A World of Hurting.

[katstevens]

Brixton to New Cross Gate

Rations
Mini A-Z
1 packet Seabrooks (unused)
1 bottle water
2x Oyster card
No umbrellas
4.5 pints beer
2x tasty dinners
1 mobile communications device

Explorers
boyofbadgers
katstevens

Despite gloomy clouds above, embark upon one of the shorter tube terminii walks. Arrive at Brixton to find reasonable level of hustle and or bustle, dark clouds having dispersed a little. Gawp at Atlantic Road market stalls, which despite having been to Brixton on numerous occasions, narrative half of party has never actually walked down. Espy amazing red sparkly stilettoes nonchalantly worn by young lass (poss. named Dorothy, clinging on to a Scarecrow), narrowly avoid been trodden on by said 6 inch heels whilst Oz-dwellers were attempting to cross road infront of us.



Coldharbour Lane looks relatively un-grim in hazy sunshine. boyofbadgers points out large estate building where the windows were built on the wrong side. Consult Mini A-Z at Loughborough Junction to determine how to successfully navigate underneath railway lines. Wiggle around backstreets to Ruskin Park, which is really rather nice and not just because of the public conveniences on offer. A group of hardy souls are attempting a picnic; adventuring party is rueing its choice of leaving the umbrella at home.

Press on down Denmark Hill to twee station (it is in a dell which may or may not 'dingle'). Three bikes with excitable chlidren (including one perched on another's handlebars) zoom down past us at high speed. It looks tremendous fun. Next to the station is William Booth College, whose motto "because there's a hurting world" seems rather melodramatic for an educational institute. Suggest "because there's a hurtling world" as more apt description of busy universe into which alumni of said college may find themselves embarking.

Denmark Hill is leafy and at least 3/5ths posh (fewer people carriers than Stokey but more driveways to park them on). Confirm with boyofbadgers that we are in fact still in Zone 2. Luckily we soon approach Peckham. katstevens admits that as a small child she wondered whether Peckham was as fictional as Walford seeing as she had never heard mention of it save from within confines of a popular sitcom.



Thoughts turn to our destination, and the choice of drinking establishment to be visited there. Stop paying attention to surroundings and text inhabitants of New Cross regarding meeting place. Suddenly find self in middle of maze-like ghost estate which appears to have no direct through route. Magically exit estate onto Queen's Road and trundle down to New Cross Gate tube to finish walk (I couldn't be arsed to do another map for half a square, sorry NXG).

Head over to Royal Albert, drink lovely booze with cyclists, eat tasty pie. Feel smug at avoiding rain entirely. Consider walk pretty uneventful but far more enjoyable than being attacked by a rabid dog.

Comments

[kake]

Hurrah for adventure!

[catsgomiaow.livejournal.com]

as a small child she wondered whether Peckham was as fictional as Walford seeing as she had never heard mention of it save from within confines of a popular sitcom.

Arf me too :)

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I knew Walford wasn't real, as Dad told me about visiting the set in Ealing when he worked next door to it!

Do you fancy some CSI action later on?

[catsgomiaow.livejournal.com]

Ooh v possibly (only just seen this!) Flatmate may need a shoulder to Gossip At later on, but will check and let you know. Hurrah :)

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Cool beans :)

[juliet]

See I lived down the road from it so I knew it existed!

My mum used to work at Anerley social services which is by Peckham.

[dogrando.livejournal.com]

I think that this belief is a psychogeographical intuition, inspired by the fact that the River Peck was buried some time in the early C19.

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

Further annotation: Grove Park is where Brian Eno lived during the early days of Roxy Music.

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

Further annotation #2: Grove Park is where I used to have to go to play sports at school. My school, I should add, is at Blackfriars, next to the Wobbly Millennium Bridge. Getting back home from school football games to North London was at least 1.5 x MISSION.

[johnnybrolly.livejournal.com]

I used to live on Denmark Hill from 2000 to 2002. It was easily the most dangerous place I have ever lived. Not only are the plenty of gangsters, but there is a standard hosterpal and mental hosterpal there. The standard hosterpal would welcome D&D cases then throw them out when they became unpleasant. The mental hosterpal was full of mentals. It wasn't uncommon to see people in police evidence paper suits, or self-harmers laying in the middle of the road covered in their own blood. We were there for 18 months, during which time...

1 x burgled

1 x mugged

many x spat at / abused / doused in ketchup

several x witness to gun toting

1 x grisly mental murder right in front of our flat

1 x times teenage gang murder, right in front of my friend's flat

bloody scared all the time

Jenny Eclair published Camberwell Beauty
But yeah, it does look nice in the sunshine. And I gather it has come a long way in the last few years. In Camberwell's favour Sophocles The Baker is the best baker I have yet found in London - halloumi bread!