Straycation is the ingeniously named free walking festival run by South East London Folklore Society exploring south London’s hidden spaces and history this August. To some, south London is a oily streak of endless fried chicken franchises and pit-bull toilets for public spaces. For others, though, stories pulse within the green spaces and red bricks of, possibly, London’s strangest and most secretive area and those who live there quite like not having to share it with everyone else.
You have nothing to lose bar shambling time and trainer sole so join one of these sprees. The walks explore the magic of Camberwell, the ghost of Peckham and radical Blackfriars Road. There are also perambulations round Greenwich, Burgess and Brockwell Parks uncovering mysteries, myths, folklore and flora.
Full details of the walks and contact information after the jump.
Saturday 1 August 7pm: Camberwell Myth and Magic
Join Scott Wood on a walk around the mythological sites of Camberwell. There'll be ghosts, folklore, saints and Aleister Crowley's father-in-law. Meet on Camberwell Green, junction of Camberwell Road & Camberwell Church Street.
Sunday 2 August 3pm: Wonderful Weeds
Roy Vickery of the South London Botanical Institute will lead a stroll around Burgess Park exploring the folklore and uses of our native plants. Meet at the Camberwell Road entrance to Burgess Park.
Wednesday 5 August 7pm: Brockwell Park
...is waiting in the dark! Wild West heroes, a cure for impotence, the devil's fruit and deadly mermaids are just part of the cast in this stroll around Brixton's magnificent Brockwell Park. Brockwell Park Gates Herne Hill entrance. Junction Dulwich Road and Norwood Road.
Sunday 9 August 3pm: The Greenwich Mysteries
Jacquline Woodward-Smith takes a walk around Greenwich Park, and maybe beyond, in search of goddesses and mysteries in the land. Meet at the King William Walk gates in Greenwich.
Thursday 13 August 7pm: The Peckham Ghost Trail
Follow the trail of the infamous Peckham Ghost with SELFS host Scott Wood, meeting other phantoms of Peckham & Nunhead on the way. Meet Honor Oak Station, walk ends Nunhead Green approx 9pm.
Sunday 16th August 3pm: A short radical ramble in SE1:
Subversive amblings up Blackfriars Road. A walk from Past Tense: Anarchist plotters, King Mob tumult, ranters, writers, early feminists, physical force chartists and more... Meet at the Obelisk, St George's Circus, SE1
All walks between 1-2 hours. Contact [email protected] for more details. SELFS Say “we'll try and be brave but walks won't happen if it's pouring with rain please ring 0795 201 2487 on the day to ensure the walk is happening.”
