Love Clapham website is the local guide for residents and visitors of the Clapham area, London. This includes Clapham Common, Clapham North, Clapham South, Clapham Old Town, Clapham Junction and the surrounding areas of Battersea, Balham, Stockwell, Vauxhall and more.
Twitter Tweet Cookoff
Now for something totally random! BBC journalist, Maggie Philbin, and her sister Nickie are organising June’s Twitter Tweet Cookoff. What the tweet is that you ask? Well, each month a challenge is set for Twitter users to bake and post their photos of a certain dessert. Entries are then judged by the previous winner and local Clapham celebrity chef, Adam Byatt of Trinity London. June’s dessert is a “summer tart” and entries have to be in by Midday tomorrow, so get cooking! Last month’s winner, chosen by Nickie and Adam, was local Clapper, Edward Clarke – can Clapham claim the crown twice in a row?! Read on for further details. Continue reading
Weekend Watch: Street parties and Toast Festival – Clapham rocks!
And so it begins. Last week the lorries moved in and now Clapham Common is even more equipped for festivals than Glastonbury (kinda). Toast Festival 2009 starts on Friday through to Sunday for music, BBQs and polo. Then the Abbeville Fete is on Saturday for stalls, food and entertainment. At the same time the Clapham Street Party will be partying hard down by Kaz Bar with celebs, performers and music. It’s all going off out there people! Continue reading
Win 2 tickets to Toast Festival 2009 this weekend!
Take celebrity Australian chef John Torode, three horses, a flock of sheep and some scantily clad Antipodean dancers, stick them altogether on Clapham Common, take a photo a BAM! There’s your perfect launch photo for the Toast Festival 2009 this weekend. Love Clapham has 2 tickets to give away for the Australian day on Sunday – to grab ‘em send us an email titled “I Love Sheep” and you’ll be entered into the prize draw. Read on to learn about the Toast Festivals.
Toast Festival 2009 is the largest celebration of Australian, New Zealand and South African culture to hit the UK. Toast is taking place on Clapham Common this weekend from Friday 26 June until Sunday 28 June showcasing a huge mix of food, wine, sport and culture.
Best bits include polo matches kicking off each day, BBQs piled high, headlining performances from Sydney dance group Sneaky Sound System and over 200 varieties of New World wine. It’s the perfect taste of life down under, so head down there!
In preparation for Toast, MasterChef judge and Aussie cook John Torode has been busy herding sheep on Clapham Common with the help of two other riders, and dancers from South Africa and New Zealand in traditional dress. It was touch and go as a couple of sheep nearly escaped on to Clapham Highstreet but John managed to round them up in the end. Not only a top critic on MasterChef ready to pull apart any dish thrown his way, John also looks good on a horse!
John Torode will be at Toast Festival dishing up traditional Aussie fare including BBQ lamb leg, beef party pies and Hokey Pokey ice-cream. He’s really busy this summer working on Celebrity MasterChef with his partner in crime, Gregg Wallace. He also owns Smiths of Smithfield at the heart of London’s meat market and is launching THE LUXE in Old Spitalfield Market, a restaurant, café bar and live music venue this summer. Finally, his book of recipes ‘Chicken: And Other Birds’ is out this autumn.
Take celebrity Australian chef John Torode, three horses, a flock of sheep and some scantily clad Antipodean dancers. Stick them altogether on Clapham Common, take a photo and BAM! There’s your perfect launch photo for the Toast Festival 2009 this weekend. Update: the competition is now closed, Love Clapham reader Richard Kellow is the lucky winner! Read on to learn about the Toast Festivals. Continue reading
Supernova Korfball Club Tournament on Clapham Common
In the summer Clapham is awash with sport, and our first report of the year is in. Earlier this week Clapham Common played host to the Supernova Korfball Club Tournament. What’s Korfball? In a nutshell, it’s a game with two teams, two zones and you score by getting the ball into raised rings with similarities to both basketball and netball. Supernova, a Clapham based club, holds the tournament each year. Continue reading
What are the Clapham Common tarmac bumps?
What is this? Clapham Common has four of these blighters and they’re clearly a part of a conspiracy. Someone on our forum suggested Victorian rubbish, another said more air raid shelters, a friend thought old basketball courts. Any clues?
Clapham Cinema: Bruno and Harry Potter tickets on sale
CLAPHAM PICTUREHOUSE LISTINGS 26th June – 2nd July
ROH LIVE: LA TRAVIATA
Tue only: 6.40
SUNDAYS WITH BOND: ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE (PG)
Sun only: 3.00
PUBLIC ENEMIES (15)
Wed & Thu: 6.00 9.00
TRANSFORMERS REVENGE OF FALLEN (12A)
Daily except Sun: 2.00 5.15 8.30
Sun only: 1.00 4.15 7.30
LOOKING FOR ERIC (15)
Fri, Sat & Mon: 3.40 8.40
Sun only: 7.40
Tue only: 3.40
Wed & Thu only: 3.10
THE HANGOVER (15)
Daily except Sun: 1.40 4.10 6.40 9.10
Sun only: 12.40 3.10 5.40 8.10
MY SISTERS KEEPER (12A)
Daily except Sun: 1.20 3.50 6.20 8.50
Sun only: 12.20 2.50 5.20 7.50
ANYTHING FOR HER (15)
Fri, Sat & Mon: 1.30 6.30
Sun only: 12.30 5.30
Tue only: 1.30
Wed & Thu only: 1.00
KIDS CLUB: CATS & DOGS (PG) 11.45 (Sat only)
BIG SCREAM: MY SISTERS KEEPER (12A) & ANYTHING FOR HER (15) 10.30 (Thu only)
The big news for Clapham Picture House this week is that tickets for the summer blockbusters Bruno and Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince have gone on sale already. Get in early by going to their website. Like opera or simply fancy pretending to be cultured? This week’s event is a live broadcast from the Royal Opera House showing La Traviata on Tuesday at 6.40pm. If you haven’t already, check out our interview with the cinema’s manager Mike Matthews to see pictures from the projector room and to learn more about the cinema’s future. Full cinema listings for next week are after the break. Continue reading
Dead Without: LoveClapham’s June Playlist
The soundtrack to summer in Clapham is here. Check out LoveClapham’s Dead Without June’s Playlist for Spotify users packed with 20 of the biggest and best songs around at the moment – quite literally the most amazing set of songs you will find right now. If you don’t use Spotify, you can buy tracks from our Amazon shop. Other hot tracks yet to appear on Spotify to watch out for are Lovegame (Chew Fu Remix) by Lady Gaga ft Marilyn Manson and Heartbreak Make Me A Dancer by Freemasons ft Sophie Ellis-Bextor. More next month when we hope to own the above iPod boombox (thus the crap Photoshop job).
London to Brighton and other Clapham internet highlights
The London to Brighton charity bike ride saw 27,000 people mounting their wheels to raise loads of dosh for the British Heart Foundation today. Above is the calm before the storm with the start line empty on Clapham Common South side the day before. The BBC is covering it and our own Mayor of Lambeth is taking part. Elsewhere on the interweb, Getting Naked On Clapham Common is one couple’s take on the unique and regular occurence in the summer of clothing removage. Clapham Common Flickr Group has been running for some time now with hundreds of photos of Clapham from people that live here – can you add any?
Clapham Picture House cinema: behind the scenes interview
Two very exciting things happened to us at the same time this week. Before your imaginations run wild (they’re already running wild aren’t they?) the two things were: 1. going into a cinema projector room 2. meeting someone that has been on The Apprentice. This was accomplished by meeting Clapham Picture House manager and guest star of the 2008 Apprentice series, Mike Matthews, who took the time to speak to Love Clapham about the cinema’s history, its renaissance and its future moves into digital and 3D. Continue reading
Weekend Watch: Clapham fayres, clubs, hunts, bands, Robert Pattinson and discounts galore!
Have you spotted our new Clapham Offers page in the top menu? Take a look, we’ve got a couple of excellent discounts for the Four O Nine restaurant in Clapham North including a tremendous Sunday lunch deal – check it out this weekend. On Friday evening it’s Northcote Road’s Summer Fare, see ya there! Then on Saturday it’s Clapham Common Fayre (note the spelling difference) at the Holy Trinity Church. Clapham clubbing offers and more below. Continue reading
Clapham Band Stand – Summer Schedule 2009
There’s a saying from Ricki Lake: “You have been told girlfriend!” And Love Clapham has been told. There we were, being all smug earlier in the week stating that “Clapham Band Stand is never used” when SHABAM! A whopping great schedule of Clapham Band Stand events comes flying into our inbox. Just for you, fellow Clappers, here is said schedule. Continue reading
Clapham Common festival guide 2009
Oh yes people, it’s that time of year again – Clapham festival time! Love Clapham is going totally gaga thinking about the massive partying ahead of us this summer. With Orbital, Super Furry Animals, Eric Prydz and The Human League all paying a trip to Clapham Common to headline, you lovely Clappers are totally spoilt for choice this year. But why choose when you can go to them all?! Read on for Love Clapham’s definitive guide to Clapham’s 2009 festivals. Continue reading
| 1. | Le Petit Boulangerie, Abbeville Road | 1. | Lack of waffles on sale in cafes |
| 2. | Gastro, Venn Street | 2. | Too many Sainsbury's |
| 3. | Clapham's new Leisure Centre | 3. | Rainy weekends :o( |
| 4. | Venn Street Sat market | 4. | Rubbish shops on the High Street |
| 5. | Costa in Clapham Junction station | 5. |