Dulwich Gardens - open for charity 2009
Enclosed with this issue is a copy of the Dulwich Society’s new annual publication ‘Dulwich Gardens - open for charity, 2009’. It has been compiled by the Society’s Garden Group to encourage residents to visit the many splendid local gardens that are open each year to raise money for charity.
Because of this Garden Group will not be opening any gardens in the future, so members on the Garden Group membership list will no longer receive “invitations” to garden openings. Instead, they and all members of the Dulwich Society, will receive a copy of ‘Dulwich Gardens open for charity’ which gives details of nearly 40 local gardens that are open for charity. Almost every weekend, throughout the summer, there will be at least one garden open. It is hoped that this new arrangement will greatly widen the scope of garden visits. A new Directory will be published each year.
Apart from the enjoyment of the garden and of meeting many other local people, you can learn a lot from these visits. You can discover new and interesting plants to grow and find out when and where to plant them. In this ‘going greener’ age, you can also learn which are the best fruit and vegetables to grow - and this can be done even if your garden is not much bigger than a window box.
Please keep this directory in a prominent place. Additional copies are available, free of charge, from some local garden centres and shops. If you have any suggestions for improving or adding to the directory, please contact John Ward on Tel. 020 7274 5172 or Email, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Enjoy your visits!
Dulwich in Bloom
This year, for the first time, Dulwich will be entering the Royal Horticultural Society’s competition, Britain in Bloom. In past years Dulwich has been included as part of the Southwark entry, and last year Southwark was one of the London finalists.
So we start from a strong position.
The judges will consider three main areas:-
1. Public space and public buildings - parks, recreational areas, etc.
2. Business and commercial - shops, retail areas, railway stations, etc.
3. Residential front gardens - both individual front gardens and streets or estates.
The judges are particularly interested in community involvement.
Judging will take place at the beginning of August. You can help Dulwich win by ensuring that your front garden looks at its best at that time, or by joining with your neighbours in a street or community project.
Stella Benwell
Stella has been the Trees Committee Chairman for 25 years or more, ever watchful and devoted to our wooded landscape.
In this time she has organised (with others) the Historic Elm Slice (now in St. Barnabas Hall), planting in Bell Meadow, the Nature Trail and the Village Copse in the Park, the great illustrated Dulwich Tree Map, the new Dulwich Picture Gallery Tree map, and much more.
All this with charm, energy and determination, and while standing down now, is still full of ideas for projects, and I know we will continue to look to her for advice and inspiration. This can only be a very inadequate thank you from the Trees Committee and us all in the Dulwich Society.
Jill Manuel
College Lodge
After many regrettable delays over several years it seems that there may finally be an occupier for College Lodge, next to the main gate to Dulwich Park
The Council asked for expressions of interest late last year and the Society understands that a recommendation has been made. While the Society is keen to see the building refurbished and occupied, the key aspect of any tenant agreement must be that they offer public access and uses that are complimentary to the Park.
Southwark had asked for a substantial financial contribution from the successful applicant but has now accepted that this may take time in today’s more stringent economic climate. It has given instructions to its in-house team to start procuring a contractor to carry out external refurbishment works for which the Council already has funds set side.
This still leaves something to be done with the Roseberry Gate Lodge. The Friends of Dulwich Park want this used as a base for the park wardens who, at the moment, are based in Burgess Park, in the north of the Borough, a reasonable suggestion most would think, yet Southwark seems strangely unwilling to do it. Let’s hope we do not have to wait another five years before something is done.
New Police Station
While it remains unclear whether East Dulwich Police Station will remain operational in the medium term, there is a possibility that one of the empty shops on the Kingswood Estate shopping parade could be used as a base for the College Ward Neighbourhood Police Team. This is a positive step to locate beat officers in their local area and it should hopefully result in quicker response times to calls for assistance.
Half Moon Lane Shop Service Area
Service access to the shops on the south side of Half Moon Lane is via a car park accessed off Stradella Road. Local residents complain that security is lax - it has been a meeting place for drug dealers, and the shopkeepers are not as careful as they should be with their rubbish. The Dulwich Estate is responsible for the area and residents feel that their complaints are not being taken seriously enough.
Calming our Streets
by Alastair Hanton
As we go to press, we await the decision of the Dulwich Community Council on some significant changes to our streets in the Village. The changes which Southwark Council has designed are intended to calm traffic to a speed limit of 20 mph. The junction in the centre of the Village would be altered to favour pedestrians; the entrance to Court Lane from Lordship Lane would be narrowed to discourage lorries through the Village; the crossing of Court Lane to Dulwich Park would be made safer for pedestrians; traffic in Calton Avenue would be reduced by realigning its junction with Townley Road; and somewhat more controversially, more humps would be put in to slow vehicles.
Separately from these changes, the Dulwich Society, jointly with Dulwich Going Greener has suggested to the Community Council more measures to make our area cleaner, greener and safer. You can see these proposals on the Society’s website. They include:
Changes to make it pleasanter and safer to walk rather than drive, such as: repairs to damaged pavements, clearing back the vegetation on Gallery Road; traditional Dulwich white posts and chains protecting pedestrians on narrow pavements like parts of Court Lane, Red Post Hill and the South Circular; a raised crossing on Gallery Road opposite Lover’s Lane and a refuge or crossing between the shops on both sides of Half Moon Lane near Stradella Road.
Help for cycling, such as advance stop lines at traffic lights; more cycle parking and a local cycle hire scheme.
Changes to encourage more walking and cycling to school, such as an all-red phase at the junction of College Road and the South Circular; a possible safe route across the Velodrome site; shared use of footways by pupils under 13.
Better public transport, such as ramps at West Dulwich station for buggies, wheelchairs and cycles; seats, shelters and indicators at bus stops. Our Councillors have been lobbying for years to extend the 42 bus, now terminating in Red Post Hill, to Sainsbury’s, Dog Kennel Hill. This would provide a direct link between King’s College Hospital and Dulwich Community Hospital.
Do please let us know what you think about these ideas and any other suggestions. Alastair Hanton, Traffic and Transport Committee (tel 020 8693 2618)
Marlborough Cricket Ground
The condition of the Marlborough Cricket ground on the South Circular/Lordship Lane junction continues to give the Society cause for concern. It has repeatedly brought it up at its regular meetings with the Dulwich Estate but, despite assurances of action, little improvement seems to happen. Being located on the edge of the Estate is no reason for standards to drop and the site’s poor condition adds to the general deteriorating ambience in the area - including St Peter’s Church Hall and boundary wall, and the crumbling old concrete house on Lordship Lane. These are eyesores that the Council should have dealt with by now
Last Updated on Wednesday, 21 March 2012 02:28