Thought this might be useful/reassuring for neighbours.
The latest government guidelines for coping with Covid-19, updated early this morning (25 March), states that “work carried out in people’s homes, for example by tradespeople carrying out repairs and maintenance, can continue, provided that the tradesperson is well and has no symptoms.”
“Again, it will be important to ensure that Public Health England guidelines, including maintaining a 2 metre distance from any household occupants, are followed to ensure everyone’s safety.
“No work should be carried out in any household which is isolating or where an individual is being shielded, unless it is to remedy a direct risk to the safety of the household, such as emergency plumbing or repairs, and where the tradesperson is willing to do so. In such cases, Public Health England can provide advice to tradespeople and households.
“No work should be carried out by a tradesperson who has coronavirus symptoms, however mild.”
A recently-arrived neighbour on Fawnbrake Avenue, Maxine Latinis, is a Barre fitness instructor, and would be happy to welcome local residents to her classes at the South London Dance School in the centre of Herne Hill.
After noticing that several gyms in the area offer oversubscribed Barre classes, Maxine decided to team up with The South London Dance School and bring Drop In classes to South London. She hopes to save Barre converts the long trip into central London, or the commitment of a gym membership.
Barre, she explains, is a fitness class, open to all abilities, that utilises the strengthening elements of Ballet, the stabilising focus of Pilates and the stretching techniques of Yoga. Each class is to music, and runs for 55 minutes. As she puts it … “imagine the repetitions of Pilates with a little more diversity & excitement!”
Maxine can be found at The South London Dance School, Wednesday mornings, between 7-7.55am & 8-8.55am
Maxine also teaches for Virgin Active, around London, including Virgin Active in Streatham.
This site does not generally canvass for charitable giving, but this excellent cause is brought to us by one of our neighbours on Fawnbrake Avenue, so please read on.
Although most of us on this street haven’t had any reason to use it – and with luck may never need to – the Citizens Advice Bureau in Brixton, or more accurately the Brixton Advice Centre, is a vital and unique port of call for people who often have nowhere else to turn for advice and help. But it is desperately short of money, and our Fawnbrake neighbour, Fred Taggart, who is the Honorary Secretary and a Herne Hill resident for 39 years, has launched a local appeal for critically needed funds. Trustees and staff are looking for sponsorship when they join in the 2019 Legal Walk in two weeks’ time.
Fred Taggart writes:
“Herne Hill is generally an affluent and socially-aware community. But not everyone has a million-pound home, and many neighbours and friends struggle to get by on tight budgets, or have employment, debt or bad housing problems. For 50 years the Brixton Advice Centre on Railton Road has helped, advised and acted for local people with legal or administrative problems who would otherwise be unable to afford legal services. It averages getting on for 5000 cases each year. It is a vital part of life in Herne Hill and Brixton. Unless you have used its services you probably don’t know it exists.
“Austerity has savaged the Centre’s budget, so to generate income, trustees and staff will be taking part in the 2019 Legal Walk on17th June when the Lord Chief Justice and thousands of lawyers raise funds for good causes.
“Just as sponsored walkers want to be first, everyone in Herne Hill wants to ensure that no-one in our community gets left behind. So, support your community Advice Centre. By making life better for some, the Centre makes the community better for everyone.”
Yesterday’s Daily Telegraph reported that a row had erupted on a street near Brixton Hill after a resident accused neighbours of stealing flowers planted on the street by a community group. It began with a note pinned to a tree in the street, reading: “Please do not pick my flowers. Thanks”.
An aggrieved neighbour replied: “In an area massively affected by gentrification, it’s sad to see people claiming ownership of even the flowers.”
But other neighbours chipped in, and one wrote: “ARE YOU SERIOUS? This is not about ownership or gentrification, this is about someone trying to make the street a nicer place for EVERYONE by planting flowers and people stealing them and stamping on them!”
The original note poster responded, explaining that the lupins and geraniums had been planted as part of a local scheme called Our Streets, in which members of the local community “adopt” a tree to water and plant flowers under. They added that the flowers had now been dug up and “moved elsewhere”.
A local gardener who been planting brightly coloured blooms on roads near her house reported that they have been stolen, and commented sadly “Come on, people of Brixton Hill – you’re better than this. 12 plants taken overnight.”
We couldn’t imagine such things happening here on Fawnbrake Avenue, could we?
The drain outside nos. 75-83 that had caused the excessive flooding has been unblocked this lunchtime.
It appears that concrete had been poured into the drainage system (probably from building works further along the street) and had trickled down, underground, to come to rest and set here at the lowest point, thereby blocking the pipes.
If anyone employs or sees contractors using concrete, please warn them not to unload unwanted concrete into our drains!
I am thanking Cllr Jim Dickson, whose intervention last week undoubtedly speeded things up.
Note of caution to our neighbours – if you are cleaning up please be careful as the mess left is filthy and full of all sorts of germs – it stinks. Last time this happened my husband cleaned up and he ended up with D&V. This is a health hazard.
It’s obviously the monsoon period in London, with floods and hail to prove it. Is it climate change?
Certainly the enormous puddles in Fawnbrake Avenue yesterday afternoon and evening were exceptional.
You should have seen it earlier, when it covered the pavement too.
Those of us who live in the lowest lying section of the street are well accustomed to dealing with accumulations of rainwater where the surface dips between numbers 73 – 85. Rain run-off find its way here from both directions and often lingers when the grate cover is blocked by leaves, twigs and other debris. We and our neighbours have spent many happy hours with rakes and brooms dislodging the rubbish so that the water can flow away.
The last few days have been different. The obstruction in the drains is clearly more deep-seated; clearing the visible blockage hasn’t helped. Hence the biblical flooding yesterday afternoon, and general resort to Wellington boots.
We and our neighbours have reported this to Lambeth Street Care not once, not twice but… well, we’re losing count now. This morning we alerted our Counsellor Jim Dickson, who hastened to put the pressure on. We hope that something radical will be done before the next watery onslaught. Someone sent a poor street cleaner to brush up rubbish early this morning, but that won’t have solved the underlying problem.
In the meantime none of us would take it personally if, when approaching this part of the street, you cross over to the other side.
Lambeth are proposing to place full-scale speed humps on Milkwood Road in the hope of lowering the traffic speeds that make the road dangerous. They invite comments via this link.
It’s difficult to imagine any local resident objecting to this measure. Many of us have stared, astonished, at cars, vans and motorbikes roaring down Milkwood in speeds clearly in excess of the 20 MPH limit.
But maybe we shall need to monitor whether such a measure, if introduced (supposedly in August), displaces fast traffic onto Fawnbrake Avenue.
We might take them for granted. But our rich collection of trees, softening the long regularity of the brick facades, and punctuating the gentle curve and dip of the street, have been a much loved but sometimes neglected ornament of Fawnbrake Avenue for generations. They have helped to make our street an attractive part of Herne Hill to live in and visit.
Trees don’t live for ever, though. Recent years have brought changes. Some older and unsuitable trees have been removed and not replaced. Others have been replaced with specimens inappropriate to the location. One or two junior specimens, recently planted, have not survived. There are still unsightly gaps. And a street isn’t a forest, of course. Human care is needed.
Four years ago some neighbours decided to do something about this. They conducted a survey which established that some 24 trees were missing in Fawnbrake Avenue, including some empty tree pits, along with some quite unsuitable seaside-loving Tamarix shrubs (near numbers 90 – 100).
So David Williams and Laurence Marsh started a conversation with Lambeth Council’s tree officer. At that time – and probably more so, now – Lambeth’s budget pressures did not allow them a generous tree planting programme.
But they offered three trees to start with and, more significantly, said that if the residents could raise funds for more trees, Lambeth would match the same number.
The appeal for funds – generosity of Fawnbrake residents
David and Laurence put out a call for donations in 2015 and this resulted in a fabulous £8,550 gifted by neighbours, which was handed over to Lambeth Council in spring 2016. This was enough money to plant what, in the end, turned out to be a total of 40 trees. This was many more than was initially hoped for and allowed further gaps to be filled. Around half of all households in the road contributed with donations ranging from the modest to the exceedingly generous.
A variety of species was planted, all substantially smaller than the tall, older trees which had dominated our street and tended to damage pavements and adjoining properties. And all were chosen for their attractive blossom, flowers or foliage. The average cost of each tree was £450.
Most of the new and replacement trees were planted in 2016. Lambeth’s tree officer advised, and our tree guardians also warned, that once planted, and for the first year or two, young trees do need to be adopted by nearby residents to keep them thoroughly watered.
Oops! Where did our tree go?
Two trees did die, but all the rest have done well, although very recently – and inexplicably – one of the new trees, planted outside Nos.98/100, simply vanished. (Does anyone know why or how?)
More new trees on the way
Cleverly, our tree champions spotted the opportunity – through the good offices of the Herne Hill Society – to claim Gift Aid relief for the residents’ original donation, generating a further £1,797 which can in turn fund around four more trees. On top of that, Lambeth have been persuaded to plant three new trees including a replacement for the one outside number 106 which didn’t survive. The other non-survivor (outside No.21) was replaced last year..
Protect our trees!
We will update neighbours when these new young trees are in place so that people can, we hope, keep a friendly eye on them and in particular see that they are given enough water over their first summer. And if the soil in the tree pit seems suitable, neighbours can of course plant some seeds and flowers, adding to the gaiety of the street.
Lambeth tree officers strongly advise that young trees should be thoroughly watered every few days from April – September – not just the newly planted ones but all young trees for the first 3 years, more if it’s particularly dry.
All our trees, old and new, suffer an additional risk from high sided or carelessly driven trucks and vans which can either push a tree away from its roots or break off branches. If anyone sees this happening, please advise the drivers to be careful when parking or delivering, since the trees are ours, not the councils and that we paid £450 for our tree!
London, the world’s largest urban forest
‘London Is A Forest’ is the title of a new book, to be published in the next week or so. It’s written by Paul Wood, author of ‘London’s Street Trees: a Field Guide to the Urban Forest’, the first book on the city’s frontline trees (published 2017).
As he states:
“Can a city be a forest? At first glance, this does not chime with our childhood idea of the ‘wild wood’ – a dark entanglement of trees, where humans fear to tread. But a forest does not need to be dense and impenetrable, and it’s not unheard of for people to live in them either.
In London, 8.6 million people are crammed into just 600 square miles alongside 8.3 million trees, and millions upon millions of other plants, insects and animals. According to one UN definition, this makes the city a forest. The Forestry Commission agree, describing London as the world’s largest urban forest. And it’s a very special, urban forest at that.”
Our efficient and well-organised neighbours have consulted via various clever online apps and agreed that this summer’s Fawnbrake Avenue street party is planned for Sunday 7 July.
Fawnbrake’s 2018 Street Party [photo by Pete]
News about Fawnbrake Avenue & neighbouring streets in Herne Hill, London
But they offered three trees to start with and, more significantly, said that if the residents could raise funds for more trees, Lambeth would match the same number.
As he states: