This summer, London and the UK came alive with the excitement of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Royal Borough of Greenwich was absolutely crucial to the success of the London Games, hosting Shooting, Paralympic Shooting and Paralympic Archery at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, Gymnastics and the Basketball finals at the North Greenwich Arena, and of course the Equestrian Events at Greenwich Park.

There was a big screen in General Gordon Square in Woolwich and the Olympic Torch got a great reception as it passed through, which happened again when the Paralympic Torch came to the borough before the Paralympic Opening Ceremony.

Each sporting venue in Greenwich made history. The shooting in Woolwich produced the first medal of the Games and a gold medal for Team GB’s shooting star Peter Wilson. There was gold for Danielle Brown and Paralympics GB in Paralympic Archery. The men’s Gymnastics team clinched a historic bronze medal in the team event and Beth Tweddle claimed bronze in the Women’s Uneven Bars.

While there were no GB medals at Basketball there was terrific excitement created for this hugely popular sport. And of course there was the stunning British team win in the golden ‘jump-off’ against Holland in the Equestrian events.

There has been lots of comment about the use of Greenwich Park for equestrian events but I truly believe that the Park, with all its key features and undulating ground, was one of the most stunning venues of the Games, with record success for Team GB and Paralympics GB.

We brought world-class equestrian sport right into the heart of the Host City. Hosting the Games will become a chapter in Greenwich Park’s unique history. The Royal Borough’s profile has been raised, with pictures going round the globe, and this will only help tourism and trade in future.

Behind the scenes we worked closely with Greenwich to make sure that the job opportunities created at the Organising Committee and all our contractors were promoted to residents – a real jobs and skills legacy for the area.

We worked hard with all our stakeholders, the Royal Borough of Greenwich, and all our venue owners across the whole of this project. I would particularly like to thank The Royal Parks for their support, and we will ensure that Greenwich Park will be in better condition than before at the end of the growing season.

I have received many letters from the public saying how they never thought they would be finding themselves watching highlights programmes into the small hours or getting up at ridiculous times to go and watch sports they had barely heard of before the Games, or speaking to strangers in trains and tubes!

I will forever have a huge debt of gratitude to the residents and business in Greenwich whose patience, understanding and generosity of spirit made these Games what they were.

This was a summer that we will never forget.

A video I made using video clips and photographs taken in Greenwich in the run up to Christmas.

A collection of photographs of Christmas trees in Greenwich.

In the Painted Hall

In the ORNC Chapel

In Cutty Sark Gardens

The way things have been going lately, you could be forgiven for thinking that Charlton Athletic is all about internal strife, financial gloom and pub rumours. It prides itself on being a family club but it seems, at times, fatally split down the middle. Like many families, come to think about it.

It wasn’t always this way. Not back in 1905, anyway, when a bunch of 16 and 17 year old kids were encouraged by two local youth missions to form a new football club down on Eastmoor Street in an area now dominated by the Thames Barrier. They were singleminded chaps who, without any shilly-shallying, elected to call themselves Charlton Athletic and to play in red shirts This band of brothers clearly started as they meant to go on.

An advertisement in the Kentish Independent, which described their standard as “medium strength” swelled the initital ranks and with support from local publican Harry Wells, the new team opened their account with a 6-1 victory over Sivertown Wesley United on Siemens Meadow in December 1905.

Among the line-up was a husky outside right called William George Bonner, better known to his mates as “Porky”, who went on to make his mark in club history by scoring their first competitive goal in a 6-1 mauling of Nunhead Swift Reserves on September 22nd 1906, by which time the newcomers were members of Lewisham League Division Three.

Porky died in Lee in 1954 but remains connected to the famous club he helped create through successive generations of his family, who continue to hold season tickets at The Valley. West Stand regular Terry Bennett grew up on his colourful grandad’s footballing stories, not to mention his important contribution as a Royal Artillery cook during World War 1. Apparently Porky’s notorious dumplings caused untold havoc when lobbed across No Mans Land into enemy lines. “Probably shortened the war,” recalled their modest creator.

In 1910, the club’s chairmanship was taken over by Arthur “Ikey” Bryan, an enterprising fish ‘n chip entrepreneur reputedly responsible for their mysterious but jealously guarded nickname. Clearly not the full shilling on match days, Ikey took to turning up at games with a haddock pinned to a pole. The story goes that haddock morphed colloquially into ‘addock, then further into ‘addick. It might, on the other hand, be explained by the simple erosion of Athletic but Ikey Bryan’s endearing lunacy has the virtue of uniqueness and meets with almost universal approval. So the Addicks they became and the Addicks they remain.

Porky Bonner had left the playing staff by 1911 when a critical development two miles down river from Eastmoor Street cemented Charlton’s place as the region’s premier football club. They were more than interested spectators as the questionable machinations of Woolwich Arsenal FC chairman Sir Henry Norris moved the powerhouse Arsenal lock, stock and gun barrel across the Thames into the North London bailiwick of Tottenham Hotspur, where they remain to this day as a thorn in Spurs’ side. Norris’ provocative action paled into insignificance alongside the infamous backroom chicanery which promoted Arsenal to the First Division in 1919 at the expense of their outmanouevred new neighbours.

Arsenal’s furtive flit was the making of Charlton, their humble cousins from the next parish. In one fell, if not foul, swoop, the riverside rookies became cocks-of-the-walk in Woolwich, where many of the Royal Arsenal’s betrayed workers switched their allegiance to them. Football hates a vacuum as much as nature and this one was filled with alacrity.

Charlton’s growing reputation persuaded them to embrace professionalism in 1920. A single season spent in the Southern League prefaced their admission to the Football League (South) for the 1921-22 campaign, which they kicked off with a 1-0 win over Exeter City at The Valley on August 27th, with Tommy Dowling scoring the momentous goal. Still on the books since 1905 was sole survivor Albert “Mosky” Mills, who made two league appearances during the groundbreaking 1921-22 season.

Two years after entering the Football League, the Addicks embarked on a giant-killing Cup run, which still defies belief. This fledgling Third Division team, still wet behind their professional ears, won through two preliminary rounds before knocking out, in succession, vaunted First Division opposition in Manchester City (2-1), Preston North End (2-0) and West Bromwich Albion (1-0) to earn their place in the quarter-finals against Cup legends Bolton Wanderers. On March 10th, 1923, they succumbed 1-0 to a David Jack goal before 41,023 sardine-packed Valley onlookers as the Trotters proceeded to the first Wembley Cup Final, where they beat West Ham 2-0 in the chaotic White Horse Final. Don’t expect to hear their wonderful feat mentioned whenever Cup giant-killers are feted. That kind of attention is normally paid to minnows who manage just one historic result. Charlton knocked over three Goliaths. Then lost 1-0 to the eventual Cup winners. Hardly worth making a fuss about.

Continuing in the Third Division, Charlton were promoted as champions to the Second Division in 1928-29 and survived there until their bottom placed finish in 1932-33 saw them relegated. During that catastrophic campaign, manager Alex McFarland was sacked in December 1932, with former goalkeeper Albert Lindon filling in until, in May 1933, Jimmy Seed took over the helm. Part one of Charlton’s incredible history was complete.

The arrival of the astute Seed, himself a decorated player with Spurs, Sheffield Wednesday and England, kickstarted Part Two – a meteoric three-year rise into English football’s elite, where they remained from 1936 until 1957, appeared in two post-war Cup finals, took part in the most amazing football game ever played, then went on to distinguish themselves in the financial jungle that is the Premier League. But that’s another story for another day.

To be continued…

Read Part Two of Kevin Nolan’s history of Charlton Athletic

In the presence of the Mayor of Greenwich, children from five schools from the Trafalgar cluster performed a carol concert at the Old Royal Naval College chapel yesterday.

The concert ended with all the schools coming together for a group rendition of Winter Wonderland.

The five schools taking part were Meridian Primary School, St Joseph’s RC Primary School, Christ Church Primary School, Invicta Primary School and John Roan School.

For day nine of the Greenwich.co.uk advent calendar, we have a collection of photographs of some of the churches and places of worship in Greenwich.

Our Lady Star of the Sea Roman Catholic church on Crooms Hill. This photo was taken last month from Greenwich Park.

St Alfege Church – the 1000th anniversary of the martyrdom of Alfege was remembered this year.

The Nicholas Hawksmoor-designed St Alfege Church.

Inside the crypt of St Alfege Church

The domes of St Alfege Church tower and the Old Royal Naval College. One dome is above the Painted Hall and one is above the Chapel of St Peter and St Paul.

The Old Royal Naval College chapel

Christ Church, Trafalgar Road, where you will find The Forum.

The multi-faith Prayer Space on Greenwich Peninsula.

For day six of the Greenwich.co.uk advent calendar, I am revisiting some photos of Greenwich wildlife that I shared on the site throughout the year.

Squirrel in Greenwich Park

A fox on the foreshore near Greenwich Yacht Club.

Deer in Greenwich Park

More photos from Greenwich.co.uk can be found in our limited edition souvenir calendar.