Author: Darryl Chamberlain

Charlton Lido: A bit of Charlton’s history is coming back

Darryl Chamberlain8 Comments


Behind all that rubble, something is stirring… but what exactly is happening with the redevelopment of Charlton Lido?

Well, the good news is that by all accounts, it’s on course to reopen next month after a number of years out of use. It’s now under the management of GLL, which runs Greenwich Council’s leisure centres and libraries, after an attempt to lease it out to a private consortium collapsed in 2010.

Full completion of the project is planned for 2013, when it’ll include a health and fitness centre and cafe, but for now, outdoor swimming during the Olympic summer will do.

The launch of the fantastic Charlton Parks Reminiscence Project website is a further reminder of what a fantastic local asset the the 73-year-old lido is, despite being neglected over recent decades.

As well as a few photos of the lido in the 1950s, the site also contains these notes about its history, alongside its surviving sister lidos at Brockwell Park, Herne Hill and Parliament Hill on Hampstead Heath. Just as Brockwell Park has been central to the revival of its local area in recent years, hopefully Charlton Lido will give its own neighbourhood a boost – and be the catalyst for further improvements to Hornfair Park.

If you’ve got memories of the lido, feel free to share them here – and what do you want to see at the new-look Charlton Lido when its gates open again?

Sports day theme for Charlton’s annual Horn Fayre

Darryl Chamberlain1 Comment

Get your shorts on a week on Sunday…

After the success of 2011’s ‘holiday camp theme’ the annual Horn Fayre (whose origins date back to the middle ages) is back again to resurrect more happy memories with interactive games and social activities This summer’s event will be inspired by The Sports Day and the London Olympics. Remember the egg and spoon race, Ice cream relay, pram races and the obstacle course? The organisers of Horn Fayre 2012 also plan recreate competitions of yesteryear, including, knobbly knees and glamorous granny.
Also on stage ‘The Generation Game’. Get up, have a go and win a prize!

If you wish to participate in, Glamorous Granny, Knobbly Knees or Showcase please register your entry at Charlton House (020 8856 3951 / charlton.house[at]greenwich.gov.uk). Registration is free.

For more on the history of the Horn Fayre, read this post from Alan Palmer.

Maryon Wilson Animal Park open day this Saturday

Darryl Chamberlain

Andrew Donkin of the Maryon Wilson Animal Park Trust would like a word…

If you could talk to the animals… well, now you can, on Saturday 26th May, it’s the Maryon Wilson Animal Park Open Day again.

Last year, about a thousand Charlton locals attended the free event that runs from 10am to 4pm. This is a chance to get up close and personal with both the park’s big animals such as the deer and sheep, as well as getting some touchy-feely time with the smaller residents like the rabbits, rats, guinea pigs, and chinchilla.

As well as the animals, the Open Day promises free face painting, birds of prey display, sheep shearing and woodcraft demonstrations, and an hourly story time and sing-along to help parents entertain the kids.

At noon, there’ll be a children’s show from PJ the Magic Clown. The Friends of the Park will have a stall, and there will be guided Tree Walks around the park at 1.00, 2.00, and 3.00pm.

The embryonic Maryon Wilson Animal Park Trust will also have a presence at the Open Day. MWAPT is the body that is trying to save the Animal Park after Greenwich Council announced that they were withdrawing their funding.

The Trust could really do with your help to make sure that this fantastic local resource survives. If you’d like to get involved, either on the fund-raising side or to volunteer to help care for the animals, then come along to the open day and seek out the Trust’s stall, or email MWAnimalPark@hotmail.com for more details.

King’s Troop horses to take over Charlton Park

Darryl Chamberlain2 Comments


Part of Charlton Park is to be used by the King’s Troop horses for exercise while Woolwich Common is out of bounds for the Olympic Games, it has emerged.

The Charlton Champion understands Olympic organisers are paying for a temporary entrance is to be created for the 111 horses and their riders to enter the park, and they will be allocated a “designated area”.

However, it is unclear what area of the park is to be used or how long they will be using the park – popular with scores of Sunday league footballers – for.

The only warning park users have had has been two small signs at entrances to the park (thanks to Helen for the photo above of the sign at Cemetery Lane), while “beware – horses” signs have been erected on Charlton Park Lane. No news has been released by Greenwich Council, and there is no information on its website.

The King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery only moved into their new base in Repository Road, Woolwich, in February. With much of Woolwich Common being taken over for Olympic and Paralympic events this summer, the army’s ceremonial unit needed a nearby open space on which to exercise their horses. It is understood the decision to use Charlton Park was only taken earlier this month.

Roads have been closed across Woolwich Common to allow the shooting test event, the ISSF World Cup (see video of it here) to take place. A further test, the London Para Archery International Tournament, will take place between Friday and Sunday.

Meanwhile, locals are awaiting details from Greenwich Council on what parking restrictions will be put into place for the Olympics. It had been announced last year that all streets in Charlton would be placed in some kind of permit zone, but with less than 90 days to go to the opening ceremony, no news has been announced.

Councillors set to decide on controversial cafe scheme

Darryl Chamberlain11 Comments

A plan to convert an estate agency in Charlton Church Lane into a cafe goes before Greenwich councillors on Wednesday night.

Rashpal Dhesi is applying for “change of use” permission to open a “sandwich bar/coffee shop” on the premises, which were previously a minicab office, and before that part of the old main post office.

The council has received three letters and a 29-signature petition opposing the plan, with residents saying the area is already well-served with similar outlets, such as the long-established Valley Cafe.

Council officers have recommended the scheme be approved, on condition that sound insulation is installed and opening hours are restricted to 7am-5pm on weekdays and Saturdays, and 9am-4pm on Sundays.

The building, constructed as a post office in the 1960s, has recently had flats built on top of it. Greenwich Council’s Woolwich and Thamesmead Planning Committee is due to decide on Mr Dhesi’s application on Wednesday.

Labour’s Diane Abbott to speak at Charlton NHS meeting

Darryl Chamberlain

This one’s suddenly very topical…

If you’re worried (or if you’re enthused, I suppose) about the future of the NHS, then Labour’s shadow health secretary Diane Abbott is speaking at a meeting at Charlton House on Wednesday that’s being promoted by local Labour activists.

“All welcome that love the NHS and care about its future,” the flyer says, and if you go, you could always ask what Labour did to fight against the government’s controversial reforms, and what it’ll do now it’s close to becoming law.

It could be a busy night – it starts at 7.30pm in The Old Library at Charlton House.