Saturday, like many recent days, brought a real mix of weather - gusting winds, drizzle, brief downpours and bursts of sunshine. Having grown up in Melbourne, which has a reputation for delivering four seasons in one day, you would think I'd take this in my stride. But add in a bundle of nerves, and I …
Tag: Battersea
walking and belonging
The theme for this year's London Festival of Architecture is belonging. This got me thinking about my sense of belonging and the connection I feel to this corner of south London, which gradually became home, and where I've now lived for more than half my life. When I first moved to Battersea, I knew nothing …
Sleepless in Battersea
A tealight flickersin a frosted glassemblazoned with the wordENERGY.Outside it is 4 a.m.,deep night –even the trainsare asleep.From the other side of the worldmy sister textshappy birthday jane austen.On the bookcase behind meher novels wait to be read,re-read.
a toot or two on my trumpet
A fortnight ago, I reprised the walk I'd devised for this year's London Festival of Architecture in June: Beyond the New Builds: Voices from Nine Elms' Past. I'd made a few tweaks to the route, and was pleased with the turnout - a baker's dozen of attendees. The weather also played ball, holding off the …
jam-packed June
Wandsworth's London Borough of Culture year is well and truly in swing and June promises rich pickings for culture vultures. For the first time, the Wandsworth Arts Fringe and Wandsworth Heritage Festival are overlapping for one week, from 13th to 22nd June. During that period, on Saturday 14th June, History Speak and I will be …
Magnolia Appreciation Society (Battersea Branch)
Spring seems to have been a long time coming this year, but it's definitely arrived, and one of the early spring sights that always lifts my spirits is the flowering of magnolia trees on the side streets and in Battersea Park. There are dozens of varieties, some frilly, others star-shaped, many slowly open into a …
Continue reading Magnolia Appreciation Society (Battersea Branch)
Twixtmas comes but once a year
Twixtmas. That quiet period betwixt Christmas and New Year. It's one of my favourite times of year, when London slows down a bit. The streets are quieter. People seem less harried, more relaxed. It's a good time to explore and maybe walk off a bit of the festive excess. In this spirit, I'm reprising my …
strolling, chatting and scribbling
I've just compiled the feedback from the two Stroll, Chat, Scribble events I ran for this year's Brighter Living Fair in Wandsworth, and I'm feeling a rather chuffed. It's very gratifying to realise that what I set out to deliver pretty much hit the mark. Each session began with a stroll around nearby streets for …
Charlotte Despard gets a plaque
There was a fantastic turnout for the unveiling of a plaque honouring Charlotte Despard on Wednesday, in the heart of Embassy Gardens, Nine Elms. Despard, known as 'the Mother of Battersea', lived in a house on Currie Street from the early 1890s until she moved to Ireland in 1921. Her house was in the middle …
two Festivals and a Fringe
June is shaping up to be a jam-packed month for me. The Wandsworth Heritage Festival is already underway and runs until 9th June. I've managed to get to one event so far, the launch of new public artworks by the railway arches that adjoin the new Prince of Wales Drive development. The weather did not …
Hilaire 