Greenwich.co.uk

Greenwich news and information

Theatre Review: Laughter in the Rain, Churchill Theatre Bromley

By


Neil Sedaka at the piano with actor Wayne Smith and cast on the opening night of Laughter in the Rain, a new musical about Sedaka’s life. Photo: Churchill Theatre

Monday night in Bromley and a sea of grey heads in the stalls greeted us. They were here to see a new musical about the life and times of Neil Sedaka, who started his rock-n-roll career in the 1950s and is still going today.

Much to my shame I thought he was dead, provoking peals of laughter from the theatrical crowd I was with in the interval bar. “No! He’s alive!” chastised one, a West End actress and Greenwich glitterati.

And still going strong by all accounts: he turned up in Bromley for the opening night of Laughter in the Rain last week and was so taken with it he changed his flights so he could see it again. ‘Forty of my songs, three hours, audience on its feet, all about me…’ You can understand why he called Heathrow.

Sedaka started life sharing a two-room flat in New York with his family and three aunts. As a child his mother encouraged him to play the piano with a career as a concert pianist in mind. But rock-n-roll happened and the teenage Sedaka rebelled and started writing songs with geeky neighbour Howard Greenfield. Together they formed a musical partnership that sold 40 million records between 1959 and 1963.

Stardom faded abruptly in the face of the ‘British Invasion’ by the Beatles in the 1960s, which left him skint. But a 1970s comeback helped by Elton John put him back on top. Now he’s a legend, with a new album out this year.

It’s an interesting tale spanning six decades – rags to riches to rags and back to riches – and it’s told simply and well. It could do with delving deeper into the darker years to give it a bit more emotional narrative, but it skips along at a pace from hit to hit.

And that’s what the audience is there for: the songs. A full house would guarantee dancing in the aisles. A three-quarter house on a cold Monday night and we only danced at the end. A weekend crowd would be a lot of fun.

Wayne Smith plays the lead. His voice is beautiful. He sings flawlessly in almost every song – some feat. But two scenes nearly steal the show. Kieran Brown as Tony Christie singing Amarillo could easily bring the house down if cheesed up. And Kieran Brown (again) as Elton John could, if camped up, run away with the night. Both scenes are kept in a lowish key, probably for that reason.

The set is effective. A cinemascope style screen shows film footage and photographs from the time to lend authenticity and occasional poignancy. The clarity of staging lets the music shine through.

All up it’s a lot of fun, and a rollicking good show. A bit of tweaking on its way round the theatres of England as it tours this summer (Elton John needs new glasses, for starters) and the West End must surely beckon.

Until Saturday 13 March, Churchill Theatre, Bromley

A Brazilian that doesn’t hurt

By

When people ask for a Brazilian, they subconsciously wince at the thought of it. The one I had didn’t hurt at all. In fact, it tasted very nice. I bought it from Raphael, who owns the stall Gaucho: Son of the Pampas, which sells Brazilian cuisine in Greenwich Market. Aside from those really awesome chocolate and cinnamon Churos (They’re traditionally Caramel), they sell steak and chicken marinated in Chimichurri. Chimichurri is a South American sauce made of parsley, Olive oil, garlic and herbs. Of course, there are regional variations. You could easily imagine that a Guyanese version (or near the French Border), for instance, is made with herb instead of ordinary herbs for a more transcendental culinary experience.

They sell pretty well, but what proportion chicken and steak do they sell? Raphael said that “We sell fifty fifty.” Appropriately, although the beef is rib-eye stake from Argentina, the chicken comes from brazil, the sauce is made locally. The girl who served me said that “we make it (Chimichurri) here a little differently to what they do in South America.” So this is a London variation.

What did I think of the London version, you ask? It’s not hot, but it’s a more European flavour of Garlic and Olive oil, with a hint of lemon. It’s not what I expected, but then it’s more subtle and complex than just having heat like in Mexican or some Indian food. The herbs contribute to this by providing a contrast to both the meat and the garlic, with the lemon adding the right amount of acidity to the proceedings. I really enjoyed it, but it didn’t bring me to the point of culinary hallucination (wrong herb perhaps?). I didn’t see Jah, but I could imagine this as a marinade for anything that requires complex flavours like prawns, other seafood and even cornflakes after twenty pints and a hangover.

If this is a Brazilian without wax, then this is also one without tears of pain but plenty of culinary delight.

Try it yourself…

1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
1 clove garlic
2 minced shallots
1 teaspoon minced basil, thyme or oregano, or mixture
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and let set for at least 2 hours before serving.

Should Maze Hill station be renamed?

By

Maze Hill Train Station

The East Greenwich Cultural Corridor Committee are considering ideas for promoting East Greenwich. Here, Liz Wrigley puts forward the suggestion that Maze Hill station be renamed “East Greenwich station”

The station is very close to the East Greenwich area, and is the most convenient station for both the park and for the University, as well as servicing the shops on Trafalgar Road and other East Greenwich venues. As a mainline station is has a fast, regular service to London Bridge, where you can join the underground easily, get to Charing Cross (by changing platform) and to the south to connect to say Gatwick also by changing platform.

However at present visitors by rail get off, understandably, at Greenwich station (which is nearly half way to Deptford! It is a station that was the Greenwich stop on the original London to Greenwich route, way back in 1838 when this little Kent village first joined with the capital, before the tunnel under the museum and park was made and the route extended east, and has no other significance to its location or name).

No one would guess that Maze Hill is actually much closer to the Greenwich historical town centre attractions.  National Rail travel to here from central London is now on the oyster card system so you do not even need a separate ticket.

We are looking at a long term strategy to bring East Greenwich onto the mental map of the rest of London and the world, as at present it is overlooked, being just beyond the east edge of the World Heritage area, a place where at present maps may as well say ‘there be dragons here’.

In summary, the station is:

  • close to the park, with a park entrance very near
  • close to the Maritime Museum
  • close to the river Thames,
  • close to the town centre markets

Liz Wrigley
Planning  / Urban Design Consultant
East Greenwich Cultural Corridor Committee

What do you think? Would it be beneficial to East Greenwich if Maze Hill station was renamed? Have your say in the comments below.

East Greenwich: The home of communication

By

How an east Greenwich factory enabled world wide electronic interaction – and how it became the central part of a local network of communication based industries.

In 1999 the ‘Dome’ was nearing completion, with a strong emphasis on electronic technology while ignoring traditional industry. Greenwich was talked up as ‘The home of Time’, and Alcatel, with a factory near the Dome, published a booklet “Greenwich, Centre for Global telecommunications from 1850”. This was never picked up, not even by the local press, and the enormous contribution of local scientists, engineers and workers to the technology on show in the Dome, went unnoticed.


Cable gear at Enderby Wharf

Alcatel were, and are (as Alcatel-Lucent), based on the west bank of the Greenwich Peninsula on a site often known as Enderby Wharf. In 1837 the Enderby Brothers were asked to help in the development of pioneering telegraph cable technology. By the 1850s underwater cables were making possible an increasing pace of international communication and the Greenwich works, by then in other hands, was becoming the main manufacturing base for them.

The heroic story of how a cable was laid across the Atlantic has been told many times. The eventual success was with cable made in Greenwich and laid by Brunel’s vast ship, Great Eastern. I always feel that the really great moment was when, having successfully laid the fourth cable, Great Eastern left Heart’s Content to sail off into the Atlantic and find the parted ends of the third, attempt. No one knew where she was, and there were stories she was lost. On 2nd September 1866 the needles on the instruments at Valentia flickered – the broken cable has been found and mended in mid-Atlantic and, not only did everyone know now where Great Eastern was, but that the world had changed too.

The Greenwich Peninsula factory was to change owners several times, but for most of its history was known as Telcon. However, other local cable making factories were started – Hoopers on the Isle of Dogs, Henley at North Woolwich and Northfleet, Johnson and Phillips in Charlton, Siemens in Woolwich, STC at North Woolwich, BICC at Erith, and so on. Up to the 1920s the Greenwich factory produced the vast majority of underwater cables world wide. – Older local people will still remember the cable ships at Enderby Wharf. The expense of advancing technology brought mergers, and in 1970 STC became the sole British firm in the business, taking over the Greenwich site. Alcatel (itself the result of similar mergers in France) took over in 1994.

These early cables relayed a very limited amount of information using Morse code. By 1924 Telcon, developed a cable system which could transmit 1,500 words per minute. Work continued, and continues, on improving cable. In the 1930s scientists at Telcon were developing polythene – with a trade name of Telcothene – for use in cables. At the same time ‘repeaters’ were developed for amplifying the signals as they travelled through the cable –repeaters are still made at Greenwich today. The last repeaters for use with coaxial cable were made in Greenwich for a system that was laid between the Canary Islands and Spain in 1977.

Recently we have heard about the Nobel Prize awarded to Kao for his work, mainly undertaken in Harlow, on optical fibre technology. Much of the work to build optical fibres into submarine cables took place in Greenwich and the first cables and repeaters using this system were developed in early 1980s; though cable manufacture at Greenwich then ceased – going to STC’s Southampton factory (and later Calais, under Alcatel). The first transatlantic optical system was laid in 1988 with 10,000 telephone channels. Since then development has escalated. Ten years ago Alacatel’s booklet of 1999 boasted that Greenwich based scientists were producing cable which could send 10 million copies of the Daily Telegraph every second, far superior to what could be sent via satellite. Goodness knows what it can do now! We all talk about how global telecommunications are used every day by all us – this is where it began!

Production and development of much telecommunications technology came from South East London – although obviously as companies expanded factories and research centres were built elsewhere. Of the other companies involved the biggest was Siemens based in Woolwich, their site being roughly between the Thames Barrier and the Woolwich Road. They became part of AEI, then GEC, eventually closing in 1968. Looking at photographs of their production lines it comes as a shock to realize that all those telephones we knew and used before the introduction of the mobile were developed and made in Woolwich. Siemens made telecommunications cables but they also made and developed a vast range of enabling devices – oh – and yes they also developed and made telephone exchanges.

When Siemens closed a group of their apprentices and technologists continued to meet. They are now all OAPs and as the Siemens Engineering Society have published an archive document – and an attempt leave some information about what was achieved in Woolwich, which is now lodged at the Greenwich Heritage Centre.

And where else can we find out about Greenwich’s great contributions to the electronics revolution. Well – not locally! The best place is the museum at Porthcurno on the very tip of Cornwall. I would recommend a visit to Valentia, in South West Ireland, for the romance of the transatlantic cable. I am told there is a museum at Heart’s Content, in Nova Scotia. Most of all I feel that local people should know about all this, be proud of it and tell the world. It is after all the skills of all those in the local workforce who developed and made these devices which made this revolution we talk about actually happen.

Mary Mills would like to thank Richard Buchanan for advice and additional information in researching this article.

The Cost of Love: Greenwich.co.uk meets Carl Medland

By

Poster for the cost of love movie

It’s not uncommon to see film crews in Greenwich but usually they are here mainly to capture the historic buildings of the Old Royal Naval College and create a perfect period setting. Seeing Greenwich on the big screen as it really is today is something rather less common, but soon to change thanks to a new movie by local film-maker, Carl Medland.

Carl Medland
Carl Medland

‘The Cost of Love‘ is Medland’s first feature length movie having previously worked on corporate films and a number of award winning shorts. It’s been a very personal project for the Greenwich-based filmmaker – he wrote, directed and part financed the project himself. He is now working on the final edit and looking forward to seeing his film at the Greenwich Picturehouse in the Spring.

Primarily, but by no means exclusively, aimed a gay audience, the film was shot in just sixteen days last August. Greenwich is at the very heart of the film, both with its scenery and its cast. Look carefully and you will see many recognisable places and faces, including Michael Joyce who frequently appeared in local pubs as the drag act, Estee Applauder, and who tragically died in a car crash just months after filming ended, and the ubiquitous Robert Gray.

I met Carl last week at the Picturehouse, naturally, to find out a bit more about him and his new film, and began by asking him about his background.

I moved from Devon to London for university and obtained a 2/1 degree, and after that I set up a theatre company. The thing I most liked doing was the writing of plays and the directing of them. My childhood passion was making films, I used to hire cameras and make short films with family and friends. I set up a film company , and half of my business is making corporate films. Last year was quite a quiet year so I had the time to commit to the project. I’ve done about twenty short films over the past five years, I really needed to make the leap and make my first feature. It’s good to learn your craft on the short films and I’ve won some awards like best music video last year, and best performance in a short film.  Everyone kept saying to me “have you done your first feature film?”, so I thought why not get all of Greenwich behind me and make a Greenwich film.

Greenwich.co.uk: What’s the film actually about?

The film speaks quite loudly to a gay audience, although there’s as many straight characters as there are gay. Dale [the central character], played so brilliantly by Christopher Kelham, is like a whirlwind with everyone he comes into contact with, and everyone in the film is affected by love, either good or bad, and they have this real cost to giving themselves to love. It all takes place in Greenwich over four days, and you flashback into the characters’ past as the story unfolds. There’s shades of light and dark, high drama and high comedy.

I wanted to capture the truth of what’s happening today, especially in the gay community. In the last year we’ve had gay beatings, a gay killing, there’s been a lot of homophobic attacks and I didn’t want the film to shy away from those themes. A lot of gay films in the UK come from America, there’s not many British films. I wanted to make a British film, directed at a British audience with British people in real locations.

Greenwich.co.uk: You part financed the film yourself , which is a brave thing to do. Do you think it can be successful?

I think it will. It’s such a professional look to the film. We’ve got really good cameras, really good lighting. Everyone was at the top of their game. The actors were amazing. It’s the best script I’ve written, and I think it all came together.

Greenwich.co.uk: There’s been some quite well known gay British films – I’m thinking ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’, ‘Beautiful Thing’ and ‘Get Real’ – and they have quite a cult following. Do you have the same expectation for this, that it might attract that kind of following?

Yeah, completely, yeah. I really think this would be good for the UK. I think we need another film like ‘Beautiful Thing’ or ‘Get Real’. And actually, ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’, funny you should say that because the whole premise of this film is a white attractive, young guy in love with an Asian guy [played by Valmike Rampersad], so it has that ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’ feel, and there’s a bit of a reference to that and ‘Beautiful Thing’ in the film.

Greenwich.co.uk: A lot of filmmakers choose Greenwich for its period settings. Do you think it works well as a contemporary backdrop for filmmaking?

Yeah, I do. We used the gay bars in Greenwich – we shot scenes in the George and Dragon, and the Rose and Crown, and we used the Metro [sexual health] centre in Norman Road. We also had the Greenwich Drag Race, which we filmed as an actual live event. As we were filming it, there was a scene just before the drag race where Michael [Joyce]’s character gave the character Dale, a handheld camera and says “can you film me?”. So it gives the scene a documentary feel, a bit like ‘Cloverfield‘.

What we’re trying to do with this film is capture the truth. A lot of it based people on people I know; qualities they have. I think some of my friends will know exactly who they are when they watch the film.

The Cost of Love will be shown here at the Greenwich Picturehouse in March with dates and times to be confirmed. Carl believes that the film will then get onto the festival circuit, and he is currently in talks with distributors in the hope of securing a wider release.

Greenwich.co.uk Guide To… The New Train Timetables

By

It’s the biggest change to hit Greenwich commuters since the DLR and Tube came to town a decade ago. From 13 December, Southeastern rips up its train timetables and starts again, promising a better service for south-east London’s train passengers.

The changes are a side-effect of some of Kent’s services being switched to the new high-speed line to Stratford and St Pancras, freeing up more room on the congested lines through London Bridge.

They also have the future in mind, preparing passengers for more changes when the Thameslink service is expanded from 2015, when the connection between the Greenwich line and the tracks to Charing Cross is expected to be severed as part of a major rebuild at London Bridge.

Southeastern says the changes have come after a consultation programme some years ago – although most passengers won’t recall being asked what they thought. Some will gain, some will lose out, and teething problems are likely after the timetable’s first major rewrite in decades.

The change also comes in time for the switch to Oyster fares on 2 January.

How does this affect you? greenwich.co.uk has pored over the new timetables to see what you can expect.

Morning rush hour from Westcombe Park (and Maze Hill two minutes later)

The service remains sparse before 0630, with just three early Charing Cross trains before then, leaving Westcombe Park half-hourly from 0527. But then there’s a new train to Cannon Street at 0642, and another at 0658. Then there’s a gap until a Charing Cross train at 0717, meaning some adjustments for early commuters.

Between 0725-0905 there will be still be 10 trains to central London from Maze Hill and Westcombe Park – but they will be more evenly timed, at roughly 10 minute intervals. There’ll be five trains to Charing Cross and five to Cannon Street (instead of six and four).

The 0901 will be the last direct Charing Cross train of the morning – then there’s Cannon Street trains at 0915 and 0927 before the new daytime service kicks in.

Morning rush hour from Greenwich

Until now, Greenwich has had the same service as Maze Hill and Westcombe Park in the morning rush hour. But the new timetable gives Greenwich additional trains, with five new services at 0728, 0750, 0810, 0830 and 0850, all to London Bridge and Cannon Street only.

These are the trains controversially switched from Blackheath to free up more room at Lewisham. Passengers at Charlton will also benefit from these trains.

Once the last direct Charing Cross train has left at 0907, there are Cannon Street trains at 0921 and 0933, then the daytime service begins.

During the day

Greenwich passengers lose Charing Cross trains, but Maze Hill and Westcombe Park passengers gain two extra trains each hour. All three stations now get a train every ten minutes to Cannon Street between 0930 and 1900.

Coming home, trains leave Cannon Street at 27, 37, 47, 57, 07 and 17 past the hour from 0927 to 1627.

Coming home to Greenwich, Maze Hill and Westcombe Park

The evening rush hour timetable is as haphazard as the old one, but with a shift in services towards Cannon Street. There are now just six evening rush hour trains from Charing Cross – at 1645, 1706, 1729, 1750, 1812 and 1835, calling at all stations. Otherwise, you’ll need to change at London Bridge.

If you’re going from Cannon Street to Greenwich – or Charlton – you’re in luck, there’s a train roughly every 10 minutes from 1640 to 1840.

If you’re going to Maze Hill or Westcombe Park, you’re less lucky – it’s every 20 minutes, although these are supplemented by the Charing Cross trains if you change at London Bridge.

After 1845, there’s a train from Cannon Street every 10 minutes to all stations until 2000.

Evening trains

The new timetable sees no boost to late evening trains, with four trains an hour through London Bridge until 2230, then, puzzlingly, the service reduces to two per hour from Charing Cross to coincide with pubs, cinemas and theatres chucking out. Trains run from Cannon Street until 2100.

The last train from Charing Cross is later – at 2356. As now, an additional train calls at New Cross, Lewisham, Blackheath and Charlton at 0015.

Coming into central London, the service is roughly the same.

Saturday trains

Early trains stay every 30 minutes, but from 0800-1900, there are six trains per hour from Westcombe Park, Maze Hill and Greenwich to Cannon Street. There are then four trains until 2030, then back to two trains each hour. Direct trains to Charing Cross run early in the morning and after 1925.

A similar pattern applies from central London, with direct trains from Charing Cross before 0800 and from 1956. Last trains are the same as Mondays to Fridays.

Sunday trains

There’s very little change to Sunday trains, with four trains per hour – two to Charing Cross, two to London Bridge – from Westcombe Park, Maze Hill and Greenwich between 0900 and 1900. Between 0700 and 0900, and after 1900, there are two trains per hour to Charing Cross.

The last train back from Charing Cross is at 2330, followed by the 0015 to New Cross, Lewisham, Blackheath and Charlton.

Want to know more?

The full timetable can be found here – it’s table 7b.

Greenwich.co.uk Goes Behind The Scenes of Got To Dance

By

got to dance logo

Greenwich.co.uk went backstage at the auditions of Sky1’s new ‘Got to Dance’ programme at the O2 in North Greenwich to find out the reality of reality TV.

The formula of the TV talent contest is now permanently engrained in popular culture. 1. Enlist celebrity judges. 2. Find a few-hundred exhibitionist members of the public (talent not compulsory). 3. Get said judges to embarrass said public; and the recent addition of 4. make them go through it all in front of a studio audience at the O2 in North Greenwich. But, when you get behind the scenes, is it really all as trivial and cruel as it seems?

Last weekend it was Sky 1’s turn to visit the peninsula with ‘Got to Dance’ where the focus is on finding, well, dancers. West-End star Adam Garcia, Pussycat Doll Kimberley Wyatt and Diversity dancer Ashley Banjo make up the judging panel and the contestants are guided through it all by Reality TV queen Davina McCall and her unlimited provision of hugs. Troupes of street dancers, the odd tap group, pole dancers and a creepily accurate Michael Jackson impersonator parade out in front of the judges, have 90 seconds to give it ‘their all’ before being routinely dismissed back into obscurity.

It sounds rather callous, doesn’t it? But when the barrier of the TV is removed, it’s not actually the superficial farce I expected. As an audience member you genuinely root for the performers, even booing the judges when they send acts home. You have to admire both their guts and their physical capability – one girl held herself upside down on a pole by her thighs and still didn’t get through. I didn’t witness anyone cry or talk about their dead relatives and the contestants are welcomed with a nice holding area, catering facilities and smiling crewmembers. At one point they even paused filming for a young lady who felt a bit queasy. We all applauded when she got back up and had another go.

Kimberley Wyatt was probably the toughest judge to please, voting against all the acts I saw. In her words it’s because “the standard is so high, you have to be perfect; beyond perfect” (only 18 will make it through to the live shows, from hundreds who audition). Remarkably, though, this was as harsh as it got and all three stars made a tireless effort to give constructive remarks to the contestants. Adam Garcia even got on stage to hug a particularly bold octogenarian fan, in turn receiving a Davina-hug himself for being such a good egg, before embarking on his own tap dance routine to rapturous applause. Granted it’s all very odd but dare I say it’s also rather heart warming. Adam’s clearly enthusiastic about this project; he says it’s “all about representing what loads of people are really doing out there. It doesn’t always matter how good it is”. Just as well, really – they only put through 1 of the 8 acts I saw. Tentatively.

Of course this is ultimately neither a high brow nor an altruistic endeavour. My two neighbours and I took delight in forming our own little judging panel and we were much harsher than the real judges. At one point I think I even said “their pirouettes just weren’t tight enough, they can’t cut it”. After all I am a choreography expert – must be those aerobics classes I took in 2002. Worst of all I couldn’t help making little bets with myself about who was going to trip over first.

It’s our voyeuristic instinct that these shows tap into and it’s the reason they have become the phenomenon they have. Although I feel slightly better for knowing that the auditions aren’t always as cutthroat as they look, I’m still anxious to know who’s going be kicked out first when it comes to the live shows. So after all that it’s not really the programme that’s cruel, it’s just me…

*Got to Dance will be shown on Sky 1 from January. You can join in the fun yourself at the Dance Flash Mob in London on 21 November. Keep an eye on their website to find out where to go and how to dance!

Greenwich.co.uk Guide To… Local Ghosts

By

Time is central to Greenwich’s modern identity yet things weren’t always so fixed around the meridian. The earliest settlers of the area ran on another calendar and their New Year (Samhain) fell on the 31st of October. They had different beliefs and relationships to the dead and there are traces of pagan worship and even witchcraft all over Greenwich. The park with its Observatory should stand as a monument to science (the first astronomer John Flamsteed wrote a horoscope for the Observatory because he despised astrologers) but is actually laden with old lore, and of course the Bronze Age Tumuli later used as a Saxon burial ground.

HV Morton -writing in the mid twentieth century- reported Japanese folk worshiping the cedar trees whilst some claim the Roman ruins are a temple to the goddess of the hunt, Diana. This ties in rather nicely with the notion that there is a sacred well to Anglo Saxon goddess Holda. Better known as the Snow Well all that remains of this is an indentation. Holda was goddess of many things from spinning to reproduction and women standing in the depression of the well have reported “strange but not unpleasant sensations”. Local folklorist Jack Gale links the well, via King William Walk, to the site where the May poles once stood, pagan relics that lasted well into the Christian era.

Even today one of the most iconic (albeit temporarily covered) landmarks, the Cutty Sark, has a witch (Nannie) clutching a horse’s tail for a figurehead and spectral man has been spotted keeping watch from the crows nest. Also the whole of the World Heritage Centre area owes its existence to an accusation of witchcraft. Before the current buildings were built there was that favourite Tudor residence the Palace of Placenta which was once known as Bella Court and belonged to Duke Humphrey of Gloucester. It was a very lovely spot. So lovely that Margeurite of Anjou, the rather pushy wife of Henry VI, fancied it for her own. To this end she accused Humphrey’s wife of dabbling in the dark arts, specifically attacking a likeness of the king with pins. During the resultant arrests Humphrey died in custody whilst helping the archbishops with their enquiries and the property passed to Henry (and his wife).

St Alfege Church
St Alfege Church – built on the site where St Alfege was beaten to death with animal bones.

Then again the archbishops could just have thought they were getting revenge on the pagan murderers of their predecessor St Alfege, beaten to death with animal bones by Danes on the site where his church now stands. In fact if violent death and revenge hauntings are truly the reason most spectres are with us then Greenwich should be awash with bitter and vengeful spirits.

Number 16, St Alfege Passage

As it is there are plenty of phantoms, just not of the wrathful kind. Instead many of them are slightly sad, and easily got rid of if the one that formerly haunted 16 St. Alfege Passage is anything to go by. This phantom (of a young Edwardian chap with long hair) manifested in traditional ways such as moving objects, walking the stairs late and leaving certain visitors with a choking sensation. These sensations were strongest near a beam and the former vicar of St. Alfege (brandishing bells, salt, water and incense) who laid the spirit suggested that it might have been the trapped soul of a suicide who had hung himself.

Another sad tale occurs up on Croom’s Hill at St Mary’s Lodge when one day Tom Potter come knocking. He was looking for his mother who once worked as a maid there. The replacement parlour cleaning executive expressed no knowledge of Tom’s mother but the lady of the house, who overheard the exchange, remembered her former servant and sent word to her new address that her son was looking for her. She received the rather shocking reply that Tom was unlikely to have been knocking on doors in Greenwich on that particular date as that was when he had died many miles away in Jamaica. Tom’s funeral obviously never occurred in Greenwich but, as if to make up, elsewhere on Crooms Hill, near the gate, has been seen a group of red haired women carrying a coffin towards the park. If this isn’t disturbing enough their legs ended at the kneecaps.

This reporting of legs disappearing into the ground is a staple of ghost lore and is usually explained as the ghosts walking on the street or floor level that existed when they were alive. As London has risen street on street century on century burying people, buildings and much else so today’s “floor” may be several feet higher than when the spirits of the departed walked once when alive. In death it would appear that they are trapped on their own level. Sadly no such restrictions apply to the other being spotted near the gate, a repulsive, dwarf like figure that just loiters about.

It’s possible that he lives underground in one the numerous tunnels that supposedly catacomb Greenwich. Some of these, the old Blackheath Caverns, former chalk mines under Point Hill for example, are well documented whilst others belong to an era of highwaymen, smugglers and rebellion. Given the associations of nearby Shooters Hill with highwaymen one might have expected their ghosts on the hill and not a murdered blonde from the 1830s on the hill or at Veremont House a wicked lady with striking dark eyes and hair who, spurned in love, murdered her second cousin. There is however the chilling sight of Lord John Angerstein’s coach on the Vanbrugh Hill being pulled by four headless horses along the Trafalgar Road.

Trafalgar Tavern

The Trafalgar pub is supposedly visited by a Victorian gentleman who likes to stroll the higher floors mostly but is not above sifting things from the cellar. However it is time to bury the tale (or should that be tail?) of the black dog of the Spanish Galleon. The story that the pub is haunted by Shuk the hell hound of folklore (or grim to Harry Potter fans) arises from the night when things got out of hand at the South East London Folklore Society who formerly met there. The speaker and others decided to see whether is was possible to conjure up Shuk but no dog actually appeared.

Some spirits seem only too keen to pop up though and the two most reported apparitions of Greenwich are the phantom of the Tulip Staircase in the Queen’s House and the shade of Admiral Byng (who was executed for treason) wandering the Queen Anne Court, and elsewhere. The Court, was where he was fixed to wall prior to his execution, yet despite this treatment he is by all accounts a cheery and helpful spirit and also one that, according to the earliest reports shortly after his death, favoured the famous with his attentions. A lesser spotted spectre haunts the site of a more modern attraction (the Millennium Dome) which is home to the shade of Sir George Livesey who (as former chairman of gas works which stood on the Peninsular) popped up to view the new building.

It is perhaps fitting that as time moves forward and the clock trips towards All Souls Eve that we should remember these previous residents of the village by the green who have apparently never gone away. Some of these stories are classics, like the ghostly hitchhiker at the Greenwich end of the Blackwell Tunnel, but it is worth asking if there is nothing to the tales why do people keep telling them?

Chris Roberts is editor of the 21st century penny dreadful One Eye Grey which features modern stories based on traditional London folklore and tales of the uncanny, paranormal and supernatural.

Sources for the article include local folklorists Jack Gale and Jacqueline Woodward-Smith as well as the South East London Folklore Society reference library, the Greenwich Phantom and the ever reliable paranormal database (www.paranormaldatabase.com).

PS Those interested in a cinematic horror tour of the area should go to Greenwich Council film location site where amongst the films are The mummy returns, 28 days later, 28 weeks later and Beyond the rave. Nearby Deptford was used in Quatermass and the pit and more amusingly mocked up as New Orleans for Interview with a vampire.

Got any experiences of ghosts in Greenwich? Add your comments below…

London 2012 Is Listening

By

November 2009 has, for a long time, been a date etched in my mind as this is the month the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games makes its planning application submission. So it’s a good moment to reflect on the enormous amount of detailed work that’s been done on the use of the Park as a venue for Olympic Equestrian and Modern Pentathlon and the Paralympic Dressage competitions in 2012.

For more than a year now we’ve talked to local residents and consulted with Greenwich Council, The Royal Parks, English Heritage, Natural England and other key organisations. We’ve listened to the many things residents have said and points raised and, where possible, adapted our plans accordingly.

We know, for example, many residents expressed their concern about how The Flower Garden and The Children’s Playground would be affected by events in 2012 and about Park closures.
Having considered these issues we’ve altered the Cross Country course so it now only runs through the northern part of The Flower Garden avoiding any flower beds and the pond. The remainder of The Flower Garden will remain open to the public except for the day of the Cross Country competition which is, provisionally, 31 July 2012.

Similarly, following feedback from residents, The Children’s Playground will now be placed outside the secure perimeter of the Games which means it too will remain open apart from the day of the Cross Country event. We’re also in discussions about upgrading the Playground after the Games.
On the issue of Park closure we’ve reduced this to around four weeks. We cannot give absolute guarantees at this stage because of security assessments and other considerations, but this is our aim.

We’ve also heard the concerns raised over traffic congestion and the question of resident and business access. As a result plans for the Olympic Route Network (ORN) have been adapted to minimise the impact. Even if a road is ‘designated’ as part of the ORN it does not mean it will automatically be closed. Residents and business owners will have access to their homes and properties and there are no planned residential road closures.

In addition we have moved the venue entrance to the National Maritime Museum side of Romney Road instead of the Old Royal Naval College so ensuring Romney Road is no longer within the venue perimeter. This means the Old Royal Naval College will remain accessible to the public during the Games. Circus Field in Blackheath will be used as an operational compound to avoid the need for large vehicle access to the Park. This will cause less disruption and impact to the Park itself.

We know Greenwich Park is a site of unique historical, environmental and archaeological significance and important to local residents and users. And we are committed to ensuring the Park is returned in the condition we receive it. We will not be cutting down any trees in the Park. There may be some minor pruning but this will be carried out in full consultation with The Royal Parks.

We are also working on our legacy plans with the British Equestrian Federation and Greenwich Council which includes the development of an equestrian centre in the Borough.

We hope the changes we have made so far show how important residents’ views are to us and how we will continue to listen. On our dedicated website, www.london2012.com/greenwichparkconsultation we’ve answered some key questions and cleared up some of the misinformation around the proposed use of the Park. There’s also an opportunity for you to tell us what you think through our online ‘Feedback’ forms. Please do fill this form in because your views are important to us.

Or you could come and visit us at 8 College Approach from Wednesday 28th October until Saturday 31st October 2009 where you can see our plans in detail and give us feedback in person.
We look forward to seeing you there.

Tim Hadaway is the London 2012 Organising Committee’s Sport Competition Manager for equestrian events at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Theatre Review: ‘East’ at the Greenwich Playhouse

By

Due to another journey of chaos from Blackheath to Greenwich on a number 286, I arrived at the Greenwich Playhouse 5 minutes into the start of ‘East’. Whilst sneaking into the back row, I was immediately bombarded with a tirade of every swearword known to English. This was swiftly followed by a graphic depiction of one man beating through the skull of another, before the two become firm friends.

Such is Steven Birkoff’s ‘East’, an affectionate, funny, make-no-bones depiction of life in grimy East London in the fifties. This collection of sketches about twenty something Mike, his family and friends is not for the faint hearted – it’s explicit in every way and has lost none of its shock effect in the 34 years since it was written. I don’t think I’ve heard the ‘c’ word as many times in 27 years as I did in 90 minutes watching this play.

However, with decorum and sensibility ruthlessly cast aside, it’s actually very easy to engage with ‘East’, and with Talking Props’ interpretation of it. It’s relentlessly energetic and fast paced, and the whole thing has a real honesty to it. Perhaps prostitution, unwitting incest and street violence aren’t truths everyone wants to face, but Berkoff’s mission is to force us to imagine in vivid, dirty terms what life was like for the working classes at the time.

All the fresh-faced cast members are making their professional debuts, but you wouldn’t know it: they are totally believable. Charlie Fairless as Mike is particularly strong and has real authenticity, himself an East Londoner. Special mention also goes to Damien Hallett as Mike’s mother, for working the Nora Batty look with such conviction and giving the funniest performance of the play.

But the real charm of this play is in the language. Weaving expletives into Shakespearean styled (and oft quoted) verse doesn’t sound as though it should work in 1950s Stepney, but it does. The spotlight soliloquies and rhythmic speech lift the characters out of grime and poverty and give them intelligence, insight and unfathomable beauty. The faithfulness and commitment with which Talking Props have undertaken ‘East’ show this genius script in its best possible light.

If I had to venture one criticism about this production, it would be about the look of it. The lack of props necessitates the miming of everyday actions such as eating and travelling, which is a little awkward and detracts from the realism. Also, the costumes are a bit hit and miss. Whilst Mike’s slim jim tie over a grubby vest looks bang on, Sylv’s dress looks as though someone just found it in a charity shop last week and thought it would ‘do’, but it isn’t in keeping with the era.
However, these are minor failures and do not prevent this production from being a major success. If you have even the smallest sympathy for Mary Whitehouse’s view of the world, you might be best to stay away. Otherwise I’d strongly recommend taking a deep breath, getting out of your comfort zone and heading East.

*Congratulations to Greenwich Playhouse’s Artistic Director, Alice de Sousa, on being awarded the international ‘Premio de Talento’ from the Portuguese Government in recognition of her 25 year career in the industry.

‘East’ by Steven Berkoff is at the Greenwich Playhouse until 4 October