The Lenox Project director Julian Kingston will be giving a talk at St John’s Church on Lewisham Way as part of the Brockley Max festival.
The free event is in conjunction with the Brockley Society and takes place on Thursday 5th June starting at 8pm.
Our restored Saker cannon on show last year at Twinkle Park
Some of our team will be at the Nunhead Cemetery open day this weekend – do come along and say hello if you are in the area, although it’s probably worth making a special trip if you’ve never been to this wonderful Victorian burial ground before!
As well as the opportunity to see our restored Saker cannon and catch up with the news from the Lenox Project, there will be other community stalls, tours of the cemetery and the crypt, and food and drink for sale at the cafe.
The open day runs from 11am to 5pm: more information, including directions, at the Friends of Nunhead Cemetery website.
The Mayor of London has announced that the representation hearing for the planning application to redevelop the former Deptford royal dockyard at Convoys Wharf will take place on 31 March at 4pm at City Hall.
The procedure at the hearing is governed by guidelines which can be read via this link and is an opportunity for supporters and objectors to restate their case for and against the planning application in front of the mayor himself.
If he does not announce his decision at the end of the hearing, the Mayor has five days in which to do so.
Seven days ahead of the hearing, the GLA officers responsible for assessing the application will publish their report into the application, which will include a recommendation to the Mayor. It seems very unlikely that the Mayor will go against their advice unless he wants to make a particular political point.
Based on the correspondence we have read, and the meetings we have been present at, we believe that the GLA intends to recommend that the mayor approve the scheme.
The applicant Hutchison Whampoa has recently submitted some revisions to its masterplan, and these are currently being consulted on with the deadline for comments set as 20 March 2014. Although we welcome the revisions, we do not believe that they go far enough and we still have deep reservations about the failure of the masterplan to adequately reflect the significant shipbuilding, naval and horticultural heritage of the site.
Comments from the Council for British Archaeology and English Heritage support this view.
The CBA wrote to the GLA last week to reiterate its objections to the plans on grounds of ‘harm to the heritage assets’ and a failure to address key aspects of the National Planning Policy Framework.
Likewise English Heritage commented on the revisions, saying it remained concerned that ‘the opportunity to reflect local character and significant history are not reflected in the the submitted proposals’.
The Lenox Project CIC also finds it deeply disappointing that the developer seems unable to appreciate the potential of the two heritage-led community projects – The Lenox Project and Sayes Court Garden – to create a vibrant, sustainable heart for the redeveloped site. Under Hutchison Whampoa’s proposals for the site, neither project is being offered the right conditions to flourish, despite these involving relatively minor adjustments to the plans.
We are encouraged by Hutchison Whampoa’s offer to lease space on the protected wharf at a peppercorn rent to the Lenox Project, indicating that our proposal is finally being given the serious consideration it merits. See their offer (12th March 2014): CCE00001 HW letter.
At the same time, we believe that if this support is truly sincere, the developer will understand our request for an independent assessment of the potential construction sites for the ship, in order to establish the most feasible location on the former dockyard site.
We regard the protected wharf as the least suitable of the options, and are unwilling to accept this offer due to the unacceptable risk it poses for the construction of the ship, and the lack of any legacy at the site.
Read the GLA letter to Hutchison Whampoa (17th Feb 2014) which sets out the GLA’s position (this was copied to the Lenox Project, rather than addressed directly to us): GLA position following meeting of 07.02.2014
Here is The Lenox Project’s initial response to the GLA position (26th Feb 2014): GLA Position Response Lenox Project Illustrated
One of the things that keeps our project team going is our vision for the heart of the former Royal Dockyard – seeing ships being built and repaired in the Olympia Shed once more. The idea of a revitalised site with the Lenox being built in the former ship-building shed, and a restored basin in front hosting visiting tall ships, is what we hope will one day become a reality. Visitors will come to see the construction of a 17th century vessel; local apprentices will be trained in new skills that will help them start on a creative career, and the former Royal Dockyard will be brought to life by an activity that makes a direct connection between its past and its future.
Our new renderings showing the Lenox being built in the Olympia Shed enable us to finally begin to visualise how ship building could bring a dynamic and creative element right into the heart of this development.
Our intention is to see craft workshops, a Deptford-focused maritime museum, facilities for education and training and many other facilities housed in and around what will be a vibrant centre for the site.
The Lenox Project patron and historian Dan Snow has issued a bleak warning that redevelopment plans for Convoys Wharf in Deptford could wipe out the birthplace of the Royal Navy if approved in their current form.
With the Mayor of London expected to make a decision on the planning application for the site in the coming weeks, Mr Snow cautioned that the British Navy’s ‘ground zero’ would be lost under an anonymous development of flats and office blocks, and added that Deptford deserved greater recognition on a scale of that given to Portsmouth or Chatham. Its proximity to the heart of London made an even stronger case for the site’s unique potential, he said.
“There are world famous naval dockyards right across Britain. Some of the finest museums in Europe can be visited in Portsmouth, Chatham and elsewhere, yet the place where it all began, where our maritime destiny took shape, is forgotten, and tragically ignored by the very city it did so much to shape.
“Deptford is where the Tudors decided to build naval ships to protect their ill-gotten kingdom from other invaders like themselves, and then to exploit the explosion in maritime activity that came with the discovery of sea routes to Asia and the Americas.
Deptford is ground zero for the Royal Navy.
“The Build the Lenox project reconnects Londoners and all of us with a vitally important piece of our heritage. London grew rich because it was a port. Ships built at Deptford protected the trade on which London depended, and forged links between the growing city and the rest of the world. Today London is one of the earth’s most dynamic, outward looking, multi-cultural cities. That story starts at Deptford.
“This project is not just about preserving heritage. It is about creating the kind of international profile and draw that is impossible to replicate anywhere else. A block of flats, a nice looking office block is anonymous. They can be built from Shanghai to Seattle. Building a 17th century warship, on the site of one of the world’s greatest dockyards, a short distance from the beating heart of an international city, that is unique. The multiplier effect of interested people, scholars and tourists would be a major boon to the area, the city and the country.
“People travel across the world to see the Vasa in Stockholm, the Victory, Mary Rose and others in Portsmouth, the Intrepid in New York; this would compete with any of them. The Lenox project illuminates not just the past but the future too.”
LENOX AND DEPTFORD DOCKYARD MERCHANDISE – FREE UK SHIPPING ON ORDERS OVER £20!
If you want to buy a christmas present that’s a little bit different, AND you want to help fund our cause, please consider buying merchandise from us or one of our supporters.
We have Lenox tote bags for sale at £8 each, or Deptford Dockyard 500 T-shirts at £15 – postage is £3 for a single item or FREE in the UK if you spend £20 or more. For full details of sizing and how to order, please see our previous post. We have all sizes available in the ladies t-shirts, but only L and XL in unisex/
Alternatively come along to the Deptford Lounge on Saturday 7th December where we will have our cannon on display, there will be a series of talks for adults and children, and we’ll have our bags and t-shirts on sale.
A NEW TALL SHIPS CALENDAR FOR 2014
Photographer Richard Sibley produces an A3 format calendar showcasing stunning images of tall ships along with extracts from classics of maritime literature, rigging plans, and details that create a thought-provoking celebration of the days of sail. Richard has kindly agreed to give a donation to the Lenox Project for any sales that are made through this website.
The calendar was created by Richard in partnership with designer Dick Davis, whose work includes Royal Mail Special Stamp issues for The Anniversary of Trafalgar, Lighthouses and Submarines. He was also part of the team for the refurbishment of Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
Richard Sibley has photographed Tall Ship racing since 2005. His work is recognised and hosted by the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. He regularly exhibits at arts and craft shows around the UK and has exhibited twice at the RUH Bath in their healing arts program. Their 2011 summer exhibition featuring Richard’s photographs of ships carver Andy Peters restoring the figurehead of HMS Chesapeake (1855), proved to be one of their most successful shows.
You can see the calendar via the link below – if you decide to order one, please let Richard know that you saw it on the Lenox website.
The Lenox Project has fundamental concerns regarding developer Hutchison Whampoa’s attempt to circumvent the established planning procedure and eliminate any meaningful discussions with Deptford and Lewisham communities over the redevelopment of Convoys Wharf.
HW’s request to the Mayor of London to call in the planning application – and the Mayor’s agreement to do so – is premature and undemocratic. This cynical move by the developer, which by its own admission is directly connected to the desire to maximise profit from this riverside land – is contrary to the government’s policy of localism, and seeks to force a decision without due regard to the international significance of the site.
The community proposals to integrate this large site into the borough of Lewisham and the adjacent world heritage site of Royal Greenwich Maritime in the form of The Lenox Project and Sayes Court Garden, generating training, employment, and community pride in the history of the site, have been paid no more than lip-service by a multi-national corporation that should have higher aspirations.
Our proposals have the potential to create enormous profitability for London in the medium and long term. The developer is only looking at this site in the short term.
Henry VIII’s Royal Dock at Deptford was recently designated as one of London’s heritage assets at risk by the World Monuments Fund (www.wmf.org/watch). We believe it is the Mayor of London’s role to safeguard London’s heritage, and especially its value in attracting finance for Lewisham Council. London urgently needs economic growth beyond the financial sector, and we believe a restored heritage site alongside a dynamic, regenerated dock would widen the Thames economy.
We are also concerned that there are details in the terms of the deal made when the present owners purchased the land from Rupert Murdoch’s News International that place pressures on them to seek inordinately high margins. These will only be at the expense of the local and London-wide community.
The owner made a speculative purchase of the land and as such, assumed the risk for this speculation and, with it, any losses resulting from any and all legal decisions made about the site, its use, or future.
Whilst the present owner may hold the site freehold, the history, heritage, use and future of this significant Thames belongs to London, Londoners, the UK and the nations around the world that benefited from the naval and maritime advances that emanated from this site. Collectively, and on balance, we believe that the worldwide importance of Deptford’s Royal Dock should take precedence over any proposal for housing on the site.
London’s housing shortage will not be assisted by the off-plan sale of 3000 high-end residential units to foreign investors, nor will ‘affordable’ units at 80% market rent (current market rent being approximately £1,300 per month for a one bedroom flat) enable key workers to live locally within their means.
Lewisham ranks as one of the most deprived boroughs in London. Over the last 10 years Lewisham Council has approved numerous new residential developments. Despite this, the Deprivation Index shows that these developments have made no difference to the well-being of Lewisham residents. Employees are brought into Lewisham to fill the temporary building jobs and profits are exported out of the borough, and even outside the UK. There is no evidence to suggest that this development will be any different.
Recent events relating to Lewisham Hospital demonstrated the unity, effectiveness and commitment of our local community, and we trust that we will see this strength of feeling demonstrated once more in support of local decision-making, and in favour of a sustainable, appropriate development of the site.
Read more about the call-in on Deptford Is.. and sign our petition here.
If you fancy a good old shouty, foot-stamping, bawdy singalong, why not join the Deptford shanty crew? The group had its first get-together last week and struck up some classic sea shanties about spending all your money on booze, beating up the Americans, and being sick in an alley, not necessarily in that order.
There are plenty of sea shanties that still survive in folk tradition – and many more for which the words survive but tunes have been lost. There’s even one about the Dog & Bell pub, which was put online by Deptford Misc a few years ago.
One of the songs we sang at the first shanty crew meeting was Santianna – which is rendered here somewhat more tunefully by the Young ‘uns.
You don’t need any singing experience to join – it’s all about having fun, singing and stamping your feet , not necessarily all at the same time! And we can’t think of any better way to celebrate Deptford’s maritime heritage – at least until we can get cracking with building this ship of ours.
For more information email deptfordshanty@gmail.com
The concerns that have been raised by local campaign group Deptford Is.. about the future of the former Royal Dockyard and the remains of Sayes Court Gardens were echoed this week when the World Monuments Fund placed the two sites on its 2014 ‘watch list’ of endangered sites.
Both sites are under threat from Hong Kong-based developer, Hutchison Whampoa, current owner of the majority of the land. HW has submitted plans for 3,500 new homes that will bury the landscape, which is of international historic significance, largely without trace. WMF Watch list status supports the Deptford Is.. campaign to build on rather than build over the rich history of the area.
“Deptford’s most imminent threat comes from the failure of existing proposals to fully acknowledge and respect the heritage assets that the site has to offer,” said Jonathan Foyle, chief executive of World Monuments Fund (WMF) Britain.
“Incorporating the extensive archaeology and combining this with unique public spaces has the potential to strengthen Deptford’s local identity while securing this lost piece of the Thames jigsaw. It would also improve awareness of the little-known existence and overlooked history of the dockyard and gardens on a national stage.”
This announcement underlines what Deptford Is.. and other local campaign groups have been saying for years – that the historical significance of the Convoys Wharf site is of the same status internationally as world-famous places such as the city of Venice and the Inca ruins. The burial of such remains would be a severe blow not only for the local area, but also from a national and international heritage point of view.
The WMF watch list announcement was covered extensively by the press around the world, with some UK coverage highlighting the plight of the dockyard specifically.
Read the WMF project page, where you can download the poster.
Article in This is local London
http://www.countrylife.co.uk/news/article/531602/Four-UK-landmarks-on-WMF-Watch-List-2014.html
http://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/top-london-sites-on-world-monuments-watch-list/5061902.article (behind paywall).
The anchor back at the top of the high street.
As part of the recent Deptford X contemporary arts festival, an art project called Deptford Is Forever took up the festival’s theme ‘Art makes people powerful’ by focusing on the removal of the Deptford High Street anchor by Lewisham Council.
They designed their own sailor’s tattoo and printed it on paper bags to give to Deptford High Street shops and market traders to give out with purchases. The design demanded the return of the anchor to the high street and also called on the council to save the Royal Dockyard. Deptford Is Forever printed t-shirts and reusable cotton shopping bags with the tattoo motif and commissioned High Street Flowers to make a ‘ghost anchor’ wreath to hang in the window.
On Friday 4th October there was a day of free tattooing at Kids Love Ink, the high street’s custom tattoo parlour. Those who took up the offer of a free anchor tattoo were encouraged to donate to Build The Lenox and Deptford Reach, and £280 was raised.
Deptford Is Forever’s ‘Anchor Fest’ culminated in a procession through the high street on Saturday 5th October, with musicians and supporters following a giant cardboard anchor made by Lewisham Arthouse artist Laura X Carlé.
The parade started at the Dog and Bell pub, next to the Convoys Wharf site where the anchor is currently in storage, and finished at the Arthouse on Lewisham Way, travelling via Deptford High Street and the market.
En route the parade stopped three times and the cardboard anchor was displayed at locations which have been suggested could be the real anchor’s permanent home; Deptford Station, Giffin Square and its previous location at the top of the high street.
The anchor was led through the streets by David Aylward (Rediscovered Urban Rituals) and anchor bearers included Bob Bagley from the Sayes Court Garden project and Kingston from Build The Lenox. Along the way they handed out Build The Lenox flyers to spectators. Needless to say, two of the artists involved (Sue Lawes and David Aylward) are members of the Build The Lenox project team!
The anchor in Giffin Square (photo by Angelique van Tuinen)