Race For Life : Blackheath : Sunday 1st July

Leanne from Castell House is just one of the many hundreds of women who'll be running, jogging or walking on Blackheath Common on Sunday in the national campaign run by Cancer Research UK to raise money for the charity.

There are two runs – one is 5km (just over 3 miles) starting at 10.30am, the other is 10k starting at 2pm. Leanne and her mum will be doing the morning run.

raceforlife.cancerresearchuk.org

Thanks to runwalklondon.com for picture

Free festival at the Royal Docks

London Pleasure Gardens is sited in Royal Victoria Dock, a short DLR trip from Deptford Bridge to Pontoon Dock (change at West Ferry), so worth a mention here. It opens tomorrow and Sunday with Paradise Gardens Festival – a 'family friendly' free festival which includes music, street theatre, circus, cabaret, lots of kids stuff, sideshows, art installations, street art, vintage funfair, craft market and fireworks. A pyrotechnic display by The World Famous will begin at 10.10pm on Saturday and the site is open from 1pm-11pm on Saturday and 1pm-10pm on Sunday.

London Pleasure Gardens has programmed events for the entire summer, many of them with free entry. Check the website for more info.

Note that although the festival is free, you can't take in your own food and drink (so not so 'free' then!). Also, check tfl.gov.uk for train times since it appears that every alternate train is re-routed due to engineering works this weekend.

A visual of the London Pleasure Gardens site taken from their website.

Another way to get there would be via cable car from North Greenwich with a 15 minute walk at the other end – as Deptford Misc points out, the cable car stations are not very conveniently situated – but it could make for an interesting day out, especially if you cycle.

If you're looking for excitement, it sounds as if the cable car trip has the potential to rival any ride at Thorpe Park, since if it's windy, the cars stop and you may find yourself suspended for some time over the Thames – see 853blog's latest post.

Secret History of Our Streets and Nicholas Taylor

Martin Taylor wrote to local bloggers today to ask them to publicise the website he has set up to redress the misleading impression given of his father, Nick Taylor – and Deptford itself – in the documentary Secret History of Our Streets, broadcast on June 6th – or, how, as Martin puts it, "my dad was unfairly stitched up like a kipper by the Beeb".

With the help of his friends, he has also published a booklet and intends to deliver it around Deptford, door to door, in a concerted effort to clear his father's name. Martin says they have tried to get an apology out of the BBC, but "have given up as we were advised it would take a minimum of 12 months and we can't wait that long".

Both the website and leaflet aim to correct the false impressions the programme gave about Deptford's history – and how it is today – as well as set the record straight regarding Nick Taylor's 'involvement' in the demolition of much of Deptford's housing. Backed up with facts and figures about Deptford then and now, it makes for fascinating reading.

Regarding his father, Martin says, "Via the selective use of out-of-context quotes taken from several long conversations, the programme appears to have succeeded in given viewers a completely false impression...He stopped the bulldozers rather than starting them up...

"The programme showed a sequence of film shot in Deptford High Street when Mr Taylor, who had just come out of hospital having had a stroke and a triple heart bypass, was being questioned very aggressively about the demolitions in Reginald Road, even though the programme makers knew full well that what had happened to Reginald Road had nothing to do with him."

Martin concludes, "Nicholas Taylor's career as a councillor was dedicated to trying to preserve terraced houses and prevent the building of high rise estates...We think he deserves to receive an apology."

Go to deptfordptrs.com to read the real story – and, if you were as disappointed by the programme as we were, you can help to "restore the good name of Deptford and its community" by leaving your comments.

APT + Cockpit Arts + Core : Openings

APT OPEN STUDIOS & EXHIBITION
Friday 22 June  5pm to 8pm
Licensed Bar | Curry from Tandoori Express Deptford
Piano - Joe Gatley

Saturday 23 June  12noon to 5pm
Licensed Bar | Refreshments
Music by L'arc de Mars Trio
+ artists talks
6 Creekside SE8 4SA
www.aptstudios.org/

COCKPIT ARTS 
Summer Open Studios 2012
Deptford: 22-24 June
Fri 6pm-9pm, Sat – Sun 11am-6pm
Free Entry – Donations Welcome
18-22 Creekside SE8 3DZ
www.cockpitarts.com/

CORE OPEN STUDIOS
Friday 22 June 6pm to 10pm
Live Music & DJ, drinks & performances
The Animal Cave, 3 Creekside SE8 4SA

Greenwich + Docklands International Festival

Although G+DIF comes around every year at around this time it has taken us by surprise this year since we've heard nothing about it. Just in case you haven't either, we've perused the website to find out what's going on.

This Friday night and over the weekend, it's happening in Greenwich (rather than Woolwich or Docklands), starting with an outdoor visual spectacular:

Friday 22 June
Prometheus Awakes
National Maritime Museum
FREE, 10pm (runs for 40 mins)

The blurb on the website says "You will feel the earth move and the sky explode in this epic re-interpretation of the famous Greek myth. Created by Graeae, the boldly inventive disabled-led theatre company and Catalan masters of visual magnificence La Fura dels Baus, Prometheus Awakes is proudly presented in the year of the London 2012 Paralympic Games."
www.festival.org/whatson/1/prometheus-awakes/

Both companies, especially La Fura dels Baus, put on terrific outdoor shows, so although that description sounds naff, and the weather looks decidedly unpromising, and there may be crowds despite the rain, this could be an unusual treat (the visual above must be seen to be believed).

Doubtless the festival must compete with the enormous excitement generated by EURO 2012, but it may prove an antidote for some, and certainly complements the football, since the 'international' flavour of the festival is distinctly European!

Over the weekend it's the Greenwich Fair, with around 17 walkabout and street theatre acts from the UK and Europe.

"A two day outpouring of street arts taking over Greenwich Town Centre. The original 19th century Greenwich Fair was an uproarious feast of sideshows, dancing booths, travelling menageries and gruesome melodramas. Much loved by Dickens, it was eventually banned because it was too unruly, but last year GDIF boldly revived it as a showcase for the best of British and international outdoor arts. So roll up and view a show in a giant pig, glimpse a flying grand piano, get lost in a Catalan labyrinth or have your tea leaves read!"

Check this page for details of all the acts taking part:
www.festival.org/festival/events/programme/1/2012/#greenwich-fair


As well as Greenwich Fair, there will also be other free events in Greenwich, some going on till 30 June, under the title Word on the Street. "This year GDIF is hosting some of most original, exciting and cutting edge artists working in UK theatre. Word on the Street will inject outdoor theatre with new writing on trains, explorations of Greenwich’s past, biting political song theatre, a poetic tale of urban living, a tea party and even a bouncy castle."

There are eleven different events in Word on the Street to discover.
www.festival.org/festival/events/programme/1/2012/#word-on-the-street

For other events in other parts check the festival website. On Saturday the spectacle is in Roman Road E3. The festival finale, another outdoor spectacular, is on 30 June in Woolwich – as per usual. (Only a bus ride away but we never seem to make it).