Save Honor Oak Recreation Park

Honor Oak Recreation Ground is under threat again as Southwark Council faces pressure to provide more burial provision. Southwark council runs several current and closed cemeteries including Nunhead Cemetery, Camberwell Old Cemetery and Camberwell New Cemetery, but according to Southwark councillor James Barber, there was only a year's supply of spaces for burials last September. As a result, Southwark's officers have put forward two options to provide more burial spaces.

The first option is to reuse common graves once they have obtained Home Office approval – this involves adding two foot above the current plots (which are only 4 foot deep). Their initial thoughts are to use concrete blocks to add the required extra height, but this would be contrary to Southwark’s climate change strategy as concrete manufacture is carbon intensive. This option would give another 10-12 years of burial plots.

The second option is to use an adjacent sports playing field (Honor Oak Recreation Ground) giving another 25 years of burial plots. This is what they claimed when they took part of the Rec in 2000.

Friends of Honor Oak Park Recreation Ground are asking a series of questions of local councillors and have started a petition at petitionbuzz.com, but time is short as Southwark are due to make a decision this month. Sign up now to voice your concern.

Lack of burial space is not a new problem for Southwark. In the 1850's, the parish of Camberwell was having difficulty finding space for burials in its churchyards. The Camberwell Burial Board was established to find a solution to the problem, which they did - in 1855. The board bought 30 acres of meadow land and established it as the Burial Ground of St Giles, Camberwell. Camberwell New Cemetery was founded in 1901 in order to provide more space and was opened in 1927. By 1984, 300,000 burials had been carried out at the cemetery. The majority of burials now take place in the New Cemetery.

When you buy a grave in one of Southwark's cemeteries, you buy the 'exclusive right of burial' for that particular grave and this lasts for a period of 50 years. At the moment, anybody can buy a plot, although the fee is greater for those who are not or were not residents of the borough. Some religions prohibit the reuse of graves, but the Diocese of Southwark advises that while the reuse of graves within a period of less than 75 years is likely to cause distress and offence to the living, as well as appearing disrespectful to the dead, the reuse of graves as soon as 75 years have elapsed after the most recent burial should be encouraged, not least so that those presently arranging a burial are informed of what is likely to happen in the future. Rather than planning for re-use on a grave-by-grave basis, there is merit in seeking to bring larger areas into re-use as part of a coherent plan.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

• Contact, email or write to your local Lewisham or Southwark councillors. Tell them how you feel about the loss of open space, how you use the recreation ground and what it means to you.
• Sign the petition at petitionbuzz.com.

On a side note, Southwark has spent a lot of time and money cleaning up the illegal dumping of building materials near Honor Oak Park station. This cleanup has taken over 18 months and will finally be resolved with the planting of new trees and bushes. This area is only expected to accommodate one year of burials.

Sing Out...!

Don’t just sing in the shower - there’s a vocal group near you that wants to hear your voice!

Sing Out! launches at Trinity Laban, Creekside in Deptford on Saturday, 19 February with the BBC Singers. Go along between 10am and 4pm to enjoy free workshops, talks and demonstrations from professionals.

This event marks the start of a year-long programme of activities exploring all types of singing that will culminate in the Music Nation weekend on 3, 4 and 5 March 2012 as part of the Cultural Olympiad. You can also register to be part of the biggest mass singing event ever held in Lewisham at People’s Day in July 2012.

Local Choirs

If you cannot make it to Sing Out..!, why not get involved in a local choir? Many choirs sing by ear rather than from sheet music, and many sing rock, gospel, world music and jazz, so don’t be put off because you can’t read music, or choral works aren’t your thing. Singing can also make you look and feel good – it improves your posture, tones your stomach muscles and releases feel-good endorphins – just like chocolate, but a lot less fattening. It is fun, joyful and uplifting and has inspired poets and poetry, writers and playwrights and more than a few romances. Choirs can also create an increased sense of community and belonging and are a great way to meet new friends.

Raise the Roof (Horniman)
Three ten week courses with a concert performance in the Gallery Square at the end of each term. Contact raisetheroofchoir@googlemail.com

Lewisham Choral Society
Provides an environment for amateur choral singers with a diverse range of experience and backgrounds that is dynamic, challenging and forward-looking. Contact annie.rimmer@breathemail.net

Honor Oak Singers
Chamber choir welcoming singers of all levels who are looking to learn to sing in a warm encouraging atmosphere. Repertoire is varied including music from shows, jazz, pop and classical genres. Contact carolynherail@yahoo.com

Seniors Choir
Over 50s choir at the Seniors Centre on Stanstead Road. Contact seniorsmembership@hotmail.co.uk

Singology Sydenham
A community choir with Mark De-Lisser, who took the ACM Gospel Choir to the final of TV’s Last Choir Standing. Download an application form from their website

Click here to see a map of other local choirs in Lewisham.

Cinema approved for Crystal Palace

At a recent planning meeting, Bromley Borough Council approved the change of use for the building at the junction of Anerley Hill and Crystal Palace Parade.  The former Grape & Grain pub and car showroom will be redeveloped as a two screen cinema, cafe and bar.
The South London Press reports that Peter Hall of Future Projections was “delighted it’s gone through. This is something we’ve been wanting to do for years.  The model we want to use is to create a mix of the Electric Cinema in Notting Hill and the Everyman in Hampstead, with more of a neighbourhood feel.  Ninety-nine per cent of the art cinemas in the UK were made by us, including the Clapham Picturehouse.  That’s what we’re looking at for Crystal Palace.”

The full story, including the views of the Picture Palace Campaign group who would rather that the former Bingo Hall was converted back into a cinema, can be read on the SLP website.

Lewisham College Open Day

Lewisham College has its Open Evenings over the next couple of weeks.

Go along to the Lewisham Way campus between 4:30 and 8pm on Thursday, 10 February if you're interested in studying  Beauty, Business, Computing and IT, Engineering and Electrical Installation, ESOL, General Education, Health Care Courses, Higher Education Courses, Hospitality, Travel and Tourism, Performing and Creative Arts, Supported Learning, Teacher Training, The Academy for Foundation Skills, Trade Union Studies.

If you are interested in studying Sports Studies or Construction, then go along tyo the Deptford campus on Thursday, 17 February between 4:30 and 8pm.



You will be able to talk to the tutors and other students, explore the College, complete an application form, take part in the various activities and collect a free goody bag

For more information call Lewisham College on 0800 834 545 or email info@lewisham.ac.uk

Planning Applications: London Road and Dartmouth Road

The Forest Hill Society has objected to two new planning applications for additional units to be squeezed behind two retail units in the town centre.

The first is in London Road, above Energie Gym. You can view the planning application on the council website, and you can read the full text of the objection by the Forest Hill Society here.

The second is in Dartmouth Road, behind Palm Pizza (opposite Paddy Power). You can view the planning application on the council website, and you can read the full text of the objection by the Forest Hill Society here.

Save Our Library - Saturday 5 February

Saturday, 5 February sees a national read-in campaign to save libraries threatened with closure due to government cuts.

Sydenham, Crofton Park, New Cross, Blackheath and Grove Park Libraries will all be taking part between 11:30 and 1pm.

The Crofton Park campaigners are encouraging people to go along and simply choose a book from the shelves and start reading it. At Sydenham Library, the Save Sydenham Library campaign are planning a party atmosphere, with posters, balloons, cakes and drinks. There will be a few speeches and readings by local authors, poets and celebrities including the life peer and philosopher Baroness Mary Warnock, and Guardian columnist Lucy Mangan. Also expected to attend are children’s writers of the Stripy Horse series Karen Wall & Jim Helmore, local author Julie Day and poet Chrissie Gittins whose poem "Longing to be Heard" is in honour of Sydenham Library.

Highlights of the day will be readings from each of the authors, a singing and music session for children, and a party outside the library. The event will culminate in a balloon release. There will also be a performance by Sly and Reggie, the dub group who have penned the song "We Love Libraries".

Seats are extremely limited so if you need to sit down please bring a folding chair with you.

Contribution of cakes and biscuits will be welcomed - simply bring them along to Sydenham Library at 11am on the day.

Muddy Boots for Under 5s

Muddy Boots Nature Group will be starting again at the Devonshire Road nature Reserve in March.

Aimed at the under 5s, this outdoor group will meet every other Saturday from 10am to 12.30pm. Activities include

• NATURE WALKS IN THE RESERVE’S WOOD
• GROWING VEGETABLES AND FLOWERS
• LEARNING ABOUT POND LIFE AND HONEY BEES
• STORY TELLING AND SINGING

The group costs £1 per family and there is a maximum of two children per adult.

Please email dreserve@gmail.com for further info about the group

Get funding for your Big Lunch

Lewisham Council is encouraging residents who would like to take part in this year's Big Lunch to apply for a grant from the Big Lottery Fund by March 2011.

The Big Lunch is an annual one-day get together with your neighbours - wherever you live. It can be anything from a simple lunch to a full-blown street party with DJs and a home cooked feast. This year's national Big Lunch will be taking place on Sunday 5 June and grants are available for those organising events for over 50 people. People can check their eligibility for a grant from the Big Lottery Fund on the Awards for All website.

The Big Lunch aims to get as many people as possible across the country to sit down with their neighbours and share lunch together. Last year, 57 Big Lunches took place in Lewisham - the highest number in London!

If you are interested in holding a Big Lunch on Sunday 5 June 2011, register your interest on the Big Lunch website, where you can get ideas and inspiration, receive a newsletter, get updates via Twitter or Facebook and follow and comment on the national blog. If you have questions or need assistance, then Lewisham Council can offer support to people interested in organising a Big Lunch in their street or other venue if you call them on 020 8314 7321 or through their website

New Year's Honours

Local papers may have spotted that local resident Howard Davies (Director), was awarded a CBE for services to drama in this year's New Year's Honours list, but they omitted to mention that Ms Janet Vitmayer (Chief Executive and Director of the Horniman Museum) was also awarded a CBE for services to Museums.

Janet has been the Director at the Horniman since 1998. Before joining the Horniman, she worked at the Imperial War Museum and was the Director of the Livesey Museum. She is also a visitor of the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford, a trustee of the Collections Trust, a Trustee at the London Transport Museum and Chair of the Women Leaders in Museums Network

We would like to congratulate her on the award and wish her and the Horniman success for many years to come.

Walking Club Inaugural Outing

The inaugural walk of the Forest Hill and Sydenham Societies' Walking Club will take place on Saturday, 5 February 2011.

Leaving Sydenham Station by Network Rail at 10.24 am (Forest Hill Station at 10.27 am, Honor Oak Park at 10.29 am), the walk will be led by Andrea Bradbury and Pat Trembath. We will follow (and divert from) the northern Thames Path between London Bridge and Canary Wharf, taking in various places of interest over a distance of about 5 miles and at a medium pace. We will return by London Overground from Canary Wharf.

As this is our first walk we thought that it would be nice to end in sociable style with lunch at the Dartmouth Arms in Forest Hill at approximately 1.15pm. By finishing on home territory with lunch we can ensure that everyone has the opportunity to get to know everyone else.

Those who come on the 5 February walk should indicate at the start of the walk if they want to be included in the lunch so we can phone ahead to reserve tables at the Dartmouth Arms. If you have any queries, or would like a reminder, please contact Andrea or Pat by email who will send a reminder, together with mobile numbers (for use on the day only) to the walking group at the beginning of February.

Please Note: there are no toilets on the walk after London Bridge(apart from pubs in an emergency). Toilets on platforms 1 and 3 at London Bridge are usually clean and free.

Sights you will see

The walk mainly follows the Thames path from the north side of
London Bridge to Canary Wharf. Places of interest along the route are:

Old Billingsgate fish market

The Tower of London

St Katherine's Dock — opened in 1828 specialised in tea, rubber, wool, marble, sugar, tallow and ivory. It closed in the 1960’s.

Wapping High Street — a street built in about 1570 to link the quays in the city to the storage warehouses.

The London Docks — built 1799—1815. The Western and Eastern docks were linked by Tobacco Dock. Specialised in ivory, spices, coffee, cocoa, wine and wool. Closed in 1969, they were sold to Tower Hamlets to turn into public housing. Was derelict until London Dockland Development Corporation built 1,000 properties. “Fortress Wapping” Rupert Murdoch’s printing works were built on the Western docks.

Turner’s Old Star pub. The painter Joseph Turner, who drew inspiration from the Thames and Docklands throughout his life never married, but women were always important to him and he had four children with a number of mistresses. In 1834 he met Sophia Booth, a widowed landlady from Margate. When Turner inherited two cottages in Docklands he set Sophia up as a landlady in one of them. Her pub was known as the Old Star. The same pub survives today, as Turner's Old Star.

Wapping Pier Head. A double row of Georgian houses facing each other built for officials of the dock company.

Town of Ramsgate pub - is an old, narrow building next to one of the first warehouses to be converted into apartments (well before the 80's property boom) and backs onto the Thames where it has a small terrace with a limited view of the river. There are all sorts of historical claims made about the place (eg Judge Jeffreys was captured here attempting to flee to the continent and the crew of HMS Bounty took their last drink here before setting sail).

Wapping's former 18th century charity school

Headquarters of the River police.

Wapping Overground station at the end of Brunel’s Tunnel under the Thames completed in 1843—it took 20 years.

Prospect of Whitby pub lays claim to being the site of the oldest riverside tavern, dating from around 1520. In the 17th century, it became the hostelry of choice of "Hanging" Judge Jeffreys as well as writers Charles Dickens and Samuel Pepys. Views from the pub were sketched by both Turner and Whistler. The pub also features briefly in an episode of Only Fools And Horses.

The London Hydraulic Power Company’s pumping station—1893-1977 supplied hydraulic power for cranes and lifts for the wharves of docklands and for theatres and office buildings as far away as Earls Court. After its closure as a pumping station in 1977, the building was converted and reopened as an arts centre.

Rotherhithe tunnel ventilation shaft — next to this is a tablet commemorating Elizabethan navigators who sailed from the Thames to find the North West passage.

Narrow Street — old link between Shadwell and Limehouse is home to a Gordon Ramsey pub — the Narrows.