Gay Camberwell

by Layla

“What? No new visits to Camberwell bars or restaurants this week? The suspense! How are we supposed to decide whether or not to visit the Silver Buckle?!” I hear you cry indignantly, clicking "refresh" on the bar and restaurant review pages. But do you know, life has been so busy in the last few days that apart from walking repeatedly up and down Denmark Hill, en route to study sessions at the Institute of Psychiatry (this world renowned, major psychiatry research centre lies unobtrusively in the heart of our very own neighbourhood, you  know), I don’t seem to have had time to sample the delights of our local establishments this week. It’s all phone calls, web updates, e-mailing, visiting, and wondering how on earth Gay Camberwell has turned into such an extravaganza.

When we set up the website, I thought we might launch it by clicking the “publish” button with a festive “ta-daaa”. I didn’t imagine a launch month mini-festival involving six venues, nine events, and a who’s who list of gay Londoners flocking to SE5. And yet, here we are. This thing is getting bigger and bigger. It makes me rather wish I wasn’t simultaneously trying to impress at a new job, study for and sit a major professional exam, and prepare for a possibly ill-advised holiday to Eritrea (we just heard there’s a famine...), all in November. But on the other hand, isn’t it fantastic! Especially as lots of the venues holding events as part of the launch month plan to have continuing gay-themed events in future. Following a flurry of design demands upon our long suffering designer Sam, we sent off for our first batch of launch month flyers and received them with much excitement on Monday. Despite the microscopic writing (we have almost too many events to fit on one postcard, it seems!) we were quite delighted and immediately zoomed out to Soho and East Dulwich to flyer appropriate venues for Camberwell wannabes (and Camberwellians who bizarrely choose to socialise outside the confines of SE5), before returning to Camberwell itself for the beginning of a flyering extravaganza, finishing up with a G&T in the Sun and Doves (alas, being still October, their Gay Camberwell cocktail not yet available...). The flyering continues tomorrow... The 1st November: the start of the grand Launch Month itself. So, it’ll be off to the new lesbian club night at the Redstar for us (haven’t been to a club for some time... am so out of practice I may require a mid-afternoon nap if I am to cope with the excitement) and to check out the LGBT book display at the library, if it’s up yet (if not, it’s probably my fault for not having yet delivered the flyers). Speaking of which, if you want any flyers to distribute amongst friends, groups or suchlike, let us know! In the meantime, I shall return to my study books, pull out the Gay Camberwell flyer I’m using as a bookmark, and look forward to my first Gay Camberwell cocktail... I think I might need it!

by Roz

I can’t think why I ever visit York.  My only recollections of it are related to traumatic events. I first visited the city a year and a half ago to meet a long-lost half-brother.  I inexplicably wept for the duration of the return journey (still, it did ensure that I had four seats to myself) and so East Coast scenery has some fairly unfortunate associations (the excuse I used to avoid doing my French homework on the way up – an essay on “my first time at the cinema", since you enquire).  My next visit to the city was to last year’s York Lesbian Arts Festival, where I spent my time dodging walking examples of my past bad behaviour and the relict of my two and a half year doomed crazy love experience. Given a third visit  in June this year to meet a long-lost half-sister and I can’t think why I thought it would be a good idea to attend this year’s York Lesbian Arts Festival.  Which may explain why we came home a night early. A really grim hotel in the middle of nowhere was another factor…

But the Festival is a strange beast, in any event.  Loving Queer Up North as I do (to the extent of re-writing their employment manual last weekend), and with Camberwellian favourite author and performer Stella Duffy to the fore, YLAF ought to be right up my street.  And yet I don’t quite feel comfortable there.  Perhaps it’s the slightly unnerving sense that there’s something wrong with straight people.  And indeed with all men.

And yet I’ve been asked by some people – with varying tones of hope and horror - whether gaycamberwell.com isn’t trying to create a gay ghetto.  It’s not, but the difference can be quite hard to articulate.  Gay people do have something in common and there’s a bond.  It’s a bit like Sheffield Wednesday supporters wanting spending time together: you share a perspective and understand the pain. Or like being a south Londoner. But it’s not to the exclusion of knowing and liking all others…

(I should add that I dislike football intensely, but was the possessor of a SWFC season ticket for the duration of the Doomed Crazy Love experience for reasons that will be easily guessed.) 

Still, there was a lot that was of interest at YLAF.  It’s clearly la mode to be launching gay resources, since we met the people behind Lesbilicious (set up six months ago) and those behind a  new bi-monthly lesbian magazine, crAve.  Though not particularly a fan of glossy lifestyle magazines (my reading taste in journals inclines towards those covering politics or – even better – the literary and pretentious), crAve is truly impressive.  It has a sense of humour and isn’t obsessed by excluding non-gays (the most recent issue having interviews with Emily Blunt (star of My Summer of Love) and Kiera Knightly.  An attractive editor is also not unhelpful...

It was also good to catch up with the wonderful Karen McLeod (author of In Search of the Missing Eyelash) a south-east Londoner, who’ll be bringing her Moona parties to the Castle on a regular basis from January (alas she very carelessly is out of the country in November).  And better still to see Sophia Blackwell  for the first time, whose glorious wordslam would be the subject of a whole blog were it not for the fact that she lives in North London…

But even these attractions weren’t quite sufficient to keep us in traumatic York and so we headed back to Camberwell in the very late afternoon.  A very productive journey (sitting opposite a French woman who, despite having taught English for 30 years, had no reservations about helping me write about watching the Return to Oz aged 6) and a rash text invitation to dinner to the designers upstairs, and we were back in London and cooking a curry by 8.  York may be the north’s spiritual capital but there’s no place like home. 

by Layla

I feel as though we never leave Camberwell these days ("and why on earth would you", I hear you cry). The Camberwell Online Blog has been singing the praises of The Cambria's jazz night, every Monday, with a £10 deal on food and drink and jazz... so we thought we'd better check it out. Along with our lovely designer Sam (who is finalising the Gay Camberwell Launch Month flyers as we speak) and a particularly dedicated gay boy all the way from Southampton, we descended upon The Cambria, only to realise, much to our delight, that it is really quite gay. Indeed, it is gay-owned, gay-friendly, and bustling with gay people! I knew that gay-boy wallpaper was a dead giveaway... It's a great bar (and the food was very good). When the delightful Steve heard we were part of the famed Gay Camberwell posse, he lavished us with drinks, admonished us for not holding any launch events in his pub, and by the end of the night had agreed, nay demanded, to hold the Launch Month closing party at The Cambria. Hoorah! It's on Friday the 28th, folks, so put it in your diaries.  Roz and I are off to Eritrea the following morning (to check out the potential of gayeritrea.com... or maybe not), but are definitely up for seeing out Launch Month in style (I fear we shall be a tad hungover at the rather strict Eritrean airport customs)!

Last night was Camberwell Gay Book Group at the Castle where we discussed The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and I rather enjoyed meeting more locals while chatting about books in front of The Castle's roaring fire. Though really, is it winter already? I suppose if it absolutely has to be winter, The Castle's a good place to spend the season! Especially as we're hoping to restart a regular gay cabaret night, and maybe more events. I spoke to DJ "Uncle Jane" yesterday and she's very keen to get it going again (as well as DJing at our launch party). So that's something to look forward to in those dark winter months. Not to mention the South London Gallery who aren't participating in Launch Month only because they are concerned that they don't have enough time to pull off a really good gay event... but plan to do so early next year instead! I'm quite taken with one of our cutest Launch Month happenings: the little display of gay books being set up in Camberwell Library. It's all delightfully local, isn't it, this Gay Camberwell lark!

by Roz

If the stats counter on this website is anything to go by, all the gays in Camberwell should be brushing up on their Scandinavian languages.  We have, it seems, fans in Sweden and Finland.  To which I have to say: “endast varför?”

This is an unfortunate development since I’ve just enrolled on a year long evening French course.  Whilst a return to student-dom (even of the part-time variety) isn’t proving that much fun, the bite is taken off by the prospect of sitting in House and drinking fresh mint tea whilst consulting verb tables.  Which is exactly how I spent Saturday morning.  This virtue didn’t last all that long and the rest of the day disappeared in a whirl of boxing and shopping.  

Sadly there are no Scandinavian restaurants in Camberwell (this will presumably be remedied by the imminent influx of Swedish gays).  We are, however, well provided for with Asian restaurants.  Our friends, two designers who live on the top floor of our block of flats, consulted gaycamberwell.com (naturally) and suggested the Wishing Well.  I queried why there rather than Su-Thai (which we think has even better food).  They claimed an enthusiasm for seeing how the venue works in the evening, but I suspect that they were deterred by the fact that Su-Thai is almost always empty.  But this is a vicious circle…  Still the Wishing Well was bustling – with (affectionate) gay couples in the majority.  We considered.  We discussed.  And then, when we our friends designated the (obviously gay) waiter as cute, the way forward was clear: the Wishing Well’s gay friendliness rating needed to be raised. 

From there, we went on to the Castle for some wine, some dancing and a sneak upstairs to see the function room (where the launch party will be).  Whilst dancing enthusiastically with Layla, I heard a voice saying: “look, it’s Rosalind”.  I turned to see someone I went to school (in Kent) with.  I’d seen her for the first time in more than ten years only two weeks before (she’s now moved to Peckham).  At my convent school (how predictable!) I was almost uninterruptedly miserable and I think my former school mate was more surprised to see that I have lost my habit of weeping every five minutes than to find I was a lesbian.  But then I was more than disconcerted to find myself called Rosalind – a name I’m never called now.  Changing your name must be a lesbian thing - pretty much every lesbian I know has abbreviated their name to a one syllable word…  Which is just as well, since spelling Scandinavian names is not going to be easy… 

Sunday day must be glossed over, not least because I betrayed the cause and spent it in Islington with a north London friend.  Though it’s worth mentioning that if you are wanting brunch on a Sunday in that part of the world, booking is seemingly – and annoyingly – essential.  

On Sunday evening Layla and I went to Kennington to hear an a cappella group.  They emailed us earlier in the week to volunteer to perform at the launch party – knowing nothing about a capella, and my email correspondent having described the group as being “mainly gay and mainly living in the Camberwell area”, we couldn’t resist.  And they were fantastic.  The guy who emailed me looks like a teddy-bear and was extremely sweet.  Such was our enthusiasm that they found themselves agreeing to sing a brief “gay Camberwell” chorus too.  (Bet they regret that now.)  

So it is clear that our Scandinavian visitors (since it is to be presumed that they will be heading to SE5 in time for the launch month) will be very well-entertained.  By a quirk of fate I shall be meeting the Finnish Justice minister at lunchtime today.  It will be a struggle not to comment on her electorate’s enthusiasm for gaycamberwell.com.  But perhaps I shouldn’t restrain myself: after all, sponsorship for some drinks at the launch party would be very pleasant…

Friday night in Camberwell had all the elements of glamour: a secret piano bar, theatre, exotic food… And, as is always the case with our fine neighbourhood, Camberwell delivered.

First stop, with our friends from the far off land of Borough, was the Blue Elephant Theatre. Hidden down a sidestreet, this isn’t a Camberwell venue one just happens upon, but as you draw closer, the cool Blue Elephant-themed streetlights draw you into this little theatre staffed by friendly, cheery people. Climb the staircase for admission into an extremely sweet little bar, grand piano in one corner (albeit covered up last night), eclectic photos exhibited on the walls, a spectacular origami lightshade, and little wooden tables that feel they ought to be crammed with people but were sadly quite empty last night. It is a shame that this bar is not more known. It’s only open when there are performances, but in fact the Blue Elephant has quite a regular programme.

Last night we saw First Class, sitting on cushioned benches in the delightfully intimate little theatre that probably holds about 50 people. It was a real shame that there were only about 8 audience members, because the play was of a very high standard (as was the other play I once saw here), with quite impressive, nuanced acting and a sweet, inspired story. Recommended!

After the play, which was just an hour long, we took a five minute walk along the road to realise my ambition: a visit to Pasha! Allegedly London’s only Kazakhstan / Kyrgyzstan restatuarant, online reviews of this place have been impressive… but rather improbable. The probability of there being a busy, popular, excellent, non-alarming Kazakhstan / Kyrgyzstan restaurant hiding somewhere behind the shiny front of Pasha Hotel seemed more than unlikely. Luckily, with our friends for moral support, we stepped through the door, immediately convinced we had come to the wrong place, as there was no restaurant in sight. The man at the front desk welcomed us enthusiastically and instructed us to “follow the red carpet”. This we did, through an endless corridor, past bedrooms, past a hammam, past rolled up bits of carpet, and just when we feared the worst, we turned a corner and there it was. In the bowels of this seemingly little hotel hides seemingly one of Camberwell’s most popular restaurants! Like a tardis, the corridor opens out into a massive room, walls clad in thick tapestry and carpet. At the front are low tables, people sitting upon thick carpet, cross-legged, tucking into large and tasty-looking plates of food, chatting, and greeting others. These people did not appear to all be of Kazakhstan / Kyrgystan origin, but there was very much the feeling of a secret club. Further into the room is a little bridge over a fish pond, complete with waterfall. On the other side of the bridge are more traditional chairs and tables, also bustling and more than half full. We stood and stared.

The exceptionally friendly staff gave us the option of where to sit, and having chosen the low table experience, we relaxed with wine and perused a varied and tempting menu of dishes seemingly Turkish/Greek in style, though obviously a little different, being that they are from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. We had delicious mezze and Kazakh/Kyrgyz bread starters, then enthusiastically moved onto the main course. Disaster struck when one of us, a committed vegetarian, was accidentally served the meat mousakka rather than the vegetarian version. The staff could not have been more apologetic, offering another free main course, then (appetite having gone, and thus declined), a free bottle of wine, and free tea and coffee for all of us. Quite impressive, if rather unfortunate. Otherwise, Pasha was a surprise hit with Gay Camberwell.

Two weeks today is the start of Gay Camberwell launch month. More events are on the brink of being confirmed, at Oval House Theatre, South London Gallery, and Redstar, so do check the launch events page regularly. Sam, our lovely designer, has been working flat out to whip up flyers, coming soon. And we’re looking at some very quirky entertainment options for the launch party… We were at Polari, the great gay literary salon in Soho, earlier in the week and by the time we left, everyone there was very excited about Gay Camberwell. Hope your diary is ready for this!

I have returned from the wilds of Scotland, and it is just as well really, because Gay Camberwell is turning into a bit of a full time job! You may notice to your left that a new tab has appeared on the links menu: Launch Events. Note the plural. Of course the centrepiece of the events is our lovely launch party on the 19th November (write it in your diary now!) and I am rather excited to announce that so far we have the pleasure of the company of three celebrities of the gay world, all of whom live locally, and will be attending and performing at the party. Three so far... so check the website for updates. And bring your friends along. It's going to be good.

Not liking to do things by halves, Gay Camberwell launch party has turned into Gay Camberwell launch month. The Sun and Doves is having a gay and lesbian film season, screening gay films every Tuesday in November, so do pop along and grab a beer... or one of their special Gay Camberwell cocktails (you think I'm joking, but I'm not), and enjoy the films. That's all we have confirmed on the launch page of the website but in the next few days we're hoping to confirm special Gay Camberwell events at the Oval House Theatre, South London Gallery, and Red Star, all of whom have been very enthusiastic about gaycamberwell.com.

Indeed I was at the Red Star only this evening, chatting to the lovely Paul (you see, it IS a full time job) and he told me all about the many gay events currently going on at the Red Star. All rather popular, but not terribly well known to Camberwell residents. Or maybe that's just me... Fortunately all that is to change, as events will now be publicised on the Gay Camberwell calendar. Considering the foreboding appearance of the outside, the Red Star is actually rather cool inside, and holds some really interesting nights. Details about November's top Red Star gay events will be online soon.

And with all this activity, I've barely had time to sit down. But I was in The Bear on Sunday for a quick drink with my girlfriend Roz and friend, both of whom were extremely complimentary about the brunch. I was jealous.

And finally, there have been some more updates to the website besides the launch details: photos of our lovely area, taken by Roz last weekend, can be found both in cheery slideshow format (see "Photo Gallery" tab) and also attached to the appropriate webpages throughout the site. It makes you proud to live in Camberwell. Also, we have a new messageboard, easier to use, so do use it! After all that work, I'm looking forward to a Gay Camberwell cocktail from the Sun and Doves...

In the absence of GC's usual blogger, who has abandoned me for the glories of Scotland and a poetry book launch, I feel it is incumbent on me to step in to the breach. This blog should have been full of the glories of the Red Gate's 10th birthday party which I intended to go to last night – and I know a number of Gay Camberwellians went to – but alas I found my self stuck in negotiations in Brussels and not back in London until a very late hour last night.

So, instead you'll have a blog about gangsters and boxing. And Camberwell's lovely bike shop.

Emerging this morning to find a blue sky, I thought this would be the perfect day to take some photographs of Camberwell for this site. Pottering around Camberwell, I saw the Castle was open and popped in, in hopes of talking to the lovely Winston about gaycamberwell.com.

However, I found Winston was already occupied: by a man in search of a lost tom-tom (which sounded exciting until it was established this was of the navigational variety). Despite this distinctly middle-class quest, the man was of a distinctly gangster-like appearance. Nevertheless, we got chatting. I established he was Russian, but staying in Camberwell whilst his girlfriend recovered from taking an overdose. When he told me her liver and kidneys had replaced themselves, I swiftly resolved to consume nothing in his presence for fear that the "replacement" of his lady's vital organs, entailed the
loss of such items from others. (Since he later told me that she's an in-patient at Kings, I suspect this medical miracle may be a combination of the advances of medicine and the allure of exaggeration.) Having informed me of the best strategy our beloved Home Secretary could adopt to deal with knife crime (send the "crims" to Russia, and they'll be dead within 15 hours), he enquired about my business with Winston. Despite a few reservations, I explained the glories of gaycamberwell.com. He was enthused. He has, he says, many gay male acquaintances who live in south London. This seemed remarkable. And yet, I suppose, one shouldn't assume that there aren't gay gangsters. Indeed, perhaps readers of this blog would describe themselves as such? If so, do comment, and let us know how you occupy your time. Providing it doesn't involve blood. Or pain. Or indeed nastiness.

A coffee with Winston restored my equilibrium. I left (with no gangsters in sight) with my mind reeling with at the prospect of regular cabaret and gay films, as well as our ideas for the launch party which – you heard it here first – is going to be held upstairs at the Castle on Wednesday 19 November.

Then I was off to House for a fresh mint tea before going women's boxing. I never thought I'd be the type to go to boxing (not having bulging muscles, nor being known for my ferocity), but I would imagine most of those who go would say the same. Then to the Cambria for lunch (and I can confirm that the staff there are probably the nicest in the area) and a read of this month's book club book, The Ballad of the Sad Café. En route home through Ruskin Park, with music coming from the bandstand, it was hard not to feel smug at the niceness of our area. A feeling that didn't leave me when I went to pick up my new bike from that loveliest of bike shops, Edwardes. Wooshing down Grove Lane – simply for the joy of going downhill fast - I felt glad not to live in north London. Or Russia.

Plans are afoot for our gaycamberwell.com launch party, which will hopefully be taking place mid-week, mid-November, and at a favourite Camberwell venue. We're also hoping to surround it with a bit of a gay gala occasion in Camberwell, with gay films (go to the GC Message Board and vote for which films you'd like to see), gay events and general gayness. Our lovely designer is whipping up a flyer as we speak, so soon you'll be able to pick one up in local venues.

We decided to go out for a Camberwell drink last night and first headed to Bear, which we do love, but they were halfway through a very well-attended quiz night, so we diverted to The Old Dispensary. We loved this bar prior to refurbishment, particularly for its camp vibe, but unfortunately it seems to have missed the mark in its new incarnation. Last night it was empty, save for an out-of-date Happy Birthday banner flapping sadly on one wall. We tried to convince ourselves - someone has to be the first in a bar... but we ended up heading instead for The Hermit's Cave in search of some atmosphere. After all, someone on the GC messageboard claims it has "the best atmosphere in Camberwell." Strangely, we had never been before, but had developed some random preconceptions which proved to be completely wrong. Look out for our review in the "Bars" section soon. A pleasant night was had. We glanced into the Funky Munky on our way home, which looked fairly busy. Maybe that'll be our next experiment...

I wonder why chandeliers are so ubiquitous in Camberwell bar decor. Go to the Dark Horse... the Castle... most places seen quite unable to resist their glamour, but on Friday night we went to The Cambria (see our bar review) and found a whole new level of chandelier enthusiasm. I hadn't heard of The Cambria until I read about in on the Camberwell online blog, and was quite impressed. Back on Monday for jazz night, hopefully...

Saturday found me having brunch at the very pleasant Seymour Bros, popping into the Library in the quest for further useful Gay Camberwell information, and heading out with some trepidation to "The Library House", a newly-opened squat behind the Minet Library in West Camberwell, near Myatt's Fields. The people behind The Library House are apparently planning to make it a new art space, but after we poked our head round the door and found people sitting around a dingy living room drinking tea, remembered that I don't really like squats, and backed out again. The Minet Library was lovely though, with a lending library and archive room in a pretty building, and we found an adjacent dance school (McAlpine dance studio) at Longfield Hall where adults and children can learn ballet, tap, contemporary, Spanish and jazz dancing, and drama. Further wandering brought us back to the excellent Bear, though we were very distressed that they do not sell cake. Indeed, we didn't have cake until the evening at the Ritzy which, though in Brixton rather than Camberwell, is probably the best cinema in south London (particularly in terms of cake provision), and a mere 10 minutes away by bus. We went to the live screening of The Secret Policeman's Ball, a comedy event for Amnesty International live at the Royal Albert Hall and broadcast to various cinemas around the world. The turn-out at Brixton was not massive. Presumably because Camberwell is the cooler place to be on a Saturday night...

First, I am most excited to announce that our fame has spread to the heady heights of the South London Press. Oh yes indeed, dear readers, gaycamberwell.com features proudly on page 29 of that fine publication, so do pick up a copy, or click the PDF link below. The South London Press must be feeling particularly gay this week because Dax, LGBT community development worker for Southwark Council, also features, on page 33.

Click the link below to download the pdf and see the article:

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Last night I went along to Creative Camberwell's first social networking event, which aimed to discuss how Camberwell could further develop as a "creative hub"... and indeed, did it want to? The event was impressively well attended: when I turned up 15 minutes before the debate I could barely squeeze through the door of the gallery where all the arty types and interested locals had gathered and were sipping wine, nibbling canapes and networking vigorously.

I squeezed in, procured some wine, and rather wished I wasn't there alone. Fortunately the tone of the evening was friendly, and soon I had met Naomi, the organiser of the event, and been befriended by Dora Dixon-Fyle, a councillor for Camberwell Green Council, who was very enthusiastic about gaycamberwell.com. Then the event started.

People who had been involved in making Hoxton and Lewisham more creative spoke first, which I think made most of us think "hmmm we don't want to be creative like Hoxton; we want to be creative like Camberwell!" and then Mark from the Sun and Doves gave an inspiring talk about how we can improve Camberwell's image and make it a better place to live. Cooltan Arts also did a talk about empowering the community. The Synergy Centre manager made a particularly good case for working with disadvantaged children through arts. The questions and comments flowed afterwards, and  the audience seemed most enthusiastic about helping Camberwell evolve naturally into a more creative place for ALL residents, not just artists. It was all very positive.

I hadn't planned to speak, but suddenly put up my hand to discuss how improvements can best happen through action from many different strands of the community, and that the creation of gaycamberwell.com is part of that. Having been given the microphone, I rather regretted this decision (indeed I fear the audience could hear my heartbeat louder than my words!) but I described the website and survived the trauma. While some people looked rather bemused about gaycamberwell.com, most seemed very positive and came up to chat afterwards. Particularly the lovely Winston from The Castle, who came up to discuss holding events in his pub, which would be fantastic.

Speaking of which, Gay Camberwell is meeting with Red Star next week to discuss bringing back Gay Sundays, and gay events that could be held in the bar. Any ideas or comments? Let us know!