Coming around again

Hello stranger! Been ages since we chatted. How have you been?

It has been a long time since I posted on this site - almost 8 years to be precise. Of course, being that precise is depressing.

I've been babbling on about wine and family since I stopped writing here, and it rather took over.

However, I'm still in SE23, still love the area, still walk, and still have ideas for sharing news and views on this little corner of London.

I've been mulling over some possible ways of reviving this blog. The first task was to rejuvenate the look and feel a little, so all those posts from 2007 and 2008 are a bit more readable. It is amazing to think what has, and has not, changed in terms of blogging in that time. I gave the pages a fresher feel and will go through them to make sure links work (more or less) - but let me know if you find anything broken.

The new site will really need a mission, however, and I've got a few ideas, and the good news is that they will probably involve YOU, and not just me.

In the interim, I'm also helping to kickstart a brand new community site for SE23 residents with some fellow enthusiasts. If you fancy joining in, come to the new SE23 forum called SE23.LIFE to check it out and say hello.

I have a feeling that these two endeavours will become inextricably linked, all being well, and look forward to moving forward with them both.

Good to be back :)

Forest Hill & Sydenham up in flames

Well, maybe not that dramatic, but it was quite a scene.



I woke up to a normal day, but apparently the fire had already started (just before 8 I believe) and the smoke was already rising.

Then, just before 9 the electricity went off. I spotted the black cloud and thought maybe some evangelical swimmers may have been looking to bring forward the demolition of the Forest Hill Pools.

I set off with my camera to investigate and found that the local electricity sub-station was in flames (or at least some oil fired generators next door) [story on the BBC]. Here they are on Google Maps:


View Larger Map

So, I took a few photos for the record.



[Click here for the full set of photos on Flickr]

Now, it seems that the record will be more complete thanks to these photos as they will probably be used in the South London Press and Mercury Newspapers. In fact, one is already on their website.

Quite a day, and that was BEFORE I went off to visit the Devonshire Road Nature Reserve and Forest Hill Day at the Horniman Museum gardens!

Forest Hill Events

In case you have not read about it on other sites or blogs, this is a quick reminder (for those who have yet to get around to removing this site from their feed readers) that this weekend June 8th, 2008 is Forest Hill Day.

There is no site to point you to (disappointingly), but it is to be held from 12:00 to 17:00 at the Horniman Gardens this Sunday.

At the same time, the Devonshire Road Nature Reserve is also holding an Open Day from 12:00 to 18:00 (they have a great new blog at least, well done!)

I'll do my best to be there, I hope you will too.

Lots of fun for the whole family I'm sure.

Snow

Everyone else is posting about it, so I thought I'd add a few links too:

Done Walking

The target was met, the map was folded and filed and the photos are all online. What is left to do?

I had thought I might start another related blog looking at Forest Hill past & present, but to be honest, I do not have the time. With an expanding family, the business and a growing focus on my wine blog, I don't think I could do justice to another Forest Hill blog.

So, I admit it, I am bowing out. Of course, the content needs to stay up, that is one of the great things about blogs - loads of seemingly unrelated content on every topic imaginable, that one day will be a researcher's greatest find.

I will therefore be keeping this site live, and possibly even posting Forest Hill related photos and thoughts from time to time, but I will admit to you openly now that these will be few and far between.

If you are interested in Forest Hill, there are two things you should do straight away:

1. Join the Forest Hill Society

2. Sign up on SE23.com (and say Hi! to me there: my alias is RobWinton)

and in the best Monty Python-esqe Spanish Inquisition manner

3. Shop Local - and support local businesses.

Thanks for following my treks and hopefully we can stay in touch via this site or either of the sites above.

Forest Hill History Information Resource

Steve Grindlay's excellent presentation is now available to all.

You can find it here (http://fhhistory.blogspot.com/) - a rather complicated way to show it, but it allows you to see each slide and zoom in to see the details of the photos.

I thoroughly recommend a quick browse through the topics and you can then take more of a look at the ones of interest. I know, for example, that many will be interested in the list of current and past public houses, or the surviving evidence of the local breweries.

I don't think Steve has a site of his own for your questions, but you can always log in to either the Forest Hill forum at www.se23.com or the Sydenham Forum at forum.sydenham.org.uk/ as I know he uses these regularly.

Last chance reminder for tonight

Just in case you have missed all the other reminders, this is one more quick post to remind those who are interested in Forest Hill that there will be a presentation tonight at The Hob (from 7pm) by Steve Grindlay on the history of Forest Hill and Honor Oak Park.

More details here.

See you there! And if you are a reader of this blog, do come over and let me know. I realise it has been very quiet around here lately, but I hope to take up the new challenge soon.

Condemned no more

A brief update on my post entitled, Condemned (20th of August 2007), about the property on Church Rise whose foundations were undermined by builders.

The good news is that the scaffolding is coming down at this property.

The bad news is that so is the building.

The demolition work has begun in earnest, and in what I guess is a desperate attempt to salvage some investment from the ruins, the bricks are coming down one by one for re-use.

Sad to see it go. I wonder what might be built in its place?

Here are some quick photos I took today:

The history of Forest Hill

It would be far from an exaggeration for me to say, "I learned everything I know about Forest Hill from this man" when talking about Steve Grindlay.

I first met Steve on the history tour he led around Forest Hill last year, when we expected a dozen or so people on the first Forest Hill Society social event. In the end over 70 people turned up and we had a great time walking all over the area and we learned a lot.

However, if you were there, you'll remember the hard time we all had getting a chance to look at the old photos, documents and other materials Steve had prepared.

Steve has kindly agreed to dedicate another evening of his own time to present more information about how Forest Hill came about, who built it and why, and some of the key features of the area. This time he will hold the meeting upstairs at The Hob, by Forest Hill Station, on Wednesday, January 30th 2008 so we can see the photos better and ask more questions. I know I will be there, and judging by the level of interest in the last event, I hope you will too.

Please do come along, and bring your friends. The event is free and starts at 19:00.

... oh, and if there is enough interest on the night, I volunteer to then lead a walk around Forest Hill in the near future to look at the areas that were of most interest on the night.

See you there!

A History of Forest Hill
19:00 Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
The Hob, 7 Devonshire Rd
Forest Hill, SE23
(brought to you by the lovely people at the Forest Hill Society)

Still alive and kicking, but not walking

I really do owe you a wrap up of all the walks and some thoughts on the experience, but somehow I have not found the energy to do this. It seems a large, and somewhat traumatic, task.

On December 15th I did complete the last walk, and finished it off with a talk, organised by the Forest Hill Society, to a (small but attentive) assembled audience at the Rockbourne Youth Club.



If I had written up the presentation properly it would be easier to add here, but as I prefer to keep things informal and to make it relevant to the audience (otherwise known as "off the cuff") I only jotted down ideas, so I still need to pull it together properly.

Anyway, as a placeholder for the moment, here is a photo of me (I realise I have not been able to take a photo of myself on the walks, so I have yet to really appear on this site) during the presentation.

I have some thoughts on the experience, and also about what to do next, which I will post soon, I promise!

Happy 2008! Make it a healthy one and get out walking too.

Today's (third last) walk

I've scoured the map for those streets I have missed on my other trips as I desperately try to ensure that Saturday will truly be the "last" walk of the challenge.

Today's walk was quite short (under 2 miles in theory) but there were a few hills involved and lots of staring at the sky (I love these clear days and low angled sun).


View Larger Map

Architecturally there is not much to report. I found what I think is the last remaining original frontage on Cranston Road, with not only the original windows and stained glass intact, but also the swirling wood & iron bar by the door. It is a shame more of these could not be preserved, but I understand that they were probably not made to last forever (I saw lots of rotten wood around) and that modern security and energy efficiency demand they be replaced. Shame a better compromise could not be found for more houses though. The rest of the street is generally rather dull.

I walked back along Woolstone Road and down Hurstbourne (retreading these streets) to reach one I had missed: Fermor Road. Again, a nice, quiet and relatively unremarkable residential street with views of the back of Stansted Lodge (that I would like to visit at some stage).

Then it was up Montem Road. I've been up here a few times, but either in the car or only sections of it, so I thought I would do the whole thing. Plus, there were some intriguing side roads at the top, namely Owen's Way & Austin Close, that I had missed previously.

The main interest were the views, as usual, towards the South and to the West & the Horniman (here on the left - click on the image to see more details), but there are also some interesting houses. There is the house I spotted last time on the corner of Lowther Hill (one half of which is for sale which allowed me to find out that they were built in 1820 but not much else), and opposite that there is a beautiful Art Nouveau (or Deco? I'm still confused) house. Check out those windows!

As everywhere, there was a lot of construction and refurbishment going on everywhere. I doubt there are many streets in SE23 that do not have at least one project going on at the moment.

Then back down the hill and home. It almost seems a shame to be finishing up.

"Be Nice to the Mayor" Campaign

Somewhat against the grain in political terms, but in the spirit of the season, I started a small campaign today that I encourage you all to join.

Forest Hill, SE23 recently topped a poll to find the place residents were most proud of in their area. Called 'Pride of Place', Forest Hill and the Horniman Museum won comfortably despite being in competition with Blackheath, the Catford Cat, the Laban centre and others. And quite rightly too.

The trouble is that we are a quite small and, relatively speaking, affluent part of Lewisham. I totally understand that there are big problems to address in other parts of the Borough that take up a lot of the Mayor's (Sir Steve Bullock) time and that of those involved with Lewisham Council. However, we too have our issues such as the ongoing closure of the pools, the terrible state and services of our station (as well as the shops that are part of that area, including the new Post Office within the WH Smiths) and the total lack of any visible effort to generate new businesses to fill the empty retail properties.

I decided, therefore, that rather than complain (again) I would turn it around and be nice; after all, it works in most other aspects of my life.

I have written a Christmas Card to "Sir Steve" to wish him well, and with a simple request to make Forest Hill a greater priority for 2008.

If you are a member of SE23.com you may already have read the discussion and text here, if not (and you should be), here is the text of the card. If you are a Forest Hill resident and wish to join in, please do. It only takes a few seconds and the cost of a second class stamp. After all, this will only work if we get a reasonable number of people doing the same thing.

===========
Sir Steve

My family and I wish you, your family and everyone at Lewisham Council all the best for Christmas and the New Year.

We are proud residents of Forest Hill and we were not surprised that Forest Hill and the Horniman Museum were recently voted Lewisham's top 'Pride of Place'. However, there are still too many empty shops, we desperately need our pool back and we would appreciate your active support in helping to regenerate our sadly neglected station area.

The best gift we could hope for would be for you and Lewisham Council to make Forest Hill a much greater priority in the coming year.

Wishing you a happy 2008
==========

I'm sure others will word their notes better, but a few cards like this might just make the difference, you never know.

Please send your cards or emails to:

Sir Steve Bullock
Mayor of Lewisham and Forest Hill
Mayor's office
Civic Suite,
Town Hall, Catford
SE6 4RU
Tel: 020 8314 6193
E-mail: steve.bullock@lewisham.gov.uk


Thanks! (oh, and drop me a note if you do decide to join in)

A graded pink reminder

Only two days to go to the final walk. I have frantically been finishing off the last few streets, with only one little loop left.

If you would like to join me and at least 6 or so others on our walk to Rockbourne Road, please do come along. It would be good but not essential, to get get the right number of mince pies if nothing else, if you could let me know you are coming.

Oh, and tonight, the sky will only be mainly blue (but also orange and pink)

"Now, take a deep breath, and ..."

... cough, cough, cough!



Same day as the blue post earlier, but looking 'through' the layers of air above London

More photos here:

Breaking News: The sky today will be ... blue

Today's sky will be totally blue



More later

Any idea how big SE23 is?

I have linked to my map of the outline of the SE23 postcode area already, but would anyone care to hazard a guess as to the actual area this covers?

Answers in square miles or square kilometers, or even acres if you must, in the comments below.

I was surprised when I calculated it.

Extra mince pie on Saturday for the nearest guess

Preparing for Christmas

Some things in life really speed up at Christmas, others dramatically slow.

Whilst the frenzied activities of shopping, meal planning and social events takes over, the more considered jobs, such as blogging, seem to become rarer and rarer (apologies in advance).

The most difficult to manage is the social calendar. Even those people who you rarely see all the rest of the year need to be called, visited, written to and bought presents. Then there are all the christmas fairs, office drinks, catch-ups, farewells and family gatherings to fit in. Unfortunately it means that some events get double booked and therefore you end up missing something or someone.

One of the first to suffer this season was my semi-annual pilgrimage to Havelock Walk's Open Studios. I think I have been to them all, every six months, for the last couple of years, so it was a shame to learn about this one too late to avoid the clash with a well planned family trip to Edinburgh. I would also have missed the Christmas Fair at the station, but I gather that did not happen anyway (due to adverse weather conditions).

As it happens we still suffered the adverse weather conditions in Edinburgh (getting soaking wet and cold, but rediscovering a great tapas bar in the process).

I hope to report back soon with the outline of my talk on Saturday (summing up a year of blogging about Forest Hill) ... unfortunately it is another SLOW job that just, somehow, is not getting done.

Must dash! Christmas cards to write.

Getting a bit late now

There are a couple of pockets of streets I have been meaning to walk for a while and never got around to, so with THE FINAL WALK looming, I thought lunch was a good time to do it.

I had a few roads around the South East of SE23 to cover, ones that again are not on my way to a specific place so have been missed out to date. The route was as follows:


View Larger Map

This was around 3 miles and I covered it pretty fast as, for a change, there weren't too many hills.

There were not too many events to report. As expected, the houses on Priestfield Road, Hawksfield Road and Ticehurst Road are all very attractive. This area is relatively quiet, well preserved and reasonable sized houses. I think I have mentioned already that Garlies Road has some very nice houses so I was not surprised.

I was somewhat surprised to find some original-looking Art Nouveau (or is it Deco?) stained glass in a building on Como Road. I didn't take a photo unfortunately, but if you are walking along there, look out for the windows above ground level. Very interesting!

Walking down Perry Hill I was struck by the decorative plasterwork above a series of doors on the houses just over the hill. It is common to about 4 houses in a row, so there must be more to this story than a simple design feature. Does anyone know?

On Priestfield Road I also came across an unusual sight that I have always associated with gas lighting, but to be honest have no idea what it is or how it works. Can anyone help me? You can see them occasionally around London and although I have lived here for a while, I can't say I have ever stopped long enough to consider them - ah the benefits of being a blogger!




What are/were these?

In future I will post some other 'posts' (excuse the pun) that I need to identity.

There are even some nice views of Forest Hill towards the North from here, and, once again, a view of Christ Church (you can see the church on the bottom left of the image, between the tall tree and the palm).

The other common sight, once again, was all the development happening - from large blocks (such as the ongoing development on Stanstead Road/Hurstbourne Road), to houses being re-roofed, re-painted, extended or even gutted and modernised. It is EVERYWHERE!

Nice roads to look at if you are in the market though.

... and ...

finally, back home (after a spot of lunch at The Honor Oak, with a great Club Sandwich and pint of Broadside)

Autumn Sun in Forest Hill

Despite predictions to the contrary, this morning was glorious!

Having offered to take some photos of the area as a possible new welcome photo for SE23.com, and as I was walking up to the dentist anyway, I thought I'd bring my camera.

Just a few snaps that you might enjoy.

Click here for the full set, or here for lots more photos of Forest Hill and the SE23 surrounds.

[UPDATE: Check out stevegrindlay's old postcards in particular - they are currently on page 3 of the pool]

In residence in Honor Oak

Having realised that time is short, particularly with the planning of "THE FINAL WALK", I decided to set out to visit some of the side streets that I have missed for one reason or another.

I walked 4.5 miles (according to google maps) this afternoon, visiting the residential streets around Honor Oak mainly. I had walked this way before but had not been up and down all the parallel residential roads. However, the goal was to walk all streets, and all streets it shall be.

Most of the walk was relaxing and attractive, but relatively unremarkable. The most remarkable things were:

1. The "Survey House" building on Brockley Rise

2. The views from Blythe Hill Fields

Unfortunately for me, although Blythe Hill is bordered on many sides by the SE23 postcode, the park itself does not count, but it was worth the extra few steps.

The day itself was pretty nice (it had been brighter earlier, but not bad for November). Seeing kites flying on Blythe Hill was heartwarming as there was a family there all together getting the solitary kite aloft.

Survey House is (quite but not very) interesting and regularly catches my eye as I drive past. It seems to be some faux-Tudor sort of architecture, but the wood beams on the front seem real enough and I cannot believe it was custom built to be an estate agent. I wonder what its history actually is?! Anyone out there know?

I certainly hope they do more business as Surveyors than Estate Agents as I cannot believe they get much passing (foot) trade.

The only other remark I ought to make is, once again, to wonder at how many properties I walk past are being developed. It might be by current or new owners rather than for re-sale, but there are LOTS of empty properties being modernised around these streets and I am not sure what this means for the area except to hope that it is more exciting for new buyers.