Greenwich news and information
Much of the greenery running alongside the inside wall of the tennis courts next to the Ranger’s House has been uprooted and removed. If you use the courts, do you think it looks tidier or has part of its character been removed along with the shrubs and bushes?
Many thanks to Malcolm Reid for sending me this lovely photo, taken by a friend of his at 5.30 am one day last week.
GREENWICH Council’s Planning Board has backed the O2 Skywalk planning application.
Councillors gave their unanimous support to the development which will create a dramatic new walkway across the top of the iconic dome in North Greenwich.
Similar to the Sydney Harbour Bridge walkway, members of the public will be able to traverse the roof of the O2 in guided groups of thirty.
The “challenging” experience, expected to take about 50 minutes to complete, will be approximately 380m in length and rise to a gradient of 28 degrees.
Mike Davies, a founding partner at the Richard Rogers Partnership and one of the original driving forces behind the dome, has returned to Greenwich to work on the Skywalk.
Wearing his familiar red suit, he told Thursday night’s meeting of the Planning Board that the Skywalk was “exciting” and “meant to be an adventure.”
The dome was “the only structure in London still clean after fourteen years”, he said, and the Skywalk would be a “perfectly handsome addition.”
Those brave enough to tackle the walk may be disappointed to learn they won’t be able to take a photo of their endeavours. Under questioning from councillors, it emerged that no loose items, including cameras, will be allowed on the Skywalk.
The colour of the tensile fabric walkway has not yet been decided but blue has been used in illustrations submitted with the application.
The proposal received written backing from the Greenwich Society and the Greenwich Conservation Group.
Councillor Hayley Fletcher said the project was “incredibly exciting”. All councillors at the meeting of the Planning Board at the town hall in Woolwich voted to support the application.
The Skywalk, first reported on by Greenwich.co.uk last month, will create 30 full time jobs. Discounts for the Skywalk, which has permission to open from 0800 to 2300 each day, will be available for Greenwich Card holders.
COUNCILLORS used a special meeting at the town hall last night to confirm that Greenwich will be known as the Royal Borough of Greenwich from next January.
The designation was conferred upon the borough by the Queen last year and will come into effect on January 3nd 2012.
Councillors voted to support a motion welcoming “that Her Majesty the Queen has announced her intention to confer Royal Borough status on Greenwich as part of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012.”
The Leader of the Council, Cllr Chris Roberts, paid tribute to the “royal history of patronage” in Greenwich which has “delivered tremendous legacies in terms of science, the arts and industry.”
He said he knew some would “bleat on about the cost” but added, “this is our history… we should be justly proud of the designation conferred upon us.”
He revealed in his speech that Her Majesty The Queen would be reopening the restored Cutty Sark next year and that the National Maritime Musuem, Royal Observatory and Queen’s House would, although retaining their individual identities, be known as the Royal Museums, Greenwich.
Deputy Leader of the Conservatives, Cllr Nigel Fletcher paid tribute to Cllr Roberts “excellent speech.”
The designation was an important symbol, he said.
“This is the head of state recognising something we in this chamber have always known: that we have in our corner of south east London something very special indeed.
“We are playing our part in passing on that recognition to those who deserve it most: the people we represent, the people who live and work here and who make the borough what it is. This truly is an honour for them.”
Speech by Leader of the Council, Cllr Chris Roberts (abridged)
It does give me great pleasure to move the resolution which will agree to change our name from next January to the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
We will at that time be two years since the announcement of our designation was made.
It does seem seem tonight to spend a few more minutes on what a significant honour this will be for the borough and for all those who live, work and visit here and a time to pause and reflect on what it is we hold in trust as councillors for the future.
It is a royal history, to be sure. A royal history of patronage which has delivered tremendous legacies in terms of science, the arts and industry.
And a place steeped in architecture from Wren, Hawksmoor, Inigo Jones through to Roger Foster and [Terry] Farrell.
Mr Mayor, I have no doubt there will be those who bleat on about cost and relevance but this is our history. It is what has made our borough. And we should be justly proud of the designation conferred upon us.
It is very difficult to talk about the royal history of the borough because you could literally spend all night on it and indeed still miss a lot out.
Eltham Palace dates back almost a thousand years. Henry V returned there from Agincourt with his French prisoners.
Henry VIII spent much of his childhood there, as indeed did is own childen, Mary and Elzabeth.
Charlton House was built in the reign of James I, initially to be a school for his son, who died early.
The Royal dockwards in Deptford and Woolwich were founded early in the 16th century by Henry VIII.
That naval tradition was reinforced when Elizabeth I knighted Frances Drake in Deptford after the Golden Hinde’s circumnavigation of 1588. The same sword was used by the present queen to knight Frances Chichester at the Royal Naval College in 1967.
The Royal Arsenal in Woolwich began in 1671 as the government’s main armament factory.
The Royal Regiment of Artillery was founded in Woolwich in 1716 and remained there until 2007 when it was subsequently replaced by the Princess of Wales Regiment.
Our history, therefore, has been defined by Royal presence or patronage.
It is, never-the-less, the centre of Greenwich where most of that royal history is borne out.
Henry V created the manor of Greenwich for his half brother Duke Humphrey of Gloucester and it was Humphrey who took on the NOGOE of the 15th century and enclosed Greenwich Park for hunting – the oldest and first of the Royal Parks.
It was he who began working on the Palace of Placentia which was then turned in to the Tudor palace of Greenwich by Henry VII and subsequently Henry VIII.
Henry VIII and the Tudors based themselves at Greenwich and indeed what might be called the greatest soap opera of English history took place in our borough.
His children, as I said earlier, were born in Greenwich and played at Eltham Palace, and it was at Greenwich, perhaps, where Elizabeth’s council were planning the defence of the country against the threat of the Armada in 1588.
The Stuarts continued this with James I remodelling the manor and commissioning what we now know as the Queen’s house by Inigo Jones, completed in the reign of Charles I for Henrietta Maria.
Charles II began the new palace, what we would now recognise as the Old Royal Naval College.
Charles II also founded the Royal Observatory in 1675-1676, evidence of the Royal patronage of the sciences. It remains today Britain’s oldest scientific structure.
The National Maritime Museum, the Queen’s House and the Royal Observatory will maintain their own distinct identified but they will from January 1st be called, collectively, the Royal Museums Greenwich.
More recently, George VI, the Queen’s father, in his first public act as King, three weeks before his coronation, opened the National Maritime Museum here in Greenwich accompanied by Queen Elizabeth and indeed the young Princess Elizabeth, the present Queen.
We can go on and on and on.
The Duke of Edinbugh took the title, voluntarily, of Baron Greenwich and they made their first joint visit here in 1948. The Duke received the Freedom of the Borough of Greenwich at that time and has remained in constant touch with Greenwich, as a trustee of the Maritime Museum, and indeed his leadership of the Cutty Sark project both in the 1950s and today.
Moving on and looking forward, we can anticipate next year there will be a exhibition in the National Maritime Museum dedicated to the royal river to mark the Diamond Jubilee and also the 75th anniversary of the opening of the National Maritime Museum.
We also have the Queen here to reopen the Cutty Sark.
In moving this [motion], Mr Mayor, it’s worthwhile, I think, just touching on the fact that we remain heirs to what is a great royal heritage.
It’s a heritage of science, industry and culture.
We are the heirs to scientists who gazed at and interpreted the stars from Greenwich, to the great navigators and sea farers who set sail from and returned to Greenwich. It is a rich, royal legacy.
In Greenwich we have sought to enhance the World Heritage Site through the Discover Greenwich project, Neptune Court, the Planetarium, the Sammy Ofer Wing, the Olympic Games, the restored Cutty Sark and our expanded use of the river.
How we are viewed for our stewardship will be for those who follow us. How well we have kept the precious heritage that we hold in trust and how well we have developed and improved the borough, cared for and enhanced this amazing place that we will soon call Royal Greenwich.
Audio of the speeches by Cllr Roberts and Cllr Fletcher can be be heard on 853
THERE will be more green flags flying across the borough after its parks and green spaces were recognised in the latest round of Green Flag Awards.
The tally of council-run spaces to get the nod of approval from the Green Flag inspectors has risen from six to eight this year.
East Greenwich Pleasaunce retains its Green Flag, as does Blackheath – jointly award to Greenwich and Lewisham councils.
The two parks to get the award for the first time are Avery Hill Park and Fairy Hill Park. Greenwich Park, run by Royal Parks, continues to be a Green Flag winning park.
In an interview for Greenwich.co.uk, the Cabinet member for Culture and the Olympics, John Fahy, said that Greenwich Council’s target for Green Flags was to have twelve by 2012.
Cllr Fahy gave his reaction yesterday to the latest Green Flag awards:
“I’m really pleased that eight of our parks have been rewarded with a Green Flag Award. There’s such an array of beautiful and spacious parks in the borough and I’d encourage everyone in Greenwich to get out and explore them.
“Improvements the council has made across the borough are linked to our commitment to gain a lasting legacy from 2012.”
The Green Flag Award Scheme recognises and rewards the best green spaces in the country. Find out more about the Green Flag Award scheme.
Greenwich Green Flag Award Winning Parks
The Royal British Legion is appealing for help to organise its Poppy Appeal in Greenwich this year.
Following the death earlier this year of Greenwich’s Honorary Poppy Appeal Organiser, Malcolm Smith, the Armed Forces charity says it needs new volunteers to come forward.
South east London Poppy Appeal co-ordinator, Darren Moore, said “now that Malcolm is no longer with us we have no one to distribute Poppies and collect in Greenwich.”
He added “without a team of people to deliver and collect over the Appeal, local schools and shops will go without Poppies during November.”
Steph Davenport, Community Fundraiser at the Legion, said that the role would suit someone who was looking to put something back into the local community, or perhaps a local group who would like to take on a new project.
Anyone interested in helping organise the Poppy Appeal in Greenwich can contact the the London Poppy Appeal on 0207 863 3370 or by emailing them.
GREENWICH Council has decided to keep publishing its weekly newspaper, Greenwich Time.
The controversial paper was expected to get the axe after the Government drew up new guidelines on council publicity which say councils shouldn’t put out publications more than four times a year.
But as Greenwich.co.uk reported last week, council officers produced a report recommending that the council continues to publish the newspaper fifty times a year.
That recommendation was accepted by a meeting of the Cabinet last night at the Town Hall in Woolwich.
For full details of the meeting, where Council Leader Chris Roberts said the case for maintaining Greenwich Time was “overwhelming”, visit 853 blog for Darryl’s in-depth report.
GREENWICH Council wants to plant 2012 trees across the borough and is asking for suggestions as to where they should put them.
The two thousand trees are being planted as part of the Council’s “Playground to Podium” Olympic legacy scheme.
Local sites that have been spruced up already, or chosen for future planting, include:
Cllr John Fahy, the council’s Cabinet member for Culture and the Olympics, said: “2012 trees for the 2012 Games will be a lasting and meaningful legacy from the Olympics in Greenwich and I’m urging residents to get involved and say where they want trees to be planted.”
Suggestions can be emailed to the council.
Lord Coe has described Greenwich Park as an “extraordinary park in an extraordinary borough.”
Speaking to Greenwich.co.uk on day two of the recent test event in Greenwich Park, the Locog Chair said this is “a country that really does understand equestrian sport.” He said that the cross country event in Greenwich Park was “always going to be a hot ticket” after London 2012 said they are looking at modelling to increase spectator capacity for the event.
Asked about empty seats during the first day of the recent test event in Greenwich Park, Coe said there was “lots of schools, lots of people in there” and that focus of the test event was the “field of play and competitors” rather than the “spectator experience”.
Lord Coe also used the interview to put the damper on Greenwich Council’s idea of hosting a concert in Greenwich Park between the Olympics and Paralympics.
While the official line is that the is being “looked at” and “scoped”, Lord Coe said the gap between the events was “not like having ten days off” and that a “lot of work” would be going on to increase accessibility and reconfigure the venue.
The former Olympic gold medallist, urged future bidding cities to use their inner city parks to stage equestrian events. London 2012’s equestrian venue manager, Jeremy Edwards, who was also present for the interview, said that the temporary deck being used in Greenwich Park could “revolutionise the whole sport.”
On the test event in Greenwich Park
Lord Coe:
The best testimony of course is not out of the mouths of an organiser, delegate or whatever, it’s always going to be out of the mouths of the most important client group which is, of course, the competitors.
We’re getting very, very positive feedback but it doesn’t finish there because the next stage for all of us will be to sit down after the competition to talk about anything, all of their observations and there the observations that really matter. But so far, they’re very very positive about everything they’re witnessing, everything from the service levels, the stabling, the quality of the people out on the course.
[Criticisms of the surface did emerge from competitors following the next day’s show jumping stage of the Greenwich Park Eventing Invitational]
When you’ve got great internal teams, a great governing body, and volunteers who really do understand the equestrian world, you’ve got more than an evens chance of delivering a great event.
On empty seats during day one of the test event
Lord Coe:
Empty seats? Well, remember, first of all, most of that morning, they weren’t empty. Secondly, there was lots of schools in there, lots of people in there, it was first morning dressage. And actually in fairness, we’re not testing, at this moment, the spectator experience.
Our entire focus is on the field of play and competitors so I think it was a really good way to do it.
Jeremy Edwards:
If you go to any equestrian event, you don’t see people sitting there all of the time because it’s a moveable feast. Large groups were out on the course.
On bringing the equestrian events closer to the main Olympic venues
Lord Coe:
It’s a sport I understand. When we started bidding, a lot of the people that are here competing and coaching were the guys that came to me and said, ‘Look, of all the people that have organised the games you understand the sport. If you possibly can, don’t let us become disembodied from the rest of the games. Don’t stick us four hours away’.”
When I competed in LA, I flew in two weeks early with part of the British equestrian team. I saw them at the airport and then I saw them again at the closing ceremony and when I came back. They were four hours away.
[Choosing Greenwich Park] was really important for three reasons:
First to be able to give the riders an Olympic experience for the first time in many years.
Secondly, as we’ve spoken about so many times, to introduce the sport to a group of people, particularly young people, who have probably never seen equestrian sport before.
And thirdly, you know, if you’re able to showcase an extraordinary park in an extraordinary borough, do it. If you’ve got the oportunity to have an equestrian event in the inner city, why would you want to take them three or four hours away when you can put them here.
Jeremy Edwards:
I can speak from experience, being at Sydney and also being at Beijing, at Hong Kong. Yes, it was lovely and great and all the rest of it. But those athletes didn’t get to march in the opening ceremony and I would imagine, if I was an athlete, the thing that I that would most want to do, other than win a gold medal of course, is to march in the opening ceremony.
And here we can do that. And be in the village.
Lord Coe:
Bidding cities will now feel they’ve got permission to stage equestrian events as near as to the games as they possibly can and if they’ve got big internal parks, use them.
Jeremy Edwards:
I think the other thing we should mention is that this deck and the temporary stables will potentially, I think, almost revolutionise the whole sport.
These guys can now take the deck, take the soil, take the stables and put it into any part of the world. Put it into shipping containers and ship it there and all of a sudden you’ve got a horse show.
And what says to the rest of the world is that you don’t have to go and build expensive long term infrastructure such as we built at Sydney. Now Sydney is 12 years old and now needs revamping. It needs doing up. The arenas need doing up. All these things need doing up and it’s expensive. We can pack it up and move on. To me, this is fantastic, what we’ve developed here.
On using the stadium in Greenwich Park for a concert between the Olympics and Paralympics
London 2012 spokesperson:
We’re looking at it. There are challenges. But we do want to use that period between the end of the Olympics and the start of the Paralympics as a great party which will coincide with the Notting Hill Carnival. But I think we have to scope all of that and that’s something we will be discussing with Greenwich Council.
Lord Coe:
Sparing these guys’ blushes , it’s not like having 10 days off. There’s all sorts of things you are then thinking about for the Paralympic games. You’re thinking about increased levels of accessibility, you’re talking about some reconfiguration in all sorts of areas. There’s a lot of work that goes on in converting this from an Olympic to a Paralympic venue.
Jeremy Edwards:
It’s extremely busy, you’ve got one lot of horses out, one lot of horses in. There’s a different configuration, different contractors, a whole of raft of different people. The Paralympic committee come in and the IOC really move out. A whole new raft of faces turn up and we have to build the relationships.
Lord Coe:
It’s a good problem to have because its for the right reasons, but we have actually concertinaed the time between the Olympic games and the Paralympic games to make sure we lose none of the party atmosphere and the athlete led atmosphere.
At other games, the gap has been too long and it’s actually not helped the Paralympic movement. I think, for us, given that the Paralympic movement is so much our history, the importance of making sure that, given all the points been made about the management of conversion, that we’re also able to do it as quickly as we can so we don’t lose any of that momentum.
On demand for the cross country at London 2012
London 2012 spokesperson:
At the moment, the basic capacity is 50,000 but we’re doing crowd assessment modelling and we’re looking at transport, we might increase it.
Lord Coe:
It is worth remembering that the single biggest day out in British sport is cross country day at Badminton where you’ve effectively got the contents of 3 Wembley stadiums on the cross country course.
This is a country that really does understand equestrian sport and secondly, you’ve only got to lok at the numbers that equestrian events get in this country, particularly cross country, to know that this was always going to be a hot ticket.
THE National Maritime Museum’s new £35 million Sammy Ofer Wing has opened to the public.
The major development, the largest in the NMM’s history, was made possible thanks to a £20 million donation from shipping magnate and philanthropist, Sammy Ofer.
The new building, which creates a new main entrance to the NMM from Greenwich Park, was officially opened by the HRH The Duke of Edinburgh (pictured below) on Tuesday.
It includes a special exhibitions gallery, a permanent gallery called Voyagers which introduces the story of Britain and the sea, a new state of the art library and a new café and brasserie with views over Greenwich Park.
The Sammy Ofer Wing opens with a new six-month special exhibition called ‘High Arctic‘ – an immersive experience set in the Arctic 0f 2100 AD.
Lord Sterling, Chairman of the National Maritime Museum, said: “In the Sammy Ofer Wing, our new exhibition space will introduce new generations of visitors to the many rich narratives bound up in our maritime story. This visionary transformation would not have been possible without the support of Sammy Ofer and the Heritage Lottery Fund.”
Kevin Fewster, National Maritime Museum Director, said: “The Sammy Ofer Wing creates a spectacular, contemporary environment in which more people can appreciate the wonders of our world-class collections and their stories of human endeavour and discovery.”
Sammy Ofer died just a few weeks before the completion of the project.
