Gay Camberwell

by Layla

The summer weather has lured me from the chaos of the number 12 bus onto the streets by bicycle on a more regular basis, and by doing so has made living in Camberwell even more pleasant. Suddenly popping to the southbank is a 15 minute whizz rather than the fight for a seat and incessant stopping that characterises most bus journeys (well, apart from the mysterious 148 which starts in Camberwell, thus guaranteeing a seat, has extra leg room, plush seats, and bizarrely few stops between SE5 and Victoria). 

However, I think it is safe to say that I have never been chatted up on the bus (unless you count drunk and mentally unwell passengers volunteering to ‘give me one’). And yet, no sooner had I started cycling to work, I was propositioned by a very attractive girl at the Kennington traffic lights. I was obliged to think of Roz and gracefully decline when the lights turned green, but as I sped away, I did wonder: how did she know I was a lesbian? Is picking up dates at traffic lights a common cyclist practice? And did she really find me attractive in my white polystyrene helmet?

I have been cycling along to the delightful Choumert Gardens café on several occasions, off to the South London Gallery (am very much looking forward to its extension, complete with bar), and had brunch in Johansson’s the other day (where I was able to confirm observations by Peter at the Camberwell Online Blog that indeed it is the brunch hangout for the gay men of SE5). I’ve been zipping along the rather scenic-by-sunlight Camberwell to Peckham canal path. However, the delights of East Dulwich remain but a distant dream: I just can’t bear that ridiculous hill, presumably built to keep out the cycling riffraff  of SE5!