This week 10, 20, 30 years ago

10 Years Ago

A choir of NHS workers made famous by choirmaster Gareth Malone was set to release a charity single at Christmas.

A Bridge Over You, a unique arrangement of Fix You by Coldplay and Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel, features the voices of staff from Lewisham Hospital.

Profits from the sale of the single were split equally and donated to Macmillan Cancer Support and local healthcare charities.

Children and their parents at a South London school got together for a bulb-planting session.

The youngsters, from Beecroft Garden Primary School, rolled up their sleeves for the event.

Organised by Friends of Beecroft School, it was a chance for the children to learn more about gardening and contribute to the development of the school’s playground.

The plants were bought after a raffle held at the school in which prizes were donated to businesses.

Traders who waited more than six months to have their say on a £25million railway station revamp were furious after being given just six days to comment on proposals that could force many of them to leave.

A report suggested 60 firms near Peckham Rye railway station could have been forced out by the project, being drawn up in partnership with Network Rail.

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20 Years Ago

Michael Jackson was due to play an intimate gig for hardcore fans in South London.

But the show was confirmed just days before Jackson was arrested, wrecking plans for him to appear at the Coronet in Elephant & Castle.

The King of Pop had played sell-out shows in 100,000-seater stadiums around the globe but just 2,200 would have seen the South London show, which would have been the launch pad for a European tour.

Southwark council announced plans to hire extra rat catchers to combat the borough’s vermin problems.

The move came after numerous complaints from residents that changes to cleanup operations had caused the infestation.

The authority provided free pest control for council tenants but had scrapped the service for private residents and homeowners.

But the problem had become so widespread that Southwark council was considering reintroducing the free for all service in 2003.

Thieves made off with £250,000 worth of bikes during a raid on an industrial estate.

More than 190 mountain bikes were taken during the raid – half of which were worth more than £2,500 each.

The red Stumpjumper FSR Expert Disc machines were thought to have been packed into a distinctive lorry stolen from the Merton Industrial Estate 24 hours earlier.

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30 Years Ag0

Police warned that a serial rapist might kill his next victim if he was not caught.

The crossdresser was already wanted after raping a pensioner and a 19-year-old girl.

A third victim came forward after the rapist was featured on the BBC TV’s Crimewatch.

The rapist, who dressed as a woman, attacked his victims at knifepoint in a campaign of violence dating back six years.

More than 800 people called Crimewatch after the cases were aired.

A play leader came under fire from parents after she cancelled the youngsters’ Christmas party so as not to offend children from non-Christian families.

She claimed to have been following Playgroups Association guidelines by replacing the Christmas festival at the Lewisham-based playgroup with a winter festival.

But the association changed its guidelines with the Christmas festival reinstated.

Staff at a nursery gutted during an arson attack warned parents that it might have to close for good.

The Bellenden Day Nursery was almost completely destroyed when arsonists torched its premises at the Faith Chapel Pentecostal Church in Bellenden Road, Peckham.

The nursery found a temporary home at neighbouring Bellenden Old school. But staff said that unless they could find new premises the nursery would be closed down.

 

Picture: Image by Pixabay/Alexa