Red Grape Vines Flourish in SE23

Yep, you can grow large bunches of grapes outdoors in Forest Hill - and eat them! Tony Petim, a Forest Hill Society member, shows just some of his many bunches of grapes - many measuring over 25cm in length - from his small garden in SE23.

Tony was brought up growing grapes and making wine with his parents in Portugal but today he just enjoys them for garden decoration and eating. The tradition where he comes from is that you share excess harvests with friends, family and neighbours, which is how we found out about them. They are delicious! So we asked Tony to share his secret.

“Actually there is no Secret – It’s simple and probably only needs about 2 hours effort per year. Here are my tips:”

Position – Pick a reasonably sunny position, although not essential. Large pots are OK but a well drained hole in the garden soil is best.

Purchase - Get a grape vine from a local garden centre. Plant it and leave it alone. Variety is not important as most of the ones sold here will handle the average English weather.

Pruning – In late February or March the following year, prune back to the main stem, leaving one stem or the main two “brown” stems (if any).

Training – As new green buds grow, keep only 10-20 green bud shoots, depending on the size and age of your vine. Pick off the ones that grow low along the main stem. These sap the strength from the green shoots above. When you have your 10-20 buds, be merciless with any new ones and nip them off! The 10-20 buds will grow and grow.

Fertilizer – When buds start to appear in late February or March, feed the vine with a high potash fertiliser every 2 or 3 weeks. If growth is poor, then give it a boast with some nitrogen based fertiliser.

Nipping – OK, this is the real secret. i) when the grapes start to grow, nip 1 or 2 leaves nearest the grapes. ii) as the vine grows, say, another 50-100cm from the grapes, nip the ends of that vine to stem its growth. This means more of the plant’s energy goes into growing grapes.

Pests – Use standard pest control sprays to treat problems such as vine weevil, downy mildew, grey mould, etc.

Eating – Wait, wait,...wait...and then, in early to mid-Sept, pick the grapes off and enjoy them with friends, family and neighbours.

Tyson Road Development Rejected … Again!

We are pleased to report that following our objection to the proposed development on Tyson Road and almost 350 letters of objection, Lewisham Council’s planning department has rejected this development. The department’s planning officers say the “layout, height, design, fail to complement or, moreover, be compatible with the scale and character of the surrounding environment, resulting in an un-neighbourly form of development.”

Many thanks to all those who wrote to object to this planning application. However, if you’ve followed this story, you’ll know that it’s on ongoing battle of wills. The developer recently announced that he would appeal to the planning inspectorate. There will be a local public inquiry on 23 Feb 2010 at Lewisham Town Hall that could last up to four days.

The Society and local residents are planning their next move and we shall let you know how we plan to rise to this latest challenge.

Cricket on the Village Green

With much of the country under water, our thoughts turn to sunnier times … cricket could well return to Mayow Park.

Plans are afoot to rebuild the cricket square, renovate the outfield and, eventually, refurbish and extend the Pavilion. The former England Captain, Mike Gatting, has visited the park on behalf of the England and Wales Cricket Board and the ECB has now

agreed in principle to fund up to 75% of the project.

The local social enterprise, Envirowork, would then maintain the grounds as part of a training project for the long-term unemployed. Teachsport would provide coaching sessions. There will be a consultation before the full plans are drawn up; watch this space!

NoToTrainCuts! Article on East London Lines

The following article has just appeared on East London Lines

Funeral for last direct train to Charing Cross

Last Saturday commuters marched through Charing Cross station laden with an empty coffin to mark the end of Southern railway’s Charing Cross service.

 The protesters, many dressed in funereal black, had travelled into the West End on the last direct Sydenham to Charing Cross train.

From here on Southern services will terminate at London Bridge, forcing commuters who board at Brockley, New Cross Gate, Honor Oak Park, Sydenham and Forest Hill to change trains for Charing Cross.

Commuters opposed to the cut argue Southern’s Charing Cross service was vital to residents of southeast London, a claim supported by figures from the Office of Rail Regulation which show nearly 11 million people used that stretch of line in the 2007/8 financial year.

Dan Woods, 31, played the accordian during Saturday’s memorial. He said: “The train service has been getting increasingly worse and increasingly crowded. Now I take my bike into town. They’re doing a great job of promoting cycling by making the train service worse.”

His partner, Amy Ip, 30, added: “We’re both actors. If we’re working in town, we depend on the Charing Cross service, especially at night.”

The weekend’s protest was organisd by a collection of Lewisham civic groups angry at the service cuts. A petition for their campaign NoToTrainCuts has attracted 3,000 signatures so far.

Southern’s Charing Cross service was axed to make way for Britain’s fastest commuter train, SouthEastern’s Javelin, which shuttles between London and Kent at 140mph and began full service on Saturday.

Despite the cessation of the Southern service campaigners do not believe the battle is lost. Barry Milton, Chair of the Sydenham Society, said: “We believe we can still get the service resurrected.

“We’re trying to get the mayor of Lewisham and our MPs to go to the Department of Transport. If they want to get themselves reelected they need to get in and make them change their minds.”

Southern also plans to cut the number of trains traveling to London Bridge in the afternoons and evenings from six an hour to four to allow for the East London Line overground service due in May 2010. The ELL will run eight trains an hour.

A Transport for London (TfL) spokesman said: “TfL is not cutting any services. We are in fact extending the East London Line and it is because of this Southern has decided it can afford to cut their trains as fewer people will be using them.”

Mr Milton disagreed: “We love the East London Line, it’s the best thing to happen to us for years, but it’s only going to serve 30 per cent of commuters. We believe the core service must be retained.”

Southern say the cuts are out of their hands.

Demonstration against Train Cuts on BBC TV

 
Saturday's demonstration against the cuts in service made it on to the BBC London news.

Farewell to Direct Services from Charing Cross

Thanks to @terryduffelen

Death of Charing Cross Direct Service

Today we bid a sad farewell to the through trains to Charing Cross.

A funeral procession, complete with coffin, will assemble on Platform 1, at 1 pm, at Forest Hill Station and will take the following train (back coach) to Charing Cross to mark our tragic loss.

13:09 - Sydenham
13:12 - Forest Hill
13:14 - Honor Oak Park
13:17 - Brockley
13:19 - New Cross Gate
13:26 - London Bridge

Ironically we will have to change trains at London Bridge due to Engineering works.

13:38 - London Bridge
13:47 - Charing Cross

Everyone affected by the unfortunate occurrence will be welcome come to the to the funeral, suitably dressed of course.


Funeral directors: Brockley Cross Action Group, the Brockley, Telegraph Hill, Sydenham and Forest Hill Societies

December Festivities

Saturday, 5th December, THE START OF CHRISTMAS IN FOREST HILL.

10am-5pm – All Inn One – Dancing on Ice. The car park will be transformed into SE23’s only ice rink with skates of all sizes available for hire. Father Christmas will be there, as will carol singers and face painters. Food and drink a-plenty!

Father Christmas will also be at Question Bar 45/47 Dartmouth Road between 2 and 3.15pm. He will then do a walkabout in The Town Centre. Festive singing will be provided by the Youth Choir from Living Springs International Church

12-5pm - Craft Fair at The Hob, 7 Devonshire Road.


12-5pm, The Honor Oak, 1 St German’s Road - Tea & Make. Craft and the art of making-do. PLUS Celebrity Christmas Light switch-on at 5pm! (Special guest to be announced.)




Saturday, 12th & Sunday, 13th December - The Havelock Open Studios. The artists invite you to join the excitement and show your support for creativity in the community.

PLUS 11th December – 7-9pm - Opening Night. Barbecue, Music, Performance. They're also having a prize draw during the open studios to win one of three works of art - tickets £1 each. www.havelockwalk.com


Sunday, 13th December from 11am. Tree dressing in Mayow Park, by the pavilion. It would help us if you could bring any special scraps of fabric, coloured leaves, berries, paper, ribbon and glue with you. There’ll also be a Christmas Fair between 11am and 4pm with Father Christmas, a local choir and market stalls.

Sunday, 13th December – 3pm- 6pm. Horniman Gardens Carol Singing. Christmas really isn’t Christmas until you’ve sung your heart out at this fabulous annual event. The carols start at 5pm with the English Baroque Choir and Crystal Palace Band. But before that there’s festive fun with a FREE Santa’s grotto, refreshments, toy stalls, roasted chestnuts.

Interview with Richard Hibbert on Rail Cuts

Thanks to http://www.eastlondonlines.co.uk/

No To Train Cuts! - The Campaign moves up a gear

Our train services are under threat again from multiple fronts.

With the cross-party support of local politicians, the Forest Hill and Sydenham Societies have been running a campaign against proposed cuts to our service on one of Southern's busiest passenger routes. We have written to the Minister of Transport, both privately and in an open letter, requesting a meeting to discuss our concerns, but while we have had a reply, he has not yet agreed to a meeting. Over 1500 people have already signed our petition.

As a result, all the civic societies along the line will be leafletting their local stations demanding action. Brockley Central, Forest Hill and Sydenham Societies handed thousands of leaflets out today and HOPRA and the Telegraph Hill Society will leaflet Honor Oak Park and New Cross Gate tomorrow. We will be encouraging all the affected commuters to sign our petition at http://nototraincuts.notlong.com/ and write to their MP (either Joan Ruddock or Jim Dowd) asking them to raise this matter with the Minister for Transport.

What are the cuts?

In December, Southern Railways plans to cease service into Charing Cross station, terminating all services at London Bridge.. This is as a result of the DfT and SouthEastern Railways agreeing to exclusive access by SouthEastern Railways (also operated by Southern Railways' parent company GoVia). Southern have tried to smuggle this change in without any announcement; there is nothing on their website regarding this change in service despite the fact that they claim to have consulted widely in their official submission to ORR, the rail regulator. This off-peak service on one of south London's busiest lines has significant demand and there was supposed to be further investigation before the service to Charing Cross was altered.

As if this wasn't bad enough, Southern Railways plan to reduce the number of trains in the afternoon and off peak which serve the Sydenham line by making the Caterham and Sutton trains fast to Norwood Junction. This means that the number of trains will be reduced from six trains an hour to four trains an hour once the East London Line starts operation in May 2010.

Southern have previously argued that the Sydenham line requires eight trains an hour formed of 12 coaches in order to have sufficient capacity to take commuters to Central London, which is where the majority wish to travel. How can a reduction from six trains an hour to four be justified (regardless of the number of coaches)? They claim that we will have additional capacity, but official modelling of demand for the East London Line service predicts severe high peak crowding from day one.

The third threat to our services comes from the possible reinstatement of the South London Line service from Victoria to either Bellingham or London Bridge. One of the options currently being considered by TfL and Passenger Focus is to cancel our loop service from London Bridge to Victoria via Crystal Palace and replace it with one via Peckham Rye instead.