Greenwich news and information
A man was found guilty today of the murder of Paul Martin in Greenwich town centre.
Michael Bowden, 28, was found guilty of the unprovoked killing which took place in Greenwich Church Street in March 2009.
Mr Martin, aged 25, was a plumber from Blackheath and was the father of two children.
Bowden, who had been previously diagnosed as having bipolar disorder, is due to be sentenced for the crime on Wednesday.
I don’t eat oysters (regular readers may detect a palate that’s a tad unsophisticated) but these Cumbrae rock oysters that my friend had at the Rivington Grill at a recent lunch made for a nice picture I thought. Served here with shallots vinegar, crushed ice and lemon slices.
A string of high profile music acts will be coming to Greenwich this July for the Greenwich Summer Sessions.
The sessions will kick off on Wednesday 21st July with Seth Lakeman and the Levellers. In the following days, music fans will be able to enjoy the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, former Squeeze star Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra – joined by Alison Moyet and Gilson Lavis, and then Deptford band, Athlete, will be headlining the final day.
The Summer Sessions will take place in the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College.
Tickets can be purchased online via Ticketmaster:
Discounts are available for residents of the London Borough of Greenwich.
Zippos Circus at Blackheath, as seen from the cricket pitch in Greenwich Park.
Transition Westcombe is asking local people to make their fruit trees available for volunteers to harvest.
The idea is to make sure that less fruit grown in local gardens goes unused by getting volunteers to harvest it and then share it out.
Owners of the trees would get first share of the picked fruit, with the rest distributed within the community such as at SureStart centres and nursing homes. They even plan to make sure bruised fruit doesn’t get wasted by using it to create fresh juice.
A spokesperson for Transition Westcombe said:
“About 95 per cent of fruit in Britain is imported, including 70 per cent of our apples, with some coming 12,000 miles from New Zealand. They are often grown using intensive methods and even the British apples we buy in shops are transported a long way to and from distribution and packaging centres.
“In the meantime our gardens have trees groaning with fruit we don’t pick, so harvesting it for local use makes perfect sense. Similar projects elsewhere have even identified as many as 50 varieties of apples in a small area, so imagine what we might uncover on our own doorsteps.”
Owners of fruit trees in the Westcombe Park area are asked to email growing.transitionwestcombe@gmail.com with their details to get involved.
Transition Westcombe is part of the Transition Towns movement which encourages groups of local people to find ways to “respond to the challenges, and opportunities, of Peak Oil and Climate Change“.
Council candidate Darryl Chamberlain at the closed Thames Path. Photo: Dijana Capan
A candidate in the forthcoming elections has declared “We want our Thames Path back” after access to the walkway was closed between Ballast Quay and the O2.
Darryl Chamberlain, a Green party candidate in the Peninsula ward, has criticised the council over the lack of diversion signs whilst work is undertaken to dismantle the old silos at the Syral works.
He has also highlighted the closed section of the walkway at Lovell’s Wharf where the path has been rerouted to the development’s sales office.
Darryl commented:
“Greenwich Council should be putting pressure on developers to reinstate the path as soon as possible. Retaining access to the river must be a condition of any future planning approvals. If elected, I will work to keep local people up to date with what is happening along our riverfront. How are Greenwich people supposed to play a part in the future of their neighbourhood if they’re not kept informed?”
Inspired somewhat by Tim Keeler’s Daffs photo last week, I took my camera into the park today to get a few more images.
I bumped into Greenwich & Woolwich Conservative parliamentary candidate, Spencer Drury, and Greenwich West council candidate, Ryan Acty, this morning as they delivered leaflets in Hyde Vale.
I will, of course, be looking out for canvassers from other parties whilst out on my travels to maintain political balance.
Candidates for the elections to Greenwich Council on May 6th have been confirmed.
201 candidates in total are standing in the 17 wards at the council elections, which take place on the same day as the General Election. Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are all standing 3 candidates in every ward.
21 Greens and 13 BNP candidates are standing. The Christian Peoples Alliance is fielding 9 candidates around the borough, and there will be 3 independents.
The English Democrats and UKIP both have only one candidate each.
With its SE10 focus, Greenwich.co.uk will be concentrating on the Greenwich West and Peninsula wards.
Candidates in the Greenwich West ward
Candidates in the Peninsula ward
Information on all candidates in all of the wards can be found on the council’s website.
The General Election will be held on May 6th after the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, asked the Queen to dissolve parliament.
The poll will coincide with Council elections which are also taking place in Greenwich a month from today.
The Greenwich & Woolwich constituency is currently held by Labour’s Nick Raynsford.
Leader of the Conservative group on Greenwich Council, Councillor Spencer Drury, will be standing on behalf of the Tories.
Local Lib Dems have selected 26 year old estate agent, Joseph Lee, as their candidate. Andy Hewett will be the Green Party’s candidate.
Onay Kasab is standing for the Trade Union & Socialist Coalition (TUSC) and Raden Wresniwiro will represent the English Democrats.