Winter 2015 Newsletter - The Blackheath Society

Newsletter
Winter 2015
Blackheath enjoys another great Village Day
OnBlackheath, provided a superb additional setting
for local choirs and bands, hosted by DJ Felix Glen
from the School of Rock.
Blackheath enjoyed another great Village Day on the
first Saturday in December with musicians, singers
and other entertainers all joining the families out
and about celebrating Christmas and searching for
Santa’s Grotto.
It was also ideal for the delightful Nepalese dancers
from the Everest Inn and
for the interactive Swing
Patrol dancers, who performed at the OnBlackheath September festival.
The weather was dry but
very windy. This hampered
some activities, but all
events from last year took
place again, with new, additional entertainments at
every venue.
Further attractions to the
north of the Village were a
classic car show, organised
by Michael Caine of Raffles, and a decorative bike
sale outside his shop.
Santa was in his grotto
at Age Exchange, with
the new Cards for Good
Causes shop in the foyer
and the hugely popular
book shop in the Bakehouse to the rear.
Botton’s Fair was in full
swing on the Washerwomen’s Bottom field
to the west of All Saints’
Church.
In addition, visitors had an
extra opportunity to enjoy
Major events took place
the wonderful exhibition
throughout the day at the
Children enjoying Village Day carol singing
of 200 Years of Entertainment
Blackheath
Halls, including
in Blackheath in the Bakea
play
“Santa
in
Love”,
a
children’s
story-telling
seshouse Theatre, organised by the Blackheath Society
sion, a brass duet, choirs from the Blackheath Prep
and the Friends of Blackheath Halls. This exhibition
School, the Halstow Community and All Saints’
will be repeated in the Blackheath Halls cafe from 6
School singing Christmas songs, followed by the
to 26 in January.
Halls Gospel Choir. The audience also joined in with
The new Local Stage on Montpelier Green, genchoruses from the Messiah.
erously sponsored by charity donations through
Architectural treasure hunts for grownups and fami-
Inside
Entertainment celebration, page 3
Agincourt - myth & legend, page 4
OnBlackheath survey
PoW pond islands
8
Point restoration plan 5
Woodlands open day
9
Greenwich planning
6
Dartmouth Field
9
Lewisham planning
7
Storyboards project
12
1
4
lies started from the Halls, and comedian Arthur
Smith performed his House of Fun in the evening.
Here they joined the mayor of Lewisham, Sir Steve
Bullock and Fr. Nicholas Cranfield from nearby All
Saints for the ceremony turning on the Christmas
lights, compered by Nick Ferrari of LBC Radio.
Next door in the Conservatoire the Christmas spirit
was engendered by the Winter Wonderland and the
traditional lantern workshop in preparation for the
grand procession through the Village.
The strong winds prevented most of the new lights
being wrapped round the trees in time for the
A happy crowd watching young carol singers (top), Nepalese dancers and the Salvation Army all enjoy the Village Day
In addition this year, children up to the age of 10
were invited to attend the Elf Academy to learn
practical skills relating to crafts and music. There
was also a Christmas concert in the evening featuring the adult and childrens’ choirs and a jazz band.
switch-on, but we plan further fundraising to complete the decorations next year. Onlookers generously donated over £400 towards this year’s costs.
Special thanks are due to our member Sue Parks for
coordinating the activities, to Helen McIntosh and
to the other members of the planning Committee.
We would like to acknowledge the following major
partners who made the 2015 Village Day possible:
Lewisham Blackheath Councillors and Assembly,
OnBlackheath, The Blackheath Society, Age Exchange, Blackheath Halls and The Conservatoire.
More local musicians volunteered to entertain us on
the stage outside the Crown which proved as popular as ever. Artists included the Heath Band, James
Coates, the Felix School of Rock and Ruby Jack. As
last year, a high spot of the afternoon was the arrival
of the Blackheath Morris Men.
The programme at The Crown and the Local Stage
was coordinated jointly by The Blackheath Society
and OnBlackheath, with special thanks to our committee member Liz Wright.
Thanks to our donors: Blackheath Hospital, Cator
Estate Residents’ Association, Chapters, Dodd Lewis
Worshipful Company of Dyers, Everest Inn, Grant
Saw, JLL, Mortgage Direct, Raffles, Winkworth. And
also to our other supporters: Metropolitan Police,
Payden’s Pharmacy, Glendale, Skanska, Locale, Performers and Volunteers, Blackheath Businesses, the
For Jimmy Stewards, the King’s Troop Royal Horse
Artillery and our photographer Warren King.
The Jimmy Mizen organisation provided stewards.
The final procession of children, with their Conservatoire lanterns and choirs from the Blackheath
Halls, set off through the Village, linking up with the
Samaritan Choir to proceed up to the Local Stage.
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We celebrated 200 years of entertainment in Blackheath
In the last week in October we held an exhibition, a
lecture and a star-studded social evening at Blackheath Halls, organized jointly by the Blackheath
Society and Friends of the Halls, each occasion
providing fascinating insights into entertainment in
Blackheath over the last 200 years.
round the Chocolate House at the top of Blackheath
Hill and The Green Man, (seen below), a venue
celebrated across London, which was eventually
demolished in the 1970s.
Alan Griffin of the Society created an excellent exhibition of old billboards, posters and advertisements
for various entertainments available to 19th and
20th century Blackheath residents.
In 1904 George Grossman, one of the authors of
“The Diary of a Nobody”, presented a Musical and
Humorous evening. Another poster (below) dated
1908, advised “Fencing classes for women now available at the Conservatoire”.
Neil told his audience of 130 members and friends
that during the 19th century the only other suburb
of London to have so much on offer to entertain its
residents was Highgate.
This year’s social event, organized jointly by Society members and Friends of the Halls at the end of
October, was a tremendous treat with entertainment
arranged and scripted by Benedick West, a cousin of
actor Timothy West.
In addition to this considerable coup, Benedick had
persuaded Timothy to narrate a fascinating account
of the great variety of acts that once appeared in
Blackheath venues, interspersed with performances
from the Trinity Laban Conservatoire, professional
actors and the local Gilbert and Sullivan Society.
In 1922 Myra Hess, later famous for her wartime
performances at the National Gallery, presented a
piano recital. Alongside the illustrations was a brief
history of the ways in which entertainment at The
Halls evolved up to the present day.
The audience of 275 people was treated to opera,
music hall numbers, a string quartet, Gilbert and
Sullivan songs and even a dramatised séance.
Access to the exhibition was limited, so it was repeated during the Village Day weekend and it will again
be shown in the cafe/bar area of the Halls from 6 to
26 January - a window into the past not to be missed.
Simon Shackleton read a moving excerpt from the
memoirs of his ancestor, the polar explorer Ernest Shackleton and we also heard about the many
talented entertainers, past and present, who had
connections with the area and lived here. Blackheath
clearly inspires creativity and talent.
To accompany the exhibition, local historian and
author Neil Rhind gave an illuminating lecture summarising the key local activities over the last 200
years, an evening made all the more enjoyable by
wine and food provided by Friends of the Halls and
our members to complement the talk.
The evening was made special by the West family,
including Timothy’s wife Prunella Scales, having a
table which others joined for short conversations.
Neil focused in part on various sports which have
always been popular here. In addition to the pursuits
traditionally undertaken on the Heath, the Village
once boasted both a swimming pool and skating
rink. The worthies of Blackheath established The
Blackheath Literary Institute in 1846 in the heart of
the village and, prior to that, entertainment centered
The meal was delicious and enhanced by the fact that
the Hall looked stunning for the occasion. Thank
you to Nancy Bettelley who organized the menu and
to all the volunteers from the two host organisations
who helped in the preparations.
3
Agincourt “a thing of myth and legend”
Agincourt is “a thing of myth and legend”, the world
authority on the 1415 battle told a sell-out audience
of 160 Society members and friends at the Blackheath Halls on 24 November.
force fighting against large numbers, but Professor
Curry estimated the English army at a maximum of
9,000 (including the 7,500 archers who decided the
battle) and the French army at around 12,000.
Professor Anne Curry was speaking the day after
the 600th anniversary of the return of the victorious
Henry V to Blackheath, where he was met by City
nobles before processing in triumph into London.
“Agincourt is quintessentially English, it exists in
our minds as an idea of grandeur and purpose, it
shows our resilience against the odds and it stands
for bravery and the little men of history.”
She said the main reason that
people remember and eulogise
the battle today is Shakespeare’s
play, written in 1599, which
portrays a heroic king winning
with small numbers against the
odds: “The play is not historically accurate but it has become
the battle. Often performed
nowadays, it has become part
of our culture.”
Laurence Olivier’s 1944 film
helped create the mythology
of the battle which now has an
afterlife that is used in management training courses and in a
book by Olivier’s son Richard,
even though all medieval battles were much the same.
In the introduction to her book
Agincourt: A New History she
said the French brought Henry
to battle, while he gave every
impression of trying to avoid it.
They chose the battlefield, but
on the day found themselves
in confusion and without the
numbers they had hoped for.
In Henry V the Chorus announces his return to England:
“So let him land/And solemnly
see him set on to London/ So
swift a pace hath thought that
even now/You may imagine
him upon Blackheath” - which,
she said, was presumably chosen as the meeting point as it was a large open space.
“Even then Henry’s response
was symptomatic of panic and uncertainty as much
as military genius. Agincourt was and is shocking
and amazing. It needs no mythologizing.”
The myth has been established of a small English
OnBlackheath 2015 survey shows more favour the festival
For the second successive year, the Society carried
out a survey into the impact on local residents of the
OnBlackheath festival held on September 12 and 13.
the 79 from people who live in the 25 roads closest
to the event - those who might be most negative in
their views.
We received 313 responses this year compared with
over 600 last year and a valid postcode address had
to be provided for the respondent to be included in
the analysis. Responses were almost evenly divided
between Society members and non-members, with
131 members and 136 non-members responding.
The survey asked questions in five areas. The first
concerned information received prior to the festival,
and just over half thought they had been given adequate information on changes to the 380 bus route,
road closures and the noise limits imposed.
Approximately one third felt they had not received
adequate information, with the remainder not sure.
Some 110 people made additional comments on the
information they had been given, and there were
a number of complaints that information on free
tickets for local residents was hard to come by.
The fact that fewer people completed this year’s
survey may indicate that opposition to the event has
weakened and analysis of completed responses suggests this might be the case. In total just under half,
or 44%, of respondents attended the event at some
time over the two days.
Perhaps the most interesting question asked people
to rate their perception of the event prior to the
We analysed two groups – all 313 respondents and
4
first one in 2014 and now that two have been held.
Results show a definite positive shift in attitudes
towards a more favourable perception, as the average score on the percentage scale was 57 when it
was first announced in 2014, but rose to just over 66
after the second event.
there was less inconvenience this year than last. Most found crowd behaviour was not a problem,
with attendees ‘friendly’, ‘well-behaved’ and ‘relaxed’.
Car parking was a slightly bigger issue this year on
the Sunday with the realisation that parking restrictions did not apply. There is little sign that local
businesses were any more involved than last year.
Among the 79 local residents, attitudes were also
more positive, moving from 54 to 62. The age analysis shows the biggest positive shift in attitudes was in
the 61-70 age group, rising from 34 to 46.
Finally, 97 respondents addressed comments specifically for the attention of Lewisham Council to help
them manage the event better next time.
Comments on reactions to the event were received
from 145 people. Many noted its friendly, family
nature but others emphasised the booming noise of
the bass sound which still disturbed local residents.
The organisation seems to have been generally satisfactory and orderly. However, a major issue arising
after the festival was damage to the Heath. This is
dealt with in Letters to the Editor on pages 9-11.
In terms of their experience of the event, 52 of the
79 local residents found that the closure of the Hare
and Billet Road was inconvenient, with 29 recording
major inconvenience. But, overall, respondents felt
The Society has passed on the full results of the
survey to the Council and full details can be found
on our website at www.blackheath.org.
Greenwich Society unveils plans to restore The Point
The Greenwich Society is putting forward ambitious
plans for the restoration of The Point, the area of
open space at the top of Point Hill, with great views
towards London, from the Shard and Westminster
in the west and to Canary Wharf in the east.
There are commitments for funding from the
Greenwich Society, Greenwich Council and the
Peter Harris Trust. The Blackheath Society and local
historian Neil Rhind have commended the proposals and applications for funding are going forward
to the environmental services company Veolia and
the Agincourt 600 charity.
The view of St Pauls has led to the area, designated
as Blackheath Point in the London Management
Plan, being one of the protected vantage points, preventing any building between the two locations.
The Blackheath Society is planning a series of six
storyboards across the Heath (see our story on the
back page) and one will be situated nearby on Shooters Hill Road, directing people to The Point.
Heath Keeper’s House
Larry Blake, senior Parks Ranger, moved last June
into the Heath Keeper’s House, or Metropolitan
Lodge (pictured below) which is on the Heath just
outside Greenwich Park near the A2 and Folly Pond
(and not as we said in the autumn Newsletter into
Blackheath Gate Lodge just inside the park).
Full details on the area can be found in the book
Walking the Heath by Neil Rhind and Roger Marshall, which is available from the office.
But the Society thinks it is now tired, with missing
or twisted railings, gravel which has largely disappeared, benches which are functional but lacking
any aesthetic quality and an information board now
30 years out of date. T he slope below is overgrown
with trees and shrubs obscuring part of the view.
The plans are for a comprehensive refurbishment of
the whole area (shown in the design drawing above).
It is hoped that this will make The Point a destination for visitors and locals alike, as it is a neglected
resource of which many local people are unaware.
5
Greenwich planning checks face wide range of issues
Since the last Newsletter in early September, the
planning applications on which the Society has
commented have been varied, ranging from new
builds to replace existing houses, extensive alterations to existing properties to gain additional living
space and to stand-alone structures in rear gardens
for a miscellany of uses.
More significantly, the independent assessment of
this viability study should, in due course, also be
made public, suitably redacted where necessary to
protect confidentiality issues.
On the question of window and door replacements
in our conservation areas, we have objected to those
applications where the Council is seeking approval
to install uPVC-framed replacements to allow for
double-glazed units, particularly on buildings of the
Victorian and Edwardian periods.
We have also recently commented on a plethora of
applications seeking approval for replacement windows and doors in Council-owned properties in the
Blackheath and Westcombe Park conservation areas.
Some six or seven years ago the Society, along with
other local amenity organisations, was successful in
persuading the Council to adopt a policy of using
timber framings for replacement windows in period
buildings and it is to be hoped that this policy,
which had the support of the conservation officer at
the time, has not been abandoned.
There are two major planning issues with an impact
on the eastern sector of our area - the Kidbrooke
Development and the Huntsman Sports Ground.
For Kidbrooke, Berkeley Homes have submitted
proposed changes to the Village Centre element of
their plans for consultation.
The previously-approved large supermarket in
Kidbrooke Village is to be replaced with a smaller
convenience store and the remaining space on the
ground floor of the block nearest to the station will
be allocated for a mixture of uses, including small
retail outlets, offices and large areas for leisure and
community uses.
This will mean minor changes to the layout, a variation to car parking and adjustments to the outward
appearance of the block. We have raised concerns
on all of this and, in our submission to the Council,
we repeated our request to include a new pub to replace the one that served the former Ferrier Estate.
On general day-to-day planning issues, decisions
have been taken at Area Planning Committee level
on the following applications:
Regarding the Hunstman development, Derreb Ltd
has recently submitted an application seeking to address concerns about the amount of affordable housing provision after approval was given for 160 new
homes in a mixture of houses and flats on the site.
The Little Coach House, Heathway (above) - a
replacement building, two-storeys high and with
extensive basement accommodation, was approved
despite concerns raised by us and local residents.
The developer and the Council were unable to agree
on affordable housing percentages or the method of
securing a provision acceptable to both parties. The
issue was taken to appeal.
2 Roque Lane - an application for extensions and
external alterations out of character with the host
building, forming part of a group of three such
properties and to which the Society objected, was
refused. It has since been revised and less damaging
proposals have now come forward.
The Planning Inspector dismissed this but the material submitted in support of the new application
gives no certainty that the Inspector’s ruling has
been adequately addressed.
Glenluce 36 Kidbrooke Gardens - an application for
an unsympathetic rear extension, to which the Society objected on the grounds of visual damage to the
adjoining semi and a loss of light for the neighbours,
was given planning consent.
We have written to the Council suggesting that no
decision should be made until the Financial Viability Assessment is in the public domain, in line with
procedures adopted by Greenwich on high-profile
applications affecting other parts of the borough.
55 Kidbrooke Grove - major extensions to the side
and rear of an Edwardian property, including a
6
basement excavation, and to which the Society objected, was approved.
storey dwelling with a part basement excavation on
previously undeveloped land and involving the loss
of trees, to which the Society had raised concerns,
was approved.
9 Kidbrooke Gardens - a revised submission for
remodelling the inter-war years property on the site,
adjusted to take account of the dismissal at appeal,
was approved despite the Society’s view that it continued to involve unacceptable height and massing.
57a Westcombe Park Road and Land at the rear of
67c Shooters Hill Road - two new build proposals on
previously developed land where the applicants had
appealed the Council’s decision to refuse planning
permission. The Planning Inspectorate ruled in the
Council’s favour by dismissing both appeals.
Land at the rear of 135 and 139 Langton Way - a new
rear garden infill development consisting of a two-
Society seeks quality in Lewisham planning
Needless to say this site (seen below), adjacent to the
historic churchyard opposite St Margaret’s Church,
is a particularly sensitive one. The Society has made
it clear both to the developers and to Lewisham,
that we will press - and support local residents in
pressing - for a design of the highest quality and of
a reasonable scale which respects and references its
surroundings and uses appropriate materials.
The Society continues to intervene and comment
extensively on proposed developments in sensitive sites in Blackheath, the objective not being to
oppose development for the sake of it, but to ensure
it is of appropriate quality and that implications for
the surrounding area have been properly assessed.
As a result of our intervention Zerodegrees was
required by Lewisham Council to undertake an
acoustic survey of the implications of a proposed
new terrace at the rear of its property and, as a
result, to introduce additional safeguards against
excessive noise.
Similarly, a proposal for development in Dacre Place
was withdrawn after the Society drew attention to
the fact that its design was inappropriate for the
area. There are many other examples of effective
interventions by the Society on similar grounds.
We have also, with less success, lobbied on some of
the major developments in Lewisham peripheral to
Blackheath, but which will indirectly affect us. Two
current schemes are the Leegate development and
the proposed block on the site of the petrol station
in Lewisham Road.
We also continue to have serious concerns about
8 The Glebe, where a fine house which has been
allowed to fall into disrepair has been acquired, apparently with a view to development. There has also
over time been extensive removal of trees from its
grounds (see below).
On the former, a full response is still awaited to the
many issues raised when this scheme was submitted
in March, and the latest proposal does not appear
to address these. For the Lewisham Road scheme,
we had objected on grounds principally of excessive
mass and proximity to the road, but this was voted
through unanimously in the Planning Committee.
In the summer, we applied for statutory listing to
protect the site from inappropriate development.
Since the last Newsletter, the Society has been
informed that Berkeley Homes has acquired the Stephen James BMW garage in Lee Terrace and intends
to develop it for residential purposes. This scheme
was the subject of a consultation exercise with local
residents on 27 and 28 November.
7
Regrettably, this was not taken up by Historic England,
athough they indicated a willingness to reconsider
should any specific threat materialize. Meanwhile, we
are pressing Lewisham hard to ensure that local safeguards over the site, including protection of trees, are
exercised and strengthened.
At the level of policy, Lewisham is currently consulting
on a revised Local Plan. This is being developed in recognition of the intense population pressure facing the
borough and the implications of this for housing and
infrastructure needs, against a background of severe
resource pressures on Lewisham itself.
The criteria for development are being re-thought;
new developments will be higher and the range of sites
considered suitable for development will be extended.
In our comments, we have drawn attention to a number of omissions, such as the need to provide public
space in substantial new developments, to formulate
a clear policy on basements, and to protect public
spaces (especially the Heath) from the resulting
indirect pressure.
We have welcomed the continued commitment of
Lewisham to safeguarding areas such as Blackheath
from excessive or inappropriate development but
have pointed out such policies need to be pursued
vigorously to be effective. These are very testing
times for Lewisham and this places an ever greater
burden on the Society and its members to identify
and challenge inappropriate developments.
Volunteers are always very welcome to help in our
efforts to monitor both Lewisham and Greenwich
planning applications, and we would be glad to hear
from you if you are interested in such work.
New islands installed in Prince of Wales pond
Two new islands have now been installed in the
Prince of Wales pond together with marginal planting along much of the length of the South Row edge.
The treatment along South Row has been to install
a layer of rocks along the sloping edge and to lay a
roll of earth-filled coir along the top planted with
suitable leafy plants. These should establish eventually into the rock edging when the coir rots and the
earth topping settles onto the rock base.
Work underway in the autumn to install the new islands
The original scheme for between five and seven
additional islands was reduced on ornithological
advice which said that too many islands would attract more wildfowl than the pond could accommodate and could lead to excessive fighting that would
cause stress among the birds. Resident coots already
seem very aggressive to other species, particularly
smaller ones such as moorhens.
This planting also is being protected with netting
until tough enough to withstand bird foraging.
We still await the native whips along the Prince of
Wales Road boundary and in the area east of the
pond (where repeated tree plantings have failed),
but these should be planted over the coming weeks.
The new islands are planted with similar water
plants to those already thriving on the existing floating island, with wire mesh protection against bird
damage until they are big enough to withstand it.
The photographs above show the islands under
construction, and we plan to publish some more
when the new plants are growing and greening up
the pond next spring and summer.
8
MP inaugurates Woodlands Open Day with garden shears
(see left) formally declared the gate open by cutting the red ribbon with a pair of garden shears.
Friends of Westcombe Woodlands held an Open Day
at the start of October to celebrate the installation
of their new entry gate and the lease granted by the
Woodland Trust after its acquisition of the woods.
A steady progression of local people, almost 400
during the day, admired the timber steps built
by volunteers at the entrance and in the steepest part of the curving path that leads up to the
glade area that the Freinds have cleared and
planted with an orchard of apple and pear trees.
A refreshment stall raised over £175 and local
wildlife adviser Joe Beale devised a natural history quiz, including identification of different bird
songs, suitable for parents and children alike.
There was also a digging area for children, with a
prize if they found 10 worms, and music amplified through a tree trunk. Royal Borough of
Greenwich Council leader Denise Hyland and
Mayor Norman Adams came later in the day.
The Friends plan another Open Day next spring
when bluebells and other bulbs are in full bloom.
Letters to the Editor
In beautiful autumn weather the Woodlands looked at
their best and new MP for Greenwich Matt Pennycook
Damage to Dartmouth Field
charity events and the annual fireworks display.
It shows a total disregard for the local community and the environment.
No other issue in recent months has generated as much correspondence as the damage to
the grass on Dartmouth Field following this
year’s OnBlackheath festival. The Society has
received deep expressions of concern from
several markedly different points of view.We
have been in regular communication with
all parties involved with this issue, including those with the responsibility of rectifying
the situation, and we have been impressed
by the complexity of the issues involved. We
thought that members might like to read
some of these letters for themselves.
I understand the weather was fine for the period
of the festival, so there is no excuse that bad
weather conditions hampered the clean up. On
this evidence alone I believe that this company
should be heavily fined for the destruction of the
ground used and have their license to use the
Heath for this event revoked permanently.
I suspect Lewisham has a financial interest in
agreeing to the Festival and will argue it raises
money for the upkeep of the Heath. However,
Blackheath is a place to be enjoyed by all and
should be non-profit making. This ludicrous addition can only be the thin end of the wedge in
encouraging more groups to misuse the Heath.
Hilary Ball
I am a member of the Blackheath Society
who lives in Blackheath Hill and thankfully
I arranged to go away on holiday during the
OnBlackheath Festival this year.
I am appalled as to how the Heath was left after
the On Blackheath Festival this year. I want to
make it clear that, although the festival site is
very close to my house, I have no issues with it
being there and I attended on the Saturday. The
noise pollution is slightly invasive, but for one
weekend a year, I am happy to ignore it.
I returned on the Sunday with a friend who
was not from this area and, as we drove across
the Heath, we were both shocked by the terrible
mess created by the organisers of the event. My
friend, who is herself in the music business and
has sung at many outdoor festivals, commented
it looked like a ploughed field. I have never
seen it left in this fashion by other groups that
use the Heath - circus, fairs, London Marathon,
However, I am annoyed at how the Heath was
left in the immediate aftermath of the weekend. Within a few days, the entire site had been
9
Letters to the Editor
cleared and it was left a muddy, rutted mess. I
walk across this area to catch a boat at Greenwich pier every day. It appears the organisers
were allowed to simply abandon the area leaving this muddy mess behind. How could this
be allowed to happen?
tance for Nature Conservation and contains rare
acid grassland which Lewisham has to look after.
It is not simply a green lawn, it is rich in biodiversity and Blackheath has, for example, a
surprising number of rare and localised bees
and clovers. Hasty reseeding with coarse grass
or amenity turf destroys this wonderful habitat
and the wildlife it contains - in an ideal world it
would be left to recover naturally.
I understand the weather was inclement and
contributed to the problem but, given the timing of the festival, I’m afraid this needs to be
allowed for. Why wasn’t the clear up delayed to
allow the Heath to dry out - when the damage caused by the lorries, forklifts and tractors
would have been far less? I saw one articulated
lorry, unable to gain traction, pushed off the
Heath by a forklift-leaving behind muddy ruts.
Reseeding from locally-sourced acid grassland
areas is a possibility, but the Natural History
Museum’s Senior Herbarium Curator, Dr Mark
Spencer, says: “As a general principle I believe it
would be unnecessary to reseed the site as the
existing seed-bank and adjoining plant community should be more than suitable as a basis
for re-colonisation. The introduction of horticultural turf grass selections will most likely have
a detrimental impact upon the existing plant
community and biodiversity.”
I suspect I know why the clear up progressed
despite the weather, causing the damage because to delay it would have incurred cost to
the organisers. I understand Lewisham believes the Heath should pay for itself by attracting such events, but at what cost to the fabric
and ecology of the Heath?
Andrew Groom
It is a shame that a two-day commercial event
has caused this anxiety. I hope Lewisham
Council will reduce the size of the OnBlackheath
event, and more thought must be given to its annual impact on the ground and other issues like
noise, given that the Heath’s topography means
that sound carries a long way.
I think Dartmouth Field goes largely unrecognised but it’s a busy part of the Heath used by
many people and it is our recreational space.
We give it up for OnBlackheath but the months
following are simply appalling. We cannot use
it for walking, picnicking, playing with our
kids and enjoying the rest of the summer and
it ruins shoes on the way to and from work.
It could, of course, still be held in a less intensive
form but currently it is over-sized for the area.
We don’t want to face a similar situation and
calls for hurried “improvements” to the grassland in subsequent years.
Joe Beale
I think next year this needs better planning.
To be left with this mudslide and an entirely
ruined Heath for months is not on. The view
from our windows is an embarrassment and an
eyesore and a poor reflection on Blackheath.
It would have been better to let nature restore the
appalling mess left by On Blackheath on Dartmouth Field. I am oversimplifying terribly, but
the evolutionary niche of grass is to be grazed by
herbivores. Grasses are the dominant species of
steppes and prairies. Their growth pattern means
that after a herd of buffalo has grazed the ground
bare and stampeded, the grass will start sprouting from the roots incredibly quickly.
If it was on the Heath close to the church,
people would not put up with it and I don’t see
why we should have to wait months for it to
recover. If this sort of damage is done, then its
cause should be stopped.
Alan Williams
We live very near Dartmouth Field and noticed
the problem with the grass and the fact that
heavy equipment on the Field during OnBlackheath has left it very uneven, with dips and
furrows making it impossible to play games
on, and it discourages flying kites and walking,
especially for the elderly. Kathy & Geoff Murrell
Even on Blackheath, after a hot dry summer the
grass can look quite dead, but once we’ve had
a few days rain it revives in days. Personally, I
thought Dartmouth Field was recovering quite
well, given the depth of the churning, so I don’t
know why there was pressure to reseed.
The Heath is a Metropolitan Site of Importance
for Nature Conservation (the highest ranking). It
still has patches of acid grassland and a very special plant community which botanists have been
We should not have rushed the restoration
Dartmouth Field following September’s OnBlackheath event. The Heath is a Site of Impor-
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Letters to the Editor
visiting for centuries. David Notton, of the
Natural History Museum, has been surveying
invertebrates that feed and breed on the Heath
and found dozens of national rarities there.
we were particularly proud we left the site in
excellent condition. The weather was very kind
in 2014 and, with the necessary Heath protection
precautions, we feel the production team took
great care to avoid any damage to the Heath.
As a result of the reseeding, whatever the
suppliers claimed, things will change. From a
naturalist’s point of view it’s like pulling down
a Georgian terrace and replacing it with mock
Tudor semis. The festival organisers claimed
they “knew how to look after grass”, but apparently they didn’t know it often rains in England
In 2015 we had good weather for the buildup and during the festival. OnBlackheath had
planned to hand the Heath back to Glendale
on Thursday 17 September but, due to adverse
weather conditions, the whole area was overwhelmed by torrential rain. The production crew
had to stop work and, after a significant delay, we
handed the land back to Glendale the next day.
No doubt they will claim that they can protect
the Heath better in future, but the associated
cost means that they have to expand numbers
even more. I do hope the Blackheath Society
isn’t going to fall for that.
Juliet Cairns
When they were able, heavy vehicles continued
to work through these conditions so that the site
was cleared with minimal disruption to the residents. However, this traffic did damage the area.
On Friday 18 September OnBlackheath walked
the site with our production team, Angus Fraser
from Glendale and an independent ground/turf
consultant, who all agreed a plan of action.
The following letter was sent on behalf of Lewisham Council and its contractors Glendale, and
it is followed by one from OnBlackheath:
The Council is committed to helping to protect
the range of grasslands on the Heath and has
been working closely with members of the
Blackheath Joint Working Party to trial improvements to areas of acid grassland.
This was to leave the site to settle for a few
days, chain harrow the areas first to level out all
the ruts and to spike the heavily worn areas to
relieve compaction. Once fully dried out a light
roll to level took place and, if needed, seeding in
the areas where high vehicle traffic occurred. The
plan was sent to local stakeholders - Lewisham
Council, local councillors, the Blackheath Society and the Events Safety Advisory Group.
One reason for selecting Dartmouth Field for
events such as the OnBlackheath music festival
is that it is designated as ‘amenity grassland’ by
the Greater London Authority in their grassland survey of the Heath, as in the 2003 Kim
Wilkie report Blackheath: the next 50 years.
OnBlackheath pay Glendale a fee to rent the land
during the event and an additional deposit for
any damage. The full £6,217 cost of the restoration work this year was met from that deposit.
Once we hand back the area to Glendale it is
within their remit to repair the Heath, with the
costs borne by OnBlackheath, and we remain in
liaison during the full restoration period. We are
aware that there has been a variety of local stakeholders discussing this issue, with conflicting
views. However, we feel that this is an area best
dealt with by the locals, Lewisham and Glendale.
The damage to Dartmouth Field following this
year’s festival, due to heavy rain at the breakdown, was unfortunate. Plans to prevent an occurrence will be discussed when the Council’s
Events Safety Advisory Group meets before the
2016 event and lessons learnt will be applied.
With regards to the remediation of the field,
council officers thought it was best to leave the
field to regenerate naturally following a chain
harrow to remove any ruts and undulations.
Where areas were damaged, we approved
reseeding using an amenity grassland mix.
We will continue to work with the Blackheath
Joint Working Party to protect all areas of the
Heath and, in the case of events, to work with
organisers to ensure the prevention of damage
as a priority.
Martin Hyde
The OnBlackheath team were very disappointed
with the condition of the Heath after the event
and will work very closely with Glendale to
make sure any impact is minimalised moving
forward. This is still in discussion, but we feel
the use of further trackways and a site controller to manage this is a sensible way to start these
discussions. All the changes will be updated in
our Event Management Plan for 2016 which will
focus on this area.
Tom Wates, OnBlackheath
In 2014 OnBlackheath staged its inaugural
music festival, which was a great success in
terms of delivering a fun and safe event and
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Diary dates
2 January
6 February
5 March
9 January
12 March
Graffitti removal, first
Saturdays in
the month
Second
Saturdays
Society’s ‘drop-in’ sessions,
Age Exchange 11am to 1pm
From 6 to 26 January
200 years Entertainment
exhibition - Halls cafe/bar
Wednesday 27 January
Blackheath Assembly, 7.30
pm at St Matthew Academy
Tuesday 23 February
BJWP public meeting, Bakehouse, Age Exchange, 7.30 pm
Christmas photos 2016
Next year we will be looking
for a new design for our cards
and now is the time to take
some photographs that would
be good candidates. They
need to be seasonal, local and
suitable for Christmas card
use, so please start snapping
and send them in soon. We
still have some of this year’s
cards available from the office
at £3.50 for a pack of five.
Welcome to our
new members
Roger & Sue Faulks
Chris & Alf Lomas
Simon & Helena Nundy
Cecile Rynierse &
Denyse Armour
Diana Stevenson
Clare Stirzaker & Clayton
de Manuel
The Blackheath storyboards project
We reported in the Spring Newsletter on the projects chosen by
democratic ballot to be funded by
the community premium from the
OnBlackheath festival. The second
choice, after maintaining the Hare
and Billet Pond, was for a series of
storyboards to commemorate major events and the natural history
of the Heath.
We later learned that £4,800
would be made available from
this fund, enough to pay for the
detailed planning of the proposal
and for the production of the first
board. The Management Committee of the Society has since agreed
to match this funding and we are
now actively engaged in applying
for additional funds to complete
the proposed history trail.
It is planned that six storyboards
will form a trail around the Heath.
They will be based on the six
geographical areas identified in
our book Walking the Heath and
will provide detailed information
of historic events which occurred
in each area and, where relevant,
ecological issues, flora and fauna.
They will also provide orientation
maps, directing readers to the key
sites of local interest. Most of the
images needed to illustrate events
on the storyboards will come from
our wonderful pictorial archive.
The panels will be positioned at
busy public ‘hubs’, such as bus
stops or path intersections, and
locations will be carefully considered to avoid cluttering important
views and spaces. They will be
made of enameled white steel,
screen-printed with full colour
images, maps and supporting text.
Examples of similar panels can be
seen in St Margaret’s churchyard
and at Severndroog Castle. We are
lucky to have the same designer,
Madeleine Adams, working on
this project and all the historical
content is being provided by our
own Vice-President, Neil Rhind.
As an example of fundraising now
underway, we are working with
the Greenwich Society to present a
joint application to the Agincourt
600 Fund to commemorate the
return of Henry V and his troops
from the battle (see page 4).
We are planning a storyboard
close to the top of Blackheath Hill
near where the triumphant Henry
may have been met by the Mayor
and City aldermen prior to their
five-hour march into the City.
This board would also include
other important stories, for
example the history of Ranger’s
House (above), related images
and a map with directions to The
Point, a nearby beauty spot with
views looking over the City which
is the site of a related Agincourt
bid, sponsored by The Greenwich
Society (see story on page 5).
Our aim is to complete the new
trail, with an introductory leaflet,
by the beginning of 2017. If you
have any suggestions for further
potential sources of funding we
would be pleased to hear from you
© December 2015. The Blackheath Society. Registered charity no 259843.Registered with Civic Voice Member of the London Forum of Amenity Societies.
Studio 2, The Old Bakehouse, 11 Blackheath Village, London SE3 9LA: Email: office@blackheath.org; Web: www.blackheath.org
On Facebook and Twitter @BlackheathSoc. Telephone 0208 297 1937
President: Dr David Quarmby, Chair: Helen Reeves, Vice Chairmen: Howard Shields, David Walker, Treasurer: Paul Watts
Committee: Roger Ballisat, John Bartram, Philip Binns, Maureen Corcoran, Allan Griffin, Helen Reeves, Alex Schweitzer,
Howard Shields, David Walker, Paul Watts, Liz Wright, Helma Zebregs Secretary: Sacha Bright Editor: John Bartram Designer: Ruth Le Guen
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