Who wants to ride Charlton’s White Swan into the future?

Darryl Chamberlain22 Comments

White Swan, Charlton, 12 December 2013/ Nikki Coates

Let’s be honest, now, the White Swan’s been an ugly duckling of a pub for a long while now. An attempted revamp in 2010 never quite caught on.

For all the attempts to drag it up by its bootstraps, a couple of female friends of mine got grief one summer’s night for the crime of… ordering pints. I’ve not been back since, but I’m told the following manager’s attempt to turn it into a poker hangout didn’t have ace results either.

It was shut for a while, but reopened shortly before Christmas with a new manager in charge while owners Punch Taverns hunt for someone to take it on long-term, albeit at a steep rent of £43,000/ year.

“A rare chance to step into a community pub, located in the heart of Charlton village. The White Swan is a family-friendly establishment that is ideal for hosting events and entertainment. A large patio garden to the rear combined with a commercial kitchen means there is ample opportunity to develop the food trade, particularly in good weather.”

There seems to be a bit of interest in taking on the Swan this time, though – but whether the potential pub bosses have the same ideas as Punch is a curious question. The manager who led the 2010 revamp fancies trying to finish the job, another group fancies trying to recreate the live music success of the Pelton Arms in Greenwich, while there’s also talk of a local brewery showing some interest (small breweries have helped the community buy Nunhead’s Ivy House under new legislation, while the East Wickham Brewery has taken on the long-forgotten Old Loyal Britons in Thames Street, Greenwich).

And then there’s this petition and Facebook page from Kathryn McDowell, who wants to see the Antic group take the pub over. Antic has a fine track record in taking on dowdy pubs and making them shine – particularly the Ravensbourne Arms (ex-George and Dragon) in Lewisham and the now-shut Catford Bridge Tavern (ex-Copperfield), which has been replaced by the Catford Constitutional Club, in a long-shut Conservative club. It’s an interesting company, but has taken nearly a year to do anything with a planned pub in Woolwich’s Equitable House, evidence of a full diary of planned refurbs.

Worth noting, though, that there’s 125 “likes” on Kathryn’s Facebook page – probably more than have ever been in the Swan on a non-matchday for some time.

Do you drink in Charlton and have a preferred pub? Or do you just head straight out of SE7 towards Greenwich or Blackheath if you fancy a tipple? Share your thoughts on Charlton’s pubs – and what do you think can be done to keep the Swan afloat?

Charlton Toy Library’s Christmas Appeal

Neil Clasper3 Comments

Charlton Toy Library

 

 

 

A message from Charlton Toy Library about their Christmas appeal:

Charlton Toy Library is a charity maintained by fundraising. As well as a toy borrowing service and stay-and-play sessions, we also run an outreach programme. Our outreach worker visits four women’s refuges in the area, lending books, toys and games to the children. To help these children – who have no toys at Christmas – we are aiming to raise £1,000 in donated toys/donations for toys to be used in our outreach programme. If you are clearing out cupboards for Christmas and have toys that you can donate to the library we would be most grateful. Alternatively, if you would like to give us a donation to buy toys, please visit our Virgin Money Giving site to donate and put in the comments box that the funds are for ‘outreach toys’.

You can find out more about the work that Charlton Toy Library does at: http://www.charltontoylibrary.co.uk/

School plan for disused Highcombe playing field

Darryl Chamberlain9 Comments


Our Lady of Grace primary school could be rebuilt on a long-disused playing field in Highcombe if plans submitted to Greenwich Council get the go-ahead.

A planning application has been submitted to move the Roman Catholic primary school from its oversubscribed site on Charlton Road onto the playing field, which has sat disused since the early 1990s since Christ The King Sixth Form College moved to Lewisham. The school site would be redeveloped into housing.

The rebuilt school would have its entrance and exit on Lime Kiln Close, the cul-de-sac built on the site of what used to be St Austin’s boys’ school, whose playing field it was.

Our Lady of Grace is one of six south east London schools in the running to have a replacement school built under the Priority Schools Building Programme – if the government gives it the funds and the council backs the plans, it could be open by 2015.

While the plan (reference 13/2692/L) is due to be publicised in this week’s edition of council newspaper Greenwich Time, at the time of writing it can’t be viewed on the council website because of a technical fault.

The proposal also affects the Charlton Community Gardens group, which had been proposing to use some of the land for a community garden. But with Greenwich Council committed to ensuring there is no loss of community open space (the disused field is shown on a map as just that, despite it being owned by a French religious order and having been out of bounds for two decades), the group is exploring options as to how it can attempt to secure some land there.

Victory for ‘We Call It Charlton Lido’ campaign

Neil Clasper5 Comments

lido petition

GLL announced today that the refurbished Charlton Lido will be called ‘Charlton Lido and Lifestyle Club’, dropping plans to rename it as ‘Royal Greenwich Lido’. The ‘Lifestyle Club’ addition to the name refers to the gym and cafe facilities due to open in January 2014.

The message sent to Lido members this afternoon:

A common theme that came through in your feedback was the important place that the Lido has within the local Charlton community as well as its historical significance.

We have invested over £5 million so far refurbishing and extending the facilities and are committed to securing the Lido’s future as a local landmark and community facility for years to come.

In response to your comments the name we have chosen, Charlton Lido and Lifestyle Club, recognises the historical and community aspects of the Lido while incorporating the exciting developments to come. The new gym facilities will launch in mid January, with the pool re-opening in Spring.

We will be holding a series of open weekends in late January to give everyone the opportunity to see the new facility first hand. For the latest updates, visit www.better.org.uk/charltonlido or email us.

Today’s announcement reflects a victory for the ‘We Call It Charlton Lido’ campaign, set up after GLL started to rename the lido without any local consultation. An online petition gathered nearly 500 signatures, plus support from across the local political parties, and gained considerable coverage from local media.

This site would like to thank all those who supported the campaign!

PS, the first, informal meeting of the newly-launched Friends Of Charlton Lido takes place at 6.30pm on Monday 25 November, at Brew & Choo cafe (next to Charlton station).

Dates for your diary: Pub Quiz, FoCL, Winter Social

Nikki3 Comments

Rose of Denmark, Charlton

7th November – Pub Quiz:  The Charlton Pub Quiz returns! Fans of quiz-master Paul’s sparkly jacket can see it in all its glory at 8.30pm at the Rose of Denmark. The pub quiz can also be found on Twitter – @CharltonPubQuiz – and if you don’t have a team you can contact the quiz-master there or leave a comment here and he’ll help to match you up. You can expect 6 rounds of classic trivia, such as sport, history, current affairs and the life and films of Bill Murray.*  Entry £2 per person, cash prizes from the quiz takings for winners.

* Maybe.

16th November – Thorntree School Christmas Craft Market:
Thorntree School is hosting its annual Christmas Craft Market on Saturday 16th of this month. Running from midday till 4:00pm the event showcases local crafts such as Kat’s Kalma handmade soaps, Nicola Corrigan designs, jewellery and vintage items. There are also cupcakes and other festive refreshments! Entry is £1 for adults and children go free. Organised by the Friends of Thorntree Association, money raised by the event goes towards their efforts to make purchases that the school may otherwise not afford. But it’s mostly a chance to go along and enjoy some Christmas cheer.

25th November – First meeting, Friends of Charlton Lido: You’ll know that Charlton Lido is very dear to the Champion’s heart, and that this blog has previously suggested that a Friends group should be set up to represent users’ interests and support our local pool. The first informal meeting of the Friends group will be held at 6:30pm in Brew and Choo. There’s more information on the new Friends of Charlton Lido site, and the group also has a Twitter account: @FoCLSE7.

28th November – The Charlton Champion’s Winter Social:  The Charlton Champion’s Summer Social was such a success that we thought we’d do it all over again, but in winter. If you’d like to meet the people behind the site, suggest stories, pass on gossip, meet other Charlton residents, or if you just fancy an excuse to get out of the house and have a pint, why not join us? We’ll be meeting at 8pm at the Rose of Denmark. It’d be really great if you could leave us a comment if you’re planning to come along so we have an idea of how many to expect.

IKEA’s plans for Bugsby’s Way: public exhibition, 9th November

Nikki11 Comments
IKEA's ad in the Greenwich Time
IKEA have taken out an advert in Greenwich Time (29th Oct) to publicise their plans.

Everyone’s favourite place for a weekend argument could be coming to our doorstep soon, as IKEA have designs on the plot left behind by Sainsbury’s once they move up the road to Charlton.

Local reaction at the Greenwich Phantom and Greenwich.co.uk is already quite polarised: while many of us are fans of Swedish meatballs and flat-pack Billy shelves, there are real concerns about whether our area can cope with the additional traffic that a massive furniture store might bring. IKEA’s page which deals with the proposal suggests that the new store would be “[their] most accessible store in the UK for customers visiting by public transport” but it’s worth considering whether your normal IKEA purchases could fit on the 486 to get them home.

IKEA have not yet submitted planning permission for the site, and say they’d like to hear the views of local residents before they do. Your chance to put your views forward – whether they be pro-furniture or anti-traffic – is Saturday 9 November 2013 12.00pm – 7.00pm at Sherard Hall, The Forum @ Greenwich, Trafalgar Road, SE10 9EQ. IKEA say that “representatives from the project team will be at the exhibition to explain the proposal and answer any questions.”

While the proposed store might lie just outside our patch, the traffic it attracts might not. If you’re concerned, this is a good chance to put your point of view across. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

Signs of worry over Charlton House’s future

Darryl Chamberlain21 Comments

Charlton House sign

English Heritage have complained to Greenwich Council about new signs promoting Charlton House, which have been placed outside the Jacobean mansion.

The two signs, in the council’s house style, use stock photos to advertise the Grade I-listed venue’s availability for weddings, meetings, and other events.

Charlton Society chair David Gardner, which is also chair of the Greenwich & Woolwich Labour Party, said he was unaware that the signs would be installed but that the heritage body had complained to the council.

The revelation came at the Charlton Society’s annual general meeting on Saturday, where the council’s management of the house was repeatedly criticised.

Plans for Charlton House’s management to be taken over by a specific trust have been scrapped by council leader Chris Roberts, with it now to be run by a trust which looks after all of Greenwich borough’s community venues.

Charlton Society president Lord Gough – a descendant of the Maryon Wilson family which owned the house – voiced his regret at the collapse of the plans, while Gardner complained the council was “not talking to us” about the future of Charlton House.

The new signs point potential customers to the council’s website, despite the council having recently launched a new website for Charlton House. A previous website for Charlton House, which cost £3,500 to develop, lasted only two years.

The meeting also saw Charlton councillor Allan MacCarthy appeal for people to get in touch with council chief executive Mary Ney (mary.ney [at] royalgreenwich.gov.uk) if they wished to complain about the Run to the Beat event, while assembly member Len Duvall said Greenwich Council and organisers should either improve arrangements and information or axe the event.

The meeting was also addressed by Greenwich & Woolwich MP Nick Raynsford, who spoke about the opportunities – and dangers – presented by riverside developments. You can hear some of his speech below.

  • Charlton Champion contributors Darryl Chamberlain (that’s me) and Nikki Coates, along with Andrew Donkin from the Friends of Maryon and Maryon Wilson Parks, were elected to the Charlton Society committee on Saturday. We’ll be looking at ways to breathe some new life into the organisation and get more people involved – if you’ve got any ideas, get in touch.