The Council has pledged £100,000 Greenwich Supports funding to grassroots and community groups to open Welcoming Spaces this winter, where all residents are welcome.
This is the second year the Royal Borough of Greenwich has run this scheme, however, this time around the Welcoming Spaces will offer even more free: activities, refreshments, WiFi and cost of living advice.
To get support with your application email: cost-of-living@royalgreenwich.gov.uk
The deadline to apply for funding is 20 September
Find out more: royalgreenwich.gov.uk/ greenwich-supports-funding23 Have
The Royal Borough of Greenwich needs your feedback to make Woolwich town centre an even better place to live, work, visit and shop after 6pm.
Having successfully secured the Mayor of London’s Night Time Enterprise Zone status for Woolwich in 2023, the Council is working to test new projects that bring the high street to life after 6pm.
Your input will help shape the events and projects delivered in the future, take part: royalgreenwich.gov.uk/woolwich-at-night
The Royal Borough of Greenwich is proposing to build a new Transitional Learning Centre for young people up to the age of 25. The proposal will be a bespoke design for those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The aim of the facility is to assist the journey into adulthood by providing work experience, independence skills, health maintenance, money management and more. The building will harness indoor and outdoor learning with a mixture of extracurricular activities.
The Council is now asking residents what they think about the proposals. The online consultation closes this Sunday 10 September and will take 5 minutes to complete – do it while you’re boiling the kettle, running a bath or on your morning commute!
Have your say now: royalgreenwich.gov.uk/send-learning-centre
Thegreenwich & lewisham Weekender is an independent weekly newspaper, covering the boroughs of Greenwich and Lewisham.
We publish every Wednesday, covering every postcode sector of the borough, and boasting, by far, the highest weekly circulation in Greenwich. Each week, we deliver to homes in every Greenwich neighbourhood, with further copies stocked at convenient public stands. We are also the highest distribution newspaper in Lewisham.
You can also view each edition online, as well as daily news and events, on our website: www.weekender.co.uk
The greenwich & lewisham Weekender covers all aspects of life in the boroughs, including music, theatre, comedy, film, events, and food and drink, as well as all your community events and campaigns.
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Issue: GW327
grounds
From The Da Vinci Code to Pirates of the Caribbean, Gladiator to The Holiday, composer Hans Zimmer is behind some of the most sweeping and thrilling movie scores ever written. Forget the pictures and instead, come and celebrate his most memorable compositions at a candlelit concert in the grounds of Eltham Palace and Gardens. Then the following night, the same formula is being rolled out to fanfare the music of Queen. It’ll be a chance to tune in to the orchestrations behind ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ and more.
Eltham Palace and Gardens, Court Yard, Eltham, Greenwich, SE9 5NP. September 8, 7pm - 8pm and 9pm - 10pm. Admission: £25 - £60. www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/whats-on/ eltham-palace-candlelight-concert---queen/
Open House Festival, a twoweek celebration of London’s architecture and design masterpieces, returns this September. There’s no need to schlep into central London to enjoy it either. Here in Greenwich, the Old Royal Naval College is throwing open the doors to some of its more exclusive spaces. Poke around one of the oldest surviving parts of the site, Admiral’s House, and enjoy views of the Thames; take a rare opportunity to visit the Undercroft of the Queen Anne Building, standing since the early 1600s; admire the quintessentially Baroque King William Courtyard; or head to The Grand Square for a drop-in talk.
Old Royal Naval College, London SE10 9NN. September 9 & 10, times vary. Admission: FREE.
www.ornc.org/whats-on/openhouse/
This Tai Chi and Chi Gong session is designed to strengthen mind and body, leaving you feeling calm and energised. In this weekly workshop hosted in Charlton Park, you’ll be guided through a series of gentle, safe exercises by a professional instructor. Charlton Park, SE7 8RE. September 10, 11am - 12pm. This event is taking place on Zoom. Admission: FREE. www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/events/event/9189/tai_chi_and_chi_gong_in_charlton_park
Design collective Resolve are inviting kids aged 5 – 12 and their families to join them at Woolwich Works and have a go at building a sculptural environment that speaks about their neighbourhood. Don’t worry, we reckon your designs can be as abstract as you like. The session is running as part of Resolve’s Hundred Club initiative, which sets up experimental, creative spaces to encourage children to explore social justice issues through play.
Woolwich Works, The Fireworks Factory, 11 No 1 Street, Royal Arsenal, London SE18 6HD. September 9, 11am & 2pm.
Admission: FREE. www.woolwich.works/events/the-hundred-club-x-resolve
Laugh away any dark clouds circling in your mind as summer draws to a close at the Churchill Comedy Club. While the line up is yet to be announced at the time of writing, it’s promising to bring some of the finest names on the circuit – including familiar TV faces – to BR1 for the night. And with not one but two headliners on the bill, there’s a high chance you’ll be a fan of at least one of them, right? Regular host Carly Smallman is back behind the mic too. Churchill Theatre, High Street, Bromley BR1 1HA. September 9, 8pm. Admission: £15. www.trafalgartickets.com/churchilltheatre-bromley/en-GB/event/ comedy/churchill-comedy-clubtickets
Parkfest is bringing the party to Southwood Park this Sunday. Gather the whole gang, dust off your picnic rug and head on over. Highlights include a performance from the Bromley Players, dance demonstrations from Loopy Lou and Nrityanjali Kathak, storytelling from Emergency Exit Arts and, of course, the dog show. There will be an ice cream van and food stalls keeping those who didn’t pack a picnic fuelled. Southwood Park, Southwood Road, SE9 3QT. Admission: FREE. www.parksfest.org/southwood_ park.html
Top-dollar comedians including Ivo Graham, Suzi Ruffell and Desiree Burch are on the bill, as is a night of hip hop, featuring performances from legends of the genre the Sugar Hill Gang, and Melle Mel and Scorpio from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
I spoke to Sean Doherty, Marketing Manager for Woolwich Works, to find out more…
Holly O’Mahony: This is the second Woolwich Words and Sounds Festival –which suggests last year’s inaugural event was a success! What are some of the key things you’re hoping to replicate for the 2023 festival?
Sean Doherty: We had some amazing names last year: the likes of DJ Norman Jay, comedian Jayde Adams and performance poet Sophia Thakur were some of the highlights. This year we really wanted to build on that and make Woolwich Words and Sounds an annual festival. We’ve gone with fewer shows but we’re sticking with the same level of ‘household-name’ talent. It’s so exciting to have faces from TV like Ivo Graham and Desiree Burch, as well as The Sugarhill Gang, who created one of Rolling Stone magazine’s ‘500 greatest songs ever recorded’ in Rapper’s Delight all performing.
HOM: Tell us about the programme of this year’s festival. It looks like it’s three quarters comedy, one quarter music (and specifically rap)?
SD: We know that Woolwich Works is a brilliant space for stand-up and we’ve built a committed audience for comedy since we opened in 2021. So this year we thought we’d bring some of the most popular comedians in the business here across three evenings in September. Headliners include: Alan Partridge star Tim Key, Britain’s Got Talent winner Axel Blake and Live at the Apollo’s Felicity Ward.
On top of that, this year is officially the
50th anniversary of hip hop! A party in the Bronx, New York in 1973 is considered the birthplace of the genre. So it seemed the perfect opportunity to bring The Sugarhill Gang and both Melle Mel and Scorpio of Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five to London for a huge summer party of oldschool hip hop.
HOM: How did you go about curating the programme? And how did you decide upon the right mix of events for the festival?
SD: We know that stand-up works so well here, and we’ve had some big names perform here since opening – Alan Davies, Sara Pascoe, Simon Amstell among them –so we’ve asked some of our favourite funny people to appear on the line-up this year. A few of them, like Sikisa and Helen Bauer, have performed here in the past so it’s great that they want to come back, and on our bigger stage this time.
HOM: The festival is bringing some big names in music and comedy to Woolwich. I wonder whether you can reflect a little bit on the importance for the community of being able to watch leading acts on their doorstep without having to travel into central London?
SD: We want local residents to see Woolwich Works as a welcoming place for them and programming household names will help to do that. Not only do south-east Londoners not necessarily have to travel to central London, with us being only 20 minutes away from Tottenham Court Road on the Elizabeth line, central London can easily come to us!
HOM: Will there be any opportunities for people to get involved with the festival as well as spectate? If so, can you tell us more about these?
SD: There will be a number of free wraparound events we’ll be putting on to complement the headliners. (The details
of which can be found on the Woolwich Works website.) Our pop-up beach bar in the courtyard will still be open for most of September so if the weather’s good, anyone can come and enjoy a drink or two in a deckchair with the sand beneath their
feet.
As well as that, we’re always looking for volunteers, creative people and new organisations to partner with, so if that’s you, feel free to get in touch at: hello@woolwich. works
Woolwich Words and Sounds is taking place at Woolwich Works, The Fireworks Factory, 11 No 1 Street, Royal Arsenal, London SE18 6HD. Select dates from September 8 - 24, 7:30pm. Admission: £10 - £26.50 depending on event. www.woolwich.works/whats-on
It was a hit last year, and now SE18’s culture hub Woolwich Works is bringing back its comedy and live music festival, Woolwich Words and Sounds, for second helpings, writes Holly O’Mahony…
Greenwich + Docklands International Festival (GDIF) is drawing to a close this week. If you’re yet to head out in search of pockets of street theatre, site-specific dance, and adventurous visual spectacles, there’s still time. We round up the final highlights to catch from London’s leading free, outdoor arts festival, writes Holly O’Mahony
WHEN: 6 - 10 September, 2:30pm, 6:30pm & 8:30pm
WHERE: Secret southeast London location
Typically, one show in GDIF will have a ticket and a cost attached, and this year it’s The Architect, which costs £12pp (though a number of seats will be made available for free to local residents). Why the fee? Because this show takes place on a double decker bus, strictly limiting the audience capacity. It sounds like a remarkable piece: written to coincide with the 30-year anniversary of the murder of Stephen Lawrence, who aspired to become an architect, it’s the brainchild of theatremakers Mojisola Adebayo, Roy Williams and Matthew Xia, with the help of the Actors Touring Company,
and takes audiences on a bus tour through south-east London, imagining Stephen’s vision for an alternate city.
PAN CATWALKWHEN: 6, 7, 9 & 10 September, 1:30pm & 4pm
WHERE: Canada Square Mall, E14 5AJ
This spectacle from Dutch performance company Zwermers explores the concept of fashion as a means of self-expression and also how we judge others based on what they wear. It’s a looping, theatrical catwalk, essentially, with appearances from a trusty denim jacket, a party dress and all sorts of hats along the way. Oh, and it’s set to live music. Consider it an opportunity to reassess how we respond to what we wear.
WHEN: 9 & 10 September, various times
WHERE: Canary Wharf
Dancing City is a mini festival within the festival with its programme of 12 events celebrating diverse dance from around the world. Highlights within it include Bouncing Narratives, Roza Moshtaghi and Shahrzad Malekian’s immersive performance piece, which audiences watch in a shipping container while dancers move above them on a trampoline roof. Another is disabled dancer Joe Powell-Main’s piece with the Royal Ballet, Sleepwalker, which he’ll perform in his wheelchair.
Valse à Newton, from French company Le Grand Jeté, will likely keep little eyeballs glued with its giant Newton’s Cradle, around which three
performers play with the possibilities of gravity, time and space.
Also not to be missed is I Think We Should Start Over, a danced-through narrative duet exploring the multilayered nature of relationships through translating the patterns of communication heard in audio recordings into movement.
It comes to the festival from Peckham-based Candoco Dance Company and Jamaal Burkmar.
WHEN: 9 & 10 September, 3pm & 6:30pm
WHERE: Tide Square, SE10 0ES
Even if you didn’t intend to see this show, if you’re in the vicinity of Tide
Square, you might not be able to avoid it. Do stop and take a look, though, because you’re unlikely to see an airborne spectacle like this again any time soon. Perched on 10m high poles, dressed in vibrant red skirts, three performers move in a calming ritual of sorts: swaying and interacting with the natural landscape around them. It’s the UK premiere of a work from French artist Gratte Ciel, who has also sent performers shooting into the air on sticks in various other terrains around the world.
GDIF is taking place at locations across Greenwich and London’s Docklands from August 25September 10. Admission: FREE (except for The Architect, check website for ticket prices).
www.festival.org/gdif/
By working in collaboration with housing associations and private developers, the Royal Borough of Greenwich has been able to secure the building of 1,942 affordable properties as part of the regeneration of the former Ferrier Estate.
In total 5,268 new homes will be built at Kidbrooke Village by L&Q Homes and developer Berkeley, with 854 let to people on the Council’s housing waiting list through the choice-based lettings system.
A further 1,052 properties are for shared ownership, while 36 are for discount market sale. This allows people who would otherwise be locked out of private ownership to get a foot on the property ladder.
These homes as Kidbrooke Village are in addition to the 1,750 homes the Council is creating with its Greenwich Builds programme.
Councillors Aidan Smith and Sandra Bauer met tenants Deborah and Rahman and their families while on a visit to newly completed Helio House at Kidbrooke Village.
Deborah explained how positive it had been to move from a one-bedroom home to a three-bedroom apartment: “The children are over the moon… My daughter loves it here!” . She also praised the local area: “The neighbourhood is wonderfully multicultural… I do all my shopping in this area; I can get whatever I need.”
Rahman was similarly enthusiastic about the new home he shared with his family: “Happy home. Happy family. Happy community!”
Find out more about Greenwich Builds royalgreenwich.gov.uk/ greenwichbuilds
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My daughter loves it here!
Join us from September for dance and creative movement classes, taking place across the borough.
Dance For Wellbeing sessions are open to all and help to improve both physical and mental wellbeing.
GD Collective is Greenwich Dance’s performance company for anyone over the age of 18 who would like to create dance material and perform it on stage. Discover more
greenwichdance.org.uk
Greenwich Hospital Sheltered Housing Managed by CESSAC
Provide affordable rented self-contained flats for former Royal Navy &Royal Marines, WRNS, QARNNS, RN National Service, RFAorRNXSaged over 60, their spouses, partners, widows &widowers.
3locations: Trafalgar Quarters, Greenwich; Greenwich Place, Saltash, Cornwall, and Greenwich Court, Southsea
Enquiries to: ian wilson@cessaha co uk Tel: 02392 829319 Or
Download an application from our website www cessaha co uk
Photo: Roswitha Chesher
£10K crowdfunder
Greenwich Cooperative Development Agency (GCDA), a not-for-profit community organisation looking out for the welfare of SE10 residents and their south-east London neighbours, is moving home – and it’s running a crowdfunder to help it relocate, writes Holly O’Mahony…
Currently split between two sites, its much-loved Made in Greenwich shop and an “inaccessible” office space in an industrial unit, the 40-year-old organisation has acquired a unit in the Old Police Station redevelopment on Royal Hill, and it’s hoping a £10,000 crowdfunder will allow them to transform the “empty shell” into an accessible classroom, training kitchen, shop, café and office. The new site will also house a gallery space where local art is exhibited.
The move has been in the pipeline for some time. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the site had already been earmarked as a community space, with GCDA recommended by the council and local residents to take it over.
It was through speaking to local residents during its year-long High Streets For All project, which began in March 2022, that the GCDA team became aware of the demand for a social hub. “So many people we met said we need a community centre,” says Claire Pritchard, CEO of GCDA. She points out that while many people enjoy
Greenwich for its museums, markets and heritage, others feel it currently lacks a space for locals to meet and form connections with one another.
GCDA’s Made in Greenwich shop on Creek Road was always intended to provide something along these lines, but currently “it hasn’t got great footfall”, in part because it’s “tricky for buggies and wheelchairs”, and “our training rooms are up a set of stairs with no full access”.
The new venue on Royal Hill “gives us an opportunity to have a much more accessible space,” Claire explains.
The new site will help facilitate an extension of GCDA’s adult learning programme, which provides classes in arts and crafts, horticulture, and healthy eating. In some cases, its cooking classes have also offered participants a pathway to an income selling homemade goods in the Made in Greenwich shop. The organisation’s ongoing Black History 365 programme, a series of activities and events celebrating the culture and heritage of Black residents, will also run at the new site.
Families with young children will continue to be supported too, with art and dance classes available, especially in the holidays.
The team are hoping to move into their new offices in September, before opening their doors to the community in November. The Made in Greenwich shop, which sells locally made goods including ceramics, jewellery, children’s clothes and handmade cards, will remain on Creek Road until after the busy Christmas period.
A programme of launch events will be running in the lead up to the official opening of the new space. Claire recommends checking the GCDA website for details on what’s happening when and how to get involved.
Above all, Claire and the GCDA team’s hope for the new space is to “have a real heart for the community”, where “people can meet each other [and] get to know each other”. Greenwich is home to several important cultural institutions, like the Old Royal Naval
College (ORNC), the Royal Museums and Greenwich Theatre. “I want us to be a community space that links with those large, incredible assets,” Claire stresses, suggesting a partnership offering discounted ticket prices for locals would be a start. “I want it to be a shop front for Greenwich.”
GCDA is moving to The Old Police Station, 31 Royal Hill, Greenwich, SE10 8RR. For more information, visit www.gcda.coop/2023/08/15/ gcda-hub-crowdfunding-campaign/
Mary Mills, our co-chair, will be talking on 12 September about this steam-engine designer and shipbuilder. He was the �irst and only shipbuilder with a yard in Greenwich ‘proper’, on Dreadnought Wharf, the area that now includes the local branch of Waitrose.
Joyce was son of a revolutionary father. He died young but his shipyard continued while his steam engines were sold round the world – and �inished with a South African lighthouse.
Mary’s talk will be exclusively via Zoom, and is free.
PLEASE read this important information about how to register to see this talk.
• This free talk will be by Zoom only in the evening of Tuesday 12 September, starting at 19:30.
• You must book your slot (one registration per household) via Eventbrite before 18:00 on Tuesday 12 September on this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/william-joyce-shipbuilder-of-greenwich-tickets-710208712377
• The talk will be delivered via Zoom, not via Eventbrite. In order to take part, you will need the Zoom link that we will send you just before the start. There won’t be a link on the Eventbrite page.
• Ensure you type your email address correctly, as that is the only way we will communicate.
• We will send you log-in details shortly after 18:15 on 12 September (not earlier, so don’t chase us; we have to wait until we have all the registrations).
• Please don’t log in until 19:15.
• If you don’t receive the link by 18:45, please check your spam folder – Zoom registration details often go there.
• The talk starts at 19:30 on Tuesday 12 September.
• You can ask questions via Zoom’s text chat function.
This week I am doing another building taken from the Industrial Archaeology of South East London. If I am quite honest I am far from sure this was an industrial site –but SELIA has listed it and it is an interesting building, in Woolwich, and so I’ve included it. It is the ‘coffee tavern’ which ended its days as a bingo hall in Woolwich New Road.
So what did SELIA say about it? “Woolwich
New Rd, SE18. The Chinese restaurant at the corner of Vincent Road bears a foundation stone marked ‘Woolwich and Plumstead Coffee Tavern Co Ld. 30/10/ 1818.’ It was opened at the Royal Connaught Assembly Rooms but by 1906 had become Smith’s Empire Variety Theatre. Shortly afterwards it became the first cinema in Woolwich and remained as that until the 1930s.’
I am more than a bit embarrassed never to have noticed this building before it was demolished in 1986. I was in Woolwich as a student through much of the 1970s and I can’t say I took it in. By then it had been converted to shops, a restaurant and some sort of bingo hall - but early pictures of it show a magnificent building.
Coffee Taverns and similar organisations were part of the massive temperance movement in the late 19th century. People were asked to ‘sign the pledge’ and not drink alcohol At its height it included many different types of organisation from the most basic neighbourhood groups to huge national organisations which together made up an enormous bloc with huge rallies and great lobbying power. At one level, and certainly in the suburbs of south London, its message was to the working man to give up drink so he could take control of his life to; become aspirational and work with others to change things. It is closely related to other organisations for and by working s people including the Co-op and the growing trade union movement. A call to ordinary people to take their futures into their own hands. The ideas behind the Coffee Taverns was for places of refreshment for
working men where they could eat and socialise without the necessity of alcohol - where the community of the public bar could be replicated but in sobriety. They would be relatively humble establishments.
By 1881 there were certainly several other ‘coffee taverns’ in the area. There at was at least one in Woolwich – in Green’s End. There was another in Blackwall Lane in a parade of shops near where the gas holder used to stand. In their simplest form they would be in an unpretentious building, where working men could sometimes bring their own food, selling nutritious soup and similar cheap dishes.
However the Woolwich Coffee Tavern seems to been very much more aspirational than any of these - it was certainly not a simple unpretentious café as it referred to itself as a ‘Coffee Palace’. It was set up by a group of local grandees in Woolwich headed by Mr John Robert Jolly and had 1,300 shareholders. Jolly was a local man who, having retired from a job at the War Office, had taken on numerous public roles - as a JP, as a member of the Metropolitan Board of Works, and later the London County Council and many other local causes. The Hon Secretary was James de Havilland, a Blackheath resident and a Major General in the Royal Artillery. The actual secretary was Frederick Johnson, another local man with an interest in many local causes.
A public meeting was held at Woolwich Town Hall at the end of July 1879, chaired by the Governor of the Royal Military Academy. At this meeting an announcement was made on proposals for a ‘Coffee Palace’ which would be like similar projects which
had enjoyed “such remarkable success ... In large centres of population throughout the United Kingdom” which might be a hint that Woolwich aspired to equal Manchester. Lack of attendance at the meeting was blamed on overtime at the Arsenal itself but there was a full platform of local dignitaries and some others in the audience. They were showed the architect’s drawings. They discussed possible sites and said that while the main object was supporting temperance they would build ‘a palace -well-placed, well finished and lighted and hope it exercises the power to do well.’
It opening was on 30 October 1880 to the strains of the Royal Arsenal Philharmonic Society under the bandmaster of the Rifle Brigade. It was said in ‘the largest and most comprehensive of its kind in the kingdom …. which occupies a commanding site close to the Arsenal Station of the North Kent railway and … has a handsome elevation with an angled turret and spire”
It was certainly ambitious. It had four floors - the basement being a clubroom with kitchen; the ground floor was the Coffee Tavern itself, the first floor had the boardroom and some bedrooms and on the top floor was a public hall with a gallery which – it was said -would accommodate a thousand people!! Pictures show it to be imposing and magnificent.
There appears to have been a delay in setting the opening date. This was reported on by the Kentish Independent which was only too happy to contradict those rumours by giving many details of what they were all about. They were also the subject of letters to the press “from the Secretary of the Coffee Palace Company and a belligerent communication from the architect”. The architect was William Rickwood, a local man who had undertaken various architectural projects in the Arsenal and elsewhere. It had been said that the ‘Palace’ would be opened by the Earl of Derby, a recent Foreign Secretary. However it was eventually opened by the Duke of Connaught and was named after him. The Duke, Arthur, was Queen Victoria’s seventh child but had been a Woolwich resident and trained as a cadet at the Royal Military Academy, holding commissions in both the Royal Engineers and then Royal Artillery .He was a leading Freemason and a patron
Advertisements for early entertainments held there are also ambitious to say the least. There was, for instance, a concert featuring singers from the choir of St Paul’s Cathedral. There were also talks and meetings on serious subjects and much of what is advertised there seems to be ‘improving’ rather than immediately popular. In October 1881 there is a strange press report that the managers and employees in the building had mutinied and turned the directors and officers out by force, and thus taken possession. The report says fresh staff would be employed but does not explain at all. Over the first few years there are many advertisements for staff – one for instance wants a ‘respectable under house maid, must be bright with an obliging manner’ another later for ‘a respectable active housemaid’.
It didn’t last of course. In 1892 it the hall was converted into a music hall which lasted until 1902. In 1903 the Duke of Connaught Coffee Tavern was advertised ‘with new proprietorship’ with ‘first-class coffee’ and ‘clean beds’. They advertised dinners and teas and in particular breakfast with kippers and toast and much else. There are reports of draughts matches and dancing school displays. Hopefully they had lost any reputation for dirty beds and lazy, disreputable housemaids.
The building went through a number of changes with the hall first used as a cinema in September 1900 when the Royal Animated Picture Company showed a twice nightly programme of films. From 1908 it was the Palace Picture Theatre featuring a ‘ladies band’ as an extra. There were many similar uses over the years until in the 1950s and 1960s the hall was a ballroom over a restaurant and shops. In 1952 it was the Ritz Ballroom and in 1953 it was the Star Ballroom with a personal appearance by popstar Eden Kane. I have tried to find advertisements for some of these events with little success. One publicity attempt comes from 1953 when the cinema then in occupation organised a dance contest. They released balloons and issued leaflets. One of the usherettes paraded the town ‘with a pram on which a suitably worded card had been fixed’. Another poster was fixed to a bus stop which the manager estimated was used by 4,000 people each rush hour. By 1969 the hall had become a roller skating rink and later a bingo hall and social club.
In the 1960s there were various development proposals for Woolwich Town Centre which ended with the Council setting up General Gordon Square - originally a compromise. The next scheme was for the area in which the ex-Coffee Tavern was standing. So, it was demolished in 1983 following a campaign for re-tention by “Save Woolwich Now!!”
I wonder what has happened to the foundation stone. The late Jack Vaughan (first Chair of GIHS) said that it had been taken into the care of the Council to be used in a future building and was stored at White Hart Depot. Greenwich Industrial History Society visited the depot in 2000 and noted there was no sign of it. Questions were but there was no reply. Jack said that he believed it was still there but White Hart Depot has since been completely cleared and used by Crossrail. It is now back with the Council and in other use. Does anybody know where this foundation stone is? Was it moved? Was it at White Hart and if so where was it taken? Does the ex-Borough Museum have it? I’m sure someone will get back onto me as soon as they see this article.
Charlton Athletic defender
Terell Thomas stopped by CACT’s holiday football course at the club’s Training Ground in New Eltham recently.
The young people quizzed Terell, 27, on his journey into football and his top defending tips.
The Academy graduate finished the visit off by signing some of the participants’ shirts and posing for photos with the group.
CACT’s holiday football courses run during the school holidays throughout the year at locations across South East London and Kent.
At the end of each week, participants take part in a penalty shootout tournament and exciting prizes are given out by the coaching team.
CACT’s holiday football courses have drawn to a close for the summer, but bookings are now being taken for the October halfterm football courses at locations across Greenwich, Bexley, and Kent.
If you can’t wait until October to sharpen up your football skills, CACT offers regular football training throughout the academic year with Charlton Challenge, Wildcats, and Squad Girls.
Charlton Challenge is an awardwinning programme for 4–8-yearolds teaching the basics of football and helping to develop participants’ playing skills.
Wildcats is a girls-only programme for those aged 5-11 which encourages female participation in football and teaches the basics of the sport.
The natural progression from Wildcats sessions is to join Squad Girls which is for girls aged 11-16 and aims to engage females in football whilst advancing their skillset. Participants do not need to have previously attended Wildcats sessions in order to join Squad Girls as they are aimed at footballers of all skillsets.
To book a place on any of CACT’s football courses, please visit: cact.gives/courses
The Greenwich (Free Parking Places, Loading Places and Waiting, Loading and Stopping Restrictions) (Amendment No. *) Order 202*
The Greenwich (Charged For-Parking Places) (Amendment No. *) Order 202*
1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Council of the Royal Borough of Greenwich (hereinafter referred to as “the Council”) proposes to make the above-mentioned Orders under sections 6, 45, 46, 49, 124 and Part IV of Schedule 9 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, as amended.
2. The general effect of the Orders would be to:
a) Replace the existing single yellow ‘No Waiting Mon-Fri 9am-5pm’ and No Stopping Mon-Fri 8am-5pm on entrance markings restrictions on Belson Road, south side, from its junction with Frances Street for 41 metres in an easterly direction.
b) Replace the existing double yellow ‘No waiting at any time’ restriction with a free parking place on Belson Road, north side, from a point 9.2 metres east of its junction with Frances Street for 10 metres in an easterly direction.
c) Replace the existing free parking place with a double yellow ‘No waiting at any time’ restriction on Belson Road, north side, from a point 26.5 metres east of its junction with Frances Street for 10 metres in an easterly direction.
d) Readjust the existing single yellow ‘No Waiting Mon-Fri 9am-5pm’ restrictions around the new kerbline on Belson Road, south side, at its entrance to Cardwell Primary School.
e) Introduce double yellow ‘No waiting at any time’ restrictions on Garland Road, south-east side, from a point 13.3 metres south-west of its junction with Timbercroft Lane for 10 metres in a south-westerly direction.
f) update the map tiles attached to The Greenwich (Free Parking Places, Loading Places and Waiting, Loading and Stopping Restrictions) Order 2018 and The Greenwich (Charged-For Parking Places) Order 2018 so as to reflect the provisions referred to in sub-paragraphs (a) to (e).
3. the Council of the Royal Borough of Greenwich hereby GIVES FURTHER NOTICE in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 90A-F of the Highways Act 1980 as amended and of all other enabling powers and in accordance with the Highways (Road Humps) Regulations 1999 as amended and after consultation with the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis intends to construct the following traffic calming measures: a. Revoke a sinusoidal road hump on Belson Road from a point 37.5 metres of its junction with Frances Street for 2.6 metres in an easterly direction.
4. A copy of the proposed Orders and other documents can be viewed by emailing traffic.team@royalgreenwich.gov.uk (quoting reference Belson and Garland Road 23-09).
5. Further information may be obtained by emailing traffic.team@royalgreenwich.gov.uk
6. Any person who wishes to object to or make other representations about the proposed Orders, should send a statement in writing by 27th September 2023, specifying the grounds on which any objection is made by email to traffic.team@royalgreenwich.gov.uk (quoting reference Belson and Garland Road 23-09).
7. Persons objecting to the proposed Orders should be aware that in view of current access to information legislation, this Council would be legally obliged to make any comments received in response to this notice, open to public inspection.
Assistant Director, Transport Communities, Environment and Central Royal Borough of Greenwich
Dated 6th September 2023
Royal Borough of Greenwich
Town & Country Planning Act 1990 (AS AMENDED)
Town & Country Planning (Development Management Procedure)(England) Order 2015
Planning (Listed Buildings & Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (AS AMENDED)
Planning (Listed Buildings & Conservation Areas) Regulations 1990 (AS AMENDED)
Notice is hereby given that application(s) have been made to The Royal Borough of Greenwich in respect of the under mentioned premises sites. You can see the submissions and any plans at http://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/planning.
If development proposals affect Conservation Areas and/or Statutorily Listed Buildings under the Planning (Listed Building and Conservation Area) Act 1990 (As Amended) this will be shown within the item below.
Anyone who wishes to comment on these applications should be made in writing to Development Planning within 21 days of the date of this notice.
Please quote the appropriate reference number.
Date: 06/09/2023
Victoria Geoghegan Assistant Director - Planning and Building Control
List of Press Advertisements - 06/09/2023
Publicity For Planning Applications.
Applicant: MAF Real Estate Ltd 23/1399/F
Site Address: 90-92 TRAFALGAR ROAD, GREENWICH, LONDON, SE10 9UW
Development: Erection of an additional storey, first-floor rear extension and refurbishment of the building to create 10 short-term accommodation rooms (Use Class C1) above a pub, including the upgrade of the pub frontage and other associated works. [Reconsultation revised site plan]
Conservation Area: adjacent to East Greenwich
Applicant: Anthea Thomas 23/2333/HD
Site Address: 21 HEAVITREE ROAD, PLUMSTEAD, LONDON, SE18 7RA
Development: Construction of a single storey rear extension in replacement of existing rear outrigger and associated works.
Conservation Area: PLUMSTEAD COMMON
Applicant: Mrs Richardson 23/2363/F
Site Address: 67C SHOOTERS HILL ROAD, BLACKHEATH, LONDON, SE3 7HU
Development: Demolition of existing rear garage and construction of a two storey two-bed dwellinghouse at land rear of No. 67C Shooters Hill Road; other associated alterations.
Conservation Area: BLACKHEATH
Applicant: LLP & Southern Housing 23/2423/MA
Site Address: Land at Nos. 6, 61-81 and Coopers Yard, Eastmoor Street and Nos. 6 & 10 Westmoor Street, Charlton, London, SE7 8LX
Development: A Section 73 application for minor revisions to the approved scheme no. 20/1924/F (approved on 06.05.2022) which includes reduction in residential
NIA, associated overall unit mix - loss of 6 units but increase in proportion of affordable housing by haibtale room whilst the related unit numbers maintain the same, in order to meet the latest Building Regulations, in particular the need for internal changes to allow for means of escape, escape distances and staircases / lifts to avoid any external changes to the development.
Conservation Area: Adj to Thames Barrier & Bowater Road
Applicant: Mr Arne Schmidt 23/2555/HD
Site Address: 28 HADRIAN STREET, GREENWICH, LONDON, SE10 9AQ
Development: Replacement of first floor front and rear windows and associated works.
Conservation Area: EAST GREENWICH
Applicant: Lovell Partnerships Limited 23/2639/F
Site Address: Morris Walk Estate (North), Pett Street, Woolwich, London, SE18 5PA
Development: Change of Use from Ancillary Residential (Use Class C3) to Commercial (Flexible Use Class E / F).
Applicant: Blackheath Rugby Club 23/2694/F
Site Address: POLY SPORTS AND SOCIAL CLUB, KIDBROOKE LANE, ELTHAM, LONDON, SE9 6TE
Development: Retention of the existing marquee building for a further three-year period.
Conservation Area: adjacent to Well Hall Pleasaunce
Applicant: Luxury Leisure Ltd 23/2726/F
Site Address: 12 POWIS STREET, LONDON, SE18 6LF
Development: Proposed new shopfront with relocation of front door, new front windows, new upstand and redecoration of facade panels with internal alterations and associated external alterations
Conservation Area: Woolwich Conservation Area
ROYAL BOROUGH of GREENWICH ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 – SECTION 14(1) LANSDOWNE MEWS PLANNED ROAD CLOSURE (ORDER)
1. The Royal Borough of Greenwich intends to make this Order in exercise of powers under section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. This is to facilitate works by Thames Water who need to install a new connection.
2. The Order will come into operation on 18th September 2023 and would continue to be valid for 18 months. However, the works are expected to take 5 days. The duration of the Order can be extended with the approval of the Secretary of State for Transport.
3. The effect of the Order would be to temporarily prohibit vehicles from entering, exiting, proceeding, or waiting (including waiting for the purposes of loading or unloading), in Lansdowne Mews opposite 12.
4. Whilst the Order is in operation traffic will not need to be diverted as this is a no through road. Prohibitions remain in force; pedestrians are not affected, and vehicle access will be maintained wherever possible.
5. Nothing in this Notice will apply to anything done with the permission or at the direction of a police constable in uniform or traffic warden, to emergency service vehicles, or to vehicles being used in connection with the works.
6. The restrictions described above will apply only during such times and to such extent as shall be indicated by traffic signs as prescribed by the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016.
7. Queries concerning these works should be directed to the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s Directorate of Regeneration, Enterprise & Skills on 020 8921 6340.
Ryan Nibbs Assistant Director, Transport.
The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, SE18 6HQ
Dated 07/08/23
(INTERNAL REF: PL/573/LA455338)
Notice is given that: NARUTER LIMITED, 21 LOVIBOND LANE, GREENWICH, SE10 9FY, has applied for the Grant of a Premises Licence for the following premises: LONDON NARU, 3 STOCKWELL STREET, GREENWICH, SE10 9JN
A record of this application may be inspected by appointment.
Other persons may make representations to the Council on this application by no later than 21/09/2023 (last date for making representations).
Representations can be made in writing, by email or fax using the contact details above. Representations can only be made on the grounds of one or more of the four licensing objectives, namely:
• Prevention of Crime and Disorder • Prevention of Public Nuisance
• Public Safety • Protection of Children from Harm.
Any person who makes a false statement in connection with an application is liable on summary conviction to an unlimited fine.
It is proposed that the following licensable activity will take place at the premises:
Sale of alcohol Tuesday to Saturday from 11:30 - 22:30
Sale of alcohol Sunday from 11:30 - 22:00
