The Deptford Dame

The Caird Library at the National Maritime Museum

2012-01-25T18:08:00.002Z

Last weekend I was lucky enough to be invited to a 'bloggers preview' of the new Caird Library at the National Maritime Museum.

There's nothing I like more than the chance to browse through archive books or read old journals so I jumped at the opportunity to spend a couple of hours snooping round the NMM's library.

The visit gave me chance to try out the new entrance to the museum through the Sammy Ofer Wing - past the huge cafe which looks out onto the obligatory (but extremely tasteful) water feature and to the park beyond. It's a much more pleasant route into the museum, and eliminates the need to dodge the traffic on Trafalgar Road, but does rather lack the grandeur of the northern entrance.

The library is due to open fully from next Monday - it opened its doors a couple of weeks ago but for limited hours to enable the staff to get used to the new archive retrieval system and not be totally overwhelmed by requests. Apparently if the item is on the Greenwich site, they can now have it available for study in a maximum of 40 minutes of it being ordered, which sounds pretty efficient to me.

They were kind enough to dig out a few old maps of the King's Yard in Deptford for us to have a look at, as well as some of the other treasures that they keep nicely filed in their new environment-controlled purpose-built stores upstairs from the reading room.

Anyone can use the library - you simply have to register on the Aeon system here and then bring ID into the library to get your readers card, which will be valid for three years. Apparently the National Maritime Museum is the first place in the UK to use the US-developed Aeon system, through which archive requests are also made.

The library holds about a million ship plans in its archive in Woolwich, which are slowly being digitised in exquisite detail - some 4,000 are currently digitised and can be viewed on the ship plan viewer at the library which calls up the plans and allows close examination of the documents by zooming, panning and so on.

If you want to get copies of material to take away for research, I'm delighted to announce that photocopiers are obsolete as far as the Caird Library is concerned. Not only is it difficult to manhandle large bound manuscripts onto a photocopier without causing physical damage to them, the heat and light of the copying process is also very damaging to such fragile items. The library has a special book scanner that can copy the pages you want and either print them or put the files onto your USB stick.

Even without having any specific research to carry out, I'd be quite happy browsing the shelves of books in the reading room for hours at a time. This book that I picked off the shelf was fascinating with its photos of the British coastline in the late 1890s.

Bathing machines on Margate beach:

Thankfull Sturdee photos at the Deptford Lounge

2012-01-20T22:41:00.008Z

An exhibition of photographs from the Thankfull Sturdee Collection is now on display at the new Deptford Lounge. Apparently they are in Room 1, ask the staff if you can't find it. The pictures were intended to be up for just a week, but now be on show until the first week in March, in response to feedback from readers of this blog!
Copies of the photos have also been uploaded onto the Lewisham Heritage Picasa site here.

Attwood's toy shop on Evelyn Street

Thankfull Sturdee was born in 1852 at 209 Evelyn Street; in 1883 he married Catherine Sarah Bland, and at the time was living at 27 Albyn Road, St John's. By 1903 they had moved to 16 Bolden Street, not far from Albyn Road, but in 1910 they were in Brockley, London SE4, where they lived until Sturdee's death in 1934.

Deptford Broadway looking west - not a great deal different from today, except for the traffic!

In 1911 he joined the Daily Mirror as a press photographer. He was a keen photographer and local historian, and he recorded Deptford’s history in images. His negatives and two series of prints with his own notes were donated to Deptford Borough Library not long before he died. These are now held by Lewisham Local History and Archives Centre.

The Lewisham Heritage Picasa account also has quite a collection of other archive images, grouped either by area of Lewisham (New Cross, Brockley, Catford etc) or by subject matter such as 'Lewisham at war', or 'Shops & shopping', where I found this classic image of 119 Deptford High Street.

And if anyone knows whereabouts in Deptford Peter Pan's Pool used to be, please leave a comment!
Thanks to my commenters who pointed out that Peter Pan's Pool was actually in Downham, not Deptford (as the caption in the archive states!) and still endures outside the Homebase store.

New sewing & knitting group in Catford

2012-01-20T11:48:00.001Z

(Like the crochet star bunting? Find out how to crochet your own stars here)

Being a bit of a crafter myself, I'm happy to announce that a new sewing and knitting group has been set up in Catford South and has its first meeting next Saturday 28 January.

Although it's not particularly local to Deptford, I'm sure I have readers in other parts of the borough who might be interested, and it's probably also worth the schlep if you want to ask advice about a project or get some help from other crafters.

The group is free to attend, and meets every Saturday except the third of the month. It's not a teaching group, it's intended as an informal 'drop-in' for people who already know how to pattern cut, sew, knit, crochet or embroider and are confident in completing projects on their own.

However in my experience, wherever crafters gather in number there's always a willingness to help out, offer advice or explain something that's not clear or obvious.

The group will meet from 11am - 5.30pm (6pm final close) in the Youth Room at St Laurence Hall, Bromley Road.

For more information send an email to catfordsewing@yahoo.com and you will get an autoresponse email containing full details.

Betfred - the final push?

2012-01-18T19:27:00.003Z

It's fairly likely that you are now bored of reading about Betfred's attempt to open a new betting shop on the high street; to be honest, I am bored of writing about it. But I'm not going to stop.

Deptford High Street is seemingly irresistible to bookmakers; we already have seven betting shops on this street and three others within a few minutes' walk; Betfred must be gutted it's not getting a slice of the action and will do whatever it can to get the former Halifax premises opened as a bookmakers. Once the fixed-odds betting terminals are up and running, they'll be coining it in just like Paddy Power, Ladbrokes, William Hill (x2), Betterbet, Coral and McDonnells.

With its initial planning application for change of use turned down first by the council, and then on appeal by the Planning Inspectorate, Betfred proceeded to submit a second planning application which was again turned down by the council.

Naturally Betfred also appealed against this decision, and the Planning Inspectorate is now considering the case for a second time.

I am objecting to this application because I feel we already have more than enough betting shops; not only does it reduce the diversity of the businesses on the high street, but this clustering encourages anti-social behaviour, street drinking and fights in a small, concentrated area, putting people off using the street at night and making them fear for their personal safety.

If you objected to the original application, you will have been sent details of the appeal, which the inspectorate intends to deal with 'by an exchange of written statements'. Now is the time - and your last chance - to reinforce or add to your original objection, if appropriate.

Details of the written appeals procedure can be found here and more information about the process here.

If you have not already objected, you can still make a representation to the inspector by writing in triplicate to:

Ms Vicky Williams
The Planning Inspectorate
3/14 Eagle Wing
Temple Quay House
2 The Square
Temple Quay
Bristol BS1 6PN

The deadline for objections is 17 February 2012 and you should quote reference APP/C5690/A/11/2168006/NWF.

You can also comment online here by scrolling down to the bottom and clicking on 'comment on this case' (with thanks to the Blackheath Bugle for making me aware of this).

Be aware that any comments you submit will be made available to all parties, including the appellant (Done Brothers/aka Betfred).

Please pass this on to as many people as you can and urge their support; it will make a huge difference if the inspector gets an indication of the strength of feeling of the local community and will only take a few minutes of your time.

Deptford High Street wins funding

2012-01-18T17:19:00.001Z

Thanks to Brockley Central for tipping us off to the fact that Lewisham Council's bid for part of the Mayor of London's Outer London Fund has been successful.

While I'm rather surprised to find myself in outer London all of a sudden, I'll happily accept the £2.2 million towards Deptford's 're-invigoration' thank you very much. Both Catford and Nunhead also won funding for street improvements and regeneration work.

Since I couldn't find any info on the council's website about the bid (or else it's buried somewhere silly) I will have to cut and paste shamelessly from Brockley Central, which has a mole in the Mayor's office.

Deptford High Street will benefit from an investment of over £2.2 million in order to re-invigorate the area. Specific activities include a market apprenticeship starter initiative and a market stall and forecourt appearance improvement project. The funding will also support the creation of a new public space at the southern end of the High Street. Other activities include a waste initiative, improved parking provisions and a feasibility study for Hamilton Street Car Park, and the Deptford Moving Art Scheme.

I'm not sure what 'improved parking provisions' we need (unless it means they are finally going to replace the trees and cheap street furniture that has already been wrecked on Frankham Street's 'parking boulevard') and have no idea what the Deptford Moving Art Scheme is, but I'm guess it will all become clear when the council decides to spill the beans.

Giffin Square/104 Deptford High Street

2012-01-13T23:33:00.001Z

With the Deptford Lounge and Tidemill School now open, anticipation is high for the completion of the public realm works in Giffin Square. As we await the final paving blocks being laid and the seating being installed, we look forward to enjoying this new landscape in its final form.

But it seems these expectations are premature, with a new development about to begin construction on the north side of the square, bringing further disruption and mess to our newly-pristine square. Unfortunately, should the planning application that is currently being considered be approved, it will also create an uninspiring, mean and ugly facade to what should be one of the most impressive public spaces in Deptford.

The site of this development - a three-storey block with retail/restaurant units at ground level and one-bedroom and studio flats above - is the land at the back of the Deptford Seafood Centre at number 104 on the high street.

In theory I support the development of this site - having additional retail units on Giffin Square will potentially increase footfall on the square and along with the Deptford Lounge will give it a bit more life. Having residential units overlooking the square will also improve security for those using it at night, by however small an amount.

Brown and Pletts, the architect commissioned for the initial design, made a pretty good job of creating something interesting and lively on what's a rather difficult site.

Some thought did go into this design, as you can see from the original planning application here. The potential loss of light for the gardens of the adjacent high street properties (even though they are currently unused) was partially addressed by including a gap between the two main buildings to allow light to penetrate and reduce the impact somewhat.

Windows on the rear of the building, which potentially overlook adjoining gardens and properties, were designed as narrow slots with frosted glass, to allow light into the flats but prevent overlooking and loss of privacy for neighbours. And with the main windows of the flats on a south-facing wall, consideration was given to the potential problem of solar gain. To minimise the problem for residents, balconies were designed to be inset, with wooden louvre screens for shading.

The rendering above shows a visually-interesting facade with different sized windows, louvred screens and recessed balconies. The height of the block fits nicely to the lower roof line of the existing building on the right - now part of Tidemill School.

In fact the initial planning application, which was made in 2008, was turned down by Lewisham Council on the grounds that they considered it represented over-development of the site, that it would harm the mature tree in Giffin Square, and that it would overshadow and enclose the rear gardens in the neighbouring properties.

But on appeal, permission was granted by the planning inspectorate. The inspector said that although the building would have an impact on the neighbouring properties, it would not be unacceptable, and the development would serve a wider public benefit in terms of improving Giffin Square. The design would be 'interesting, pleasing and ambitious', and 'would add to the vibrancy, character and visual qualities of this locality' the inspector said. 'The choice of materials, colour and fenestration would add visual excitement and I believe a local landmark, albeit of relatively modest scale in the wider scene, would be created'.

Had the developer then gone ahead and built the scheme as proposed, you might well not be reading this.

Unfortunately the developer decided to employ a different (dare I suggest cheaper?) architectural practice to 'value engineer' (translated as 'save money on') the original design, with a new planning application now submitted for the details of the development.

Out went the range of different windows, recessed balconies and wooden louvres, to be replaced by two rows of regimented, bog-standard aluminium-framed french windows with those ugly and pointless 'Juliet' balconies slapped on top of them like lipstick on a gorilla.

Just in case you can't imagine what this would look like, the architect has helpfully (surely not proudly?) include a picture in the application as an example. See, I told you it was vile.

In such a prominent location - and next to Deptford's most high-profile public building/new development - the council must surely insist on high quality detailing and finishes? With so much public money having been spent on building Tidemill School and the Deptford Lounge, and on improving the public realm in Giffin Square, high design standards must be maintained for this and future developments.

If you feel the same way, please do write to the planning department to tell them; quote application DC/11/78353/X and send it to planning@lewisham.gov.uk as soon as you can.

Open studio at the Stephen Lawrence Centre

2012-01-13T11:04:00.001Z

Every Friday from now until the end of May, the Stephen Lawrence Centre in Brookmill Road is holding an 'open studio' morning from 10am to 1pm.

The free initiative for adults over 25 is intended to offer an introduction to painting, drawing or ceramics, as well as some digital art work.

Different artists and tutors will be working with the group throughout the programme, as well as an art facilitator who will be with the group every week. Work produced during these sessions will be exhibited at the centre in May.

The group is kept to a maximum of 15 people, to ensure that everyone gets the right amount of help; support workers are also able to attend with group members as necessary. To book a place or enquire about the sessions, contact the centre's creative programme manager Hana Smeeth (HanaSmeeth at stephenlawrence dot org dot uk).

However the centre is struggling to survive financially; Doreen Lawrence this week admitted that the financial hardship it was enduring had now become acute. Despite the high profile of her son's name - in particular in recent weeks with two of his killers being finally brought to justice - it was becoming increasingly difficult for the charity to attract sufficient funding to continue its work.

Deptford Green School takes shape

2012-01-11T19:30:00.001Z

Deptford Green School is set to move into its new building at the start of the new school year in September.

Unless you live in that direction it's unlikely you'll pass it, so I've taken a few photographs to show latest progress. Work started back in 2010, here's my post about the contract signing.

The main building is nothing to get excited about - it's a PFI school after all, so they don't spend a hell of a lot on design - but it's not a bad effort. I like the fact that the windows are not all the same size and in a regimented pattern, and the size of them suggest that it will be nice and light inside the building itself.

The design effort has naturally gone into the main entrance area, where the structure bulges out with an organic flourish and a wood cladding with raised pattern has been applied. A nice contrast to the rest of the block, although I hope they intend to paint the concrete columns, which have a very poor finish at the moment. Let's also hope that the wood cladding is good quality and that detailing has been carefully considered so we don't get patchy ageing of the wood.

I was a bit puzzled by the 'unfinished' bits of the facade that looks over Fordham Park, but looking at the renderings it seems that they are destined to be coloured panels, so there will be a bit of visual interest from this side too.

The Takeaway Shop

2012-01-11T19:02:00.001Z

No, I'm not talking about one of Deptford's many fried chicken takeaways; the Takeaway Shop is a project by Amy Lord which is running from 20-27 January at Number 82, the gallery at the bottom of Tanner's Hill.

Here's what she says about it:

What do you know about where you’re living, where you wake up every morning?   Archives are often unruly, dusty masses of paperwork and words locked away to keep them safe. What if you learn about the most interesting bits straight away? And more importantly, be able to TAKE them AWAY with you?  

This will be a place for people to drop in and learn craft activities including book-binding and paper-making, and to collect real stories about the lives of the local residents, families and the history of the area. It will be a place to meet.   People that come into the shop will learn how to create individual handmade books and be able to cut, paste and assemble their favourite bits of text, pictures, true stories, people and textures, to create THEIR own mini TAKE-AWAY archive.  

I think it’s important to know the area you live in, it’s history, what came before it, and who lives here now. It’s the context in which you are positioning yourself, and your life.  

82 Tanner’s Hill, Deptford SE8 4PN 
http://www.amy-lord.com/the-takeaway-shop/

20th – 27th January 2012  
(Closed 24th)
10:30am – 6:30pm weekdays, 12 – 5pm Sat & Sun

 Late night Friday 27th January as part of South London Art Map tour (until 8pm)   
PLEASE EMAIL TO BOOK A SLOT [amy-lord at hotmail dot com]

Deptford Lounge review

2012-01-08T10:18:00.003Z

With the new library in the Deptford Lounge having been open just four days, I've already clocked up two visits, two coffees, a couple of biscuits, four books and a tour of the building.

You could say I'm pretty sold on it.

Now steady on, I still have massive reservations about that bloody cladding and how it will age, but the great thing about being in the library is that a) the cladding doesn't come down that far so the frame which supports it is not visible at the ground floor and b) the huge ground floor library is a rather nice space!

So what is it for? as someone plaintively tweeted the other day? Lounging, that's what! Reading, surfing the internet, meeting friends, checking out the papers, drinking coffee, working on your laptop, entertaining your kids...etc etc.

With the lounge planned to open from 7am, seven days a week, and until 10pm every weekday, I am very excited at the prospect that this facility could bring some life back to the high street. It's not a bar or restaurant where you have to spend money in order to hang out, it is free and open to all.

At the front of the library, which extends the full length of the ground floor, are a few comfy chairs and small sofas with little coffee tables, and a dozen or so tables and chairs for eating/reading at. A small cafe counter (which sadly is only open during the day at the moment) is tucked into the side of the space, serving hot and cold drinks (a good quality coffee I can confirm) biscuits and cakes, as well as sandwiches and salads which looked rather tasty.

There is a large childrens library at the back of the room, which was running alive with boisterous youngsters when I visited on Saturday because of an event, but deserted when I was there on Thursday evening.

In between the cafe area and the childrens library are shelves of shiny new books - fiction and non-fiction, DVDs, CDs (aside from one Tinchy Stryder CD most of the music did seem to have been chosen by someone of my age or older :-/) audio books, graphic novels and so on. Tables and chairs for studying are dotted in between, with a few study booths sectioned off at the back of the adults library. Pick your time carefully if you are coming here to study; it's right next to the childrens' library and might not offer suitable conditions on weekends!

There's a large computer suite off to the rear side of the library, with 20 or so computers (including half a dozen Apple Macs - yay!) which are available for booking via the computer terminal in the main room.

Lots of activities are planned - storytelling and reading sessions for children, a reading group (starting 7 February) advice for the over-60s, computer skills for adults, job search advice and even world cinema screenings on Thursday nights. I'd like to see more adult education classes too, given that the building has numerous meeting rooms which would be ideal for this. Clearly the council's current programme was set up before the opening date of the Lounge was finalised, but it would be great to see more classes being held here next year.

More tables and chairs may be necessary for the cafe area of the library if it is to succeed - as people start to discover the place I can imagine the cafe getting quite busy and the limited seating might restrict its success.

Upstairs are meeting rooms, a 'jamming suite' (I believe that's music not preserves), a large hall which overlooks the square, and of course a ball court on the roof.

If you want to have a look around, tours of the building are available 11am Tuesdays
6pm Thursdays and 2pm Sundays - contact the Deptford Lounge direct to book.

Phone 0208 314 7264/65
Facebook

Please feel free to add your comments and feedback below!

Deptford Lounge opens to the public

2012-01-04T21:28:00.002Z

Sadly I had to be in the office today, but I sent my spy out to have a look around the new Deptford Lounge, which opened this morning.

Here's a few photographs of the ground floor to whet your appetite, I will attempt to bring you a more comprehensive report in the next few days. Meanwhile Sue over on Crosswhatfields had a more thorough snoop around, she has posted a report which also includes information about room hire rates.

Photos courtesy TCoM

I certainly like the sound of the opening hours, which hopefully will bring a bit of evening life to Deptford High Street in the evening and on Sundays.

The Lounge is open every day except bank holidays and for the opening week they have a special offer of tea/coffee for £1 a cup.

Monday-Friday 7am-10pm
Saturday & Sunday 7am-7pm

They have a Facebook page here.

Greenwich pier redevelopment

2011-12-26T20:24:00.002Z

With all the shenanigans and rebuilding going on along the Greenwich waterfront I usually avoid it like the plague. Last time I was there I was nearly run over by a man reversing a large digger across the public footpath without a banksman, right in front of a big sign that said 'No reversing without a banksman'.

But Christmas eve seemed like a good time to nip through on the Thames path and catch up with what was happening.

Here's some photos of what I found on the waterfront of our local World Heritage Site - the purpose of the structure being a new ticket office, and restaurant units to house Zizzi, Nando's and Byron chain restaurants (ie pizzas, chicken and burgers - albeit with great views).

Aghast at the thought that Greenwich Council had approved the designs for such deeply mediocre structures so close to the Cutty Sark and the Royal Naval College, I sought out the planning application. It was difficult to establish the details since none of the documents relating to the original application were available on the website, but the images shown below were sourced from the website of the original architect.

Here's the blurb, also from the architect's website:

On the embarkation pier in Greenwich, Conran & Partners are creating three new timber, glass and copper pavilions. The central pavilion forms a new ticketing kiosk and glass roofed waiting space for boat users, and the two outer pavilions contain restaurants and a café. A public roof terrace on each gives outdoor dining space and a new vantage point for the Cutty Sark away from the bustle of tourist traffic.

It remains to be seen whether the addition of the architectural fins/sunshades shown on the rendering will actually materialise - and if it does, whether it will improve the buildings by an acceptable degree. One thing that is already clear is that the 'copper' cladding intended to be used on these 'pavilions' is not being applied - the gold coloured cladding (you can see it on the top right of the building in the first photo) is more akin to the material that graces the Deptford Lounge.

I sincerely hope that the facade we are currently seeing is not a 'value engineered' version of the original design - in such a prominent location it would surely be aesthetic suicide? Even the architect's renderings do not fill me with enthusiasm - it does look rather like a missed opportunity to create something stunning at this World Heritage site.

Update: I took this photo of the rendering on the hoardings when I passed the site the other day. As you can see it is very different to the original - gone is the copper cladding and the 'fins' have been cut back to little more than raised ribs around the outside of the building. Again I can't find any details of the changes on the Greenwich Council planning website.

Betfred application turned down for a second time

2011-12-23T11:15:00.000Z

While it's by no means the end of the saga, it's good to get news just before Christmas that Betfred's second application to open a betting shop on Deptford High Street has been turned down by Lewisham Council.

The previous application to open a betting shop in the former Halifax bank property was turned down earlier this year, after the planning inspectorate ruled that the change of use was allowed, but specifically excluded betting shops from this reclassification.

Betfred since submitted another application for change of use to allow a betting shop, arguing that the inspector's decision was unfair. With the application refused by the council, they will no doubt appeal again, so watch this space.

Wavelengths customer forum

2011-12-12T13:10:00.002Z

Since Fusion Lifestyle took over the management of Deptford's Wavelengths leisure centre I've noticed some creeping improvements (improved cleanliness) and some things that are still the same (those damned cold showers in the fitness pool).

However even with the ongoing problems I've noticed attempts being made to investigate and hopefully solve the issues, which is a good sign as far as I'm concerned.

If you want to find out more, the new manager of the centre is holding a customer forum next Wednesday evening between about 6pm and 8pm. Apparently this is planned to be a regular event which will be repeated once a month or so, at different times of day and on different days, to give as many customers as possible the opportunity to raise issues and ask questions.

I understand that work on the showers is under way right now and hopefully some time soon we'll no longer have to trek to the leisure pool for a hot shower, or shiver as we wash our hair. Plans for the relocated and expanded gym are afoot, with dance studio and additional class space, and Fusion is also putting forward proposals to rip out the famous 'health suite' and replace it with new facilities.

Creekside conservation area proposals

2011-12-11T13:08:00.000Z

Lewisham Council has now made more information available online about its proposals to create a new conservation area covering Creekside and the Crossfields estate.

The character appraisal document is certainly worth a read if you have any interest in the history of Deptford, there's quite a lot of research gone into this and it explains some of the history of Deptford Creek and its many wharves, as well as the development of the Crossfields estate which is considered a fine example of London County Council's early social housing estates and marks the start of the redevelopment of inner city slum areas.

The council is holding a public consultation event next year at the Creekside Centre, on 7 January 2012 from 11am-3pm if you want to find out more about the implications this move would have for the area.

There's also an online survey with about four questions with yes/no answer options which are fine for those of you whose responses are cut and dried. If you want to contribute something a bit more useful there's also a box at the end for any other comments, or of course you can write direct to the planning conservation office, the contact details for which are on the council's website.

Naturally the creation of a conservation area should in theory offer protection against the loss of Creekside's unique character - although some commenters have already raised the issue of lack of enforcement on our other main conservation area, Deptford High Street.

On the High Street we are seeing a creeping erosion of the characteristics that make it worthy of protection, and enforcement by the council seems to be sorely lacking. Landlords are ripping out old windows and shopfronts with impunity, whacking in their replacement frames and solid security shutters without even bothering to wait for planning permission to be granted. And when planning applications are rejected, as in the case of Paddy Power's alterations to the former Deptford Arms, the council does not seem to be willing or able to enforce its own decisions.

With proposed changes afoot, such as Workspace's plans for the Faircharm Estate and rumours that Railtrack wants to replace our landmark lifting bridge (which no longer lifts but still acts as a landmark) it is unsurprising that the council is looking at ways to protect Creekside.

However the existence of the Creekside 'village' development and the fact that the other side of the Creek is in Greenwich borough does raise several questions such as: is it too little too late? and what (if any) implications would it have for plans by Greenwich to redevelop the other side of the Creek?

Bugs and bats

2011-12-09T17:09:00.001Z

Can't tell your ladybirds from your shield bugs? Got a keen interest in bats (whether in your belfry or elsewhere)? Want to know more about local wildlife?

In which case you're in luck; Lewisham's ecological regeneration manager, Nick Pond, is seeking keen naturalists who would like to get some free ecological training next spring/summer 2012.

He is currently managing a funded project called Rivers & People (which I wrote about earlier this year in relation to some of the events here) and wants to gauge local interest in training in survey techniques.

If there is enough interest to make the project viable, he wants to train naturalists in survey techniques so that the borough can encourage a trained body of volunteers to collect ecological species data and generate more complete records of protected species for Lewisham and its environs.

The training for the funding will come from a Big Lottery grant called Access to Nature, and it will take place in a number of locations in the borough. These are likely to be the Creekside Centre in Deptford), Devonshire Road Nature Reserve SE23 and possibly at the Horniman Museum and/or at LWT Wildlife Garden Centre in Southwark.

For more info contact Nick.Pond@lewisham.gov.uk or call 0208 314 2007.

You might also be interested to know that Lewisham has a new blog for all things nature-conservation-related - you can find it here.

Creekside consultations

2011-12-06T20:37:00.000Z

Consultation on two major schemes/proposals which could have a dramatic effect on the Creekside area are due to take place/start this week.

The first relates to plans to redevelop the Faircharm estate, which I have written about previously, while the second comes from Lewisham Council and is a proposal to create a new designated conservation area on Creekside.

Faircharm owner Workspace is holding an onsite drop-in session tomorrow afternoon and evening to consult over its redevelopment plans, while the council is about to launch its public consultation process for the Creekside conservation area.

Crosswhatfields has more details of both of these here.

Evelyn Assembly 14 December

2011-12-06T20:25:00.001Z

Those with an interest in/passion for matters of planning and regeneration will surely be interested in the upcoming Evelyn Assembly which is taking place next Wednesday 14th December.

Lewisham Council's head of planning, John Miller, will be talking about regeneration in Deptford, followed by a presentation by local campaigners Deptford is... offering an alternative vision for the Convoys Wharf redevelopment.

Considering the amount of redevelopment taking place in Deptford right now, I reckon Mr Miller could have his work cut out keeping within the timings of the event (7-8.30pm) although the programme does say that "he will provide a presentation which shows the various application schemes, environmental improvements and works in Deptford High Street. There will also be an opportunity to see the proposed plans for the Convoys Wharf development, including drawings of what the site might look like and information about timescales and planning permission processes.
There will be an opportunity to discuss the development during table discussions as well as a chance for questions and answers during the feedback session."

It looks like a good opportunity to find out exactly what's going on in the town centre and immediate surrounds, as well as a chance to ask any questions you might have. The alternative proposals for Convoys Wharf are currently gaining a great deal of momentum, so it is a good chance to find out what's being proposed.

And if none of that appeals, hell you might want to attend just for the opportunity to catch a glimpse of one of those elusive Evelyn Ward councillors...!

2000 Community Action Centre
199-201 Grove St
London
SE8 3PG

Wednesday 14 December 2011
7.00pm – 8.30pm

Registration from 6.30pm;
free refreshments

Deptford soil at Utrophia

2011-12-06T20:05:00.000Z

Utrophia's next show ‘Deptford Soil’ is an exhibition of work by local artists affiliated with the McMillan Herb Garden, a non-profit organisation which runs creative workshops for young people in the Deptford area.

This exhibition celebrates different aspects of Deptford culture and illustrates the personal creative processes born from residing in SE8. Exhibits are not confined to reflecting the physical nature of the area, or the people who inhabit it, but also explore individual responses to the greater world community through art, music and design.

Artists:
Mick Bonfield, Carolyn Moon, Michael Tudor, Merlin Hayward, Richard Walker, Gordon Furn, Dave Aylward, Fred Aylward, Joy Bonfield Colombara, Dave Eyre, Diane Jones, Mark Moynihan, The Green Rebels

A series of events accompany the exhibition, to ease you gently (or perhaps not so gently) into the christmas spirit.

Saturday 10th December 7pm - prompt
Home Grown Film Night presents
Hide and seek (1972)
Deptford's 'Jack in the Green' (2006-2011)
'Gone house ghost house 117 elegies' (2005)
A split screen with live sound track from Rabbit.

Sunday 11th December 5-7pm
Drumtrophia

Wednesday 14th December 6-9pm
Mid View
Music from The Missing Puddings and The Conformists
Compere Joe Bazouki

Saturday 24th December
End of the Road 12-4pm
Music TBC

Cockpit Arts, Faircharm Christmas Fair and 'Gifted' weekend!

2011-11-30T22:52:00.001Z

This weekend sees a flurry of opportunities to shop local, with Cockpit Arts holding its regular pre-christmas open studios, and the second Faircharm Christmas Fair taking place at the same time.

Faircharm Christmas Fair

I always enjoy the Cockpit Arts open studios, and last year I was impressed by the Faircharm fair too, which is no doubt why my unusually cheerful quote has been used in the press release! (I've left it out to spare my blushes...)

A wide network of artists and designer-makers will be showcasing their work on 3rd and 4th December at Faircharm Christmas Fair. This event provides local artists and designers with a platform to exhibit and sell their work in Deptford. Members of the public are invited to explore working studios at Creekside Artists as part of their annual December Open Studio event. Visitors will also have the opportunity to browse and buy furnishings, fine art, fashion and jewellery direct from local artists and artisans such as Katie New, Kaori Homma, Ruth Solomons, HB Jewellery and London Kills Me.

Masons Catering, whose pop-up café was a particular hit at last year’s Christmas Fair, have now established a more permanent base within Faircharm. The cosy Creekside Café will host an exhibition of work by Creekside Artists and plans to serve seasonal treats throughout the Open Studio weekend, alongside their regular menu of Fairtrade tea, homemade soups, sandwiches, cakes and tasty coffee.

Faircharm Studios, Creekside, Deptford, London SE8 3DX

12-6pm Saturday 3rd December
12-6pm Sunday 4th December

FREE ADMISSION
http://www.creeksideartists.co.uk/
http://www.facebook.com/events/214675268605791/

Cockpit Arts

Our Deptford Open Studios (2-4 December) are part of GIFTED a weekend of art & design in Deptford.

60+ talented designers lovingly make very cool fashion accessories, jewellery, homeware and so much more. Each piece has a story to be told and visitors have a joyous time doing their Christmas shop. Come on in and see behind the scenes…

Christmas Attractions include:
- Heal’s Christmas Picks – gorgeous gift ideas
- Paper-cut Stories – workshops for kids by Sian Zeng
- Prize Draw – win a set of bespoke tree decorations by makers
- Mulled wine and organic winter pies by Hand Made Food

Deptford: 2-4 December
18-22 Creekside, London, SE8 3DZ
Fri 2 December (11am-9pm) and Sat 3 – Sun 4 December (11am – 6pm)

Gifted

These events are both part of the South London Art Map's Gifted; a weekend of contemporary art & design in Deptford which is billed as:

An eclectic mix of art design featuring work by over 200 emerging artists and designer-makers, over two days, all in one postcode.

Find out more here.

Lewisham Council consults on Thames Tunnel proposals

2011-11-25T16:38:00.002Z

Hot on the heels of Thames Tunnel's own consultation process, Lewisham Council has announced its intention to hold two public meetings to gather comments on the proposals.

Planning permission for sites within the council's boundaries will not be decided by the usual methods, since the Thames Tunnel is considered as a nationally-significant piece of infrastructure. However the council will be making an official response to the proposals, and wants input from those people who will be affected by the plans.

Deptford's Crossfields Street site is not the only one in Lewisham - a second site at the northwestern extreme of the borough - Earl Pumping Station on Yeoman Street - is also being proposed.

Dates for the consultation are as follows:

Wed 7 December from 7pm; 2000 Community Action Centre, 199-201 Grove Street, Deptford SE8 3PG

Tues 13 December from 7pm; Salvation Army Hall, Mary Ann Gardens, Deptford SE8 3DP

Comments about either of the schemes can be made at any of the two events, although the one at Mary Ann Gardens is intended to focus on the Crossfields St site.

If you can't make it to the meetings, you can send your comments direct by emailing planning.policy@lewisham.gov.uk or writing to Planning Policy, Planning Service, London Borough of Lewisham, Laurence House, 1 Catford Road, London SE6 4RU.

You can also comment online using the consultation process:
http://lewisham-consult.objective.co.uk/portal/regeneration/pl/thamestunnel

Closing date for comments is 19 December 2011.

Happy Mondays at the Amersham Arms

2011-11-25T16:12:00.001Z

Jon has written to alert me to the fact that there are only two Happy Mondays left before the end of the year.

He and Holly Walsh are responsible for organising the stand-up comedy nights at the Amersham Arms, tickets for which are a bargainous £5 each if you buy them in advance.

November 28th, 7.30pm - Isy Suttie (Dobby from 'Peep Show') and Holly Walsh (Never Mind the Buzzcocks, 8 Out of 10 Cats), plus Doc Brown and Lloyd Langford
tickets; http://happymondays.eventbrite.co.uk/?ebtv=F

December 12th, 7.30pm - Josie Long (Never Mind the Buzzcocks) and Holly Walsh, plus Joe Wilkinson, Al Stick and Angela Barnes
tickets; http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/event/2164064776/eorg

Richard Rogers in Deptford

2011-11-20T21:40:00.001Z

Suits were much in evidence last Friday when architect Richard Rogers visited Deptford as a guest of Cathedral Group, the developer intending to build Rogers' eight-storey block of apartments behind the station's listed carriage ramp.

(Please do click through and read the story; I haven't lifted the photographs but they are certainly worth a look if only for the outfits)

Of course Rogers, being an architect, shunned the suit, going instead for a striking combo of yellow bodywarmer, red jumper and green shirt. In a bizarre and surely unpredictable sartorial premonition, Cany Ash of Ash Sakula Architects (the architect for St Paul's House and the carriage ramp) also turned up in a canary-yellow jacket. Perhaps they coordinated their outfits in advance? Or is yellow the new black? It all left Richard Upton of Cathedral Group looking a bit out of touch with architectural style, having gambled on the black polo-neck jumper/jacket combo, which in former times would have stood him in good stead. It just goes to show the uncertain times we are living in.

Anyway I'm sure you didn't come here to read facetious comments about What Architects Wear.

Last time I wrote about this development I couldn't find the design & access statement on the planning website, but I've been back today and found it. It's a little sketchy, to be honest; either the wrong version was uploaded or the architects are hedging their bets - there's quite a large number of pages which state 'model to be inserted' or 'drawing to be inserted'.

However I did manage to find some places where the drawing had been inserted, and present them for your comments:

Refurbished St Paul's House on the right

When you see the colour scheme of the residential block next to the carriage ramp, it seems possible that Rogers might have been making a cheeky reference to it with his outfit. And perhaps Ash was echoing the colour of the shades over the restaurant?

Octavius St is on the right hand side

Two things bother me in particular about this scheme; firstly the overlooking of properties in Octavius Street at the rear of the Albany. You can see from the last image that these houses will be totally dwarfed by their new neighbour.

Secondly, I'm concerned about the effect that the eight-storey building will have on the direct sunlight and natural light that the public area in front of the carriage ramp will receive. Any assessment of sunlight for such schemes only looks at how new structures affect the light reaching windows of existing buildings so it's difficult to get an accurate indication of what the effect will be at ground level.

But with such a tall block to the west of the carriage ramp, the amount of sunlight reaching ground level, particularly in the winter, will surely be heavily curtailed? I love the vision for the space, the visuals showing cafe culture in action with people sitting outside the restaurant eating their dinner in some kind of Mediterranean idyll. That may be the case during summer lunchtimes, but there won't be any evening sun to enjoy - and in the winter I can't imagine the public space getting much direct sunlight at all.

Music in the Engine House, Brunel Museum

2011-11-17T09:03:00.001Z

The Brunel Museum in Rotherhithe is holding a series of concerts in the engine house - next one is Wed 23 November and features Errol Linton and Jean-Pierre Lampe playing slap jazz and urban blues.
Doors open 7pm for a 7.30pm start, and tickets are £10

http://www.myspace.com/errollinton

Saturday 17 December 7.30pm (doors 7pm) £10
Ayanna Witter-Johnson

Award-winning Ayanna Witter-Johnson is a classically trained vocalist and cellist, a graduate of the Trinity College of Music and the Manhattan School of Music. Check out the link below to listen to Ayanna's albumn Truthfully.

http://ayannamusic.com/

The museum also has two concerts with musician in residence Manu Delago on 7th and 14th December - for details see the poster below.

The Brunel Museum
Railway Avenue
Rotherhithe SE16 4LF

T: 020 7231 3840
www.brunel-museum.org.uk

Upcoming fundraising events: Oxjam, New Cross library auction, Amnesty booksale

2011-11-14T18:27:00.002Z

Well folks, it must be that time of year - this coming weekend sees several opportunities for you to dip into your pockets and offer whatever you can afford, to help various good causes.

In no particular order:

Greenwich Oxjam takes place at the Duke, just over the border in neighbouring Greenwich but still this side of the Creek, which counts as Deptford in my book!

Greenwich Oxjam
19th November 2011, £3 (£2 for students), 8pm-1am

Greenwich joins the nationwide Oxjam Festival with a night of blues and rock and roll featuring some of south-east London’s most exciting up and coming artists. Taking place at Greenwich Creekside’s The Duke (http://www.thedukedeptford.com/), a pub reknowned for its live music with past guests including Squeeze and Dire Straits. The line up includes:

The Los Dawsons
A hard-working, intrepid acoustic quartet from in and around Greenwich, who play music that encompasses 75 years of popular music, jazz, blues, swing, country, rockabilly & much more. They are endorsed by Glenn Tilbrook from Squeeze and have been known to perform with him on more than one occasion.

Jonny Suitcase featuring Chantal Hill of the Cedars
An exciting collaboration between the Deptford one man blues band and the magnificent singer of recently signed Americana band the Cedars.

Rhiannon the Nightmare
Playing country punk sparkled blues, young Rhiannon has been clattering around the south east scene for a little while now. Recently she featured on the line up of Lewisham People's Day and regularly plays around the New Cross area.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile the New Cross People's Library is holding a fundraising auction;

Saturday 19th November, at the library on New Cross Road.

Doors open 7pm for 7.30 start.
Come along and support the library by making a bid or just buying a ticket in the raffle (free glass of wine with your first ticket!)

Lots include a week in a four star holiday home with a sea view near Trinity Sq, Margate (sleeps up to 10); one night in a homely B&B in Whitstable; Xmas hamper; Italian conversation practice; plumbing services; antique mirror; fashion items and loads more!

----------------------------------------------------------------

Finally Amnesty International is holding a book sale at the Church of the Ascension on Dartmouth Hill:

Quality books at knock-down prices
Amnesty International Book Sale
10am-4pm Saturday 19th November
Church of the Ascension, Dartmouth Row, London SE10 8BF

The Blackheath and Greenwich Group of Amnesty International is holding its annual fund-raising book sale on Saturday. Doors open at 10am.

The local group has collected thousands of books from a variety of sources, including publishers and book reviewers as well as individual donors. The quality of books – many of which are brand new – is exceptionally high, and there will be plenty of bargains to be found, from second-hand paperbacks to review copies of recently-published novels.

The book sale – now in its 37th year – is established as Amnesty International’s most successful local fundraising event in the UK, raising over £200,000 over the years.

The Blackheath and Greenwich group meets at 8pm on the second Tuesday of each month at St. Margaret’s Church, Lee Terrace, Blackheath.

Thames Tunnel meeting and Thames Water consultation

2011-11-14T17:53:00.002Z

This week there are plenty of opportunities to find out more/question those in the know about Thames Water's plans to use land on Crossfield Street/Coffey Street as the site of an access shaft for the proposed Thames Tunnel.

On Tuesday evening local campaign group Don't Dump on Deptford's Heart is hosting a meeting about the proposals, at which Phil Stride - head of Tideway Tunnels at Thames Water - will present the plans and answer questions about them.

The meeting is being chaired by Joan Ruddock and it will take place on Tuesday 15th November between 7.30pm and 9pm at the Salvation Army Hall on Mary Ann Gdns, SE8 3DP.

Meanwhile Thames Water's own public consultation about this site will take place later in the week at the Creekside Centre on Creekside.

Thursday 17 November from 2pm to 8pm
Friday 18 November from 2.30pm to 8.30pm
Saturday 19 November from 10am to 4pm

Creekside Discovery Centre, Creekside SE8 4SA
www.thamestunnelconsultation.co.uk

Do note that if you cannot make it to the consultation events, you can give your views online here.

Mike & Ollie

2011-11-11T19:46:00.001Z

I hesitate to share this with you as I want to keep Mike & Ollie all to myself, but in the spirit of helping their business flourish (and also quite selfishly because I want them to keep coming back to Deptford Market) I give you Deptford's latest top nosh!

Mike is a very pleasant young man with all the skills of a chef but none of the outward signs. By which I mean no white apron and no angry swearing.

I've visited him a few times in the last month or so since he started coming to Deptford market on Wednesdays and Fridays, but never seen any sign of Ollie and did start to wonder if Ollie was the name of Mike's bicycle. However I've looked at the website and it seems that Ollie does exist, he seems to be in charge of gathering fruit and vegetables.

Every week at Deptford market and at Brockley market on Saturdays, Mike & Ollie offer a meat main, a veggie main, and a veggie soup, all of which come with a zillion tasty items and moreish homemade breads. They often feature fruit, vegetables and nuts which have been foraged from the local area, or picked with permission from overladen trees in Brockley gardens.

Dried figs, cobnuts, apples, quince etc are just some of the toppings, usually accompanied by spices, homemade yoghurt, fresh coriander and so on.

A couple of weeks ago the offering was the amazing lamb tagine in the picture - this week was pulled pork with flatbread, baba ganoush, sliced red cabbage, homemade yoghurt, homemade membrillo, chilli flakes and chopped cobnuts, and a few bits of crackling.

Mains are £4.50, soups £2.50. Go and buy from Mike, you will not regret it!
Wed, Friday on Douglas Way.
http://mikeandollie.co.uk/

Local Government Association calls for curbs on betting shop clustering

2011-11-08T12:38:00.002Z

A press release has been issued by the Local Government Association calling for tighter controls on betting shops. The LGA is giving evidence today to the Culture, Media & Sport Committee which is carrying out a review of the 2005 Gambling Act.

Councils must be allowed to regain control of their high streets to stop residents being blighted by even more betting shops, council leaders said today.

Concerns have been raised by councils over the negative impact to high streets from a takeover of late night bars, off licences, fast food takeaways and bookies. However, councils lack the powers to intervene and this is causing misery for local people.

For example, on one street in Hackney alone, there are eight betting shops, which increases poverty in the community. Whilst in Liverpool, high numbers of takeaways and drinking venues are impacting negatively on public health and crime. No powers currently exist for local people to cap the numbers of premises they haven't sought for their local area.

Complicated and costly planning rules are also stopping councils taking control of their high streets. With betting shops – councils can only act to stop them setting up by giving a years notice of plans – otherwise they may have to pay out compensation.

Cllr David Parsons, Chair of the LGA Environment and Housing Board will tell the Culture, Media and Sport Committee today:

"The government must give councils new powers to stop betting shops setting up if they are likely to cause a public nuisance. The same applies to places which have been taken over by fast food takeaways, strip clubs and late night bars.

"At the moment, numbers cannot be restricted and this results in crime, disorder and misery for local people. The government should look to tackle this issue.

"Costly planning rules which are tying up councils from acting at the moment must also be addressed. These concerns are shared widely and this problem is not limited to disadvantaged areas.

"We are seeing a reckless gamble with our high streets which is contributing to higher policing and health costs, in addition to reducing the quality of life for local residents".

The comments come as the CMS Committee holds a review into the Gambling Act 2005 and its effectiveness in protecting children and vulnerable people from the adverse effects of gambling.

Meanwhile the Evening Standard has published a story interviewing Camberwell & Peckham MP Harriet Harman who puts the case quite succinctly.

Draw and be drawn

2011-11-06T13:12:00.000Z

News from Utrophia of a series of free, drop-in portraiture sessions called Draw and be drawn, which sounds like a good opportunity for anyone interested in drawing who lacks the confidence to make a start, or the funds to take a formal class.

Andrew writes:
The mood is very casual and the level and amount of tutoring and input
from the organisers is dictated by the participants. In other words,
while it is as simple as the title suggests, there is potential for a
very interesting and rewarding project.

The focus is not on teaching figurative drawing but more on
encouraging experimentation in drawing, and trying to boost a
confidence in the ability to draw.

I would really like for this to be, on some small level, a meeting point
for the wonderfully varied inhabitants of and visitors to Deptford, with
contributions invited by anyone from experienced artists to first-timers.

The conclusion of the project will be an exhibition of the resulting
portraits, in the Utrophia project space, running from the 18th to the
26th of November.

Upcoming dates for drawing are 12th, 19th and 26th November, from 11am till 1.30pm.
Utrophia project space
120 Deptford High Street
SE8 4NS
www.utrophia.net/home

Deptford landlords show what they think of planning law

2011-11-05T18:39:00.000Z

A couple of months ago I wrote none too favourably about the new building being erected at 497 New Cross Road.

The actual structure bore little resemblance to the building plans that were approved by Lewisham Council for this site - which although not remarkable, were preferable to the shiny bathroom-tile type cladding that were put up.

The owners have now added insult to injury by sticking a bright red shutter on the shop front. It does rather feel like they are making a big two-fingered salute in the direction of the town hall. Tasteful huh?

In the meantime it has been brought to my attention that landlords elsewhere in Deptford have been cocking a similar snook to our planning system.
Pawnbroker Albemarle & Bond which bought the former slot machine arcade at number 37 Deptford High Street put in a planning application for change of use of the unit, as well as for the replacement of the existing shop front. They proposed to replace it with a bright yellow aluminium facade, totally at odds with its location in the Deptford High Street conservation area.

With objections registered against the shopfront design proposal, Albemarle & Bond decided to amend the application to cover only the change of use to pawnbroker. Presumably the intention is to submit another planning application for the shopfront in due course.

In that case, let's hope our planners weren't going to insist that the existing shop front be retained, as it's too late for that - the shop front has already been torn out.

I'm experiencing a sense of deja vu, considering that some of the changes to the Deptford Arms were made by Paddy Power in advance of planning permission, which was never granted. The fact that they have not as yet been forced to reverse the changes is surely sending a message to other landlords in the area that they will get away with similar breaches.

Thames Tunnel update: Deptford Church St selected as preferred site

2011-11-04T04:39:00.001Z

With the start of the second phase of consultation on the proposed Thames Tunnel, Thames Water has announced that Deptford Church Street is now its preferred site for construction of an interception chamber to connect with the Greenwich storm relief combined sewer overflow.

In brief, this involves the land adjacent to St Pauls (bounded by Coffey Street, Crossfields St and Deptford Church St) being used to construct a 17m-wide shaft. This shaft will allow sewage which currently overflows into the Thames to be intercepted and diverted to the Thames Tunnel for transfer to treatment plants.

Although this land is stated in Thames Water's documentation to have no formal leisure use, its a classification that fails to recognise the site's importance as one of the few green open areas close to Deptford High Street.

Once work is completed and the shaft covered in, there will be permanent structures left on the site - a number of ventilation columns and a 'kiosk' which will house the controls for underground equipment. The kiosk will be 2.5m high (about 8ft). The columns vary depending on which of Thames Water's documents you read - either three ventilation columns, two 4m high and one 6m high, or four ventilation columns up to 6m high and a small diameter column (described as similar to a lamp post) up to 6m high.

Aside from the loss of the land and everything on it, the plans will impact in other ways on Deptford, and the documents available give some indication of this. According to the plans, the construction work will take about three and a half years; during phase two (the shaft construction, which will take about a year), some 24 lorries a day are expected to visit the site to carry out spoil removal and deliver materials.

During phase three (a period of about 18 months) the northbound half of Deptford Church Street will be closed to traffic while the underground interceptor chamber is constructed. Two-way traffic will be introduced on the southbound side of the road, although details about how this will be managed are so far sketchy.

The documents online (see link below) include some renderings of what Thames Water intends to do with the land after the construction works - they propose to landscape it and return it as a public space with gardens, lots more trees, benches etc.

This rendering shows the proposed view along Coffey St, with St Pauls on the left, just out of view.

This aerial render shows the proposed site with ventilation columns in grey on the left, and the kiosk in the foreground on Deptford Church St.

Local campaign group Don't Dump on Deptford's Heart is hosting a meeting about the proposals, at which Phil Stride - head of Tideway Tunnels at Thames Water - will present the plans and answer questions about them.

The meeting will take place on Tuesday the 15th November between 7.30pm and 9pm at the Salvation Army Hall on Mary Ann Gdns, SE8 3DP.

Full information and documents are available here.

SE London at its best

2011-11-02T10:57:00.002Z

Thanks to Transpontine for posting this film, made by Goldsmiths, about the joys of our little corner of south east London.

Stars lots of familiar Deptford faces; see how many you can recognise!

Tidemill Academy/Deptford Lounge delays drag on

2011-10-29T17:10:00.002Z

As the construction of the public realm works in front of the new Deptford Lounge/Tidemill Academy grind slowly onwards, it's not yet clear when the relocated library will be ready for use. The library in Wavelengths was closed some weeks ago and at the time, Crosswhatfields reported that according to the library staff, it would reopen on Monday 31 October.

However the ground floor of the Deptford Lounge certainly looks pretty empty right now; unless they are planning a 24-hour shelf construction and book stacking exercise I'm not sure how they are going to pull that one off.

The new building was due to be ready for occupation in 'autumn 2011' so I guess there's still time for them to sneak it in before winter officially hits us.

Progress is definitely slow at Tidemill Academy, however. Originally planned to start this academic year in the new building, they are now not expecting to move until after christmas. But according to a story in the Evening Standard yesterday, the academy is planning to shut the school two weeks early in order to carry out the move, leaving parents with the difficulty of organising child care during this period.

The school has organised a playscheme for the two week period, according to the story, but parents will have to pay £100 per week for each child they send there; a shocking amount of money for anyone to have to shell out just two weeks before christmas, never mind the parents of children living in 'one of the most deprived parts of London' as Tidemill's own website describes it.

Convoys in the news

2011-10-28T08:45:00.002Z

The so-called 'Battle of Convoys Wharf' has been in the news this week, with a two-page article published in the Evening Standard arts section on Wednesday.

In this high-profile article, our old friend Kieran Long came down to south east London again and managed to write an in-depth article about some of the issues relating to the Convoys Wharf redevelopment without once mentioning how dangerous/shabby/difficult to reach this part of the city is. (If you recall, the last time Mr Long ventured this way to take a look at the Waldron Health Centre, he rolled out all the cliches in the book about New Cross. Hopefully he got them all off his chest last time and will prosper with his new-found maturity.)

Bitching aside, the article is worth a read as it's quite an extensive piece for a London-wide paper. Sure, there are lots of omissions - no mention of Sayes Court or Evelyn's influence, and scant detail about the extent of the dockyard remains - and Long's assertion that the 'scale and character of the spaces around the Olympia building will be fine' rings rather hollow without any clarification or back-up, but it's a fine way of raising the profile for the Deptford is campaign, and Long has made a decent effort to engage with the political and philosophical arguments.

In the meantime, here's a cover that I'd very much like to see. This poster appeared at the end of Ffinch St yesterday, I don't know if it's anywhere else but hopefully the artist responsible is willing to spread the love a little more widely around SE8. Give us all something to smile about. (If you click on the photo to make it bigger you can read the speech bubble; Mr Hawkins is saying 'Nothing here mate').

Convoys Wharf - what are the alternatives?

2011-10-23T20:41:00.001Z

I have been following the Deptford is.. blog very closely over the past few weeks, where campaigners are not only exposing the poor thinking and lack of imagination behind the current proposals for redevelopment of Convoys Wharf, but are also putting forward alternatives for discussion.

As far as Hutchison Whampoa's planned development above ground goes, there are serious issues with the proposal such as the density and size of the proposed buildings, the associated 'transport planning' (which I have to put in quote marks because quite honestly it is laughable, especially compared with the improvements proposed by the applicants behind the recent Surrey Canal planning application), the continued scaling back of any commitment to providing a feasible working wharf, the pitiful amount of public open space that is being incorporated, and the lack of any kind of attempt to integrate the development with Deptford itself.

When you start to find out about the heritage of the site itself - the royal dockyard established by Henry VIII which saw the construction, fitting out and launch of many, many famous ships through three centuries of maritime development, as well as advances in civil engineering which were reflected in the dockyard structures themselves, and the influence that John Evelyn and his famous gardens at Sayes Court had on the English landscape movement, as well as the formation of the National Trust - it is truly incredible that the proposals seek simply to build over this history for ever.

The Olympia building - a cast iron structure covering two slipways which led into the great basin - must be retained as it is a listed structure, but HW's proposal has the building hemmed in on all sides by tower blocks, and all but cut off from the river, making it impossible to read the significance of the structure in heritage terms.

In fact the slipways beneath the building and the walls of the great basin still survive, they are simply filled in. The slipways which lead into the river are still there; the double dry dock is still there and Deptford is.. fully expects ongoing archaeological investigations to confirm that the huge mast ponds are also still intact.

While the archaeologists claim they have uncovered (and now filled in again) the site of Sayes Court, there is some dispute as to its location, and the jury is still out on this. Nonetheless, no garden archaeology at all has been carried out on the site of his famous gardens, which have been roundly ignored.

Deptford is... is holding a public meeting on 4 November at which the campaigners say they will reveal some of their proposals for an alternative vision of future Deptford.

'Suggestions include building a Restoration warship using a combination of traditional and modern ship-building skills, and recreating the historic garden as an innovative and productive public open space. The ideas put forward in this exhibition focus on activities which encourage collaboration between the existing community and its new residents, helping to meld the development into the vibrant neighbourhood of Deptford.'

Take a look at these websites about the Hermione and Sayes Court Garden to get some inspiration.

While I know that many public bodies and indeed some of our local politicians have expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the current proposals, and are concerned about the impact it will have on the site, there does also seem to be a lot of shrugging of shoulders and some councillors saying that the developers cannot make the figures stack up unless they build at this density.

In fact our very own deputy mayor and chair of the regeneration committee, Alan Smith (Catford South ward), effectively approved the density when he told Estates Gazette back in June that he didn't believe the borough would have any trouble absorbing the 'more than 6,000' new homes that were planned (this is in fact a huge underestimate by my reckoning as it only looks at three developments). He said 'if anything we will be underproviding' and added 'as far as I can make out, the finance is in place and it is getting its figures to stack up'.

Other councillors, in particular some of those who represent the residents in Evelyn ward, the area most directly impacted by this development, seem unwilling to engage with their electorate about the proposals.

It may be that Lewisham Council is also nervous of a protracted legal battle with HW's lawyers, which might ensue should the development be refused. But let's not forget that this development will have an enduring impact on this part of Lewisham; if the council lets itself be bullied into a hasty or inappropriate decision, we will be living with the ramifications for decades to come.

Mayor calls for planning controls over betting shop boom

2011-10-20T08:29:00.000Z

Thanks to Ian who alerted me to this press release issued by the Mayor of London a couple of days ago, which gives Deptford's betting shop clusters as an example and highlights the fact that a prevalence of such premises 'could put people off shopping in and visiting those areas altogether'.

The proposals by Boris - that national planning law should be changed so that operators were required to apply for planning permission for each specific premises - would be useful in reducing the instances where betting shops can just open up in former bank or pub premises without having to apply for change of use planning permission (as in the case of Paddy Power at the Deptford Arms). If this change to national policy were made, Boris says he would 'consider' altering the London Plan policy 'to encourage boroughs to identify the kinds of business clusters they believe are beneficial or detrimental to high streets and town centres'.

It's not clear how much weight this would carry for local planners seeking to reject such applications, but it's a start. It's also interesting that with the Mayor of London making it an issue, it is effectively gaining some kind of cross-party support.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has today written to Communities Secretary, the Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP, to call for a change in national planning law to help control the proliferation and clustering of betting shops, which has caused mounting concern in parts of London.

They have grown in number with an increased supply of premises such as vacant banks and pubs that do not require planning permission to be used as a betting shop. Betting firms are attracted to busy high streets and town centres with a ready supply of such premises. This has resulted in clustering in less prosperous areas like Hackney, which has 64 betting shops in the borough, 8 in Mare Street alone, and Deptford with seven betting shops on one street. With less than 10 per cent of Londoners using betting shops the Mayor believes this can negatively impact on the vitality and viability of town centres and the quality of life of those living nearby. High numbers of betting shops with long opening hours increasing concerns about community safety could put people off shopping in and visiting those areas altogether.

The Mayor proposes that betting shop operators wishing to open up a new outlet should be required to apply for planning permission for the chosen premises, which would allow proper consideration to be given to each proposal for a betting shop and its effect on individual centres. If the Government changed planning policy in this way he would consider altering his own London Plan policy to encourage boroughs to identify the kinds of business clusters they believe are beneficial or detrimental to high streets and town centres.

The Mayor said:
"I recognise that betting shops have an important role to play in our culture and provide entertainment to many people. But there is a balance to be struck between having betting shops as a part of the high street retail mix and the negative impact they can have on shoppers and visitors when they start to dominate.

"Requiring operators to obtain planning permission seems a sensible way to achieve the checks and balances needed to ensure our towns remain attractive places to visit, shop and spend time in."

Surrey Canal station/Surrey Canal redevelopment

2011-10-19T21:27:00.000Z

Last week Lewisham Council's strategic planning committee agreed to grant planning permission for the massive redevelopment of the land surrounding Millwall Stadium, known simply as Surrey Canal (subheading: London's Sporting Village).

Developer Renewal is planning a large-scale redevelopment of the site, which intends to deliver some 2,400 new homes, as well as new sporting facilities, retail units, cafes and restaurants and 'business incubation and creative space' whatever that means. It's difficult to work out from a brief trawl through the site, what will happen to the businesses that are located in the Surrey Canal triangle. Perhaps they will simply disappear as if they were in the Bermuda triangle...?!

Among all the doom and gloom of Deptford's ongoing redevelopment battles, it's good to see something positive emerge from a planning application. The area will finally get a much-needed link into London's overground system, with Renewal committing to top up the funding needed to build a new station at the site.

The planning documents state:
Renewal has confirmed that in the new Surrey Canal Road Rail Station they will bridge the funding gap to ensure its delivery at the outset of the development, improving accessibility to the local area in the early stages of development.

I can only assume that they must have read my comment back in May ("Surrey Canal Station, which would be right next to the site and has been proposed as part of the second phase of the East London Line extension, needs extra funding before it can be built. With this in mind I would expect the site developer to top up the pot so that its construction can be assured.") and have clearly acted upon my instructions ;-)

Joking aside, for once it makes perfect sense. I only found out very recently that TFL had actually agreed to include a 'station box' in its designs for the new line at this location. Construction work is well advanced already, and now when I pass it on my daily cycle commute, I'll no longer experience huge feelings of futility and anger against the world at the stupidity of such a missed opportunity!

Renewal's Surrey Canal website provides a couple of images for us to muse on, although how accurate they are it's hard to know - this is only outline planning permission after all. I'm sure there will be a lot of local people getting excited at the sight of the corner of that logo peeking out from behind the sculpture, although the rendering of the station - and in particular the colour scheme - does seem to have been put together by someone having a bad acid trip.

New Betfred planning application 93-95 Deptford High Street

2011-10-19T18:45:00.002Z

When Betfred appealed against Lewisham Council's decision to reject its application for 93-95 Deptford High Street earlier this year, the Planning Inspectorate in fact allowed Betfred's appeal but placed certain conditions on it.

If you remember, the former Halifax premises was allocated to A2 use, with the condition that it was only occupied by a building society. Betfred applied to widen this to the full, current A2 use, a crazy classification for 'financial use' which puts banks and building societies in the same class as betting shops.

When the council rejected this application, Betfred appealed it. The Planning Inspectorate allowed the appeal, but with the proviso that the premises should NOT be occupied by a betting shop. In his conclusion the inspector said that if another betting shop were to open, "It would be likely to give rise to anti-social behaviour and disturbance to local residents and users of the town centre. There is also a risk of an increase in crime. As a result use of the High Street would become less safe and pleasant."

Betfred has now submitted another planning application to again extend the usage class to full A2 use, supporting its application with the defence that it was unfair of the inspector to penalise Betfred for a situation that already exists. Naturally this deliberate misinterpretation of the inspector's decision is simply an attempt to say 'they are all doing it, why can't we?' and invoke fairness of competition etc as a way of forcing the issue.

Of course the inspector has nothing against Betfred per se. As befits his job responsibilities, he simply took an holistic view of the planning case, and considered the impact that allowing this application would have on Deptford High Street, the people who live and work there, those who own the businesses, those who use the shops and cafes, and those who pass through Deptford.

The inspector used evidence from local residents and business owners, and from the police, licensing officers and so on, to reach his conclusion that the opening of another betting shop would not be beneficial to the safety of the high street, to the level of crime, or to the street's long term viability. In fact he went further than that, he said that it was likely to have a negative impact based on past evidence.

All the betting shops already established on Deptford High Street claim that they adhere to the appropriate legislation and security measures that they are required to observe. It's more than likely that they do. However it is undeniable that since Paddy Power opened its establishment at the former Deptford Arms, right opposite Ladbrokes and within yards of William Hill, creating a critical mass of betting shops, the high street has become a less safe and pleasant place to walk along.

So please, if you agree that we don't need any more betting shops, send your objections to the planners. The application is number DC/11/78506/X (click to link direct to it) and objections should be sent as soon as possible.

If you objected to the last application, feel free to dig out your previous letter and just amend the date and planning application number before sending it in (in the comments Bill suggests that it would be better to amend any previous objection, starting your letter along the lines of 'in my objection dated XXX I said (and here quote your previous objection in full) and reiterating that the same concerns apply now). It is worth reading the covering letter from the applicant (click here to download) if you want to ensure that you are directly addressing the points that they raise.

The full text of the inspector's judgement can be read on Deptford Misc here.

Deli X

2011-10-17T12:55:00.110Z

It's hard not to admire the confidence of someone opening a new deli and cafe on Deptford High Street at the height of a recession. With lots of new apartments springing up in Creekside and elsewhere, as well as many more to come, it may be canny business sense but I'm still not entirely convinced that Deptford has the market to support such a venture. All the same, I wish Deli X the best of luck with their new venture.

The two women running the new business have had the premises altered to remove the partition between the front and back of the former Bear Cafe, and extend the counter to make the shop area larger. This means it's much less cramped in the front part (and consequently less daunting to enter) and a whole lot lighter in the cafe area at the back.

The front area is a shop-cum-cafe counter; there are shelves and fridges full of posh pasta, continental groceries, organic butter and Neal's Yard cheeses, as well as a selection of fruit, vegetables and herbs for sale. The type of goods - and the accompanying prices, it has to be said - are strongly reminiscent of the Deptford Deli (RIP).

The cafe area is furnished with a rather random selection of sofas, chairs, enormous, huge wooden desks which look rather like office surplus, and coffee tables. In the back yard there are folding chairs and tables if you are lucky enough to catch the sunshine there, and I guess to accommodate smokers. Most of the dining chairs are upholstered in a very vibrant fabric which is fun when seen in isolation but does seem rather incongruous in the company of the wishy washy blue upholstery of the pair of sofas on the raised area of the cafe.

So far the food menu is limited, offering (very tasty) quiches - meat and veggie options - with fresh salad; cheese platters, or homemade pizzas on focaccia bread for example. Prices are under a fiver for the quiche and salad, which is good value for what you get. However it would be even better if they offered a larger portion for a couple of quid more, to accommodate those like myself who have larger appetites/suffer insatiable greed when faced with good food. I understand the menu is under development, and am eager to see what else they will serve. There is a suggestions book on the counter if you have particular groceries you seek to purchase.

In the cafe they are serving top quality brand Monmouth Coffee - going head to head with the Waiting Room's Union Coffee - but initial experience suggests their baristas need to up their game a bit. My 'cappuccino' was more akin to a latte, and although the hint of coffee was a very pleasant hint, it was all but drowned by hot milk.*

However I did get the impression that the young staff were in training when I had my coffee last Saturday; I'll be going back in due course to check if progress has been made. My fundamental requirements - good quality food at reasonable prices - have been satisfied and I look forward to future visits.

Crosswhatfields has also reviewed Deli X. Deli X has a facebook page here.

*updated: a takeout cappuccino I had a few days later was excellent, perfect strength level and good balance of milk to froth

Blossoming together

2011-10-05T18:39:00.003Z

New cafes are popping up around Deptford as if it was going out of fashion - with 'Deli X' having just opened where the Bear Cafe used to be, I thought I'd better first write about Blossoming Together, a new 'craft cafe' and art gallery which opened a few weeks ago at the bottom of Tanner's Hill, in the premises of the former Deptford Deli.

The owner Cinzia Callegari has replaced the long deli counter with a small dresser on which a range of delicious looking cakes are displayed in glass cake stands. She serves daily lunch specials containing produce from her allotment, and also runs craft courses in the cafe where you can learn how to make pocket books, needle felting or pegloom weaving, or even find out about wholesome foods for children.

I dropped in a couple of times recently during Deptford X, and was welcomed warmly both times. Cinzia's coffee is excellent - I would venture it's almost as good as the coffee served at the Waiting Room (they set the standard in flavour as far as I'm concerned) but edges closer by the fact that it's served with homemade biscotti and you can enjoy the peaceful surrounds of the little square outside - and sunshine if you are lucky!

I also sampled one of the magnificent cakes on offer - perhaps a little pricey at £3.50 but extremely tasty - and tried out a cup of tea, served in one of her lovely vintage teapots and made with loose leaf. It prompted fond memories of the vintage
teacups that Deptford Properly used to favour...

Blossoming Together
www.blossomingtogether.com

Southern Gas takes a breaker to Deptford's new pavements

2011-09-30T12:42:00.001Z

Remember all those weeks of inconvenience we suffered when the pavements just north of Douglas Way were being renovated? Well this morning it felt like a bit of a deja vu moment as I walked down the high street to find more bloody barriers blocking the pavements and some chap with a jack-hammer carelessly breaking up all the brand new paving stones outside the Vietnamese cafe.

I'll admit I was a little surprised to witness the level of destruction being let loose - why they couldn't just lever up the paving stones and set them aside for the reinstatement work I don't know. It seemed like an awful lot of noise and brute force for such a task.

Utilities companies are in fact required to reinstate anything they dig up to the same standard and quality of work as it was before, in a reasonable timescale. They are supposed to use materials of similar, or better, quality. I trust that Lewisham Council is going to inspect the reinstatement work, when it actually happens, and ensure that it meets these criteria.

So Southern Gas if you are reading this, that means you can't just dump some asphalt in the hole and run over it a few times with a roller. Although I'm sure you're not entertaining any such notions...

Community garden planning meeting

2011-09-28T05:09:00.001Z

Public engagement is rife in Deptford at the moment, where we are proving that we don't need expensive consultants or government quangos to encourage us to 'engage with local issues' and 'get involved' with improving our environment.

As well as the ongoing campaigning being carried out by Deptford is.. against plans for Convoy's Wharf, another group of local residents is holding a meeting next with the intention of establishing an organisation to set up and run a community garden on the land that Thames Water wants to use for a shaft for its Thames Tunnel project. The group has already been given a modest grant by the Evelyn Local Assembly to print publicity material, and is hoping the meeting will give more people the opportunity to get involved in the process of establishing and maintaining the garden.

Date: Tuesday 4th October
Place: St Paul's Church, Deptford High Street.
Time: 7.30pm

At the meeting they intend to consider the following:

THE ORGANISATION:
Establish a steering group to oversee the preparation of the garden in the short term.
Discuss the long term aims and ambitions of the garden and the kind of organisation that will support it into the future.
Briefly gather some ideas for the garden's name.
Consider the best use of the funding they have received and consider other ways of supporting the garden (eg Seeking further funding? Asking for plant and material donations? Looking for sponsorship?)

PLAN THE GARDEN:
Gather practical ideas about the form and function of the garden to put to 'Roundfield' (landscape architects) who will use this information to inform the initial garden design.
Consider how to organise volunteer labour for preparing and maintaining the garden - possibly finding mentors with some gardening experience to lead this.
Consider a timeline for beginning the garden before the next Thames Tunnel consultation on 15th November.

ENGAGING THE COMMUNITY:
Gather ideas for engaging the community - (website, contacting groups that might like to use the garden, gathering enough volunteers to the make the garden happen).

Talking walls project

2011-09-25T18:49:00.003Z

Right opposite where Peter Anderson's new mural is being painstakingly applied to the wall of Douglas Square, a contrasting mural was today having its finishing touches applied on the side of the Albany.

This eye-catching bit of whimsy is not painted directly on the wall, it's on chipboard which will be fixed to the wall for a few months, and it's part of a project called Talking Walls which is the brainchild of a Goldsmith's student. There's a website under development here.*

It's the third in the series - there is also one fixed to the wall round the back of the Deptford Project, and the first mural which was painted directly onto the wall of one of the buildings on the Goldsmiths campus. We sought it out today after directions from the team working on the Albany wall.

We chatted to the student leading the project for a while but I regret I didn't get her name (blame it on Deptford X/caffeine overload). I do hope someone can add this information in the comments box so that I can give her due credit.

*the website is now up, revealing the student leading the project to be Tessa Lawer

The Wharves gets planning permission

2011-09-20T21:29:00.002Z

Lewisham council last week voted to approve a planning application for the redevelopment of the old scrapyards and industrial land bounded by Evelyn Street, Grove Street and Oxestalls Road down on the Pepys Estate.

The council's strategic planning committee granted outline planning permission for the whole site, and detailed planning permission for the first two phases, which are on the southern side of the site, covering plots 1-5 (shown in yellow and blue on this map). This link has the agenda for the meeting which includes a link to the committee report on the application.

The redevelopment of the site as a whole will offer "a maximum of 1,029,670m2 (gross external floor area) comprising up to 905 residential units (853,218m²) and 17,645m2 non-residential floorspace comprising A1 Shops, A2 Financial & Professional Services, A3 Restaurants & Cafés, A4 Drinking Establishments, A5 Hot Food Takeaways, B1 Businesses, D1 Non-Residential Institutions and D2 Assembly & Leisure uses.
• Erection of buildings ranging in height from 4 to 18 storeys.
• An energy centre.
• Open space.
• New vehicular access into the site and parking (up to 1,127 cycle and 370 vehicle spaces) and associated works."

Phases one and two will create 591 residential units and 9,424m2 of commercial space on the site, as well as landscaping and public areas, car and cycle parking and the mysterious 'energy centre' which seems to be a combination of gas-fired combined heat and power generator, some photovoltaic cells and some ground source heat pumps.

The report contains a lot of detail about the application and the council's response to it, which I don't intend to go into here, although it does contain some interesting gems. For a start, the developer City & Provincial Properties does not actually even own all of this land - the 'phase three' area includes land the freehold to which is still owned separately, and although the developer has been trying to buy the land, it still has not been successful! The report explains that should all attempts to persuade the owner to sell the land be unsuccessful, the developer will ask the council to issue a compulsory purchase order.

Perhaps this just reveals my ignorance of the world of private development, but I find it really odd that a landowner may be forced to sell up for this kind of development. Naturally there's no indication of which bit of land it is, but it did set me wondering - is it the owner of the petrol station on Evelyn Street, presumably quite a lucrative spot, or the scrapyard on Grove Street (also presumably lucrative although an appallingly bad neighbour as I hear from those who live locally).

Also from the report you can also learn that Deptford Station is predicted to receive an extra 65 passengers 'out' (ie leaving the station) during the peak hour of 7.45-8.45 each day as a result of the development.

We can safely assume that about 60 of these will be heading into London, and given that there are about six trains an hour at this time of day, you can expect an extra 10 passengers on each train on average. Doesn't sound much really, but when you take into account the cumulative impact of the Wharves, Convoys, Creekside and of course the Cathedral development right next to the station, as well as all the new developments between here and Dartford, the system really starts to creak. Surrey Quays overground station will have an extra 124 passengers during the same period and the bus service will really suffer with an extra 134 passengers.

The site will have tall buildings - up to 18 storeys high - which is not going to endear it to its neighbours in terms of overshadowing, loss of privacy and the wind-tunnel effects that can be generated at ground level. In fact there are three locations on the site where the ground-level wind impact generated by the tall buildings will be 'unacceptable' for their intended use as entrance doors to buildings, and will need to have specific measures introduced to combat this. The towers are certainly tall, the report accepts, but apparently they are useful as markers for the development. (If anyone can offer a sensible explanation of this rather confusing justification, please do so in the comments.) The Convoys effect also comes into play here, with the council adding that since it was intending to (but didn't) grant permission to Convoys' 40, 32 and 26-storey towers in 2005, these towers fit into the scale of the intended but ungranted planning permission.

Likewise the report comments on the density of the development as follows: The density of the development is above London Plan guidelines. Given, however, the combination of on and off site open space in the area and the quality of internal and external environment that is created this is considered acceptable subject to the scheme implementing the relevant design features and impacts such as on education, health and public transport being mitigated through financial contributions or other planning obligations.

That means 'there's a lot of housing here but there are a few parks close by and besides it will all be ok if they give us the mitigation money we ask for'.

A water feature is planned to run through the centre of the development, along the line of the old Surrey Canal - although only the east-west part of the route.

One of the first parcels of land that will be developed will include a new 'bespoke and expanded facility for existing tenant Ascott Cab Company. The new facility includes a cab showroom which faces onto Evelyn Street on the western side of the development, a rendering for which is shown below.

Despite the intention to provide 370 parking spaces on the site (269 of these for residents, the rest for businesses and visitors) the development also proposes 36 motorbike spaces and 980 cycle parking spaces in secure buildings near the flats, along with 147 for the commercial space.

On the eastern side overlooking Pepys Park, the scheme retains the old pub, The Victoria, which will be restored although I couldn't find details of what it will be used for - hopefully as a pub!

Convoys Wharf: planning objections workshop

2011-09-20T06:30:00.003Z

If you are considering writing a response to the Convoys Wharf planning application, but you just don't know where to start, you might be interested in a new group that has been set up called 'Deptford Is..'

The group, which has a blog here, is 'a group of local residents who want to ensure that the redeveloped Convoys Wharf offers the best for Deptford and its future.' They also state that they 'are not affiliated to any political party, commercial interest or quango'.

They are holding a 'planning objections workshop' in the blue room at the Albany this Saturday 23 September from 10-12, to help people who want to write objections against the plans but don't know how, or who want to know how they can do this by the most effective means.

They also promise to give a glimpse of some exciting plans they have for 'a number of new ventures at the site which will enable the nationally-significant heritage of Deptford's royal dockyard and Sayes Court to be fully acknowledged, as well as creating skilled apprenticeships and jobs for local people, attracting tourists into the area, and allowing Deptford's maritime expertise to be revived.'

If you are interested in writing an objection but can't make the workshop, you can sign up to their mailing list by emailing deptfordis@yahoo.co.uk.

Deptford station progress

2011-09-16T14:07:00.000Z

Steelwork for the new station building has started going up over the last couple of days, and will no doubt soon give a good indication of the size, scale and location of the structure.

According to the original schedule, completion is due on 2 May 2012. No indication yet as to whether they are on target or not, but the work does seem to be progressing to the schedule they originally set out.

497 New Cross Road

2011-09-16T13:12:00.002Z

A trip to the south end of Deptford High Street this morning revealed that building work on the site on New Cross Road, right next to the Little Crown pub, has moved on apace after having been stalled for years since Mr Video's old store was demolished. I noticed it as I gazed up at the beautiful blue sky.

Unfortunately what I saw was not beautiful at all - and I recommend those of a sensitive disposition to browse elsewhere right now.

In fact the pictures do not do full horrific justice to the new building on the right of the Little Crown, clad as it is in what look like shiny ceramic tiles.

It's fair to say that this parade of rather beautiful buildings on New Cross Road does disintegrate into grubby, poor quality infill as you approach the end of Deptford High Street but I was shocked to think that any planner had approved the clumsy, ugly, badly proportioned mess that I saw before me.

So I sought out the plans online, to discover that approval had been given (with quite a number of conditions) for the design shown above. Absolutely nothing like what has been built, neither in terms of dimensions, finishes, roof line etc. (The shiny tiling should actually be white render, in case you were wondering.)

Lewisham planning enforcement - I think it's over to you now.

Deptford open house

2011-09-16T10:14:00.001Z

Don't forget it's open house weekend this weekend - the once a year opportunity to have a good snoop inside public and private buildings, and even homes, that are not usually open to the public.

In SE8 there are four properties open to the public, although tours of the Laban Centre (now labouring under the moniker of the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance) require booking so you've probably missed those.

Happily you can get 'turn up and go' tours of three other properties:

- Stephen Lawrence Centre, Brookmill Road SE8 4HU (Sat 10-3, tours at 11am and 1pm)

- 2 Ashmead Mews, (between 40 and 42 Ashmead Rd)SE8 4DS. Former stable building adopted as architect's home and studio. (Sat 11-6, architect-led tours every hour, first come basis).

- Connearn Studio, 4 Friendly St, SE8 4DT. Small purpose-built artist's studio in a residential garden. (Sat 10-5, Sun 1-5. Regular architect-led tours).

There's also plenty more buildings open locally without booking, including Lewisham Arthouse on Lewisham Way, which is offering tours every 15-20 mins on Sunday 1-5pm,and Crossways Sixth Form building on Sprules Rd, Brockley (Sat and Sun 9-4), as well as free turn-up-and-go tours led by BDP landscape architect Mehron Kirk, of Deptford Town Centre (meet Sat 10am at east entrance of Margaret McMillan Park on Watson/Idonia St) and Pepys Parks (meet Sat 12 noon at base of Aragon Tower, George Beard Road next to the Thames). Clearly I'm gutted to be missing the latter - I'm due at a friend's wedding on Saturday - but if anyone goes along please report back on the theory behind the wonky lights....

Deptford community garden plan

2011-09-16T09:47:00.000Z

The 'Don't dump on Deptford' group who are opposing Thames Water's proposal of using the green space next to St Paul's Church for construction of an access shaft have launched a plan to create a community garden on this bit of land.

They propose to build a community herb garden and orchard on the site, with the intention of beginning before the public meeting with Thames Water on the 15th November.

The organisers say:
"It is hoped that such an immediate and substantial voluntary effort from the community will demonstrate the strength of feeling about retaining this green space and will create a symbolic barrier to Thames Water's proposals. Crucially it will also provide an ongoing focus for the campaign, which might play out over a long period of time, with the garden continuing to raise awareness and galvanise support for protecting this open space.

It is also intended that the garden will go on to provide Deptford with a wonderful green facility long into the future, turning this often overlooked space into a valuable resource that is open to all to visit and to garden in. It is especially hoped that local schools will get involved and that it will become a place for young and old to share the satisfying activity of gardening, growing produce and supporting local wildlife."

With support from a local landscape architect Roundfield, they are putting together designs for use of the space and now are trying to raise funding and support.

On Saturday 17th September the local Evelyn Assembly will be allocating funding for the coming year. The Community Garden is asking for £500 to cover the cost of printing publicity flyers and to kick off a fund for plants and seeds. But they will need to gather enough votes to be selected to receive the funding as they are competing with many other causes. Anyone can support the bid, just turn up at the meeting tomorrow and cast your vote.

Date: Saturday 17th September
Time: 10.30am for registration. (No vote if arriving after 11am)
Location: 2000 Community Action Centre, 199-201 Grove St. SE8 3PG

The organisers are also planning to hold a public meeting at which they will explain their plans so far and invite ideas from local residents about the best way to develop the garden.

A date has not yet been set but if you are interested, keep an eye out on the local blogs and we'll keep you informed.

Twinkle Park events

2011-09-02T08:22:00.000Z

Volunteers cleaned up Twinkle Park yesterday - with a few surprises by the looks of things! - in readiness for a series of events planned for the month ahead.

Twinkle Park, Borthwick Street,Events Deptford SE8 3HZ

Saturday September 17th
Twinkle Park: 11am – 4pm
Composting
How to build a functional composting system.
Help rebuild the Twinkle Park composting system
Led by Alan Scott, Complete Ecology Ltd & Twinkle Park Trust

Saturday September 24th
12 – 3pm: Pond Dipping & Pond Maintenance
Family day to pond dip, identify pond life.
Led by Alan Scott, Complete Ecology Ltd.

Thursday September 29th
Gardeners Question Time.
7 – 9pm Armada Hall, 21 McMillan St. Deptford SE8 3EZ
Bring your questions to a panel of experts
Alan Scott, Mara Crippa, Mick Bomfield

Saturday October 1st: 1 – 3pm
Twinkle Park & Charlotte Turner Gardens
I-spy walk led by Maralyn Bossick.
Meet 1pm in Twinkle Park

Saturday October 15th
11am – 1pm Greenwich River Walk
Meet: 11am Twinkle Park led by Maralyn Bossick

For further information contact:
Vicky 020 8691 3332 or Carol 020 8473 7006

Deptford lounge shines through

2011-09-01T19:01:00.003Z

KayeJ recently left a comment on this post asking if there were any updates on the Deptford Lounge project, so this blingtastic photo is for you.

This was taken on one of those stormy days last week when late afternoon sunshine caught the shiny stuff on the front of the building. Kind of apocalyptic isn't it? And I'm afraid to report that the children of Tidemill School will not be moving to their new school this term, as originally planned.

I've included another picture to reassure those readers who no longer live here, and who recall Deptford fondly, that traffic fuckwittery still rules supreme on this particular stretch of road.

That's it for now. I'm leaving the 'ford for a week or so to breathe a bit of fresh air and walk on pavements free of chicken bones. See you soon.

Convoys wharf planning application part I: what's your view?

2011-08-31T06:07:00.004Z

Given the vast amount of information contained within the planning application for Convoys Wharf, I'm hoping to comment on some of the more salient points - building density, transport, heritage & archeology etc - over the coming weeks, other commitments permitting.

To kick off and give you an immediate feel for the in-your-face visual impact the proposed development will have on the landscape, a few of the renderings which can be found in a much larger document here.

Such renderings would have been extremely useful at the 'public consultation' so why weren't they shown? Take a look and see if you can guess the answer. (You can click on all the images to make them bigger).

The view from the Greenwich Observatory to St Paul's is what's known as a 'protected vista' in that no development is allowed to block it. On this rendering St Paul's is marked in red so that you can spot it among the towers that hem it in from both sides.

View from Millennium Quay:

View from Abinger Grove:

View from the Foreshore:

View from Greenwich pier:

View from Pepys Park:

View from the Royal Naval College, Greenwich:

View from Deptford High Street:

View from Pointer's Close (Isle of Dogs): this one is particularly worth clicking to take a closer look at. Note that it's not just the three towers which will have a visual impact on the local area - the surrounding blocks are also of a significant size. The existing tower block is shown on the right hand side, and gives a true idea of scale.

View from Plough Way:

Sound Tracks: East London Line music festival 17 September

2011-08-31T05:09:00.001Z

The Amersham Arms in New Cross is one of three music venues on the East London Line which is taking part in the Sound Tracks music festival on 17 September. The New Cross Inn will also host events under the Sound Tracks banner. And festival goers travelling from New Cross to the other venues in Dalston and Shoreditch will be entertained by gigs on the 'travelling stage' of the ELL trains themselves.

The press release explains:
Join the Sound Tracks party on Saturday 17th September and spend the evening on a musical journey via the London Overground’s East London Line. The inaugural Sound Tracks Festival takes you on a voyage taking in three of East London’s innovative music venues: Cafe Oto in Dalston; Concrete in Shoreditch and the Amersham Arms in New Cross. What’s more, two supporting venues will host events under the Sound
Tracks banner - the Dalston Eastern Curve Garden and the New Cross Inn.
Bands headlining the 100% independent festival include abstract dance music innovator Fantastic Mr. Fox, rhythmic jazz quartet Shabaka & The Sons of Kemet, and energetic garage punk frontwoman Marina Gasolina, formerly of Baile Funk band Bonde do Role.

Event organisers Amanda Lwin & Carolina Garcia were inspired to create the festival after realising that the recently extended railway line joins up places with rich musical identities. “The East London Line perfectly links up some of London’s best venues for independent music” say the urbanist / musician duo, “New music
is migrating outwards from central London: Sound Tracks Festival is about joining the dots”.

Meanwhile, the new London Overground trains have an extra-special part to play. Live performances will be taking place on the ‘Travelling Stage’ inside the trains, travelling up and down the East London Line. A range of upcoming acts will be playing short acoustic sets for festival-goers and commuters alike, with permission from Transport for London and the train operator, LOROL. This stage links up the main venues, each of which is less than three minutes walk from its Overground station.

Performances at Sound Tracks Festival will start from 7pm on 17th September 2011 at Cafe Oto, Concrete Space and Amersham Arms and go on till late. Wristbands allowing entry to all venues are £8.50 in advance (£12.50 once Early Bird tickets are gone). Some associated events are free - please check the website for details.

Deptford carriage ramp/St Paul's House/Octavius Street redevelopment

2011-08-28T09:22:00.004Z

In a rather unseemly rush, a whole host of new planning applications flooded into Lewisham's planning department this month. One of these was Convoy's Wharf, of which more later.

The other major application was for the redevelopment of the land around Deptford Station - the so-called Deptford Project which includes St Paul's House on the High Street, the land behind it, the listed carriage ramp which leads up to the station platforms, and the tranche of land on the other side, which is on Octavius Street.

A planning application was submitted back in 2005 at the same time as the station redevelopment application, but never progressed any further. The latest proposal features some significant changes to the original.

For a start, I believe the original application related only to the carriage ramp refurbishment, public realm improvements and the nine-storey building on Octavius Street; the latest application includes St Paul's House on the High Street, which is to be redeveloped and extended. Two restaurant units are proposed at ground level, one at the front and one at the rear, with three 'town houses' in the new building at the back, and eight 'affordable' units above the high street restaurant unit.

Above a couple of aerials of the St Paul's House development; the eight-storey block for some reason is only shown in faint outline, but you can still get some idea of the enormous scale of the block.

Below is the view from behind (from the corner behind the Deptford Project cafe). Do click on the picture to make it bigger and you will see the architect has labelled the shop units 'Iceland', 'Jewellery' and rather snarkily, behind the tree, 'Betting shop' (where currently no betting shop exists. Thanks for the vote of confidence guys).

The previous plan was to convert the arches in the existing (listed) carriage ramp into 14 'live/work' units, and behind that, build a nine-storey block containing 101 apartments. The new plan has done away with the live/work units - instead the arches will now just be converted into 'workshops' - and the block has been reduced to eight storeys. Whether or not this involves a reduction in height (or just an increase in storey height) I cannot say but they have certainly shoe-horned in a few more apartments to whack up the return - 121 apartments of which 14 are studios, 37 are 1 bed and 70 are 2 bed. You can click on the pictures to make them bigger, and see the scale of the new buildings - particularly the Octavius Street block.

The number of parking spaces are minimised - 26 will be provided (in a 'stacking system' - whatever that means) for the coop housing next door to replace those which have been lost to the new building, as well as six wheelchair-accessible spaces, and one parking space for each of the three town houses. Presumably you can't sell a town house without a parking space, even one right next to a high street shopping area. It seems likely that with some 140 new apartments on the site, there will be increased pressure on parking along Idonia Street and surrounds; the developer is committed to contributing to the cost of investigating implementation of a controlled parking zone on these streets, which is unlikely to go down well with other local residents.

Two car club spaces will be installed - also on neighbouring streets - and 126 bike parking spaces provided on the site.

Planning documents are available here (planning application reference DC/11/78175) although so far I have been unable to find a design & access statement.

Sue has also posted about this over on Crosswhatfields blog and mentioned the 'community involvement' statement in the application. If you went to the 'consultation' you'll remember it involved sticky, coloured labels and could not really be viewed as any kind of scientific survey, although the developers seem to have got lots of bar charts and graphs out of the results. You might want to have a look and see what conclusions they have drawn about your views.

Comments on or objections to the planning application should be submitted to Mark Furlonger, Planning Service, 5th Floor Laurence House, 1 Catford Road, London SE6 4RU, by fax to 020 8314 3127 or by email to planning@lewisham.gov.uk. Please print your name, do not sign it. You should also send a copy to your ward councillor(s).

Deadline for comments is 15 September 2011.

Extra Bones shop and free lunchtime music

2011-08-27T16:13:00.000Z

The Utrophia temporary residency of the former job centre on Deptford High Street includes the Extra Bones shop run by Andrew Kerr, which opened recently. Andrew sells homemade artwork, zines and 'objects' as well as having a trading post box where you can bring something and swap it for something else to use creatively.

The shop/gallery also has a programme of free lunchtime live music performances over the next few weeks.

I missed the first performance last Friday, although judging by the film clip on the Extra Bones blog I'm not sure it would have been my cup of tea, but I was interested to see that next week's lunchtime concert will feature folk singer Sam Lee. Sam sings traditional folk songs in his hauntingly beautiful voice, which will send shivers down your spine. If you are around next Friday, don't miss it.

Here he is singing with Jon Boden on Folk Music at Christmas.

Cafe Frizzante, Surrey Docks City Farm

2011-08-26T19:43:00.002Z

I've been in here a couple of times for coffee and soft drinks, but this week I dropped in looking for a light lunch and a break from the rain.

The cafe overlooks the very heart of Surrey Docks City Farm; the addictive goat mountain which is the scene of goaty frolics and can be very entertaining. As well as half a dozen tables inside the cafe, there's an outdoor area with four or five tables and plenty of room for push-chairs.

There's reasonably extensive breakfast and brunch menus, with special lunch dishes and a soup of the day on offer - pea and ham today. I had the special lunch which was parma ham with mixed salad leaves and 'heritage' tomatoes which was served with a dressing and a slice of toasted sourdough bread. The vegetarian option was the same but with feta cheese instead of the ham.

The leaves - which along with the tomatoes are grown in vegetable plots around the boundaries of the farm - were tasty and very fresh. They included basil, beetroot leaves and something I didn't recognise that had a very distinctive aniseedy flavour, as well as lettuce leaves. The 'heritage' tomatoes came in various colours - red, yellow, green and even purply - and were also very tasty and fresh.

Washed down with a bottle of Chegworth Valley apple and blackcurrant juice it suited me very well, although I thought the portion size of the lunch was rather frugal for the £8 price tag.

The cafe is open Wed-Sunday from 10-4.30pm and is in the middle of the Surrey Docks City Farm - you can get in from either the river path or via the main entrance on Rotherhithe Street. On Sunday they serve a roast dinner, which I hope to sample some time soon.

Octopump beer festival - more details

2011-08-25T16:10:00.002Z

Thanks to the Royal Albert for sending me more information about the beers that they intend to offer at the upcoming Octopump festival*.

This is not an exhaustive list, we are promised more ciders and possibly other beers too, subject to availability:

Nick says it's 'almost certain' they'll be featuring:

Old Chestnut/c.1790 India Pale Ale from Dark Star(couldn't find this on the website tho)
Amarillo from Milk Street
Avalanche from Fyne Ales (gutted I won't get to try this - save me some? pls?)
Ramble Tamble from Triple FFF Brewery
Elsie Mo from Castle Rock Brewery
P.G. Steam from RCH Brewery

Other breweries they are hoping to feature should include some of these:
Redemption
Kent Brewery
Hogs Back (cup of TEA anyone?)
Twickenham Ales
The brand new London Fields Brewery
Brodie's
Elgood's

As regards ciders and perrys, there will definitely be something from Severn Cider, I'm told, as well as two or three others which are currently being confirmed.

All very exciting - they are aiming for between 12 and 14 different beers and ciders over the three day period.

2-4 September 2011

Royal Albert Pub
460 New Cross Road
SE14 6TJ
020 8692 3737

@theroyalalbert

*To some extent I wish they hadn't as I'm now regretting that I'll be out of town for the entire period :-(

Beer, food and crafts..

2011-08-24T08:36:00.000Z

...three vital aspects of life if truth be told.

I have advance news that the former Deptford Deli at 4 Tanners Hill is set to reopen as 'Blossoming T', an 'art and craft gallery cafe, with art exhibitions, arts and crafts to sell and workshops for adults and children' according to business owner Cinzia Callegari. She says 'food will be simple organic fairtrade whenever it's possible, or from my allotment; tea, herbal tea served in vintage tea pots and cups...and hopefully organic wine from Italy.' She is also hoping to have live music once a month.

I do hope that she has better luck than the previous occupants Deptford Deli and Deptford Properly - from what I've heard, the property suffers problems with flooding and the landlord has in the past been unwilling to improve the situation. Hopefully it will be third time lucky - I like the sound of Cinzia's venture; tea and knitting (and cakes, we trust!) can be a winning combination!

Secondly, news that the Royal Albert pub on New Cross Road is planning a mini beer festival to celebrate the arrival of four new hand pumps at the bar, bringing the number up to eight.

'Octopump' will take place from 2-4 September and includes a range of beers and ciders on tap, music and BBQ, as well as the arrival of a bar billiards table. If you don't know how to play, you might want to get in a few practice sessions down at the Dog & Bell in advance. There's no news as yet on which beers and ciders will be on offer; RA management if you want to add this in the comments, please feel free!

Finally news of plans for a new 'Brockley' Saturday market. I have put Brockley in inverted commas here as the proposed location is the car park next to Lewisham College on Lewisham Way - not really Brockley in my view, but then again not really New Cross and not really Lewisham. I guess calling it St John's Market would have prompted lots of questions of 'where?'. There's only vague information so far - a facebook page and basic website exist so if you are interested you should probably bookmark them. Of course we have plenty of market in Deptford every Saturday, and although I do often get frustrated at the lack of local seasonal fruit that's on sale - rarely see greengages or russet apples for example - I probably wouldn't bother going all the way up there just for that. I guess it will be handy for people living in St John's and New Cross though.

New Cross People's Library and Saturday knitting club

2011-08-19T08:44:00.000Z

The New Cross People's Library is now officially open for activities and book issue, under the temporary six-week licence it has been granted. You will note that I highlighted the Saturday knitting club too because, well, I like knitting!

For the next few weeks, opening times are as follows;- Tuesdays 10am - 5pm, Thursdays 10am - 7pm and Saturdays 10am-5pm.

On weekdays it is offering:
- activities for the under-fives (including story reading and related activity).
- the summer reading challenge
- Manga drawing techniques and street art colouring-in

On Saturdays:
- storyteller at 11.30am, followed by related activity
- Manga drawing techniques and street art colouring-in
- knitting club at 2pm
- newspapers

Book issue will be available at all times that the library is open.

On Thursday 25th August 6-7pm there will be a session from Gwen, a local ex-librarian, who will be in the Library to give us advice.

The website is here for more information. The New Cross People's Library is also still seeking volunteers - more information on the website.

Douglas Square mural

2011-08-18T20:11:00.001Z

Deptford X has revealed the four shortlisted designs for the new mural in Douglas Square. The public are being invited to vote for their favourite on the Deptford X website here; although what influence the results of the voting will have is not made clear, it seems the panel of judges are 'just interested' in what you think.
No closing date is stated either.

There's no information about the artists themselves - I assume this is deliberate to prevent any bias - although each has provided a statement about their designs, which are published on the website alongside the images. You can click on the images below to see them at a bigger scale, or go to the Deptford X website for full information.

A: Portals of Deptford
'proposes taking the windows and doors of Deptford and opening them up into different worlds'
'represents how the people of Lewisham thrive through their creativity and great spirit'

The proposal also includes the four electrical cabinets which will become pedestals for the sculptures of the angels and skulls which are to be made from putty, apparently. I do question the longevity of this particular aspect of the proposal.

B: 'A cultural and colourful feast for the eyes' these 'poster-ised' photos will be largely black and white with spot colour highlights. 'Many of them music-related, evoking the rhythms and sounds of south east London' and including 'playful icons and objects collected from Deptford market'.

C: An rather different proposal which involves getting local people involved during Deptford X to do the painting 'by numbers'.
'Image based on spontaneous photographs taken at the market mixing angles, textures and scales'

D: The Albany Toile
This design has probably got the most interesting artist's statement, but I'm not sure it would work as a mural - being more like a wallpaper design (in fact it reminds me a bit of the wallpaper in the Duke!)
Links to twin towns, local industries, the Gut Girls, the Albany and the market are all intertwined with the design, but I'm afraid it doesn't really work as a mural.

Cast your own vote here. Whether it will be too late or whether it will count for anything, your guess is as good as mine!

Betfred loses planning appeal

2011-08-17T19:41:00.003Z

Thanks to Bill on Deptford Misc for tipping me off to the fact that the planning inspector published his decision on this case yesterday.

If you remember, the problem for Betfred was that the original planning permission only allowed a building society to occupy the former Halifax premises. Betfred had to make a planning application to widen the type of businesses allowed to occupy the premises so that it would include all so-called 'financial services' that form part of class A2 use today (banks, betting shops, pawnbrokers etc).

Although in fact Betfred's appeal to widen the planning usage class has been 'allowed', the planning inspector has placed a condition that this should EXCLUDE betting shops.

Ironically he disagreed with those of us who argued that it would undermine the vitality and viability of Deptford High Street (since it did not involve the loss of a retail unit) but was spectacularly damning of the impact it would have on the levels of crime and anti-social behaviour on the street.

It's particularly interesting that the anecdotal evidence was given significant weight by the inspector, and that although he noted the police records were not detailed, they were also important.

"It is true the information provided is anecdotal rather than “formal” with exact
details of dates and incidents. However, the frequency of the views expressed
paint a clear picture of the nature of the problems experienced with betting
offices in Deptford High Street."

"There is a strong body of evidence from local residents and shopkeepers that
the existing betting offices in the Core Area give rise to anti-social behaviour,
crime and disturbance. Representations refer to feelings of being intimidated
and threatened by groups of people ‘hanging around’ outside other betting
offices. There is a persistent thread of concerns about associated drinking,
drug taking and begging as well as reports of verbal abuse, fighting and
shouting. As far as many of those living and working locally are concerned
there is a clear link between these happenings and the existing betting offices."

"The evidence of the Police is also instructive. Both the Sergeant for the New
Cross Safer Neighbourhood Team and the Licensing Officer oppose the
proposal. The position ‘on the ground’ is confirmed by the Police in terms of
complaints about existing premises and of harassment, alarm and distress
caused to the public by beggars, drinkers and drug users. The Sergeant
believes that another such venue would add to crime in the area."

"Drawing things together the evidence shows that betting offices in the area are
associated with crime but whether this is abnormally serious has not been
established. More persuasive are the accounts of people familiar with the area
about disorder associated with existing premises. In general terms there is no
reason to suppose that those visiting betting offices would be more likely to
commit a crime or to behave in an anti-social manner than anyone else.
However, for whatever reason, the evidence that premises in Deptford High
Street act as a ‘magnet’ for miscreants is compelling."

"...an additional premises would simply add to problems and should not be supported."

In his conclusions the inspector said: "It would be likely to give rise to anti-social behaviour and disturbance to local residents and users of the town centre. There is also a risk of an increase in crime. As a result use of the High Street would become less safe and pleasant."

This is excellent news for Deptford High Street, but I hope that this decision will also set a precedent for other areas which are experiencing similar levels of crime and disorder related to proliferation of betting shops. It seems to me that it should also have some resonance for the decision-making process relating to licensing of betting shops - where potential impact on crime and disorder are supposed to be considered.

The full details are on the planning inspectorate website here - click on 'decision' and you will be taken to a page where you can download the decision letter.

Deptford news

2011-08-14T12:56:00.004Z

Deptford was featured in the Mail on Sunday this week after its personal finance section raised the issue of betting shops taking over from high street banks.

The article is here if you want to read it and/or comment. It touches on the planning issues and focuses more on the loss of facilities for bank customers than anything else, but I guess that's the remit of the personal finance team. Keeping the issue live is vital, and this article is important in doing so.

On Friday a tug boat capsized just off Convoy's Wharf and one crew member was lost - at time of writing the body has still not been recovered. I had walked to Greenwich to catch the Thames Clipper into town with some visitors, but the river was closed to boats and we had to head along the river to one of the piers closer to town. It was a grim walk with the river path lined with fireman and rescue crews looking out for the missing man. Following the recent death of a crew member on the Woolwich Ferry, a sad reminder of the dangers of the river.

To add to the general gruesomeness of the week, a decomposing body was found in a suitcase on the estate near Bridge House Meadows, on the fringes of New Cross.

In New Cross, the volunteers behind the New Cross People's Library have just been given a licence to hold activities for learning in the New Cross Library. I was too late to blog about the open day that took place yesterday (Saturday) but they were intending to open up for four hours and have some children's literacy activities and get people signed up to participate in future events. As of yet they do not have the facilities to loan out books, but have plans for other events. If you want to volunteer please contact newcrosspeopleslibrary@gmail.com

Also in New Cross; a press release from The London Theatre:

The London Theatre - New Cross is a new 36/50 seat fringe theatre at 443 New Cross Road, SE14 6TA which is due to open at the end of September with a weekend of plays and a stand up comedy club night hosted by The London Comedy Course who are also based at this venue.
Opening plays include 'The Bear' by Chekhov which will be performed in Russian and the hit aviation comedy 'Club Class'. The venue is also a rehearsal studio for local theatre groups and home of 'Shakespeare in The Park' who undertake large scale UK tours in major theatres. Next door a new art gallery is being built.
The artistic policy of the theatre is to bring well known but rarely-performed plays to the stage and provide cheap theatre hire space to theatre companies.
The venue is a former sound studio and nightclub and the new theatre obtained its licence a few weeks ago for entertainment from Lewisham Council.
www.thelondontheatre.com

Finally just to point out that there is a new website for the campaign against plans by Thames Water to dig a shaft on the green site next to St Paul's Church, as part of the Thames Tunnel proposals. The meeting planned for last week was cancelled after the rioting, but a new date is expected to be set soon. More information here.

Thames Tunnel meeting cancelled

2011-08-09T15:34:00.000Z

According to Crosswhatfields blog tonight's meeting about the Thames Tunnel has been cancelled.

Riot damage in Deptford

2011-08-09T06:22:00.001Z

I am somewhat relieved to report that the majority of the damage that Deptford businesses sustained last night seems to have been to the banks and bookies, and chains such as Tesco and Greggs, with the exception of our jeweller W Samuel whose shutters were damaged and jewellery boxes strewn across the street. I am hoping that the shop's goods were tucked away in a safe somewhere and these were just empty boxes.

This is by no means good news of course; these businesses still have to spend money repairing the damage, people who work in the shops and banks and the people who use them are inconvenienced, confidence is shattered and in general there is an air of disbelief and nervousness in our neighbourhood today.

Of course some knob also thought it was funny to burn a car in the middle of Douglas Square so the brand new asphalt that was put down a few months ago will be badly damaged and we are going to be tripping up over it for weeks to come, no doubt.

I know that our community will draw on its strength to repair both the physical and mental scars but I remain deeply concerned about the root causes of this unrest. That's a post for another day when time allows, but I am not convinced that it's just a case of the easy labels of 'mob rule' and 'anarchy' that the papers are suggesting.

Deptford pudding

2011-08-08T12:25:00.000Z

Ever wondered what Deptford pudding is? Or who produces Deptford honey? Or perhaps you are intrigued by English greengages?

Alternatively you might just like looking at lovely pictures of food...!

David Porter has recently started writing a blog about 'local food, wherever you are' and has named it Deptford Pudding because, as he says, he knows the recipe. He lives close to Deptford and has written about some very local foods such as honey produced on Deptford Creek and elsewhere; some that are a bit further afield such as samphire from North Kent; and slightly mysterious English foods such as bloaters, and liquorice. They are all fascinating posts which have been well researched and are accompanied by beautiful photographs which can't fail to set your mouth watering.

I think Deptford Pudding might be making an appearance on the menu Chez Deptford Dame in the near future.

Thames tunnel proposals for Coffey Street

2011-08-07T09:58:00.003Z

On Tuesday 9 August at 7.30pm there is a public meeting at the Salvation Army hall on Mary Ann Gardens. A representative from Thames Water will be there to try and answer questions from local residents, and clarify the situation regarding the proposals for use of Coffey Street as a construction site for part of the Thames Tunnel.

I went to the public consultation back in June and spent a long time talking to the engineers about the proposals to try and understand the reasons behind them, and the implications for this bit of land and for the immediate area.

Since the site on Coffey Street is not intended to be one of the main drive shafts for the tunnel, nor a drive shaft for a connector tunnel, and because it is a fairly recent proposal, the amount of information about the scope of works and permanent structures that will be left is still fairly vague (I suspect Thames Water may still be working on this itself).

It's possible to draw assumptions from the huge amount of information available on Thames Water's consultation site, but I am also wary that there is nothing to be gained by repeating these assumptions as fact. Here's what I know so far, with the extent of my assumptions set out alongside.

The Thames Tunnel or 'super sewer' itself will NOT pass under Deptford. Assuming the preferred route is chosen, the 'super sewer' will run from west to east London (to Abbey Mills pumping station) mostly under the Thames. It will not come anywhere near Deptford.

(click to see this bigger)

However, the purpose of the tunnel is to pick up all the effluent from a number of combined storm overflows which currently flows into the river after heavy rain. There are two CSOs in this part of south east London which need to be connected into the main tunnel - one which runs from Greenwich Pumping Station to the foreshore at Greenwich, and one from Deptford which overflows at Borthwick Wharf. Thames Water's preferred method of picking up this effluent is to build a tunnel from Greenwich Pumping Station (the site just over the Creek on the right hand side) to Borthwick Wharf (numbers 21 and 22 on the map) and then to Rotherhithe where it will be linked into the main tunnel.

Thames Water is having to investigate alternatives to the Borthwick Wharf site because the Environment Agency is not keen on the proposal to build a permanent structure on the foreshore, and road access to Borthwick Wharf is restricted. Although building the shaft at Borthwick Wharf will allow spoil to be taken away on the river and some materials to be delivered that way, a good deal of deliveries will still need to be by road. Local residents have also objected to the proposal.

But because this shaft has to be built above the line of the existing CSO, there are a limited number of alternatives.

The Coffey Street site is being investigated as an alternative for the shaft. However even if this site is chosen, tunnel boring machines will NOT be brought to Coffey Street as some protestors are claiming. The site at Coffey Street is intended to be a shaft only, which will be dug to the depth of the existing overflow sewer, and will be used to make the connection between the new connector tunnel and the existing combined storm overflow.

The tunnel boring machine will be brought to the site at Greenwich. A larger shaft will be built here, down which the tunnel boring machine will be lowered. The machine will then tunnel its way towards the shaft at Deptford (at a depth of about 45m) and on towards Rotherhithe.

The only spoil that will be brought out of the site at Deptford will be from the shaft, not from the tunnel construction itself. All the spoil from the tunnel construction will be taken back to the site at Greenwich, where Thames Water hopes to put it on barges on the Creek and ship it on to the river. That having been said, the Coffey Street site will still generate a considerable amount of spoil during its construction, since the shaft will be about 45m deep and will take about a year to build.

I was told that the Coffey Street site will be active initially for about a year, while the shaft is constructed. After this there will be a period of several years during which the shaft will have to remain open for access, but no further excavation will take place. Then the permanent structure will be built and the site reinstated. I was told the entire process was expected to take about five years from start to finish.

One of the major complaints by protestors is that construction work will continue at the site for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for seven years. In its general consultation documents Thames Water has said that 'the main tunnel drive and reception shaft sites, and other key activities, may be required to be constructed on a continuous 24 hour cycle 7 day a week basis.' This site is neither a main tunnel drive shaft nor a reception shaft; whether it falls into 'other key activities' is not known. However the only work to be carried out here is the construction of the shaft, this will take about a year.

While the 'super sewer' will be about 7.5m in diameter, the CSO interceptor tunnels such as the one proposed for Deptford will be much smaller, some 2.2m to 4.5m in diameter.

The other main bone of contention, and in my opinion the one that is the most worrying, is what permanent works will be left on the site. Assuming that exactly the same facilities are needed as would be if the shaft was built at Borthwick Wharf, expect a building something like the brown one you can see on this rendering (there are figures on it too for scale - you can click to make it bigger).

The visual impact that the proposed work will have on St Paul's Church - one of Deptford's most glorious pieces of architecture and historically-significant buildings - does not even seem to have been given a thought. The church is already rather squeezed by the superhighway that is Deptford Church Street; thankfully the railway viaduct exists to mask the worst of the impact of the Resolution Way flats, but they still loom large and ugly over the top.

For a start, Thames Water needs to produce more detailed renderings of the permanent structure that it proposes to leave at the site. These renderings should include St Paul's Church, to enable the visual impact to be assessed without difficulty.

Finally, some aspects of the planned implementation process for the Thames Tunnel worry me greatly. If, as the government has indicated, the project will be not be subject to normal planning rules, then this should be another main focus of protests.

Last weekend's photocall organised by local residents brought a huge influx of Labour councillors to Deptford, which was nice. I'll be honest I was a little surprised at the level of support shown by councillors I've never even heard of and those I've heard of but have rarely been able to raise responses from on other local issues. Perhaps the presence of the deputy mayor had something to do with this show of support.

Whatever they are here for, it's all good and I commend the protestors on the extremely hard work they are putting into this campaign. It's important not to get distracted by bad science and claims about stinks and super sewers; let's focus on the facts that are available, and ask for further explanation of the situation pertinent to Deptford and this site in particular, to enable a useful debate and if necessary, a strong campaign.

South East London mural walk Saturday 6 August

2011-08-02T20:41:00.001Z

This weekend the London Mural Preservation Society is leading a walk around Deptford, Surrey Quays and New Cross to look at some of the area's murals and find out more about them.

The free walk begins at Canada Water station (Jubilee and London Overground) – meet at the top of the escalators – at 1pm on Saturday 6th August, finishing at around 4pm in Deptford with a visit to the pub. The walk includes the mural in Surrey Quays shopping centre which is featured on the blog here - and which I never knew existed (probably since I usually do my best to avoid the shopping centre...)

More information about the walk and also the society here.

Meanwhile read about mural-related shenanigans over on Crosswhatfields blog, where one of Deptford's most famous murals is under threat.

Around Deptford

2011-08-01T21:05:00.001Z

Just a periodic reminder that if you are interested in local news, gossip and goings on, there are plenty of other good blogs in the area that you should keep up to date with. Although there's often some crossover, I try not to repeat things that have been posted elsewhere unless I'm particularly keen on them, so it's a good idea to keep a bloglist of what else is going on.

For example:

Crosswhatfields reported recently on:

The new Deptford Project garden

and

the continuing link between our local Convoy's Wharf development and disgraced media corporation News International

Transpontine announces the imminent arrival of Come the Revolution, a cafe on New Cross Road backed by People Before Profit and with some confusing links to estate agent Housemartins, a connection which has Brockley Central commenters intrigued.

Transpontine also reported on the opening night of the high street's latest art space Utrophia, and published a fascinating report on the history and future of Laurie Grove baths.

Further afield from Deptford there are plenty of other hyperlocal bloggers, whose posts may well be of interest to you depending on your specific location, passion or, dare I say it, obsession. They range from the geographically-focussed Brockley Central, 853, Charlton Champion, From the murky depths, the Greenwich Phantom and the Blackheath Bugle to specialists such as Deptford Market, Shipwright's palace and London's lost garden. Have a browse in my sidebar on the right hand column, you'll be sure to find something of interest.

Deptford station: new facilities installed

2011-07-31T21:33:00.001Z

Thames Tunnel proposals: upcoming events

2011-07-29T08:05:00.000Z

Thames Water's proposals to possibly site an access shaft for part of its Thames Tunnel construction project on the green space next to Coffey Street has generated a lot of concern among local residents.

I was one of many people who attended the consultation event in June and came away with a lot of information (much of it only verbally communicated) and what I thought was a greater understanding of what the project would involve. I haven't had chance to blog about it yet, due to ongoing commitments (and the fact that it's a very complex subject), but in the meantime other local residents have organised groups to protest against the plans.

A couple of upcoming events may well be of interest to anyone in Deptford who either wants to find out more, or wants to voice their objections to the plans.

This Saturday 30 July a group of residents will be protesting at the proposed site next to St Paul's Church from 11am onwards.

If you want to learn more about the proposals, or have unanswered questions that you would like to put to Thames Water's representatives, you should make a date in your diary for the public meeting that is being held from 7.30pm on 9 August in the Salvation Army Hall in Mary Anne Gardens.

Guerrilla gardening in Deptford

2011-07-27T12:52:00.000Z

Anyone living on the Evelyn estate in Deptford will probably recognise this depressing flower bed, which sits in the middle of the gyratory halfway along Edward Street. It's home to a few oversize trees and some grubby rose bushes that burst into flower once a year and are stagnant the rest of the time; it has lost a fair amount of its surrounding paving stones and a large chunk of the wall on the corner where it was knocked through by an errant lorry one morning; and yet it retains a magnetic charm for some people.

Magnetic because it's a large growing area that is hugely underused, one that is visible, available and free! Arguably its position on a gyratory makes it an unsuitable place for growing food, but perfect for some bright flowers to add a splash of colour and give passers by something to admire.

Which is why a friend of mine has been pimping it - May 1st is official sunflower planting day for Guerrilla Gardeners, and that's what happened on the Edward Street Gyratory. I understand the ground was a little hard as it had been hot and sunny for most of April, but the seeds got planted and watered regularly in the following weeks. I pass the bed every day on my way to work, so was able to keep an eye on progress and see if the flowers actually made it.

The seedlings started to emerge, and slowly reached skywards. Sunflower plants grow quite quickly and once they are established, can survive with relatively little care and attention - these are dwarf and medium-height sunflowers, not the giant ones which would have needed canes for support. A few clumps of poppies kept them company at times.

The sunflowers have just started to open over the last week or so, and add a lovely splash of colour to a very dreary corner. I was surprised to note that the area around them was actually weeded a few days ago - I'm not sure whether by Glendales, whom I presume are supposed to look after this bed, or by another guerrilla gardener.

My friend plans to expand the planting in this bed, to take advantage of its prominent location and huge capacity, and is looking for collaborators either for this site, or to form a Deptford guerrilla gardening corps to brighten up neglected flower beds across the area. If you live in this part of the Evelyn estate or Deptford/New Cross borders and are interested in doing a bit of urban gardening, or have ideas, seeds, unwanted plants, tools or time on your hands, please get in touch with me via the email in the top right-hand column and I'll pass your details on.

Convoys wharf 'revised proposals'

2011-07-23T18:42:00.001Z

When today's exhibition for Convoys Wharf revised proposals was announced a couple of weeks ago, a lot of people complained about the fact that they would be away and would miss it.

Well don't lose too much sleep over it - you didn't miss a lot! I went along briefly and picked up a brochure, but didn't hang around because there wasn't anything on the display boards that wasn't in the brochure, and not much detail to be seen.

Here in 'full', for those who missed the exhibition, is the content of the 'changes to the outline planning application' page:

Since submitting an outline planning application to the London Borough of Lewisham in November 2010, a number of design reviews have taken place, involving both Lewisham Council and the GLA.

As a result of those changes, a number of design-related alterations have been made to the application. While the broad fundamentals remain the same, we have tried to vary the layout of the streets and public areas to give the development more character and identity. The changes include:

- the main road in to the site from the top of New King's Street has been made less straight to create a sense of discovery (wtf?) as you move into the site, with the Olympia building and surrounding square as a progressively revealing destination point

- the main public square now wraps around the Olympia Warehouse creating a more intimate, lively and interesting space

- the residential street pattern has been changed to reflect the local area and create a stronger identity for the development

- the landscaped park around the double dry-dock has increased in size to provide a more enjoyable open space for the local community

What exactly does all this flim-flammery mean, and what else has changed since last time?

The 'revisions' that the developers have actually pointed out, as the cynics among you will not be surprised to learn, are basically smoke and mirrors dressed up as 'revisions'. If the area around the double dry-dock has increased in size, it is by a very small percentage (not specified but I'm comparing the two plans - the previous one here and the new one in the brochure, which I intend to post as soon as I have a digital version).

The fact that the developers are still focussing attention on about the area around the Olympia Warehouse (which is a listed structure and they legally have to retain and protect it) and ignoring the hugely more historically-significant remains of the Royal Dockyard (still mostly buried, its full extent not confirmed and no commitment from any government bodies to investigate further) demonstrates where their priorities lie.
The brochure states that the heritage and cultural history of the site will play an important role in the development of the detailed proposals, but fails to say exactly how, except that it will 'reflect and reinterpret' that heritage. I don't really like the sound of that, do you?

The brochure also has a big section about affordable housing, since it seems London & Quadrant has been brought on board as the affordable housing partner in the development process. But 500 affordable houses (and we all know that 'affordable' is a very flexible concept) out of 3,500 total units is woeful, if I might be so presumptious. About 15% for those who don't have a calculator to hand, which is way less than the 25% they were touting last time. I'm not sure what Lewisham's current target for affordable housing quotas is, but I'm damn sure it's not as low as that!

I was also very interested to see that the introduction to the brochure, focussing on The Masterplan, has given the details of the outline planning application and its various types of land use in square footage, casting us back into the mists of Imperial units.

This is very curious. Or perhaps not; my inner cynic advises me that it's just to make comparison with the previous application a bit more onerous. And my inner cynic has also warned me that this is probably because they have got something to hide.

Well here it is folks: I've done the maths, as they say, so you don't have to. Check it here if you wish.

Original proposals:
Cultural & community space 14,400m2

New proposals:
Arts & cultural uses 100,000ft2 (9,290m2)

Of course there may well be an 'innocent' explanation for this, but my inner cynic has just chipped in with "Don't you think they would be bigging up the amount of arts and cultural space as much as they could, with whatever they could shoehorn into that category? And anyway why the hell do you think they have changed it to square footage now when they could have just cut and pasted the previous numbers?"

I'll be posting information, renderings and more comments on here when they become available - apparently by Thursday on the developers site here.

In the meantime, you can read my previous posts about this project by searching 'convoys' in the box on the right hand side.

Please add comments below if you found out any more interesting information at the exhibition.

Meanwhile the Shipwright's Palace has posted an incredibly beautiful and moving description of what things could be like if the imaginations and ambitions of our local experts, campaigners and visionaries are nurtured and allowed to participate fully in this process.

Jamaican food on Deptford Market

2011-07-23T16:03:00.000Z

Deptford Market has a new food vendor selling home-cooked Jamaican food on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

I noticed the stall on Wednesday but didn't get to try the food as I had already eaten. Today I made a special trip to try it out for lunch, and decided to sample Jamaica's national dish, ackee & saltfish.

There's a range of dishes to choose from, including curry goat, beef & pepper stew, and curried chicken, as well as jerk chicken (which I have to say is next on my list to sample!) and some kind of fresh fish (perhaps it was red snapper, I'm not too sure) cooked whole.

For a fiver you get your choice of the dishes with rice & peas, a couple of slices of fried plantain, and some salad.

Portion size is impressive, and although there was a lot of rice, there was also a good helping of the ackee & saltfish. It was my first taste of ackee in particular, which I found extremely moreish (so much so that I've already looked up a recipe for making it at home!); the rice & peas was perfectly cooked and tasty, if a little more spicey than I'm used to, and the fried plantain added a lovely caramelly sweetness to the dish. To be honest the salad was rather dull, just a few slices of cucumber and tomato, and could have easily been omitted from my point of view, although would probably be a welcome companion to the jerk chicken.

Overall...? The following picture probably sums it up nicely.

The guy running the stall was very friendly and keen to explain the dishes and their ingredients, and overall the food hygiene seemed to be of reassuringly high standards.

At a fiver, it's a little more pricey than the other takeaway stalls on Deptford Market, I worry that they might find it difficult to attract the penny-wise shoppers in Deptford. They might want to consider making the jerk chicken available at a price per drumstick if they don't already, for those people who only want a small snack (and who might be persuaded to buy the whole meal if they like what they taste). I will certainly be going back to try the other dishes.

Community night at Silent Cinema; 30 July

2011-07-23T15:09:00.001Z

If you fancy checking out the Silent Cinema at the Deptford Project but can't afford tickets, or if you just live in the area and fancy a nice freebie, Saturday 30 July has been nominated as this year's 'community screening'.

The film being shown is Grease which I think is a bit like Marmite - you either love it or you hate it. In spite of its dreadfully anti-feminist message and implication that bad girls get what they deserve etc, I loved it as a teen and still can't totally dispel this emotion. I blame it on weeks of being subjected to John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John at number one on Top of the Pops. Tell me about it, stud!

For those of you too young to remember it, and those too old to care, here's the fateful song. And while you are watching the actors (including Stockard Channing, future First Lady in West Wing!) strut their stuff, don't forget they are supposed to be teenagers...!

(you will have to click through and watch on Youtube)

To get your name on the guestlist, send an email to rebecca@thedeptfordproject.com. Doors open at 7pm and the film starts at 9.15pm. I believe food and drink will be available for purchase beforehand.

Seager Distillery art gallery under threat

2011-07-22T21:41:00.001Z

I'm sure many of you consider me an old cynic when it comes to developers and their particular visions for Deptford. And I worry that there seem to be a lot of people out there of the opinion that because Deptford is a poor and deprived area, any manner of improvement (for this read 'construction of new buildings/facilities') should be applauded and is almost certainly more than we deserve.

I'm afraid I don't subscribe to this view, and luckily I'm not alone in this. I can't see why we should settle for anything less than state of the art - of course mostly we do have to settle for something less, but there's no harm in setting your standards high in the first place. Set them at mediocre or low and there's nothing to aim for - and developers will soon exploit this lack of concern even further.

Unfortunately my cynical attitude is regularly reinforced by experience, and a recent application for a revision to the original planning permission by the developers of the Seager Distillery has continued that trend.

The developer was originally granted planning permission to convert the old distillery building that fronts on to Deptford Broadway into a ground-floor art gallery and six floors of office space.

But now they are claiming that they've had no interest in the office space, but have been approached by a hotel chain wanting space for a four star hotel with 90 rooms.

The old distillery building would be perfect, if it weren't for that pesky art gallery on the ground floor which is putting the mockers on the plans.

Easy; just shift it round the corner into the ground floor of the newbuild on Brookmill Road.

So rather than giving it the promised high-profile location on a major traffic route, and the opportunity to signal Deptford's art credentials to the wider world, the developers want to tuck the gallery out of sight in a smaller, uninspiring space with limited marketing potential.

It's not difficult to see why the developers want to change the office space to hotel space - and pronto if they intend to cash in on the Olympics of course, as I think it will take some clever marketing to sell rooms in a 4* hotel on Deptford Broadway under normal circumstances - but it really should not be done at the cost of the gallery space, which after all is one of the few benefits that the local community will gain from the development.

If you wish to object to this application, you can find the documents here by searching for the application number DC/11/76500/X.

Objections should be sent as soon as possible, the target date for a decision is 3 August.

Living Streets campaign; make your views on betting shops known

2011-07-20T16:52:00.002Z

Living Streets is billed as 'the national charity that stands up for pedestrians' but its latest campaign 'The local joke' is intended to address an issue that would probably be billed more appropriately as standing for local shoppers, residents, businesses, sustainable communities and so on.

I was delighted to come across this campaign, which includes a template letter that you can send to Eric Pickles, secretary of state for communities, who is apparently reviewing the planning rules for change of use in buildings such as pubs, banks and building societies.

Please visit the website and make your views known. It's a good idea to personalise the template letter with your own comments, perhaps bringing in the Deptford experience, to make it more forceful.

What's more, tell all your friends.

Meanwhile, as Sue has posted over on Crosswhatfields blog, we have also seen some action by our MP on this issue at last, with Joan proposing legislation to create a separate planning use class for betting shops and enable local councils to consider demand when a new betting shop applies to open.

The Old Haberdasher

2011-07-17T18:10:00.001Z

Formerly known as the Rosemary Branch, having enjoyed more recently an infamous period as the Black Flag, this rather handsome corner pub on Lewisham Way is now renamed and reopened as the Old Haberdasher. Myself and the Geezer popped down there last night to check it out

Considering it's only been open a few nights, the pub was fairly lively - I suspect everyone else was also checking out this new arrival on the New Cross pub scene. Staff were very friendly, first impressions were good.

Having never been in the pub before I don't know how the interior differs to what was there before, but it's certainly very smart now. Wooden floors, 'heritage' paint colours, slightly mismatched furniture, mostly regular tables and chairs but with a corner of banquettes and some of those high chairs for people who like to view the bar from an elevated position. The area to the right of the bar had tables all laid out restaurant style, so this place seemingly has either aspirations or delusions of grandeur, however you like to see it. Personally I'm not a fan of restaurants in pubs - fine if they have a dining room, but if it's a pub it should be a pub - and if you want to eat, the staff can bring cutlery etc to the table. The decor was fairly bland, nothing offensive but nothing characterful either - reminded me rather of the Duke on Creek Road in this regard. There is plenty of outdoor space at the front and an enclosed garden at the back, could be quite nice on a sunny day.

There was a choice of two real ales - Greene King IPA (meh) and Timothy Taylor's Landlord. I chose the latter; nicely kept and reasonably priced at £3.20. A third handpump suggests other ales might arrive in due course - let's hope something a little more unusual. Lager choice was Staropramen, Becks and Stella, prices from £3.60 upwards. There was an extensive wine list too. I particularly liked the fact that the prices of all the beers were included in the menus on the table - for some reason it seems to have become fashionable of late to dispense with price lists in pubs. I find it rather irritating in places like the New Cross House where they sell some very expensive lagers and there's no way of telling the price of what you are buying without asking (and even then the bar staff don't always know, they just press the appropriate button on the till).

The menu was typical pub grup - burgers, steaks, fish n chips etc with a range of ciabattas too - priced slightly above the norm. We didn't try anything so I can't comment on the quality, intend to rectify this in due course. They also have a short specials menu which seemed a little more adventurous - pea risotto, sea bass, etc.

Two things grated - the music was rather patchy, ranging from acceptable to MOR ballady-type stuff which was just naff. Hopefully this can be fixed quite easily.

The second is a little more permanent - the smallest toilet cubicles IN THE WORLD! The positioning of pan and door in the ladies toilets means that in order to enter or exit the cubicles you have to straddle the pan so that you can open or close the door! At the risk of being caught in the act and branded some kind of pervert, I took a photo to more easily demonstrate this abomination. Please forgive the vulgarity - after all a Dame should never be seen in this kind of compromising position - but I thought it was necessary to prove my point.

It's galling that the rest of the washroom is quite spacious, so the teensy cubicles were not created just so they could be shoehorned into a tiny area. Gents don't fret though, the cubicle in the men's toilets is suitably capacious for your manly thighs and large feet (or so I am told!).

The Old Haberdasher
44 Lewisham Way,
SE14 6NP

Tea party at the National Maritime Museum

2011-07-13T09:23:00.000Z

Anyone fancy reminiscing over a nice cup of tea in Greenwich this weekend?

Tea Party at National Maritime Museum, Sunday 17 July, 11.30 - 12.30, 14.30 - 15.30

What are you earliest memories of Greenwich Park and the Museum? Do you remember the allotments here during the Second World War? Or maybe it was the scene of your first kiss? And how would you like to see the Museum and Park used in the future? With the opening of the Sammy Ofer Wing the main Museum entrance will move from Romney Road to the Park side, modifying the local landscape once again. We'd love to hear your stories about the Museum and Park over the years to help us plan our 75th anniversary celebrations next year.

Please join artist Sadia Ur-Rehman, local residents, and Museum staff and volunteers, for a cosy tea party in the new Sammy Ofer Wing café. Delicious complimentary teas and cakes will be served, while Sadia uses simple parlour games to get your table talking. The conversations will be recorded.

To book your free place please email Sara at swajid@nmm.ac.uk specifying which sitting you prefer. Places are limited to 20 per sitting.

Convoys Wharf exhibition of revised proposals 23 July

2011-07-13T08:30:00.002Z

The developers of Convoys Wharf are holding a public exhibition of their revised proposals at the Albany on Saturday 23 July. I can't say the renderings of the waterfront fill me with excitement - what about you?

Here's the full text of the invite:

The Albany, Deptford, SE8 4AG (The Red Room, Ground Floor)
Saturday 23rd July, 10am – 5pm

Hutchison Whampoa and the development team for Convoys Wharf would like to invite you to a public exhibition of the proposals to regenerate this key Deptford site.

The Convoys Wharf project will transform a 42-acre brownfield site into a vibrant riverside community, bringing in over £1 billion of inward investment in Deptford.

The development will provide 3,500 new homes; 120,000ft2 of shops, restaurants, cafés and bars; a 300-room hotel; a new primary school; 550,000ft2 of employment and wharf uses and 100,000ft2 of arts and cultural uses.

Since submitting an outline planning application for the site in November 2010, Hutchison Whampoa have been working with the London Borough of Lewisham to bring forward some amendments to the proposed development.

The amended outline planning application for Convoys Wharf is due for submission to the London Borough of Lewisham in the next two weeks and the exhibition will provide information on the finalised proposals.

Members of the development team will be available at the public exhibition to address any queries and listen to your views on the proposals.

If you have any queries in the meantime, please phone 0845 460 6011 or email your comments to info@convoyswharf.com

I will be interested to see what amendments have been made to the proposals, and indeed whether the previous public consultation had any effect. Presumably most of the amendments have been prompted by comments from Lewisham's planning department. In the meantime there is an ongoing campaign to try and get a more thorough archaeological investigation carried out, and hence to get the developers to make more of the unique historical remains at the site. Of which more later.

Silent cinema returns to Deptford

2011-07-01T21:48:00.001Z

From 14 July the yard behind the Deptford Project once again plays host to the 'silent' cinema, which will be screening films over a series of weekends in July and August.

There's an extended programme compared to last year, with five themed weekends of films showing on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Filmgoers wear headphones for the soundtrack, which means neighbours are not disturbed by the outdoor setting - and I presume the unusual seating that was made last year, out of pallets and cushions covered with old curtains and the like, will be brought out of retirement for ticket holders.

The programme is as follows:

80s weekend (no apostrophe please, Ticketweb!)
14 July: St Elmo's Fire
15 July: Pretty Woman
16 July: Dirty Dancing

Sci-Fi Alien invasion weekend
21 July: Invasion of the bodysnatchers
22 July: Terminator
23 July: Alien

Americana weekend
28 July: Easy Rider
29 July: Pretty in Pink
30 July: Grease

Weepy weekend
11 August: Terms of Endearment
12 August: Brokeback Mountain
13 August: Beaches

Black & white classics weekend
18 August: The General
19 August: Nosferatu
20 August: Metropolis

Tickets are £10 and can be bought online at Ticketweb

Meanwhile over in Greenwich, Meantime Brewery has teamed up with Nomad Cinema to host a series of three films to be shown in the grounds of the old Royal Naval College. You can see Groundhog Day, Time Bandits, or Memento which are showing on the weekend of 8-10 July. Prices here are a bit steeper though - £12.50 for the ticket plus the £1.25 'booking fee' that Wegottickets charges you to send you an email with your unique reference number.

The Big Red pizzas

2011-06-26T20:16:00.002Z

Last weekend, after what seemed like an interminable wait, the Big Red bus next to the Birds Nest pub opened for business selling pizzas and beer. Pizzas and beer, who needs anything else in life? Well some people need coffee, mojitos or a bit of salad on the side, and luckily the Big Red sells all of these!

I wasn't able to make it the first weekend, and to be honest it was a bit cold and wet anyway, but yesterday as the sun started to blaze down in a truly summery way, the geezer and I gave it a thorough checking out.

From the outside, it's a big red bus designed to look like it's busting through the fence at the side of the Birds Nest in true cartoon style.

From the inside it's still a bus, although the seating is slightly rearranged to offer something a bit more sociable than you'd get on the 36; there are tables with little spotlights and red lights that are intended to light up when your pizza's ready so you can go down and collect it.

Outside is a jumble of different types of seating; from a row of little jasmine-strewn arbours catching the full rays of the afternoon sun to big comfy outdoor sofas that you can lounge on, and more formal tables for groups ranging from two to a dozen or more. To be honest the staff are so obliging that if you turned up with twenty they would probably regard it as no trouble at all to set you out a large table, or perhaps give you the whole of the upper deck. Some of the outside area is shaded, the rest is open - a bit hot in today's temperatures but probably a good sheltered spot to catch a bit of warmth on a cooler day.

The menu is short but offers an interesting choice of pizzas, including margarita, 'mare' (prawns, capers, sundried tomatoes), pepperoni, roast vegetables and the 'flamenco' which has already become my personal fave. You can tell they are still finding their feet as far as the menu is concerned and getting the hang of the various pizza toppings because the flamenco I had on Saturday was rather different to the one I saw being served on Sunday - however the two central ingredients were the same. They are chunks of spicey, succulent chorizo and lumps of morcilla, Spain's answer to black pudding. Whether teamed with ham and a handful of pesto-dressed rocket or with green olives, they provide a very tasty alternative to pepperoni for the meat eaters.

The pizza crust was thin and crunchy, slightly burned in places which I prefer to Pizza Express's frequently anaemic version, and the topping quantities very well balanced. They are very happy to accommodate any requests such as no cheese, which I know will go down particularly well with at least one friend of mine, and the staff were overwhelmingly friendly and helpful.

Prices range from a fiver for the margarita to £7.50 for the flamenco and the pepperoni - they are very generously sized pizzas and you can also order side salads if you feel you need some greens.

Bottled beers including Peroni, and Meantime's IPA and London Lager are available, as well as mojitos and soft drinks/coffee too.

At the moment the Big Red is only open Friday (5-11) Saturday (12-11) and Sunday (12-5) but from 6 July they plan to open five days a week (closed on Monday & Tuesday).

UPDATE Dec 2011: The Big Red is open throughout the winter from 6pm and they have a cocktail 'happy hour' Tuesday to Friday from 6pm till 9pm. The hardy/smokers can still sit outside as there is a wood fire and fleece blankets to keep you warm, along with hot soup and mulled wine/hot toddies on the menu.

http://thebigredpizza.com/

For a decent pizza in the evening we'd taken to walking to the New Cross House, which serves pretty reliable offerings from its pizza oven. I'm delighted we've now got a local alternative which, on initial experience, has better pizzas at a very reasonable price.

Definitely worth a visit; see you there!

My Fish

2011-06-25T08:29:00.001Z

One of the arguments often used by betting shops to justify their proliferation in areas such as Deptford is that having a betting shop is better than having an empty shop unit. Whether this is true in any circumstances is arguable, depending on your opinion of what benefit betting shops offer to the community.

However long-term empty units is not a problem that Deptford High Street is prone to. In fact at the moment I think the only unit that has been empty for a long time is the former Halifax, for which Betfred is waiting to hear the results of its appeal.

The latest unit to be filled was open for business yesterday; My Fish. It's a cavernous shop and has been lovingly (and rather slowly it's true) fitted out with shiny stainless steel and jazzy lighting that would seem more at home in an bar than a fish shop.

The front part of the shop has a huge counter of wet fish and live crustaceans, many of which were unfamiliar to me, stretching about half the way down the shop along one wall. Down the opposite wall are huge racks holding packets of dried and smoked fish and shrimps of various types as well as African foods such as egusi seeds.

The back of the shop has several rows of freezers stocked full with whole frozen fish of many different varieties, large catering packs of clams in their shells, squid in rings or whole, boxes of octopus and all manner of other fish and shellfish.

A hard sell was going on yesterday when I drifted past; half a dozen staff tasked with getting the punters in and then getting them to purchase - the huge spread of wet fish was certainly getting a lot of interest, particularly from Deptford's African and Vietnamese shoppers.

As a rather unadventurous fish eater myself, it's unlikely I'm going to desert Codfather's for My Fish, particularly since the kind of purchases I usually make - smoked haddock, skate wings, smoked salmon etc - aren't sold by My Fish. Some of the shellfish look interesting though and might tempt me in now and then.

Or if anyone has any recommendations or recipes I could try for something a bit more adventurous, please feel free to leave them in the comments!

Meanwhile I see local artist Sarah McIntyre was also down there taking a few photos; see her take on My Fish here.

Utrophia goodbye and hello

2011-06-20T20:03:00.000Z

Sad news that Utrophia is moving out of the old Ice Cream factory on Tanners Hill...this Friday 24 June they are hosting a farewell party That's It?

'Art, music, film, homemade food, performance and more' as we have come to expect.

But as Sue reports on Crosswhatfields, they are not going far - in fact they are coming closer to a lot of people!

Art-Eat 1-Hundred/ APT open studios

2011-06-20T19:34:00.000Z

Hand Made Food from Blackheath is hosting a 'pop-up dinner' (I confess I find that concept rather disturbing) on 3 July at the APT Gallery.

The dinner is taking place the same weekend as APT's open studios, which will be on 2 and 3 July (Saturday 12-6pm and Sunday 12-7pm)

A very seasonal menu will be served as follows:

MENU

Cocktails
Urban Orchard – Lemon verbena gin, elderflower, apple rosemary and grapefruit bitters
Raspberry and Vanilla Martini

Hors d’oeuvres
Rabbit rillette on toast
Bloody Mary consommé with horseradish

First
Marinated Mackerel
Tomato summer pudding (v)

Main
Organic Essex Lamb stuffed with pink peppercorns and preserved lemons
Runner bean Thoran with homemade Paneer and Daal (v)

With
Cous cous broad beans with yoghurt & mint
Smoked aubergine and walnut
Artichokes, peas and new potatoes
Sourdough flatbreads with zaatar & sumac olive oil.

Pudding
Foraged fruit surprise!

My mouth is watering already at the prospect of the lamb, although the veggie options also sound very tasty. Tickets must be bought in advance, they are £40 per head and available here.

Thames Tunnel consultation; possible impact on Deptford

2011-06-18T07:31:00.002Z

Thames Water's plans for construction of the new Thames Tunnel, which have been under development for some years now, are set to affect Deptford in some way or other, like it or not.

Next Friday and Saturday (24 and 25 June) Thames Water is holding drop-in sessions at the Creekside Centre to consult with local residents and businesses about its 'phase two' plans. I strongly recommend attendance to comment on proposals; please read on to find out why.

Three routes are being considered for the main tunnel - the preferred route more or less follows the River Thames from Hammersmith down to Abbey Mills - but whichever is chosen, a few smaller connection tunnels must be built to carry waste from the combined sewer overflows into the main tunnel. Local combined sewer overflows for Greenwich Pumping Station (located at the foreshore just west of the Greenwich Foot Tunnel) and Deptford (right in front of the Ahoy Centre) must be linked into the main tunnel at Rotherhithe, with the main work site originally intended to be Kings Stairs Gardens. During the phase one consultation, locals mounted an impressive campaign to save their local green space from being used as a construction site. As a result, Thames Water is trying to find an alternative and has even bought up brownfield land nearby as a possible option.

But one of Thames Water's proposed changes to reduce the impact on Rotherhithe is to reverse the direction of tunnelling for the connection tunnel. Originally the tunnel boring machine was to start at Kings Stairs Gardens and head towards Greenwich; the spoil was to be taken up to ground level through a large shaft in KSG and removed by barges. While construction sites were needed in Greenwich and Deptford, they would be smaller and less disruptive, without the need to remove lorry loads of spoil and deliver materials for the tunnel construction works.

With suggestions that the direction of tunnelling be reversed, this could have quite a dramatic impact on the preferred construction site just over the boundary in Greenwich, and associated impacts on local roads.

Greenwich Pumping Station, which is just across the Creek in Norman Road, is owned by Thames Water and as such is an obvious choice as a worksite for one of the local interceptor tunnels. But changing the direction of tunnelling will mean spoil has to be removed at the site and taken away by road, and additional deliveries will be needed, as well as the fact that a larger construction site will have to be used.

Here's a rendering of how it is proposed the site will look when the work is finished.

A second, potentially more disruptive issue for Deptford town centre has emerged as part of this second round of consultation.

A construction site is also needed to build the interceptor tunnel for the Deptford combined sewer overflow which discharges down by the Ahoy Centre. Again, in the initial consultation, Thames Water proposed a site at Borthwick Wharf as its preferred option, but there was opposition from local residents in Millennium Quay who would be directly affected by the construction work. The work was also proposed to leave permanent structures at the site to enable operation of the tunnel.

As a result, Thames Water wants to know what local people think about losing the use of the little triangle of land enclosed by Deptford Church Street, Coffey Street and Crossfield Street for several years. This would be turned into a construction site from which the interceptor tunnel for the Deptford overflow would be built.

In the open letter that has been sent to local residents by Thames Water, there's not much information about what work would need to be carried out from this site, or how long it would be needed for, but I guess that's what staff at the 'drop-in' sessions at the Creekside Centre next week will be able to confirm.

I am not particularly keen on the prospect of more heavy construction work in the centre of Deptford - Thames Water is intending to start work in 2013 with completion of the whole system in 2020 so it seems we may have a lull of a year or so after the town centre/Tidemill/railway station/etc completion before chaos descends again. I am also very fond of that little green lung, it enhances the setting of St Paul's Church and provides a buffer against the noise and pollution from Deptford Church Street. Its trees and grassed areas provide valuable wildlife habitat in an increasingly built-up urban environment. The fenced-in area next to the road is also used by dog-owners to let their pets run off the lead, and additionally, the proposed site is right in front of a primary school.

If you want to find out more, and have your concerns noted, please try and get to the drop-in sessions at the Creekside Discovery Centre, 14 Creekside.

Friday 24 June 10am-7pm
Saturday 25 June 12-5pm

There's a huge amount of information on the project and the consultation process at Thames Water's dedicated Thames Tunnel page here, with most of the consultation information about various sites on this page. The second phase of public consultation is not due to start until September of this year, so if you are concerned about the impact this work could have on Deptford and its surroundings, now is probably a good time to read up on it and have your objections ready.

New mural for Douglas Way Square

2011-06-17T21:57:00.001Z

Buried at the bottom of the applications page of the Deptford X website I found an invitation for artists to submit proposals for a new mural in Douglas Way Square to replace the existing mural, which has definitely seen better days (click on the words 'Douglas Way Square' to download the document).

I seem to have missed the general announcement of this, but artists need to be quick - the deadline for proposals is 4 July.

'The London Borough of Lewisham is looking to replace the current mural on Douglas Square, titled “Deptford Railway Yard”, produced by Christopher Ryland and Paul Prestidge in 1980.
Over time the mural has suffered significant wear and tear and the council has now decided to replace the mural with a new piece of artwork.
Douglas Way Square is under going extensive refurbishment and this new design will be an important addition to the look and feel of the square.
We are looking for to contract an artist to produce a new piece of artwork on the wall, which can be maintained and developed over a three year period. We are flexible as to the nature of the proposal and are interested in receiving proposals that, for example, apply a range of techniques or develop the creative practice of an artist or maker interested in working to a large scale.'

There's a lengthy selection process; from the submissions, three designs will be selected and the artists will each be given £250 to develop an installation method statement & risk assessment, a maintenance plan and detailed design sketches.

Phase three will involve the three designs being exhibited at a venue in Deptford where the public will be able to attend and make comment. The selected artists will have to attend a community event to talk to the members of the local community about their proposals. In stage four the artists will be interviewed by the selection panel (representatives of Lewisham Council, Design for London, Deptford X and local businesses) before a final choice is made.

The competition is open to all artists living or working in the UK, and the budget for the mural is £6k.

However the winner should not expect their work to be there in perpetuity; the brief only requires it to last 'at least a year'. The mural will be commissioned until August 2013 and then 'may be removed or re-commissioned'.

I'd love to see something bold, colourful and perhaps thought-provoking on that wall - the fact that I rarely notice the existing mural underlines the fact that it is faded and past its prime. Time for fresh influences.

Deptford memories

2011-06-13T21:16:00.004Z

My recent post about Wellbeloved's Deptford High Street premises prompted some interesting correspondence with former Deptford resident Ronald King, who sent me some fascinating memories from his formative years in the 'ford.

Ron, who is now 81 and lives in northern England, sent this wonderful picture of his school class at Stanley Street school in 1937. The writing on the blackboard reads: "We have just put up the decorations for the Coronation"

His memories paint a colourful and revealing picture of the excitement of Deptford High Street from a child's eye view, during the 1930s, and the devastation that the war wreaked on families and day to day life in the area.

Ron writes: I can only offer an old man’s disjointed ramblings but do so with the hope that they may trigger recollections in those with more intimate knowledge.

I come from an old Deptford family, poor but honest: the area around Grove Street was for many years infested by 'my sisters and my cousins and my aunts' ... well actually not my sisters.
My memories of the High Street date from about 1935. I lived – aged 5 - at No 8 Amersham Vale, a short walk away via Douglas St.

I remember...the barrows at the Douglas St/High St junction where you could buy almost anything at bargain prices...Woolworths, who really did sell things for 3d. and 6d….including TOYS!...the large 'barrel' suspended over the pavement near the station. I was convinced that it would come crashing down on somebody one day - I gave it a wide berth.

The bracket that held the 'barrel' is still there over; Ron identified it as the one above the Monis clothes shop.

I remember...the shops decorated for the Coronation, large golden crowns made of cardboard which disintegrated when it rained and of course, flags...the market with two entrances from the High St where stalls sold cotton and buttons - and my special interest - books of all kinds, and pencils...the darkness of the streets after leaving the bright lights.

In 1937, the landlord 'encouraged' us to move to Windmill Lane, No 61, still within walking distance, even if you are 7. We continued to shop there regularly.

I remember...THAT BARREL...(I still do not know what it was for)...again Woolworths, this time batteries and torches and watches and gramophone records, Decca and Rex...and German tinplate toys. Toys were becoming more war-like; I remember being given a model lorry, fitted with a searchlight and a morse key together with a copy of the Morse Code. That's where I learned it and have never forgotten it...the 'Showground' on the same side as Woolworths, with lots of coloured lights and fairground games...Marks & Spencers, at that time a Woolworth clone with similar island counters and selling similar stock...the night-life - not clubs and bars, but shops. They used to stay open late in those days, and being brightly lit would be a magnet for people who worked during daylight hours.

Roadside barrows would have Naptha flares which gave a brilliant light and a loud hissing sound. One of the butchers shops would close and re-open later to sell saveloys and pease pudding to waiting customers..pavement artists, many ex-WW1 some without limbs...a man with no arms, drawing pictures with his feet...two buskers playing phono-fiddles outside the pub...my first sight of a coal-effect electric fire in a shop window..magic..we had no electricity though...all this at the 'top' of the street the Broadway end (why was it called the top - it was the southern end???).

At the 'bottom' was the cinema known as the Deptford flea-pit...Pecry’s an open fronted drapery shop, where my mother would 'pay-off' items which were then reserved for whenever she had fully paid for them..I can still recall the excitement of making the last payment and proudly taking home new sheets or material for curtains.

(Pecry's is on the left in this photo from 1910, and the station can be seen in the distance. I believe the road in the right foreground is Giffin Street, and the pub stands where Giffin Square is now.) UPDATE: SEE COMMENTS FOR A CORRECTION

I remember Maines(?) a similar kind of shop on the other side of the road...Sainsbury’s...gleaming white tiles...Edwards the baker who sold round flat bread puddings at 4d each...Saunders with free-standing bowls of dried fruit, peas and lentils, some outside the shop, with a scoop to fill bags and take to the counter...was this the start of self-service?.....the wonderful bakers on the corner of Douglas St...shops opening up their cellars at Christmas to sell toys; not their usual line...then...the war..no more bright lights...pavements covered in broken glass....signs where the windows were, saying 'More open than usual'.

We were 'bombed out' of Windmill Lane and after living in a trench in Deptford Park (I believe one of 7) with 5 other families, for some weeks went to pick hops in Kent. This took about 3 years, but we returned to Deptford in time for the V1 flying bombs Again we were 'flying bombed' out and had to emigrate to Bermondsey. My first job after leaving school was in a radio shop (I was even then mad keen on anything electronic) called Evelyn Radio. situated would you believe, in Evelyn St. close to the bottom of the High St.

I remember...1946/47 was not much fun...rationing was still in force...the Blackout returned due to power cuts...even shops (like ours) that had electricity, were not allowed to use it during certain hours, not a good time for any shopkeeper..my cousin Eileen getting her first job in a self-service mini-market at the top of the High St...one of the first supermarkets?

After leaving Evelyn Radio I had no close contact with the High St until around ’56 when I came back to work in Boyds, part of the GUS group, as a TV engineer. This shop was on the western side fairly close to New Cross Rd.

I remember...the changing demographics...the area manager coming into the shop just before closing time with another man whom he introduced to the manager as 'the new manager, starting on Monday morning...'! This happened twice during my time at Boyds. Luckily, TV engineers were harder to replace than managers!

Nu X turn left: a comics and art garden party.

2011-06-11T13:12:00.002Z

While I can't pretend my inner editor doesn't cringe at the word 'nu', I am very excited at the combination of comics, art, craft and cake promised by the garden party which will be held at the Old Police Station in July. (Added later: Actually the word 'nu' is only used on the Facebook page, the blog is blissfully free of it!)

Currently the organisers are inviting submissions from cartoonists and artists who want to exhibit at the show, which will be a curated event, and also from vendors interested in having a stall at the garden party.

"We're looking for exhibitors for Nu X Turn Left: A Comics and Art Garden Party, to be held at the Old Police Station on Sunday, 24th July, from 1-11PM (114-116 Amersham Vale, Deptford, SE14 6LG).

The event is named for the most basic directions to the OPS - go to New Cross station, turn left on exiting, walk a bit, you're there!
Organised by Julia Scheele, Howard Hardiman, Ellen Lindner and Nevs Coleman, the Garden Party is just what we say - a garden party! We'll be selling comics, cakes, crafts and art, and we'd love to get you - a local artist- involved. In the evening we'll have a book launch for a minicomics collaboration between Ellen Lindner and Barnaby Richards, Art History Dropouts.

This is a curated show, and we're focusing on South London artists and cartoonists. Not an artist or cartoonist? Keep reading for info on attending - we need you, too!

INFO FOR VENDORS:
For £5 you can sell your wares all day, either at one of our communal tables in the station caff, or outside in the courtyard (weather allowing, of course!) For that price you can also submit an exhibition idea for one of the station cells - yes, an actual holding cell, completely unchanged from when the station was Deptford's police station.
For £10 we will cater your lunch - a lovely Panda Panda sandwich and drink of your choice (£1 bubble tea supplement), delivered straight to the Police Station on the day. You also get cake!

Interested?

Please email with exhibitor interest, exhibition proposals and questions - ellenlindner@googlemail.com

Once we discuss what you'd like to sell, I'll require payment via PayPal. We're aiming to have a full roster of 20 artists by 20th June , so please get in touch with any interest ASAP. "

Faircharm estate regeneration plans

2011-06-11T12:38:00.005Z

The days of cheap studios and rehearsal space for artists and musicians on the Faircharm Estate, Creekside look to be numbered, with the estate's owner Workspace Group about to launch plans to redevelop the site.

While Workspace says its redevelopment will provide new galleries and studios for local artists and crafters, the cheap and cheerful space offered in the old buildings that currently grace the site will disappear to make room for new development, which will include new residential units.

Despite not having any details of these proposals yet, I have to admit that this initial announcement rather dismays me; this part of Creekside has really come into its own in the last couple of years. While some businesses such as Creekside Studios have been housed on the estate for more than two decades, the creation of the Creekside Artists collective and the launch of the Faircharm Fair last christmas signalled that the estate was really coming into its own.

The Faircharm Fair was a very welcome indication that what had previously been a low-key collection of businesses, studio spaces and light industrial use was finding an identity of its own. Creekside Cafe is a great addition to Deptford's cafe scene with its pleasant ambience and tasty food, and similarly has created a focus for the estate's tenants and local residents alike. And the recent sprucing up of the estate added some visual relief and humour to what are essentially underwhelming sheds. But I wonder what will happen to the businesses and artists who currently benefit from the cheap space, and who contribute to making Creekside such a creative quarter?

With much of the rest of Creekside being exploited for housing it is inevitable that the landowner should want to jump on the bandwagon and make some money out of its waterside location - but with this land previously designated for employment use, any proposal to build residential units here would have been strongly resisted.

It seems that the ongoing softening of planning policies as the old unitary development plans are replaced by local development frameworks is seeing this type of land being converted to mixed use designation. This basically means that as long as you have some offices and business use on the site, you can build housing too.

Architect Karakusevic Carson has been appointed to design this 'major arts and workspace building combined with mixed tenure housing to complement the Deptford Creek creative quarter.' As well as galleries and studios, the buildings will house workshops and office space alongside managed live/work space.

The architect's website says: "We are currently working with local artist groups as well as the London Borough of Lewisham and key stakeholder groups to develop the site in keeping with the needs of the users, land owners, and local residents whilst meeting the council objectives for the quarter."

Given that no planning application has yet been submitted, it suggests that the renderings accompanying the info on their website are indicative.

If you want to find out more, the developer and architect are holding an open day next Saturday, on the same weekend as the Faircharm Fair and open studios of Creekside Artists (and of course Cockpit Arts which is celebrating its 25th anniversary).

The consultation event and exhibition runs from 12 till 8pm on Saturday and includes a BBQ, cinema screening and drinks.

Deptford on the Culture Show

2011-06-03T07:41:00.001Z

On the Culture Show on BBC2 last night, the Deptford-born South London Art Map rubbed shoulders with David Attenborough and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hallowed company indeed!
Writer Michael Smith visited Deptford and Peckham on a 'Last Friday' to experience the 'late night openings that many art galleries in the area host once a month.

I did have to laugh at the fact that the opening scene to the report shows Mr Smith starting his brave exploration of the far-flung south east of London by Riverboat. No wonder he thinks it's a long way out, the boat is not exactly the quickest way to Deptford and it's a bit of a schlep from Greenland Pier. I know an 8 minute train ride from London Bridge is perhaps not the most picturesque journey to show as an opener but it begs the question why they needed to show the journey at all? Oh yes, sorry, to reinforce the opinion held by everyone else in the media that it's a Long Way to south east London. Mr Smith trots out a few such comments in his intro, reinforcing the opinion held by everyone else in south east London that the mainstream media are navel-gazing idiots who couldn't work out how to swipe an Oystercard at an overground station if their lives depended on it. Ho hum.

Tired cliches aside, the report is worth a look for a snapshot of the local art scene and to get an idea of the rapid expansion Last Fridays has undergone in recent months. The tour takes in Deptford stalwarts Bearspace, APT, The Old Police Station and Creekside as well as including some nice shots of the high street and market, before moving on to Peckham to visit some of the galleries there. Peckham and Bankside linked up with the Deptford Art Map last year to create the South London Art Map, which has given the initiative even greater impetus and undoubtedly helped it to be taken seriously by programmes such as the Culture Show.

The report is not so much about the art as the Last Fridays initiative, but Smith does include a few pieces in his report, including a nice shot of Deptford Creek at low tide featuring Sue Lawes' installation Creekery #2. Sue has written a fascinating blog about the creation and set-up of the work, as well as the difficulties of keeping the crockery clean for the purposes of documentation.

You can watch the episode here on BBC iplayer for the next week. The Last Fridays section begins about 20 minutes in.

Wellbeloved on Deptford High Street

2011-05-29T17:52:00.001Z

Commenters on the previous post suggested that Wellbeloved was previously based at 15 (and perhaps also 13 before that) Deptford High Street, so I went out to see if I could match up the two shop fronts. The first thing that I noticed was that the numbering is a bit strange, which is odd considering these buildings date back quite some time.

Number 15 (Ash Arcade) is a narrow shop front with two small windows, however number 13 is the 'Your Choice Pound Shop Plus' on the far side of the Orient restaurant. It seems the Orient is number 13A.

And from the old photo, looking at the three windows above the awning, the downpipe on the right and the building to the left which could easily be the curved bay of the aforementioned Pound Shop, it seems that this is where the shop was at the time the photo was taken.

Thanks to my commenters for their detective work!

Old Deptford High Street

2011-05-27T22:19:00.001Z

News Shopper has published some old photos of Deptford High Street which have been dug out by BBC researchers working on a documentary about the high street for a series to be broadcast next year.

Unfortunately the image quality on the website is not great, so it's difficult to get an accurate idea of the exact locations; I particularly like the one of H Wellbeloved's shop although it is somewhere on the high street rather than Bill's current shop at the bottom of Tanner's Hill.

Tidemill School academy application

2011-05-26T22:16:00.000Z

Despite massive opposition from local councillors, parents, teachers and members of the community, the governing body of Tidemill School in Deptford voted earlier this month to submit another application for academy status.

The previous one was withdrawn after what the school described as 'a legal challenge', although no further information has been forthcoming about this, and at a meeting at the beginning of May, the governing body voted to go forward with the application.

Quite aside from the arguments against academy status per se, there has been no consultation with the local community about this proposal. This is particularly worrying since the school is set to relocate shortly into a brand new building specifically designed to create greater links between Tidemill school and the local community. The building will house the school, a local library and various other community services in what is intended to be a combined facility. If the school is no longer under the control of the local education authority, it raises all kinds of questions about the legal ownership and status of the different parts of the buildings, and there is still no indication of how these issues will be resolved (or who will pay for them).

It's possible that this application could be signed off within a matter of weeks. Campaigner Leila Galloway is asking anyone who supports the effort to prevent Tidemill school gaining academy status to write to the chair of governors Keith Geary with their objections.

The address for emails is: ChairofGovs.Tidemill@gmail.com and it should be copied to
ruddockj@parliament.uk, steve.bullock@lewisham.gov.uk and cllrPaul.Maslin@lewisham.gov.uk

Please bcc: leila.galloway@gmail.com as she will need a copy for legal evidence.

Many of the arguments and objections are set out on the campaign website here or within Leila's letter which was sent before the latest decision.

Apsara Thai Spa

2011-05-26T20:13:00.000Z

Reader Mike has written to me with a recommendation for the Apsara Thai Spa at the bottom of Tanner's Hill. He visited for a deep tissue Thai massage the other day and reckons it did more good for his stiff shoulder than three months of physio. He also said that it was very clean and the staff were very pleasant and friendly.

I have been having regular deep tissue massages for a few years now, in an attempt to keep various desk-posture-related problems at bay, and these days I tend to avoid the aromatherapy-type 'relaxing' massages that I used to enjoy. No pain, no gain - it does seem to be true where massage is concerned.

However this sounds like it might fit the bill for me when my regular therapist is away, I will be putting it on my list to try out in the coming months. I also quite like the sound of the foot massage, could be a great pick-me-up for a weekday evening.

Incidentally if anyone reading this can't see the words 'thai' and 'massage' in the same sentence without getting the wrong idea, don't even think about turning up at the Apsara Thai Spa. There's a very clear message for you at the bottom of this page.

Slices pizza

2011-05-24T17:26:00.001Z

The latest foodery to open on Deptford High Street is Slices Pizza. I popped in the other day to check out the fare, and found it rather pleasing.

To be honest we don't eat a whole lot of pizzas in our house, it's usually limited to the occasional trip to Pizza Express in Greenwich, or if we are over in Peckham we might take the opportunity to have a pint in the Gowlett and accompany it with one of their particularly fine pizzas.

I like a thin, CRISPY crust with an appropriate density of topping. Too much is just as bad as too little. Pizza Express can usually manage to get the edges of the crust crispy but fails dismally with the middle. But I digress.

Slices, which has just opened next door to the Codfather fishmonger, seems to have a way with its crust.

I ordered an 8" veggie pizza (margarita with red onion, pepper, sweetcorn and olives, perhaps a tiny bit overpriced at £5.99) and it came about 10 minutes later served on a wooden board with a handle, and delightfully crispy throughout.
Perfect topping proportions, nice fresh ingredients and good quality overall.

(Oops sorry about that, couldn't resist taking a bite before I took the photo.)

As well as a range of classic and slightly odd pizzas (meatbalski? bollywood?) and the usual make-your-own, they also serve reasonably-priced breakfasts (the veggie one includes polenta) and various salads, jacket potatoes, panini and bagels. On Sunday when we passed they were advertising roast dinners.

The decor is pleasant enough for a cafe, plain walls with black & white prints (which look like they may be of the Deptford area, I didn't get chance to browse) and it's clean and tidy.

Just one thing guys - the lunchtime special offer of pizza and chips is wrong. So wrong I don't even know where to start with it, except to say it makes me think of school dinners.

Your pizzas are good enough to be a meal on their own, don't sully them with fries. Just saying.

Surrey Canal Sports Foundation/Surrey Canal redevelopment

2011-05-24T05:08:00.005Z

A new charitable body has been set up to oversee the sports provision which is planned as part of the massive Surrey Canal redevelopment project next to Millwall stadium. The organisation will be chaired by Steve Norris and is expected to draw on national funding to support the sports development.

According to the press release from the Surrey Canal Sports Foundation:
"The sports facilities will be safeguarded by the Surrey Canal Sports Foundation, a registered charity set up to ensure the long-term future of the sports provision at the site. The body will develop the best possible sporting offer, put a funding model in place and appoint a management company to run the sporting village in the long-term.

Chairing the Foundation will be former Transport Minister and London Mayoral Candidate Steve Norris who will shortly be joined on the board by other leading names from the sports and business worlds.

The plans are being delivered by regeneration specialists Renewal and will see a series of state-of-the-art sports facilities to serve the local community, colleges and schools, clubs and elite athletes. This will include spaces for boxing, cricket, table tennis, gymnastics, football, basketball, netball, hockey and a new leisure centre with swimming pool.

The Sports Foundation is working closely with Sport England in the development of the plans and the Surrey Canal scheme has reached the final stages of their search to find suitable projects to receive financial support under their Iconic Facilities Fund. As part of Sport England’s plans to provide a lasting sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Iconic Facilities Fund provides National Lottery Investment for regionally significant sports projects."

I touched briefly on the public consultation for this project last year, but haven't really investigated it in any detail since it's somewhat out of my manor.

There's plenty of information on the website - including the full planning application documents which were submitted earlier this year - if you've got a couple of weeks spare to study them all.

The intention to focus the development around improved sports provision is an exciting one for the area, as long as it brings direct benefits for the neighbouring communities.

Predictably there are many tall buildings planned for the site (although at 26 storeys maximum still nowhere near Convoy's Wharf scale), but the fact that it is bounded almost exclusively by industrial land and railways means this is not a major concern as far as the development as a whole is concerned. Somewhat bizarrely, the chimney of the SELCHP power station has been used as a height reference - it's hardly representative of the surrounding area.

Surrey Canal Station, which would be right next to the site and has been proposed as part of the second phase of the East London Line extension, needs extra funding before it can be built. With this in mind I would expect the site developer to top up the pot so that its construction can be assured.

The developer proposes some 2,700 new residential units as well as the sports village and other community facilities. Without a new station or any other proposed improvements to public transport, it merely adds to concerns about its impact on the immediate vicinity.

With half a dozen major new residential developments planned for Deptford, this is a significant issue which no-one seems to be addressing.

Betting shops update

2011-05-20T07:19:00.000Z

Sue on Crosswhatfields blog has posted an update on efforts to seek greater powers for local councils who want to prevent proliferation of betting shops.

Unfortunately it's not good news, however it does underline the efforts being made by some local MPs to try and tackle this.

Rivers & people events/three rivers clean-up

2011-05-17T04:02:00.001Z

Deptford Creek and its tributaries are central to a series of events being organised by Lewisham Council and the Creekside Centre; check out one of the events listed below to find out more about the creek or to explore other wildlife havens in the borough.

For full booking details and links to maps, visit the website here.

Wed 18th May
2 to 5pm – Beautiful Brownfields Part 1
A much maligned group of habitats. Why are they so vilified? What makes greenfields better? What is a brownfield? This is the first in a series of explorations of brownfields. Starting with Creekside where a brownfield site was created. Booking essential.

Thurs 19th May
5am to 7am – Hilly Fields Dawn Chorus Walk
Join us for an early morning stroll around the park as we listen out for the beautiful birdsong on offer. Meet by old Park Keeper’s hut in centre of park.

Sat 21st May
10am to 2pm – Wildflowers of the Creek
Deptford Creek is home to a rich diversity of wildflowers. Some have been here for thousands of years whilst others are colonising as our climate changes and we introduce new species. We will be exploring the different types of wildflowers and their origins. Booking essential.

Tues 24th May
5am to 7:30am – Dawn Chorus Walk
An early morning stroll from Bell Green to Ladywell to absorb the magical sounds of riverside birdsong.
Meet at Sainsbury’s Savacentre (main entrance), Bell Green.

Sun 29th May
5 to 7pm – Grist to the mills
Join us for a wade from Cornmill Gardens to Brookmill Park and uncover silks, armour and gunpowder along the way. Booking essential (waders and walking poles provided).

Thurs 2nd June
2 to 5pm – Exploring Blackheath
Blackheath is an ancient landscape much altered and changed by us over millennia. As we explore we may find species that the Herbalist John Gerard found here over 400 years ago. Booking essential.

Sat 4th June
2 to 5pm – Attack of the Aliens
What is meant by the terms ‘alien’ and ‘invasive’? How do you identify these aliens? What is being done about them and why? Booking essential.

Wed 15th June
6 to 9pm – Aboard the Wildlife Express
Along with the rivers, the railways are vitally important wildlife corridors in Lewisham. An evening exploring the development of the railways and their impact on the surrounding landscape. Run in conjunction with the Friends of Devonshire Road Nature Reserve, we will be setting up the moth trap afterwards. Booking essential.

Thurs 16th June
6 to 8pm – Wildlife of Brockley Cemetery
Brockley Cemetery is one of the best sites in Lewisham for wildlife. Green Woodpeckers, Jersey Tigers and the rare Walthamstow Yellowcress.
Meet at Brockley Cemetery (Brockley Road / Ivy Road entrance).

Sat 25th June
6 to 8pm – Low-tide Creek Clean-up
A bonus addition to the 3 Rivers Clean-up Festival. Join us to help clear some of the less desirable items from the mud, whilst bearing in mind that ‘tis folly to remove a trolley’…
Meet at Creekside Centre, Deptford.

Sun 26th June
10am to 5pm – In Pursuit of the Deptford Pink
An exploration of Deptford’s link with the Pink. Why has it become so rare? What is being done to protect it? We shall visit Farningham Woods in Kent and explore the habitats close by. Booking essential.

Additionally don't miss the Three Rivers Clean-up festival from 28 May to 12 June. 'Your chance to take part in the fun, friendly and exciting volunteer effort to clean-up and remove Himalayan Balsam from 3 rivers in SE London. This is a free event giving you the chance to don waders and discover and improve some of the most interesting and beautiful sections of rivers in SE London.'

Full info here.

Betfred appeal against refusal of planning permission

2011-05-15T20:19:00.002Z

Unsurprisingly Betfred (or should I say Done Brothers) has appealed against Lewisham Council's refusal to grant planning permission to open a betting shop in the former Halifax premises on Deptford High Street.

If you are new to this blog, you can find out more about the background to this case here and here which will probably answer any questions you might have (eg why does Lewisham Council allow so many betting shops, is there really sufficient demand for such competition, what can I do etc).

The Blackheath Bugle has helpfully posted a copy of the letter about the appeal that objectors should have received, which gives information about the grounds for the appeal, where to send any additional information you may wish the inspector to consider, and the fact that both parties have agreed for the case to be dealt with by an exchange of written statements, rather than a hearing. All objections that were submitted to the original application will be forwarded to the inspector for consideration. If you wish to add to this, please send your objection to:

Mrs Ruth Howell
The Planning Inspectorate
3/14 Eagle Wing
Temple Quay House
2 The Square
Temple Quay
Bristol BS1 6PN

by Thursday 9 June. Written comments must be sent in triplicate quoting reference APP/C5690/A/11/2151228/NWF.

Alternatively you can send objections by email to teamp6@pins.gsi.gov.uk.

Any comments you write on this appeal will be copied by the Planning Inspectorate and forwarded to all parties to the appeal including Done Brothers.

If you own a property nearby and you want the Inspector to see the appeal from your property, you should tell the Planning Inspectorate when you write to them and they will tell you the date and time of the visit. You will not be able to discuss the case, but you can point out the relevant facts and features.

Over on Crosswhatfields blog Sue has news that Joan Ruddock seems to have woken up to the issue. Better late than never (my words not hers).

She says: "We have been contacted by Joan Ruddock's office to let us know that David Lammy MP is tabling an Amendment to the Localism Bill as it relates to Planning Consent for Betting Offices, and this bill in back in the Commons on Tuesday/Wednesday this coming week and could be called anytime.

The idea of the amendment is to give more powers to local authorities to refuse planning permission to betting shops (as one way of combating the loopholes in the present Gambling Act). There is absolutely no guarantee that the amendment will be called for debate, but if it is, Ms Ruddock would like to speak about the experience on Deptford High Street."

Sue's post includes additional information and links to relevant research and reports which are worth reading if you are seeking more background information to help you compose an objection or if you simply want to understand the issues more fully.

Douglas Way

2011-05-15T19:50:00.000Z

A few comments on the Douglas Way improvement project, which seems to be gradually edging towards being completed.

For the last couple of weeks the main square has felt more like a car park than a market square - the oppressive black asphalt and numbered pitches have added to this impression, as well as the fact that vehicles have been using it like a car park. Hell they've even been parking in the numbered spaces! The only thing missing is the pay & display meter.

I noticed the other day that some steel plates seem to have appeared in the pavement at the High Street end of Douglas Way, so I trust these house the fold-away bollards that should prevent vehicles using it in this way in the future. However I'm not really sure how else it is supposed to be used.

The lighting over the main square is also rather odd - it looks kind of experimental and somewhat insubstantial as if a strong gust of wind might bring the whole lot down. I don't really like the poles from which the wires are suspended, they look like they aren't properly finished. I haven't been down there at night yet to see how effective it is - apparently it's intended to provide better lighting for the whole square.

The renderings I saw at the public consultation had the same paving extending across the whole square, no sign of asphalt anywhere - certainly not black like this. I wonder what happened - did the money run out or did someone fail to order the right number of blocks?

On Saturday I noticed that one stallholder had returned to the square, but he was alone. I guess the others like to be on the main drag because they get more footfall, with many people coming into Deptford that way. They can also spread their wares more extensively. I understand those people who live alongside Douglas Way are not very happy at having Peter's 'security' staff peeking over their garden walls as they perch on their ladders.

The seating has been installed and looks quite solid and comfortable. The bins don't really do the appearance of the square any favours - the big dumpster bins are only there on market days but the smaller litter bins with their bright blue bin liners seem rather out of place.

The addition of the trees is a major plus - great to see a bit more greenery in the town centre. I do hope they can be efficiently and effectively maintained.

One major issue is with the dirt and staining on the light-coloured granite setts used throughout the market square and Douglas Way. Since this was taken they were professionally jet washed and looked much better, but Lewisham Council has said it cannot afford regular jet washing and so you can expect it very soon to return to this grubby state.

It's incredible that these light colours were specified, given the fact that they are outside food takeaway shops, and that they will be house fruit and veg stalls, takeaway vans and other vehicles. It really does not bode well for the long-term appearance of our newly-resurfaced pedestrian routes and market square. Added to this the black asphalt, which very soon will be disfigured by blobs of chewing gum. Didn't anyone consider this?

At the ends of the street the details of how the new paving will connect to the existing street seems to have been neglected and left to a bodge.

So all in all, rather hit and miss. Great to get rid of the old wonky black bollards and see a bit more greenery and seating in the square, even if it does still lack any focus.

But poor choices of paving material have let the design down.

Meanwhile I hear rumours that Lewisham Council is planning to use a similar paving design along the High Street. I trust that the maintenance issues raised by Douglas Way will inform their choice of colours in a sensible way, but it's a shame that no-one gave it serious thought on this project, given its visual impact on the town centre.