Reviews and snippets October 1999

Meridian - gives news of the restoration of the ice house at Manor Park (actually in  Lewisham, but never mind - and, being in Meridian, it’s only mentioned because of the effect on property prices!).  They point out that the ice house was used by the Baring, banking family, who lived at Manor House, and dates from the 1830s. It has four tunnel-vaulted chambers and an egg shaped ice well for ice taken from the estate’s pond. [Meridian ws a 'lifestyle' MAGAZINE distributed throughout Greenwich monthly ].

Gunpowder Mills Study Group Newsletter- contains reference to GIHS member Peter Jenkins discovery of the closing date of the gunpowder depot which once stood on the Greenwich Peninsula.  Peter has looked at documents in the Public Record Office and come up with a number of references : - February 13 1771 an order that lighters besent to carry building materials from Greenwich Magazine to Woolwich..... April 16th 1771 a report tht the Magazine and Proof House ‘are entirely down’ and lists the remains left, 24/25th April 1771 - a report that all the Greenwich Magazine will be taken down, 4th May 1773,  a report about repairs to river banks on the site.  [This group, too, has gone out of business]

Bygone Kent.  Vol. 20 No.8 contains another article about Gas in Greenwich by Mary Mills. This one is ‘Consumer Complaints and Gas in Greenwich’ and Vol.20 No.9. contains yet another article by Mary Mills but this one is about the Blackwall Point Dry Dock.  [now a different publisher - nowhttp://bygonekent.org.uk/]

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South East London Mercuryran a piece on 22nd September on the unveiling of a plaque to authoor, Italo Svevo, in Charlton Church Lane. It describes how in 1897 he had become a partner in his father-in-laws Triest based paint company.  He negotiated a contract for anti-corrosive paint with the Admmiralty and came to Chatlton to set up a factory in Anchor and Hope Lane - hence the plaque.  Further information and a picture can be found at http://www.veneziani.it/azienda/primati.html - which is actually the web site of the Italian paint company. This describes how ‘Veneziani fonda la prima fabbrica di antivegetativa all’estera Charlton in Inghilterra. A lavori vengono diretti dal genero del fondatore, Ettore Schmitzm, in arte Italo Svevo’. 

Journal of the Ordnance Society. Vol. 11 1999. Contains an article by Mary Mills on ‘Alexander Theophilus Blakeley’ - the founder of the Ordnance works on Greenwich Peninsula.  Another article is by GIHS contributor John Day on ‘The Steam Gun’ . This article covers the subject of steam driven guns and in particular the work of Jacob Perkins. 

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North West Kent Family History Society  NewsletterVol.8. No.8 September 1999. Contains an article by David Cufley on the history of Avery Hill - the location of their Autumn Conference. The article details the history of the estate and notes its ownership by John North, the Chilean nitrates magnate. 

Ha'penny Hatch-  this is to be a new footbridge across Deptford Creek alongside the railway line — recreating the old Ha’penny Hatch bridge which originally accompanied the railway there.  Creekside are congratulating Simon Bailey who is getting the project underway, The money to build the bridge is now available and Greenwich Engineering Services are the project managers. Hopefully the bridge will be built this year.

Hoy Stairs - A boaters and boating group is being set up to  implement new access from the creek at Hoy Stairs. Fairview Homes, who are developing the site, are supportive of this project but need to get the necessary legal permissions.

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GREENWICH: THE TWENTIETH CENTURY  by Barbara Ludlow and  Julian Watson, 

Over 200 photographs illustrating aspects of live in the 20th Century in Greenwich

COMING   SOON  ........

There have been a number of press reports about local activities around the Labour Party centenary in 2000.  In Greenwich there are plans for an exhibition about 100 years of local Labour and a small committee has been set up with representation from the three local Constituency Labour Parties. 

Age Exchange - long established in Blackheath Village is currently working on ‘On The River’.  They also have a River Bank project  ‘ for older Londoners memories of the working river’.  There is  a film club and tea dances are held once a month 

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The Millennium Community Play is going on from strength to strength with the award of a grant of £12,000 from the Time to Celebrate Fund. 

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The TIPP Reminiscence and drama project run from Rothbury Hall and concentrating on the Greenwich Peninsula is also well under way. An evening was held recently at which slide shows and readings were given of the work already done.  

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Deptford Power Station Jetty - despite an enormous amount of discussion, feasibility studies and so on nothing seems to have been decided. . Perhaps we all need reminding about how important that power station was in the world wide history of science and technology.  A good start can be made by reading ‘Cradle of Power’ a booklet brought out by CEGB to mark the closure of the power station in 1993.  It is becoming a very difficult little booklet to get hold of but, we can reveal,  that through some strange quirk of fate the Richard Garrett Long Shop Museum in Leinston, Norfolk has boxes and boxes and boxes of it - so many in fact that they are giving them away free to anyone who will take them - so, every one in Deptford - get up there with a couple of lorries! 

Cradle of Power  So - what does Cradle of Power have to say about Deptford?  ‘It was 100 years ago that a young man of 23 had the vision of building a power station to supply London with electricity on a scale unheard of anywhere in the world ... an idea ridiculed by eminent engineers as flying in the face of scientific disaster... Yet the Deptford power station which Ferranti designed was eventually to be hailed as the forerunner of today’s great stations.... a story of men prepared to risk reputation and fortune in a venture where calamity seemed to dog every step.....  the story of a century of change ... yet from those pioneering days of the ‘new’ electricity to modern times, the Deptford Stations have provided London with power .. Deptford .. The cradle of modern power.

Later, the party  had a coach trip round Woolwich and went to Avery Hill for lunch where they were able to view the Winter Gardens.  They all seemed to enjoy themselves!  [Despite having booked the visit with the University at Avery Hill, the Winter Gardens were locked wjen we got there!]

Earlier in the Conference members had heard papers which included, Peter Guillery on the Royal Brass Foundry, Paul Calvocoresci on Woolwich Arsenal,  Tim Allen on the Copperas Industry, Brian Strong on Three Mills, Malcolm Tucker on Gas Holders - it is hoped that at least some of these will make the contents of their papers available to GIHS members

A booklet was produced for the Conference by David Eve - the Kent Sites and Monuments Officer who members may remember came to speak to GIHS last year.  This lists IA sites in Kent, although sadly excludes Kentish London 

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The Stanley works at New Eltham closed earlier this year.  It had originally been sited at South Norwood where there are considerable remains of the founder, Mr. Stanley, in the form of the Stanley Halls and clock tower as well as the original factory buildings.  It is understood that a book about Stanley is in preparation under the sponsorship of the Norwood Society and as part of this project the New Eltham works was photographed before closure by the author.