Dear London Town

About a 10-15min walk away from my flat is Elephant and Castle.

I wanted to get out and explore the area since it’s so close and has access to various shops and grocers within an easy distance. So G, my new young friend, and I took a stroll down the lane.

As we walked I asked him if he knew how the name originated. His response was that “they used to parade elephants around the castles here,” or some such nonsense like that.

I called bullsh!t. Or elephant dung. Whichever.

Well, as it turns out, its

…distinctive name is often said to be a corruption of the Spanish “Infanta de Castilla”, but there are many other theories…

I clicked around Google a bit and found the archived photo seen above. So it must have been a landmark in the roundabout, but I dont believe it’s still standing. If it is, I’ve yet to see it.

Anyhow, this site about Elephant & Castle really sums up where we went to shop, what’s available, and what I saw. So I’m going to let it do the talking.

The Shopping Centre management has made a real effort in recent years and the quality of the shopping environment has improved dramatically. The ground floor houses chain stores such as Tesco Metro, Iceland, WH Smith, Woolworths, Superdrug, Boots and Peacocks, whilst an eclectic mix of small stores and restaurants has made the first floor a really lively cultural centre. Also in the Shopping Centre is Palace Bingo and the Elephant & Castle Mega Bowl. A market operates outside the shopping centre.

After several years of dereliction the Coronet has been revived as a superclub, cinema and corporate hire venue.

Round the corner in Gaunt Street the Ministry of Sound continues to draw clubbers from across London and beyond.

The Elephant & Castle was once considered the “Piccadilly Circus of South London”, but these days it is a centre of student life, with London South Bank University and the London College of Communication (formerly London College of Printing) having campuses nearby. LCP has occasional exhibitions at the Eckersley Gallery. As a consequence the Elephant benefits from a Blackwell’s bookshop in London Road and the excellent Tlön Books secondhand shop in the shopping centre.

The whole area is set to be transformed as part of a much-delayed major regeneration initiative.

And another nifty fact to be known:

The Elephant is something of a traffic nightmare – official figures show that it is the fifth most dangerous road junction in London.

Be sure to look right when crossing the street. Too many international students walking around and forgetting which way to turn!