Celebrating London's Writers My Old China

A fascinating and insightful look at the history of London’s ‘Lambeth Walk’. My Old China This book brings together photos and memories from past and present residents, ‘My Old China’ is a fresh look at how Lambeth Walk has developed through the ages. Includes an exciting new detective story ‘The Amazing Case of Lambeth Walk’ by Steve Tasane. 2 – My Old China - A celebration of Lambeth Walk through the ages Spread the Word – celebrating London’s writers Includes The Amazing Case of Lambeth My Old China Walk a thriller by Steve Tasane My OldChina A celebration of Lambeth Walk through the ages A Spread the Word project Spread the Word – celebrating London’s writers – celebrating London’s the Word Spread My Old China - A celebration of Lambeth Walk through the ages – 3 Spread the Word is London’s leading writer development agency. It is a catalyst for developing writers with a strong reputation for providing bold, playful and accessible support for writers of all levels – from networking events to publisher and agent talks, advice surgeries to an online city of shared stories. Spread the Word is committed to excellence and quality and works in partnership with arts organisations, universities, libraries, local authorities, schools and community groups. We provide key employment opportunities for writers, develop talent, contribute to the growth of literacy and promote wellbeing and social cohesion. www.spreadtheword.org.uk First published in the United Kingdom 2011 Copyright © individual authors 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of Spread the Word, nor may it be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. The publication of this book was made possible thanks to funding from Heritage Lottery Fund Printed in the United Kingdom 4 – My Old China - A celebration of Lambeth Walk through the ages 4 – My Old China Foreword Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, My Old the working class customs and traditions China was devised and produced by London’s were lost. leading writer development agency, Spread Today, the area around Lambeth Walk, now one the Word. The project is an exploration and of the most peaceful areas in central London, celebration of the vibrant and colourful past – is home to an assortment of art studios and and present – of Lambeth Walk and its immediate galleries, education centres and nature gardens. environs. Spread the Word has been based on Some of The Walk’s older residents still live on Lambeth Walk since 2004. the China Walk Estate, along with a culturally In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Lambeth diverse population that reflects the vibrant, Walk was known across London as a dynamic ever-changing face of our capital city. working class neighbourhood, with a vibrant My Old China aims to connect together daily street market, a huge variety of shops, existing archive resources about the area with including pie & mash shops, and pubs. Industry new, previously unrecorded, oral histories, in and housing sat cheek by jowl, and the Doulton order to create opportunities for local people Pottery Factory played a crucial role in the and visitors to engage with the area’s past employment and identity of the area. and present. During WWII, this area of London was severely bombed, which brought about the decline of Lambeth Walk and the surrounding area. New social housing was created, the street market disappeared, shops became vacant, and many of My Old China - A celebration of Lambeth Walk through the ages – 1 Introduction The stories and poems in this book have come Steve Tasane is a real life writer who has together following conversations and interviews also had residencies in Battersea Dogs’ Home, with people who have lived or worked in Lambeth Hamleys Toy Shop and The Museum of Childhood. He Walk. The characters and places in The Ballad writes prose and poetry for children and adults of Old Lambeth Walk are all real, as are the alike, sometimes silly and sometimes fiercely memories and observations in Haiku Memories. The political. As well as performing at festivals and rhyming slang in Me Old China is genuine. arts centres, he produces performance poetry films The Amazing Case of Lambeth Walk is a piece especially for YouTube. of fiction, but all of the characters are real – The Walnut Tree Walk Time Tunnel was written Commander Firebrace, Dick Turpin, Dr Lawless, Mr and performed by Year Five at Walnut Tree Forever, Albert the Egg Man, Mr Tibbett, Osho, Walk Primary School, supported by teacher Daisy Moore, Peter May, David Perkins, Harry Susan Butcher. Daddles, Alf, Minnie, Charlie Chaplin, Frankie The My Old China Walk is a guided walk Fraser, the woodpeckers, waggle-bum bees, Harry exploring the local area produced by Footnotes Killick, Laura Mitchison and of course the Story Audio Walks. Detective and Ms Joy. Only the Shutters are a This book would not have been possible without fictional creation. the generosity and story-sharing skills of Daisy Moore, John Donegan, John and George Hibbert, David Perkins, Peter May, Tony Merrick and Mr Forever. 2 – My Old China - A celebration of Lambeth Walk through the ages 2 – My Old China The Amazing Case Of Lambeth Walk A Spread the Word thriller By Steve Tasane My Old China - A celebration of Lambeth Walk through the ages – 3 My Old China – 3 The Amazing Case Of Lambeth Walk A Spread the Word thriller “Oi! Get your head out of the internet and hit Lambeth Walk. We’ve got a case.” Exhibit 1 Steve Tasane, the ingenious Story Detective, looked up from the YouTube screen. He’d been searching Doin’ The Lambeth Walk – there were hundreds of thousands of viewings of the world famous song. His favourite was one with lines of uniformed Nazis goose-stepping along to The Lambeth Walk. Hilarious. “Ahh,” the Story Detective said, “the modern world – you gotta love it.” Ms Joy, the Detective’s Editor-in-Chief, leaned over and pressed escape. “Actually,” she said, “that’s no modern mash-up. The Ministry of Information made it during World War II. Goebbels was livid, apparently.” She was wearing her red beret and matching cloak; the Story Detective knew this was a serious case. “What’s up?” From beneath her beret Ms Joy’s eyes had a Lambeth Walk Traders Association, circa 1960 steely glint. Her image would have been complete 4 – My Old China - A celebration of Lambeth Walk through the ages had she been inhaling a Gitanes through an the shopfronts. The Walk was the only road in elegant cigarette holder. Today, she clicked her London’s Zone 1 not choked by fumes. The sparrows fingers snazzily. “We’ve got a witness reckons chirped in approval. somebody’s been trying to murder Lambeth Walk.” “Seems pretty lively to me. Anyway,” the Story “Nazis?” said the Story Detective. Detective continued, “how can you murder a Walk? “Not just Nazis. All kinds of rogues. Come on, It’s not possible.” let’s walk and talk.” “Doesn’t stop people having a go. But that’s They stepped out of the office, cluttered and our assignment – to prove Lambeth Walk is alive dusty with books and manuscripts, into the crisp and well. Our chief witness is going to take spring air of The Walk itself. The body of The us for a stroll. She reckons the evidence is Walk stretched from Lambeth Road down to Black right here, before our very eyes. But be on your Prince Road. guard, apparently the would-be-killers are still Steve sniffed the air. The trees were in prowling the streets.” blossom. “For a body, it’s pretty fresh.” As they made their way into China Walk Estate, The schools were just emptying. A flurry of beneath mistletoe growing on the Sugar Maple by toddlers was reclaiming their street space. the nursery, the Story Detectives passed Wood Families with roots from around the world, Pigeons coo-cooing in mock shock. Gossip-eyed, now settled in the surrounding estates, were they fluttered their wings and hopped up into the united by the giggling anarchy of infants. A trees. Squirrels bunched up their urban picnics young Somalian mother with a baby in a buggy and scurried after them, tails quivering. and two Spitfiring young ‘uns from Walnut Tree The wildlife had noticed what the Detectives Walk Primary School giggled past. Tiny colonies were too absorbed in their notes to see: a of sparrows in hedgerows ringing China Walk shadowy figure in a suit, with a clipboard and Estate twittered and cheeped at the rollicking pen, sneaking after them. youngsters. The only traffic on the road was a light breeze, not much more than breathing past * My Old China - A celebration of Lambeth Walk through the ages – 5 “Would yer like a cup of tea?” Daisy Moore Exhibit 2 asked, as she welcomed the Story Detectives into her flat on the China Walk Estate. According to her witness statement she’d lived on Lambeth From The Great Dictator, Walk since 1931, when she was three years old. (United Artists film, 1940) Steve thought that made her as good a witness as anyone. In the climactic speech, Charlie They sat down in her tidy and comfortable living room, admiring the photos on her wall. Chaplin says, “I don’t want to rule Afternoon light filtered through the open French or conquer anyone. I should like windows. “Keep yer eyes peeled,” she said as to help everyone if possible – Jew, she made her way to the kitchen, “and yer’ll see Gentile – black man – white.

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