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.
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."
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| I ain't got time to bleed: A predator-eye view of the floodlit courts |
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| He didn't kill you because you weren't armed - No sport: Work in progress |
Robert Sheppard has been doing good work for two decades, in service of the wonderful Ladywell Fields. He writes:
Dear friends of Ladywell Fields,
After nearly 20 years, first as Chairman and latterly as Secretary, I have decided to step back from active involvement in the Ladywell Fields User Group. I have just been appointed a School Governor and already have a number of other pressures and challenges in my personal and work life, so for the time being Ladywell Fields has simply been 'squeezed out'. I am sure I will be back!
So LFUG needs one or two volunteers to step forward (1) to act as Secretary, calling and publicising our 3-4 meetings p.a.; and (2) to manage the website, posting occasional updates and news items of local relevance. No previous experience is required, just commonsense and a relentless commitment to making Ladywell Fields the best it can be!
Tony Rich (LFUG Chair) and I are more than happy fully to induct anyone appointed to this/these position(s) and though I'm dropping out of active involvement, I will remain around to help on an ad hoc basis.
Please let me know if you'd like to take up the reins! I plan to resign at the next ordinary meeting on 29 September and ideally the new appointment(s) will be made that same night.
South East London Tennis is running free tennis sessions this weekend. Chris writes:
The open tennis day takes place this Sunday 17th May 10am - 1pm and is part of the nationally advertised Great British Tennis Weekend.
You can book your free session online at www.lta.org.uk/gbtw and the following sessions are available:
Last month, BC ran a guest article by a local dog-walker who wanted to start a debate about dogs on leads in Ladywell Fields.
BC is not familiar with the arcane canine community, so we assumed this issue was a fairly innocuous bit of discussion about protocol - akin to arguing the toss over whether one can serve red wine with fish - but it turned out to be incendiary stuff, causing one of the most heated arguments in recent BC history.
This week, the importance of getting this issue right has been highlighted by the sad case of a dog killed on Ladywell Fields, reported on the Facebook group "Pets of Telegraph Hill." Michelle writes:
My friend's dog has just been killed by a staff off its lead in Hilly Fields. My friend's dog was an 11year old super friendly and placid Jack Russell and her boyfriend has seriously injured hands from trying to save him - he's currently in Lewisham hospital. The young lad of about 20 with the staff ran off: the police are involved but please be careful.
UPDATE: Following some dispute of the facts in the original report, we have double-checked with the group and confirmed that the incident took place in Ladywell Fields, rather than Hilly Fields and that the attack was by a staff, rather than a pit bull, as was originally reported. These details have now been updated.
However, two members of the Pets of Telegraph Hill group have now confirmed the other elements of the story are true - and the issue just as important. Odile writes:
On hearing about this I contacted Rio's owner last week. They just live up the road from me. She confirmed that the attack and the death of Rio is saddly correct and that they are devasted as well as traumatised. However, she said it happened in Ladywell Fields, not Hilly Fields.
On August 27th, the new Ladywell Fields cafe will open. Run by social enterprise Ten Thousand Hands, the Jimmy Mizen Foundation, it will be the third café run by the group.
Mayor Bullock will officially open the café between 1-1.30pm on the day. Barry and Margaret Mizen MBE say:
“We’re really excited to be opening our third café run by young people in Jimmy’s memory. We’d like to thank everyone who’s helped, especially the young people involved.”
The team: Jed Watkins (19), Roganna Ranjan (18), Siobhan Prince (17) and Rianna Li-Bailey (17) say:
“We’ve been working on everything from recruitment, finance, refurbishment and marketing to designing the menu.” The first of the group's cafés, The Café of Good Hope, was set up in November 2010 in memory of Jimmy Mizen, who tragically lost his life in May 2008. Each Jimmy Mizen Café is committed to raising funds for The Jimmy Mizen Foundation, training young people, especially those with Autism, being a safe haven for young people and providing a community space.
The project received support from Tesco, B&Q, the Lloyds Foundation and The Drury Tea & Coffee Co.
Robert Sheppard, Secretary of the Ladywell Fields User Group writes:
Glendale has announced today that, following a bidding process, 10,000 Hands (the Jimmy Mizen Foundation) has been chosen to run the Ladywell Fields cafe and undertake its refurbishment. The JMF already run the Cafe of Good Hope on Hither Green Lane.
Building works to improve the cafe facility will begin this Summer. Further information (e.g. plans and service commitments provided) will be posted on the Ladywell Fields Facebook page as soon as they're made available.
Glen, the existing cafe operator, has been notified and thanked for his loyal service to the Park - which I know will be echoed by all who've come to know him over the years.
The Ladywell Village Improvement Group reports that the search is on for someone to run the new cafe planned for Ladywell Fields. They say:
Glendale is finally seeking 'expressions of interest' from persons interested in investing in, and taking on a 6 year lease to run, the café in Ladywell Fields. Glendale is seeking responses by 19 February 2014.
Click here for the full details.
The LFUG annual jamboree is on Tuesday 15 October, 7.30pm in
The Council Chamber at Catford Town Hall.
There will be presentations about the Catford Stadium redevelopment plans and the Secret Gardens project. The User Group also has two elected positions - Chair &
Treasurer and Secretary. Tony Rich has served as
Chair, and Robert Sheppard as Secretary for c.5 years.
Both are happy to ‘give way’ to new blood if anyone’s
interested - and can explain what each role entails.
For more information, please email
ladywellfields@yahoo.co.uk. All nominations should
be submitted, by email to this address, by Friday 11
October.
The Independent reports that engineering firms have been invited to develop plans to defend London from future floods, including upgrading the the Thames Barrier.
Britain's biggest engineers have been asked to develop plans to protect London and £200bn-worth of property from flooding until the end of the century. Launched at an industry event at the Thames Barrier today, the project is said to be the country's biggest ever flood management contract. The winning engineering team will work on the first 10 years of what is known as Thames Estuary 2100.
Chris Wheal (who kindly sent us the link) points out that Ladywell Fields might be part of any solution:
Ladywell Fields is used to store water to help keep the Thames lower. I have photos of it full, normal and empty on Flickr. They close a sluice gate to the Thames and store the water upstream until the tide goes out and then let it out. That was one of the main reasons for digging the river back into Ladywell Fields.
Last week, we reported that the owner of the cafe in Ladywell Fields has asked his customers to show their support for the business he runs, which is potentially threatened by plans to create a new cafe with bigger and better facilities, similar to those in Hilly Fields and Manor House Gardens.
It's his livelihood and it's quite right that he should be given a fair chance to bid to run the new franchise, but a new cafe should be built. The existing facility is little more than a tea hut, which doesn't offer the range or the space that other local park cafes manage. Bigger local park cafes have become community hubs - the focus for a range of local groups and activities. Ladywell Fields' cafe hasn't. There is a successful local model - it should be copied. If the incumbent feels that he can meet the brief, he should submit a bid.
This statement, issued in response to the issue, sets out the case for a new cafe:
Over the last few years many Park users have commented – in meetings, by email and on the Ladywell Fields Facebook page – about the café. Two clear themes emerged from these comments – first, that the current lessee (Glen) is very popular and very committed to the Park and secondly that the current café space is inadequate in a number of ways - in particular the lack of indoor seating, protected from the elements, which would make the café more appealing outside of the Spring/Summer period, and thus more viable.
The Park User Group responded to this by applying to the Ladywell Assembly last Autumn for a modest £1,250 to undertake a feasibility study to explore how, and at what cost, the building might be reconfigured to provide a better café facility. The Ladywell Assembly supported this bid and, following a tendering exercise, local architects Studio-ia were commissioned to undertake the study. The purpose of this exercise has never been to replace the current operator of the café, but rather to improve the facility to enable more people to benefit from it: the resulting additional footfall in the Park could also bring additional benefits such as improved safety.
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| How the cafe will look |
Sara says plans to develop a cafe in Ladywell Fields similar to the Hilly Fields model may threaten the incumbent cafe. She writes:
The lovely Glen, from the cafe in Ladywell Fields says that it looks like he could be ousted. He has a petition to protect his business, which folks can sign at the cafe.
Replacing Glen's cafe with something more generic would be a great shame.
He's a really nice guy, his wife's cakes are very tasty and creative, and his prices are very reasonable. OK, so he's more chips and lollies than hummus and soy latte, but his coffee is great and his cakes are home-made. Most importantly, he is a friendly, reliable independent trader, who keeps his prices low, despite the tough times.
Please can I ask BCers who support Glen to sign the petition on their next visit to the cafe.
BCer James alerts us that the finalists for this year's London Planning Awards. include Ladywell Fields for Best New Public Space (up against Leicester Square and Granary Square in King's Cross) and Deptford's Tidemill Academy / Deptford Lounge for Best Built Project (pitted against Neo Bankside, The Olympic Park, Westfield Stratford and 5 Merchant Square in Paddington).
And if you want to help maintain one of London's best public spaces, The Ladywell Village Improvement Group reports that there's a Ladywell Fields River Clean-Up, this Sunday (Nov 11th) from 10.00am to 1.00pm. They say:
This is one of the Ladywell Fields User Group's twice-yearly events run by www.Thames21.org.uk. Meet at the cafe at 9.45am to get kitted-out with waders and to hear the mandatory safety talk.
The beloved London Bubble returns to the area this weekend and next with a series of events in Ladywell Fields called "Rivers and People". They say:
Sun 16 September
Performances every 20 mins from 6.30pm - 7.50pm. Free, but ticketed. Please call 020 7237 4434 to book.
On the evening of 16th September, musicians, poets, singers, visual artists and sculptors will come together and present and eclectic array of performance to delight Lewisham residents.
The event celebrates and is inspired by the dramatic regeneration of the area, the flora and fauna and river life as well as the local people who enjoy the café, skate park, adventure playground, sports facilities and picnic spots along the river.
More information about the show and how to book here.
A weekend of free workshops leading up to Rivers and People, 8 and 9 September
Free workshops for all the family in storytelling, formation dog walking and creating creatures from recycled materials.
More information about the workshops and how to book here.
Ali writes:
I’ve been commissioned by London Bubble Theatre Company to make a short film for Rivers and People – a performance event and celebration of Ladywell Fields and River Ravensbourne, to be held on the evening of the 16th September, 2012.
I am putting a call out for people in the community who use the park in different ways, who are willing to be interviewed about their experiences. If anyone is interested to participate, please do get in touch with me with the following information at alikatiprojects@gmail.com
Name:
Address:
Contact number/email:
How long have you lived in the area:
How do you use the park:
