South London Lover: Suzanne Hemming
Suzanne Hemming has been a South London Lover for over two decades and has no plans to leave. Her latest venture is to write and self-publish children’s books which she hopes will inspire and empower all small people. She knows the area well so when she agreed to take part in the South London Lover series I was interested to see what gems she would dig up. Have a read and see!
- What brought you to South London? Do you think you will be staying?
I landed in South London quite by accident over 20 years ago. I moved down here from Sheffield which is where I went to uni. A friend said I could have his flat in Clapham Common while he was working away for 3 months. So that was that: I was a South Londoner!
I met my now husband Rich there, and we lived in Clapham for a couple of years, bought our first flat in Tooting Bec, then moved to East Dulwich over 15 years ago, and have been here ever since! And yes, we are most definitely here to stay!
2. What do you do with your days?
I’ve been a stay at home mum since I had my daughter. I had her later in life as it took a loooong time for her to come and join us, so being at home with her for a while was important to me, and I’m very fortunate that we’re able to work it that way.
From the age of 2 she’s been at nursery for 2 1/2 days a week, and on those days I cram in life admin, and I admit some self-care time.
I started blogging back in 2015 as therapy really, because being a mum can be really hard! I felt just baffled most days by how badly I thought I was doing as a mum, and one day a friend commented that our kids have an amazing ability to push our buttons in a way we never knew was possible, and Baffled & the Button-Pusher was born!
I also write rhyming children’s stories, and recently starting working with a wonderful illustrator, and in late Spring will be publishing my first book! I’m setting up the publishing company (Thea Chops Books) to enable me to do that, so days when my daughter’s at nursery are busy! On other days, we hang out with friends, and there are so many things to do where we live that we’re never bored!
3. What do you love about South London? What would you change?
Having lived in Clapham and Tooting Bec for 4 years, I was used to there being a tube every 2 minutes, and though it was of course on the misery line, in truth we could get all over London pretty quickly and easily. So moving to East Dulwich 15 years ago with a train only once every 20 minutes was quite the shock! And honestly it drove me mad for years! The number of nights after work that I stood around in London Bridge station having just missed a train. But y’know it’s not the worse problem to have is it?!
There are loads of buses that can get me to a whole host of tube or overground stops so it ain’t so bad!
What do I love about South London? I’ve never lived anywhere else in London to compare, but it feels like there’s such a sense of community here, and it’s full of fabulous green spaces, and amazing restaurants, shops and bars and interesting places to visit! I think we’re spoilt for choice when it comes to food and entertainment in this little corner of London.
4. Where is your favourite place to shop in South London for yourself?
I’m such an online shopper but I do love Mrs Robinson on Lordship Lane, for lifestyle inspo and fab gifts. And also because Mich who owns it is a wonderful women who makes me laugh out loud over a glass of wine!
5. Where is your favourite place to shop in South London for your daughter?
Again I’m such an online shopper for her, but we do have some really wonderful independent book stores nearby. And the shop at The Horniman is fab too.
6. Where is your favourite place in South London to go with your family?
I don’t think I could narrow this down to one favourite! We go to the Horniman Museum a lot as it’s so close, and is just such a great place for families (and I do love an aquarium!).
We love visiting the Southbank: there’s always so much happening there, and so many of the events are free: there was a great little urban beach there last summer.
My daughter loves getting on a Thames Clipper up to Greenwich — there’s a great play area in the Maritime Museum.
And the parks! The parks are great: Dulwich Park is really lovely and Brockwell Park’s sand and water play area is the best! And of course the Lido is great (and where my NCT crowd first celebrated Prosecco Tuesday. Why have another latte when you can have a glass of prosecco with lunch? I got chatting to a mum I met at baby swimming and she told me it was what her NCT group did, and I thought: Genius! I’m on it!).
Oh and before Christmas I finally discovered the Unicorn Theatre in London Bridge — we saw one of the best shows I’ve ever seen — for adults let alone for kids! We’ll back there a lot this year I’m sure.
7. Where is your favourite place in South London to head when you are “off duty”?
I’m such a film buff so I was jumping for joy when the Picturehouse finally opened. The food in there is great too, and a wonderful woman called Jem runs an arts and craft club there on a Saturday morning — my daughter adores her. And over the past few years there have been soooo many amazing places open up: Pedlar, Miss Tapas, Yama Momo, Banh Banh — we’re so spoilt.
Just before Christmas I had the best burger I think I’ve ever eaten at the pop up food feastival in Copeland Park. I still think about that burger now!
8. Describe your perfect South London day.
I’d start with a class of 80s Retro Workout at Push Studios: Kevin makes you laugh out loud and forget that you’re even exercising. Plus you get to work your vocal chords singing along to the best of 80s pop.
I’d grab a coffee and some brunch on Lordship Lane (maybe at Toasted or at the Picturehouse), then have a meander through the market on North Cross Road and around the shops (I’ve only recently discovered the Fresh Flower Workshop on Frogley Road — how gorgeous is it in there!).
We’d meet friends in the park for my daughter to go crazy in the playground (I can’t watch!), ride her scooter and climb the trees, and run in and out of ‘the deep dark wood’ searching for ‘the big bad mouse’!
Then we’d cuddle up at home under a blanket to watch a film together, and eat our way through a bag of that popcorn you can get in the market (it’s like crack I swear you can NOT stop eating it).
A perfect day would have to include a G&T, then maybe a bite to eat and a nice glass of wine with my hubby in, well, any of the places I’ve mentioned above — everywhere’s fantastic in this little patch of South London. I love it here.
You can find out more about Suzanne and her new venture, Thea Chops Books here:
Baffled and the Button Pusher Blog
