Sun Wharf on Creekside – happening sooner than expected!

Click to enlarge

We touched on Sun Wharf as part of our coverage of the Kent Wharf redevelopment application. Public consultation for Kent Wharf in July 2014 was followed by submission of an application in December 2014 which was passed in March 2015 and work is now well under way. Included in the Bellway Homes' application was an "indicative masterplan" for the entire stretch of land bordering Deptford Creek and Creekside, going all the way down to the railway. It would add a further 242 homes. See Crossfields Estate shaded in red (our addition):

Indicative masterplan, Dec 2014

The Kent Wharf plans mainly showed the present development in context with Laban, as well as an untouched Jones Catering Supplies and Cockpit Arts.

Kent Wharf plans, Dec 2014

With Jones in possession of a lease till 2022, it seemed we might be spared the continuous onslaught of construction work on Creekside. There might be a bit of a breather before Sun Wharf began.

But it would appear from the above public consultation that all obstacles have been removed and Bellway Homes can plough ahead with their masterplan. Jones may have been offered an alternative site to continue their lease (or their lease has been bought out), and Cockpit Arts have been seduced into getting a new 'purpose-built facility'. The speed with which the Kent Wharf plans turned into reality suggests public consultation at this time means the rest of the masterplan could begin at Sun Wharf as early as 2018, around the time Faircharm and Kent Wharf are reaching completion.

As we predicted then, a tower of 14 storeys could easily rise to 18. Here's 2014's building heights:

Indicative masterplan, Dec 2014 (click to enlarge)

Indicative masterplan, Dec 2014

And here's the (only) picture on the front of the consultation leaflet (black biro is ours). My! How that tower has grown! And gone is the old Cockpit building with the Love Over Gold mural – now they're tucked into the development and overshadowed by a 9 (?) storey building! Looks like there will be a lot more than 242 homes now in the highly dense development...

Sun Wharf, Feb 2016 (click to enlarge)

Whilst these rapid changes on Creekside could be viewed with excitement by some, it's rather depressing for local residents – not everyone is out at work every day, and going by the noise and pollution already being created by demolition works at Faircharm (which we'll cover in another post) the prospect of another five years of being stuck in the middle of a building site is not a happy one. On one side is Thames Tunnel at their Deptford Church Street site, and on the other, five new developments on the Creek, plus more Thames Tunnel work across the Creek. There's also another potential Creekside development when No.3 Creekside is sold (quite possibly to Bluecroft who have already bought the MOT Centre).

The Faircharm development has recently generated convoys of HGVs queuing all the way up Creekside to take away demolition materials, but that is nothing compared to the 180 lorry trips per day planned for when construction begins. Whilst Workspace plc have cheated their way out of using the Creek to transport spoil and materials at Faircharm (not 'financially viable'), Bellway Homes at Sun Wharf should have less of an excuse – but they have not used the Creek at Kent Wharf, and there is also the little matter of Thames Tideway Tunnel's plans to use the Creek themselves. Oh, and did we mention the noise? And the floor shaking and the cracks appearing...

What can we get from all this redevelopment? New 'townscapes', a buzzing new street full of cafes and mini supermarkets perhaps? Even nearer gyms, a few galleries? More parking congestion? A one-way street? At least there might be a few more much needed homes for families at Sun Wharf, which is more than you can say for the Faircharm development. Will the Love Over Gold mural be preserved? Those who value it may have to put up a fight as it's unlikely that Cockpit Arts will argue for its retention. What will happen to Cockpit's craftspeople – will they be the first to be offered new creative spaces in Faircharm and Kent Wharf while their building is demolished? (We'll have to ask our designer friends*)...

View our Pollution Survey (May 2014) results here to get an idea of what's in store while this fantastic brand new environment is being created on our doorstep. Meanwhile find out more on Wednesday 24th Feb (3.30-7.30 at Creekside Centre) and on Saturday 27th Feb (11–3 at Laban).

* We asked a friend at Cockpit and she had no idea of the plans.
 

Mural partially restored – and original Love Over Gold graffiti artists 'fess up

Our neighbour John alerted us on the weekend to the fact that work has finally taken place on the partial restoration of the Love Over Gold mural.

When Cockpit Arts replaced the doors in the middle of the mural, this blog campaigned for the central part of the mural to be reinstated. Money was subsequently found by Lewisham Arts Service and Cockpit Arts to pay for the mural's original artist Gary Drostle to do the work required (see our post from January). Due to other commitments and some terrible weather, it has taken Gary a while to get around to it, but now the mural's centrepiece is back – the evil Countess has returned to remind us how the gulf between rich and poor has only increased since the time Love Over Gold was first painted in 1989.

The London Mural Preservation Society took an interest in the renovation of the mural (see their page on it here), and in late summer they forwarded us an interesting email they had received from an ex-Crossfields resident, who owns up to writing the original words 'Love Over Gold' on a brick wall which went on to inspire Dire Straits and then Gary's mural:

One night in '75 (I think) four naughty art students from Goldsmiths College went out with a pot of white emulsion to paint graffiti. I was one of them. Three of us lived in Wilshaw House on Crossfields Estate, near the site of the graffiti/then mural. We can't remember which of us was responsible for Love Over Gold (but it was definitely one of us, I remember the night well!). We didn't tell anyone it was us, but have always been proud of it.

If anyone has a photo of the original graffiti, we would love to have it.

So would Crosswhatfields – so if any readers have a photo of the original graffiti, please let us (or the London Mural Preservation Society) know! Also write to us if you think you know the name of the ex-Wilshaw House resident(s) which for now we're keeping a secret. There may be a prize....

Meanwhile, last week, Gary also touched up the reds in the picture, brightening it considerably, and did his best to get rid of the damaging tagging that appeared earlier this year. Our neighbour John is very happy about the reinstatement of the mural's centrepiece, but is worried that the tagger who sprayed in white all over the mural will return to vandalise it again. He's insisted we publish his description of this pesky individual...(imagine Ray Winston doing the voiceover)...

White. Short to medium height. Very weedy. Furtive/nervous movements. Spotty or red complexion but face mostly obscured by light grey hoodie...It looks like he lives in the hoodie i.e. stained and bedraggled. Aged somewhere in his twenties. 'A really skint looking no-hoper' is my summing up of this cretin.

(Not a Goldsmiths student, then...)

A complete renovation still awaits the funding initiative promised by Lewisham Arts Service back in January (in which they would put together a funding package that could be used by us locals to approach potential funders) and, of course, it also requires concerted effort and support from local people. Anyone fancy taking this on?

Love Over Gold mural update

In December 2011 we contacted Lewisham Arts Service to ask for their assistance in the potential restoration of the Love Over Gold mural on Creekside. Cockpit Arts inherited the mural (originally painted in 1989) when they bought the building but had had to replace the rotting wooden doors which contained the centrepiece of the mural in October 2011 (see previous post). Brigid Howarth (Lewisham's Creative Industries Officer) responded with the suggestion of a meeting in the new year, and last week she met with artist Gary Drostle, Becky Kingham (Cockpit Arts studio manager) and Sue Lawes (representing Crossfields) at Lewisham's Civic Suite.

As the artist originally commissioned to paint the mural, Gary Drostle had asked specialist paint manufacturers, Keim, to survey it and estimate the cost of its full restoration (Keim's paints were used in the original). They came back with a figure of £10.5K – a lot of money to find! Gary advised that splitting the work needing to be done into smaller segments over a period of time – as funds became available – would ultimately cost much more, but he estimated that the cost of simply reinstating the centrepiece of the mural on the new steel doors would be around £1000, since the same expensive paints would not be required for this.

Brigid explained that funds available to her to spend on public art were a miniscule £2000, but that the landmark mural was one that the borough was very proud of, and she was prepared to commit £500 seed money to help get renovation started. Becky Kingham kindly offered to match this amount with a further £500 from Cockpit Arts. It was decided that Gary be commissioned to put back the missing part of the mural on the new doors.

Another £9.5K needs to be found through voluntary fundraising efforts on the part of Crossfields and Cockpit Arts over the next 12 months, with initial help from Brigid to put together a funding package. At a time of continued budget cuts in the most needy areas, mural restoration may come bottom of the list, but we hope that there is enough community support to back up any approaches made to those organisations (such as local developers) who may have the spare cash to commit to such a project.

The London Mural Preservation Society has also contributed some helpful ideas for fundraising which we hope to follow up in the coming months. Work will not start on the doors until the Spring, but once restored, the meaning of the Love Over Gold mural will again be apparent. 

Cockpit remove part of Love Over Gold mural

We posted back in August that Cockpit Arts had contacted Crossfields Tenants & Residents Association (TRA) to tell them that they intended to replace the doors in the centre of the Love Over Gold mural.

The TRA Chair said he would write to Cockpit's Studio Manager, Beckie Kingman, to request that the mural be reinstated on the new metal doors in whatever way possible. He was also going to provide Cockpit Arts with the contact details of the artist responsible for the mural, Gary Drostle.

The doors were removed prior to Deptford X and replaced with a metal grill, as part of artist Adrian Lee's piece Survival Instinct (which wasn't part of the official festival). Now that Deptford X has finished, the grill has been replaced with new powder coated grey doors.

We spoke to Beckie today and she said she had not received any communication at all from Crossfields TRA.

We asked her what research had been done to find out the history of the mural, for instance, had the artist been contacted? Although his name is painted on the mural, Beckie said she had contacted Lewisham Council to find out who to get in touch with about her plans, and Lewisham had directed her to Crossfields TRA.

The old doors are presently standing outside in the wilderness garden behind the new doors, unprotected from the elements. We stressed the heritage of the doors to her, and she offered to bring them inside. We also talked about the possibility of reinstating the missing part of the mural on the new doors, rather than worry about preserving the old doors. We've now spoken to Gary Drostle and he'd like to do this, but ideally as part of a project that restores the entire mural to its previous splendour.

We wonder if Lewisham can find some funding for this? Or perhaps the London Mural Preservation Society can help us...If you feel strongly about this, please write to the londonmuralpreservationsociety@yahoo.com and drop a line to Lewisham Arts Service.

We love the Deptford Machine!

Don't miss the Deptford Machine by Ben Parry, at Utrophia Project Space – the jerky video above shows only one side of the sculpture but there is plenty more to see in this jangling kinetic wonder made of second hand market junk and treasures and poundshop specials. The machine gains more momentum as you walk its length but at its peak there's a contrastingly slow snail race and movement is imperceptable.

Deptford X continues this weekend, with early evening openings as part of "Last Fridays"....there are special events at Lewisham Art House and The Old Police Station, among others. As well as the galleries, open studios continue (Art Hub, Cor Blimey Arts, Creekside Artists, Hatch Space, Lewisham Art House and the Old Police Station) and the weekend ends with an art quiz at the Dog and Bell with Fred Aylward. Meanwhile The Bird's Nest pub now boasts a new sign by Adam Vass....

...and we hope Ashton & Mollett have baked a few more ship's biscuits. These 'ornately embossed edible artworks' – which were available last weekend at various locations while stocks lasted – depict the fate of the Golden Hinde. They are staging a Making & Baking performance at Creekside Discovery Centre on Saturday 1 October from 1pm–3pm.

There are three walking tours over the weekend: one starts at 1.45pm on Saturday at Creekside Discovery Centre (free), the other two are pay-what-you-can run by South London Art Map. At 5pm on Saturday there's performance art at Unit D in Crossfield Street by Amy Lord (apparently it contains nudity) and more on Sunday possibly anywhere in Deptford between 10 and 5 by Laura Cooper.

If you're wearing a Deptford X badge you can get discounts at Arch Materials, The Big Red Pizzeria, Creekside Cafe and Deptford Project Cafe. And public voting is taking place online for the Fringe Award – winners will be announced at the Deptford X pub quiz at the Dog & Bell on Sunday evening. It appears that Deptford In A Shell  (at the train carriage) has captured people's hearts most so far. There are also other small works by Crossfields resident Chrissie Stewart and ex-Crossfields resident Janet Currier in this space – not part of the main or fringe festival, but worth a look.

We liked Surrender To The Pleasure by Ar-se (yes, arse) at APT Project Space in Creekside and were struck by the poignancy of the shanty town construction built in the shadow of so much new development, recalling the fate of the Chinese street dwellers 'disappeared' by the Bejing Olympics.

There is much to see outside of the selected main programme and fringe, and we recommend the show at St Paul's House in the high street by five of the artists who have been temporarily based there whilst the building awaits redevelopment.

 A couple of other things we saw last weekend were also not part of the festival 'selection' – unofficial fringe, if you like. The mural for Douglas Square was a project organised by Lewisham Council – we caught the winner, photographer Peter Anderson, aboard some scaffolding putting paint to a newly rendered wall. We know Peter likes to develop his own photos, but this must be his slowest emerging image making yet.

Across the newly laid square was another team painting a wall. This one was from Goldsmiths, the project of two design students, "aiming to commemorate the dying industry of hand rendered sign writing, presently drowning amongst corporate messaging..."

Part of London Design Festival, Talking Walls "employ human hands to speak to the people". "Inspired by the charm of traditional advertisements, now fading but visible to the curious eye"...
Here's one they did earlier in the Deptford Project yard – possibly very short lived since that wall will probably be removed when redevelopment begins.

Talking of murals, we are reminded of Gary Drostle's Love Over Gold mural in Creekside. We reported in August that the mural was under threat by Cockpit Arts who wanted to remove the doors to make way for a Deptford X installation and replace them with metal security doors. The Chair of Crossfields TRA was going to write to them and tell them this was unacceptable – that the mural doors must be kept, pinned to the new security doors if necessary.

However, the doors are gone. Adrian Lee's piece is about CCTV cameras going feral and wild.

We hope Cockpit Arts intend to replace the mural doors when Deptford X finishes. There may be a bit of a ta-doo if not.

Cockpit Arts threaten Love Over Gold mural

 

With the Deptford Dame and Transpontine highlighting an up-coming mural walk by the Mural Preservation Society, we thought we'd chip in with our pennyworth.

 
Crossfields TRA recently received a letter dated 22 July from Beckie Kingman, Studio Manager of Cockpit Arts, Deptford:

Re: Replacement of doors in ‘Love over gold’ mural

I am writing to inform you about the work that is needed to the doors that form part of the ‘Love over gold’ mural.

We are aware of the importance of the mural to the local community.  However the situation is that the doors and frame are rotting and need replacing. The current doors are also braced from the inside (no viable lock) meaning there is no access to the garden area behind the wall. Our proposal is to replace the frame and doors with metal security doors – powder coated mid grey to match in with that part of the mural. This will ensure the security of the building, whilst also giving us limited access, both for events and maintenance works.  We plan to eventually clear the garden so that the doors can be opened up at certain occasions (i.e. Open Studios) for the community to enjoy. We would hope to display the original doors in the garden area.

Before installing the new doors, we are very happy to be involved with the Deptford X Project.  From 23 September to 2 October we will be featuring an installation by the artist Adrian Lee called Survival Instinct.  The doors to the overgrown garden will be removed and replaced temporarily with a study mesh panel. Please see the attached document describing the event. Following this, the metal security doors will be put in place.

We do appreciate the importance of the mural but we do have to replace the doors and frame as each year they worsen resulting in an ongoing security problem. We feel this plan is sympathetic to the mural as a whole.

I look forward to hearing back from you. If you have any other queries or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me.
 
Knowing that the rules of Deptford X are that artists may not make contact with a venue prior to being selected, and also that the selected artists for this year's festival had not yet been announced, we called Deptford X to verify Ms Kingman's statement. Not wishing to pre-empt any announcements by Deptford X (due at the end of this week) or jeopardise the working partnership between Cockpit Arts and Deptford X, we can only suggest that Ms Kingman may have been a little presumptious in her schedule for door replacement.

Meanwhile the TRA will be writing to Ms Kingman to request that if the doors are to be replaced, then this part of the mural should be reinstated on the new metal doors. An alternative might be to mount the old doors on the new ones. But there appears to be no proposal in the letter above to reinstate what is in effect the very epicentre of the mural – the queen in her counting house counting out her money.

To help them in this, the TRA will provide the contact details for Gary Drostle, the artist responsible for the mural's design and installation back in 1989. Mr Drostle is more than happy to be involved in the maintenance of the mural, supervising the cleaning and reinstating of the areas of the mural that have been filled in with render (by Cockpit), and to reinstate the image on the doors that Cockpit want to replace. Perhaps funding can be found for a youth arts project to carry out the work under Mr Drostle's supervision. Needless to say, no attempt had been made by Cockpit Arts to contact Mr Drostle.

This is not the first time Cockpit have wanted to get rid of this much loved mural. Gary says, "You'd think an organisation like Cockpit would be supportive..."

See this post to read the part played by the mural in the history of Crossfields' Estate.

Love Over Gold vandalised

Yesterday afternoon just after 3pm I took a walk down Creekside on my way to Chestnut Walk in Greenwich Park via Harmony Way, and came across Cockpit Arts furniture designer Matthew Nicholls, frantically attempting to remove some white paint (with a strange lemony aroma) from the Love Over Gold mural. Matt said he had only just arrived half an hour earlier to see that some vandal had thrown a load of paint at the wall. It was still wet so Matt had set to work immediately to remove it. He had cleaned off quite a bit by the time I arrived...Well done, Matt, for saving our much loved mural (which has survived a few attempts over the years to destroy it).

Matt would like to know if anyone in Farrer or Finch saw the person or people who did this – if you saw anything, please get in touch with Crosswhatfields@gmail.com.

Dire Straits (who?) visit Crossfields

On December 3rd last year, the Performing Rights Society put up a plaque on the wall of the flat that used to be occupied by members of a famous rock band, as part of a programme of installing plaques to commemorate where various bands have their origins. Dire Straits weren't exactly famous then back in the 70s, but it wasn't long before they were. The band's first gig took place in 1977 on the green behind Farrer House – the first Crossfields Festival – the electricity for which ran from their flat, thanks to an opportunistic pal who tripped the meter (as legend goes). They were called the Cafe Racers then, and became Dire Straits soon after for their first gig at The Albany Empire (with Squeeze).
                                                                                                

Guitarist Mark Knopfler and bass player John Illsley unveiled the plaque to a small assembly of residents, PRS staff and press. Colin Bodiam –aka 'Bo'– who used to design and silkscreen posters for the Albany Empire (as it was known then) was there to get one of his old posters signed. Bo also lived on Crossfields then and printed his posters in the Pink Palace (No.1 Frankham). Completely co-incidentally, an auction of Bo's old posters took place later on at The Albany, an event which included music by other former Crossfields residents and attended by many previous tenants who have since flown the nest.

Knopfler chatted to residents beside the Farrer lawn and opposite the Love Over Gold mural which was partly inspired by the Dire Straits' song of the same name. The mural was designed and erected in 1989 by Gary Drostle in collaboration with local primary school children, and was commissioned by Lewisham Leisure, Dire Straits, the ILEA and Outset UK – the disability project which was housed behind the wall before Cockpit Arts. After the unveiling, CDs and album covers were signed at a small reception at the Laban.

Pix: Raphael Mergui and Sue Lawes