Clapton Pond Blog

The Murals And The Man Behind Them

Back in November I wrote about the plethora of people you see on the streets these days pointing cameras at neighbourhood goings-on. The example I photographed - perhaps I'm one of those people myself - showed a young woman filming the creation of this mural in Clapton Passage on the side of Danny's. I didn't go close enough at the time to see what the man up the ladder was doing, and I only noticed the result quite recently. I had, though, already noticed and photographed two other creations by the same artist in the same style. One is a (still unfinished?) effort also in Clapton Passage on a builder's fence there, the other can be found on a wall in Linscott Road. See them here and here. To learn more about the artist and the young woman filming him that day in November, see the comment here and this website. Give it space.   

New Mural, Downs Road

It's not altogether new, having appeared on top of the previous, deeply cosmic, mural several weeks ago. Looks like the work of the same artist (or artists). I slighty preferred the original but like the idea of a new piece of work showing up in the same space every few months - like in a gallery, come to think of it.

Clapton Festival at Palm 2

This year's Clapton Festival was drier than its predecessor, though still a bit unsettled. Maybe the wind interference on the clip below should be taken as a sign of the neighbourhood's rough-and-ready authenticity. You decide. Either way, I hope you enjoy this footage of Walking Wounded live at Palm 2 on Saturday.

 Also on Saturday's bill was a local teenage band called Crash Magnets. I may yet be able to bring you a clip of them as well. The neccessary permission is being negotiated, partly in my kitchen.   

Damp Jubilee in Newick Road

It took me less than a minute yesterday to decide against defying the grey clouds and drizzle and heading down to the Thames for the main Diamond Jubilee event, but I'm glad I ventured out for quick look at the Newick Road street party. Food, drink, a live band and plenty of staying power in evidence.  

A Clapton Pond Christmas

Among the many neglected lessons of history is that Christmas traditions change all the time. I grew up with the one that involves families gathered cheerfully around enormous meals and blazing hearths. It goes back to the days of Charles Dickens, yet if you read his 1836 sketch A Christmas Dinnner (written under his pen name of Boz) many traditional Christmassy things are either mentioned only in passing or completely absent. The sketch pre-dates the popularity of Christmas cards, crackers and trees, while in those days seasonal gifts were usually exchanged on New Year's Day. Father Christmas in his modern form wasn't invented until 1931. He's a transatlantic import, by the way.

The Clapton Festival: A Musical Highlight

My Clapton Festival experience was mostly concentrated in the area around the pond on the (sunny) Saturday afternoon. I enjoyed these strolling minstrels very much.

 

Farewell Kidsmania

One of my smallest daughter's favourite things is pressing her nose against the glass of the Kidsmania shop opposite the Round Chapel and dreaming. All those fabulous posh frocks! Every so often, usually just before Christmas she's actually got through the door and tried things on. Then, miraculously, a few days later one of those fabulous posh frocks would emerge from a parcel and my smallest daughter would be transformed into a glamorous princess, radiating style and grace.

You might have noticed that those days are soon to end. For the past few weeks Kidsmania has been holding a closing down sale and expects to shut its doors to customers for the final time at the end of this week. It will be a sad occasion for Neeta and Ashok Daryanani, who opened the shop in 1976 when Neeta was pregnant with their son Neil - who's grown up to be part of the family firm too - and the bottom end of Lower Clapton Road was very different. Only Harris Electrical and Danny's Motor Shop survive from that time.

Tesco In Clapton: Palm 2 Prepares

I bumped into an old friend in the fruit and veg section the other day. He was swooning at the mushrooms - six different kinds, all attractively displayed. "I think we'll all be winners," he said.

That's the first person I've heard describe the imminent arrival of Tesco in such terms, and I can see what means. No recent visitor to Palm 2 can fail to have noticed that Abdullah and his team have been sharpening up what I imagine retail gurus would term their "customer offer". The delicatessen has broadened its range and the fresh produce is looking fresher. Home made soup has been available since (I think) before Christmas and the front of the shop has been reorganised to be more spacious. Now they're offering to refill your Ecover bottles and even to look after parcels delivered to your home when you are out. They've also revived the home delivery service they tried out a while back (text your orders to 07889935310. Must be for £15 or more).

Tesco Trouble

 With the next edition of the Hackney Gazette expected to report on local opposition to a Tesco Express taking up residence at 144-146 Lower Clapton Road, this might be a good moment to fortify emotion with cold-eyed realism. Like all the fellow residents in the photograph above (taken yesterday), I love the friendliness and individuality of Palm 2 and many of our other local shops. The prospect of any of them being driven out of the business thanks to a branch of the ravenous Tesco giant having the mass buying power to undercut them on price is distressing.

Sound And Fury At The Hackney Empire

Last Thursday's public meeting at and about our handsome local theatre had much in common with its famous pantomimes. The cast of villains was familiar to anyone even loosely acquainted with Hackney political aggro down the years, as were the characters hissing and booing from the stalls. Even a regular member of the panto cast was in attendance, the popular and talented Kat B. So too was Susie McKenna, the Empire's associate director and the creative force behind those pantomimes, which are widely considered London's best. Her role in the evening's presentation stood out because it straddled the good-evil divide that clearly existed in the minds of the more militant members of the audience. Her track record at the Empire made her a goodie, but her backing for the present Board of Directors and its decisions in tandem with interim chief executive Clarie Middleton meant she was half lumped in with the baddies too.