Forest Hill Food Market - A Great Success

The stalls almost all ran out of stock before the end of the day in a busy Sunday in Forest Hill Station Car Park. Many thanks to all the stall holders and everybody who came along to sample the culinary delights of Forest Hill and beyond.

Food Fair - Sunday 22nd April

This Sunday (22nd April), the Forest Hill Society will be holding a Food Fair at Forest Hill station from 10am - 4pm.

There will be eight stalls selling Fresh Delicacies - Hot Food - English Cheeses, Pies & Tartlets - Handmade Scotch eggs - Award winning Chutneys - Caribbean Sauces and Spices - Artisan Bread - Delicious Cakes - Fresh Coffee from Fleisch - Hills & Parkes - The Egg Boss - BreadBread - The Forest Hill Cake Company - Mridula’s Kitchen - Pimento Hill - Franklins and On The Hoof.

The majority of the stall holders live locally and are trying the waters out here to see what demand is like. Please come along and show your support.


Once you have made your purchases, why not try one of our local restaurants? The Black Hummingbird, India Gate, Canvas & Cream, Sylvan Post, Question Bar, Dartmouth Tandoori and All Inn One are all running special taster dishes for £1 - £2. The Dartmouth Arms will also be offering free nibbles.

Finally, Sugar Mountain will be selling their sweets at the special rate of £1/100g

News and Events - April to May 2012

We have been extremely busy in the past three months, pushing forwards various projects including our "Portas Pilot" bid.  If you haven't seen the video yet, then please watch it on Youtube and then and 'Like' it.  The link is http://bit.ly/LoveOurTowns.

 

This month there is plenty going on:

 

Sunday, 22 April 10am-4pm Forest Hill Food Fair at Forest Hill Station

We will have a Market at the station, with eight stalls selling various produce and a taster trail involving nine pubs, cafes, restaurants and a sweet shop offering small portions for you to try - go along and sample those restaurants you haven't yet tried

Saturday, 28 April 2pm - 4pm Honor Oak Planting Honor Oak Park Station

Join us as we start this year's "In Bloom" effort with planting at Honor Oak Park Station.  All you need is a little enthusiasm - we have four planters to plant and may try to clear the weeds by the bins too.  Beginners welcome.  If you cannot make it on the day, please contact email@foresthillsociety.com to get involved with the watering and nurturing of the plants.

 

Sunday, 29 April 11:30am - 3:30pm Birds of Prey Devonshire Road Nature Reserve, 170 Devonshire Road, SE23 3SZ

The Devonshire Road Nature Reserve are hosting another of their successful "Birds of Prey" days.   There will be flights at 12 noon and 1:30pm, with tickets limited to 80 per flying session (Adults £3, Children £2, Family £8).  The reserve will be open until 5:30pm.

Some photos from a previous event can be seen here.

 

Sunday, 29 April 2:30pm - 4pm Forest Hill Planting Forest Hill Station

** PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATE **  NOW 29 APRIL.
Come along and build on last year's success.  We only have two new planters to plant as two have been damaged in storage, but we need to tend to the existing beds as well.  Beginners welcome - all you need is a little enthusiasm.  If you cannot make it on the day, please contact email@foresthillsociety.com to get involved with the watering and nurturing of the plants.

 

Saturday, 12 May 10:25am Lullingstone Castle outing Meet at Catford Bridge Station

Lullingstone Castle is one of England's oldest family estates, dating back to the time of Domesday.  Henry VIII and Queen Anne were both regular visitors.  In addition to the Manor House and Norman Church, the World Garden is a special attraction.

The Forest Hill and Sydenham Societies are arranging a joint trip.  If interested, please contact Quetta by emailing environment@foresthillsociety.com. Departure will be 10.25 a.m. from Catford Bridge station to Eynsford.  This is one station beyond Zone 6 so a ticket for the extra should be purchased at Catford Bridge if using a Travelcard.

Light refreshments are available on site or at the Country Visitors' Centre a short walk away along a path beside the River Darent - or take a picnic with you.

Please book your ticket with Quetta the week before the visit - i.e. between Monday April 30th and Saturday May 5th so that we can qualify for the Group rate (£6, in additon to train fare).   

 

Saturday, 12 May 11am - 3pm Sydenham Garden Spring Fair 28A Wynell Road, SE23 2LW

Sydenham Garden's annual Spring Fair takes place on Saturday 12th May 2012, 11am to 3pm.

They are a community charity and part of their mission is to involve the local community in their project, which offers therapeutic horticulture and creative opportunities to promote the physical and mental wellbeing of residents. There will be a stall aimed at promoting wellbeing and breaking the taboo about talking about mental ill health - their clients will be running many stalls at the event.  Go along and find out more about who they are, what they do and why.

 

Saturday & Sunday, 12-13, 19-20 May 11am - 6pm Open Artists Havelock Walk and others

Various artists are opening their doors as part of the Dulwich Festival.   

Almost all venues are open on the first weekend and many are also open on the second. A few venues are open on the second weekend only. For easy reference in the booklet and on the maps, green denotes venues open on both weekends, blue those open on the first only and yellow those open on the second weekend only. There is also an alphabetical list of artists at the back of the booklet.  Full details can be found at http://www.dulwichfestival.co.uk/openhouseprogramme

Saatchi and Nigella come to Canvas & Cream

Press Release from Canvas & Cream:

Canvas & Cream a new concept art space and dining experience in Forest Hill were host to Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson yesterday, there was a bit of something for both of them in Canvas & Creams’ unique Up-Cycled dining room which adjoins their Gallery/Project Space where artist Raf Zawistowski is exhibiting his new work.

Saatchi...... Raf Zawistowski’s solo debut show was bought outright by Saatchi before the show has opened. Raf Zowistowski’s show Halo curated by Juan Bolivar is showing at Canvas & Cream Gallery/Project Space from Thursday 19th April until 1st June. Zawistowski’s exhibition focuses on the relationship between materiality and his use of religious iconography, what Zawistowski refers to as existing between "the sublime and the anti-sublime". In this new body of work comprising of twelve paintings derived from the imagery of the 265 Popes to have reigned to date, Zawistowski hints at the Apostolic connection they have with the Christian faith, and the succession of spiritual authority embodied by these religious figures. Contact: Joanna Gore at info@canvasandcream.com +44(0)208 699 9589 / +44(0)7745 899462 Gallery Opening Hours: Thursday to Sunday 12-5pm (or by appointment) Canvas & Cream, 18 London Road SE23 3HF www.canvasandcream.com

Above photo by Annie Nilaker © Nigella........ After viewing the artwork in the Canvas & Cream gallery Nigella, wowed by the eclectic selection of cakes tweeted... ‘Fabulous Cakes at Canvas & Cream SE23 ‘You Must Go’,  after being presented with an Up-Cycled gift box made from a cigar box, two glass trinket boxes and fairy lights, containing homemade cakes she sent out a picture saying ‘My enchanting parcel of takeaway cakes, why haven’t I, of all people ever thought of fairy light giftwrap’. Canvas & Cream casually offers a fine dining cook to order menu and/or a tea with ‘fabulous cakes’,diners are surrounded by a creative Up-Cycled environment as they eat. See www.canvasandcream.com for details and events

Planning Applications: 113 Bovill Road and Forest Hill Hotel

113 Bovill Road
The Forest Hill Society has objected to a three storey office block in Bovill Road.
The details of the application can be viewed on the Lewisham council web site.

Our main reasons for objection are:

1. The site is not suitable for a 3 storey office building and other workshop uses
2. The inappropriate design of the replacement building

The full objection can be read here.


Forest Hill Hotel (Stanstead Road)
The Forest Hill Society has objected to the conversion of this pub to residential units.
The details of the application can be viewed on the Lewisham council web site.

Our main reasons for objection are:

1. The application fails to provide affordable housing

2. Poor internal layout

The full objection can be read here.

Into the Garden

Sydenham Garden will be opening its gates to the public for a unique musical event. Dreamt up by two students from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, ‘Into the Garden’ is all about promoting local musicians and highlighting the work of Sydenham Garden.
This is not your average concert; everyone is welcome to pop in at any time during the event. Performers will include the fabulous Sydenham Garden Choir and students from the Guildhall School, with further acts to be confirmed. Please see their website for the latest information – http://www.intothegarden.moonfruit.com
The event will run from 2.30-5.30pm on Sunday, 15 April at Sydenham Garden (28a Wynell Road, SE23 2LW) with performances taking place around the garden throughout the afternoon. There will be plenty of refreshments and homemade cakes on sale. Entrance is free, but donations for Sydenham Garden will be welcomed. They ask that children under 16 are accompanied by a responsible adult.

Vote for Forest Hill

Show your support by 'liking' our Portas Pilot video on YouTube.

The Forest Hill Society has been working with our bid partners to secure £100,000 funding for the Sydenham, Forest Hill and Kirkdale Town Team. This will help pull together the various traders' groups, civic societies, landlords and organisations in the area to drive improvement in our Town Centres.

The aim of the Portas Pilot is not to pay for all the improvements that we would like to see - it is much more about effecting change which will lead to those improvements through dynamic leadership.

We would love to get the street clutter removed, install better signage, let people know where the car parks are, link the Horniman Museum with Forest Hill, and fill our empty shops with quality independant offerings, but this is not going to happen unless we make it happen. We cannot just sit back and wait for TfL, the council or whoever to do it for us.

The Town Centre Team will work together to promote Forest Hill, Sydenham and Kirkdale, address the issues and effect change. It will benefit by sharing the many talents and enthusiasm that we have in the area and, by sharing the workload, will result in more changes for the better.

We look forwards to being active participants.

(The Forest Hill Society's bid partners include Lewisham Council, Sydenham Society, Kirkdale Village Traders, Sydenham Town Centre Steering Group and many other individuals.)

Pools Update - July Opening?

At a recent meeting of the Stakeholders' group, presentations were made by Fusion Lifestyle and Willmott Dixon. The facility will be open 7am-10pm on weekdays and 7am-6pm at weekends and will include:

• a 25m length swimming pool
• a 16.7m length learner pool
• a 54 piece, state-of-the-art fitness suite with 20% of the equipment being IFI accredited. The Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI) is a programme supporting the fitness industry to become more inclusive - catering for the needs of disabled and non-disabled people, as well as raising physical activity participation levels.
• two studios
• a café area. Fusion are currently tendering for the café operator. They have advertised through local and national press and received 14 expressions of interest, of those 8 have submitted pre-qualification questionnaires (the first phase of selection) and will be invited to submit a full tender brief on how they will manage the café. Fusion stated their desire to work with a partner who will actively engage with the local community.
• a community room for hire
• spectator viewing and
• an exhibition area

Fusion's presentation included provisional schedules for the pools. These can be viewed on our Flickr account - Blogger refuses to display them correctly. Please feedback any comments to email@foresthillsociety.com.

The timetable for the main pool can be found here. One lane will usually available at all times during a general swim session for lane swimming.

The timetable for the Learner Pool can be found here. The community sessions are a new addition for Forest Hill Pools which have been created to allow community groups such as disabled groups a slot on the timetable to use their local leisure centre. These sessions will be open to the community and Fusion Lifestyle would like groups to come forward who are interested in using them. If you email us, we will forward your email to Fusion.

Fusion Lifestyle also asked for any opinions on how the studios should be used to be fedback

Two other items were also discussed. A specialist design company called Atelier has been commissioned by Lewisham to design a permanent exhibition or artwork reflecting the history of the old Forest Hill Pools which will be displayed in the new building. Stakeholders were encouraged to bring forward any old pictures/ photographs or information they may have of the building or the area that could be contributed to this work. Contact Tim Andrew for further details.

Finally, the Council wish to go out to tender for an organisation to take on Louise House. They are open to innovative ideas on how to feasibly develop the site whilst retaining a community focus to the site.

The Council are hoping to open the building by July 2012, with an official opening ceremony on 22nd September 2012. Photos of the current progress can be found on Lewisham's, Willmott Dixon's and Forest Hill Society's Flickr accounts.

Planning Application - 49 Houston Road - DC/12/79665

There has been another planning application for 49 Houston Road following the rejection of the previous application.
The new planning application can be viewed on the Lewisham Council website. The Forest Hill Society have written to object to this application on the basis that the application includes poor internal layout, poor outlook and daylight, and will increase overlooking of neighbouring properties.

Horniman Licensing Application

Horniman Museum and Gardens have recently applied for a licence for entertainment and serving alcohol for up to 15,000 people. We contacted the Horniman to ask for more details about this application. Here's what they said:

The Horniman currently has a licence to provide what is termed “regulated entertainment” this means that we can show plays, films, have live music, dance and things of a similar description. The licence allows for “the provision of entertainment facilities” for making music, dancing, and entertainment of a similar description. Our current licence also allows for the sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises at certain times and we are applying to change these times to enable us to sell alcohol through the shop, cafe and at some events.

Our current licence is complex in terms of the different hours for which different activities are licensed, and we now need to update it to include our new ‘Gardens Pavilion’ which will sometimes be used for the licensable activities referred to above.

We plan to base our programme around the traditional size of event we have been running for many years. Typically over the last decade our larger events have attracted 5,000-10,000 people over the course of the day. This year we have World City Music Village planned for June (5-10,000 people), the Big Dance Picnic planned for 8 July (2-5,000 people) and a community launch for the Gardens planned for 31 May (approximately 2,000 people).

We have had experience of one very large scale event in the summer of 2009 (attended by approximately 20,000 people) which we believe was too large for our site and facilities. We have no intention of staging such very large scale events in the future.

We are not planning events attracting over 10,000 in the course of the day, but we have applied for up to 14,999 on site ( licence bands go up in units of 5,000) to ensure that just a few people over this target do not put us in breach of our licence.

We very much hope that local people will enjoy and participate in our summer programme this year.