This summer’s Horn Fayre seems to have survived the cuts, and organisers are getting ready for it by holding an open mic comedy night at Charlton House on Friday from 7.30pm.
The winner will be offered a chance to perform at the Horn Fayre in June, and all proceeds from the event will go to the Samaritans.
Audience tickets cost £5 – you’ll have to bring your own drink – and to register, call 8856 3951 or e-mail charlton.house@greenwich.gov.uk.
Plans to redevelop the Sainsburys depot at the end of Anchor and Hope Lane will be revealed at a public exhibition this week.
The supermarket chain plans to replace its current distribution centre with “a more efficient warehouse facility” with a new energy centre, vehicle wash and “fuel island”.
The exhibition takes place at The Valley on Thursday between 4pm and 8pm.
Many Charlton bus users will lose out when Transport for London starts to replace its Countdown screens at bus stops across the capital.
The current system, which dates back to the 1980s, is being replaced with a new one based on the same GPS technology behind the automatic announcements recently rolled on London buses. Passengers will also be able to get bus times by text message for a 12p fee.
But not all stops will get the new screens – only selected stops will get them, and many stops which currently have the old Countdown boards will miss out.
In Charlton, stops around Charlton station and near Charlton Lane will get the new service, as well as stops by the shopping parade on Shooters Hill Road.
But no boards will be provided on Charlton Road, The Village, Charlton Park Road or Hillreach, meaning users of the busy 53, 54 and 422 routes will miss out. TfL says the locations were decided after discussions with each borough. The nearest screens on those routes will be at Blackheath Royal Standard and Woolwich town centre.
Nearby, Greenwich and Lewisham town centres, Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Blackheath Village will also get the new screens, which will be introduced over the next two years. More details and maps are on the TfL website.
Charlton Lido’s future is looking brighter after Greenwich Leisure Limited took on its lease in a deal which took effect on Wednesday evening.
GLL, which runs Greenwich Council’s leisure facilities as well as scores of others around London, took on the lease from failed company Open Waters Investments, which had promised to turn the facility in Hornfair Park into a diving centre.
The diving centre plans are now on the back burner, with the council now wanting to see a 50-metre heated pool at Charlton Lido open in time for summer 2012.
Work would have to begin this summer, meaning swimmers will have to wait for an open-air dip – just as they did when negotiations with doomed Open Waters were taking place in the summer of 2009.
The new lido scheme now depends on planning permission being granted by the council’s planning board in May, as well as raising funds from London mayor Boris Johnson’s community sports fund.
Planning permission was renewed earlier this month for the diving centre scheme, which collapsed after Open Waters failed to secure funding for the project. The council is now concentrating on creating a heated pool at the site which would be open all year round. The entire scheme, including plans for a BMX track in Hornfair Park, is due to cost £2.8m.
In response to a question from Conservative leader Spencer Drury, Culture and Olympics cabinet member John Fahy told Wednesday’s council meeting that the deal to transfer the lido to GLL – which had operated it before the doomed Open Waters deal – had only been signed at 5pm on Wednesday.
“With a fair wind, and subject to a funding opportunity from the mayor’s fund, and a contribution from Greenwich Leisure; we anticipate the lido will form a 50-metre heated pool, and we hope to have that up and running in advance of 2012,” Cllr Fahy said.
“We anticipate the refurbishment is likely to be in the region of £2.8m, and as a consequence, we don’t anticipate the lido will be open this summer, because the contractors will be on site as early as possible in the summer.”
Hear John Fahy’s full response to Spencer Drury’s question:
There’s a thriving Japanese language school in the upstairs rooms at Charlton House. Ever wanted to learn Japanese? You can give it a try there for free, since it has students learning how to teach it as a second language. It’s a place we hope to return to in the coming weeks.
Naturally, though, many of its students’ thoughts have been elsewhere. So the school’s doing its bit to help, with a fundraising day this Saturday…
There’ll be origami and Japanese calligraphy workshops, a Japanese bazaar, sushi tasting and martial arts demonstrations. If you’ve got some time to spare on Saturday, it looks like a good way to spend an hour or so for a very good cause.
A new, regular writer has joined the Charlton Champion team – journalism student Linzi Kinghorn.
Originally from Dorset, she moved to Charlton from north London a month ago and has been busy finding out about the area ever since.
She’ll be out and about talking to people and finding out their stories and their news. Got a story for Linzi? Drop us a line. Got any tips for her as a newcomer? Let us know in the comments…
What had you heard about Charlton before you moved here?
Before I moved to Charlton, I had no preconceptions at all. In fact, I wasn’t even aware it existed! I had heard of Greenwich and how beautiful it was, and of Blackheath and how affluent that was, but nothing about Charlton!
What were your first impressions of the place?
I was really surprised at how hilly it was! On a serious note, I was a little bit unnerved by the gangs that stood around the train station, but they didn’t cause me any trouble whenever I’ve walked past and don’t seem to be as prominent as when I first moved here. I’m quite surprised at how many little corner shops there are all in one place around the train station and genuinely surprised at how the lower part of Charlton differs from the little village at the top. It’s like two different places!
So far, what do you like the most?
I love my street. It has lots of cherry blossom trees and takes me out of the hustle and bustle of London. Everyone seems friendly and polite, and there are lots of families with cats which is nice. love the industrial park with all the shops – back at home in Dorset where I’m from we had nothing like that! I really like the quaintness of the village at the top with the co-op and little pubs.
How does it compare with Turnpike Lane?
The reason I disliked living in Turnpike Lane is because there was lots of crime – someone was sexually attacked outside my house – but here I feel considerably safer. I cannot imagine that happening outside my new house. North London feels smoggy and my skin would feel dirty – it feels much more like an outer London suburb here with the option of jumping on the train and being in central London within 10 minutes – best of both worlds!
What’s your favourite thing to do in Charlton?
So far, I’ve enjoyed the walks and the jogs. I went down to the Thames Barrier for a walk today and it was lovely. Yesterday I went for a run from the village down over the bridge and up to Blackheath and back and was smitten.
Anything you haven’t done yet but are keen to do?
I did a story about paranormal activity and ghost tours and one of the places mentioned was Charlton House – have to take a look in there at some point! I’ve heard Charlton also has a nice park which I’d like to see and of course get some cheap tickets for a Charlton game!
Where would you take someone who was visiting?
I would definitely take them up to the village because I think it is so quaint, and perhaps go in for a quiet lunch or drink in one of the pubs. Again, I really like the Thames Barrier.
Tell us some more about how you got involved with the Charlton Champion?
I came across the website on the internet when I was searching for information about the area. I’m doing a Masters degree in Broadcast Journalism at City University and thought it would be the perfect way to combine getting to know the area better with some good old-fashioned hyperlocal blogging. My aim is to get more members of the Charlton community engaging with each other and exchanging stories and news. So, I will be blogging about what I see, what I hear, local issues and hopefully interviewing some members of the community.
Isn’t this a sleepy area where nothing happens?
Not at all. No matter how small, if something affects people, upsets them, excites them, brings them together, that is news and that is something worth blogging about. If you look hard enough, you will always find things that are going on. I’ve only been here a month and lots of things have stood out to me – horses being used when football matches are on; potential allotment closures…these are things I am sure people are passionate about and definitely not things that would constitute describing Charlton as a sleepy area.
Charlton Champion reader Boneyboy has a question I’ve been pondering too.
Does anyone know whether there are plans for the two vacant shops/takeaways in the part of Bramshot Avenue to the west of Eastcombe Avenue?
There is some sign of activity at what was the Desi Spice take away – the front of the premises have been repainted. Does anyone know if this means that there are plans to reopen?
Family Fish and Chips next door to Desi closed about 5 years ago. Pre-ordered fish was always great, the chips were excellent, and conversatons with the owner were… somewhere between confusing and entertaining. I recently spotted that the premises were for sale for around £10K.
About 15 years ago there were 7 business premises on this parade, including a sub-post office. Now only retail offering is the excellent Toy Box newsagents. Two shops have been converted to residential, the two takeaways are vacant, Arena Minicabs operate from another and there’s dental technicians in the other.
There’s plenty of other examples in the locality of corner shops and small parades dropping out of retail use, so what is the best use for these buildings? Should they stay in some type of commercial use (such as a mini cab office) or is retaining business use too disruptive, and is it better for the areas to allow these premises to be converted to homes?
As far as I can recall, the parade went into a tailspin after the post office went in the first big round of post office closures about six years ago. But what’s the future for these shops? Your thoughts – and memories of what was there – are welcome.
