Come into the Garden

Isn't it funny - as I commented before, I love Dulwich during the holidays when the Village is quiet and empty and all the families have flown like swallows to their summer quarters. It was peaceful. It was quiet. Maybe even too quiet.

So even as the traffic builds and the roads get noisy, I love Dulwich just as much when school starts again. There is a lightness, a certain buzz; parents walk and cycle their bright-eyed children along the pathways and a comfortable routine is re-established.

And here is a photo that I took during my own routine. When people take particular care over something they love, the results shine out - excelence allays show, even if it is something as simple as a hedge and a garden gate.

Isn't this pretty? It is so inviting and the colour is so well chosen and so lovely. I wonder how long it took to grow (and trim) the hedge to such perfection.

An Englishman's home is his Castle

One of the basic precepts of ancient English common law - to whit, you are the boss of your own house and no-one can tell you what to do there.

But the 'literal' meaning is much more fun (amply demonstrated throughout Merrie England, and even in city areas like Dulwich) whereby an Englishman has the right to 'fancify' his house as he pleases - especially if it results in a minuscule fairytale castle.

That is why I love these two Dulwich houses with their lovely turrets and delightfully eccentric weather vanes - they are beautiful. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have one of those octagonal turret bedrooms, pretending to be Rapunzel or Prince Charming for hours on end? Brilliant.

I wish my house had a turret and a weather vane - but the dragons at the local council would almost certainly breathe fire down my neck as soon as look at it. Regrettably, it seems that a modern Englishman's home is not really his castle after all.

Blue Plaques - Dulwich Notables

Boris Karloff, Enid Blyton, Phyliss Pearsall, C.S. Forester and John Ruskin. What an eclectic bunch.

With regard to man-of-letters, pre-Raphaelite champion, artist and critic John Ruskin - I thought that there was a proper blue plaque at the site of his boyhood home, but all I could see was this quiet bronze plate affixed to an Arts & Crafty-type wooden post under a spreading, shady tree.

And isn't it fantastic that Ms Pearsall is soon to get a blue plaque neighbour a few yards up the road - Anne Shelton OBE, 'the Force's Favourite' at 142 Court Lane. Brilliant. The garden at 142 is magnificent and is frequently open for charity under the Yellow Book Scheme - it's a must for gardening-mad people like me.

Special People - 'Smell The Coffee' Paul.

A railway station coffee stall where everybody knows your name.

I know of at least two city commuters who time their walk from home to West Dulwich Station with meticulous precision just so they can arrive in the ticket lobby much earlier than they need to, to catch their train. They do this every week-day to catch the banter and cameraderie on offer at the "Smell the Coffee" stall in the station. Oh, and to score some great coffee too!

'Smell The Coffee' is run by local artist Paul who possesses (in addition to a ready wit, infectious charm and a lovely smile) a prodigious memory for all his customers' names, life stories and unique beverage preferences.

Paul always greets you with an offer of a "Strong Americano" (or whatever your individual pick-up may be), followed by a personalised enquiry into how your trip to such and such a place was, how little Johnny did in his exam, or whether you got the thingummyjig you were looking for. He never forgets what newspaper you read. Good luck getting kindness like this with your coffee once you cross the River Thames.

Paul is never short of a bit of light-hearted repartee and seems to be close friends with the entire commuting fraternity of West Dulwich - to judge from his easy chats with all that pass by - which is no small feat. He simply is one of the nicest people I know.

Paul, we thank you for being there, and we thank you for your coffee.

And thank you Paul, for setting up the day so pleasantly for all your travelling public.

Cool Crazy Cactus

This is one of my East Dulwich faves. The beautifully tended, lovingly maintained, carefully over-wintered giant Cactus.

Just look at it - it's massive, it takes up of the entire front garden, and there are three other cactus varieties happily growing away nearby. The gentleman who owns this house is a true Cactaceaeophile extraordinaire. (OK, I just made that word up - but you get the point!).

If you peer at my photograph carefully, you can spot a bit of the wooden framework used to erect an equally giant, home-made, cold frame that is carefully erected, bit by bit, every autumn as regular as clockwork. As the cactus is so amazingly tall and wide, this is quite an undertaking, and the process seems to take a couple of days. It is a real labour of love. And the reverse process takes place in late spring. East Dulwichers know that summer is really on the way when the cactus finally emerges from its winter home.

I love this crazy cactus, I love how devoted the owner is to his special plant, I love the meticulous care he takes of it and most of all I love how this one plant marks the passing of the seasons, winter and summer, year on year.

I'll be back to take a photo of the cactus when it is ensconced in its enormous cold frame once again. How I would love to talk to the Cactus man and find out more about his amazing cactus - but I know I probably won't. I'm too shy.

Leafy Dulwich #1

Dulwich is famed for its lovely leafiness; South Dulwich, West Dulwich and Dulwich Village are green and verdant with wide open grassy fields, ancient woodland, green allotments and wide roads and verges dotted with venerable trees.

The 'rus in urbe' village feel that Dulwich retains is very dependent on these beautiful trees. There are mighty oaks (Quercus robur), London planes (Platanus x hispanica) and many attractive limes with their fuzzy scented flowers (Tilia cordata) but the entire area was planted with countless impressive horse chestnut trees (Aesculus Hippocastanum). These trees have been lovingly tended over hundreds of years and have grown to spreading and majestic maturity. Their large, palmate, Kelly-green leaves are wonderful sight and generations of Dulwich children have scrabbled at their feet to collect the largest, glossiest, chestnuts for the traditional autumn games of conkers, to thread lumpily on strings, or simply to hoard until the shiny, amber-brown gloss dries out finally and fades.

In their quiet way these chestnuts form a big part of Dulwich life, so it is with some dismay that people have noticed how very shrivelled, brown and sick they looked last summer, (the effect seems to have worsened this summer). If all of these chestnuts of Dulwich were felled by a fatal disease this would have a devastating impact on Dulwich as a whole. Imagine what would happen on Rosendale Road, which boasts an avenue of glorious chestnuts - all of whom are showing signs of strain and some of whom are losing their withered and blotchy foliage.

The chestnuts are infested with an insect called Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner; this pestiferous bug buries itself between the tissues of the leaves, which causes weird, pale brown blotches and finally the shrivelling, and early fall of the foliage. Up to 700 insects can burrow into one leaf , emerging in the autumn in a cloud of tiny browny-grey moths.

So far there is no evidence that this moth damage causes death or a decline in tree health, thank heaven, but the only feasible method of control is to collect the fallen leaves and commercially compost them (as ordinary compost heaps won't be hot enough to kill the pests off - and they overwinter in fallen leaves).

So not to worry; with a bit care and careful vigilance we shall be able to admire the wonderful chestnuts of Dulwich for some time to come.

St. Barnabas Church

Today is Sunday, so here is a picture of one of my favourite local views, the unique glass spire of St. Barnabas Church.

The wonderful, silvery-greeny glass of the spire looks fantastic when the sun hits it at a particular angle, and I think that it looks best as one walks up the gentle slope of the Village end of Calton Avenue.

The church itself is a handsome building, the second to stand on the site as the original Victorian Gothic church was consecrated in 1894 and burned down in December 1992. The first church was sited on a hill so that it would dominate the Dulwich skyline, and it is just brilliant that so much care was taken so that the new church does exactly the same.

While many bemoan the ever-dwindling congregations within the Church of England, St. Barnabas has a very active, commited and thriving community, which in turn, is very beneficial to Dulwich as a whole. This is evidenced by the various groups that meet there and classes that take place there - St. Barnabas is a hive of activity. The Vicar, Canon Dianna Gwilliams is highly regarded and the church boasts a famous and noteworthy choir headed by the incredibly talented Director of Music, William McVicker who teaches at the Royal Academy of Music.



All the churches of Dulwich continue to be integral parts of their local neighbourhoods, providing music, worship and companionship for all. St. Barnabas is a wonderful example of the best of these, a fact that I am reminded of every time I gaze upward at it's beautiful, crystaline spire.