I’ve been to Marrakech relatively recently, (it was great thanks for asking) and hired a guide to take us around the souk. His name was Ben*, he was in his 70s and the tour guide nerd in me quietly applauded the subtle circularity of the walk, the slow delivery of gems the casual observer might miss and the built in quality toilet stops. It was a god tour after which went to the Secret Garden which, by virtue of being flagged up on every map is clearly no secret. Certainly no Park With No Name.**
It is a beautiful garden and the surrounding architecture gorgeous and reflective of the city’s history. So that’s where the daft idea came in. I wondered what it might be like to write a story using the idioms and, in some cases, the Moroccan Arabic (Darija) language itself but apply it to the wonderful Peabody Estate and Woods off Rosendale Road SE21. The woods and hill are IMHO truly a secret garden dividing the Edwardian built Peabody Estate with some newer developments towards Tulse Hill station. Only a quarter of the original ‘new town’ for 8.000 people were ever built but it is a wonderful walk of discovery to go through the estate and up to the woods beyond.
Describing all this through the voice of a Moroccan tour guide will almost certainly be beyond me but I did manage to get a section where he describes the fashionable Souk of nearby Brixton which, from when the estate was built to the 1950s, was one of the top four shopping areas of London with its Electric Avenues, markets and arcades. As an academic exercise it was also, in that situationist*** way, interesting to use a map of Marrakech to navigate SE21.
*Ben can found near the bus station by the best value cash point.
**Will feature in a future post but was, until recent revamping by Wandsworth Council, a space that didn’t show on Google (other online maps available) Maps.
***I’m possibly using situationist wrong in this context.
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