Thursday, September 6, 2012

More at the Herb Garden

Last Saturday's Blow for Lol

This Sunday 9 September 5.00 - 7.00pm sees another free unamplified afternoon at the McMillan Herb Garden with music from:
Mouth 4 Rusty
http://www.facebook.com/mouth4rusty
Tom Moody
http://soundcloud.com/tommoody 
Marian Woods 
Mark Moynihan

There will be an interlude for the planting of a hop as a tribute to Pete Pope and the planting of a crab apple tree as a tribute to Gamma, both sadly missed friends of the garden
McMillan Educational Herb Garden
McMillan Street
Deptford
London
SE8


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Thursday, August 30, 2012

Blow for Lol

Charles Hayward and Lol Coxhill

As a follow on to Bank Holiday Monday's celebration of Lol Coxhill, Charles Hayward and others (including Alex Ward: clarinet, Ian Smith: trumpet, Steve Noble: drums, and Nick Doyne-Ditmas: bass.) will be presenting a Blow for Lol this Saturday afternoon at the Herb Garden.
Blow for Lol - 5.00 - 7.00pm Saturday 1st September 2012

McMillan Educational Herb Garden
McMillan Street
Deptford
London
SE8








Saturday, August 25, 2012

Herb Garden Happenings

Volunteers Day 10.00am - 2.00pm Sunday 26 August 2012.
Lol Coxhill Tribute  5.00 - 7.00pm Bank Holiday Monday 27 August 2012. 


Sunday
With the workshops complete, the garden will need a general tidy before the music events. Any extra hands are most welcome. Lots of stuff to do... a bit of weeding, a bit of moving things, brushing up, even hanging mosaics!
We don't expect people to be there the whole time, would just be nice to see you pop in and lend a helping hand for a mo!

Monday
A collaboration of musicians who performed alongside Lol in the Herb Garden over the last fertile decade.
There will be an interlude for the planting of a Mulberry tree as a tribute to Lol and the lasting memories he leaves behind.
Compered by Joe Bazouki.

McMillan Educational Herb Garden
McMillan Street
Deptford
London
SE8


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Sunday, July 22, 2012

Lol Coxhill's Funeral

Lol Coxhill's funeral will be held on Tuesday 24th July - 1.15pm at the
South Chapel, City of London Crematorium, Aldersbrook Road, London E12 5DQ. All welcome.
Manor Park station. Map at http://j.mp/NLYB8a

Followed by HMS President Victoria Embankment EC4Y 0HJ - very near Blackfriar's station - until 7.00pm
Overground from Manor Park to Liverpool Street (trains every 10 mins 14:02, 14:12, 14:22 etc and take 15 mins). Then Circle Line (towards Embankment) - 6 stops from Liverpool Street to Blackfriars
5 mins walk from Blackfriars along Victoria Embankment to HMS President.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Lol Coxhill 19 Sep 1932 - 9 July 2012




Lol Coxhill died in hospital last night aged 79. He had been seriously ill for several weeks.

The video above was shot in the McMillan Herb Garden, Deptford on 9 September 2007.  One of many times that Lol played in the Herb Garden, he was joined by drummer Steve Noble and double bassist John Edwards. John's daughter is the dancer.

In recent years Lol regularly played in the Herb Garden two or three times each summer with Steve and John or Charles Hayward, amongst many others.

Friday, June 29, 2012

A strange view of Catford

According to LB Lewisham Planning Department both Deptford High Street and the Laban Centre are in Catford Town Centre.

Lewisham have published a Scoping Report relating to the Sustainability appraisal and Strategic Environmental Assessment of their proposed Catford Town Centre Area Action Plan. It appears to have been put together by consultants Mouchel and then been put out for consultation by LB Lewisham without anybody bothering to check the document. If it was just a case of laughing at the poor choice of photographs by the consultants then it would not be so bad, but look through the document and total ineptitude reveals itself.
We are told that:
"This scoping report for the Catford APP will go out for public consultation in order to give members of the public the opportunity to comment on the issues and topics covered."
and;
"This section of the report identifies key baseline information relating to facts about Catford Town Centre and some demographics of the London Borough of Lewisham and the Rushey Green Ward (within which Catford Town Centre is located)."
and also;
"The Rushey Green electoral ward covers most of central, northern and western Catford."
but we are not told either in the text or by way of a map / illustration what area is actually meant by Catford Town Centre. Now everybody in Lewisham probably knows where Catford is, but (for example) are any of the surrounding residential streets included in the area the Scoping Report. How can the public "comment on the issues and topics covered" if we are not told what area the report relates to.

The report can be accessed at:
http://lewisham-consult.limehouse.co.uk/portal/planning_policy/catford_scoping 

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Dangling Empty


Boris's vanity project has opened. For the princely sum of £3.20 people can travel from a car park in Greenwich to a car park in Newham. What purpose does it serve?

Tourist Atrraction
Simply too far out of central London. Tourists only travel to Greenwich because the visit includes a river trip there and / or back.

The Dome (or O2 as we are told to call it) only attracts serious numbers of people as a music venue. Excel mainly hosts trade exhibitions. It is hard to see any significant numbers from either bothering with the cable car.

Public Transport
Should any body wish to travel from the O2 to Excel they can catch a Jubilee Line train at North Greenwich to Canning Town and change there onto the DLR to Custom House. As can be seen below the average journey time is around 23/24 minutes.






The map above shows the problem that the cable car stations are much further away from either venue so it is not surprising that the journey takes longer by gondola. (In an effort to woo tourists the cable car will be even slower outside peak travel hours.)

Hardly surprising that today was a slow start:




Convoys Wharf, again

Yet again there is a 'public exhibition' of plans for Convoys Wharf.

The only difference from previous occasions is the clear lack of enthusiasm from the site owners: No colour picture on the leaflet and their website has gone tits up. Plainly they are not longer interested in trying to sell us anything. Perhaps their new strategy is to try and bore us into submission.



Hall & Studio 1st Floor
Deptford Lounge
9 Giffin Street
London SE8

Saturday 14 July 10.00am - 3.00pm
and
Monday 16 July 5.00pm - 8.00pm

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Pete Pope's final send off (2)

On Sunday afternoon we gathered at the Birds Nest PH, Church Street, Deptford. I cannot possibly beat Colin Bodiam's description of our purpose:
It was implied in that programme on Deptford - recently much praised by the media but what do they know? - that Deptford is back in the doldrums, everyone hates each other and there's no sense of community at all. Well, here's proof to the contrary, everyone from all walks of Deptford life gathering together Sunday last to see off one of it adopted sons, Mr. Pete Pope, and after drinks and music, proceeding from The Bird's Nest to the footbridge which Pete helped to bring back, to disperse of his ashes in a glorious cacophony of street percussion and fireworks!





At about five there was some music inside,

and then everybody gathered to move off
up Creekside


past APT

past Faircharm


on our way to the Ha'Penny Hatch Bridge.



With everybody gathered on the bridge the ashes were passed down to the tender,


held aloft, 
and then cast upon the waters of Deptford Creek.






 Loud cheers, more music and the bashing of pots and pans were accompanied by fireworks launched into the afternoon sky.
 
 When the cheering and noise finished the brief silence was broken by the Question: "Anyone fancy a pint?". As Pete would have said 'It would be rude to refuse'. Then as Pete's ashes floated gently downstream, we floated gently back to the Nest.


Back at the Nest we had a few more drinks. Eventually we all dispersed, but not before in a final touch that Pete would have immensely enjoyed, one woman enquired of another
 "Are you coming to the next one?".
 Photographs by Ayla, Sascha and I. More on the Ha'penny Hatch and Pete's involvement in having it re-built can be found at Scattering virtual ashes


Pete Pope's final send off (2)

kkkk kkkk

llll lll