This week 10, 20, 30 years ago

10 Years Ago

Views were being sought on the first phase of plans to rebuild a sprawling housing estate.

The public was given the first glimpse of how the Heygate Estate in Elephant & Castle could look after a £1.5billion regeneration of the area.

An exhibition showing the Phase One plans has opened and Southwark council is urging people to give feedback before a planning application is submitted.

Following consultation, the proposals have been modified and include the reduction in the height of the tallest buildings.

An artwork designed to capture the community spirit shown during the aftermath of that summer’s riots was unveiled.

After trouble in Peckham, residents and community leaders wrote supportive messages on 4,000 sticky notes in defiance of the rioters.

They were turned into a permanent peace wall by artists Garudio Studiage and unveiled by Southwark council leader Councillor Peter John.

The 9m wide artwork took pride of place in Peckham Square as a lasting reminder of the community’s deep affections for the area.

Record crowds turned out for Brixton Splash, as organisers hailed it as the biggest event yet.

Estimated crowds of 20,000 lined the streets of Coldharbour Lane, Atlantic Road and Windrush Square for the annual street party, with the theme of Jamaica’s 50 years of independence playing a prominent part in the festivities.

The Splash linked up with Lambeth council to stage tea dances at the town hall to recreate the spectacle that the original Jamaican immigrants would have witnessed when they first arrived in the UK.

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20 Years Ago

More than 40 homes had to be evacuated after lightning struck a block of flats.

Storms saw 3cm of water fall in just 30 minutes, rage across South London.

Witnesses say a bolt of lightning struck St Martin’s Estate in Tulse Hill at around 6pm.

No one was hurt but 45 adults and 15 children had to leave the block which suffered 60 per cent damage to its roof.

There was no lightning conductor on the building. By 10.40pm all but one family had been allowed to return home following emergency repairs.

An unlucky greyhound forced to retire was given a new lease on life by a town crier.

Colheena Dingo was forced into pasture by an ankle injury but was introduced to his new housemate, Oscar the Cocker spaniel.

He was also re-named Basil and was getting settled into his new home in College Gardens, Tooting with owner Peter Moore, Southwark’s town crier. In a short career on the track, he had won several major races.

A cricketing legend knocked South London for six when he took on Battersea’s best young bowlers.

Sir Viv Richards, the former West Indies captain stopped by for a brief playground match and to offer advice to kids starting out in the game.

The cricketing great was at the Sir James Barry School on the Patmore Estate as a patron for Channel 4’s Street Cricket programme.

Children queued up for a chance to bowl at the test cricketer, who gave them tips and encouragement throughout.

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30 Years Ago

Dinner ladies feared that they might not be able to feed their own families after a council introduced new contracts.

Southwark council’s new terms of employment cut wages by refusing to pay them during the school holidays.

Staff and union reps agreed to the contracts after the council assured staff that they would be able to claim unemployment benefit instead of wages during the breaks from term-time.

But dinner ladies who approached benefits staff at the Jobcentre were told they might not be able to get any money.

Parents were left worrying about whether their children would be left without a school place amid confusion over whether a popular school was being closed.

The Hearnville Campaign Group, was quickly set up to stop Hearnville School, in Hearnville Road, Balham from being closed.

Wandsworth council had announced plans to close the school as part of a review of its services – a move that had been approved by the Education Secretary John Patten.

But despite saying no new children would be taken on, parents were sent letters saying that their children had been accepted for a place in the school’s reception class, causing widespread confusion.

Hit TV series The Bill filmed the gruesome discovery of a murder victim on Wimbledon Common just two days after the funeral of a mum, who was killed there in real life.

The film crew shot scenes in which a man’s body was unearthed less than a mile from the spot where Rachel Nickell was stabbed to death.

Detectives were still hunting for the killer of the 23-year-old, who was murdered on July 15.

The crew drew fire from mourners, 600 of whom had marched silently through the common in tribute to her.

 

Pictured: Pixabay/PDPics