Londonist asks someone random questions. This time it's eclectic author and tour guide Chris Roberts. Chris's previous books include a history of nursery rhymes, a guide to London's bridges, and a trove of football superstitions. He also revived the 'penny dreadful' genre of supernatural tales. His latest project is a return to London writing, with the publication of two short story collections: Bus Travel in South London, and South Parks. Here, we talk north versus south, bus oddities, and London places to spend your afterlife.
You're very much a 'south London boy' having lived there for 30 years, and now writing two books about the 'city over the water'. Would you say that south London has some kind of essence, spirit or vibe that sets it apart from the northern half?
Yes. Of course. I'd quote Angela Carter and say London's like Budapest, two cities divided by a river. You want more than that though, don't you? I do but it's bit of a conceit (one I sometimes deploy) to see south London as a cultural whole and it (the separateness) is something many writers or other artists draw on to define their work. In essence there are so many people wishing to find examples of why it is so it kinda makes the 'spirit' real.
In another sense there are clearly many south Londons that in some cases mirror neighbourhoods across the Thames but yes I do think the central core of south London (east-west from Deptford to Battersea, and south as far as Crystal Palace) comprises an urban unit that is distinct from the north shore. That said I'm aware that "my" south London (a clutch of postcodes centred on SE5) is very different to other people's and quite certain someone from the east side could make an equally compelling case for a separate spirit for their end.
If south London was suddenly overrun with banshees, and you HAD to move north of the river, where would you settle?
Sometimes I wonder if it has been. I'm sure there was a South London Press headline a few years ago "Rotherhithe overrun by banshees". To answer the question, I'd want somewhere with a good view and access to outdoor swimming so that there Hampstead might work. As might Bushey Park, though not actually in the park, maybe on one of the aits nearby.
What's the maddest thing you ever saw happen on a London bus?
There are so many and that’s before you include ones seen on videos like the Peckham Terminator. Oddest (and disturbing) for me recently was last January on the 159 at school run time. Myself along with another bloke and a woman helped haul a man off a woman he was attacking on the top deck of a 159 and ensured he was off bus. What was interesting was the "omnibus omerta" that kicked in when the driver halted the bus and asked what had happened on the top deck. No one spoke up because it would mean delay and that might mean missing that business call to Turkey or the 8.45 Pilates class or, in my case, a train outta Waterloo.
I really hope that's not a normal experience for people as it was certainly not something I'd encountered before but was positive that so many people immediately intervened. School kid next to me never stopped playing Championship Manager on his phone throughout the whole thing.
You currently live in Camberwell, which famously lacks a train station. If you could design a fantasy tube line that started in Camberwell, where would the route take it?
I could hair split and say technically the "busier than Blackfriars"* Denmark Hill station serves SE5 but whilst there is quite an active campaign to reopen the old Camberwell Station I personally would be much more interested in reopening the Camberwell Gate (later Walworth Road) Station in SE17. This would cater for the largest population in London not served by a railway and is pleasingly close to the home of literature's first commuter (John Wemmick, who lived in Walworth in Great Expectations). With Wemmick in mind I'd like the service to connect other places linked to Mr. Dickens from Peckham, so he could see his mistress, to Saffron Hill for Mr Fagin and the Marshalsea (Borough) for family visits.
*Apparently based on people entering and leaving as opposed to passing through. It's a local claim like, I’ve not counted myself.
Your writing is eclectic, to say the least. Who are your favourite London writers, and do you ever read something and think "I wish I'd written that"?
Oh there really are too many, Angela Carter and Stella Duffy are superb. I do enjoy Ben Aaronovitch and like that he's made a success of writing about London and its folklore. I’m always impressed and inspired by fellow Camberwell/Walworth borders writer Matt Haynes and his projects [Londonist: we concur]. Also frequently read things (fictional and non) and think I wish I'd thought of that or expressed my thoughts in that way but as an overarching idea, if you like, the recording work of the late Ian Rawes and his London Sound Survey is something I'll always be in awe of. Making us redefine how we view, or rather conceptualise, a city like he did. [Note: London Sound Survey is no longer online following Ian's death, but some of his field recordings have been preserved on disc.]
Another strand of your writing revels in folklore and elements of the supernatural. If you could come back as a ghost, what place in London would you most like to haunt?
When we did the Café Calcio radio show we held a séance in one of the flats on the old North Bank at Highbury to summon the many ghosts of that site for a Halloween special. It wouldn't be there. For me it'd have to be Brockwell Park, more specifically the lido and walled garden, all of life and it has to offer is in King Brockwell, so probably not a bad place to spend your afterlife.
Bus Travel in South London, and South Parks by Chris Roberts are out now from F&M Publications.
