Herne Hill #134 (Spring 2016) by The Herne Hill Society

HERNE HILL THE MAG A ZINE OF THE HERNE HILL SOCIET Y❧ ISSUE 134❧ SPRING❧ 2016

ROW GROWS OVER BID TO CLOSE library ▶ Carnegie ‘occupied’ in reaction to council’s plans See Page 4

t Ge ur yo py co day to

LAMBETH’S NEW RENTS HIDDEN RIVER CAUSE ANGER ▶ The Effra and its royal connections - Turn to Page 9

▶ Residents fear shops may be forced out - Turn to Pages 10-11

HALF MOON ON THE RISE AGAIN ▶ But dismay for many as music is off the agenda - See Page 3

❧£2

THE HERNE HILL SOCIETY

THE COMMITTEE President Chair Vice Chair Secretary Treasurer

Bill Kirby Colin Wight chair@hernehillsociety.org.uk Laurence Marsh vicechair@hernehillsociety.org.uk Jeff Doorn secretary@hernehillsociety.org.uk Rosalind Glover treasurer@hernehillsociety.org.uk

Committee

Michele Arnal John Brunton Elizabeth Ochagavia Jackie Plumridge Pat Roberts Val Suebsaeng

Magazine

Mike Richards

CONTENTS

COMMENTS & ENQUIRIES To advertise in the Magazine advertising@hernehillsociety.org.uk To contribute to or comment on the Magazine editor@hernehillsociety.org.uk To comment on planning or licensing issues environmental@hernehillsociety.org.uk To order a publication publications@hernehillsociety.org.uk Membership enquiries membership@hernehillsociety.org.uk Local history enquiries localhistory@hernehillsociety.org.uk Herne Hill notice boards noticeboard@hernehillsociety.org.uk Website webeditor@hernehillsociety.org.uk Community safety publicsafety@hernehillsociety.org.uk Other issues enquiries@hernehillsociety.org.uk Postal and online addresses The Herne Hill Society, PO Box 27845, LONDON SE24 9XA hernehillsociety.org.uk Twitter @hernehillsoc

facebook.com/hernehillsociety

Copy deadline for the summer issue is 29 May. Opinions expressed in the Magazine are those of the authors and not necessarily of the Herne Hill Society Committee, which likewise does not approve or endorse the quality or suitability of any goods or services advertised in the Magazine.

Half Moon on the rise again 3 Crime and Punishment in Herne Hill 4 Ruskin Park’s new trees 4 Your Society needs you 5 King’s College Hospital in WWI 5 The future of our neighbourhood 7 The Effra: Does size matter? 9 Storm breaks over rent rises 10-11 Transport news 12 Restoring an avenue 12 What’s in a name 13 The forgotten locals 13 More sites for our WWI map 14 History hear 14 Norway comes to Dulwich 15 Berthold Wolpe, Lambeth’s type designer 17 Planning & Licensing 6 Diary of Events 6 Councillors & MP List of contacts

ADVERTISING

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Herne Hill-Spring 2016

NEWS

Pub a step closer to reopening, but music is off agenda

the half moon ON THE risE again

n 5 April 2016 Southwark’s Planning Committee voted 5-1 in favour of granting Fuller’s Listing and Full Planning consent for the Half Moon. The pub has been closed since the Great Flood of August 2013. In January there was finally an announcement from the brewer and pub chain Fuller, Smith & Turner, who said: “We are delighted to announce that we have acquired the lease for the Half Moon, Herne Hill. In conjunction with the Dulwich Estate, we will be making a substantial investment in the pub to return it to its former glory. “We aim to be reopening the pub, complete with a small number of hotel bedrooms, in the late summer, subject to gaining relevant planning and listed building consents.” The Half Moon today is a sorry sight, and is greatly missed. We have very few proper pubsin Herne Hill, and it is certain that the locals will flock back after nearly three years of deprivation. But will it return to being a celebrated venue for music and comedy nights? For some, but not all, local residents, this is a hot issue. Although live music can be heard not very far away, in bars and pubs such as Off the Cuff and the Hootenanny, every venue is of course unique, and the

Half Moon has a distinguished four-decade heritage, with artists such as the Police, Billy Bragg and Mark Lamarr having graced its sticky floorboards. In recent years it has been a key venue for the highly popular Herne Hill Music and Free Film Festivals. Owing to growing local concern about the pub’s lengthy closure and the absence of information as to when or in what form it might reopen, Southwark agreed to list it as an Asset of Community Value, in part for the contribution of live music to the social well-being of the local community.

ullers’ plans indicate kitchen and restaurant spaces at the rear, in place of the performance room. They made it clear that they do not want to run a music venue, of which they have no experience, but they do want to run a gastropub, where they have plenty of experience. They also point to the fact that their scheme will create 35 full-time and part-time jobs.

STORM BREAKS OVER RENT RISES AND SHOPS CLOSE For more details, see story on pages 10-11

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When will it return? The Half Moon pub has been out of action since the floods of 2013 There were many objections to the application, as part of a well-organised campaign in favour of reinstating a music venue. Since, however, the proposed use of the ground floor in planning terms remains the same, whether a live music venue is included or not, the relevance of the ACV status in this case was always open to question. Dulwich Estate has said that the Half Moon was advertised to 64 pub operators. Seven expressed interest, but none wanted to run a live music venue as part of their business. However, Fuller’s have indicated that once the pub is up and running, the new manager would consider holding occasional events. We shall see. There are, of course, many locals who don’t feel strongly about the loss of a once-famous music venue and its associated late-night activities. They will be very happy to have a good gastropub in the heart of Herne Hill. At least we can now look forward to seeing Herne Hill’s landmark Grade II* building back in business this autumn after the substantial attention to its deteriorating fabric that is urgently required. Colin Wight & Laurence Marsh

NEWS Ruskin Park’s new trees and rain garden

The plantingof 20 new trees and creation of a rain garden are under way in Ruskin Park. The park has been identified as a high flood-risk area. Its trees are in decline, as they are suffering from old age and disease. Trees for Cities is working with the Friends of Ruskin Park and Lambeth Council on a flood alleviation plan, using tree planting and rain gardens as a sustainable approach to mitigate flooding while ensuring there are trees for future generations. Trees for Cities will plant 10 trees around the playing field boundary to begin replacement of dead and dying ash and horse chestnut trees. Ten standard trees will also be planted inside the park corner adjacent to Finsen Road and by the entrance on Ferndene Road. They will be a mix of species to ensure resilience to pests and disease. Trees for Cities will also transform the area by the public toilet block into a beautiful rain garden. Like a riverbed, rain gardens are shallow depressions with absorbent, yet freedraining soil planted with ferns, grasses and perennials that can withstand temporary flooding. The garden will be positioned to channel substantial downhill run off from Ferndene Road. Sheila Northover

Crime and punishment What was happening in Herne Hill in the second half of the 18th century? At the Society’s December meeting, Laurence Marsh presented original research into lawless aspects of life at that time. On Kennington Common stood a gallows for public executions, the site now covered by St Mark’s Church. An analysis of the crimes for which miscreants paid with their lives showed that highway robbery had by far the highest number, followed by burglary and murder only in third place. After 1751 the bodies of executed felons had by law to be delivered to the College of Surgeons, such was the need for cadavers for study and teaching. In a religious age, for many criminals the fear of dissection after death was greater than the fear of hanging. Moving further south we heard how Herne Hill was not yet on any map. Between settlements at Camberwell, Dulwich and Brixton lay woods and fields. But there were two inns in our area and their successors survive today: the

Fox under the Hill (now sited a bit further up Denmark Hill as the Fox on the Hill) and the Half Moon. Country roads were the hunting ground for highway robbers, and near the Fox under the Hill many travellers were held up at gunpoint. And in 1782 the publican of the Half Moon was attacked by men with cutlasses. Yet he managed to detain the malefactors and they were placed in “the cage”. This was probably the small lock-up in Dulwich Village that survived until 1841. The inscribed stone that was set in its wall can still be seen in a garden area in Calton Avenue/ This was a time when any number of crimes were subject to the death penalty. But in practice many, if not most, sentences of death were “respited”, the criminal receiving instead the penalty of transportation. We heard how this meant being shipped to the American colonies, until, that is, the colonies started to fight for their independence. There was then a brief period – until Australia started to take

convicts in 1788 – when men were sent to West Africa, where most died of disease. This was the fate of a notorious highway robber, Stephen Broadstreet, who had held up a coach on Brixton Causeway. As London grew, lawlessness on the highway decreased. But crime did not. As more houses appeared on and around Herne Hill, came burglary. Those first houses could be seen on a map published in 1800 (see article on page 13). One early victim was John Blades, who built Brockwell Hall. We hope that Laurence will return to give a further talk at some point because he has a lot more to tell as the story moves further into the 19th century. Val Suebsaeng

OCCUPATION OF THE CARNEGIE On 31 March, the Carnegie Library was due to close. The closure has been vehemently opposed by supporters of the library, as has the closure of other Lambeth libraries. Lambeth plead swingeing cuts to their budgets imposed by central government, while library supporters say the future of the library has been incompetently handled from the start by the council, who are accused of rejecting a proposal to save all their libraries at no extra cost.

But the Carnegie’s closure did not go according to plan, because many of its supporters of every age group decided to stay in the building when the doors were due to close. They have remained inside since then, generating considerable attention in the Press, on TV and on social media. Lambeth are seeking a court order for possession on April 8. By the time this magazine appears, it may well be that the library will lie

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empty and barred. Lambeth promise a new future for the Carnegie: a gym, shelves with books, space for community use — but many remain unconvinced.

NEWS

YOUR SOCIETY NEEDS YOU! By the time you read this the Society’s AGM will have been and gone. It is likely that the Society’s committee for the coming year will be reduced in number. In particular, Sheila Northover, with the longest serving record of anyone on the committee, will have left. Sheila served tirelessly both as Secretary and as Chair and, since stepping down from the latter role two years ago, she generously agreed to stay on as Minutes Secretary, while continuing to give us the benefit of her vast experience and knowledge of the Herne Hill community. Sheila has also continued to run the

Society’s publications stall. This involves monitoring and re-ordering stock, dealing with online orders, and organising transport of material to external events (about six a year). She would like to hand over this responsibility. The publications stall is particularly important to the Society, because it is one of the best ways for the Society to show a public face and communicate its aims. Local societies often find it hard to persuade people to volunteer to help run their society, and ours is no exception. Most of the committee have many years’ service behind them and they are not

getting any younger. They can’t go on for ever. If the Society is to continue to add something to our community it needs new talent and new ideas. Sheila is not the only one to have left the Committee, but we particularly need to find someone to take over her responsibilities. Or you might feel you have something else to contribute. If you missed your chance to step forward at the AGM, have no fear – new committee members can be co-opted during the year. Contact our Chair, Colin Wight (chair@ hernehillsociety.org.uk), who will be very happy to explain what is involved.

King’s College Hospital in WWI

t our meeting on Armistice Day, Joanna Nurse, Head of Internal Communications at King’s, gave a description of how King’s served the wounded soldiers of the Great War that was intensely moving. The current King’s College Hospital in Denmark Hill was opened in 1913 by King George V and Queen Mary. There was no operating theatre (operations were done on the ward), but the new hospital was state of the art. There were Nightingale wards, the favoured model of Florence Nightingale, high and spacious with a fire in the centre amd a single room at the end, intended for the very sick or noisy patient; and a Sister’s room in the corridor. The hospital had barely opened when preparations

The huts built in Ruskin Park and connected to King’s during WWI

started for the coming war. It became the “Fourth London” General Military Hospital. Four wards and a casualty department were kept for civilians, but the rest of the hospital was given over to wounded soldiers – with separate wards for officers and other ranks. During the war years, more than 75,000 soldiers were treated. It expanded into nearby Ruskin Park where huts and tents were erected. Patients with damaged lungs were often looked after in these huts so that they could benefit from fresh air and exercise. A bridge was built over the railway line that cut between the hospital and the park so that patients could be wheeled across quickly. There were large doors at the end of each ward which let patients in from the railway stop.

Captain Donald Aucutt, for example, grew up at 179 Denmark Hill and qualified as a doctor at King’s. He joined up at the outbreak of war and was killed in action on 9 October 1917 aged 24. In April 1917 Siegfried Sassoon was wounded in France. He was brought back to England and became a patient on an officers’ ward at the Fourth London. He described the hospital as “lotus land”. The Hospital’s magazine, The Fourth, shows that there was a wealth of social activities on offer for patients, including garden parties, theatre trips to the West End and fêtes. The difficulty of caring for men who had suffered horrendous wounds as well as the after-effects of gas attacks was sobering. “I wish

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those people who write so glibly about this being a holy war, and the orators who talk so much about going on no matter how long the war lasts, and what it may mean, could see a case of mustard gas in its early stages, could see the poor things all burnt and blistered all over with great suppurating blisters, with blind eyes – sometimes temporally, sometimes permanently – all sticky and stuck together, and always fighting for breath, their voices a whisper, saying their throats are closing and they know they are going to choke” - Vera Brittain, Testament of Youth. Many of the techniques pioneered are still used in trauma and post-operative care today, including infection control, treatment for shock and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and antiseptic wound treatment. There is still a relationship between King’s and the armed services. Some of today’s doctors and nurses are also army and navy reservists. Val Suebsaeng

Planning & Licensing Planning Through the hard work and planning expertise of David Taylor, the Society has been able to make a significant contribution to the early stages of the draft Neighbourhood Plan – see David’s article in this issue of the Magazine. Other matters on the planning front were quiet, until, that is, the application to Southwark for the refurbishment of The Half Moon, also discussed elsewhere in this issue. The planning group submitted comments to Southwark, welcoming the proposal to bring back the pub into use and the scheme to improve its fabric and appearance. With regard to the music venue issue, it asked Southwark to give recognition of the case for its retention and continuing use as a music venue. But it also drew attention to issues that might arise from continued use as a music venue in terms of possible disturbance to hotel residents and nearby properties and suggested that if Southwark’s planning committee were minded to request the applicant to amend the application in such a way as to allow dual restaurant and music venue use, that full consideration be given to adequate soundproofing. The Society’s conclusion in its submission was that on balance it was persuaded of the merits of the application as it stood and it supported the application. An application to place telecoms masts on Frederica Court, a tall housing block on Trinity Rise and capable, it is feared,

of affecting views from Brockwell Park was objected to. The particular ground for objection was that Frederica Court lies within the Brockwell Park Conservation Area. The overriding consideration for development in conservation areas is that it should preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the conservation area. It was felt the proposed masts failed to do this.

DULWICH POT & PLANT GARDEN

DIARY OF EVENTS

12B Red Post Hill, SE21 7BX. 020 7733 3697 www.dulwichpots.co.uk POTS Traditional and Contemporary Exterior and Interior Terracotta, Glazed, Polystone, Metal, Ceramic, Terrazzo, Fibreglass. PLANTS Trees, Shrubs, Roses, Grasses, Herbaceous, Perennials, Annuals and Herbs. COMPOSTS Multipurpose, Peat Free, John Innes, Ericaceous, Pebbles, Slate, Gravel, Grit. SHOP House Plants, Indoor pots, Tools, Seeds, Bulbs and horticultural supplies. Local delivery available. Free parking outside North Dulwich Station 6

Licensing Dee Dee’s, 77 Herne Hill The owner’s appeal against changes to his Premises Licence was dealt with on 25 February at Camberwell Magistrates Court. However, the case did not go to a formal hearing as Southwark and Dee Dee’s owner negotiated a settlement on changes to the new licence conditions that would, hopefully, end the problems of noise and disturbances arising from the premises. These changes included installation of a sound limiting device set to restrict to 77DbA the levels of speech and recorded music; a limit of two live musicians with no amplification and no percussion, brass or woodwind instruments permitted; no comedy nights; and no further Temporary Event Notices that had been used in the past to allow the premises to operate until 3.00am. Other requirements, including closing the premises for one month while changes were made and installing additional sound insulation, were lifted.

SPRING/SUMMER FOR MORE iNFORMATION, SEE WWW.hernehillsociety.org.uk

Wednesday 13 April, 7:45pm “Norman Hartnell, Dressmaker to the Queen”by Sue Collins This talk covers Hartnell and his family, and their connections with the area. He was born at the Crown & Sceptre pub on Streatham Hill. His sister married the son of a Herne Hill doctor. Wednesday 11 May, 7:45pm “Pubs of Dulwich and Herne Hill”by Ian McInnes A preview of our forthcoming book, researched and written by members of the Herne Hill and Dulwich Societies. l Unless otherwise stated, Herne Hill Society meetings will be at Herne Hill United Church Hall, at 7:30 (doors open) for 7:45pm. Please try to arrive before the speaker is introduced.

Herne Hill-Spring 2016

NEWS

THE FUTURE OF OUR Neighbourhood Neighbourhood planning can give communities the power to develop a shared vision for their neighbourhood and influence the development of their local area. They are able to choose where they want new homes, shops or offices, have their say on what those new buildings should look like and what infrastructure should be provided, and grant planning permission for new buildings they want to see go ahead. Neighbourhood planning provides a powerful set of tools for local people to ensure that they get the right types of development for their community where the wishes of the neighbourhood are in broad agreement with the strategic needs and priorities of the wider local area. The plan must address the development and use of land because it will become part of the statutory development plan once it has been officially approved by the planning authority. A neighbourhood plan can set out more detailed policies than possible in the Local Plan, but it must support the strategic development set out in the Local Plan, the London Plan and the National Planning Policy Framework. A group or organisation must apply to the local planning authority to be designated as a “neighbourhood” and those making an application must show how they have sought to comply with the conditions for neighbourhood forum designation. A forum must have a membership of at least 21 individuals who: l live in the neighbourhood; l or work there; l or are elected members for a local authority that includes all or part of the neighbourhood. The Herne Hill Forum has taken the lead in promoting the idea of our neighbourhood plan and held a very successful meeting on 27 January, partly to agree a new constitution to allow it to apply for designation. With 150 attendees, and some lively discussion, the willingness to get involved was clear. David Taylor, a long-standing Society member, explained the benefits of such a plan. Then the meeting heard from the Highgate Forum,

West Norwood Cemetery earns National Lottery funds In January, Lambeth Council was awarded a grant of £241,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund towards the restoration and improvement of West Norwood Cemetery. This once magnificent Victorian cemetery contains gravestones and funerary monuments commemorating many of Herne Hill’s most prominent figures, such as inventors Sir Hiram Maxim and Sir Henry Bessemer. It also includes the grave of John Hughes, steel engineer and founder of the Ukrainian city of Donetsk. Our picture

Ceremony at the grave of John Hughes shows (second from left) the Mayor of Donetsk laying a wreath at Hughes’s grave in November 2013, a few months before the troubles began in that region. The new grant will help to conserve these memorials and increase community use. Events, tours and a new visitor centre will tell the cemetery’s rich story. During the initial stage plans will be drawn up, leading to a further application for £4.8million to deliver

which has successfully steered their plan through all its stages. To help deliver their vision, communities that draw up a neighbourhood plan and secure the consent of local people in a referendum will benefit from 25 per cent of the revenues from the Community Infrastructure Levy arising from the development that takes place in their area. Herne Hill is more complicated than most areas, as it straddles two boroughs; and there are adjoining areas which have or are applying for neighbourhood plans as well! Tulse Hill already has its designation and boundaries agreed, and Herne Hill Forum members have been active in

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the improvements. The success of this development will, of course, rely on the knowledge and participation of the Friends of West Norwood Cemetery, as well as the wider community. Find out out more at http://westnorwood. cemetery.wiki/HLF_ blog l Talking of cemeteries... we’ll be taking our bookstall to Nunhead Cemetery Open Day on Saturday 21 May.

negotiation with groups in Norwood, Loughborough Junction and Brixton in seeking to agree boundaries. There have been ongoing discussions with both boroughs, and by the time you read this the Forum may have submitted its application for designation. After a period of formal consultation carried out by the local authorities, the process of drawing up the plan can proceed. There will be a range of consultations taking place during 2016: plus meetings, workshops on a range of topics and events. If you would like to learn more and get involved, please see the Herne Hill Forum website. David Taylor

www.bokishair.com 020 8678 6646

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Effra

The : does size matter? John Brunton on Herne Hill’s hidden river and its royal connection

he Effra starts life as a spring on high ground in Upper Norwood. Fed by various tributaries it flows north through West Norwood Cemetery, past Belair Park to Half Moon Lane where it takes a left through Herne Hill. It then follows Dulwich Road and north again to Brixton and Kennington. After passing the Oval, the river flows into the Thames just upstream of Vauxhall Bridge. For the past 150 years or so, the Effra has been buried – very different from the countrified scene, painted by Thomas Morris in c.1850, of a bridge carrying what is now Croxted Road over the river. And, to add insult to injury, at Herne Hill most of the Effra’s water is diverted eastwards to be used to boost the flow of a sewer carrying waste to join the Southern Outfall Sewer at New Cross. And from Herne Hill to the Thames, our river is now officially known as the Effra Sewer! It never achieved the fame or perhaps notoriety of some of London’s other rivers, such as the Wandle, Fleet or Tyburn. However, the Effra does have some interesting tales to tell. But whether or not these are true is another matter. It has been claimed that, in the 19th century, a coffin was washed away from West Norwood Cemetery and floated down the river to end up in the Thames. In 1016 King Canute is said to have sailed up the river as far as Brixton — his purpose is unclear. There is a story that Queen Elizabeth travelled by barge up the Effra for a tryst with Walter Raleigh. The Raleigh family did own a large property east of Brixton Hill, approximately on the present site of Fairmount Road. An alternative version has her visiting Edward Alleyn at his riverside manor house. But of particular interest to Herne Hill is the story that, in the course of the same or perhaps another barge trip up the Effra, Elizabeth took a rest under a massive elm

A different look: A scene painted circa 1850 of a bridge carrying what is now Croxted Road over the Effra. Below is the river in front of the Prince Regent tree near the present 48-50 Half Moon Lane. The tree stood for some 400 years until it was pulled down in the early 1980s. So it would have been there during Elizabeth’s reign. However, the question must be was the Effra of a size that it could be navigated by even small boats? Maps and early pictures, such as one below dating from c.1850 showing the Effra flowing in front of the first Prince Regent pub, suggest the Effra was a rather small, narrow and winding waterway. However, there had certainly been an interest in its navigability. King James I gave permission for the river to be opened up for navigation. And, in 1664, Lord Loughborough obtained a private Act of Parliament to make a navigable canal of the Effra from near Brixton Causeway (today Brixton Road) to

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the Thames. This never went ahead, but the river must have been of sufficient size to make such a project practicable. It has been claimed that, centuries ago, the Effra was a substantial waterway and navigable at least as far as Kennington. Some historians describe the river at Brixton as 12 feet wide and six feet deep, certainly enough for a small boat to navigate but hardly sufficient for something as substantial as a royal barge to operate. So Elizabeth either travelled third class in a more modest vessel or the story is incorrect – we shall probably never know for sure. What does seem fairly certain is that small boats could have used the Effra, possibly as far up as Brixton. But it does seem unlikely that Elizabeth could have reached Herne Hill even by some modest craft. So at least we were spared one royal visit. There’s a lot more information about the Effra in the Brixton Society’s 1993 booklet Effra: Lambeth’s Underground River; and in the Herne Hill Society’s Herne Hill Heritage Trail, published in 2013. And in September, following the successful ‘Water Lambeth’ exhibition at Morley College last year, Signal Books will be publishing Effra: South London’s Secret Watery Spine by Jon Newman, Manager of Lambeth Archives.

N the early months of 2016, Herne Hill was suddenly gripped by anxiety and anger about commercial rent rises. As leases fell due for renewal and as rents came up for review, some traders were being faced with demands for hugely higher rents – so high, some say, that they could not possibly afford to pay such sums and stay in business. The most spectacular example has been the popular toy shop on Half Moon Lane, Just Williams, whose owner has closed her shop. (There are other branches elsewhere in South London, thankfully.) This sad case provoked a storm of protest against “greedy landlords”, and a well-attended demonstration outside the empty shop. A wider concern has been that escalating rents, if applied across our little town centre, could drive away the patchwork of small privately-owned businesses that make Herne Hill a pleasing place to live, work and shop. Herne Hill is worth fighting for Isn’t what we have today hugely worth defending? Most of our shops are individual, distinct small businesses, often familyowned and long-established, thriving on the hard work and vision of their owners and staff, and succeeding — or at least surviving — by serving our community. There are one or two outposts of national or Londonwide chains, in the grocery and estate agency sectors. There’s a Pizza Express. But in their different ways, most premises are unique, and this adds to the pleasure of living in Herne Hill. And it’s not like some picturesque tourist villages (or even some ‘Villages’ nearer home), tricked out with shops selling little the locals want to buy, or charging ludicrous prices because ground rents make this inevitable. Here in Herne Hill we

have plenty of ‘real’ shops. If we include not only Milkwood Road and Railton Road but also Norwood Road, Dulwich Road and the whole stretch of Half Moon Lane, we have an amazing variety of shops. Bars, pubs (even if mostly music-less), coffee and cake shops, nice affordable restaurants sit on every street. We have an excellent greengrocer, cobbler, hardware store, delicatessens and several thriving and interesting bakers. Haircuts of every style seem to be available. There are friendly, efficient and well-stocked chemists, and for birthdays and special occasions there are gift and greetings card boutiques, and a hard-working flower shop. A nail bar has recently opened. Our newsagents and convenience stores stay open long hours. We have a couple of real bookshops, a sportswear shop, and two glamorous dress shops; and some more specialised but successful ventures such as picture-framers, a community gym and a knitting specialist. This list is far from complete. What provoked the march to Just Williams wasn’t the first instance when landlord and tenant relationships sparked residents’ concern. The temporary closure of a row of premises in Milkwood Road, to allow Network Rail to renovate these admittedly almost-derelict shops and first floor offices, seemed to put at risk several popular and successful small businesses. Fortunately, Network Rail had the sense to avoid a major episode of reputational damage — such as still bedevils them in Brixton — by finding alternative premises in which to rehouse at least some of the traders. The greengrocer and the baker are now operating from the previously modernised arches just round the corner in Railton Road and seem to be content there. The family butcher has given up the fight and retired. The launderette has gone too.

Storm Breaks OVER RENT RISES But the fear of higher rents locking out small businesses, once renovation is complete, seems justified. The planning application from Network Rail (approved by Lambeth, despite objections by the Herne Hill Society and the Forum) points to some premises being converted into quite a large restaurant space which, if occupied by a chain-type business, would change the character of the place and could also be a threat to the several small restaurants operating in this corner of Herne Hill. Even the smaller new retail units would inevitably be leased at higher rents. So against this background,

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the Just Williams affair, coupled with news that the prospective reopening of the Half Moon pub by Fuller’s would no longer be catering to live music, all combined to stoke up a surge of concern. The pub campaign has by no means yet run out of steam. So what next? We can all deplore this higher rents trend, and castigate the “greedy landlords”. But in practice what can be done? We’ve done the demo, vented our frustration, got the article in the Evening Standard: have we any cards left? After all, rising rents are a pretty universal phenomenon: owners

GOING, GOING, GONE?: Toy shop Just William (main picture above) has closed, so how many more shops in Herne Hill will suffer

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they would want to exercise this duty in a way that contributes in the long run to the success and sustainability of that community. And they said…? We received a full and polite reply from Mr John Major (no, not that one!) giving us at length the Estate’s version of the rent dispute with the Just Williams toyshop. (Both our letter and his reply can be seen on our website.) His account seems to differ from what we understood to be the toyshop owner’s, but it may not be easy to get to the bottom of this, and anyway, to be candid, events have now moved on.

of leased and rented properties have every right — some might say a duty — to seek the highest rents that the market will bear. All shopping streets change: ultimately the market decides, tenants come and go, and it’s unrealistic to expect everything to stay the same. So must we just accept the inevitable? Are we just being sentimental? No! We can push back against the trends, even though we shan’t always win our case. After all, we are talking about our amenities, our shopping and leisure habits, the future of our community. Surely our voice must be heard? Here’s what the Association of Town Centre Management said in an important report in 2014: “… Town centres … are economic drivers and socio-cultural melting pots that can dictate whether our economy thrives or fails. They are focal points for commerce, public services, transport, leisure and many other activities. Their evolution will help us meet the challenges of tomorrow with confidence by supporting a collaborative, participatory and ultimately sustainable

economy…”. It’s true of course that a rent agreement is a private commercial negotiation between landlord and tenant, a process in which faceless landlords’ agents often have the whip hand. But here in Herne Hill we know who some of the landlords are. Network Rail, for the premises alongside the railway line, and the Dulwich Estate for the premises on the south side of Half Moon Lane. Talk to us, Dulwich Estate! Listen, Dulwich private schools! Public opinion can’t compel landlords to act against their own commercial interests, but if this reasonable approach doesn’t work, the Dulwich Estate, and the schools they were established to support, can expect more bad press. Is that what they want? So against that background, we wrote in February to the chief executive of the Estate setting out our concerns, and asking to have a meeting with him. In our letter, we noted that, whatever the details of any particular negotiation, the rents

now being sought did appear excessive to many of us in the community and bound to raise an impossibly high barrier to any normal small business. We asserted — confident that most Herne Hill Society and local residents would agree with this — that we very much shared most of the underlying concerns that were exposed in the course of the recent protests. We urged the Estate to understand that we were deeply attached to the gentle and useful diversity of the shops in our small “town centre”. And we pointed out very clearly that the community did not wish to see these replaced by larger retail brands who may be the only businesses which could in future either afford the high new rents or tolerate the risk of trading at a loss until their shop generated enough business to be solvent. We hoped, in other words, that the Dulwich Estate would want to be seen as a conscientious and responsible landlord, concerned about its reputation among local residents and the wider wellbeing of the community in which it operates. We suggested that

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Rent market up by 40 per cent But one point that resonated with us was the statement that by mid-2015 the market value of rents in that part of Herne Hill had risen to 40 per cent above the 2010 rent levels. So, if this is the case, we are not surprised that other nearby shops are nervous about the rent reviews that are coming later this year or next. More generally, the Estate explained that their leases are generally for a term of 10 years with the rent being fixed for a period of five years. They added “contrary to popular belief, when (rarely) we have a shop vacant, we are not solely driven by rent: we look at a number of factors in assessing would-be tenants. These include the business plan, strength of covenant, potential impact of business on existing traders (i.e., competition) and ‘fit’.” We hope this is true — as far as it goes — and we will certainly want to hold them to it, while continually urging them to instruct their agents to be realistic in terms of the rents they demand from our shops. We shall be holding a meeting with the Dulwich Estate in late March and will, in due course, report on this. Patrick Roberts

Restoring an avenue of trees Street trees is an important subject that this Magazine has focused on in recent issues. With cuts in local authority funding trees are not replaced and more and more gaps appear. Increasingly, the public area of the street becomes dominated by tarmac and parked cars. So it is very encouraging to be able to report that an initiative started by two residents — and Society members — in Fawnbrake

Avenue shortly before Christmas and supported by the Society has found a very strong response. More than 80 households — over half the houses in the street — have promised a donation. The scheme involves Lambeth matching the number of trees that residents will pay for. Dave Paul (pictured), Lambeth tree officer, has been very supportive in helping the scheme move forward.

TRANSPORT NEWS 42 bus route Many of you will have travelled on the rather uncomfortable 42 single-decker that trundles between Liverpool Street Station and Sunray Avenue. Transport for London is currently consulting on proposals to extend the route, and change to double-decker buses. The extension would run along Red Post Hill, East Dulwich Grove and Dog Kennel Hill, with a new terminus at Sainsbury’s. Although the similar single-decker on the P4 route currently has some trouble negotiating Red Post Hill, this is expected to change in the near future (with the introduction of parking controls associated with the forthcoming North Dulwich Triangle Controlled Parking Zone). The proposed extension would also provide a connection between North Dulwich Station and East Dulwich at Lordship Lane. The Society welcomes the extension to Sainsbury’s in principle, but there is concern about the 42 becoming a double-decker service, and the impact on traffic flow on Red Post Hill. Cross about the stations Despite widespread concern about the poor service on the Thameslink, and calls from many quarters for GTR to honour their franchise commitments, there is no indication that things will get better — rather the opposite, with the service levels continuing well below those originally promised, and new concerns about two stations in our neck of the woods. At Denmark Hill there is serious passenger crowding at the exits and entrances, resulting in calls to improve the number and capacity of platform approaches. At Denmark Hill and Loughborough Junction, there are concerns about the proposal of operator GTR to close the ticket offices from June 2016, as part of proposals to reduce staffing at 81 stations across their operation. These reductions in service quality are at odds with the recent Df T and Tf L joint ‘prospectus’ (‘A new approach to

On the basis of the sum pledged by residents it looked like there whould be enough to get more than 30 trees planted. But so far £8,500 has now been collected and sent to Lambeth, which now assures us that 39 trees should be planted by the end of April. In the years to come Fawnbrake can again rightly claim to be an Avenue! Laurence Marsh

Laurence Marsh

rail passenger services in London and the South East’, January 2016, consultation open until 18 March) to improve matters by involving local interests in service planning, and transferring responsibility for inner London services to Tf L — no mention, however, of new sources of money to support this. Traffic speed matters Most roads in the London Borough of Southwark (excluding major roads under the control of Transport for London) have had a speed limit of 20mph since March 2015. Similarly, most roads in Lambeth will have a 20mph limit introduced from April 2016. The lower limit results in actual traffic speeds coming down somewhat, and there is clear evidence from elsewhere that such limits result in fewer, and less severe, accidents and better driving behaviour. A measure of self-enforcement is expected, with police enforcement efforts continuing to be targeted at roads known to have a speeding traffic problem or to be an accident-prone site. Southwark has a Community Roadwatch Scheme, with volunteers involved in monitoring vehicle speeds, with letters being sent to owners of vehicles found to be speeding. Turney Road and Croxted Road are on their programme. In Lambeth concerns have recently been expressed about speeding vehicles on Herne Hill Road on the section between the Carnegie Library and St Saviour’s School. Cycling Quietways The community work by the consultant Sustrans to support the development of the Crystal Palace to Elephant and Castle ‘Quietway’ through Lambeth and Southwark has now concluded, reporting on a range of interesting / unlikely / draconian / sensible suggestions for improving the road environment, and encouraging cycle use of the route (which includes Rosendale Road, Turney Road, and Calton Avenue). Lambeth have already indicated that they do not favour traffic restrictions on Rosendale Road. Southwark’s reaction to proposals (including the restriction of traffic on Turney Road, and to remodel the complex series of junctions in the centre of Dulwich Village) is awaited. Detailed Borough reactions to all the proposals are expected in the spring. Bil Harrison

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t was Juliet who thought a rose ‘by any other name would smell as sweet’. But would Herne Hill smell as sweet if the area were called Penge or Tooting? I think not, but then I’ve lived here for 28 years and I’m biased. It’s partly the mysterious origin of the name. Could it be a version of the word ‘heron’ — in days when the river Effra flowed through this area there must have herons around — or even an allusion to the mythical figure of Herne the Hunter, or the Herne family who lived in Dulwich in the 17th century? Or does its origin lie in the Anglo-Saxon word ‘hyrne’, a corner or angle? If so, it shares the same Anglo-Saxon heritage as Penge and Tooting. But they were actual human settlements, while we were at best a mere corner of a field. There has also been some obscurity about the date when ‘Herne Hill’ can first claim a historical appearance in an actual document. The introduction to the Herne Hill Heritage Trail says ‘it has been suggested that the first reference to Herne Hill dates from 1789’ , but adds that this has not been confirmed and states that the earliest confirmed mention so far is Holden’s Directory of London of 1802. However, a couple of years ago I found a reference to ‘Hern Hill’ dating from April 1801 and since then have been on the lookout for an even earlier one. In a way the evidence was staring me in the face, because in John Brunton’s Short History of Herne Hill a map was included. It’s described as a map by ‘Edwards’ and dated ‘c1800’. I asked John about it but he could not recall any details of its origin. All was revealed when I tracked down James Edwards’s A Companion from

What’s in a

name? Laurence Marsh on the origins of Herne Hill

Detail from James Edwards’s 1800 map showing Herne Hill as a small settlement

London to Brighthelmston, in Sussex: Consisting of a Set of Topographical Maps from Actual Surveys (‘Brighthelmston’ was the way Brighton was often referred to at that time). The book was first published in complete form in 1801, though it seems separate parts may have been published earlier. Of particular interest is the plate with the map showing our part of London. It has the publication date 1 March 1800 and here we see the name ‘Hearn Hill’ and a small group of dwellings, approximately opposite where St Paul’s church came to be built. Edwards mentions a “small genteel house just built by Mr Smith” some 60 yards after the red post at the top of Red Post Hill, but not the group further down the hill. He also makes no mention of Casino House,

although it is shown on the map. It is clear from the text that Edwards’s survey was under way in 1789. Then there is the evidence of a small sketch in the Huntingdon Library in California by Thomas Girtin (1705–1802), inscribed “Herne Hill”, showing a group of houses on sloping ground with what might be building materials in the foreground. It is not dated but attributed to 1796-97. This would be consistent with Edwards recording the first houses on “Hearn Hill” in the final decade of the 18th century. Editing Wikipedia is something of an art in itself, but I have now done my best to make sure that the entry properly reflects what is known about the name of our ‘hyrne’ of London – until more is discovered. Laurence Marsh

Telling the story of our, sometimes forgotten, local Two years ago the Society were proud to publish an expanded and updated edition of our local guidebook, the Herne Hill Heritage Trail. At the same time we announced the next project, to be undertaken jointly with the Dulwich Society: a history of the pubs of Herne Hill and Dulwich. We are happy to report that four local historians took up the challenge and the completed text and the many

images that will be included are now being laid out. Our particular thanks to Sophia Marsh for her time and skill. We plan to publish in the summer, if possible with a book launch to coincide with the re-opening of the Crown & Greyhound in Dulwich Village. From a Herne Hill point of view we would have liked to see a launch at the Half Moon but, delighted though we are by the news that the Half

Moon will be opening again, this is still some way off. The book will tell the stories of 39 pubs, many of which are no longer with us. They reveal an extraordinarily

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diverse picture of the lives of the people of our area and the many changes in the area over the last 300 years. The disappearance of so many pubs in our own time is a sad fact of life and it is therefore all the more important to record and celebrate their history. We are confident that The Pubs of Dulwich and Herne Hill will provide another publication of which our Society can be proud.

More sites for our WWI Map With the addition of two new sites, our interactive World War I commemorative map now includes 75 entries. One of the two is a military aircraft that crashed onto the railway line by the bridge over Alleyn Park.

The biplane had suffered engine problems, leading to a forced landing in the grounds of Dulwich College. Repairs were carried out and a few days later the plane took off. But there were further engine problems

and it crashed into a signal gantry next to the bridge. One occupant was unhurt but the second was seriously injured. After treatment in a nearby house he was transferred to King’s College Hospital.

History Hear: oral memories of Herne Hill The new local oral history project, announced in Herne Hill issue 132, is now under way. You can listen to the first batch of interviews on the web. Our aim is to collect and share many more recollections of life in Herne Hill, such as celebrations and floods, whether from long ago or more recently. We are keen to find and interview people who have lived or worked here over a long period. And you do not have to have been born before 1945 to take part! ‘History Hear: oral memories of Herne Hill’, officially launched at Carnegie Library on March 16, is led by a small team of volunteers and is still in its infancy. It is hoped that it will continue for many years: as long as funds and enthusiasm survive! The material will eventually be deposited with Lambeth and Southwark Archives. As well as

The launch of History Hear at Carnegie Library hearing from people who might be interviewed, we would be grateful for assistance from anyone with interviewing or audio editing skills. We are also keen to make copies of photos of Herne Hill taken after 1930 that we can use to prompt memories. To hear Maude Estwick recall Prince Charles’s visit to Poplar Road, and much else, go to https:// soundcloud.com/herne-hill-history-hear Beth Taylor & Colin Wight

OUR COUNCILLORS

Herne Hill Ward Lambeth Michelle Agdomar (Lab.) MAgdomar@lambeth.gov.uk @MichelleAgdomar Jim Dickson (Lab.) JDickson@lambeth.gov.uk @JimDicksLambeth 020 3149 6657 Jack Holborn (Lab.) JHolborn@lambeth.gov.uk @jack_holborn Thurlow Park Ward Lambeth Anna Birley (Lab.) ABirley@lambeth.gov.uk @annamayb Fred Cowell (Lab.) FCowell@lambeth.gov.uk @fredacowell Max Deckers Dowber (Lab.) MDeckersDowber@lambeth.gov.uk Village Ward Southwark Anne Kirby (Lab.) Jane Lyons (Con.) Michael Mitchell (Con.)

anne.kirby@southwark.gov.uk jane.lyons@southwark.gov.uk michael.mitchell@southwark.gov.uk 07535 932 326

Your MP Helen Hayes MP (Lab.) helen.hayes.mp@parliament.uk House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.

Your GLA Member Valerie Shawcross AM (Lab.)

The second entry records the 576 British and Commonwealth servicemen, one servicewoman and one Belgian: all casualties of WWI who are buried in Nunhead Cemetery. The majority had died of their injuries or illness at various hospitals abroad. In a few cases, the bodies of servicemen who died in France were brought to the UK and buried here. The names of the British casualties of WWI interred in this cemetery are recorded on a monument next to the Limesford Road entrance gate. You can find our interactive map on on the Society website’s home page, www. hernehillsociety.org.uk We are always on the lookout for more entries. So if you have any information, please let us know. John Brunton

valerie.shawcross@london.gov.uk GLA, City Hall, Queen’s Walk, London SE1 2AA 020 7983 4407

Environmental Contacts Lambeth Streetscene: Cleansing, rubbish removal, pot holes, abandoned vehicles, graffiti removal etc: Southwark Streetscene (as above):

020 7926 9000 020 7525 2000

Advertising Advertising space is available in this magazine at the following rates for four issues over one year: Quarter page: £55 Half page: £110 Full page, including back page according to availability: £230 Please supply your own artwork. For further details, email advertising@hernehillsociety.org.uk

Herne Hill-Spring 2016

NORWAY

COMES TO DULWICH

e can always trust Dulwich Picture Gallery to introduce us to art and artists we rarely, if ever, have the chance to see. “Painting Norway: Nikolai Astrup” is the first major exhibition in this country devoted to a painter and printmaker famous and well loved in his native country, yet virtually unknown here. It is a revelation. Nikolai Astrup (1880 – 1928) was born in Ålhus, a village in the Jølster region of western Norway; and the atmosphere and views of that damp, mountainous area shaped and informed his work. The son of a Lutheran pastor, Astrup cherished his memories of the white wooden parsonage and its surrounding trees, garden and vegetable patch. Paintings such as “By the Open Door” look out on a day too wet to take a walk, while others show figures making their way along rain-soaked paths with dripping trees. The deep greens of marshy fields are broken by bright yellow marsh marigolds and the white of melting snow trickling down the mountains. He listed and memorised the view from every window and recreated them time and again, with variations in weather

conditions, time of day or year. Particularly evocative are moonlight scenes and light midsummer nights. A nostalgic view of a child looking into his former home speaks of his deep sadness at its loss. There is brightness and joy too: picnics and birthday parties, his wife in self-made print dresses, happy children, foxgloves and rhubarb (from which he made wine). Norwegian myths and legends are manifest: a troll-like tree appears to awaken and stretch; snow shaped like a white horse atop a glowing red mountain; the ice queen formed as a reclining pink woman. Astrup was a master printmaker, with woodcuts of ploughing at night, reflections in the lake, Japanese-influenced bird on a stone. He would often adapt a print to convey different moods. There are also l The exhibition, which opened 5 February, continues until 15 May. Open Tuesday – Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays 10am-5pm. Entry: £12.50 (including voluntary Gift Aid donation); seniors £11.50; students, unemployed, disabled £7; children and Friends free.

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oil paintings worked up from prints, layer on layer. Display cases show book cover illustrations, double-sided woodblocks with photo reproductions plus scans of photographs he took. Contrast these with an iPad showing photos taken last year.

olklore and pagan rituals inspire magical landscapes: animal or human shapes appear in mountains, while drying grain on poles become trolls; people dance around midsummer bonfires, a girl in a red scarf watching from a distance. The young Nikolai’s father forbade him joining such unchristian activities as drinking, dancing and music-making, which as an adult he delighted in painting. A responsive artwork to this exhibition has been created by Matt Jakob of Nexus Interactive Arts. “Forest Folk”, two large digital screens which track the movements of viewers, draw on Astrup’s themes of transformation, myth and magic. We trigger movement and changes, which, combined with forest sounds and cellos, are eerily evocative. Jeffrey Doorn

MSC “Olley’s Fish Experience in Herne Hill has become the

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Are you the sort who gets excited at the prospect of an evening at home watching a two-hour documentary about Helvetica? If so, you are a member of a rather exclusive club. Congratulations! There are thousands of typefaces in use around in the world, for different purposes, in different scripts and on a variety of materials. They all had to be designed by someone, even if was an unknown Roman stone mason. When you walk across Herne Hill from the London Borough of Southwark to the London Borough of Lambeth you might notice that the signs bearing the street names are slightly different. Is there something about the typeface used in Lambeth that is familiar? Note, for example, the distinctive ‘T’. As a reader of this magazine,

Berthold Wolpe: Lambeth’s Type OF Designer you will doubtless be an intellectual, so take down your dusty copy of William Golding’s Pincher Martin and have a look at the cover. That distinctive typeface is Albertus — named after the medieval saint and philosopher Albertus Magnus. Albertus features on over 1,000 book jackets designed for Faber & Faber by its creator, the German calligrapher, typographer and illustrator Berthold Wolpe. It can of course be spotted in many

other contexts, including film titles and album covers (notably, Coldplay). And indeed on Blackfriars Bridge. Wolpe was born near Frankfurt am Main in 1905. Unable to pursue his profession in Nazi Germany, he emigrated to England in 1935 to help create typefaces for the Monotype Corporation. Following a brief internment in Australia at the beginning of the war, he returned to England, working at Faber for over 30 years until his retirement. He was awarded the OBE in 1983.

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Albertus is designed to look as if it were carved from solid metal and so would be a natural choice for road signs (it is also used by the City of London), but there is also a strong South London connection. Wolpe taught at the Camberwell School of Art for several years and lived in Lambeth until his death in 1989. I’d like to say that he lived in Herne Hill, but in fact he resided at Kennington Park Road. In choosing Albertus for its street signs, Lambeth has honoured one of its own. Colin Wight

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