Walnuts and Honey opened in 2018. The owner, Matthew, had always wanted his own business, watching both of his parents run do so when he was a child.

The shop specialises in cakes: Matthew was inspired by the anime show Yumeiro Patissiere, which follows a young pastry chef. Like in the anime, Matthew loves experimenting with flavour and has come up with many creations in the past.

He looks at flavours which work well together and then modifies them: for example, taking chocolate and orange and replicating another sweet flavour with citrus, such as toffee and yuzu.

However, his experiments don’t always work, with his self[1]described worst flavour combination being peppermint and liquorice (‘great in tea, but not in cake!’).

Matthew grew up in London and wanted to open a shop based around his roots. When Walnuts and Honey was a mere idea, he had a market stall at the Clocktower Market to gauge demand for his creations. While he was on the market, he would see the store he currently occupies, which was then a former record shop, and just before he was about to sign the lease for another property on the high street, he took on his current premises instead.

The community around South Norwood is Matthew’s favourite thing about the area. He says he has lived in other areas of south London which have ‘no soul’ compared to the ‘indominable spirit’ of South Norwood. From the litter picking society, to the ‘save the library’ group, Matthew says the people are all so friendly and have the community at heart.

Matthew points out that now people can shop on the internet so easily, people aren’t as fussed about products anymore but want experiences. He hopes that there will be an increase in the night time economy, bringing niche and creative ideas to the area. Above all, Matthew wants to see more community spaces created.

This project was part of the South Drawood exhibition in 2022 by artist Jonny Kemp. A community art project celebrating the people of South Norwood, SE25.

From autumn of 2021 to summer 2022, Jonny drew 40 portraits of independent business owners, volunteers, and other movers and shakers from South Norwood, his local area. His partner Lizzie interviewed them.

South Norwood is regenerating yet doesn’t want to gentrify: it wants to keep its character and support people who already live in the area to prosper. This was Jonny and Lizzie’s way of ‘giving South Norwood a hug’: by representing the diverse people of SE25 through portraits in fine liner pen, and their own stories.

The portraits were displayed in Stanley Arts, a beautiful Edwardian arts venue on South Norwood Hill. Over 150 people attended the opening night: Friday 29th July 2022.

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Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875–1912)  commemorates by cycling charity Sustrans.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, South Norwood composer and resident is celebrated in this cut-out, silhouette steel portrait.

On either side of Coleridge-Taylor are silhouettes of Dame Peggy Ashcroft (1907–1991) and Ronnie Corbett (1930–2016).

These portraits were made in 2013 and can be found on Charles Street, near Church Street Market.

 

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Lover Fighter Liquor is a small batch, hand crafted spirits range. It was born out of curiosity, craft & a love for flavour exploration.

We opened The Craft Beer Cabin as a passion project on the side to our day jobs in August 2018, after spending a few years ‘on the road’ with our mobile bar – a vintage black taxi named Stanley (The Craft Beer Cab).

Lover Fighter Liquor was born out of the lockdown. Josie had been made redundant from an events agency & started restoring vintage furniture @loverfighterfurniture, which was a lifelong aspiration. Our interest sparked during some work on a few cocktail cabinets & we started experimenting with cocktail recipes.

Nick is really passionate about the drinks industry & has a very discerning palate. He loves the process of discovery & perfecting flavour balance, so we were exploring all sorts of new concoctions.

As coffee fanatics, it didn’t take long for us to start looking into coffee based cocktails & after some research we discovered a gap in the market for locally produced cold-brew coffee liqueur. So we decided to make our own!

This then expanded into other cold-brewed liqueurs too to really broaden the flavour spectrum available.

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I wanted the Zine to be a fun, unpredictable, epic adventure full of interesting characters!

I’m pushing myself to tell a story I don’t always tend to do (I tend to do superhero comics). I’m also going back to basics a little with my art style. With The O Men, I started out drawing everything on paper in black and white. Nowadays, I draw digitally and in colour. I’m going to go back to my earlier black and white style, as people seemed to really like it. I’ll be drawing on my ipad but it’ll be more natural and there will be no Photoshop trickery.

I’ve been drawing comics since I could hold a pencil (and crayon). I used to create comics to show my school friends and I was always making comics throughout my teen years (my mum read them all!).

You can access the ezine by clicking here.

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I wanted to offer a brownie that was not only gluten free but also dairy, soy and nut free too!

After experimenting with lots of different ingredients I found the right measurements for the perfect allergen friendly brownie that still tasted as good as a regular one, then added some shimmer to make it extra special. My customers from ‘Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet’ lovingly named it ‘The Disco Brownie.’

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This is a floor mosaic celebrating local heritage and community. It was developed by local people with the assistance of Tamara Froud and the Art Mosaic Design team. A large number of workshops were held engaging local school children and community members. They were taught the process of mosaic and collaborated to make the designs into colourful murals.

A wide range of people engaged with the project to create the mosaic that shared ideas about the past and the present in South Norwood. The project was begun in November 2005 and completed in April 2006. An opening celebration was held on 29thApril 2006. The overall project was funded by Awards for All, Community Builders Fund and Croydon Council.

Tamara Froud has undertaken many collaborative artworks with local communities. She has won awards, and worked internationally as a mosaic artist and educator. She is currently the president at British Association of Modern Mosaic (BAMM).

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In early 2014 collaborative volunteer groups with overseeing and networking by former South Norwood councillor Jane Avis set to cleaning up a notorious fly tip site on South Norwood High St opposite Harris Academy South Norwood to transform it into a landscaped community garden with planning contributions and maintenance from Harris students under the tutelage of professional gardener Alan Oakley.

The idea to morph a hideous waste ground into a well-maintained public garden was conceived in late 2013 by South Norwood Tourist Board (SNTB) whose plan was to fix a dangerous bench and to try to get Captain Sensible to officiate at its formal transformation.

Permission was granted to install a wooden fence in early 2014 to prevent any further flytipping, which has worked. The garden’s name was painted on the fence and inscribed on banners. Councillor Jane Avis introduced the SNTB cheerleaders to Crystal Palace Transition Town’s  (CPTT) Palace Pick-up volunteers, led by CPTT’s inspiring member Robbie Gibson, who had already transformed a number of green spaces in SE19 with extensive litter clearance.

The 26 July 2014 opening was heralded beforehand in the local papers, as Captain Sensible kept his promise to keep the day free to be guest of honour and guest performer in the Ship pub. Stephen Barnes’ Inside Croydon blog also wrote up descriptions of the celebrations with a Youtube interview. The revellers adjourned to the then-flourishing Ship pub close by, with a buffet and impromptu solo gig by Captain Sensible, rendering his local hit “Croydon” (co-written by Robyn Hitchcock) from 1982.

Located by a High Street bus stop, the garden has active gardeners from SNTB and CPTT continuing to plant flower bulbs and clear rubbish to keep it looking cared for and encouraging passers-by to sit and enjoy the space. Janice Green maintains her own Sensible Garden Facebook page that regularly shows updated garden images and sustainability features.

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The six panel spray paint mural by south London artist Morganico shows colourful flowers, creatures and surreal plants and adds a dash of colour to the front perimeter walls of a local house.

 

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