The Dulwich Society

Society letter to Jerome Pacatte

Society letter to Jerome Pacatte, head of customer services at Blackfriars Station

We met at the briefing you provided some months ago to representatives of rail users. With a colleague, Barry Coker, I came as representing the Dulwich Society. This Society has over a thousand households in membership, many of whom use your services regularly commuting to and from the city or for ad hoc journeys.

We would like to discuss with you or a suitable local Manager the possibilities for improvements at NORTH DULWICH station. The changes which we would like to see include:

Step free access to and from the platforms. We have discussed this with David Hignett of Network Rail. He has explained to us the criteria for use of funds from Access for All, particularly the numbers of passengers using each station. With him we have looked at possible locations for lifts at North Dulwich station. It appears that a signal on the DOWN platform might present an obstacle. The stairs on the UP and DOWN platforms were replaced a year or so ago. It seems to us that these stairs could be moved a few feet forward to give room for lifts.
Access from platforms to carriages. Installing Harrington humps on the two platforms would make it easier for passengers. These would be particularly useful at the ends of the platforms with the highest difference in height, viz at the ends nearest to the exits.
Seats in the waiting area by the ticket office.
Covered waiting areas on the platforms, particularly on the UP platform.
Provision of a publicly available toilet. The toilet at the station is at present only available to staff.

We would welcome an opportunity to discuss these matters on site with you or a colleague.

We hope that such improvements to customer facilities would increase revenue for your company and benefit the locality.

We look forward to hearing from you.

New shop in Dulwich Village

The Dulwich Estate have confirmed that independent family butcher ‘The Proud Sow’ is coming to 86 Dulwich Village (the former McColls’ unit) and will open in late summer. Its press release said - The Proud Sow, is a well-known in South London and the shop will provide a full range of grass fed organic meat and poultry together with award-winning handmade sausages and a contemporary range of artisan produce.

The business prides itself on providing approachable friendly customer service. Foodies are encouraged to pop in and discuss recipe ideas. All staff are fully trained in butchery skills and its current apprentice recently won the Institute of Meat 'Best Apprentice 2018' award.

The shop will also provide a range of fine cheeses and dairy curated by Michael Jones, of Jones of Brockley (and formerly manager at Neal's Yard Dairy in Borough Market). Their friends at small craft bakery Cooper's Bake House will supply freshly baked bread.

It will be the second branch of the well-known independent butcher run by Oliver Khaldi of Peckham who started the business in 2014.

He said: “We're excited to be expanding our business and opening in Dulwich Village, working with The Dulwich Estate. We know residents are keen to shop local and hope residents and visitors will enjoy what we have to offer.”

For more information go to www.proudsow.co.uk or follow on social media @proudsow.

Temporary let for former S G Smith showroom

The Dulwich Estate have let this unit for 6 months to the ‘Friday Sari Project’. The press release calls it ‘a new concept store in the heart of Dulwich Village, a platform for contemporary design and culture inspired by the Indian subcontinent. Through a curated and immersive selection of workshops, talks, film nights and launches you will be able to taste, see and experience India and Sri Lanka.

FSP founder Mehala Ford was born in Sri Lanka. She moved to London to pursue a stimulating career in fashion pr. As she explored the fashion and design scenes of India and Sri Lanka the Friday Sari Project was born. It started as Mehala’s personal blog to explore a modern way to wear Sari and bring it into her everyday life in South East London. FSP hopes to shine a much-deserved light on contemporary design and culture, inspired by and originating from India and Sri Lanka and to present it in a fresh way, under one roof.

All of the designers and makers we’ve selected share an innate quality to grow their businesses elevating the remarkable skills, materials and processes from the land they love. Crafts of the past and future have been adopted by a generation of empowered creatives who are producing not only incredible work and products but also sparking new dialogues.

This work spans film, food, fashion, photography, art, graphics - we hope to capture a snapshot of this in the Friday Sari Project Space by hosting a series of workshops, talks and film screenings from September to December alongside our Store.

We are excited about the opportunity to work with Dulwich Estate and take on what used to be a car showroom. We are looking forward to transforming into a multi-faceted space and drawing visitors to enjoy the delights of Dulwich. Living in Peckham, it felt natural to set up in the area local area. Dulwich Village is in the heart of some of the most diverse, creative and vibrant areas of South East London, with Peckham to the north and Brixton to the south.

Opening evening Thursday 21st June, 5.00-9.00pm - explore the store and join us for a light refreshment.

Opening weekend Saturday 23rd + Sunday 24th June - explore the store, bring the children for storytelling and colouring.

Dulwich Hamlet Football Club

The club won promotion to the National League South on 6th May. The club beat Hendon 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 draw in the final of the Isthmian League play-offs. The victory ends their five-year stay in the division, and a run of four successive play-off defeats. Promotion comes just two months after they were evicted from their Champion Hill home. There is still no definite information on the future of the club’s ground on Dog Kennel Hill.

The Half Moon - Greater London Pub of the Year 2018

The Half Moon in Herne Hill, run by Fuller’s, has been announced as the best pub in Greater London in the National Pub & Bar Awards 2018. The awards were made by Pub & Bar Magazine to outstanding pubs across the country.

South Croxted Road closure

The road will be closed for a week beginning 29 May for resurfacing. The official diversionary routes are via West Norwood or Lordship Lane/Dulwich Common. It is half term week but the Council accepts that there will still be a significant impact on local traffic. They considered night works but on balance felt this was too disruptive to residents in South Croxted Road given that it is very much a residential road notwithstanding how busy it is.