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Issue 23 / Spring 2022
THIS
URBAN ELEPHANT LET’S TWIST AGAIN SUNNY!
The new summer festival Jeff Dexter the DJ who Sunny Hodge on his
coming to Elephant and taught London how to neighbourhood bar,
ISSUE
Castle in July do The Twist Diogenes the Dog
2 The Elephant The Elephant 3
THIS IS THE
Published by
Southwark Council
Editor
Richard Wells
Additional copy
ELEPHANT
Nikki Spencer
Noella Pio Kivlehan
Garth Cartwright
Main photography
Hannah
Maule-ffinch
Cover photo
And this is the Elephant Magazine. Rahil Ahmad
Designer
Nathan Heins,
T
Westco Creative
he Elephant Magazine is the publication dedicated to
all things Elephant and Castle. We want to celebrate all Enquiries
that is fabulous about our neighbourhood and our councilnews@
community. We want to look back with fondness on the southwark.gov.uk
area’s past and look forward with optimism to the future.
We welcome your
The Elephant is changing and the Elephant Magazine will
ideas, comments
be following every step of the way.
and contributions,
so please get
in touch.
Photography from
left to right:
Pizza chef;
cans at The
Cinema Museum;
Castle Square;
East Street sign;
Siobhan Davies
dancers;
Elephant Says Hi;
food at Tupi;
Faye, Kaieteur
Kitchen;
Dickens’ Fields;
Southwark
Heritage Centre;
School of
Historical Dress;
Lenin, Miko’s;
ice-cream;
Sokari, local artist;
Elephant Springs;
Four Quarters;
Castle Centre;
elephant statue
Keep in touch
Visit us at elephantandcastle.org.uk
and subscribe to our mailing list
for updates.
4 The Elephant The Elephant 5
Work starts on Former Council
Chamber
Walworth Town Hall
What was once the Council
Chamber now sits at the heart of
the restoration. It provides the
bulk of the flexible workspace
with a new mezzanine level
overlooking the first floor.
Courtyard
The project includes a number of
improvements to the exterior of
the building and its surroundings
and will include a repurposed
courtyard that can be used for
outdoor working or a well-earned
break when the weather is good.
Café
Walworth Town Hall is being restored. It will reopen next year In addition to the community
space in the former Newington
as flexible workspace alongside a new community hub. Library, the town hall will include
a café, which will be open to
T
the public as well as those who
he Grade II listed buildings on studio and workspaces (ideal for architects. General Projects has are working in the building.
Walworth Road, which once start-ups and small businesses) been granted a 125-year lease by
housed the Newington Library alongside a new community space Southwark Council to operate
and Cuming Museum, have been out on the ground floor of what used the town hall once it reopens.
of use since a major fire in March 2013. to be the Newington Library. The new workspaces will be
Since then, Southwark Council has The refurbishment includes a new hired out privately to businesses
opened a brand new and thoroughly third floor and mezzanine level and individuals. However, as part
modern Southwark Heritage Centre within the former council chamber of the planning agreement, the
Community Space Management Board
and Walworth Library ( just a few and a new entrance, which will central areas of the town hall will
doors away on Walworth Road) open onto Walworth Square. There be open to the public for events The Community Space Management Board is an independent body. It will
which includes many items from will be a new café, a courtyard and on at least 12 days every year. appoint an operator for the new community space and monitor how it is run.
the Cuming Collection alongside a cycle storage and the memorial A new independent management
The board was established at the end of last year and comprises nine members.
new permanent heritage exhibition garden, which runs along Walworth board chaired by local resident,
Five of the members, including the Chair, have been drawn from the local
and a state-of-the-art library. Road, will also be relandscaped. Manisha Patel, and comprising other
community. The other four are from General Projects and the council.
Now, the old town hall, which The work is being carried out by members of the Walworth community,
has been on the Heritage at Risk Conamar, a contractor with substantial has been established to help shape Manisha Patel, Chair of the Community Space Management Board, told the Elephant
Register for nine years, is finally experience in heritage projects. Over and oversee the new community Magazine “It’s an honour to Chair the Community Space Management Board.
being restored and refurbished. the course of the next 18 months, space. This space will be operated My fellow board members and I understand the great responsibility that we hold.
Work began in March and should they will undertake demolition work, by a third party (to be chosen by
We are committed to ensuring that the new community space is open to everyone
be complete by the end of 2023. structural frame installation, façade the management board) and will be
and reflects the richness and diversity of Walworth. We are ambitious in our
The scheme is being delivered restoration, roofing and internal available to the public all year round
vision for the space in terms of use and accessibility and we want to see a
by developer, General Projects, fit-out before finishing the project for a variety of uses such as meetings,
thriving community hub that delivers something for every resident.” Keep up to date on Instagram:
in partnership with the council. with the external landscaping work. events, talks, performances, arts
When complete, the town hall will The scheme has been designed by and crafts, workshops and classes. @wth_community_space
reopen featuring a mix of flexible General Projects with Feix&Merlin
The Elephant 7
Have fun at Get snacking
Elephant Park
The Picnic at Elephant Park promotion is returning this
summer. Participating cafes, bars and restaurants are laying
on a special picnic menu throughout the summer. Travel on
a foodie exploration to every corner of the globe, as you mix and
match your perfect picnic, packed full of international flavours.
this summer
Keep an eye out for details coming up on Elephant Park’s Instagram.
!
DON’T FORGET
Your picnic blanket
Get relaxing
Did you know Elephant Park now has its very own tree
house? Drop-in to the main park and you’ll be amazed.
Just at the top of Sayer Street, you’ll find the brand new Tree
House, a pavilion built for the community, with great views
across the park. Designed by Bell Phillips Architects, The
Tree House contains a bookable community space, a café
kiosk run by Hana Coffee and a fully accessible, expansive,
roof terrace from which you can sit, relax, and enjoy the view.
The building wraps itself around one of the park’s mature,
A packed summer of events and activities awaits you at Elephant London Plane trees, so when you climb up to the roof terrace,
Park this summer. Here’s just a flavour of what’s in store… you really are amongst the treetops with a bird’s eye view.
Find out more, including how to book the community space
for meetings, events, or activities at elephantpark.co.uk
!
DON’T FORGET
Your bird watching book
Get splashing
Elephant Springs, the fun, rocky, watery landscape in Elephant Park, has
reopened for the summer. Great for big kids and small, it features stone towers to
clamber up, slides to slip down, waterfalls, fountains and a running stream. There’s Get dining
even plenty of sand to wiggle your toes in. So, if you didn’t discover this urban
There are already lots of brilliant places to eat and drink around
oasis last summer, don’t delay, you won’t want to go anywhere else this year.
Elephant Park and many new venues are set to join in the fun,
later this year.
!
DON’T FORGET
Your bucket and spade
Keep a look out for The Rosey Hue on Ash Avenue. Opening in the summer,
this large, dog-friendly boozer will be run by the popular south London
pub group, Livelyhood. Expect great-tasting food alongside a wide-
ranging drink selection, all with a focus on local suppliers and produce.
Also arriving in Ash Avenue soon is DistriAndina. Currently based in
Get tracking the arches beneath Elephant and Castle station, DistriAndina has been
a favourite amongst locals for many years. Their new store will sell a
Have you spotted any elephants around Elephant Park lately?
large selection of grocery items and snacks imported from across Latin
Perhaps one very colourful, patchwork elephant in particular? The
America. And, as one of the main social hubs for the Elephant’s Latin
hugely popular Elmer the Elephant trail is back and it’s the perfect fun and
American community, DistriAndina will continue to operate as a bar
free way to spend an afternoon with the family. Ten decorative Elmer statues
and restaurant too; serving up delicious South American street food
have been set out around Elephant Park; each one designed by a different
including freshly made arepas, empanadas and plenty more besides.
local community group. Can you find them all? If you need a hand, you can
pick up a map from the nearby Southwark Heritage Centre and Walworth And, if that’s not enough to whet your appetite, waiting in the wings
Library (147 Walworth Road) or download a copy from elephantpark.co.uk are Korean/Japanese takeaway, Kokoro and Mexican bar and
restaurant, Cheeky Chicos.
!
DON’T FORGET
Tag your photos #ElmerAtTheElephant Find out more at www.elephantpark.co.uk
!
DON’T FORGET
Leave room for dessert and on Instagram @elephantparklondon
8 The Elephant The Elephant 9
Jef f D ex t e r :
the dance was obscene!” Jeff had just started importing well-cut loved them but John couldn’t dance!
laughs. “But just a few weeks later, gear for little blokes like him and I was the first DJ in Britain to play
The Twist really began to take off me” he chuckles. “That year we the Beach Boys’ Good Vibrations (at
here and The Lyceum hired me to both modelled at the Men’s & Boys’ The Empire, Leicester Square) and
demonstrate the dance to clubbers.” Exhibition at Olympia. Mark’s mum the first to play four tracks off the
This was at the start of the decade ran a stall on Berwick Street in Soho Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts
i s t
that would eventually become and we would meet there before going Club Band (at The Roundhouse).
Le t ’s T w
known as the “Swinging Sixties” shopping for clothes. He liked music Back then, it was important to me
and Jeff found himself at the very too but he was always more interested to be the first with everything.”
heart of the London scene. in clothes. Mark was a funny bloke.” Jeff was born in Lambeth
“It was Sammy who taught Jeff and Mark were both early Hospital, part of which is now
me how to DJ” says Jeff. devotees of the mod style but by the home to Elephant and Castle’s
“Mecca had an account at end of the decade had gone on to Cinema Museum. He grew up in
Imhof’s on New Oxford Street (a embrace the burgeoning hippy scene. Newington Butts and Walworth
Again
and has many fond memories of
the area from the 1950s and 60s.
What really got me interested “I went to the opening of the
Elephant shopping centre in 1965”
in music was going to the youth he recalls “It was brilliant! The
first of its kind. I’m disappointed
club on East Street they’ve knocked it down.”
He also mentions that Baldwin’s,
the herbalists on Walworth Road,
Jeff Dexter, the man who taught 60s department store that sold music Marc formed the band Tyrannosaurus
features a photo of him as a child
London how to do The Twist, tells and hi-fi gear) and when the new- Rex (later T. Rex), while Jeff became
customer. “The sarsaparilla they
sold back then was so good!”
release records were delivered on a resident DJ at the Middle Earth club
the Elephant Magazine about a life Tuesday afternoon, we’d go along in Covent Garden where John Peel
Jeff has lived in Hampstead for
many years now but he still returns to
immersed in music, dance and fashion. and take a big pile of them into one (who would soon become a star
Walworth on occasion. As someone
of the shop’s listening booths and broadcaster at the BBC) also DJ’d.
who has always kept up with the
try them out, one by one. Firstly, “I met John when he was just off
A
latest trends and changing times,
I was looking for how good they pirate radio (Radio London)” says
pioneering dancer turned Now aged 76, Dexter is Jeff notes “It’s changed a lot since I
were to dance to and secondly (if Jeff. “He was a very nice bloke and
DJ; publicist turned record as dapper as ever, although left. But that’s the way of everything
they weren’t dance tunes) how they I really liked what he played; it was
producer; band manager and his clubbing days are long – always moving on and changing.”
worked for the dreamtime snogging.” very different. I played more R&B
concert promoter – not to mention behind him.
“Tony Calder and I went into the and Blue Beat than he did. Dancers
one of the most stylish figures of “What really got me
record promotion business and
his era – Jeff Dexter has certainly interested in contemporary
worked The Beatles’ first 45, Love
left his mark on the city. music was going to the
Me Do in 1962” explains Jeff. “Epi
It’s not a bad CV for a local lad who youth club on East Street” he says.
(that’s what I called their manager,
first discovered his love of music “The boys at the club were generally
Brian Epstein) hired us because
at a youth club on East Street. interested in playing snooker and
he didn’t trust EMI to do a good
“I bought my first pop record in billiards but I was so small that I
job on the promo. I was only 16
1955 from A1 Records on the could barely see over the table! So I
and our success with The Beatles
Walworth Road. It was a 78rpm soon took control of the record player He was about 12 years older than me
meant we got lots of work on
copy of 16 Tons by Tennessee instead. I played records for the girls and keen to make people dance.”
behalf of other bands, including
Ernie Ford” says Jeff. to dance to. I always liked female Ian Samuel was a musician,
The Searchers, Brian Poole and
“A1 was an electrical shop with a company and throughout my life songwriter, DJ and much else besides.
all those Liverpool acts.”
record bar out the back. They also it’s stood me in good stead. I’d play Notably, he wrote Move It which was
A sharp dresser himself, when
used to have a stall in East Street the records that the youth club had the first big British rock ‘n’ roll record
The Beatles came to London, Jeff
Market every Saturday and Sunday (the pop hits of the time) and dance. and Cliff Richard’s very first hit in 1958.
introduced the band to his tailor,
where they would sell records” It gave me a taste for what’s a good Ian taught Dexter to DJ and together
“to get their Beatle suits made.”
he explains. tune and what gets people dancing.” they would go on to manage and
Another clothes-obsessed
“My relatives sold fruit in the market “By 1961 I was a dancer and singer produce the band America (including
teenager that Jeff befriended
and I used to help out on the stall at at the Lyceum theatre (which was their 1971 hit A Horse With No Name).
throughout the 60s was a young
the weekend. On Saturday mornings then a Mecca ballroom) in Covent “I was the first person to dance
Mark Feld – who would later go
we’d get in my uncle’s truck and head Garden. My first time there and the The Twist in London back in 1961”
on to find fame as Marc Bolan.
into Covent Garden at 4am to get the DJ is playing all these great R&B says Jeff, referring to the dance craze
“I first met him in 1959 when he
fruit. We’d come back to East Street, songs that I’d never heard before. I that had begun amongst American
was 12 and I was 13” says Jeff. “It
where the stall would have been set up introduced myself to him and he said teenagers just a year or so before.
was at Connick’s Junior Man – a
for us, unload and then start selling. ‘I’m Sammy’ (Ian Samuel). He became “It was at The Lyceum but the
menswear shop in Dalston that
I remember it all vividly.” my mentor and a very good friend. management banned me – saying Jeff with Marc Bolan in 1970 and, abov
e, Jeff
demonstrates The Twist in 1961, aged
just 15
The Elephant 11
A new arts festival is taking to the streets of
Elephant and Castle from 29 to 31 July.
F
rom dancers in Bagshot Street free gifts over the weekend.
and acrobats in Walworth Square There will be free family activities
to African music in Nursery running throughout the day in Castle
Row Park, the Urban Elephant Square on 29 July and a sparkling,
festival will be a free, community live music and dance event, that
celebration of everything that’s celebrates the area’s many Latin
wonderful about our neighbourhood. American communities, will launch
Local community arts groups, the festival proper at 5pm.
including Superarts Academy and “We’ve got the largest diaspora
the Yuruparí Colombian folk dance of the Latin American community
group, along with some of the outside Latin America” says John,
best street artists from around the “so we really want to celebrate their
world, will be performing at eight contribution to the neighbourhood.
locations across Elephant and Castle But this area is a microcosm of so
throughout the festival weekend. many different cultures we also want by performing, but also through
“The arts are a great way to bring to make sure the festival is truly writing, directing or stage
people together” says John Whelan, diverse and accessible for everyone.” management” John explains.
the festival’s Creative Director. The idea for Urban Elephant came As part of the festival, People’s
from John and his Artistic Director, Company will lead free Animated
Mike Raffone and it is being run in Tours of Elephant and Castle, which
We’ve got the conjunction with the Elephant and
Castle Business Forum – a partnership
have been put together with the
Elephant and Castle Town Centre
largest diaspora of of local firms, retailers and arts
and cultural venues, established
team. Starting in Castle Square,
these tours will shine a spotlight on
the Latin American by the Elephant and Castle Town
Centre team to promote business
the area’s history and heritage.
“Actors will bring our local history
community outside and increase trade in the area. to life in a new and interesting way”
N
“The weekend will be a particularly says John. “People who have moved
Latin America
A
good opportunity for cafés and into the area recently will be able
B
restaurants to do special offers or to learn more about where they live
R
promotions” says John “but every but I’m sure that those who have
U
“Urban Elephant is about connecting business can get involved.” grown-up here or been here for many
the old and the new. It will stretch The festival has been funded by years will learn a few things too.”
T
from one end of Walworth Road to Southwark Council’s High Street “In fact, there’s an opportunity to
A N
the other, linking every part of the Recovery Fund with additional try the Animated Tours ahead of the
P H
neighbourhood from the Aylesbury support from Lendlease, Get festival too” says John. “We’re doing
ELE
estate to Elephant Arcade. Living and Notting Hill Genesis. tours on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29
We’re bringing in some amazing “The last few years have been tough May. They are free but you will need
street artists, but we’re also going on local businesses, so we want to book a place via Eventbrite.”
to showcase the amazing talent to encourage people to visit their John hopes that Urban Elephant
we have on our own doorstep local high streets and appreciate will attract visitors from across the
and celebrate the immense all the great places they have on capital and become an annual event.
AL
cultural diversity of the area.” their own doorstep” says John. “Elephant and Castle used to
E S T I V
John wants Urban Elephant to Alongside the main festival there be known as the ‘Piccadilly of
F
Festival in Castle Square. Photo by Rahil Ahmad
be London’s first fully sustainable will be a variety of pop-up community the south’, because it was such a
and carbon neutral street festival. events in the evening to promote the popular destination for music and
Rather than building staging, Elephant’s night-time economy. entertainment before the Second
performance areas will be marked John organised events for World War” he says. “We want it to
out with temporary chalk, and people Liverpool’s European Capital of be that kind of destination again.”
will be encouraged to walk and cycle Culture in 2008 and in 2014 he
from one performance to the next. founded People’s Company, a free
29 TO 31 JULY John and the team are working
with two local primary schools to
create a map that shows all the
community theatre group for over
25s based at Southwark Playhouse.
“People’s Company gives local
Find out more: urbanelephant.org.uk
freetourselephant.eventbrite.co.uk
Business Forum:
key sites. The map will be printed people a platform to express info@elephantandcastletowncentre.co.uk
on tote bags and given out as themselves creatively, not just
12 The Elephant
FROM CRATE
TO PLATE
At the corner of Elephant Park sit several
shipping containers with a green secret.
A
s the doors open, you’re from. I read that the World Health and ethos as our company.”
immediately struck by the Organisation estimated we need to Sebastien now has grand plans
fresh smell of fields. And as increase our food production by 80 to expand Crate to Plate.
your eyes adjust, 2,800 heads of per cent if we are to meet the needs He’s building a home delivery and
lettuce come into view, all growing of our growing population by 2050.” click & collect service from his Elephant
in neat rows under artificial light. Sebastien was toying with a business Park base. It’s aimed at the 50-odd
This is the world of hydroponics – a idea around the same time. He says retail and leisure businesses located
method of growing plants using mineral “I pitched my idea to various people here, as well as up to 3,000 residents
nutrient solutions instead of soil. The but they all told me ‘the public will who will be able to order through the
plants in this container take up 320 sq never buy fresh food online’.” residents’ app. He says “we want to
ft but on a traditional farm, a crop this Years later, he took a trip to the build a subscription-based service,
size would occupy up to an acre of land. Milan World Fair: Expo 2015. It was which we hope to launch this summer.”
Some people believe hydroponics here that he saw a vertical farm His ambition is to provide
represents the future of farming exhibited in the US pavilion and produce for the wider Southwark
and a solution to feeding an ever- made up his mind to give it a go. area too. And, from September,
growing global population. he wants to teach the borough’s
This particular Elephant and Castle schoolchildren about sustainability
“farm” belongs to Crate to Plate. It’s from a classroom in Elephant Park.
the brainchild of Sebastien Sainsbury, Technology has “My commitment to the community
who thinks people living in cities should
be able to eat high quality, pesticide-
changed everything is to open a classroom and bring in
kids, from both primary and secondary
free food, just days after harvest. schools. We’ll give them talks about
Part of the famous supermarket sustainability, food wastage and where
family, Sebastien not only wants “Hydroponics have been around for our food comes from. It would be great
to sell good quality food but also a Millennium. If you think about it, the if, one day, our containers become
wants to educate people and spread ancient Hanging Gardens of Babylon training grounds for kids, so we can give
the word about hydroponics. were grown in water, so it’s nothing them the chance to come in, grow their
Sebastien says “Shipping containers new” says Sebastien. “You can grow own produce and take it home to eat.”
are ideal for locations like Elephant anything in nutrient-rich water and new He plans to add a site in Stratford,
Park. We can just drop them in and technology enables us have a controlled shortly, to the hydroponic farms he runs
they’re good for two or three years. environment where every aspect of the already (in Kentish Town and the Isle of
It’s the perfect way of getting fresh plants’ growth is monitored from start Dogs as well as Elephant and Castle).
produce to people, grown within to finish, including the temperature.” “The long-term goal is to feed
15 minutes of their own homes.” Sebastien admits he couldn’t people at mass market prices” says
As well as serving local residents, Crate have done any of this 12 years ago. Sainsbury. And, within five years,
to Plate also sells to local restaurants. “Technology has changed everything” he hopes to get Crate to Plate
And with a strict no wastage policy, any he says, adding “to produce a batch produce stocked in supermarkets.
leftovers are broken down into mixed of 600 lettuces only needs one Asked which chain he would
leaf packages and sold online, sold dishwasher’s worth of water a day.” like to be the first, he smiles and
to shops or donated to the charities, He says that working with replies “Sainsbury’s, naturally!”
Peckham Pantry and City Harvest. Lendlease, the Elephant Park
A former banker in the City, developer, was the perfect fit.
Sebastien’s passion for sustainable “Lendlease are committed Find out more at
farming began over a decade ago. to helping the community and cratetoplate.farm and
“In 2007, I was doing research on food committed to sustainability. They www.elephantpark.co.uk
security and where our food comes have the same fundamental values
14 The Elephant The Elephant 15
Cycling for commuting and leisure has seen a huge increase over the last Elephant and Castle by bike, where third-party service. In addition, MP the autumn, Leigh says “As a transport
decade. Now the push is on to get businesses to take-up pedal power too. previously they were using taxis.”
The target is to engage with 1,300
Smarter Travel provides free advice
and guidance to each participant.
agency we’ll still be in the area, but
whether we continue this project will
businesses. “This means speaking “Some people think using a cargo be down to funding. We’d be keen to
O
to them and having a meaningful bike is a massive commitment, but keep going because we feel there are
ver 260km of cycle routes have Leigh Gravenor, the consultant that up to 51 per cent of all freight conversation about their deliveries” it’s not” says Leigh. “We just want many more businesses we can help
been created in London over heading up BFB. “We hit our journeys in cities could be replaced explains Leigh. “Out of these, we aim them to try the bikes where they and more work still to be done.”
the past six years and there are targets and got recommissioned by cargo bikes, with some bikes to get at least 300 using cargo bikes in currently use a van, car or motorbike.
now some 700,000 journeys made by to do a second phase.” able to carry as much as 300kg. some way. It could be just a one-off We might help them to set up a
bike, throughout the city, every day. He continues “I used to be a cargo Bikes for Business is working with but it’s better as a trial for at least one brand-new service or simply help
The number of cargo bikes is bike courier in central London. I companies throughout Southwark month. At the end we see how many them to choose a type of bike.”
increasing too and Southwark is understand what it takes and I know but particularly with those based deliveries they’ve done and we pay Leigh stresses, however, that it
leading the way with the Bikes for what companies look for. I’ve a pretty along the Low Line (the route which them a subsidy depending on that.” won’t affect the jobs of drivers within
Business (BFB) project, which good eye for the type of business that traces the railway lines through the Funding for the scheme comes any firm that makes the switch.
promotes zero-emission cargo can make the most out of bikes.” north of the borough). This includes from Southwark Council, the two “Take Orbit Beer on Walworth
bike deliveries as a mainstream BFB provides support and funding firms in Blackfriars, Bermondsey local Business Improvement Districts Road” he says “we approached them
solution for business freight. to businesses that want to try cargo and Elephant and Castle. (Team London Bridge and Better a couple of times on engagement
First launched by Team London bikes for the first time. In the first phase, a number of Bankside) and the charity, Impact walks and said ‘you’ve got an online
Bridge two years ago, and overseen The stats show that making the Bermondsey businesses – such as Bell on Urban Health, which wants to shop and you sell kegs to breweries –
by sustainable transport consultancy, switch to cargo bikes makes good & Sons butchers, based in The Blue improve air quality in urban areas. could some of this be done by bike?’
MP Smarter Travel, the scheme is sense. Replacing just one HGV with market – tried cargo bikes for the first To encourage businesses to use the They have their own driver who does If you would like to find out more about
helping local businesses to make cycle freight in central London can time. Now Leigh wants to push further scheme, Bikes for Business offers the pick-ups and deliveries on the Bikes for Business, email Leigh Gravenor
the shift from petrol to pedals. After save 9.8 tonnes of CO2 emissions south, down Walworth Road and as a subsidy up to £700, depending longer distances but now they’ve from MP Smarter Travel at
an initial run in 2020, it’s now back per year. Meanwhile, estimates from far as Burgess Park. He says “We’ve on the number of deliveries. The moved some of their local orders to bikesforbusiness@mpsmartertravel.co.uk
for a second bite of the cherry. a European study (CycleLogistics – already linked up with the traders in firms can put the money towards cargo bikes.” or call 020 7960 2553
“2020 was a big success” says moving Europe Forward) suggests East Street market to deliver food to their own bike or towards hiring a With the current scheme finishing in
16 The Elephant The Elephant 17
D
iogenes the Dog has put work to get it into shape. glass. “We want people to try different
Elephant and Castle on “When we took it over it was pretty wines, so we actively discourage guests
the map when it comes to much an empty shell” Sunny recalls. from buying a bottle” Sunny explains.
wine. Everyone from Time Out “There was no running water and The food menu includes plates
and Stylist to Decanter and Conde only one double socket downstairs.” of charcuterie from Bermondsey’s
Nast Traveller are fans of this Luckily, he had help. His girlfriend, Crown & Queue Meats and “Boozy
wine bar, bottle shop and café. Paulina, designed the interior Cheeseboards” sourced from Drunk
Sunny Hodge opened his business and her father, Darek, assisted Cheese in Borough Market, all
three years ago in the former Rose him with the refurbishment. served-up with homemade pickles.
and Crown pub on the corner of “We transformed the place in just The bar is incredibly popular with
Wadding Street and Rodney Road. 42 days, working around the clock couples on ‘date nights’ and with
The bar takes its name from the to get it ready” says Sunny, who friends meeting up for a chat. The
ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes even created many of the fixtures formula has worked so well that Sunny
(nicknamed The Dog) who was known and fittings himself. “I made the opened another venue, Aspen &
for doing things a little bit differently. benches and some of the table-tops Meursault, in Battersea, last summer.
Sunny likes to take an and I even welded the wine racks. However, it hasn’t been plain
Sunny Hodge is pulling in visitors from far and wide unconventional approach too. Rather The stools and a few other things sailing by any means.
than opt for a traditional wine list, came from Gumtree” he adds. “Closing for lockdown, just 15
to his neighbourhood wine bar on Rodney Road. his bar focuses on up-and-coming months after we first opened,
wine regions from around the world. was tough” says Sunny.
These include places as far afield He managed to retain his staff and
as Poland, Texas and China, and keep the business going by turning
many of the wines are imported the bar into a shop. He ran a phone
directly from the producers. sommelier service – providing
Sunny has always wanted his bar customers with wine advice – and
to be a go-to place for wine lovers, provided free delivery in the local area.
We transformed the place in not just from London but from “There were far fewer visitors from
across the globe too. And it wasn’t abroad, of-course” says Sunny “but
just 42 days, working around long after he first opened in 2018 local trade is now making up for
the clock to get it ready that he knew word had got out.
“I wanted to create a destination
that. We were always full of people
on a Friday and Saturday night, but
spot” says Sunny. “One Saturday night, no-one was from the area. Now it’s
about six months after we started, the opposite” he beams. “In the last
somebody entered the bar and told me After 5pm, the whole six to nine months, it really feels
they’d come straight from the airport like local residents are spending
– just off a plane from Singapore. It space transforms” more of their weekends going out
was then that I knew that what we in Elephant and Castle rather than
were doing was really working.” going to Bermondsey, Borough,
Creating the wine bar has been a The ground floor is a beautiful open- Camberwell or elsewhere.”
labour of love for Sunny. He had plan area filled with plants and with Diogenes the Dog is also signed
already worked in hospitality for bottles lining the walls. Downstairs is a up to the Elephant Says Hi project
more than a decade, including cellar which is open at weekends and which aims to tackle loneliness and
stints at Margot in Covent can also be booked for private events. social isolation and he’s proud to be
Garden, the Gaucho group and During the day, Diogenes operates a part of life in Elephant and Castle.
The Fordwich Arms in Kent. as a café bar and grocery, where “Me and all the staff are very much
He spent two years looking for you can have a coffee and a pastry part of the local community” says
a good site before he came across or a glass of wine and a snack. You Sunny. “Sometimes it feels a bit like
The Rose and Crown, which had can also buy a range of locally-sourced Cheers in here” he laughs, “where
been vacant for a while. In his breads, cheeses and meats. However, everyone knows your name!”
twenties, Sunny had lived nearby it’s in the evening that it really comes
( just off Walworth Road) and he into its own.
felt Elephant and Castle was the “After 5pm, the whole space Diogenes the Dog
right place for his new venture. transforms” says Sunny. “We move 96 Rodney Road, London SE17 1BG
“If we had opened somewhere like the counter and put wine glasses on 020 7703 5570
Dalston, where people already go the tables and light candles.” He adds
Tue & Wed: 4pm to 11pm / Thur: 12pm to
out a lot, we would just have been “We offer a bespoke, tailored service.
11pm / Fri & Sat: 11am to 11pm /
one of many places to drink and dine We’ve trained our team as sommeliers
Sun: 11am to 10pm
but I wanted us to be something and we help our guests to understand
of a local institution” he says. more about the wines on offer.” www.diogenesthedog.co.uk
The old pub needed a lot of Most of the wine is available by the
18 The Elephant The Elephant 19
Spurgeon and the
home for the congregation. itself, extra public transport and
Spurgeon and his associates chose police were laid on for the estimated
the Elephant and Castle site, as it was 100,000 mourners. The funeral
believed to be where three Protestants procession – from the Metropolitan
Metropolitan Tabernacle – the Southwark Martyrs – had been
burnt at the stake in 1557, during the
reign of Queen Mary I (Bloody Mary).
The new Metropolitan Tabernacle,
Tabernacle to Stockwell Orphanage
and on to West Norwood Cemetery
– stretched for two miles as locals
lined the streets and closed their
which originally featured an shops to pay their respects.
Elephant and Castle is always changing, but there is one auditorium seating 6,000 people, Most of the original Tabernacle
landmark that any local resident of the last 150 years would was completed in 1861.
Spurgeon was not just a preacher
building was destroyed by fire in
1898 just a few years after Spurgeon’s
recognise instantly – the Metropolitan Tabernacle. and pastor. He was also involved death. Only the basement and front
in evangelism and philanthropy. In portico survived. It was rebuilt to
1856, he founded a college to train the same design but this second
S
pastors (which would eventually version of the building was hit by
tanding on the platform At this time, the government was had a conversion experience. Within a be known as Spurgeon’s College) a bomb during the Blitz on the
at Elephant and Castle actively suppressing non-Anglican year he had become pastor of a church and, once the new Tabernacle was night of 9 May 1941. Again, only the
station, for the first time in Christians. For its first couple of in Cambridgeshire and, within three, ready, the New Park Street chapel basement and front portico survived.
more than 50 years, you can now decades, the Tabernacle group he had published his first gospel tract. was sold and the proceeds used to The building we see today was
look to the west and admire the appears to have been fairly informal He took over as pastor of New Park build alms-houses (an early kind rebuilt, for the third time, in 1957,
Tabernacle’s impressive portico. (no doubt due to persecution) but, Street church when he was only 19. of sheltered accommodation). when much of the surrounding
This view, which had been hidden in 1688, the congregation opened its The charismatic young preacher’s In 1867, Spurgeon also founded bomb-damaged neighbourhood
by the shopping centre since the first chapel on Carter Lane, close to sermons were wildly popular. In fact, the Stockwell Orphanage to care of Elephant and Castle was
1960s, is one of the many reminders by the age of 22, Spurgeon was the for vulnerable boys (and later, also being redeveloped.
of our neighbourhood’s rich history. most popular preacher in the UK. He girls too). It appears to have been The Tabernacle was rebuilt
At one time, the Tabernacle was attracted the kind of crowds and hype the favourite of all his institutions on the perimeter of the old
home to the largest independent that we associate with rock stars today. and, for many years, he would use building, preserving those
Baptist congregation in the world. Attendance at services quickly his birthday to raise funds for the parts which had survived
The roots of the Baptist faith lie in outstripped the capacity of the orphanage. This included holding but with a significantly
the English Dissenting movement New Park Street chapel (even one of London’s largest bazaars. smaller interior and new
of the 1600s. Following the Church after an expansion) and the The orphanage remained in wings on either side.
of England’s break with Rome congregation adapted by renting Stockwell until the Second World
(1537), various groups of English 1890 space in the Surrey Music Hall War, when the staff and children
Christians became dissatisfied with (which stood roughly where Pasley were evacuated to Reigate. The site
the established church. Some of Park in Walworth is today). was later destroyed in the Blitz.
these dissenters, like the Puritans, On 1 October 1856, the first service In 1951, the orphanage moved to
attempted to reform Anglicanism from saw 10,000 people crowd into the Kent but eventually closed in 1979.
within, while other groups broke off Music Hall and as many again listening However, the work Spurgeon started in
entirely to form their own churches. from outside. Unfortunately, it ended 1867 continues to this day through the
Two English exiles, John Smyth in tragedy when someone inside the charity, Spurgeon’s, which works with
and Thomas Helwys, created one building shouted “Fire!” The ensuing young people and vulnerable families.
such group in Amsterdam in 1607. panic and crush killed seven people. Spurgeon (unlike many of the
Smyth and Helwys believed the Bible 2022 Spurgeon would carry grief and guilt Baptists in America) was also
was the only guide to Christian living over the deaths for the rest of his life. staunchly in favour of abolishing the
and that the only valid church would where the London Bridge Hospital Services at the Surrey Music Hall slave trade. In 1873, he hosted the
be one that comprised believers who stands on Tooley Street today. restarted in November, routinely Fisk Jubilee Singers at the Tabernacle.
had been baptised after a personal The group flourished and, under drawing 10,000 people, but ended in The singers were an a cappella group
confession of faith. Their breakaway Pastor John Rippon (1776-1836), it December when Spurgeon objected from Tennessee, many of whom were
group baptised its first believers became one of the largest Baptist to a series of Sunday evening former slaves. The proceeds from the
in 1609 and, in the process, they congregations in the country, concerts begun by the Music Hall 10,000-strong audience helped pay
gave birth to the Baptist movement. prompting a move to New Park Street (as they broke the Sabbath). At this for Jubilee Hall, the first permanent
After Smyth’s death, Helwys (by Borough Market) in 1833. The point he appears to have moved building on what is now the Fisk
took over the leadership and he new chapel could seat 1,200 people. his services, temporarily, to the University campus in the USA.
and his followers returned to Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who Crystal Palace in Sydenham. In 1857, In 1892, Spurgeon died while For more local history, visit the Southwark
England in 1611. would become the Metropolitan Spurgeon preached to a huge crowd in Menton, France. Heritage Centre and Walworth Library at
The origin of the Metropolitan Tabernacle’s most famous pastor, here of more than 26,000 people. Four 12-hour-long memorial services 147 Walworth Road.
Tabernacle congregation dates was born the following year. However, plans were already were held in Elephant and Castle www.southwark.gov.uk/shc&wl
back to 1650. In 1850, at the age of 15, Spurgeon afoot to build a new, permanent before the funeral, and on the dayCassandra Max
MY ELEPHANT AND CASTLE
Locals tell us what they love about the Elephant
Elephant and Castle has definitely I like how Elephant and Castle is
changed a lot in a good way. very central. It is in Zone 1 but still
There are so many more options has a community feel. It’s a bit
with all the new businesses. I love Little of a dichotomy. It’s fast-paced as it’s central
Louie café on Ash Avenue and I really like London but people are in less of a rush. I feel
Beza Ethiopian Vegan Restaurant on Sayer like I know a lot of the small business owners
Street. Beza’s food is amazing and the people and if you go somewhere you often end up
are so lovely. It’s great that she’s been in having a chat. The Nue Ground café bar and
the area for over ten years. I also love the the people who work there are really nice. I
Nunhead Gardener next door. It’s such a nice also like Theo’s as they do really good pizza.
space to walk around and they have candles
and other nice things as well as plants. Kirstie
What’s great about this area is
Jaimie that so many different cultures
I’ve lived in Elephant and are able to express themselves
Castle for six years. It’s great and share their stuff (food and fashion
to have so much here on our etc). Walk along the Old Kent Road and
doorstep. There are many new cafés and there are so many different businesses and
restaurants and I love the parks and green cafés, and lots going on. I work in a local
spaces. It’s such a good area for families. school one day a week. It is such a warm,
My son was at the new library on Walworth welcoming community with a big heart,
Road earlier with his grandparents. He loves lots of energy and big smiles. I particularly
to sit in the children’s area and look at all like Hej café as it’s very friendly and you
the books. We also like the newly reopened can stay and work for as long as you like.
Dickens’ Fields, which has such a good
play area. The sand pit and playground Fran
at Elephant Park is another favourite. This area is great for kids. I have
a young child, so I take them to
Rebecca Burgess Park a lot and I’m just
I love the variety here. You have about to go to the baby swimming sessions at
very traditional London buildings Darwin Court healthy living centre on Crail
alongside lots of modern ones. Row. The Frogprince baby music classes at
There’s so much music, arts and culture Mercato Metropolitano are great as well. I
too. I run the SoLo Craft Fair shop on Ash also like the new MMy Mercato food market
Avenue (we stock over 60 local makers on Walworth Square. The quality of the fresh
and designers). The local community has produce is so good, and the bread is delicious.
been so welcoming and people here really
want to support small, local businesses. I Aurelia
enjoy a beer and an arcade game at Four I’m south east London through
Quarters. I love Little Louie café and the and through. I don’t venture north
sourdough pizza at Four Hundred Rabbits. unless I have too! I’m half French
The Elephant and Castle Pub is great too. and half Turkish and I love the multi-cultural
influence in Elephant and Castle. It still feels
Declan
very community based and down-to-earth;
I like Elephant and Castle as it
which isn’t always the case when there’s
has a bit of everything for food
been redevelopment. Louie Louie café on
and drink. There is such a great
Walworth Road is my perfect place to have
diversity of places to go and everywhere is
a coffee and catch up with work and I feel
different from each other. It’s also one of
really at home there. Mercato Metropolitano
the best spots in London to get to anywhere
is a favourite place to go and eat as there is so
you need to go; it’s so well connected. I also
much choice and a really cool atmosphere.
like the fact there are lots of green spaces.
May 2022
The Elephant Magazine is produced by Southwark Council. We would love to hear your feedback
and welcome suggestions for future features. Drop us a line at councilnews@southwark.gov.uk
Read more about the regeneration programme at www.elephantandcastle.org.uk and remember
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