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Fettle, a new bicycle repair workshop is opening at Kwik Fit, 55 Grove Vale, more details here. They will open on 3 June 2023 with a free community day including coffee from Volcano Coffee Works, Brixton, cakes from Boulangerie Jade, static bike racing and bike safety checks. The community day is from 9.00am-5.00pm and is free but book here.
The Dulwich Festival, including Artists’ Open House, was a huge success and celebrated its 30th year with nearly 100 events involving more than 3,000 participants. Dulwich looked at its best in the May sunshine and many people came from outside Dulwich, including as far afield as Vienna, to enjoy the Festival. The Dulwich Society contributed five local history walks and facilitated a history talk. Our thanks to our local history group, the Festival team and all the volunteers who helped make it happen.
Events sell out quickly so if you are interested in attending next year's Festival, sign up for their newsletter here.
Sharon O'Connor, a member of our local history group, was one of the winning entries in The National Archives '20sStreets' competition. The competition invited entrants to research and share stories of the 1920s and the most fascinating local history stories covered by the 1921 Census won a range of prizes. Sharon won with the story of 'Khalid Sheldrake: The East Dulwich Man who would be King', about Bertie Sheldrake, an East Dulwich pickle manufacturer who converted to Islam and became king of a far-flung Islamic republic before returning to South London and settling back into obscurity. You can read the story here.
The Dulwich Festival is back for its 30th year with a full programme of live events that celebrate the arts, culture, history and community of Dulwich.
The Dulwich Society is hosting five local history walks. On Saturday 13 May, Duncan Bowie is guiding a walk on Social Radicals in Dulwich Village. On Sunday 14 May, Ian McInnes is guiding two walks on Dulwich's Georgian heritage. On Saturday 20 May Duncan will lead a walk on Social Radicals in West Dulwich and on Sunday 21 May a walk on Social Radicals in East Dulwich. Who knew we had so many social radicals here?! You can book for these and other Festival events here.
Artists Open House bookends the Festival as usual and details of all the artists exhibiting can be found here.
The 2023 AGM was held at the Crown and Greyhound on 24th April and was attended by 50 people including two local ward councillors. The President, Dr Kenneth Wolfe, welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked the Officers and Committee for their work during the year. After the members accepted the previous AGM and SGM minutes, the Chair gave a resume of the Society’s activities in 2022. He particularly thanked Brian Green for his hard work on the Society’s Journal over 20 years and presented him with an honorary life membership.
The Chair announced that draft new Rules are now on the Constitution and Accounts section of the website. They can be found here
and members are encouraged to comment. The consultation period ends on 23 October 2023.
The Oxfam shops on Half Moon Lane are looking for volunteers, especially on Saturdays or Tuesdays. No. 9 sells books and No. 20 sells everything else and it is at No. 20 where volunteers are needed. If you think the shop floor at No. 20 is small, you should see the sorting area! Its modest size and the enthusiasm of local residents to donate is why it has a limit of one bag of donations and a cut-off time of two hours before the shop closes, so that staff have time to sort and price items each day.
Accessories like scarves, handbags and shoes are always in demand and records are popular now that vinyl is back in fashion. Many customers are regulars and some pop in each week. Shoppers check out the clothes rails, buy coffee or pick up an 'Oxfam Unwrapped' card which shows the receiver that £10-£25 has been targeted at women at work or climate justice. Others buy Fairtrade certified chocolate which means that farmers in places such as Ghana are paid a fair price for their crop plus an additional premium.
Dulwich Festival returns 12-21 May 2023 with a full programme of live events that celebrate the arts, culture, history and community of Dulwich. There are walks, talks, concerts, fairs, comedy, exhibitions, artists' open house, picnics, you name it, they have it! Tickets are now on sale via the Festival's website and Eventbrite.
To celebrate the Society's 60th anniversary, the members of the Dulwich Society Executive Committee have great pleasure in inviting you to drinks and canapes at the James Caird Hall, Dulwich College, on Thursday 13 July 2023 from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. Calista Lucy, Keeper of the Archives at Dulwich College, will guide us around the James Caird, a 23 foot whaler, and tell the astonishing story of when the Polar explorer and Dulwich College alumnus Sir Ernest Shackleton and five companions made an epic open boat voyage of 800 miles from Elephant Island to South Georgia during the Antarctic winter of 1916. Tickets are £20 and are available via Eventbrite. We look forward to seeing you there.
Elms4London, an initiative of the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association, has donated another Dutch Elm disease-resistant elm to the Dulwich Society, adding to the four given last year. They have been planted in the Village Orchard, Court Lane Gardens & Belair Park. Elm trees were once an important feature of the Dulwich landscape and are valuable to the life cycle of the White-letter Hairstreak butterfly.
26.2 miles (42km) and 2000 feet (608m) of ascent
13.1 miles (21km) and 1000 feet (304) of ascent
The Dulwich half and full marathon is a personal challenge. It can be walked or run. The route is circular, so although the suggested start is Goose Green, it may be joined at any point. It connects many open spaces around Dulwich, as well as providing spectacular views. For the competitive, the distance for the half marathon is 13.1 miles (21km) with 1000 feet of ascent (304.5m) to be completed within 4.5 hours. Twice around is a full marathon - 26.2 miles and 2000 feet of ascent, to be completed within 9.5 hours.
Download the Route and Points of Interest (PDF). We also have a Google map of the route here.
The Dulwich Festival is looking for new Trustees to join their Board, people who bring experience, enthusiasm and a passion for the arts together with the highest standards of corporate governance.
You will be part of an inspiring team and be fully involved in the festival whilst attending up to six meetings throughout the year and overseeing ad hoc initiatives.
The Dulwich Festival is an annual arts celebration taking place over 10 days in May. Now in its 30th year it attracts over 50,000 visitors with 400 artists and 500 performers.
It aims to be a catalyst for creative opportunities as a means of nurturing a thriving and inclusive community with a commitment to valuing Dulwich and its environment sustainably over time.
If you are interested in finding out more, please contact
Gentle ‘gentrification’ in an area of East Dulwich with Julia Atkins
8pm on Tuesday 4 April 2023
Our next local history online talk will cover current research into a part of East Dulwich. In 1898 Charles Booth surveyed the area of East Dulwich as part of his studies of poverty in London, and defined many streets in East Dulwich as a mix of poverty and comfort.
Into the 1970s housing in East Dulwich, east of Lordship Lane, was approaching 100 years old. One small part of the area was declared a statutory housing action area (HAA) to concentrate resources on improving properties and helping households.
Current research in a small Study Area, including a part of the HAA, looks at the area over time and considers its sustainability for the twenty first century.
About the Speaker
Julia Atkins, now retired, has conducted housing policy research for local, London and national government for over fifty years. She had research responsibility for the Pellatt Road Housing Action Area, when she worked for Southwark Council.
Tickets are £5 and are available from Bell House.