Creekside Centre celebrates three years of Rivers & People Project this Sunday

Sunday 7th July, 12pm to 3.30pm –  It's a WRaP
The final event of the Rivers and People Project celebrates its three year duration with crab races, wildflower bingo, traditional fairground games and food – including barbecue and cake – plus puppet theatre Monkey Biz. All welcome.

Creekside Discovery Centre, 14 Creekside, Deptford, SE8 4SA
www.creeksidecentre.org.uk

After school club and half term at Creekside Centre

A FREE After School Club for kids aged 8-12 years has just started at Creekside Centre. It will run from 3.45-5.15pm every Thursday till July 18th.

Activities include photography, fishing, mudlarking, bug hunting, games, arts & crafts and offers the opportunity for Crossfields kids to stay outside and play in a safe CRB-checked environment. Equipment and snacks are provided too!

Contact Natalie to book a place on 020 8692 9922 or email her at education@creeksidecentre.org.uk.

Plus! HALF TERM FISHING TRIPS!

Next Friday May 31st kids are invited to don their wellies and go fishing in the Creek.
From 10.30am-midday is for 5-7 year olds, preferably accompanied by an adult – there are plenty of crabs to be caught at this time of year.
From 1.30-3pm is for those aged 8 and over who will get kitted out in waders so that they can fish further upstream.
Cost is £5 per person (or £15 for a family of 4). Book on 020 8692 9922.

More info on holiday workshops at Creekside Centre on their website and also find a list of free events here.

Deptford Creek Live!

Creekside Discovery Centre has organised some Easter fun for children and their families: 

Tuesday 9th April  FOR 5-7 YEAR OLDS
10:30am – 12:30pm
This workshop will involve drama, games, puppetry, and story- telling based around the theme of MINIBEASTS! Children will become Minibeast explorers armed with nets and bug pots they will catch and identify creatures finally metamorphosing and becoming Minibeasts themselves.

Friday 12th April  FOR OVER 8s
10:30am – 12:30pm
(Run in partnership with MA Performance Artists from Goldsmiths University)
This drama workshop will involve an expedition into Deptford Creek! Through the means of interactive theatre we will be Mudlarking, telling stories and re discovering London’s lost treasures. You’ll be kitted out with waders, waterproofs and walking poles and be involved in a marvellous, muddy, melodramatic adventure.

Both events cost £5 per participant and booking is essential.
To book call Creekside Discovery Centre on 020 8692 9922 or email info@creeksidecentre.org.uk

All Creekside staff are CRB checked. Parents can drop off children or stay and participate in the fun.

Creekside Discovery Centre, 14 Creekside SE8 4SA

Rivers & People and Deptford Creek

The new Rivers & People programme is out – pick one up in the library, click on the image below, or go to their website to find out the opportunities to explore your local rivers for FREE over the coming months. The next walk is a trek out to Kelsey Park to look at one of the largest heronries in London on 12th March. The walks along Lewisham's waterways run until July, with the last event marking the end of the Rivers & People project.

The project has been run for the last three years in association with Creekside Discovery Centre (14 Creekside). The Centre also runs low-tide walks in Deptford Creek – the next one is on March 17th. Check out their website here.

Hallowe'en at Creekside Centre

Creekside Discovery Centre have announced two Hallowe'en events. On the 30th October there'll be some spooky daytime activities for children and families, and on the 31st there's a low-tide 'creepy Creek walk' for adults (and accompanied older children) at 6-8pm – to our knowledge, the first ever trek up the Creek in the dark!

Creekside Discovery Centre Celebrates 10 Years

Next Saturday, our local environmental education centre celebrates its tenth birthday. In their search for old photos to help commemorate the occasion, the guys at the centre turned up this photo taken in 1996 before the Creekside Education Centre was built (but whilst it was being conceived). It's the disappeared graffiti from which this blog takes its name. The wall had to go to make way for the wonderful new gates to the centre (designed by local artist Heather Burrell).

The centre grew out of regeneration funding that came about in the 1990s when the Docklands Light Railway extension was agreed to be implemented. A Creekside Strategy was drawn up in 1993 by Lewisham and Greenwich Councils to identify key objectives to regenerate the area. Out of this came the Creek Environment Project in which some specific aims were proposed that enabled Deptford Creek to survive the regeneration process and help prevent over–development.

Crosswhatfields found this photo of the site as it was sometime in the 1990s 

(or before the new Ha'Penny Hatch footbridge was built in 2002).

These included the protection and enhancement of the Creek environment, improving public access and understanding, removing rubbish, plus identifying and repairing or renewing flood defences and river walls. From 1996, surveys were commissioned on wildlife habitats, flora and fauna, flood defences, water quality, land use and access, and partnerships were established with local experts, neighbours,  government and other agencies. The Creekside Education Trust was founded in 1999 'to work with the local community to sustain the regeneration of Deptford Creek through education, conservation and the forging of partnerships'. The original idea of having a Floating Education Centre eventually resulted in the development of the disused brownfield site owned by British Gas where there was access to the Creek, and the green roof (or "rubble roof") building which opened in 2003.

In the intervening years, the Trust has struggled to survive, and funding for running costs has been difficult to secure, but many of the original objectives have been achieved, such as repairing the river walls, cleaning the river, monitoring the plant and wildlife, and running a schools education programme. Unfortunately they still have to charge the public for their low-tide walks, so many locals have yet to acquaint themselves with the wild river Ravensbourne that is only metres from their doorstep, bu they also run a Volunteer programme – find out more on Saturday.

The centre also hopes to launch a new and improved website this weekend.
www.creeksidecentre.org.uk

Local weekend events

Sacrilege: Saturday 4 August 10am-6pm

A life-size replica of Stonehenge – which is also a giant fully operational bouncy castle – returns to South London for one day only (last bounced on in these parts at Greenwich Peninsula). It will be in Burgess Park on Saturday till 6pm. Pick up the 436 or 171 to the Old Kent Road and get off at St Giles Church (or opposite Curry's). Sacrilege was made by Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller and has been touring the country as part of the Cultural Olympiad.
sacrilege2012.co.uk/

Organ Recital at St Paul's Church: Saturday 4 August, 12noon

Complementing the artists showing in the church as part of Deptford X, organist Sue Heath-Downey will be performing various works by Bach, Couperin, Messiaen and Murrill. An antidote to the Olympics... 

Family Fun Day at Creekside Discovery Centre: Sunday 11am–3.30pm
A free day of activities for children and adults to explore the local wildlife in and around Deptford Creek.

 

Super Saturday on Blackheath: 12noon – 10.30pm

Back to the Olympics, Super Saturday is the day when most medals can be won. Up on the heath, apart from the Big Screen showing the live Olympic action, there'll be performances from local bands and local talent, loads of stalls and carnival – a mini Lewisham People's Day in a brand new setting. More here.
Lewisham Council expect large crowds on Sunday evening when local lad Conrad Williams may be in the 400m semi-finals at 8.40pm...and Usain Bolt runs the men's 100m final at 9.50pm.

Family Weekender at Greenwich

At the Old Royal Naval College, as well as the Big Screen, there's free entertainment all day Saturday and Sunday till 10.30pm, with music, film and street arts, as part of Greenwich Summer Festival.
Ticketed events throughout the festival which require booking include comedy shows and Midsummer Night Flicks.

A relaxed crowd at Lewisham Big Screen on Friday evening – the start of the Athletics.
 

Rivers & People Project and Creekside Twitter

The new programme of summer walks and events organised by the Rivers & People Project will be out shortly (check at the library next week). See the preview below. Meanwhile Twitter fans who are keen nature lovers might like to follow the tweets from Creekside Discovery Centre. Check out @Creekside_Trust. Also see dates and times of up and coming Deptford Creek Low Tide Walks on the Centre's website (the next one is Saturday 28th April at 11am).

Rivers and People Project: Autumn – Winter 2011

We thought this sounded like an interesting walk: Roots and Shoots amongst the Suits – Creekside to Canary Wharf. "A meander to the mouth of the Ravensbourne, a tunnel below the Thames and a delve amongst the docks will see us arrive in the heart of the financial district where wildlife still clings on, nestled beneath the hedge funds". Meet at Creekside Discovery Centre at 2pm.

More walks listed below...

Creekside Discovery Fun Day on Sunday

Sunday 25th September, 2-5-pm
Creekside Discovery Centre, 14 Creekside SE8
Bug hunting, crab painting competition, wild flower hunt, fishy type things like gobys...

Creekside Discovery Evening - Saturday 20 August

This Saturday the Creekside Discovery Centre is opening its gates from 6pm to 10pm to welcome all 'urban explorers' who fancy spending the evening pond dipping, hunting bugs and identifying wild flowers. Nature lovers can drop in when they like and from 7pm the barbeque will be fired up, so bring your own grub to put on the grill.

The Creekside Discovery Evening is part of a series of FREE events in August and September programmed by Lewisham's Rivers and People Project that includes walks along the Waterlink Way, bat hunting in Beckenham Place Park and drop-ins at Ladywell Fields and Cornmill Gardens.

Other events at Creekside Discovery Centre are:

Sunday 4 September 2-5pm: Wild trees
Wednesday 7 September 7pm-10pm: Creekside Moth Night
Saturday 10 September 2pm-5pm: Migrating Birds
Saturday 15 September 10am-1pm: Low Tide Walk in Deptford Creek

And on Saturday 24 September from 2pm-5pm there's a Family Fun Day in Sue Godfrey Nature Park.

Lots more info at www.natureconservationlewisham.co.uk

August workshops for kids at Creekside Discovery Centre

15th - 19th August 2011, 10.30am – 2.30pm

CREEKSIDE SUMMER CHALLENGE for ages 8 – 12 yrs

Deptford Creek, London's Grand Canyon, is one of the few wild areas in this city. Deptford Discovery Centre has organised a week of exploration and artistic challenges. Go for a low tide walk, fish for crabs, try some photography, make art installations out of rubbish, take a boat ride and make new friends. Complete the week, get a certificate and have plenty to tell the rest of the class in September. 

Run by trained, CRB checked staff. Bring a packed lunch and join in the fun. 

£3 a session or £10 for the week

Book now on 020 8692 9922. Places still available.

Mondays - Photography Challenge - photography training - orienteering - wildlife

Tuesday - Mud Challenge - low tide walk - net fishing - microscopes

Wednesday - Boat Challenge - boat trip - water games

Thursday - Art Challenge - hunting for junk to create a masterpiece

Friday - Thames Challenge - tidal foreshore walk - finding treasure

Creekside Discovery Centre, 14 Creekside, Deptford SE8 4SA

Funded by London Borough of Lewisham

Bats over Faircharm

Pardon the poor photograph - fortunately I have no aspirations to be a photographer - but after watching a solitary bat flying around for about 5 minutes or so outside my Crossfields balcony on Friday it occurred to me that I might be able to get a picture of it.

It's pretty inconclusive but between the white bank of cloud and the pumping station behind Faircharm you should be able to see it in flight.  (I also did a bit of videogling but I'll first need to figure out how to edit and upload the short sequence I managed to take.) 

It is actually the first time I've seen a bat in Deptford and I've no idea what species it was - as you can see from the light it was before sunset.  At about 8:15 pm, I guess it was out for an early breakfast.  It was hunting insects in a fairly compact area over Creekside, the front of the Creekside Centre and over the northern parts of the Faircharm estate.

Has anyone else seen bats on Crossfields?

Moth trapping at Creekside Discovery Centre this evening...

Creekside Discovery Centre opens its gates this evening from 6pm to 10pm to local urban explorers interested in moth trapping, wildflower walks and bug hunts...

If nature is your thing, drop in when you like – and bring your own grub (natch!) for a BBQ.

The next two Creekside Discovery Evenings will be on Friday 22nd July and Saturday 20th August (6pm–10pm).

Saturday 28th May at Creekside Centre

Crossfields' very own Magic Book Puppet Theatre are back with their 35 minute musical children's show The Waddleplops (suitable for ages 3+) at 11am and 2pm.
"Atmospheric and magical! The children were totally engaged" Pound Park Nursery School
To book call 07739 570403.

For adults and children aged 8-16 there's also a Creekside Low-Tide Walk at 3.30pm. Expeditions up the creek last about two and a half hours. Adults £10, children & concessions £5 (2 adults + 2 children £25). Booking is essential: 020 8692 9922 or email creeksidecentre@yahoo.co.uk

Saturday March 26th at 11am, 2pm and 8.30pm

Saturday March 26th at 11am: Low-tide Walk up Deptford Creek

Double click on the image for more details or go to www.creeksidecentre.org.uk. Booking essential. But you may want to save your walking for the big march...

Saturday March 26th at 2pm: March for the Alternative

The march will assemble from 11am on the Victoria Embankment between Waterloo and Blackfriars bridges and proceed through central London until reaching Hyde Park, where the rally will start from around 1.30pm. Obviously if you want to hear the rally you will want to get up to town earlier than 2pm, but the organisers advise that locals go later to make room for the hundreds of people coming down to London by coach, who will also need to leave earlier to get home.

Stop Press: Contrary to anything you might hear from Social Centre Plus etc, there is no official "feeder march" from Kennington. See here. Unofficially, there is a feeder march from Kennington from around 11am...but you may risk being kettled before you get near central London. Info on other feeder marches here.

More info at the TUC's dedicated website here. And here are some links to other Anti-cuts websites:
coalitionofresistance.org.uk/
falseeconomy.org.uk/
anticuts.org.uk/
ukuncut.org.uk/

Saturday March 26th at 8.30pm: Earth Hour

Join homes, businesses and iconic landmarks across the UK in switching off all non-essential lighting at home and at work between 8.30pm and 9.30pm. More info at the World Wildlife Fund's website.
London schoolkids will be Switching Off at 2pm on Friday 25th as part of Climate Week.
Apparently Lewisham Council has been shortlisted for a 'Best Local Initiative Award' by Climate Week for its work with public, private and third sector organisations as well as the local community in the Low Carbon Zone in Lewisham Central. First we've heard about it. See here.

Anything else happening on Saturday we should know about?

Postscript: Deptford Dame has listed a 3pm classical music gig at the Royal Naval College with donations going to Red Cross relief in Japan. More info on the Dame's blog.

Local cleaning job available at Creekside Centre

Creekside Centre have recently lost their cleaner so are looking for another. Crosswhatfields is not running an employment agency, but thought this might be ideal for anyone on Crossfields looking for a little local cleaning work. The job has not yet been advertised so get in quick.

Presently it's just 3 hours per week, but may expand to twice a week when the centre gets busier in the coming months. Pay is £10 p/h.

Please ring Karen on 020 8692 9922 (Tuesday or Wednesday) or email creeksidecentre@yahoo.co.uk.

Creek Walks 2011

The next Creek Walk takes place on Saturday 12th February at 11am.
Booking is essential so email creeksidecentre@yahoo.co.uk or call 020 8692 9922.

A walk up the Creek is a unique and fascinating experience. At high tide up to 7 metres of water floods the Creek; as the tide retreats London’s “Grand Canyon” is revealed and the walks are led along this gorge on the stony river bottom.

Deptford Creek is one of the capital’s unexpected and hidden green gems, providing an unmatched opportunity for adventure and discovery not found elsewhere in London. A haven for hundreds of fresh and saltwater plants and animals. One of London’s most historic waterways, where the past flows into the present.

Discoverers are supplied with thigh length waders and sticks to help keep balance. They are guided by people passionate about the Creek and its history and wildlife. Walks last about two and a half hours from booting up to returning to the streets of London.

Click on the picture above to see the schedule for February–June 2011.

Sue Godfrey Garden Clean-up...and 'Creekside Urban Park'

Volunteers from the offices of DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) turned up this morning to help clear the Sue Godfrey Community Garden (besides the basketball court) and prepare it for replanting. The garden has been neglected for a while (since no one was sure who was supposed to be maintaining it) and had got rather overgrown. The Defra volunteers came at the invitation of Claire Pritchard of the  Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency who hopes to set up a food growing garden on the site. The project has come about through the co-op's involvement with the Crossfields Green Spaces group – Crossfields gardeners Ruth and John also helped with the clear up.

Meanwhile, Glendales have given Lewisham Homes 1000 bulbs to plant in the grass area on the other side of Church Street opposite the Sue Godfrey Garden. A Bulb Planting Day will take place on Saturday 27th November – volunteers are needed to come and help with this.

On the day, WMM Architects will also be presenting and consulting on their plans for 'Creekside Urban Park', a by-product of their work on the Route One Cycle Path which at one time was threatening to demolish one of our gardens. The idea is that you come along and plant a bulb, have a cup of soup and then comment on the plans – which at present involve widening the footpath alongside the railway, removing some trees and planting some smaller ones. (More details when we have them...and watch out for a leaflet or letter through your door).

Claire Pritchard (left) debates with the volunteers whether to uproot a monster buddleia as they tackled the area adjacent to the garden and next to the bike sheds. Some of the larger shrubs removed today will be replanted in other areas on the estate at a later date...

Meanwhile the volunteers were also working under the Greenwich Development Co-op's direction over at Creekside Centre, building some 'raised beds' that are intended for use by the Crossfields Green Spaces group, as part of a longer term plan to engage the centre with the community.

...And here's an 'artist's impression' of what the Bulb Planting area might look like next year...Apparently, this area is called Coffey Street Green East...(news to me!)

www.greenwich-cda.org.uk
crossfieldsgreenspaces.wordpress.com

Crossfields TRA Meeting Thursday 29th July & Crossfields Festival

There will be a TRA meeting this Thursday at the Pink Palace (50 Frankham House) at 7.30pm.

On the agenda....

CROSSFIELDS FESTIVAL
Hopefully going ahead on SUNDAY 5th SEPTEMBER (as usual, the first Sunday in September) SUNDAY 12th SEPTEMBER. Ideas for this would be MOST WELCOME - such as stalls and if you or your band would like to play at the festival. Contact Hugh if you want to run a stall or perform. Offers of help on the day to set up stage and stalls would also be most appreciated.

CYCLE PATH & ESTATE GARDENS
John will be reporting on recent developments around the Cycle Path and the Greening of the Estate (see his posts here and here).

DEPTFORD X 2010
As part of this year's Deptford X (September 24th – October 3rd), Crossfields residents will be able to take part in a project with the appointed RESIDENT ARTIST, Leila Galloway from Frankham House. Leila won this opportunity in an open submission in partnership with Sophie Hope (there will also be 'Resident Artist' projects in three or four other locations in Deptford). 

CREEKSIDE CENTRE
If there's time, we will also be canvasing on how Crossfields residents might like to make use of Creekside Centre. Michele from Holden House would like to know if you're interested in attending activities there such as barbeques, music, film screenings, games, exhibitions, competitions, and children's activities such as puppet shows and art workshops. Or perhaps using the building for a weekly youth club or as a clubroom, or for classes in art/yoga/fitness etc...

Hope to see you on Thursday. We shall also endeavour to keep you up to day on all these subjects on this blog.