Each year between and March, St Thomas’ Church in Charlton is one of a group in Greenwich borough who collaborate on the Greenwich Winter Night Shelter project.
St Thomas’ opens its doors for one night each week, providing up to 15 homeless people with a hot shower, an evening meal, a warm place to sleep and breakfast, as well as a packed lunch to take away.
Other churches in Greenwich borough pitch in so a volunteer-run service is provided all through the week.
Here’s a video showing what happens in the church on Fridays when it hosts the shelter…
All this costs money to provide, and to help raise funds, there’ll be a concert at the church at 7.30pm on Friday 1 December, featuring popular classics for cello, voice and piano. For more information about the concert or the shelter, call 07989 740 252 or 020 8854 0841.
Charlton House’s former summer house, which is now being restored, has been on the register for some years, but whole conservation areas can also be added to the list.
Bowes’ shoe shop closed at Christmas 2015
The village has long been disfigured by empty and neglected shop units. Number 33, the former Bowes shoe shop, has sat empty since it closed nearly two years ago. Land Registry documents indicate it has been owned since 1989 by Kamil Ahmet of Clapton, east London.
This unit was left open to the elements during the summer
Number 11, the former Sol Property Services, has had a front door panel left open to the elements for weeks earlier this year. It is owned by Maqbool and Nadeem Chaudry of Birmingham, according to the Land Registry.
While the recent revamp of the White Swan and the arrival of the Kasturi Indian restaurant have given the village a bit of a lift, it has struggled to attract other new businesses that would keep these properties in good condition and start restoring The Village to its former glory.
Two years ago, this site published one resident’s musings on how the area needs a regeneration plan. Who will make the first move to sort Charlton Village’s problems out – residents, or Greenwich Council? Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Charlton House hosts its Horn Fair on Sunday 15 October from 10am to 4pm.
It might not be the riotous, drunken event of Horn Fairs past, but it does promise a range of family-friendly activities, cream teas, market stalls, children’s music lessons, and “Hogarth’s 1751 pub selling gin and beer” – plus live music and balloon entertainment.
The proposed development on Fletching Road, with Charlton Church Lane to the left
Plans for 37 new council homes to replace a 1980s sheltered housing block behind Charlton Village were backed by Greenwich Council’s main planning committee last night.
The council’s Planning Board endorsed the scheme by three votes to one, with two abstentions, after concerns were raised about the way the council had gone about consulting people who live next to Fred Styles House, which faces demolition.
The block will be replaced by three 1-bedroom and five 2-bedroom flats, along with 16 one-bedroom, seven 2-bedroom and six 3-bedroom houses, all for social rent.
While the current block only allows access to Charlton Church Lane through a gate, the new scheme will see two pedestrian walkways linking it with Fletching Road, which runs behind The Village.
Residents of the homes that surround Fred Styles House have voiced concerns that turning their area into a pedestrian thoroughfare will lead to an increase in crime.
Fred Styles House as seen from Charlton Church LaneThe current building has 42 bedsits and closed in October 2013
One resident, who lives next door to the proposed development, told councillors she only found out last week that the development would come right up against the side of her house – building over a path she uses to access her front garden, particularly when emptying bins.
Another complained that construction of three one-bedroom flats would block out daylight and lead to two homes being “enclosed like caves”, while one objector said residents’ questions had been met with “stock answers, don’t knows or ‘we’ll get back to you'”.
Many of the upset neighbours’ homes have this view of the current Fred Styles House
One of the architects behind the new development told the meeting that he wanted the site to feel “much more villagey” with a “traditional approach to housing”. His aim was to create “a little neighbourhood”.
How the new homes will look
Several councillors indicated they were unhappy with the way the residents had been consulted. Council deputy leader Danny Thorpe said there was “potential for an off-line discussion” about giving existing residents communal bins to ease the problems caused by losing space near their homes. Kidbrooke with Hornfair councillor Norman Adams voiced concerns about the homes having flat roofs so close to a conservation area.
Planning chair Mark James said he backed the scheme but wanted the applicant – the council – to “engage further” with residents, adding that open walkways actually reduced the risk of crime.
A 3D view of the development
The council was spared the embarrassment of seeing its own housing proposal thrown out, with three councillors – James, Thorpe, and Mark Elliott – backing the scheme to one – Clive Mardner – against. Two – Adams and Geoff Brighty – abstained.
You’re probably familiar with the work of Greenwich Mural Workshop – even if you’ve never heard of it before. It’s responsible for murals and mosaics across London, including the giant mural on Floyd Road, by The Valley, completed in 1976.
Now it is running a year-long National Lottery-backed project, For Walls With Tongues, to record the history of the artists who created the UK’s mural movement from the 1960s. As part of this, it’s looking for people to interview artists as part of an oral history project. These interviews will be archived by the British Library and on a dedicated website.
Project leader Carol Kenna says: “Our project aims to develop an art history to intrigue people who have not encountered mural painting before and provide a resource for students, researchers, critics, historians and the general public. For Walls With Tongues will ensure that the mural movement will be recognised as an important aspect of 20th century art history.”
If you want to develop your interview skills, For Walls With Tongues is hosting a one-day professional interviewing course at Charlton House on Friday 20 October. It’ll be led by Rib Davis, a specialist oral history tutor and author and is aimed at anyone interested in developing interview skills to a standard required by the British Library.
Participants can then become volunteer interviewers on the For Walls With Tongues project if they want to, although the course is open to all who want to sharpen their interview skills.
Not been to Mycenae House recently? You should take a look – Greenwich borough’s most successful community centre has a wide range of events, from concerts to comedy clubs and scientific talks. And if you’re a man over 50, it can help you sharpen your woodworking skills (or gain some).
Age UK Bromley and Greenwich’s Men In Sheds has been running since 2010, putting the skills of older men to work for community projects in their local areas. If you’re used to working and you’ve ever found yourself not working, you’ll know it can be frustrating and depressing, to say the least. If you’ve retired and find yourself stuck at home all day, when you know you’ve still got lots in you to give, it can’t be good for you – or anyone who might also stuck at home with you.
Over the next couple of Wednesdays (4 and 11 October), Men In Sheds will have a “mobile shed” at Mycenae House between 12noon and 3pm. You don’t need to be an expert, you just need to have an interest. It’s better than watching Countdown…
Mycenae House is also running a weekly drop-in cafe for seniors each Thursday from 1-4pm – it’s open to all the family, and provides a welcoming and friendly environment to meet new people and get advice. Tea and cake are just £1.
Okay, it’s actually in Greenwich, but we couldn’t resist giving a mention to The River Ale House, which opened a couple of weeks ago just down the Woolwich Road.
It’s in the former Under Cover Experience lingerie shop – the bottom fell out of the knickers market, and owner Trevor thought he’d try his hand at beer instead.
So far, The River Ale House is doing a good trade in the evenings – providing somewhere to go in a stretch of Woolwich Road that’s long lacked a decent pub.
There’s a rotating range of ales on, plus ciders, wines and spirits. It’s also very dog-friendly.
It’s the eighth micropub to open in south-east London over the past few years, joining The Long Pond in Eltham, Door Hinge in Welling, Hopper’s Hut and Hackney Carriage in Sidcup, Broken Drum in Blacken, Penny Farthing in Crayford and One Inn The Wood in Petts Wood. Another one, The Kentish Belle, is due to open in Bexleyheath later this year.
The Charlton Champion 