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'TIME IS RUNNING OUT TO SAVE ONE OF LONDON’S OLDEST CLIMBING WALLS'
By Lillian Mulholland
PLANS FOR the redevelopment of Crystal Palace National Sports Centre risk the fate of climbing at one of London’s oldest walls, claim users.
For more than 30 years, the wall at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre (NSC) has been a cornerstone of London’s climbing community.
Now, a group of climbers claim plans for the redevelopment could see price hikes which would make it harder for disadvantaged young people to get a foothold into the sport, despite its soaring popularity across the world.
After more than a decade of concerns regarding the future of the centre, the Greater London Authority (GLA) has set out its plans for redevelopment.
Whilst a ‘climbing activity centre’ is in the plans, climbers fear that not all their needs have been taken into account and the space might not be fit for purpose as a result.
A petition to save the wall has gathered 2,000 signatures, as climbers call on the GLA to reconsider their plans.
The petition reads: “Independent analysis has found that the plans, in their current iteration, would be financially unviable and operationally unsafe, meaning it’s highly unlikely that any professional operator could justify investing in or operating such a facility.
they’d never even think about doing something like this. If they don’t have this, it’s yet another signal that we are saying that our young people aren’t worth it.”
In the coming weeks, Mount Palace also plans to host an event for Screen Share, a charity which works with refugees, free of charge.
Harrison added: “We have to get past the politics, and look at the people and the communities we are trying to serve, and I think if we do that with all of their best interests at heart, then we’d be doing the right thing.”
Local councillors are working with the climbing club to ensure the space they call “vital” for economically disadvantaged young people in the borough remains accessible.
Ryan Thomson, local councillor for Crystal Palace and Anerley said: “What the climbing centre offers is a way of bringing people together.”
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“If the plans go ahead as they stand, it is likely that climbing will be lost from Crystal Palace altogether.”
These concerns come from initial plans presented by the GLA to the site’s climbing club, Mount Palace.
The climbing community and local councillors have lobbied the GLA for eight years, finally receiving these plans for the wall with only two months until planning permission will be applied for. Matt Hayes, who runs Mount Palace, said: “The real risk is that there is not enough time to develop a cohesive plan for the future of climbing in Crystal Palace. There is a real likelihood that time will run out.”
Whilst a space for climbing is in the plans, an operator, such as Mount Palace, would be responsible for securing the investment necessary to fit out the space and run the facility.
These difficulties are not limited to Mount
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Palace, but Hayes has voiced concerns that the initial plans would make it difficult for any operator to take on the site, meaning the loss of climbing altogether. The redevelopment would see the space for climbing in the centre increased, but Hayes fears that this would not cover the additional staff costs required even if the site consistently met maximum capacity.
Plans would also see the climbing space close several times a year when the NSC hosts events, which Hayes fears could mean shutting the doors for a few days almost every month.
Hayes highlighted that an operator could not prevent wall climbing when these events would be hosted in the space, creating an issue for getting insurance.
Hayes said: “From the most recent plans that I saw, I just don’t believe that it would work. Perhaps the only way it could be viable is if we put the prices up, but we don’t want to do that.
“We want to keep it affordable for everybody.”
Memberships are currently priced at £15pm for young people aged 14-22 and £35pm per month for adults, with no additional cost for
shoe or chalk rental.
Crystal Palace Community Trust runs free youth clubs twice a week and puts on regular holiday activities for 11-18 year-olds in the area.
Mount Palace have hosted the youth club free of charge, but fear that the cost demanded by the new plans for the NSC would stop this from happening.
Hayes said: “We had a kid that climbed here who went on to climb for Team GB, and I am certain there are hundreds of other kids in the local area who could do the same thing.”
The youth club exposes young people to challenging activities in a safe environment supported by academic theories of risk in play, according to Elaine Harrison, trust development manager at Crystal Palace Community Trust.
Taking young people climbing allows them to seek challenge and risk in a measured environment, aiming to steer them away from looking for this elsewhere, Harrison said. “The kind of young people we work with could never afford to pay the huge sums you have to pay at other climbing walls.
“For a lot of kids who come from disadvantaged or deprived backgrounds,
Their efforts are concentrated on maintaining the community essence, keeping costs down, and ensuring the space itself is fit for purpose. Ruth McGregor, local councillor for Crystal Palace and Anerley said: “The fact that climbing is included is a big win, but it needs to work. This is not about income generation, this is about the social value that it can deliver.”
Those involved commended the move by the GLA to redevelop the NSC, after many years of uncertainty.
Hayes and others are keen to maintain a dialogue with the GLA regarding the plans.
The GLA closed the final public consultation on November 15. Having declined requests for interview, representatives of the GLA at the consultation said that the suggestion that climbing was at risk was “ludicrous”.
The GLA insist the plans that Hayes saw were initial suggestions, and that there is time for the finer details to be refined up until the centre is set to reopen in 2028.
A spokesperson for the GLA said: “The proposals for the redevelopment of Crystal Palace National Sports Centre include the continued provision of climbing at the site and detailed designs are currently being developed in consultation with local groups, including the climbing club, to ensure the facility is successful. We look forward to working closely with the climbing club as the plans progress.”
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Local councillors and Crystal Palace
Community Trust staff with Hayes
SHARD SPARKLES FOR CHRISTMAS
Skyscraper has unveiled longest-ever light show inspired by building staff
By Megan Norcott
THE SHARD unveiled its longest ever continuous light show this week for Christmas, with designs inspired by its employees.
The 60-minute Shard Lights spectacle was unveiled at 6.45 pm on Tuesday 25 November and will repeat on the hour, every hour after nightfall, until the New Year.
Bringing festive cheer to spectators up to 40 miles away, the lights illuminate London’s skyline with the expressionist artwork of Gustavo Zuluaga Villegas, who works in the Shard’s housekeeping team.
The 65-year-old self-taught artist said: “I came to London from Colombia in 1996 to start a new chapter in my life. The Shard has been part of that journey for the past eight years, and it means a lot to see my artwork reflected on a building I know so well.
“During the pandemic, my daughter's creativity inspired me to return to painting, something that’s always been close to my heart. To now see those paintings transformed into light for everyone to enjoy feels incredibly special.”
Commissioned to create a painting for the yearly event, Gustavo’s abstract strokes will be reflected on the top 20-storeys of the UK’s tallest building as a centrepiece of bright rainbow flashes.
Michael Baker, CEO of REM and asset manager of The Shard, commented: “The Shard Lights are always a highlight of our year, but this time we wanted to do something more personal - to celebrate creativity within our own community.
“Gustavo has been part of The Shard team for many years, and it’s been inspiring to see his artistic talent brought to life through this year’s display, along with the other talented, creative individuals who work in the building. His work is full of colour, movement and emotion, and we’re proud to see it shining across London's skyline."
Self-taught, he usually paints in oil on canvas, using palette knives and brushes to capture personal experiences, the natural world, and memories from his childhood, especially his love of horses.
It won’t be horses jumping across the sides of the 72-floor skyscraper this festive season, however but reindeer!
Accompanied by Christmas trees and letters spelling out the word
London, 11 other sequences will also be depicted by the 575 LED units adorning the building.
Each of the sequences are created by employees whose businesses reside in the 310m high building, from office administrators to graphic designers, illustrators and accountants.
Kate Ross, a Digital Designer at Kraft Heinz, said: "Being part of The Shard’s Christmas light display feels completely surreal - it’s the kind of project you dream about as a designer. My piece was inspired by how light connects people, like a kaleidoscope of cultures coming together across London.
“To see that idea brought to life on such a huge scale, shining out across the city, is both humbling and thrilling. I hope when people look up, they feel that same sense of warmth and connection."
Sarah James, a financial controller in Mitie’s Shard office, also described how she wanted her piece to turn the ‘powerful symbol of London’ into a beacon of festive joy that brings people together.
Londoners seeking more holiday cheer can also enjoy Christmas activities within the 72-storey skyscraper, at one of the building's many restaurants or bars.
The Aqua Shard restaurant has partnered with Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity to create a Christmas tree which will be decked in Neverland themed ornaments, including Tinkerbell’s wings, crocodiles, clocks, compasses, lanterns and more.
Interactive adaption of the Snow Queen
See page 19
Patrons looking to indulge can also try the themed drinks and dessert menu available from 15 November to 4 January.
Also, check out the ShangriLa Hotel’s ‘Enchanted Wonders’ Christmas decorations while enjoying afternoon tea at TING restaurant, as finger sandwiches, fluffy pastries and other savoury options inspired by the season fill your belly.
Available from 18 November to 6 January, the tea menu costs £89 per person and can be supplemented with a £10 flute of champagne.
While warming up for the main event on Christmas Eve, tuck into a sharing menu of seasonal dishes at £185 per person, including a flute of champagne.
Or go all out and spend Christmas lunch or dinner with the Shangri-La on the 25th at £285 per person, for a feast with all the trimmings and a Ting twist.
Gustavo Zuluaga Villegas in front of his artwork
The Shard sparkles as part of its colourful Christmas light show
The Shard lit up like a Christmas tree!
IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS, OUR PICK OF FESTIVE TREATS
By Evie Flynn
GLIDE ICE SKATING, BATTERSEA POWER STATION
London’s only riverside ice rink, Glide at Battersea Power Station, is returning this winter for eight weeks. Set against the backdrop of the iconic Grade II listed Power Station, you can skate on the three interconnected rinks, whilst taking in views.
After the skate, the Glass House Bar is back as a perfect spot to warm up or wind down. There are pizzas from Made of Dough, a range of bar snacks, Chocomel hot chocolates, beers, wines and festive cocktails.
Dates: 7 November - 4 January
Time: Daily sessions from 10:00 - 22:45
Price: £17 for adults, £10/50 for Children glidebatterseapowerstation.com
CHRISTMAS CONCERT, DULWICH PICTURE GALLERY
Dulwich Picture gallery are celebrating the festive season with their annual Christmas Concert on 9 December.
This year, they will be joined by the Imperial Singers, who were formed by Imperial College alumni in 1980. The programme includes classics like Mary's Boy Child and Silent Night. Refreshments will be available and seats are first come, first served.
Date: Tuesday 9 November
Time: 19:30 - 20:30
Price: £16.50
Location: Dulwich Picture Gallery, Dulwich Picture Gallery, College Road, SE21 7AD
dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk
SNOW GLOBE ON TOP OF THE O2, GREENWICH
A ‘Winter Wonderland’ is gaining new heights this winter, with an immersive snow globe sitting 52 metres high, on the top of the O2.
After a guided climb to the top, enjoy 20 minutes at the summit. Set against the London skyline, the UK’s highest snow globe will feature fairytale-like falling snow, amongst a magical winter set-up, making for the perfect festive photo moment.
Date: 21 November - 4 January
Time: Daily sessions
Price: £44
Location: The O2, Peninsula Square, SE10 0DX upattheo2.co.uk
CHRISTMAS
WREATH WORKSHOP
AT LALA BOOKS, CAMBERWELL
CHRISTMAS CLASSICS AT THE SOUTHBANK CENTRE
Head to South Bank this December for a magical concert of Christmas Classics. Sing along to a range of traditional carols, as well as popular contemporary Christmas favourites.
Getting you into the spirit will be the London Philharmonic Orchestra with the London Philharmonic Choir on Saturday 13 December and the Philharmonia Chorus with London Youth Choirs on Sunday 14 December.
Date: Saturday 13 and Sunday 14
December
Time: 15:00 and 19:30 on Saturday, 13:00 on Sunday
Price: £32
Location: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX southbankcentre.co.uk
The independent Camberwell bookshop, LaLa Books, is hosting a relaxed, hands-on evening wreath making workshop. Eleanor, the head gardener at Camberwell’s Secret Garden, will guide you through making your beautiful winter wreath. All materials, seasonal foliage, decorative extras, mulled wine, mince pies and the finished wreath are included in the ticket price.
Date: Thursday 4 December
Time: 19:00 - 21:00
Price: £35, which includes £5 donation to Lala Books' pay-it-forward scheme which provides funds for those who may not be able to afford the cost of a book
Location: LaLa Books, 4a Grove Ln, London SE5 8SY tinyurl.com/22pd2kfw
CHRISTMAS FILMS AT BACKYARD CINEMA, BERMONDSEY
Backyard Cinema will be transforming a Victorian warehouse on Tanner Street, near London Bridge, into an enchanted forest and hidden world of festive magic. They will be showing the Christmas classics throughout the season, with Elf, Home Alone, Love Actually, The Holiday, and It’s a Wonderful Life coming to the big screen.
But, the real show is also the surprise performances in the Christmas Cabaret Room, themed bars and hidden cosy cabins. Tickets include an hour free roaming in the enchanted garden before the show.
Date: 26 November - 31 December
Time: Daily shows at 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 18:00 and 20:00
Price: Tickets start at £17.50
Location: 49 Tanner Street, SE1 3PL backyardcinema.co.uk
© Luke Dyson © LaLa Books
Glide at Battersea Power Station
LaLa Books wreath making
Snow Globe on the O2
By Evie Flynn
WAKUDA MARKET is a free-to-enter Christmas market in Lewisham Shopping Centre, showcasing African and Caribbean brands offering food, gifts and crafts.
Back in 2020, Lewisham locals Nathaniel and Albert, had grown frustrated at the lack of authentic African and Caribbean products in mainstream retail.
Albert struggled to find a father's day card featuring a Black father and Nathaniel couldn't find a doll that looked like his daughter.
They both were aware of numerous Black-owned brands offering these types of products, but accessing them wasn't always easy.
From here, the idea behind Wakuda formed: a market bringing exclusively Africana and Caribbean artisans straight to the public, all in a place with high foot-fall. They are back in Lewisham Shopping Centre every weekend from Saturday 29 November to Sunday 22 December. They will also be staying two additional days on Monday 22 and Tuesday 23 December.
Nathaniel and Albert launched Wakuda as a brand in the wake of the Black Lives Matter Movement in 2020, when many people wanted to support Black businesses. From art, fashion and jewellery, to skincare, haircare and even food, Wakunda's selection of stalls makes for a Christmas shopping paradise. You can chat directly to the makers.
Supporting small businesses has always been at the heart of the market, with independent sellers coming together to share their passion and produce. They have since grown to support over 500 businesses.
The feedback from vendors is
WAKUDA IN LEWISHAM
Christmas market showcasing black-owned brands
overwhelmingly positive. Nathaniel said: “Our markets give small businesses visibility, footfall, and direct feedback from customers. We’ve seen businesses grow their audience, generate consistent sales, and gain confidence in expanding their brands.”
Albert looks back fondly on the vibe of the market during the Christmas season last year. He said: "It became a vibrant market, full of stories and products you won’t find anywhere else."
Outside of the Christmas season, Wakunda runs pop-up markets throughout the year across South London.
They also have a website, where they list the items, describing them as "products you won't find on the high street."
Aside from the products, the pair say Wakuda is also about connection, not just commerce. They bring human interaction back to the shopping experience, with a range of personalised gift offerings on their website and information about each seller.
A lot of the brands on offer may not have an online presence for their brand, so Wakuda not only gives them exposure, but also takes marketing time off the hands of the busy sellers.
Nathaniel and Albert were born and raised in Lewisham, so saw it as the perfect
place to host the Christmas markets.
Nathaniel said: "It's such a diverse, creative community that reflects the people and businesses we’re supporting. It felt like the perfect home for Wakuda.”
Albert had a career as a digital marketer and he helped major e-commerce brands like Amazon and Deliveroo acquire new customers, so he is positioned well to maximise Wakuda's business strategy.
Nathaniel's background is in engineering and marketplaces, giving him the practical skills to open Wakuda. However, he also has a passion for learning and positive impact, which became the inspiration to co-found Wakuda.
"This year, I’m looking forward to seeing more talented artisans thrive and our community grow stronger," Nathaniel told us. "It’s exciting to watch everything come together. We want everyone who visits to leave inspired and excited to support these amazing businesses.”
Looking ahead, the pair want to branch out their pop-up offering to more locations across South London, promoting access to and awareness of their partner brands. They also plan to expand the product categories on their website, introducing more experiences and opportunities to connect artisans and customers.
Nathaniel Wade (left) with Albert (right)
Wakuda Christmas Market
THE CHRISTMAS MEMORIAL SERVICE THAT DRAWS THOUSANDS TO BERMONDSEY
By Evie Flynn
THE MUCH-LOVED Bermondsey memorial service, led annually by funeral directors Albins, will return on 3 December, welcoming thousands of local residents to honour and remember loved ones who have passed away. A longstanding community tradition, the service offers a heart-warming space for remembrance as we near the Christmas season.
Thousands of people attend each year to warm themselves with wine, carols and each other’s company, as they remember loved ones who are no longer with us.
This will be the 26th year of the annual service after they celebrated their 25th last year.
Attendees are invited to write personal messages on golden stars that will be hung on a big Christmas Tree in the garden.
You can get your star at funeral office at 52 Culling Road, Rotherhithe, London, SE16 2TN from now until the service to write your message or email stars@albins.co.uk
Date: Wednesday December 3 Time: Gates open at 6pm, service begins at 7pm Albin Memorial Garden, Culling Road, SE16 2TN
MURDER HUNT AFTER GRANDFATHER MICHAEL DIES IN HOSPITAL FOLLOWING ‘SENSELESS’ WALWORTH ASSAULT
By Issy Clarke
A MURDER investigation has been launched following an assault outside a Walworth pub which left a grandfather dead.
The grief-stricken family of 62-yearold Michael Burrows, who was from Lambeth, described him as ‘funny and charismatic’ with a ‘heart of gold’ as police appeal for anyone with information to get in touch.
Michael was identified by police as the victim of the attack which took place outside the Canterbury Arms pub by the Brandon Estate just after 1pm last Thursday afternoon (20 November).
Police were called by the London Ambulance Service to Maddock Way following reports of an altercation where they found the 62-year-old with a head injury.
He was treated at the scene before being rushed to hospital where he sadly died from his injuries on Saturday (22 November).
Michael’s family released a statement this week in which they spoke of their utter devastation and urged for witnesses to come forward: “We are deeply saddened by the loss of our dear father, our hearts are forever broken. He was our rock. He showed commitment and strength to his family, a truly loving and devoted father and grandfather.
“Our dad was a funny, charismatic and loyal gentleman who had a heart of gold and offered his support to everyone. He would always light up a room with his presence and will forever be loved and missed by his family and friends. We love you dad, may the angels watch over you.
“If anyone has any information or sightings, please contact the police as this will be of crucial help with the investigation.”
Detective Chief Inspector David Whellams said: “This was a senseless and shocking act of violence that has left
a much-loved father dead.
“Our thoughts go out to Mr Burrows’ family at this awful time.
“I know the concern this incident will cause in the community, and a dedicated homicide team is working to piece together the events of the evening.
“If anyone saw, or has any information about the incident, then please come forward to police. We appreciate any information that you may have.”
There have been no arrests.
Cllr Natasha Ennin, Cabinet Member for Community Safety & Neighbourhoods, said: “We are very sorry to learn of the death of Michael Burrows. On behalf of
Newington ward, we wish to express our sincere condolences. This was a devastating incident that has taken the life of a beloved father and our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time.
“We are working closely with the police as their investigation continues and urge anyone who may have seen or heard anything to come forward.”
If you witnessed the incident or have information that could help our investigation, please call 101 quoting CAD 3227/20Nov. You can also call the investigation team directly on 0208 345 3775.
TRAIN TRAVEL DISRUPTION OVER CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR
South Bermondsey Station will be closed as platforms are rebuilt
By Lillian Mullholland
ENGINEERING WORKS are set to disrupt train travel over the festive period.
Passengers should make their Christmas travel plans now to avoid engineering work disruptions over the holidays, says Network Rail. Engineering work will take place across South London and Sussex to deliver vital improvements for a more reliable railway.
Works include replacing a conductor rail to power trains at East Croydon and heavy maintenance on vital rail junctions at Gatwick and Three Bridges. Jenny Saunders, customer services director for Gatwick Express, Southern and Thameslink, said: "With Christmas just around the corner, I would like to urge all our passengers
to please check online now and plan ahead for the changes being made to our services during the festive season."
From Saturday 27 December until Wednesday 31 December, no Thameslink trains will run between London Blackfriars and Bellingham, and London Blackfriars and Sutton via Mitcham Junction or Wimbledon. Replacement bus services will run between London Bridge and Bromley South via Bellingham, and rail tickets will be valid for travel on local bus, tram, and underground services.
South Bermondsey station will be closed as platforms are rebuilt from Saturday 27 December to Sunday 4 January. No Southern trains will call at the station during this period and passengers are advised to use local bus services instead.
Buses will replace Southern trains
between London Bridge and Tulse Hill via South Bermondsey and Peckham Rye from Thursday 1 January to Sunday 4 January. Beckenham Junction services will run only between Tulse Hill and Beckenham Junction on Saturday and Sunday of that weekend.
Engineering work means buses will replace trains between Purley and East Grinstead and between Oxted and Uckfield on Sunday 4 January. Services between London Victoria and Reigate will only run between Redfield and Reigate. No Thameslink trains will run between London Blackfriars and Sutton or Wimbledon on this date. The works have been scheduled for the quietest time of the year to minimise disruption to passengers.
Lucy McAuliffe, Sussex route director, Network Rail's southern
region, said: “The festive period gives us a rare chance to make the most of lower passenger numbers to carry out vital work on the railway.
“The areas of track and infrastructure being worked on this Christmas are normally some of the busiest sections of railway in the country, so we will make the most of this window of
opportunity to work while the railway is closed, as we aim to give passengers safer and more reliable journeys.
“I would like to thank passengers for their patience while these works are carried out and I would also like to thank our teams, who will be working hard throughout the festive period to deliver these railway improvements."
Govia Thameslink Railway
Victim 62-year-old Michael Burrows - photo supplied by Met Police
By Harrison Galliven
Local Democracy Reporter
DISABLED RAIL passengers are now calling for Norwood Junction to become fully accessible as issues across South London are becoming unbearable.
One passenger described having to take a 15-minute detour unless he arrives at the only suitable platform at Norwood Junction.
It comes weeks after a Southwark News post showing the constant issues with broken lifts at Herne Hill Station got over half a million views across Tik Tok and Instagram. Wheelchair user Nathan Rollinson claimed it led to his 45-minute daily commute ballooning to ‘almost five hours’.
And this comes after another station which Nathan can’t use, Peckham Rye, recently came under scrutiny for its lack of step-free access after a planned £40 million upgrade which would have given it lifts for the first time was shelved by Network Rail.
Outraged residents contacted the Southwark News to express their concerns that elderly and disabled passengers were being forced to slide down the stairs on their bottoms.
Network Rail has submitted a £9 million temporary bid to alleviate some of the problems with Peckham Rye before funding for the full scheme becomes available.
With rising passenger numbers at Norwood Junction and the expected increase in travellers linked to the expansion of Gatwick Airport, Dr Paul Harper, a visually impaired former astrophysicist, is among those urging change at this station.
While platform one is fully accessible from street level, the station’s five other platforms can only be reached via steep, narrow stairwells, severely restricting access for passengers with mobility difficulties. Dr Harper told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) how challenging it was to reach these platforms.
“It takes a very long detour,” he said. “Sometimes I have to take a train from Platform 1 to Forest Hill, where there is a lift, and then catch another train back to West Croydon. This adds 15 to 30 minutes to my journey.”
Dr Harper, who is a member of Croydon Vision, said: “It really makes the station inaccessible, especially one of this size with so many services.”
With no lifts available at the station, passengers with mobility issues must pre-book assistance before they travel.
The station is served by Southern, Thameslink and TfL’s Windrush Line on the London Overground. Trains to Central London use Platform 1, but services to Croydon and destinations further south run from the other five platforms.
The station sees heavy usage throughout the year, with 3,806,480 journeys recorded between April 2022 and March 2023. It receives earlymorning commuter crowds as well as intermittent football crowds visiting the nearby Selhurst Park stadium.
Being on the Brighton Main Line, it also provides a key route to the south coast and Gatwick Airport.
In September, the government gave the green light to Gatwick’s Northern Runway Project, a £2.2billion initiative expected to increase capacity upon its completion in 2029. This development, together with the expansion of Selhurst Park stadium, is expected to increase the number of visitors to the station.
Any significant accessibility improvements are likely to come through
NORWOOD JUNCTION THE LATEST CALLING FOR FULL ACCESSIBILITY AS PASSENGER NUMBERS RISE
The number of visitors is set to rise with the recently announced expansion of Gatwick Airport
the Department for Transport’s Access for All programme, which funds step-free station upgrades. Norwood Junction is not currently included, and a 2007 bid failed because Network Rail, which delivers the scheme, could not identify a safe solution.
Norwood Junction was also set to benefit from the Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme (CARS), which aims to relieve the bottleneck in the Croydon area on the Brighton Main Line. Under CARS, Norwood Junction was to have its platforms extended and a footbridge with a lift installed for greater access.
CARS was paused in 2022 by the previous Conservative government. No further work has been carried out since, and the programme currently has no funding.
According to Network Rail’s 2019 report, more than 20% of UK railway stations are not fully accessible.
Local Green Party activist Marley King, who set up a petition that has gained nearly 1,500 signatures, says the problem of accessibility affects thousands across Croydon. She said: “As a mother of young disabled children, I rely heavily on trains to commute. But the lack of lifts at stations across Croydon makes everyday travel extremely difficult.”
Calvin Freshwater, who launched a separate petition this year with nearly 1,000 signatures, says these ongoing problems affect all passengers using this busy stretch of track. In the petition he said: “Their struggle comes not only from the sparse and unreliable train schedule but also from the lack of lift access to platforms, making an essential service nearly unusable for those who need it most.”
Croydon Labour, which represents South Norwood and Woodside both on
the council and in Parliament, is also campaigning for improved facilities at Norwood Junction. They group believes these enhancements should extend to the surrounding areas as well, including tidying up the alleyway adjacent to the station.
Natasha Irons, Member of Parliament for Croydon East, told the LDRS: “My constituents in Woodside want a station they can be proud of. Clean surroundings, a well-maintained mural, and step-free access are not special requests – they are the standard residents should expect. Croydon Labour will keep pushing until
the station reflects the pride people have in this area.”
Sarah Jones, MP for Croydon West, added: “Residents in Croydon need a clean and accessible station that meets the needs of the thousands of passengers using it daily. The Gatwick expansion will only make things busier; we want Norwood Junction ready to meet that demand.”
David Thomas, Head of Concession for London Overground, said: “Making our transport network as accessible as possible is one of our top priorities, and we remain committed to growing the
number of step-free stations in the capital.
“We would welcome step-free access for our passengers at Norwood Junction station and will support any bid by Network Rail, who own the station, for funding from the central government Access for All scheme.”
A spokesperson for Govia Thameslink Railway, Southern Rail’s parent company, said: “We would very much welcome step-free access for our passengers at the station and have supported a bid in the past by Transport for London for funding from the central government Access for
scheme.”
All
Dr Paul Harper is a retired astrophysicist
© Dr Paul Harper Norwood Junction Station
Only Platform 1 at Norwood Junction has step-free access from the main entrance and ticket office, while all other platforms require stairs via the subway or the rear
EXCLUSIVE
By Issy Clarke
PLANS FOR a thousand homes off the Old Kent Road will now contain just 12 per cent affordable housing after the developer said they could not afford to provide any more than that.
The scheme, known as Bermondsey Place, is being delivered by Berkeley Homes, the firm behind the redevelopment of the Aylesham Centre on Peckham’s Rye Lane into nearly 900 homes, which will also provide just 12 per cent affordable housing.
The development on Malt Street near Burgess Park was approved in 2019 and will deliver 1,300 new homes across 11 high-rise towers looming over the Old Kent Road.
Work on the first phase - 285 homes, with 40 per cent affordable - started in 2020 but was paused for four years until it was rescued by the government last year who gave Berkeley £125 million to get things moving again.
Construction on that phase re-started this summer, with Berkeley still on track to provide 40 per cent affordable housing as originally promised. But the second and third parts - which comprise 1,000 of the homes - will only contain 12 per cent affordable housing by habitable room, the equivalent of 81 homes, some way off the 35 per cent minimum required by Southwark's planning policies.
Berkeley's spokesperson said this was down to mounting regulation and construction costs and because they didn't have a grant to cover those phases.
Local housing group the 35% Campaign have suggested that the combined reductions across the Peckham and Malt Street schemes could amount to a loss of around 500 affordable homes.
Malt Street falls within the Old Kent Road regeneration area which was created by the Mayor of London in 2016, with 20,000 new homes and 10,000 new jobs expected to be delivered over 20 years.
More than half of these new homes are waiting for work to start on the Bakerloo Line extension to Lewisham before they can get planning permission, which has been repeatedly delayed for the last decade and now is unlikely to be built before 2040 at the earliest.
The spokesperson for Berkeley said: "Private developments like Bermondsey Place build affordable housing at a financial loss - but as regulatory and construction costs have increased they can’t provide as much.
"Phase one of Bermondsey Place was awarded a public grant to help cover some of these losses and increase affordable housing delivery to 40%, but phases two and three currently have zero grant so the proportion of affordable homes will be lower.
"This regeneration project is also making a £35 million contribution to improving local infrastructure and community services, as well as creating 2.5 acres of new public open space.
“The rising costs affecting Bermondsey Place have impacted the whole of London, driving private and affordable homebuilding to record lows across the city, but we are determined that this key Old Kent Road regeneration site will not come to a halt like so many others.”
Berkeley has come under fire locally in recent times from campaigners objecting to its plans to build nearly 900 homes on Peckham's Rye Lane where the Aylesham Centre currently stands.
The proposals have been the subject of a government planning inquiry which
OLD KENT ROAD SCHEME WILL CONTAIN JUST 81 AFFORDABLE HOMES OUT OF A THOUSAND
concluded on Monday, 17 November, after the developer opted to override Southwark's planning committee following the decision to lower the proportion of affordable housing to just 12 per cent.
Berkeley has made the same argument in relation to the Aylesham proposals and the Old Kent Road site: that the only way to build any homes at all on sites where they have planning permission is to reduce the level of affordable housing.
Southwark's planning rules state big developments need to offer 35 per cent affordable housing to get permission. However the government recently announced that it is reducing the proportion of affordable homes that developers in London need to build to get planning permission from 35 to 20 per cent.
While it is not yet clear how this change will interact with Southwark’s local plan, Cllr Helen Dennis, Southwark's Cabinet Member for Council Homes, told us recently that the council's plans "had not changed" as a result of the government's proposals. She said: " We will always
fight for the largest possible number of council homes, social rent and genuinely affordable homes in our borough, and will continue to work towards the viability-tested targets agreed in our Local Plan.”
Commenting on the reduction of the number of affordable homes provided by the Malt Place scheme, Dennis said the council was "disappointed" but added there were "clear challenges" facing developers: “Southwark Council strives for every housing development to deliver as much affordable housing as possible - that’s why as an authority we build the most council homes of any council in the country, and last year completed more social rent homes than any other London borough.
"It is very disappointing that the phase 2 and 3 proposal for the construction of Bermondsey Place on Malt Street does not include as much affordable housing as our policies expect.
"Southwark residents on the housing waiting list will certainly benefit from the 40% affordable housing being delivered in phase 1, but there are evidently clear
challenges at this point in time for residential development schemes in London.
“Our ambitions for Southwark will not change despite these challenges and we will always fight for the largest possible number of council homes, social rent and genuinely affordable homes in our borough.”
The government's decision to lower affordable housing quotas comes amid a slowdown in house-building starts, while growing numbers of families languish on council housing waiting lists. Work began on just 1,239 affordable homes across London between April and September 2025. That number will need to drastically increase if the government wants to achieve its target of building 1.5 million homes by the end of the decade, a significant chunk of which will have to be contributed by London.
In Southwark during that time there were just 122 affordable homes started despite the huge number of redevelopments underway in the borough, while only one council home was started. Meanwhile, there are more than 20,000 families on the waiting list
for a new council home.
Defending the government's changes to affordable housing quotas Steve Reed, the Housing Secretary, told a government select committee last week: "When you have 10 boroughs with no new starts at all, insisting on 35% affordability within those zero schemes is meaningless because 35% of nothing is nothing.
"I want to see some units coming through at affordable rates. We are looking at how we can reduce the cost of development in order to get development in the capital working.”
But Jerry Flynn, of the 35% campaign group in Southwark, was critical of the loss of affordable housing across the two Berkeley schemes: "The reductions that Berkeley want at the Aylesham Centre and Bermondsey Place will lose us roughly 500 affordable homes, most of them social rented - it is scandalous that Berkeley want to deprive us of them."
"Southwark Council are quite properly fighting against Berkeley’s proposals for the Aylesham Centre and it should do the same for Bermondsey Place; these affordable homes are far too valuable to be lost."
The tallest building will be 36 storeys down from 44, which was what Berkeley originally had planning permission to build
The development will consist of several high rise towers clustered around a green court
Phase 1 consists of three buildings and is currently being built
Allegations GLA 'told developers to dig a trench to inflate London's affordable housing numbers'
By Kumail Jaffer Local Democracy Reporter
THE GREATER London Authority has been told to launch a full investigation into claims its officials encouraged developers to 'dig a trench' in order to boost figures for affordable housing starts.
Tim Craine, the founder of London development analysts Molior, said the Mayor should be “livid” that the housing department allegedly “embellished” figures and accused Sir Sadiq Khan of “misleading” voters in last year’s election campaign.
In April 2023, the GLA said that construction had started on 25,658 affordable homes during the previous year, making a total of 116,000 during the Mayor’s tenure.
Mr Craine claimed that officials “counted housing starts prematurely”, only for development schemes to “become unviable” due to interest rate rises and construction costs soaring.
“This means many of those 25,568 homes are still not under construction today,” he said.
To get around this, he claims developers, housing associations and local authorities were told to “dig a trench” to register as many housing starts as possible by claiming they had technically begun construction.
Conservative Housing spokesman Lord Bailey has now written to the GLA’s CEO Mary Harpley demanding an extensive probe into the allegations.
In a letter seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), he wrote: “If data around the number of affordable housing starts in London is found to have been misreported, and this this was done with intent, or GLA officers were aware the
figures were inaccurate and did not seek to correct the record, we are sure you will agree this would be a very serious matter indeed.
"Given the gravity of the concerns raised, we are asking you to conduct a full investigation into this matter.”
In a separate letter to Deputy Mayor for Housing, Tom Copley, Lord Bailey asked for confirmation that his department would “comply fully” with any investigation and demanded his resignation if he was aware of any misreporting.
He also noted that developers receive a payment for the GLA for registering a “start” as well as at completion, prompting potential concerns over the way taxpayer money was being spent.
When asked about the possible misreporting at Mayor’s Question Time on Thursday, November 20, Sir Sadiq said: “It’s the first time I’ve heard of them so I can’t agree to anything.
“What I can do is I’ll take away what he said because it’s very serious, the assertions he’s making.
"Let me take it away and get in touch with him in relation to letting him know what I’ll do about them. I’m more than happy to get the chief officer to look into them.”
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London told the LDRS: “GLA statistics on the starts and completions of homes by any tenure are transparent and accurate. The definition of starts on site for City Hall-funded affordable housing programmes is clearly set out in our funding contracts and are similar to those used by Homes England for equivalent projects.
“Housebuilding of all tenures has faced a perfect storm of high interest rates, the rising cost of construction materials, the impact of the pandemic and ongoing consequences of Brexit. The GLA remains committed to supporting as many schemes as possible to remain viable to deliver more genuinely affordable homes as we continue to build a better, fairer London for everyone.”
The issue of affordable housing has been a sore one for the Mayor, with the latest GLA data showing that developers made just 1,239 starts on affordable homes from April to September this year, compared to 3,991 in the whole of the last financial year.
Earlier this year the GLA and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) agreed to lower London’s target for the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) for 2021-2026 by over a fifth to between 17,800 and 19,000 starts. But with just 6,370 affordable homes started since the AHP was signed off in 2023, there are major doubts as to whether City Hall will hit the revised target.
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Sadiq Khan and Shaun Bailey
LATEST FOOD AND DRINK HAPPENINGS AND OPENINGS ACROSS SOUTH LONDON
By Evie Flynn
DUDA DINER,
NUNHEAD
FOUNDED BY husband and wife
team Hakeem and Zura, Duda Diner is a Malaysian restaurant that celebrates the spirit of ‘makan’ (eat) together.
They offer shared plates, lively tables and recipes inspired by ‘mom’s kitchen’, roadside stalls and the couple’s own playful twists. Opening in Nunhead after a series of pop-ups, you can expect a range of seasonal ingredients woven into Malaysian classics, such as smoky lamb satay skewers, wokkissed Mee Goreng Mamak, Char Kuey Teow and the Duda Burger.
44 Nunhead Green, Nunhead, SE15 3QF
PIZZAROVA, BRIXTON
PIZZAROVA, THE much-loved
Bristol pizza restaurant, made a leap to Brixton at the end of November.
They will bring their relaxed dining-in and takeaway pizzas to South London with the promise of providing ‘fast food, but better’.
As co-founder Jack Lander puts it: “Brixton has such a rich energy and strong sense of culture, and we are really excited to be part of that. We want to bring pizzas that are bold, fun and full of flavour, and a space where people feel at home.”
Pop Brixton, 49 Brixton Station Rd, SW9 8PQ
WINTER AT CORNER CORNER, CANADA WATER
This winter, the cold won’t stop you enjoying the outdoor terrace at Corner Corner, overlooking the new Boardwalk by architect Asif Khan.
The space is ideal for alfresco drinks, networking, or meetings. Plus, every weekday from 3-8pm they have a ‘Sundowner Hour’ where you can enjoy a £5 medium wine, £7 negronis and 2-4-1 beers.
Corner Corner, Maritime Street, Canada Water, SE16 7LL
BACKSTAGE AT THE OLD VIC, WATERLOO
THE OLD Vic Theatre’s new sixstorey building, Backstage, is now open to the public.
On the first and ground floors, there is a daytime cafe and workspace, which will serve breakfast and lunch before transforming into a vibrant bar and restaurant at night. Backstage, 131 Waterloo Road SE1 8UR
2210, HERNE HILL
THE PECKHAM Chef, Nathaniel Mortley, who went from prison to media stardom has opened his new restaurant, 2210, in Herne Hill.
This follows his successful run as the head chef at The Greyhound Pub last year. Nathaniel trained through HMP Brixton’s The Clink project. The restaurant will combine the flavours of
and
with an old-school French approach to fine dining.
75 Norwood Rd, Herne Hill, SE24 9AA.
£5 PINTS AT SUPERCUTE BREWHOUSE, LOUGHBOROUGH JUNCTION
THE INDEPENDENT microbrewery on Coldharbour Lane between Brixton and Camberwell is hosting a happy hour every Tuesday to Thursday.
From 5pm-7pm you can grab yourself a £5 pint in a cosy atmosphere with classic board games and free popcorn. Choose from: bavarian style lager, session IPA, stout, pale ale, a glass of wine, or a single spirit and mixer.
Supercute Brewhouse, 245a Coldharbour Lane, SW9 8RR
WATCHHOUSE, BATTERSEA POWER ST
WATCHHOUSE, THE coffee shop known for its architecturally designed Houses, is opening a new shop on Electric Boulevard outside Battersea Power Station.
The menu will be specialty coffee, bakery, breakfast and lunch choices. The new venue nods to the history of the Grade II listed power station and includes their most extensive Espresso Bar to date.
WatchHouse, Electric Boulevard, SW11 8AL
GERMAN DONER KEBAB, ELEPHANT AND CASTLE GERMAN DONER Kebab is opening a brand-new restaurant on Walworth Road, Elephant and Castle.
Known for serving high-quality meats, crisp, locally sourced salads, handmade signature sauces and its toasted sesame waffle bread, German Doner Kebab has revived the kebab for today’s diners.
Every dish is halal and freshly prepared to order, creating a fastcasual dining experience. The opening is set for Autumn 2025.
256 Walworth Rd, Elephant and Castle, SE17 1JE
MONT 58 COFFEE RECOGNISED AS INSPIRING SMALL BUSINESS, CATFORD AND FOREST HILL
MONT58 COFFEE, which has a cafe in Sydenham and coffee hut in Catford, was lauded by Small Business Saturday, a campaigning group which celebrates small business.
They were named as ‘one of the most inspiring in the UK’ after opening two stores in South East London and a larger roastery in Kent. The venture was by husband and wife duo Maya Haiman-Eilon and Shai Eilon in their garden shed at their home in Blythe Hill. Commenting on the achievement, Maya said: “We’re incredibly proud to be selected as part of this year’s
or grab a takeaway from their hut outside the Corbett Library in Catford. 134 Kirkdale, Sydenham, SE26 4BB
THE CLINK’S CHRISTMAS MENU, BRIXTON
THE CLINK Restaurant at HMP Brixton has unveiled its Christmas menu for 2025.
Run by the Clink Charity, the restaurant gives prisoners the chance to train in professional kitchens and front-of-house roles while serving their sentences. Through hands-on experience and recognised qualifications, they gain the skills and confidence needed to build a new future after release. The Christmas menu is available from 2nd December, priced at £32.50 for two courses or £43.50 for three. Starters include beetroot-cured sea trout, roasted pumpkin tartlet, or duck rillettes. Mains range from traditional roast Turkey and Sirloin of beef to Pan-roasted hake or a Vegan wild mushroom-stuffed hispi cabbage. Desserts feature Pear and stem ginger pudding, Classic Christmas pudding, or Bitter chocolate mousse, with an Artisan cheeseboard also available.
The Clink Restaurant Brixton HMP
© The Clink
Bajan, Jamaican
Guyanese cuisine
SmallBiz100 – it’s a real honour and a huge boost for our small but passionate team at Mont58 Coffee.” Pop into their store in Sydenham
Brixton, Jebb Ave, SW2 5XF
Corner Corner, Credit TeoDellaTorre
Supercute brewery outside
The Clink Christmas Menu
Pizzarova
John the Unicorn re-launched under new
owners
‘ST CHRISTOPHER’S GAVE ME ONE LAST CHRISTMAS WITH MUM’
By Matt Hasdell
HONEY-BASED DRINKS
brewers
Gosnells have taken over Peckham’s John the Unicorn pub, bringing the beloved boozer under local ownership.
The vibrant two-floor pub in Rye Lane, which relaunched last Thursday November 20, is housed in what was once a decorator’s shop and has become a favourite for its laid-back vibes, neon cocktails, craft beers and stone-baked pizzas.
The new owners plan to extend the opening hours, operating as a café and lunch venue during the day with coffee, pastries and locally sourced lunches, alongside fast WiFi to attract those working from home.
Evenings will see an ‘exciting’ programme of events and activities including live music, with pizza on the menu alongside a range of cocktails, wine, beer, and Gosnells own Honey Nectars.
Tom Gosnell, who founded the brand in 2014, said: “We strongly believe in ‘by Peckham, for Peckham’ so there’s an extra layer of pride that we’re taking over such a storied space in our own backyard. And that we get to share it with the community who’s supported us from the start.
“We want to lean into what makes John
the Unicorn iconic and that feeling that you’ve stumbled into somewhere rare and prized.”
Gosnells has brewed honey nectars, ABV drinks inspired by the craft beer and mead scenes, in Peckham since 2014 and has a growing presence in South London, with canned and on draught drinks served in many local venues. John the Unicorn becomes the company’s second flagship site, joining their Bermondsey Bar – with Gosnells teasing more news to come in 2026.
The pub has been acquired from the Portobello Pub Company, where managing director Richard Stringer said: “We have loved our time with John the Unicorn, but it is exciting to see it gain a new lease of life with a truly locally rooted business.”
John the Unicorn was known as proud gay pub yet since the re-launched some former punters have expressed certain that the takeover would mean it will loose it's explicit queer identity. People were divided on the issue on social media, but Tom reposted: "We completely under the concerns about what John the Unicorn means to the local queer community and we want to be clear that the queer programming that has become such an important part of the venue will remain."
Under Gosnells’ ownership, they said existing staff have been retained, and the venue’s name will not changed.
South London families back the hospice’s festive appeal
By Jessica Khan
A SOUTH Londoner whose mother spent her final Christmas at St Christopher’s Hospice is urging people to support the Sydenhambased charity’s festive appeal.
Allen Mills said his mother Susan, 66, was admitted to the hospice’s inpatient unit in late November 2024, when the family feared she only had days to live. Instead, she survived for six weeks - long enough to spend Christmas Day with her husband and three children.
“She was a strong, stubborn, loving woman,” Allen says. “She had been told she was dying more than once, and she just refused to accept it. Mam was great at everything… except for dying. She always kept fighting.”
Susan, who lived in Peckham, had first been diagnosed with cancer in 2003 and experienced two periods of remission before the disease returned. She was supported at home by the hospice’s community team before moving to the inpatient unit, where she died shortly after Christmas.
The Mills family were able to enjoy a full Christmas dinner together in the hospice café, where staff and volunteers helped create as normal and joyful a day as possible.
“It was joyous, really, that we were able to spend Christmas Day together. She looked fantastic, she had a lot more energy about her. We didn’t do presents; the present was
mum being with us. I’m always quite happy talking about it because it was a nice day, and we might not have had that without St Christopher’s,” said Allen.
Susan enjoyed her festive meal so much that she had a second dinner with her family.
Allen Mills praised staff for their compassion and dedication, especially during the Christmas period when many are away from their own families.
“It must be tough for the staff working over Christmas, especially being away from their families and seeing other people enjoying their Christmases in a very different environment, but they were first class,” said Allen.
St Christopher's Hospice has over 500 staff and 1,000 volunteers. They normally have over 1,800 people under their care at any one time.
Allen is supporting St Christopher’s Christmas Appeal to help other families
make lasting memories together at the hospice.
Motivated by a poster for a fundraising challenge he saw on Christmas Day, Allen completed a 283-mile London-to-Versailles bike ride in September 2025. He raised more than £11,000 in memory of his mum, alongside friends Gavin, Paul and James. St Christopher’s Hospice's goals include helping people live well until they die and supporting those affected by the loss. They envision a world where people who are dying have access to equitable care and support whenever and wherever they need it.
“Donating just £30 to our Christmas Appeal could help us to provide a Christmas dinner for a patient and their loved one at the hospice over the festive period, helping them create treasured memories just like Allen and Susan were able to,” said Tom Abbott, director of income generation and communications at the hospice.
£4 billion investment secured for new homes and offices in Bankside
By Issy Clarke
BILLIONS OF pounds have been invested in planned new homes and offices in Bankside over the next five years.
Bankside, the area between London Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge, has received £4billion to fund 28 developments covering 10 million square feet – half of which will be taken up by offices. The developments include 1,517 private homes, 554 affordable (social or intermediate cost) homes and more than 5 million square feet of office space.
There will also be new student flats (2,500), hotel rooms (390), and spaces for shops, restaurants and entertainment
is
addition to the £14 million that will be spent over the next five years on improving the
area by Better Bankside, the Business Improvement District (BID).
The developments will create jobs for 44,000 people who are predicted to spend a combined £122 million a year in
area.
The money will also be spent on making the area resilient to climate change, including helping businesses decarbonise and improving green spaces and biodiversity, and addressing crime and anti-social behaviour.
Nicole Gordon, CEO of Better Bankside, commented; “Over the last 20-years, Bankside has seen major evolution, into what is now one of the world’s most prestigious cultural districts. Investment into the area has led to the birth of Tate Modern and the Globe Theatre, desireable retail/ hospitality concepts like Borough Yards and exciting examples of urban innovation – such as the repurposing of the area’s Victorian arches into the Low Line, offering mixed-use business and
retail space.
“The planned investment over the next 5-years will build on this further, with our BID commiting £14 million to projects which will ensure the economic prosperity, climate resilience and collaborative-spirit of the area continues to thrive.
“Twenty eight planned developments will further support this with a projected 44,000 employees arriving into Bankside, contributing an estimated £122 million annual spend to the benefit of our member businesses.
“Our BID will ensure this leads to a stronger, greener and happier Bankside by 2030, preserving the area’s unique spirit while creating innovative opportunities for collaboration and growth.”
Tom Gosnell and Cameron McKenzie-Wilde
Remembering with St Christopher’s Christmas in the Hospice cafe
Allen and Susan in Hospice
NEW MURAL AT BRIXTON TUBE STATION
By Issy Clarke
A NEW mural has been put up at the entrance to Brixton tube station celebrating the area’s diverse history.
The bustling artwork, called The Congregation, spans the entrance to the Underground station and includes 20 scenes of people and places from Brixton’s past.
The mural is by London artist Rudy Loewe and will be up for a year, replacing Turner-prize winning artist Claudette Johnson’s Three Women.
Rudy said he wanted the mural to capture the “aliveness” of Brixton.
It shows members of the Windrush Generation arriving in Britain from the Caribbean in the 1940s.
There are images of crowds shopping at the market on Electric Avenue and queues of people waiting to eat at popular Jamaican restaurant Healthy Eaters.
Rudy Loewe, The Congregation, 2025. Brixton Underground station. Commissioned by Art on the Underground. Photo - Angus Mill
Housing protestors can be seen campaigning against Lambeth Council with a placard calling for an end to ‘unfair evictions’. There is also a portrayal of activist Marcia Rigg holding a flame in memory of her brother Sean Rigg who died while in custody at Brixton Police Station in 2008.
There are other nods to Brixton’s radical past, including a reference to Sistermatic, Britain’s first Black and lesbian-run sound system founded in the 1980s.
Croydon
By Harrison Galliven Local Democracy Reporter
Artist Southwyck House, the brutalist housing association block off Coldharbour Lane, makes an appearance in the top right-hand corner of the mural, as does the 121 Centre on Railton Road, a squatted social centre used by radical anarchists in the 1980s and which was once home to the activist Olive Morris.
Rudy said: “As soon as you step out of the
Tube station, there’s such a rich sensorial experience and it was this that I wanted to transmute into painting,” he said.
“There are preachers, loud music, people singing; you can hardly walk down the street without having an unexpected conversation with someone.
“It makes it a very special place in London. To me, there is something about
owed over £1.1m in unpaid parking fines
CROYDON COUNCIL is owed more than £1.13 million in unpaid parking fines, with some drivers racking up hundreds of penalty charge notices (PCNs) without paying a penny.
According to figures seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), there are 6,701 outstanding PCNs across the borough, totalling £1,134,197 in unpaid fines. The list of the top 50 worst offenders shows that several vehicles have each been issued more than 300 PCNs, with individual debts running into tens of thousands of pounds.
The single biggest offender owes £68,255 after receiving 343 fines, while another driver owes £60,647 for 350 unpaid PCNs. Others on the list have accumulated between 100 and 350 tickets, with the 50th offender still owing more than £13,000.
The figures suggest a small number of persistent offenders account for a significant proportion of unpaid fines, with the top ten vehicles alone owing more than £380,000 between them. Parking fines are an important source of income for local authorities, intended not only to enforce parking regulations but also to fund road safety and transport improvements.
Some of these debts are believed to date back several years, raising questions about how effectively the council is pursuing those who repeatedly flout parking rules. Labour opposition leader Councillor Stuart King criticised Mayor Jason Perry’s Conservative administration
for failing to act swiftly enough.
He said: “It is staggering that Mayor Perry has allowed over £1m in fines to go unpaid. In many of these cases, literally hundreds of fines are being issued with no follow-up. Meanwhile, hardworking taxpayers can’t park near their homes because the Mayor isn’t cracking down on this sort of behaviour. Once again, Mayor Perry is failing on the basics.”
Residents have long complained about drivers parking illegally or abandoning vehicles without consequence, particularly in busy parts of central Croydon and around transport hubs.
In response, Executive Mayor Jason Perry defended his administration’s record, and instead blamed the previous Labour leadership for years of inaction.
He told the LDRS: “Under Labour, parking enforcement in Croydon was a shambles, years of neglect allowed thousands of fines to go unpaid and problem vehicles to clog up our streets. I’m fixing that.
Perry praised his administration’s “zerotolerance approach” to illegal parking and antisocial behaviour. He pointed to a recent example in which the council removed a vehicle with more than 60 outstanding PCNs, worth over £11,000, and is now taking the case to prosecution. He went on to say: “Most residents play by the rules, and it’s not fair on them when others think they’re above the law. That’s why I’m determined to track down those who refuse to pay, working with the DVLA and enforcement partners to seize unregistered vehicles and keep our streets clear.”
In one final jab at the party he will be facing off against in May’s local and mayoral elections, he said: “Labour created this problem through years of mismanagement, we’re the ones sorting it out. I won’t take lessons from the people who left Croydon in chaos. We’re restoring pride in our borough and standing up for those who do the right thing.”
all of this that is so West Indian and that I wanted to foreground.”
The mural initiative was started by TfL in 2018 and is a nod to the murals painted in Brixton locally in the 1980s. It is part of their Art on the Underground series, where TFL bosses commission artworks in sites across the network.
These have included a sound artwork
played at Waterloo London Underground station for a fortnight in July along the moving walkway between the Jubilee and Northern lines, and Alexandre da Cunha’s abstract sculpture of a sunset at Battersea Power Station Underground Station. James Reed CBE, Chairman and Chief Executive of Reed, sponsor of Art of the Underground, said: “I am very excited to see Rudy Loewe’s fantastically detailed and vibrant new painting for Brixton station. Discovering art on the Underground brings unexpected joy to commuters and as a Londoner myself I feel that this work captures the historical, social and cultural significance of Brixton in making London the city that it is today.”
By Matt Hasdell
SIR SADIQ Khan said the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) extension is “critical” amid concerns over funding.
The Mayor of London said he was “thrilled” about the extension which the government is set to announce in next week’s budget, and called it a “massive win” for the city.
The project would see a connection built from Gallions Reach under the river to Thamesmead, including a new station at Beckton along the route.
TfL said an extended DLR would enable up to 30,000 new homes to be built and 10,000 jobs created, with reduced journey times to parts of east London like Stratford and the Isle of Dogs.
Sir Sadiq said: “The DLR line extension is critical, not just to stimulate job creation and growth in our capital, but across the country,”
He assured Assembly Members that construction would start before his mayoral term ends in 2028 and “learn
the lessons” from previous projects in London, but did not reveal the budget for the project at City Hall on Thursday 20 November.
Reform UK’s Alex Wilson said “smoke and mirrors” have surrounded the extension, and the Conservative’s Neil Garratt cast doubt over the funding of the project.
After suggesting the announcement is a distraction from other news, Cllr Garratt asked: “How much actual money has the government pledged?”
The Mayor said a combination of grants from the government and borrowing from “relevant sources” would finance the build, which he anticipated could begin next year.
He said: “The total figure for the DLR extension is obviously commercially sensitive, the government will be announcing the figure they will be contributing over the course of the next week.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to confirm funding for the project in the Budget on November 26 as the paper was going to press.
New DLR extension is given go-ahead
Cllr Stuart King said: “It is staggering that Mayor Perry has allowed over £1m in fines to go unpaid
Artist Rudy Loewe amd The Congregation, 2025 at Brixton Underground Station. Commissioned by Art on the Underground
PLANS TO REPLACE A DERELICT SHOPPING CENTRE IN LEE APPROVED WITH MORE SOCIAL HOUSING
By Ruby Gregory Local Democracy Reporter
THE REDEVELOPMENT of a derelict “eyesore” shopping centre in Lewisham has been approved despite objections over the 17-storey height of the tallest building.
The revamp of the Leegate Shopping Centre site received unanimous council approval on Tuesday, November 18, with almost half the homes being affordable.
Developer London Square has been allowed to increase the height of the tallest building from 15 storeys to 17 storeys, as part of revised proposals after buying the site earlier this year. Under the plans, the 1960s shopping centre will be demolished and redeveloped to provide a mixed-use development that will include new homes, a community centre, commercial floorspace and a pub.
The total number of homes proposed has also increased from 561 to 620 and several other buildings will also be taller by one or two storeys.
However, the size of the proposed medical centre, supermarket and the community centre have been reduced. The number of residential and commercial car parking spaces has also been reduced.
The plans will see changes to the residential unit mix, and an increase in affordable housing by habitable room from 36.2per cent to 46.3per cent. Of the affordable homes, 149 will be social rent, 112 will be intermediate, while the remainder will be private.
Previous planning permission was granted to Galliard Homes in November 2024, however a revised application was submitted after London Square purchased the site. Plans for the site date back as far as 2016, when Modwen Developments Ltd gained planning permission to redevelop the site which included plans for an Asda Supermarket. London Square’s proposals had been opposed by residents and local organisations including the Lee Manor Society. Objectors referred to council’s
own Local Plan for Lee Green, which states building heights should not normally exceed more than 12 storeys.
During a meeting of the council’s Strategic Planning Committee on Tuesday, a London Square representative said the Section 73 application was necessary to
address new fire safety regulations.
Simon Bucks of Lee Manor Society said while the group welcomed the development of the “Leegate eyesore” and more housing, there were concerns over the size of the buildings and the impact they could have on the local area.
Mr Bucks said: “London Square’s contempt for Lee and the conservation area is reflected in its initial re-branding of the development as ‘Blackheath Gate’ – it didn’t even acknowledge Lee in its marketing blurb. It’s reviewing that now as you’ve heard but it apparently cares little for the impact this proposed development would have on the area.
“Lewisham’s Local Plan states that Lee as a district centre is not suitable for tall buildings above 12 storeys. If a 17-storey building is allowed it would surely be a precedent for more, so we are now calling on you to do the right thing and amend this grim proposal for a 17-storey block which would overwhelm a historic part of the borough.”
A planning officer later said objectors were correct about Local Plan policy, and that the site allocation should not normally exceed 12 storeys in height. However he went on to state: “What the policy doesn’t say is that if a proposal exceeds the height then it must be refused
– that’s not what it says.”
He informed councillors that the plans had been recommended for approval by planning officers, and that they needed to look at the planning benefits of the scheme itself.
When it came to closing statements, Cllr Jack Lavery who sits on the committee, said: “I think we just need to bear in mind that we do have this recently consented scheme, this is a minor material amendment application here tonight which is offering 89 extra affordable homes – 35 of those will be social homes and the others an intermediate product [that] I think are shared ownership.
“So I think I recognise there are some trade-offs and I recognise that the increase in height of that tower hasn’t been well received by everybody but I would like to propose that we accept officers’ recommendations here.”
The plans were ultimately approved by all councillors who were sitting on the committee and were eligible to vote.
Kensington and Chelsea Council confirmed it was hit by a cyber attack
By Adrian Zorzut Local Democracy Reporter
A LONDON council has confirmed it is one of those impacted by a major cyber attack on local authorities in the city, as GCHQ’s cyber security centre confirmed it is assessing the extent.
Kensington and Chelsea Council said in a statement it is dealing with a “cyber security issue”, adding that Westminster City Council and Hammersmith and Fulham Council have also been impacted by the attack. All three councils have confirmed the attack.
Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster City said they are working closely with cyber incident experts and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and are focusing on protecting systems and data, restoring systems and maintaining critical services to the public.
Kensington and Chelsea said the incident was identified by itself and Westminster City – which it shares a number of IT systems and services with as part of joint arrangement – on Monday morning (November 24).
They said a number of systems have been impacted across both organisations, including phone lines. They are urging anyone in an emergency to contact the numbers at the top of the council’s contact page.
Westminster City is urging residents to call 020 7641 6000 for the general line or 0800 358 3783 for Housing.
They wrote: “We are diverting more resources to manage this incident and monitor emails and phone lines, and the councils have invoked business continuity and emergency plans to ensure we are still delivering critical services to residents, focusing on supporting the most vulnerable.”
They added: “Today we are letting partners and residents know what has
happened, we have already informed the Information Commissioners’ Office, in line with following all the relevant protocols. We don’t have all the answers yet, as the management of this incident is still ongoing.
“But we know people will have concerns, so we will be updating residents and partners further over the coming days. At this stage it is too early to say who did this, and why, but we are investigating to see if any data has been compromised – which is standard practice.
“Our IT teams worked through the night yesterday and a number of successful mitigations were put in place, and we remain vigilant should there be any further incidents or issues.”
The council said people may see some delays in response times and services over the coming days.
A spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS):
“We are investigating the cause of the incident and will provide more information when it is available. We would like to apologise for any disruption and thank residents for their patience as we work to bring systems back online safely.”
A statement on Hammersmith and Fulham’s website read: “We are continuing to take precautionary measures to review, isolate and protect our networks. We’re working to fix the problem as quickly as possible and we apologise for the inconvenience.”
An NCSC spokesperson said the body is aware of an incident affecting some local authority services in London and is working to understand any potential impact.
A Met Police spokesperson said: “Met Police received a referral from Action Fraud on Monday, 24 November, following reports of a suspected cyberattack against borough councils in London. Enquiries remain in the early
stages within the Met’s Cyber Crime Unit. No arrests have been made.”
The LDRS has seen an internal memo by Hammersmith and Fulham Council saying yesterday it responded to a “serious cyber security incident”. It says a few connectivity issues remain but these cannot be resolved until they hear from Kensington and Chelsea Council guaranteeing their networks are safe, which could take some days. It also urged staff not to click on any links sent from Kensington and Chelsea Council and Westminster City Council colleagues in Outlook or Teams accounts “until further notice”.
The LDRS saw a similar memo from Westminster City Council. Staff at Hackney Council were sent an urgent communication on Tuesday morning (November 25), warning them against phishing and social engineering attack methods, though the East London council is understood not to have been hit itself.
Developer London Square has been allowed to increase the height of the tallest building from 15 storeys to 17 storeys
Leegate Shopping Centre in Lee Green.
what’s on
ALL ABOARD FOR COCKFOSTERS!
TOM WOFFENDEN was born in Guildford and grew up dreaming of being funny: 'I loved doing impressions and quickly found myself in every school play and making people laugh - I wanted to be Mr Bean and Robin Williams with some Laurel and Hardy and Monty Python thrown in,' he says. Then he went to study English and Politics at University of York, which is far from being funny, writes Michael Holland.
After graduating 'I worked in many unfunny jobs but was keen to give TV a go so freelanced for two years, working on Big Brother and Gogglebox; both very hard work but very rewarding.'
But Tom still wanted to be funny. 'I've always enjoyed writing. When I was about ten I wrote my own series of Blackadder! I used to write my own episodes of The Simpsons, short stories...I used to make sketches on our home video camera. I think I always preferred escaping reality to being stuck in it.'
Tom considered writing a play didn't know how to put a play on. That's when he teamed up with Hamish Clayton who 'has had shows performed at The Edinburgh Fringe and Soho Theatre, so he had the knowledge I lacked.'
Together they wrote Cockfosters, a play about a journey on the
Underground: 'Taking the tube every day of my life, it just felt like a setting for something. I'd never written a play - but it felt like it had to be that. Start at one end of a line (Heathrow) and head towards the other end (Cockfosters) and work out what could happen at each tube stop along the way - which felt like an opportunity for a lot of characters. The structure did all the
Ray Davies and the return of Sunny Afternoon
IT REMINDS me I why wrote the songs in the first place. The Olivier Award-winning Sunny Afternoon is back on tour, which gives those of us who see it first time round another chance to watch a great story and listen to some of the Sixties most classic tunes by The Kinks, writes Michael Holland Sunny Afternoon is not another Jukebox Musical of Kinks songs but a theatrical piece put together by the band's main songwriter, Ray Davies, alongside celebrated playwright Joe Penhall and director Edward Hall, to ensure it has authenticity, gravitas and integrity.
Ray Davies has been speaking about the tour and his feelings of a show that will remain timeless.
What has it been like for you seeing your songs and story come to life on stage?
Daunting at first. I was working on the storyline on and off for three years, but in many ways the story is contained within the songs. The
songs were written in such specific moments of my life and now they’ve been reinterpreted, given new context. It’s humbling, and sometimes a bit surreal, to see the audience connect to those moments as if they’re happening now. It’s proof that the music still has a pulse.
How did you approach revisiting your own past?
With caution at the beginnin I didn’t want it to be just another jukebox musical. I wanted Sunny Afternoon to have heart, to show what it really felt like to live through that madness. We approached it as a piece of storytelling, not nostalgia. I went back to the songs and the memories behind them and tried to weave them into something honest. It wasn’t about polishing the past, it was about exploring it with the rawness that inspired the songs in the first place.
Did collaborating with director Edward Hall and writer Joe Penhall challenge your version of events in any way?
work! And it's such a familiar setting to so many it's easy to picture the show before you've even seen it! We're still surprised there wasn't already a long running tube set show before us...but now we can say we got there first! Cockfosters started with a two night run in May 2023 at The Drayton Arms. Now, Tom and Hamish are back at the Southwark Playhouse for a month over
Christmas.
'We've done six runs of the show and each time has been a different cast. It's been fantastic to have so many different actors come into the show and bring their own take on the characters. Beth Lilly has done nearly every show - I think she'll be on 88 performances out of 94 when the next run ends.'
Since it's first outing in a pub the
production has had to grow to fill the bigger venues. 'The set has grown massively,' begins the writer. 'Our tube carriage started as just nine chairs borrowed from a church. It's now made up of nine actual tube seats!' This time at the Playhouse there will be some additions and alterations. Tom reveals, 'We always like to keep the script fresh and make little changes here and there between each run. We look again at packing more jokes in and try and make things easier for ourselves wherever we can.
I wondered if Cockfosters being put on for Christmas is a good thing?
'Comedy at Christmas sounds good to me!' Tom says logically. 'If you're perhaps not a big fan of pantomimes, Elf or The Nutcracker then this is a good alternative. Of course, we've thrown in a couple of Christmassy things - not a lot! - but a couple of things for a festive flourish.' I travelled on the Cockfosters train when it pulled into Southwark in May and I said it was the best thing I'd seen this year. It's now November and I stick by that statement.
Southwark Playhouse from 4th December - 3rd January.
Booking and full details: https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/ productions/cockfosters/
When you’ve lived something, you think you know the story inside out, but Edward (Hall) and Joe (Penhall) held up a mirror to it. They’d ask questions I hadn’t thought about in years and that made me reassess a lot of things. They didn’t rewrite my version, but they did expand it.
What memories stand out most vividly for you when you look back on that era?
The contrast, I think. One day we were scraping by in Muswell Hill, the
next we were banned from America. There were moments of absolute chaos, and others of beautiful clarity. Although we didn't appreciate it at the time, the band celebrated being at the height of British culture, everything felt bright and exciting after coming out of the darkness of the Second World War. What has it meant to showcase your back catalogue all in one place?
It’s been a gift. Songs like ‘Lola’ or ‘Days’ have their own lives, but when you hear them alongside ‘Dead End
Street’ or ‘Sunny Afternoon’ you see the full picture. The musical gave me the chance to connect those dots for people, to show how the songs talk to each other. And it reminded me too, why I wrote them in the first place.
New Wimbledon Theatre, 93 The Broadway, Wimbledon, London SW19 1QG from 25th - 29th November.
Further London dates on the tour. Booking and full tour details: https://uk.thekinksmusical.com/
Photo by Phil Tragen
Interactive adaption of a Christmas classic by Hans Christian Andersen
An interactive adaptation of the classic winter tale The Snow Queen opens at The Albany theatre in Deptford next week, writes Michael Holland...
Packed with original sing-along songs, puppetry, dance and lively audience interaction, this joyful reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen’s beloved fairy tale celebrates friendship, warmth and the wonder of helping one another. At its heart is Gerda, a fearless and curious young mouse who leads the adventure through magical woodland
worlds of snowy forests, starlit skies and icy landscapes—inviting children to discover their own courage and appreciation for the natural world along the way.
From artistic director Nancy Hirst, with design by Laura McEwen and original music by Eamonn O’Dwyer, The Snow Queen is a festive treat for children and their grown-ups alike.
It’s Christmas Eve in Bluebell Wood, and excitement is in the air.
Gerda, the littlest mouse, is hosting a cozy sleepover with her best friend
Kai. But something’s not quite right… A sudden chill sweeps through the trees. The mysterious Snow Queen has cast an unhappiness spell over the forest, and Kai vanishes in a flurry of snow. The audience join Gerda on her quest to find him. Along the way, she meets a mischievous squirrel, a clever crow and the babbling Brook, and must face the Snow Queen—a powerful snow leopard whose icy spell has frozen Bluebell Wood. Can Gerda break the spell and save her friend in time for Christmas?
Artistic Director, writer and director Nancy Hirst said, “After a decade of creating festive shows for early years audiences at The Brook Theatre in Chatham, I’m thrilled to be developing a new production at the Albany and taking it on the road.
“My ambition was to create an interactive experience that truly places children and their grown-ups at the heart of the story. Rarely do girls lead such adventures, and in Gerda I wanted to create a fearless, curious and determined protagonist, ensuring
young audiences see strength and potential reflected on stage.”
The Snow Queen: A Woodland Adventure
The Albany, Douglas Way, London SE8 4AG from 2 – 24 December 2025. Tickets start at £14, the show is suitable for children 3 and over and lasts I hour Booking and full details: www.thealbany.org.uk
Review: Wayne Thiebaud: American Still Life at the Courtauld Gallery The Poetry of Pies
TWO ELDERLY ladies are looking at cakes and reminiscing about sweet treats from their youth. I ask them if they are feeling as hungry as me and they laugh and nod. We are surrounded by batches of triangular pie pieces, smeared with creamy icing, stickily oozing candy colours, each one bathed in an unusually sharp light that wraps them in warm blue shadow, writes Ed Gray.
This is not a bake-off moment at a horticultural society exhibition, and you really would not want to eat these carefully proffered offerings because these cakes are over 60 years old. The strong light is Californian, and we are in the Courtauld Gallery. The creamy fluid brushstrokes that have the power to make us dream of delectable delights of days of yore belong to the American painter Wayne Thiebaud (1920-2021), one time illustrator and commercial art director turned all-time great American artist, and this is an exhibition of his still lives, entitled American Still Life. I studied Thiebaud’s paintings at art college, making my own versions of cake shop life, but I have rarely seen one served up for real so it’s a great joy to tuck into a hearty portion of his painterly pieces.
The gallery entrance takes you past Manet and Cezanne and it’s a timely reminder of how important the work of post-impressionist painters was for young Thiebaud. Cezanne reduced pictorial elements to simple forms, repeating imagery, and subject matter in a perpetual search for the essence
of perception. Cezanne’s influence is evident in Thiebaud's own work as he meticulously renders his subject matter to achieve his ideal of 'graphic power.' Printmaking was key to Thiebaud’s methodology and there is an accompanying exhibition of wood block prints and copper etchings of cakes, pies, hotdogs and gumball dispensers, revealing Thiebaud’s obsessive desire to savour, look and repeat until he was replete enough to reproduce his earthly delights in paint.
Thiebaud’s Boston Cremes become so much more than mass-produced processed triangular slices of sugarrush mush. Buttery brush marks densely outline luscious subjects; varnish adds a sticky sensuality until you want to run your fingers along the piped cream. The painted cakes and cheeses look gloriously totemic, catching the light as they fill counters in corners of anonymous delis and diners, totally devoid of the hands of overworked and underpaid servers and busboys, and their chubby fingered patrons dicing with diabetic overload from so much calorific content. A dab of messy humanity would sour the taste of these stunning paintings.
These works are not simply nostalgia trips to a post-war era of uncomplicated gratification, they are insights into the American psyche, spoonful by sickly spoonful, staged performances of mass consumption and mass conformity. Too much is never enough and it is all just out of reach. Unrequited desire fills the room, pleasures are transient and it is all just for
show. The buttery scrumptious delights are made from oil paint, turpentine, and linseed oil - ingredients that would poison you if you tried to eat them.
Wayne Thiebaud: American Still Life is the perfect metaphor for the illusion that lies at the heart of all art, and all perception, because nothing in life is ever what it appears to be. This is the ad man at work. The similarities between
each piece of pie are presumed, but they are not uniform. 1960s America was a boom time, all- American apple pie, finger-licking good times for those that bought into the dream that were also chock full of anxiety and dissent from those that did not or could not afford to pay the price. The American dream was as much Madison Avenue construct as it was Capitol Hill creation. I feel
The Courtauld Gallery until January 18th 2026. Booking and full details: https://courtauld.ac.uk/
approaching a
And
uneasily queasy as I leave the exhibition, intoxicated by Thiebaud’s gripping graphic potency but fast
slump akin to a sugar rush.
yet, I am soon hungry for more.
Photo by Wayne Thiebaud Foundation
Baby Gospel Christmas Special at Woolwich Works:
The gospel concert where babies are welcome is returning to Woolwich Works for a Christmas special, with an uplifting family-friendly concert full of soul, gospel and festive music. Listen to the voices of CK Gospel Choir and sing along to classics like ‘Winter Wonderland’ and ‘Jingle Bells’ plus soul and Motown favourites. Everyone is welcome from newborns to school-aged kids, parents and grandparents. The concert lasts around 40-45 minutes.
Date: Sunday 7 December. Time: 10:30
Location: The Fireworks Factory, 11 No 1 St, Royal Arsenal, London SE18 6HD
Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet Xmas Disco Ball is the ultimate disco night for adults, featuring much-loved tunes from the ‘70s and ‘80s.
Alongside a dance-off, there’s also a best outfi t competition and free retro sweets all night long. 10% of all profi ts will be going to Cancer Research UK.
Date: Saturday 6 December. Time: 19:30 - 00:00
Location: Blackheath Halls. Price: £20
The Big Market at Fox and Firkin:
The Big Market is back at the Fox and Firkin, with a a curated selection of 30 local makers, designers and small businesses. There’s free entry, free artist workshops, and a free craft area. There will be art, jewellery, records, ceramics, clothes, vintage items and much more.
Date: Sunday 7 December
Time: 12:00 - 18:00
Location: The Fox & Firkin, 316 Lewisham High St, London, SE13 6JZ
Price: Free entry
Christmas Wreath Making Workshop at the Admiral Hardy:
Step into a historic Greenwich pub for a hands-on wreath workshop. Make your own natural wreath using a combination of fresh and preserved foliage, pinecones and dried fruits.
Date: Wednesday 3 December
Time: 18:00 - 20:00
Location: The Admiral Hardy, 7 College Approach, Greenwich, London, SE10 9HY
Price: £75 per person
The Gingerbread Man at the Tramshed:
For just £6 for children and £12 for adults, head to the Tramshed to watch the adventure of the Gingerbread man unfold as he sets o on a journey of a lifetime. The performance will mix puppetry, music and humour and is suitable for ages 3+, lasting for one hour.
Date: Friday 5 and Saturday 6 December
Time: 19:30 Friday, 14:30 and 19:30 Saturday
Location: Tramshed, 51-53 Woolwich New Rd, London SE18
6ES
Price: £12 adults, £6 children
© The Gingerbread Man at Tramshed
NOT SLUMMING IT IN BERMONDSEY
Laundries, mangles and polishing the doorstep
By Debra Gosling
RIGHT FOLKS, I'm on my soapbox so stand by. I am Bermondsey born and bred and very proud of that fact. But I am sick to the teeth of 'newbies' saying that old Bermondsey was full of slums.
Even a friend of mine, Bermondsey himself, declared that I used to live in a slum – he justified this comment by saying he'd always lived in a flat with an inside toilet!
My house was an eighteenth century cottage, and it might not have been to everyone's taste but it was home. We did have an outside toilet, but we had an inside one too, so stick that in your pipe, darling... There were plenty of old houses in the area until the 1980s when things all changed and new flats built over the old buildings.
I was the last of the generation that remembers tin baths, washboards and back yards. But far from being a bunch of unwashed, lousy ignoramuses, Bermondsey people were clean, decent and hard-working.
Women worked but they kept house too, and made sure everyone went out in clean clothes.
Whitewash the Copper; black-lead the stove; Dolly Blue for the whites (if you know, you know) and don't forget the starch for his collars. These are just a few examples of life for generations of Bermondsey ladies.
Besides caring for many children there
was the preparation of all meals from scratch, shopping for food and part-time jobs. On top of it all there were rituals to attend to: Sunday; cook the roast; Monday; do the washing; Saturday, clean the house, top to bottom.
A really curious practice that only disappeared in the 1960s was the almost religious rite of doorstep polishing. You could either have a nice red doorstep or a white one, and there was a certain way of achieving this.
First off, you swept the pavement outside your house; then you washed the bit around the doorstep in a semi-circular sweeping motion. Then, for a nice shiny red doorstep you would buff it up with red cardinal polish until it gleamed.
Or for a nice white doorstep you'd get a hearthstone, or 'eart stone' as it was known, dip it in a bucket of water and cover your doorstep in its white chalk and let it dry.
Of course, once you had done your doorstep there was the washing to think about – no washing machines back then, it was all elbow grease and chapped fingers. Everyone had a scrubbing board and at least one tin bath in their back yard.
On Monday that bath was taken down from its hook and in went bucket loads of water, along with a big red brick of Lifebuoy soap. The washboard, with its green glass ribbed panels, was lowered into the water and away you went, scrubbing off a week's worth of sweat and grime with your bare hands, in cold water, whatever the weather. Then you put your clean laundry through
the mangle and wrung it out in the tin bath. Before electricity was available the iron (damp rag around the handle) was heated on the fire. There was no ironing board, just a thick blanket over the table. As there were no temperature gauges, a quick dab with a damp, sizzling finger told you when it was hot.
Of course, the only problem with hanging your washing out in Bermondsey was the factories. All those chimneys left smudges on the sheets and infused them with a distinct odour. The aroma you got depended on the nearest factory: alright if it was Pink's strawberry jam but not so good if it was Young's glue. Another pungent smell was carbolic soap, strong enough to make your eyes smart, it was used for everything.
For the seriously big washing items such as sheets and blankets the old tin bath would not do, so it was away to the laundry. These forerunners of dry cleaners were dotted all over the place. Here your washing was put in a hopsack drawstring bag that had a laundry mark stamped in black on the bottom. Everything would go in together; sheets, towels, even underwear and socks. When it came back from the laundry it would be damp and fluffy – and stinking of bleach. As you emptied out your bagwash there would always be a rogue sock; unfamiliar and slightly alarming, a sock that belonged on some stranger's foot. If, however, you wanted to splash out, so to speak, there were better quality laundries where your clothes would come back with starched collars, all nicely ironed
and ready to be hung up, all in a cellophane bag.
Window cleaning was another job that was ‘women's work’ – on certain days some houses would have their upper windows decorated by a woman's overallclad derriere!
Ladies could be seen sitting on the outside window sill as they polished the soot smears from the glass panes. In the early days it was a bucket of water with a slosh of vinegar and a chamois leather (pronounced 'shammy') but as the chemical industry took hold it was Windolene all the way. This lilac coloured liquid made pretty patterns as it was polished off, amid much squeaking, but what lovely sparkling windows!
Besides all the sweeping and brushing there was also the brass to be done. Doorknobs, fenders and stair rods all had
a bit of Brasso applied to them. In fact, polishing brass was quite a satisfying job, seeing the tarnish coming off and the gleam returning. With the promise of an extra penny in the pocket, the schoolboy of the house could usually be persuaded to take on this essential little chore. No doubt much sliding down the bannisters also occurred on the pretence of ‘polishing’. And, just to clarify, the tin bath was also used to actually bathe in, yes, with soap. Then once you were all pink and shiny it had to be manually baled out and put back outside. But we were clean, thank you... Today, with such advanced cleaning products the whole cleaning ritual is over and done in a couple of squirts and a twist of the washing machine button.
But I suppose the old outside toilet could always be sold for a pile as a bijou Bermondsey residence...
© Debra Gosling 2020
'ard Graft in Old Kent Road
Window cleaning the old way
Tinware in the back yard © Debra Gosling
Memorial
Jessie Julia MURPHY
Treasured memories of our very precious Mum, who fell asleep November 27th 2015. We miss you so very much. Now together with George. From your loving Family.
JOHN OLIVER BENTLEY
Deceased
Pursuant to the Trustee Act 1925
anyone with a claim against or an interest in the Estate of the deceased, late of Flat 27, Hazelhurst Court, Beckenham Hill Road, London, SE6
3AQ, who died on 24/02/2025, must send written details to the address below by 29/01/2026, after which the Estate will be distributed with regard only to claims and interests notified.
Laura Hardy c/o Taylor & Emmet LLP, Ecclesall Road South, Sheffield, S11 9PA.
Ref: CMC/BENTLEY
MICHAEL ALAN LACHMANN
Deceased
Pursuant to the Trustee Act 1925 anyone with a claim against or an interest in the Estate of the deceased, late of 47 Ringmore Rise, London, SE23 3DE, who died on 08/06/2025, must send written details to the address below by 29/01/2026, after which the Estate will be distributed with regard only to claims and interests notified.
Charlene Rayner
c/o HCR Legal LLP, Floor 20 South, 51 Lime Street, London, EC3M 7DQ. Ref: LAC0074-0002
JOHN ERNEST SILLS
Deceased
Pursuant to the Trustee Act 1925 anyone with a claim against or an interest in the Estate of the deceased, late of 254 Leigham Court Road, London, SW16 2QH; 9 Wolfington Road, London, SE27 0JF, who died on 23/08/2025, must send written details to the address below by 29/01/2026, after which the Estate will be distributed with regard only to claims and interests notified. Lee Tolentino c/o
Transport for London Public Notice
ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984
THE A214 GLA ROAD (AMBLESIDE AVENUE, LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH) (TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF TRAFFIC AND STOPPING) ORDER 2025
1. Transport for London hereby gives notice that it intends to make the abovenamed Trafc Order under section 14(1) of the Road Trafc Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose specied in paragraph 2. The effect of the Order is summarised in paragraph 3.
2. The purpose of the Order is to enable maintenance works to take place on the A214 Ambleside Avenue.
3. The effect of the Order will be to prohibit any vehicle from: (1) entering, exiting, proceeding or stopping on the A214 Ambleside Avenue between its junctions with Mitcham Lane and Rydal Road; (2) stopping in the Loading and Disabled Persons Vehicles Bay outside Nos. 23 – 25 Mitcham Lane.
Local access will be maintained.
The Order will be effective at certain times between 17th December 2025 and 19th March 2026 every night 8:00 PM to 5:00 AM or when the works have been completed whichever is the sooner. The prohibition will apply only during such times and to such extent as shall from time to time be indicated by trafc signs.
4. The prohibitions will not apply in respect of:
(1) any vehicle being used for the purposes of those works or for re brigade, ambulance or police purposes;
(2) anything done with the permission or at the direction of a police constable in uniform or a person authorised by Transport for London.
5. At such times as the prohibition is in force an alternative route will be indicated by trafc signs via Mitcham Lane, Southcroft Road, Mitcham Road, Tooting High Street, Upper Tooting Road and Tooting Bec Road to normal route of travel.
Dated this 28th day of November 2025
Andrew Ulph Co-ordination Manager
Transport for London, Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ
LICENSING ACT 2003
Application for Grant of Premises Licence
Seamus Libretto has applied to the London Borough of Lambeth to vary a Premises Licence, in respect of the following premises: Otter Chaos Ltd, Unit 22 (Arch 606) Atlantic Road, London, SW9 8JL. The nature of the variation is as follows:
Supply of Alcohol, Monday-Sunday 11:00-00:00, extending the sale of alcohol to new area, permit both on-sales and off-sales of alcohol.
The record of this application may be inspected during normal office hours by an appointment at the Licensing Section, London Borough of Lambeth, 3rd Floor, Civic Centre, 6 Brixton Hill, London, SW2 1EG, or via the licensing authority’s website, at www.lambeth.gov.uk/licensing
A responsible authority or any other person may make representation to the licensing authority in respect of this application. Representations must be made in writing, either by post to the above address, or by email to licensing@lambeth.gov.uk and must be received no later than 19/12/2025
It is an offence to knowingly or recklessly make a false statement in connection with a licensing application, and the maximum fine for which a person is liable on summary conviction for that offence shall not exceed level 5 on the standard scale (£5,000).
LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH
ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14
TEMPORARY TRAFFIC AND WAITING RESTRICTIONS –LEIGHAM AVENUE
1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, to enable Thames Water to carry out zonal metering surveys, the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth has made an Order the effect of which will be to temporarily; (a) prohibit vehicles from entering or proceeding in a length of approximately 30 metres of Leigham Avenue
PUBLIC NOTICE
LICENSING ACT 2003 - APPLICATION FOR A NEW PREMISES LICENCE
An application has been made by Castle Sidcup Limited for the premises: Sidcup Storyteller Cinema, 106 High Street, Sidcup, DA14 6DS
On the date of 25th November 2025
Summary of the proposed licensable activities and the proposed opening:
Opening hours:
07:00 - 01:00 Sun - Thu
07:00 - 01:30 Fri - Sat
Films: 09:00 - 00:30 Sun - Thu 09:00 - 01:00 Fri - Sat
Recorded music: 09:00 - 00:30 Sun - Thu 09:00 - 01:00 Fri - Sat
Alcohol: 10:00 - 00:00 Sun - Thu 10:00 - 01:00 Fri - Sat
The application follows the structure of the previous premises licence as closely as possible. We are retaining the same alcohol licensing hours. Opening hours & film screenings: We are seeking a modestly earlier start time to support school groups and morning café use, and a 30minute extension Mon-Thu to accommodate longer feature films.
Any person wishing to view details of an application may contact the Licensing Partnership on 01732 227004 or email them at: licensing@sevenoaks.gov.uk http://pa.sevenoaks.gov.uk/online-licensing
Any person wishing to make representations to the variation application should make them in writing on or before the 23rd December 2025
To: Licensing Partnership, PO BOX 182, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN13 1GP or email at licensing@sevenoaks.gov.uk
It is an offence knowingly or recklessly to make a false statement in connection with an application and the maximum fine for which a person is liable on summary conviction is unlimited.
Notice for Article 12 CLAPHAM COMMON EVENTS 2026
The London Borough of Lambeth is applying to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for consent under Article 12 of the Greater London Parks and Open Spaces Order 1967 to carry out restricted works on Clapham Common. The Planning Inspectorate will decide the application on behalf of the Secretary of State.
The proposed works are for the creation of temporary event sites on Clapham Common for a series of public entertainment, leisure and recreational sporting events in 2026. Temporary fencing and event structures (including event stages, marquees, funfair rides, concession stands, event gantries, gazebos, toilets and welfare facilities, back of house cabins and plant enclosures) will be onsite for the events for a total duration of 216 days in 2026.
Fencing and structures will be situated on the following areas of Clapham Common:
• The area commonly referred to as the ‘Event Site’ located at the northeast of the Common accessible from Long Road (Moonwalk, Football Fest).
• Area between Long Pond and Windmill Drive located at the east of Common (Colourscape).
• The gravel ‘Redgra’ sports pitches on the west of the common, adjacent to the A205 (Oktoberfest on the Common).
• Area referred to as the ‘Funfair Site’ located on the west of the Common, west of Mount Pond (George Irvin's Funfair, Moonwalk, London to Brighton Bike Ride, Skyline London to Brighton Cycle Ride, Oktoberfest on the Common).
• Clapham Common ‘Southside’ located at the south of the Common bordered by Clapham Common Southside, Nightingale Lane, Nightingale Walk & the Avenue (London to Brighton Bike Ride 2025, Winestock London, Skyline London to Brighton Cycle Ride).
Each event will either include approx., 3m high 'Steelshield', or approx., 2m high Heras-type perimeter fence-line. Some are unfenced. The largest perimeter fence line will be 823 metres in length. Some events will include 1.1 meters high pedestrian barriers (crowd control barriers) comprising a section of the event site or fence line. The fencing will enclose the temporary event sites to maintain safety and include pedestrian and vehicle entrances and emergency exits.
Electronic copies of the application form and supporting documents will be made available to view online from Lambeth
at the website address www.eventlambeth.co.uk/news/
A paper copy of the application form and supporting documents may be obtained by writing to the Council’s
or by email at events@lambeth.gov.uk
The application form and documents will be available until 31st December 2025.
Any representations should be sent in writing ON or BEFORE that date to The Planning Inspectorate, Commons Team at 3A Temple Quay House, Temple Quay, Bristol, BS1 6PN or commonlandcasework@planninginspectorate.gov.uk
If you use artificial intelligence (AI) to create or alter any part of documents, information or data submitted with a representation, you should tell The Planning Inspectorate that you have done so when you submit it. See the detailed Use of artificial intelligence in casework evidence (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-of-artificial-intelligence-in-caseworkevidence) guidance for further information.
Representations sent to the Planning Inspectorate cannot be treated as confidential. They will be copied to the applicant and potentially other interested parties and could be published on Lambeth’s Council’s
about how the Planning Inspectorate uses and manages personal data, please go to the privacy notice. 28/11/2025 EventLambeth, London Borough of Lambeth, Lambeth
Transport for London Public Notice
ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984
THE A21 GLA ROAD (LONDON ROAD, LONDON BOROUGH OF BROMLEY) (TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF STOPPING) ORDER 2025
1. Transport for London in consultation with the London Borough of Bromley hereby gives notice that it has made the above named Trafc Order under section 14(1) of the Road Trafc Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose specied in paragraph 2. The effect of the Order is summarised in paragraph 3.
2. The purpose of the Order is to enable telecom connection works to take place at A21 London Road in the London Borough of Bromley.
3. The effect of the Order will be to prohibit any vehicle from stopping:
(1) on Spencer Road between its junctions with London Road to the vehicle access point adjacent to the north eastern building line of Foxleas Court, No.4 Spencer Road;
(2) on Oaklands Road between its junctions with London Road and the western Vehicle access point serving Nos. 1- 6 Garden Court, Oaklands Road;
(3) on the northern arm of Oaklands Road from its junction with London Road to the extended south-western building line of Nos. 37 to 45 Sedgwick Court, Oaklands Road;
(4) on Highland Road from its junction with London Road to opposite the common boundary of Nos. 3 and 5 Highland Road;
(5) on Park End from its junction with London Road to the extended northeastern building line of No.39 London Road;
(6) on Warner Road from its junction with London Road to the common boundary of Nos. 5 and 7 Heatheld Road;
(7) at the southern kerb-line of Hope Park between its junctions with London Road and Blendon Path;
(8) on Farwig Lane from its junction with London Road to a point 2 metres north-east of the extended western building line of Lygon House, No.50 London Road;
(9) on London Road between its junctions with Park End and Park Avenue. The Order will be effective at certain times from 1st December 2025 and 7th December 2025 every night between 8.00 PM and 5.00 AM or when the works have been completed whichever is the sooner. The prohibition will apply only during such times and to such extent as shall from time to time be indicated by trafc signs.
4. The prohibitions will not apply in respect of:
(1) any vehicle being used for the purposes of those works or for re brigade, ambulance or police purposes;
(2) anything done with the permission or at the direction of a police constable in uniform or a person authorised by Transport for London.
Dated this 28th day of November 2025
Andrew Ulph
Co-Ordination Manager, Transport for London Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ
Town Hall, Brixton Hill, SW2
Transport for London Public Notice
ROAD
TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984
THE A2 GLA ROAD (NEW CROSS ROAD LONDON BOROUGH OF LEWISHAM) (TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF TRAFFIC AND STOPPING AND SUSPENSION OF BUS LANE) ORDER (NO.2) 2025
1. Transport for London in consultation with the London Borough of Lewisham hereby gives notice that it intends to make the above named Traffic Order under section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose specified in paragraph 2. The effect of the Order is summarised in paragraph 3.
2. The purpose of the Order is to enable electrical vehicle chargers installation works to take place at A2 New Cross Road in the London Borough of Lewisham.
3. The effect of the Order will be to prohibit any vehicle from:
(1) stopping at the north-eastern kerb-line at New Cross Road between its junctions with Casella Road and Billington Road;
(2) stopping at the North-western kerb-line on Billington Road from its junction with New Cross Road to a point 18 metres in a north easterly direction;
(3) exiting Billington Road at its junction with New Cross Road;
(4) entering or exiting Hatcham Park Road at its junction with New Cross Road;
(5) stopping at the north-eastern kerb-line on New Cross Road between its junctions with Hatcham Park Road and Queen’s Road;
(6) stopping on New Cross Road between its junctions with the access road to New Cross Garage and Nettleton Road.
The Order will permit:
(7) two-way working on Hatcham Park Road between its junctions with New Cross Road and Brocklehurst Street;
(8) all vehicles to use the eastbound Bus Lane on New Cross Road between its junctions with Pepys Road and Nettleton Road.
The Order will be effective at certain times from 12.01 AM on the 8th December 2025 until 11.59 PM on the 31st December 2025 or when the works have been completed whichever is the sooner. The prohibition will apply only during such times and to such extent as shall from time to time be indicated by trafc signs.
4. The prohibitions will not apply in respect of:
(1) any vehicle being used for the purposes of those works or for re brigade, ambulance or police purposes;
(2) anything done with the permission or at the direction of a police constable in uniform or a person authorised by Transport for London.
5. At such times as the prohibition is in force alternative routes will be indicated by trafc signs for access to Hatcham Park Drive via New Cross Road, Billington Road and Camplin Street to normal route of travel. for access to New Cross Road from Billington Road via Camplin Street and Casella Road to normal route of travel.
Dated this 28th day of November 2025
Andrew Ulph
Co-Ordination Manager, Transport for London Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ
Notice of application for a Premises Licence. Notice is hereby given that Zip Babb Limited has applied to Wandsworth Council for a new premises licence at Zip Babb, 167 Putney High Street, SW15 1RT for the sale of alcohol (for consumption on & off the premises) between the hours of 11:30 – 22:00 hours Monday to Sundays. Any person who wishes to make a representation in relation to this application must give notice in writing by 11 December 2025 stating the grounds for making said representation to: Wandsworth Licensing Authority, Regulatory Services Partnership (Serving Merton, Richmond and Wandsworth Councils) Merton Civic Centre, London Road, Morden, Surrey, SM4 5DX or by email: licensing@merton.gov.uk
The record of this application may be inspected Monday to Friday (except Bank Holidays) by prior appointment at the offices of Wandsworth Licensing Authority, Regulatory Services Partnership (Serving Merton, Richmond and Wandsworth Councils) Merton Civic Centre, London Road, Morden,Surrey, SM4 5DX between the hours of 10.00 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. Information on all new and variation applications received by the Licensing Authority can be viewed on the Council’s website www.wandsworth.gov.uk
It is an offence, under section 158 of the Licensing Act 2003, to knowingly or recklessly make a false statement in or in connection with an application, punishable upon conviction by an unlimited fine.
publicnoticeportal.uk Keeping you informed. The Public Notice Portal is a free to use, online service that will tell you who is applying for what and where. Plus, if you register, we’ll tell you about any plans for your community, helping you to stay informed. Join over 150,000 USERS
LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 – SECTION 14
TEMPORARY TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS –VAUXHALL STREET
1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, to enable footway and carriageway renewal, the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth has made an Order the effect of which will be to temporarily suspend the southbound cycle lane in that length of Vauxhall Street which lies between the northern property boundary of Brockwell House and a point approximately 30 metres south of that boundary.
2. The Order will come into force on 1 December 2025 and will continue for a maximum duration of 12 months (to allow for contingencies) or until the works have been completed, whichever is the sooner.
Dated 28 November 2025 Ben Stevens Highways Network Manager
LICENSING ACT 2003
APPLICATION FOR GRANT OF PREMISES LICENCE
Olga Gabriela Santana Cuevas has applied to the London Borough of Lambeth for the grant of a Premises Licence, in respect of the following premises: La Vuelta, 45 Tulse Hill Road, SW2 2TJ which would authorise the following licensable activities: Late night refreshment
FRIDAY - SATURDAY 23:00 - 00:00
Sale of Alcohol–
SUNDAY–THURSDAY12:00 - 22:30
FRIDAY - SATURDAY FROM 12:00 - 00:30 Opening hoursSUNDAY - THURSDAY 07:30 - 23:00/
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY - 07:30 - 01:00
The record of this application may be inspected during normal office hours by an appointment at the Licensing Section, London Borough of Lambeth Town Hall, Basement Room B08 & B09, 1 Brixton Hill, London, SW2 1RW, or via the licensing authority’s website, at www.lambeth.gov.uk/licensing
A responsible authority or any other person may make representation to the licensing authority in respect of this application.
Representations must be made in writing, either by post to the above address, or by email to licensing@lambeth.gov.uk and must be received no later than December 23rd 2025
It is an offence to knowingly or recklessly make a false statement in connection with a licensing application, and the maximum fine for which a person is liable on summary conviction for that offence shall not exceed level 5 on the standard scale (£5,000).
LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14
TEMPORARY TRAFFIC AND WAITING RESTRICTIONSFOUNTAIN PLACE
1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, to enable BT (Sunbelt Rentals) to carry out repair and maintenance works, the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth have made an Order the effect of which will be to temporarily prohibit vehicles from; (a) entering or proceeding in that length of Fountain Place which lies between No. 33 Fountain Place and No. 37 Fountain Place; (b) waiting (including waiting for the purpose of delivering or collecting goods or loading or unloading a vehicle) in that length of Fountain Place which lies between No. 33 Fountain Place and No. 37 Fountain Place (both sides).
2. Alternative routes for affected vehicles will be available via Eythorne Road, Crawshay Road, Braham Road and vice versa.
3. The Order will come into force on 1 December 2025 and would continue for a maximum duration of 1 month or until the works have been completed, whichever is the sooner. In practice, it is anticipated that the works would be carried out on 1 and 2 December. If the works cannot be carried out or completed during this time, then the Order may have effect on subsequent dates within the maximum period of 1 month.
Dated 28 November 2025 Ben Stevens Highway Network Manager
LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14
TEMPORARY TRAFFIC AND WAITING RESTRICTIONSKEMPSHOTT ROAD
1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, to enable BT (Sunbelt Rentals) to carry out repair and maintenance works, the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth has made an Order the effect of which will be to temporarily prohibit vehicles from: (a) entering or proceeding in that length of Kempshott Road which lies between Nos. 76 and 86; (b) waiting (including waiting for the purpose of delivering or collecting goods or loading or unloading a vehicle) in that length of Thornlaw Road which lies between Tankerville Road and Ellison Road.
2. Alternative routes for affected vehicles would be available via Tankerville Road, Guildersfield Road, Ellison Road and vice versa.
3. The Order will come into force on 1 December 2025 and continue for a maximum duration of 1 month or until the works have been completed, whichever is the sooner. In practice, it is anticipated that the works would be carried out on 1 December 2025. If the works cannot be carried out or completed on that date, then the Order may have effect on subsequent dates within the maximum period of 1 month.
Dated 28 November 2025 Ben Stevens Highway Network Manager
LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH
CONTINUATION OF THE LAMBETH (KENNINGTON OVAL) HEALTHY NEIGHBOURHOOD EXPERIMENTAL SCHEME BOWLING GREEN STREET, CLAYTON STREET, KENNINGTON OVAL, MAGEE STREET, AND PEGASUS PLACE
ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14
TEMPORARY TRAFFIC AND WAITING RESTRICTIONS –TROUVILLE ROAD
1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, to enable BT (Sunbelt Rentals) to carry out repair and maintenance works, the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth proposes to make an Order the effect of which would be to temporarily prohibit vehicles from entering or proceeding in Trouville Road in a westerly direction between its junction with Abbeville Road and a point 15 metres east of that junction.
2. Alternative routes for affected vehicles would be available via Trouville Road, Elms Crescent, Shandon Road and Abbeville Road.
3. The Order would come into force on 13 December 2025 and would continue for a maximum duration of 1 month or until the works have been completed, whichever is the sooner. In practice, it is anticipated that the works would take 1 day to complete. If the works cannot be carried out or completed during this time, then the Order may have effect on subsequent dates within the maximum period of 1 month.
Dated 28 November 2025 Ben Stevens Highway Network Manager
LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14
TEMPORARY TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS FERNDALE ROAD AND BYTHORN STREET
1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, to enable Network Rail to carry out a bridge inspection, the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth has made an Order the effect of which will be to temporarily prohibit vehicles from entering or proceeding in: (a) Bythorn Street; or (b) Ferndale Road, between Nos. 192 and 210.
2. Alternative routes for affected vehicles will be available via Ferndale Road, Allardyce Street, Santley Street, Concanon Road, Acre Lane, Brixton Road and Ferndale Road.
3. The Order will come into force on 29 November 2025 and continue in force for a maximum duration of 4 months (to allow for contingencies) or until the works have been completed whichever is the sooner. In practice, it is anticipated that the works will take place overnight between 29 November and 1 December 2025 and 7 February and 9 February 2026, but if the works cannot be carried out or completed during that time then the Order may have effect at subsequent times within the maximum period of 4 months.
Dated 28 November 2025 Ben Stevens Highway Network Manager LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH
(NOTE: This Notice is about continuing in force permanently prohibitions initially introduced on an experimental basis in various roads in the Kennington Oval area)
1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth, in consultation with Transport for London, on 24 November 2025 made the Lambeth (Moving Traffic) (Amendment No. 10) Traffic Order 2025, the Lambeth (Free Parking Places, Loading Places and Waiting, Loading, and Stopping Restrictions) (Amendment No. 74) Traffic Order 2025 and the Lambeth (Charged-For Parking Places) (Amendment No. 69) Traffic Order 2025 under sections 6, 45, 46, 49, 63 and 124 of and Part IV of Schedule 9 to the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (as amended) so as to continue in force indefinitely the provisions of the Lambeth (Moving Traffic) (Amendment No.1) Experimental Traffic Order 2024, the Lambeth (Free Parking Places, Loading Places and Waiting, Loading, and Stopping Restrictions) (Amendment No. 2) Experimental Traffic Order 2024, and the Lambeth (Charged-For Parking Places) (Amendment No. 2) Experimental Traffic Order 2024.
2. The general effect of the Orders will be to:(a) prohibit motor vehicles entering or proceeding, with exemptions for emergency vehicles and vehicles with a valid dispensation in the lengths of streets specified in Schedule 1 to this Notice; (b) impose a one-way system for vehicles with a cycle contra-flow cycle lane in the lengths of streets specified in Schedule 2 to this Notice; (c) impose a mandatory left turn from Kennington Oval into Clayton Street; (d) prohibit vehicles except cycles travelling in Clayton Street from entering Kennington Oval; (e) impose “At Any Time” waiting restrictions in certain lengths of the streets specified in Schedule 3 to this Notice; (f) revoke parking places and impose “At Any Time” waiting restrictions in certain lengths of the streets specified in Schedule 4 to this Notice; (g) revoke School Keep Clear restrictions and impose “At Any Time” waiting restrictions in certain lengths of the streets specified in Schedule 5 to this Notice.
3. A copy of each of the Orders which will come into force on 1 December 2025, of a map of the relevant area, of the Lambeth (Moving Traffic Restrictions) Order 2024, the Lambeth (Free Parking Places, Loading Places and Waiting, Loading and Stopping Restrictions) Order 2023 and the Lambeth (Charged-For Parking Places) Order 2023 are available for inspection online at: www.lambeth.gov.uk/traffic-management-orders or from 9.30 am until 4.30 pm on Mondays to Fridays inclusive (except bank/ public holidays) until the last day of a period of six weeks beginning with the date on which the Orders are made, at the offices of Lambeth Council’s Highways Team, 3rd Floor, Civic Centre, 6 Brixton Hill, London SW2 1EG. To arrange inspection please email: Trafficorders@lambeth.gov.uk.
4. Any person desiring to question the validity of any of the Orders or of any provision contained therein on the grounds that it is not within the relevant powers of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 or that any of the relevant requirements thereof or of any relevant regulations made thereunder have not been complied with in relation to any of the Orders may, within 6 weeks of the date on which the Orders were made, make application for the purpose to the High Court.
Dated 28 November 2025
Ben Stevens Highway Network Manager
SCHEDULE 1
Bowling Green Street from a point between the south-western kerb-line of the access to the car park of Lohmann House and the south-western kerb-line of Magee Street and the north-eastern kerb-line of Kennington Oval.
Kennington Oval, (a) between the northern kerb-line of Harleyford Road and a point 56 metres north-east of that kerb-line; (b) between the northern kerb-line of Harleyford Street and a point 15 metres south-east of the centreline of Clayton Street.
SCHEDULE 2
Bowling Green Street, south-westward, between Kennington Road and Magee Street. Kennington Oval, south-eastward, between Vauxhall Street and Clayton Street.
SCHEDULE 3
Clayton Street; Kennington Oval; Magee Street; Pegasus Place.
Bowling Green Street; Clayton Street, Kennington Oval.
SCHEDULE 4
SCHEDULE 5
Bowling Green Street; Kennington Oval.
RG3
Written
but there is also an associated application for Full Planning Permission related to these works with reference number: 25/03539/FUL). 25/03540/LB
42 Copley Park London SW16 3DD Erection of a rear dormer window including the installation of a roof light to front rooflsope, together with the replacement of concrete roof tiles with clay tiles to the main roof and the relocation of 2x first floor rear windows. 25/03566/FUL
3 Denny Crescent London Lambeth SE11 4UY Replacement of the timber fencing on the boundary of the rear garden. 25/03357/FUL
304 - 306 Streatham High Road London SW16 6HG Change of use of 1st to 3rd floors from Offices (Use Class E) to Residential (Use Class C3) comprising 5 flats (2x studio, 2x 1-bed and 1x 2-bed) together with the provision of rear groud floor access and refuse/recycling storage. 25/03412/FUL
53 Loughborough Park London SW9 8TP Application for Listed Building Consent in relation to replacement of four dormer windows and one rear French door set, together with the carrying out of repairs to the remaining windows and doors.
(Please note: The reference number for this Listed Building Consent application is 25/03129/LB, but there is also an associated application for Full Planning Permission related to these works with reference number: 25/03128/FUL) 25/03129/LB
11 Offerton Road London SW4 0DH Retrospective application for alterations to pre-existing external staircase and front lightwell to Flat 1 (Previously refused REF: 24/03984/FUL) 25/03589/FUL
Dated this Friday 28th November 2025
Rob Bristow Director - Planning, Transport & Sustainability Climate and Inclusive Growth Directorate
LICENSING ACT 2003
APPLICATION FOR GRANT OF PREMISES LICENCE
Take notice that: Blue Garage Ltd have made an application to Lewisham Council acting as the Licensing Authority, for a New Premises Licence in respect of Blue Garage 30 Engate Street, London, SE13 7HA
The details of the application are as follows: Supply of alcohol [on the premises], 15:00 –22:00 Monday – Saturday, 12:00 – 19:00 Sunday.
Provision of Recorded Music, 15:00 – 22:00 Monday – Saturday.
The application and the Licensing Authority’s public register can be inspected at: Lewisham Council, Safer Communities Service, Licensing Authority, 4th Floor Laurence House, 1 Catford Road, SE6 4RU by appointment between Monday to Friday (except on public holidays) and between the hours of 9.00 am to 4.00 pm; or at www.lewisham.gov.uk
The last date by which responsible authorities or other persons may make representations to the Licensing Authority in relation to this application is: 17th December 2025
Any representations must be made in writing to the above address or by emailing licensing@lewisham.gov.uk
It is an offence knowingly or recklessly to make a false statement in connection with an application and the maximum fine for which a person is liable on summary conviction is unlimited.
LICENSING ACT 2003
APPLICATION FOR GRANT OF PREMISES LICENCE
Tevfik Ibrahim Tevfik has applied to the London Borough of Lambeth for the grant of a Premises Licence, in respect of the following premises: Taste More, 352 S Lambeth Rd, London, SW8 1UQ which would authorise the following licensable activities: Provision of late night refreshment: Sunday to Thursday 11:00-02:00 Friday to Saturday 1100-05:00
Supply of alcohol: Monday to Thursday 11:00-00:00 Friday to Sunday 11:00-01:00
The record of this application may be inspected during normal office hours by an appointment at the Licensing Section, London Borough of Lambeth Town Hall, Basement Room B08 & B09, 1 Brixton Hill, London, SW2 1RW, or via the licensing authority’s website, at www.lambeth.gov.uk/licensing A responsible authority or any other person may make representation to the licensing authority in respect of this application.
Representations must be made in writing, either by post to the above address, or by email to licensing@lambeth.gov.uk and must be received no later than December 18th 2025
It is an offence to knowingly or recklessly make a false statement in connection with a licensing application, and the maximum fine for which a person is liable on summary conviction for that offence shall not exceed level 5 on the standard scale (£5,000).
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You’d want to know if someone was applying for an ALCOHOL LICENCE near you, right?
STAY INFORMED ABOUT LICENSING PLANS FOR YOUR COMMUNITY.
The Public Notice Portal is a free to use, online service that will tell you who is applying for what and where. Plus, if you register, we’ll tell you about any plans for your community before it’s too late.
who’s applying for what and where in your community.
The Public Notice Portal is a free to use, online service that will tell you who is applying for what and where. Plus, if you register, we’ll tell you about any plans for your community, helping you to stay informed.
Ballers Academy members catch the eye of professional clubs
The past month has been an exciting period for Ballers Academy, with a growing number of young players invited to train with professional clubs. In the last six weeks alone, 12 academy members have received such opportunities, highlighting both the talent within the Academy and across Southwark, as well as the reputation Ballers has built in the football community.
Founder Jamie Mehmet explained that Ballers Academy’s doors have always been open to professional clubs, with scouts and guest coaches regularly attending sessions, giving members the chance to be spotted. He said this approach ensures every young player has a genuine opportunity to be noticed by clubs at all levels.
“We work with all pro clubs as each one looks for something slightly different,” he said. “If a player does not fit one club, it does not mean they will not suit another. In recent weeks we have had visits from Arsenal, Chelsea, Leyton Orient and Millwall, which is fantastic for our members.”
Mehmet added that while the recent invitations are encouraging, Ballers Academy’s mission extends further.
“We cater for all ages, levels and abilities across our programmes. Alongside our main development programme, we work with a number of partners to deliver free community programmes, giving every young
person in Southwark the chance to play, develop and enjoy football. We also help support participants into competitive grassroots football, with local clubs regularly requesting Ballers Academy’s support in recruiting players.”
A key factor behind the Academy’s success is its coaching team. Sessions are delivered by experienced coaches, including former Cardiff City manager Omer Riza, Leyton Orient’s Head of Academy Coaching Dean Palmer, and experienced A-Licenced coaches who have worked within the professional system, including AFC Wimbledon and Tottenham Hotspur. Former
professional footballers including Jack Sammoutis, Craig Dundas, Billy Mehmet and Tom Beere also contribute. Alongside them, Ballers Academy has a talented group of coaches progressing through coaching badges, bringing fresh ideas and energy.
This mix of experience and emerging talent provides a depth of knowledge rarely seen at grassroots level. The coaches develop players’ football ability while supporting their personal growth, helping them build confidence, resilience and teamwork. They act as mentors as well as coaches, offering guidance on and off the pitch.
We have a clinic in London Bridge and offer single moles checks, full body skin checks and mole mapping.
Our specialist nurses will carry out an examination to identify any visually atypical mole or moles.
We also have clinics nationwide.
Mehmet believes the variety of coaches, combined with trusted relationships with professional clubs built over many years and a proven track record, has been central to recent opportunities. “Having coaches from different backgrounds gives our members fresh ideas and new challenges,” he said. “It helps them grow both as footballers and as young people.”
With more young people joining our programmes and further opportunities on the horizon, Ballers Academy remains committed to helping every player reach their full potential.
15% discount using code LB15
Discount can be redeemed against single mole checks, full body skin checks or mole mapping appointments at any of our clinics nationwide. Please quote code LB15 at time of booking.
TOKEI DOMINATES CRYSTAL PALACE EVENT
By John Kelly
BERMONDSEY CLUB Tokei
packed the podiums at the International BKG Karate Tournament at Crystal Palace this month.
In the boys aged 12-13 category, Erik Kuhn (-45kg), Yodai Suzuki (-50kg) and Jayden Ramsey (-55kg) claimed
Hamlet
frustrated
By John Kelly
DULWICH HAMLET were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw against Isthmian League Premier Division strugglers Hashtag United at Champion Hill last weekend.
Tom Chambers gave Mark Dacey’s hosts the lead in the 49th minute but the visitors levelled 20 minutes from time through Josh Rusoke in front of a 2,685 attendance.
The Hamlet are seventh in the table, two points outside the play-offs.
Dulwich play Dartford at Princes Park this Saturday (3pm).
first places.
In the girls’ 12-13 age group, Angela Neuman (+50kg) claimed another first, while Shiraz Anjum Ahmed (+50kg) was third.
The adult team also secured a podium spot through a powerful performance from Brandon Gray (-70kg), who was third.
The club said: “We are bursting with
pride after an incredible performance at the International BKG Karate Tournament. Our team demonstrated exceptional skill, spirit and dedication, bringing home a huge haul of trophies.
“Huge congratulations to every competitor for their hard work and success representing Tokei Kyokushin Karate and the UK with such distinction.”
Surrey quartet get England calls
By Sports Reporter
A QUARTET of Surrey players have been named in the 202526 England Performance Programme and under-19 training squad.
Bark worse for Lionesses
Kira Chathli and Tilly CorteenColeman have been rewarded with selection for the programme after a successful season with the bat and ball. Wicketkeeper-bat Chathli started her season strongly with a careerbest of 95 against Hampshire in the Vitality County Cup and replaced Heather Knight for London Spirit in the Hundred. Chathli scored 220 runs with a high score of 69 and a 150.68 strike rate.
one-year loan to Warwickshire - was part of England’s Pace Programme last season, an initiative designed to target the development of key pace bowlers outside of the core England Women central contract list. Stonehouse will continue her development with the Three Lions.
Academy all-rounder Gen Jeer joins the under-19 winter training squad following an impressive season with the academy and second XI.
is to provide each player with an opportunity to push their case for future England selection through continued performances within the domestic game and any England Women pathway activity.
By John Kelly
MILLWALL LIONESSES’ run of four league matches unbeaten with four consecutive clean sheets came to a brutal end as they lost 6-1 against Barking at Mayesbrook Park Lodge Avenue.
Hamlet boss Mark Dacey
Left-arm orthodox Corteen-Coleman has featured heavily in the Three Feathers’ inaugural year, contributing across all three competitions and taking eight wickets in the Vitality Blast.
Alexa Stonehouse - currently on a
England Women’s Head of Performance Pathways Richard Bedbrook said: “The purpose of the Performance Programme is to provide development opportunities to players across various skill-sets, on the back of the successful Pace Programme last winter.
“This programme will provide individualised support, designed to accelerate each player’s development, working in collaboration with their county staff. The ultimate ambition
“There are three overseas training camps for England Women across January, February and March 2026 that players from this Performance Programme could well be a part of. Such opportunities will provide further experiences and exposure for these players on top of the training camps that will place at the National Cricket Performance Centre.
“For the under-19s, there are eight camps at the National Cricket Performance Centre across the winter as this programme builds towards a tri-series against Australia and Sri Lanka in March/April 2026. The final England Women under-19 touring party for the tri-series will be determined in the New Year.”
Shawna Harvey scored a hat-trick for the hosts with Asanteni Charles, Dan Carlton and Emilia Parsons were also on target.
Kanita Throp scored the Lionesses’ goal as Ted Jones’s side trailed 3-1 at half-time.
Millwall are seventh in the twelveteam table with eighteen points from twelve games.
The Lionesses are back at St Paul’s this Sunday when they face Sport London E Benfica in the first round of the L&SERWFL Trophy (1.30pm).
Dubois pulls out of Usyk eliminator Kozak moment
By John Kelly
DUBOIS has withdrawn from a world title eliminator against Frank Sanchez - ending a chance of a third shot at Oleksandr Usyk. Dubois has fought the unbeaten Ukrainian twice and was stopped both times.
"The eliminator holds little value
right now for Daniel,” A spokesperson for Dubois' promoter Queensberry told Sky Sports. “Derek Chisora was named the IBF mandatory at their last convention so the fight versus Frank Sanchez is to be installed as next in line after Chisora.
"Add to that the IBF is last in the queue of the unified championships held by Usyk. If Daniel accepted the
fight, it would also limit his options with the other organisations.
"Daniel was proud to be IBF champion but the order and fight itself do little for his career and getting him back into a position to fight for a world title.
"Daniel will be back in 2026 and there are some huge fights out there for him."
By John Kelly
FISHER BEAT Snodland Town 4-2 on penalties in the Kent Senior Trophy second round last weekend.
Festos Kamara and Alex Kozak scored for the Fish in normal time.
Donald Macaulay scored Fisher’s first in the shootout before Dan Carpanini
saved Snodland’s first spot-kick. Festos Kamara and Michael Sarpong bagged the second and third penalties with Sondland replaying both times. Kozak slammed his effort emphatically into the roof of the net before the hosts missed their second penalty.
That sent Ajay Ashanike’s side through to a January quarter-final.
DANIEL
Left to right: Yodai Suzuki, Angela Neuman, Jayden Ramsey, Brandon Gray, Shiraz Anjum Ahmed, Erik Kuhn
GUEHI SETS BIG TARGETS
By John Kelly
CRYSTAL PALACE captain Marc
Guehi has outlined the Eagles’ lofty ambitions this season - win another trophy and finish higher in the Premier League.
Palace had the best season in their history in 2024-25 as Guehi lifted the FA Cup and Community Shield at Wembley, the club’s first major senior honours. They finished twelfth in the league.
Guehi, 25, won’t be with the Eagles next season as he has decided not to sign a new deal. He can agree a contract with an overseas club in January or wait until next summer to consider all of his options. Liverpool have continued to be linked with him after being close to a £35million move in the last window.
But Guehi says it his “obsession” to improve as a player and as a team.
Palace won 2-0 against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux last weekend. Daniel Munoz made the breakthrough in the 63rd minute before Yeremy Pino added the second six minutes later in Rob Edwards’ first game in charge of the basement side.
“I think especially after last season, the goal hopefully is to win another trophy, and try and surpass what we did last season in terms of where we finish in the table, but like I said, it's still very early,” Guehi said.
“We know that these games are going to define a lot of the season, so I think it's just to maintain that focus, and again take every game step by step.
“You kind of take each game as it comes, and you want to do well, and it's always important to focus on the next game, and that next game is Strasbourg, and making sure that we're focused and give ourselves the best opportunity to qualify.
“But at the same time, yeah, we do have a goal. If we have the chance to keep pushing and maybe win a trophy, or just to try and finish as high as possible, especially higher than last season, then that's the goal. There's a genuine belief, I think, from the fans, from everyone at the club, that we can do really well in games.
“It’s all about staying humble, staying grounded, and focusing on the next task at hand.”
“Every day is a day where I need to get better, I have to get better.
"My obsession is to get better, and my obsession is this team, and I'm doing the
Skipper wants another trophy and higher league finish
best that I can for my team, my teammates.
“Every day, all of us come into training with a smile on our faces, wanting to do well, but I say for myself, I'm incredibly grateful to be playing football.
“Even when you miss one game, like I did last week, it hurts, so to be out there again with the team is fantastic, but I'm still a long, long way away from where I want to be, and each and every day, I'm glad that I get pushed by my team-mates to try and do the best that I can.”
Eagles boss Oliver Glasner revealed a video shown to the players at the break was the basis for the first goal.
Glasner said: “In the first half, we felt we were quite often in dangerous areas, but we didn't find the free player or we
didn't move really well. Credit to my staff for the adjustment in the set-plays, because they defended completely differently to how we expected them to. The new manager changed the set-up and then we adjusted it at halftime, showed one clip and the players executed it really well.
“Then we had the lead, and of course an amazing goal from Yeremy. Then we really controlled the game and did well.
“For the first goal, we expected them to defend the cut-back with two players, because this is what they have always done, [but] they had just one. My staff showed the players and said, ‘okay, let's play the option, let's find the free player on the edge of the box in Adam [Wharton].’ Of course, then it's
just Dani’s instinct to be there and an amazing finish.”
Glasner was pleased with how the players returned after the international break.
“Honestly, it doesn't surprise me now,” Glasner said. “I know the players, I know this group, and I know all of us, so we are ambitious. We're always looking to the next game and encouraging each other to be energised.
“Usually when we play at three, we have a walk in the morning. Today it was raining heavily and we changed the schedule and said, ‘okay, let's activate indoors’ and we always play head tennis.
There was such a great mood and the players had fun and enjoyed it.
“I really thought about cancelling our
meeting, because I just then said to them, ‘boys, play with this joy, with this fun, with this excitement you showed here’. I think this is who we are. It doesn't mean everything is perfect, but we see always the work for each other, the playing together.
“I really was pleased in many moments, how we moved the ball and how quickly. The players really translated it in an excellent way to the pitch and that's the most important thing.”
Palace are away to Strasbourg - who are managed by former Fulham and Brighton defender Liam Rosenior - in the Uefa Conference League on Thursday (November 27) before hosting Manchester United in the league on Sunday at 2pm.
Dons lose Bett as teenage super-sub nets debut brace
By John Kelly
JOHNNIE JACKSON said AFC Wimbledon conceded a “ridiculous” second goal as eighteen-year-old Wigan Athletic substitute Harrison Bettoni scored a late brace to hand the Dons a third consecutive defeat in League One.
Alistair Smith put the hosts ahead in the 70th minute.
Bettoni came on and seven minutes after Smith’s goal he scored with a freekick, his first touch in the EFL.
Bettoni grabbed the winner in the 87th
minute after receiving Paul Mullin's pass and firing beyond goalkeeper Nathan Bishop.
If Wimbledon had held on to their lead they would be fifth in the table instead of eighth.
“It hurts because we worked so hard to get into the game,” Jackson said. “We had to weather a bit of a storm early in the game that caused us a few problems but we made some adjustments and I thought we really grew into the game. We were probably the better team in the second half, we got ourselves in front. So to lose the game from that
position is frustrating. Somehow we managed to do that.
“To be honest I thought they were slightly better. We changed our shape a little bit, we've had a week to work on it and there was some stuff that was really good in that but obviously there was a few little teething problems, there was a little bit of a problem with forward runs, late runs from midfield and stuff like that.
“We sort of tweaked it at half-time, just made some adjustments and tried to get more pressure on the ball higher up as well and I think that definitely helped us
get a foothold in the game. I'd say that they were probably on top in that firsthalf, certainly had the better moments anyway but then I thought it sort of swung our way.
“The first goal, whether it's a foul or not, I'm not sure. That bit I'm not sure, I haven't seen it but the kid’s come on and he scored a worldie, you have to give him credit for that - and that can happen in a game of football. If I'm walking in and the score has been 1-1 and they've got back in it with a strike like that, you have to go, ‘fair play’.
“But the second goal is ridiculous, the
second goal is ridiculous to concede. We've got the ball and then five seconds later it's in our net. It's not good enough - unforgivable, really.
“I’m not going to talk through that, I've spoken about it in the changing room and the lads know what I think about that. They'll know what we've done wrong and we'll talk about that but it's such a poor goal from our point of view. That stage of the game when we've got the ball, it just can't lead to that sort of situation.
The Dons travel to seventh-place Huddersfield Town on Saturday (3pm).
© Keith Gillard
Marc Guehi is leaving the Eagles next year
EXCLUSIVE
By Will Scott
AS A pre-teen, Oliver Whitby found himself caught between two south London rivals
Millwall moved first, inviting him to trial after spotting him at a school football match. Crystal Palace were not far behind, aware of him after he attended some of their camps.
“As soon as they [Crystal Palace] found out that Millwall offered me a trial, they offered me a trial, but I said I’d do the Millwall trial,” Whitby told this paper. “They [Crystal Palace] seemed pretty keen on me.
“Millwall just kind of snapped me up, and I took it.”
The Lions did not let him out of their grasp once he stepped onto the pitches at Well Hall.
“I was on trial for maybe four or five weeks, and they signed me without even seeing me in a game,” he said.
It was a coup to snap up a player who grew up in Sydenham, closer to Selhurst Park than The Den.
The midfielder’s footballing education has always been in south-east London, playing Sunday league for Dulwich Hamlet before signing for Millwall.
“There was no age group in my age, so I had to play one age group above, but it was more just fun,” he said. “I always knew that I wanted to be a footballer from a very young age, but it was never a serious thing until I signed. Then I was really training to become a professional.”
Whitby, now nineteen, initially found the adjustment to academy football tricky.
“When I first signed, it was all new to me, and I was a bit overwhelmed,” he said.
“It took me a year to really find my feet, and then from then on, I was always pretty comfortable. I got my early scholarship when I was fifteen. I was playing up a fair bit from fourteen onwards. I was always pretty confident that I was going to be retained.”
“I always enjoyed it. There was never a time when I didn't enjoy it. But it was very cutthroat. It's such a strange thing - you'll form a really strong bond with someone, and then they'll be gone. You'll speak to them once or twice a year over Instagram, and then that's it.”
The next big leap for Whitby was after he received his scholarship and made the step up to the under-18s.
“It was a big jump because my game's never really been physical, and it's obviously a very physical step up,” he said. “But it's a good thing. You learn how to play to your strengths more. “Going into full-time as well, it feels more like you're a professional. It feels more like you're a real footballer.”
“In my first year, I'd say I was quite in
By John Kelly
SAMUEL CHUKWUEZE made a strong case for a first Fulham start by setting up Raul Jimenez for the only goal just when it seemed the Cottagers’ dominance would yield only a draw against Sunderland at Craven Cottage last weekend.
Chukwueze, 26, who is on a seasonlong loan from AC Milan, replaced the ineffective £34million record signing Kevin in the 64th minute before crossing for Jimenez who beat Black Cats goalkeeper Robin Roefs to the ball six minutes from time. Fulham boss Marco Silva praised the
and out of form. Then my second year was when I found my feet. I played well in the Youth Cup, had some good performances, and at the end of the year, I got my pro deal. It took longer than expected, but it was all right in the end.”
Whitby was part of the bumper crop of under-18s players who signed professional deals ahead of the current season.
Sheldon Kendall and Jakob Przewozny signed their contracts in January before five more, including Whitby, were announced in August.
Whitby and his fellow future pros were left in the dark heading into decision day in May.
“[I found out] on the day,” he said. “They were keeping their cards close to their chest, so no one had any clue. Apart from Jakob and Sheldon, who got theirs in January. But there were five of us who got a
Nigerian winger’s “massive impact”. He added: “On the right and the left. We try to play him on the left sometimes. He had a massive impact. We are seeing small spells for him. We are going to need him to have this type of impact, if possible, from the start of the match. He makes good decisions, and he is creative."
All four of Fulham’s league wins this season have come at home. They have lost their last five away from home and travel to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. While Silva is pleased with their performances at Craven Cottage, he knows they have to improve on their travels.
He said: “It's crucial for us. It's about
‘IT’S A GREAT COMMUNITY CLUB’
Under-21s midfielder Oliver Whitby opens up on choosing between south-London rivals, nerves overpro dealand the advice that stuck with him
contract, but we had no clue until the day.
“I was pretty confident in myself that I deserved one, but I didn't really know if I was suited. Your mind just goes off on its own thing in that situation.
“You convince yourself of stuff that is just silly, and then after it, when everything's said and done, you realise that was silly. But in the moment, I didn't really know, but I was confident that I deserved one.”
Again, Whitby took time to adjust the next step up in his career - playing for Kevin Nugent and Paul Robinson’s under21s.
“I had a bit of a rocky pre-season,” he said. “I was struggling with my hip quite a bit. I'm still not over that, but I'm getting over it. I feel like I've definitely adapted now.
“I've enjoyed it. It's a lot more professional, I think. The facilities, the
coaching and stuff like that. I really enjoyed it.”
Playing for the under-21s entails regularly training with the senior team, the speed of which took some getting used to.
“It's a lot quicker,” Whitby said. “I remember the first time I went up, we were doing a small-sided game, and I was blowing straight away, which surprised me. It's been good, and everyone's really friendly. They all look after you.”
Whitby namedropped Billy Mitchell and Ra’ees Bangura-Williams as players who particularly helped him.
Asked if there was any specific advice they gave that stuck out to him, he said: “They told me to be busy. Be really busy and play the Millwall way. Once you get that down, then I can do the things that I'm good at.”
Whitby, who idolised Mesut Ozil as a kid, pinpointed exactly what those things were
“My strength is on the ball, just my technique, controlling the game and the tempo of the game,” he said. “I think I could work on my physicality. I'm not the quickest, but I feel like I'm good at working around that. I try to play to my strengths as often as I can.”
The silky midfielder could be the next technician to emerge from Millwall academy, following in the footsteps of Bangura-Williams and Romain Esse, and emphasised how much he has embraced the club that gave him his first professional deal.
“If I tell people who don't really know much about Millwall that I play for Millwall, they assume the worst,” he said. “But it couldn't be further from the truth. It's a great community club.”
November reign
Millwall
consistency. Home form has been really good. Third clean sheet at home, and we must try to replicate that on the road. It's something new for us this season. Last three seasons, we have been similar home and away. Let's hope soon we can have good results away from home."
Midfielder Alex Iwobi echoed his boss’s thoughts. He said: "Our home form has been really good. They're a tough side and they've been doing really well but we have belief that we can perform against anyone."
"We don't fear anyone in the league. We give our respect to Sunderland. But now it's all about consistency for us to go and get the results we need."
By John Kelly
ANDY
WOODMAN urged Bromley to “keep the momentum going” as they aim for a November clean sweep in League Two when they visit Walsall on Saturday.
Omar Sowunmi’s fifth league goal of the season and Will Hondermarck's effort before the break against Salford City at Hayes Lane sent the Ravens into the automatic promotion spots, two points behind leaders Walsall, after three successive league wins this month and four on the trot. Bromley will head into December
on top of the pile if they beat the Saddlers and Swindon Town don’t win at sixth-place Chesterfield.
“Four league wins on the bounce, I couldn't be happier for the boys and for all you supporters as well,” Woodman said.
“Saturday is a big one at Walsall, probably one of the biggest games in my tenure at the club. If you can make the trip, please do.
“I’ve been very open on what I want to achieve this season and I believe we can do just that. We're in a great position at the minutebut we need to keep the momentum going.”
Oliver Whitby
Sport INSIDE
GUEHI SETS BIG TARGETS
Estevao Willian pulls out the knee-slide celebration after his goal against the Catalan giants
Jones’s exes twist knife
By Will Scott
NATHAN JONES urged his side to “come through a tough week” after Charlton Athletic conceded eight goals in the first halves of successive games against the boss’s former sides.
After letting in five before the break in their 5-1 defeat to Southampton at The Valley last weekend, the Addicks were 3-0 down to Stoke City after 34 minutes at the bet365 Stadium on Tuesday night.
It was another horrendous start as Sorba Thomas scored in the third minute before Million Manhoef’s goal two minutes later.
Thomas got his second eleven minutes before the break and the only small mercy for Charlton was that it didn’t get any worse.
“It's a tough one to take,” Jones said. “We never gave ourselves a chance with the goals that we conceded and then we just became a containment exercise rather than something that we want to be, front-footed. The goals are so poor that it became a containment exercise rather than us trying to get points from the game.
ESTE WOW
By John Kelly
CHELSEA WINGER Estevao
Willian announced himself as potentially a great long-term rival to Lamine Yamal with a stunning goal in the Blues’ sensational 3-0 win over tenman Barcelona in the Champions League at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night.
Estevao scored Chelsea’s second in the 55th minute after Jules Kounde’s 27th-minute own goal.
Barca had skipper Ronald Araujo sent off for a second booking a minute before the break.
Substitute Liam Delap added the third for Enzo Maresca’s side in the 73rd minute, ending an eleven-
match streak without a goal, before Estevao went off to a standing ovation seven minutes from time.
Yamal, also eighteen, had been substituted in the 80th minute.
"I don't really have any words to sum up how I'm feeling right now,”
Estevao said. “It really was the perfect night. I'm just grateful to God for everything that has happened for me. Onwards and upwards from here."
Estevao’s goal came after he went past Pau Cubarsi before holding off Alejandro Balde and firing past goalkeeper Joan Garcia.
Estevao said: "It all happened very quickly for me, it sort of happened before I knew it. I just found some space, wiggled my way through and
then scored that goal. It was such a special moment for me in my career.
I hope to score many more.
"It was definitely the best moment of my career so far. I want to score many more for many years. I'm so grateful that my family were here watching me.”
He added: "From the moment I arrived here, I felt such a connection with the fans. I'm just so happy that I could score for them and make them happy. I hope to keep making them happy and score more goals for them."
Maresca feels the Club World Cup win in the summer has infused the squad with belief.
He said: "Winning it was very important for my players in terms
of confidence because they realised that they can win games against any team. When you're trying to build a winning mentality, you need to win games."
Despite Estevao’s brilliance, Maresca, who has rotated his side more than any manager in the Premier League this season, wouldn’t commit to saying whether the young star would start in the top-of-the-table home clash against Arsenal on Sunday.
"It was a huge night for him, but I think it is also a huge night for the whole club and all the fans,” Maresca said. “It is very nice for everyone.
"We will see [if he starts against Mikel Arteta’s side]. For now, it's time for us to recover our energy."
“The first one is pure luck, but can we do better? Can we stop the cross? Can we affect the cross? Can we not let that go in because it's just scooped in? It’s drifted in.
“The second one we feel is a foul because he's just jumped into the player and then the third one is just poor, but you can't give goals away like that at Championship level.
This is a top level, and then players that are good players anyway grow in confidence when they have a three-goal cushion. They grow in confidence and then it's virtually impossible to win a football game.”
Nearly 1,000 Addicks fans made the long trip.
Jones added: “It's a tough week. We have to come through these times. The fans were brilliant. They've travelled up there. We've let them down tonight. Tonight we were poor and that's something that I'll take on my shoulders because we can't do that to them.”
