Albion Millenium Green - The Next Decade

Ten years ago the Albion Millennium Green Trust was established to protect and preserve this tiny green oasis, tucked away at the end of Albion Villas Road, off Sydenham Park Road. Now with the help of Nature’s Gym volunteers, they’re planning for the next decade.

Nature’s Gym is organised by Lewisham Council and is designed to help people improve their fitness by getting involved in conservation work in the parks and green spaces around the borough. They can also organise environmental projects tailored for specific local groups, like the Albion Millennium Green Trust.

So, on a damp January morning, despite snow still lying on the ground, ten bold members of Nature’s Gym gathered to attack, hack, sift and generally sort out the litter and undergrowth in preparation for the Trust’s spring programme. More ground preparation work was carried out in February.

If you’d like to get involved in the next Nature’s Gym day at the Albion Millennium Green, do come along on April 8th 11am-2pm where they’ll be carrying on the good work and preparing six plots on the west side for MAY DAY!

Bank Holiday Monday May 3rd will be a fun day. To mark the Green’s tenth anniversary, a small orchard of six heritage apple species are going to be planted at the west end of the Green. Several local eminences have already agreed to be official tree planters. We may get a surprise celebrity!

Starting at 12 noon, the programme will be:

12.00-1.00 - tree planting

1.00-2.00 - bring-your-own picnic lunch;

2.00-3.00 - traditional May Day Morris dancing.

The Dacre Lady Morris dancers will give two performances and then invite audience participation in two teaching sessions.

Come along to mark this historic occasion. Bring friends and family, food and drink, skittles, boules or cricket bats and have a really fun celebration of May Day and the continued success of Albion Millennium Green!

To find out more about Nature’s Gym, you can visit the Lewisham Council website or email them at greenscene@lewisham.gov.uk

New Public Art in SE23

Local artists, Artmongers, have been selected to create a new piece of public art in Forest Hill. The Sainsbury’s footpath commission is the second piece of art aimed at enhancing the walking route from the Station to the Horniman Museum.

The artwork will celebrate the museum’s collections and take account of the history and characteristics of the local area. Local residents will be involved in research and design through a series of workshops being held at the Horniman.

The initiative has been funded through planning obligations agreed with Sainsbury’s in relation to the refurbishment of their London Road store. Decorative Newsfeeds, an online LED work, was commissioned for the store window in 2004 and a third project will be developed in the summer. Fabrication of the footpath commission is due to be started in April and then installed in May on the wall along the footpath linking London Road to Sainsbury’s car park at the back of the store.

31 artists applied to undertake the commission and the public were consulted on four shortlisted designs. Artmongers were selected on the strength of their imaginative response to the brief. The artist collective has produced some of the most memorable pieces of public art in Lewisham including the Feed the Cows wheelie bins at New Cross, the Brockley Key and two large murals in Deptford. Inspired by ideas of transformation within the Horniman’s collection, this project promises to transform the wall in a humorous and dramatic way.

Transport Update

We all love Forest Hill, but we do occasionally need to leave and that’s when it’s helpful to have good train services and road links. The Society’s Transport Committee is extremely busy at the moment as it grapples with the coming of the Overground, road improvements and car parking.

East London Line Overground (ELL)

Test trains are already running through Forest Hill and we are pretty confident that services from Crystal Palace and West Croydon will start on May 23rd. The new services will provide a significant increase in capacity with eight ELL trains per hour in each direction. The big question remains as to how many people will actually want to use the new trains to go to Canada Water, Shoreditch High Street or to the delights of Dalston Junction.

Trains

We have been campaigning against the reduction of train services to London Bridge from the present 6 trains an hour to four trains an hour from the date of the opening of the ELL. The only exception will be during the morning peak when there will be six trains an hour to London Bridge. Our efforts resulted in an adjournment debate in the House of Commons on 5th February when our MP, Jim Dowd, made a lengthy speech about train services in the area. He told MPs that members of the Forest Hill Society wanted to know why the ELL should not be reduced rather than the service to London Bridge until it becomes evident that there is a greater demand for services on the ELL.

Despite Jim’s actions, it seems probable that the new timetable will come into force as planned.

The direct service to Charing Cross ended before Christmas in spite of our campaign to save it. We marked the event by staging a mock funeral on the final day of services to the West End. This received considerable press coverage and a spot on the evening TV news.

Problems with the introduction of Oyster are too complex to go into here – suffice it to say that the Society has been meeting TfL and London Overground Rail Ltd (LOROL) to try to get them resolved as soon as possible. We have also lobbied successfully to keep the exit from Forest Hill Station onto Perry Vale open whenever trains are running.

Roads

We have been contributing to a study initiated by the Perry Vale Assembly to look at traffic and pedestrian issues in Perry Vale and Perry Rise. This has included walking the street with consultants and a film crew looking at all the potential trouble spots. The consultants will be reporting back and debating the issues at a couple of public meetings.

Car Parking

We are pleased to report that as a result of pressure from the Society and others, the Council has reached agreement with Sainsbury’s to provide two hours of free parking in the Pearcefield Road car park which should encourage people to do more shopping in Forest Hill. We are pressing for better signage to Forest Hill car parks with signs that emphasise the free parking period rather than the fact that they are Pay and Display.

If you have any transport or road related issues that you would like the Society to take up on your behalf, please email Andrew.

Visit to see Brogdale in Blossom

Can it be possible that spring is here? To celebrate, we’ve joined forces with the Sydenham Society to organise a trip on Saturday, April 17th to Brogdale Farm in Faversham, Kent - the home of the National Fruit Collection.

The aim is to arrive at Brogdale by 11.00 and have a cup of coffee; do the guided tour of the collection of blossoming fruit trees (approx 1 hour); lunch in the Brogdale cafe and either browse the rest of the site at leisure or linger in the gift shop. You can read about the farm at www.brogdalecollections.co.uk

We’re going in individual cars rather than a coach but the idea is that drivers with spare capacity offer lifts to other members. Contact should be made with Jackie Aldridge to let her know how many to expect.

Green Chain Walk Extended

During the summer, Forest Hill will be joining the Green Chain network, opening up some of London's best opportunities for recreational walking.

Stretching around South East London in a great arc from Crystal Palace to Erith, the Green Chain Walk was London's first long distance footpath. Whilst the 'main line' to Erith is some twenty one miles long the entire system accounts for just over forty. Its popularity lies in the remarkably pleasant landscape through which it passes. It's possible to walk miles without evidence that you're in a city and the views extend right out to the North Sea.

The new Forest Hill route will roughly follow the old railway line from Nunhead to Crystal Palace. There'll also be a branch to Dulwich Park for the Picture Gallery.

The extension will go through Nunhead Cemetery, One Tree Hill, both the Camberwell cemeteries, Horniman Gardens and Sydenham Hill Woods Nature Reserve.

The new footpath has been under consideration for some years so we’re delighted it’s now so close to becoming a reality.

There are free guided walks on the Green Chain throughout the year but meanwhile you can see how SE23 fits in by going to www.greenchain.com

Happy walking!

23 Club update

We’re trying lots of different ideas for the 23 Club this year. Some ideas will prove more successful than others but we do hope you’ll keep supporting the Club and pass on your suggestions to the organiser, Mary@foresthillsociety.com.

Our second Burns Night evening on January 23rd at All Inn One was fun with a good turnout too. Is there a large Scottish population in SE23?! There were a lot of kilts on the night – setting the scene for the haggis, neeps and tatties and a wee dram.

Tuesday March 23 : Stone Bar : a new Caribbean style bar in Honor Oak. 68-70 Honor Oak Park SE23 1DY : 020 8291 1447. Manager: Dominic www.stonebar.co.uk. Meet between 6-8pm for drinks (no booking needed) – tables will have 23 Club ID. If you decide to stay and have supper you don’t need to book. Menu info is on the website.

Friday April 23 : St George’s Day : Dulwich Wood House 39 Sydenham Hill SE26 6RS. The chef is preparing a St George’s Day menu (flamed dragon steaks perhaps?) Please book direct: 020 8693 5666 : 8pm : ask to be seated at a 23 Club table.

Sunday May 23 : East London Line : Launch Day! The Sydenham Society is arranging entertainment in one of the new ELL carriages on a specific train, timing as yet to be decided. We are invited to join in and travel with them to Dalston and back.

Forest Hill Pools — Latest Design Details

As we reported in January, the architects Roberts Limbrick have been selected as the preferred architects to deliver the detailed design for our swimming pools on Dartmouth Road. This Gloucester-based practice has built Leisure Centres and swimming pools before and is familiar with the engineering and design problems. They presented their thoughts and plans to the stakeholders group and to the Forest Hill Ward Assembly on 1st February.

If you cast your mind way back, you may remember a point when the Council presented us with three design proposals by different architects. The most popular (although we were told at the time it was far too expensive) was from architects Allies and Morrison which proposed a rectangular building with a wave shaped roof. Roberts Limbrick are working with this vision.

They suggest orientating the two pools in the same direction as the current pools but with the changing area in between. This would enable both pools to be lit by natural light from windows along the walls. The teaching pool would be more enclosed with a flexible exercise room above. A gym situated above the changing rooms would get natural light from over the larger pool which would be double height.

There would be two entrances, the current one on Dartmouth Road and another on the side by Kingswear House next to a new cafe. This would lead to a public area or mall behind the cafe and the superintendant’s house. There would be disabled access and coach drop-off in front of the Dartmouth Road entrance. There would also be some disabled parking but no other onsite parking as the site is too small.

The stakeholders and those attending the assembly had a number of questions about the parking, service, safeguarding pedestrians, the material to be used, and environmental issues: some of the roof may be green (sedum or grass), the pools would be covered when not in use to conserve heat, sustainable energy sources have been discussed.

From a visual point of view, the greatest problem is likely to be the relocation of some of the plant to the front of the building over the cafe. The architects will have to work hard to ensure this is not ugly and intrusive next to the Victorian building.

On the positive side, the firm does seem willing to engage with stakeholders and the public and now is the time to make your views heard before planning permission is sought later this year. Do you have a burning issue you would like us to raise? Do you want to be able to watch your kids while they are having lessons? Do you want Unisex changing, or a changing village? Whatever it is, please contact us via the Forest Hill Society.

Details of the consultation can be found here.

Friends of One Tree Hill - Annual Meeting and local history talk

One Tree Hill lies at the northern end of a prominent ridge of hills that has marked the boundary between kingdoms, counties, manors and ancient parishes for many centuries and has been an open space since time immemorial. In 1896 a golf club attempted to enclose the hill.

Local people campaigned successfully and on 7th August 1905 One Tree Hill was “opened to the public, and dedicated to their use, forever”.

The talk will cover the history of the hill, real and fictional, and describe the successful campaign to save it. For further details, contact Sandy.

Toilet Facilities to be built in Horniman Triangle

This was an issue which concerned a great many of us when Forest Hill Beach (the popular sand pit opposite the Horniman Museum) opened last Easter. There were no toilet facilities and this caused considerable problems for young children who couldn’t be expected to make it all the way to the Museum’s toilets when the time came. So the excellent news is that there will be new toilets next to the café in the Horniman Triangle in mid-Summer.

This has become possible because the Forest Hill Ward Assembly agreed to spend £3850 on the architects' designs. The designs were discussed at the last Ward Assembly on Monday 1st February with residents choosing the design which proposed attaching the toilets to the existing café building.

The current plan is for there to be two small toilets and a larger disabled cubicle which would include baby changing facilities. There will be a RADAR key available from the café for those who don’t have one and want to use the baby changing facilities.

The council is including the full £80,000 for the cost of building the new facilities in the new parks contract and the architects are expecting to complete their work and send it for planning permission in April. Lewisham Council is hoping that the building can be finished for mid-summer.

We’re grateful to the local residents and councillors who petitioned and campaigned for these facilities and hope they will make everyone’s life easier when they’re down at the beach.

Forest Hill Pools Consultation

Lewisham Council have just announced the following dates for a consultation on the design of the new pools.

You will be able to see the plans online or in person at the following times:

Wednesday, 17 March	Forest Hill Station 4.30 pm - 6.30 pm
Thursday, 18 March	Forest Hill Library 9 am -8 pm
Friday, 19 March	Sainsbury's (London Rd) 5 pm -7 pm
Wednesday, 24 March	Forest Hill Station 4.30 pm - 6.30 pm
Thursday, 25 March	Forest Hill Library 9 am -8 pm
Friday, 26 March	Sainsbury's (London Rd) 5 pm -7 pm

We will then have the chance to meet the architects to provide feedback and discuss any concerns on Saturday, 27 March at Forest Hill Station from 10 am -3 pm