The 23 Club

The 23 Club got off to a flying Highland start this year with nearly 30 people coming to the Burns Night evening at the Honor Oak on January 23rd – a record attendance. This year marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, widely regarded as Scotland’s national poet.

When approached about the 23 Club idea by Rob McIntosh, publican, Jamie, rose to the challenge magnificently. We were particularly impressed that he managed to trap enough wild, local haggis to give us all a free taste, together with the classic bashed neaps. Rob’s father, Alan, recited Burns’ Address to a Haggis beautifully before plunging into it with the dirk.

If you have suggestions for the 23 Club (people to join the e-mail list, places to go, things to celebrate, anything else, including criticism!), please let us know. P.S. Some e-mail addresses collected that night have bounced back. If you have not had a follow-up e-mail, contact us and we will correct the database.

Forthcoming 23 Club Venues Monday March 23 at 8pm – classic Italian. The Old Bank, 76-78 Honor Oak Park SE23 1DY
Phone 8291 1738.
This is a converted bank close to Honor Oak Park Station.

Thursday April 23 at 8pm – an opportunity to mark St George’s Day. The Dartmouth Arms pub, 7 Dartmouth Road SE23 3HN
Phone 8488 3117

Saturday May 23 at 8pm –Thai cuisine. The Thai Orchard, 3 David’s Road SE23 3EP
Phone 8291 3901

Just to remind you, the 23 Club is open to Forest Hill Society members and their guests. Please make your booking directly with the restaurant, saying you want to be seated with the Forest Hill Society or 23 Club group. Everyone orders and pays separately for their meal.

Finally, please send details of anyone who wants to be added to this 23 Club e-mail information, and also any suggestions you may have for restaurants in the Forest Hill area, to mary@foresthillsociety.com.
Bon appetit!

May Bank Holiday Revels on our own Millennium

The Forest Hill and Sydenham societies are joining forces for the Bank Holiday on the 4th of May.
We'll be celebrating spring with a day at a hidden green space on the border of Forest Hill and Sydenham - the Albion Millennium Green.

The Green, formerly a tennis club, was landscaped into an attractive, informal park at the turn of the century under a government scheme to develop 'Millennium Greens.’ Its entrance is at the end of Albion Villas Road (just off Sydenham Park Road), one of the prettiest streets in the area.

It's a haven for flowers and wildlife but it does need a little sprucing up. So we'll start the day with a group tidying up session and then savour the fruits of our labours with a picnic (please bring your own), games and traditional May Day activities for all the family.

Station News

Finally, and after a lot of emails from the Forest Hill Society and Councillor Paschoud, we have succeeded in getting the Perry Vale exit reopened, 80 days later than we were promised (you could travel the world in that time). Forest Hill station can now return to being only the forth most overcrowded rail station in London.

The work has still not been completed and there are no ticket barriers, so we can look forward to another closure for a short period, before September, when TfL will take over running the station.

Over in Honor Oak Park the ticket office will be closed for 2 weeks from Saturday 21st March. The new floor works started this weekend - they are doing one side then moving over and starting works in the ticket office. Southern Railway ask that you please purchase tickets in advance where possible.

Nature & History Walk in Dacres Wood Nature Reserve

Sunday 29th March at 2pm. Meet in the grassy area in front of the reserve gates, Dacres Road (to the left of Homefield House, at the junction of Silverdale)

This is a fantastic opportunity to take a look round Dacres Wood which is not normally accessible to the public. As well as interesting flora and fauna, you will see one of the last surviving parts of the Croydon Canal. The tour will be led by Alona Sheridan and the local historian, Steve Grindlay.

Sturdy shoes and appropriate outdoor clothes are recommended as the ground can be uneven and slippery. To help identify the local flora and fauna, do bring tree, bird, plant and invertebrate identification books if you have them.



The children's wildlife club at Dacres Wood Reserve is being re-launched but it needs two more volunteers to make it viable. The group will meet on the second Sunday of each month, between 11am and 1pm, except during August and January.

If you are interested in helping to get this project off the ground, please contact Alona Sheridan via the Forest Hill Society.

Forest Hill Ward Assembly

The 3rd Forest Hill Ward Assembly will be held on Wednesday 25th March at 7pm at the Living Springs International Church, 8-10 Devonshire Road (opposite the Hob), to discuss the £50,000 Mayor's Fund and the Forest Hill Pools.

The priorities for the Mayor's Fund are: Town Centre (empty shops), Youth Provision, Parking and Traffic Development, Lack of Community Facilities and Environmental Issues.

A local resident will be present to speak about the possibility of transforming Louise House into an Arts Centre and Theatre. This would also be a good opportunity for anyone wanting to put forward their views about the pools to speak to Councillors.

Suggestion to improve the Forest Hill and Honor Oak Park railway stations

TfL, via Lewisham council, asked the Forest Hill Society what minor improvements should be made to local stations when they take over in September. Here's our list:

Forest Hill Station

• Improvements to lighting, cleanliness and general condition of the underpass
• CCTV coverage of the underpass and car park
• Better safety announcements for when a train that is not scheduled to stop at the station is passing through (the notice tends to come through a bit late)
• The ticket barrier installation needs looking at as it can become pretty congested during peak times and will get worse as numbers increase with additional trains
• Repainting and improvement in the general condition of the platform lines and shelters
• Relocation of the fast ticket machine closest to the entrance as queuing customers (using the machine and those waiting to be served at the ticket office) can cause a bit of congestion around the entrance to the station
• Reinstatement of toilets - promised as part of the upgrade programme some time ago.

Honor Oak Park Station

• The up platform – to get on the last carriage when its an 8 coach train you need to go on the narrow bit under the bridge. This is really unsafe. Extend the platform or get trains to stop right at the far end. Block the platform at the south end to prevent passengers getting under the bridge.
• Provide cover between the end of the canopy out from the stairs up to the bridge so that all of the back end of the train has a proper covered platform.
• Stairs and bridge to both platforms – there are many examples of rotten wood and uneven steps. The glass was broken sometime ago and never replaced. A major programme is required to bring the steps up to a respectable standard.
• There is very little shelter on the down platform so when it rains/snows people huddle on the steps making it hard to access the platform. More shelter is required near the front of the train.
• If there were ever toilets at Honor Oak Park, they should be reinstated to meet the upgrade pledge.

Not included, are more obvious plans such as the opening of the Perry Vale exit, and longer term plans where additional funding will be required; such as opening a new exit at the Perry Vale car park. We have heard that DfT funding will be made available for a new disabled accessible footbridge, possibly as soon as May 2010.