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TURNIP

SUMMER ISSUE 2013

The Turnip is a non-profit, collaborative publication.

Content is provided by local professional and non-professional writers and artists of all ages - while we aspire to truth and accuracy, we can’t guarantee it.

If you would like to contribute to future issues, please write to us at theturnipmagazine@gmail.com

Encouraging creative connections and action in the local community @locally_sourced

HELLO

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Sarah Allison is a comms consultant passionate about ideas that can create positive environmental change. sarahjallison@gmail.comJane Anderson is a freelance travel writer. janeandersontravel.com Olivia Arigho Stiles is a student of History at Somerville College, Oxford.Dilly Boase is an artist and illustrator who loves baking bread. Rizwan Butt is an Arts producer, cycle instructor and Generalist with an interest in the urban.Mark Chilvers is a photojournalist specializing in editorial magazine and newspaper commissions. markchilvers.comJane Dickson When not writing a PhD thesis on green roofs, she is gardening and blogging. janedickson.wordpress.comElisa Elschner is a freelance journalist passionate about green issues. She is completing a Masters at UCL.Alice Evans is an English Lit student at UCL.Otis Grove-White is 9 and has been producing his comic, The Meteor for 3 years. You can find it at willgrovewhite.comMathilde Hawkins is 13 and lives on Mayall Rd. She would like to become a journalist. Her story ‘Island Green’ is illustrated by her mum Florence.

Hector Hawkins is 10 and also lives on Mayall Rd. ‘Baloney Ville’ is his first cartoon.Rebecca Holman, editrix extraordinaire, writes for magazines and broadsheets about sex and feminism.Dylan Loffstadt Hughes is 12 and loves art and business.Jonny Hughes is designer, photographer and community arts do-er.Claire McDonald is a family food blogger at crumbsfood.co.ukBill Nash is an actor and writer.Shazea Quraishi is a writer, translator, editor and creative writing facilitator. shazea.wordpress.comCyrus Quraishi Nash is 7 and likes football, karate, and books.Nefisa Sundari is 8. She loves to draw, play table tennis, read and eat mangoes.Wanting Toh is studying Urban Planning, Design and Management at UCL Steve Tooze is a reformed tabloid hack turned trend analyst & general Greenie. Finlay Tooze is 6. He likes bikes, jelly sweets and Minecraft.Zelda Rhiando is a novelist and digital consultant living in Brixton.badzelda.com

Editor Shazea QuraishiArt and Design Jonny Hughes

CONTRIBUTORS

Cover illustration: Dilly Boase

Brought to you by

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TURNIP

SUMMER ISSUE 2013

Thanks to Jane Dickson and UCL who paid for the printing

Green up

THE IDEA OF GREEN ROOFS, or ‘living’ roofs, has been around for centuries, notably in northern Scandanavia. Modern green roofs, which are made of a system of pre-manufactured layers placed over roofs to support vegetation and a growing medium, are a relatively new phenomenon, first appearing in Germany in the 1960s.

In 2003 English Nature came to the conclusion that UK policy makers have largely ignored green roofs. However, there are growing numbers of them in the UK, in part thanks to the Greater London Authority’s London Plan which cites urban greening as a way of addressing climate change.

The spread of green roofs in

THE URBAN WILD PROJECT

Community festival

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Sunday 9 June 201310am to 4pm

Herne Hill Market Station Square, SE24

Great produce, fantastic food, community projects, kids activities, live demonstrations, free printing workshops (bring a tshirt!) art exhibition, sound installation, local bands,

storytelling and much more.....

For more information about Urban Wild’s Green Roof Project

go to www.theurbanwildproject.org

London is also a result of the work of organisations like the Urban Wild Project in Herne Hill, run by a pair of dynamic environmentalists, Caroline Noble and Kati Obregon. Since it was established in May 2012, it has received rising local interest, leading to plans for 30 green roofs on the shops along Norwood Road and Railton

Road in Herne Hill.And there are multiple

benefits of green roofs, as Caroline explains: “A project on this scale

can make a real difference to our local air quality, help combat rises in temperature, absorb storm water run-off, reduce flooding in the area, and provide places for wildlife such as bees, butterflies and beetles to live, feed and nest.” However, these benefits may not be immediately apparent, so engaging with local people has been critical to the success

of the project to date. A stall at the Lambeth County Show last year proved popular.

Kati said, “one of the issues we’ve faced is that people can’t see the green roofs once they’re installed, so they can be a bit out of sight out of mind. So we are buying time lapse cameras to feed the information back to the Urban Wild Project website so people get the chance to watch the roofs in action. This will be especially exciting when David Perkins and the team from Roots and Shoots begin

Rooftops in Herne Hill to Go Green

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Owen Davies is at the forefront of the battle to maintain Lambeth’s flood defences and sewage network. Not the most glamorous of crusades admittedly, but one that has made him an ardent supporter of the Urban Wild green roofs project from the beginning.

A sustainability engineer, Davies maintains that sewers in Lambeth are at full capacity. In the absence of any imminent upgrade, the Urban Wild project is a vital stop-gap in maintaining water management. It is also a useful blueprint for other areas.

Green roofs ensure the controlled removal of surface rainwater and increase the capacity of the water network. Quantifying their long-term impact on the Lambeth system is difficult, but Owen believes any intervention has a ‘nibbling’ effect in promoting public awareness.

So yes, shit happens. But Green Roofs is helping with the clean-up.

Olivia Arigho Stiles

KEEPING IT CLEAN

building habitats to encourage wildlife to move in.”

Kati and Caroline have had to overcome significant challenges to get the project to where it is today. As Kati said, “despite a lot of support from shop owners, it is essential to get the freeholders who own the leases to approve the project too. Without it, greening Herne Hill roofs can only ever be a dream.” Ensuring freeholders understand how living roofs might benefit their business is crucial to this project, because they don’t always live locally. Many people don’t know what living roofs are, or about the benefits they provide like savings on energy bills, increased roof lifespan and reducing flood damage.

Sarah Allison

Green roofs help to maintain Lambeth’s flood defences

theurbanwildproject.org

Green up

TOWER BLOCKS are a common sight across the country but it’s not every day one comes across a block specially designed for tiny winged-tenants. In 2010, David Perkins of Roots and Shoots, an expert on the habitats of solitary bees, helped construct the Trellick Bee Tower which provides solitary bees with suitable nesting spots. These bees do not live in colonies - they make individual nest cells in the ground or in hollows in dead plants.

David believes that tower block housing will suit green roofs rather well. An interview with him reveals some of the intricacies of pioneering such a project.

THE BUZZ ABOUT HIGH-RISE HOUSING

Q: How important are solitary bees to green roofs and what will attract them to the roofs? Bees are essential components of healthy ecosystems - in cities the available spaces for wildlife and plants are under a lot of pressure, so we should definitely be considering habitats for bees. If roofs begin to be used for growing food, pollinators will be needed, and a range of solitary bee species, coupled with bumble bees, make excellent pollinators.

Q: Why will the tower block housing for solitary bees work well on the Herne Hill green roofs?The bees prefer nest sites in full sun for about half the day, and there will be plenty of sun up there. Although there may be a shortage of forage plants to start with, any colonising population should be sustainable as the planting matures. Brockwell Park across the road could also help with colonisation by some species.

Q: Is there any difference between a tower block for green roofs and one for normal gardens? Stability in high winds has to be considered. The Trellick Bee Tower in the Wildlife Garden at Roots and Shoots is in a very sheltered spot. Its components are all loose and can be taken out or replaced easily - it is held together by straps and gravity! This won’t be possible on the roofs but we can use the parapet walls of the roofs as a support.

On his site visit, David gathered information to check roof suitability and plans are now being made to investigate installing a bee tower. One tower would be built initially, with a second one possibly added later.One thing is certain though, bees and humans alike can look forward to healthy buzzing roof gardens not too long from now!

Wanting Toh

David Perkins and the solitary bee

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Boki is hoping to get one of the first green roofs, and feels the project is bringing the community together. He’s seen Herne Hill changing over 20 years - his customers range in age from 2 to 92 and there are more young couples now, as well as

families. When he’s not cutting hair, Boki likes to garden.

Around the corner from Boki’s Hair is Umana Yana Roti, “the meeting place of the people”, named for a place in Guyana. As well as being a keen supporter of green roofs, Deborah,

the owner, is an avid gardener who wanted to plant up the area outside her shop but people kept stealing the plants: “I planted banana trees and other exotic plants to make it tropical, but by the next morning, they’d disappeared. So this time we just put in some flowers, and they’ve stayed. It’s looking pretty now.” Shame on you, tropical plant thieves! (ed)

JUST SOME OF THE SHOP-OWNERS LOOKING FORWARD TO THEIR GREEN ROOFS

Harry, of Olley’s Fish Experience, has exciting plans for his green roof terrace. As well as collecting and recycling rainwater from the roof, he plans to have a beehive (with cameras and a live feed for local schools) and perhaps some chickens and a rooster. Also on

the roof will be a pirate ship - a recycled scene from Oval House Theatre which currently sits in his back garden. But that’s not all… In the railway arch behind the restaurant, Harry is putting a giant wormery to deal with all of Olley’s food waste, and maybe his neighbour’s as well. And if he does decide to put his feet up at some point, he’ll have a terrace for that, with a spectacular view.

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On a sunny day like today, there is often a crowd of people at the bus stop. It’s not due to an unreliable bus service, however, it’s because this is the second edible bus stop in London. What started as guerrilla gardening has now developed into a community project, with more planned along the 322 edible bus route. Locals are keen to get involved as it’s not only transforming the neighbourhood, it’s also bringing a smile to the faces of those using the 322. For more information on how to get involved, visit theediblebusstop.org Elisa Elschner

THE EDIBLE BUS STOP ON ROUTE 322

discover

STAR OF THE SHOWA community hen house on Delawyk Crescent

Star is back from solitary. Out in the main pen, she gets busy reasserting her authority. A jabbing peck here, a sly head-butt there, she lets them know she’s still top of the pecking order.

For the Brahma twins, it’s a trip into protective custody. Their missing feathers and bloodied backs alerted us that Star’s matriarchal rule of the community hen house on Delawyk Crescent had tipped over into dictatorship.

The other four hens know how to keep Star sweet. But even at twice her size, the twins, who lack her quick wits and social skills, are no match for her pint-size aggression and serve as constant pecking posts.

Now they occupy the side coop where the top bird recently cooled her heels. The long-term solution to this feathery power struggle is unclear, but the twins look relieved to have a strong wire fence between them and their tormentor.

Steve Tooze

HIDDEN GEMS

OFF_PRESS Breaking fundamental rules in publishing

Inside a secretive-looking building opposite Oval tube, is an attempt to break some fundamental rules in publishing. Off_Press, a not-for-profit start up with no experience and no capital, was set up to publish handmade books of poetry in translation at a time when everyone is watching digital skies. It’s just crazy enough to work. Low volume, high quality, marrying analogue (hand-bound limited editions) and digital (most titles come with DVDs), it’s an attempt to take books and new media into the 21st century without conflict or compromise.

Marek Kazmierski, the man behind it, says “I’m doing my dream jobs – translating poetry, running my own press, and editing a magazine publishing writing and art by the unfree from all around the world (notshutup.org). But my dream life involves living far from civilization, writing novels and studying the future.”

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THE SOUTH LONDON BOTANICAL INSTITUTE AND ALLAN OCTAVIAN HUMEHume: political reformer, amateur horticulturist or ‘the Pope of Indian Ornithology’?

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Within a large Victorian house on Norwood Road, is the South London Botanical Institute, with London’s most compact botanical garden, a library with century-old books and a herbarium with specimens dating back to 1809. The SLBI was founded in 1910 by Allan Octavian Hume, a political reformer who, while in British India, was involved in the creation of the Indian National Congress, the party of Mahatma Ghandi that pushed towards independence. An amateur ornithologist and horticulturist, on his return to the UK, Hume became a patron of British botany, and continued to work on behalf of the Dulwich liberal party and supporting the Indian cause.

For upcoming events and visiting times go to slbi.org.uk.

By Rizwan Butt

BEE’S-EYE-VIEWA giant solitary bee and a montage bee’s eye view appeared on two billboards in Herne Hill as part of the Green-Up festival. Artist Jonny Hughes, who created the work, said he liked the fact that “as well as showing positive images of urban greening, nothing was being sold”.

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ISLAND GREEN

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by Mathilde Hawkins (13)

Until 1912, Herne Hill was called Island Green. It was a hill covered with forest, leaving no footpaths for passersby. It was sheltered and secluded from the whole of London.

Only one human being lived in this accumulation of woody perennials, willows and white ash trees. His name was Count Herne and he was a well-preserved, lonely, middle-aged man whose only interest was the wilderness around him. He had purchased the property and the land of Island Green in 1901 when he decided he despised the human race and wanted to live alone with nature.

The Count lived in a grand manor in the middle of Island Green and every morning, at 5:30 am precisely, he would set off with his notebook to explore a different part of the forest. He would draw the birds, plants and large trees he saw. At 12:30, the man would walk up the hill and prepare a simple meal of home grown cabbage and potatoes. After lunch, he would have a nap, waking up at 4 pm precisely. At 4:15 pm, Count Herne would set off with his notebook and repeat the morning’s process. He would return from his wildlife watching at 7 pm, eat another plate of cabbage and potatoes and go straight to bed. Every day was the same and he was a happy man. He enjoyed his own company and the wilderness around him. It was enough.

Then in August of 1911, the Count was sketching a blue jay when he heard a woman’s voice: “Is that a blue jay? Well it’s rather beautiful, isn’t it? My name is Melanie Willow, what’s your name?”

Count Herne, who was gobstruck and hadn’t spoken in a number of years, managed to answer, “I am Count Herne and this is my land. No one is allowed here apart from me! Please leave now.”

Melanie Willow ran off terrified but Herne screamed after her, “Miss Willow! Come back! I’m sorry!”They began to sympathise and Melanie moved in with him. She was now a part of Count Herne’s daily

routine. They shared the same interests, the same life style, and soon shared the same heart. Count Herne proposed to Melanie and they got married alone in the forest.

In 1912, the Hernes thought it would be a good idea to make Island Green a public forest. It was a great success and Count Herne decided he no longer despised humans.

The mayor of London thought that “Island Green” was a peculiar name for the forest and asked the Hernes to decide on a different name. They named it “Herne Hill”.

In 1915, the Council had to remove a lot of the forest because it was spreading too much. That same year, the Hernes had two wonderful children.

Nowadays, the Hernes’ manor is the café at the top of the hill and there are still some trees and plants from his forest. The Secret Garden was his favourite area of the forest. Now go and follow in his footsteps!

In honour of the Green Roofs project

From kids

COMICS The Meteor by Otis Grove-White with a contribution from his brother Sid.

THE NAUGHTY STEP

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Baloney Ville by Hector Hawkins

REVIEWat the Dulwich festival

As part of the dulwich festival I tried different activities like spray painting where we learnt different graffiti techniques and in the end we sprayed massive letters of the word amazing. Also I did a silent disco where there were three channels which you could tune into and every one had their own headphones on so people were doing different dances to different beats. There was a orchestra playing kids songs too. It was great, I got to lead the group with a baton.

by Dylan Loffstadt Hughes

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Doctor, Doctor, I feel like a curtain.Pull yourself together man!

Doctor, Doctor, I feel like a bridge.What’s come over you, man?So far, two cars, a lorry and a bus!

What did one angel say to the other angel?Halo.

Patient: Doctor, doctor, I’ve got a strawberry growing out of my bottom.Doctor: Oh, I’ve got some cream for that.

What did the mother bee say to her children?Beehive yourselves!

What do you do if you see a spaceman?Park in it, man!

How can you use green, pink and yellow in a sentence?When the phone goes ‘green green’ I ‘pink’ it up and say ‘yellow’.

Who did the vampire marry?The girl necks door.

Why do bees hum?Because they don’t know the words.

Why did the loo paper roll down the mountain?To get to the bottom.

JUST CURIOUS…

Talking to Gary, the Newspaper-Egg Guy at Herne Hill market and train station.

Nafisa: How long have you had hens?Gary: I started off with 6 in the back garden 15 years ago.Nafisa: How many eggs do you get a day? Gary: Close to 800.Nafisa: Who is your favourite hen?Gary: Maureen (laughing).

Cyrus: What do you like more, eggs or newspapers? Gary: Eggs I think. Cyrus: Who came first, the egg or the hen? Gary: That’s a tough one. I think you should go to Wikipedia for that.

There’s a rumour the Flower-Lady’s lambs, seen at the Herne Hill market, are going to start school…

Cyrus: Where did the lambs come from?Elaine: A place in Suffolk, where they were dug out of the snow on Easter Monday. Their mum was on top of them and she died, but the lambs lived. Cyrus: Where are the lambs going?

Elaine: To the Ravensbourne School, a secondary in Bromley- so the children can look after them – they’ve got goats and chickens and rabbits there as well. Cyrus: Why are the lambs going?Elaine: Because they’re getting too big for my garden! And they need to be with other farm animals.Cyrus: What do you like better – lambs or flowers?Elaine: Oooh, that’s so difficult. I can’t tell you – I love them all, animals and plants and flowers – I love all of them. And children of course, they’re gorgeous!

Jokes by Hector Hawkins and Otis Grove-White. Illustrations by Otis.

round-up

LOCALLY SOURCED

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THE BOOKSHELFRecent books by local authors

LiteratureA Map of Nowhere Martin BannisterThe Sea on Fire Howard CunnellThe Unpierced Heart Katy DarbyThe Purple Shroud Stella DuffyThe Hired Man Aminatta FornaVauxhall Gabriel GbadamosiClay Melissa HarrisonHurricane Butter Sophie HerxheimerKing Death Toby LittThe Gospel According to Kane Courttia NewlandThe Courtesans Reply Shazea QuraishiCaposcripti Zelda RhiandoUmbrella Will SelfBrenton Brown Alex WheatleWe All Ran into the Sunlight Natalie Young

Non-fictionCuriosity: How Science Became Interested in Everything Philip BallThe Rediscovery of India Meghnad DesaiBageye at the Wheel Colin GrantLost London Richard GuardSecret London – an Unusual Guide Rachel Howard & Bill NashThe Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England Ian Mortimergranniesinc Guide to Knitting Katie MowatA Greedy Man in a Hungry World Jay RaynerRedemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer Chris SalewiczLost Lanes: 36 Glorious Bike Rides in Southern England Jack Thurston

Young AdultThe Alien Moon Alex MilwayAsh Mistry and the City of Death Sarwat ChaddaDragon Racer Margaret Bateson-HillHeroic Phil EarleSerpent’s Gold Samira Osman

ChildrenMy Big Fat Zombie Goldfish Mo O’Hara Dinosaur Farm Frann Preston-GannonThe Dragonsitter Takes Off by Josh Lacy, illustrated by Garry ParsonsThe Terrible Tales of the Teenytinysaurs! Gary Northfield

BOOKJAMMIN’ ON THE SOUTH SIDELooking through the door of the Hootananny pub on a Monday night, you may not expect to see twelve writers going head to head with five-minute readings from books ranging from Gothic novels to gay romps. The Brixton BookJam is just one of the many treats available for literary aficionados south of the river: offerings range from regular open-mic nights upstairs at the Ritzy and poetry jams at the Half Moon pub in Herne Hill, to pop-up reading events at the Bread Room, Market House and Brixton Library curated by the Lambeth Reading Service. What all these events have in common is a fresh energy and an approach to the written and spoken word that is book-loving but not bookish and miles away from the warm glass of white wine and sea of blue rinses so often associated with literary events. Why not give one a try? brixtonbookjam.comZelda Rhiando

‘brainfood’

brixtonbook jam

For help with the bookshelf, thanks to:Ollie of Herne Hill Books - check out his Lindy Hop classes in Brixton swingland.com& Alaistair of Rye Books - sometimes seen projecting films on the side of a van outside the bookshop.

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I could tell you about the trendiest (bleurgh) new places to go in South London - a speakeasy followed by a pop-up restaurant and a secret after-hours bar – but instead, here’s something really useful: three decent pubs a short walking distance from Brixton station. First up, the Duke of Edinburgh on Ferndale Road has a massive beer garden with bunting and hay bales - perfect for a muggy summer evening in the city. For something more intimate, the Trinity Arms, tucked away in Trinity Gardens, can get crowded before Brixton Academy gigs, but you sometimes find headline acts gearing up for the evening with a warm-up pint. Finally, if live music and plenty of atmosphere are what you’re after, check out The Windmill on Brixton Hill.

SOME VIRTUAL PLACES WE LIKEbrixtonia.com Thoughts, opinions & general conjecture from London’s best bit brixtonpound.org The Brixton Pound: money that sticks to Brixton brixtonblog.comLocal news website and newspaperbrixtonbuzz.comGigs and event listingscamberwellonline.co.uk Camberwell and my life in itdulwichonview.org.uk Celebrating people and culture in South LondonEffra FC (flickr.com/groups/effra_fc/)Local photography meet-uphandymanvoyeur.wordpress.com The Other Side of DIY hernehillsociety.org.ukWorking for London SE24hernehillforum.org.ukCreating a sustainable community in/around SE24 makerhood.comFor local makers and local goods in Brixton, Camberwell, Clapham, Herne Hill and Stockwellloughboroughjunction.wordpress.com Loughborough Junction’s blogsouthlondonartmap.com A user-friendly guide to galleries in South Londontheworldoftlc.wordpress.com A Peckham-based bloggertransitiontownbrixton.org Supporting transition to a sustainable Brixtonurban75.combrixton based e-zine and message board since 1995westnorwoodfeast.comOn the first Sunday of every month, April to December

THE NIGHT OWLRebecca Holman

People

J.W. GOLDSMITH 1931 - 2013Wandering minstrel, dancer, jazz-loving free spirit and undiscovered artist. He will be missed.

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