the poetic playing fields of hackney

We loved this story: goalpost painting project.

millfields north, 24 oct

Pledge your love to the Lee

Updated 25 Nov.

Email rec'd from Thames 21 - they have produced a really great Love the Lee A4 poster and are encouraging people to display them in their their windows to raise awareness of the problems. Here's a link to the poster, if you want to print & display it: Love The Lea. 

St John at Hackney Churchyard Hallowe'en & planting events

Monday 24 October, 10 - 12 noon

Free family bulb planting at St John at Hackney Churchyard

• Come and plant bulbs at Hackney's ancient churchyard and help keep it looking beautiful in the spring.

•   Meet by St Augustine's Tower at 10am. Suitable for all ages. All tools and equipment provided.

Sunday 30 October 3pm: 

Free Tour of St John at Hackney Churchyard Hallowe'en Special

• Come on a tour of the ancient churchyard and discover some of the people buried here over the last 500 years, from Lord Mayors of London, to shoemakers; from Royal Courtiers to victims of the Plague, all our Hackney ancestors rest here. 
• Meet by St Augustine's Tower at 3pm. Tower open from 2pm - 4.30p, booking recommended: Emily[dot]jost[at]hackney[dot]gov[dot]uk

suicide from jealousy

 As part of our series of Lea Bridge stories, a report from The Annual register, or a view of the history and politics of the year 1842:

 

‘They found the deceased’s bonnet and shawl on the bank’

Love the Lee - Save the River

 Email received Thames 21:

Dear all,

We have miset of water quality testing results and they are poor yet again. We get the dissolved oxygen results on the day (yesterday) with the chemical results to follow later in the week.

The top line is that the Lea from south of Tottenham Lock to the Olympic site is has below the level that fish populations (and other creatures) can survive in healthy numbers. Only the species that can tolerate low levels of oxygen survive, and even then in much lower numbers.

6 mg of oxygen per litre is needed for a river to be considered healthy. As you can see from the table below it is way below that at many sites. Anything below 2 mg and no fish will live there for any reasonable period of time. Site X is just off the Lea, where the sewage outfall from Deephams enters from the Pymmes Brook (more on the Pymmes Brook in another email, we did a site visit last week and its condition is shocking).

No.	Site.	10/10/2011
1	Bow Locks	5.57
2	Olympics	3.46
3	Lea Bank	3.76
4	Mabley Green	2.69
5	North Millfields	1.96
6	Watermint Quay	1.84
7	Ferry Lane Estate	2.11
X	Pymmes Brook	2.50
9	N of Tott. Lock	4.42

The Hackney Gazette ran a story about Love the Lea last week – here’s the link river lee pollution levels 

The fear is that the Lea rarely gets above 3 mg/l meaning the river never recovers. Occasional dips a river can cope with, but this seems the opposite.

The ‘Love the Lea’ word is getting out there. More people have heard about it, more people are signing up.

I’m in the process of drawing up the next stage of the campaign that will allow us to focus on the larger scale underlying problems that need to be sorted – the Mega Pledge!

Kind regards,

Theo Thomas.

Love the Lee – Save the River!

Thames21

www.thames21.org.uk/LovetheLee 

The Hackney Cut: Oral Histories

Do check out this really interesting project that provides a collection of short excerpts from the oral histories of people who live or work along the Hackney Cut: 

The Cut: oral histories 

The recordings were made last year by a group of local volunteers were trained at SPACE by Dr Toby Butler (an oral historian from the Raphael Samuel History Centre). The oral histories that inspired the commissioned artists were recorded across Hackney in homes, community spaces, at SPACE and on a narrow boat on the Lea Navigation Canal itself.

Hackney's Biodiversity Action Plan Consultation

Hackney’s Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) is open to public consultation until Monday 24 October. Hackney Council and Hackney Biodiversity Partnership really want to have your views about our plans to conserve and enhance wildlife over the next five years. 

 All of the information is online at:  

biodiversity consultation or 

contact Kate on kate[dot]mitchell[at]hackney[dot]gov[dot]uk 

or 020 8356 3438.

Your email could save a neighbour's life

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Please do lend your support to the campaign by local residents for a pedestrian crossing on Lea Bridge Road, near the entrance of Hillstowe Street. Details can be found at:

  Beecholme Blog: Your email could save neighbours life

 

Illustration above: visualisation to show position of crossing By David White

Note:

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This visual is to show the approximate position of the crossing: it could be anywhere between the bus stop and Hillstowe Rd and could be either a pelican or zebra crossing

 

Clapton heritage vandalism update

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Back in June, Hackney Hive reported on local concerns about the work undertaken without planning consent on the former Ship Aground pub at 144 Lea Bridge Road, a building of townscape merit within Lea Bridge conservation area (Hackney Hive - Ship Aground).

At the same time, Millfields Blog published, for the public record, a copy of the letter sent to Hackney setting out the concerns and the action requested: Heritage Vandalism

Since then, Cllr Linda Kelly has worked with council officers, local residents and the owners of the building to try to resolve the matter (as far as is possible, given the scale of the damage). Many thanks to Cllr Kelly for her efforts.

On 22 September, following the failure of the owners of the building to meet a series of extended deadlines for submitting a new planning application, Hackney’s enforcement team opened a formal Section 215 case to pursue the essential works that are required. The notice will ensure that the building is made weather proof to an acceptable standard in the first instance. The owners will need to submit a method statement to satisfy the Council of the nature of the works and be given a time period within which to comply. Should the owners fail to receive planning permission (and subject to any appeal against that decision) then they will be required to restore the building envelope to its original condition. We’ll provide further updates as we receive them.