It’s 40 years since Charlton Toy Library was founded by a group of mums who met on a regular basis with their children. Since then, it’s moved into Charlton House, added an outreach service to support vulnerable families and overall has helped thousands of children and families across the borough of Greenwich. It provides a place to stay and play for children, but also offers toys, books and baby and safety equipment for loan.
Now Charlton Toy Library is inviting the community to celebrate its 40th birthday this Sunday, 17 July in Charlton Assembly Hall. There will be entertainment, children’s crafts, music and much more. To mark the occasion Charlton Toy Library is raising £4,000 to offer free membership, services and food vouchers to 120 families.
Guests include Leo Fletcher, the mayor of Greenwich, and Chris Mason, local resident and BBC political editor – no doubt taking a break after a busy few days.
The party is open to all, and will run from 10.30am to 1pm – with the all-important cake-cutting at 11am. And to support the fundraiser, visit: cafdonate.cafonline.org/20933.
Got green finders? Charlton Community Gardens would like you to join them for their gardening party this Sunday morning.
They say…
This coming Sunday, July 3rd, we have our Gardening Party from 10 am until 12 noon at Charlton Station. Gardening experience isn’t necessary, but please bring some gloves, if you have them. We have tools for you to use.
Please join us as close to 10 am as you can because if the weather changes, or the tasks listed below are completed, we go home.
The tasks for Sunday: – general weed and litter pick – water – tie up any climbers – remove acanthus from the pollinator-friendly area – continue the audit of flowering plants in the pollinator-friendly area – prune the Cornus in the station bed – tie in/cut back climbers on the back wall, including the vine – move bark chippings away from base of raised beds – other tasks as identified on the day
Residents in a group of streets near Charlton are banding together to take part in an arts, crafts and jumble trail this Saturday afternoon.
Locals will be setting up stalls in their front gardens to offer handmade items, henna tattoo painting, artwork, bric-a-brac, clothes, plants, toys, books and much more.
There will also be a solent auction at St Richard’s Hall on Swallowfield Road, raffle and food bank collection point. The local police safer neighbourhood team will also be there.
It’s easy to miss, but the complex by the river, on the Charlton-Woolwich border, is the UK’s biggest site for artists, makers and designers, with over 550 studios. Saturday will be your chance to meet them and buy their wares.
You’ll be able to see painting, drawing, fashion design, carpentry, photography, print making, picture framing, stained glass making, graphic design, film and video and much more besides.
This week’s rail and Tube strikes will wreak havoc with travel around London. The official advice is to not travel, but if you need to go, here are your options…
Trains from Charlton – strikes on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, restricted morning services on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
The only trains from Charlton station will run at 12 and 42 past the hour, stopping at Greenwich, Deptford and London Bridge only. First train at 0742, last at 1742. Charing Cross, Cannon Street, Waterloo East, Westcombe Park and Maze Hill stations will be closed. There will also be no Thameslink services through central London.
Coming back, trains will run half-hourly from London Bridge to Charlton from 0804 to 1804. Similar half-hourly services are running on other lines, so you could travel to Lewisham or Blackheath and make your way back from there. (The last train of all is an Orpington service stopping at Lewisham, which leaves at 1806.)
Heading towards Kent, trains for Dartford will leave Charlton every half an hour from 0819 to 1749, calling at all stations except Woolwich Dockyard, which will be closed. There is a further train at 1816, which also won’t call at Belvedere or Slade Green. There will be no trains into Kent from Dartford.
Morning services will also be distrupted on non-strike days, with no trains expected before 0730 – check before travelling.
Tube from North Greenwich – strikes on Tuesday
No service expected from North Greenwich – or a very limited one at best. Jubilee Line should be fine on other days but extremely busy. Be warned: there is a Queen show at the O2 on Tuesday evening.
Elizabeth Line from Woolwich – strikes on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
Elizabeth Line trains from Woolwich and Abbey Wood will operate at a reduced frequency as they are affected by the National Rail strike – check before travelling and be prepared to queue. Trains will run from 0700–1800. Check:National Rail Enquiries, RealTimeTrains
Docklands Light Railway from Woolwich Arsenal and Lewisham – no strike
Services will be running, but will be extremely busy. Stations shared with the Tube system (eg Bank, Stratford) may be closed on Tuesday.
London Overground from New Cross/New Cross Gate – strikes on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
Affected by National Rail strike. About half of all services expected to run from 0700 to 1800 only.
Thames Clippers from Greenwich, North Greenwich and Woolwich – no strikes
Normal service, but boats will be busy. Queen show at the O2 on tube strike Tuesday will swell crowds in the evening. Services run from Barking Riverside now so Woolwich passengers won’t have first dibs on seats. Check:Thames Clippers Twitter
Buses – no strikes
They are accepting paper National Rail tickets, if you still have one of those.
Bikes – no strikes
– The Woolwich Road cycleway to Cutty Sark Gardens (be aware a small part west of there is closed), then using Cycleway 10 (the old Quietway 1) from Deptford to Waterloo may be an option if you are on two wheels.
– Alternatively, you could carry on along the Thames Cycle Path to Rotherhithe station, then turn left onto Brunel Road, which connects with Cycleway 4 to London Bridge
The Royal Oak on Charlton Lane is staging another charity pub quiz this Tuesday, to raise money for the Maryon Park Community Garden. Quizmaster PAUL BREEN – who is also vice-chair of the garden – would like to invite you along…
The garden relies entirely on donations and volunteers. To help with fundraising Charlton Athletic have donated a signed first-team shirt from the 2021/2022 season which will be raffled on the night.
Maryon Park Community Garden has been in existence since 2012 when locals took advantage of a Capital Growth grant to rejuvenate an overgrown area of the park. As a taster, here’s a question: Which infamous politician was instrumental in giving out these grants? (Clue: many people might now like said politician to go on gardening leave.)
Unfortunately the answers to this question are only available to those who turn up on the quiz night. Hopefully then the community garden will get the benefit of a decent crowd on the night and be able to continue their good work in the local area.
The quiz starts at 7.30pm and should last about two hours. Food is also available in The Royal Oak beforehand.
New Greenwich Council leader Anthony Okereke, centre, with regeneration cabinet member Aidan Smith, left, Jo van den Broek in the digger and Pocket executives
The developer Pocket Living has broken ground on its new blocks at The Heights, where 48 new flats are now being built on part of an old council car park.
New Greenwich Council leader Anthony Okereke helped launch the development alongside newly-elected Charlton Village councillor Jo van den Broek and Aidan Smith, the new cabinet member for regeneration.
Pocket, which has funding from City Hall, plans to sell them all the flats for 80 per cent of market value to people earning under £71,000 within the borough of Greenwich – meaning they tick the official definition of “affordable”, if not the dictionary definition. The company says it has 650 people who live or work in the borough who are interested in buying, and has previously said that a typical buyer would be earning about £40,000.
The blocks will sit opposite existing houses on The Heights
However, while plans to build houses on estates on Lewisham Road and Kidbrooke Park Road were scrapped, the plans for The Heights stayed in place and were passed at a planning meeting early last year. The only objector to speak was Van den Broek’s predecessor as Labour councillor, Gary Parker.
Okereke said: “Our borough is growing fast and we need homes that suit everyone, so schemes like these will be important as we tackle the housing crisis. We know demand is high for homes in Greenwich and we’re doing everything we can to deliver housing for all, and projects like this will help first time buyers get on the ladder and keep local people living, working and enjoying our fantastic borough.”
Nick Cuffe, the chief operating officer of Pocket Living, said: “Our latest research, which polled over 1,000 Londoners aged between 25 and 45 years old, found that the biggest obstacle to non-home owners is ‘house prices being too high’ at 51 per cent, while 30 per cent claim they can’t afford a mortgage and 27 per cent are struggling to raise a deposit.
“As the cost of living continues to rise it is vital that we deliver innovative housing solutions to unlock homeownership for the next generation. As such, we are proud to be delivering new homes in Greenwich and working with a council who shares our ambitions to get more Londoners on the housing ladder.”
The development is scheduled for completion at the end of next year. It is Pocket’s first in the borough of Greenwich and follows two schemes in the borough of Lewisham; at Marischal Road, off Lee High Road, and at Arklow Road in New Cross.
The Charlton Champion 