This week 10, 20, 30 years ago

10 Years Ago

Firefighters said they were “overwhelmed” with information in the early stages of the Lakanal House blaze – hindering lines of communication.

The inquest into the deaths of six people inside the 14-storey tower block in Camberwell on July 3, 2009, heard the challenges facing fire crews in the early stages of the blaze.

Those killed in the fire were; Dayana Francisquini, 26, and her two children, Felipe, three, and Thais, six; Helen Udoaka, 34, and her three-week-old daughter Michelle; and fashion designer Catherine Hickman, 31.

An advertising campaign by a budget airline caused offence to residents of Peckham.

EasyJet’s new advertising drive had seen the slogan: “This year, end up in Paris, not Peckham” plastered on the side of buses.

However, it caused consternation among people who believed it was unfairly representative of an area that had changed considerably.

Residents took to Twitter to have their say, with user @JoeDromley tweeting: “Bit rich of @easyJet to pick on Peckham. Their flights are universally horrible…”

A keen amateur photographer was nominated for an Our Heroes award for her generosity to members of a monthly luncheon club.

Eighty-year-old June Freeman was given a digital camera by members of her family about five years ago and since then she had been using it record meetings of club that gets together every month at the Clarendon Hotel in Blackheath in aid of Cancer Research UK.

She takes pictures of guest speakers – including Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman – and raffle winners and makes up albums to share with other members.

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20 Years Ago

Girls in South London began swapping rowing machines for raunchy poles in a bid to get into shape.

The PoleStars pole-dancing night was launched at The Telegraph in Brixton Hill, Brixton for women wanting to follow in the footsteps of erotic dancers at clubs such as Spearmint Rhino.

Organisers of the night said it would be a far cry from the sleazy stereotype of a pole dancing club and was intended as a “girls’ night out”.

The evening included DJs and some of London’s best pole dancers, with the chance for women to have a go.

A three-year-old had a new band of nursery playmates after staff launched an appeal in the South London Press when he became its sole child.

Mitchell Bettell had spent months alone each day at the Alleyn Community Playgroup in Darrell Road, East Dulwich, which was under threat of closure after its numbers had fallen. But after the appeal 11 other youngsters were sent along by their parents to keep him company.

South London’s art scene received a boost after stars came out for a night at th Old Vic Theatre.

Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey announced that he would lead a host of stars for a production at the theatre in Waterloo.

The announcement was made at a glitzy evening, where guests paid £1,000 a head to watch pop legend Elton John perform to raise funds for the theatre.

Elton was joined on stage by US rocker Courtney Love. The event shared the limelight with the new Laban Centre for Dance, which opened the same night as the world’s biggest contemporary dance centre.

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30 Years Ago

About 45,000 Lambeth council tenants were warned that they faced rent rises of nearly 20 per cent. The council’s housing committee agreed the increase, whereby average rents would rise by £6 a week to £39.41.

But despite the price increase, Lambeth was still the cheapest place in London to rent a council home.

The increases were blamed in part on the Government’s plans to cut subsidies given to the council to meet the shortfall in what residents could be expected to pay and the cost of maintaining its stock.

The council also admitted that it had underestimated the amount it would have to spend on maintenance and repairs.

An MP warned that cuts to legal aid could mean 60,000 South Londoners denied access to justice.

The warning from Peckham MP Harriet Harman, who joined a mass lobby of lawyers in Parliament to protest against the cuts, which would amount to £47million nationwide in the financial year to April 1994.

Under the new proposals, anyone earning more than £60 a week would no longer be entitled to free legal advice.

In 1993, people had to earn more than £145 a week before they had to pay.

But the Government said lowering the cap would mean that around half the population would still be entitled to claim legal aid and would free up more money for those in dire need, who were not getting enough legal aid because funds were being overstretched.

Cinema-goers watching a screening of a new Dracula film collapsed after a CS gas canister was let off in the auditorium.

The Odeon Cinema in Streatham High Road had to be evacuated as the gas spread and eight people had to be treated in hospital.

The gas was let off after two groups of people started arguing about people talking during the show.

 

Picture: EasyJet. Picture: Pixabay/ramboldheiner