NHS Greenwich Clinical Commissioning Group is currently consulting on the future of urgent care services in the borough. It’s holding a session at Charlton House on 30 July – you’d be very welcome to come along…
Charlton House
Are you going to the Horn Fayre? Or the Horn Fair? Or both?
There’s not much confirmed online yet, but it looks like Charlton could be enjoying two Horn Fairs this year.
A ‘Horn Fayre’ in Charlton Park on Sunday July 27th:
And a ‘Horn Fair’ in Hornfair Park on Sunday August 3rd:
Neither are listed on the council’s events page yet, though the latter event is included on the Parksfest 2014 website (and seems to be supported by GLL, suggesting that there’s a link with the various leisure activities that they run in Hornfair Park). We’ve asked the council to clarify the situation via Twitter, and they’ve promised to get back to us:
@CharltonCSE7 We’ll look into this and get back in touch asap. Sorry for the confusion.
— Royal Greenwich (@Royal_Greenwich) June 5, 2014
If both are going ahead, it seems a little strange to be running similar events in adjacent parks on consecutive weekends, but perhaps this finally resolves the issue of how you spell ‘Horn Fair’: a different spelling for each park…We look forward to finding out more as information becomes available (on which subject, the organisers could learn a lot from the – volunteer – team behind this coming weekend’s Plumstead’s Make Merry). If you’ve got more information about either event, please get in touch!
UPDATE: After some confusion, the council Twitter feed has confirmed that both events are going ahead:
@CharltonCSE7 Hi again – sorry for mix up – GT IS correct – Parksfest Family Fun is 3 Aug in Hornfair Park & Horn Fayre is on 27 July
— Royal Greenwich (@Royal_Greenwich) June 5, 2014
UPDATE 17th JUNE: Charlton House’s website has a bit more info on the Horn Fayre now: http://charlton-house.org/whats-on/event/42/horn-fayre
What’s happening at Charlton House? And how would we know?
A recent flurry of comments on an old post reminded us to take a look at what’s happening at Charlton House. The answer – if the website and Greenwich Time are to be believed – is ‘almost nothing’.
At the time of writing the website was showing this for ‘What’s On in June’:
(There is mention of Friday lunchtime concerts and baby rhyme time elsewhere on the site, though).
The Facebook pages and Twitter feed are updated sporadically – but with little interaction with followers – and events are included in Greenwich Time’s listing section occasionally (nothing this week, though); the council’s website is similarly low on information (the events page’s drop-down ‘what’s on where’ menu doesn’t include Charlton House as a venue). So how, without calling in, does a local resident find out what’s going on at Charlton House?
In contrast to this, a short walk over the border into SE3, Mycenae House have been doing a great job of raising the profile of their events: a smartly-designed leaflet through locals’ doors (including into Charlton), a revamped website (compare and contrast with Charlton House’s website, which focuses heavily on pictures of empty blue chairs…), a refurbished bar/cafe, and a range of music and comedy nights that are pulling the punters in.
It’s arguable that Charlton House’s Listed status places limitations on how it can be used, but this doesn’t seem to have presented a problem down the road in Bexley: Hall Place offers an excellent case study in what can be done to bring a property of this sort to life (and their social media efforts show how event marketing and audience engagement can be done successfully at this level).
Of course, the internet isn’t everything, and we know that Charlton House does get used. But if the comments we’ve seen here and on our Facebook page are anything to go by, there’s a demand for Charlton House to be more than a few dusty meeting rooms and a nice wedding venue. We know that plans to spin it off into its own heritage trust were stymied, and are waiting to hear more about the plans for a borough-wide heritage trust to emerge. In the meantime, who’s speaking up for Charlton House? Can it get more than the bare minimum of attention from the council’s events and marketing team?
One possible sign of optimism is that Charlton ward’s newly-elected councillor Miranda Williams has been appointed member for cultural and creative industries in the council’s new cabinet; hopefully she’ll be able to remind her colleagues that there’s more to the cultural life of the borough than what happens in Greenwich town centre or Woolwich’s General Gordon Square (or onboard Tall Ships, for that matter).
We’d love to hear our councillors’ vision for the venue, and we’d love to hear what other users and readers think of the current offering – and what they’d like to see. Get in touch, or let us know in the comments below!
What’s on in Charlton: March
Dates for your diary
A round-up of March events we’ve found in and around SE7. What have we missed? Let us know in the comments below or email neilclasper[at]gmail.com, and we’ll update the post as we get the chance.
28th Feb, 1st & 2nd March: Art exhibition in aid of the restoration of paintings owned by Charlton House. Charlton House.
[We note that the Charlton House events website hasn’t been updated for a while – if any of our local councillors know what’s going on here, we’d be grateful for an update]
2nd March: Charlton Community Gardens Gardening Party, Charlton station, 2-4pm.
7th March: International Women’s Day Celebration, Charlton House, 5-10pm. “Food, music, theatre, poetry and dance, a truly international evening of female talent”.
8th & 9th March:Charlton Lido Open Weekend: free swimming and barbecue. Swimming 9-5pm; Barbecue 12-5pm on the Saturday (we recommend checking the Better website for exact details nearer the time).
15th March: Charlton Society talk on ‘The Art of the Folly‘ by Russell Bowes. Charlton House, 2.30pm.
16th March: ‘SE7: Music From Around The World’. Cattleya, Charlton Church Lane, 7.30-10pm. ‘An evening of music from Central Charlton’s own resident band‘.
20th March: Charlton Pub Quiz – Rose of Denmark, from 8.30pm.
22nd March: Big Dig Day – Maryon Park Community Food Growing Garden, 10am-4pm.
– Help your local community garden get ready for the new growing season.
– See how the garden has developed since last year.
– Help to seed a wild flower meadow bank.
– Refreshments provided.
22nd March: Charlton Park Riding for the Disabled Association Open Day – “Join us for pony rides, fun & games!”. Charlton Park RDA, 11am – 4pm.
29th March: Charlton Toy Library Easter Party. Charlton Assembly Rooms, 2-4pm. £3 per person (under 12 months free) – tickets on sale at sessions at Charlton Toy Library, Charlton House (Tues, Thurs and Fri 09.30-12.30). “Face painting and a raffle with fantastic prizes also available. All funds raised go to supporting Charlton Toy Library’s ongoing work at Charlton House, providing a safe and fun place to meet, play and borrow toys, books, games safety equipment and lots more”.
30th March: Live Music at Cattleya with Gus Glen. Charlton Church Lane, starts 8.30pm
Friday Lunchtime Concerts, Charlton House.
Disclaimer: These listings are up to date to the best of our knowledge, but we advise checking details with the event organisers before attending any events.
Photo feature
Have you got a Charlton photo you’d like to share with the world? A shot of your favourite part of SE7, or a recent event? We’d love to feature some readers’ photos in our monthly diary round-up. Send your image to neilclasper[at]gmail.com with a title and – if you like – some words to tell us what the picture means to you (don’t worry: we’ll attribute the photo as you wish, and you’ll keep full control of copyright).
What’s on in Charlton: February
Dates for your diary
A round-up of February events we’ve found in and around SE7. What have we missed? Let us know in the comments below or email neilclasper[at]gmail.com, and we’ll update the post as we get the chance.
4th Feb, 7pm: Charlton Rail Users Group (CRUG) annual open meeting, Charlton Liberal Club, Charlton Church Lane.
7th, 14th, 21st, 28th Feb, 1pm: Friday Lunchtime Concerts, Charlton House.
13th Feb, 8.30pm: Charlton Pub Quiz, Rose of Denmark, Woolwich Rd.
15th Feb, 2.30pm: Charlton Society talk – John Beckham on ‘Wildlife in our local parks‘, Charlton House.
20th February, 7-9pm: Death Cafe at Charlton House. “Join us in the comfortable Dutch room to drink tea, eat cake and discuss life, death and what comes after!”.
20-22nd February, various times: the Alexandra Players’ performance of ‘Sleeping Beauty’, Alexandra Hall, Bramshot Avenue.
26th February, 6.30pm: Global Fusion Music and Arts’ Fairtrade Fortnight Networking Event, Charlton House. “Fairtrade stalls including clothing, food, gifts, books, arts, and massage; plus dance, music and poetry – including a few songs from the GFMA singing group. Topping the bill will be the amazing Kora player Mosi Conde from Guinea – and if fancy trying your hand at drumming, Tai Chi or African dance, there will be some fun taster sessions”. Free entry. Email globalfusionarts@yahoo.co.uk.
Disclaimer: These listings are up to date to the best of our knowledge, but we advise checking details with the event organisers before attending any events.
Photo feature
Have you got a Charlton photo you’d like to share with the world? A shot of your favourite part of SE7, or a recent event? We’d love to feature some readers’ photos in our monthly diary round-up. Send your image to neilclasper[at]gmail.com with a title and – if you like – some words to tell us what the picture means to you (don’t worry: we’ll attribute the photo as you wish, and you’ll keep full control of copyright).
PS. The Charlton Champion is now on Facebook – you can ‘like’ us here: https://www.facebook.com/CharltonChampion!
Signs of worry over Charlton House’s future
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.
Halloween Ball at Charlton House
There’s a Halloween Ball at Charlton House on Saturday 26th October in aid of Greenwich and Maidstone Samaritans.
Tickets are £30 and are available from Charlton House.
The Charlton Champion 