Tom Smith

A strange one today, folks.

Following on from yesterday's post about a road north of Maze Hill, Gemma has just moved into Tom Smith Close (just South of the station) and she's understandably wondering who the hell Tom Smith is/was.

Of course, it's a bugger to Google as there must be about twenty million Tom Smiths online at any point in time.

One, 18th Century Commodore Thomas Smith is in some paintings in the NMM - but it would seem a bit casual just to call a Commodore 'Tom.'

The only other Thomas Smith I found in local books is a rather obscure schoolteacher who taught at the Paragon School in Blackheath in the mid 19th Century. I'd say it was unlikely it was named after him...

My best guess is that he was a councillor of great merit and/or influence around the time the block was built - what - thirty years ago? And indeed, I have found a Labour councillor, Tom Smith, who was elected in the Marsh Ward in 1968, though I can discover no more about him than that - just what his deeds were to have a close named after him is now shrouded in the mists of history.

Anyone know who Tom Smith was, and why he had a close named for him?

Lemmon Road

I always thought you couldn't beat Turnpin Lane for a weeny road in Greenwich. But this little cut-through, barely wide enough for two thin people to pass, beats it hands down.

What I love about it is that it has retained its name - presumably it was once wider - and calls itself a 'road.'


Just off Maze Hill, you'd miss it if you weren't actively looking for it, but if you walk down it (and 'down' you must walk - a series of steps past some green and a series of back gardens) then it does widen out a little. There are some modern houses through whose front gardens you have to walk - past garden sheds and soft tarmac with kiddies' playground toys, past concrete boots with displays of petunias and sundry comedy signs, before eventually coming out at the north side of Maze Hill station. It's a handy cut-through for pedestrians, though one to avoid if you have a wheelchair or a pram.


I always feel a bit odd walking through there - as though I'm traipsing through someone's front yard - though this is most definitely a proper 'road' - albeit a mini one...

Wood Wharf News

Kathy, my eyes and ears in Wood Wharf, has news. Funny we should have been discussing the relative merits of the restaurant SE10 yesterday, as Kathy tells me:

"I know you weren’t a fan of SE10 restaurant & bar, but the community around Wood Wharf Apts. is saddened that it is now closed. A small hand-written paper is posted in window saying they closed May 25th. Up to that time they had reduced their days opened and I saw very few customers April and May. I felt SE10’s isolated location was a detriment. For us at Wood Wharf it was very convenient to drop in for a pint, yummy breakfasts (when young female French chef was employed), and Sunday Roasts were decent. I especially will miss the cheery yellow walls."

Interesting that it closed on May 25th and yet no one seems to have known that - even the people recommending it yesterday.

I agree that it was a little out of the way - but then so are The Guildford and Ginza and I'm not aware that they're in trouble (but then maybe I don't know about that either. Must get out more...)

I confess Kathy's right - I was no fan of SE10 - but it's never good to know a restaurant has shut (unless it was The Alamo or Pizza Luna, of course, upon whose closure I understand there was dancing in the streets.)

I didn't hate SE10 - I just didn't like it enough to seek it out a fourth time after three disappointing meals in a row. I know other people had happier times there - and there were some great touches - I liked the squashy armchairs, the yellow decor and the board games.

I wouldn't give up on the area though - with all the new flats going up at the Reach, there will be more people wanting to eat. Perhaps someone new and innovative will take over the place.

But Kathy also brings news of River Bar and Grill, the restaurant to open in Wood Wharf where she lives:

"The latest info is that the opening will now be near the end of August. Up till now the construction has been putting up outside walls, concrete tiling, and general fixing up the restaurant site since all they had was an empty, open-to-elements shell. There is a guard and guard dogs in the space when workers are not on premises due to there being no windows yet.

I hear rumblings that some of the previous work was vandalized and of course there’s concern for theft of copper tubing, etc. Pigeons have been a big annoyance as well. After large glass windows are installed THEN the decorating work will begin – carpets, paint, fixtures, etc. It’s amazing to us that the past 2 years work has just been for fixing the shell space.

Wood Wharf occupants had an opportunity 2 weeks ago to meet with owners and take a tour, but we had USA visitors arriving that night and couldn’t make it. From notices posted, there will be live music – not DJ, 2-floors with space for special events, and possible outdoor seating. Contrary to former posts on your blog, 2 years ago they DID apply for music/disco until 3am, but this was rejected. Duh! There’s a special needs building right across the street and 45 flats above the restaurant! I don’t know where people will park their cars. On the dead end street parking is only by permit.

Also, in light of the latest criminal activity in this part of Greenwich along with the opening of the River Bar and Grill, local police are encouraging the neighbourhood to be part of a “crime watch”.

Unless there will be great advertising and signage this could be a bust like SE10. On the flip side, if it does well and lasts for 2-4 years, River Bar and Grill will be “the place to be” when the new Greenwich Reach extravaganza opens next door. Since I’m a foodie and desire a close place for a pint, I’m more interested in what’s on the menu. I will be greatly disappointed if it’s the same ole, same ole."

I think that the Riverside has several things in its favour - not least the location - who doesn't like sitting on the riverfront of a balmy summer evening, or enjoying a cosy meal behind glass when the winter winds are squalling outside? I think that people from across the river will see it too, and be curious - after all, it's only a foot tunnel away...

I also like the enthusiasm I've been feeling from the people who run the place - I got the feeling that SE10's enthusiasm (which I absolutely believe was there once) had run out of steam in recent years, and that they seem to be communicating with residents. The manager's name is Kieron, if memory serves, and he's been in touch here and they've obviously held consultations, even if not everyone can attend.

I'm not sure parking would be a problem. I see it as a local restaurant - I can't remember the last time I drove to a local eaterie - not least because I like a drink...

I also can't see drunken hooligans flocking to a smart restaurant when there's a Wetherspoons down the way that will serve them cheap alcohol way into the night.

I'm optimistic about this. Sad about SE10, yes. No one likes an empty building. But if River Bar and Grill can come up with the foodie goods, and the experience is enjoyable, I don't see why it couldn't be another Inside or Guildford.

Thank You For Smoking

Today marks the second anniversary of the ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces, but smoking was always sore point at Greenwich Hospital.

Of course it was all pipes then, (someone was telling me recently that he keeps digging up bits of clay pipe in his West Greenwich garden) but smoking by the old gaffers was by no means universally allowed in the hospital, albeit mainly for fire-risk reasons.

The Hospital's fire-proofery was a shining example of Forethought from the start. Hawksmoor congratulated himself that if one area should catch fire, it was "so guarded and separated with stop-fires, turrets and party walls" that there was no chance of "total devastation." Of the eight heated social halls available to the old pensioners (their own cabins were unheated...) just two of them were smoking areas, and the Nelson Room in the Painted Hall was originally designated as the smoking room, to keep fire risk at bay.

The pensioners seemed to have got the point, but their enforcing the rules didn't always make for a comfortable life. In July 1733, John Bold tells me, one old boy, Adam Friendship, was given the job of preventing anyone enter the gate with a lighted pipe.

He was 'abused and thrown against a stone' by John Mitchell, a waterman who liked his tobacco more than the rules - so hard his thigh was broken. The Hospital was going to sue, but Mitchell's wife pleaded so mournfully that it was all going to be settled out of court. At the last minute, though, the pipe-smoking curmudgeon "continued insolent." The prosecution went ahead as planned...

Despite the odd concession, though, the powers-that-be really weren't keen to have smoking indoors. Quite apart from the fire risk, it would only encourage it - and, even worse, spitting would inevitably follow such a foul act...

So this rather beautiful colonnade was built between 1854-9, designed by Philip Hardwick (who, incidentally, also designed Bellot's Obelisk.) It was originally even longer than this - it was cut short a few years later to build a raquet court.

It has to be one of the earliest - and best-looking purpose-built outside smoking area in Britain. Not a patio heater in sight - but just look at that beautiful woodwork in the ceiling (I daresay it's not original but it's lovely all the same) and those cute columns (are they Doric or Tuscan? I get the two muddled but think the latter...)

I daresay when the brewery reopens next year, it will rediscover its original purpose, but for now its shady benches are virtually unused and a fine place for the odd coffee...

Newbie Food Recommendations

Neil asks:

"We've just moved to Greenwich - and we love it. Church bells chiming the time, the park, the river, the university, the museums. Don't tell anyone else how nice it is! (your secret is safe with me... TGP)

One thing we're struggling with though is finding a special restaurant - eg for birthdays, anniversaries etc.

We tried The Hill which had an ok atmosphere with nice staff but poor delivery of the actual food.

We've also tried a few pubs & café's but need guidance - can you recommend anything? - even if it's a short drive away - we live just around the corner from The Feathers - which is actually the best place we've found so far.

We like any kind of cuisine - although my wife especially likes sushi / oriental - like Royal China in Canary Wharf or Moshi Moshi in Waitrose in Canary Wharf. We have a three and a half year old, so family friendly recommendations are best."

The Phantom replies:

I'm answering this one here as I'm sure everyone else will have recommendations too.

Firstly, I'd say you're in pretty safe hands at the Feathers. The food is good, service friendly and the atmosphere nice and local, despite its close proximity to the park.

I also like the Vanbrugh Tavern, which went up even further in my estimation the other day when I wasn't drinking and very miserable about it. The bar lady made a huge effort to make my lime and soda into an interesting drink - with real, pulped limes, umbrellas, stirrers - you name it. Camp as Christmas and I loved it. There was so much food on my plate it was spilling over. Sadly they don't seem to have resolved the dispute with the neighbours over the pub garden yet, so most of it is immaculately cared for - and roped off.

The Yacht in Crane Street is good for pies, and although I've heard the odd 'not as good as it was' tale recently, I've not noticed any real drop in quality myself. Best for winter, as no balconies onto the Thames. I also like the pies at the Nevada St Deli but it's not really 'celebration' stuff...

For slightly upper-market fare, I recommend the marvellous Guildford, run by lovely French people with excellent, slightly pricey food and a very good garden.

I like Inside, too, which, being just outside the tourist triangle, can afford to cater just to locals - and get them to return again and again.

Depending on how authentic your wife likes her sushi, Ginza is definitely the Japanese place to go to in Greenwich. It looks unpromising from the outside and is at the 'wrong' end of Woolwich Road - but the food and the welcome are always fantastic. Japanese friends tell me it's not wildly authentic, but who cares when the food's as good as this?

Other places that deserve a nod are Kum Luang (enjoyable Thai food and a good fallback for Christmas parties as lots of room) - Mr Chung for Chinese and Ghurkas Inn for curry. For decent takeaway fish and chips, you'll do a lot worse than The Golden Chippy.

Further afield, I have a couple of recommendations. Buenos Aires Cafe in Blackheath is fabulous, but you need to book well in advance. The service can be, ahem, quirky, but the food is superb. Not really one for kiddies.

My favourite Chinese restaurant round here is actually in Woolwich, believe it or not. Favourite Inn is round the back of the station, on the dodgiest-looking street imaginable. The place doesn't look much - but the food is great and the service mother-hen like.

But for a real blow-out, second-mortgage celebration, try the Spread Eagle. A controversial choice, I know, but I have to say the decor is excellent (worth going for the art collection alone...) and the food very good indeed. It's a place where you would feel like you were celebrating something important, and that counts for a lot.

I could go on - but I'm not going to. Other people will have their two penn'orth to add in - and there's always the Eating Out section on the blog...

World Heritage Building Site

Thanks to everyone who sent me the news that Greenwich Hospital Trust have applied for permission to shift the market to the Old Royal Naval College's grounds for a couple of years before the magic 2012.

I guess that in itself that doesn't bother me too much - it's temporary - and as long as they replace the turf afterwards, it probably won't do much harm in the long term.

But Rod and I have been wondering about what all this concurrent building work - which everyone's doing at the same time as nobody wants to be the one who waits until 2013 to spruce up their shop window - is going to do to us as a World Heritage Site.

As Rod points out, Dresden has just been stripped of its WHS status because it built a four-lane bridge a mile from the town centre. UNESCO points out that the city failed to preserve its "outstanding universal value as inscribed." It's only the second time that a site has been declassified (the other was in Oman) but it proves that however heavy-hearted it may be to do it, UNESCO is prepared to use the knife.

Whatever we think of World Heritage Sites, to be listed as one is a privilege and it does bring in revenue we wouldn't have otherwise - not least from tourism.

Let's just take a peek at what Greenwich will look like in 2010, and you tell me - if you were a foreign tourist, would you visit this World Heritage Site? (I'm not going to count anything outside the WHS, like the 'new heart for East Greenwich,' which in the past year has had nothing more than its signs replaced as the government department changed its name. Again...)

• The Old Royal Naval College - partially closed due to building work. The creation of the new Discovery Centre (and brewery) has seen large amounts of scaffolding and hoardings in the grounds for some time now.

• The Cutty Sark - in shreds - and, worryingly, with no end in sight.

• Cutty Sark Gardens - apparently there is to be a refurb here too, which is why the market couldn't move here.

• Greenwich Pier - in a complete state of hideousness, having sold off a historic waiting room and a new, not-very-heritage-friendly building to be erected in its place. The sellers reckoned the Victorian waiting room was unusable and unsaveable. Try telling that to the guys at St Kitts. UNESCO might be tempted to agree with our friends in the Caribbean, who have bought it to restore.

• Greenwich Market - closed, a total building site. Demolition of Edwardian buildings.

• Greenwich Village Market - closed - demolition in progress for new building, which may or may not be a paragon of architecture.

• National Maritime Museum - Demolition in progress of Victorian buildings in preparation for the new Sammy Ofer Wing.

Tell me - just how does all this add up to our being a strong contender for keeping WHS status? I know the building work itself is temporary. But I worry that each faction thinks it's only them that's pulling down old buildings, only them that's making a mess of their little bit of Greenwich. We can only keep our fingers crossed for those 2010 horsey trials in the park...

Water Music

It's Handel's 250th Anniversary this year. Part of the Greenwich and Docklands Festival involves a son et lumiere 'Water Music.'

I thought I'd better go last night before the 'Water' part became a little too real (the weather forecast's dreadful for tonight and tomorrow) and - yes, I'm glad I went. With the odd reservation.

IMHO the lumiere bit is much better than the son. Presumably there's no funding for a straight rendition of a 250 year-old work, so a new piece was composed and played, a bit too straight-faced.

Now, I'm generally fine with avant-garde music, and this was okay - tinging and bonging, sirens and low-notes played on the tuba, pretending to be ships' horns. But it never really sounded 'fresh.' In fact, for me it only began to blossom in the rare moments when they played snatches of Handel's original.

It all felt a bit - well - 'cliched-contemporary' to me - the sort of sounds I'd expect from someone trying to re-interpret the Thames, London's history and Handel's classic without sounding uncool to his mates. There were some frankly unnecessary spoken bits, which smacked of wanting to 'appeal to the kids' by including asinine comments made by - who? I have no idea who was speaking or, indeed, why.

I positively squirmed when members of the band started humming the famous bits - it felt like taking the piss out of a distinguished old gentleman.

What I will give it is that it was beautifully played. Trinity College is one of the best in the country - and its sheer class shone through last night. These guys were professional in the extreme - especially given that that lumiere must have created some interesting conditions to play in. They played incredibly well.

Which brings me onto the lumiere - worth making the effort to go to this event for on its own. It was great fun. Mainly watery images - taps and waves, bubbles and jets, mixed in with old paintings, silhouettes and cartoons. Wonderful.

I do recommend this. As you'll have surmised, I wasn't particularly jazzed with the music - it just felt like it was trying too hard. But the event as a whole was great. I mean - anything that starts at 10.00pm and has flashing lights has that little extra excitement value for a sad Phantom like me. And it's certainly worth the entrance fee ;-)


Bring something to sit on, a woolly (however warm it is earlier) and a book to read if you're going to get there early to secure a good place. A mac might be a good idea too, tonight. Oh - and bring your camera - as virtually everyone last night seemed to have done. There will be a LOT of photos flying round the web. And I see no harm in joining them.

As I left, I could see the fireworks from the other big event, over at Millwall Dock on the Isle of Dogs. If it's not totally bogging with rain tonight...