Odd couples

Today on Radio Four I heard that H G Wells’ father used to own a shop that sold china and sports equipment. Footballs and porcelain is a pretty daft retail proposition, so too is the offer of teas, coffees, and tennis re-stringing in a shop in the Elephant and Castle. As you can see, this rather sublime venture is now boarded up. A friend tells me there’s a stall on Rye Lane in Peckham selling bras along with brassicas, but I have yet to find it. Must try harder.

The wedding dress

The bridal gown in a Peckham charity shop window reminds me of my French friend, Brigitte. On the eve of her wedding, she left behind her house-guests (a dozen or more) in order to do a trawl of local second-hand shops in a hunt for a wedding dress. It turned out she already had one but had gone off it. Luckily, she found a replacement which fitted perfectly and she looked wonderful on the day. What a demonstration of sang-froid. 

God & Money

DIVINE MONEY appears to be a new business in Peckham. Putting together divinity and money is kind of crazy but, well, why not? Many of us see it as something to worship, although Jesus didn’t, the prophet Mohammed forbade usury, and Buddha would have seen money as impermanent and something that ties a person to the wheel of life. Oddly, now that we are all destined to have less dosh (most of us, not all of us) we’re re-discovering simple joys such as baking bread, growing veg and singing in choirs. Quite divine, really.