Artist and designer John Booth on the “understated cool” of New Cross

I first lived in New Cross when I was studying at Central Saint Martins, then lodging with an art teacher and her three cats. It was a pretty old school set-up, but I loved it. I’d moved from rural Cumbria and it became this home-from-home.

I moved back last year to help my boyfriend do up his flat and found I’ve still got this homely, nostalgic connection with the area.

There’s a bit of rough and readiness, but it’s quite relaxed and green once you scratch beneath the surface and get off the main strip. It’s got this sense of understated cool. A lack of preciousness.

La Placita Mall is a hidden treasure right on the main road. It’s a Latin American food hall, with lots of different cuisines from that part of the world. There’s music blasting out of each of these mini restaurants and you’re sat in the middle of it all. It sounds stressful but it’s actually really fun — especially the more drunk you get.

We’ve also got two amazing Chinese restaurants in New Cross, which is a bit contentious. Hong Kong City has a great atmosphere, it’s really fun, but Uncle Wrinkle is just phenomenal. I get the pork belly wrapped in lettuce.

I spend a lot of time in the Earl of Derby pub, and Skehan’s towards Nunhead, which does really nice Thai food. I wouldn’t go to Telegraph Hill without going to Skehan’s.

I’ve recently got back into running, so I’ll run over to Peckham Rye Park via all the pretty backstreets between New Cross and Nunhead. I’m usually knackered by the time I get there.

Peckham Rye Park is both my “midweek early morning run” and “leisurely Sunday hangover walk” place.

I also love Telegraph Hill Park, with its amazing view across London, and Nunhead Cemetery, which is pretty wild and atmospheric. Even the Dulwich parks feel totally walkable from where I live. It’s quite a residential spot, so I don’t have to battle with tons of people or traffic to access green space.

I can definitely vouch for the two exhibitions that are currently on at Goldsmiths CCA: Matt Connors and Mark Corfield-Moore. It’s a beautiful gallery, and I think they’re getting better at promoting it.

Avalon Cafe towards Surrey Quays is a really cute venue for music and events, which feels totally non-glossy or commercial. It’s a bit underground. And I always have a good time at Venue MOT, which is in a warehouse nearby. It feels like going back 20 years — there’s about two toilets in the whole place.

Ormside Projects is another good one. On fireworks night last year we saw a one-man light show with robots.

We obviously end up going to the big Sainsbury’s all the time, but I’ll tend to wander over to Nunhead for the butcher and fishmonger.

On Saturdays there’s a dinky farmers’ market in Telegraph Hill Park that’s good for meat, cheese and other farm produce. It’s the opposite of something like Borough Market, which can end up being absolute hell — you sit and have a coffee, buy your cheese and go home.

It’s so well-connected with buses and trains that you don’t miss the fact that you’re not on the Underground. My closest station is New Cross Gate, but I’ve been going to Queen’s Road Peckham because it’s quieter and the walk over is nicer. I still go to my studio in east London every day.

The 172 is the hero of all buses. As a student I’d get the 172 to Charing Cross Road and even now when I see it, it’s like a comforting presence.

Pepys Road, overlooking Telegraph Hill Park. I would love that.

There’s a real balance of beauty and functionality here. I love walking past the Victorian fire station on Queen’s Road, which is still in use.

We get pockets of bad traffic, but that’s because it’s a handy thoroughfare. It doesn’t bother me at all.

John Booth has designed a rug for Floor Story’s 10th anniversary and will present Up in Smoke, with Mat Barnes, for Now Gallery’s 2024 Design Commission from June 21 (john-booth.com)

Both rated “Good” by Ofsted, Childeric Primary School and St James’s Hatcham Church of England Primary School are a pair of primaries in the heart of New Cross. Deptford Green School, Addey and Stanhope School and Haberdashers’ Hatcham College are the main secondaries.

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