Man Digs Pond

An exciting event from our friends at Albion Millennium Green...

• A Man will move.
• A Man may sing.
• A Man will not speak.
• A Man may cry.
• A Man will not leave until A Man has dug a pond.

Over 24 hours, A Man will dig a wildlife pond, complete with a garden bog area, flora and fauna and a rock garden for amphibians.

Start: Saturday 5th November 8.00pm
End: Sunday 6th November 8.00pm

Venue: Albion Millennium Green

From 1.00pm - 8.00pm on Sunday, delicious and great value bbq food for sale, (with veggie options).

This is a free event. The audience can come and observe A Man working for as long as they want. There will also be an opportunity to sing if you want to. School choirs and groups and individuals of mixed singing ability will sing a song or two as an accompaniment to the action. From 1.00pm till 8.00pm Sunday you can just turn up and sing anything you want. As long as there is nothing offensive in the lyrics. There will be no amplified sound, so no microphones. Feel free to bring an acoustic instrument. Out of respect to the neighbours there will be no drumming after dark.

Getting There:
Entrance at the end of Albion Villas Road. London. SE26 4DB.

Forest Hill Society AGM 2011

Thurs 6 October, 7.30pm Upstairs at The Hob (opposite Forest Hill Station)

Come along and find out what your local community group achieved this year and what's being planned for next year. The Forest Hill Society AGM is open to all residents in SE23 and we’d love to see you there. If you are interested in joining the Executive Committee, helping out at events and local activities, or just finding out what we do, then please do come along to a relaxed and social evening. There’ll be a bit of updating on what we’ve been doing and what our plans are, and a vote for committee members. Primarily, it’s about finding out what you want.

We’re passionate about making SE23 an even better place to live.

If you are interested finding out what the Executive Committee gets up to with a view to joining please email richard@foresthillsociety.com

If you’d like to help out on a less formal basis come along on the night and see what takes your fancy or, email alison@foresthillsociety.com and we’ll be in touch as and when.

Date for your Diary

Sun 23 Oct 11am-3pm: Open Day at Dacres Wood Nature Reserve
Sun 30th Oct - 2:30pm : Spring Bulb Planting at Forest Hill Station

Sat 5th Nov - Sun 6th Nov, 8pm-8pm: Man Digs Pond, Albion Millennium Green

Weds 12 Oct 7pm: Perry Vale Ward Assembly, Forest Hill School, Dacres Road, SE23 2XN
Tues 1 Nov 7.30pm: Forest Hill Ward Assembly, (venue TBC)
Weds 9 Nov 7pm: Crofton Park Ward Assembly (venue TBC)

Success at Assembly!

We are happy to report some excellent news following our campaigning! The Forest Hill Local Assembly voted to fund 13 projects across the ward and the Forest Hill Society was lucky enough to receive funding for all four of our proposals - totalling just under £19,000. Two projects will improve the Horniman Triangle play park: the addition of two new sets of equipment; swings for the young and games tables for all ages. The games tables will allow park users to play table tennis on sturdy outdoor tables.

The two other projects improve the town centre. We’ll be able to continue the flower planting around the station and opposite the Horniman Museum. The funding will also allow us to maintain the planting and expand the scheme to other locations in the town centre, as well as improve watering facilities at the station, to make maintenance much easier. The final project will target empty shop fronts in the town centre and use them to display large images from the Horniman collection, brightening up the town centre and providing a visual link between the town centre and the Horniman Museum.

A great result for us, and for the community. Well done to the Society members and SE23 people who worked so hard to develop and submit these bids.

APPALACHIANS AT FOREST HILL

Richard and Julia have been running the Foresters for over ten years making it more family friendly, and offering a good range of food and drink. The building itself is fascinating, originally mid-Victorian, but following bomb damage, a major make-over was undertaken in the 1950s.

Unknown to many, on Monday nights they hold an acoustic bluegrass session. This American roots music, derived from English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish folk, with jazz and blues influences, originally featured guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo and double base. As Forest Hill local, Dave Marshall, explains they accept all comers such as dobro and drums, and delve into other genres, popular and traditional.

Dave is a captivating character. He recalls his formative years in the 60s when he was mesmerised by groups including The Animals, Howling Wolf and John Lee Hooker at Newcastle’s Club A’Gogo. He late ran a folk club at the Bird in Hand.

The session is held virtually every Monday, check http://ukbluegrass.com/forum/ (search for ‘Foresters’) for details or contact Dave directly: davermarshall@yahoo.com. Session members, such as dobro player Mark Langmead, can give advice on lessons and where to buy a instruments.

You don't need to play to enjoy the session. You can enjoy a quiet chat, read or contemplate life, and let the music wash over you. For those new to this you may wish to take out the wonderful Coen brothers DVD 'O Brother Where Art Thou'.

The Foresters has tried other nights including trad jazz, and Blues, sadly falling my the wayside. Richard and Julia are happy to consider suggestions.

FHS MONTHLY OUTINGS!

We are keen to hold regular events for both members and all residents of SE23. Previously, this was done via social evenings in local restaurants and called the 23 Club. We felt that these events, apart from being at a cost, also missed out some of the fabulous things to do in the area. Plus the word club could sound a bit exclusive. And that we are not!

So, we plan to organise monthly events, on or around the 23rd of the month. The forerunner was a river walk in August along the Pool and Ravensbourne, from Bell Green to Ladywell. It was a lovely walk and a gorgeous day, so much so there was a mass dipping of toes to cool off. However we need ideas so come to the AGM or look out for e-news for details.

Chair's Report - September 2011

It may seem that we have been a little quiet in recent times, in the absence of high profile issues such as the possible demolition of the pools, and threats to our train services. These united the community in opposition. But let me reassure all members that our work does not stop there and there is plenty going on behind the scenes!

The main campaign we have supported this year has been the ongoing fight to save Honor Oak Rec from being claimed as burial space.

Another focus has been the town centre. To this end, we have been actively involved in decorating the Christmas Tree and planting the flower beds outside the station and organising a pop-up event. We have also been active in removing graffiti, pushing for the underpass to be refurbished and getting the railway bridge repainted, as well as meeting with TfL to make some changes to the South Circular. Some of these changes are still in the pipeline and we will be following up to make sure that the promises are delivered.

The next year looks very busy, with over £17,000 of projects to deliver from the Local Assembly Fund, the effects of the Localism Bill to react to and a resurrected monthly social event. We would like to do more, but need more volunteers. If you have something you feel strongly about, or can spend a few hours a month volunteering then please consider joining the Executive committee. Each year some people leave due to moving house, a new job or University commitment. Children grow up and new residents arrive and we hope that they will all become active in their community.

I look forward to meeting you at the AGM and hearing your news.

Five Years on and Still Going Strong

Whilst there's no room for complacency, nor should we go all sentimental, it is still good to reflect that our AGM this year is our fifth anniversary.
Of course it's not been all plain sailing, we have a broad range of opinions and strive to represent the views of all in this, until recently, relatively hidden gem of SE London.

So how did it all start? On 23 April 2006 a local resident with the pseudonym ‘Roz’ started a post on the chat room SE23.com about setting up a new society. Interest picked up quickly and, a month to the date, around 20 of us met at the Dartmouth Arms. This included mystery residents who used evocative monikers such as Hilltop General, KK, and Loneranger.

It all seemed very organic at the time, but looking back much had already been done by the time we met, our current vice-chair (and former chair) Michael had already started working on a constitution. Importantly we ensured that this recognised that Forest Hill and Honor Oak were already thriving areas, and that our role was to make SE23 an even better place to live.

Four months later at the Friends Meeting House in Sunderland Road 150 members met. The feature was a discussion on the proposed new East London Line extension (aka the Overground) and it was refreshing that whilst most welcomed this, there was a strong voice objecting to any degradation of the existent service to London Bridge. (Now we look to more exotic proposals such at the Bakerloo and DLR extensions). You may find it interesting to revisit these minutes: www.box.net/public/rk7cyyyet6

Committee members were voted in and, in what seems like record time, the Society had gone from a speculative discussion to a fully fledged organisation.
(To be continued in Autumn 2016!).

NEW TRAIN SERVICES, FULL STEAM AHEAD?

Michael Abrahams, from our transport sub-committee, explains how three major rail projects that are already in hand, and a fourth under consideration, could affect us.


Crossrail (see right) will provide fast connections in an East-West direction across central London. For passengers from Forest Hill the interchange at Whitechapel (on the East London Line) will provide good connections to the West End, Paddington, West London and Heathrow.
Thameslink trains are expected to run a stopping service including our stations, allowing direct travel to Blackfriars, Kings Cross, and further north. This could be a half-hourly service during morning peak, extending two existing services into London Bridge.

DLR recently published a map (see below) showing proposed extensions to the East (to Dagenham), to the West (Victoria and Euston), and to the South (Catford and, taking us by surprise, Forest Hill).

The configuration of railway tracks and roads South of Lewisham is a challenge, beyond Catford is more problematic - elevated above or underneath the South Circular, or through houses.
Another option may be terminating at Bell Green rather than Forest Hill, which could be part of the regeneration of the area. We are already well served for Canary Wharf and beyond.

Finally, the East London Line phase 2 project is an important new service for Southwark residents, complimenting phase 1 taking us to Canada Water, Shoreditch, and now Highbury & Islington.

Michael will be explaining how we hope to influence the Bakerloo line extension in our next edition.

Countdown 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,0

TfL has quietly introduced an online Countdown bus information service for mobile phones and PC/Mac users. After testing has completed, this should enable you to find out approximate bus times by either typing in a bus route, postcode, bus stop name, bus stop code or if you have a smartphone, GPS will find your local stops for you. You can find the site on your mobile at http://m.countdown.tfl.gov.uk or on your computer at http://accessible.countdown.tfl.gov.uk/