Thursday, 3 January 2013
Happy New Year
Deptford Is... would like to wish a Happy New Year to all Deptford residents and businesses, and our supporters far and wide.
We begin 2013 with a video from the Convoys Wharf website, which includes clear and confident references to Build The Lenox and Sayes Court Garden, two projects promoted by Deptford Is... that appear to be very much accepted in the developer's plans for the future.
There is also positive acknowledgement that any new masterplan must begin with the historical features of the site, in both ground plan and tone – a major success for the Deptford Is... campaign.
The video also suggests that Deptford people have made a significant input into the process. We'd like to thank all those who have contributed to this success so far, and who join us in our anticipation to see the next stage plans.
In the near future we will present further news on the progress of both Build The Lenox and Sayes Court Garden and the involvement of Deptford people in these projects.
Last but not least, 2013 is a special year for Deptford's Royal Dockyard. It is 500 years since Henry VIII established the site with a Royal Charter. We are making plans to celebrate this landmark anniversary, so watch this space!
NB: The themes and issues touched on in the video above are expanded in a further four videos to be found here.
Friday, 14 December 2012
Sayes Court Garden on Gardener's Question Time
Karen Liljenberg, local resident and expert on John Evelyn's Sayes Court Garden, spoke to Matthew Wilson today on BBC Radio 4's Gardener's Question Time about the garden and how it looked in its 17th century heyday – and what might happen in the future. The programme will be repeated on Sunday at 2pm or listen now on i-Player.
See Karen's blog Sayes Court – London's Lost Garden
Sayes Court Garden workshops in pictures
Monday, 19 November 2012
Sayes Court Garden Schools Workshop
Thursday 22 November 2012, 1.30-4.30pm
Sayes Court Park, Deptford SE8 3LN
The Sayes Court Garden project and Outdoor Children are excited to annouce the commencement of the first of their workshops engaging children in the fantastic Sayes Court Garden Project.
On Thursday, 22nd November, children and teachers from Grinling Gibbons Primary School and Sir Francis Drake Primary School will visit Sayes Court Park to participate in an afternoon of educational workshops designed to engage and stimulate whilst most importantly of all – having fun!
"Exploring, wondering, clambering, rummaging – there is so much for children to enjoy in our outdoor heritage, be it park, garden, countryside or urban scene. So why do we instead too often rely on a soulless prescription of plastic equipment, well-meant fact sheets and gift shop bribes?" LINDEN GROVES, OUTDOOR CHILDREN
John Evelyn’s garden at Sayes Court was one of the most famous and revolutionary gardens of its time. This was the site of not only his innovative designs and experiments, but also where he wrote his many forward-thinking texts on horticulture including Sylva, Fumifugium and the copious notes for his master work, the Elysium Britannicum.
Evelyn’s many visitors included his friends Samuel Pepys and Christopher Wren and even King Charles II himself. Towards the end of his life the house and gardens were let, and subsequently trashed(!) by Czar Peter the Great of Russia, who reportedly rode on a wheelbarrow through John Evelyn’s prize Holly Hedge, causing many hundreds of pounds worth of damage.
John Evelyn was constantly inquiring and ingenious, fascinated by the world in which he lived. We think he is a brilliant role model for children facing the exciting challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.
Outdoor Children – Children in the Historic Environment
"We need to stop using Health & Safety, budgets and asset protection as an excuse. Let’s shake our youngest stakeholders by the hand, engage our child visitors in our landscapes, and empower them to … enjoy!” LINDEN GROVES, OUTDOOR CHILDREN
Outdoor Children is managed by Linden Groves, a qualified landscape historian and mum-of-three with a determination to give the historic outdoors a small place in every child’s heart. Having worked for over a decade as a mainstream landscape historian, dealing with conservation issues and writing books, Linden’s experiences visiting parks and gardens with children have given her a passion for engaging the young with their outdoor environment.
Sayes Court Garden CIC
The Sayes Court Garden Community Interest Company’s aspiration is to create a public garden and research centre on the site of John Evelyn’s 17th Century garden in Deptford, SE London.
Sayes Court Garden fell into sad neglect shortly after Evelyn’s death in 1706, and through the vicissitudes of fate has come down to us today as a corner of the parcel of Convoys Wharf, where the current owners, Hutchison Whampoa, intend to build directly where the most innovative and influential parts of the garden lay.
Sayes Court Garden CIC is founded on the belief that this crucial piece of our national heritage is not only a once-beautiful historic garden, but also has a vital role to play in the success of the new development for the community at large.
Alongside their work with Outdoor Children on a series of fun but educational workshops for local primary school children, they will be seeking funding to roll out into a package of online resources, ongoing workshops, and celebratory events for the younger generation.
www.sayescourtgarden.org.uk
www.outdoorchildren.co.uk
Sayes Court Park, Deptford SE8 3LN
The Sayes Court Garden project and Outdoor Children are excited to annouce the commencement of the first of their workshops engaging children in the fantastic Sayes Court Garden Project.
On Thursday, 22nd November, children and teachers from Grinling Gibbons Primary School and Sir Francis Drake Primary School will visit Sayes Court Park to participate in an afternoon of educational workshops designed to engage and stimulate whilst most importantly of all – having fun!
"Exploring, wondering, clambering, rummaging – there is so much for children to enjoy in our outdoor heritage, be it park, garden, countryside or urban scene. So why do we instead too often rely on a soulless prescription of plastic equipment, well-meant fact sheets and gift shop bribes?" LINDEN GROVES, OUTDOOR CHILDREN
John Evelyn’s garden at Sayes Court was one of the most famous and revolutionary gardens of its time. This was the site of not only his innovative designs and experiments, but also where he wrote his many forward-thinking texts on horticulture including Sylva, Fumifugium and the copious notes for his master work, the Elysium Britannicum.
Evelyn’s many visitors included his friends Samuel Pepys and Christopher Wren and even King Charles II himself. Towards the end of his life the house and gardens were let, and subsequently trashed(!) by Czar Peter the Great of Russia, who reportedly rode on a wheelbarrow through John Evelyn’s prize Holly Hedge, causing many hundreds of pounds worth of damage.
John Evelyn was constantly inquiring and ingenious, fascinated by the world in which he lived. We think he is a brilliant role model for children facing the exciting challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.
"We need to stop using Health & Safety, budgets and asset protection as an excuse. Let’s shake our youngest stakeholders by the hand, engage our child visitors in our landscapes, and empower them to … enjoy!” LINDEN GROVES, OUTDOOR CHILDREN
Outdoor Children is managed by Linden Groves, a qualified landscape historian and mum-of-three with a determination to give the historic outdoors a small place in every child’s heart. Having worked for over a decade as a mainstream landscape historian, dealing with conservation issues and writing books, Linden’s experiences visiting parks and gardens with children have given her a passion for engaging the young with their outdoor environment.
Sayes Court Garden CIC
The Sayes Court Garden Community Interest Company’s aspiration is to create a public garden and research centre on the site of John Evelyn’s 17th Century garden in Deptford, SE London.
Sayes Court Garden fell into sad neglect shortly after Evelyn’s death in 1706, and through the vicissitudes of fate has come down to us today as a corner of the parcel of Convoys Wharf, where the current owners, Hutchison Whampoa, intend to build directly where the most innovative and influential parts of the garden lay.
Sayes Court Garden CIC is founded on the belief that this crucial piece of our national heritage is not only a once-beautiful historic garden, but also has a vital role to play in the success of the new development for the community at large.
Alongside their work with Outdoor Children on a series of fun but educational workshops for local primary school children, they will be seeking funding to roll out into a package of online resources, ongoing workshops, and celebratory events for the younger generation.
www.sayescourtgarden.org.ukwww.outdoorchildren.co.uk
Monday, 15 October 2012
Deptford is.. reviewing recent progress
After something of a hiatus over the summer, this week members of the Deptford Is.. team got together to discuss progress since their last meeting.
At the Convoys Wharf public exhibition in July, the architects were confident that they would be holding another open day in September to show us the final masterplan that they intend to submit to the council as a planning application. With no contact from them at time of writing, we assume that progress has been rather slower than predicted.
The Build the Lenox team shared the exciting news that they have acquired two patrons for their Community Interest Company (CIC) - local MP Dame Joan Ruddock, and historian and broadcaster Dan Snow - lending the campaign additional gravitas and respectability that will no doubt stand it in good stead for the months ahead.
Having stepped up the marketing campaign by producing new postcard flyers to distribute in Deptford and environs, and having been featured in the South London Press and News Shopper newspapers, the campaign is starting to attract attention from a wider audience and the team is recruiting new volunteers and continuing to seek donations towards the costs.
They have also launched a Facebook page for the campaign and invite you to 'like' it if you have a Facebook account!
Meanwhile Sayes Court Garden has constituted itself as a CIC and is forging exciting links with high-profile charities and organisations which have similar interests and aspirations. The project also has a Facebook page and a Twitter feed through which they can keep in touch with supporters.
An invitation to meet Tim Smit, the founder of the Eden Project in Cornwall, has led to a continuing dialogue and consolidation of the aims of the Sayes Court Garden project, and this has been given additional impetus by a new collaboration with the National Trust.
The founder of the National Trust, Octavia Hill, has links to Deptford and Sayes Court Garden, and it was discussions over how the gardens could be preserved in perpetuity for the people of Deptford that prompted the creation of the National Trust.
The Sayes Court Garden project is in the process of developing a series of workshops with local schools as part of its long-term aim to get young children interested in gardening, food growing and using and exploring the urban green spaces that are often overlooked. These workshops will be held in November.
On a more general level, the team is working with leading landscape academics and design professionals, moving towards presenting developed proposals for the Sayes Court Garden site and manor house.
At the Convoys Wharf public exhibition in July, the architects were confident that they would be holding another open day in September to show us the final masterplan that they intend to submit to the council as a planning application. With no contact from them at time of writing, we assume that progress has been rather slower than predicted.
 |
| Renderings from the previous scheme - little change was seen on the latest masterplan |
Having stepped up the marketing campaign by producing new postcard flyers to distribute in Deptford and environs, and having been featured in the South London Press and News Shopper newspapers, the campaign is starting to attract attention from a wider audience and the team is recruiting new volunteers and continuing to seek donations towards the costs.
They have also launched a Facebook page for the campaign and invite you to 'like' it if you have a Facebook account!
Meanwhile Sayes Court Garden has constituted itself as a CIC and is forging exciting links with high-profile charities and organisations which have similar interests and aspirations. The project also has a Facebook page and a Twitter feed through which they can keep in touch with supporters.
An invitation to meet Tim Smit, the founder of the Eden Project in Cornwall, has led to a continuing dialogue and consolidation of the aims of the Sayes Court Garden project, and this has been given additional impetus by a new collaboration with the National Trust.
The founder of the National Trust, Octavia Hill, has links to Deptford and Sayes Court Garden, and it was discussions over how the gardens could be preserved in perpetuity for the people of Deptford that prompted the creation of the National Trust.
The Sayes Court Garden project is in the process of developing a series of workshops with local schools as part of its long-term aim to get young children interested in gardening, food growing and using and exploring the urban green spaces that are often overlooked. These workshops will be held in November.
On a more general level, the team is working with leading landscape academics and design professionals, moving towards presenting developed proposals for the Sayes Court Garden site and manor house.
Friday, 14 September 2012
Lenox Project in South London Press
The Lenox Project was featured on the front page of the South London Press today. The project was also covered in more detail this week in a great piece by Laurence Dodds for East London Lines.
Londonist and local blog Transpontine also featured the project. Nick Rutherford wrote in the SLP:
Enthusiasts in Deptford hope to build a life-size replica of a 17th century warship to attract visitors and regenerate the area.
The Lenox was built in the royal dockyard at Deptford between 1677 and 1678 as centrepiece of Charles II's fleet.
The Build The Lenox group has drawn up plans to create a 52m replica of the ship from around 1,900 oak trees and "a substantial amount" of other trees including ash, which will be "sourced sustainably".
The Lenox Project was featured on the front page of the South London Press, Friday 14th September. The project was also covered this week by Londonist and local blog Transpontine. Nick Rutherford wrote in the SLP:
Enthusiasts in Deptford hope to build a life-size replica of a 17th century warship to attract visitors and regenerate the area.
The Lenox was built in the royal dockyard at Deptford between 1677 and 1678 as centrepiece of Charles II's fleet.
The Build The Lenox group has drawn up plans to create a 52m replica of the ship from around 1,900 oak trees and "a substantial amount" of other trees including ash, which will be "sourced sustainably".
Project director Julian Kingston said: "Around one million tourists visit Greenwich each year but don't realise that Deptford has an equally important maritime history.
"It was the first royal dockyard and some of the greatest ships from the 16th to 19th centuries were built or refitted here.
"It was the Cape Kennedy of its day, at the centre of things.
"Even all the biscuits eaten on ships all over the world were sent out from Deptford."
Mr Kingston, 60, who is a boat builder, came up with the idea two years ago and there are now eight members in the group – including a maritime historian, bridge builder, graphic designer and architect – and around 400 supporters on the mailing list.
If building goes ahead, the Lenox will be the centrepiece of the redevelopment of the 42-acre Convoys Wharf, which is seeking to build 2,500 new homes, a school and cultural spaces along the riverside.
Mr Kingston said the project would bring employment and education opportunities, and that visitors would be able to watch the construction in progress over an estimated eight-year period.
He said: "We are in the early stages now and looking for funding (he estimates costs of about £23m). If this goes ahead, it will bring focus, identity and pride back to Deptford.
Thursday, 13 September 2012
Build The Lenox announces new patrons
www.dan-snow.co.uk
In August, MP for Deptford Dame Joan Ruddock offered her services as the first patron of the Lenox project. And this week, Build The Lenox is proud and honoured that historian and broadcaster Dan Snow has kindly agreed to be their second patron.
Dame Joan Ruddock peruses the truncated model at the Convoys Wharf exhibition in July.
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