A walrus welcome to Forest Hill: successful Crowdfunding

Thanks to your generous donation, the project will now become a reality 🚀

In just 75 hours, the SE23 community donated over £2,500 - an astonishing success! 

We raised a slight excess, which will be used as contingency for the project, with any remaining funds donated to the Forest Hill Society (a local non-profit organisation).

Stay tuned to SE23.life for further updates on the progress of this project.

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Details of the project

Lionel Stanhope's murals have become a popular hallmark of South London, and with your help, Forest Hill is getting in on the action.

Design
The Forest Hill mural design features a nod to the walrus mascot of our local treasure, the Horniman Musuem. 

The design and colour was decided by a poll of local residents on SE23.life, after a call for submissions from local artists. 

In order to distinguish Forest Hill’s mural from the blue and yellow colour scheme of Brockley’s design, Lionel will tweak the yellow colour (shown in the mock-up) to a London Overground orange.   

Location
The site for this mural will be Waldram Crescent (AKA South Circular) under the railway bridge, on the eastern side as indicated here:

 

 

Friends of Forest Hill Library, London SE23

 Friends of Forest Hill Library

The library in Forest Hill has now become a community library reliant on funding. It has a crowd funding progamme looking to raise £10,000. They have raised now raised £8915 from 160 donors with just until 28th November to hit their target. It's great that 160 have donated but I suspect there are rather more people living in Forest Hill than just 160. If people, who haven't yet contributed, could just chip in £1 or so the target would be easily surpassed.

It is also possible to become a Friend of Forest Hill Library for an subscription of £30. This sum can than be easily offset by 10% of purchases offered by a good range of Forest Hill businesses. 

10% off with a Friends of Forest Hill Library card from the following businesses:

Sugar Mountain, The Butchery, Stag & Bow, The Framing Salon, Wild Horses, Bunka, Best of Both Boutique, Kids on The Hill, Emmanuel Marshall, Ald Life, The Fitting Studio, The Archie Parker, Aga's Little Deli, St David Coffee House, The Signal, No 5, The Perryvale, The Hill, The Sylvan Post, Canvas & Cream, Konrad's Kitchen, The Montage, All Inn One, BOnA, Thiai Orchard, Finches Emporium 

  

  http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/forest-hill-library-launch-fund

Festive London

Tree decorated 

My other Christmas tree.....

This weekend in Forest Hill – London SE23: 118 Stanstead and Havelock Walk

Entrance to 118 Stanstead on the South Circular 

near the Railway Telegraph 

Open Studios this weekend at 118 Stanstead. 11am - 5pm. 

Havelock Walk Open Studios: 28th and 29th November: Midday to 6pm 

Wednesday evening storm over London

Rainbow appears before the storm (CRM)

Rainbow becoming brighter as the storm approaches and the sky darkens (CRM)

Double rainbow, light and shade (CRM)

A dramatic rainbow but difficult to capture without a wide-angle lens (CRM)

Havelock Walk, Forest Hill: artists' Open Days

Havelock Walk 

This past weekend it was an Open Studios weekend at Havelock Walk, a quiet cul de sac tucked away in the centre of Forest Hill. The Walk has long been a street of crafts people and artists. Currently it seems to be particularly vibrant. Next weekend Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th is also Open Studios. Well worth a visit, especially if it is a lovely sunny day as it was on Sunday. 

Forest Hill Society 2nd community bike excursion: 11th May 2014

30 mile round trip to Richmond and back from Devonshire Road Nature Reserve with the Grand Depart at 8.30am on Sunday 11th May. Details from jake@fhsoc.com

Elliot Bank, London SE23: pigeon shelter? tiles removed for radio aerial?

15-55 Elliot Bank, London SE23 – hole in roof just right of chimney

Detail of hole in the roof

A few years ago there was a substantial hole at the very top of this block of flats (15-55 Elliot Bank, London SE23). The hole was probably deliberately made to accommodate an aerial for a pirate radio station. It now looks as though the same thing may have happened again but lower down the roof. The hole is providing pigeons with shelter against the current wet weather. 

Lewisham Homes (020-8613 4000) has been informed.

Saturday Farmers' Market@Horniman Gardens

 

Forest Hill (London SE23) has long been a rather overlooked and little-known part of South London. Although parts of Forest Hill overlook East Dulwich it has been in the shadow of SE22 in terms of popularity for years. After all, in 1973 it was in East Dulwich not Forest Hill that future 3-star Michelin chef Nico Ladenis chose to open his first restaurant – Chez Nico. As it was, East Dulwich in the early 70s was a pretty unlikely spot for Nico.

Over the past few years Forest Hill has started to awaken from its slumbers helped by the arrival of the Overground, which has greatly improved connections with Central and East London, although the rail connections were already not bad. We are now seeing more fashionable food shops open including AGA's Little Deli, the Butchery and a place selling crèpes etc.  Not forgetting the reopening of the completely renovated and expanded Victorian Forest Hill Baths and leisure complex in September 2012. 

House prices here are also on the rise. 

The latest sign is an expanded 'Farmers' Market' in the recently renovated Horniman Gardens on a Saturday morning, which is already more exciting than the small market that used to be held in the car park of Forest Hill Station.The market is running until 21st December and then apparently will be back in the New Year.      

 The Butchery also have a shop in Forest Hill

 Wild Country Organics

 The cake stall

 

Astons Organic Bakery

 Market with a view towards the centre of London – small hint of the Shard

 Shop locally!

Campaign trying to persuade people to use their local SE23 shops: 'if every adult spent £5 a week in local shops in Forest Hill rather than in supermarkets or on-line that would bring in £3.5 million to the local economy'.