Charlton – The Charlton Champion

We have closed down: It’s goodbye from The Charlton Champion

July 9, 2023July 30, 2023Darryl Chamberlain

After 1,187 different stories, I’m sorry to say that this, the 1,188th, will be the last piece published on The Charlton Champion. We have now closed. Thank you for your custom.

There’s a bit more to say than that, of course. Firstly, I’d like to thank those who have contributed over the nearly 13 years this website has been running – Neil Clasper has been a huge help in keeping the show on the road, while Matt Clinch, Linzi Kinghorn, Lara Ruffle Coles and Nikki Coates have been invaluable contributors.

I’m also hugely grateful to the people who helped chip in to our costs through PressPatron and Patreon. That paid the bills and made the work put into this website financially sustainable. In different circumstances, it could have been the springboard to something bigger, but it wasn’t to be. Thank you all.

Lots of people have said very nice things about The Charlton Champion – one person told me it was an element in their decision to move to the area. It’s even helped me pick up other work, which in itself has helped keep the site going.

Unfortunately, a lack of time and energy means I now have to bring this to an end. This announcement should have been made a month ago, but work and life has got in the way.

This website was set up during a brief flowering of hyperlocal websites – the term’s now stretched beyond all meaning so I prefer not to use it – when a load sprang up around London and elsewhere. I wasn’t sure there was enough going on in Charlton to justify one, but had some time on my hands so thought I’d give it a go.

If things had gone differently, The Charlton Champion would have been one of a thriving network of true hyperlocal sites. There’d be a really good one in Woolwich, a stroppy one in Plumstead, an optimistic one on the Peninsula, a posh one around the Standard, an even posher one in Blackheath Village. And about three in Greenwich itself.

All would be locally owned and sharing their news with the world, looking to the future rather than dwelling on the past. Local councillors and campaigners would contribute. Community groups would have their say. People being the change they wanted to be.

It didn’t happen that way, and I think that’s a real tragedy. Social media was a help at first, but then became a rival. Community groups started to tell social media about their events rather than us, so Twitter and Facebook/Instagram could make money out of their news. Without the time to build – or rebuild – relationships and persuade people that a local enterprise producing a widely-read local website should really be their first port of call, the game was up.

The moment that sealed it for me came when a large local organisation asked us to run a free promotion for an event with the kind of ticket prices that might exclude a lot of local people. We generally give those types of events a miss, but I suggested they might like to pay a small fee to run an advertisement instead. They declined, saying they didn’t have a budget. Local organisations should support each other, yet somehow, we’d become cut out.

I don’t want to be too sour, though. It’s been a real privilege to bring local news and information to my neighbours. I will miss working with all the local groups that have given us their news over the years.

Ultimately, though, it’s run its course. It’s probably appropriate we come to an end just as the first possible green shoots of a new Charlton – the new flats on Eastmoor Street and the redevelopment of the Victoria pub could be the start of a very slow transformation of the Charlton Riverside.

That’s a whole different story, though, I’ll continue to cover that and other big issues across Greenwich borough over at The Greenwich Wire. That’ll also be the new home for Kevin Nolan’s Charlton Athletic match reports, which will resume next month.

From The Charlton Champion, though, it’s goodbye, and thank you for reading.

Can you help save Charlton’s White Swan pub… again?

April 6, 2023June 19, 2023The Charlton Champion1 Comment

A new group is looking to raise funds to make a bid for the White Swan. But they need to prove that the local community back the plan, fast. The quickest way to help is to answer its questionnaire. PAUL CHAPMAN is our man at the bar.

Regular readers will be familiar with the twists and turns around the White Swan. Just over three years ago the pub closed its doors once more and it has become an increasingly sorry sight in Charlton Village. The only signs of life in recent times have been the recently-evicted squatters and rare glimpses of building work being carried out upstairs.

That building work turned out to be converting the once-vibrant function space on the first floor into bedsits. Photos have emerged showing the full extent of the work. Anyone familiar with the pub will see that the upstairs floor is now virtually unrecognisable from the space that hosted parties, film festivals and community groups.

Graffiti-strewn White Swan interior

What makes that work all the more remarkable is that the owners carried out the work before applying for planning permission. Greenwich Council refused the proposal, leaving the owners with little choice but to re-apply or to undo the changes.

One local group has a third suggestion. The White Swan Music and Arts group is in the process of applying for charitable status, with the aim of rasing the money to buy the White Swan. The group aims, with the help of the local community, to turn The White Swan into a thriving music and arts charity, retaining the traditional pub but with the added benefit of a community space that supports the local music scene.

The first step taken has been to apply for funds from the government’s Department of Levelling Up. Although a successful bid on its own would not be enough, it is hoped that it would be a significant sum towards a viable amount needed to acquire the pub.

Papered-over White Swan — Squatters left their own messages before being evicted

Messages in windows left by squatters — Gas and electricity have now been cut off at the pub

A key component of a successful bid is to demonstrate widespread community support. That is where Champion readers come in. White Swan Music and Arts has a short questionnaire that gives you a chance to show potential funders how much the White Swan is missed and the impact its loss has had on individuals, families and the local community.

You’ll also be asked if you want to be kept in touch with developments and perhaps later asked if you’d like to contribute to a potential crowdfunding effort.

Lastly the questionnaire asks what responders would most like to see in a revitalised White Swan pub and community venue. A questionnaire about pubs – what’s not to like?

The deadline for the first funding application is approaching. For the bid to be ready, please answer by Easter Monday, April 10.

The group’s chair, the music industry manager Suzanne Hunt, says: “Charlton has an amazing grassroots music and local arts scene. The White Swan Music and Arts organisation is a great opportunity to create an innovate and sustainable White Swan for future generations”.

The more the merrier, so please share the questionnaire among your friends, local WhatsApp groups, social media and so on.

And who knows, maybe one day the White Swan will open its doors to the local community once more.

The White Swan Music and Arts questionnaire is open until Easter Monday.

Greenwich councillors give Thames Barrier ravers permission to hold new event

March 16, 2023June 19, 2023Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

Flyer for Rave in the Car Park

A panel of Greenwich councillors have given permission for another rave by the Thames Barrier, despite noise complaints from past events and fears from police that it could attract gang violence.

The event, called Rave in the Park, will begin at 10.30pm on Saturday April 29 and finish at 5.30am the next day. Unlike five past parties held on the site, this one will be held indoors.

Locals submitted over 30 complaints for previous events, including from residents in flats across the Thames, leading to neighbouring Newham Council sending a warning to the promoter, Andy Mills.

Last month Mills – also known as Andreas Millios – had applied to Greenwich for a permanent licence for the car park at the Bunker 51 paintballing venue in Herringham Road, next to the Barrier. But it was later withdrawn and planning issues mean no further events can be held in the car park.

This event would be held within Bunker 51 itself, which is largely underground.

At a Greenwich licensing meeting last week Mills claimed that the complaints from Newham residents were confirmed to be in relation to another venue. He also said that a Greenwich officer believed complaints from locals south of the river during another event were incorrectly directed at Rave in the Park.

Mills said: “There’s been a lot of complaints and stuff like that, but none of them have ever been proven to be myself. I’ve got a big background of noise, sound and production. I build music festivals and stuff like that and I put everything in place the best I can for these events so they run smoothly so we have no problems.”

But police licensing officer Sam Bobb spoke against the plans, saying alcohol and drug-related issues could arise from such late events due to strained police resources.

The site falls within the former Woolwich Riverside ward, which Bobb said had “previously had the highest recorded crime within the borough of Greenwich. There are concerns that the attendees could, in the lack of their geographical knowledge, find themselves falling foul of gangs or crime in the area, exposing themselves to assaults or muggings.”

Darryl Crossman, Mills’ representative, said Bobb had not given any figures to prove the high crime rate in the area.

Crossman said: “Mr Mills has held several events there successfully so we must give him credit for those… With light of the residents’ complaints that were going ahead, he decided to hold the event [inside] Bunker 51, which is obviously incurring extra costs, but the idea behind that is the sound will be restricted and that noise will be completely limited to attract zero complaints from residents.”

Mills said there would be signs at the event to remind patrons to be considerate of neighbours, with stewards and security directing people out of the event once it has finished.

See the committee papers

The council announced yesterday that the licensing sub-committee – councillors Matt Morrow, Cathy Dowse and Sam Littlewood – had granted permission for the event.

In 2018, the developer Komoto applied to build up to 500 homes on the site, which was home to the Johnsen & Jorgensen glass works until the early 1980s. Revised proposals were submitted in 2021, but little has happened since with the scheme, called Flint Glass Wharf.

Additional reporting by Darryl Chamberlain

LDRS logo Joe Coughlan is the Local Democracy Reporter for Greenwich. The Local Democracy Reporter Scheme is a BBC-funded initiative to ensure councils are covered properly in local media.
See more about how The Charlton Champion uses LDRS content.

Plans for flats at Charlton’s White Swan thrown out as squatters face eviction

March 10, 2023June 19, 2023Darryl Chamberlain1 Comment

Plans to convert the upper floors of the White Swan in Charlton Village into two flats have been thrown out on the third anniversary of the pub’s closure.

Isle of Man-based Mendoza Ltd had insisted the plans would not affect the viability of the pub – but Greenwich Council’s planning officers disagreed on the grounds that it would remove part of the pub’s floorspace.

As well as removing the function rooms upstairs, the plans would have involved taking out part of the downstairs bar to form an entrance to the flats.

Developers did not wait for the council to assess the plans and have already converted the rooms upstairs into residential accommodation, which is currently being squatted – something discovered by council officers when they visited the Swan as part of their investigations.

The Charlton Champion understands that electricity supply to the building was cut off this week.

Charlton and Woolwich Free Film Festival screening of They Shall Not Grow Old at the White Swan — The pub’s function rooms have already gone

The pub poured its last pints on March 9, 2020 after four years of being run as a sister pub to the much-loved Pelton Arms in Greenwich.

In November 2020 Mendoza won planning permission to build a house in part of the beer garden after Stephen Brain, then the chair of planning in Greenwich, broke a tied vote to approve the plans. Work has not yet begun; Mendoza has until November this year to begin or the permission will lapse.

But that application was, in part, Mendoza’s undoing, because it said that the pub was viable because “the first floor of the public house contained a function room, a pool room and a cocktail bar with seating for 26 persons. This is corroborated by several objectors who stated that they had hired a function room at the premises in the past.”

Brendan Meade, the council officer who wrote the report, said that this showed Mendoza’s latest plans “would result in the loss of a significant amount of floorspace associated with the pub which would have an impact on the future viability of the public house to continue as such”.

Mendoza’s attempts to claim the pub was not viable were also criticised – Meade said a marketing report was not dated but appeared to have been written in late 2020, when lockdown had ravaged the market for pubs.

“The proposed development would result in the partial loss of floorspace associated with the existing public house with no justification provided for its loss,” the report concluded.

“Consequently, insufficient evidence has been submitted demonstrating how the existing public house on the site would continue to be economically viable and would not result in the loss of a social community asset to the detriment of the local area.”

The council is now going through the process of placing the Swan on its local heritage list, while this website understands that a repossession hearing will be held next week to take the pub back from the squatters.

There were 147 objections to Mendoza’s plans, including from the Charlton Society and the SE London branch of the Campaign for Real Ale.

Upstairs at the White Swan - furnished room — Upstairs rooms have been converted to residential, despite the council decision, and are being squatted. Electricity supplies are said to have been cut off

Following the money

Mendoza bought the freehold to the Swan from Punch Taverns for £900,000 in April 2015, although Land Registry data reveals that in December that year the building was sold again, to Associate Properties Ltd, also based on the Isle of Man, for £1.2 million.

Both Mendoza and Associate Properties are registered at the same office in Douglas, the Manx capital, and the planning application was made by Mendoza. After its closure, the company insisted that it was committed to reopening the Swan as a pub.

Since January 2021 the property has been mortgaged. That charge is now held by Apex, a financial services company based in Bermuda.

A report to the council from Jenkins Law, which had been marketing the pub, said that it was initially offered at a rent of £50,000/year, later cut to £40,000/year, for the ground floor and basement only. The report described Charlton as “a densely-populated affluent suburb” and wrongly claimed the pub closed in November 2019.

The pub is now being marketed by Davis Coffer Lyons for £80,000/year for the whole building; it describes the first floor as “managers’ accommodation”.

The Charlton Champion understands that the rent on the Swan while it was open was about £65,000/year, although we have not been able to corroborate this figure. When Mendoza won permission to build the pub beer garden, its planning consultant conceded that the rent may have been too high.

Mendoza and Associate Properties also share the HQ in Douglas with another sister company, Hamna Wakaf, which owns the Vanburgh in Greenwich.

Plans for a house at the rear of the Vanbrugh were approved by planning inspectors in 2021 after years of refusals from the council. The housing plans for both the Vanbrugh and the Swan shared an architect, Milan Babic.

The Vanbrugh closed a year ago and is currently on the market for £90,000/year, although it is currently said to be “under offer”.

This website is closing this spring – we thank readers for their support of neighbourhood news for Charlton over the years.

Concert for earthquake relief at St Thomas Church this Saturday

March 1, 2023March 1, 2023The Charlton Champion

St Thomas Church Charlton-1 — St Thomas’ Church is hosting a concert on Saturday

A charity concert raising money for earthquake relief in Turkey and Syria is taking place this weekend at St Thomas Church on Woodland Terrace. COLIN FOORD-DIVERS has the details…

St Thomas Church is hosting a concert by a band of young local musicians on Saturday 4th March at 5.00pm. The band are aged from 9 to 15 and are playing a set including songs by Talking Heads, The Beatles, Taylor Swift and songs they have written themselves.

They played a concert at the church last year and got a fantastic reception from a packed audience, raising money for the church’s school visits programme.

Tickets are £5 for adults and £1 for children with proceeds divided between the Turkish/Syrian Earthquake disaster (Embrace the Middle East) and St Thomas Church school visits.

The church is on Woodland Terrace, near Maryon Park, and if you’re coming from further afield, the 380 bus stops right outside.

Plan to knock down former Bowes shoe shop rejected by Greenwich Council

February 2, 2023June 19, 2023Darryl Chamberlain

Plans to demolish one of Charlton Village’s best-loved shops have been halted after an intervention from Greenwich Council’s conservation officer.

No objections were received to the proposal to knock down the old Bowes shoe shop, which closed in December 2015.

A developer wanted to build a new shop on the ground floor with two 2-bedroom flats and two studio flats to match the parade of shops next door. “The property is in a bad condition thus demolition will be more suitable,” planning documents submitted to Greenwich Council said.

But Greenwich’s planning officers threw out the plan, saying the “development would result in the demolition of a building which positively contributes to the character of the Charlton Village Conservation Area”.

The Charlton Society did not lodge a comment on the application, although one individual wrote in to observe that “the view of Docklands enjoyed by 34-44 The Village would be lost”, without making an objection.

33 The Village — Bowes was one of the last remaining traditional shops

The council’s conservation officer said that: “The significance of the building lies in its historic contribution to the understanding of the development of the area; and its architectural/aesthetic contribution to the character and appearance of the Charlton Village Conservation Area.

“The building’s diminutive scale and proportions; its traditional shopfront; and its overall appearance make a positive contribution to the character and appearance of the area, which retains a real village identity. The latter is in danger of being eroded by new development.”

There were also concerns about the effect on neighbouring properties, whether the new flats would have sufficient light, and about car parking.

Since the shop closed it has mostly remained empty, although it did briefly trade as a gift shop in the run-up to Christmas. The council issued its rejection in December, but the decision has only recently come to light.

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– Please tell us about your news and events – we reach people who stay away from social media groups
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Discover Charlton’s tram history with the Charlton Society this Saturday

November 16, 2022June 19, 2023Darryl Chamberlain

London's last trams week — Inner London’s last trams ran through Charlton 70 years ago (photo: Leonard Bentley via Creative Commons)

Charlton’s strong links with London’s lost trams will be explored in the Charlton Society’s monthly talk this Saturday, November 19th. The last trams ran 70 years ago along Woolwich Road along a route that was a precursor of today’s 177 bus. The repair works were in Felltram Way, where tram tracks remained visible until the 1990s. The trams were scrapped in a yard in Penhall Road, where remnants of the tracks still lurk beneath the undergrowth.

See how many SE London streets you can spot in this film from 1953…

The talk will be delivered by Mark James, a former Greenwich councillor who works as a project sponsor for Transport for London. It takes place at 2.30pm this Saturday at the Grand Salon in Charlton House – admission is £2 for Charlton Society members and £3 for visitors.

LIKE WHAT THE CHARLTON CHAMPION DOES? HELP US KEEP IT GOING

We tell the SE7 stories you won’t read elsewhere. And we’ll do the others better than anyone else. But it won’t survive without your help.

– Please tell us about your news and events – we reach people who stay away from social media groups
– Become a monthly supporter at presspatron.com/charltonchampion.