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Oxleas Meadow is the place to go when it snows. It’s the perfect place for sledging – long, broad slopes with a choice of steepnesses to suit all ages and abilities. And all ages and abilities were out there today showing off their skills.

Oxleas meadow and cafe in the snow

There was an incredible variety of sledges; old fashioned sit-up wooden-slatted toboggans, snow boards, surf boards, a bin liner, bright pink and green plastic sledges, snowmobile style sledges, round ones looking like dustbin lids and one that I’m sure was a dustbin lid. Chaos reigned, bodies falling and rolling everywhere as sleds overturned, ran into each other and skittled other sledders. The whole scene overseen by the usual large crowd of dogs out for a walk, though on this occasion many were dressed for the weather, and a motley assortment of snow men. One enterprising group of sledders had even created a ski jump out of a park bench and a large pile of snow and were using it to launch themselves into ignominious heaps of snow and sledders.

Not far away in Shrewsbury Park a younger set of sledders enjoyed the gentler, less crowded but equally sled-able nursery slopes.

Elsewhere on the hill the snow had waved its transformative magic wand, turning the world bright and beautiful, hiding flaws and smothering imperfections. The woodlands were serene and pristine. Colours were accentuated in the otherwise monochrome landscape; vivid red holly berries and pillar box, the previously unnoticed blue beams in a house on Shrewsbury Lane, and colourful clothing glimpsed through the woods.

Oxleas Woods snow scene

Shooters Hill water tower in the snow

Snowman in Eaglesfield Park

What an eventful weekend!

PS All the photographs are on flickr here.

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6:45 pm on February 5, 2012
Tags: eaglesfield park (16), oxleas wood (7), photos, shrewsbury park (8)

Now We Are Royal

Equitable House lit up for Royal Greenwich

Fingers and feet were frozen on Friday night in General Gordon Square while waiting for the start of the Royal Borough of Greenwich festivities. The chill was slightly eased by the mulled wine and hot chocolate that were on offer. The young and young-at-heart warmed themselves by frantically jumping up and down waving their arms about to play the interactive games on the big screen – bashing balls and bugs, encouraging rain to fall on flowers to make them grow or, best-of-all, wiping custard off the screen. Nearby, mementos of the occasion were distributed – Royal Greenwich pen, Royal Greenwich pencil, Royal Greenwich card holder and Royal Greenwich key-ring torch. Wandering minstrels desperately pleaded with adults to request a song following the children’s suggestions of Old Macdonald, Run Rabbit Run and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Wandering Minstrels in General Gordon Square

Historical characters wandered around, including Henry VIII, Queen Victoria with Prince Albert and a knight on a wheeled horse. The big screen changed to explain the elements of the new Royal Borough coat of arms and to show an inspirational film about Greenwich which few people watched.

Things warmed up a bit with some excellent gospel music from the New Wine Church choir – it was a pity their set wasn’t longer. The church will be hosting the Musicians of the Royal Artillery Band in a free concert next Friday, 10th February to further commemorate the conferment of our royal status.

There was a big cheer for Henry VIII when he welcomed us to Royal Greenwich, and a more muted one for Council Leader Chris Roberts when he did the same. Mercifully his speech was very brief before the highlight of the evening – the fireworks. And they were well worth a few freezing fingers and toes.

So now we are royal. I haven’t seen any new royal road signs in Shooters Hill yet, but I’ll be keeping an eye out for them.

Royal Borough of Greenwich Fireworks Celebration, Woolwich

Royal Borough of Greenwich Fireworks Celebration, Woolwich

Royal Borough of Greenwich Fireworks Celebration, Woolwich

Royal Borough of Greenwich Fireworks Celebration, Woolwich

More fireworks tonight to celebrate the Royal Borough at 6.00pm in Greenwich.

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2:14 pm on February 5, 2012
Tags: photos, woolwich (19)
Changing Views

I’ve been a fan of e-shootershill for several years, so it’s a little bit daunting to be taking on the job of chronicling happenings on the hill and the surrounding areas. Producing a repository of “Hilliana” as my predecessor so succinctly expressed it.

Learning the technology involved in blogging is also a little daunting, and my initial posts may not be as technically sophisticated as some previous ones!

Why did I offer to take on e-shootershill? Well, I agree wholeheartedly with the aim of maintaining a journal of record of Shooters Hill – and there’s plenty to record. One of the many things I love about living here is the tremendous sense of community and local involvement. For example there are so many volunteer-led events and activities. Volunteers run the friends of Eaglesfield and Shrewsbury parks organisations. The latter organise the fabulous dog-show at the Shrewsbury Park Summer Festival which has become an essential item in the calendar. And then there are all the people who help at Woodlands Farm – from managing the charity through to mucking out the pigs, not to mention organising large-scale events such as Apple Day (coming up next Sunday, 23^rd October). And many more that I haven’t come across, yet, though I’ve seen hints of their activities.

View from top of Brent Road towards Olympic Shooting and Archery Stadium on Woolwich Common and O2 Dome

I was also seduced by the unexpected and sometimes uncelebrated architectural gems that ornament the hill and its surroundings, and the intriguing glimpses into history that comes with them. There aren’t many places in London where you come across a Bronze Age burial mound as you walk down the street. Blogging about the area will be a strong motivation to find out more about local history.

Of course the stunning views from the hill, over Kent, Essex and the panoramic London horizon from Wembley’s arch to the London Eye justify the inclusion of topics slightly further away from home, and give me an opportunity to experiment with including some pictures in this first blog. For the view isn’t static, for example the 2012 Olympics have imposed themselves, with the shooting and archery stadium rapidly rising on Woolwich Common.

The Shard at sunset from Shooters Hill

And the Shard has also been rapidly rising, further away on the horizon. The Shard has come in for criticism from some commenters, but I feel a kind of affinity that started when I used to walk past the building site on my way to work, often pausing to watch the long, slow work of boring and excavating the foundations and then, later, astounded at how quickly it grew.

Like previous bloggers on this site I welcome comments and suggestions.

Doctor Pangloss is discussing. Toggle Comments
- Doctor Pangloss 11:41 pm on October 17, 2011 Permalink | Reply
  
  It is a great thing that you have taken the e-Shooters Hill baton. Blogging can be fairly hard work, but immensely rewarding for you and your community.
  
  All best wishes from The Shire.
10:58 pm on October 17, 2011
Tags: photos, shard, views (2), woolwich (19)
Views of and from the hill

Twilight on Shooters Hill

There’s been some interesting hill related action on flickr lately, but unfortunately it’s of the look but don’t touch variety, so instead of being added to the site header, here are some links – i hope they stay up.

Shooters Hill (with tower bridge in the foreground)

10:57 pm on August 21, 2010
Tags: photos, SE18 (28), views (2)
New Kid on the Hill

A new photo chronicler of shooters hill life has just appeared on flickr, and although he’s only added a couple of bus photos and one of a ferocious looking fox, it’s always nice to see pictures by someone whose ability to catch a moving target is equally matched by their ability to get up early. His collection has been liberally cloned and are on heavy rotation in the headers at the moment.

By the way, Aperture (Woolwich Photographic) have recently announced their free summer programme on their excellent blog.

hilly, and Plummy Mummy are discussing. Toggle Comments
- Plummy Mummy 1:46 pm on June 19, 2010 Permalink | Reply
  
  Is there any way to see all the photos you use for your header. I really like them and would like to look at them in one go every now and again.
  - hilly 8:19 pm on June 20, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    
    yes, we have the technology in the form of an excellent plugin which required minimal intervention by myself:
    http://e-shootershill.co.uk/header. it’s also quite important as that’s how the original sources get acknowledged.
9:13 pm on June 13, 2010
Tags: photos