Sydenham Town Forum

Fairly certain he does - he gave a talk at the Kirkdale Bookshop last July during their Book Week.

Shena Mackay lived until recently in Upper Norwood and the novel that Rachel Cooke, in the Observer profile mentions - Dunedin - has passages set in Upper and West Norwood; it also, I'm pretty sure, features a large, rambling house on Beaulah Hill called St Valery. Other contenders for the Bard of S...

We reckon we had around 40 kids visiting on Friday night - all very cute, mostly in groups with mums and dads hovering. But whatever happened to Penny for the Guy?

I've just come back from the high street where I caught the end of the Trick and Treat judging - all looked fantastic, and apparently there were 150 children taking part! Thanks to all the organisers!

The age group is very varied - because of Strictly Come Dancing! There are teenagers and early 20s, but they are usually couples, otherwise it is the whole range. The singles usually are in the 30-50 age group. Most classes average between 20 and 30 people, as you cannot teach effectively above that...

Welcome back Greg! The 'gingerbread' style villas that fringe Crystal Palace Park were designed by John Norton, the architect who re-modelled Tyntesfield (in Somerset) creating the Gothic Revival extravaganza that has been magnificently restored by the National Trust. The villas were built to help f...

If you follow this link: http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/CouncilAndDemocracy/HavingYourSay/RedevelopmentOfForestHillPools/ you will be able to see the 3 options which have been worked up by Lewisham for the redevelopment of Forest Hill Pools. All 3 involve the demolition of Louise House and the existing ...

Lee, a photographic 'shopfront survey' was done in about 1988 - I think the pictures are now in the Lewisham archive. I'll try and find out!

Ian Plowright, the project manager for the improvement scheme for Sydenham Rd, has given presentations to the Sydenham Road Community Partnership meetings (the forerunner of the Sydenham Assembly) at which he has talked about working on a bid to Transport for London for funds for an improvement sche...

Sainsbury's are applying for planning permission for unrestricted trading at Bell Green. The application on the Lewisham website can be viewed at: http://tinyurl.com/5au7vt The accompanying noise survey concludes that the levels of noise in surrounding residential streets will be 'good' if people ke...

There is a very interesting discussion about all of this on SE23.com at this link: http://www.se23.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=539&pid=6291#pid6291 (apologies to Admin for sending posters to the rival site, but we are all in this together!). Arguments for Modernism are currently being aired wit...

Following on from Rodney, for those who have never seen the tiled room of the Greyhound there are pictures and the history of the pub at this link: www.sydenhamsociety.com/W07-Greyhound%20campaign.html Thanks Simono for keeping an eye on the place - Mr Gerrard, when are you going to sort out the sec...

An application to convert 53 Peak Hill into a hostel was lodged around two years ago and turned down. Planning permission has subsequently been granted to turn the house into three flats - you can view this planning application (and all others in Lewisham) at this link: http://tinyurl.com/yudd5l For...

The Guardian article is here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008 ... 007.retail

The next AGM of the Thorpes Residents Association will take place at the Golden Lion on Tuesday January 22nd at 8pm. The meeting is open to everyone who lives in the Thorpes and will be a chance for people to meet their neighbours. A newsletter will be circulated to Thorpes residents before the meet...

Talking of the Greyhound, would it be possible to move the fab picture Sean has posted in Town Museum to this thread? I've never seen it before (I'm sure it's new to most of us!) and it shows how the Greyhound looked around a century ago. I particularly like the elegant conservatory at the side!

Hi Poppy - no it isn't unfortunately. Some years ago the Sydenham Society included Girton Rd in a proposal for a new conservation area but Lewisham restricted the area they designated to the Thorpes - and the Thorpes CA was susbsequently extended in September to include the Victorian terraces on the...

Unfortunately it isn't listed - which is a shame as it's a lovely 30s building. We went there today and the owners have created a calm, contemporary interior with good service and food. It's sparklingly clean with lots of newspapers to read.

I don't think the comments above are funny or useful - they go far beyond fair comment about businesses and their owners. Posting pictures and making offensive comments about individual shop-owners amount to a personal campaign against individuals.

Hi Coll - renovation and draught-proofing of sash windows has to be a more eco-friendly solution than installation of new ones (the embodied energy contained in the production of new windows has to be borne in mind). Draught Busters, who are based in Malham Road, Forest Hill, are excellent - they do...