So(i)lFood Fete on Peckham Rye Common

Date 29th July 2023 Walks from 10.30 am  Fete Event from 12.30pm to 3.30pm

“To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.” (Auguries of Innocence – William Blake)

SoilFood Fete

You can join the celebrations earlier from 10.30 am by coming on one of our unique walks to Peckham Rye Common (see below or events to book a place)

For SoilFood Fete at Peckham Rye’s Tiny Forest from 1 pm – 3.30pm – Peckham Rye Park & Common – Green view end of Straker’s Road London SE15 3UA (Straker’s Road is by Solomon Passage Bus stop):

Inspired by William Blake’s visions we stage a shared picnic with all walkers and participants (1pm-2pm). During this afternoon of SoilFood feast Inspiral offers a series of entertainments inspired by alternative natural sciences, the visionary and experimental, celebrating through the imaginal the beauty, diversity and variety of the City’s green spaces. We offer song, performance, puppet shows, conversation – all the angelic and the profane that bubbles and rumbles out from the earth, up from its muddy boiling core. Through the afternoon the live performances will be enriched by short walks, drawing workshops and activities that celebrate the rich soil food of the Common and the living diversity that lies beneath our feet. For more details see below:

The afternoon’s provisional programme includes:

• An opening talk by Rachel Gomme on the planting of Peckham Rye’s Tiny Forest. Then we offer – collaborative drawing that invites fete attendees to contribute to a common artwork that draws on inspiration below and above the soil, celebrating the importance of common living soil – alongside the Rye’s history of visions and imaginative visioning; Sarah Sparkes lost souls puppets and inspiral cake; Blakean songs from Tim Flitcroft and ritual music making with Charlie Gary and Mikey Georgeson; other lyric poems and song medley from local poets; Jo McCormick manifests Blake’s oak tree with a song; the Gary Feelers with Blake inspired kitchen ritual music workshop; J D Swann’s orniphilosophical walk and ornithological interventions.
• Gail Dickerson offers an exploration into the soil of Peckham Common – working with London Clay, paper and drawing materials to collect ‘Thought Fragments, of what may have grown or been eaten on Peckham Common or at the time of the deposition of the London Clay 49 to 56 million years ago.
• Further events and performers to be announced including performance poets – Luna Montenegro and Adrian Fisher, Living Soils with Stephen Micalef.
• To enjoy the full inspirallondon experience please do book and come on one of the two walks that lead to SoilFood Fete – Contextural Contexts and Soilfood (10am-12.30) or Urban Ecology and undergrowth SoilFood Walk (10.30am-12.30). The walks form part of the full living SoilFood Experience.
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Transport: From Peckham Rye Train Station you can take buses 197 and 12 to near Strakers Road (Soloman Passage Stop EF) or buses other side of park 343, 363, 63 etc. (by Academy School Stop) and walk across to cafe/public toilets and Strakers Road site.

WALKS:

Contextural Contexts Walk 1.

Meet from 10am to 10.30am at Textural Contexts Exhibition for coffee, at the CORNER Gallery, 117 New Cross Road, London SE14 5DJ – starting with a short guided tour of exhibition and a textual contextual walk from New Cross to Peckham Rye that follows the scent of Watery Foxes. Led by curator artist Jo McCormick, with support of InspiralLondon associate artist Frog Morris. Booking HERE

Transport: From New Cross/New Cross Station you can take buses 53 or 453 to near bottom of New Cross Road by Corner Cafe  or equally buses to junction New Cross Road/Old Kent Road from Queens Road Peckham Station (36, 171, 177, 436, P13)

Urban Ecology and Soil Walk 2.

Meet 11 am at Dawson Heights Nature Reserve Dawson’s Hill (with InspiralLondon Artists and colleagues) Rachel Gomme, Charlie Fox, Sarah Sparkes and JD Swann on a walk that follows the InspiralLondon Trail down and through Camberwell Old Cemetery towards Peckham Rye Common. Booking HERE

Transport: From Peckham Rye Train Station you can take buses 363 and 63 to Dunstans Road Stop WR or from East Dulwich Station take bus P13, 176, 185 or 40 to Quorn Road Stop L.

From 12.30 pm these two walks converge and meet on the Soil of Peckham Rye Common by the entrance of the newly planted mini forest for a talk by Rachel Gomme and other invited urban tree enthusiasts.

For those coming on walks or joining us on Peckham Rye Common please bring water, food and beverages to share. We will provide limited supply of bottled water and refreshments but the idea is for us all to bring some food to share with the soil and our neighbours…

SoilFood is part of InspiralLondon’s project to explore and share in an ongoing on the ground mapping of the Metropole London. in encouraging everyone to walk the 350 mile spiral trail we offer a simple shared space in walking together and apart:  for experiencing, mapping and dwelling in our city; particularly in thinking of what lies hidden, unrecognised, this diverse life beneath our feet as we walk the trail together. See inspirallondon.com