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by Layla

As a previous Peckham-ite, I used to wander over to East Dulwich, or hop on buses to Forest Hill (Horniman Museum) and Crystal Palace (dinosaurs in the park)  fairly regularly. Since moving to Camberwell, which feels much further north, these delights weirdly seem far away, particularly with Roz's hatred of buses, and so in the last year, I had barely been at all. My recent bicycle purchase, however, has opened up a whole new world of Saturday afternoon options. We cycled to East Dulwich last Saturday (that hill is unpleasant on the leg muscles, but rewarding on the descent!) and wandered around fancy shops, including their indoor market, which I think is new, where stall owners forced free cake and wine upon us, and the outdoor market, where pesto and red onion marmalade were forced upon us. It must be admitted that it might be quite pleasant if Camberwell had some of the types of shops and stalls that East Dulwich enjoys... but on the other hand, this would completely change Camberwell's vibe, and at any rate, these delights are but a 10 minute cycle from home. Odd that having lived here for a year, I have failed to make that trip. I sometimes forget that strong Camberwellian loyalty does not ban me from enjoying other locales in the proximity! Though it must be said, we realised that we feel more comfortable walking along the street hand in hand when in SE5 than we do in East Dulwich, where we felt conspicuous amongst the rather homogenous-feeling set of Saturday shoppers...

Having enjoyed East Dulwich, we cycled on to the Horniman Museum, which is one of my favourite museums. Granted I'm not a big fan of stuffed animals, but if one has to see them, the old-fashioned displays are rather more pleasing than new-fangled modern displays of such things. But the Horniman's treats extend far beyond stuffed animals. They have a lovely aquarium with free entry, for instance, and we spend a happy time wandering amongst the jellyfish and listening to south London fathers explaining aquatic mysteries to their rapt offspring. This was particularly heartwarming as these family units were not just the usual museum-going middle-classes, but represented all walks of life. After tea and cake in the beautiful conservatory, and a stroll around their lovely grounds (with a great view of the city), we dashed up to the apostle clock to watch it chime at 4pm before cycling back to East Dulwich to enjoy the superlative wine bar, Green and Blue. We cycled home with a newly purchased bottle of wine hanging on Roz's handlebars and polished it off back in SE5, with a resolution to enjoy Camberwell's neighbouring areas on a rather more regular basis.


 


Comments

Inthegrove

03/27/2009 11:19:25

I do appreciate your consistent optimism and am glad you feel safe holding hands in Camberwell. Perhaps it is no issue for you or even for women, but as a gay man I have never, ever ever felt comfortable in Camberwell doing such - and especially LESS comfortable than I would in many of the places you have mentioned. The year-long 'batty boy' chants from street drinkers was particularly upsetting, and I was not holding anyone's hand. Again stay positive, but perhaps spinning Camberwell as a gay haven of safety is a bit too far and dangerously mis-leading.

 

Layla

03/28/2009 01:50:08

It's a fair point, Inthegrove - Roz and I do perhaps view Camberwell with overoptimistic eyes: as you say, like many places, there are risks. Because we've never had any trouble, or even comments (touch wood!) we tend to minimise the risks, but this is south east London, and not an especially gentrified part of it, so it is probably sensible to be quite cautious! Our gay male neighbours tell us they'd never walk in Camberwell holding hands. How about other people reading this blog? Have you had any homophobic abuse in Camberwell?

 

RobP

04/03/2009 05:13:16

Hi there,
Whilst myself and partner have never had any abuse in Camberwell (in about 8 years - 6 on the Brixton border, 2 on St Giles Road), the general atmosphere in Camberwell does discourage it, I feel.
I must say though that I also find E. Dulwich a bit too up its own backside - much prefer Camberwell's grittiness (but would like some of E.D's shops!)


 

RobP

04/03/2009 07:20:59

Incidentally - as per post in SE5Forum (which appears to have lost this months' posts) .. I'll be out and about in Burgess Park again tomorrow wobbling about on my new rollerblades - please feel free to join in!
Rob

 



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