Easter Egg Hunt

Easter Eggs by Anna Cervova

Remember when you were a kid and all hens' eggs were white? Some of them had little lions stamped on them (very carefully, one presumes) but they were white all the same. Brown eggs were a novelty.

Now it's the other way round. Apparently market research shows we think that white eggs are somehow 'manufactured' and brown ones 'healthy' so the white ones have gone the way of the dinosaurs. I confess it's not something I think about on a day to day basis, but it's proving to be a problem for Maggie. She says:

"I'm organising some Easter activities for children. One activity will be decorating eggs - but where can you buy white eggs these days? All the supermarkets sell brown ones but you need white ones for dyeing and colouring."

You do indeed. Can anyone think of anywhere round Greenwich where they still sell white eggs?

Remember Me

Last of the asks for today, folks, and definitely the oddest.

Jan is on a documentary photography course, and as part of her assignments, she has to create a portfolio. She has decided to record the impromptu tributes erected to people who have died from RTAs on the streets around Greenwich. She says:

"I am interested in capturing how and why deaths are remembered. Some tributes are just flowers, others have photographs and personal items. Some can be identified with a little research."

It is interesting - and quite a recent phenomenon. A few years ago, the most you might have seen would be a bunch of flowers tied to a lamppost. Now the tributes are getting really quite large.

At first I wondered if a project like this might somehow be intruding upon private grief - but no - this is very definitely public grief - something we Brits have never been very good at in the past. Perhaps the advent of these roadside memorials is a nation trying to find new ways to explore the concept of grief from what is essentially scratch - we've always bottled it up before, and now we don't really know how to deal with it, so we're trying out different forms of expression. And Jan's decision to capture it is a fascinating social document of something happening now.

After getting over the shock that there are indeed enough of these things in the area to make a project from, I turned my thoughts to Jan's question, which is quite specific. She asks:

"For many years of driving up and down Shooters Hill Road I have noticed at the junction of Farjeon Road imitation flowers attached to a pole. I have been unable to find out why they are left there and what they "commemorate" if anything. Would you happen to know, as I would like to include this in my PF and am hoping to have a little background info for each image."

Parochial old Phantom, once again, has no idea - (oooh - Shooters Hill Road - it's -oh, about a mile away. Nah, guv, not my manor...) but maybe someone here does?

Oh - and Jan - maybe you could upload your project onto a website or a Flickr account so we can see the finished results?

Tidal Revelations

Stephen's been puzzled by some strange things revealed at low tide on the foreshore at Greenwich Beach. They appear to be the remains of some kind of slipway, but he's not aware of anything particular that used to be here.

I confess this really isn't my area, but looking on old maps I'm not seeing anything there myself.

I guess this is one really for Greenwich Industrial History Society but I thought I'd ask you lot anyway, in case you have any great ideas.

When I saw the photo at the top of this post, I immediately thought of the old Greenwich pier, and remembered this Edwardian postcard, but looking at it again the perspective is deceiving.

This is Garden Stairs, and the building in the far right of the pic (which you can see about a millimetre of) is the old Victorian waiting room that was scandalously sold off a year or so ago. In fact the bit of beach that Stephen's talking about is dropped down behind the fancy railings at the back of the picture, in between the lady in the red skirt & fetching hat and the 'Way Out' sign.

So really, there was no point in showing this postcard, at all, other than I really like it. We still don't know what the giant link and bits of iron/rock are doing on Greenwich Beach.

Any ideas, guys?

Cracking Times

Lizzie asks:

"After all the cold weather one or two cracks are appearing in my (Edwardian Terrace) house.

While I am hoping it is nothing to worry about I'd rather sort sooner than later. Can you recommend a good structural surveyor, who is willing, for a sensible fee, to visit residential addresses (I tried finding one through RICS website but so far they all seem to want a bigger remit to do anything more than look at emailed photos)."

The Phantom replies:

Lizzie - would it be worth contacting your buildings insurance company? After all, it's in their best interests too for your house not to fall down - if they can arrest a potential problem before it gets to underpinning stage, it will save them money - a bit like a car insurance company mending a windscreen free because it's cheaper for them to mend it now than replace a shattered one later.

You don't say where in Greenwich your house is, but chances are it's up a hill of some sort (most of them seem to be round here.) If memory serves, the lower, Eastern-y slopes are sand and the higher, Western-y stuff near the heath is chalk (the Subterranean Greenwich guys would know more about this - and for heaven's sake don't take my word for it - I'm no geographer.)

There's a fascinating leaflet called Holiday Geology about Greenwich's composition that explains it all really well, but which I can't put my spectral paw on just at the moment. It's aimed at children but I thoroughly enjoyed it myself - it's clearly written at Phantom-level.

It's entirely possible that your house is built, in a biblically-unfriendly way, on sand. The bad news is that Thanet Sand shifts from time to time. The good news is that it's not often very much.

If you're up Point Hill-way or near the heath, the chalk has its own way of settling. It's unlikely your place is built directly over one of the underground caves dotted through the hill, but it would be worth checking out either way before it gets too far. Melting snow and lots of rain can be quite destructive.

Your insurance company will almost certainly send their own surveyor round to take a look, and probably for nothing. If you're unwilling to get the insurance involved or if you don't have any buildings insurance, I confess I don't know any surveyors at all around here myself, but I daresay that someone out there in Phantom Land will...

Boy At Foundry

Regular readers in Phantom Land will know I do not encourage individual family history enquiries. Depending on the mood I'm in family history people either get packed off to the Heritage Centre or, very occasionally, I make an effort to help.

This one is from Canada and it mildly intrigues me because it could mean many places. And of course, because it intrigues me, I can't be of much help.

Keith's trying to find out about his grandfather's Uncle Henry Rees who was born in Greenwich. The only information he can find is in the 1871 census when Henry was 15. He's listed as 'boy at foundry' and Keith's wondering what that means.

Sadly I can't read the address - it's Something-Fields - but it's clearly in Deptford. The only 'Fields' I can think of is 'Hughes Fields' - but the spidery writing doesn't look like it says that on the census.

As a non-expert, even in Greenwich, I'm not really sure what foundries lived in Deptford - I'm guessing there were quite a few. So which foundry young Henry Rees would have been the young muscle for also eludes me, making me utterly useless - but I'm thinking that maybe some of you might have some suggestions for Keith...

Actually, I'm now blushing. Ian has just reminded me that the place to look for foundries is, of course, the superb Greenwich Industrial History Society. How could I have forgotten such an obvious link? I even subscribe to their blog. D'oh.

Signalling Disaster

Clare asks:

"I’ve just moved to the Maze Hill area and I’m having real problems getting a TV signal, I have a Freeview box which I run the aerial through but I can’t get any channels apart from BBC1! I was wondering if you had ever heard of anybody else in that part of Greenwich having trouble with their signal?"

The Phantom replies:

Oh, Clare, you bring up a subject so close to so many East Greenwich hearts. You only need to look at the height of the aerials in the area to see the problem people round here have. It's pretty obvious when you think about it - we're trying to get a signal from Crystal Palace - through a giant hill that is topped by Blackheath. The further down the hill, the more the headaches.

It's an utter pig. You fiddle with the aerial for bloomin' ages, and you can get a reasonable picture but many people will tell you it's only good until the next gusty storm when the whole thing spins around again. I've also seen a fair few blown over, so always make sure yours is securely tied down.

I suspect your best bet is to bite the bullet and get a FreeSat dish (or cable/Sky if you don't mind paying for your TV viewing) though I'd be delighted to hear other suggestions on this oh, so sore, subject.

Catteries And Doggeries

Kate asks:

"I wondered if you knew of any reputable catteries/boarding kennels in or near the SE10 area? I can't for the life of me find any and with it fast approaching the Christmas holiday season, I am beginning to panic."

The Phantom replies:

I have never had need for such a place - and it's such a personal thing you really do need to get a recommendation. By googling I found Sereta in Orpington, Moggie Minders in (appropriately) Catford and Canada Farm near Bluewater, but I have no personal experience of any of them.
There are various all-purpose agencies that do chores for people - everything from office filing to ironing to dog-walking - I was sent details of such a service setting up in Greenwich some time ago but I can't for the life of me find them in the cough 248 cough outstanding emails that I haven't dealt with yet. I'm not proud of my backlog - and I promise that I will get round to dealing with the starred mail in my inbox, guys - but for now, if the service that sent me the info cares to contact me again (I seem to remember two sisters...) then I'll pop them up here.

In the meanwhile, all you catty/doggy people - any recommendations for Kate?

Timeless

Sometimes it takes a 'foreigner' to spot something we haven't noticed ourselves. Mark of Ealing asks:

"In the middle of Greenwich market, suspended from the ceiling was a clock, which I wish I had taken a picture of. Anyway, the clock is not there any more and has been missing for maybe two years or more. It can't take that long to repair a clock so I was wondering if it has gone walkies and never to come back. What do you think?"

You know - I do remember that clock - albeit very vaguely; I try not to look at that roof if I can help it, though the swags they hang from it at Christmas are always rather jolly - and I went through my photos (no easy task now they're all in random files after a bit of a computer disaster) and I can't find any pictures of the mystery four-sided timepiece, which in my mind has classic Big-Ben style faces and a lot of black and gold. I even asked a few people if they had any pictures too and - nix. No one appears to have captured this piece of Greenwich ephemera.

I seem to remember it as being rather grand, but other people remember it as being a bit of a dodgy kit-clock affair. Since we're all so vague about it, I'm asking you guys. Do you remember this feature? Was it a paragon of master clock-makery or a bit of a cuckoo? Anyone got a photo? And do any of you know what happened to it?

Nice swags, but no clock...

Ho Ho Ho

Rachel asks:

"I'm wondering if you or any of your readers could recommend a good place in or near Greenwich where I could take my wee daughter to see Santa and have a picture taken. Ideally I'd love to not have to queue for hours on end. Any help with this would be great."

The Phantom replies:

I'm glad you asked me that, Rachel, as it gives me an excuse to use another of Rich's jolly images, this one very festive indeed.

The obvious place to go is the grotto that's part of the market celebrations. The grand switch-on of the lights is next Friday, 27th November - with the Mayor and the cast of the always-fantastic Greenwich Panto (if your daughter's old enough, I thoroughly recommend it.)

According to the website, the festivities begin at 3.00pm when the lantern parade weaves its way through the market, making the lights switch on - Good Lord - as if by magic! Father Christmas must be sprinkling extra magic Oofle Dust. Between 12.30 and 7.30pm kiddies can visit Santa in his grotto while the adults drink mulled wine and eat mince pies.

To be honest, if I remember from last year, it was a bit of a bunfight (or should I say pudding fight) to get into the grotto on the day of the switch on itself so you might prefer to take your daughter to enjoy the general fun of the event, and visit His Hollyness separately another day. He'll be receiving young visitors on the weekends of the 5th and 6th, 12th and 13th and 19th and 20th December between 11.30am and 5.30pm.

Other places I know Santa turns up for include the Westcombe Society's Dickensian Fair - you'll have to get your skates on though - it's today, at Blackheath High School in Vanbrugh Park between 11:30am to 4:00pm (I vaguely remember that they provide a Rent-a-Santa service where he does special home-visits in the last week before the Big Day - the gen will be in next month's Westcombe News - if, like me, you don't get it delivered, you'll be able to find it online here (there's a small item about it in this month's edition, in the ad about the fair.)

Another event to look out is the Friends of East Greenwich Pleasaunce, who for the last few years have had a Christmas event with Father Christmas bowling up to his grotto in the park in ever-more exotic modes of transport. I've looked on their website but can't see any sign of one being planned this year. They've had some rotten luck with weather in the past; maybe they're hedging their bets and waiting for the last possible moment.

I confess I don't know of any more places he'll be turning up this year - but it's entirely possible someone else does.

Music Lovers Unite

Jo is thinking of starting "a regular meeting of local musicians, to chat about music and potentially form new bands," and is wondering if there's interest for such a thing in Greenwich.

I guess it might initially follow a similar pattern to the book group that Kirstie set up back in the summer - send me an email if you're interested and I'll pass it onto Jo. She intends to set up a Facebook group (which counts me out - I don't do Facebook - It's now become a matter of principal - so can't actually get onto any groups...) and possibly a regular meet-up - I don't know (and I suspect she doesn't either) the precise format of what will come out of that first meeting - so it could be very interesting.

She also asks about potential venues around Greenwich. I have to say they are not as many as they used to - the coming of Greenwich Inc saw off a lot of the little venues I used to go to and the recession has seen off some others.

Oliver's in Nevada Street is a must-check-out - Olivier himself has eclectic taste - so it's always worth a go. I've noticed a (tiny) stage in the Auctioneer, and I'm sure Scared of Chives told me about an open mic night at The Mitre (which I haven't been to yet, shame on me...) The university might have some options - or they may keep to themselves. Deptford and New Cross have a lot of venues that change on a regular basis.

But I'm probably not the best person to ask - I'm sure people here know more than I do.

Email me if you're interested in starting a Phantom Music Group with Jo and I'll pass it on...

Live Music, Dead Beer

The Phantom Webmaster has sent me a short but impassioned plea:

"Is there anywhere within the O2 complex that one can get actual beer instead of fizzy keg vileness?"

As regular readers know,I am not a beer-swilling Phantom, but the people I hang out with are, and I'm not aware of any places within the complex that can be bothered to give festival-goers the real thing. I will be delighted to plug anyone who does.

Rod, as our resident Phantom Beer Expert - do you know of anywhere?

Thinking about it though - the place is so bloomin' big - it could easily hold an entire microbrewery if someone had the entrepreneurial spirit to give Foamy-Dome Ale a go. I can't imagine it being unpopular....

Baby Bonfires

Lucy asks:

"We have 2 young kids and while we'd like to take them up to the big Blackheath fireworks display on the 7th, I was wondering if you know of any smaller bonfire + fireworks events around Greenwich? It's their first time so I'm thinking they would be actually very happy with just a few fireworks rather than a half-hour bombardment!"

The Phantom replies:

It's possible someone round here knows of a smaller one - but I can't imagine there will be much going on round here on the 7th itself as no one will be wanting to try to compete with the Big Bang on Blackheath.

If you're worried that half an hour of what a killjoy friend of mine calls "tawdry whizz-bangs" will be too much, perhaps you could take them over for the last five minutes or so - you get the big finale but not the numb fingers...

Does anyone here know of any small events going on round here, though?

Rigged Out

Idris asks:

"Any idea what this is? It is in the river near the Cutty Sark (pub). Not sure how long it's been there, not more than a couple of weeks I think, or I would have noticed it."

The Phantom has absolutely no idea.

I agree it can't have been there long - I only went past a few days ago - though of course the Thames Path (still) gets cut up at that point while the Lovells Wharf development goes on (and on.)

I wonder if it's monitoring pollution or something, to do with the demolition of the Syrol plant a few metres downriver?

Any ideas, folks?

Nevada / Silver Street

I've been sitting on this thorny question for some months, trying to get to the bottom of it. Sheila asks:

"I'm trying to find out when and why Silver Street was changed to Nevada Street. I've tried research on t'interweb, but to no avail. Do you have any information or advice as to where I could find out more about this?"

You know I thought this was going to be fairly easy to answer, but the more I looked, the less I found out. All every history book ever says on the subject is something along the lines of "Silver St (now Nevada St)" but as to why the hell it should be Silver Street in the first place, and why the bloody hell it should have been renamed Nevada Street is a complete mystery.

I spent some time faffing around the libraries of Greenwich, not to mention my own bookshelves, looking for this before admitting a big fat zero on this and going whining, tricorn in hand, to the man who, if-it's-there-to-know-he'll-know-it, Julian Watson.

The first part of the question is relatively easily answered - or at least best-guessed. Julian tells me

"Nevada/Silver Street was earlier part of Stockwell Street and before that part of Heathgate Street. Heathgate Street was the name given to the western end of the road that went under the Queens House – the main road from Woolwich. Heathgate Street also seemed to encompass the bottom bit of Crooms Hill. All very confusing!

Silver Street seems to have taken its name from the firm S.W. Silver who, according their company history, were in Greenwich in the 19th cent. However, I have never found them in any directory. They moved to the other side of the river and Silvertown grew around them."

So far, so good. No actual proof that that's where the Silver bit comes from, but it's plausible enough for me to buy it. But on the Nevada bit, even the mighty Mr Watson then ran out of ideas, though he wondered if it might have had something to do with the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich which was formed in 1900 and, full of self-importance, set about changing all sorts of things just for the sake of it.

After some exhaustive (and exhausting) searches, he found the name was changed by the London County Council on 18th June 1895. Sadly the both the minutes and the report in the Mercury at the time merely report the renaming, not the reason.

So why did it stop being Silver Street? I mean - I have nothing against Nevada, but I don't know of any connection between Greenwich and the US state, either now or in any part of the past couple of hundred years. I looked at Nevada State history and there don't seem to have been any great commemorations around the time of the name change or connections with Greenwich.

Maybe S.W. Silver's grandchildren did something awful to offend the council, they immediately struck the name from the records and just stuck a pin in a map for inspiration. Julian wonders about a silver/gold mining connection, but the best mining Greenwich ever seems to have to offered was sand. I guess there could have been some sort of civic visit from American dignitaries commemorated in the name but - hey, I'm clutching at straws here.

The answer is, Sheila, it's yet another Greenwich mystery.

Theories here, please...

The Thames Pub

Jenny has a curious but cool address - the old Thames Pub in Norway St. The poor old place has been dead for some time now, but I'm encouraged to hear that its owners don't seem to have plans to demolish just at the moment. She says:

"We're guardians for a company called Camelot which puts tenants into empty buildings to protect them from squatters. I'm rather fond of the place, and would like to find out more about it. I learnt from a taxi driver that it used to be inhabited by squatters, the last one being a prostitute who used to work the bridge over the creek... As for its earlier history, or even its age, though, I have no idea."

I've discovered in my albeit paltry searches over the years that pubs are one of the hardest types of building to find anything out about. However historic they may be, they've always been working buildings; no one's really had time to write histories of them. I've been reduced to tears on all sorts of Greenwich pubs, trying to find anything more than basics about them - and a pub called something like The Thames is a particular pig to google as you just get lists of pubs in Greenwich that are on the river.

I can't even try to look at its old name (as engraved on the outside) The Rose & Crown - all searches are superimposed by the Rose & Crown we still have on the corner of Nevada and Stockwell Streets.

My guess, looking at it, is that it's mid to late Victorian which would make it date back to when that particular area was very dodgy indeed. The appropriately-named 'Dark Entry' was exactly that - a long, dangerous conduit between two dockyards with high brick walls either side. There were any number of pubs to keep the dockers refreshed, and although there are a lot of excellent pictures of these in Julian Watson/Kit Gregory's In the Meantime, including some marvellously murky photos of alleys like Dark Entry and Brewhouse Lane (the closest we have these days is the much-cleaned up Turnpin Lane) there's nothing of the Thames.

I have great hopes for the pub though. When the development has finished, hopefully there will be enough people to make reopening it viable. It's a nice-looking boozer, all it needs is a bit of TLC and a sympathetic guvnor. We could even get a Greenwich-side-of-the-creek Dog & Bell...

In Memoriam

Tom and his partner Sarah ask:

"Sarah and I would like to plant a tree, or maybe several,to mark the passing of Sarah's grandmother over the summer.

Wondered if you (or your readers) know of anywhere in Greenwich (where we also live) where this might be possible?"

The Phantom replies:

The most obvious is the Royal Park. They have several sponsorship schemes from just generally supporting all the trees to dedicating a personal or family tree. Greenwich Industrial History Society have just done just that recently, I see.

Sadly, it would seem you can't put a plaque under 'your' tree at the moment. My suggestion for Greenwich Park would be the newly-cleared Dwarf Orchard, which I believe will be planted up with heritage fruit trees - if you could dedicate one of those it would be really rather special.

Of course there are the local parks - if Sarah's grandmother had a favourite local park, it might be worth contacting Greenwich Council parks department. I can't see that they have a formal scheme, but sometimes I find it hard to navigate around the council website so it's entirely possible I've missed it.

Oxleas Wood would also come under Greenwich Council, I believe; I don't know if they have any planting schemes - maybe something around Sevendroog Castle, when the restoration comes to fruition (hopefuly soon...)

I've been trying to find out who looks after the Thames Path. It seems to be the National Trails Office. They happily accept donations, but I can't see any tree sponsorship schemes.

I did look at the Mayor's Street Tree programme but I don't think it's for you - it appears to be somewhere where you nominate places you'd like to see a tree.

Trees For Cities have a tree dedication scheme, but the nearest project I can find to us seems to be Peckham/ Nunhead.

It's possible local schools or museums have projects, but they're keeping quiet about them. Maybe someone here knows a local scheme?

Further afield, the Woodland Trust are creating a Victory Wood in Hampshire - the Greenwich link is that Nelson's body rested there on its way to London.

You'd have thought it would be easy to dedicate a tree - after all there always seem to be benches and tree-plaques wherever you go these days. It seems that the practicalities are a bit harder.

I'm pretty sure, though, that if you saw a beautiful public place you'd like to plant a tree, it would be well worth an ask...

Combe Lodge

Bing asks:

"I know its a long shot, but I live in Coombe Lodge, SE7 and I'm trying to find out whether we were the first to be called Coombe Lodge or whether 12 Charlton Road is. We contacted the council to complain when they submitted planning permission and the lady at the council never really got back to us.

When I first moved here there was a lady who was quite elderly and she remembered a farm building here in Coombe Lodge/ Warren walk. This will be going back to 1940's or something, we thought that it was redeveloped in the 60's and the old buildings demolished (we keep finding bricks in the gardens). But keeping its name as Coombe Lodge?

Although I do remember going down to the heritage centre and not finding a Coombe Lodge address before the 60's (before I moved to the place)

Like I say, its a long shot, I'm not sure if you have any ideas about this? or how comprehensive the book about Combe Farm is with maps and details?"

Boundaries are, I confess, not my forte. And trying to pinpoint any part of the old Combe estate is hard at the best of times.

It seems to me that, for mere reasons of clarity, having two Combe Lodges, SE7, is a bit daft. I already can't find either of them on the usually useful Streetmap, (I've located them both now) but considering I can't find any allusions to a historical Combe Lodge in any of my books, or online, I'm guessing this isn't a big issue.

Strange, really - 'Combe Lodge' sounds so likely. There were definitely large houses there that could have been called something as grand as that - but, checking out Neil Rhind's definitive Blackheath Village & Environs (2) - criminally out of print, but occasionally available second-hand - they seem to have been called anything but Combe Lodge (I'd be very happy to be contradicted here.) Maze Hill House, Mayfield Lodge, Vanbrugh Castle, The Manor House, Westcombe House, Woodlands House and several others - if there was an antique Combe Lodge it must be too far east to be in Neil Rhind's encyclopaedic sight.

Neither can I find it in the even rarer Combe Farm, Greenwich, by Barbara Ludlow - and for her to miss something like that out would be most out of character. There is an 1864 map in the book - this, too, doesn't mention a Combe Lodge.

I've been along the row of local history books on my shelves, and can't find any reference at all, which means, I suspect, that both names are pretty modern.

Of course, there were Combe farm buildings knocking around all over that area - in fact there are still a couple left standing, round the back of the police station at the bottom of Westcombe Hill - so it's entirely possible that your old lady did remember buildings round your place and that the bricks you keep finding are from something Combe-farmish. As far as I can tell from not-terribly-clear maps, the actual Home Farm was slightly north-east of Westcombe Park station.

If you've been living at your Combe Lodge since the 60s and Number 12 has only just submitted planning permission, then it seems a bit silly, if only for reasons of not driving the local postie crazy, to have another one. But, as far as I know, there's no copyright on names (I've long wondered when the Victorian house at the top of Westcombe Hill decided to promote itself to being 'Combe Farm' - but hey - why not - I guess it could have been connected somehow...) and if the tortuous place-naming department in the Council hasn't picked up on it, then I can't promise any historical precedent to promote your cause. Just common sense.

How Chummy Is The Big MQ?

Gemma is thinking of coming to live in Greenwich - but she's doing some homework first. She says:

"I love Greenwich, we live upriver in Bermondsey at the moment but would dearly love to relocate to Greenwich. We got married at the Trafalgar Tavern earlier this year! Anyway, we have seen a few houses on Millennium Quay and would like some advice from someone that knows the area.

Millennium Quay looks a fab place to live, is it too good to be true? We found a private community message board online, is this utilised? Coming from a strong community in Bermondsey, we were hoping for something similar. Is there a community spirit on the estate? Do people talk to their neighbours? It looks a lovely place to live and we know the town is really friendly, but is the walk back along Creek Road safe?

Would it be a nice neighbourhood to raise a family?"

The Phantom (as even Gemma, who lives outside the area knows) lives up the other end of town, and, as such, knows very little about Millennium Quay other than the creepy statue of Peter the Great and his dwarfish-pal. It looks nice enough, but I don't hang round there enough to form any kind of opinion on how friendly the folks who live there are.

I did know someone who lived in Basevi Way, who loved it being just a five minute walk to the centre of town, but never mentioned the neighbours, either good or bad, when chatting to me. As to safety at night, (can't see it being any worse than the town centre - or, for that matter, Bermondsey...) community-spiritedness or internet-savvydom, I'm having to ask you guys. I just don't know...

Not Mulch Going On

Charlotte is gearing up to get gardening next year - and sensibly is preparing the soil now. She asks:

"I'm in the process of doing my garden from scratch (it's currently an overgrown mess). A friend who knows about these things tells me that you get better value and quality if you steer clear of B&Q etc.

So wondered if anyone had any recommendations regarding getting hold of topsoil/organic matter in the area. And also good plant nurseries - presuming there must be a few not too far away what with Kent being the garden of England and all that. Ideally places that would deliver as I don't have a car..."

The Phantom is a bit depressed at the choice of gardening-y type stuff round here. In my fantasy world, that huge derelict site in Charlton behind ASDA (the one with the big walls around it and the fancy entrance) would be turned into a fabulous walk-round herbery with funky garden centre attached - a sort of park and store combined. In real life we've got - well - B&Q.

I agree - B&Q is just a big old shed that sells small things in plastic packets-of-three-when-you-only-need-one at expensive prices. Its only plus is convenience, but most DIY things can be sourced elsewhere - Ken was reminding me about the joys of Screwfix the other day, and I favour Standard DIY at Blackheath Royal Standard - but neither of them do plants in any great number or quality.

Soil first. The one place that we SHOULD be able to get good compost from is Greenwich Council - after all, the stuff they make is the contents of our organic recycling bins. But I understand they only sell it to commercial buyers. To be honest, I really don't know anywhere in Greenwich other than B&Q - though some builders merchants may do it, if you don't mind a couple of hundredweight turning up on your doorstep.

Might be worth asking at Mudchute Farm if they sell manure, but I suspect the problem might be with delivery.

If you have to go for a 'shed' I'd recommend Homebase at Kidbrooke rather than B&Q - there's a better selection of plants and a much better selection of pots, but the choice is poor if you're trying to avoid peat. Actually, everywhere round here is poor if you're trying to get peat-free (I loathe the stuff but feel guilty about not using it).

Plants - The only place I can think of in the centre of Greenwich is the lovely, lovely florist at the bottom of Royal Hill - but beautiful though their plants are, you'll be bankrupted if you try to fill a garden with them. Ditto Hortus in Blackheath and the funky stalls just inside the market.

Phoebe's in between Eltham and Lewisham appears to have closed, and Ruxley Manor, though humongous, is inaccessible without a car - and a good map.

Which really leaves you with mail order. I haven't had a flawless experience with Crocus - indeed, I boycotted them for an entire year after having a very poor experience with their customer services department, but they do do good quality plants (on the whole...) and their gift plants are always very good, so I'm grudgingly back with them.

I wish I could be of more help - and I'll be watching the replies today with an especially beady eye - I could do with some new horticultural places to visit...

Wagon Wheel Syndrome

Sally's just asked one of the most random questions I've had in a long while. She's wondering:

"...if anyone else has noticed whether the pork chops and chicken breasts (or any other produce for that matter) from Drings have been quite a lot smaller recently?! They're still great, but not quite the huge lumps of meat I'm sure we once got. Is this just an effect of my growing appetite or is the produce truly shrinking?"

The Phantom replies:

I confess I'm not a regular customer at Drings, being geographically closer to G.G. Sparkes, so I'm not much good for commenting here, but clearly this is a Burning Issue West Greenwich way. Whenever I've been into Drings, or been contacted about the shop, there's only ever good stuff been said - I'm told that the Scotch Eggs are particularly fine - but maybe they have been buying smaller animals or something.

Isn't most meat sold by the kilo? Maybe the prices have gone up, making what you get for your money less? Or are you saying the the sizes of all chicken legs have shrunk? Perhaps they're acquiring glamorously Hollywood-slim chickens, and specially-svelte swine to sex-up the butchery industry. On the other hand that wouldn't work with the breasts.

Hmm. Other possibilities. Um... You've stopped wearing your pebble spectacles to the butchers...You're standing further away from the counter... You've acquired a tapeworm (sorry...)

Heavens - I don't know. But it could just be good old-fashioned Wagon Wheel Syndrome. Come to think of it I'm sure Creme Eggs were bigger, too, when I was a kid. Have you looked at the dairy counter recently?

Bespoke Shoes

Ann asks:

"This is not quite a Greenwich query, more a Blackheath one. But I'm hoping that you will be able to help me.

There is a 'shop' in Blackheath who make made to measure shoes. I can't remember the name or exact address. Can you help with a name, address or phone number?"

The Phantom, as seems to be usual these days, is a bit stumped. I don't actually know of a real, proper shoemaker in Blackheath - though of course that doesn't mean one doesn't exist.

The splendid (and still defiantly independent) Pares Footwear is the double-fronted store in Tranquil Vale, worth a visit (especially at sale time) not least for the very strange, brown-painted curly wooden balustrading outside the shop, but it only sells shoes, doesn't make them as far as I know. On the other hand, it prides itself on it standard of fitting and specialist footwear- so if you're looking for orthopaedic-quality fit, it might just be the ticket.

The closest bespoke shoemakers I know of is Merrifields in East Dulwich. They don't have a website that I can find, but their address is:

42, GROVE VALE, London, SE22 8DY Tel: 020 8693 1611

Folks - do you know of a shoemaker in Blackheath I've missed?

Luncheteria

Solange has two questions. Here's the first:

"Sunday the 19th is the big day for the big lunch, I have not organised one in our street and I wondered if you had heard of lunches happening in the Maze Hill area?"

In short, I don't.

I hadn't even heard of the Big Lunch; it sounds like a good old fashioned street party to me, without the excuse of a coronation or a silver jubilee. Jelly, ice cream, bunting and Union flags. I tried typing my postcode into the website, then the postcodes of several of my friends over Greenwich and found a couple - one in GMV and one in Westcombe Hill. My suggestion is to type your postcode into the address - and see what comes up.

Solange's second question is

"I keep reading that there is a new form of "restaurants" in people's own home, I am not sure what they are called. Have you heard of any in Greenwich?"

Well, in Cuba they're called Paladares and they can be fabulous, if a little unpredictable. La Guarida in Havana is the best of all - extraordinary food presented in extraordinary fashion in an extraordinary venue; one of the most incredible meals of my life, though another such arrangement, way out in the countryside, was a memorable in slightly odder ways.

In several cities in the Midlands, there have been some amazing curry restaurants in people's houses since the 1980s and I heard a radio article recently about some people running restaurants in their houses as a one-off for a festival (I believe they were well-heeled people doing it for charity, though from the article it sounded much as though they were really doing it to show off their culinary skills to their neighbours...) but if there's a Paladare culture in Greenwich I don't know about it. I rather like the idea, though. I suspect the health & safety brigade would close it down if they knew about it.

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?

Of Chapels, Dreadlocks and Harley Davidsons

Seamus asks:

"On the corner of Old Woolwich Road and Lassel Street there's a white building that looks like a chapel. It's been slowly done up over the 15 years I've lived here. Do you know what it was? A man with dreads and a big pink Harley Davidson owns it now."

The Phantom replies:

Yes - I've been watching that project too - it's been going on for yonks. I can only assume that anyone who's taken that long to renovate/convert a place must be doing it alone in their spare time.

It's certainly an interesting build - I particularly like the 'fake' top right-hand window as you look at it - it appears to open out onto a roof area - most curious.

The plaque above the door says "Marlborough Hall, 1895, and the doorway at the side is labelled "The Mission House."

There's a whole bunch of old chapels lurking around various side streets in Greenwich, most of which seem to have been converted to luxury apartments. They tend to have been fairly obscure non-conformist sects - the Victorians loved 'em. I don't have any real info about that one - that little area is particularly poorly-served for history books, but maybe someone here knows something more about it.

Online, the only real mention I can find is in Charles Booth's Poverty Map Site where he did an interview on 2 July 1900 with a Mr W. Turner. This also points to its being a nonconformist chapel, since all the other interviewees on the page seem to be reverends, vicars, priests etc, but non-conformists probably wouldn't have held with fancy names.

Sadly I can't find a way to access the interview very easily - it would seem that only the archive catalogue has been digitised, but there's a map reference - the colours imply the area was mixed - both comfortably-off and poor.

I've seen the guy you talk about, with his fabulous pink bike, revving it up around the back streets of East Greenwich. He looks as though he should be motoring somewhere in the American Mid-West - very exotic. Would we had more interesting characters like him...

Live Bait

I've just moved this from my review of David Ramzan's latest book in case the poor fellow gets the wrong idea. Don't forget you can ask questions directly by clicking on the links at the side of the page, folks.

But back to the question. Indigo asks

"If anyone knows where I can buy live white maggots in Greenwich? These are for my hens (maggots are a "treatment" for some crop problems), and I cannot think of even one fishing-tackle type shop still in existence here.

Pets At Home don't have them (I asked). I know I can buy them on-line but one has to be able to guarantee to be at home to sign for delivery, as the maggots have to live - in a lidded pot, of course - in the 'fridge."

The Phantom is flummoxed. That's the problem with big chains taking over an entire section of the market. If they don't do it, then nowhere will. I'll pretty much guarantee that Pets and the City won't do it either!

I guess you need to look at places where fishermen congregate - protected waterways etc. I once saw a maggot vending machine (no, really) at a petrol station near a reservoir when I was filling up on a jaunt, but it was miles from here.

You might want to try the city farms - perhaps Woodlands or Mudchute?

Or maybe someone else has an idea? No cheap gags, now...

Feeling Tyred

I have a great Ask The Phantom today, folks. A lot of people seem to think that I'm absolutely anti the Olympics. And I confess I have been ambivalent. I have grave concerns about the placing of the Equestrian and Shooting events in unsuitable venues merely so that LOCOG can avoid getting egg on their faces.

But I'm not completely against the whole affair - I'm rather looking forward to seeing how the main stadium turns out, and I'm really quite upset that the gymnastics won't be held at the O2 any more, which is, after all, currently London's only purpose-built arena with adequate public transport.

And an anonymous question has made me even more intrigued about the athletics part of the event - a question about something I'd seen but never joined the dots before in my mind.

My anonymous friend asks:

"Do you know who the athlete is who trains in Greenwich Park with a rather large tyre attached to him? I'm sure you've seen him, as he's training there all the time.

Last week curiosity got the better of my young daughters, who dared their mother to ask him what he was doing. So I did.

He told us he is training for the 100m, five times a week. We wished him good luck and went on our way but then we became even more curious to know who he is.

Tyrone Edgar? I don't really want to stop and harass him with more questions, but would be interested to follow his progress leading up to the Olympics and show some support. so we wondered if you know...?"

Well. Actually, of course, I don't know. But it's entirely possible and it would be fantastic if it was true. Tyrone Edgar was certainly born in Greenwich and yes, he specialises in the 100 metres. And he looks like a thoroughly decent chap. He suffered an injury in February, so he's having to do extra-tough training to get himself fit enough to compete (personally I'd settle for a nice cup of tea and a sit down), though he'll probably miss the next bunch of championships in Turin.

According to the magazine, he's now LA based and lived in Somerstown anyway, but it's possible that he's moved since the interview.

Can anyone confirm that this guy is Tyrone Edgar? I mean - anyone who's doing that is either very, very dedicated or a complete nutter. Either way, I'd like to know who he is. I like both types of people (except when the latter variety harasses me on the internet, natch...) And if our tyre man isn't Edgar, who is he?

Why is it that suddenly I'm much more interested in the Olympics just because I see some guy dragging a tractor tyre up the most punishing bits of Greenwich Park on a regular basis? There's no real logical reason, I know. I'm not interested in sport per-se, but somehow seeing a guy train that hard in Greenwich park, makes him Ours.

I feel all warm inside. I suspect he does too, if he's been dragging that tyre again...

Running Groups

Kirstie asks:

"Do you know of any running or jogging groups in Greenwich? Or even the nearby areas? I see hundred of joggers every day, but can't find a group to join!"

The Phantom replies:

Regular readers will know that I am allergic to all forms of exercise, but I've found a couple of suggestions.

Serpentine look pretty serious stuff - they do hill training every Saturday up Greenwich Park's most punishing-looking bits. I don't find their website particularly inviting - but then unless I'm being offered a ride uphill in a comfy chair (and we all know that Old Father Thames has already nabbed Greenwich's comfy chair) I find all sports websites scary.

If you're feeling a little adventurous,The Greenwich Tritons are a local triathlon group - swimming, biking and running. Their website suggests novices are welcome.

I DID suggest this fledgling group - a women's pre-work jogging group for non-marathon runners. Until eagle-eyed Anon pointed it was in Greenwich CTT.

So I'm blushing furiously, but - hey - it's not such a bad idea. Why not start a group of happy joggers, Kirstie. If you like the idea, let me know and maybe people can email, I'll pass them onto you and you can all meet up for a run first thing in the morning? 'Fraid I won't be joining you though...

Thamesmead Tor

Yer what?

I confess I don't have any idea what Nat's talking about here, but maybe one of you do:

"Having taken several winding trips on the 380 this week I have taken to wondering about the Thamesmead Tor. Do you know anything about this strange 'hill'?"

Thamesmead is really not an area I know very well at all. In fact the only time I think I've ever taken the 380 that far was an unfortunate incident where my car was impounded a few years ago (a truly unpleasant experience) So I can't really get my head round what you mean, Nat. That's not to say someone here doesn't know. Fingers crossed...

Maze Hill Traumas

Susie asks:

"In a story far too long, boring and unpleasant to recount, my sewer's collapsed and I've had to get a man (many men, actually) in. But coincidentally the collapse has raised a few questions about a plot of land next to the house, which the sewer runs through, and which apparently was bombed in the war. I was wondering whether you or any of your ghoulish friends might know about it.

I live in the area between Vanbrugh Hill and Maze Hill. If you look on a
map of it today or go down there it's a mix of Victorian terraces and 1970s
built former council homes. Tyler Street and Walnut Tree Road both seem to have been cut in two by a mini-council estate, and in the middle is an open green area and a bunch of ugly garages. Somewhere in here is my problematic sewer.

My neighbour (who's lived here years) told me that in the days of yore
Walnut and Tyler both crossed the area, only a bomb presumably intended for the docks on the Isle of Dogs dropped on it and wiped the intersection out. The crater got filled in and in the 1970s the council built new houses on it.

What I was wondering is if there really was a bomb, because I've not seen
any other signs of craters in Greenwich, why it was dropped here and what
the area used to look like - was anybody killed?"

The Phantom replies:

Susie - your neighbour's dead on the money. Greenwich was bombed to buggery in the war. The Luftwaffe were generally after disrupting communications as much as possible - so they were aiming for docks (of which we had several) roads (check) railways (check) and, erm, military establishments (check.) We were also the 'wrong' side of London - so even if the nazis weren't bothered with dropping anything on us per se, if they had anything left after bombing other places, they didn't want to have to take them home with them, so they just dumped them on us anyway.

Why don't we see more craters? Because they've been filled in - mainly with housing. Think of all the roads in Greenwich which have Victorian or even Georgian housing along them and all of a sudden, a modern, post-war block of flats in the middle. Voila.

By the way, they got rid of all the rubble from bombed houses by dumping it in the hills and hollows of Blackheath - which is why it's flat as a pancake now instead of more like the little bit left at the top of Maze Hill all over.

But on to your particular neck of the woods, Susie. Yes - indeedy - there was a bomb at Maze Hill. There is a 'bomb map' that was created by the London County Council that I keep meaning to track down and actually purchase, but for now, unless they've taken it down in the past few weeks (which I doubt very much) there is a copy of the Greenwich part of it halfway up the stairs at Waterstones.

However - it was not a bomb that destroyed what was there before the garages.

When I started writing this post, I vaguely remembered a photo of damage from said bomb in David Ramzan's Greenwich Centre of the World, (a very nicely written, mainly-photo volume) but when I pulled the book off the shelf and looked it up it was actually a double-page photo of a grisly train crash at the station. It would be worth getting a copy - or at least looking at in the library to see what was there before the ghastly garages.

But this crash was in 1958 - long after the war. If you look at the picture, you'll see that Maze Hill was still a pretty damn big station in the 50s, with several lines and even sidings. Judging from the age of the 'new' buildings round there now, I would guess that the land was sold for housing much later than that. Probably yet another victim of the dastardly Dr Beeching.

Can anyone add anything to this?

Radio-Controlled Planes

Paul has recently got into RC flying, and asks:

"Are there any clubs around Greenwich?"

I've had a look online and I haven't found anything - but I'm sure I've seen some RC planes on Blackheath from time to time. Or was it boats on the pond? I'm throwing my hands up here. I don't know of any clubs - but there must be one around here somewhere. Any ideas?

Bong!

Sometimes people who are new to the area notice things that everyone else has missed. That aptly-named Dale from Yorkshire has only been living here for three months but he wonders whether anyone else has noticed that Christ Church's bells are out of sync. He says:

"Every morning when I’m musing over a hot pot of tea and a slice of jam on toast, I await seven bells from the church at the end of Christchurch Way. This is the signal to finish my breakfast, brush my teeth and think about leaving the house….

However I have noticed that seven bells in Christchurch isn’t seven bells in the rest of the country, it’s usually 2,3 or even 4 minutes past. Now considering the church’s location of Greenwich this seems somewhat ironic."

Dale wonders if the bells are rung manually - something I doubt very much indeed in this day and age.

Now I confess that not a single clock Chez Phantom is actually accurate enough to be able to test this. Indeed not one clock in the house is actually in sync with any other. I'd always just assumed that the bells were right.

There is an experiment to be done here. We need to find a place to stand somewhere along Romney Road where we can both see the time ball and hear the bells. Probably several days running so we can see if it's consistently wrong or just a bit random. I suppose we could use the BBC time-pips - but it would be a less - well - Greenwich way of doing it...

While we're on the subject of bells, I've been wondering recently what happened to St Alphege's ten bells? I read about them in one of my booksale-lovelies - but since it was written in 1897, I don't know what happened to them. Did they go along with the rest of the interior in March, 1941?

Rangers Square

James asks:

"I would like to ask you if you know anything about the history of Rangers Square just off Hyde Vale in West Greenwich? My wife and I lived there for 5 years, in a rather small but very nice two bed flat and even had two of our children there.

I wonder why it is called Rangers Square, possibly some relation to Rangers House, and whether you know what was there before the flats? I had heard it was some garage. There is also a bit of scrubby bush just behind it backing onto the Conduit House flats with some tall looking trees. I had even heard there was someone living in this scrub during the summer months in 2006."

The Phantom is once again embarrassed by sheer ignorance, but given the close proximity to Ranger's House, I'm guessing that that is the reason. If memory serves, Ranger's Square is a modern-ish development (70s/80s?) and, as I am increasingly discovering, the naming process for new streets and developments is a path strewn with pitfalls these days.

I told you about the friend of mine who worked for a major developer (not around here) whose job description involved her naming the new developments in a former mental asylum, and whatever she came up with seemed to offend someone or other who thought she was being disrespectful to people with mental health problems. I've heard stories about naming problems around here too.

Hence people tend to stay with fairly bland titles that can't possibly offend anyone and 'Ranger's Square' would seem to fit the bill. But maybe someone else knows better - or can tell you about the interesting character who lived in the scrubbery behind in 2006...

WiFi For Nothing And The Chips For Free

James, clearly in the spirit of the times, asks:

"I was wondering if you have come across free WiFi access anywhere in Greenwich?"

You know, James - this one is similar to the karaoke question last week. I have seen signs for free WiFi, but I'm darned if I can remember where. A nagging voice at the back of my mind says Trafalgar Road - perhaps at Sonia's Deli and Cafe, a few doors up from the William IV, but I can't swear to it.

Come to think of it I'm pretty sure that the bar in the Picturehouse has it too, but I can't find any reference to it on their website.

But here's an interesting thing I just found which might be helpful, if you can bear the odd ad and a rather slow speed, which operates between Millbank and Greenwich...

1900 House

RTB got me thinking when he asked:

"What - if anything - happened to The 1900 House? I can't find any mention of it on the Greenwich Council website. Did it get sold to a private individual?"

Lord - I'd completely forgotten that 2000 series - where Channel 4 bought a house in Charlton (50, Elliscombe Road) ripped out all the electricity, kitchen and - well anything post-1900 - and took it back to what it would have been like at the turn of the last century. Then they shipped in a rather irritating family to live the life of a late-Victorian household for three months as one of the first (and therefore rather more valid) reality TV doccos.

I thought I'd better take another look at the series - it's available on Amazon - though if you're planning to do the same, make sure you get the Region 2 version - apparently the Region 1 edition has a syrupy American voiceover.

The first programme is easily the most interesting to anyone who lives in one of the hundreds of houses like 50 Elliscombe Road round here. It shows how the specialists ripped out a particularly horrible flat conversion - though they admit the very fact that it was so badly done meant that much of the original stuff was still there under layers of hardboard and cowboy extension (which the council, btw, had no record of...)

I was riveted by it. I've been in dozens of these houses - and here was one looking just like it would have done. I confess the finished article wasn't really to my taste - very dark and gloomy and full of clutter, reminding me of my Great Aunt's house when I was a nipper (yeah, yeah chez Phantom is full of clutter too, but it's not china doggies or uplifting framed Bible tracts. Well - not many, anyway.) I was particularly amused, on a second viewing, to see, on the wall a print entitled Return of the Sword. How do I know this? Because it turned up every week for about two years at Greenwich Auctions sometime around 2004...

The rest of the programme was mildly interesting, but I found the people annoying - especially wife. She was so bloomin' grumpy - almost from the start, despite it being her idea in the first place. But then I guess I can be one grumpy Phantom too at times, and perhaps Phantoms had a hard time in those days too, having to loom around M.R. James stories and in Wilkie Collins romances...

There's a book to go with the series, available from Amazon Marketplace for 1p (+ P&P) which is excellent - compulsory reading for anyone who lives in one of those terraced houses and wants to know what it would have looked like.

But back to RTB's question. What became of the house?

I've done a couple of searches, and the first sale I can find was back in 2000, presumably by Ch 4 after the programme. It went for £180,000. I have no idea what became of it, but I'll wager it didn't stay without electricity and central heating for long and I'm presuming that the outside loo has come in from the cold. The place was sold again in March 2002, for £300,000, adding three zeros to its initial Victorian price of £300.

I took a little walk around, and, as you can see from the pic, externally at least, little has changed.

Does anyone know the people now at 50, Elliscombe Road - or do you live there yourself? Let a nosy Phantom know what it's like now. Did you keep any of the features? What about the outside loo?

I'd just love to know...

The Dark Hole of Doom

Richard asks:

"I was wandering down to Wickes along Blackheath Road yesterday to buy a new paintbrush when I happened to notice a large hole (maybe a couple of metres square) in the pavement. It's right on the corner of the cross roads, where Blackheath Rd meets Lewisham Rd. Being a nosy sort, I peered in as far as I could (it was surrounded by a safety fence and already full of obligatory random rubbish like beer bottles and shoes - grrrrr).

Interestingly, there seemed to be a brick passage that ran off from the hole, in the direction of Lewisham.

Any idea what this may be and how far it runs? How did the hole come to be exposed anyway?"

The Phantom replies:

I haven't seen this. Are you sure it's not part of the seemingly-everlasting programme of water mains replacement? Though I confess a brick-lined passage says 'sewer' to me. In Victorian times, even the humblest of sewers were rather beautifully executed, which makes them look like secret tunnels rather than back passages...

If it's not either of those, then I have no clue. Has anyone else seen this hole - or does anyone know what it is?

Underground Walks

Auntie Mabel, who admits she hasn't read the site for some time (It's ok, Auntie -it's not a crime - yet...TGP) has been wondering about the Underground Greenwich walks that went on a couple of times last year. She says:

"The last Greenwich Underground Walk appears to have been in May 2008. I wonder if the tours proved popular. Do you know if there are any plans for these walks in 2009 (when the weather warms up)? I was aware of the existence of old railway tunnels belonging to the extinct railway under the top end of Royal Hill, the Fire Station and Blackheath Road from old maps, but would like to know more. The topics covered sound very interesting."

The Phantom replies:

The walks continued for a little longer than that, Auntie, but sadly I suspect we won't be seeing any more Underground Greenwich walks for a while. Annoyingly, I've lost the guy's email, but he told me he was having trouble getting it off the ground (so to speak.) He's not a registered tour guide, and because of that the Tourist Information Centre wouldn't publicise it. I guess it's something to do with quality control or maybe they're just protecting their patch. Who knows. I suppose he could go on a tour guide's course, but he told me that he was spending his time writing a book instead. I wish him luck.

In the meanwhile I leave you with a funky Stevie pic of Greenwich's most obvious underground passage. Somehow it looks just like a Dr Who set...

Barbara Ludlow's Greenwich (1)

Alan has a question:

"I have just purchased a copy of Barbara Ludlow's Greenwich and was most interested in a photo on p 127. I've tried contacting the publishers but they say they are no longer in contact with her (wonder where the royalties go?) so Ill try you.

My question is the identity of the unnamed coachman in the photo. Is there more info available, where is the original photo etc, indeed is Ms Ludlow still around?"

The Phantom replies:

You've caught me on the hop, Alan. I had hoped that Santa would bring be this book, which appeared just before Christmas, but there must have been a hole in his sack, which means that I haven't actually got round to reading it yet.

I'm guessing this is a reprint and, regarding the aside about royalties, that it was one of those ghastly rights-grab buyout jobs. It's possible she doesn't even know her book has been reprinted.

I understand that Ms Ludlow now lives somewhere on the south coast, but I confess I've never met her. Perhaps someone reading this might know some answers to Alan's questions, though?

Just in case any of you want to add to NPI's coffers (clearly not Ms Ludlow's though, if they're not in contact with her) here is the link to the book we're talking about:

Christmas Tree Recycling

S asks the same question I suspect many are this morning. Is the Council recycling Christmas trees this year?

The answer is yes - as long as it's a real one. You need to remove all pots, decorations and soil wires - and leave it by your green top bin on the next collection day. And voila! Christmas disappears!

Ho hum. Back to work...

I'm A Celebrity Get Me In Here

Ruth's got an interesting question, which I guess we've all been tempted to ask at some point. She writes:

"My mother in law has been trying to find out how people get to live in Broadbridge Close Alms Houses, in Blackheath Standard opp. Gambardella's. Or if indeed they are Alms Houses. Her mother used to work for Morden College many moons ago and she was wondering if she would be eligible for one of the places but can't find out anything about them."

The Phantom replies:

We have a wealth of almshouses in Greenwich and Blackheath, many of them absolutely gorgeous, some hundreds of years old, pretty much all of them ever so slightly secretive. Trinity Hospital and Morden College especially, seem to be from another era, behind closed doors and high walls.

But I have heard that with some at least, it isn't as hard to get in as I had always assumed. I can't remember who told me now, but the Hatcliffe Almshouses in Tuskar St, or so I understand, are relatively easy. And Queen Elizabeths Almshouses, run by the Drapers Company will consider you if you merely live in the borough or Lewisham and need a spot of help. Find them here. But Morden College? I did a little digging...

According to one of the only documents I can find on the web (loads about the history and architecture, very little about practicalities), on the Archives in London and M25 area site, the flats at Broadbridge Close are indeed one of several satellite buildings belonging to Morden College. There are also flats at Kidbrooke Grove, St Germans Place, Vanbrugh Park and Ralph Perring Court.

The original people for whom the almshouses were built were 'poor Merchants...and such as have lost their Estates by accidents, dangers and perils of the seas or by any other accidents ways or means in their honest endeavours to get their living by means of Merchandizing,' but the document goes on to say

" After World War One, a shortage of 'decayed merchants' led to further changes to membership conditions and the College now provides accommodation for women (as non resident out pensioners since 1908, and residents since 1966) and married couples (since 1951). Since 1700 more than 4,648 people have been College beneficiaries. Provision is also made for a group known as outpensioners, who do not require accommodation, but are in financial need."

I had some difficulty tracking down Morden College; not, I suspect, because it's actively trying to be secretive, just that it's not terribly web-savvy.

I eventually found its entry in the register of the Charity Commission. There is a postal address, telephone number and an email. I tried the old wheeze of using this to find the website - it's merely a reserved domain.

My suggestion would be to give them a call - the address is:

MORDEN COLLEGE
19 ST. GERMANS PLACE
LONDON
SE3 0PW

Telephone 0208 858 3365

or drop them an email - amanda@mordencollege.org

Let me know how you get on...

http://www.housingcare.org/ is another site you can try - the link's currently broken though, as I discovered when I tried to find Trinity Hospital.

English Deli Blues

Mick asks:

"I'm looking to open an English style deli in the market sq area,but am getting problems from planners, got any advice on way forward, they think ones not wanted by locals,any help will be appreciated."

The Phantom is slightly surprised. I thought that they were desperate to open shops there, despite the big fat question mark hanging over the whole area re.development.

At the risk of teaching my grandmother to suck the proverbial, are you sure the usage of the store is allowed? I've noticed "A3 use will not be considered" on several leases there.

A3 normally refers to cafes and restaurants - the sale of food and drink for consumption on the premises - or takeaways - the sale of hot food for consumption off the premises. Perhaps you intended to sell slices of hot roast beef or have a little tearoom at the back? That could be the problem.

It's where several small cafes have fallen down - the glorious Royal Teas, for one. More recently, according to the sign in their window, the council have got sniffy about the Organic Cafe - and are forcing them to move opposite the cinema (where, frankly, I think they'll do just fine - as soon as they fix that broken window - bad luck, guys...)

It does seem that the council wants to stop cafes (although I note they don't seem to have come crashing down on any of the chains - presumably it's easier to catch the small fish) but I wasn't aware that they were preventing delis.

I guess what it would be useful to know is who these planners are. Are they Greenwich Hospital (who I presume own the shops) or the council? If it's the council, then a letter to your councillor might be a good start, asking for exact reasons - it's hard to know how to fight a vague refusal. I find their argument - that locals don't want one - fishy - I can't see tourists bringing their shopping bags ready to lug home mushy peas and Cornish pasties. Is this their written reasons?

If you're asking whether locals would want one - well - do you, guys? I think if it's well done, an English deli - especially if it includes local food, would be welcome. But that's just me...

Actually, now I can't see the signs in my head it may be that A2 use is the one that won't be considered - that's financial and professional services, including bookies (heavens) - which I would absolutely agree with. And looking at it further, it would seem that a deli, unless it served food, would count as A1 anyway.

Hell, I don't know. But I'd say the first thing you need to do is get exact reasons for their refusal in writing. You can't fight a phantom (and I should know ;-) )

The Great Coronation Day Mystery

Dave's lived in Greenwich all his life and he's recently been raking through a box of old family photos to send to the obligatory cousin-who's-doing-the-Family-Tree.

Presumably, if Dave's is anything like my family's box of un-albumed pictures,the entire collection will consist of fuzzy, unlabelled snaps of elderly ladies in thick glasses, enormous baggy dresses and sensible shoes, wearing black felt hats in the middle of summer and sitting in the back garden of god-know's-where scowling at the camera with an ice cream, or skinny blokes wearing vests, shorts and tennis shoes, balancing a ball on their noses and pulling a funny face, hastily scribbled on the back "Uncle George, on leave from Korea, '52." Who the hell is Uncle George? No one knows.

In fact I have a theory that nobody's 'box of family photos' actually belongs to their own family, that they all got swapped during a giant game of pass-the-parcel in 1967 and that what we have in our lofts actually belongs to a totally different bunch of people.

But back to Dave. He's found the photo above - or at least part of it - and he's wondering whether by any remote chance, anyone actually has a complete version. As you can see, it was a professional shot done by Nelson Studios of a street party held for the Coronation in 1953, taken in Pelton Road. Dave's circled himself - and remembers that the kid laughing next to him was his pal Lawrence Parsons. Dave's mum's on the far right.

He's managed to track down a descendent of the owner of Nelson Studios (originally in Nelson Road) - in Canada - hooray for the internet, but he's had no luck with the pic. It's a tall order, asking you guys, but stranger things have been known...

More Pelton Road pics coming our way soon, courtesy of Dave, when I'll be looking more closely at the history of the estate...

Look Up... (1)

...Something we should all learn to do more often.

New season, new series today. Inspired by Brian, who has lived in Greenwich all his life and, now he's retired, has taken to walking around with his camera and doing just that - looking up.

He's found some curious statue-y-carving type things and has asked if there's any specific meaning to them. They're at the Old Royal Naval College, very high up, and at the Park Row end of things.

I've been doing some digging around, but although there's plenty of general meaning to these carvings, I can't find much specific. Judging from the style of the work, I'd say they almost certainly date back to the building of Greenwich Hospital, and they are ornaments that directly relate to its purpose.

This is my best guess:

It was Queen Mary (of WilliamandMary fame) who inspired the hospital after having seen the dreadful injuries that old sailors had suffered at the sundry wars and scrapes that Britain had found herself in during the 17th Century. The final straw was the Battle of the Hogue - a great naval victory at huge human cost. Building a hospital for heroes was the perfect excuse to brag about Britain's greatness whilst actually doing something practical.

Absolutely everything on the new building needed to prove how brilliant Britain was as an international force and no stone (or in this case statue) was left unadorned in the pursuit of patriotism.

This was a period where classicism was top. Architects such as Wren, who designed the thing, were hugely influenced by the ancient structures in Rome. Palladio and Inigo Jones had paved the way in the previous century and now classical columns and capitals were all the rage. Everyone was Roman-mad.

And of course, the King wanted-in. He wanted everyone to associate himself with the great Roman generals - and both he and his descendants liked to dress up in what they thought was authentic Roman armour. They particularly liked being painted or sculpted wearing leather skirts, grieves, helmets etc and carrying shields and spears. Of course it was nothing like the real Romans would have worn but the style is so very encased in aspic that it's easy to spot paintings and carvings of that period for what they're not...

The picture Brian's sent me is a really good - well-preserved (or restored?) - example of that armour-and-helmet ensemble. The King may not actually be inside it, but the meaning's clear. This building represents Britain's naval might - equated with one of the great Classical empires. It's a warlike impression of the sea. Below is another splendid fellow I snapped round the back of the Pepys Centre, sadly rather weather-worn and thus frankly a bit creepy, but just get that Union flag on the shield. No messing about here.

As for the fish, I'm assuming that it's all symbolic of this being a specifically naval hospital, as opposed to the Army Hospital at Chelsea. Another really popular motif at this time was sundry sea-monsters. I often find it hard to work out whether these fantasy fish are supposed to be fish or dolphins - but I'm pretty sure that these particular chaps are fish. I'd be surprised if they were dolphins given the fact that Britain was almost perpetually at war with France, and dolphins being a popular French symbol, these guys are not being ground underfoot by the king...

More looking-up in Greenwich another day...

Academies Burney and Westons

Barry is doing a little family history and writes with a question that is probably a bit beyond me - though I'll bet it's not beyond a few of you...

He is mainly concerned with the "Royal Hospital School, as I had four 19thC ancestors go there (with families living for many years in the Walnut Tree Road collection of streets).

I am trying to pinpoint two related institutions to the School - the Burney Academy in or close to Burney Street, and Weston's Academy on or about the School's infirmary facing King William Street."

The Phantom is stumped on this one - apart from what I assume you mean is the Dreadnaught Hospital which is on King William Walk and which is now the library of the University of Greenwich, if memory serves me right (and which is open on Open House Weekend this year if you're interested...)

And that's one of the problems with living in a place that is dripping with royal connections, monuments of national (and international) importance and glorious, glamorous history. The 'ordinary' story of everyday folk seems to get lost in between the floorboards of sumptuous tales involving kings and queens, famous people, influential events and naval heroes.

Where other towns would carefully preserve the day to day life of ordinary buildings, we have such a plethora of grandness that we take for granted - and happily forget - a part of our history that is just as valid.

Looking at my bookshelves I have umpteen volumes about Greenwich's pomp and grandeur; just a few books (mainly out of print) about what the rest of us would have been doing - and let's face it - most of us would have been looking to the docks for our livings. Mary Mills especially has made several very decent fists at charting the industrial history of our town and there are other even more obscure books (someone very kindly copied a book for me by Barbara Ludlow - long out of print - for which I am very grateful indeed) but, perhaps understandably, most people choose to look at our gilded history rather than our rusted one...

The Heritage Centre in Woolwich goes some way to helping, but space is increasingly tight (whenever I go there it's absolutely heaving with family history researchers) and although they do document the lives of ordinary people, the focus is on the arsenal, given its location.

I guess what I'm saying, Barry, in a very roundabout way, is that I haven't got a clue. But I'll betcha someone here does.

Flat Rates

A few months ago, Henri sent me some wonderful pictures of her wedding - you can enjoy one or two of them on my weddings and events section. But now she writes with the classic problem that tends to follow weddings around. She writes:

"The husband and I are looking to leave New Cross when our lease runs out at the end of September, and we really, really want to re-relocate to Greenwich. It's handy for me, being able to roll out of bed and nip off to uni, and a convenient push-off point for him to travel to wherever he may be working then. The problem is we're having a hard time identifying areas of Greenwich (town or borough) where we can find a reasonable compromise of size, cost, and safety.

We're looking for something with 1 or 2 bedrooms, house or flat, for under £900 a month, and not down some dark, seedy alley miles away from any transport. Or Police. Do you have any advice? Inside info?

We don't mind something a bit shabby, if it means we get a few extra feet for our money (I much prefer a nice high Victorian ceiling over sunken lights in my bathtub and an oven that speaks to me) but we'd rather not live on the 16th floor of a scary council estate either. Know any areas we should be looking at?

Plumstead seems to have a nice range of shabby but affordable and slightly more spacious housing (although it's a bit close to the in-laws in Abbey Wood to be my pick of the Greenwich area) but apart from that and....Thamesmead *shudder* we're having trouble finding anywhere that isn't full of 'state of the art' and 'luxury', which seems to be code for 'shoebox with spotlights'."

The Phantom sympathises. However swish the new housing may be round here it tends to be a) tiny and b) stupidly expensive. I've never been able to work out why they call some of it "affordable" - I can't imagine many people on lower incomes actually being able to manage even the small part that they are expected to stump up at those prices. Following your code for 'Luxury' as equalling "shoebox with spotlights" I'd say "affordable" translates as "shoebox without spotlights hidden behind the bins..."

I have to put my hands up here - I don't really keep much of an eye on prices. I am sure that people here have a better idea than me but hey - it's my blog, so I'm going to have my two-penn'orth...

To be honest I suspect that Greenwich Central may be a bit scary for that sort of money (though it's always worth just checking - you never know what you may be able to find and with this credit-crunch thing going on you may find a landlord who would rather do a good price than be forced to sell up.) East Greenwich is worth a look - and ideally situated for amenities - the tube, train and sundry shops - but even that seems to be getting a bit pricey these days.

Since your husband (does he actually have a name???) has to commute, you need to be nearish the railway - though of course there are two good lines - the one that goes through Blackheath and the one that goes via Maze Hill.

I'm a big fan of Charlton. It's on both railway lines, which means you get a better selection of trains, and it has some great housing stock. You'll have to pick your area for safety purposes - but I think it's an underrated area. Sadly I'm not alone, and prices have been creeping up recently.

Ditto Woolwich. That's going to explode in the next few years - if I were buying, I'd be tempted to look there - it's got good transport links (soon to be fantastic) a shopping centre that may look tatty but has a solid, provincial feel, and it's a short distance to some excellent open spaces. Oh - and it has a very good Chinese restaurant.

If you want to get lots for your money, Plumstead isn't a bad choice at all - though tradition seems to dictate that you may to be more careful to find a safe area. I don't know too much about most of Plumstead to tell the truth - but I have friends who live there and none of them has been mugged in over 18 years. And it has the bonus of being on the railway and near to countryside. Some bits, especially around the common, are really rather grand.

Which brings me onto Shooters Hill. A little bit more out of the way, but still pretty nice, and close to lots of countryside and open air. I understand the Highwayman problem has abated in the last hundred years.

As we were talking a few days ago the Royal Herbert development is really rather cool. Don't bother trying to get the ex-water tower though - I think last time it was up they wanted a million for it. I have no idea whether they actually got it. I think the bit around it is rather charming, though it feels a bit remote.

Eltham's a funny one. it goes from the extremely old and posh right through to some truly grotty bits. It's a little bit out of the way so it may come up cheaper (as long as you're not after that amazing Tudor place next to the palace...) but I'm really into dodgy territory here - I really don't know.

One last thing. You shudder at Thamesmead, but I know several people who live there who are fiercely defensive of it. They love the fact that they have modern houses with lots of room and gardens for their kids to play in at prices they could never afford elsewhere.

Last time I was there (I was re-visiting the fabulous Crossness Engines - which if you haven't ever seen you must asap) they were building some very nice-looking flats on the river. I can't imagine they will be as pricey as anywhere upstream. I wouldn't count on the mythical "Waterfront Transit System" (read "bus") coming into service any time soon though.

I've yabbered on enough. Time to hand over to people who may actually have some answers to your questions...