Deptford museum and tea-room launch

Saturday 4 July sees the launch of the Deptford Museum and tea room which will be housed in two rooms in the Old Police Station (just down the road from New Cross Station, on Amersham Vale).

An open day on Saturday will give people the chance to see where it's all going to take place, and take part in an auction to raise funds for things the centre needs. As Jaine Laine explains:

"One space will house the Deptford Museum that will be open to the public each day and will house the archive we have commenced. Here we will be able to keep artefacts and memorabilia of Deptford history. Ironically just across the road in Amersham Grove there is a small disused and boarded up building that used to be the Deptford Museum erected in 1890 by J.T. Taylor.

The other room will house a tearoom to be called the Metropolitan where people can meet and tea and sandwiches and cakes can be bought. All the produce will be home-cooked, simple and appealing and yes cream teas will be on the menu. One of the old cells has been converted into a recording room so your wonderful history can be recorded and archived. Also a space will house vintage clothing for people to buy to raise money for the project. The tea room will be the financial arm for supporting the Museum.

This is a very exciting thing for Deptford and will unite the community and attract visitors. My role now apart from providing the scones etc will be to look into attracting large funding and support, and creating a website and a full archive system put into place.

With the help of volunteers the rooms will be freshly painted and I have put out pleas for shelving and cabinets for the Museum. The tearoom already has tables and chairs and counter and the owner of the building is letting us use some lovely china. We would need a few things like a fridge, cutlery, cruets, teapots etc. "

If you have chance (sorry for the short notice) please come and see the new space on Saturday between 1 and 6pm; the auction begins at 2pm.

Otherwise, make a date in your diary for 20th July, which will be the official opening of the museum.