Quirky Travel Guide Featured

This is a weary traveller's guide to South London, New Cross, Deptford, and beyond.

* Underground, weird & funny. * Curated & opinionated. * Completely incomplete. Choose your own adventure from the comfort of your own home. It’s like a blog, but posted geographically not time-wise. Frequently Asked Questions: What? : Could be described as a map based, curated, content website. Where? : Newcrossities.com because that’

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Bussey Building

Rooftop cinema, 18 piece jazz big band, 1920’s speakeasy, School of Skateboarding, Yin Yoga, Peckham Soul record shop, were all to be found the day I took these photos at the Bussey Building. Also known as Copeland Park (the collection of former industrial buildings) or the ’Peckham Cultural Quarter’

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Berlin Wall (Section)

Why the hell is this section of the Berlin Wall in the Malvern Hills? The plaque doesn‘t explain it. After I escaped for some peace and quiet from the Electromagnetic Field festival, nearby I found this. I reflected on how at festivals you are in a bubble, but to

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Electromagnetic Field

Britain’s answer to Burning Man festival. But less sexy Californian dancers, more Wallace and Grommit inventors. Quintessentially British. Electromagnetic Field Festival, also know as EMF, only runs once every two years. They stagger it with similar German and Dutch events in the other years. Tickets sell out every time,

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Floating Lido

A welcome distraction if you hate your corporate job in Canary Wharf. A swimming pool within a ship’s dock. Outdoor swimming but a bit safer. Costs £10 to swim for an hour as of summer 2026. Also has a sauna (another £10), bare/cafe and shop to buy googles

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Chimney Lift

Pretend you are Oliver Twist meets Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and ride up the famous Battersea Power Station's chimney in a lift. It was closed the Sunday evening I visited at 7:20pm which was a bit annoying (it's open until 8pm on Friday and

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Go Ape

Rope bridges and a zip lines. But don't, as I did, get stuck up there needing a wee. Because it’s a long way down from the trees high above Battersea Park cafe. Pee before you strap in. Visit during school time because on a sunny weekend it’

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Square Peg in a Round Hole

This is where the old saying comes from, apparently. I’ve often felt like that. Have you? Perhaps when working an office job with a creative brain? Part of the Chiltern Open Air Museum. Tickets are about £15 as of 2026, or £40 for a year‘s unlimited entry, which

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Animal Golf

Mini golf with a twist. Strap on a tail and ears and swing with your tail. Fun to be had at Battersea Arts Centre, at the ‘Art of Golf’ exhibition. Part art exhibition, part mini golf, enjoy! Tickets available until 26 July 2026 Hole number 5 (the next hole) invites

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Sumo

Tokyo Nights London. It's bloody Sumo Wrestling... in London! Open until 8 July 2026 Get tickets Starting at around £75 for the show, food and drink is extra. Blackheath is up the hill.

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Chippy

Award winning Fish & Chips apparently. I once saw a talk at a tech conference by the son of this family business. He worked at booking.com as a computer programmer and was very proud of the plaice. I imagine his dad/mum/uncle who runs the shop is pretty

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Rapunzel's Tower

Rapunzel‘s tower in South London. Unexpected. It’s actually an old water tower. But now it looks like people live there. The victorians did like to spruce up their waterworks. You’ll find various ornamental sewage treatment works all over this part of London in the most unexpected places.

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Longcross

The Long Cross is next to a film studios that sometimes shoots on the heath & woodlands next door. So if you are lucky you may spot a goblin or an elf in the woods, real or imagined. List of films shot at Longcross For a nice walk take a

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Haunted Fireplace

This page didn't work at first because it's haunted. 2nd biggest inglenook fireplace in the country and most haunted pub in England. Duck your head under and look up and you’ll see the priest hole where Catholic priests would hide from Henry VIII’s thugs.

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Windmill

While delivering Amazon parcels at Christmas I stumbled across a Windmill. Not what you’d expect in Brixton. Nearby there is a very good live music venue called "The Windmill" which is more what you’d expect to find. The Impossibly Placed Car is nearby.

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Prince Shoes

In the poshest part of London you’ll find shoes fit for a Prince Regent. Strolling from the nearby Wallace Collection museum, full of the opulence of Louis 16th, I passed these shoes in The Decadent Burlington Arcade and thought ‘nothing has changed’. You can get said Prince shoes polished

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Ingenious Loo

This innovative loo with a sink in the cistern can be found in the basement of The Guitar Social (26 Caledonian Rd, London N1 9DT) a bar/guitar rehearsal/performance/lesson crossover space. One person said: "Too many different things that shouldn’t be in the same space… drinking

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Sailor Town

Some child excitedly called ‘Mum! It smells like wee in there!’. Enjoy the sights and smells of an old fashioned Sailor Town. Part of the Museum of the Docklands. This part of the museum feels like a theme park. By far the b st part of the museum in my

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Hot Tub Boats

Sail around in a hot tub boat in Canary Wharf. Your browser does not support the video tag. BBQ boats are also available for those who don’t want to get their kit off. You can bring booze, but one of you has to be designated sober driver. [Ad] Book

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Hidden Tap

The Hidden Tap brewery offers beers and ales to paddleboarders and kayakers. Just ring the bell and they’ll lower them down. And a debit card reader presumably. Stand-up paddle boards (SUP) and kayak canoes can be hired from nearby YMCA Fairthorne Manor. Check the tide times, water craft

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Meadow

Urban meadow, near the Thames. Pretty nice when it’s not full of druggies. Puzzle: spot the hidden animal in the photo. Solution: press play on this video. Greenland Dock is nearby.

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Deli X

A lovely coffee shop. The sort of place you can buy a cup of tea and stay all day, working on a laptop or reading a book, perhaps from their book exchange shelf. Update: Except lunchtime when laptops are banned. Rightly so. Can be quiet, but also attracts various oddballs

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Platform 9 3/4

Platform 9 3/4 of King's Cross Station is somewhat of a tourist trap for Harry Potter fans. Sitting actually to the right of platform 11, you can queue up to get a photo taken with the disappearing luggage trolley. Thankfully, there's no charge to take

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Impossibly Placed Car

God only knows how a rusted car made it into the middle of these woods. Burnt out mopeds can also be found, overgrown with greenery in a beautiful way, almost looking like an intentional sculpture park. I accidentally forgot to take a photo of the car. You'll have

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Dens

I’m thinking moving here. Although, being London, it still probably costs rent of a thousand pounds a month. It's on the edge of the nearby Ecology Park.