The Deep South

For the first time since lockdown, a morning fry-up at the Portuguese cafe near Kennington Cross. Baked beans with tinned tomatoes are not everyone's thing but they are mine. And the hash browns of course! There's just enough space for a couple of tables on the pavement: eating out literally. My morning paper gives tantalising glimpses of daylight with more efficient Covid testing and progress in the development of a vaccine, only for the clouds to roll in again. This is not a sprint but a marathon.

But walks this time away from the river, reveal some hidden glories. Another south London Greek Revival church, St. Peter's, lies just off the Walworth Road while a row of boarded-up houses comes with a vision of how the area may become one day. Going down the Brixton Road shows some parkland where for better or worse, change has already happened with a park laid out like a parade ground and new flats behind it.

Meanwhile off the Clapham Road lies an exquisite little square or should one say, circle, Lansdowne Gardens. It's not big enough to do much and there are no seats but a hidden beauty all the same. Nearby is the better-known Albert Square which has nothing to do with East Enders and looks more Kensington than Stockwell, let alone Walford.Read more