Shops don't usually encourage people to use their premises as a walk through, but Rebecca Sakulku seems pretty relaxed about it, so much so that she's thinking of renaming Roots & Cycles, the eco refillable household products store that she runs, as simply, The Walkthrough. The space is shared with artist and picture framer, Dylan Doodleman, and his mini gallery, Images Delmar, and is located down Haynes Lane between the 2 market yards.
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| Rebecca |
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| Dylan |
Rebecca had been working at a co-operative in Elephant & Castle, doing everything from bike mending to candle making, and it was while there that she met Cosmo Peterkin, who you may remember used to design and mend light fittings in the Walkthrough. She then came to Crystal Palace in 2018 and helped out in both Roots, and the Store Cupboard, before taking over the running of Roots. Aside from all sorts of locally sourced, organic and plastic free household goods, ranging from loo paper and scrubbing brushes, to handmade soap and scented candles, the USP of this business is bringing your own refillable container to stock up on washing detergent or shampoo. But as well as buying the finished product, you can buy the ingredients to make your own products. While Roots was the first store in the area, to my knowledge doing refills, there are now at least 2 more stores on the Triangle offering it, and it's great to see even supermarkets are moving in on this more sustainable way of selling. Rebecca is keen to expand, and so as to reach more people, is hoping to open a store on The Triangle itself. Today she launched a crowdfunder for the project, hoping to raise enough to set up in the Cambridge, the long empty pub. Wouldn't it be great to see life return to that particular corner? And the plan is to hold workshops and events, making it a real eco hub for Crystal Palace.
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| Tea light holders by local wood upcyclers, Crystal Pallets, who also built the shop's counter. |
Meanwhile, longtime Crystal Palace resident, Dylan, the picture framer who shares the space, has as he says, "worn many hats". He has worked in the Upper Norwood library, and for a time had a skateboard/guitar/art shop called The Doghouse, in Antenna Studios. He also paints amazing murals, mostly in schools, which for a while took him off to Madrid and Wroclaw.
Images Delmar, is a "mobile illustration, art and ephemera gallery", focusing mainly on European Science Fiction and Vintage British Comic Artwork Originals. And while the Walkthrough is his base, and also where he makes frames, he displays at markets around London like SoLastCentury, and FLEA at Flat Iron Square and Vinegar Yard.
Despite having travelled and lived in some wonderful European cities, Dylan is clearly proud of his local roots, and the "magic" and history and spirit of Crystal Palace, to which he has contributed.
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| You can't miss the door to the Walkthrough, it's just next to the terrifying T-Rex! |
