Author: The Charlton Champion

Make a difference to SE7’s future and join the Charlton Neighbourhood Forum

The Charlton Champion1 Comment
Charlton mural
Good things can happen in the area when people work together…

It feels like a long time ago now, but last year we covered the launch of the Charlton Neighbourhood Forum, which aims to give residents a bigger say in the future development of Charlton – particularly with the riverside awaiting development. Earlier this year, the first big riverside development – Rockwell’s scheme for Anchor & Hope Lane – was thrown out after a residents’ campaign. CLARE LOOPS, the forum’s chair, explains why this shows the forum is needed – and how you can take part.

The monumental decision by the Secretary of State on 3rd June to refuse planning permission for the Rockwell development on the VIP Trading Estate gives testament to what can be achieved when communities work together. Charlton Together is a collective of local voices, who made the case that this development was not good enough for Charlton.

Last year, we established the Charlton Neighbourhood Forum with a view to bringing forward a neighbourhood plan for Charlton. An neighbourhood plan must legally be taken into consideration for planning applications, but is produced by the local community – both residents and businesses. The forum needs to be formally designated by Greenwich Council before we can proceed in developing a plan.

Businesses can join too. Business membership is for anyone working in Charlton. Joining provides an opportunity for the business community to have their say in future decisions about employment and business opportunities. You and your colleagues can voice your concerns and discuss your ideas for improving accessibility and trading in Charlton.

With almost half of the development area designated for employment, it is essential that all stakeholders – businesses and residents – work together to create a thriving new area in the Charlton Riverside of that we can all be proud.

If you haven’t joined the forum and want to know more about how you can be part of this exciting new community of businesses and residents, visit charltonneighbourhoodforum.org

Be part of something special, make a difference to Charlton. Join the forum today and please share this information around your networks.

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Lead thieves causing more damage to Charlton’s listed buildings

The Charlton Champion
Charlton Summer House
The Summer House, with St Luke’s to the left

During the summer, we reported on lead thieves causing damage at St Luke’s Church in Charlton Village. Now two other listed buildings in the village – the Summer House and the Assembly Rooms – have been vandalised by ham-fisted thieves who have caused thousands of pounds of damage while trying to get hold of lead, some of it degraded.

It remains unclear whether they will be able to cover the damage on insurance – a major setback to efforts to restore the buildings. Thieves have also targeted St Richard’s church hall in Swallowfield Road.

The Charlton Society‘s RODEN RICHARDSON looks at why each building is important – and explains the damage done.

The Summer House
With its uniquely classical proportions, this 17th century Grade I protected gem of a building is part of the Charlton House Estate and hence in the care of the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust, which has recently been carrying out much-needed repair and restoration work. The spectacular curvilinear roof is covered in fine, graded slate tiles, with lead flashing along its 4 curved ridges. After storms in January 2018 and tree damage to the roof, the existing and unsatisfactory asbestos felt flashing was replaced with conservation-standard lead.

However, it wasn’t long before this was torn from all four ridges by thieves in a single operation. It was all replaced in early September this year at a cost running into five figures – a sum vastly greater than the stolen lead. But then, at 2am a few days later, the thieves attacked again. No doubt expecting another easy haul, this time they didn’t reckon with an alarm that had by now been installed and they only got as far as partially lifting a short section of the flashing on a single roof ridge, which the Trust was able to repair by the following evening.

Charlton Assembly Rooms
The damage done to the Assembly Rooms

Assembly Rooms
Completed in 1881 in red, handsomely decorative brick and terracotta, the Assembly Rooms were a gift to the local community from the Maryon Wilson family, the former owners and last occupants of Charlton House. Recently Grade II listed, and now the responsibility of the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust, the Assembly Rooms remain a great community asset which might have been lost if that same community hadn’t saved them from demolition in the 1970s. A highly ambitious restoration project at the time, one of the key tasks was to replace the domed, multi-facetted roof cupola. This highly skilled work was undertaken at a local college by students specialising in the traditional materials and techniques required. The cupola’s dome is covered in lead, and this has now become the Village’s most recent target for attack by lead thieves.

As the picture shows, they managed to prise some of the lead away until they were either caught in the act or because it was more difficult to remove than anticipated. Once again, the value of the lead is minimal when compared to the cost of restoration and repair work, which also involves the base of the cupola structure, the fine tiled roof that the thieves scaled to reach their objective and serious rainwater damage to the parquet flooring inside the Rooms, which, like Charlton House, have been closed since the onset of Covid-19.

Edward Schofield, visitor and operations manager at the trust, says that the attack comes at a time when the charity is working towards ways of safely and reliably reopening the trust’s buildings to the community. “This criminal damage goes beyond the basic theft of materials – apart from the disruption, the overall repair and replacement costs, not least for the extensive scaffolding required, will be considerable.”

St Luke’s
Built in 1630 – a little before Christopher Wren’s Royal Observatory a couple of miles or so away on the same escarpment – historic St Luke’s is one of London’s most compelling and attractive parish churches. Not immediately visible to the eye from the outside, the roof has two ridges forming a valley and it is from here and the gulley at the side that thieves ripped out lead coverings, causing extensive damage in the process, including to the interior fabric of the building. Churchwarden Rick Newman confirms that the amount stolen was minimal but that the cost of repair will run into the tens of thousands of pounds, considerably more than the limits imposed on claims for what is being deemed as “metal theft”. St Luke’s has ambitious plans for the repair and upkeep of the building – important and essential work on the unique castellated tower has already been completed – but with other works required, this theft and vandalism is a major setback.

It has just been discovered that lead has now also been torn from above the main porch and side door to St Richard’s Church Centre at the corner of Swallowfield and Sundorne Roads. Rick Newman describes the crime as “a frustrating addendum to the current epidemic of lead thefts in Charlton”.

For more information on The Charlton Society, visit charltonsociety.org.

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Stuck at home? Send your friends and family a postcard from SE7

The Charlton Champion

Charlton Champion Postcard

This might be the first warm weekend of the year, but unfortunately, we can’t enjoy it as many of us would like to because of the threat to us all from the coronavirus emergency.

What’s more, many people’s Easter plans will be in tatters with a holiday weekend spent in lockdown rather than visiting friends and family.

If you want to send your loved ones something special for Easter to show you haven’t forgotten them – or just want to tell chums you’re okay – we still have stocks of our popular Greetings from Charlton postcards available.

All you need to do is visit our online shop, and we’ll deliver as quickly as we can (combining it with daily exercise, of course). All proceeds go towards the running costs of this website.

Times may be tough, but at least you can tell everyone you’re having a staycation in SE7 with one of our cards.

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A walk along the Charlton riverside – discover the secrets of the foreshore

The Charlton Champion
The Anchor and Hope pub and foreshore

If you’re looking to take a local stroll over the next few days, you could do it along the Charlton riverside – before it changes forever. Greenwich University landscape architecture student MEREDITH WILL takes us for a walk from the Greenwich Peninsula to the Thames Barrier.

Charlton Riverside is a unique area within London, and it is about to change dramatically. While Charlton residents will probably be aware of the local master plan and large-scale development proposals, the history of the riverfront in Charlton is less well known, and in need of celebrating.

An easterly amble down the two-mile stretch of the Thames Path from Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park to the Thames Barrier provides a fascinating mix of active industry and remnants of the past along the river.

At the ecology park, you can step back in time to experience the river as it was before the 1800s. The wetland habitats have been reconstructed to emulate the environment that although now almost forgotten, once covered the entire Charlton Riverside area. There you can see the kinds of water birds and insects that would have been common before industry took hold. Now a watery urban oasis, visitors can search for snipes, reed warblers, swifts and the many butterflies and dragonflies that thrive in the wildflower meadow.

Following along the Thames Path, around the Greenwich Yacht Club, you come towards Angerstein and Murphy’s Wharves. Angersteim was the first wharf to be developed to the east of Greenwich, opening up the area for all future industry.

Looking back up the Thames from Riverside Wharf

It was built in the 1850s by John Angerstein, originally born in Russia to a Germany family, who later settled in Greenwich. Angerstein, like many others at the time, made his fortune in the slave trade, profiteering off the trading of enslaved people in Grenada. Angerstein’s extensive art collection became the basis of The National Gallery. Over time the wharf has been involved in dredging, metal works, glassworks, and aggregates industries.

For the last 30 years both Angerstein and Murphy’s wharves have been home to Day Group Ltd, loading and unloading sea-dredged aggregates and supplying material for London’s ever-expanding construction projects. The works are unmissable as you pass by; the many conveyer belts, corrugated irons shacks and mountains of tarmac are like walking onto the set of Mad Max.

A barge being repaired at Cory Environmental

Murphy’s Wharf – originally known as Christie’s Wharf – was built alongside Angerstein in the 1920s for the import and treatment of timber. It was famous for having a concrete pier, instead of the older wooden structures lined along the banks and for the quick unloading time of the dockers who worked there. The pier and cranes remain largely as they were built, but now stand unused and mossy – monuments to the workers and their industry. For the keen eye, the train track linking these wharves to the rail network can still be seen from the line between Charlton and Westcombe Park.

Beyond this lies Cory’s Barge Works. Now Cory Environmental, the company still operates on site, building, maintaining and repairing barges that take domestic waste out of central London. This is probably the only continually-operating boat repair company that has been working on the same site since 1873. Some of the timber sheds may be even older than Cory’s.

Durham Wharf from the Anchor & Hope beer garden

Further downstream is Durham Wharf, built in the early 1900s, which once transferred coal and sand into the city along the narrow gauge railway line which can be seen across the yard. Cory’s last used it in the 1970s and since then it has remained untouched.

Next you’ll reach the jewel in the crown, one of London’s best public houses, and a welcome sight for many a sailor, the Anchor and Hope pub, where the community of workmen have been served since Tudor times. The current building was built in 1898, and is a very popular stop-off point for people attempting to cover the whole Thames Path. A winkle shack is just next door if you fancy a salty snack.

The remains of Castle’s shipbreaking works

If you’ve timed your journey with the low tide, brave the mud and explore the foreshore by going down the steps by the pub. You’ll be rewarded with one of the most important maritime archaeological sites in the country – the remnants of huge Victorian battle ships which were broken up on the foreshore for parts. People have been able to identify what these timbers were used for and which ships they came from. The most famous of these ships was the HMS Duke of Wellington, a first-rate triple-decker flagship, powered by both sail and steam.

Down on the foreshore

A short distance away is the youngest wharf along this stretch, Maybank Wharf, occupied by Westminster Waste. Built in 1966 for transporting paper from it nearby factory, it is no longer in use but is in near-perfect condition. A development from Hyde Housing is set to replace the current buildings with flats and a public park on the jetty.

The Maybank jetty

Next you will come across Riverside Wharf, a striking yellow and red structure which stretches over the Thames Path. This Tarmac plant, as well as Angerstein and Murphy’s wharves, is safeguarded, meaning it has been given special protection by the Mayor of London to prevent their redevelopment.

The final wharf along this walk is the Flint Glass Jetty and Thames Wharf, erected in 1920 by Johnsen and Jorgensen, Swedish cod liver and polar bear traders, for their glass works business. The factory was one of the world’s leading glass works, importing bottles to be made into thermometers and other glass equipment.

Riverside Wharf at high tide

Although just short of two miles long, this amble along Charlton Riverside allows walkers to traverse across 200 years of history, from misty marshland through waves of 19th and 20th century industry and into the next chapter of redevelopment. While the developments will inevitably change the industrial character of this area, there’s hope that Charlton’s unique history will not be lost or forgotten. The redevelopment offers an opportunity to re-engage with this history and ensure its legacy is respected.

A group of students from the University of Greenwich are conducting a project on Charlton and the Thames. If you have any stories relating to the Charlton foreshore, industry past or present or anecdotes and memories, please get in touch with us at CharltonForeshoreStories[at]gmail.com.

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Kevin Nolan’s Valley View: Charlton Athletic 3-0 Derby County

The Charlton Champion

Kevin Nolan's Valley View

Charlton’s 3-0 win over Derby County on Saturday was one to relive over and over again. The Charlton Champion‘s KEVIN NOLAN takes us through a memorable afternoon at The Valley.

The Valley was the place to be on Saturday afternoon, a joyous arena where fans and team came together in the common cause. At least it was for Charlton’s fans whose exuberance contrasted significantly with the sullen, library-like silence at the away end which spoke volumes about a club ill-at-ease with itself.

The steady erosion of Derby supporters well before the final whistle was a harbinger for a winter of discontent. It confirmed that all is not well at Pride Park, where Phillip Cocu faces an uphill task to sweep away an ominously toxic atmosphere. But that’s quite enough about Derby County for the time being.

Just one absentee short of 3,000 visitors had seen their team start with ephemeral style, fall behind after only six minutes to a superb opener, then get played off the park; their buoyant hosts could even afford to lose wretchedly unlucky Jonny Williams, the effervescent creator of that first goal, after just 31 minutes. His replacement, Sam Field, stepped in to ensure a seamless transition in midfield quality, his all-round contribution another measure of the impressive depth at Lee Bowyer’s disposal.

Cool confidence

The Addicks were fired in front by Macauley Bonne, whose third goal in only four starts, was taken with the cool confidence of a player now persuaded he belongs among Bowyer’s talented corps. His guv’nor’s patient handling of an initially diffident Bonne has been a masterclass in man-management.

Stealing a yard on marker Matt Clarke, Bonne was ideally placed to finish off a flowing move begun by Naby Sarr’s imperious pass which sent Williams haring down the left flank. The scurrying Welshman ended his run with a perfect cutback which Bonne’s left foot cracked first-time past Kelle Roos. The ex-Leyton Orient marksman is now very much one of the chaps with his own “Macauley Bonne-Bonne-Bonne” ditty to make him feel at home.

Before Williams hobbled off, he was a straining toecap away from converting Bonne’s crisp low cross before the scorer himself forced a flying save from Roos with a ferociously struck drive. In effortless control, only a second home goal was needed, an oversight the excellent Josh Cullen should have corrected when sent through by Jonathan Leko and Conor Gallagher shortly before the break. Confronted by Roos, tireless Cullen was foiled by the rapidly advancing keeper.

Any anxiety touchline exile Bowyer might have been feeling was alleviated three minutes into the second half. Cullen’s wickedly inswinging corner from the left, cleverly engineered by Leko off Jayden Bogle, reached the towering Sarr beyond the far post. With Roos lured off his line in a hesitant quest for the ball, Sarr followed text-book guidance in directing a looping header back over the stranded keeper and gently into the opposite corner.

Goal of the season

At 2-0, the hapless visitors were effectively done and dusted with the truly outstanding Darren Pratley ruthlessly supervising their disintegration from central defence. With lone striker Chris Martin safely tucked away in his back pocket, Pratley, arguably Bowyer’s shrewdest signing, found room there for the petulant Tom Lawrence and any other wayward Ram he found straying too close to Charlton’s penalty area. He received sturdy support from Chris Solly and Tom Lockyer among a side without a weakness. Even an underworked Dillon Phillips preserved the clean sheet, his smart block denying substitute Mason Bennett near the end.

With his usual football-daft zest, meanwhile, Gallagher was running Pratley close for man-of-the match honours. On 67 minutes, he sealed Charlton’s complete superiority with a marvellous third goal – his fifth of the season – which stands unopposed at this early stage as their goal of the season. Taking a square pass from Field, whose typical tenacity had won possession from Graeme Shinnie, he used a steadying touch before curling a 25-yard drive over the startled keeper and sweetly under the bar. The kid’s been good for Charlton. And Charlton have been good for him.

Simple maths tell us that the Addicks need ten more victories from thirty four remaining league games to reach nominal safety in the Championship. That’s the negative view. But sunny-side up, their prospects reach higher and farther. This whistle-to-whistle, bell-to-bell, tape-to-tape domination of one of the Championship’s hotly-tipped pre-season promotion favourites raises the bar.

Bowyer will keep their feet firmly grounded but it costs nothing to dream. Er, I’ll stop now before I get ahead of myself… there’s Bristol City to worry about on Wednesday. They lost 3-0 at Luton and they’ll be looking to take it out on us. Does it ever end?

Charlton: Phillips, Solly, Lockyer, Pratley, Sarr, Forster-Caskey, Cullen, Gallagher (Kayal 78), Williams (Field 31), Leko, Bonne (Hemed 75). Not used: Amos, Oshilaja, Pearce, Oztumer. Booked: Forster-Caskey.

Derby: Roos, Bogle, Davies, Clarke, Malone, Shinnie, Bielik (Holmes 60), Waghorn (Jozefzoon 60), Lawrence, Paterson (Bennett 76), Martin. Not used: Hamer, Wisdom, Dowell, Lowe.

Referee: Stephen Martin. Att: 19,408 (2,999 visiting).

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Kevin Nolan’s Valley View: Charlton Athletic 1-2 Swansea City

The Charlton Champion

Kevin Nolan's Valley View

KEVIN NOLAN reports from last night’s match at The Valley, where Lee Bowyer’s high-flying Charlton side were given a reality check by Swansea City…

Beginning a testing run of fixtures which pits them against the best sides in the Championship, Charlton made an excellent start by edging Leeds United on Saturday. It was a victory for honest endeavour and unflagging commitment helped when and where it mattered most by a timely stroke of luck.

So it was when the Addicks shocked once-beaten Swansea City with a second-minute goal that they briefly aspired to joining the division’s elite. But their calm visitors kept their heads, reacted phlegmatically to the setback and levelled no more than a quarter hour later. Midway through the second half, they scrambled a winner and won with something to spare.

It was a sobering experience for the Addicks, who fought on valiantly but vainly for an unlikely share of the points. If a healthy-looking penalty appeal had gone their way midway through the second session, they might well have realised that ambition. Referee Peter Bankes was certainly a minority of one in ruling that Joe Rodon’s manhandling of Chuks Aneke was within the law. This clearly wasn’t Charlton’s night.

Dream start

The dream start was provided by Jonathan Leko’s second goal of the season, his firm shot finding the roof of the net after debutant Adam Matthews’ low cross from the right had been weakly cleared to his feet. With lack of goals a nagging problem since Lyle Taylor returned injured from international duty, Leko’s strike briefly inspired hope that Charlton’s scoring logjam had been breached but his rare goal proved to be a false dawn. Adding to his surprise strike brought the usual headache, with two goals in four games now their meagre tally without Taylor.

Unstinting acknowledgement for their defiant stand against a better side was the least Lee Bowyer’s bonny band of battlers deserved and The Valley responded appreciatively when Bankes signalled the end of five added minutes. They had given everything as usual, their gutsy resistance highlighted ironically by their sterling if fruitless efforts to prevent Yan Dhanda’s equaliser.

As the Swans broke swiftly from their own half, a line of predatory shooters formed at the edge of Charlton’s penalty area, each of them denied sight of goal by a resolute defender in red. Patiently, the visitors switched the focus of their attack until Dhanda found just enough space to squeeze off a low shot which had sufficient pace to beat Dillon Phillips on its way into the bottom right corner.

Dhanda’s equaliser, no more than a quarter hour after Leko’s opener, was a depressing development for the Addicks. Their new mission became the preservation of an improbable point against smooth, skilful opponents willing to bide their time until a second opportunity arrived. Just past the hour mark, as the pressure mounted, they duly made their second breakthrough in incongruously scruffy circumstances.

An inswinging left wing corner delivered by setpiece specialist Matty Grimes was touched on by Rodon and forced past Phillips by Andre Ayew at close range. Slick and sharp though they were, the South Welshmen were also prepared to score ugly. Their punchless hosts struggled to create even the sniff of a chance at the other end.

Hard slog ahead

There was, nevertheless, encouragement for Bowyer in defeat. New man Matthews made a steady debut up against tricky left winger Bersant Celina, wisely channelling the elusive Kosovan on to his weaker right foot without quite managing to subdue his threat. Fellow Welshman Tom Lockyer was immense at the back, with Josh Cullen, Conor Gallagher and Sam Field insatiable workers in a midfield where Erhun Oztumer was sadly ineffectual.

Up front, meanwhile, Leko was inspired by his goal to briefly threaten the visitors with his tricky if unpredictable skills. He quickly faded, began to take on too much and frequently put his side in trouble with poor decisions and errant passes. Alongside him, Macauley Bonne, his confidence boosted by his generously awarded matchwinner against Leeds, continued to look out of his depth.

Charlton fans can only pine for the time, just a year ago, when sharpshooters Taylor and Karlan Grant were terrorising League One defences. But you know where ifs and ands get you…

A hard slog through what promises to be a gruelling season now stretches before these gritty Addicks. With one of the lowest Championship budgets available to him, Bowyer is under no illusion that a settled side is a rare luxury. He made four changes against Swansea and will do the same for Saturday’s daunting trip to Fulham, where they will start as solid (4-1) outsiders and where, sadly, they are expected to bring capguns to a gunfight. It might be time for a plaintive prayer to St. Jude. He’s gonna be busy on Saturday, but it’s worth a shot.

Charlton: Phillips, Matthews, Lockyer, Pearce. Purrington (Forster-Caskey 71), Field, Cullen, Oztumer (Williams 66), Gallagher, Bonne, Leko (Aneke 66). Not used: Amos, Oshilaja, Prateley, Sarr. Booked: Purrington, Gallagher.

Swansea: Woodman, Rodon, Van Der Hoorn, Fulton, Grimes, Baston, Celina (Wilmott 90), Dhanda (Carroll 78), Ayew, Roberts, Naughton. Not used: Mulder, John, Routledge, Surridge, Garricks.

Referee: Peter Bankes. Attendance: 15,741 (1,122 visiting).

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Charlton Neighbourhood Forum: Play your role in Charlton’s future

The Charlton Champion
The forum aims to involve local people in the redevelopment of Charlton’s riverside

With Charlton about to see huge changes over the next 20 years, a group of residents want to set up a neighbourhood plan – a legal planning document which ensure local people have a genuine say in the future of the area. JODIE COUGHLAN, one of the organisers, explains more, and invites you to its first public meeting on Saturday 13 July.

Since its inception in November 2017, Charlton Together – a collective of local groups in Charlton (including Charlton Central Residents’ Association (CCRA), Derrick & Atlas Residents’ Association (DAGRA), SE7 Action Group, The Charlton Society, Valley Hill Hub, and the Charlton Parkside Community Hub) have worked tirelessly and campaigned ceaselessly as a voice for residents and businesses on planning and development issues in Charlton and Charlton Riverside.

There have been ups and downs along the road, the down being the Fairview development on Victoria Way being approved by Greenwich Council’s planning board in January 2018, the up having successfully fought the Rockwell development on Anchor & Hope Lane at City Hall a year later.

More recently Charlton Together has been working on a more proactive approach to planning and development, by becoming a neighbourhood forum. We would like as many people who live and work in the area to get involved, to help create a Neighbourhood Plan for Charlton.

In order to get the project off the ground, Charlton Together have had a stand at Charlton Station, and several local outdoor events. We’ll also be at the Sherington School Summer Fair tomorrow.

What’s it all about?

In order to produce a neighbourhood plan, we first need to set up the Charlton Neighbourhood Forum, which is a group of local people that live and work in the area.

A neighbourhood plan (supported by the Localism Act 2011) gives the community the right to influence the form of development locally, and is a formal planning document, written by local people and businesses, and forms a material consideration when the Council decides planning applications. (See more detailed background.)

For a forum to be established, there needs to be at least 21 people from across Charlton, and it must be representative of the area. Membership of the forum is free and is open to anyone who living or working across Charlton (all the way from Charlton Riverside, Charlton Central, across Charlton Slopes (Victoria Way, Bramhope Lane, Wyndcliff, Mayhill, Hopedale, Sherington Roads to Eastcombe, Bramshot Avenues, Tallis Grove and Highcombe) across Charlton Road, up towards the Lido, including the roads around near to Charlton Park, Maryon Wilson Park and Maryon Park.

The proposed forum area – which covers the entire SE7 postal area plus areas included in the Charlton Riverside masterplan

Do I need planning & development expertise?

There will be many different roles in producing this plan, so tell us where you can help, whatever your skills they will be welcome. We believe that it will take time to create the plan, but think it will be well worth the effort.

How do I join the forum?

For more information, visit www.charltonneighbourhoodforum.com and click on ‘’Contact’’ to get in touch.

You can also come along to the forum’s first annual general meeting at the Assembly Rooms, Charlton Village, at 4pm on Saturday 13 July. At this meeting a committee will be formed, and officers elected. A constitution will also be agreed and the boundary of the plan area finalised.

After the AGM, an application to Greenwich Council will be made for formal designation.

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