Ladywell Baths: The Movie

The Lewisham Buildings Preservation Trust write:

Ladywell Baths comes back to life in this short film by local filmmaker, David Stock, in collaboration with Lewisham Buildings Preservation Trust.

Historic, grade II listed building, Ladywell Baths, and the recollections of people who have passed through its doors over the past century, will be commemorated in a new, short film, “Memories of Ladywell Baths”, to be shown at Curzon Goldsmiths on 8th July 2018.

Local film-maker, David Stock, in collaboration with charity, Lewisham Building Preservation Trust, has produced a short film which uncovers and documents the stories of people who have lived, worked and played in this iconic building, now known as Ladywell Playtower.

Built in 1884, Ladywell Baths became one of the first public swimming pools in the country. It attracted thousands of local people, including athlete Eric Liddell, whose gold medal win in the 400m at the 1924 Olympic Games inspired the film Chariots of Fire. In 2004 Ladywell Playtower was closed, and following a serious fire in 2006, the Victorian building fell into disrepair.

In 2017, after many years of campaigning by local residents and Lewisham Building Preservation Trust to bring the derelict building back into use, Lewisham Council put proposals for its restoration out to tender. In November 2017, the Council made the decision to award the redevelopment of the building to Curzon Cinema in conjunction with developers Guildmore.

From dance parties to boxing rings, midnight swims and floods, not to mention a few ghostly tales. Hear stories of this iconic building from those who were there.

The film will be followed by a Q&A with the director, David Stock, and some of the film participants.

Sun 8 Jul 2018, 2:00PM

Tickets £5.00 + booking fee of 8.5%

https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/event/FIEIJG

Curzon Goldsmiths
Richard Hoggart Building,
Lewisham Way
London
SE14 6NW

Ladywell Fields river clean-up this weekend

Rob writes:

As it’s going to be a wonderful weekend you might want to publicise the Ladywell Fields river clean-up on Sunday, 22 April.

I have been to probably 20 of these over the years and I can honestly say they are great fun - an opportunity to do some useful volunteer work whilst enjoying a different view of the world wading along the River Ravensbourne and enjoying Ladywell Fields in all its Springtime beauty.

Homes proposed between Algernon and Embleton Roads

The proposed new homes and walkway

BCer Joe is unhappy with Lewisham Homes' plans for new homes across the back gardens between Algernon and Embleton roads in Ladywell. He writes:

"The plans build over the social housing garden contrary to the local plan [there is a strip of garden between the garages which will now be built on], they also provide less social housing than would be provided by building larger houses along the roads.

"The plans will block out the view of the sky in the back gardens they are building across and create a narrow alleyway between the roads in an area Regenter (who manage the existing flats) say is already bad for antisocial behaviour.

"The connection is no benefit to the community given that Ellerdale street already joins the roads a few meters away. Currently, the plans are set to be decided by officials rather than the planning committee despite having such an impact on neighbouring flats and houses.

You can view the application here.

Mama Dough, 40 Ladywell Road

Mama Dough, the sourdough pizza specialists from Honor Oak, have opened their Ladywell restaurant.

@mamma_dough congratulations on the opening ! Looks amazing, good job on the refurbishment #ladywell @BrockleyCentral pic.twitter.com/4UZ6LxFSXT

— Marc Lantrok (@MarcLantrok) March 9, 2018

If you've had a chance to visit, please tell us what it's like.

Lewisham legends legitimate?

Subterranean shopping centres in Lewisham and Ladywell Village skyscrapers? Judy's heard some rumours and wants to know if anyone else can corroborate. I can't - can you? Please, help a sister out in the comments below:

"I’ve heard from two reasonably sensible people about two bits of info which seem to have no evidence anywhere else to back them up.

"The first is that that Lewisham shopping centre is due to be demolished and an underground shopping centre built under the road/former roundabout with a – gasp! – Waitrose. Just the market retained but a spirited local campaign already going to ‘save’ the (?) empty Citibank tower.

"Secondly that in Ladywell a block of flats is due to be built in the space occupied by the carwash with a mini supermarket underneath, presumably of a Tesco/Sainsbury kind. Have you heard anything? Lewisham gov website hints at possibilities for further developments but nothing concrete."

Mamma Dough Ladywell Begins

Hey Prezzo! Work has started on the new Mamma Dough restaurant in Ladywell Village.

Ladywell's pizza Pilgrims teased us with a glimpse of their new oven before Christmas, which arrived Express delivery.

We have awoken to a early Christmas present at Ladywell ....#ladywell #mammadough #pizza #SE13 #comingsoon #everythingFresh pic.twitter.com/RefJVQYNba

— Mamma Dough (@mamma_dough) December 15, 2017

Ladywell residents must be hoping for a Domino effect, as a new restaurant will add critical mass to the high street. Let's be Franco, there are still too few places to eat to serve the hungry denizens of SE13 - there is no chance this Hut will Fold.

Ladywell to Victoria trains from 2022

The excellent 853 blog reports that Blackheath's loss will be Ladywell's gain:

Blackheath, Kidbrooke and Eltham stations are set to lose their direct rail services to Victoria from December 2022, according to new documents issued by the Department for Transport today.
But Bexleyheath line passengers will be able to take twice as many trains from Lewisham to Victoria, lessening the pain for passengers who complained about the possibility of losing the link.

The current Victoria services will be switched to the Sidcup line, while half the trains that currently run from Hayes via Catford Bridge to Charing Cross will now run to Lewisham, Nunhead, Peckham Rye, Denmark Hill and Victoria.

This brings direct trains to Victoria from stations such as Hither Green, Lee, Mottingham and New Eltham; as well as Ladywell and Lower Sydenham.

Full details here.

With thanks to Joe for the spot.

The Ladywell Christmas Market 2017

El writes:

Join us for a day of superb shopping, fabulous food and energetic entertainment at the Ladywell Christmas Market!

We’ve got a whole host of fantastic stalls lined up, with prefect presents and gourmet gifts for friends and family. Local designers, marker, artists and craftspeople will be showing off their talent and selling their wares at the market. Offerings include jewellery, home-wares, ceramics, textiles, handmade toiletries, art and prints. We’ll also have stalls selling Christmas wreaths, decorations and cards for that truly festive feeling.

And for the person that has everything – treat them to a gourmet gift! From chocolates to cheese, the choicest chutneys and divine Italian produce, you’ll be sure to find a favourite to suit. You won't go hungry at the market – we’ll have hot Caribbean grills and Middle Eastern mezes for sale, plus three local cafés and a deli - there’s a range of food and drink to suit all tastes.

As usual, Santa will be paying a visit to his grotto at Honeybourne’s on the day of the market. Each child gets a 15 minute visit to Santa and a specially chosen gift. Tickets are £12.50 and must be booked in advance. Email honeybournes123@gmail.com or pop into the shop. And NEW for this year, there’ll be Christmas wreath-making workshops at the Ladywell Tavern at 1pm & 3.30pm. To book email team@kreativepursuit.com

To keep you entertained we have St Mary’s Choir and Dacre Women’s Morris during the day and in the evening, the festive fun continues at the Ladywell Christmas Market After Party with live music at the Ladywell Tavern. Come down and join us for the raffle draw at 7.30pm, Joel Bullen and Friends at 7.45pm and dancing ‘til late.

We can’t wait for you to join us for a day of festive fun!

Ladywell Christmas Market takes place in the centre of Ladywell – 10am to 4pm on Saturday 2nd December.

Ladywell Christmas Market is very generously sponsored by Sebastian Roche estate agents.

Curzon plan picked for Ladywell Playtower

The Curzon proposal

The Mayor of Lewisham has selected Curzon cinemas as the Council's preferred bidder for the redevelopment of Ladywell Playtower.

Of the four proposals shortlisted to restore the derelict building, the Curzon plan was ranked joint-first  by Council officers alongside a rival cinema scheme from Picturehouse, and came second to the Picturehouse plan in the public consultation. A petition against Picturehouse gained momentum in recent days, due to the pay and conditions offered to the parent group's workers.

. @mayorbullock has announced he has selected @CurzonCinemas @Guildmore to build a 3 screen 220 seat 🎥 cinema 🎬 at Ladywell Playtower 👍 🍿👏🏾

— Lewisham Council (@LewishamCouncil) November 15, 2017

The Curzon scheme was produced in partnership with developers Guildmore and will include "a mix of residential, nursery and supported living uses across the remainder of the site."

The result is a fantastic turnaround in the fortunes of the building - which once looked doomed - and great news for Ladywell as a destination.

Picturehouse tops Playtower poll

The people have spoken - and they demand a cinema.

On November 15th, the Mayor of Lewisham will meet with his cabinet to discuss the four bids to redevelop the Ladywell Playtower.

Two cinema chains (Picturehouse and Curzon), a property consortium (RJK Properties / Copeland Park and Hillman) and Goldsmiths College have submitted plans.

A public consultation has been running since the summer and, when asked, the public chose fun. In the public vote, the Picturehouse bid (below) came first, followed by Curzon, RJK and Goldsmiths.

Picturehouse wants to develop a 5-screen, 620 seat cinema, with café and bar space. The main cinema space would be included within the existing fabric of the pool hall while a two-storey building would be built to the rear of the building to accommodate four more screens.  Curzon offers two fewer screens but includes a residential component.

In the public feedback, Goldsmiths' proposal was not deemed to offer enough benefit to the wider community, while the RJK 'cultural quarter' left people wondering what it was supposed to be or how it would be delivered.

Any of the bids would deliver a boost for the area and breathe welcome new life into an important building, but the Picturehouse bid would be transformative for Ladywell.

Thanks to Ladywell Paul for the prompt.

Coming soon: Mamma Dough Ladywell

Hi All,
We will be taking over number 40 Ladywell Rd and bringing our fresh sourdough pizza to the people of Ladywell ... pic.twitter.com/jOR7FoSbP4

— Mamma Dough (@mamma_dough) November 3, 2017

After months of speculation, Honor Oak sourdough specialists Mama Dough have confirmed they will be coming to Ladywell. A great result for the high street, which caters well for daytime punters, but is short of evening options.

AFC Lewisham

AFC Lewisham is a Charter Standard football club based in Ladywell. Formed in 2012, it is a Sunday youth football club providing playing opportunities for local children. They are looking for more players. Chris writes:

My son has recently joined AFC Lewsiham Under 7’s football team, and we need a 2/3 more players for a good squad.  It a lovely well run club with training on a Thursday in Ladywell and matches on a Sunday in and around south east london.  We're looking for 2/3 6 or 7 year olds in Year 2 of school to join.

For any more information the website is https://www.afclewisham.com and the contact person is Josephine at afclewisham@outlook.com or text or phone on 07592 728437.

The Ladywell 10000M

BCer Richard writes:

Next Sunday there will be six 10km track races as part of a racing festival at the running track in Ladywell Fields, with the first race at 3pm and the final race at 7:30pm.

The races will get progressively faster during the day. Each race is going to be very competitive with pace makers and will be fantastic to watch.

It is FREE entry for spectators. There will be a cake stall, food from Jerk Rock and bar run by the Gypsy Hill Brewery. Music will be pumping during the races and you'll be able to stand on the track to get really close to the action (which is quite rare for a track race).

Venue: Ladywell Arena, Silvermere Road, London SE6 4QX
Time: 3pm - 8:30pm

Nice Thing One and Thing Two

Arcadia according to Claude with a view of Sellafield Power Station” 2014. Kaori Homma.

Brockley artists, Glenn Mottershead and Kaori Homma, are the featured artists at Ladywell shop Casilda’s Nice Things on Thursday 31st August 2017. Both will be taking part in a meet-and-greet session from 6pm. Free tickets available here.

Glenn Mottershead creates abstract photography, they are rich and often deep journeys into multi-layered cityscapes. The selection of prints in this exhibition he says: ‘are not just for placing on a wall, they are for taking down and holding as a map, looking at the detail and letting the current on the canvas take you elsewhere.

Kaori Homma creates beautiful and ephemeral etchings. The technique she uses is called “aburi-dashi” in Japanese, where the images are etched by fire rather than a pigment sitting on a surface. Invisible ink made with lemon juice is used to render images, slightly altering the delicate balance of paper, once exposed to the heat images are burnt into paper as an integral part of its structure. The resulting image contains a level of fragility but is at the same time powerfully absorbing.

The Future of The Ladywell Playtower

Four potential bidders for the Ladywell Playtower - including two cinema chains, a cultural consortium and Goldsmiths - have been shortlisted by Lewisham Council, who have launched a public consultation about the future of the iconic building.

The Grade II-listed Playtower has lain dormant for years, but now four exciting concepts have been identified, including:

Goldsmiths

"Goldsmiths propose to locate the University’s established and internationally renowned post‐graduate Art courses solely at the redeveloped Playtower site, in a dedicated and purpose‐built centre for the growing Masters programme on offer.

"Primarily this would see the sensitive restoration of the main pool hall, and the reinstatement of the part‐demolished rear pool over two storeys, to provide three large flexible studio spaces. This model would replicate the under graduate facilities currently provided from the similarly constructed Grade II listed Laurie Grove Baths at the Goldsmiths main campus in New Cross."

Guildmore and Curzon

"Our vision is to reimagine the Ladywell Playtower as a publicly accessible leisure destination for the Borough of Lewisham.

"In response to strong local demand and drawing upon the original concept for the building which saw the First Class Pool Hall seasonally decked over for use as an entertainment venue, we propose to reopen the Playtower as a three screen cinema, complete with freely accessible public events foyer and complementary café, bar and restaurant uses."

Picturehouse

"Our proposal seeks to enhance and preserve it by finding a new use which will enable it to play an active part in the community for many years to come. We propose to refurbish the main building and to use the theatrical pool hall space for one large cinema screen - the remainder of the existing building will provide ancillary spaces with a cafe, bar, event room, exhibition space and community rooms. To the rear of the site on the footprint of the demolished second pool hall - we will construct a further four cinema screens in a new extension.

"Alongside this will be a thorough landscaping proposal for the whole site including a new route
which will link Ladywell Fields with Ladywell Road, placing the Playtower at the heart of what could become a new cultural quarter for Ladywell."

RJK/Copeland Park and Hillman

"Our vision for the Playtower is to create an exciting and dynamic cultural quarter for Ladywell, while transforming a building that was originally designed to separate people by class into a thriving site that brings people together and encourages them to interact and create.

"We see the Playtower housing a rich mix of performances, events, artist/maker studios, cafes, creative business offices, art galleries, a communal garden-courtyard, restaurants, health and well-being studios, a small cinema and community organizations. The jewel in the crown will be transforming the incredible former first-class pool area into a dynamic performance and event space.

"This space could become one of the most unique and intriguing performance venues in London and we will work with our partners at the Albany Theatre in Deptford to programme a range of commercial and community performances by everyone from leading arts organizations to local people.

"We are proposing to build, subject to planning permission, three new buildings on the site, all sensitively designed to fit in with the Playtower and other surrounding heritage buildings. This new ‘family’ of buildings will include a block of twenty rentable flats, a modest building with four rentable live/work units and ‘The Pavilion’ - a commercial building we will rent out to multiple tenants in the same way as the Playtower."

For a site that has been so neglected for so long, it is exciting to see such ambitious visions being presented by organisations with the means to realise them. You have until August 17th to complete the questionnaire.

Full disclosure, I am a member of the Goldsmiths body that approved this exploratory work on their part.

Driver mugged by moped gang in Ladywell

Police have asked the public for help in catching a moped gang who robbed a driver on Ladywell Road on July 6. The Standard reports: 

"A gang of thieves on mopeds robbed a Porsche driver at knifepoint in broad daylight in south-east London.

"Shocking footage showed the gang of four, on two bikes, pulling up beside the car before one of them threatened the driver with a blade.

"One of the pillion passengers pointed the knife towards the victim, a man in his 30s, as he sat in traffic in Lewisham."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Lewisham CID via 101 or tweet information to @MetCC

The Ladywell Pétanque League

Ryan writes:

I was hoping that you may be able to help me try and gather together anyone who uses the Pétanque facilities in Ladywell fields behind the bowling greens.

I have been playing pétanque there for the last year but the courses are becoming unusably overgrown. I'd love to set up a local Pétanque group/league to regularly meet up to play and keep the courses in good order.

There is evidence that some boule activity does take place there (as well as local strong cider drinkers) so it would be very difficult for me to find out who these local boulesmen are without some local help.

If people are interested in joining Ryan's pétanque revolution, please email him here.

Grover Lady's Fun

Casilda's Nice Things is the latest addition to Place Ladywell, 261 Lewisham High Street. A gallery and gift shop, it will host a meetup with artist Martin Grover on July 28, from 6-8pm. They say:

Martin Grover is an established artist and a former student of the famous Royal Academy Schools.  A playful narrative thread runs through his work, at one moment a little dark and woebegone and the next humorous and whimsical but always alluring.

Working from life, sketches, memory and photographs he reconstructs ephemeral scenes from the passing world. Childhood recollections, minor street incidents, slightly surreal radio traffic bulletins, brief news items, poems, short stories, Brockwell Park landscapes, the enigmatic allure of sheds and shelters are all recalled and captured with clarity and wit.

On the evening, Martin Grover will be unveiling several new prints that capture the diversity of south London life, including landscapes and still life portraits.

On the night, art purchases over £250 will qualify for a 10% discount an
d served with a glass of wine.

Training centre for self-build homes in Ladywell

Ted, a trustee of self-build group RUSS, writes:

A crowd funding initiative has been launched to help raise £57,000 to build London’s first training facility for would-be community self-builders. The innovative building will be constructed in Ladywell, Lewisham on part of the land set aside for a new 33 home affordable self-build housing project.

The project is being driven by RUSS, the Community Land Trust that has been set up to deliver the new homes. The project involves:

• Designing and building a single-storey structure on the site in Church Grove, Ladywell. The building will be used during the main construction phase of the new homes – from 2018 onwards
• The structure will host a series of workshops and build-days where anyone can come and learn about the construction of the new homes 
• The building will also be available to local people as a community space 
• RUSS will also run a programme of events and workshops with other community partners on the theme of self-building and community-led housing

RUSS chair Kareem Dayes said: “Lewisham has a history of self-building. In 1985 a group of council tenants with no previous building experience built their own homes on land provided by Lewisham Council. They were led by architect Water Segal who developed a simple and cost-effective building design that anyone could self-build.”

Megan Ancliffe is one of the team that has developed the early designs for the training facility. She said: “The project would offer people the opportunity to get hands-on experience of building. The structure will showcase different natural building techniques such as timber, straw bale and rammed earth”.

“Once built, the space would host RUSS’s School of Community-Led Housing with the goal of becoming a knowledge hub to share and inspire other communities in self-building and affordable housing projects”.

“We intend to source materials locally so that we support the local economy. We also aim to use as many reclaimed and recycled materials as we can and we’re interested in experimenting with off-grid technologies such as rain water collection.”

The building is estimated to cost £57,000. If enough people sign up to support it by the 10th of July, the Mayor of London’s initiative, Crowdfund London, is likely to provide top up funding to meet this target.

Anyone who wants to support the initiative can find out more here.

Power serve problem delays Ladywell tennis plan

A plan to create a major floodlit tennis facility in Ladywell Fields is being held up by UK Power Networks, who haven't hooked up the site yet. Lewisham Council's Andy Thomas explains:

"We are still waiting on the power supply to be installed by UK Power Networks but in the meantime we don’t want to keep the courts locked up and unavailable for use.

"The plan is that the courts will be kept locked with combination padlocks but when people book they will be sent the number that will give them access. They will then be asked to lock up the courts again when they finish.  For this period of time, courts will be free.

"To make a booking people simply need to sign up at www.playtnennislewisham.co.uk and go to the courts page where they will see what times are available.  People can make bookings from this Saturday.

"It’s vital that people work with us to look after the courts. In other parks there have been reports of people going on the courts with bikes, skateboards, footballs etc and there is already evidence of damage.  We can’t let this happen because we have to think about the long term and so if this system doesn’t work we may have to go back to locking them up until we have the power supply."