Forest Hill's Secret Fishmonger

 By Jeremy Cutler

Many residents, especially newcomers, bemoan the lack of a permanent fishmonger in Forest Hill. However, there is one which people may not know about but has been well-established for over 30 years. The business does not have shop premises, but trades from a van on Thursday mornings, parked on the slip road adjacent to WHSmith near Forest Hill station.

Grant Stanley is the man with the van and has been in the family fish business himself since he was a boy — out on the fishing boats as well as helping with all aspects of the business.

I spoke with Grant recently, and he said he had reluctantly reduced his visits to Forest Hill to fortnightly instead of weekly. He gave me three reasons for this: firstly, Lewisham Council had been unhelpful, telling him that he had no right to park and trade where the family had been doing so since 1977; secondly, Network Rail had also challenged Grant about parking on 'their' road (although I understand that ownership of the roadway may not be fully established); and thirdly, business had dropped off, as loyal customers had died or moved away.

The selection of available fresh fish depends upon what has been caught and landed in Hastings, where Grant is based. This is supplemented with Scottish Salmon, as well as fresh cod and haddock, which are also usually from Scotland. My own experience has been one of excellent choices which are reasonably priced, cleaned and filleted (if required) on the spot, with expert cooking advice if needed.

Not many areas of London are fortunate in having fresh fish supplied directly from the coast, and I would encourage residents to try Grant’s fish. If we don't use him we might lose him. Grant indicated that, if there were more interest, he might bring back his weekly visits. Some appreciation could go a long way in ensuring he doesn't become ‘the one that got away’!

Grant also does home deliveries (call 01424 441745).

Children's Book Sale - 14th September

Open House London - 21st-22nd September

Walter Segal Self-Build Houses, Walters Way, Honor Oak, SE23 3LH

https://openhouselondon.open-city.org.uk/listings/1615

A well-known close of timber-framed, self-built houses, constructed in the 1980s.

Forest Mews (access from Rockbourne Road), SE23 2AT

https://openhouselondon.open-city.org.uk/listings/5682

10am-1pm Sunday 22 September only.  No advance booking - may need to queue.

Three modern houses around a communal courtyard.  One house open to the public.

 

JAWS (James and Wakana's Studio), Sienna Place, Honor Oak, SE23 1DZ

https://openhouselondon.open-city.org.uk/listings/7682

Purpose-built pottery studio within a private mews, behind a Victorian terrace.

11am-4pm both Saturday 21 September and Sunday 22 September

Hive House, Hawskesfield Road, Forest Hill, SE23 2TL

https://openhouselondon.open-city.org.uk/listings/8049

Rear extension to a family home

10am-5pm Saturday 21 September.

Architect-led tour every 60 minutes from 11am-4pm.

Relaunch of Friends of Forest Hill Library

Forest Hill Library has been operating successfully as a community library since October 2016. The library is run primarily by volunteers but relies on a couple of staff employees to ensure the smooth running of the library and its IT systems and to maintain a clean environment for all library users. We are incredibly lucky to have so many volunteers to keep the doors open and to help people with their books and computer needs.

The library has 16 computers that are well-used by the public and large book collections for children, teenagers and adults. There are also regular Origami classes, Baby Bounce and Rhyme Time events, a Book Group for adult readers and a Lively Minds discussion group for the over-50s. All of these activities are also run by volunteers from the local community!

Although our focus is on running the best-possible community library, we also need to consider the financial viability of its operation since, over the past couple of years, expenses have begun to outweigh income.

There are four main sources of income: room rentals on the upper floors of the library building, profits generated by Leaf and Groove — a second-hand book shop in Dartmouth Road — and grants and donations.

When we first took over running the library, we received many generous donations from members of the public, but we have not asked for any more donations since then. We now need to re-institute our Friends’ scheme in order to supplement our regular income, and we would welcome additional donations that individuals and business would like to make.

Our community library will always be free to use by anyone in the community. To ensure that we can continue to provide this service for over 60 hours a week, we need to appeal to the generosity of the local community.

Please consider supporting our much-loved library by becoming a Friend or Patron.

Becoming a Friend of Forest Hill library costs:
£29 for individuals per year
£99 for a business per year

 Becoming a Patron of Forest Hill library costs:
£300 for individuals
£500 for a business

We also welcome any one-off donations, no matter how small or big; and, since we are a charity, we can collect gift aid from personal donations made by UK taxpayers.

To become a Friend of Forest Hill Community Library download the form here.

Forest Hill Society Visits Parliament

By Belinda Evans

Thursday the 6th June was an inspirational day for members of the Forest Hill Society, who joined our local MP, Ellie Reeves, for a tour of the Houses of Parliament.

It was a sunny, balmy evening and, once through security, we entered the grand building’s interior. Funnily enough, the first stop was the gift shop! (Surely it should be ‘exit via the gift shop’?) Many of us purchased something, including some of their excellent whisky.

We met up with Ellie in Westminster Hall, a vast and imposing building which, interestingly, is the oldest building on the Parliamentary estate. It has a magnificent hammer-beam roof which was commissioned in 1393 and is the oldest example of such a roof in Europe. On the floor were plaques which signify who has lain in state in the hall with details of their dates, the most recent one being for the Queen Mother in 2002. There were also plaques celebrating events which took place in the Hall, such as historic addresses by famous visitors such as Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela and Pope Benedict XVI.

Ellie also pointed out the Hall’s statues and other important aspects, and told an interesting story of how some suffragettes in 1909 handcuffed themselves to the statues. One particular statue — of Viscount Falkland — was damaged by Margery Humes, who handcuffed herself to the spur on his statue! No charges were brought, but the same statue was damaged many years later when school children managed to break its sword.

We were very impressed with a modern installation at the far end of the Hall called “New Dawn”, created by artist Mary Branson. This is a spectacular glass, metal and light sculpture which marked the 150-year anniversary in 2016 of philosopher and MP John Stuart Mill having presented a petition to Parliament calling for votes for women. It was designed in the colours of the suffragette movement and its lighting changes over a twelve-hour cycle, governed by the ebb and flow of the Thames.

Once we left Westminster Hall, we entered Central Lobby — a bustling and busy interchange at the core of the building where members of both houses can meet, MPs can meet their constituents and where you can lobby your MP. There are beautiful mosaics above each of the four exits depicting the patron saints of the four constituent countries of the UK, and there is even a working post office! This Lobby is also the place you see in televised news broadcasts when MPs are interviewed inside Parliament.

Our next stop was the Members’ Lobby, which was designed to be a working anteroom to the House of Commons Chamber, where we saw statues of past Prime Ministers. There weren't any statues on display which were more recent than a bust of John Major, but there are portraits planned for the more recent Prime Ministers. The 2007 bronze statue of Margaret Thatcher was imposing, if not scary, as she is portrayed with her arm outstretched and posed as if addressing the House. She seemed to dominate the room! She is famously quoted as saying, “I might have preferred iron (a reference to the iron lady), but bronze will do.” We then moved to the Commons Chamber via the Churchill Arch.

While the Commons Chamber is probably very familiar to everyone from televised debates, it still gave us all a “Wow!” moment when we entered it via one of the two voting corridors, where MPs, when voting or discussing an amendment, have to queue up to register their votes. Ellie explained the process for voting and it did seem to be quite a tedious process. The Chamber was impressive with its familiar green seating, tiered benches, Speaker’s chair and central debating area. Interestingly, there still remains, delineated on the floor, a distance between the Government and the Opposition of 3.96 metres (13 ft). This is equivalent to the length of two outstretched swords, and was marked so that members could not lunge at each other. It is purely symbolic, of course, especially as weapons have been banned in the Chamber for hundreds of years!

Ellie pointed out a significant, recently placed plaque in the memory of Jo Cox, the murdered MP.

We stayed in the Commons Chamber for the remaining time we had on our tour, asking Ellie questions about parliamentary procedures, changes and updates; and what the life of a modern MP is actually like in very interesting and challenging times.

It was a fascinating visit, and one which afforded us a glimpse of what it’s really like to be an active and passionate MP, as Ellie Reeves obviously is. Many thanks to Forest Hill Executive member Paul Corley for organizing it!

If you get a chance to visit the Houses of Parliament, please go as it’s a beautiful, inspirational building, steeped in history.

EVENTS FOR YOUR DIARY

Children’s Book Sale: Saturday 14th September, 10am-4pm. 

Outside Forest Hill Library; a fundraiser for the community library.

Clean Air for SE23 Meeting: Saturday 28th September, 10am.
Forest Hill Library.


Forest Hill Society Social: Thursday 3rd October, from 7:30pm.
Sylvan Post Pub, Dartmouth Road. A chance to have a chat with other local residents, old and new.


Forest Hill Society AGM: Thursday 17th October, 7:30pm.
Louise House, next to Forest Hill Library, Dartmouth Road.
Including a presentation by TfL on their plans for extending the ULEZ to the South Circular in 2021.

Consultation on local NHS Services - 16th July

 A local GP writes:

The NHS Long Term Plan was published last January 2019. One of many suggested changes was that each Sustianability and Transformation Partnership(STP) should become an Integrated Care System (ICS). To help achieve this, NHS England (NHSE) would like there to be one Clinical Commissioing Group (CCG) for each STP area. It is not explained, but the reason is to give the STP/ICS legal footing.  The CCGs are set up in law by the Health and Social Care Act 2012. The STP/ICS are a later idea, and currently only have legitimacy insofar as it is shared by their constituent CCGs. 


The changes would mean moving from the current 191 CCGs to just 44, one per STP "footprint".  The Plan suggests that should be achieved by April 2021, but in SE London they want achieve it by 2020.  


CCGs are important because they commission most of your local services. A few are commissioned by the local council. NHSE and Public Health England commission services nationally. The commissioners  decide what work they want to be done, and contract with providers to provide these services. The providers are GPs, hospitals, community health services, mental health trusts etc. The providers have some choices about how they provide the services, but little choice over what services they provide.


In Lewisham, the opposition of Lewisham CCG was a significant factor in throwing out the plans to close the A&E and maternity services at Lewisham hospital. If we had a CCG covering the whole of SE London would we have had such support?


The consultation period is now!  There is one consultation event for each of the 6 boroughs/CCGs (Currently boroughs and CCGs are co-terminus). It does not give you the date until you click on the Eventbrite link, but the Lewisham one is on Tuesday 16th July, 16.30-19.30 St Laurence Centre, Bromley Road SE6 2YS

https://www.ourhealthiersel.nhs.uk/get-involved/help-us-to-shape-the-future-of-the-nhs-in-south-east-london.htm

Some of the issues you may wish to consider:

• Will mergers on this scale cause a loss of accountability?  
• Local accountability was a big feature of the 2012 Health and Social Care Act.  They may say that there will be sub-committees at borough level, but will these have decision-making powers?
  
• Will meetings still be held in public? 
• The Act says that CCG Governing Body and certain other meetings must be held in public. If the CCG is at SE London level, you may have to travel a long way to attend meetings, and much may be about other parts of SE London in which you have little interest/knowledge.  They may say local meetings could still be held in public, but there will be no statutory responsibility to do this.
  
• Will clinicians still have the same influence? 
• This was another big feature of the 2012 Act - more clinical involvement, less managerial.
  
• Has it really been made clear what is proposed? 
• The website does not say anything about mergers!
• What will happen if local GPs vote against merger?

Death of well-known Forest Hill resident

Last week news spread that Stefania, the woman who often sat in the Forest Hill railway subway, had passed away, apparently from complications following an operation.

Stefania had occupied this spot for a number of years and was a familiar face to the pedestrians who use the subway.

She was a friendly and popular woman, which is reflected by the many tributes to her placed in the subway and posted online. 

A Go Fund Me page has been created in her memory, to raise funds for her funeral and to support people in similar situations. If you have been touched by Stefania's plight, you may wish to contribute to her memorial fund.

Update: Details of the memorial service are now available.
Saturday, 20 July 2019 from 10:00-12:00 at Sydenham School, Dartmouth Road
If you will be attending please let the organisers know by marking yourself as 'going' on the Facebook page

Future Framework for the Horniman

Horniman Museum are consulting on an ambitious plan to develop Horniman Gardens including:

•     New Garden Arrival Square
•     Spacious Reception with Improved Facilities
•     Reorganised and Reimagined Museum Spaces
•     Nature Zone and Kindercafé
•     Stepping Gardens
•     Horticultural Hub and Winter Garden

To find out more about their plans view the exhibition in Gallery Square or view online here.

Blythe Hill Fields Festival

The 2019 Blythe Hill Fields Festival will be held on Sunday 7th July. The festival is a local community event, attracting about 4,000 people, with a great line-up of stalls, performers and musicians coming together for yet another brilliant day out.

You can expect an eclectic mix of music on the main stage; family events on the woodland stage; huge varieties of stalls to browse and fabulous food and drink. Not to mention great activities such as the funfair, crazy golf, giant games and a treasure hunt!

To find out more visit https://www.blythehillfields.org.uk/festival-2019/festival