Black History Books and News at 24 September

 Land of My Fathers

Novel by Vamba Sherif. University of Chicago Press. 1998. Paperback edition November 2016.

The Republic of Liberia was founded in the 19thC nineteenth century with the return of freed slaves from America to Africa. Once back “home,” however, these Americo-Liberians had to integrate into the resident tribes—who did not necessarily want or welcome them. Against a background of French and British colonialists busily carving up Africa, while local tribes were still unashamedly trading in slaves, the vulnerable newcomers felt trapped and out of place. Where men should have stood shoulder to shoulder, they turned on each other instead.

New England Bound: Slavery and Colonization in Early America

Wendy Warren. Liverigh. ISBN 978-0-87140-672-9. 2016

Warren shows how the institution of slavery was inexorably linked with the first century of English colonization of New England. Leading New England families like the Winthrops and Pynchons invested heavily in the West Indies, owning both land and human property, the profits of which eventually wended their way back north. That money, was fuelled the colonial wars of removal and replacement of New England Indians that characterized the initial colonization of the region. Native Americans were systematically sold as slaves to plantations in the Caribbean.

The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition

Manisha Sinha. New Haven, CT, Yale University Press. 2016.  ISBN: 9780300181371

See review at:

http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/1991

Imperial Underworld: An Escaped Convict and the Transformation of the British Colonial Order

Kirsten McKenzie. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-1-107-07073-8

A radical new account of the legal, constitutional and administrative transformations that unfolded during the British colonial order of the 1820s. Includes chapter: ‘In return for services rendered’: liberated Africans or prize(d) slaves?.

Scandal of Colonial Rule. Power and Subversion in the British Atlantic during the Age of Revolution

James Epstein. Cambridge University Press.  ISBN: 9781107003309

This is about the 1806 General Thomas Picton, governor of Trinidad’s trial for the torture of a free mulatto named Louisa Calderon and for overseeing a regime of terror over the island’s slave population.

The Material Atlantic. Clothing, Commerce, and Colonization in the Atlantic World, 1650–1800

Robert DuPlessis. Cambridge University Press ISBN: 9781107105911. 2016

Paul Robeson

Stogie Kenyatta, who was born in Jamaica but grew up in Brooklyn, is winning acclaim for his “One Man Broadway Show” – “The World is My Home – The Life of Paul Robeson”.

http://www.newsamericasnow.com/meet-the-jamaican-who-becomes-paul-robeson

Howard University has loaned Paukl Robeson items from its collection to the newly opened National Museum of African American History and Culture

http://wjla.com/news/local/howard-university-makes-contributions-to-the-smithsonian-african-american-museum

Rob Edelman discusses Robeson in Show Boat and the modern London production.

http://wamc.org/post/rob-edelman-politically-correct-history

Met’s First Black Officer Became Superintendent in 1856

Stephen Bourne has uncovered the story of Robert Branford who policed Southwark from 1838 to 1866.

http://www.southwarknews.co.uk/history/mets-first-black-officer-rose-ranks-become-superintendent

sean.creighton1947@btinternet.com 

My Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sean.creighton.501

Black History Events – Birmingham, Leeds, London, Salford

See events also at

https://seancreighton1947.wordpress.com/2016/09/09/black-history-events

Tuesday 4 October. 2pm. ‘Race, racism and the working class struggle’

Talk by Lou Kushnick, founder of the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre.

Working Class Movement Library, Salford.

Wednesday 5 October. 7.30 pm. Meet the Crafts

Leeds-based performers Joe Williams and Martelle Edinborough, of Heritage Corner present a well researched creative interpretation of local and transatlantic history. They perform the tale of Ellen and William Craft, who came to Victorian Leeds as ‘Fugitives from Slavery in America’.

Ilkely Literature Festival, VenueIlkley Playhouse, Wharfeside

http://www.ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk/events/77-meet-the-crafts-first-black-american-novelist-writing-about-leeds

Thursday 6 October. 7-9pm. Black Abolitionists in 19th Century Britain

British Library. Further details and to book:

http://www.bl.uk/events/black-abolitionists-in-19th-century-britain#sthash.5nFwwlqG.dpuf

Sunday 9 October. 12noon & 2pm. Meet the Crafts

Kirkstall Abbey Visitor Centre, Abbey Road, Leeds, LS5 3EH. Free event, no booking required. See also 5 October.

 

http://whatson.leeds.gov.uk/Pages/eventdetails.aspx?eventId=whatson-948

Monday 10 October

5.30pm. Colonial/Postcolonial New Research

Public Works as Iconography: Aesthetic, Text, and Context in Colonial South India – Aditya Ramesh (SOAS)

Much Ado About Witch Doctors: The Colonial Office, Two Cities Films Ltd., the West African Student’s Union and the Struggle for African Representation – Chibunduya Onuzo (KCL)

Imperial and World History Seminar Colonial/Postcolonial New Researchers’ Workshop. Institute of Historical Research, London.

Wednesday 12 October. 5.30pm. The Unpalatable Past (1) “Rhodes Must Fall” Two commentaries on the cultural politics of the British imperial past

Bill Schwarz & Saul Dubow (Queen Mary, UL). Public History Seminar. Institute of Historical Research. London.

Thursday 13 October. 5.30pm. The Abolitionist International: Anatomy of a Radical Movement

Professor Manisha Sinha (University of Massachusetts, Amherst). North American History Seminar. Institute of Historical Research. London.

Friday 28 October. 5.15pm. Credible commitment and the financial revolution in Jamaica, 1768-1839

Aaron Graham, University College London

Economic and Social History of the Early Modern World, 1500-1800 Seminar. Institute of Historical Research, London.

Wednesday 23 November, 7pm. Meet the Crafts

Leeds Library, 18 Commercial Street, Leeds, LS1 6AL.

http://www.leeds.ac.uk/events/event/3714/us_slavery_and_yorkshire_anti-slavery_meet_the_crafts

Free event

Narrative Eye Events:

14 October. Drunk on the sweets of liberty and the fruits of freedom. London.

15 October. Invention and Intervention African Style. London.

22 October. The Words: African, Women and Achievement Go Together. London.

22 October. Is Home Fit for all Heroes? How Britain welcomed its returning soldiers from Africa and the Caribbean. Birmingham.

http://us3.campaign-archive1.com/?u=d4c4db25da751e22ca1c34b46&id=76481becd0&e=f634d50c8c

 My email for future event details: sean.creighton1947@btinternet.com 

My Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sean.creighton.501

 

Black History Events – Croydon, Lambeth, Sutton & Wandsworth

See events also at

https://seancreighton1947.wordpress.com/2016/09/09/black-history-events

Lambeth Black History Month

http://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/listings/region/greater-london/lambeth

Wandsworth Diversity Month

http://www.better.org.uk/diversity-month-2016

From Tuesday 27 September to Wednesday 21 December. Rights of Passage: A Century of People Power

Free archive display about the narratives of resistance and change from 1900 to post-Brexit Britain.

Black Cultural Archives, Windrush Square, Brixton.

http://bcaheritage.org.uk/rights-of-passage-a-century-of-people-power/?mc_cid=641308b04d&mc_eid=355aaf01fc

Monday 3 October 6.30pm-8pm. Remembering Slavery

Dr. Catherine Hall will draw on the work of the Legacies of British Slave-Owners project, which illustrated the ways Britons benefited from slavery and made money from sugar.

Battersea Library, Lavender Hill, London, SW11.

Free – bookings essential: 020 7223 2334.

Wednesday 5 October – Wednesday 2 November. 6-8pm. The African Fight – The Hidden History of WW1 and the Battle of the Somme

Course at Black Cultural Archives, Windrush Square, Brixton.

Contact learning@bcasheritage.org.uk

Thursday 6 October. 6.30pm. Evelyn Dove: Britain’s black cabaret queen

Talk by Stephen Bourne.  Balham Library.

Free – bookings essential: 020 8673 1129.

Saturday 8 October, 6.30–9pm. Resistance or Defence? Legacies of the 1985 Uprisings 

The rise of the #BlackLivesMatter movement has meant that there is an increasing consciousness of injustices around policing in the US, but how does that relate to the UK context and the local struggles that continue today? Stafford Scott, community leader, activist and key campaigner for Tottenham Defence Campaign will interrogate the archives and local struggles for justice.

Black Cultural Archives, Windrush Square, Brixton.

Free, booking is essential.

http://bcaheritage.org.uk/programme/tours-talks-and-walks/?mc_cid=641308b04d&mc_eid=355aaf01fc

6.30pm. Black women’s political activism in Britain: thoughts and reflections

Talk by Dr Beverley Duguid outlining the historical development of black women’s collective agency in 1980’s Britain, with particular attention to OWAAD (the Organisation of Women of Asian and African descent 1978-1982).

Battersea Library, Lavender Hill, London, SW11.

Free – bookings essential: 020 7223 2334.

Wednesday 12 October

2pm. Moving Here. The Harry Jacobs Archive

Display of photos of those who settled in Lambeth from the West Indies after The Windrush.

West Nowood Library, The Old Library Centre, 14-16 Knights Hill, SE27 0HY.

6.30pm. Black Ancestry

Dr Kathleen Chater

Britain’s part in the slave trade and its overseas empire means that Black people often came to this country long before the twentieth century and left descendants, many of whom are unaware of their ancestors’ origins.

York Gardens Library

Free – bookings essential: 020 7223 2341

Thursday 13 October. 1pm. Popular Television and Film

Stephen Bourne takes a personal look at the history of Black people in popular British film and television. He documents, from original research and interviews, the experiences and representations which have previously been ignored in a variety of media books.

Black Cultural Archives, Windrush Square, Brixton.

£3. To book http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/popular-television-and-film-with-stephen-bourne-tickets-27568979560?aff=erelexpmlt

Friday 14 October. 6.30pm. The Black Jacobins

Black Radical Reads Book Group will discuss C. L. R. James book.

Brixton Library, Brixton Oval, London, SW2 1JQ.

Monday 17 October. 6.30pm. The Politics of Race in Britain and South Africa: Black British solidarity and the anti-apartheid struggle

Elizabeth Williams will be discussing her book on global struggle against racism, about the solidarity of the African Diaspora people of Britain and the struggle against apartheid in South Africa and how the two were inextricably linked against an implacable foe.

Battersea Library, Lavender Hill, SW11.

Free – bookings essential: 020 7223 2334

Tuesday 18 October. 6.30pm. Loyalty and dissent in the First World War

Iqbal Husain will explore the often complex relationships that existed between Britain and her colonies during the First World War using a variety of records held at The National Archives. It is part of a series of workshops delivered by The National Archives to help develop new outreach resources and activities.

Battersea Library, Lavender Hill, London, SW11.

Free – bookings essential: 020 7223 2334.

Saturday 22 October. 11.30am-3pm. Dismissed! An Ordinary Jamaican Woman; An Extraordinary Life 

Gloria Cameron will sign her autobiography

AmicusHorizon Housing Association, Grosvenor House

125 High Street, Croydon.

Free but book on https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gloria-cameron-mbe-autobiography-book-reading-signing-in-croydon-tickets-27406420341

or Text 07802 785 277.

www.gloriacameron.co.uk

Monday 24 October. 2.30pm. A Historical Adventure of Mary Seacole’s Life.

Freshwater Theatre performance. For aged 7 and above.

Brixton Library. Brixton Oval, London, SW2 1JQ.

Tuesday 25 October 6.30pm. A historical timeline of black authors

The Seasons Reading Group considers the historical timeline of black authors from the turn of the last century to the present day,

Battersea Library, Lavender Hill, London, SW11.

Free – bookings essential 020 7223 2334.

Wednesday 26 October. 2.30pm. The Quest for the Windrush

History drama workshop.

Clapham Library, 91 Clapham High St, London, SW4 7DB.

Thursday  27 October. 2.30pm. The Quest for the Windrush

History drama workshop.

Streatham Library, 63 Streatham High Rd, SW16 1PL.

6.30pm. Impact of slave ownership in modern Britain 

Dr. Keith McClelland will describe the Legacies of British Slave-Ownership project. 

Tooting Library, 75 Mitcham Rd, London, SW17 9PD.

Free – booking essential 020 8767 0543. 

7.30pm. Black Poppies

Talk by Stephen Bourne.  Honeywood Museum – see image at top.

Saturday 29 October 2.45pm. They Gave the Crowd Plenty Fun

Colin Babb will talk about the importance of West Indies cricket to the Caribbean diaspora in Britain.

Battersea Library, Lavender Hill, London, SW11.

Free – bookings essential 020 7223 2334.

Friday 4 November. 7pm. Land of My Fathers

Vamba Sherif will discuss his novel about the history of Liberia.

Brixton Library, Brixton Oval, London, SW2 1JQ.

Friday 11 November. 7.30pm. Every Cook Can Govern

Film Screening of documentary about C. L. R. James.

Brixton Library, Brixton Oval, London, SW2 1JQ.

 

 

 

General History Events at 24 September

To early December. Dare Devil Rides to Jarama – autumn tour

Marking the 80th anniversary of the Spanish Civil War, Dare Devil Rides To Jarama is a world première based on the experiences of the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. Looking at the powerful political and economic forces that engulfed 1930s Europe, the play follows why so many ordinary people made the extraordinary choice to leave family and livelihoods and fight in a brutal war so far from home.

It focuses on the contrasting lives of Clem Beckett, a Lancashire blacksmith and famous star of the speedway track, and Christopher Caudwell, a renowned writer, poet and philosopher. Both men were killed together at Jarama in February 1937, having become friends as members of the British Battalion’s machine-gun company.

Through song, poetry, movement and dance, Dare Devil Rides To Jarama captures the raw passions and emotions of the time.

For further details and full diary of dates around the country till early  December see

http://www.townsendproductions.org.uk/feedback/test

Wednesday 28 September. Start of We Only Want the Earth exhibition about James Connolly

Working Class Movement Library, Salford.

Wednesday 28 September. 6pm. ALewis Mates, From Tyneside to Fratricide: north-easterners in the Spanish Civil War

Talk by Lewis Mates.

Newcastle Society of Antiquaries’, Mining Institute, Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1SE.

Thursday 29 September. 6.30 for 7pm. Bi-Planes, Tri-Planes, The Lancaster Bomber, The Vulcan

Talk by Philip Jarrett about Wandsworth’s innovative aeronautical pioneer Alliott Verdon Roe, ((1877-1958).

Roe attempted to build his first bi-plane in the back garden of 47 West Hill, progressing to building a shed at Brooklands and, eventually, forming a company (Saunders Roe) which produced the Avro Bi-plane used in WW1 and then the famous Lancaster bomber of WW2 and, post war, the Vulcan bomber. He was knighted in 1929 and a borough Green Plaque commemorates him on a wall on West Hill.  

Battersea Society, St Mary’s Church, Battersea Church Road SW11 3NA.

Tickets £5 (on door)

Friday 30 September. 7pm. River Effra, South London’s Secret Spine

Lambeth Heritage Festival talk by Jon Newman (Lambeth archivist), Brixton Library, Brixton Hill

Friday 30 September. 8pm. Henry Smith – 17th century tycoon

Talk by Lucy Lethbridge.

Wandsworth Historical Society, Friends Meeting House, Wandsworth High Street, SW18.

Saturday 1 October. 12 noon. Celebration of the life of James Connolly

Connolly has been described as ‘the strongest and most thorough-going advocate of revolutionary socialism in the British Isles’, and his life will be expressed through his writings, journalism, historical works, poetry, songs and plays.

North West Labour History Society at Working Class Movement Library Salford.

Tickets price £5 (£2.50 concessions) are available on the door.

Thursday 20 October. 7 for 7.30pm Morgan Crucible – an enduring Battersea landmark

Jon Newman, archivist and historian will, in the course of his talk, relate how, although demolished almost 40 years ago, the functional factory manufacturing specialist products for the metallurgy industry inadvertently became an icon of English art through the works of James Whistler.

Battersea Society. St Mary’s Church, Battersea Church Road SW11 3EN

Cost: £5 (on door)

Saturday 29 October.  10.30am-4pm. Fifteenth Essex Conference on Labour History

Speakers: Francis Beckett (Labour historian and author) on The Left in the mid-20^th Century and the Role of Aneurin Bevan; Ivan Gibbons (former Director of Irish Studies at St. Mary’s University Twickenham, and Director of the Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith) on Ireland – the 1916 Rising and Social Progress; Chris Sumner (George Lansbury Memorial Trust) on George Lansbury and the 1921 Poplar Rates Dispute; Stan Newens ((former MP, MEP and Labour historian) on A Life in the Labour Movement.

Labour Heritage & Essex Labour Campaign Forum. The Labour Hall, Collingwood Road, Witham, CM8 2EE, (adjacent to Witham railway station).

Saturday 5 November. 5.30pm The Ghosts of Garden Court: John Thelwall and the Haunted Summer of 1816

57 Lincoln’s Inn Fields

3.30pm. Tour round 57 Lincolns Inn Fields with David Watkinson

4.30pm. Tea & cake

5pm. Thelwall Lecture by Professor Lecture by Judith Thompson (with Q&A)

6.30pm. Meal at Ship Tavern

Though you can turn up on the day, details regarding registration, etc., will be available soon.

http://www.johnthelwall.org

To 8 January 2017. Feeding the 400 Exhibition

This exhibition considers the multi-faceted impact that food and eating regimes had on children at the Foundling Hospital from 1740 to 1950. It will demonstrate how the institution’s food choices were far more than just questions of economy, nutrition and health. It explores the connections between what, when, where and why the foundlings ate what they ate; the beliefs and science that underpinned these decisions; and their physiological and psychological effects.

The Foundling Museum, London, WC1N 1AZ.

http://foundlingmuseum.org.uk/events/feeding-the-400

Durham Branch WEA Study Group

People’s Bookshop, Saddlers Yard, Durham DH1 3NP

Oct 9  The Irish Community in the North East Bill Corcoran (NE Irish Society)

Oct 16  Early Ireland and the Origins of the two traditions   Prof. Robin Frame

Oct 23  Wolfe Tone

Nov 6  The Great Famine Joy Farms

Nov 13  The Easter Rising Bob Harrison

Nov 20  The Rise and Fall of the Workers’ Party of Ireland, 1956- 1998  David Connolly

For further information or to book your place at the bookshop www.peoplesbookshop.co.uk or Durham Branch WEA kathleenhconnolly@hotmail.co.uk  01913881440.

9-11 June 1917. John Thelwall: Radical Networks and Reforming Circles, 1780-1820

Concides with the anniversary of the Pentrich Rising and the annual commemoration of the death of Tom Paine.

Programme will include a tour. Derby has the Bell Inn where Thelwall’s friend Dr. Crompton read an address to the French Convention in 1792, the new premises of the Derby Local Studies library, Derby Art Gallery (inc. collection of Joseph Wright paintings), Sadler Gate’s historic buildings, the site of Erasmus Darwin’s house, silk mill museum. There will also be a radical pub night with musical entertainment organised by Jim O’Boyle. There may also be trips to Derby Arboretum, Darley Abbey and Arkwright Mills.

New books about Thelwall:

Judith Thompson, John Thelwall: Selected Poetry and Poetics, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015 (ISBN 978-1-137-34482-3)

Jon Mee: Print, Publicity and Popular Radicalism in the 1790s: The Laurel of Liberty. (Cambridge UP. 2016)

http://www.johnthelwall.org

My email for future event details: sean.creighton1947@btinternet.com 

My Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sean.creighton.501

 

 

 

IHR Seminars to end October

The following seminars at the Institute of Historical Research at Senate House, Malet St/Russell Square, London have been selected as linked to my and readers interests.

Monday 26 September. 5.30pm. To Shake Hands Across the Ocean’: Colonial Seafarers and Their Political Worlds 1917-1939

Naina Manjrekar (SOAS). Imperial and World History Seminar Colonial/Postcolonial New Researchers’ Workshop

Monday 3 October. 5.30pm. Democratic Access or Privileged Exclusion? Oral history, civic engagement and the importance of refugee archives

Paul Dudman and Rumana Hashen (Co-founders of the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration working group on refugee archives). Voluntary Action History  Seminar

Thursday 6 October. 5.30pm. Britannia’s Auxiliaries: Continental Europeans and the British Empire, c.1740-1800

Stephen Conway (UCL). Reconfiguring the British: Nation, Empire, World 1600-2000 Seminar

Monday 10 October. 5.30pm. Colonial/Postcolonial New Research

Public Works as Iconography: Aesthetic, Text, and Context in Colonial South India – Aditya Ramesh (SOAS)

Much Ado About Witch Doctors: The Colonial Office, Two Cities Films Ltd., the West African Student’s Union and the Struggle for African Representation – Chibunduya Onuzo (KCL)

Imperial and World History Seminar Colonial/Postcolonial New Researchers’ Workshop

Wednesday 12 October. 5.15pm  Country Houses & Collaborative Research: Revealing the History of Boughton House & the Montagu Estates in the Long Eighteenth Century

Rosemary Sweet, Helen Bates and Emma Purcell (University of Leicester). British History in the Long Eighteenth Century Seminar

Wednesday 12 October. 5.30pm. The Unpalatable Past (1) “Rhodes Must Fall” Two commentaries on the cultural politics of the British imperial past

Bill Schwarz & Saul Dubow (Queen Mary, UL). Public History Seminar

Thursday 13 October. 5.30pm. The Abolitionist International: Anatomy of a Radical Movement

Professor Manisha Sinha (University of Massachusetts, Amherst). North American History Seminar

Thursday 13 October. 6pm. Garden Magazines and Networks of Gardeners in the Nineteenth Century

Brent Elliot  (Historian, Royal Horticultural Society). History of Gardens and Landscapes  Seminar

Friday 14 October. 5.15pm. Trade and the Industrial Revolution: British Cotton Textiles between the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic

Giorgio Riello, University of Warwick. Economic and Social History of the Early Modern World, 1500-1800 Seminar

Monday 17 October. 5.15pm. Picket Lines and Pop Songs: Representing, Commodifying, Consuming and Interpreting Labour, Women’s and Queer History in Made in Dagenham (2010) and Pride (2014)

Dr Dion  Georgiou (King’s College London/University of Kent). Sport and Leisure History Seminar

Tuesday 25 October. 5.15pm. Taming the legend: Restoration England and the Barbary States, 1660–88

Steve Garnett (Canterbury Christchurch University). British Maritime History Seminar

Wednesday 26 October. 5.15pm. Tobacco & the Social Life of the Senses in Eighteenth-Century England

William Tullett (King’s College, London). British History in the Long Eighteenth Century  Seminar

Friday 28 October. 5.15pm. Credible commitment and the financial revolution in Jamaica, 1768-1839

Aaron Graham, University College London. Economic and Social History of the Early Modern World, 1500-1800 Seminar

Friday 28 October. 5.15pm. ‘Christabel’s blotting paper’? The suffragette career of Annie Kenney (1879-1953)

Lyndsey Jenkins (Wolfson College, Oxford). Women’s History Seminar

Monday 31 October. 5.30pm. Eleanor Rathbone, MP, and the work of the Parliamentary Committee on Refugees (London 1938-1944/5)

Susan Cohen (University of Southampton). Voluntary Action History  Seminar

 

Croydon News at 24 September

Residents Call for Council Debate on Local Plan

Residents activists have started a petition calling on the Council to publicly debate the Local Plan at the next full Council meeting on 17 October. To read and sign go to

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CroydonLocalPlan

2000 signatures are required to trigger such a debate

Fairfield Halls Plans Criticised by Experts

The Theatres Trust peer review advisory panel of the Council’s Fairfield Halls plans has criticised the proposals for the venue, highlighting a lack of clear strategy on about who will run the venue, poor planning and design problems, and that the £30m budget may be insufficient. It recommends setting up a trust to run the building. Save Our Fairfield campaign feels vindicated while Cabinet Member Timothy Godfrey has used the report’s publication to attack the campaign, but also admits four months behind on appointing future management

https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2016/theatres-trust-queries-30m-budget-for-croydon-fairfield-halls-revamp

http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/localnews/14759174.Croydon_Council_s___30m_budget_for_Fairfield_Halls_revamp_may_not_be_enough__warns_advisory_panel  

http://news.croydon.gov.uk/theatre-experts-support-croydons-fairfield-investment

http://www.croydonadvertiser.co.uk/further-questions-over-why-venue-had-to-close-so-quickly/story-29741047-detail/story.html

Council £7.2m Overspend On Social Care

Funding gaps in the Council’s looked-after children, Children in Need, disability services and temporary accommodation services have caused an overs[pend of £7.2m. 3,125 families in Croydon were in temporary lodgings in February this year, which was expected to cost the council £5.4m in 2015-16.

http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/14758344.Croydon_Council_predicts___7m_overspend_in_one_of_its_major_departments

Labour Launches Campaign Against Southern Rail

The Council’s Labour leadership has launched a campaign to strip Southern rail of its franchise because they have “failed to prove they are capable” of running the borough’s main commuter service.

http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/14759571.Croydon_Labour_launches_campaign_to__sack_Southern__over_failing_service

Meanwhile Bernadette Fallon raises concerns about the capacity of trains:

http://thecroydoncitizen.com/economics-business/will-new-croydonians-fit-trains

Why pays Business Rates in Croydon?

Thanks to a Freedom of Information request you can now see who pays business rates in Croydon as a whole or in relation to any particular property you can see the addresses  and names along with an explanation of the different categories of business rates at:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/business_rates_922?nocache=incoming-870118#incoming-870118

Waste Disposal Firm Loses Licence

http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/14762108.Croydon_waste_disposal_business_to_lose_transport_licence_over__substantial_failures__in_safety_standards

Safer Croydon Partnership Seeks Views on Shaping Future Anti-Crime Strategy

http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/14762227.Safer_Croydon_Partnership_launches_survey_to_shape_boroughs_next_anti_crime_plan

Electric Vehicle Charging Points

The Council is seeking to increase the number of EV charging points in the Borough through providing its staff with a EVCP, increase its own EV stock, and through planning make it a condition

‘That developments of new commercial properties and for the development of new private properties with communal parking to include the provision of EV charge point. Additionally it makes it a condition of planning for the development of new private properties with off street parking to include the provision of EV charge points or at a minimum the provision of the power cable from the consumer unit to the intended parking area.’ 

(Answer to Freedom of Information request at 

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ev_charge_points_82?nocache=incoming-870121#incoming-870121)

Is Volunteering the Way To Run Public Services?

The Council is looking for more volunteers to help run the libraries. They want the Friends groups to take more volunteering responsibility for parks and open spaces. The demand for volunteers grows; but the supply is limited, especially as the retired increasingly have responsibilities for their much older parents or for grandchildren. I discussed the issue on Croydon Citizen back in April. The issue needs more debate, and perhaps it is time for the Scrutiny Committee to consider an inquiry into volunteering in the Borough.

http://thecroydoncitizen.com/politics-society/volunteering-alone-wont-fix-croydon

Vulnerable children recruited as drug mules for Croydon gangs

http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/14756163.Vulnerable_children_recruited_as_drug_mules_for_Croydon_gangs

Parents Fight Threat To Respite Centre

http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/14755315._Now_its_war___Parents_vow_to_fight_plans_to_close_Croydon_s_only_respite_centre_for_adults_with_learning_disabilites

Grammar Schools – Yes or No?

Not impressed by the arguments of either side in the grammar school debate, Conservative supporter Robert Ward argues the case for at

http://thecroydoncitizen.com/politics-society/positive-case-croydon-grammar-school

This will need to commented on by opponents of the idea.

Babylon Inn Action Highlighted in Guardian

In its review of the shocking hygiene levels in takeaways and restaurants across the country on Saturday 24 September The Guardian cites the Council’s action against the owner of Babylon Inn  in North End, leading to £90,000 plus in fines and banned from managing any food business.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/23/filthy-conditions-mice-uk-worst-restaurants-food-hygiene

Croydon Night-Club Crisis A National Trend

A review by The Guardian on 24 September of the decline in night-clubs across the country suggests that the decline in Croydon is part of a national trend as people’s tastes in entertainment change.

https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-guardian/20160924/281827168245569

Loss of Employment Buildings and Sites 

Ian Marvin is drawing attention to the loss of employment sites in Croydon in his discussion on the Croydon Local Plan on Croydon Citizen. 

http://thecroydoncitizen.com/economics-business/was-it-really-tech-city-wot-won-it

 Thanks to a Freedom of Information request the Council has now made available the addresses of empty or unused commercial properties, which have been empty for more than 12 months, and planned intentions for their future use. 

• Cheriton House, Chipstead Avenue, Thornton Heath – former care home that is being considered for residential development. Planning application due to be submitted within the next 2 months.

• Homefield House, Homefield Road, Old Coulsdon – former care home that is being considered for residential development. Planning application due to be submitted within the next 2 months.

• Kempfield House, 1 Reedham Park Avenue, Kenley – former care home that is being considered for residential development. Planning application due to be submitted within the next 2 months.

• Canterbury Mills, Canterbury Road – acquired for new school site. Guardians were in occupation but planning now granted and property being demolished.

• Victoria House, Southbridge Road – this will be used as a new free school. Guardians were in occupation but vacated once the Education Funding Agency started their survey work. Planning not yet submitted.

• Rees and Morland House, Morland Road – this will be used as a new free school. The building is in a poor state and not suitable for occupation. Terms have been agreed for a new Free School and planning will be submitted in due course. Planning not yet submitted.

• Cemetery Lodge, Thornton Road – current planning use is offices. The building needs a considerable amount of work to bring it up to habitable condition.

• 45a and 47S Georges Walk – two leasehold retail units with short remaining lease.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/croydon_borough_empty_or_unused?nocache=incoming-871218#incoming-871218

Croydon History

Kake has now posted the history of

144–150 London Road: Panton Close

The land previously occupied by 144–150 London Road is currently the site of a small housing development known as Panton Close, completed in the early 2000s. The now-demolished property numbered 144–150 began life as a private house which was later extended multiple times, becoming a baking powder factory, a wholesale stationers, a GP surgery, and finally an auction house.

Croydon Events at 24 September

Other events listings:

Croydon Libraries: http://www.croydonlibraries.com/news-events/events-calendar

Croydon Natural History & Scientific Society: www.cnhss.org.uk

David Lean Cinema: http://www.davidleancinema.org.uk

Just Croydon: http://www.justcroydon.com

Turf Projects: http://turf-projects.com/turf

Monday  26 September. 11am. Charles Dickens and His Norwood Connections

Talk by Paul Graham (Dickens Fellowship) at Ashburton Library, Shirley Road, Addiscombe, CR9 7AL.

To book: croydon.ashburtonlibrary@carillionservices.co.uk

http://www.dickensfellowship.org

Tuesday 27 September. 6.30pm. Council Health and Social Care Scrutiny Sub-Committee

Agenda: Croydon CCG and Croydon Health Services NHS Trust Response to Special Financial Measures, HealthWatch Croydon Update

Council Chamber, Town Hall, Katharine Street.

Wednesday 28 September

4pm. Coding lesson for PRIMARY TEACHERS

CAS and Code Club event for Croydon’s primary school teachers. If you are one or know of any, ask them to SIGN UP HERE.

7pm. Croydon Creatives

A socialising group for web designers and front-end developers.

Matthews Yard, off Surrey St.

Thursday 29 September

7pm. Tech Surgery with Paul Sinnet

Are you stuck on a tricky programming task or need help with your tech idea? Join Croydon’s expert programmers for one-to-one help and advice with your toughest technical issues. Contact paul.sinnett@gmail.com for more information and to indicate coming.

Matthews Yard, off Surrey St.

7.30pm. Nick Richards Art Exhibition Launch

Matthews Yard, off Surrey St, till Saturday 29 October.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1747838658790999

Friday, 30 September. 10am-10pm. Shaking Hands McMillan Coffee Morning

Tea, Coffee, Cake, Networking, Raffles, Prizes, and a Feel Good Feeling!

Hoodoo’s Cafe, 1 Matthew’s Yard, off Surrey St.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1734502940098440

Sunday  2 October

11am. Heathfield Apple Day

Heathfield Ecology Centre, The Old Orchard, Heathfield, Coombe Lane, CR0 5RH.

http://croydon-ecology.org.uk/events.php

1-5pm. Shirley Windmill  Open Day

 Postmill Close, CR0 5DY.

 https://www.shirleywindmill.org.uk

7.30pm. Don’t Go into the Cellar: Murder by Gaslight

 Spread Eagle Theatre, Katherine St.

http://www.spreadeaglecroydon.co.uk

Tuesday 4 October. 2.15pm. The Great Houses of Shirley – a Brief History

Talk by  Ray Wheeler. Shirley Library, Wickham Road / Hartland Way, Shirley, CR0 8BH.

To book: croydon.shirleylibrary@carillionservices.co.uk

Wednesday 5 October. 6.30pm. Council Traffic Management Advisory Committee

Town Hall, Katherine St. Agenda not yet posted on Council website.

Thursday 6 October. Council Planning and Planning Subcommittee meetings

Town Hall, Katherine St. Agenda not yet posted on Council website.

Monday 10 October. 6.30pm. Council Cabinet

Town Hall, Katherine St. Agenda not yet posted on Council website.

Thursday 13 – Saturday 15 October. Craft Beer Festival

Braithwaite Hall, Town Hall/Clocktower, Katherine St.

To buy tickets go to http://www.croydonbeerfest.co.uk

Thursday 20 October

7.30pm. They plan to close your hospitals: Who will save St Helier?  NHS public meeting

Your NHS Needs You! Come along and find out about the imminent threat facing your health service in South West London. Let health bosses know that we won’t give up our local hospitals without a fight.

Thomas Wall Centre, 52 Benhill Ave, Surrey, SM1 4DP.
www.facebook.com/events/299192777111988

Organised by KOSHH (Keep Our St Helier Hospital) info@koshh.org
www.facebook.com/koshh.org 
http://koshh.org
You Tube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCmkxvePjF1yaP1hWnZLvAlw

The closure of St. Helier has implications for Croydon.

8pm. Building Restoration, Conservation and Masonry

Talk by Nick Wilson. Norwood Society. Upper Norwood Library.

8pm. A History of Crystal Palace Football Club

 Talk by David Clark. South London Local History Group. Phoenix Centre, 66 Westow Street, SE19 3AF

Friday 21 October. CROWD

Music and entertainment on St George’s Walk.

Saturday 22 October. 11.30am-3pm. Dismissed! An Ordinary Jamaican Woman; An Extraordinary Life 

Gloria Cameron will sign her autobiography

AmicusHorizon Housing Association, Grosvenor House, 125 High Street, Croydon.

Free but book on https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gloria-cameron-mbe-autobiography-book-reading-signing-in-croydon-tickets-27406420341

or Text 07802 785 277.

Saturday 22 October. 12 noon-5pm. Diwali Mala.

Focal point stage outside the Whitgift Centre.

4-6pm. Launch of New Rose: 40 Years of Croydon Punk

Sunday 23 October. 3-5pm. London Mozart Players

First concert in new home. Handel Arrival of the Queen of Sheba; Piazzolla Autumn from the Four Seasons; Grainger Londonderry Air; Vivaldi Concerto for Two Trumpets; Mozart Symphony No. 29.

St John’s Church, Upper Norwood, SE19 2RX.  It’s free, but booking is advised. http://londonmozartplayers.com/concert/launch

Thursday  27 – Saturday 29 October. CAMRA Local Beer Festival

Thursday & Friday 12-4pm & 5-10.30pm; Sunday  12-5pm.

Stanley Halls, 12 South Norwood Hill, SE25 6AB.

http://www.stanleyhalls.org.uk

Saturday 29 October. Croydon Youth Arts Collective

Free day of music, theatre, film, art exhibitions, talks, workshops plus.

Clocktower. 07436 031163. jessica.hodge@croydon.gov.uk

The Council is promoting but it is not on the CTAC website.

Monday 31 October. 7.45pm. Roman Britain and the Classical Roman World

Talk by Stephen Humphrey. CNHSS, East Croydon United Reform Church.

 Saturday 5 November. Croydon Assembly General Meeting

Ruskin House. Details to be announced.

Saturday 12 November. The Rotary Club of Croydon South Christmas Craft Fair

All Saints Church Hall  – top of Sanderstead  Hill.

This is a pure craft fair and please contact the Club secretary for application forms for a stall on wendparr@gmail.com. Open to all craft people.  

Thursday 17 November

 8pm. 900 Children Lie in All Saints’ Churchyard

 Talk by Stephen Oxford, Norwood Society. Upper Norwood Joint Library, 39-41 Westow Hill, SE19 1TJ.

http://uppernorwoodlibrary.org

8pm. South London on Film

 Talk by Tony Fletcher.

South London History Group. Phoenix Centre, 66 Westow Street, SE19 3AF .

Saturday 19 November. Christmas Fair

Shirley Parish Hall, 81 Wickham Road, Shirley, CR0 8TB.

http://www.shirleyparishhall.co.uk

My email for event details: sean.creighton1947@btinternet.com

My Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sean.creighton.501