Our Moshi monster birthday party

We pushed the boat out last Sunday to give our daughter the Moshi monster themed birthday party she wanted for her 10th. If you haven't got pre-teens you may not have heard of the Moshi phenomenon - I hadn't until recently. Apparently "One child every second signs up to Moshi Monsters, the fastest-growing children's gaming site in the world".  It has made it's British London-based creator, Michael Acton Smith, a young multi-millionaire - you can read more about him and it, here. 

After a mad search for all the dressing-up bits, including some help from Twitter in searching for face paints in Eltham, and big thanks to my mum-in-law for sewing and e-bay sourcing, and all-round wonderfulness of husband, we managed to present 'Elder Furi' (my daughter) and 'Zommer' (my son) - picture above! I think a good time was had by all. Happy birthday to our double-digit daughter (*sobs*, they are growing so fast...).

Spring Festival of Art by Blackheath Art Society

Oh look this has started already...

Standstill at The Grove in Eltham

It's just over a year ago that Greenwich Council's planning board approved the Grove Market Place hotel/supermarket redevelopment plans for the Eltham site but works are not yet underway, the derelict site is causing problems and finances are causing doubts about the work beginning at all:

From the News Shopper:

"YEARS after it shut, an Eltham site is still awaiting redevelopment while residents complain rats and flooding are causing a health hazard.
Planning permission for The Grove in Church Road took years before finally getting approval 12 months ago, following the rejection of a previous application and a successful appeal by developer Eltham Renaissance......"  Read the rest of the article here.

London Mayor and Assembly elections 2012

Candidates have been announced for the 2012 London Mayor and 25 member Assembly elections on 3 May. See below for Greenwich & Lewisham.

These elections have three parts: you will be voting for:
- the Mayor of London
- the 14 Constituency London Assembly Members and
- the 11 London-wide Assembly Members

So that's a whopping three elections in one go. You will be given three ballot papers when you vote.

1. the PINK coloured ballot paper for your London Mayor vote 

You can make a first and second choice from the list of candidates who will either be part of a political party or standing as an independent candidate. The candidates are:

• BENITA Siobhan - Independent
• CORTIGLIA Carlos - British National Party
• JOHNSON Boris - The Conservative Party Candidate
• JONES Jenny - Green Party
• LIVINGSTONE Ken - The Labour Party Candidate
• PADDICK Brian - London Liberal Democrats
• WEBB Lawrence James - Fresh Choice for London

2. the YELLOW coloured ballot paper for your Constituency London Assembly Member

You can make one vote for the candidate you would like to represent you in your local area. Candidates will be part of a political party or standing as an independent candidate. The candidates and political parties will vary between each constituency, but you can only vote in your local constituency. Candidates here. SE constituencies discussed below.

3. the ORANGE coloured ballot paper for your London-wide Assembly Member

You will be able to make one vote for a political party or an individual standing as an independent candidate. The parties or independent candidates standing are detailed below. Political parties put forward a 'party list' of individuals who will be elected if they get enough votes. You can find out the individuals on each party's list by clicking here. 

For more information visit the ‘How to vote’ page for 'London elects'. You need to register by 18 April to vote.

Homing in on the yellow ballot paper...the current London Assembly constituency map looks like this. That's six Labour constituencies and eight Conservative ones.








About half of the 14 Constituency London Assembly members have just been announced:

Here's Greenwich & Lewisham:

1. CULNANE Tess – National Front Putting Londoners First
2. DUVALL Len – Labour Party Candidate
3. OAKLEY Paul James – Fresh Choice for London
4. RAYMOND Barbara – Greenwich and Lewisham People Before Profit
5. RUSSELL John – London Liberal Democrats
6. SEDGLEY Roger – Green Party
7. WILSON Alex – The Conservative Party Candidate
8. WOODS Roberta – British National Party

Woolwich born and raised Len Duvall was first elected as an AM in 2000, and retained the Greenwich and Lewisham seat in the 2004 and 2008 elections. Interesting that both the BNP and NF are standing in the same constituency, as they are in some others...

And Bexley and Bromley:

1. HANNER Josie - Labour Party Candidate
2. CLEVERLY James Spencer - The Conservative Party Candidate
3. COBURN David Adam - Fresh Choice for London
4. ROOKS Jonathan Scot - Green Party
5. TREANOR Donna - British National Party
6. WEBBER Sam Dunning - London Liberal Democrats

Lewisham born James Cleverly was elected for the Bexley and Bromley constituency in May 2008.

If you're interested, here was the 2008 result for Greenwich and Lewisham:

The London elects website (from which much of this info is drawn) and Snipe are very good on the elections.

Dickens at Eltham Llibrary this Easter

The Eltham Centre Library, at Archery Road in Eltham, are having some Dickens events for children on Thursday 12 April (click to enlarge posters).

Update on the 'big fat' wedding

Well, it was, of course, a lovely event (my previous post about the wedding we were going to last weekend). I posted these two photos via twitter during the event, trying not to invade anyone's privacy too much (click to enlarge). However, the first dance of the bridal couple (here in the pic above) was a real paparazzi event - not very romantic though the couple only had eyes for each other.

I didn't get any closer to exactly how my family were related to the wedding couple though I did hear some charming and nostalgic stories from my mother about how she remembered various people there when they were toddlers, toddling around the village, being baby-sat by her and her sisters, in the state of Punjab, India. That all seemed so far away, many grim London rented rooms, double factory shifts and sacrifices away. The community now at this opulent wedding were a confident, financially secure, and more relaxed group than those early days of struggle. That felt good.

p.s the aunt and her family with whom my mother had fallen out never showed! So all was good in the wood.

Big, fat* Indian wedding

Yes, we are attending one tomorrow. More specifically, a Sikh Punjabi 'do'. The wedding is of a relative who hails from the Nottingham branch of the family. But don't ask me how we are related - I have no idea. My mother, at whose behest we are attending, launches into great details about the aunt-of, the cousin-of, the niece's husband's sister-in-law, but I am none the wiser! I need a diagram. Trouble is, I lose interest half way through...

We are all ready with our outfits, and will travel over tomorrow to my mother's to the west of London, near hounslow/heathrow. As you can see my outfit is particularly sparkly, yes, it reminds me too of a xmas tree. Unfortunately I didn't have time (or frankly, the inclination) to spend hours searching for something more sophisticated. The children (8 & nearly 10) are excited about going to an 'Indian party'. It's been ironic that I've turned to British descriptions of Indian dancing to explain to my inquisitive daughter how it's done - yes, the old change the light bulb with one hand, and pat the dog with the other, at the same time...(some people really do dance like that, but there are plenty of other moves too).

My mother is very excited to be attending such an event with her whole family, especially with all her grandchildren around her, something which happens increasingly less. But there will be an element of frisson in the mix tonight - in good old family tradition, there has for years been a schism between my mother and her sister which means that that they, and their supporters, don't talk to each other! This will be tricky to negotiate tomorrow night especially because I find it difficult to be (knowingly) rude to people. I shall take the 'third way' I think. There will be lots of showing-off and one-upmanship tomorrow night about who's got the best car, clothes, house, most successful children etc. I won't enter that race (much to my family's annoyance).

Lord knows what my (non-Asian) husband makes of it all - he goes along with it all very sportingly. I guess he married the package...

Aside from all this (!) I'm looking forward to it!

There may be some 'live-tweeting' from the wedding, now that I've got my new smart phone, if I'm not too busy with kids, relatives at war, and busting a few of my own moves...

*bit loathe to use this phrase given the horrible trouble caused by the Channel4 programme recently, but I don't want to lose it altogether because, since the 'Big Fat Greek' wedding days, it has been a really apt and useful phrase to describe a particular type of diasporic event

Olympic missile plans for Eltham, Shooters Hill, Blackheath

Big story about Eltham, Shooters Hill and Blackheath, in the news at the moment, although I've not time to blog it properly. It was all over the internet Sunday night, with lots of wry comments about protection of the 'corky fruited water dropwort' (what's that? Read about it on the e-shootershill blog).

Here's the press reports so far:

Bexley Times:
Eltham MP Clive Efford criticises Olympic missile plans
Eltham MP Clive Efford yesterday criticised plans to shoot down terrorists over Greenwich during the Olympics because he has not been consulted
 
BBC:
Olympics missile sites considered for Blackheath and Shooters Hill
"The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is considering plans to install surface-to-air missiles in Blackheath and Shooters Hill during the Olympic Games.
The MoD said it had taken military advice to identify sites to base the defence systems to protect the skies over London in the event of an attack...."

Mailonline (where I saw this first last Sunday):
Olympic missile defences (located at a cafe) under threat... from the Corky-Fruited Water Dropwort
"Plans to use surface-to-air missiles to protect the skies over London during the Olympics could be thwarted – because they will disturb the habitat of a rare wild flower."

And a blog post at the Blackheath Bugle.

There is a Blackheath Assembly meeting tonight, Tues 13 March, 7.30pm, at St. Matthew Academy, St. Joseph's Vale, Blackheath where no doubt, the Blackheath-end of this story, at least, will be discussed.

I've just heard this story at the top of the 3pm news on LBC radio, where there also had a rep. from the Blackheath Society voicing their objections to having such a site based there.

Be a Local Tourist Day in Eltham

Display at C13th Well Hall Pleasaunce, Eltham (Apr, 2011)

It’s that time of year again. ‘Be a Local Tourist Day’ takes place on 18 March 2012, in and around Eltham. From the ‘Royal Greenwich’ website:
       
“A day of activities, events and special offers taking place in and around Eltham, enabling local people to rediscover their area.
                    
There will be a wealth of activities for all the family to get involved in that are either free or offered at reduced rates during the annual Be a Local Tourist Day. A selection of town shops, bars and restaurants will also be offering special promotions.
A full programme for the day is set out below:

• free town centre guided walk, 2pm. Meet outside main gate of Eltham Palace, Court Yard (duration one and a half hours)
• free guided tours of The Lodge, Royal Blackheath Golf Club, Court Road, at 10am, 11am and 12pm. Meet outside The Lodge
• half-price entry to Eltham Palace from 10am to 4pm (last entry at 3pm). This is open to Royal Greenwich residents only, subject to proof of residence
• farmers' market, Passey Place, from 10am to 3pm
• Bob Hope Theatre, Wythfield Road, from 11.30am to 3.30pm. Open house with memorabilia on display. The Eltham Society will be presenting historical information on Eltham, and free refreshments will be provided
• open house at St John's Church, Eltham High Street from 11.30am to 3pm. Refreshments provided
• open day at Eltham Fire Station from 10.30am to 4pm, Eltham High Street”

There are also special promotions and events being offered by Eltham businesses on or around the 18th, including:
-- Coffee Town, St Mary's Place: Half price hot drinks for anyone dressed like a tourist (on presentation of a Be A Local Tourist Day flyer) [uumm, ‘dressed like a tourist’? how does that work then?]
-- Gusella's Ristorante, Eltham High Street: Sunday roast 2 courses for £10.85.
-- Eltham Grill, Chequers Parade: 10% discount on presentation of Be a Local Tourist Day flyer.

More details of these, and other offers, at thisiseltham.co.uk

My post here on the 2011 ‘Be a local tourist in Eltham’

Eltham round-up - March

Quite a bit happening locally recently while I’ve been a bit awol, busy with life:

Greenwich Council meeting
Greenwich held its Council meeting on 29 Feb. Apparently it was much longer than usual due to budget discussions. One of the headlines to emerge was that councillors voted to freeze the council tax for the fifth year in a row. The meeting was very usefully tweeted by Matt Clinch and there are reports about the meeting at greenwich.co.uk website.

Seems to have got quite heated at times, with “Cllr Roberts implying that new master-plans for the area are an antidote for cuts coming from central government” and “attacking Conservative councillors on their Eltham-centric amendments to the budget” (@mattclinch81)

Since writing this, I see that 853 blog also had a good post on the meeting and especially a question put to the Council about how much the recent royal celebrations cost:
853 reader beats press and politicians to royal borough sums

***************************************
Libraries to transfer, then not
Elsewhere in the forest, on 14 Feb Greenwich had approved transfer of its libraries to the ‘social enterprise’ company Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL) which already runs its leisure centres, amidst much protest from trade unions and librarians fearing cuts to services. Then we saw the surprising announcement that the transfer was halted due to a ‘conflict of  interest’ declared by Councillour John Fahy.  Cllr Fahy apparently runs Meridian Link with Mark Sesnan, managing director of GLL. However, the transfer has not been stopped completely and may still go through.

***************************************
Reverse parking
And then there was the slight problem for Greenwich Council with the parking consultation. Having put out to consultation controversial changes to parking arrangements in Eltham and Old Dover Road, it then released the following statement, on 29 Feb, withdrawing them:  

“Parking proposals in Eltham and Old Dover Road – fresh consultation questionnaire to be issued
The Royal Borough of Greenwich has been considering changes to parking arrangements in Eltham and Old Dover Road as a result of the severe cuts imposed on budgets by the coalition government.
Formal consultation on these proposals has begun but unfortunately the consultation papers already issued contained errors so have been temporarily withdrawn.
New papers will be issued as quickly as possible and the consultation time period will be extended. The Royal Borough apologises for this delay in the process.”

You can read more about this story at 853, the Westcombe Society's blog and Greenwich.co.uk

Parking plans featured, of course, in the Council’s ‘Masterplan’ for Eltham - no doubt folk will have voiced their opinions in that consultation too, which closed yesterday.

*****************************************
A question of class
Last week local MP Clive Efford questioned class sizes in Parliament, but unfortunately it didn’t really get him very far:
Clive Efford (Eltham, Labour)
“One of the most demanding tasks that teachers do outside the classroom is marking books, which allows them to monitor the progress of pupils. The applications for free schools that I have seen have an average of 25 pupils per class. If we value teachers in all sections of our education system, should they not all be teaching classes of 25 pupils? If the Government are serious about reducing the work load of teachers, they should take that on board.”

In a promotion of Gove's push on academy schools, his question was batted away by Nick Gibb (Minister of State (Schools), Education; Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, Conservative) with “I would encourage schools that want to have smaller class sizes and more control over how they are run to adopt academy status.”

But wait, a piece in last Saturday’s Guardian was interesting on this score: “Academy schools attain fewer good GCSEs, study shows”. Hmmm.

******************************************************
Bank on sensible precautions
There are reports of some worrying goings-on in some Eltham High Street banks, if the accounts are to be believed. Take care when using ATMs and carrying large amounts of cash in and out of banks. I’m not wholly sure of the veracity of the sources for now, hence my caution - so just be aware.

******************************************** 
Eltham Green on the radio
On 6 Feb an Eltham school featured in a radio programme. The ‘Your Old School’ slot on Robert Elms’ BBC Radio London show focussed on Eltham Green Comprehensive School (now the Eltham Foundation School, though soon to become another Harris Academy) with ex-pupil Glenn Tilbrook talking about his time at the school and why he was expelled from the school for having long hair. The Packet of Three blog has a brief write-up about programme and you can (still) listen to the programme there.

********************************************* 
Eee-haw to the Palace
And finally, a bit of news for those who’ve grown used to seeing the donkeys on Blackheath, or parents whose kids had their first donkey ride there. I had an ‘aaahh’ moment reading that “the Blackheath Donkeys have moved home from Thompsons Garden Centre, on Shooters Hill, to Eltham Palace. Nice post here on the e-shootershill blog.
 

Previous Eltham round-up 
Other Eltham posts

Eltham school children break world record!

Well, yes they did. But more importantly, my 10yo daughter tonight performed at the O2! She joined her school choir to perform as part of Young Voices, an organisation which brings children together to sing.

It was an incredible performance of over two hours long which brought together over 7,000 (!) primary school-aged children to sing together, alone and also to back up other artists. There was a Monkees medley, a Queen medley, they backed The High Kings for Qaudete (the haunting latin Steeleye Span track), and Randolph Matthews for a stirring version of Labri Sifri's Something Inside So Strong. Apparently, Beverly Knight was a guest the night before.

It was all very high energy, with great lighting orchestration and with the children waving their torches, stomping feet and doing 'wavy arms' at the right times.

But it was by singing with 11 yo Connie Talbot (apparently the Britain's Got Talent 'singing sensation') that tonight's Young Voices choir achieved the world Guinness record for the largest number of backing singers (at 7,310!). The Guinness adjudicator was there to judge and declare the results. A BBC crew were also filming. The place went wild.

It was a tremendous evening, and a real tribute to music teachers who enter their pupils for this event and then rehearse them for months. We got home very late with a very buzzing daughter. Thing is, we are buzzing too. Now where is that order form for the DVD....

Meditation Course for beginners, lunchtimes - Eltham

I wish I was around weekdays for this:

'LEARN TO RELAX AND MEDITATE'
FIVE WEEK LUNCHTIME COURSE
Mondays from 12:45 - 1:45 pm
27th FEBRUARY - 26th MARCH
COST - £20 (£5 per session if starting mid-way)
VENUE - Eltham United Reformed Church, 1 Court Road, Eltham SE9 5AD (In the Dobell Room - entrance to the side of the Church)

This is a five week course which will enable you to relax and learn the basics of meditation. The class will focus on relaxation, developing breathing techniques and increasing energy levels using simple techniques. Anyone can benefit from the meditation course and lots of advice will be given on how to make meditation a part of your daily life. The meditation techniques used do not require any particular beliefs, just come along, relax and experience the meditations.

There are many ways meditation may help you...here are just a few:
- reduce stress and anxiety
- deepen your sleep
- aid pain management
- improve your ability to concentrate
- give you an increased sense of well-being

The course will include relaxation exercises, guided meditations, Qigong meditations and time for discussion, help and advice. Most of the work will be carried out either seated in chairs or standing/carrying out simple movements.
Suitable for all ages.

Contact Rhonda on 07985001782 or reply via this advertisement.

The Colonial Eye: British Empire images of the Punjab, India - free event

Curious about film footage of life in India during British rule? This is a quick mention of a fab and free event this weekend, of public archive footage of this period in India, especially focusing on Punjab.

In “From the Archives: The Colonial Eye: British Empire images of the Punjab, India 1912 – 1947” artist Tajender Sagoo “has curated a series of short films produced during the British rule of India with a focus on the Punjab. The screening will bring together public information and travelogue films found in British public archives and rarely seen on the big screen.

The public information films selected are examples of state propaganda used to form public opinion, a practise still prevalent today in regions such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, even in this era of digital media. The travelogues selected are personal observations of places and people. Screened together they form a visual essay of Punjab as written by its rulers and administrators.“

The screening is going to be followed by a panel discussion with “four specialists on South Asian film, popular culture and history discussing what the films can tell modern day viewers and taking questions from the audience.”
 
Given my own family’s Punjabi background, it would be interesting to know more about how the Raj viewed the Punjab during my grandparents' time. Even for a south Londonist, this sounds well worth crossing the river for.

This event takes place Sunday 19 February at 14.00 at the Pheonix Cinema, 52 High Road, East Finchley N2 9PJ. It's free but booking is essential (Box Office 020 8444 6789)

'Eltham Town Centre' Masterplan

Tomorrow you can view the 'Royal Borough' of Greenwich's Masterplan for 'Eltham Town Centre'. Eltham is one of four areas in the borough for which the Borough is setting out it's 'ambitions' and focusing on as 'key growth areas'.

Out with the old? Eltham Arcade, 204-214 Eltham High Street

The four Masterplans are now the subject of a period of consultation, until 9 March, during which time you can express your views. The status of the Masterplans, produced by Allies and Morrison and Urban Practitioners, is that they will be "adopted as Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) and will support the planning policies for the borough".

The Masterplan's 'Introduction' for Eltham says:

In with the new?

"Eltham is a town with a long and distinguished history. However, this lies rather hidden, either buried behind modern buildings in the case of the network of historic lanes, or remote from the High Street in the case of Eltham Palace.A key aim of this document is to reveal and reclaim that history, and emulate the structure of the historic urban grain to create a place which is characterful, rich and above all, enjoyable.

The vision for Eltham is to consolidate and prosper. The vision is to help Eltham be an excellent local town centre for people who live and work in the local area. It can achieve this through a combination of a good mix of uses, great public spaces and good access. A mix of town centre living will also help to promote vibrancy."

The document goes on to describe proposed development, in phase 1, of Eltham's car parks, Passey Place, the Orangery (for 'small scale businesses'), shopping arcades, and the town centre's alleyways. It goes on to propose two further phases taking the plan up to 2027.

I haven't had a chance yet to have a proper look at the plans - you can access the full Eltham Town Centre Masterplan here and the other three areas here (ie. Charlton Riverside, Greenwich Peninsula West, Woolwich Town Centre). I haven't noticed too much around yet about Eltham's plan but if you're interested in Charlton, there are posts at Charlton Champion, 853 and Andrew Lainton's blog has an interesting piece.

Details of Eltham's consultative exhibitions are:

Thursday 16 February:
Eltham library foyer, Eltham Centre; focusing on Eltham Town Centre
Exhibition: 3pm to 8pm (including presentations at 4pm and 6.30pm)

Saturday 3 March:
Eltham library foyer, Eltham Centre; focusing on Eltham Town Centre
Exhibition: 1pm to 5pm (including presentation at 2pm)

Eltham in Royal Borough celebrations

Fireworks over Tudor Barn - my poor photo from the loft

It would be remiss of me to let today pass without doing a post on one of the biggest celebrations in Eltham in recent times.  As I wrote in a post earlier in the week, on 4 February the ‘London Borough of Greenwich’ became the ‘Royal Borough of Greenwich’ and there have been celebrations all over the borough - in Woolwich last Friday, Greenwich today, with Eltham’s turn yesterday. 

In Eltham, the newly-signed ‘royal charter’ went on display at the Eltham Leisure Centre, and there were events around town including at Eltham Palace. A tree gift from Her Maj was planted at the Well Hall Pleasaunce, and then later there was music and fireworks at the Tudor Barn, finishing just before the snow descended.

Due to family commitments and then my need to avoid ice-induced brain-freeze, I didn’t venture out to any of the events but lots of people did, and have commented on them:

- there’s great photos by greenwichcouk (Rob Greenwich.co.uk) of the Tudor Barn events here: greenwich.co.uk/daily-photo/07…

- Darryl’s wry post ‘Greenwich’s royal borough roadshow hits Eltham with a bang’ bit.ly/xDZq2n

- a striking photo posted by Bryn McNeill (via twitter @bigsocietyis) of an icy fountain at Well Hall during the tree planting

- and @darryl1974 reported yesterday “Passing through Eltham. Just seen a town crier in full garb walk down Well Hall Road. Hope his bell doesn't freeze up...”

- a close up photo of that Royal Charter confirming Greenwich's Royal Status: twitpic.com/8f68az

I’ve speculated before on what benefit royal status would bring the the borough and to Eltham - here’s a take by the Leader of Greenwich Council, Councillor Chris Roberts said: "These celebrations are a great way to showcase all the current and future inward investment, tourist and job opportunities that Royal Greenwich has to offer. Tourism brings in £774 million to the local economy, welcomes over 18 million visitors, supports more than 8,000 jobs and has helped make Greenwich the only UK destination listed in Frommer's top ten global places to visit in 2012. Our new Royal Borough status will drive forward our record levels of regeneration and cement our role as a key international destination for businesses and visitors from across the globe." 

Well, that would be good. Although a recent New Statesman piece casts doubts on the economic benefits often forecast for royal connected events.

And not all locals are enamoured:

@Labour_Partisan Tom: 'Royal servility festival in Greenwich this weekend, might give that a miss'.

Elsewhere, others have chosen to highlight the much-needed improvements to the borough rather than the expenditure and fanfare about royal status:

 

- 'Signs of the times' at the 853 blog

- 'Greetings from Royal Kidbrooke' at the Kidbrooke Kite

And finally, Rob Greenwich.co.uk (@greenwichcouk) posted: ‘London Tonight featured Greenwich and the its new name today - available to watch online itv.com/london/fullpro… at 22 minutes in’