25 July 2013

Summer at the Horniman

There are some great musical and dance events taking place at the Horniman this August. Here are just a few, but there are many of other events for adults and children throughout the summer.

Florilegium concert - Friday, 26 July 2013 (ticketed event)
Florilegium are one of the UK’s foremost period instrument ensembles.

Capoeira Workshop and Performance - Wednesday, 31 July 2013 from 1:30pm
The Afro-Brazilian artform of Capoeira combines martial arts, dance steps and music first developed by Africans as an act of resistance against their colonial rulers. This performance and simple workshop is suitable for all ages and will encourage you to take part in some simple moves.

Brazilian Ceilidh - Thursday, 1 August 2013 from 1:30pm
The Ceilidh Liberation Front, London’s newest and most radical ceilidh band, will invite everyone to take part in the famous Gaucho Handkerchief Dance, with a load of brightly coloured handkerchiefs provided so everyone can wear one and get into the spirit.

Amphion Consort concert - Friday, 9 August 2013 - 7pm (ticketed event)
The Amphion Consort presents an enjoyable and varied programme of guitar pieces by the Brazilian composer Villa Lobos, refined suites by Court of Versailles composers Marin Marais and de Visee, sizzling baroque songs from Latin America and music by J S Bach.

Latin Late at the Horniman - Friday, 16 August 2013 - 6pm (ticketed event)
Live music – Majagua
Circus - Circolombia
Film – The Suitcase Cinema
Talks and object handling - Life in the Amazon Rainforest
Dance - Tango Ball
Storytelling – Mexican stories

Summer Bandstand Concerts - Sundays from 3pm
Mafua de Yaya - Sunday, 28 July 2013
Lokandes - Sunday, 4 August 2013
Afro-American Project - Sunday, 11 August 2013
Cumbé - Sunday, 18 August 2013
Son Yambu - Sunday, 25 August 2013

Latin Music Fiesta - Sunday, 1 September 2013 - 12pm - 6pm
A big Latin fiesta in the Horniman Gardens to celebrate the end of the Latin American series of summer events: the programme will include carnival performances from Brazil, Argentinean tango, brass bands from Mexico, Peruvian party vibes and much more!

22 July 2013

Devonshire Road Open Day - Sunday 28th July

The Friends of Devonshire Road Nature Reserve hope that some of you can make it to their Open Day on Sunday. As usual, it will be a nice relaxed afternoon in the nearest thing to countryside South London has to offer. Musician friends very welcome to bring their instruments and join in.

12 July 2013

Featherstone Co-Housing Open Day




SATURDAY 27th JULY 
FROM 2PM – 5PM
1 Eliot Bank SE23

Featherstone Cohousing is situated at the top of Eliot Bank, near the junction of Sydenham Hill and Kirkdale. It is a large Victorian lodge with large grounds which could provide 33 spacious self-contained apartments and houses. 


Members of Featherstone Cohousing are holding an Open Day - a chance for you to look round the lodge, the site and the proposed plans for the first cohousing community in South London.

You will be welcome to talk to members of the community about their vision for establishing an ecological community that encourages independent living whilst sharing common spaces, social activities and extending them into the community.

Royal Horticultural Society Review of Forest Hill Edible High Road

The Edible High Road in Forest Hill got a very positive write up in Grass Roots, the magazine of the Royal Horticultural Society.


03 July 2013

Celebrate Independents' Day

The Americans may celebrate their independence on July 4th, but we're celebrating our independent traders.

Click image to download Totally Locally Fiver Fest leaflet

As part of their Totally Locally campaign, the Forest Hill traders are running a Fiver Fest which will see thirty of them running special offers over the weekend. Pop into your favourite shop to get a copy of the flyer which has details of all the offers, or download it now.

02 July 2013

Planned improvements to Forest Hill Station

We have just heard from LOROL that they are planning some upgrades to Forest Hill's station to cope with the growth in passenger numbers. The works they are proposing include a number of alterations as follows:
  • An extra ticket gate to be installed in the ticket hall.
  • Open-up two existing windows into doorways on the entrance to the ticket hall, and onto the platform.
  • Install DDA access ticket window
  • Improve the lighting
Now, if only we could have a decent looking building too...

01 July 2013

July Food Fair - Sunday 7th July from 11am

Great food from local producers and retailers.
Wimbledon men's final begins at 2pm, so come early if you are planning to see a British victory in the tennis!

29 June 2013

Second Forest Hill Fashion Week

There will be a second Forest Hill Fashion Week (FHFW) this autumn (20-25 September), and they are looking for local fashionistas to get involved right now!

This time they are doing it in association with the Horniman Museum, who are creating a whole Fashion themed ‘Museum at Night’ event for it. The catwalk shows will be held in Gallery Square, with a fashion market in the Conservatory and lots of other fashion-related events and displays, including static fashion shows.

That's just one evening of course. Over the following few days there will be Fashion Fun all around the Forest Hill shops and venues plus another all-day fashion market.

September will come around very quickly indeed, so this is what they are looking for right now:

  • Local designer-makers to submit their collections for consideration for the catwalk/static shows.
  • Local fashion/textiles/accessories experts, teachers or enthusiasts to run or host an event/workshop either at the Horniman event or in the high street.
  • Ideas for fashion events/workshops that you would love to see.
  • Market traders selling designer-maker fashion products.
  • Models for the Horniman catwalk show.
  • Advertisers and sponsors for their website, brochure or FHFW generally.

For more information and contact details, visit their website, foresthillfashion.com. In the meantime, do put 20-25 September in your diary, subscribe to their newsletter and like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter or do both.

28 June 2013

Friends of Mayow Park meeting

Are you a regular in Mayow Park? Would you like to find out more about activities and developments there? If so, the Friends of Mayow Park would like to see you at their General Meeting at 7pm on Tuesday, 9 July.

The meeting will be held at the Dacres Wood Nature Reserve Field Centre, which is a single storey building located up a driveway off Dacres Road, between Homefield House & Catling Close. The Field Centre is accessed through gates at the end of the driveway and turn left into building.


View Larger Map

They are particularly keen to invite regular park users including dog walkers, sports groups, young people aged 16+, parents of young children and others to join them. For more information email: friendsofmayowpark@ymail.com

27 June 2013

Chair’s Report - June 2013

It has been a busy three months for Forest Hill Society. Events like the 'Edible High Road' and the Food Fair take a lot of organisation behind the scenes and we are very lucky to have such a dedicated group of volunteers who give so willingly of their time for everyone's benefit.

We would like to do more. However, we need more helpers to make this happen. We also need new ideas and views to keep the Society fresh and proactive.

For example, we would like to extend the planters to the Perry Vale side of Forest Hill station and down Honor Oak parade, but before we do that, we need to make sure that we have enough volunteers to weed, water and tend to them; I do not want the planters to become neglected due to placing too many demands on too few people.

We're also looking for more volunteers to help deliver, write and design this newsletter. Each delivery route takes about half an hour – why not volunteer? It's only four times a year.

The Planning committee are working on a master plan for the future of Forest Hill, particularly the redevelopment of the station area and also looking at the regeneration of Kirkdale. The previous masterplan is now ten years old and many of its recommendations have been implemented so it needs updating. What changes would you like to see?

If you would like to learn more or have an idea which will make a difference in the community, then please drop an email to richard@foresthillsociety.com