Postponed until Tuesday, 14th January.

Please see further details under Events for 14th January.

Paul Wright will continue his series of walks around our gateways to London with a walk around London Bridge and Borough High Street.  Hear about the Great Fire of Southwark, Keats and his contemporaries at Guys, the Cross Bones burial ground and much more.

Meet at London Bridge Station outside Hamley’s in the shopping arcade at 10.15. Please reserve your place via the link below

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blackheath-society-walk-talk-london-bridge-and-borough-high-street-tickets-998501554027?aff=oddtdtcreator

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Join other members for a drink or meal and a chat at The Princess of Wales, Blackheath. All welcome, no need to book.

Come along and join the team for our annual Heath Clean Up. Meet at Talbot Place at 2pm. Tbc

Join Liz and other members for this enjoyable Autumn Walk from Severndroog Castle with its amazing views, through lovely, ancient Oxleas Wood to Eltham Palace. We will partly follow the Green Chain Walk as we go through Eltham North and South Parks, admire the stunning views and ponds to reach Eltham Palace. The walk is a mix of woods and open spaces, meadows and parks. We can discuss the long, interesting history of the area as we walk. It is about 3 to 4 miles and takes about two and half hours. We pass two park cafes, where we can make a stop. It is not a circular walk, as we finish in Eltham, there are spots where you can leave the walk if you are flagging. Eltham Palace is beautiful, now managed by English Heritage and has an excellent cafe and shop.

Meet at 10.15 at The Green Chain post, it is very obvious, over towards the woods on Eltham Common opposite the Red Lion Lane bus stop. The bus stop is directly after the old Police Station at the junction of Shooter’s Hill Road and Well Hall Road (A205), SE18 3RN.

Please reserve your place by clicking the following link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blackheath-society-autumn-walk-from-severndroog-castle-to-eltham-palace-tickets-998384313357

Donations go to the Blackheath Society.

Directions from Blackheath Village, take 89 bus alighting at The Red Lion Lane bus stop on Shooter's Hill. Cross the road and meet at the tall Green Chain Walk marker on the green Eltham Common opposite. Return journey can be made using buses from Eltham High Street or train from Eltham station.

Join members for a chat, drink and may be lunch at the Princess of Wales pub on Blackheath. All welcome.

A MODERN LEGEND - THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE

THE 8th WONDER OF THE WORLD?

A story of genius and human frailty: politics, ideas, art & engineering.

Join us for an illustrated talk by Professor. Richard Frewer FRIBA, who was close to the project and its construction. He will describe the controversial & painful progress to the realisation of a modern icon.

 As a young architect in Arup Associates, with Sir Philip Dowson, Richard Frewer designed a house for the Zunz Family: 2a Drax Avenue, Wimbledon (listed Grade 2). 

Sir Jack Zunz was a Director of Ove Arup and Partners and later Chair of ARUP.  He was responsible for the engineering design and construction of Jorn Utzon’s Sydney Opera House.  Through Richard’s closeness to Zunz and to a number of the key players in the design, he witnessed the unfolding of the drama surrounding the project from the inside.

 Richard moved, with his wife, Carolyn, to North Several, Blackheath in 2021. He studied architecture in Cambridge and at the Architectural Association in London.  Richard was a partner of Arup Associates from 1977-1991, Chair of Architecture at the University of Bath (1990-2000) and Chair at the University of Hong Kong (2000-2005). He has served internationally on several working groups, judging panels and research forums. 

7 for 7.30 pm start at St Michael’s Church Hall, Pond Road, Blackheath, SE3 9JL.

Tickets: £15 includes a drink. Click the following link:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blackheath-society-architectural-groupa-modern-legend-sydney-opera-house-tickets-929038608487?aff=ebdshpsearchautocomplete

Join members as we take a wander through Brockley & Ladywell Cemetery led by Robin Firminger. Originally the cemeteries for Lewisham and Deptford there are many interesting and notable residents. The distinguished Blackheath artist Sir John Gilbert, RA who began his career as an Estate Agent in business next to the Princess of Wales; among his accomplishments he sketched 19th century Lewisham. Others include Margaret McMillan, educational reformer, the tragic Jane Coulson and many surprises.

The cemetery is also well known as a wildlife haven, a delightful place to walk and is good for butterflies at this time of year.

Meet at 10.30 at the War Memorial by the cemetery gates on the junction of Brockley Grove and Ivy Road. Alternatively, meet at 9.50 at the cafe by Ladywell Station, Le Delice and then walk up to the Cemetery with Liz and other members.

The 54 bus goes from Blackheath to Ladywell (the site of the Old Swimming Pool) and then walk up Ladywell Road to Brockley Grove & Ivy Road, or from Lewisham Station the P4 bus, goes past the cemetery.

Please reserve your place through clicking on the link

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blackheath-society-walk-talk-brockley-ladywell-cemeteries-tickets-949086572487

Book launch & talk - Modern Buildings in Blackheath and Greenwich 1950-2000 

7pm, Thursday 27 June 2024 - St Michaels Church, 1 Pond Road, SE3 9JL

A lively book launch and talk about Span and other extraordinary mid-century buildings in Blackheath and Greenwich.  Book tickets here:  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/book-launch-talk-modern-buildings-in-blackheath-and-greenwich-1950-2000-tickets-913992354737
 

Visit to Bere Architects, 54a Newington Green, N5 2SH

The Muse is an energy-efficient solar family home built as an ongoing project. It is an experimental self-build being Justin Bere's own home and studio, designed to set a standard for future housing with an apparently effortless amalgamation of environmentally responsible solutions with beautiful forms. This began some years before the first Passivhaus was certified in the UK.

Started on site in 2002, when it is eventually completed it will be one of the most holistically ecological buildings in the UK. It was initially designed a few years before Justin discovered the work of the German physicist Wolfgang Feist, and five years before the UK's first Passive House building was certified by the Passive House Institute in Darmstadt. Justin started on site with a building that almost exactly complies with the requirements of Passive House certification (correct wall and roof u-values, design against thermal bridging, triple glazed windows throughout, air-tight construction membranes and the installation of a heat recovery ventilation unit), and with a few technical upgrades would be eligible for certification.  

The house is also one of the early examples in the UK of a house covered in bio diverse green roofs with varying soil depths for native ecological habitats which include two wildflower meadows with a thriving bee colony, a hazel coppice and a hawthorn thicket. Located immediately behind a terrace of four Grade 1 Listed heritage houses, the roofs contain a verdant oasis for residents in the neighbouring buildings to watch wildlife and the changing seasons. 

A primary objective of this project is to redefine the language of architecture by the development of forms that are directly generated by the acceptance of the ecological imperatives of the 21st century.

Directions: Train to London Bridge, plus a 141 bus to Newington Green . The bus stop is “Newington Green”. Meet at Lizzi’s on the Green Cafe which is directly opposite the Bere offices at 10.30am.

Tickets £10. To book your place please follow the link:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blackheath-society-architectural-groups-visit-to-the-muses-bere-architects-tickets-902219782657

Join David Whittaker and other members who will be looking at the Maidenstone Hill area of Greenwich and the public houses that have disappeared over the years, many without trace. In a very small locality, we have lost a dozen or so, mostly during the 20th century, without any being replaced. We'll see some of the individuals and organisations who used these pubs, their role in the community, the effect of changing licensing laws, how problems arising from alcohol consumption were dealt with, and the influence of the temperance movement and why they ended up closing down.

Meeting at 5pm at The Richard l pub in Royal Hill, Greenwich where they still serve a good pint. David will give a short introduction and then take the group on an interesting walk round the area.

Tickets £5, please reserve your place through Eventbrite. The link will take you directly to the booking page.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blackheath-society-walk-talk-the-disappearing-pubs-of-maidenstone-hill-tickets-861467290857?aff=oddtdtcreator

Join other members for an informal chat, drink and something to eat at the Princess of Wales pub, Blackheath. No need to book, just come.

 Venue: St Michael & All Angels Church, 1 Pond Road, London SE3 9J 

 ‘Never demolish, never remove or replace, always add, transform, and reuse!... Demolishing is a decision of easiness and short term… It is a waste of many things – a waste of energy, a waste of material, and a waste of history. Moreover, it has a very negative social impact. For us, it is an act of violence.’  

Lacaton and Vassal when receiving the Pritzker Prize, 2021 

 The 2023-24 Architecture Group programme of visits is focused on the theme of Re-use and so is our annual lecture. We are absolutely delighted to have Professor Graeme Brooker speaking to us on the subject.  

Graeme is the head of Interior Design at the Royal College of Art’s School of Architecture. In 2021 published 50|50 WORDS FOR REUSE – A minifesto, by Canalside Press. This was the fifteenth book Graeme has published on the histories and theories of inside spaces, many of which focus on the reuse of existing artefacts, buildings and cities.  

‘50|50 WORDS is a collection of language to describe reuse. Each word is an instrument; a contrivance chosen deliberately in order to activate another 50 associations. Words are like buildings. They reflect cultures and embody continuous change.’   

Graeme has written extensively on the interior and in particular the philosophical and theoretical implications of reworking existing spaces and buildings. This includes the subjects of waste and redundancy. Other work includes the exploration of the numerous narratives that underpin the history of the interior and the ambiguity of the subject field and the impact of this condition on the discipline through its research, education, practice and the agents undertaking it.

Graeme has taught in various institutions in America, Europe and Asia, and has been a visiting professor in Antwerp and Milan, and has been an external examiner in over 25 institutions including in Hong Kong, Moscow and Chicago.  

Graeme is a provocative and inspiring educator and public speaker. You do not want to miss this lecture!  

At 7pm Drinks will be served and copies of the book will be available.   

Lecture begins at 7.30 pm

 Tickets £15 available from Eventbrite. Click on the link to go directly to the booking page.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blackheath-society-architectural-group-annual-lecture-re-use-tickets-861516728727?aff=oddtdtcreator

 Student discount £10 available at the door.

Parking available, obtain a permit on arrival from the Church.

Join us for a talk on the enigmatic artist Jean Cooke, RA to be given by Art Historian and author Frances Borzello at Blackheath High School, Wemyss Road. This follows the successful exhibition held last year at the Garden Museum of Jean’s garden paintings which many members visited.

Art historian and author Frances Borzello will throw  some light on the  life and work of Blackheath artist Jean Cooke whose paintings have recently  begun to attract a lot of attention.

Frances has written several books on the connections between art and life, which include “The Naked Nude”, a study of the new face of the contemporary nude . “Seeing Ourselves”, a history of women artists’ self portraits , and due out this  autumn, “A World of Our Own”, a study of how women artists managed to work in a man’s world. All these interests have fed into her investigation of the combination of the prosaic and the mysterious which makes up  the artist known as Jean Cooke.

The evening is organised in conjunction with Blackheath High School as Jean and her daughter are alumnae of the school and lived in Blackheath. 

Tickets £15, includes wine and canapes, available via the link below

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/jean-cooke-ra-mysterious-blackheath-artist-i-never-cry-and-i-never-laugh-tickets-860982701437

Architecture Group Visit - Day Trip to Brighton, Wednesday, 24th April, 9:30 am to 4.30pm

Wednesday, 24 April, 9:35 am or 9.45 am trains leave London Bridge for Brighton.

Meeting at 11.00 am at WH Smith, Brighton Station so that we can walk together to 13 Brunswick Square, Brighton BN3 1EH. This is a 25-30 minute walk.

Join us for our first day out travelling to Brighton for a four-part visit: 

• 11.30 am to 1 pm: We will have a guided tour by Nick Tyson, the curator at The Regency Town House, a building of the 1820s by architect Charles Busby.  

• 1.30 to 2.30 pm: Lunch at Bankers Fish and Chips, 116A Western Rd, Brighton BN1 2AB 

• 3 pm: Visit to Embassy Court, of 1935 by architect Wells Coates, Kings Rd, Brighton BN1 2P 

• Walk back towards Brighton train station spotting some of the other landmarks and public spaces in town. 

The Regency Town House at 13 Brunswick Square, is a grade I listed terraced home in the heart of Brunswick Town, a Georgian estate in the City of Brighton & Hove. Built in the 1820s, the Town House is today being developed as a heritage centre and museum, with a focus on the local architecture and social history between 1780s and 1840s. Our visit will include nearby no.10, which is currently being restored to its former glory by specialists and our team of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers.  

Embassy Court is an eleven-storey block of flats on the Brighton seafront, designed by Wells Coates and completed in 1935. It is amongst the most outstanding examples of pre-war Modernism in the UK, and has a grade II listed status. This beautiful, elegantly proportioned building contains seventy-three flats with direct sea views and is considered by many to be one of the coolest places to live in Britain. Its sculptural staircase and balconies echo Coates’ other building of 1934, the Isokon in Hampstead.    

Tickets £20 available from Eventbrite. Travel and lunch is to be paid individually and separately.  

Click on the link to go directly to the booking page.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blackheath-society-architectural-group-day-visit-to-brighton-tickets-837439322557?aff=oddtdtcreator

Numbers are limited. If you book a place and find that you are unable to come, please notify the Blackheath Society Office or Ana Sutherland. Email: office@blackheath.org

Architecture Group Visit to Stiff + Trevillion Architects Studio

Wednesday, 20 March

Meeting at 16 Woodfield Road, London W9 2BE, a 5-10 minute walk from Westbourne Park Station (Hammersmith & City Line)

Stiff +Trevillion practice was founded in 1981 and is now a 65 large studio working across all areas. Join us for a visit led by founding partner Michael Stiff to learn more about who they work and the exciting projects they have been involved with lately.

Stiff+Trevillion aims to design elegant, human-centered architecture that stands the test of time working with clients, artisans, builders and bureaucrats to create tangible, three-dimensional outcomes. Their work aims to be confident, unpretentious and tasteful, using simple materials in a painterly way to sit with poise within its context. In the face of the climate emergency, Stiff+Trevillion sees the best action as architects is to make that change through their work, building on the fundamentals of volume and light, minimizing waste and putting the existing fabric first.

Tickets £10 available from Eventbrite. Click on the link to go directly to the booking page.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blackheath-society-architectural-group-visit-to-stiff-trevillion-offices-tickets-837566884097?aff=oddtdtcreator

Join other members for a drink and/or a meal at The Princess of Wales, Blackheath. An opportunity to chat with other members. No need to book, join us.

Thursday, 29 February, 11am

Meeting at 10 Stock Orchard Street, London N7 9RW, a 5 minute walk from Caledonian Road Station (Piccadilly Line)

Join us for a visit to the pioneering Straw Bale House by Sarah Wigglesworth Architects.

First built in 2001 the building was recently upgraded. Today, the building is approaching its 25‑year anniversary, and its designers Sarah Wigglesworth and Jeremy Till – who are also its residents – continue to openly embrace its unresolvedness; a few years ago, they retrofitted their famous green building.

Stock Orchard Street is a jigsaw of bio‑based, reused and self‑made components. Around the house, the famous ‘hairy ’walls comprise stacks of 550 Cotswold barley straw bales, inside a slim timber frame and ventilated steel rainscreen – this allows moisture to escape, protecting the bales from rot. Some 1,700 sandbags form the wall adjacent to the nearby railway line, cushioning the sound of the trains.

The mixed-use complex is occupied by the practice’s studio as well as being Sarah and Jeremy’s home. The conference room, for example, doubles as a dining room. With home and office adjacent to one another, the walk to work is through a couple of doors. It represents an ecological, grounded and resilient way of life in the city.

The visit will be led by Jeremy Till.

Tickets £10 available form Eventbrite. Click on the link to go directly to the booking page.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blackheath-society-architectural-visit-to-the-bale-house-islington-tickets-768900962477

Join us for a fascinating zoom in which Professor Alan Downie will reveal the mystery surrounding the death of Christopher Marlowe. Why was Marlowe in Deptford? Was he a spy? Why was he killed? Or did he not die at all but lived to write ‘Shakespeare’s’ plays? Was Marlowe a friend or rival of Shakespeare?

Professor Downie from Goldsmiths College, University of London, an authority on Marlowe’s life, will reveal all.

Members will be sent the link to join the zoom or please contact the office

Meeting at The Studios, 8 Royal Street, London SE1 7LL, a 15 min walk from Waterloo East Railway Station

Join us for a visit to the award-winning architect’s studio and the adjacent Waterloo City Farm.

The studio is designed as a demountable structure, built of a Douglas fir timber frame clad with corrugated Onduline bitumen sheets. The materials are redolent of agricultural building forms, reinterpreted for its actual purpose to house an emerging team of architects.

Waterloo City Farm is a community farm located on a previously unused strip of land adjacent to the studios. The first phase of the pro-bono scheme provided a series of timber-framed animal pens to house the farm’s pigs, sheep and chickens, a composting toilet, planting areas and two polytunnels. A large timber framed barn was built as part of the second phase to provide the farm with much-needed educational facilities.

The site, which is owned by Guy’s and St Thomas ’Hospital, has been developed as a meanwhile use and all the buildings on the site have been designed to be demountable, allowing it to be taken down and reconstructed on a new site once its time on this one comes to an end.

The visit will be led by one of the team.

Tickets £10 available from Eventbrite. Please click on the link to go directly to the booking page.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blackheath-society-visit-to-feilden-fowles-architects-waterloo-city-farm-tickets-768956488557

January shake up!

Enjoy a short walk with other members led by Jonathan Causer around the vicinity of Canon Street station and Walbrook. Visit the stunning altar at St Stephens Church, St Mary Abchurch and more.

Meet at the plumber’s statue by Platforms 5-7 in Canon Street Station at 10.15.

Tickets £5. Please book your place via Eventbrite.com. Click the link below.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/walking-walbrook-with-the-blackheath-society-tickets-763987135087?aff=oddtdtcreator

Join other members for a social occasion. Chat, drink and/or eat at the Princess of Wales, Blackheath Village. Come and join us.

Alan Terrill, the web master for The Folly Fellowship, will define a folly then tell us more with some history he will illustrate all the different types (Towers, grottoes, ruins etc). This will include Severndroog Castle on Shooter’s Hill and a less well known folly in Forest Hill. He will end with a glimpse of follies built by himself.  

This will be timely inspiration for those landscape gardeners among us.

Members will be sent the link to join the zoom.