The Peckham Society News Lead Stories - 2008 All of these stories and much more can be read in The Peckham Society News, the quarterly magazine of The Peckham Society. This is sent to members every spring, summer, autumn and winter. Back issues, where available, are available for £2.00 plus p&p. Good News!! Peckham Rye Station has been listed! - Spring 2008 English Heritage lists Peckham Rye Station Peckham Rye Station was built at the junction of two lines: the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) and the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) in 1864–6. The station was built for the former and is in the house style of stock brick construction and inspired by the architecture of the Italian and French Renaissances used at other stations such as Denmark Hill and Battersea Park. Charles Henry Driver (1832-1900) was the architect of these stations and collaborated with the famous engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette on London’s sewage system and Victorian embankment. Membership hits new record - Spring 2008 Our membership has reached 768 for the first time since our society was launched in 1975. Membership Prices also rose on 1 April 2008 to cover steep increases in postage costs - Single £5.00 per year, Joint/Family £8.00 and overseas £15.00 - send a cheque to 71 Montpelier Rd, Peckham SE15 2HD made out The Peckham Society Rename Highshore Open Space - Spring 2008 OAt the junction of Highshore Road, Elm Grove and Bellenden Road is an attractive public garden which has the uninspiring name of Highshore Open Space. Our society would like to persuade Southwark Council to give it a new name. Please send your suggestions to our editor. The name Elm Shrubbery has already been submitted. Livesey Museum closes - Spring 2008 Our society deplores the decision made by Southwark Council to close Livesey Museum. It originally opened as a library on 18 October 1890 and was a gift from George Livesey, chairman of the South Metropolitan Gas Company, to Camberwell Vestry which ran local affairs until Camberwell Borough Council began its work in 1900. The library was replaced by North Peckham Library in 1966. The Victorian building was reopened as the Livesey Museum by the poet Sir John Betjeman on 30 March 1974. What will now happen to the statue of George Livesey and other historical items which are exhibited in the courtyard? Edison Bell Made Gramophones in Peckham - Spring 2008 Derek Kinrade writes: - I was shocked to read the small notice in Peckham Society News (Winter 2006/7) seeking information about the former Edison Bell works in Glengall Road. Having been a record collector for some sixty years, I have long been familiar with the Edison Bell label and its offshoots, but had never made the connection with Peckham. I went post haste to V.K.Chew’s Talking Machines (which I last read before moving to Peckham) and found there, as obvious as the Gherkin on the City skyline, the fact that the Edison Bell factory was established in Peckham in 1903. Read more in the magazine........ Keep Smiling Through: Black Londoners on the Home Front 1939 – 1945 - Spring 2008 A new exhibition, researched by Peckham Society member Stephen Bourne, will open at the Cuming Museum at 155-157 Walworth Road SE17 on 1 April. Keep Smiling Through will celebrate the lives of many black Londoners, including Stephen's Aunt Esther, who supported the war effort on the Home Front. The Peckham community leader Dr Harold Moody will be prominently featured, as well as the singer Adelaide Hall, bandleader Ken “Snakehips” Johnson (who was killed in the Blitz), and the Nigerian air raid warden E. I. Ekpenyon. Art and History Combine - Spring 2008 This summer will see a major art exhibition on the history of Peckham from the 18th century. The exhibition, titled “Life in Peckham,” will take place on 14 July at Area 10 in Peckham Square and will feature four artists: Amanda Egbe, Vik, Heather Martin and Ted Litchfield. The work created will follow an education programme and residencies in Peckham’s two secondary schools, the Harris Academy at Peckham and St Thomas the Apostle College. The Peckham Society will be participating in this education programme to provide insight and inspiration in research conducted by students. The exhibition will coincide with the “I Love Peckham Festival” from 14 to 20 July. It is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and organised by local arts charity Arts Express. For more information please contact Damion Viney (? 020 7635 6709). Road for Bicycles could be Threat to Peckham Rye Common - Winter 2007/8 Plans have been drawn up for a road for bicycles to be built on the east side of Peckham Rye Common. This would destroy a long wide strip of Metropolitan Open Land. The aim is to create a safe route for pupils to reach Harris Girls’Academy East Dulwich from East Dulwich Road and to encourage more of the pupils to cycle to that school. That is a laudable aim but it has the potential to put more pupils at risk as they would have to use ordinary roads before reaching Peckham Rye Common. Pioneer Health Centre Publicised in National Media - Winter 2007/8 "Ministers seeking inspiration should talk to Pam about pre-war Peckham" was the eye-catching title of an article in The Guardian on 31 October 2007. Journalist Jonathan Freedland wrote about his experience of being taken around the former Peckham Pioneer Health Centre by Pam Elven. She is one of our members who attended the Centre and who has devoted much of her life to promoting its importance. Unfortunately the centre closed in 1950 because it was not absorbed into the National Health Service......... Retain former Friern School building - Winter 2007/8 Our society supports the campaign to incorporate the former Friern School in the new Harris Boys’ Academy to be built on the site opposite Peckham Rye Park. It used to be Waverley Lower School. Friern School was opened in 1896 and designed by T.J. Bailey a noted British architect who led the London School Board architects’ department in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This school, is, by any standard, one of the finest Victorian buildings in this part of Southwark. It is an example of the Queen Anne Style, a very English mixture of Renaissance and vernacular elements representing progressive thinking about architecture in the second half of the nineteenth century. This and other buildings by Bailey also display inventive techniques in environmental design, maximising daylight and fresh air with generous operable windows and ingenious natural ventilation systems. This school is made of high quality "red rubber" and hand-cut bricks with Portland stone decorative detailing, set against a complimentary field of London stock bricks. ......... Will Peckham trams go to St Pancras? - Winter 2007/8 The Queen opened the new international station at St Pancras on 6 November 2007. There were plans for trams to run there from Peckham but there is now a possibility that trams may go no further than Waterloo or Aldwych. Would trams to serve only those destinations be worth the cost and disruption? Please send your views to our editor. 6 Everthorpe Road, London SE15 4DA Mosque celebrates Peace Week - Winter 2007/8 The Peckham Islamic Centre in Choumert Grove welcomed non-Muslims to an open afternoon on 10 September 2007. Among the guests were the Mayor of Southwark and the editor of our magazine. One of the senior officials was given a copy of Peckham Society News which he held as he made his speech. The event provided a welcome opportunity to meet more Muslims and to learn more about Islam which regards all humanity as one family. News to follow in Summer 2008 issue Chadwick Road House Threatened with Demolition- Autumn 2007 The 19th century house in Chadwick Road previously occupied by Thomas Coggin is threatened with demolition. An application to build a four-storey block of eight flats on the site was made to Southwark Council. Though this was subsequently withdrawn, the developers are expected to present revised plans to the Council. Local residents who are concerned to preserve the present detached house are requested to contact our editor. New!! Have your say on the future of Queens Road (Wood Dene) from blog of Cllr Fiona Colley - Labour councillor for Nunhead & East Peckham 02 November 2007 "A number of readers have asked me what's going to replace the now demolished Wood dene blocks on Queens Road. And now I have an answer (of sorts). The council is holding a consultation event/exhibition to allow members of the public to have their say on redevelopment options." Location Bells Gardens Community Hall, 19 Bullier Close, SE15 Opening hours Friday 30 Nov 2pm - 8pm Saturday 1 Dec 11am - 4pm Labels: Queens Road Magazine Wins National Prize- Summer 2007 Our editor travelled to Harrogate in his native Yorkshire on 3 May to receive a prize of £100 for our society. This was the reward for Peckham Society News being the runner-up in a national competition run by The David St John Thomas Charitable Trust in association with Writers' News. The first prize was won by Valley News a community magazine produced in Whitby, North Yorkshire. This attractive publication reproduces full colour photographs. The photographs in Peckham Society News are reproduced in black and white to reduce costs. Our editor sees the full colour version of our magazine and is well aware how much more attractive it would be for our readers to see colour photographs. However, the extra cost would be prohibitive. The lively and enjoyable prize giving ceremony in Harrogate was held in the appropriately named Majestic Hotel. TELEVISION CREW FILMS ON PECKHAM RYE - Winter 2006/7 DISAPPEARING LONDON produced by Wavelength Films - Peckham Rye prisoner of war huts Shown on ITV on Tuesday 9 January at 7.30 p.m. On 21 September 2006 a film unit came to Peckham Rye Common to film the former prisoner of war huts and interview an expert from English Heritage, Roger Thomas, and myself as a representative from the Peckham Society. This television series is associated with buildings or open spaces which are threatened with demolition and/or development. The researchers found out about the POW huts from the Greater London Industrial Archaeological Society (GLIAS) website. DEMOLITION THREATENED - Winter 2006/7 Peckham Lodge, formerly the headquarters of the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers, is under threat of demolition. The Amalgamated Society of Engineers, as the union was called when it was formed in 1851, bought land at the corner of Lyndhurst Road (now Way) and Peckham Road for £3,500 in 1899. The union’s branches provided £30,000 to pay for the land and a new building. The Executive Council held its first meeting in Peckham on 1 October 1900. Plans dated 1914 show that there were originally three buildings along Peckham Road between Lyndhurst Road and Grummant Road. In 1916 they were joined together. The Amalgamated Society of Engineers’ symbol, the slogan “Be United And Industrious”, 1851 and 1916 are carved above the doorway on the west side of the building. Apart from a six year confinement at Pitsford Hall, Northampton, during the Second World War when bombers blew the roof off the Peckham headquarters, the premises remained for nearly ninety years the general office of what became the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union. A new administrative block was built in 1961 and the Executive Council block ten years later. Sir John Boyd, who was General Secretary of the AUEW, wrote: “I always insisted that we make our large front garden as beautiful as possible for those who passed by to gaze upon – an oasis in a concrete jungle”. In 1912 a small chapel was at the Grummant Road side of what became the union’s garden. The union left Peckham in 1996 and is now part of Amicus. The former front door of the Peckham building is now in the General Secretary’s office in King Street, Covent Garden. From: Southwark Revisited SOCIETY INVITED TO MUSLIM EVENT- Winter 2006/7 IOur Society welcomed an invitation to be represented at an event in Dulwich Library organised by the Southwark Muslim Forum on 18 October 2006. The theme of the "Annual Iftar Gathering" was "Celebrating Community Cohesion in Southwark". Among the guests who made speeches were Malcolm Tillyer (Borough Commander), Annie Shepperd (Chief Executive, London Borough of Southwark) and Councillor Nick Stanton (Leader of Southwark Council). The meal following the speeches broke the fast during Ramadan (the ninth month of the Muslim year, during which strict fasting is observed from sunrise to sunset). Our editor represented our Society at this lively and enjoyable event. He welcomed the opportunity it provided for networking. The gathering increased people's awareness of the Peckham Society and boosted our membership. Our editor enjoyed the social occasion so much that he did not go home until most people had left! NOVEL LAUNCHED IN BELLENDEN ROAD BOOKSHOP - Winter 2006/7 IVery few celebrities have come to Peckham in recent times, if we except Tony Blair and Gordon Brown photographed on 5 December 2005 striding purposefully down Blenheim Grove, with a clutch of assorted minders in background attendance. It’s therefore good to report the visit of Emma Darwin to launch her novel The Mathematics of Love at the Review bookshop in Bellenden Road on 26 July 2006 in a series entitled “Meet the Author”. Hats off, first of all, to Review, which has given the neighbourhood a cultural lift and provides a fascinating range of reading and accessories that make a refreshing antidote to the popular predictability of WHSmith. Emma Darwin, who lives locally though not in Peckham, could hardly have more impressive antecedents. Her family tree boasts not only her great-great-grandparents Charles Darwin and his wife Emma Wedgwood, but a great grandfather, Sir Charles Galton Darwin, himself a relative of the famous eugenicist Francis Galton, the founder of biometrics, who coined the term “eugenics” in 1883. However, Emma is her own person and in her debut novel she has produced intriguing and skilful literary filigree exploring the realities of desire and love. It may be objected that she succeeds in demonstrating that love is anything but mathematical, but one of the great merits of the novel is that leaves readers to form their own conclusions as to the underlying quality of human relationships. The story juxtaposes the lives of characters in the nineteenth century with others, closer to our own time, unrelated but connected by their occupation of the same property, Kersey Hall. The narrative moves to and fro between the two periods and is interspersed with episodic historical observations that serve to remind us of the cruelty and brutality of earlier days. In forensically lifting the veil from the pain and passion of love and the horrors of war, the author is sometimes brutally frank, and in this the book is remarkable for its honesty. As such it has already won the Bridport Prize and the Fish Award for short histories and must surely claim a place among the outstanding historical novels of our time. Derek Kinrade IMPRESSIVE NEW CUMING MUSEUM - Winter 2006/7 The Cuming Museum has moved a few yards to an impressive new home. Peckham Society members, including our chairman and editor, attended a special event there on 7 December. Old photographs of Peckham and many other interesting items are on display at the Old Town Hall, 151 Walworth Road, SE17 1RY (? 020 7525 2332) HOUSE PRICES INCREASE - Winter 2006/7 "Peckham beats Surrey in the housing stakes" was the heading on an article in the Evening Standard on 29 August 2006. "House prices in London have gone up twice as fast as those in the Home Counties commuter belt, a new report shows", stated Mira Bar-Hillel, the newspaper's Property Correspondent. The "average price in Surrey, where prices rose by only 2.6 per cent in the past year, has now been overtaken by the London Borough of Southwark - which includes neighbourhoods such as Peckham, Bermondsey and Camberwell - where they went up by four times as much at 10.6 per cent.” USE THEM OR LOSE THEM - SUPPORT INDEPENDENT BOOKSHOPS - Spring 2006 It is disturbing that Camberwell's main bookshop has closed. Words Worth Books in Butterfly Walk was an important shop but, like many independent bookshops, it faced increasing competition from large firms. Residents of SE15 and SE22 have been very fortunate to have Chener Books at 14 Lordship Lane for many years. Its owner, John Kennedy, has supported our Society in various ways. Chener Books published Who Was Who in Peckham and The Architecture of Peckham. More recently a new bookshop called review has opened at 131 Bellenden Road. Its owner, Roz Simpson, sells Peckham Society News which pleases us. It is increasingly important that these local bookshops are well supported. LOCAL PEOPLE FLOCK TO “PECKHAM VISION” On 21 January and again in March 2006 the Peckham Society through “Peckham Vision” arranged a historical event and meeting about the future of Peckham town centre. The venue was innovative as it was held in a CIP (Copeland Industrial Park) building which in the 19th century was a factory for making sports goods including cricket bats made from willow grown in Suffolk. This site is enclosed by Rye Lane, Bournemouth Road, Copeland Road and the Moncrieff railway viaduct. Peckham Vision is a consortium of local residents, artists and businesses who want to raise awareness of the issues relating to central Peckham and stimulate an informed discussion. The Peckham Society is taking an active part. The significance of the site is that at the UDP (Unitary Development Plan) meetings last year it was discovered that Tfl (Transport for London) was to demolish all the buildings on this triangular site and build a huge tram maintenance depot and terminal. The site owners and owners of the Rye Lane shops knew nothing of this plan. The aims of this event and meeting were to make accessible to the public the information about central Peckham and in turn to inform the public and residents about the vision we have for central Peckham acquired during the UDP inquiry. The event also aimed to help inspire the public and residents with the vision the Peckham Society and others have for central Peckham which includes the designation of a conservation area. Peter Frost, Chairman of the Peckham Society, has said: “The Peckham Society sees the tram as an excellent facility for Peckham and thinks that it presents an exciting opportunity for Southwark Council to consolidate its plans to open up the sadly neglected area in front of Peckham Rye Station by creating the tram terminus there.” He went on to say: “The industrial storage and maintenance facilities for the tramway have no place in the centre of a thriving inner city community, particularly one such as Peckham which is developing a vibrant and widely diverse modern community in combination with the historic aspect and importance of both its buildings and social history. Read more in the Spring 2006 edition of our magazine. NEGLECTED BUILDINGS TO UNDERGO A £120K LIFT - Spring 2006 Thousands of pounds are to be spent on improving a gateway to Peckham and the old library. Groups such as the Peckham Society have been asking for years for the early 19th century buildings on Shard’s Terrace to be done up. Since the new state-of-the-art library in Peckham opened five years ago, the old building opposite in Peckham Hill Street has become derelict. Peckham Community Council has agreed to spend £100,000 on Shard’s Terrace – on the corner of Peckham High Street and Peckham Hill Street – and £20,000 to refurbish the library. They lie in a zone the Peckham Society, which works to preserve the history and environment of Peckham, wants to make a conservation area. The editor of the Peckham Society News, John Beasley, said “Shard’s Terrace is a lovely Georgian terrace in Peckham and needs to be preserved. “It’s an important part of the history of the area. Smartening it up will make it more attractive to visitors.” Architect and Peckham Society member Benedict O’Looney said: “Shard’s Terrace is amongst the old buildings that are the nucleus of the old village of Peckham.” “We want the council to use money to spotlight Peckham’s oldest and historic buildings – Shard’s Terrace is just one of several.” From South London Press 21 February 2006 USE THEM OR LOSE THEM - SUPPORT INDEPENDENT BOOKSHOPS - Spring 2006 It is disturbing that Camberwell's main bookshop has closed. Words Worth Books in Butterfly Walk was an important shop but, like many independent bookshops, it faced increasing competition from large firms. Residents of SE15 and SE22 have been very fortunate to have Chener Books at 14 Lordship Lane for many years. Its owner, John Kennedy, has supported our Society in various ways. Chener Books published Who Was Who in Peckham and The Architecture of Peckham. More recently a new bookshop called review has opened at 131 Bellenden Road. Its owner, Roz Simpson, sells Peckham Society News which pleases us. It is increasingly important that these local bookshops are well supported. SAVE THE SOUTH LONDON LINE - Spring 2006 Network Rail is proposing to cut the South London Line which runs direct between Victoria and London Bridge via Peckham Rye and Queens Road. Passengers going on the line will have to change at Clapham Junction. This will reduce train services from Denmark Hill. BLUE PLAQUE UNVEILED AT ROSE THEATRE SITE - Spring 2006 Harvey Sheldon was the archaeologist in charge of the excavation of the Rose Theatre in 1988-89. He spoke to a combined meeting of the Peckham and Camberwell Societies on 16 February 2006 at the Camberwell College of Arts annexe. He set the scene by describing the geology and then the early history of the Southwark bridgehead in Roman times. The late 16th century maps and panoramas showed the bull and bear baiting arenas and the sites of the Rose and from 1599 The Globe. The Rose was the first purpose-built Elizabethan playhouse on London’s Bankside. This was at a time when London’s low life frequented this area for entertainment at the pubs and brothels, the stews of Bankside. Philip Henslowe, an entrepreneur and his son-in-law Edward Alleyn, the famous actor and founder of Dulwich College, were both associated with the Rose Theatre. Many celebrated works of Marlowe and the early plays of Shakespeare such as “Titus Andronicus” were first performed at the Rose. The diaries of Henslowe describe the scene in those days including the Rose’s extension and rebuilding around 1593. Buildings were transient in those times, and Henslowe’s interest was in making money and not necessarily for promoting the arts. Nothing was known of the fate of the 16th century collection of buildings including the Rose until the 20th century. Southbridge House, a tall building, built on the site in 1957, was enclosed by Rose Alley and Park Street on the alluvial deposits close to the Thames. It was demolished in 1988. Harvey Sheldon and his team knew that The Rose was probably built on this site but any chances of finding traces of the theatre were remote. Their remit from the developers and the Museum of London was to see whether there was any archaeology left. There was, and the rest is history. The discovery became international news and headlines in our national newspapers as at the time it looked as if the developers would destroy the archaeology. There was a national outcry especially from the acting profession, Laurence Olivier’s last recorded utterance in May 1989 echoed his celebrated film role in “Henry V”, with the plea “God for England, Harry and the Rose”. ST JAMES’S CENTENARY YEAR LEAFLET IS AVAILABLEE - Spring 2006 The centenary year of the Catholic parish of Saint James the Great (Peckham Rye) was celebrated from July 2004 to July 2005 by a variety of events and liturgies, often focusing on the richness of the multi-cultural make-up of the parish community. A free souvenir leaflet of eight pages has been compiled to a record the year and can be obtained by post from Mrs Gina Hazell, 41 Fenwick Road, Peckham SE15 4HS. Also available in the same format are two other leaflets: A Brief History 1904-2004, and Years of Change 1961-1965. Any donation made (any amount welcome) will be sent to the Make Poverty History campaign. (Please make out cheques to CAFOD.) PLAQUE UNVEILED AT FORMER PECKHAM PIONEER HEALTH CENTRE - Winter 2005/6 Pam Elven unveiled a Southwark blue plaque at Pioneer House, St Mary’s Road, Peckham on Saturday 24 September 2005. This was the Pioneer Health Centre which celebrated its 70th anniversary since opening in the spring of 1935. Read more in the Winter 2005/6 edition of our magazine. PECKHAM NAMED AS BRITAIN'S MOST VIBRANT CULTURAL HOTSPOT - Winter 2005/6 The Times reported on 6 October 2005 that Peckham has been voted as Britain's most vibrant cultural "hotspot" by a panel of arts critics. It beat Glasgow city centre (2nd) and Totnes in Devon (3rd). The list, commissioned by The Fish Can Sing agency, was compiled by arts experts such as Ekow Eshun, head of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, and Richard Benson, former editor of Face. Peckham's proximity to Goldsmiths College and Camberwell College of Arts, and its low rents, have created a thriving arts community. MANZE'S WINS BLUE PLAQUE CONTEST - Winter 2005/6 Manze's Pie and Mash shop in Peckham Hill Street will have a blue plaque erected on it. This is because the shop received more votes than either Father George Potter or Colonel Charles Arundel Moody in the annual blue plaques contest organised by Southwark News and Southwark Council. Read more in the Winter 2005/6 edition of our magazine. The Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer visit Peckham! - Winter 2005/6 The Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer visited Peckham on 5 December 2005. The Guardian published a huge photograph, covering two pages, showing Tony Blair and Gordon Brown walking along Blenheim Grove from Rye Lane. They were on their way to visit Churchill Court which is a shared ownership housing development designed to allow residents to get on the property ladder more easily. Our membership secretary noticed them arriving early in the morning when she was on her way to work. FIRST PECKHAM TOURIST MAP PUBLISHED- Winter 2005/6 Much publicity on television and radio, as well as in the national and local press, was given to the publication of Peckham's first tourist map. Among the guests at the official launch on 22 September, in the Bellenden Road Peckham Experiment restaurant, were West Ham footballer Anton Ferdinand who was brought up on the Friary Estate, boxing promoter Frank Warren who moved to Peckham when he was a child, and two former Mayors of Southwark, Hilary Wines and Columba Blango. Read more in the Winter 2005/6 edition of our magazine. PEAR-SHAPED EXPLAINED - Winter 2005/6 Adam Hart-Davis came to Peckham to interview Christine and Giles Camplin on their theory on the origins of the phrase “pear-shaped”. The theory was outlined in the first episode of Balderdash and Piffle on BBC2 and will be included in our Spring 2006 issue. IMPORTANT NEW BOOK PUBLISHED - Autumn 2005 Speak of me as I am: The Black presence in Southwark since 1600 by Stephen Bourne has now been published by Southwark Local History Library. Peckham is featured prominently in it. This important illustrated book will be reviewed in our next issue. The book can be obtained from all Southwark Libraries or by post from Southwark Local History Library, 211 Borough High Street, SE1 1JA (( 020 7403 3507); £7.99 + £1.20 p&p. MARATHON RUNNERS CELEBRATE - Autumn 2005 A party was held on 8 June to celebrate the achievements of the people who ran in the London Marathon and raised money for the Peckham Settlement. The party was held in the main hall of the Peckham Settlement. This part of the building was opened in 1834 as a Wesleyan Chapel. Its history is included in Building Together: The Story of Peckham Methodist Church. The story of the Settlement, which opened at the corner of Goldsmith Road and Staffordshire Street, is told in The Peckham Settlement 1896-2000 by Jennifer Stephens. PECKHAM EXPERIMENT CELEBRATED by Eileen Conn -Autumn 2005 On 21 May 2005 the 70th anniversary of the Peckham Experiment was celebrated in Peckham Library. This was arranged by the Pioneer Health Foundation (PHF) which cares for its archives, films and legacy. About 50 of us – former members of the Pioneer Health Centre, PHF trustees and supporters from around the country, and local people – saw the old film and shared reminiscences about the health approach which doctors Scott Williamson and Innes Pearse pioneered 70 years ago. They studied what cultivated health, rather than what caused sickness. People all over the world are still inspired by hearing about this and come to visit Peckham because of it; yet children grow up in Peckham and never hear of it. The blue plaque, which the Peckham Society campaigned for, will be installed and unveiled on the Pioneer Centre building in St Mary’s Road this autumn. Let’s hope that this can be the beginning of a resurgence of local interest in these ground-breaking ideas and bring back the Peckham Experiment to its birthplace! NEW BUILDING OPENS - Autumn 2005 A striking new building opened at 81 Hanover Park on 9 June. The innovative new apartments, owned by Broomleigh Housing Association, are exclusively for key workers. The building was designed by Alan Camp Architects and outside the entrance is the sculture "Swordfish Masquerade" by Sokari Douglas Camp. This was inspired by Kalabari traditional performers from the Niger Delta. Our Editor represented our Society at the official opening and took the opportunity to take pictures of the remarkable views from the sixth floor. These will be included in a new slide show he is preparing on "Peckham People and Places". BALLOONING TOOK PLACE IN SOUTH LONDON - Summer 2005 On 17 March at the Camberwell College of Arts annexe in Wilson Road, SE5, at the joint meeting of the Peckham and Camberwell societies, Giles Camplin gave a talk about balloons. Briefly he described how the manned balloon evolved. Like many other inventions it came from a simple observation; in this case of a paper bag rising when filled with hot air. In 1783 this gave Joseph Montgolfier the idea of making a large balloon with a fire suspended beneath it. A cockerel, duck and a sheep were the first passengers. Soon others experimented in constructing similar balloons and with gas as a lifting agent. Sulphuric acid and iron filings produced hydrogen which was lighter than air but extremely volatile. The first unmanned balloon ascents in London using this technology were made from Moorfields by an Italian, Count Zambeccari, in 1783. His first balloon landed at Walthamstow and his second went to Horsham in Sussex. Other pioneers started to use the balloon as a means of transport. Technology assisted, with bags of disposable ballast to reduce the weight in the balloon. To descend gas was liberated thus allowing a primitive means of controlling the craft. Another Italian, Vincenzo Lunardi, made the first flight from London in September 1784, and in 1785 the first woman, Mrs Sage, flew on her second try after the first attempt was thwarted by not enough lift. She ascended from St George’s Fields, which was possibly the first launching place in south London. The late 18th century was a pioneering time for the balloonists and several flights were later made from the same site, very near to where the obelisk now is. At about this time, a Frenchman, Jean-Pierre Blanchard, opened a Ballooning Academy by the Stockwell Road. Although he made several flights locally, it was not a success and soon closed down. This talk is being repeated on Monday 7 November 2005 8 p.m.- see our events page PECKHAM TO FEATURE IN NEW HYMN-BOOK - Summer 2005 We can reveal exclusively to readers of Peckham Society News, that in a forthcoming major reference book from the world of hymns, Peckham gains a mention in no fewer than eleven of its main entries. The pioneering hymn-book Praise! was published in 2000; due this autumn, a mere five years on, comes volume 1 of Exploring Praise with notes on all the 999 items in the book, both words and music, as well as additional indexes and word lists. Next year, volume 2 will carry biographical details of all the authors and composers represented in the hymn-book, with the sole exception of that prolific writer ‘Anon’. Most of these eleven “Peckham”, references arise through the writing of Christopher Idle, who has featured in these pages before. Many of his own hymn text were written at his former home in Unwin Close, SE15. By way of comparison Exploring Praise, currently being proof-read, also features Camberwell (4 times), Southwark (3 times), Lewisham and Walworth (twice each) with Bermondsey and Lambeth (just one apiece). Seems as if Deptford, Nunhead and New Cross need to get their act together – or their singing. 100 NOT OUT REACHED - Summer 2005 Our Society’s first publication, a two-sided newsletter, was issued in October 1975. Today our magazine has a wide circulation around Britain and is also sent to various countries abroad. We pay tribute to Bob Smyth, the founder of our Society, and the large number of people who have played a part in our Society. We are very grateful to countless people who have contributed to our newsletters and magazines. TIDY UP PECKHAM HIGH STREET URGES DEREK KINRADE - Summer 2005 Derek Kinrade has written to the Director of Planning and Regeneration saying: “Some time ago I wrote to you concerning the unfortunate state of the south side of Peckham High Street to the west of Rye Lane. Tawdry shops obscure three of Peckham’s most historic timber-framed houses and, to make matters worse, large refuse bins and a dowdy kiosk are sited on the pavement near the corner with Rye Lane. It hardly does credit to what some people classify as the town centre and is wholly out of keeping with the ambitious development on the north side. It would be hard to imagine any other local authority having such scant regard to its heritage or to basic aesthetic considerations. “Now the Peckham Society News (Spring 2005) has also raised the issue and I am glad to learn that Southwark Council has put forward an outline plan for a central Peckham Conservation Area. I do hope that this can be pursued with urgency and that you will seek to make the most of this important focal point.” PROGRESS MADE ON CAROLINE GARDENS’ FORMER CHAPEL - Spring 2005 Another high powered meeting was held on 28 January in the campaign to convert the derelict chapel in Caroline Gardens into a community centre. Dr Kevin Gould, who is working hard on the project, chaired the meeting which was attended by Harriet Harman, QC, MP, and other key people who are committed to raising about £½ million. For more information please contact Kevin Gould (( 020 7639 0176). Though the chapel was bombed in the last war, it contains a remarkable collection of stained glass windows and 19th century memorial plaques. WHO WAS WHO IN PECKHAM IS STILL IN PRINT - Spring 2005 On the internet a bookseller is trying to sell a copy of Who Was Who in Peckham for £26. The book is still in print and is available for £2.95 from Chener Books, 14 Lordship Lane, SE22 8HN. BURY BOUDICCA MYTH - Spring 2005 Noticeboards on Peckham Rye start the history of the common with "The first legend about Peckham Rye Common dates back to 60 AD when it is alleged that the Roman General Suetonius Paulinus defeated the British Queen Boadicea at Peckham Rye." There are enough myths of Peckham without Southwark Council perpetuating this myth. The noticeboards should be changed as soon as possible and include only accurate history of our common. In Boudicca: The Warrior Queen M. J. Trow (Sutton Publishing, 2003) states: "We do not know where the battlefield was. Given the details of the earlier campaign when Boudicca’s army had destroyed Camulodunum (today’s Colchester), Londinium (London) and Verulamium (St Albans), Roman expert Malcolm Todd surmises a site in Hertfordshire, not far north of the last place of attack. Folklore places it much nearer to London, perhaps close to the present King’s Cross station. Most experts today, however, favour Mancetter, along Watling Street, the Roman road in Warwickshire." The book makes no mention of Peckham Rye. In the spring 2000 issue of our magazine (no. 79) we stated: "No one knows where the final confrontation between Boadicea and Suetonius took place. A site in what is now Leicestershire, near Mancetter, to the south-east of Atherstone and close to the line of Watling Street, has been suggested by Graham Webster, the leading authority on the revolt, who wrote Boudica (B.T. Batsford, 1993).” PANELLIST WAS WRONG - Spring 2005 A panellist on "Any Questions?" on Radio 4 on 18 February said he wished that Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles would get married in the Peckham Register Office. The panellist was not the first person to show ignorance about Peckham - there is no Register Officer in SE15. What would you like to see saved? Please contact us if there is something that you feel should be published in our magazine, The Peckham Society News.