Greenwich Council plans to give Charlton House a boost

Darryl Chamberlain3 Comments

Charlton House flowers

There’s change afoot at Charlton House, with Greenwich Council planning to spin it off into a borough-wide heritage trust. The house has been owned by the council and its predecessors for nearly 90 years, but has always been overshadowed by higher-profile attractions, particularly since the push to rebrand the borough as “Royal Greenwich”.

The idea’s to make its future more sustainable with a new business plan, and a wider range of events during the year. A paper delivered to a council scrutiny panel last night reveals:

A new business plan has being drawn up for Charlton House, ahead of plans for it to be included in the borough-wide Heritage Trust. This focuses on new ways to maximise use, particularly wedding and conference/training business and will be done primarily through an increased presence in the market and coverage in the press.

Ways in which to engage the local community are being explored through ‘Sharing Heritage’, a Heritage Lottery Fund open programme, in partnership with the Friends of Charlton House and local schools.

In addition to providing meeting space for community groups, a series of evening and weekend social events will run throughout 2013, aimed at reaching new and more diverse audiences. This will be achieved through seeking and encouraging partnerships with local groups and businesses.

The lack of proper publicity for Charlton House events has caused some furrowing of brows here at the Charlton Champion for some time – it recently gained a woefully fiddly website (see a bit here) which has since been taken down. Enquiries to the council as to how much the now-pulled website cost have so far drawn a blank.

Otherwise, it seems to be relying on a Facebook page, and a Twitter feed which now doesn’t do anything much but redirect to the Facebook page. Oh, and a recently-installed street sign at the top of Charlton Church Lane, from where you can see Charlton House, pointing to Charlton House.

Which is a shame, because “new and diverse audiences” is what Charlton House badly needs to reach – classical recitals scheduled for when most locals are at work simply aren’t going to be enough.

Global Fusion Music and Arts has been putting on shows (see more on its Facebook page) including a folk night with Martin Carthy, but this can only be a start.

It’ll be interesting to see what this business plan for Charlton House entails – and if Charlton House want people to spread the word, we’re only too happy to help.

Charlton Toy Library nearly new sale this Saturday

Darryl Chamberlain

nearly new saleJanine from Charlton Toy Library‘s been in touch…

We realise that we’ve perhaps left this a little late but… we were wondering whether you might be able to help us advertise our Nearly New sale this Saturday 15th June at 10.30-12.30 in Charlton Assembly Rooms.

We’ll be selling quality secondhand and new children’s clothes, equipment, books and toys, along with maternity stuff too. There will be tea, coffee and cakes provided by the Old Cottage Coffee Shop as well as facepainting. There will be a £1 entry fee which all goes to help raise funds for the Toy Library.

Consider it done. And if you’re around in the afternoon, Carol Kenna from the Charlton Parks Reminiscence Project will be talking to the Charlton Society about her work at 2.30pm.

Charlton Community Gardens plant sale – Thursday 13 June

Neil Clasper

ccgCharlton Community Gardens have been in touch to tell us about a plant sale they’re holding on Thursday 13 June at Charlton Station. It’s an opportunity to meet the people behind the Community Gardens project and check out the progress they’ve made. If you’re interested in finding out more, or getting involved (they need more help with their watering rota, for example), email charltoncommunitygardens [at] gmail.com.

Not everyone’s a fan of a Charlton station Sainsbury’s…

Darryl Chamberlain10 Comments

Sainsburys

While work is now taking place to bring a large Sainsbury’s store to Woolwich Road, there’s a lot less work taking place on bringing a smaller Sainsbury’s to Charlton Church Lane, where an extension is needed before the chain can move in.

Yet this graffiti’s appeared recently. While a small supermarket will bring a bit of life to the parade by Charlton station, clearly not everyone’s happy to see Sainsbury’s arrive.

The Guardian on ‘defiantly unfashionable’ Charlton

Darryl Chamberlain7 Comments

Cherry Orchard Estate

“Estate agents have started calling it Charlton Village.”

Hmmm. But for a series that’s usually written without ever setting foot into the place in question, the Guardian weekend magazine’s Let’s Move To… Charlton is unusually bang on the money.

Charlton has fine schools, magnificent views from its rolling hillside, great transport links to central London, leafy parks such as Maryon Wilson and, at its heart, what was once a Kentish village, with old church, ye olde pubbe, village green and a Jacobean stately home, Charlton House. Its little high street contains useful shops that in other, posher spots might have been turned into candle purveyors and poodle parlours. There is no Starbucks. Its homes are well built and affordable. Plus it has an (almost) restored lido. Heated water, too. Beat that, Blackheath.

Indeed, who needs Starbucks now there’s The Old Cottage Cafe and Brew & Choo? But what did the Guardian miss out? Share your thoughts…

Visit Charlton Manor Primary School on Open Garden Squares Weekend

Neil Clasper

The annual Open Garden Squares Weekend takes place 8-9 June, and Charlton Manor Primary School are opening their doors to the public to show off their Secret Garden.

Charlton Manor Primary School pupils work with the gardener
Charlton Manor Primary School pupils work with the gardener

Headmaster Tim Baker writes:

Visitors will get a tour of the garden and a talk about how the garden is used to support the curriculum. For those that wish we will also give a tour of the children’s kitchen.There will be tea and cakes available on the day. The cakes are made from produce in the garden, ie eggs, honey, carrots etc.

The Secret Garden at Charlton Manor is hidden behind the dinner centre. It provides the children with a quiet area to go at break times and at other times during the day when they may have difficulties concentrating in class. It is packed with learning opportunities and as well as having allotments, a greenhouse and raised beds it also has 4 bee hives, a chicken run home to 10 chickens of different breeds, a stag beetle environment, a composting area containing 4 different composting methods including a wormery, a hide for bird watching, a bird box with cameras linked to the internet, a wildlife area together with pond and an area for conducting investigations using computers such as pond dipping. The children use it through most of the curriculum. Much of the produce is used in the school’s newly built teaching kitchen, enabling them to understand how this all fits with healthy eating.

Champion readers may have seen the school featured on BBC News recently, as they contributed to a garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Pupils have been attending the show and manning a stand to tell the public about the plants they grew, and have been visited by a number or members of the royal family and celebrities visiting the garden.

This correspondent went along to the school’s Open Garden event last year and enjoyed the experience very much (the cake was particularly good). Why not call by to see what’s going on in this green-fingered corner of SE7?

The address:

Charlton Manor Primary School
Indus Road
London
SE7 7EF

Singer/songwriter Peter Swaffield at St Thomas Church

Darryl Chamberlain

Did you know there are concerts at St Thomas Church, tucked away on Maryon Road? I didn’t, but I do now. Coming up on Friday 7 June (7.30pm, £4 admission)….

Peter Swaffield1970s BBC singer songwriter Peter Swaffield will be performing Folk, Country and Gospel music.

Peter was featured at the recent ‘Keynotes 50th Anniversary Concert’ at Tommy’s and returns to perform solo by popular demand.

Peter’s vocal and guitar style has been compared to the USA superstar James Taylor.

When a student at Oxford University Peter became a BBC songwriter, performing “The Song of the Week” spot for BBC Radio Oxford. For the Tommy’s concert Peter will be performing a solo set and playing the second half with his band

Peter will play some of his own songs, country music hits and some well-known gospel songs plus a few James Taylor favourites.

Peter’s band includes blues guitarist Richard Chambers OBE and Tim Anderson who has played the drums for Peter Green, Cliff Richard, and Country star George Hamilton IV.

The proceeds from the evening will go to WaterAid, the charity dedicated to helping people escape the poverty and disease caused by living without safe water and sanitation.

This concert is one of a series of musical events being held at St. Thomas, Old Charlton, SE7 under the banner Music at Tommy’s.

Musicians and audiences have discovered that the church has wonderful acoustic properties commenting that the music whether opera, folk, gospel or jazz sounds great.