ISSUE 4 / FEBRUARY 2019
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Looking forward into 2019.... EARWIG was a community pamphlet for Thamesmead 3 - The Moorings. It was produced by residents, for residents, between 1975 - 1977. THE EARWIG PRESS has been set up by artist Verity-Jane Keefe, as a way to celebrate the local place, share information & provide space for comments & thoughts on this area: looking at the past, present and future. A publication, a group and an outpost for residents’ voice. Founded in April 2018. We’re looking forward TO 2019, thinking about how to secure the future of the EARWIG PRESS as a voice for Thamesmead Stage 3, how we can best share with you news on what’s happening locally and how you can be involved. There is a lot happening across the Moorings at the moment: improvement works on the steps at Arnott Close, the Good Growth Fund project, Your Moorings, which will see the former Moorings Social Club reopen in some form for the community, with landscape works on Byron Close, Claridge Way improvements AND the establishment of a new Moorings Neighbourhood Forum - there’s a lot to share and many ways for you to get involved. Our next meeting is 4th March - 7 - 8.30pm Get in touch if you’d like to join the EARWIG. All that’s required is enthusiasm, as well as either living or working within the Moorings area. Text or call Verity on 07817 302637 Email theearwigpress@gmail.com THE EARWIG is shaped, made & managed by residents, for residents
THAMESMEAD 3 THE MOORINGS AREA
An updated map following conversations with residents....
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What’s On Submit your Moorings - related activities, groups and events, so that we can share these amongst residents. For example: Coffee Mornings, Youth Clubs, Dance groups, Walks - you name it, we want to list it! From regular meeting groups, to one-off events. Email listings to theearwigpress@gmail.com with event/group name, when (times), where (address), what it is, if it’s for a particular age group, and whether it is free or charged and we’ll do the rest..
Regular groups Pop in Parlour / Over 60’s group Wednesdays & Fridays, 11am-1pm Lakeview Court, Central Way, Thamesmead, SE28 8GL Group for the over 60’s offering quizzes, bingo & coach trips away. Enjoy freshly cooked meals & a cup of tea/coffee amongst a group of friendly faces. Contact Daniel Browne / 0203 828 3888 Moorings Resident’s Community Group / Tea & Coffee Morning Every Monday (term time only) 9.30 - 11am Hawksmoor Youth Hub, Bentham Road, SE28 8AS Coffee Mornings for parents and other residents. An opportunity to socialise and find out what is happening in the area. Refreshments are provided & children are welcome. Contact / Penny 07861 510 661 - Lisa 07930 338 571 or Hawksmoor Youth Club - 020 8310 9754 The Good Life Garden / Drop in gardening group Every Thursday 10am - 4pm (Unless it’s raining) Birchmere Community Hub, off Disraeli Close Learn about growing food, plants and wildlife - right on your doorstep in this hidden oasis. Contact Bryan, through the green gates at the garden. Safety Net / Community Café Every Thursday 11am - 2pm, rain or shine Birchmere Community Hub, off Disraeli Close & Byron Road A place to relax, with games, conversation or a cup of tea. A Community Café run by and for people affected by mental ill health. All welcome.
Seniors in Touch / Exercise and Lunch Club for the over 50’s Every Tuesday 11am - 2pm Jubilee Community Centre, Lytton Strachey Path, SE28 8DU Our aim is to reduce loneliness, social isolation and promote healthy living for the over 50’s. Fun exercise to music, making friends, games, health talks and more. Entry (includes lunch): £3.00. Enjoy the exercise free of charge without lunch. Contact Lara Alabi / Seniorsintouch@yahoo.com - 07957727955 Titmuss Avenue Garden Association (TAGA) Titmuss Avenue Come and join us. Grow your own vegetables and flowers. For more information please visit us in the garden (between 12 noon and 1:00pm most days). The Community Growing Together. Contact Ron Russell / 07975 946 439.
Events Your Moorings / Tump 53, Water Lily Walk (off Claridge Way), SE28 8AS Monthly Drop-in session / 9th March 11am - 3pm Come to this monthly drop-in session to see progress on the former Moorings Social Club and Byron Close landscape scheme. Free and open to all residents, old and new, just drop in. Design Development Workshop / 23rd February 11am - 3pm A workshop to help shape parts of the design, how the spaces will work including what they might be used for. RSVP please. Residents Field Trip / 2nd March 10am - 4pm A field trip looking at other community spaces and landscapes in London, to explore possibilities for the project. Locations TBC. Transport paid with lunch provided. Email or call to book a place. Contact / hello@verityjanekeefe.co.uk - 07817 302637 What’s Happening at Tump 53 / Drop-in session Saturday 2nd March, 9.30 - 11.30am Tump 53, Water Lily Walk (off Claridge Way), SE28 8AS Come along to this drop-in session, to find out more about the work Tump 53 Nature Reserve do with schools and plans to open the space to the public more regularly. For further information contact Jack Gower / jack.gower@peabody.org.uk
INTERS, Young Greenwich Youth Service / Free Activities Wednesdays 4.30 - 6.30pm & Thursdays 3.45 - 5.45pm Hawksmoor Youth Hub, Bentham Road, SE28 8AS Free activities for young people aged 8 - 12 who live or study in Royal Greenwich. Supported by Mayor’s Young Londoners Fund. Contact / 020 8310 9754 Under Construction @ TACO! / Art exhibition Opening Sunday 24th February, 4pm then 25th February - 7th April TACO! 30 Poplar Place, Thamesmead, SE28 8BA A new site-specific installation by Australian sound artist and composer Kate Carr. Thamesmead Arts and Culture Office (TACO!) is an artist-led space for research, production, and exchange located in Thamesmead. Contact / info@taco.org.uk Moorings Neighbourhood Forum / Open meeting Waterways Children’s Centre, Southwood Road, SE28 8EZ Monday 18th March, 5.30 - 7.30pm The MNF is a group of Moorings residents, businesses, services and community groups, who have come together hoping to benefit the Moorings and its community now and in the future. Contact / mooringsnf@gmail.com - 07710 381436 Thamesmead Business Forum / The Link, Bazalgette Way, Thamesmead, SE2 9BS Monday 4th March, 4 - 6pm Find out how your business can access the potential growth opportunities in Thamesmead. Open to all individuals, start-ups, or established businesses looking to start, develop or grow. Free. Contact / madeinthamesmead@peabody.org.uk Pop Up Market / The Link, Bazalgette Way, Thamesmead, SE2 9BS Friday 8th March, 11am - 3pm Come along to our business pop up markets, purchase new items, try new items and meet with local entrepreneurs and business people. Free. Contact / madeinthamesmead@peabody.org.uk Community Group Forum / Sporting Club Thamesmead, SE28 8NJ Monday 11th March, 7 - 9pm A forum for community groups to build relationship with Peabody and other local groups. Contact / Steph Turner - 0203 828 4925
Rant Corner... A happy gnocchi day to all One afternoon last November I returned home to find a neighbours garage broken into and SGN vans there. Apparently there had been a major gas leak, my gas supply had been cut off. No cooking or hot water for me. I awoke to find trenches had been dug and my car was marooned in my garage. Buses had to be used, such bliss and comfort! My neighbours were not allowed back and had their gas on but no electicity, danger of explosion. It would seem I was expendable as I sat hungry and unwashed in my flat. My Bexleyheath Italian Cafe fed me all meals, their profits went up as my waistline expanded. Back to normal now in Cole Close for the time being as gas supply has been restored. (David)
News from the Tump...
Drawings by Year 4 Buzzards, Discovery School
What’s in a name... Having lived in the Moorings for over three decades, I have often wondered who the streets are named after. What’s in a name will be a regular feature sharing research on this with you.... Lytton Strachey Path / Giles Lytton Strachey (1880 - 1932) was an English writer and critic; his best known book is Eminent Victorians. He was a founding member of the Bloomsbury Group. Attlee Road / Clement Atlee (1883 - 1967): Labour Prime Minister from 1945 - 1951, the Government leading the post-war consensus. Following retirement, he was a peer in the House of Lords. Disraeli Close / Benjamin Disreali (1804 - 1881) was twice Prime Minister, with a domestic focus on Social Reform Tawney Road / Richard Tawney (1880 - 1962) was an English economic historian; a Socialist Christian who supported adult education and wrote academic books. (Rosa)
The Boiler House... You’ll hear people mention it, the cab drivers know where it is, and the buses have it as a destination. The Boiler House, illustrated on the left, was Thamesmead’s district heat system for the majority of property in the Moorings and the surrounding area. It pumped hot air for heating into your home via a network of underground pipes. By the 2000s, landlords began replacing the district system with wet radiator systems by installing them into the home itself. The Boiler House was demolished and made into flats, with Phoenix Point flats now occupying the site. (Chris)
Moorings Neighbourhood Forum update... The Moorings Neighbourhood Forum (MNF) held its inaugural Annual General Meeting on Monday 28th January. It was well attended with a good mix of local residents and organisations who were updated on future developments and plans for the area. The remaining vacancy of Vice Chair was filled by Paul Power. The Forum are working towards developing a Neighbourhood Plan in order to influence and have a say in future developments taking place in The Moorings and they need your help! The MNF need to consult with people living and working in the Moorings in order to be “designated” a Neighbourhood Forum with legal powers of influence. You can help by completing their survey either electronically at www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/F6ZDMYG or by calling Giles on 07710 381436 before 28th February. (Tricia)
EARWIG Stockists... If anyone you know wants to get a copy of the Earwig, and doesn’t receive it through their letterbox, you can pick up copies from: Birchmere Community Hub - Taco! - Hawksmoor Youth Club - The Jubille Centre - St Paul’s Church - Gogi’s - The Link - The Earwig Press Trolley @ Tump 53. New issues will be published every two months over 2019.
From the archives... Architectural model of Thamesmead Stage 3 from above, showing Arnott Close, The Moorings Social Club, Harold Wilson House & the canal,1974. Share your photographs with us to feature in future EARWIG issues (Verity)
The Moorings Residency.... Verity-Jane Keefe is a visual artist and is artist in residence for The Moorings, commissioned by Peabody in 2017. Alongside THE EARWIG PRESS, Verity is making a new filmwork about the Moorings and has set up The Moorings Archive - an online collection of historic material, ephemera, found objects, local folklore and legend celebrating everything that makes The Moorings, what it is, everyday brilliance and more. As wider Thamesmead undergoes large scale regeneration, including demolition and construction, Thamesmead Stage 3, built a little later than Stages 1 and 2, stands strongly, surrounded by waterways with a well used shopping centre in Arnott Close. It is not perfect, but where is? Verity’s residency formally finishes mid-2019, but she is leading on the co-design and engagement strands of the Good Growth Fund projetc, Your Moorings, so will be working on Stage 3 through to opening in November 2020 and beyond. www.themooringsarchive.co.uk
THE EARWIG PRESS We are THE EARWIG PRESS: a group of residents, working with Verity on establishing the publication and leading it into the future. We will have a digital presence, with issues being available at www.themooringsarchive.co.uk for now, and we will be on social media. Watch this space. We are Bridget, Chris, David, Diana, Rosa, Tricia and Verity.