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Greenwich news and information

Bar du Musee in Nelson Road has closed

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Bar du Musee, now closed in Greenwich

A GREENWICH restaurant with a history that stretches back to the 1960s has closed today.

Bar du Musee in Nelson Road started life as a small wine bar and was the first venue in the town centre to come under the ownership of Greenwich Inc.

The bar grew in size to include a cafe area, large restaurant area and also a covered garden space.

The large venue in a prime town centre location has apparently caught the attention of Jamie Oliver and a long-rumoured move by his Jamie’s Italian chain was confirmed in the latest edition of landlord Greenwich Hospital’s own magazine.

“A new arrival, timed for early next year,” writes Greenwich Hospital’s Property Manager Gillie Bexson, “is Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s Italian on the Bar du Musee site. This relaxed and affordable dining… will be popular with locals and visitors alike.”

Greenwich Inc owner Frank Dowling recently spoke to Greenwich.co.uk and said his future plans included investing heavily in the Trafalgar Tavern to deliver 15 hotel rooms and renovating the entire building, building a new hotel at the site of Trident Hall and developing a music theme at the Admiral Hardy. In addition Inc Bar will be re-launched as a “classy cocktail bar.”

Greenwich.co.uk also understands the Bar du Musee name may be revived at another Greenwich venue in the future.

UPDATED

Another Nelson Road has also closed. Italian restaurant La Cucina di Soteri, at the corner of Nelson Road and King William Walk suddenly closed for business just days afte Bar du Musee.

The owner told Greenwich.co.uk that the premises had been sold back to the landlord, Greenwich Hospital.

Greenwich Park: New cycle access proposed at St Mary’s Gate

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CYCLISTS could get their own dedicated gate giving access to Greenwich Park, if planning permission is given by the council.

An application has been submitted to the council by the Royal Parks to install a new gate in the centre of the St Mary’s Gate at the north west end of the park.

Under current arrangements, cyclists and pedestrians have to share gates on either side of the main vehicle gates once they are closed to traffic.

The new proposals, which have been designed in consultation with English Heritage, would see the central panel replaced with a new gate, designed in the same style, solely for cyclists.

The planning application says the change to the Grade-II listed wrought iron gate is “necessary to balance the needs of road, path and park users.” It’s hoped that the work will be paid for from a TFL fund for improving “Greenways” across London.

Work on the Blackheath Gate, at the other end of The Avenue, is expected to be completed by early next year.

Open House London 2012

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St Alfege Church Crypt
The crypt of St Alfege Church – one of the venues taking part in Open House London (booking required)

Buildings across London once again throw their doors open this weekend and allow visitors to see many places they might not normally be able to see. Places in the Royal Borough of Greenwich taking part are:

  • Blackheath House
  • Charlton House
  • Devonport Mausoleum
  • Dreadnought Library
  • Eltham Lodge
  • Greenwich Heritage Centre
  • Greenwich Yacht Club
  • Old Royal Naval College
  • Queen’s House: Royal Museums Greenwich
  • Ravensbourne
  • Ruins of Garrison Church – Royal Artillery Barracks
  • Severndroog Castle
  • St Alfege Church, Greenwich (including the crypt)
  • St Mary Magdalene CE School
  • St Saviour’s Church, Eltham
  • Station Officers’ Mess – Royal Artillery Barracks
  • Thames Barrier & Information Centre
  • The Coronet Cinema
  • Tudor Barn and Gardens
  • Woolwich Town Hall

Walks and tours:

  • Early Georgian Blackheath
  • Engineering East London: ICE Boat tour to the Hoo Peninsula
  • ICE tour of Emirates Air Line cable car
  • London’s Engineering Heritage: ICE boat tour II

Councillor Peter Kotz, Cabinet member for Culture and Creative Industries, said: “Open House London provides a fantastic opportunity for Royal Greenwich to once again showcase its rich heritage and contemporary achievements for residents and visitors. We are proud to open the doors to our favourite buildings and I would encourage everyone to get involved with this free event”.

More more information, and to find out which venues need to be booked in advance, visit the Open House London website.

If you want to venture outside of the Royal Borough, you will also find a Greenwich connection in Tottenham. Local architects bptw have worked on a six year restoration of Tottenham’s Grade II Listed Edwardian Baroque Town Hall.

bptw’s lead architect Mark Jefferson commented, ‘’Restoring Tottenham Town Hall and helping bring it back into useful life was one of the most satisfying and rewarding projects I have been involved with.”

See London wide listings at londonopenhouse.org

Daily Photo: 18/09/2012 – KREOD

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Photograph: Warren King

KREOD is a new sculpture-cum-pavillion by Peninsula Square, near the O2. Built using Kebony, the sculpture was unveiled today and will remain in Greenwich until mid-October.

Commenting on the launch of KREOD, Chun Qing Li, Managing Director of Pavilion Architecture says:

“Architecture is our passion; KREOD pavilion is a great showcase of a sustainable and forward thinking building method in the digital age, offering a new way of thinking, designing, engineering, and construction.”

More information about KREOD

New director at Greenwich Hospital appointed

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HUGH PLAYER has been appointed as the new Director of Greenwich Hospital.

Player will replace Martin Sands who is retiring as boss of the naval charity that owns large parts of maritime Greenwich.

The new man in charge is a former Royal Marine and was most recentlythe Chief Executive of St Martin-in-the-Fields church.

He commented: “I am delighted and honoured to be the first Director of Greenwich Hospital to be appointed from a commercial charitable background.

“My intentions are to build on the solid foundations inherited from Martin Sands and to ensure Greenwich Hospital is able to develop its charitable outputs whilst continuing to be a force for good in the community and remaining at the heart of Maritime Britain.”

Outgoing boss Martin Sands said:

“I have enjoyed steering Greenwich Hospital through challenging economic times. With career experiences in the private and charitable sectors, coupled with Historic Royal Palaces, Hugh will be well placed to work with our stakeholders in developing Greenwich Hospital’s key roles.”

Mr Player takes up his position on September 24th.

Greenwich Hospital recently told traders at Greenwich Market that there will be no start to its controversial redevelopment of the market for at least another year.

Limited use of Greenwich Park’s Avenue returns this week

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PEDESTRIANS and cyclists will be able to use the Avenue running through Greenwich Park from later this week.

Limited access to the road through the park will be restored from September 14th, six days later than was previous planned.

London 2012 organisers put the delay down to the  “large amounts of infrastructure that must be removed, and the large amount of construction lorries required to take equipment away.”

Cyclists will be able to use the Avenue in both directions between 6am and 8.30am, and from 5.30pm until Park closing times. It’s due to reopen fully, including for use by cars, on October 1st.

Graham Dear, Greenwich Park Manager, The Royal Parks, said: “Work to reinstate the areas of the Park used for the Cross Country event is already well underway and progress is good and we are now preparing to reinstate the remaining areas of the park once all the temporary infrastructure is removed. Meanwhile, it is great to see local people already making use of the large areas of the park which began to reopen in early August.”

No tennis until October

Anyone inspired by Andy Murray’s historic US Open win in the early hours of this morning will have to wait a little longer to take to the courts in Greenwich Park.

It’s been announced that the reopening of the tennis courts in the park has been delayed from mid-September until the beginning of October. A temporary surface was laid over the courts and fences taken down temporarily during London 2012 so that horses could use it as a warm-up area.

Murray, the first British male to win a Grand Slam since 1936, will be in action in Greenwich in November when he competes in the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2.

 

GLL plan new “technologically advanced” gym near the O2

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6 Mitre Passage

A NEW state-of-the-art gym has been proposed for the Greenwich Peninsula.

Planning permission has been applied for to convert the ground floor of 6 Mitre Passage in to a gymnasium.

The twelve storey office building is nearly all occupied but a ground floor space intended for retail use remains vacant.

Greenwich Leisure Limited, the social enterprise company that runs leisure centres in Greenwich and across London, wants to convert the space into a 686 m² gym that would be “the most technologically advanced space within the GLL fitness family.”

GLL hopes that the hi-tech gym would attract up to 2000 members and stay open until 10pm on weekdays and 5pm on weekends. The planning application says that interactive displays would support the local area by publicising jogging and cycling trails on the peninsula.

Other occupants of 6 Mitre Passage, which is close to the Greenwich Peninsula terminal of the Emirates Air Line, include Greenwich Council and a serviced office business centre.