This is Shitty Gritty London. This is real life.
Here Big Ben is a drug dealer in Kilburn, the London Eye is a CCTV camera on a lamp post in Greenwich, and the Shard is found by the broken window of some Chicken Cottage in Lewisham.
Here the sky is grey and the streets are dirty.
Here people struggle. They struggle every fucking second of every fucking day. They travel miles to get to a job that doesn’t even pay half their rent. They pass toffs who turn their noses up at just about anything worth less than their fuck-off cars.
This is about what they think. This is about the shit they leave behind.
This is what you’ve seen but didn’t want to see.
Shitty Gritty London is a multifaceted portrait of the complicated and chaotic city of London. It explores the less desirable characters and props of the city, offering a glimpse into the reality of living here. This is a book for Londoners and non-Londoners alike; where Big Ben is the drug dealer on the corner of Shoot-up hill in Kilburn, the Shard is a broken window of a Chicken Cottage in Lewisham and the London eye is the CCTV camera on a Lamp post in Greenwich — this book summarises the city from a much more honest and real perspective than any traditional travel guide. It’s a warning.
(400-pages, 210 x 250 mm)
may 2022
THE STATE SCHOOL GATES / I notice the smell first. The smell of bad BO from a group of polyester-PE-kit-wearing boys. One’s carrying a football and the others follow behind on their bikes. They move like a pack, in a v-formation which makes the smell even worse. 3pm. School bell rings. Some kid runs towards his mother’s Range Rover Evoke, with a backpack bigger than his body. His red polo shirt is four sizes too big, grey trousers too long with mud dried to the hems. Must be a year 7. A tall girl, probably fourteen, stands by the gate. AirPods in, eyes fixated on the screen that’s glaring back into her round glasses. A group of similar aged girls walk past. 3:30. The Sixth Formers come out next, red lanyards swinging from their gangly necks, Red Bulls in hand, leaver arch folders in the other. They’re all talking about what motive they’re going to next. 4pm. Two kids left slumped by the gate. 4:04. Two Toyota Prius’ pull up, one for each. Rich kids.
