London Spiral hits South London. Time to find the spiritual home of the podcast that saved lock down.
The London Spiral Walk takes me deep into Deserter podcast territory. Fittingly, notification arrived of the January episode arrived mid-walk. It's as if the boys knew I was coming.
For the uninitiated;
The London Spiral Walk is a 260 mile psychogeography walk. Whereas the Capital Ring, London Loop and London Country Way only complete a single circuit of the Smoke, the Spiral does it 6 times.
The Deserter Podcast was discovered in lock down and was a life saver. It taught me I wasn't alone in taking cans to park bandstands, when the pubs were out of bounds. It celebrated the finer things in life, both small and large. From the simple pleasures of beers, crisps and daft, day out adventures to the radical thinking of the four day weekend and Universal Basic Credit. It was the only thing that made me laugh out loud in 2020. And for that, I will be forever grateful.
The Spiral gets me to within a mile of their HQ. Of course, I will be visiting the Shirkers Rest. I need to export Slabs to Worcestershire.
First, I need to get there from Clapham. A dreich day made for unspectacular walk through low rise estates, the parks of Brockwell, Dulwich, Crofton and Hilly Fields. The cemeteries of Camberwell Old and Camberwell New. An Adventure Lab Cache showing me some of their famous residents.
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| The City Looms over Brockwell Park |
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| The Terroir of South London |
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| A Treasure Hunt amongst the dead... |
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| ... revealing the final resting place of the last of the sword swallowers |
Onto refreshment. A Good Beer Guide tick provided by the London Beer Dispensary at Crofton Park. A micro pub, tied to the previously untested Southey Brewery. Memorable for serving possibly the coldest cask ever.
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| South London Micros |
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| A very cold Southey Brewery Best Bitter |
The walk ends at Lewisham, where the 225 bus whisks me to New Cross to complete my podcast pilgrimage. A 2nd GBG Tick at the Royal Albert. Where the New Cross hipsters reserve tables by placing records on tables. My trousers may be mud splattered from 11 miles in the rain but at least they reach my walking shoes. Hipsters like to reveal their socks to the world.
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| Portobello Company's Royal Albert |
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| Give it Up Jamie - I was here first. |
A huge selection of beers, but I am not 100% sure the board matched the bar. I can't see my Portobello Star listed. I did have to peruse other people's Untappd checkins to make sure it was meant to look like my offering.
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| What's on Offer? |
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| Mrs M would say "That looks a bit murky for a bitter" |
And finally, Deserter HQ.
No other customers on my 2pm arrival but I assured the chap at the bar that I would sit in the window to lure in passers-by. A rambling siren sea-nymph to entice the thirsty.
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| Come in New Cross Residents - the Drop Project Flow is fine. They have thick cut crisps. |
It didn't take long for my magic to work. Two ladies come in, order stouts and take photos of the photos. A wall mounted montage of abandoned chairs in public places follows a mainstay of the Deserter Socials. The one lady insists that the two country kitchen chairs perched on the top of Telegraph Hill were hers. I had to ask for an explanation and proof. They had been purloined when left on the street for council collection and if you look closely at the photo, you can see where her dog had chewed the leg.
Next a trio of people arrive and insist to the barman they are friends of Andrew Grumbridge. If this is an audacious attempt to get a free drink, they should have simply have come back on Blue Monday in two day's time.
In one of the most altruistic bar acts ever seen, everyone's first drink is free on the worst day of the year.
Whilst stocks last.
Walk Information
Distance - 11 Miles
Start - Clapham South Tube
Finish - Lewisham
Areas Walked - Clapham, Brockwell, Dulwich, Crofton Park
Geocaches - 6 and 2 Adventure Lab Caches
Pubs - 3 (Good Beer Guide Ticks #783-784)
Previous Walks - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7, Stage 8
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