You might have seen that the old Holborn College site on Woolwich Road has now become a primary school, Windrush Charlton.
Unfortunately, and incredibly, the kids there haven’t been given a school crossing patrol – despite the fact that it sits on a dual carriageway that sees some pretty poor driving at the best of times.
Ed Simmons’ petition hopes to change that – and is well worth your support.
Are you ready for three years of travel disruption through London Bridge station? From 2015, many trains won’t be calling there while the station is rebuilt.
Find out more, and find out what Southeastern and Network Rail are doing about it, at the Charlton Rail Users’ Group open meeting on Monday at 7.30pm at Charlton Liberal Club, Charlton Church Lane. Other topics will include trains stopping at the far end of the platform, and the mooted switch of Southeastern services to TfL.
The Guardian this week highlighted a report on the postcode lottery of broadband speeds across London, with some suburbs having notably better service than areas in central London. The report claims that the fastest average download speeds to be found across London are actually in Charlton. Anecdotal evidence suggests, however, that there’s a wide range of speeds even within our postcode.
So what’s your experience of broadband in SE7? Good, bad or indifferent? Have you any tips for improving your broadband speed? Let us know in the comments below, and maybe we’ll get an idea of which broadband providers are serving Charlton best.
The book-swap scheme at Charlton station has been a roaring succcess, but if you prefer your reading to be a little more social, what are your options?
New-ish SE7 resident Gemma (well, she’s been here for a year and a half) has an idea…
“I’ve been looking recently for a book group in the area in the evenings, and have found that there are a couple run through the library but they all seem to be during the day.
“If you could let me know if I’ve missed info on the blog, or if not if you could do a shout out, I’d so so appreciate it. If there’s not an after-hours book club in existence, I’d really quite like to start one and I think the blog would be a good place to find members maybe?”
I certainly can’t think of one (and there’s a separate post to be had on how Charlton House only seems to come alive when people are at work, but’s for another day), but I reckon Gemma’s onto a winner. So who’s up for joining her? Leave a comment below…
Kat from Maryon Wilson Animal Park has a message for you about this Saturday…
This Easter, Maryon Wilson Animal Park invites you to join us for an afternoon of fun for all the family.
Henrietta hen has lost her eggs! Can you help her find them? Count the Easter eggs hidden around the park to win a prize… but look out for the golden eggs; they have questions on the back!
A great afternoon out for all the family. Come and enjoy the park, meet the animals, listen to our storyteller, stop for lunch and get messy on the craft stalls!
This event is suitable for all children at nursery/primary school and their families – everyone is welcome!
All money made on the day goes towards managing and maintaining the Maryon Wilson Animal Park.
If you want to help the park, which lost its council funding, then it’s now become a charity (number 1149051), which is trying to raise funds to keep the park running. More information at its new website.
Good news for local swimmers as Charlton Lido is set to reopen on Thursday this week. While the local press reports suggested that it would be reopening “after a £2m refurbishment“, recent photos suggest “will reopen while building works go on around it through the summer” might be a more accurate summary.
The plans are available to view online now but, in short, the developments will mean the introduction of:
While some regulars will look back fondly on the basic facilities provided previously, anyone familiar with London Fields Lido will know that the addition of the cafe should prove very popular, providing somewhere to socialise and warm up or cool down after a swim. (In the current weather conditions anyone enterprising enough to turn up with a supply of hot chocolate this weekend could prove very popular).
What price a swim in SE7?
Pool users will be pleased to see that prices seem to have been held since last year, but would be justified in wondering why, at £6 for a pay-on-the-door adult swim, they pay a third more than swimmers at London Fields Lido, an identically-sized pool run by the same operator. A Twitter conversation with GLL earlier revealed not a great deal more than ‘prices vary from borough’ because of differing arrangements with ‘local partners’, ‘the majority of whom are local authorities’. This is presumably a reflection of the amount of subsidy that councils provide to the operator, but we’d greatly appreciate any insight into how this arrangement works in the comments box below (particularly if you’re a local councillor!). It’s also interesting to note that when I visited London Fields Lido on a chilly January morning, it was busier than I’ve seen Charlton Lido, save for the very brief heatwave in August last year.
Overall, though, it’s great to see the return of one of London’s few heated outdoor pools; if you go this weekend, tell us what it was like (and remember to wrap up warm when you get out of the pool).
(This information is now out of date – see this post on 853 for 2013’s route)
Charlton Champion exclusive: Plans for this year’s Run To The Beat half-marathon will cut off Sunday footballers in Charlton Park and Meridian Sports Club, this website can reveal.
The route proposed by organisers will enclose Charlton Park on three sides and cut off access to the adjacent Meridian Sports Club. Both are used by scores of Sunday morning footballers each morning.
Run to the Beat, run commercially to promote a sportswear firm, has run every year since 2008, but has been regularly criticised by locals for poor communication and its road closures, as its circular route effectively shuts in residents in parts of Greenwich, Blackheath, Charlton and Woolwich for most of the day.
Greenwich Council ignored a resolution from local Labour Party members to give the race the go-ahead without full consultation. The council later admitted “errors” had been made in organising the race.
This year’s race – scheduled for 8 September – was launched on Monday, but full details of the route have not been publicly revealed, apart from a decision to reverse the direction of the route, divert it away from Woolwich town centre and to start/finish it in Greenwich Park.
However, this website has seen plans which involve a change of route through Charlton, so the race avoids The Village to run via Charlton Road, Hornfair Road, Canberra Road, Charlton Park Lane, Cemetery Road and Little Heath. It then continues into Woolwich via Hillreach, Repository Road, Ha Ha Road, Grand Depot Road, John Wilson Street and Woolwich Church Street. Route maps indicate possible short diversions in the route at Royal Artillery Barracks and Artillery Place.
Back into Charlton, the race will run via Woolwich Road, Anchor & Hope Lane and Bugsby’s Way, before heading onto the Greenwich peninsula, where the route is not yet clear.
Race organisers IMG told the News Shopper newspaper that the loss of the route through Woolwich town centre would be made up by using Greenwich Park. However, it appears encircling Charlton Park is also part of the plan to avoid using Woolwich’s Royal Arsenal development.
Local councillors have been in discussions with them over the route, trying to persuade organisers to switch to a route which would not cut residents off. Organisers plan to repoen roads around Charlton Park at 11.45am and Woolwich Road at 1.20pm.
Organisers would only send out a generic launch press release when asked for details of the route. A petition against the race route has been launched by Charlton resident and Labour Party activist Annie Keys, while local councillors are keen to hear feedback.
The Charlton Champion 