivan on twitterPickets were out at hospitals across the country yesterday - and will be again today - in the 4th strike in the ongoing Junior Doctors dispute.&n&hell…Read More
2016-04-06 20:42
The appeal to raise funds for the funeral and memorial to Myron Yarde, the 17 year old stabbed to death in New Cross on Sunday, has raised nearly £10,000 in just a few days (see h… Read More
2016-04-02 13:15
Tomorrow, Sunday April 3rd, in Manor Park (not to be confused with the nearby Manor House Gardens), Linear Obsessional presents another programme of interesting, experimental and impro… Read More
2016-04-01 20:17
This weekend is your last chance to see 'In Fine Style: the Dancehall art of Wilfred Limonious' at South London Gallery (it closes on Sunday April 3rd - admission free).The Jamaican gra… Read More
2016-03-30 18:16
A sad tale from 1887 (South Wales Daily News, 14 April 1887): Mysterious case of drowning - On Tuesday morning, between six and seven o'clock, the body of a young lady of respectable ap… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
We are standing hereExposing ourselvesWe are showroom dummiesWe are showroom dummiesWe're being watchedAnd we feel our pulseWe are showroom dummiesWe are showroom dummiesWe look aroundAnd ch… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
Coming up at South East London Folklore Society on Thursday 10th April:Robert Stephenson: London's Myths & Legends.In legend London was inaugurated by the fabled Trojan leader Brutus wit… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
I spent Sunday morning running a half marathon round Croydon, or to be more precise the Sandilands/Shirley suburbs of said borough, which got me re-reading Les Back's great appreciation 'So… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
The Lewisham Natureman White Stag has been featured here several times, having been spotted at various places across South East London. Emma D. sent us this photo of the stag seen recently i… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
I'm sure many of us returning to work after the Christmas holidays are not looking forward to getting back on trains and buses. Spare a thought though for some previous travellers... On 1 Se… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
There's an online petition at the moment asking Lewisham Council to do something about the semi-derelict Ladywell Baths site, also known as the Playtower. The petition states:'We the u… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
A couple of tragic tales of death by dancing, hopefully those going out on New Year's Eve can avoid such dangers. The first relates to the New Cross Palais de Danse - still going today… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
I enjoyed the New Cross Commoners event at Deptford Town Hall last month (14 November) as part of the Being Human Festival. The aim was to host an 'an evening of open reading and discu… Read More
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