Welcome back, Deptford Anchor

The best pic we've seen so far, by CircusFit on Twitter

We haven't written about the Deptford Anchor since 2013 when a campaign began soon after it was removed. A petition was launched in late 2015 by the Deptford Society, which we linked to in our sidebar – but without any help from us the petition attracted hundreds of signatures within a few months.

Another week has gone by since this pic was taken – the installation of a plaque is awaited before the fencing around the site can be removed. 

Campaigners are already planning a celebratory 'sea shanty' procession down the high street this coming Saturday 3rd February, assembling at 12 sharp at Villages Brewery in Resolution Way and setting off soon after noisily singing shanties (song sheets provided) to head down to the anchor for a spirited toast to everyone who helped bring it back. (See the Facebook event). Expect a "salty sea farin' knees-up, all inclusive, home-spun, raucous fun Deptford Shanty Crew celebration".... 

Meanwhile, there are two exhibitions about the anchor in Deptford Does Art at 28 Deptford High Street, close to the anchor site. On the ground floor Deptford Is Forever are showing a 'visual campaign archive', which reveal their links with local community initiatives The Lenox Project and Sayes Court. Both those projects grew out of a previous campaign by Deptford Is to get the massive legacy of the historic Deptford Dockyard recognised in the plans for Convoys Wharf by site owners Hutchison Whampoa – a campaign which this blog covered extensively in 2013 and up until the developer got planning permission from the Mayor of London in 2014. 

In the downstairs gallery at Deptford Does Art is the final year show of (now graduated) MA Landscape Architect student Max Barnes, who was inspired to make work about the Deptford Anchor by visiting tutors at Greenwich University, Bob Bagley & Roo Angel – the founders of Sayes Court. Barnes imagines the anchor being dragged from its storage place on Convoys Wharf back to the high street, gouging out the tarmac as it goes to create a fantastical new environment. The show closes on Sunday 4th Feb so catch it while you can. 

There are also two talks this weekend in the basement gallery where Barnes has created the context for a new take on the redevelopment of Convoys Wharf, aka Deptford Dockyard.
• Friday 3rd Feb at 7.30pm The Lenox Project
•  Saturday 4th at 3pm, Sayes Court.  

From what we can glean on the Deptford Is Forever website, various 'artistic' street interventions over the years helped publicise the petition till it reached over 4,000 in November 2016. Deptford Is Forever seem to be the naughty artistic wing of an otherwise respectable Deptford Society. But it seems the Council had started to take notice when the petition hit around 3,300. At least that's the figure mentioned in the Feasibility Study they saw fit to commission a few months after the petition had already hit that figure. 

We also note that the campaigners seemed to spend most of 2017 in delayed and protracted talks with the Council, because although the Mayor had agreed the anchor could return, the Deputy Mayor was very averse to it being installed in a position where it could actually be seen. A little bird tells us Cllr Alan Smith, who now seems to have quite a reputation for exaggerated and ill-founded expertise, also claimed it wasn't even a real anchor, and that the entire area was full of high power cables just waiting to explode on touch. It seems he expounded these fears on the basis that his wife once worked for UK Power Networks (and not because his own administration had a proper and authoritative conversation with the utility operator in question).

But all that is by-the-by now, as last week our bit of ol' iron was finally brought back and re-installed on a generous bed of cobbles – seemingly a bigger area than the visuals shown in the planning submission of July/August 2017. The old anchor (thought to originate in part from the 1860s) has been thoroughly cleaned up and the chain has been welded together, presumably for health and safety reasons. It can no longer be dragged out into the street by a passionately inebriated person as Ben Graville's pic shows here. 

©Ben Graville

There is no longer a plinth for the public to sit on, but it seems the campaigners acknowledged that the plinth could not be returned. The anchor was removed because of the anti-social behaviour of the street drinkers who congregated there in the latter days of its previous existence, so the Council were unlikely to allow it to happen again.

Meanwhile, 28 Deptford High Street is a Council-owned building that was originally part of the regeneration plans that saw the anchor removed in 2013, so it seems fitting that the anchor campaigners have found a temporary home there at the same time as the anchor returns. 

The 2013 street regeneration funding (from the Mayor of London's Outer London fund, not from Lewisham's own coffers) went to refurbishing the flats upstairs at no.28, but seemingly ran out when it came to doing up the shop, which had previously been a much-needed community Law Centre. The shop lay empty until money was found for refurbishment in 2016, then lay empty again until the Council put out a tender in 2017, having changed its planning use from A2 Financial to A1/A3 so that food and drink could be consumed in a retail environment. Unfortunately the refurbishment stopped short of providing a proper kitchen...

Deptford Does Art, who have been placing local artists' work in pubs and other venues in the area for a couple of years, fulfilled Lewisham's brief to provide a commercially viable community hub at No.28 DHS, but they weren't the first winners. Several groups applied, including a consortium of local community projects and activists headed up by the Deptford People Project (who have been providing free food to the homeless for some years). 

No one actually knows who won, but whoever they were, they pulled out, and Deptford Does Art were consequently invited to take on the premises, and do the best they could with a draconian lease, hardly any discount in rent or business rates, as well as no kitchen and no disabled access! They offer craft beers, wine, coffee and speciality teas, as well as vegan cakes and savoury bites, and are open Wed-Sun, 12-10.30pm. Local artists are queuing up to show their work.

Deptford Does Arts's rosta of artists is unlikely to include the kind of contemporary artist who used to show at Hales Gallery and Cafe, which older residents will remember with fondness, as the cafe had such a beautiful back garden; such lovely outdoor spaces are in limited supply both then and now. The gallery downstairs put on shows that Charles Saatchi was known to visit and buy from. 

Who can remember when Hales Gallery got too successful for Deptford? For some landlords on the high street, the continual promise of gentrification wasn't happening soon enough. Hales Gallery, for instance, needed to capitalise on the interest they had in the artists they represented and were desperate to be in a more fashionable location (and a larger space) to continue their ambitions in the international art market. Hales Gallery moved to Shoreditch in 2004.

They were not only ahead of the game, they had also benefitted from all the public funds going into the area. As a member of Shaftesbury Christian Centre (aka Bear Church), Hales owner Paul Maslin took advantage of grants and charity exemptions. Then he sold No.30 to Jennings the bookmaker who immediately sold it on to Corals, which precipitated a free-for-all for bookies wanting to take over the high street and a campaign we ran in 2011 against Betfred. Paul Maslin is one three Councillors for New Cross Ward (covering the area in question). 

Deptford High Street North consultation : Wed 3rd Feb, 3pm – 7.30pm

Lewisham Council are working in partnership with TfL to deliver improvements to the north part of Deptford High Street and are presently consulting. An exhibition of their consultant Project Centre's initial ideas are on show tomorrow at Deptford Lounge from 3pm – 7.30pm. The exhibition boards are also available to view and comment on at the Council's "consultation portal".

As the Deptford Dame has already commented, the plans appear to fall short of preventing the road being used as a rat run or being safer for pedestrians and cyclists. An early bird, she is particularly concerned about the speed and quantity of traffic in the early mornings that thunders up Giffin Street to get to Edward Street (which it uses to avoid Evelyn Street). She points out that introducing a narrow one-way entry from Evelyn Street will not stop the Edward Street rat run. And that there is already a 20mph speed limit in place but it's ignored in the early morning when there are no parked cars for speeding vehicles to negotiate (overnight parking is not permitted).

We can verify that the rat-running continues all day and is especially bad in the early evenings when the traffic is going in the opposite direction, with a different but equally detrimental effect: rather than speeding dangerously it is stationery. This is because of the TOTAL FAILURE of the new TfL 'improvements' at Deptford Broadway, where traffic light sequencing seems to favour the east/west running A2 at the expense of north/south traffic (some of which is local, but mostly it's trying to get on to the A2 and now far fewer cars are allowed to feed in each time). Despite this the A2 still backs up to New Cross just as badly or worse than it did before.

Daytime tailbacks in high street

Early evening tailbacks on Giffin St, outside Wavelengths

The Broadway scheme was introduced with the benefit of finally providing properly signalled pedestrian crossings and to introduce cycle lanes (which have reduced the space for vehicles). The result is peak-time gridlock along Deptford Church Street in the early evenings, and of course an increase in rat-running along Deptford High Street, Giffin Street and Creekside, where traffic backs up as it queues to get onto Church Street. The 47 bus might as well throw away its timetable at rush hour as it sits queuing with the cars and increased number of construction vehicles, from the Birds Nest to the Broadway, without the luxury of a dedicated bus lane. No need to labour the point about the chronic effect of stationery diesel vehicles on the health of residents living adjacent to both Church Street and the smaller roads and children attending the local schools.

We warned Thames Tideway Tunnel about the potential for gridlock and rat-running in this area in 2012 (here and here for examples) when they proposed a partial closure of Deptford Church Street to accommodate their works at Crossfields Street/St Paul's Church. Our argument was based on the occasional closure of Rotherhithe or Blackwall tunnels or accidents anywhere on the surrounding network. As we pointed out at the time, TTT's plans were backed up by out-of-date traffic data provided by TfL, but the St Paul's site got the go ahead and the partial road closures will still go ahead. Only now, thanks to TfL's appalling traffic management at the Broadway, horrendous tail backs are a daily reality and can only get worse.

Evening gridlock on Deptford Church Street due to TfL's Broadway junction light sequencing

An accident at the Broadway on 18 January: Deptford Church St north lane closed for hours

Perhaps the new sequencing is to stop traffic heading south into Lewisham via Brookmill Road where it will meet the horrendous Lewisham Gateway, but whatever the overall plan, it doesn't inspire confidence for the high street north proposals. TfL are offering £2.8m to implement the scheme; there is also £500k from section 106 funding for Convoys Wharf available purely for high street improvements (and separate from the improved Evelyn Street junction which will come later).

Meanwhile, a local business in Ffinch Street, Shultz-Wiremu, have commented that high shops near them had received a request from the Council asking for access to their basements, presumably as part of a structural survey of the above ground pavements. But the shops had no idea why their basements needed surveying and had no knowledge of the consultation on this new scheme. Shultz-Wiremu are appalled at the increased frequency of construction vehicles using the high street and, like the Deptford Dame (who reckons that none of the people devising the scheme, or those advising them, "have done their homework"), they feel the proposals emphasise trivial issues whilst not fully addressing the main problem. Hopefully the consulting team will learn something of value from the people attending the exhibition (or filling in the online survey) who actually use the street.

The intention to repeat the paving plan implemented in the south of the street (where pavements are extended into the carriageway to accommodate parking) may at least put a halt to the present congestion (as well as the usual driver fuckwittery that goes on with parking spaces) whilst it is being built, though it will be a nightmare for residents and traders. Paving works in Douglas Way and Giffin Square were swiftly followed by repaving the south end (as a result of the timing of two different funding awards), but the whole thing took so bloody long that trade as well as traffic was brought to a standstill. It is not clear whether the south street improvements have proved a success – it has very little traffic now that it is one way. It's proposed the north end will remain two-way up to Edward Street, but with some parts narrowing to slow speeds. What effect this will have on the articulated delivery vehicles visiting Poundland and Iceland is anyone's guess. The plan is dotted with trees all the way up; these would be situated in the extended paving (presumably avoiding basements and utility services) and may also prove an obstacle to impatient drivers. Or not. Local suggestions include a ban on diesel vehicles and, more radically, closing the market gates at rush hour.

But any successful reductions on the high street will just make Deptford Church Street and Creekside worse for Crossfields residents...

••••

Road surfacing works have been taking place in Deptford Church Street. Contrary to popular belief this road is Lewisham's responsibility although it is part of TfL's Strategic Network. The work began at 11pm and went on till 4am last Thursday and since then has started as early as 9pm – and the road has been partially closed as each lane is dealt with. There is no doubt that the work is required and is being conducted fairly efficiently, but some of the machinery being used is so loud it can be heard two blocks away in people's living rooms. There was no notification to residents and no notice of road closures. God only knows who is responsible.

••••

High street HSBC bank to close

Those with accounts based at our local branch of HSBC should by now have received a letter from the bank stating their account will be transferred to Lewisham branch*. The Deptford High Street branch is due to close in April, apparently because not enough people are using it. Of course, the increase in online banking means many current account holders may not use the bank for anything other than cashing the rare cheque or using the cash point. There are now three or four alternative free cash points they can use, and cheques can be paid in at any branch.

But many high street traders are not at all happy about the closure, as most of these small businesses can't afford to operate card transactions and rely on the bank for depositing cash takings. One cafe owner complained that he had not that long ago had to move from the Halifax (closed in 2010) to the HSBC and would now have to change to the one and only remaining bank, Barclays, which is well known for its long queues. The alternative is to spend extra time legging it over to Lewisham (and back). Another trader declared that "when a bank shuts, so does the high street".

More worrying, though, is the future of this modestly handsome old building that sits at the civic heart of the street. As with the Halifax, its planning class is A2 Professional Services (eg Financial services) and the most likely new tenant or owner could well be a betting shop or pawnbroker (who somehow fit into this category). The old Halifax (rumoured to be soon taken over by an expanding Greggs) eventually escaped becoming a Betfred because of a special condition in the building's planning permission (only discovered by Lewisham Planning after a long and concerted community campaign run by this blog and assisted by Dame Joan Ruddock in Parliament and after Betfred had already appealed against planning refusal).

Perhaps empire building pub managers Antic will step in to create a new bar instead. Or might we see another Vietnamese or Asian restaurant? Perhaps it could be turned into an Asset of Community Value or a branch of London Mutual or Lewisham Credit Plus... Either way, we can't have another a betting shop! Perhaps a change of planning class can stop this?

*They may not have a letter since the Royal Mail has been spectacularly bad recently – we've had experience of more than two letters posted in the middle of November only turning up last week!

Sign the petition to bring back the Deptford Anchor!

A campaign for the return of the 'Deptford Anchor' was launched on Saturday, and at the time of writing, has already garnered over 1500 signatures in just five days. Click here to sign.

Via 38 Degrees, the campaign is petitioning Lewisham's Mayor to re-instate the anchor to the south end of the high street where it had resided for 25 years until being removed during regeneration works two years ago, amidst much protest. It later became the focus of a local art project, who have now teamed up with the Deptford Society to launch the petition. They want the anchor returned without the plinth it once stood on.

Visualisation of the anchor without a plinth @Deptford Is Forever

Whilst the anchor served as a landmark for friends to meet up, its plinth had also become a seating area for street drinkers, so it seemed to many that the new high street paving had been an opportunity for the Council to remove the anchor and 'design out' anti-social behaviour.

©Ben Graville – http://www.bengraville.co.uk/bengraville/r.i.p_anchotor_photos.html#66

The drinkers soon found somewhere else to sit – on the benches in the newly paved Giffin Square, in front of the new Tidemill school and the library. We heard that parents of children at the school are now petitioning for the seating to be removed!

Meanwhile, utility companies have since dug up new paving stones and filled them with tarmac, and the new paving is already badly stained. The top of the high street still lacks the proud focal point it once enjoyed. Although the space is used by market traders on Saturdays, the rest of the week it remains empty – except when it is occupied by a Talk Talk or Sky sales team, who, with their habit of chasing shoppers down the street and hassling them to buy broadband phone deals, could be said to be more anti-social in their behaviour than the street drinkers ever were.

Talk Talk sales team hassling shoppers

The empty space is also sometimes used as quick and convenient parking for Asda shoppers. And to the distress of residents living above the shops, Asda itself has been loading and unloading here in the middle of the night.

Unmarked Asda truck parks up at 3am in the morning to noisily load and unload ©Ben Graville

Below is where the Deptford Anchor currently resides. It's being 'stored' in the Olympia warehouse building on Convoys Wharf 'for safe keeping'. Why is it still there, under the so-called 'protection' of a developer who gives not a jot for the maritime heritage of Deptford?

The anchor is stored in the Olympia building at Convoys Wharf @Deptford Is Forever

Convoys Wharf is owned by Asia's richest billionaire, Li Ka Shing, via Cheung Kong Property Holdings – one of his two recently reorganised and renamed Hong Kong-based global conglomerates (with limited liability in the Cayman Islands) – otherwise known to us as Hutchison Whampoa.

As the Deptford Dame noted in July, when travellers made it their home for awhile, the site was not even that safely secured. She also pointed out that in the (now) eight months since the Section 106 agreement with the GLA and Lewisham Council was signed and almost two years since HW received outline planning permission for the development from the Mayor of London (March 2014), not a single planning application (ie, worked up designs for the individual buildings and parcels of land) has been submitted to Lewisham's planning department.

So if the aim of both Lewisham Council and the developer was to re-situate the anchor within the development itself, it is likely to be at least another ten years before it is seen again. Time to bring it back! Sign the petition here.

Deptford High Street re-presented

The Academy of Urbanism has shortlisted Deptford High Street in its Urbanism Awards 2016. The awards aim to recognise "the best, most enduring or most improved urban environments". The Academy has visited and assessed "over 100 outstanding examples of good urbanism" in the UK, Ireland and Europe – and our high street is one of 15 finalists.

There are five categories – European City, Great Neighbourhood, Great Place, Great Town and Great Street. Deptford High Street has been shortlisted for the latter category, along with Cairns Street (a residential street in Liverpool) and Oliver Plunkett Street in Cork. The winners of each category will be announced on November 6th at the Academy's Awards Ceremony.

Update 9 November: The 'Great Street Award' was won by Oliver Plunkett Street in Cork. For more info on the winners click here.

Tower of Babel by Barnaby Barford
© V&A

Meanwhile, the high street is one of many represented in Barnaby Barford's Tower of Babel at the V&A. Barford has created a six metre tower out of 3000 individual hand-made bone china buildings, each depicting a real London shop. Barford calls it a snapshot of our times; it "forces you to think where you fit into this hierarchy of consumption". Expensive shops and galleries make up the top part of the tower, with the cheap shops at the bottom. Creative Review notes that "It feels apt that it is the cheaper stores that are the easiest to examine at the base of the sculpture, as arguably these are the most unique, compared to the high street chains and even fancy boutiques that are out of sight higher up". There are 32 Deptford shops at the base of the tower.

Each of the small models are for sale, varying in price from £95 to £6000. You can browse the Deptford shops via the online V&A shop – they vary in price from £110 to £250 and, at the time of writing, over half have sold but you can still pick up Kids Love Ink for £210.

Deptford High Street also features in the child-like drawings of Jeanette Parris, who is 'lead artist' at this year's Deptford X. For last year's festival, Jeanette "spent time talking with local residents and stallholders at Deptford Market" and her depictions of those conversations were printed as a comic  and handed out free. This year she has "been building on these conversations" to create an animation called Brief Encounter.

A scene from Brief Encounter © Jeanette Parris @ Deptford X 2015

The theme of this year's festival is 'Deptford Conversations' and Jeanette will be talking about Deptford with 50 other 'guest' artists about what they feel is relevant to it. Deptford X runs from 25th Sept to 4th Oct.  Follow on Twitter @DeptfordX and Facebook. Also see the Deptford Dame's round-up.

Meanwhile, local fears about gentrification of the high street are demonstrated in the leaflet below that was distributed in last Saturday's market...(click to enlarge).

Deptford events coming up...

The big event this weekend is the London Marathon on Sunday which Crossfielders can watch from the end of the road – unless they're running of course. Get down to Creek Road at around 9.15am to see the elite runners or catch the charity runners from 11ish. But before that, there's...

New Cross & Deptford Free Film Festival 
Friday 24th April – Sunday 3rd May 
37 free films in 17 different venues over 10 days, run by volunteers with more than 40 people curating events. Most of the larger venues or most popular films are already booked up (the first night in particular), but check to see what's left at the website – some events can't be booked so it's first come, first served. One such film we would recommend for loyal Deptfordians is Hide and Seek, a children's film shot in Deptford in 1972, showing on Wednesday 29th at the Big Red Pizzeria (but don't be fooled, it'll be in the container in their back yard, not in the pizzeria itself). Otherwise see you in the queue at the Job Centre on 3rd May...

Deptford Food Festival
Saturday 25th April, 9am–5.30pm, Giffin Square 
The first of what is now to be a weekly street food market. The Deptford Dame points out this is the third time it's been tried and fears there may still be not enough demand to make it worthwhile for the traders themselves. Not being an evening event, it's certainly not as trendy an event as Lewisham Model Market which returned to Lewisham High Street last week, but as a food-orientated attraction it's not as poncey as the Deptford Brunch Club and you can do a bit of shopping as well.

Co-incidentally, The Secret History of Our Streets – featuring Deptford High Street in the first episode – is being repeated on BBC4 (catch it on i-Player). The documentary uses film footage from Hide and Seek (see the Film Festival above), funnily enough. When Secret History was first broadcast in 2012 it caused controversy locally. We had our own critical opinion of the episode's inaccuracies (here, here and here) having originally helped contribute to its making in 2011. Also see Deptford Misc's take on it. But it's worth watching to hear how Deptford High Street was once the "Oxford Street of south London".

That reminds us of the meeting held back in early February at The Albany for shopkeepers and market traders, convened by local councillors (who all happen to be Lewisham Labour) to discuss how to increase trade in the high street (or rather, combat the decrease). Traders think business is lost because of parking charges – it's free to park on a Saturday after 1pm but they'd like free all day parking ("like what you get at supermarkets"). Maybe the new Asda can pay for the free parking...

Another demand was for public toilets–  the Lounge was built on the site of the previous public loos and doesn't open until 10am. Most demands were led by People Before Profit (in an open attack on the Labour councillors); PB4P touched on a subject that was of no interest to legitimate businesses when they called for an end to frequent harassment from the UK Border Police.

Everyone present thought better signage was needed and one lady shopkeeper bravely suggested that the 47 bus takes a detour (presumably up Frankham Street and down Giffin Street) which is a brilliant but probably impractical idea. The Chair of the High Street Traders Association – who got the anchor removed and to which most traders do not belong – suggested French foods or farmer's markets in Giffin Square. So here you are! Not French cheeses, but lovely street food! Make the most of it! Naturally, you'll be walking or catching the bus to our famous high street, since there's still no all-day free parking. That's probably just as well since Deptford Church Street is usually gridlocked on Saturdays with people trying to get to Surrey Quays and Lewisham shopping centres – or Millwall FC at home...

Do They Know It's Christmas? Where are the festive lights on our High Street?

OK, so the cuts have taken their toll. No Xmas lights for Deptford High Street.

Just the south end – the lights came on (as they have for the past week) just as the Wednesday market was finishing today. Nothing in Giffin Square or Douglas Way. Obviously no Christmas tree here, that would be excessive (and of course attracts street drinkers, so we can't have that). Nothing from the Giffin St junction down to the very bottom (or very important north) of the high street where there are a couple of lampposts with a twist of lights as it meets Evelyn Street. In fact there is a twist of lights down there with no bulbs attached to their sockets.

Cuts? Incompetence? Lack of care? Couldn't one of Deptford's millionaires sponsor some lights? Did no one from Lewisham ask HSBC? Barclays? Poundland? 99p Store? Iceland? Tesco? Cathedral (cashing in already on Deptford)? Hutchison Whampoa (Convoys Wharf owners about to cash in)...Waitrose even? Just who the f**k is running this high street anyway? The "Deptford Society" don't appear to know. Who at Lewisham is responsible?

No doubt Lewisham Gateway (latest phase 0% affordable housing), Lewisham centre and Catford are bountifully lit up (we've no idea because we avoid these areas like the plague). But Deptford, non! And no bloody explanation or apology either!

Update 19th December: 
(We've edited this post. A related story about no lights on the Ha'Penny Hatch is now a separate post).

Our mate Fred called the council but didn't really get a definitive answer – the chap he spoke to didn't really know and could only guess. There might be three reasons, he said. 1. The lights were found to be not fit for purpose (bulbs missing?). 2. It might be Skanska's fault (they have the contract for street lighting). Skanska have put in new lamps at the south end of the street but have not yet replaced the old lampposts at the north end. 3. It was more likely to do with cut backs. On average, Xmas lights might cost between £12-£15k (to run or to install, he didn't say). Residents could apply for money from Ward Assembly funding, get their Ward Councillors to apply for funds. Or residents could approach a developer to sponsor.

As one commenter below has said, we're an enterprising and creative community in Deptford. If we had known in advance there would be such a poor show, we might have found an alternative way to bring a bit of festive cheer to the rest of the street.

Update 22 December: Five more lampposts were lit up yesterday...

"Buy-to-let opportunity in exciting location with growth potential"

There is nothing particularly surprising about the price of this single Deptford Project (aka 'Rise') flat being sold off-plan (before it has been built) by World LTD via primelocation.com. At £604 per sq ft, it's a bit pricier than the existing new-build luxury flats in the area (£593 per sq ft at Creekside Village) and after all, there are two properties on the high street presently going for £1m+ (a Grade 2 listed building on Albury St and an architect-designed contemporary building in Mary Anne Gardens).

On the Prime Location website the flat in question appears to be the only one left from this development – the others having been marketed overseas or via Conran Estates as investment opportunities with rental yields of 4.75% earlier in the year. (see our April post).

Our only reason for posting about it now is to share the amusing blurb being used to sell it. As usual, Deptford is "considered 'the new Shoreditch' (where prices are £1,000 per sq ft)" and "has more artists than anywhere in London". It is "an area poised to be a hub for young urban professionals". ...And it's only "6 minutes to London Bridge". No mention of the upcoming changes to the Southeastern train service - see our next post!

Property consultant (and director of 'Properties of the World') Jean Liggett writes:

I visited The Rise in Deptford, and the local area at the beginning of July – it was a gorgeous day and I left the town excited, for buyers, residents and visitors alike.

I took the train from London Bridge and it literally takes just six minutes. The development is right next to the recently rebuilt station and has its own private entrance – the first in London to do so.

It is also only 15 minutes from the City and Canary Wharf on the DLR, which is just six minutes’ walk away.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has earmarked Deptford as one of London’s ‘main opportunity areas’. [ No he hasn't! ] It has huge potential for capital growth and I think you are looking at a 5-year return of around 100% on capital invested in the Deptford Project.

I noticed on my walk that the population is a real mix that includes local business people, artists, students, parents with children, professionals and people from the creative industries.

In my opinion, the area is following the same pattern as Shoreditch did a few years ago – the ‘trendies’ move in first, prices rise, and the professionals follow. There is already a lot of building going on, as well as some recently completed building.

The Deptford Project is about a 10-minute walk from the river with fabulous views of Canary Wharf. A bit further on you can see the Gherkin.

This is an exciting area that until now has been slow to experience the price rises of other parts of London. But with its regeneration underway and its excellent transport links, the area has huge potential for capital growth.

Ironically, the statistics posted in Prime Location's 'Local Info' show a more recognisable picture: 

Deptford X continues + Fun Palace weekend

Lots happening this weekend in and around Deptford town centre. Exhibitions and open studios continue as part of Deptford X – apologies that we have not had time to pick out the best! It sounds like it's worth visiting both St Nick's and St Paul's churches, just two of the non-gallery spaces where artists are showing their work, but what else is going on?

We popped into the Deptford X HQ on Creekside (next to APT Gallery) earlier to find out what we've been missing. Co-ordinator Caz Underwood told us that Luis Rodriguez's "Dancing Builder" (see the short video above) has been very popular. Rodriguez has been dancing – like no one is watching – at regular intervals (peak travel times) on the roof of the Bird's Nest in full view of passing DLR trains. He's up there right now (singing to himself as well), and tomorrow he can be seen between 8-9am and 4-6pm. You can also watch him at these times on a live stream.

Caz also suggested we go see Jessica Voorsanger's show "It's about the hair" at the temporary gallery space on Brookmill Road. Jessica's large format photographs are self portraits of herself dressed as various celebrities, a project she embarked on after her hair grew back strangely curly following a period of baldness when she was undergoing chemotherapy recently. "Witty but dark" is how Caz describes the work.

There is far too much to see all over Deptford to list here, but to find out what else is going on, head to the HQ to pick up a map. You'll still need to refer to the website to find out about the artists and times and you can also check the map online – which Caz says is more up-to-date. Over the weekend at the HQ, lead artist Bob and Roberta Smith will be finishing his "Vote" painting, and you can try your hand at screen printing. There'll be live music here on Sunday (12-5pm) and banners are being made to carry on "a march" from the HQ to the Job Centre pub at around 5.30pm. Later, there's Fred's Art Quiz at the Dog and Bell (9pm), or if electronic music is your thing, spend the day at Vinyl cafe (2-11pm). Follow Deptford X on Twitter @DeptfordX.


Meanwhile, local theatre folk are taking part in and presenting "a weekend-long celebration of arts, science and culture" as part of the nationwide Fun Palace weekend (also see coverage in The Guardian). Pop-up performances, story-telling, food fights, circus, music – find out what's going on at the information point in the market square next to the Albany – or download the timetable and map.

We noticed this anchor last night and wondered if a new campaign to bring our anchor back had started, but it's part of the Fun Palace weekend... "Deptford's newest street theatre troop" The Red Anchors will be presenting pop-up theatre wherever you see a red anchor – "on the ground, in the trees, on lamp posts and on people" is where things might suddenly happen from midday on Saturday and Sunday...

Incidentally, last year's Deptford Is Forever art project are selling their tattoo-inspired Anchor T-shirts at the Deptford X HQ on Creekside on Saturday and Sunday (Unisex or Ladyfit – scooped neck, capped sleeves – all sizes @£10 with 10% going to Deptford X). Other Deptford X merchandise will be available at reduced prices, including silk screen prints of the festival poster "What is the value of art?" and limited edition signed prints of "Art makes people powerful" by Bob & Roberta Smith.

The Amber Tree Café and other high street news

Meet Jolanda and Virginia at the Amber Tree Café, a new delightful new addition to the south of the high street (number 45). Proprietor Virginia is Lithuanian and the cafe has got off to a great start, offering a varied lunch and breakfast menu (eat in or takeaway) at very reasonable prices. Virginia says all their food is handmade, freshly produced and uses only natural ingredients, and the cafe's speciality is their amazing homemade cakes, which include gluten free, dairy free and eggless recipes.

Co-incidentally, you can watch a live performance of traditional Lithuanian music at 1pm on Saturday 27th at the Deptford Lounge. Part of Deptford X festival, more info here.
 
Amber Tree has replaced the ill-fated Slices pizza restaurant which set up shop around the same time as the Pizza Bus down the road – the latter may have usurped Slices' USP. In a similar manner, the lovely Lithuanian women's lunchtime trade may about to get unwanted competition. A couple of doors down, the former Abermarle & Bond is now being refitted, and the builders have told us it's to become a new (franchised) branch of Subway, the bread-based food outlet that seems to be set on massive expansion.

At least it's not another pawnbroker. However, Subway don't offer hot meals and homemade cakes like Amber, or spicey Caribbean bites and breads like the great Chaconia bakery opposite, but the new store may give Percy Ingles another two doors down – and Greggs up the road – a run for their money.

Abermarle & Bond went bust earlier this year after the price of gold dropped dramatically last year (although their main trade was in Pay-Day loans). When the branch opened in late 2011 it became the fourth pawnbroker on the high street in a betting-shop-and-pay-day-loan cluster, as we reported at the time.

A later addition to the cluster was Cash Converters which took over the old Halifax premises, after locals campaigned against it becoming a Betfred (and which the Council managed to stop due to an unusual planning clause that applied to the building). But along with Abermarle & Bond, the Deptford Cash Converters branch has now inexplicably closed, having denied earlier in the year that their "Big Sale" was a "closing down sale"...

Deptford Garden Party and Press Call this evening 7pm

As reported in our previous post last Friday, the community garden which has a lease on the open land next to St Paul's Church planned to begin building their garden last weekend, but Thames Water's proposals to dig exploratory trenches in the area threatened to scupper their schedule.

They decided to go ahead and start building anyway, and on Sunday with eight volunteers in tow, they had managed to complete construction of six of the eight planned wooden containers that will become soil beds for vegetables and herbs that any locals who want to get involved may grow here. Two more containers will be built today, and in celebration...

'Deptford's Open Garden' will hold a Ceremonial Opening this evening at 7pm. 

Everyone is welcome to attend. It will be a lovely evening – bring a bottle and refreshments, a friend or two, blankets, musical instruments, outdoor games stuff, and enjoy this bit of open green space before it's gone! Arrive at 7pm sharp for a press photo call, if you can!

Since the news, the gardeners have negotiated with Thames Water to keep the willow circle space accessible during the works. TW's 5-week programme of digging exploratory trenches was postponed from Monday but will start tomorrow, so this is the last chance to see and use the space before it is fenced off and works start.

Locals have been opposed to Thames Tunnel's proposals to build a shaft for the super sewer on this site and wished it to be kept for communal use. The Secretary of State is still to decide on whether Thames Water (aka Thames Tideway Tunnel) can have permission to use the site.

In the meantime, with TW's full co-operation, the gardeners can start growing stuff alongside the company's trench digging.

New Deptford pub opens tonight

Finally there's a new pub on Deptford High Street! Antic opens The Job Centre this evening (5pm-1am). Expect a range of good beers and a 'Spanish influenced' wine menu among the refreshments on offer. Apparently the kitchen will open soon with 'snacking plates and hearty main dishes'. And there'll be 'diverse weekly live music and events'.

Until today, there was only one pub left open on the high street, the Vietnamese-owned White Swan, previously a big old Irish bar. The last pub to close on Deptford High Street was the Deptford Arms in May 2010, which like so many other pubs, became a betting shop.

The new bar opening is undoubtedly good news for those locals who can afford a night out, but there does seem to be some unfortunate rewriting of history in Antic's publicity. They claim to have taken the pub name "from the employment agency that occupied Deptford in the late 70s". Perhaps they feel the need to distance themselves from an unpleasant reality. Deptford Job Centre actually closed far more recently – in November 2010 – as many long-term or sometime unemployed locals will painfully recall. Not only have they had to schlep all the way over to Catford to sign on since the job centre closed, they also won't be able to afford to drink in the new pub.

Shocking new pollution results for Deptford!

This is a screenshot of the online map that displays the results of a Citizen Science Air Pollution Survey carried out earlier this year by local residents (see our previous post).

The results are now published. View the full results for Deptford here.

The survey measured Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) levels only (it is too expensive to monitor carbon particulates), and the results show extremely dangerous and illegal levels on Deptford Church Street, Creek Road, Deptford Broadway and New Cross Road. The black dots are readings of over 60µg/m³ (micrograms per cubic metre). The red dots show readings between 40 and 60µg/m³. The EU legal limit is 40µg/m³.

Crossfields Estate itself has readings as high as 46µg/m³ inside the estate. Higher readings were found on the estate near both Deptford Church Street and at Creekside. Opposite Wilshaw and Holden on Creekside the reading was 48µg/m³. At the Birds Nest roundabout it was 62µg/m³ and on the Crossfields side of Church Street at the crossing to Giffin Street it was 63µg/m³.

A tube on Deptford Church Street opposite Giffin Street measured 63µg/m³

Deptford High Street had much higher readings than expected (as high as 54µg/m³), but most of the over 60µg/m³ readings were at both ends of Deptford Church Street (84µg/m³ at Deptford Broadway) and the south end of Deptford High Street (69µg/m³). Levels immediately increase on New Cross Road – the junction at Amersham Vale gave readings of 110µg/m³!

Students at Goldsmiths College are exposed to extremely high levels, whilst our local schools do not fare very well either: 98µg/m³ at Addey & Stanhope, 68µg/m³ at Deptford Park, 62µg/m³ at Deptford Green, 56µg/m³ at St Alfeges, 55µg/m³ at Clyde Early Childhood Centre, and 40µg/m³ at Tidemill and St Joseph's.

Putting up a tube outside Frankham House on Deptford Church St. The tube reading was 57µg/m³, whilst at the Birds Nest it was 62µg/m³

Back in January, four Crossfields residents teamed up with four other local residents and the Don't Dump on Deptford's Heart campaign to conduct the survey in Deptford. They worked with the No to Silvertown campaign and the Network for Clean Air to produce a survey that covers five local boroughs. See the combined boroughs map on the Silvertown website.

It shows that even Lewisham is not safe. A tube placed almost at the entrance to Lewisham market gave a reading of 109µg/m³ !

Diffusion tubes were put up on lamposts in the week commencing January 6th and taken down in the week of February 3rd. Under the direction of the Network for Clean Air, the tubes were then sent to a lab. Unfortunately, the results took two months to process, so were too late to use as evidence in two grass roots Deptford campaigns against Thames Tunnel and Convoys Wharf.

A tube put inside the estate by Browne House and near the main road recorded 45µg/m³

Thames Tunnel

The consultation conducted by the Planning Inspectorate on Thames Water's plans to site a shaft on Deptford Church Street closed on March 12th. However, the Citizen Science Pollution Survey results have been submitted to them and will accompany the Inspectorate's recommendation to the Secretary of State on June 12th.

The Don't Dump on Deptford's Heart campaign are arguing that Thames Water should revert to their original choice for a shaft site on the river at Glashier Street – where the survey measured very low pollution levels of 14µg/m³. At this site, spoil could be transported by river and there would be no need to partially close Deptford Church Street for over a year that would cause gridlocked traffic to divert onto Creekside and Deptford High Street. If Thames Water's plans succeed, there will be 17400 extra HGVs using their site on Church Street for over three years.

A tube put up next to Crossfields ballcourt by the main road recorded 45µg/m³

Creekside and Convoys Wharf

These will be in addition to the 90 HGVs per day that will be using Creekside when the Faircharm redevelopment begins. And now that Convoys Wharf has got the go ahead, there will be hundreds of HGVs pouring into and out of Evelyn Street and heading for the A2 via Deptford Church Street.

At the Creek Road junction readings were as high as 74µg/m³

The results show our area is already highly (and illegally) polluted. These Deptford construction projects have the unique advantage of being able to access the river directly. The Creekside redevelopments could be using Deptford Creek. Lewisham Planners should force the Creekside developers to use the Creek, whilst ongoing discussions between them and GLA Planners over the transport plans for Convoys must make it an absolute condition for the developer to use the river and not our local roads.

In addition, Boris Johnson needs to speed up the conversion of our highly polluting buses to hybrid models, a former pledge he has fallen way behind on.

The Network for Clean Air wants the Mayor of London to bring forward the start date of the proposed Ultra Low Emission Zone, extending it to include Greenwich and Lewisham. That presumably would include taxis as well.

Find more detail and information at the No To Silvertown website.

The Don't Dump on Deptford's Heart study was funded by the residents who took part plus a generous donation from Deptford First via Dame Joan Ruddock MP.

Ken Loach to do Q&A at New Cross & Deptford Free Film Festival

We caught two outdoor film screenings at #NXDFFF last night – just two of the six Free film festival events available yesterday.

Passing by Honey's on the high street at around 7pm we saw high street resident Ryan preparing to show The Harder They Come. A screen was set up in the window for folk to watch from the street. There appeared to be nothing to sit on – Ryan told us we needed to bring our own seating. When we passed by again at 8.15 the screening was in full swing with the audience seated and refreshments on hand from Honey's. A heart warming scene – and a treat for the betting shop regulars who, since the pavement was full, viewed the movie leaning against the shutters on the other side of the road.

Ryan's other curatorial contributions to the festival are The Hustler at Shades Pool Hall on Tuesday (7pm), and the screening of a Vietnamese documentary Surname Viet Given Name Nam in Deptford Market on Wednesday 30th (8pm). The festival works by inviting locals to get involved and work voluntarily to put films of their choice on at their favourite venues. *

We then headed on down to Fordham Park with a blanket and refreshments to watch Attack The Block which was powered by eager peddle pushers on about ten bikes (riding the bikes was a sure way to keep warm if you didn't have a blanket). The picture started whilst it was still light, but good sound and projection ensured a smooth transition into cinematic darkness, and although it was a little nippy, there was none of the rain that plagued the festival's outdoor stagings last year. A great film and a very successful event!

Older readers may recall the free outdoor screenings that took place some time ago in Greenwich Park, sponsored by Stella Artois. With the advantage of warmer weather – and later start and end times – the plague then was the deckchair brigade who paid a premium for a comfier seat and got in the way of other viewers (as happened in Greenwich screenings of the Olympics). No such hierarchy here – unless your restricted view was from behind the voluntary cyclists powering the film projection.

So now to the news (which Twitter followers may have already picked up): we talked to festival organisers Jill and Andrew after the film and heard that Ken Loach may be attending the screening of Spirit of 45 programmed by New Cross Learning for this coming Wednesday 30th April (unfortunately the same time as the Deptford Market outdoor screening). Fans of the documentary and its politics, and those who missed this film last year in the cinema or on the telly may have the unique opportunity to talk to the film maker in a Q&A, as well as listen to the pre-screening talk by The Equality Trust already planned. Check this page for details and updates. If it happens, it's a great coup for both New Cross Learning and the festival.

* Crossfields estate has been invited to take part but no one has yet taken on the responsibility of organising an event. The arches or any of our green areas would make perfect outdoor venues. However, whilst no one may be short on ideas, the problem is ensuring residents are not overly disturbed by a screening that cannot start till dusk and might not finish till after 10pm.

Local Spring events

The New Cross & Deptford Free Film Festival opens today and runs every day till Sunday 4th May at various venues. In Deptford the extra special venues that make this festival special include Big Red Pizzeria, Old Tidemill School, The Bird's Nest, Deptford Lounge, Deptford Market and Vinyl café and record shop on Tanner's Hill. On the high street there'll be film showings at Honey's Bakery, Shades Snooker Club, Deli X and Gallop Workshop. Watching The Hustler in Shades and The Harder They Come in Honey's sounds just perfect. And that's just Deptford. There are outdoor bike-powered showings too... Download the programme here. To get a flavour, here's a short video of last year's festival...



This evening is also the last Friday in the month, so that means, as always, art galleries are open in and around Deptford and beyond. See www.southlondonartmap.com/events/last-fridays

Assembly, the group temporarily transforming the garden at Old Tidemill School (which was originally created by a Tidemill teacher living on Crossfields), are open every Saturday between 12 and 4pm for all things to do with growing food and gardening. There's a Free bike-powered film screening tomorrow, Saturday 26th April, and May Day Celebrations on Saturday 3rd May. On Sunday 4th May at 1pm, they're screening Ping Pong, a film about octogenarian ping pong players vying for a world championship title – followed by ping pong tournaments for the film goers (2-3pm).



Down on the river, a "rarely performed masterpiece" of Restoration post-Shakespearian tragedy drama (we had to look it up) can be seen at Paynes & Borthwick Wharf. Venice Preserv'd (written by Thomas Otway and brought to life by The Spectators' Guild) opened yesterday and continues till 8th June.

Tickets are expensive but concessionary tickets at £10 appear to be available from May 1st. According to the website, these tickets must be "accompanied by proof of debt in the form of a recent student loan letter, bailiff's letter, final notice or negative bank statement". Whilst this is profoundly insulting, we've got our obligatory negative bank statement and will be taking it with us when we go to see this "tale of corruption, friendship and love" next week – even though we think that the funding behind this extravaganza could have supplemented more reasonably priced tickets for local people without them having to plead and prove poverty.



Now we're onto pay-to-view rather than free shows, we'd like to give special mention to a show featuring partially sighted Crossfields resident Heather Gilmore. Extant presents The Chairs by Eugene Ionesco, with blind actors in the two main roles of an interpretation of this classic text. Tuesday 29th April - Friday 2 May, 7.30pm (£12/£10 and £5 for companions and supporters of disabled attendees).

Lastly, preparations are under way for Greenwich & Docklands International Festival in June. LIFT (the London International Festival of Theatre) will be presenting Deblozay, a "processional theatre show, with acoustic and amplified sound, choir and local participation, plus light, theatrical pyro and fire effects". And Crossfields will be part of it.

On June 20th & 21st at 9pm-ish, Deblozay will set off from St Alfege's Church in Greenwich, through Bardsley Lane and Claremont St estate to Norman Road, where it will cross the Ha'Penny Hatch and come into Crossfields estate at the railway arches at about 10.35pm. The spectacle will then move north to arrive somewhere near the Laban where there will be an outdoor bar until midnight.

Rehearsals on Crossfields will be on 19th June. We're not sure which 'locals' are participating since Crossfields residents were not asked to get involved, but nevertheless it promises to be a local event worth looking forward to – and it's free!

High Street Tesco paint bombed

Last Friday evening we popped in Deptford High Street's Tesco Express for a bottle of vino – just after the entrance had been attacked with a pot of red paint.

The manager said it had been done by a shoplifter who'd been caught earlier and had gone away and come back with the pot of paint. By Saturday, the same story had spread up the high street.

But it seemed a rather unlikely explanation to us (what seasoned shoplifter would go to so much trouble?), especially when we heard on Saturday evening from a pal who'd just seen a Tesco cash point in the Oval covered with white paint.

Perhaps the work of an activist, then? Yesterday we got an email from Greenpeace, who have begun a campaign (see the petition link below) targeting Tesco for selling a brand of tuna called Oriental and Pacific. Their tuna is fished with destructive methods that kills turtles, sharks and rays alongside the tuna. Last night, Channel 4's "Fish Fight" was going to expose and confront Tesco about selling the dodgy tuna.

We're not suggesting Greenpeace activists are going round throwing paint at Tesco, but it's surely worth linking the two events together! 

Petition: Tell Tesco to pull Oriental and Pacific off their shelves