Follow the Anchor

Between noon and 3pm on Saturday 5th October, the Deptford Anchor (or a cardboard representation of the same) will be wending its way through the streets of Deptford.

Organised by Rediscovered Urban Rituals and Deptford is Forever the event starts with a gathering at the Dog and Bell PH, 116 Prince Street (near the junction with Watergate Street) which will then Progress via Deptford High Street / Deptford Market to Lewisham Arthouse on Lewisham Way. The Anchor will arive in the market about 12.45pm.

So,
COME FOLLOW THE ANCHOR with its BEARERS and ROUGH MUSIC PLAYERS and REVEL in the SPECTACLE of this ICONIC DEPTFORD SYMBOL on its journey back to its RIGHTFUL PLACE at the head of the HIGH STREET - and beyond.

At around 3pm, the Anchor will arrive at Lewisham Arthouse in a striking crescendo of CELEBRATION and JOY. Wear your anchor tattoos and t-shirts in support.

Transpontine:   
Deptford Anchor Saga: the next chapter

THE DEPTFORD DAME
Deptford X kicks off with a flourish

Twinkle Park Event

As part of Greenwich Council's Parksfest 2010 Twinkle Park presents Musical Notes this Saturday 17th July, 1 - 5pm.

Music from jazz quartet Paul Zec & Friends, Deptford Divas and Venavi Drummers and a drumming workshop from the latter.

Petanque, pond dipping and also creative fun with Artyparty Arts.

At 5.00pm it will only be a short stroll to the Dog and Bell in Prince Street.

Twinkle Park is in Borthwick Street on the corner of Watergate Street:

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CONVOYS WHARF

Saturday 5th December 2009 presented a rare opportunity to visit the Convoys Wharf site in Deptford and a small group of us took a stroll around this huge site. Site owners Hutchison Whampoa are intending to amend the current planning application in January 2010 and Saturday was a chance to see the new proposals. Contrary to what some people believe the previous proposals were never formally approved and no Planning Permission was ever granted.

Henry VII originally purchased the site in the late 15th century and his son Henry VIII opened his Royal Dockyard there in 1513. Construction of vessels for the Royal Navy continued until 1869 and then from 1871 until the First World War it was the location for the City Corporation's Foreign Cattle Market. Over 4 million live sheep and cattle were landed and slaughtered on site.

After the war the site lay unused until a director of the News of the World leased part of the site for importing newsprint in 1923. The entire site eventually came into the ownership of News International who continued to import paper until early 2000. News sold the site last year to Hutchison Whampoa for approximately half the price that had been agreed in 2005.

The exhibition and tours take place again on Tuesday 8th December between 2.00 - 8.00pm. Go to the north end of New King Street. Before or after the tour you can stop for a pint or two at the Dog and Bell in Prince Street near the corner with Watergate Street.

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Jazz at the Herb Garden

Chill-out on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon with Lol Coxhill (above) and Friends including Steve Noble at the McMillan Herb Garden in Deptford. Gate opens 4.00pm and the music is about 4.30 - 6.00pm. A family afternoon of accessible jazz, bring your own refreshments but remember you can retire afterwards to the Dog and Bell or Bird's Nest. Free, but the hat will be passed round.

The McMillan Educational Herb Garden is on McMillan Street SE8 see map below:

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Homeward Bound - Dog and Bell 2

The sea shanty below appears in various magazines and books from the 1870s to the present day. Many of those who have published the song seem to have assumed that the references to the Dog and Bell and 'old Archer' are to some sort of every-pub and every-pub landlord respectively. A long discussion of various versions of the song appear here. Notably the song appeared, complete with references to the Dog and Archer in American Sea Songs and Chanteys (Chay, Frank published Norton 1948). However, as we now know Mr David Archer was the landlord of the Dog and Bell in the 1820s. See my post here .

The version below is from here, where a score can be found for the music. All we need to do now is find somebody to sing it.

Homeward Bound

Now to Blackwall Docks we bid adieu,
To Suke and Sal and Kitty too;
Our anchor's weighed, our sails unfurled,
We are bound to plough the watery world.
Huzzah, we are homeward bound (2x)

Now the wind blows hard from the east-nor'-east,
Our ship will sail ten knots at least;
The purser will our wants supply,
And while we've grog we'll never say die.

And should we touch at Malabar
Or any other port as far
The purser he will tip the chink,
And just like fishes we will drink.

And now our three years it is out,
lt's very near time we backed about;
And when we're home and do get free,
Oh won't we have a jolly spree.

And now we haul into the docks
Where all those pretty girls come in flocks,
And one to the other they will say:
"Oh here comes Jack with his three years' pay"

And now we haul to the Dog and Bell
Where there's good liquor for to sell.
ln comes old Archer with a smile,
Saying: "Drink, my lads, it's worth your while."
For I see you are homeward bound,
I see you are homeward bound.

But when our money's all gone and spent,
And none to be borrowed nor none to be lent,
ln comes old Archer with a frown,
Saying: "Get up, Jack, let John sit down."
For I see you are homeward bound,
I see you are homeward bound.

This version originally From Oxford Book of Sea Songs, Palmer RG

The Dog and Bell (1)

The June / July 2009 issue of the Campaign for Real Ale's London Drinker magazine carries an excellent article by Julian Stone outlining the History of The Dog and Bell. Julian has carried out extensive research in Lewisham Local History Library and suggests that William Boyes's 1749 victualling business in what was then Dog (or Dock) Street was the forerunner of the pub. Julian may well be right but we lack proof.

Currently the earliest documentary evidence we have for the existence of the Dog is an entry in The Proceedings of the Old Bailey for 30th November 1814. Landlord's daughter Miss Sarah Cooper gave evidence at the trial of Manuel John that she had changed a £20 note at the pub.

The next document is the 1820 will of Montgomeryshire widow Catherine Sturkey which refers to property in Dog Street, Deptford, Kent "known by the name & sign of the Dog and Bell". The will goes on to say that the property was then in the occupation of David Archer. When Catherine Sturkey died the auction of the freehold of the Dog and Bell was advertised in The Times on 5th December 1828, along with the long leasehold of a house in Flagon Row (subsequently Wellington Street and now McMillan Street). Trade directories suggest that David Archer survived the change in ownership and was still there in the early 1830s. More about David Archer in a future post.

Catherine Sturkey was the widow of Deptford surgeon Roger Sturkey who died in 1792 and was buried in St Nicholas Churchyard. Any trace of his garve or tomb is long gone but fortunately Daniel Lysons in vol 4 of The Environs of London (1796) lists the monuments in the churchyard. It is possible that Catherine bought the Dog after Roger's death but it is far more likely that both the pub and the house were bought by Roger when he was practising in Deptford. In a Welsh attic or a solictor's basement there may well be a 1780's conveyance that refers to the pub. The conveyance after the sale in 1828 may refer to, or even reproduce, a conveyance to a Sturkey. We can but hope that one or more of these documents turns up.