Edition 5 FREE November 2012 INSIDE Olympic ... - Brixton Blog · Edition 5 FREE November 2012....

HOT CHIP MAESTRO JOE GODDARD 0

WIN! TASTING FOR 12 AT CRAFT BEER CO Page 8

Edition 5 FREE November 2012

INSIDE...

Oxjam Rocks! Brixton was rocking to the sound of 40 artists across five venues for the highly anticipated Brixton Ox-jam takeover.

The event raised thousands of pounds for Oxfam and saw hun-dreds of gig-goer s out on a rainy Sunday.

See our picture round-up and review on page 10.

Windrush rallyThe borough’s older residents took to the square recently to mark Black History Month.

Lambeth Pensioners Action Group also marched down Brixton Road before retiring to the town hall for lunch.

Full story on page 4.

Taco timeOur illustrious food writer visits the delights of El Panzon in Gran-ville Arcade. Food review, page 11.

Olympic spirit lives on as Bolt rolls into town

By Tim Dickens

Athletic residents will recreate the magic of the Olympics when they take part in a contest to find the fastest man, woman and child in Brixton.

Three months after Usain Bolt broke the Olympic 100m record, The Brixton Bolt will see wannabe sprinters converge on Popes Road on October 27 to try and match his success on the makeshift track.

The day will evoke the day in August when Usain Bolt ran the course in 9.63seconds, sending fans gathered in the town’s Jamai-can-run businesses into a jubilant frenzy.

Event organiser Tom Shakh-li said: “Brixton’s got a proud and strong Jamaican community and watching the reaction when Usain Bolt won both races got me think-ing about how to harness that.

“When I told people the idea ev-eryone smiled and said that sounds like great fun. I’ve tried to make it something that’s fun for everyone.”

Schools and community groups have already got into the spir-it by holding a series of heats and training sessions. At Evelyn Grace Academy, Shakespeare Road Brix-ton, youngsters held their heats last week and have been in fervent

training since. One hopeful, Tristan, said: “It

was impressive to see Usain Bolt win the 100m, and made me put even more effort to training. I’ll be training properly before the event.”

Teacher Marvin Riley added: “This is an absolutely brilliant ac-tivity for the students, and it takes advantage of this track we have too.

“Off the back of the Olympics these young people have begun to realise that whatever their back-ground they can develop their skills and be the best.”

The event sarts at 10.30am on Saturday October 27 and is open to anyone who lives within Brixton Town. To find out more visit www.brixtonbolt.com.

LIGHTNING: Students at Evelyn Grace Academy take a break from the race and, below, on starter’s orders

Follow us on Twitter@brixtonblog@brixton_bugle

Like us on Facebook

Ice Ice BabyHundreds of plucky Brixton res-idents will take a chilly plunge to raise money for homeless charity Crisis.

The brave swimmers will break the ice at Brockwell Lido, Herne Hill, for a dip next month. It will raise vital funds to house street sleepers across London over the Christmas period.

Full story on page 5.

Your only free community newspaper

Brixton Bugle November 20122

NEWS www.brixtonblog.com

Don’t have time to check the Blog every day?

Sign up for our weekly email for a round-up of all the best Brixton

news and reviews at

www.brixtonblog.com

by Juliana Lucas

The national Black Cultural Archives (BCA), in Windrush Square, Brixton, will finally open next year after appointing new building contractors.

Organisers were unable to open the centre for this sum-mer’s Olympics after builders working to convert Raleigh Hall into the archives’ new home went bust in April.

Contractors Rooff Ltd have now been awarded the contract to complete the work, with a to-tal project cost of nearly £5.5m. It is hoped the work will be completed by September next year.

The BCA, which will house thousands of black historical records, received £4m from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £1m from the London Development Agency.

Devon Thomas, chair of the Raleigh Hall Action Group has now raised the hopes of black Britons who want to see the cen-tre up and running.

He told the Bugle: “This is the culmination of 30 years of struggle by the Black communi-ties to have their role in history recognised by the mainstream society.

“Although the recent delay of the building works has been a disappointment we are a peo-ple with patience, otherwise we wouldn’t even have got this far!”

Thomas added: “We will be getting a first class institution based in the heart of our most prominent community, saving, cataloguing and distibuting our history and heritage through the land, giving all those who want it, access to it for research, education, enlightenment and anything else we choose to do with it! “

The centre has also been hit

by the resignation of its chair, Matthew Ryder QC. Mr Ryder stepped down in February hav-ing served for two years.

The centre was co-founded by Lenford Garrison, an educa-tionalist in 1981, to ensure that black history is properly record-ed and celebrates the contribu-tion of black people of African descent from Britain’s official history.

The BCA, which has the support of the Mayor Boris Johnson, hopes to become the leading institution for Black heritage and culture in the UK.

Two venues on Acre Lane want to extend their opening hours for Brixton revellers, but they may be stopped in their tracks by local residents.

The Porden Road Residents’ Association met on Tuesday October 16 to discuss amend-ments to the licenses of Electric Social and Veranda to extend their opening hours among oth-er changes.

Residents at the meeting complained about the be-haviour of late-night party go-ers and the fact that Pordon Road has been especially badly affected on Friday and Saturday nights, when the street is used as a car park and meeting point.

One resident recently found

human faeces in her front gar-den, while others claimed they have been plagued by countless sleepless nights.

The Residents’ Association plans to lodge objections to the application before the deadline on October 29.

Jamie Edwards, proprietor of Electric Social, said: “It’s a shame we weren’t invited along to the meeting to be given the chance to discuss with local res-idents regarding any concerns that they may have. At present we do have an application going through and would like the op-portunity to invite any local res-idents that do have concerns to get in touch.”

Residents oppose bar extensions

Police watchdog must be replaced, says cllrA Lambeth

councillor has called for the In-dependent Police Complaints Com-mission (IPCC) to be replaced with a new investigative body.

Cllr Ed Davie said the watchdog had lost the confi-dence of the public following high profile deaths of Sean Rigg and Olaseni Lewis, who both died after being re-strained by officers.

Cllr Davie, chair of Lam-beth’s Health and Adult Ser-vices Scrutiny Sub-Committee,

was speaking to the Bugle at a meeting at the Brix, Brixton Hill organised by Black Mental Health (BMH) UK on October 16.

Rigg, diagnosed with schizophrenia, died on August 21, 2008, after being de-tained by police.

He slipped into a state of semi-conscious-

ness after being unsuitably re-strained and was dumped into a police van.

Instead of being taken to hospital for treatment, the 40-year-old was taken to Brix-ton police station where he suf-

fered a cardiac arrest. “I think this case demon-

strates that the IPCC is not working effectively in holding the police to account. It also shows that they do not have the confidence of the community in doing this job,” Davie told the Brixton Bugle.

“It needs to be replaced with a properly independent body, robust enough in holding the confidence of this community.”

Last week Lambeth became the first London borough to tri-al CCTV cameras in the back of police vans. Currently installed in four vehicles, officers hope to spread the trial to all transport-ers by spring next year.

Cllr Ed Davie

‘First class’ black cultural archives back on track

ON TRACK: The BCA should be finished next year

Herne Hill Robbery A cashier in Sainsbury’s Local, Herne Hill, was taken to hospi-tal with minor injuries after a violent robbery at the store.

Three suspects walked into the supermarket at 3pm on October 8, attacking the staff member before running to-wards Brixton on Milkwood Road with cash and cigarettes.Anyone with information is urged to call police on 020 8649 2477.

Firework teen arrestedLambeth Police have issued a warning to youngsters who play with fireworks over the Guy Fawkes period after a 17-year-old was arrested for setting one off in Loats Road, Brixton.

The teen was arrested at 11pm after neighbours reported young people lighting rockets in the street.

You can be fined up to £5,000 and imprisoned for three months for buying or using fire-works illegally.

Celebrations at the fireworks display in Brockwell Park will be lubricated by a certain tip-ple, the favourite at the Lam-beth Country Show, for the first time.

Chucklehead Cider will be selling bottles, pints, halves and even mulled cider at their stall on November 2 as revellers are treated to fireworks in the park.

Liz Dinnage, who runs Chucklehead with her hus-band Michael in Somerset, said: “We’re usually making cider at this time of year.

“We love being in Brock-well Park though so we’re really pleased we’ve managed to get a space this year.”

The Brixton Blog and Brixton Bugle are edited in Brixton by Zoe Jewell and Tim Dickens. The managing

editor is Luke Waterfield.

Brixton Blog and BugleThe Brix at St Matthews,

Brixton Hill, BrixtonSW2 1JF

» Tel 020 7924 9351»[email protected]

» @brixtonblog» @brixton_bugle

» www.brixtonblog.com

Circulation: 9,000 copiesReadership: 12,000

Both the Blog and the Bugle are produced by a committed team of vol-unteers with a wide range of skills. If you’d like to get involved please drop

us a line on the email above.

ISSUE 5 ROLL OF HONOUR

Nicki CattoAshley ClarkKieron FallerJuliana LucasTom Shakhli

Jeannine Mansell Laura Spargo

Max MacBrideRuth Miller

Lindsay HarrisonLuke MasseyDavid CarrFiona Law

Carli Forrest

A massive thank you to everybody involved in making this issue, and the

Blog & Bugle project, a success.

BOOST YOUR BUSINESS WITH A BUGLE AD, ONLINE BANNER OR SPONSOR OUR

NEWSLETTER

Call 020 7924 [email protected]

Ooh-arrgh

Thousands of people from Lambeth joined the TUC march in Central London against public spending cuts cuts being im-posed by the government. Chuka Umunna MP also protested.

Brixton Bugle November 2012 3


FREE B£ tshirts to the first 10 businesses that sign up!

Calling all local businessesAdvertise in the December edition of the Brixton Bugle or on brixtonblog.com and get 10% off the standard rate card if you use your B£s.

You can pay instantly for your ad with electronic Brixton Pounds. One text message pays the bill!

If you aren’t already using electronic Brixton Pounds, the B£ team can get you signed up in less than 5 minutes. Your customers will be glad to have an easy, local way of paying for goods and services, and you can re-spend your Brixton Pounds in our community.

Please contact [email protected] by 16 November to be included.

SPECIAL OFFER!ADVERTISE

YOUR BUSINESS IN THE BRIXTON BUGLE!

BRIXTON PEOPLE

Simona Florio, Healthy Living Club

Simona Florio (above right) has been nom-inated as ‘Best Coordinator’ for the Nation-al Dementia Care Awards.

She set up the Healthy Living Club at Lingham Court, a care home for the elderly in Lingham Street.They meet once a week for activities to help dementia, from craft to storytelling.

Extraordinarily, she has managed to keep it going for seven months with no funding whatsoever, and is now desper-ately applying for grants. “I’m very happy about the award and at the same time I feel that it would have been better if we’d been nominated as a team.

“We do it together and I surround my-self with people who are good at what they do. They are passionate about making el-derly people happy.”

Blog joins campaign for social homes at ‘Brixton Square’ flats by Zoe Jewell, editor

A major new housing develop-ment in the centre of Brixton is in danger of losing its quota of social housing.

Barratt Homes have applied to water down provision of so-cial housing at ‘Brixton Square’, a set of apartment blocks being built next to the market on Cold-harbour Lane.

Photos of the planning ap-plication first appeared on the Brixton forums of the urban75 website and, soon after, Brixton Blog and urban75 launched a campaign to protest against the changes.

The developer wishes to change social rent to an ‘afford-able rent’. While a social rent is fixed with a secure lifetime ten-ancy, an affordable rent means that, for instance, a tenant in a three-bed flat would pay roughly 55% of the open market rent for the local area. This is liable to go up over time.

The joint statement said: “Developers like Barratt Homes claim that developments are less financially viable with social rented units included.

“Unlike developers, howev-er, we are concerned more for our community than big profits,

and we hope this is the case with Lambeth’s planners too.”

As gentrification continues apace in Brixton and property prices rise, this will make it in-creasingly difficult for low in-come tenants to live in the town centre.

Permission was originally given to a group called Places for People to build the Brixton

Square on the basis of having socially rented housing in 2005. This was under the terms of an agreement called ‘Section 106’.

Barratt Homes argue that the economic situation has changed so much it is now not possible to fulfill that promise. However, Barratt Homes bought the site only last year in the knowledge of the Section 106 agreement

and at a time when economy was also suffering.

Barratt Homes have caused some mirth from local residents by naming each apartment block after Brixton landmarks, such as ‘Brady’, ‘Ritzy’ and ‘Windrush’.

The Brixton Blog and urban75 petition can be found by search-ing www.brixtonblog.com.

BRIGHT SPARKS: From left, Brian Blessed, Afsheen Rashid, Agamemnon Otero, cllr Lib Peck a representative of Sustainable Housing at the award ceremony.

A pioneering solar ener-gy project from Brixton has won a prestigious national award. Brixton Energy Solar 1 scooped the finance cate-gory at the Sustainable Hous-ing awards last month, and were presented the award by booming actor Brian Blessed.

The community-owned scheme saw solar panels in-

stalled on the roof of blocks in the Loughborough Estate.

Cllr Lib Peck, Cabinet Member for Strategic Hous-ing and Regeneration on Lambeth council said: “This award is a fantastic endorse-ment for all that Brixton En-ergy has achieved so far. It brings huge benefits for the community.

The group has now launched its second solar power share scheme, and is looking for investors for a set of panels due to be installed on an additional building on October 31.

For more information, buy your shares and support the community visit www.brix-tonenergy.co.uk.

Prize shines light on Solar energy project

More than 3,000 Lambeth council employees can now elect to be paid some of their wages in electronic Brixton Pounds (B£).

Workers who take advan-tage of the scheme will be given a 10 per cent bonus on

the proportion of the salary they choose to be paid in B£s.

Lambeth’s chief executive Derrick Anderson has al-ready committed to receiving some of his salary in the local currency.

B£ director Simon Woolf

said: “It’s vital for the Brixton Pound’s ongoing success that we don’t stand still.”

By using B£, money is kept within the community and supports local businesses.

For more information www.brixtonpound.org

Staff will be paid in Brixton Pounds for first time



A group of the borough’s older residents held a rally in Windrush Square to protest against govern-ment cuts hitting the elderly during Black History month.

Members of the Lambeth Pen-sioners Action Group gathered out-

side the Tate Library on Monday, before a short march to the Tube station and back to the Town Hall, Brixton Hill, for lunch.

Chairwoman Ellin Labethe told the Bugle: “We’re setting out our concerns as old people. We want it

to be recognised, we want decent health care and social care.

“We challenge the government, both locally and nationally, who are cutting our benefits. We want to show that we actually give more into society than we take out.”

Pensioners out in force on square

Four more years of OBAMA?With the American public about to go to the polls on November 6, Bugle reporter Max Macbride headed on to Brixton’s streets to guage the mood a little closer to home – on this side of the Atlantic Road...

Michael, Street CleanerSo far what I really see is that they give a lot of promises, but in four years I haven’t seen a lot of achievement.

It made a big impression on me having a black President, but I feel he could be doing more.

He built up a lot of hope, which was hard to live up to, but he’s been a bit short on results.

Sometimes you have to give people another chance. He de-serves one, and I’m definitely supporting him again.

Eugene Tetlow, Financial Services

The Presidency is the most pow-erful position a human can at-tain; it affects us all.

I used to live in New York, but I moved back just before the 2008 election. Obama was a beacon of hope when he ar-rived.

I watched the elections in Bristol in a cinema and stayed up all night with a lot of Ameri-cans. It was a great feeling, and a great occasion.

Eileen Da Cruz SilvaResearch Consultant

I am interested because I think it makes a big impact on the world, the US has such power in foreign policy. It’s something we should be concerned about.

I think it’s harder for Obama now. He has to work with a lot of constraints, he can’t just what he wants and he has to deal with a lot of people’s conflicting in-terests. He should be stronger though, because he’ll regret it if he isn’t.

Hussein, Shawl CafeI’m not interested really, it’s an American thing. Two people are fighting, one will win, but it’s not a big thing for me. I’m more interested in local matters.

He took lots of responsibility on in 2008, but he had a lot of problems moving forward. He’s doing what he can for his coun-try. But even when he was elect-ed it didn’t mean that much to me – it’s an American thing. But it’s impossible to ignore.

Sherene King, MumI haven’t been following them too much, but I’m definitely in-terested in who’s going to be the new leader.It made me feel equal opportu-nities were coming back [when Obama was elected]. It was great to see him going into lead-ership, and to see whether he could change things.My opinion is still the same – I think he’s doing well and he’s still an inspirational figure to me.

Residents fight ‘overwhelming’ tower block next to green spaceResidents have begun a petition against a 21-storey block of flats that they say will overshadow a park and neighbouring housing.

Community Trust Hous-ing (CTH) want to demolish the sub-standard Wayland House, Robsart Street and replace it with the tower housing 159 apartments, a community café and a rooftop garden.

The plans are part of a wider regeneration of the Stockwell Park Estate, which is already in full swing.

Maurice Cronly, of Wayland Ac-tion Group, said the development would be “unwanted and unneces-sary.”

He added: “It would also disfig-ure a valued landscape and bring overshadowing to a precious park and to all the gardens, houses and flats around it.”

An online petition against the development has attracted 238 sig-natures.

Earlier this year, Delroy Rank-ing, director of CTH said: “As a

resident-led association it is im-portant we listen to our residents views. The feedback from those residents is valuable to us on how they want their new homes to look.”

The deadline for comments on the planning application was October 24.

Former Olympics Minister Dame Tessa Jowell, was a guest at the O2 Academy, Brixton on Wednesday October 24.

The Labour MP for Dulwich and West Norwood, whose constitu-ency includes large parts of Brix-ton, presented awards at a concert organised by CitySafe Foundation

and hosted by popular Choice FM DJ Abrante.

The foundation provides safe havens for teenagers threatened by bullies, and other potential victims of crime.

Organisers said: “Over 50 new CitySafe Zones have been created. The zones are made up of over 300

CitySafe Havens across the capital, including shops, libraries and even the office of Mayor Boris Johnson.”

Dame Jowell, who recently stood down from the shadow cabinet gave £100,000, half of the compen-sation she received from News In-ternational over the hacking of her phone to CitySafe in June.

Safe haven scheme celebrates with generous MP

An artists impression of the plans and, right, Wayland House now



The founder of London’s first inner-city riding centre, Ebony Horse Club, has been honoured at a glittering lunch for Britain’s Women of the Year.

Ros Spearing MBE was in-vited to celebrate her work as founder and director of the charity, which helps 135 disad-vantage youngsters each week at stables in Millbrook Road, Brixton.

Spearing has spent the last decade raising more than £1.3million for a purpose-built centre in the heart of Brixton, which opened a year ago. She hopes to improves the life skills and education of troubled chil-dren by providing access to horse riding, outdoor activities and mentoring.

She said: “It was a great sur-prise and real honour to be in-vited to the Women of the Year Lunch and have my work rec-ognized in this way.

“I’m very much looking for-

ward to going to the lunch and meeting the other women of the year – when you are work-ing on a project as demanding and time-consuming as this one, it’s great to get out to an external event and be able to learn about some of the other fantastic things that women are doing.”

Ebony Horse Club began life in 1996 as the Accra Horse Club, which Spearing set up on the Moorlands estate with just a handful of youngsters. The tire-less charity director is delighted with the progress, but stressed the importance of raising the funds to keep the centre grow-ing and help local young people and their families.

Four young riders have re-cently won places at Plumpton College, an agricultural college famed for its equine studies.

To find out more, or donate to the project, visit www.ebony-horseclub.org.uk

Woman of the Year award ‘great surprise’ for riding charity boss

PLUG INTO COMMUNITY EXCHANGE THROUGH TIME BANKING Time banking in Lambeth has become the new hype. It works by using the resources and skills we already have to help others. Time Banking is a virtual bank where people can deposit their time helping someone or offer a skills exchange. Time banking works by using the skills and resources we already have to help others. For every hour you spend helping, you earn 1 credit of time so that someone can help you back. Whether it’s in the garden, making clothes, or giving employment advice, use your skills in the Lambeth Time Bank.

W e a r e f u n d e d b y T h e C o l l a b o r a t i v e - N H S L a m b e t h

Web: bit.ly/SWLTimeBank facebook.com/TimeBankLambeth Elisée on 020 7326 4703

Chilly lido dip for homeless charityHardy swimmers will be out in force this December for a charity swim at Brockwell Lido.

In the inaugural Midwinter Swim on December 15, organised in aid of Crisis, brave swimmers will be able to choose from three categories – jumping in and out, fancy dress, or a 100m swim.

A hot shower, hot drinks and a BBQ by neighbouriing Lido Cafe will be provided to warm the partic-ipants up after their chilly plunge.

Leslie Morphy, Crisis chief ex-ecutive, said: “Without the gener-osity of our dedicated supporters, Crisis at Christmas simply wouldn’t be possible. Every brave soul who takes part in this will be making a real difference to vulnerable Lon-doners”.

Register yourself for the event at www.crisis.org.uk.

PROUD: Ros Spearing at the club

Man jailed for manslaughterA man has been jailed for nine years for killing a man with an metal pole outside KFC restaurant, Brixton Road, last year.

Monclair Bartley, 25 , from Cowley Road, Brixton, was hand-ed the term at the Old Bailey for manslaughter of 45-year-old Alper Pasha in Brixton Road in May.

Pasha had been out with friends in Brixton when they became em-broiled in a row with Bartley and his companions. After chasing Pasher across Brixton Road, Bart-ley took a metal pole from a nearby van and struck his victim on the back of the head.

Although Alper was taken to hospital by ambulance he never re-gained consciousness and died on May 30.

Detective Chief Inspector said: “This was a senseless killing that escalated from an argument be-tween these men. Bartley decided to arm himself with a weapon and deliver a fatal blow to Alper who was trying to avoid conflict by leav-ing the scene.”

Council leader bids to be MPSteve Reed, Brixton Hill councillor and leader of Lambeth council, has put himself forward for the Labour candidacy in the upcoming Croy-don North by-election.

He is likely to be battling other strong Labour candidates includ-ing London Assembly Member Val Shawcross, a former leader of Croydon council, when the party announces its shortlist.

The by-election was triggered by the death of Labour MP Malcolm Wicks last month, aged 65.

Cllr Reed said he would wait un-til the shortlist is announced before commenting further.

The final decision on who will stand for the parliamentary seat will be made by Croydon North members of the Labour party. The by-election itself is expected to take place on November 29.

CHILLY: Brave lido-lovers break the ice at a previous mid-winter swim. Pic by Neil Young

Rec group reformsA long-standing users group for the Brixton Recreation Centre has re-formed to protest against Lam-beth Council’s proposals to get rid of the Rec in its draft plan for ‘Fu-ture Brixton’.

The Brixton Rec Users Group (BRUG) met last week to discuss a plan of action and is now urging people to raise objections with their local councilors, as well as cabinet member for regeneration Cllr Lib Peck, ahead of a crucial Lambeth Labour meeting on November 6.

Robyn Dasey, a member of BRUG, said: “I started swimming at the Rec the day it opened in 1984. I think it’s the best pool in London.

“There’s a lot of things in the Rec and the gym is the biggest in Lam-beth by far.”

The Brixton Rec is also political-ly significant, built after the Brixton Riots in 1981 when the Scarman Report revealed how few leisure opportunities were available to young people in the borough.

In 2011 BRUG successfully cam-paigned for new charges for over 60s and under 16s, who previously swam for free, to be capped at £1.


LETTERS AND COMMENT www.brixtonblog.com

Congratulations on the Brixton Bugle which one hopes will continue the good work of the Brixton Blog.

However, in publishing the letter from Council Leader and Brixton Hill Ward Councillor Steve Reed, in your October edition, you quote him as saying. “But, Just to be clear. I’ve never said that Lambeth is already a Cooperative Council”

In the recent edition of “Lambeth Talk”, the council giveaway free-sheet (successor to the now illegal and discon-tinued “Lambeth Life” ) which Cllr Reed has endorsed with foreward, the obligatory photo-

graph and which is published by the Council he leads, the paper clearly states in headline: (page 11) “We have become a Cooper-ative Council.” And on Page 12 “Cooperative Council becomes a Reality”

It surely follows that either Cllr. Reed’s statement in your letters page is not true, or that “Lambeth Talk” might not be worth the paper it is printed on - or the £20,000 per annum it costs to press and distribute.

Moreover, When Cllr Reed writes in the Brixton Bugle letters and comments page “You’re impatient to see change happen, so am I.” He is clearly

not referring to his own ward, Brixton Hill, where he has been councillor for over 12 years, and where for the last five, residents have been continually demand-ing that he remedy the appall-ing street degeneration, mess, wheelie bins permanently stored on the narrow pavements and one way traffic conditions that have characterised his tenure. This while our elected represen-tative consistently denies that anything is the matter - and at any opportunity - including, sadly it would seem, in the pages of independent local press such as the Bugle.

Marek Pytel, Branksome Rd

Are we, or are we not, a co-op council?

I want to reassure readers that no decisions have been made about the Brixton Rec and there won’t be any changes without the full involvement of the community.

The speculation in the local press came about because of the discussions we have been having with local people about a new planning document for the area, which will set out clearly what lo-cal people and the council want to achieve together in Brixton.

We have worked with and spoken to hundreds of people already. People have told us they

want better support for markets, for it to be easier to get around, more start up business space, more affordable housing, more child friendly spaces and critical-ly in this case, improved leisure facilities which are more accessi-

ble and environmentally sustain-able. Our job is to make sure that we use our planning powers to ensure that this happens.

We need your views, because the future of Brixton belongs to the community.

Please go to www.lambeth.gov.uk/futurebrixton or email us on [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you.

Cllr Lib PeckCabinet Member for Regen-

eration and Strategic Housing

We need your views on future of the Rec

READERS’ PICTURES: Rosa, Brixton BookmongersThis month’s photograph was taken by Matt Boland who captured the most beloved fea-ture of the Bookmoonger, in Coldharbour Lane. Matt told the Bugle: “It’s such an eclectic jumble of books and it contains the most relaxed dog in the world. Rosa perches in different spots throughout the shop, watching over customers foraging through the books. Couldn’t resist taking a few pictures of her as she’s so gorgeous.”Upload your Brixton pictures to our Flickr page: www.flickr.com/groups/brixtonblog

BRIXTON PEOPLE

Isioma Daniel, resident

Passionate Brixtonite Isioma takes us by the hand and leads us around her five favourite haunts.

1. Al Badr Butchers and Grocers, Station Road

The answer to your shopping needs! Unlike most places in the market, it’s open early to late and is the best place around for meat. From a vari-ety of merguez sausages to all kinds of cuts, both familiar and unusual, this is the place for easy meals with their ready marinaded meats and the most exclusive list in Brixton for the fresh rotisserie chicken. If your name’s not down, you’re going home empty handed! There is no better reason to become a regular. Stock on North Af-rican groceries too.

2. Brixton Station RoadAll the cafes have great coffee and are perfect on Sundays to people watch at the Farmers’ Market. Catch the sun and sit outside, everywhere is friend-ly and chatty. This street is the food market without the hype. Try the fresh naan at the Spice Hut or a double at the Guyanese roti van. Queue early for Jeff the Chef and make sure to get takeaway Colombian food from Los Americanos on the corner with Pope’s Road. You’ll be spoilt for choice.

3. Dagon’s Fishmongers, Granville Arcade

Quite simply the only place for fish in Brixton. Nothing more needs saying! Well worth queuing.

4. Brockwell ParkA walk here always reminds me that Brixton isn’t just urban and gritty. Brockwell Park has so many things to see, from the walled garden to the patch by the Hall where you can only see green space and could be in the countryside, or the views over Lon-don.

5. Cafe Sitifis, Rushcroft RoadThe perfect hangover cure or when you want to detox the right way. Great coffee, fresh mint tea and the cheap-est and best mezze in London (or a fry up if you so prefer). A proper sun trap outside, it’s quiet enough inside to while a way an afternoon either with the papers or chatting with friends. Smile nicely and they’ll bring you ex-tra warm flatbreads while you do!

In praise of... RosaAfter seeing this wonderful picture by Matt Boland, right, we asked our Twitter followers what they thought...

@vickiowen: A beautiful, gen-tle dog. Met her last month when visiting shops in

#Brixton for an article. Lovely shop & friendly owner too.

@rodstanley: Our son Marvin, 3, is obsessed with her.

@melanienadine: @EditorParker and I love Rosa. She is beautiful. Close runner is George

from The White Horse #brix-ton. Also a joy to behold.

@pmuir: a few minutes with this wonderful dog and all is ok with the world.

Join in by using #Brixton or tweeting us @BrixtonBlog

[email protected]

South London’s finest swim pool

I have been swimming at the Rec since the day it opened around 1984 and still believe it is the best pool and now the best wet side change room in south London.

If the new Clapham pool is ‘state of the art’, I for one find it hideous-ly hot, overcrowded, change rooms too small and no privacy what-soever with all men, women, and children in the same overcrowded space, mostly visible to al other swimmers.

The Brixton Rec UserGroup (BRUG) is organizing a response to stop this closure. See www.face-book.com/brixtonrecusergroup or email [email protected].

Robyn Dasey, BRUG

Writers GroupDo you like writing? Do you like

pubs? If so, I’d like to invite you to come to our new writer’s group.

We will be meeting fortnightly in pubs around Brixton to discuss writing, swap books, offer encour-agement and sample the many ex-cellent establishments on offer.

I promise it’s not as pretentious as it sounds. I set up the group after realising I missed creative writing and needed some sociable impe-tus. There has been a lot of interest the friendliness of the people who came along to the first meeting convinced me that it will be a fun thing to do on a regular basis and I should cast the net wider.

Even if you just want to talk about dipping your toe into literary waters, do come along. If you’re in-terested email me on [email protected] or send me a tweet on @saltounite.

Heloise Wood


ANALYSIS www.brixtonblog.com

Edgy graffiti-esque signage appeared on a huge empty space on Coldhar-bour Lane earlier in the year. ‘Brixton Square’, it was called, and underneath stood ‘Barratt Homes’. Months later, in early October, we were invited to an Open Day to reveal the plans for the flats – canapés provided of course. The press release noted that: “Brixton Square is very convenient for young professionals working in the City”. And the apartment blocks are each to be named: ‘Windrush’, ‘Brady’ (an infa-mous former pub in Brixton), ‘Ritzy’ and ‘Village’.

Brixton stands on the edge of major change – in the market, housing and with big new developments to take place in the Town Hall area. And we are worried. Worried that, with this change, residents who are not ‘young profes-sionals working in the City’ will be dis-placed from an increasingly expensive town centre. This is why we have joined forces with the mighty Brixton forum urban75 to protest against certain actions by the equally mighty (but in a very different way) Barratt Homes.

Barratt Homes have applied to water down provision of social housing at ‘Brixton Square’.

The planning application was origi-nally agreed by the council with differ-ent owners and on an understanding – that in accordance with Section 106, whereby a council can attach binding obligations to a new development, a quota of social housing would be pro-vided in the apartment buildings.

Barratt Homes bought the site last year. Remember 2011 – the economy was pretty bad then too. Well, Barratt Homes now argue that because the economy is bad now they cannot pro-vide the social housing. Why, then, did they buy the site with its social housing conditions in the first place?

Barratt Homes want to change the quota to ‘affordable housing’. From the sound of it, that should be a good thing. But sadly, ‘affordable’ these days has a rather different meaning. For a three-bed flat, a tenant would pay roughly 55% of the open market rent, which of course in Brixton is likely to keep going up as gentrification continues.

And not just that, but Lambeth Council is allowing flexible tenancies in many of its properties, so that people living in these flats will not even have the comfort of a permanent contract.

We are worried that if Lambeth Council let this application go through, it will set a dangerous precedent for future developments to escape similar obligations, in a time when it is extra important to preserve social housing in Brixton. Lambeth Council has the power to be firm with developers and it should start to use it.

The Brixton Blog and BugleThe Brix at St Matthews

Brixton HillEst. 2012

«I’m now a living legend. Bask in

my glory»

Usain Bolt

Community spirit turned Bolt race from a dream into reality

Tom Shakhli, Organiser, Brixton Bolt

Undoubtedly the highlight of organising the Brixton Bolt has been the reaction of people from every part of Brixton. I remem-ber telling two young lads on the reception at a sports club about it, and seeing them launch into a good-spirited argument about which one would leave the other eating dust. Another time, after taking part in Brockwell parkrun, an older gentleman came up to me (depressingly for me, I was more out of breath than he was). He said, “I’m 65 years old and I don’t live in Brix-ton. But I tell you what: if I did, I would enter and I would win it.”

A few days after coming up with the idea, I found myself at Lambeth Town Hall for a meeting with Cllr Pete Robbins.

Rather than sit me down in an office, I was surprised that he insisted that we instead go for a walk to look at prospective locations for the event. This enthusiasm from across Brixton is why in such a short space of time the Brixton Bolt has gone from being an idea to a reality.

I liked the idea of Pope’s Road as a venue because of its proxim-ity to the market. This is because I never saw the Brixton Bolt as being an event in isolation. By holding this event in the middle of Brixton, next to the market, my hope was that it would be something that interacts with the places around it. We began approaching local business-es asking for a small amount of cost-covering sponsorship money or a prize for finalists. In return, we are featuring them on our website and getting them

along on the day to join in. The response has been incredible, and has left me with the impres-sion that there cannot be a more generous part of London than Brixton.

Talking with different people about the event has brought about some of its best inno-vations: asking schools to run their own competitions prior to the event; creating categories for the over-40s; holding an Olympics-style ‘closing cere-mony’. These were not part of the original idea - they were all suggested to me, and are now part of the event.

So whether you are run-ning, watching, sponsoring, or donating a prize, I hope that you enjoy the Brixton Bolt, because quite simply if it wasn’t for you, it wouldn’t be happening.

The Bugle by numbers»100m distance to be run along Popes Road by the Brixton Bolt on Saturday»43 bands and artists took part in Brixton Oxjam festival over five venues»20 storeys height of controversial replacement for Wayland house»9.63 seconds is Bolt’s Olympic record to which Brixton Bolters can aspire»18 people worked hard to contribute to this edition of the Bugle»135 young people use newly honoured Ebony Riding Club each week»2am on October 28 is the end of British Summer Time as clocks go back

GET SET: Tom Shakhli in training. Pic by Brockwell Parkrun club

CULTURE


CULTURE www.brixtonblog.com

Little BrixtonRuth Miller from the Little Lambeth website gives her tips for sporty family fun at the Brixton Rec

The Brixton Rec is often overlooked as a great place to take kids but once through the doors you’ll find that there are lots of things on offer!

For children under 11, there is a soft play area, open Monday to Sun-day, 10am to 6pm. It costs £2.70 (un-der-fives) and £3.30 (over fives). There is no fixed time limit. Let the kids run off steam here in a safe, contained environment!

If your children are under five and you want a break, you can put them in the crèche for up to two hours. Book-ing is essential as places are limited. They will need membership (£5 a year) to use this facility.

Under-fives (along with a parent) can have a splash in the water at the lovely stepped teaching pool. There are good family changing facilities includ-ing large lockers and a buggy park. A swim cost £4 for adults and £1.80 for children (non-members). With membership, juniors can swim for £1! Check online for pool timetable. For details of swimming lessons, look up the section on swimming at website www.sportscourses.org.

If the kids don’t fancy a swim, then Brixton has two zones for children. The Fitness zone is a gym for ages 8 to 15 year olds. The Energy zone is a space to participate in different sports and activities. Sessions are one hour long and have separate times for ages 5-10 and 11 – 15. Ask at reception for a list of current activities available and pricing.

For something different, the centre runs trampolining sessions, which can be booked through www.sportscours-es.org website, and fencing lessons; information is available at www.brix-tonfencingclub.com. The Brixton Rec also has a climbing wall. Check out the Climb London section on www.high-sports.co.uk for lesson details.

Phew! Well, that’s just worn me out writing about it! Take the family to Brixton Recreation Centre and use those facilities! The Rec can be con-tacted on tel: 020 7095 5100

You can find Little Lambeth at www.littlelambeth.blogspot.co.uk

Review: Who Polices the Police?

By Luke MasseySean Rigg was a musician, a dancer and a rapper on the Brix-ton music scene from the 1980s onwards. He was an ambitious and hard-working man who travelled the world while making music, from Ethiopia to Thailand and the Caribbean. He was a man who struggled with mental health problems for years. And he was a much-loved brother and son.

Most articles you read about Sean Rigg don’t begin like this. They begin with the tragic details of his death while in custody in Brixton police station in 2008.

But painting a beautiful, human, portrait of Sean and his family is precisely where a new documentary – Who Polices The Police? – succeeds.

The film’s principal thrust is an exposition of the failings of the police and a damning polemic against the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) – which director Ken Fero described to Brixton Bugle as an “untenable” institution – in

the handling of the investigation into Sean’s death.

But it is the personal mo-ments in the film which tri-umph: the touching and gripping portrayal of the Rigg family’s tireless pursuit of truth and jus-tice. The interviews with Sean’s siblings are deeply moving, as they relay the disturbing details of the case and their campaign of four years with an eloquent, passionate dignity which is unyielding despite the protracted and frustrating developments in the investigation.

Fero is no stranger to this subject matter: “I have a history of making films which follow the struggles of families and com-munities against injustice and human rights abuses,” he tells me. One such film is Injustice, a controversial 2001 documen-tary about the deaths of several young black men in police custody.

His experiences have given him a strong distrust of the police establishment and the processes for investigating com-

plaints, and this is not something which is concealed in the film. “Every filmmaker is subjective,” he says, “they put their politics into what they make. I’m just more open and honest about it: I don’t see the point in trying to hide it.”

And with quotes from George Orwell and Chairman Mao in the film, this quickly becomes apparent. “You’d be surprised at how many people will listen to a quote by Chairman Mao!” he jokes. Though he clarifies that he just liked the imagery of the metaphor: “To reach the top of the mountains we must march to the clouds”, which seems a fitting tribute to the “resilient cam-paign” of Sean’s family.

Whatever one’s political orientation, Who Polices the Po-lice? gives a gripping and visceral account of a death in Brixton for which, four years on, truth and justice remain elusive.

Who Polices The Police (Ken Fero/Migrant Media, 2012. 52mins)

Win a crafty beer tastingThought tastings were all about wine? Think again. New pub, the Craft Beer Co., on Brixton Station Rd is offering a tutored beer tasting for 12 people.

Simply answer the follow-ing question:

What is it that caus-es fermentation in the beer-making process?

Send answers by 12pm on Friday November 2 to [email protected]. Winners will be picked out of a ‘hat’.

Twitter: @brixtonblog@brixton_bugle

www.brixtonblog.com

By Ashley Clark

Over the next month at the Ritzy cinema (aka the best cinema in south London), you can expect the usual high quality and cine-matic variety.

The hot ticket in the coming few weeks is new Bond extravaganza Skyfall (Oct 26), which, though still not a great title, is a million times better than “Quantum of Solace”. Directed by Sam Mendes (who seems to have been taking action-movie notes from Chris-topher Nolan) it’s been widely hailed as the best Bond in ages, making a virtue out of Daniel Craig’s surliness, and bolstered by a fright-wigged Javier Bardem as creepy villain Silva. This one’ll sell out again and again, so you’d be advised to book well in advance.

Five years after There Will Be Blood, the outrageously talented Paul Thomas Anderson returns with The Master (Nov 2). It’s an elliptical, enigmatic and expan-sive drama touching on the be-ginnings of Scientology, and fea-turing absolutely stunning turns from Joaquin Phoenix and Philip

Seymour Hoffman as an ex-Navy drifter and a charismatic “cult” leader respectively. When you walk out into the Brixton air, you’ll need some time alone to process what you’ve seen.

Fresh from its recent receipt of the Best Film award at the BFI London Film Festival, Jacques Audiard’s Rust and Bone arrives (Nov 2), starring Marion Cotil-lard as a whale trailer who suffers a terrible accident, and Matthias Schoenaerts as the bare-knuckle bruiser who comes to her aid. It’s occasionally powerful, but also pulpy, shoddily constructed and highly manipulative. Despite some good acting (and some in-teresting soundtrack selections), it’s not a patch on the director’s last film, A Prophet.

Another big London Film Fes-tival hit was Ben Affleck’s Argo (Nov 7), a dramatization of the 1979 joint CIA-Canadian secret operation to extract six fugitive American diplomatic personnel from revolutionary Iran. Their plan? To produce a bogus sci-fi movie bang in the middle of the Iranian desert! With previous films Gone Baby Gone and The

Town, Affleck has established a reputation as a director of note, and his stock will only rise fur-ther with this sweeping, enjoya-ble thriller.

Other noteworthy fare appearing in the next few weeks include the extended US cut of Stanley Kubrick’s classic horror The Shining (Nov 2), and grandiose literary adaptation Great Expec-tations (Nov 30), starring Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter. Meanwhile, films includ-

ing Beasts of the Southern Wild and Frankenweenie 3D contin-ue their runs.

All films showing at the Ritzy Cinema, Brixton Oval. Book tickets here.

Ashley Clark runs the film blog Permanent Plastic Helmet. You can follow it on Twitter @PPlasticHelmet and/or him @_Ash_Clark.

Ashley Clark’s Ritzy film round-up

SEEKING JUSTICE: Flowers for Sean Rigg outside Downing Street

ACTIVITIES: Juniors’ basketball



The joys of NovemberBy Fiona Law

Get raking leaves and make leafmould, a free source of some of the best organic matter. Leafmould makes a great mulch, and once it’s well-rotted and sieved it makes the best seed compost. Another plus is that you get loads of exercise rak-ing up the leaves and stuffing them into bin bags! Pack the leaves well down tie a knot, puncture the bag with a garden fork and leave in a quiet corner for a year or two.

Experience the joy of sowing. There’s not a lot you can sow outside veg-wise but broad beans will germinate and over-winter in the coldest of con-ditions. The beans yield in May when little else is ready in your garden. For autumn sowing try ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ (sounds so Italian Riviera) or ‘The Sut-ton’, a compact plant, for balcony pots.

Tulips - time to get them planted! Roses - get their main pruning in

spring but for now cut stems back about half way on shrubs. This avoids the plants rocking in the wind. If you are lucky enough to have climbers and ramblers and tie in the new canes to supports with soft string.

Select and plant apples and pears. Visit the amazing apple days coming up to taste and decide which varieties you want. The dormant season (November – March) is the time to plant bare-root-ed trees. These are cheaper, offer more choice in variety and ultimately get better established than trees in pots from the garden centre. To aid good root growth, add mycorrhizal fungi (available from your tree supplier) when you plant.

Shady? Currants and berries (black-berries, raspberries and their hybrids such as tayberries) do ok in partial shade, unlike most other fruit and veg. Nurseries sell bare-rooted canes in batches of ten, which work out as pretty good value, so share some with a neighbour!

Fiona Law is a garden designer and hor-ticulturalist, also working on community growing projects in Lambeth.viveka-gardens.com. Follow @vivekagardens

Our pick of events coming up this month…

October 27: Get your kit (not that kit) out and trainers at the ready, for this Saturday is the in-augural Brixton Bolt race. Who will be the fastest in Brixton?

October 28: The brilliant team at Myatts Fields Park have organised a halloween event for families from 2-4pm. There will be African drumming and workshop sessions with local drummer, Henri Gaobi. And, joy of joys, a fancy dress compeition for under fives, under 12s, and a ‘anyone else’ category too.

Also October 28: The final day of the annual and free film festi-val, Brixton Reel, is dedicated to African and Caribbean feel-good entertainment. There’ll be a short film, comedy from Glenda Jaxson, and a Reggae Relax Moves class by choreographer Jackie Guy. All this will end with an energetic African dance class and jerk chicken with rice ‘n peas are thrown into the mix too. Phew! Fanon Resource Centre, 107 Railton Rd, 12.15-4.30pm.

October 29: Get ready for the

actual night of Halloween with a craft evening at Upstairs at the Ritzy. Learn how to slime glaze your own ceramic tiles, make jack-o-lanterns and creepy prints. All free, 7-11pm.

October 30: Local author Stella Duffy is hosting a night of book readings, discussion and drinks at Whirled Arts in Loughbor-ough Junction. Very much not a stuffy ‘literary salon’ but relaxed and fun. This month’s theme is, of course, ‘Thriller Night’

October 31 and November 1: Calling all budding female DJs! The wonderful Baytree Centre is running £2 DJ classes for girls aged 14-19. Learn how to mix, scratch and beat match with the best of them. Call or text 07944 532 096 or add BBM pin: 295065C7 to register.

November 2: A little-known cin-ema club in Brixton is hosted by the Minet Library on Knatchbull Rd. - and it’s free. Today is their Afternoon Club and they’ll be showing Hitchcock’s 1945 movie, Spellbound, from 2pm.

Also November 2: Fireworks! Noise! Ooh! Aaah! From 7.30pm in Brockwell Park, there’ll be a fireworks display (a few days

early, of course). The makers of Chucklehead Cider, best known from the Lambeth Country Show, will be on hand to provide mulled cider.

Also on November 2: South Londoner Four Tet is curating a night at the Brixton Academy, which looks set to be a stonker. James Holden, Caribou and Ben UFO all playing.

November 3: Creatures of the Night are hosting a charity club night tonight at the Dogstar. All in aid of Dyslexia action, local DJ Eddy Temple-Morris will be headlining, 9pm until late.

November 12: Young Ohio-born singer Lydia Loveless plays at Windmill Brixton from 8pm.

November 13: Brixton singer Jessie Ware plays to a home crowd at Electric Brixton.

November 17: Brixton Retro and Vintage Market returns to Brixton Station Rd. Grab some jerk chicken from Jeff the Chef and look at the trendy stalls.

November 18: Brixton Topcats basketball team will be playing at home in the Brixton Rec. Bring a loud voice and enthusiasm.

November 23: Feeder at the Brixton Academy.

November 26: Check out the Comfort Sundays at Cafe Cairo - reggae and cinema every week at this cool bar/restaurant at 88 Landor Rd.

Throughout the month:

Every Thursday at 7.15pm, Mi-chelle Carrier teaches flamenco to interested beginners in unit 11 at the Eurolink Centre, Effra Rd. £10 per session

Brixton Book Group meetings every three weeks at Mango Landin’. The next is on Nov 1 and the group will be discussing Just Kids by Patti Smith. For more info, go to brixtonbook-group.blogspot.com

If you need some motivation to exercise, get along to one of the aerobiking sessions at the Brix-ton Rec. Cheap with fun music and enthusiastic teachers - we find that this is not an exclusive, offputting place to try out new sports. Sessions are daily, so check the Brixton Recreation Centre website for more details or ring 02070965100.

The month ahead in SW2 & SW9

all ages welcome

mfppgPROJECT GROUP

MYATT’S FIELDS PARK

Myatt’s FieldsPark

halloweenin the parkSunday 28th October2pm-4pmAfrican drumming by Henri Gaobi.Master drummer and drum doctor from the Ivory CoastBuy food. spooky cakes and drinks from the little cat cafe

Fancy dress competition for children. We’ll award prizes for the best costume: 5 and under; 12 and under; and anyone else



Hot off the heels of the release of their fifth studio album, In Our Heads, ec-centric electro-heroes Hot Chip filled Brixton Acade-my with their poppy dance music last week. Co-editor Tim Dickens caught up with the Chip’s Joe Goddard to talk about Brixton, Beats, and Baby Bears.

You’ve played Brixton Academy a few times by now, do you still look forward to playing here?

Yeah absolutely, it’s one of London’s best venues. We’ve done it five or six times now so we feel comforta-ble there. I grew up going to shows at the Academy, I saw the Beastie

Boys there and lots of other things. You always get a great atmosphere.

And what about Brixton Town itself. Are you a fan?

I’m from Fulham originally, and growing up I used to go clubbing in Brixton. I’ve got friends who own restaurants and shops in the

market, like Rosie’s and Casa Mori-ta. Also Raf [Daddy, half of the band, the Two Bears] has strong links there, he’s lived round there for years. And we filmed to video for Work in and around Brixton market too.

But you’ve played venues all over the world. If you’re not in Brixton where do you like playing the most?

I have others that I really like all over the world. Of all the smaller places the Sub Club in Glasgow is the best. We played there live one a long time ago for the legendary club night Optimo and I still really love going there and djing there. In terms of small venues it’s one of the best. It’s got an amazing soundsys-tem and the people are fantastic.

For slightly bigger places there are Paradiso and Melkweg in Amster-dam, and in Brussels there is the Ancienne Belgique which is really a fantastic venue. There are some big ones we like in the States too.

That all sounds like a lot of fun, but how does all this touring affect family life?

I’ve got a little girl and a new little boy. He’s just 5 months old. We make it work, I guess it’s harder on my wife who’s at home with my kids when I’m on tour. I really miss them when I’m away but we make it work. It’s not something I want to complain about too much be-cause I’m in a privileged position to be able to go on tour and play live music and earn money from it. It is tiring for both of us, but it

works.

You and Raf Daddy make up the duo Two Bears and now have your own baby bears. Can we expect to hear anything new any time soon?

We haven’t got together much in the last couple of months cause Raf ’s got his new little boy Billy. But we’ve got lots of plans - we’re going to start working hard on our next record in the next few months and we’ve been working on a few remixes. I would say late next year, depending on how hard we work at it. It could be the next year that the album comes out.

Thanks Joe, party on.

Joe Goddard interview: Hot Chip, Brixton beats and the Bears

By Carli ForrestIn late October, Brixton played host to Oxjam and welcomed over 40 different acts across five of Brixton’s best loved venues; Kaff Bar, Dogstar, The Ritzy, Market House and The Windmill. Spoilt with an eclectic menu of entertainment from spoken word, cabaret, comedy and live music ranging from rock through to reggae and folk, the festival injected fun into an otherwise grey and drizzly Sunday.

Oxjam is a music festival made up of hundreds of events around the UK in October, which raises money for global aid charity Oxfam. These events are organised by people who know and love their local music. The people of the Ox-jam Brixton Takeover proudly worked with local promoters and showcased local talent in a bid to make a global impact.

Highlights of the day included Kaff Bar, where we enjoyed a concoction of jam and booze served in jam jars and laughed along with spoken word group Poltroon as they recited poetic tales of rubbing crotches on angle grinders and getting their bums sewn up.

Dogstar’s headline act, Dept-ford-based hip hop duo Too Many T’s had the rest of the party in stitches with their on stage rap battle banter, hilari-ously self-deprecating attempts at break dancing and general tom foolery.

Despite the miserable weather, Brix-ton was in a brilliant mood and hats off to all those that got involved in making the event happen. Oxjam Brixton Takeo-ver event manager, Nick Mendoza-Con-nel concurs: “All in all a fantastic day - the vibe was amazing and the calibre of performers was first rate. Some of the acts are on their way to very big things. A huge thank you to all the performers, the venues, the Oxjam Brixton team, the volunteers who helped out on the day and the crowds of who people braved the rain to show their support for Brix-ton and South London’s finest.”

I couldn’t agree more! Well done

Clockwise from top left: OxJam music festival; Klumzy Tung lyricist; audi-ence at the Dogstar; Brixton OxJam raffle collection; audience at the Dog-star; Tribo Band percussion workshop. Pics by Jeannine Mansell

Jamming for Oxfam in venues across town


FOOD AND DRINK www.brixtonblog.com

By Lindsay FallerEl Panzon1 Granville ArcadeSW9 8PR020 7924 9888

In my small university town in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, there was a res-taurant called La Conga, which we frequented a great deal after the bars closed. It was cheap, and, if you hadn’t pulled (or potentially even if you had), it was the obvious choice for a late night burrito – sort of an Amer-ican’s equivalent of a cheeky kebab. Big portions, lots of salt and flavour; it was amazing.

My impressions of El Panzon are much the same. They serve large portions of tasty food, centred on the usual fare of various meats and/or veg, wrapped inside a tortilla, folded in the alternative formats that Mexican food has sadly become only known for. The restaurant itself is handily open quite late most evenings, despite being on the fringes of Brixton Village, and rather conveniently it is a stone’s throw from the Dogstar. They also have an outlet in Hootananny. I think they know their market.

My New Yorker friend and I went on a cold Tuesday evening; we were sober and starving. Bright lights greeted us along with the waiter and we sat down on one of the wobbly benches to peruse the menu. The menu itself looks a bit chaotic, but really, it boils down to step-by-step ordering. Choose your dish (taco, burrito, quesadilla, fajita…), the kind of meat or vegetables you’d like (the menu ranges from chicken and beef to mushrooms for the veggie op-tion), and what heat level you’d like your salsa.

I ordered beef picada tacos:

spicy beef served with the moreish combo of guacamole, sour cream, salsa, tomatoes, lettuce and onions. My friend chose the mushroom fajitas and a side of refritos.

The latter arrived first, and frankly, they were spectacu-lar. I have never said anything remotely close to that about refried beans, nor did I think I ever would, but they were quite delicious. Authentically rich with a bit of heat, they came in a large bowl with tortilla chips. Simple but utterly tasty.

The tacos and fajitas fol-lowed shortly after. It might be the first time ever where two Americans baulked at portion size, but both dishes were enor-mous. The tacos were filling and flavourful, but like the haze of recalling a night out, the individual flavours were patchy, and whilst the whole was pretty good, they were also not very memorable. The salsa was also quite tasteless. It could be poor ordering on my part, but I had chosen the house favourite so I had hoped for better.

My friend’s fajitas arrived

sizzling and were served with sides of guacamole, cheese, sour cream and salsa. The mush-rooms, onions and peppers worked well with their accou-trements and on the whole, the fajitas were decent. It would be remiss of me to not mention the tortillas, which were the real stars of this show. The toasted, earthy undercurrents in the maize flour shone; I so hope they are homemade.

Perhaps sober and midweek isn’t the best time to indulge in El Panzon’s offerings. I predict that the food is spectacular late on the weekends, when you’re a bit drunk and starving. Plenty of spice, salt and fat meshing into one to appeal to your slightly inebriated senses. You will leave sated and full, and most likely thinking it was in-credible. The truth is, it’s pretty good.

Dinner for two, with drinks and service, £41.80

Lindsay Faller blogs at www.blondevsbland.com

El Panzon tacos and burritos hit the spot in Granville Arcade By Miss South

Autumn is unmistakably here. There’s a cool crispness to the sunny days and the shops are groaning with harvest produce, including gorgeous fruits like apples and its close cousin, the quince. Looking like an apple crossed with a pear, it’s well worth getting past the downy skin of this beautiful fruit to taste its perfumed flesh. It goes well with apple or pear in a crumble or cobbler or is wonderful roasted and served alongside roast pork, but I wanted it to be the star of the show this season so am using it on its own.

It is often used to infuse brandy for a rounded slightly sweet but floral drink that warms the cockles on a winter’s night, but I don’t like bran-dy, so I’m subbing dark rum instead. Incredibly simple to make, it sits and infuses for around six weeks to keep the spirit of autumn alive as the light fades completely around Christmas.

Quince Rum (700ml)one large quincea bottle of dark rum1 cinnamon stick8 allspice berries1 star anise1 blade mace1 vanilla pod (optional)1 large glass jar

First find your quinces. If you know some-one with a tree, make them your new best friend and never let them go. Otherwise, pop to the Portuguese deli (A&C Continental

deli) on Atlantic Road and buy some at an extraordinarily good price. Then go to Morleys and buy a mid-sized La Parfait glass jar with the snap top lid. I usually pop into Marks & Spencer and buy a bottle of their own brand rum for this as it’s not bad quality but much cheaper than any of the branded bottles you can get. You are adding lots of flavour so you don’t need something premium here.

Back home, sterilize your jar by popping in a 160 degree for about 15 minutes. Wipe the downy fluff from the quince and cut in half and remove the core before cutting into good sized chunks. The quince will discolour al-most instantly, but don’t worry. Lift the jar out and pop the quince in carefully. Add in your aromatics. Feel free to adapt these to your tastes. I dithered about adding a chunk of fresh ginger and then realised I didn’t have any...

Pour the rum over it all and close the jar fully. Then set aside and allow

to infuse for at least six weeks. At that point, drink the fruits of your labour. It makes a lovely nightcap as it is or can be added into cocktails for an unusual twist. It also makes excellent Christ-mas presents so it’s useful to make more than you think you need and revel in its deliciousness and your new found organi-sation!

Miss South blogs at www.northsouth-food.com

Recipe: Quince rum

Christmas at The Lido Cafe.


SPORT www.brixtonblog.com

SATURDAYStreatham Redskins 2Bracknell Hornets 3

SUNDAYStreatham Redskins 4Milton Keynes 6

By David Carr

Streatham Redskins travelled to Bracknell Hornets on Saturday looking to build on last weekend’s impressive 3-3 tie with Cardiff. Coach Warren Rost welcomed back defenseman Tyrone Miler from a hip injury however defense-man Casimir Madren Britton was still unavailable.

The opening stages of the game were particularly scrappy with both sides struggling to put any real passing flows together. The opening goal for the Hornets had more than a little fortune about it as Danny Hughes laid the puck to Carl Thompson who cycled wide around the boards and then his quick shot from an angle appeared to clip Joe Allen’s shorts and evade the glove of Will Sanderson in the Streatham net.

This goal appeared to galva-nise the Hornets and they began to mount sustained pressure on the Redskins defence with little resistance. Just over two minutes later the Hornets had their second goal as Nick Minhinnick’s shot rebounded off Sanderson straight

to Tom Fisher who was all alone in front of the net.

The sluggish Skins managed only a handful of shots during the whole first period and had a gold-en chance to score near the end as Evander Grinnell was picked out by Jamie McIlroy all alone in front of goal but Marashi stood strong again.

With Joe Allen upgraded to the first line, Streatham came out in the second period with more purpose.Jakub Klima had the first real opportunity as he skipped through the Hornets defence only to be denied by Adam Marashi in the Bracknell goal. Line mate Joe Johnston went close next as he was denied from the top of the circle and the Phil Manny picked up the puck in the slot only to fire inches wide of the goal.

The pressure finally paid off for the Redskins as Tomas Valko looped a long range wrist shot into the corner of Marashi’s net from the blue line after previously scuff-ing a shot just seconds earlier.The momentum was clearly with the Redskins but when Dom Hop-kins cannoned a shot off the cross bar from the top of the circle many Streatham fans probably realised it wasn’t going to be their team’s night.

This was proven in the final minute of the second period as the Hornets extended their lead when a mix up on the face off just out-side the Redskins blue line allowed

Hughes to skate down the left wing and then slap the puck into the far top corner of Sanderson’s net. The third period saw the Redskins come out hard again but it was a similar story to the previous twenty minutes as Marashi made saves from Allen and Klima as the Redskins pressed.

The much needed goal finally came on the powerplay as Adam Mahoney ghosted in from the blue line and shot hard into the bottom of the Bracknell net.

Bracknell hit back and carved out a number of chances of their own with Sanderson on hand

to make some exceptional saves from Peter Jasik, Tony Barclay and Minhinnick.

Streatham kept going till the end however the Hornets managed to hang on and take the two points.

On Sunday, the Redskins lost narrowly again, as they completed a dissapointing weekend with a 6-4 loss in Milton Keynes.

Despite goals from Tomas Valko, Jakub Klima, Russ Stevens and Dom Hopkins the London-ers took too many penalties and MK took full advantage with four of their six goals coming on the powerplay. “Obviously we are all

annoyed we ended the weekend with no points” explained Red-skins coach Warren Rost.

“There were plenty of positives and in both games it was just small errors that cost us.We need to get the basics right and the wins will soon come. This team has a lot of potential and I feel we have a better team than both MK and Bracknell but as with everything in life the proof is in the pudding and we havent played to our true capability.”

Joe Allen chasing the puck; Pic by Rick Webb

The Hornets sting the Skins

The Brixton U is offering 90-minute learning sessions in First Aid, Defusing Conflict, and Networking in October and November.Spaces are limited so call 0800 254 0154 or email [email protected] to sign up. We will be offering more sessions in the coming months.

For more information visit the-u.org.uk/Brixton.

Learn something new with The Brixton U

Give and Take: Defusing Conflict 29th October, 12noon - 1.30pm Prince Regent, 69 Dulwich Road SE24 0NJ

Be a Lifesaver: First Aid 13th November, 6pm - 7.30pm Brixton Community Base, Talma Road SW2 1AS

Build Your Network: Networking 17th November, 10am - 11.30am High Trees Community Development Trust SW2 2NS

Some of London’s most impressive sportsmen and women came together at Brixton Rec earlier this month to compete in a special ‘Olympics’.

More than 500 over-55 year olds took part in nine events, from badminton and dominoes to swimming and cycling. They were competing for the Club Games trophy, organized by Lambeth Council and GLL,

which manages the Brixton Recreation Centre.

Paralympic table tennis player Dazier Neil competed for the Lambeth team.

The stars of the games were Epsom and Ewell who held onto the champions’ title for the second year running. Lambeth won in the traditional Caribbean sport, dominoes, as well as short mat bowls.

Pensioner Olympics at Rec

Edition 5 FREE November 2012 INSIDE Olympic ... - Brixton Blog · Edition 5 FREE November 2012....

Documents

Transcript of Edition 5 FREE November 2012 INSIDE Olympic ... - Brixton Blog · Edition 5 FREE November 2012....