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I’m finding it an increasingly familiar occurrence to stumble upon areas of London that present a fresh historical angle to me. It’s not just the huge gaps in local history that fifteen years of London living has failed to provide me with; my general lack of knowledge of our capital city has come about through average education, crappy BIG media and general aloofness upon my part.

Up until the start of the summer, Norton Folgate meant nothing to me. If you had asked me back in April what legacy Norton Folgate has left upon London, I would have guessed that he was a notorious Evening Standard seller in the West End from some romantic 50′s London period piece.

And then along came the Madness concept album of the same name. I have often doubted the London lineage of the Nutty Boys, happy to cash in on their cheeky chappy cockney heritage, but not really contributing anything of significance to London after a career of capital exploitation.

How wrong I was. I have learnt more about a particular patch of London through listening o the Liberty album than I have after fifteen years of taking an active interest in London centric mainstream media output.

I’m assuming that any readers are as London illiterate as I am. Shameful, but here comes the history lesson, as brought to you by our ever-reliable friends at Wikipedia:

The Liberty of Norton Folgate was a distinct administrative unit between the Bishopsgate ward of the City to the south and the parish of St Leonard, Shoreditch to the north. Its origin was as the area of land occupied by the inner precinct of the Priory and Hospital of St Mary Spital. This was dissolved during the Reformation, but the land, reverting to the Crown, retained its status as an extra-parochial liberty.

The liberty was abolished in 1900 and was divided between the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney and the Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch. A civil parish of Norton Folgate in the County of London existed between 1889 until it was absorbed by the parish of Whitechapel in 1921.

In 2008, in opposition to a plan to demolish the trendy Light Bar (built as a power station for the Great Eastern Railway) in order to build an office block, local activists claimed that documents in the council archives showed that the abolition of the Liberty of Norton Folgate in 1900 was technically invalid and that it still existed.

One thing that I have learnt about London after my time passing though here is to believe in the power of coincidence. This isn’t a random city with individual events being played out in isolation. There is a very strong spiritual feel to the city, drawing in seemingly unconnected events, and then presenting you with some form of narrative in which to make sense of your confused world.

And so in the week when I learnt more about Norton Folgate, I found myself landing a freelance project around the area. But coincidences don’t come in pairs – you need a third encounter to confirm the pattern.

Step forward Mr. WWSI and his weekly dispatch of photographic instructions to follow around the city. It just had to be Norton Folgate, didn’t it?

And so I cycled off to the forgotten part of town, hidden away behind Bishopsgate, full of enthusiasm for an area that I feel I know through music and online mythology, seeking out the truth. The persona of Norton Folgate has almost become a character in itself, thanks to the human face that Madness portray in their concept album classic.

Did I find the streets of the East End paved with more myths to perpetuate the legend of Norton Folgate?

Find out in the photo dialogue piece below…

Full flickr set over here.

A lost hour or so around the Secret Garden at Brockwell Park is one of the high points of the high summer for me. The Victorian Walled Garden comes a very close second to the lido for all round loveliness during these long hot summer days.

The hours of effort put in by the dedicated Lambeth gardening staff can be enjoyed by all for a few weeks at the peak of the season. That’s not to say that the Secret Garden goes to seed throughout the rest of the year, but a garden in June is a garden in bloom.

Little has changed in the decade or so of my summer visits to the garden. This has probably been the case for the past one hundred years. The reputation of the garden is with its roses, leaving a delightful fragrance for all to enjoy.

My brief visit this summer was a quiet affair; last year I had a bonkers Brixton experience by stepping right into the living set of a children’s production of Alice in Wonderland.

Maybe I was dreaming this? Much of my time in the Walled Garden is spent sleeping away the afternoon.

Shhhhh!!!

Full flickr set over here.

Another midsummer, another Supernova Companies Tournament. Just like Glasto, the annual corporate korfball challenge always ends up with the overall consensus of ‘best year yet.’ This year was no exception.

It’s also around this time of year where I seem to make up endless excuses as to why I haven’t been running around the korfball court over the previous winter months. Aha – got you this time.

I’ve actually played a number of indoor matches this year. ‘Comeback’ would be a slightly strong word, but I did manage to pick up a Championship winning medal last Friday, as part of the triumphant Supernova thirds.

But anyway, back to the Banking boys and girls…

Each year we seem to be blessed with brilliant South London sunshine as our korfball club invites our corporate friends from The City down to SW4 for an evening spent underneath the big baskets. Months of planning and preparation are taken up by the tournament, but it really does all come down to the goodwill of the weather on the night.

Now in its tenth summer, the 2009 Companies Tournament once again attracted a high level of interest from within the Square Mile. It’s not as if they’ve got anything better to do right now, is it?

The event itself works on a number of levels. We get to introduce our sport to a wider audience, as well as raise money for our friends within the British korfball family. Corporate sponsorship from M & G kindly pays for the catering, and all money raised remains within the game.

Twenty-Four teams contested the Supernova Korfball Cup this summer. As well as the high flyers from the City, we were graced by the lovely Liberal Elite from The Guardian, and a team of the chattering classes from Westminster. It’s nice to know that korfball attracts a chin stroking philosophical crowd, as well as the corporate testosterone from within the City. And that was just the banking girls…

For a sport that was invented to try and breach the male / female sporting divide within Dutch schools, korfball works perfectly within a corporate environment. Everyone is of equal value, and a winning team genuinely does need to rely upon all players to achieve success. I’m sure there’s a metaphor buried away in there about the merits of banking bonuses.

The Royal Bank of Canada emerged as the 2009 champions, just as the sun was starting to set across Clap’ham Common. What is rewarding to see is that a number of players are now returning each summer, and the standard of the tournament is subsequently increasing.

Team tactics are starting to develop, and some of the play on show in SW4 on Tuesday evening would have given the Supernova championship winning third team a decent run out. Maybe that’s my excuse sorted for next season? Couldn’t play korfball, too many bankers in the team.

Too many jokes…

Many thanks to our friends from UBS, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan for kindly agreeing to take part in various podcasts over the course of the evening.

A huge backslapping for the many people within Supernova who also make the event possible each year. Carole Swan and Tamara Burnell both merit a special mention, and no doubt free drinks from each club member over the course of the summer.

Full flickr stream over here.

Welcome to Supernova Companies Tournament

Nicola Gordon, Chairperson Supernova Korfball Club

Kerry & Jane, UBS

Dave Bond, korfball referee supremo

Simon, Deutsche Bank

Carole and Mark, Organising Queen and her Sidekick

Stephanie, JP Morgan