Newsletter #107 - The Herne Hill Society

HERNE HILL SOCIETY
EVENTS
HERNE HILL JUNCTION:
GO-AHEAD CONFIRMED
On 9th April, a message came from Derrick
Anderson, Lambeth's Chief Executive, to those
on the Friends of Brockwell Park Committee
who have been leading the opposition to the
regeneration plans for Herne Hill. Derrick
Anderson's message stated that "works on the
main part of the junction are planned to
commence soon after Easter. I can confirm that
no instructions have been given to suspend the
works pending the undertaking of an
independent review."
The review referred to is a comparison
between the approved scheme and an
alternative design submitted at the last minute
by those opposed to the project. A detailed
examination and evaluation of the 'alternative'
scheme has already been carried out by
independent consultants and by Lambeth's own
experts. As reported in the last Newsletter, on
safety grounds alone the agreed scheme is the
preferred option.
At a recent meeting with local community
representatives who are members of the
Junction Project Board, Lambeth's Executive
Director of Housing, Regeneration and
Environment, Chris Lee, gave his full
commitment and strong support for the project.
He also described it as a key feature in his
Department's Business Plan and had assigned
it "high priority".
continued on Page 3
At Herne Hill United Church Hall, at 7:30 for
7:45pm, unless otherwise stated.
Wednesday 13 May:
“Helping Combat Climate Change”
by Rob Basto. He obtained a PhD for research
into the Earth’s atmosphere, now runs a
software production company and is actively
involved with environmental groups.
We need dramatically to reduce our use of
fossil fuels. The problem is serious, but the
solution is simple. The talk gives a global
perspective of the situation and how we can tap
into the abundant clean renewable energy
available.
Wednesday 10 June:
“Cantors and Canticles: Jewish and Christian
Music Antiquity to Present Day”
by Alexander Knapp, pianist, composer and
lecturer. Dr Knapp has held positions at
SOAS, Cambridge, Goldsmith’s, RCM and
City University.
The relationship between the two musical
traditions, with many recorded examples.
Sunday 5 July:
“Herne Hill Heritage Trail, the West Side
Story” Guided walk by Robert Holden
Meet Herne Hill Station at 2:30pm
Sunday 2 August:
Society summer visit: Venue to be advised
Sunday 9 August:
“Herne Hill Architecture” Guided walk by Ian
McInnis
Meet Herne Hill Station at 2:30pm
Wednesday 9 September:
“Sex and Scandal in Sydenham” by Steve
Grindlay, Sydenham Society.
Behind the respectable facade of late Victorian
and Edwardian Sydenham were dark secrets:
theft, embezzlement, promiscuity, unrequited
love and so-called “acts of gross indecency”.
Plus suicides, lives in ruins and the “greatest
unsolved crime of the 20th century.”
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TRANSPORT NEWS
“To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive”
(ancient quotation perhaps applied to branch-line
trains?)
LONDON BUSES UPDATE
Bus 42 Developments
Latest news in this long-running saga is that
residents in East Dulwich, together with support
from Village Ward Councillors and the local
papers, are getting together a petition to extend the
route to Sainsbury’s, where a bus stand is already
in place. Transport for London (TfL) have advised
that, without such a petition, the proposed
extension can’t be considered as, of course, they
have rejected all previous approaches. Watch this
column.
Deepdene Road
Deepdene Road is now displayed as a destination
stop on both the 68 and 468 buses, but the on-board
announcements still erroneously refer to this stop
as Sunset Road. I have advised TfL: what more
can one do??
COMMUNITY NOTICE BOARD
Thanks to the Society’s successful application to the
Dulwich Community Council’s Cleaner, Greener,
Safer award scheme, Southwark have now installed a
community notice board in Half Moon Lane. This is
available for local organisations to advertise
themselves and their events.
Herne Hill Bus Lane
After four years of campaigning with a small group
of other like-minded stalwarts, the totally
unnecessary bus lane on Herne Hill northbound
from Kestrel Avenue to Herne Hill Road has been
reduced from an incredible 7am - 7pm MondaySaturday, to 7am - 10 am and 4pm - 7pm Monday
to Saturday. This is a remarkable success and will
make life easier for the many users of this stretch
of road.
I am afraid that all efforts to reduce the even worse
bus lanes commencing opposite Sunray Avenue
northbound on Denmark Hill and southbound at
Champion Hill junction have not borne fruit and
we are stuck with 7am to 7pm Monday to Sunday
inclusive. PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE TIMES
ALSO APPLY TO THE SHORT SOUTHBOUND
STRETCH SUNRAY AVENUE TO RED POST
HILL, although there is no obvious sign along that
stretch.
UNDERGROUND
Robert Holden, a member of the Society’s
Committee, is looking after it for us and the local
community. If you would like to put a notice on the
board, please get in touch with Robert – contact
details on the back page.
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Blackfriars underground station is now closed for
two years into 2011 for essential upgrading works
to the Thameslink part of the station, to include
longer platforms and step-free access. There are of
course many other options but nonetheless this is a
very long closure.
David Cianfarani
Junction - from Front Page
PARKING PROBLEMS
IN HERNE HILL
Residents of those roads north of Herne Hill station
on the Lambeth side (between Milkwood, Fawnbrake
Avenue and Kestrel Avenue), were a bit startled in
March to see notices about the introduction of double
yellow lines on certain corners in the area (and
elsewhere in the Borough). This was proposed as a
safety measure, to enable refuse collection and other
large vehicles to get round corners. This has become
more difficult with cars parking close to corners and
often blocking dropped kerbs, but it would have the
effect of reducing the amount of on-street parking
space.
We welcomed the safety aspects of the proposal; but
were concerned that it was only a short time since
somewhat tortuous and controversial consultation
about introducing a CPZ in the area. As Lambeth is
committed to a review of the CPZ in less than a year,
we felt the issue ought to be considered together with
this review.
We understand that, following a number of
representations, the current proposal in respect of
these local roads will not to go ahead for the time
being.
DT
CPZ for ‘The Groves’
A two-stage consultation exercise carried out in 2007
and 2008 by Lambeth, showed that a majority of
people living in Hawarden Grove and Guernsey
Grove are in favour of parking controls. The
consultation also showed people living on the
Lambeth side of Croxted Road, between Hawarden
Grove and Norwood Road, also wanted residents’
parking to be introduced.
Lambeth has received the final formal confirmation
from Transport for London (TfL) of £1.6 million
funding for the project. This means that most of the
necessary funding is now in place. The latest
estimate for the total project cost is £1.8 million.
Any short-fall will be made up from a combination
of "Section 106" (planning gain) funding and
money from funds for promoting accessibility,
highway safety schemes and walking.
Work on some of the peripheral aspects of the
project continues. The improvements to Rymer and
Hurst Streets are almost complete. We have
received assurances from Lambeth that work on the
main part of the project, that is the area around the
entrance to Brockwell Park, will start in early May
or, under a "worst-case" scenario, by the middle of
that month. On this basis, the project will be
largely completed by mid September. Whilst the
work is under way, access to the Park will be via a
ramp to be constructed immediately to the west of
the present toilet block - soon to be demolished.
Special arrangements will be made for pedestrian
access to the Park during large events, such as the
Lambeth Country Show in July.
Further information is included in a Newsletter
published by Lambeth that is being delivered to
7,500 households in Herne Hill. There is full and
regularly updated information on the project in the
Herne Hill Society's website
www.hernehillsociety.orq.uk.
JB
FROM THE ARCHIVES
Lambeth has now issued plans and a timetable for
introducing a Controlled Parking Zone in this area.
Parking restrictions will apply from noon to 2.00pm
Monday to Friday. This is designed to discourage
commuter parking and other long-term parking by
non-residents. Also included will be provision for 30
minute short-term parking (8.30am to 6.30pm,
Monday to Friday) at the Norwood end of Rosendale
Road, to serve the needs of customers using the
parade of shops there.
Before the scheme can be implemented, Lambeth has
to carry out a further statutory consultation exercise.
This will involve street notices and advertisements in
the local press describing the proposals; and alerting
bus companies. It will give one final opportunity for
anyone against the scheme to express an objection.
Subject to the results of the statutory consultation
exercise, the scheme is scheduled to be implemented
in May.
JB
Advertisement in the Streatham News, July 1913
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THE GREAT PLANT HUNT
IN HERNE HILL
St Jude’s School in Herne Hill is the first of 22,000
primary schools in the country to receive a Darwin’s
Treasure Chest. This exciting venture, developed by
the Wellcome Trust in conjunction with Kew
Gardens, is intended to help every primary school
pupil in the country to learn more about the natural
world and join in with celebrating Charles Darwin’s
bicentenary.
The launch took place on 4th March and was attended
by senior representatives from the Wellcome Trust
and from Kew and was introduced by Sir David
Attenborough. School staff and children from Year 2
listened as Sir David explained the importance of the
natural world and the need to look after our
environment. The school has a well tended nature
garden and Sir David led a group of children round
this, hotly pursued by a dozen photographers and an
interview crew from BBC London news. It was a
fine early spring day and Sir David gamely joined a
few six years olds on their knees looking for the first
signs of spring.
CIVIC TRUST AWARDS FOR
HERNE HILL
Two Herne Hill buildings have been selected for
Commendation in this year’s Civic Trust Award
programme – Brockwell Lido and the Michael
Tippett School in Milkwood Road.
Launched in 1959, the Civic Trust scheme has
rewarded over 5,600 buildings which have made a
difference to local people and their communities by
providing the design and facilities which have made
better places for people.
The Awards recognise the best in the built
environment, from architecture to planning,
townscape to infrastructure. But they also recognise
the public realm in its wider context, and a continuing
belief that development should be for the benefit of
people – those who use it, and those who just pass by.
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In awarding a Commendation to the refurbished
Brockwell Lido, the Civic trusts describes it as “a
good example of how an existing facility can be
brought up to date without losing the historical
qualities of the existing building. Local people were
extensively consulted during the design process, and
the facilities are well used.”
The Michael Tippett School, also awarded a
Commendation, is described as “the first ‘Building
Schools for the Future’ (BSF) project in London,
accommodating up to 80 students aged between 11
and 18 with profound and multiple learning
difficulties. The scheme demonstrates excellent
sustainability and inclusion, with provision for bus
drop off, and in general, meets or exceeds good
practice guidance. The school is non-threatening and
provides a friendly environment for children as well
as making a positive contribution to the local built
environment.”
JB
GRANT AWARD
FOR SOCIETY BOOK
The latest book from the Society’s Local History
Group will be about the Milkwood Estate. Following
a request by the Milkwood Residents’ Association,
we have been researching and writing the history of
this part of Herne Hill, covering the area comprising
Heron, Lowden, Milkwood and Poplar Roads.
We recently made an application to the Capital
Community Foundation for financial support from
their Grassroots Grants programme. Thanks to the
Foundation’s generosity, we have been awarded a
grant of £2,940 that we shall put towards the costs of
producing the book based on our research. We plan to
publish ‘Milkwood Estate – A History’ in the
summer. It will tell the story of how this area came
into being and all aspects of the life of its people,
from the earliest records to the present day. It will be
an invaluable account of this part of Herne Hill, not
just for those who live there, but for anyone interested
in local history and the development of local
communities during the 19th and 20th centuries.
JB
HHS CHAIR’S ANNUAL
REPORT 2008-9
Firstly, I want to thank the whole Committee for
their consistent hard work and support for the
Society. Everyone has a job and our monthly
Committee meetings consist of reports and lively
discussion around our future activities.
John Brunton has continued in his very active role
as Vice-Chair, including the work with the Herne
Hill Junction Project Board and leading on
planning and licensing on the Lambeth side. His
opposite number in the planning role on the
Southwark side is David Taylor, who has also
continued his representing the Society on the
Brockwell Lido Steering Group and on
consultations about controlled parking zones in
Lambeth. Laurence Marsh and Mike Rundell are
also on the busy Planning Subcommittee. Jeff
Doorn, our Secretary, has brought a wide variety of
interesting speakers to our monthly meetings. He
has also represented the Society on the Lambeth
Local History Forum and, last summer, led a
history walk in the rain.
The History Group of John Brunton, Jeff Doorn,
Robert Holden, Brenda Jones, Caroline Knapp and
Bernard Nurse have finished their work on the
history of the Milkwood Estate and are now
investigating ways of getting it published. The
Society Archive is in the safe hands of Anne
Sharpley. For many years our Transport
representative has been Bill Kirby. However, we
have been pleased to welcome David Cianfarani as
a transport adviser to the Committee. I must thank
Bill for his dedicated service to the Committee and
the Society.
Some of the most enjoyable occasions are when we
meet the public and sell our publications at events
such as the July Lambeth Country Show. We work
as a team, usually two people doing a two hour
slot. New helpers for the stall are always
welcomed, so do let us know if you would like to
get involved.
We also took our stall to Nunhead Cemetery Open
Day in May, Ruskin Park Fair in June, Lambeth
Archives Open Day in November and the Carnegie
Winter Fair in December. Robert Holden is now in
charge of publications. His hard work is making a
real difference to sales figures that provide a very
important and useful source of income. Vital to
Robert’s role is Diana Chadney who parcels up and
posts or hand delivers orders. Diana also arranges
raffle prizes and produces the really excellent
reviews of our monthly meetings.
The Newsletter continues to be a very important
part of our work. It is a collaborative effort by the
Editorial Group of John Brunton, Jeff Doorn, and
me, with other contributors always welcomed. We
are very grateful to John Smallwood who continues
in the vital role as the Production Editor. Thanks
must also go to Caroline Knapp who, besides her
important duties as Membership Secretary,
organises Newsletter distribution, helped by a
small but dedicated team. One of that team is
former Chair Brenda Jones. She has organised
visits this year to the British Library, with Colin
Wight, and Morden Hall Park; and represented the
Society on working groups involved with the
Dulwich Community Hospital and the Three Hills
Forum. We are also grateful to her for collecting
the advertising money that helps towards the cost
of the Newsletter.
We also communicate to Herne Hill, South London
and the world through our website and receive
regular enquiries on a variety of subjects. Many
thanks to Colin Wight who runs the website,
designs our posters and is also our audio-visual
supremo. I must also mention Shirley Chumbley
and Pat O’Malley who make the refreshments for
our monthly meetings.
We are still looking for a Minute Secretary for the
Committee and would welcome anyone who
wished to volunteer for this important role.
During the year we learned that our application to
Southwark Council for a Cleaner Greener Safer
(CGS) award to fund a community notice board in
Half Moon Lane has been successful. We have
applied to the Herne Hill Ward purse for a
matching notice board for Railton Road, near the
station, and hope this will be in position soon. Our
CGS bid last year for seat on Herne Hill or in Half
Moon Lane was not approved. However, we hope
for better success in this year’s bid for funding to
regenerate the parade of shops in Half Moon Lane,
between Warmington and Beckwith Roads.
We remain involved with the work of the Herne
Hill Forum and attend the quarterly Dulwich
Community Council and Brockwell Park
Management Advisory Committee meetings. We
are members of the Civic Trust and the London
Forum of Civic and Amenity Societies and receive
regular news and information from them. On a
lighter note, we were successful in the annual Brain
of Lambeth competition, with our team coming a
strong second to the winning Streatham Society
team.
Amongst all these good things happening, I had to
report a very sad event in September when David
Patient died. He had been our Treasurer for almost
twenty years. Our sympathies go to his wife Jacqui
and his family.
This has been another busy and successful year for
the Society. Thank you all for your support.
SN
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ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
2009
The AGM took place on 11th March at the United
Church hall. It was well attended by around 50
members; and the business of the evening was
conducted first, before the talk.
The Chair, Sheila Northover, gave her annual report,
which was then followed by reports from Rosalind
Glover (Treasurer), Jeff Doorn (Secretary) and
Caroline Knapp (Membership Secretary). The Chair
then proposed Bill Kirby as the Society’s first
President, and this was seconded and then approved
by all present. The committee retired and our new
President conducted the elections.
Those elected to serve for 2009-10 were the officers:
Sheila Northover Chair
John Brunton, Vice Chair
Members of a car club usually pay an annual fee plus
a charge for each mile and hour they use a car. A car
club can be quite a money saver. According to some
research, if you drive less than 6,000 miles a year,
then a car club will save between £1,000 and £1,500
annually, compared with the cost of buying and
running your own car. So perhaps worth thinking
about!
JB
HERNE HILL SOCIETY
ACCOUNTS 2008
Jeff Doorn, Secretary
The following is a summary of our 2008 accounts:
Rosalind Glover, Treasurer
Total income for the year was £4,749.93, made up as
follows:
and on the committee Diana Chadney, Robert
Holden, Brenda Jones, Caroline Knapp, Laurence
Marsh, David Taylor, and Colin Wight, and a special
welcome to new committee member Nick Baker.
Following the elections questions were taken from the
floor and then after the coffee break, we learned about
Educating Ethel from Anne Ward.
SN
CAR CLUBS: MORE ON-STREET
BAYS FOR HERNE HILL
On the Lambeth side, Herne Hill already has two onstreet car club bays – one opposite 287 Rosendale
Road and the other in Spenser Road by the junction
with Dulwich Road. On the Southwark side there is a
bay in the driveway of 42 Half Moon Lane.
There are no on-street car club bays anywhere in
Southwark. However, the Borough has now
announced proposals to introduce 75 such bays,
including four in Herne Hill. Two are planned for
Ruskin Walk, and one each in Stradella Road and in
Hollingbourne Road. Southwark is currently
negotiating with a car club company to provide
vehicles.
Subject to completion of the necessary traffic orders
and a consultation exercise, it is expected that the new
bays will be implemented “within the next few
months”. The consultation exercise will give local
residents the opportunity to comment and, if
necessary, to object to individual proposals.
The presence of a car club can have a significant
6
environmental impact. It has been shown that each
club car takes between seven and fifteen privately
owned cars off the road. People who convert to car
club use and who get rid or their own cars, drive some
64% less and use more public transport; and they
walk and cycle twice as much as non car club
members.
Subscriptions and donations: £1,435.50
Newsletter advertising: £462.50
Publication and other sales: £2,012.51
Bank interest: £455.98
Gift Aid: £383.44
Total expenditure was £4,423.24, made up of:
Stationery, postage and printing of Newsletter etc.:
£1,720.71
Hall hire and stall fees: £402.20
Insurance: £190.00
Speaker fees: £205.00
Refreshments/raffle prizes: £84.01
Subscriptions to other organisations: £200.00
Purchase of publications: £1,121.26
Equipment and other miscellaneous expenses:
£500.06
There was a surplus of income over expenditure of
£326.69, rather less than the 2007 surplus of
£1,221.86. This is mainly due to falls in the income
from our three main sources – subscriptions and
donations, publication sales and Newsletter
advertising.
Please let me know if you would like a copy of our
‘examined’ accounts (contact details on the back
page). Alternatively they are shown on our website
www.hernehillsociety.org.uk.
Rosalind Glover
SUNRAY ESTATE
CONSERVATION AREA
On 20th January 2009, Southwark Council
declared the Sunray Estate as a Conservation Area.
Most of us will be familiar with these streets of
cottage style houses built in the garden city style of
the first part of the 20th century. They were
designed by Edwin Hall for the then Camberwell
Borough Council and built in the early 1920s as a
response to Lloyd George’s call for ‘homes fit for
heroes’.
The qualities of the design of the area had been
recognized as long ago as 1982, when it was
identified as an Area of Special Character by the
Council and design guidelines were issued for
residents. To protect some aspects of its character,
Sunray Estate 1920s
an ‘Article 4’ direction was approved in 1987. This
means that planning permission is
required for some types of development
where it is normally not necessary, such
as extensions, boundary walls and
external alterations.
Declaration as a Conservation Area
results in some additional controls, such
as the requirement to notify the Council
of any works to trees and any proposed
demolition. The Council is required to
produce a management plan for the area
and an appraisal identifying potential
improvements. A draft appraisal has
been carried out and is available on the
Southwark Council’s website.
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CLEANER GREENER
SAFER BID 2009
The Society has applied to Southwark Council for a
grant under their Cleaner, Greener, Safer scheme to
regenerate the parade of shops known as Ruskin
Parade in Half Moon Lane, between Hollingbourne
and Beckwith Roads. The bid asks for:
•
resurfacing of the forecourts and footways
•
installation of bollards to prevent the parking of
vehicles directly in front of the shops on the wide
pavement
•
heritage lamp-posts and hanging baskets
•
rationalising street signage
•
new cycle racks to add to those already there
•
more short term shopper parking where possible,
and improvement to the exit from Howletts Road
•
additional tree planting
•
encouraging traders to improve their shop fronts.
We wait for the decision later in the year.
SN
URBAN DESIGN AND
CONSERVATION IN LAMBETH
We now have a few new members of the
Conservation and Urban Design team at Lambeth
Council, and so with our new staff, we are looking
forward to renewed community links in 2009!
A main focus for the team is the care of the some
2,300 listed buildings in the Borough by advising on
applications for changes. Lambeth’s listed buildings,
unlike some other London boroughs, are very varied
in type. They range from the nationally-known
twentieth-century cultural buildings on the South
Bank to the Victorian funerary monuments of West
Norwood cemetery; and even to the windmill at
Brixton. Herne Hill ward has about 40 listed
buildings, including the entrance block to Herne Hill
Station, Carnegie Library and Brockwell Lido. We
can give advice on appropriate repair techniques for
listed buildings, or refer you to relevant sources of
information. We are always happy to hear from
owners of listed buildings before proposals for
changing them are put together and a listed building
application made. To check whether your building is
listed, or whether it is in a Conservation Area, you
can use our public access database at
www.lambeth.gov.uk/planning or telephone our town
planning advice centre on 020 7926 1180.
Lambeth has 61 Conservation Areas, including the
area round the junction of Herne Hill and Milkwood
Road, Poets Corner and Brockwell Park, which is also
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a Registered park. We are currently working to ensure
that each Conservation Area has its own appraisal and
management plan with an ambitious programme to
consult on and adopt five a year. Those already
adopted are available to download on the website.
Contact us or keep on eye on the consultations section
of our planning pages on the web to see which are
coming next.
Trees are given some protection inside conservation
areas or are protected by Tree Preservation Orders.
TPOs can be checked on the planning pages of the
website. The visual and amenity benefit of trees in the
character of conservation areas can be very important
and we are all increasingly aware of their importance
in helping to cool and shade our urban environment.
For advice on trees on private land within your
conservation areas, please contact our tree officer, Ian
Leonard ([email protected] or 020 7926
1191).
Our urban design expertise is currently directed
towards advising on planning applications for new
buildings in the Borough, on helping to shape new
places in the Borough such as the intended Waterloo
City Square and Clapham Gateway and on helping
prepare policies. Our supplementary planning policies
include those on residential alterations, conversions
and shop-fronts. Lambeth Planning is currently
working on our new guiding spatial planning policies
with the first to come being our draft Core Strategy
and Site Allocations documents. The consultation
period runs from 6th April to 18th May – again, our
website will be a good source of information.
We have some exciting initiatives which we are
hoping to progress this year, including the preparation
of a Local List of Buildings of special architectural or
historic interest. We look forward to continued
contact with the Herne Hill Society.
Rachel Godden
Team Leader, Conservation and Urban Design
Lambeth Planning, Phoenix House, 10 Wandsworth
Road, London SW8 2LL
020 7926 1201, [email protected] or
[email protected]
NEW LAMBETH COMMUNITY
POLICE CONSULTATIVE GROUP
REPRESENTATIVE
John Frankland has agreed to be the new Society
representative on the LCPCG and on the Southwark
equivalent.
He will report from time to time on proceedings there.
If anyone would like John to raise issues with either
of these Groups, he can be reached at
[email protected].
SN
STREATHAM SOCIETY
COACH TRIP
This year’s Streatham Society coach trip will be on
Saturday 6th June and is a combined visit to the
Bluebell Steam Railway and Chartwell. Herne Hill
Society members are welcome reserve places on the
tour. The total cost is £30 (including a ticket for the
railway and £10 entrance to Chartwell) or £20 for
National Trust Members.
The coach will leave the Odeon Cinema, Streatham
High Road at 8.30am and arrive back at about 6.30pm
– 7.00pm.
Further details and bookings to Brian Bloice, 220,
Woodmansterne Road, Streatham, SW16 5UA,
tel: 020 8764 8324.
HORNIMAN PLANT SALE
The Friends of the Horniman will be holding their
annual Plant Sale Plus in the Horniman Gardens,
SE23 3PQ, on Saturday 16th May from 11.00am to
3.00pm.
The sale will feature all kinds of plants donated by the
Friends and bedding plants grown in the Horniman
Nursery.
There will also be stalls selling cakes, home produce,
bric-a-brac and household goods; and a large
bookstall.
TORNADO WHISTLES THROUGH
HERNE HILL STATION:
14th February 2009
Full of expectation about a grand gathering for the
Saturday night sighting of the new steam engine
named Tornado, I rushed down my road and across to
the station hoping not to miss it. Would I find room
on the platform? Who would be there? Would the
train pass by slowly enough for us all to see and
admire?
I arrived huffing and puffing up the stairs to
Platforms 1&2 and saw, not a veritable host, but just
two lone figures, George and Mary! But where were
all the others? George pointed down the end of the
platform, and yes, there was a little gathering. I strode
on down, waving cheerily as I approached. But I
didn't recognise any of them! One young couple were
celebrating Valentine's Night rather originally, and
another young man had come all the way from
Brixton. Each had a camera at the ready. I'd forgotten
mine, as usual.
The Tornado wasn't quite on time, but this didn't
matter at all. George and Mary weren't sure which
way it would be passing through, so when I told them
it would definitely be travelling towards Victoria,
they hastily made their way downstairs and up to the
opposite platform for a better photo. I stayed put.
The Tornado
A whistling and the beautiful sound of a steam engine
weren't long in coming. But it chugged gracefully
alongside Platform 1, with merry calls from the driver
and boiler men waving at us from their windows.
They were pulling the Pullman coaches that we so
often see at rest in Victoria Station. Their passengers
didn't look the slightest bit interested in the cheering
'crowd'. I think one was doing the crossword puzzle
in his newspaper.
Can you see George's picture here? No? Well, it came
out as an 'interesting' red line. After all, he was a little
too far away and the Tornado chugged rather faster
than we'd hoped.
Tea and cake warmed us up back home. But I'm so
sorry you all missed it!
CK
9
PLANNING AND LICENSING
8 Acland Crescent
We have objected to an application that includes a
two storey side and side/rear extension, a single
storey front and front/side porch, and a full width rear
dormer. Our view is that this development would
breach a number of Lambeth’s current planning
policies, including those relating to protecting the
quality of the street-scene, protecting neighbours
from an unacceptable sense of enclosure and
overlooking, and loss of privacy.
82 Frankfurt Road
The Society recently objected to an application for a
rear and roof extension. We felt it was too large, out
of character with the rest of the building, and would
result in an inharmonious appearance to the street.
Southwark has now refused the application.
40 Gubyon Avenue
There has been an application for a development that
includes building a single storey rear and side infill
extension. In commenting, we urged Lambeth
Planning to take full account of the impact on
neighbours, including any possibility of producing an
unacceptable sense of enclosure, before reaching a
decision on this application.
Lambeth subsequently approved the application.
23 Guernsey Grove
We have objected to an application to construct a
single storey ground floor rear extension. Our
reasons include: that the extension would give
neighbours an unacceptable sense of enclosure and
loss of privacy; it would harm the appearance of the
existing building and the integrity of the terrace; and
would breach a number of Lambeth’s planning
policies as set out in the current Unitary Development
Plan.
77 Herne Hill
The Society has commented on a planning application
for the former Hart to Hart restaurant. The application
is for a new shop-front, fencing above the new wall,
and use of the front terrace as an outdoor eating area
for the restaurant. We objected a few months ago
when a new higher wall started being built without
permission and Southwark enforcement were very
quick to get the height reduced.
We welcome the reuse as a restaurant but feel that the
hours of operation for the terrace, until 11.00pm,
could cause disturbance to local residents. We have
therefore asked that permission be granted for six
months so that its use and any complaints can be
monitored.
46 Kestrel Avenue
We commented on an application to construct a single
storey ground floor rear and side infill extension. In
particular, we urged Lambeth to take full account of
10
the impact on neighbours, including any possibility of
producing an unacceptable sense of enclosure, before
reaching a decision on this application.
Lambeth has granted permission for the development,
subject to provisions designed to protect neighbour’s
privacy and amenity.
Plot opposite 251-275 Milkwood Road
A proposal was submitted to Lambeth in December
2007 to create a terrace of nine four-bedroom family
houses on this site running parallel to Milkwood
Road, along with eleven car-parking spaces. In
commenting, we expressed concerns about the impact
on trees and wildlife; on the effects on highway
safety; and the negative visual impact of the proposed
design on the local street scene. Lambeth
subsequently refused the application. However the
developers appealed this decision. We wrote to the
Planning Inspectorate supporting Lambeth’s decision
and repeating our earlier concerns.
The Planning Inspectorate has dismissed the appeal.
Hypnotik, 75-79 Norwood Road
These premises, previously known as Brockwell's,
used to be open until 4.30am, with entertainment, sale
of alcohol etc. until 4.00am Following a police raid
in March 2008, Brockwell’s was closed. It later
reopened under a new name, ‘Hypnotik’, but with the
hours of operation severely curtailed. Sale of alcohol,
music, dancing etc. had to stop at 1.00am and the
premises had to close at 1.30 Monday to Saturday.
The equivalent Sunday hours were 11.30pm and
midnight respectively.
Earlier this year, an application was submitted to
Southwark to extend trading hours to 3.30am
Thursdays to Saturdays, with closing time half an
hour later. Sunday opening would be extended to half
past midnight.
Along with many local residents, the Society objected
to this application. Under the previous opening
hours, local residents had suffered from late night
disturbances, with noise and other nuisances from
customers leaving the premises in the early hours.
These all stopped immediately ‘Brockwell’s’ was
closed. We were therefore concerned that the
disturbances would start again were the premises be
permitted to return to very late opening. In our
submission to Lambeth we also raised questions
about the suitability of the owners to hold a premises
licence.
Southwark Licensing Committee held a hearing on
25th March to consider this application. The outcome
was that the application was refused. However, the
current licence was modified to permit sale of alcohol
till 1.30am on Saturday and Sunday mornings and to
close half an hour later. The other licence conditions
remain unchanged.
continued on Page 11
Planning from Page 10
Plot Adjacent to 86 Railton Road
Lambeth refused permission for a block of 4 x 2
bedroom flats that has been built on this site, because
it has not been built in accordance with the originally
approved designs. The developers have appealed
this decision.
We have commented to the Planning Inspectorate
supporting Lambeth’s position on the grounds that the
building, as constructed, is significantly different
from the designs approved by Lambeth. In particular:
the building façade demonstrates poor detailing and is
of poor architectural quality, thus detracting from the
local street scene; and that It has been built closer
than originally agreed to number 70 Chaucer Road,
resulting in an unacceptable sense of enclosure and
domination as well as potential loss of light for
people living there.
ANTIQUES ROAD SHOW
As trailed in the last newsletter, Committee member
Robert Holden was filmed at Dulwich Picture Gallery
in June last year for the Antiques Road Show. The
programme was shown on 15th February and Robert
was shown talking to antique expert Judith Miller
about his grandmother and the maternity box she used
in her work as a midwife in the thirties and forties.
Robert also had her midwifery register, which records
his own delivery by his grandmother. He explained
the contents of the box, including the net for weighing
the new born baby, and the baby’s gas mask, which
fortunately was never used.
311 Railton Road
We have objected to an application for partial change
of use from a dry cleaners to a minicab office. A
second minicab operation in this area would
unacceptably add to traffic volumes and parking
stress; and would be contrary to the aims of the
Junction regeneration project, i.e. to give priority in
the area to pedestrians.
92, Red Post Hill
The Society has objected to an application for a large
rear extension to this house. It lies within the recently
declared Sunray Gardens Conservation Area and
accordingly any application has to respect the existing
character of the area. The predominant style in the
area is based on the cottage idiom, very much in the
garden city style with modest sized houses and large
gardens. We feel that the proposed extension is not in
keeping with the overall character and therefore
should be refused.
As a direct result of the programme he has been
approached by the Wandsworth Historical Society to
do a talk, and also by a woman who thought her birth
might be in the records, but unfortunately it was not.
A story that began at Lambeth Archives Open Day
and was told at one of our monthly meetings has now
been shared with millions of viewers in the UK and
will be shown around the world.
SN
Peabody Estate, Rosendale Road
Although the Society did not submit comments to
Lambeth, in the last Newsletter we reported on a
planning application to make a number of
environmental improvements throughout the estate.
Lambeth Planning Committee has refused the
application. The grounds cited for this refusal include
inadequate information about tree planting and
parking provision, the poor quality of the materials
proposed and the inappropriate siting of a bulk
storage facility.
There was a report in the South London Press in
January that you may have missed. It concerned an
empty 14mm shell case, fragments of a V1 Flying
Bomb and an apparently intact 15 inch incendiary
bomb that were found in Brockwell Park after the
Second World War. These artefacts were handed to
Brian Green, who many people know from the Art
Stationers in Dulwich Village, by a woman who was
sorting out her father’s possessions after he had died
and came upon the collection.
NEW MEMBERS
A very warm welcome to our most recent new
members: Alan Edmunds, Mr. & Mrs. Patrick
Roberts, Ann Smith, Geoff Worley; and to Life
Members Sally McManus and Dr. Sam Rodgers.
We are sad to announce the recent death of Life
Member Mrs Valerie Chandler, after a long illness.
CK
BROCKWELL PARK BOMB
She knew Brian as a local historian and so thought he
might be interested. She assured Brian the bomb was
not live. However, after a few days with it in his
shop, Brian decided he had better make absolutely
sure and rang the police to make enquiries. He was
surprised by the reaction this call triggered, as the
bomb squad arrived, roads were closed, shops were
evacuated and for several hours Dulwich Village was
very quiet. The bomb was removed and made safe
and the village returned to normal.
SN
11
RECASTING CRYSTAL PALACE
an illustrated talk by John Greatrex
A talk on our own local landmark site was always
going to be popular, and John's guided tour through
the history of the Crystal Palace, lavishly
illustrated, was a winner.
The great structure erected in Hyde Park was only
ever scheduled to stand for six months, the
question was, “what then?”. A site was chosen on
the top of Sydenham Hill in South London, and
work began on dismantling the great structure.
900,000 square feet of glass was sent back to
Chance Brothers of Birmingham to be melted and
recast. The acres of blinds and curtains which had
prevented the visitors from frying had to be rolled
and stored, and the 100,000 exhibits went to
museums.
Paxton redesigned the new Crystal Palace to be
half as big again as the old building. The
relocation to Sydenham cost £1,300,000 (the
original cost £150,000) and the cost was never
recovered.
The iron framework was moved by Pickford’s,
using horse teams, which had to be doubled to get
Two years later, Queen Victoria again attended the
opening ceremony.
The Palace was never the huge success expected,
partly because the rules of the Lord's Day
Observance Society prevented it from opening on
Sundays, which was the only day off for most
working people, at least until the law was changed
in 1861.
1901 saw the last major function and the Palace
began to fall into disrepair. During WWl it was
used as a naval training establishment, and then
became the first Imperial War Museum. In the
1930's restoration was begun, but catastrophe
struck in 1936 when the Great Fire razed the
building almost to the ground. After the two huge
water towers were removed in WW2 lest they
guide German bombers, and the upper station was
closed, virtually nothing remained except the lower
station, now part of Crystal Palace Station.
This is where John Greatrex and the Crystal Palace
Museum came in. It was found that in fact, one
corner of the iron structure had survived, though it
was badly corroded and in poor condition. The
Crystal Palace Corner Project was born! The metal
columns were recast in Wolverhampton and, with
the help of The Black Country Living Museum and
the loan of their narrow boat, brought down the
Grand Union Canal to the South Bank Marina in
London. Also on the narrow boat were 200 sacks
of coal. There were some misgivings as to how the
boat would fare on the Thames, but all was well.
The columns were laid out in their original
positions in Hyde Park, to be filmed by the BBC
with Adam Hart-Davis.
The next stage of the journey in 2005 to Belair in
Dulwich was achieved by "Carters Steam Fair"
who donated the use of their trailer. The final haul
to the Crystal Palace site was by courtesy of
Laughton's Haulage. After two years of waiting,
the columns had to be scraped free of rust, and
painted by volunteers. The original foundations
were found to be covered by bomb-damage rubble,
so new foundations• of concrete were put in, and
holes drilled for the bolts, all with the help of the
Crystal Palace Foundation.
the wagons up the local hills. Horse troughs
proliferated along the route. Two railway stations
were built and two huge water towers to supply the
fountains and waterways planned for the Park.
12
The great day arrived for the columns to be erected,
in the company of various local dignitaries, and
children from Paxton's School, who touchingly,
brought posies to lay at the site. The standing
corner is 22 feet tall, only one sixth of the original,
but imposing enough to remind us of past glories.
The spirit of Joseph Paxton surely lingers
thereabouts, smiling.
DC
OTHER SOCIETIES’ EVENTS
Continuing to 31 May
Dulwich Picture Gallery:
‘Sickert in Venice’ Last chance to see this splendid
exhibition.
Friday 8 – Sunday 17 May
Dulwich Festival:
Walks, talks, theatre, music and comedy.
www.dulwichfestival.co.uk
Sunday 10 May at 10:00am
Friends of Brockwell Park:
Five Parks Walk. Meet at Brockwell Hall.
Tuesday 12 May at 7:30pm
Southwark and Lambeth Archaeological Society:
“The Elephant Entertains”
by Richard Norman, Historian
at Co-op Hall, 106 The Cut, Waterloo SE1.
Refreshments 7:00. £1.00 donation.
Thursday 14 May at 7:30 for 8:00pm
Dulwich Decorative and Fine Arts Society:
“Four Women Artists: Artemisa Gentileschi, Rosalba
Carriera, Angelica Kauffman & Berte Morrisot” by
Pamela Halford, at James Allen Girls School. £7,
students £1.
Saturday 16 May at 11:00 – 5:00pm
The Friends of Nunhead Cemetery:
Open Day. Local societies’ stalls, guided tours,
refreshments.
and other activities.
Refreshments and storytelling.
at Reading & Wildlife Garden, Carnegie Library, 188
Herne Hill Road.
Tuesday 9 June at 6:45 for 7:00pm
Southwark and Lambeth Archaeological Society:
Evening Walk in Greenwich led by Richard Buchanan.
Meet Maze Hill Station.
Thursday 11 June at 7:30 for 8:00pm
Dulwich Decorative and Fine Arts Society:
“The Turner Prize – its History & Controversies” by Barry
Venning. Venue as 14 May.
Saturday 20 June at 1:00pm
Friends of Ruskin Park:
Summer Fair. Stalls, music, fun, food and fresh air.
Thursday 25 June at 6:00 – 8:00pm
South London Botanical Institute:
Open Evening. Details as 31 May.
Saturday & Sunday 18-19 July
Lambeth Country Show:
Local societies & charities stalls, music, food, displays
and funfair.
Monday 7 September at 8:00pm
Streatham Society:
“Dr Johnson and the Thrales” by Stephanie Pickford,
curator of the Johnson Museum.
at “Woodlawns”, 16 Leigham Court Road SW16
Monday 18 May at 8:00pm
Streatham Society:
“Ernest George, Streatham’s Gentleman Architect”
by Brian Bloice
at “Woodlawns”, 16 Leigham Court Road SW16.
Thursday 21 May at 6:00 – 8:00pm
South London Botanical Institute:
Open Evening. Visit the garden with a glass of wine.
Free admission.
at 323 Norwood Road SE24.
Sunday 31 May at 2:00pm
Friends of Brockwell Park:
17th Annual Tree Celebration. Meet at the Clock Tower.
Saturday 6 June at 10:30 for 11:00am
British Association for Local History (BALF):
“Almshouses” by Prof Nigel Goose. Open forum, “Local
History & the Media”
at Friends Meeting House, Euston Road NW1.
As HHS is an affiliate of BALF, our members may join
this and other visits at member rates. See
www.balh.co.uk for details.
Saturday 6 June at 11:00 - 4:00pm
Friends of Carnegie Library:
Spring Watch Saturday. Join in making a bog garden
13
ASHWELL'S PATENT
TOILET LOCK
Since publishing “Herne Hill Personalities –
biographies of 146 people who lived in Herne Hill”,
we keep coming across people who would have well
deserved inclusion in our book, if only we had known
about them at the time. The two latest discoveries are
Arthur Ashwell, the inventor of ‘Ashwell’s Patent
Toilet Lock’, and Chester Cross who worked with
Arthur to improve the device.
Arthur Ashwell, a ‘Gentleman’, lived at ‘Fairfield’,
Thurlow Park Road, SE24, next door to West
Dulwich Station. A man of some means, his income
came from investments and from property. The story
goes that Arthur was on a train from Herne Hill to
Waterloo when he was inspired to conceive a solution
to the problem of how to determine whether or not a
toilet was occupied without going through the
embarrassing process of trying the door only to find it
locked. His solution was a sliding door bolt that
operated, through a cog and a spindle, a metal disc
that rotated to show the word ‘vacant’ and, when the
door was locked, ‘engaged’. His patent for the
invention was filed on 17th February 1882.
The invention must have made both men’s fortunes.
A few years later, Arthur had moved to a large
property in Feltham and Chester Cross had been able
to give up the druggist profession and lived, still in
Shakespeare Road, on the income as Proprietor of the
patent for “Ashwell’s Door Indicator Fastener”.
With grateful thanks to Steve van Dulken of the
British Library for providing information on Ashwell,
Cross and their patent.
JB
HERNE HILL’S
NATWEST BRANCH
Helped by his friend Chester Cross, a ‘druggist’ of 61
Shakespeare Road, Arthur worked to improve his
device. In 1885 he brought out a second patent,
simplifying the construction and making it “less liable
to breakage from rough usage”.
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COMPOSTS
Multipurpose, John Innes, Ericaceous, Organic,
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GIFTS
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Free local delivery
Free parking outside North Dulwich Station
14
The London County and Westminster
Bank in 1909
In November 1897, the London and Westminster
Bank completed the purchase of the site at the corner
of Herne Hill and Milkwood Road, for £1,950.
Tenders for the building work were obtained; and the
job was awarded to the builders Holliday and
Greenwood. The total construction cost was £8,097:
for the bank and the Manager’s residence (£4,537)
and for the two shops and three flats (£3,550).
Unfortunately a plasterers’ strike held up work. This
meant that the bank didn’t open for business until 12th
December 1898, a month after the scheduled date.
continued on Page 15
NatWest from Page 14 Mr. J. B. Anderson, a 1st
Class Paying Cashier at the Bank’s City Office, was
appointed Manager of the Herne Hill Branch, but
only at his current salary of £400 a year. He was also
required to provide Security of £3,000. Mr. Beck, a
4th Class Passbook Keeper at the Mincing Lane
Branch, was appointed 3rd Class Ledger Keeper at
the Herne Hill Branch. Three Tellers were also
employed.
In 1909, the London and Westminster Bank merged
with the London and County Banking Company to
form the London County and Westminster Bank.
This merged with Parr's Bank in 1918 to form the
London County Westminster and Parr's Bank. In
1923 the name was shortened to Westminster Bank
Limited.
In 1968 the Westminster Bank and the National
Provincial Bank, along with National Provincial's
subsidiary the District Bank, announced their
intention to merge. The operations of all three banks
were combined over the following 18 months and
they began to trade as the National Westminster Bank
from 1st January 1970.
The Herne Hill branch was closed on 12th November
1993 and the business transferred to the bank’s West
Norwood and Tulse Hill branch. This was the start of
the rot. NatWest’s closure was followed by that of
the Woolwich Building Society, by Barclays in 1998,
then last year by Lloyds, leaving Herne Hill a totally
bank-free zone. However, the attractive building does
now form part of the small Conservation Area that,
following a proposal from the Society, Lambeth
established in 2008.
Based on information kindly provided by NatWest
Group Archives.
JB
SUMMER AT THE
DULWICH PICTURE GALLERY
This summer, Dulwich Picture Gallery highlights
European and Asian works in two concurrent
exhibitions. ‘The Polish Connection’, opening 2
June, brings a contemporary twist to the gallery’s
historic links with that country. It was the paintings
purchased on behalf of King Stanislaw Augustus for
his proposed Polish national collection which formed
the basis of Dulwich Picture Gallery after the king
was forced to abdicate. This new show will juxtapose
portraits of the king on loan from Warsaw with an
installation by London-based Polish artist Antoni
Malinowski.
‘Utagawa Hiroshige: Japanese prints from the
Honolulu Academy of Arts’ opens 8 July.
Hiroshige’s woodblock prints of 100 Famous Views
of Edo [Tokyo] and his other Japanese landscapes
influenced such Western painters as Van Gogh and
Whistler and are much loved internationally.
Both shows continue to 27 September; they will be
reviewed in the next issue of this Newsletter.
Dulwich Picture Gallery is open Tuesday – Friday
10am-5pm; weekends & Bank Holiday Mondays
11am-5pm. Late opening 6:30-10pm the third
Thursday of the month. Gallery and Exhibition £9;
Seniors £8; Conc. £5; Friends and children free.
JD
15
EDUCATING ETHEL:
the story of education for girls in Lambeth
by Anne Ward
Anne Ward of Lambeth Archives gave us an
illuminating talk on the development of primary
and secondary education for girls in the 19th and
20th centuries.
Streatham Hill Girls School c.1905
Middle class children were educated separately.
Boys went to boarding or grammar schools, and
took examinations leading to a career in politics,
work, laundry, cooking, sewing and cleaning. The
Lambeth Ragged School provided for the very
poorest. Reading was taught so that the poor
"should know their Bible and their place". Some
children received no education at all. It was not
made compulsory until 1870, and was not free until
1907.
In Cheltenham in 1850 a revolution
began. Dorothy Beal, the headmistress
of Cheltenham Ladies College
introduced a curriculum for her girls,
similar to that of boys, of academic
subjects leading to examinations and
qualifications. By 1880, the Streatham
Girl's High School was teaching
mathematics, algebra, English, history,
Latin and Greek. Miss Amy LeFoy the
headmistress sent pupils to Cheltenham
to train as teachers. Sport was now an
established subject, and we had
photographs of girls playing tennis in
1910, and hockey in 1920, with rather
shorter hair and skirts. The Streatham
Hill High School was known for its library, and
boasted a laboratory for teaching chemistry.
Meanwhile, efforts were being made to improve
the lot of the poor. At Norwood
Industrial School girls were taught to
use sewing machines as part of their
domestic training. Various other
schools arose, among them the Dames'
School and Belmont House School, run
by charities, then the National Schools.
Pictures from 1907 showed children
from Stockwell Orphanage having
drill, swimming, games, singing,
writing and laundry.
Scholarships became more widely
available, though mostly taken up by
middle class children. St. Martin in
the Fields and Charles Edward Brooke
Schools took both fee-paying and
scholarship pupils, while Brixton
Stockwell Girls Domestic Science Class 1929
Central School offered both academic
and secretarial training. The standard
law, the Church, or perhaps the civil service. Girls
was
very
high,
and many girls went into the Civil
were mostly taught at home by a governess.
Service.
Academic subjects were not included, as education
was deemed dangerous for women, and apt to
After WW2, there was a drive to get women back
cause brain fever and barrenness. Girls learnt to
into the home. Nurseries were closed down, and
play the piano, speak a little French, to sing and to
women were discouraged from working, or
paint in watercolours, and similar
pursuing further education. How fortunate that the
accomplishments.
climate of opinion changed, as economic
conditions improved.
Working class girls, if any education was received
DC
at all, were trained for their station in life: domestic
16
OBITUARY, STEVE WYSOM
Steve and Sue have been members of the Herne Hill
Society since coming to live here and Sue has been
involved with the Friends of Carnegie Library since it
was formed.
Sadly, Steve died suddenly in January. Several
members represented the Society at his funeral.
READERS AND WRITERS
Journalist and broadcaster Amanda Craig comes to
the Carnegie Library on Monday 18 May to discuss
her latest book, Hearts and Minds. Her fourth novel
centres on five seemingly very different people who
find their lives in London connected in undreamed-of
ways. This free event begins at 6.45pm.
Steve was born in Kingston-on-Thames in 1956. He
met Sue Madden, his partner for twenty five years, at
the Antiquarian market in Kings Road where Sue had
an antique textiles stall and Steve was managing an
antique clothing stall. During this time Steve took a
gardening course which led him to setting up his own
gardening business in Peckham Rye and then in
Herne Hill where he and Sue came to live in 1998.
The Carnegie evening is one of fifteen organised by
Lambeth Libraries for the Readers and Writers
Festival 2009. The programme, which runs from 529 May, features talks and discussions with a wide
range of authors, both new and established. Comic
and serious novels, history, poetry and graphics all
get an airing; film, music and creative writing events
are also included.
Pick up a festival brochure from the library for full
details and information about the initiative to make
“every Lambeth home a reading home”.
JD
17
ASTRONOMERS AND ODDITIES:
The Royal Astronomical Society
and its Library
a talk by Peter Hingley
Peter is the Librarian of the Royal Astronomical
Society (RAS), and began by announcing that
normally his talks were given to groups of amateur
astronomers, which made us feel slightly nervous.
He also declared it impossible to cram 500 years of
history into 45 minutes, but in the event, he had
jolly good try. Facts and figures, illustrations,
anecdotes and witty asides flew from him like
sparks. Pity the chronicler, whose pen seemed
likely to set fire to the notepaper.
The Society received "Grace and Favour"
accommodation at this time in Somerset House.
The government of the day rather coveted this
space, and offered them a place in South
Kensington. This was indignantly refused by the
Society, who described it as "exile to a distant
suburb". In 1874 they were offered Burlington
House, in Piccadilly, (newly refurbished in a style
described by Pevsner as "high Victorian cruelty").
This has since housed the Society and its Library,
with its collection of books and manuscripts, maps,
archives and relics are kept.
Sir William Herschel was the first President of the
Society. His first career had been as a musician,
and came from Germany to take up a position as
bandleader. His passion was astronomy and the
building of telescopes, aided by his sister Caroline.
He was a skilled observer and cataloguer, and
discovered the planet Uranus in 1781. Bigger and
better telescopes were needed, culminating in a
monster 40 feet in length (12 metres) with a mirror
49 in. (124cm.) wide, built in 1789, and resembling
something glowering outside the War Museum.
The great and famous flocked to see the giant
device, including the composer Haydn. His view of
the heavens is thought to have inspired "The
Creation". This telescope was taken to the Cape of
Good Hope by Herschel's son John, but a smaller
version is still owned by the family.
Here we had a whirlwind run through the history of
the telescope, beginning with simple lenses from
before recorded history, through Ptolemy and
Copernicus, Egypt and China, arriving in the
Netherlands, where in 1606, a group of spectacle
makers is credited with the invention of the first
Sir William Herschel
The Society was founded in 1820 by half a dozen
astronomers, some professional, some amateur.
They met in The Freemason's Tavern in Lincolns
Inn Fields. Their aim was to support astronomical
research, which until then had been mostly in the
hands of gentleman amateurs. The first Council
meeting was planned, with the Duke of Somerset
as President. The Duke happened to be a great
friend of Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal
Society. Banks was bitterly opposed to the new
Society, and the Duke withdrew his support on the
morning before the grand opening. Nevertheless,
the Society prospered, and in 1831 was granted a
Royal Charter by George the Fourth. The Society
was opened to women in 1915 and has achieved a
woman President. The RAS requires no formal
qualifications from its members, styled Fellows,
though 75% are professional astronomers. The
granting of the Charter mysteriously caused a huge
row, with at least one member walking out in a rage.
18
Herschel's 40-foot telescope
telescope. News reached Galileo in Italy who then
invented his own, greatly improving the design.
Progress was fast now, and great names peppered
the talk - Johannes Kepler and Hans Lippershey
were building telescopes in Germany, while in
England Sir Isaac Newton made the first practical
reflection telescope in 1668, and so on to Herschel
again. Moving on at speed to modern times, we
found Sir William Pearson inventing the orrery, Sir
Arthur Eddington, Sir Harold Jeffries, and many
more, arriving at Einstein and his work. We glided
over radio astronomy, gamma rays, X-rays, and
ultraviolet telescopes. We dwelt awhile on eclipses,
astrophotography and observatories.
There were many observatories built locally,
notably on Clapham Common, where stood a 48
inch refracting-Iensed Leviathan. On Denmark
Hill, Sir Henry Bessemer owned a 15 inch
reflecting telescope in his observatory. There was
also one at West Norwood, though sadly no
pictures remain. We did see some amazing
photographs of nebulae and planets, volcanoes
exploding and spectacular eclipses, and also some
of the priceless engravings owned by the Society,
rare, amusing and occasionally risqué.
All this and a great deal more we enjoyed, and still
there was time for questions. It was a splendid
evening and a privilege to hear such a distinguished
speaker.
DC
FROM THE ARCHIVES
Herne Hill Youth Sent For Trial
At Bow-street on Monday, John Albert
Cockersley, 21, of Guernsey-grove, Herne
hill, was charged on remand before Sir A.
de Rutzen with forging and uttering
requests for repayment of income tax on
dividends with intent to defraud the
Commissioners of the Inland Revenue.
He had been employed as boy clerk in the
Income Tax Repayment Department at
Somerset House, and - it was alleged – he
had obtained the names of people who
were entitled to refund of the income tax
but who were not likely to claim it and
had, in their names sent requests for
refund, giving addresses which turned out
to be those of shops in South London. He
was said to have obtained nearly £200 in
four months in this manner.
Various witnesses, whose names had been
forged, gave evidence and the prisoner
was committed for trial.
From the Brixton and Lambeth Gazette,
January 1911
19
Copy deadline for the Autumn
issue is Friday 17th July 2009.
Opinions expressed in this Newsletter are
those of the authors, and not necessarily
those of the Editors or the Herne Hill Society
Committee.
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following rates:
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Either you can provide your own artwork
or we can help with typesetting, free of
charge, and include your logo.
Please contact: Brenda Jones
020 7771- 1409
THE HERNE HILL SOCIETY
Committee 2009 - 2010
President
Chair
Bill Kirby
020 7274 0532
Sheila Northover
020 7274 2638
Email: [email protected]
Vice Chair
John Brunton
020 8678 1757
Email: [email protected]
Secretary
Jeff Doorn
020 7274 7008
Email: [email protected]
Treasurer
Rosalind Glover
020 8678 1757
Email: [email protected]
Committee
Nick Baker
[email protected]
Diana Chadney
020 7274 7210
Email: [email protected]
Robert Holden
020 8674 5101
Email: [email protected]
Brenda Jones
020 7771 1409
Membership Sec. Caroline Knapp
020 7274 2443
Email: [email protected]
Laurence Marsh
020 7737 0568
Email: [email protected]
David Taylor 020 7733 5031
Email: [email protected]
Colin Wight
020 7733 2573
Email: [email protected]
(co-opted)
John Smallwood
020 7401 3561
Mobile:
07956 468 466
Email:[email protected]
Editorial Address and Membership subscriptions:
Herne Hill Society, PO Box 27845, LONDON SE24 9XA
Website address: www.hernehillsociety.org.uk
20
ENVIRONMENTAL
PHONE NOS.
Lambeth Streetscene (cleansing, rubbish
removal, pot holes, abandoned vehicles,
graffiti removal etc.)
Phone number:
020 7926 9000
Southwark Streetscene (equivalent):
Phone number:
020 7525 2000
YOUR COUNCILLORS
Herne Hill Ward, Lambeth:
Jim Dickson (Lab.) [email protected] (07932
792 435)
Kirsty McHugh (Lab.) [email protected]
(020 7924 9038)
Becca Thackray (Green)
[email protected] (07946 219394)
c/o Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton Hill, SW2 1RW.
Thurlow Park Ward, Lambeth:
Irene Kimm (Con.) [email protected]
(020 7926 2149)
Clare Whelan (Con.) [email protected] (020
7926 2149)
John Whelan (Con.) [email protected]
(020 7926 2149)
c/o Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton Hill, SW2 1RW.
Village Ward, Southwark:
Robin Crookshank Hilton (Con.)
[email protected]
(020 8613 6046)
Toby Eckersley (Con.)
[email protected]
(020 7701 3112)
Nick Vineall (Con.) [email protected]
(020 7358 3524)
c/o Town Hall, Peckham Road, London SE5 8UB
Your GLA Member
Valerie Shawcross AM (Lab.)
[email protected]
(020 7983 4407)
GLA, City Hall, The Queen's Walk, London SE1 2AA
Your MP
Tessa Jowell MP (Lab.) [email protected] (020
8333 1372)
House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA