Plumstead Live

Unfortunately for us, The Plumstead Common Colliery Band had to pull out of the Plumstead Live Festival today at the last minute. Such a shame, but it was an excellent day nonetheless.

In its' short existence, Plumstead Live has already taken root in the local cultural calendar and this primarily comes down to the strength of the organisers, but it also shows the strength of the community, that this event helps make The Shire a special corner of London.

I want Plumstead Live to grow, but actually I want it to grow really slowly as I think it should be about the music and not about convoys of food vans¹.

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footnote

1 - I am only assuming that attracting commercial businesses brings in a little money to help fund the event.

Live entertainment

There's something really special happening this weekend (14th, 15th & 16th December). If you want to have an amazing time and just want to stay local to The Shire, you must go to the Greenwich Circus Festival down by the Thames Barrier.

If you do anything this weekend, go to this festival. It's a must-see event, in fact it's a must-do event as there are circus skills to try out too. On Saturday evening, there's a cabaret show called Midnight Circus which sounds intriguing followed by live music, drink, food, drink.... Man alive, I'm booking up now.

Click here to book online

Hangar Arts Trust
Unit 7a, Mellish House
Harrington Way
SE18 5NR

It's an exciting Summer full of culture and it's started.

The excellent Greenwich & Docklands International Festival starts today and runs until 30th June. There's far too much to list here, but Prometheus Awakes looks like a very exciting free theatrical event. Check your diaries quick because it's happening tomorrow night by the Queen's House in Greenwich Park. It doesn't start until 10pm so too late for young children which is a shame as it looks pretty stunning.

This weekend, continue to bombard yourself with culture and entertainment and more Greenwichness as it's the Greenwich Fair. Every nook and cranny of the town centre will be taken over by street theatre and quirky performances. Should be great whether it rains or shines. Not sure which shows I'd pick out, but The Pig looks intriguing and worrying at the same time.

As if that's not enough, the Laban Dance Centre in Deptfordshire is hosting The Big Dance Picnic on 23rd June from 12pm. It's more about dance, circus arts and performance than picnic, but there should be enough movement for everyone's appetite. There will alos be a multi-sensory tent which sounds like a must-do.

Plumstead Make Merry

There has been a very good write up about the Make Merry Festival on The Mirror website. I love the Make Merry and thank the organisers for keeping it going. I don't know its' history but it has a medieval twang about it. With this in mind, I applaud the inclusion of the maypole, Punch and Judy¹ and the terrifying Victorian clown, but would like to see more olde worlde past times such as troubadours, falconry and witch ducking.

Saturday 5th June 12pm onwards

Plumstead Common

A vibrant part of suburbia

I had a really pleasant and eventful weekend. Normally, we'd be day-tripping to far off lands in deepest Kent and Sussex but this weekend was purely Plumsteadshire. Of course, Saturday was the Make Merry, an event which I feel should be more reminiscent of maypoles, sheep driving and smocks rather than a parade of unmuzzled dogs. However, I really like the utterly terrifying clowns which look like they hail from an Edwardian side-show.

Being a key part of the local social calendar, I bumped into alot of friends at the Make Merry and it was this feeling of a community hub that makes the Make Merry special and essential.

In the evening, I went to the comedy night at The Pavilion (AKA the rugby club), and it was an utterly brilliant night out. The comedians were top notch and the audience were very receptive. I really do love the Pavilion space as it's intimate and you're engaged with the performers. I can see it working as a film club venue. I'll try and look into the viability of this idea. My idea is not for another outlet for mainstream Hollywood tosh, but to screen classics, Saturday morning Laurel and Hardy children's club, Woody Allen Wednesdays, David Lean Sundays. Might be cost prohibitive, but you get the idea.

Today, I went to the model railway exhibition at the Firepower Museum. I've never been into trains but I think I might be coming out of the locomotive closet. I thought the model railways were incredible and with immense attention to detail, the scenery told many stories beyond just a train circling a village. Best of all though, I'd discovered a small scale railway which you can actually ride on. It's round the back of an electricity sub-station in Falconwood and not many people know about it. They have a few open days coming up so we can go for a ride, but we'll have to be quick as it looks like they're going to be moved on from this site. I'll have to blog more on this later.

As if I'd not endured enough excitement for one weekend, my trusted source confirmed that the Plumstead Live! music event is for real. This is the icing on the local cultural cake and promises to be a major date in Plumsteadshire's social diary. Hey, it might not be Glyndebourne, but it's here on our doorstep so let's spread the word.

Plumstead Live!

Apparently, there's a live event coming our way in the guise of Plumstead Live! Music Festival. I've held back from mentioning this so far as I'm seeking confirmation that this is a genuine event.

If it's kosher then we should all get really excited about it. There's mention of :-

Plumstead Sinfonia - never knew there was one

Plumstead Manor Musicians - these are real human beings and they definitely exist

The Bill Mudge Quintet - Google (and other well known search engines), confirm that BMQ are real, but I couldn't find Plumstead Live! on their tour schedule.

So, is this a red herring? Maybe Greenwich Council smoke and mirrors to 'bury bad news'?

Is such an event too good to be true? Gadzooks!!!! I hope not.

Asian Mela

I popped over to the Asian Mela this afternoon. It was a gross disappointment of the highest order. I guess this must be due to the nasty weather.

However, something did catch my eye; it was the only stall/attraction where anyone had bothered to stop at.

It was a spectacle so bad that my toes were curling. You can't even say that it was so bad, it was good. No sirree. It was so bad, it was abysmal.

It was the wrestling. I apologise for not knowing what Asian Mela is or what it celebrates, but I don't actually understand the link between phony play fighting and an Asian cultural event. Maybe wrestling is an age old metaphor for good versus evil and a display of religious enlightenment. Or is it just that the organisers were desperate to fill a plot in the middle of the Common?

Either way, it was like driving past a car crash. You really shouldn't look because it's so terrible, but you just can't help it. [I've always loved the term car crash television. It's completely accurate].

I'm sure wrestling is completely staged and has that kitsch quality about it, but it's kind of fun in a violent and Neanderthal way. I cringed at the way the wrestlers were thrown across the ring. Instead of bouncing off the ropes and hurtling back with a double salko ending with a pile drive, they teetered across the ring like they were in stilletos, threw themselves against the ropes and danced back to belly flop the enemy.

I wandered off in disbelief and pretended to be interested in Saris and sweetmeats. I walked in a complete circle and had the misfortune to pass by the wrestling event again. This time, I saw a man in the ring holding up a horse brass. Silly me, it was a wrestling champion holding aloft a belt with gold plastic panels stuck on. He lacked menace. Then sure as day follows night, a girl from the audience berates him. We are lead to believe she's an ordinary punter, until she removes all her clothes (not quite, but caught your attention), and gives him a real pasting. Acting classes dear? This bunch sure as hell haven't been to RADA.