10, 20, 30 years ago

10 years ago

A new road tunnel under the Thames which will ease thousands of commuters’ car journeys was announced.

It will link Greenwich Peninsula to Silvertown in Docklands, east London, within a decade.

Transport for London (TfL) will start preliminary consultation works on the tunnel next month.

The tunnel would be able to take 2,400 vehicles an hour in each direction which would help alleviate the frequent congestion in the area.

A much-loved beat bobby and South London Press columnist has been included in the latest edition of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

Harry Cole was a Walworth copper from 1952 until he retired in 1983.

He spent his entire policing career working out of Carter Street Police Station in Walworth.

Dictionary editor Dr Lawrence Goldman said: “Harry Cole, a policeman who found late in life that he could write very well, deserves his place in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

“Harry’s books and essays grew out of his daily experience of policing the same part of London for three decades.

“They are an authentic record of life in South London after the Second World War, remarkable for their detail and humour.

“They also remind us that policing depends on trust: Harry Cole was so well known to people around the Walworth Road, and so well liked, they respected him automatically.

“He was in every sense a ‘community policeman’.”

Harry died in April 2008.

20 years ago

Neil Harris said he knew he had a fight on his hands to regain his first-team spot after coming back from testicular cancer.

The Millwall striker had scored his first senior goal a week earlier, eight months after being diagnosed with the tumour.

The 24-year-old said: “The whole team joined in with the celebrations which was amazing, I’ll never forget it.

“The gaffer’s shown he’s his own man, he’ll pick the best team he can and has the full backing of the players.”

Guests at a birthday bash attended by Jools Holland had to be evacuated from the boat they were celebrating on – after a sewage tank gave them that sinking feeling.

The party on the Wibbley Wobbley floating bar in Greenland Dock, Surrey Quays, was being held for owner Malcolm Hardee’s 52nd birthday.

But the Wibbley Wobbley started to sink soon after guests arrived because a water pump used to empty sewage pipes had frozen and the waste tank was full, unsettling the boat.

Mr Hardee said: “It was all a bit of a pain, really, standing out there in the cold singing Happy Birthday on the dock.”

A former centre for the African community in New Cross was to be brought back into use after being closed for three years.

Lewisham council announced it was committed to reopening the Moonshot Centre in Pagnell Street after 12 months of talks.

The council-owned centre had been called the Pagnell Street Youth and Community Centre and was purpose built for the community in 1981.

30 years ago

“Beast on the loose” which caused a hairy time for South London spider-fearing residents was returned safe and well.

Ariadne, the poisonous Guatemalan bird-eating spider, was stolen from its glass reptile tank when burglars broke into a Forest Hill home.

Her bite could cause temporary paralysis in humans.

Police believed the offenders may have thought the hairy black and orange spider was very valuable – but she was only worth about £70.

The thieves dumped Ariadne at a garage forecourt in Penge.

Baby Ian was only hours old when he hit the headlines after being left in a phone box.

After two months the tot was doing fine, but still waiting to be reunited with his mum.

Social services bosses at Lewisham council were appealing for the mother who left Ian – named after Lewisham hospital registrar Ian MacConnachie – in the Brockley call box to come forward.

The baby, found after an anonymous call from the booth in Amyruth Road, was living with foster parents.

Councillor Clive Jordan, social services chairman, said: “Ian’s making good progress and in many ways it’s his mum that worries us more.”

A memory of bygone days was restored to a community with the help of a splash of paint and artistic licence.

Artist Andy Lale, 28, from Stanstead Road, Catford, was commissioned by the Brockley Society to paint a mural depicting the former Palladium

Cinema as part of a revamp of Foxberry Road, Brockley.

The society invited artists to give the formerly graffiti-ridden street walls a facelift.

Andy’s mural was above the steps which at one time had led to the Palladium.

Andy described his design as a reflection of Brockley’s multi-cultural community.

Compiled by alexandra@slpmedia.co.uk

Pic: Silvertown tunnel project