Greenwich Uni Acquires Stockwell Street Land

A little while ago, we heard via a cabbie that the University of Greenwich was interested in buying the land in Stockwell Street that had been home to the much loved Village Market, and the rather tired looking John Humphries House.

It turns out that the cab driver was exactly right, proving they really do have the knowledge, and the University of Greenwich has just announced the acquisition of the land in a £60million investment which will see the construction of a new library and a new home for the School of Architecture & Construction.

The University is launching a competitive process to select an architect who will be tasked with creating “an inspiring piece of contemporary architecture”. Preliminary work on the site will include the removal of existing buildings and archaelogical digs.

The University says it is committed to consulting with local residents and businesses, and that the development will be constructed to the latest environmental standards, with a low carbon
footprint.

The site had previously been ear-marked for a mixed use development containing flats, offices and shops.

UPDATED 5th March

The tender notice for this contract has been posted to the European Union’s Tenders Electronic Daily system. The details of the job spec put the estimated construction cost at £41million and aims to have an architect selected by the end of August 09.  The Memorandum of Information associated with the project says that the “University wishes to create educational buildings that are inspiring, flexible, adaptable and innovative, whilst at the same time sustainable. They should become a bench mark for the way that education can be delivered and must contribute to the built environment of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage site“.

Map of the Stockwell Street site

Andrew Gilligan: Greenwich Council Gets Into Another Hole

LAST NIGHT, I stood at the entrance to a darkened, underground place and heard, drifting up from the depths, anguished panting and the heavy slap of rubber on metal.

No, it was not the debut of some new Greenwich sex dungeon. The inmates of this particular subterranean world do wear faintly kinky clothes – but lycra, rather than leather, and fluorescent yellow windcheaters, not dirty macs. They are cyclists, and I was listening to them heaving their bikes up the hundred steps at the southern end of the foot tunnel (the lift, as always these days, being out of action.)

“It doesn’t get any easier,” said one woman to her friend as she thankfully dumped her steed on the top landing. But though it may be rather a haul, it is definitely preferable to the alternative being planned by our dear friends at Greenwich Council – complete closure of the tunnel for up to eighteen months.

It is yet another Olympic-related blow to the area. As we know, the Games are already costing us substantial parts of our park (closed for ten months), historic trees (lopped) and a flower garden (taking on an exciting, dynamic and vibrant new role as a doormat for the Olympic cross-country course.) Now the foot tunnel is going too. In order to make it suitably shiny and modern for 2012, it is to be closed for what the council calls a “substantial refurbishment” costing £11.5 million.

I don’t think the tunnel even needs “refurbishing.” I like its Edwardian atmosphere, its white tiling and its wood-panelled lifts. Unlike some over-restored heritage structures, its unbuffed-up state still gives a real breath of the ordinary London of the past. Those lifts, though faithful copies of the original ones, are only 17 years old. The south lift may be broken, but could it not perhaps be, well, repaired?

After the redevelopment of the Market and the closure of the Village Market, this refurbishment could end up being just one more attack on the character of Greenwich. With our public spending deficit of £175 billion, it also strikes me as a prime example of the kind of unnecessary project that taxpayers ought to part company with.

But the real difficulty with the refurb is that the tunnel is a vital route which cannot be lost for any significant length of time. As the council’s deputy leader, Peter Brooks, admits, it is “still extremely popular, even since the arrival of the DLR offering an alternative crossing option.” With its sister at Woolwich, the foot tunnel is used by one and a half million people a year.

Since the DLR, the Greenwich tunnel’s clientele has fallen mainly into two groups, both of whom the council claims to view as important. There are tourists, who enjoy the walk through and the view from Island Gardens. If the tunnel follows the Cutty Sark, the markets, and (in 2011/12) the park into the unavailable zone it will be another stage in the diminution of Greenwich’s visitor “offer” and another blow to one of our principal industries, tourism.

The second important group is cyclists, who we are all supposed to be encouraging these days. (Declaration of interest: I am one.) The tunnel is the only way for cyclists to cross the river in the eight miles between Rotherhithe and Woolwich (or really in the ten miles between Tower Bridge and Woolwich, since the Rotherhithe Tunnel is not a pleasant or safe experience.) It is an absolutely essential link for cyclists commuting between Canary Wharf and a vast swathe of south London. And it is very heavily used. I counted.

In half an hour yesterday, between 5.55 and 6.25pm, the tunnel was used by 134 cyclists – an average of one every 13 seconds. It was used by 75 pedestrians, two and a half a minute. This would equate to around 250-300 cyclists an hour in the peak hours, so perhaps 1500- 2000 across the whole day. Many of the pedestrians, incidentally, were joggers or runners – so other fitness goals will also be damaged if we close the tunnel. And all that was without a working lift.

I spoke to some of the users. “I cycle every day from Catford to Canary Wharf,” said Max Elliot. “I am absolutely horrified to find out that the tunnel might close – there is literally no other way to do the bike journey.” Anthony Austin, chair of Greenwich Cyclists, told me: “There’s no point in closing the tunnel. It’s not clear they need to close the stairs when they are doing the lifts. We cyclists have come to use it as an absolutely essential link.”

Some are asking for a peak-hour ferry replacement, but that will greatly extend the crossing time and will not, in any case, help those who travel outside peak hours. The DLR, of course, bans bikes at all times, and Cutty Sark station is too deep for bikes anyway.

Greenwich Council wouldn’t deny to me last night that the tunnel will be closed. I’ve been trying for the last 24 hours to get an answer from them about exactly how long the closure will last – no joy so far. “I just know from experience that once Greenwich Council agrees to the closure of a footpath it will stay closed for a long time,” says Anthony Austin.

But the tunnel is, as the council admits, a statutory public highway. So there will have to be some sort of legal process to close it – which offers opportunities for a fightback. At the very least, it should be argued that even if the lifts have to close, the stairs should stay open.

We have only just got the A2 back after two months of largely unnecessary chaos. And I don’t know about you, but I am getting sick, sick, sick of councils and other public busybodies interfering with our town and our lives for their pointless vanity projects. This might be the one where the worm finally turns.

Pictures from London Marathon 2009

On Sunday, thousands of athletes and fun runners took part in the Flora London Marathon. Here’s some great photos taken by Dave Levitt, who managed to spot plenty of cartoon characters and animals as they made their way through Greenwich.

Also check out Darryl’s post at 853 with his photos capturing the big event.

NOGOE’s Media Blitz

It was just a few weeks ago that BBC London’s Adrian Warner was reporting that peace had broken out between Locog and local opponents to the plans for the equestrian events in Greenwich Park. But last week there was something of a media blitz from NOGOE, including news in the Daily Mail that complaints were being lodged with the BBC over that controversial BBC report by Warner.

Elsewhere, a posting on the Save Greenwich Park blog about the threat to the park’s bioversity was picked up in The Wharf newspaper.

Then on Thursday, London Tonight did a report to coincide with the latest visit from IOC inspectors, and spoke to Sev D’Souza from NOGOE and also to the Equestrian Competition Manager for London 2012, Tim Hadaway.

Sev was back again on Friday with an appearance on BBC Radio 4′s You and Yours which reported on the ongoing controversy.

So far from peace having broken out,  it seems this one has a way to run yet and NOGOE are as determined as ever to make their voice heard.

Greenwich Artist Selected For Prestigious Exhibition

Local artist Edward Hill has had a piece of his work selected by the Royal Photographic Society to be included in their forthcoming International Print Exhibition. The successful piece was a photosphere of an English Oak in Greenwich Park.

Photospheres are “novel circular photo montages developed by Edward Hill which contain everything above, below and around you at a given point – creating a truly 360 degree perspective in a single image”.

The exhibition will go on tour from May 19th, starting with a showing at the offices of Allen & Overy, who are also the sponsors. The tour will continue through to January 2010.

Limited edition prints by Edward Hill, who is also one of the finalists in the International Garden Photographer of the Year Competition 2009 with images of Greenwich Park, can be seen at the Warwick Leadlay Gallery in Greenwich.

Pub Review: The Mitre

The Mitre Hotel
291 Greenwich High Road
SE10 8NA

Keeping it real

If you ever have a friend visiting from another country and they ask you to show them a real British pub, take them to The Mitre.

The Mitre ticks almost every box on the ‘proper pub’ checklist. The large main area is adequately shabby with slightly sticky, worn décor, chesterfield sofas that have seen better days and a faint smell of stale beer. You get the feeling that many a good night has been had here by football fans and students alike and there’s been no urgency to get the industrial cleaners in afterwards. It’s certainly not flashy or impressive, but it all gives the place a sense of relaxed authenticity that is rather charming.

The drink selection is everything you would expect with a range of mainstream lagers, good soft drinks and a strong wine list to complement its emphasis on food. Expect the usual pub fare including burgers, fish and chips and chocolate fudge cake with a few vegetarian dishes as well.

Although The Mitre has its contingent of locals who prop up the bar stools, it is by no means unwelcoming to newcomers and is well situated for passing tourist trade and students. There’s a big beer garden and occasional live music, and you could even stay the night in one of the 15 bedrooms if the temptation to make a night of it in the tantalisingly named ‘Irish Bar’ is too great to resist!

‘Real’ pubs like this are increasingly rare these days, as most London watering holes seem to feel the need to spruce up, bulk buy the Tiffany lamps, prefix their pub-ness with the term ‘gastro’ and stick 50p on all the drinks prices. Not so the Mitre. It knows its place and doesn’t try too hard to change it. Good on ‘em I say.

What they say: “…run like a family business, but with all the professional care and attention you expect” The Mitre Hotel website

What you say: “Great location and a good place to come to watch the footie on a Sunday” Fellow Customer.

Andrew Gilligan: Sewage Meets Beauty

THIS WEEKEND, once you have finished lining the streets on that finest of all Greenwich occasions, the Marathon, I strongly recommend travelling a few miles east for an event that is almost as rare, just as interesting and much less well known.

Sunday is one of only three days this year when you can see in action what is possibly London’s most spectacular piece of Victorian machinery: the Prince Consort Engine at Crossness, a stupendous, steam-driven beam engine that once sucked up all the sewage in London, then pumped it out into the Thames estuary.

I went last summer, and it was fantastic – especially, I suspect, if you are a man. The beam alone is 43 feet long; it rolls up and down like a vast armadillo, gently rooting around for food. It has a 27-foot flywheel, which spins around mesmerisingly. There is a gratifying smell of steam and grease. The whole thing lives in its own special Romanesque Grade I listed cathedral, four storeys high and decorated with – well, yes, industrial quantities of magnificent ornate ironwork. You can climb up and down staircases and see it from every possible angle.

Back in the day, the Prince Consort had three other equally-impressive beam-engine friends sitting alongside him to help – Victoria, Albert Edward (the Prince of Wales), and Alexandra (the Princess of Wales). They’re still there too, but not yet restored. It’s hard, these days, to imagine machinery with such an unglamorous task being named after the top four members of the Royal Family – but those were different, more serious times, they were not unglamorous machines, and they were of fundamental, transformative, life-saving importance to London.

In the mid-nineteenth century, all the sewers just emptied straight into their nearest bit of the Thames, effectively itself a giant open sewer. In summer, the river stank so badly with the waste of two million people that Parliament famously had to be suspended. The answer, from the famous engineer Joseph Bazalgette, was to build new main drains, one concealed under huge new embankments running along the north bank, collecting up the brown stuff before it got into the river and taking it all away to the unpopulated marshes in the city’s far south-east.

To Crossness, in fact, just north of Abbey Wood – which is where the beam engines and their cathedral still stand today. They went out of major use as early as 1913, replaced by diesels, but Prince Consort was returned to service between 1953 and 1956 to pump out floods in the Royal Arsenal. After that, the engines and their equally stunning building were left, for around thirty years, to the mercies of vandals and the weather.

Much remedial work has already been done, but the Crossness Engines Trust has just got a large National Lottery grant to build a proper visitor centre and access road, so 2009 might be your best chance to see the Prince Consort for a while. There are three steaming days this year – 26 April, 28 June and 23 August.

The day I went, they had various vintage vehicles there, including a steam-driven van, still licensed for the public roads, that had come (at about 10mph) all the way from somewhere in rural Kent. The site is still rather isolated, with terrific views of the river and marshland.

There’s an enjoyable exhibition with lots of loo handles and chains for the kiddies to pull, and an explanation of what happens to all the waste now. It still comes through Bazalgette’s main outfall sewers, and is still collected at Crossness – though now in the modern Thames Water sewerage works next door. It’s treated now, rather than being pumped out into the river – until very recently, it was put on special ships, taken out to sea and dumped.

You get to the heritage part of the site through the modern waterworks, on a slightly tricky-to-find road from somewhere north-east of Thamesmead. The Engines Trust website has a map here, click the “Visits” tab. It’s open from 10.30 until 4.30 and there is also a half-hourly minibus from Abbey Wood station.

And to the delicate question – is it smelly? – I can only answer: not when I was there. Perhaps I got lucky with the direction of the wind.

More information on Crossness is available at the website or by calling 0208 311-3711

Greenwich Hospital Consults on Market Redevelopment

Greenwich Hospital has announced it is to hold a second public exhibition with their final plans for the redevelopment of Greenwich Market.

Anyone interested in seeing wthat is being proposed is invited to attend the exhibition, where members of the project team will be on hand to answer questions.

The exhibition will be at 22 Nelson Road on:
Friday 24th April, 4 pm – 8 pm and
Saturday 25th April, 10 am – 4 pm.

Whilst the exhibition is on, the displays will be online at the consultation website.

Following the public exhibition, the exhibition boards will be on display at 5b Greenwich Market from 9 am to 5 pm from Monday 27th April to Sunday 3rd May.

Pub Review: Greenwich Union

The Greenwich Union
56 Royal Hill, SE10 8RT
£3.50-£4.20 / pint.

It’s Ale About The Beer

If real ale is your thing then The Greenwich Union is a real treat.

The Union is the flag-pub of local beer academic Alastair Hook and his Meantime Brewing Company. Hook’s mission is clear: to give publicans more choice of real ales by local brewers and I’d say on that score The Union is a resounding success.

The beer is the real star of the show and definitely gives The Union an edge. The selection of Meantime ales is extensive, from wheat and raspberry beers on draught to unusual bottled beers such as chocolate and coffee. Be warned that anything mainstream is against Meantime’s religion so the wine and soft drink selection is merely adequate and don’t expect Carlsberg or cider on tap. But then again, ordering a Carlsberg here would be a bit like asking for a pot noodle at a gourmet Chinese restaurant, so I wouldn’t necessarily call its absence a failing.

From the outside the pub has an inviting glow and has both back and front beer gardens. The clientele are mostly professionals of all ages and with its ale focus its not one for the kids (so all the nicer for those without them!). The staff are friendly and service was quick but I did go midweek and The Union’s very small bar might make getting a pint in at the weekend a tad more difficult.

There is simple Gastro Pub grub on offer, so steaks, fish, lashings of chips and hearty puddings, boasting locally sourced produce at reasonable prices. However it’s not great for Vegetarian diners with only 1 or 2 suitable dishes.

What they say: “Our sole concern is to put before the consumer the most exciting flavours to be found in beer that we are able to create with the wit and technology at our disposal” – Meantime Website

What you say: “Brilliant Beer! The friendly staff said hello when I came in and recommended a beer to me as I wasn’t sure what to choose. I’d definitely come here again” – Fellow Customer

What do you think about the Greenwich Union pub? Post your comments below…

London Marathon Road Closures 2009

Greenwich Council has released the following information about road closures at the time of the London Marathon.

Twelve roads in Greenwich will close for the London Marathon on Sunday, April 26, from 7am until about 2pm.

The roads are:

Charlton Way
Shooters Hill Road
Charlton Road
Charlton Park Lane
Little Heath
Artillery Place
John Wilson Street
Woolwich Church Street
Woolwich Road
Trafalgar Road
Creek Road
Evelyn Street

Residents will be facilitated across the marathon route at identified crossing points (but not to travel along the route). The crossings may close earlier if directed by Police or the Marathon Forward Command Vehicle.

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