First they came for the catalogues. Now it’s the standalone stores – Charlton’s Argos Extra store has only a few days left before it moves down the road to share space with Sainsbury’s.
The last day of trading at the standalone Argos on Bugsby’s Way will be Thursday 2 December – with the new Argos store inside Sainsbury’s opening the following day, Friday 3 December.
Argos was bought by Sainsbury’s five years ago, and all its standalone stores are gradually being closed in favour of smaller outlets inside the chain’s supermarkets.
If the group can get a plan together, then this will be a hugely important step for the area – so if you’ve got an interest in the future of the area, it’s worth heading along. Too often, this kind of group gets packed out with well-off homeowners objecting to schemes that will chip away at housing waiting lists, so if you’re someone that feels shut out of these kinds of decisions, now’s the time to go along and have your say, and think about joining its committee.
The event is in the Long Gallery on the first floor of Charlton House on Saturday 27 November at 11am. For more details, see the Charlton Neighbourhood Forum website.
A Christmas tree is returning to Charlton House this year
Charlton House’s Christmas tree makes a comeback on Thursday, with a lighting-up ceremony to be held from 4pm.
There’ll also be a Christmas market in the Great Hall from 3.30pm to 6pm, with carols and readings from St Luke’s Church at 5pm. You’ll also be able to nip over the road and climb St Luke’s tower to get a view of the capital after dark.
The event is also the launch of a new cafe inside Charlton House, Frilly’s, which will offer “a seasonal snack menu including mince pies, mulled wine, hot chocolate, and sausage rolls”.
Andrew Donkin is up for the award with co-author Tracey Turner and illustrator Libby VanderPloeg
Charlton-based author Andrew Donkin is up for a prestigious book award – but he faces stiff competition from Marcus Rashford and Sir Paul McCartney.
A History of the World in 25 Cities – written by Donkin and Tracey Turner, illustrated by Libby VanderPloeg and produced with curators at the British Museum, is on the shortlist for the Waterstones Book of the Year award.
Aimed at all ages, it takes readers on a tour of the globe, taking them to every continent on Earth, from the walled city of Jericho built over 10,000 years ago, to the modern-day metropolis of Tokyo.
Donkin said he and Turner were “delighted” to be up for the award. The shortlist also includes McCartney’s The Lyrics and Rashford’s You Are A Champion, while previous winners include Sally Rooney for Normal People and Greta Thunberg’s No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference.
He added: “This book has been a labour of love for us both, brought to fruition working with the wonderful curators at the British Museum and Libby. It’s a joy to see it flying off bookshop shelves and being enjoyed by young and old readers alike.
“I love a detailed map to pore over, and what better than 25 beautiful maps packed with facts that plot the development of human civilisation from the very first city, Jerico, through Rome, Athens, Venice, Paris, New York and of course our own London. It’s a book for everyone from 11 to 99.”
Readers can take a trip around the world thanks to Libby VanderPloeg’s illustrations
Asked about the shortlist, he joked: “The shortlist is amazing. It’s slightly surreal to suddenly find yourself up against other full time professional authors like Marcus Rashford and Paul McCartney.”
He said: “Children’s books account for 30 per cent of money taken in bookshops, but get around 5 per cent of feature and review space in newspapers and magazines. Double Booked is a chatty, family-friendly podcast for anyone who likes children’s books, graphic novels, books, bookshops, libraries, librarians, second0hand bookshops or second-hand librarians.”
Full-time rugby has returned to the historic Rectory Field, five years after Blackheath FC upped sticks and moved to Eltham.
Askeans, who play in the Kent 2 league, the tenth tier of English rugby union, have signed a long-term deal with Blackheath Sports Club to move into the ground on Charlton Road, and are already making themselves at home.
Blackheath moved its first-team matches out of the Rectory Field at the end of the 2015-16 season, saying it needed to make the move to ensure its financial stability as it battled for promotion to the Championship, rugby union’s second tier.
The much-loved old ground staged international matches in its heyday, and was also a venue for Kent county cricket until 1972.
Now Askesans’ move brings regular rugby back to the ground – and the club is keen for the community to get involved. DAVID SHUTE takes up the story….
We are delighted that we have now found a permanent home at the Rectory Field in Blackheath. But it’s so much more than somewhere for us to play – we enjoy great facilities – for a start there’s 2 fully licensed long bars (I knew you’d be pleased).
We also enjoy excellent changing rooms, a seriously big stand for spectators, several function areas, a great social side and even a pool table (for anyone who the ref sends for an early bath).
In addition to all that, the ground is steeped in a long and rich history starting way back in the 1880s.
It was originally developed for cricket, football and lawn tennis and was, for many years, home of Blackheath rugby club. Five years ago Blackheath moved to a new home in Well Hall, Eltham.
For several years the Rectory Field only hosted odd games – a great shame for such a prestigious and first class ground that was once used for international sporting events. England played matches here before Twickenham was developed.
Back in the day the All Blacks, Springboks, Australian and Maori touring sides all graced the Rectory Field pitch. It was also the Kent County home ground.
But the rich history is not just rugby, the ground has hosted senior cricket and county games and is now the home in the summer months for Blackheath Cricket Club.
Other facilities include tennis courts and a new commercial gym.
Most importantly – rugby is back at the Rectory Field.
We have already settled in and we look forward to calling it our home for many years to come.
We’ve also been made very welcome and so will you be – if you’re interested in joining – players of all standards and supporters (of any standard) can call Ian (Director of Rugby) on 07957 280530.
Askeans’ next home match is against Dartford Valley on Saturday 6 November at 2pm: there is no charge for admission.
The RT buses ran for 40 years from 1939 (Photo: Pete Edgler via Creative Commons)
Two vintage London Transport buses will run on route 53 through Charlton on Saturday as part of celebrations to mark Plumstead bus garage’s 40th anniversary.
An open day is being held at the garage from 11am to 4pm, and to mark the day two buses that used to run on the 53 will run from Elephant & Castle to Plumstead, passing through Charlton at just after 10am.
The first bus will be an AEC Regent – the predecessor of the more famous Routemaster, and the type used in the Cliff Richard film Summer Holiday. This particular bus, the RT4779, last saw service in 1978, after which it was left to rot in a farmer’s field before being set on fire for the 2002 film Heart of Me. Enthusiasts restored the bus to its former glory and it will be seen plying its old route in Saturday.
Alongside it will be MD60 – not as iconic, but a bus which saw service on the 53 in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It is only one of two surviving roadworthy Scania Metropolitans and has also been restored by an enthusiast.
The buses will depart Elephant & Castle at 9.30am, reach Blackheath Royal Standard at 10.01am and Charlton Park at 10.06am, although these times may slip somewhat. Later in the day, the RT will run a return trip on the 122 to Crystal Palace, leaving Plumstead at 4.10pm.
The open day will include old buses and other memorabilia, and will raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support. Tickets will be available on the day for £5 (£2.50 for children) and there will also be a shuttle bus linking the garage with Woolwich Arsenal station.
Greenwich councillors have backed plans to turn the closed Barclays Bank branch at Blackheath Standard into a bar and nanobrewery – despite objections from two local groups.
Planning officers recommended the proposal, pointing out that it would keep a valued building in use and allow a local business to expand in a town centre location.
The Greenwich area planning committee supported the plans tonight, although its outdoor seating was reduced to address concerns from local residents.
Neighbours either side of the building spoke of concerns about privacy, noise and drainage, and the owner of a house next door to the site of the bank’s old cash machine objected to plans to put seating and the bins close to his home, even though it would be shielded by a large trellis.
Both the Westcombe Society and the Blackheath Society submitted objections to the plan.
Plans to use this area for outdoor seating were dropped
Ann Hill of the Westcombe Society told the committee at Woolwich Town Hall: “We do not object in principle to a microbrewery on this site but we object to the impact of the hospitality component on the occupants of number 43. Even with the trellis and planters tables will still be in close proximity to number 43, people will be sitting and moving around just 2.6 metres away until 9pm.”
Hill also objected to the scheme on the grounds of noise and claimed the proposal failed to meet planning policies because it would have “an adverse effect on noise and quality of life”.
Stephen O’Connor, who founded Common Rioters with his wife Maryann, said that he would be happy to move the bins and not have seating next to number 43 if it helped get the plans approved.
He explained that the brewery would be brewing up to 500 litres at a time, up to twice a week – compared with the 100,000-litre operation at Meantime in Greenwich.
He told the councillors: “We wanted to help bring quality beer and other local drinks to the people of SE London. We’ve found what we think will be our home and we want to enhance it and bring it to life.
“We’re not about selling cheap drinks – it’s about setting a realistic price so that suppliers in the chain, some of them will be local, will get a fair income. We use a lot of carefully-selected, locally-sourced suppliers and we hope to continue that.”
Outdoor seating will close at 9pm
The Green Goddess has been operating as a pop-up bar at Charlton House since April and Maryann said that the “brilliant” experience had “really helped us decide the place we want to have at the bank”.
Councillors generally backed the scheme, although Geoff Brighty, the Blackheath Westcombe Conservative councillor in whose ward the bar will be in, said he would object if the outdoor seating by number 43 was not removed.
“I don’t particularly object to the change of use – it’s not going to be a boozing den by the sounds of it, but I do have real concerns about the use of that section of the forecourt,” he said.
The inside of the building has already been stripped out
Aidan Smith, Labour councillor for Greenwich West, quizzed one of the council’s planning officers, Neil Willey, on why he had opted against having two cycle parking spaces for bar customers. “I’ve been taught since year dot that you don’t drink or drive in a car, so why should you do that in a bicycle,” he said. Smith countered by pointing out that “a wet-led bar on Woolwich Road” – the River Ale House – had recently been given new cycle racks.
But Norman Adams, a Kidbrooke with Hornfair Labour councillor, said a bar would be an “unsuitable” use for a building that had previously only been in use during the day. “The other thing that worries me is rogue parking, they will come and park on double yellows, that gyratory comes under great pressure and I can’t see this proposal making that any better, in fact I can see it making it worse,” he said. Adams also questioned whether there was demand for another pub in the area, claiming that the Royal Standard and British Oak were not well used.
How the bar will look
Chair of planning Stephen Brain said that the application was “tricky” in some respects because of the outdoor seating, but said the building was already in a busy location and that the success of the River Ale House showed such an approach could work.
“[At least] Wetherspoons haven’t grabbed it,” he said. “Equally, a bookmakers could take that straight away without coming to planning and we have far too many bookmakers in the area.”
Councillors backed the scheme in a number of individual votes after Greenwich West Labour councillor Pat Slattery said she could not support adding cycle racks for customers – an amendment to the plan which was also approved.
The proposed opening hours would be 10am to 11pm seven days a week, with a midnight closedown on Fridays and Saturdays in December, although a licensing committee is yet to hear final plans.
The Charlton Champion 