That’s all for The Greenwich Wire in 2024 after an incredibly busy year. Site founder and editor DARRYL CHAMBERLAIN looks back at the past 12 months.
Another year done and we’re all still here. How do we do it? Well, The Greenwich Wire is only here because lots of very kind readers pay into it, so if that’s you, thank you.
Thank you too to the 1,800 people who read this website by email. In these days when social media serves up what the tech giants want you to see, rather than what you want to see, it’s good to know that there’s an audience for this stuff. Yes, you can sign up for those emails too…
Also, thank you to those who have tipped us off about things and trusted us with your stories – even if I couldn’t run them. We try to offer original news you won’t read elsewhere, trying to get answers for you, reporting rather than ranting, being transparent about who I am and what I do, and helping you be more informed about life in our part of southeast London. I hope we’re succeeding.
It’s been a good year for The Greenwich Wire – we’ve had heaps of original stories and set the pace for larger, better-funded rivals to follow. On the resources we have – and I’m putting this piece together at 2.10am on New Year’s Eve after working a shift in another job that enables me to do this one – I don’t think that’s a bad result.
Every year, another bit of the old legacy press falls into the sea. A big chunk fell off this year with the loss of the nightly Evening Standard – something that caused much wailing from journalists but was met with a shrug from most Londoners.
(As for the weekly London Standard replacement, it’s so strange that you fear for the future of the Standard’s website, which does a decent job.)
The mad old Standard had to die to force a reckoning with how poorly-served London is by our media – and in great new entrants like London Centric, London Spy and The London Minute round-up, we’ve got glimpses of how good things could really be at a city-wide level.
But like The Greenwich Wire, all are fragile. And below the London-wide level, there’s still very little day-to-day journalistic scrutiny of many of the 32 boroughs – pretty much none in the boroughs surrounding Greenwich, and just me doing it part-time here. And that’s despite the subsidies and other help given to the large publishers.
I say something like this every year, but I can’t emphasise enough how crazy this situation is. It’s broken. We have a new government who can help redress the balance, but I’m not sure they fully understand the situation. Not yet, anyway.
But readers’ support helps keep this site going. I’m pleased that together, we’ve done our bit to fill some of the gap.
I’m also grateful for support from the Public Interest News Foundation – whose Indie News Week we took part in and won a £1,400 grant through – as well as the Independent Community News Network and the nascent London Newsmakers group.
The tech giants largely drive visits to websites these days so many of our top 20 most-read stories are about things that were already vaguely out there rather than out-and-out scoops, or things that appeal to search engine users. “Is the Blackwall Tunnel closed this weekend?” covers both sides of things.
Six years ago few were interested in the Silvertown Tunnel and fewer could find it on a map, now regional websites up and down the country are doing clickbait stories on its tolls so drivers in Birmingham can be enraged.
So stories like the daft row between Greenwich and Newham councils over the Woolwich Foot Tunnel, for example, tend not to feature, even though that was original reporting that took some work and had some impact. But knocking up a TfL press release in five minutes flat can earn heaps of page views. It’s frustrating, but that’s the way of the world – the trick is to find a balance between both.
Sometimes, though, the top story can surprise you…
1. Catford Mews closes as Lewisham borough’s only cinema repossessed (October 29)
Yes, a Lewisham story topped the chart. The closure of Catford Mews was felt far and wide. What happened there sits on top of a wider puzzle about why plans to regenerate SE6 are taking such a long time – but as Lewisham has no news outlet of its own at present, locals aren’t really getting many answers. (Any hacks in the area who fancy tackling the Catford conundrum, get in touch.) We’ll hopefully find out in the new year if Catford will get its cinema back, for now a community cafe is picking up some of the slack.
2. Blackwall Tunnel stays open this weekend — but closures coming in February and March (January 24) – plus heaps of other largely identical stories
The various closures of the Blackwall Tunnel brought in a huge number of readers via Google. It’s not clear if any more shutdowns will be needed before the Silvertown Tunnel opens, which is likely to be March.
3. Rush-hour LTN to curb traffic in Greenwich and Blackheath, council confirms (March 2) Readers of The Greenwich Wire readers knew from the start that the council was going to have another go at tackling traffic problems either side of the park. Everyone had made their mind up by then whether or not this was a good idea.
4. Blackwall Tunnel and Silvertown Tunnel tolls signed off by TfL’s board (December 4)
Our readers saw this one coming too – tolls were in the plans a decade ago when they were signed off by Boris Johnson. Some of the tunnel’s loudest backers didn’t see the charges on the horizon, though. We did warn you…
5. Greenwich’s LTN: Warnings before fines as low-traffic scheme starts (November 27)
Email from me to the council press office at 4pm on November 26: “Are you really sure you’re going to start fining people tomorrow? There are hardly any signs up.” The low-traffic neighbourhood became a saga before the first fines were issued.
6. Lewisham’s ‘pop-up village’ to be dismantled after eight years (September 17)
I didn’t expect this one to be so popular – distinctive ‘pop-up’ blocks on the site of the old Ladywell swimming baths, once seen as part of the solution to the housing crisis, are to be taken down because they’re too worn out to be used elsewhere.
7. Greenwich and Blackheath’s part-time LTN will start in late November (October 25)
As we know by now, the first fines won’t be issued until Thursday – although I’m awaiting confirmation that this will actually be the case. I can’t help feeling the council has no real clue of the seismic change to people’s lives that restricting traffic in that particular area could bring. Lots of people will have to break habits they picked up decades ago, perhaps when they were residents here but moved away long ago, so have lost touch with what’s happening and quite why this is being introduced. If you have a strong view on this, take a deep breath and spare a thought for those who’ll be having the opposite experience.
8. Cutty Sark DLR station ‘left in shameful state’ by private operator (April 3)
The state of Cutty Sark station has been an embarrassment for some years. A petition launched just before Christmas is aiming to shift the embarrassment away from the people of Greenwich town centre towards TfL and City Hall, where it belongs.
9. Elizabeth Line closure to hit Woolwich and Abbey Wood travel this weekend (November 11) Even new railways need a bit of TLC from time to time.The Liz Line’s teething problems eased during 2024, apart from a couple of spectacular failures later in the year. Just think: there are people moving to Woolwich and Abbey Wood now who have no clue of what life there was like before it arrived, whose mental maps of our area will be completely different to yours. And the biggest changes – long-overdue property development – are yet to come.
10. Rugby’s Wasps linked with move to Charlton’s Valley (September 4)
Funny one, this – it came from a report in The Times, but that’s behind a paywall and we’re not. Nobody would comment on this, but considering the state of The Valley’s pitch this Christmas, most Addicks fans will be hoping this idea has gone away.
11. Blackheath tea hut stays in Lewisham after move to Greenwich flushed away (March 21)
I love this story, because I didn’t write it – it came from Anna Schriewersmann, a journalism student at the University of West London who did a few stories to get some experience of local reporting. It was a pleasure to have her on board, and she came up trumps with this great story following up a piece I did four years ago after the last tea hut was destroyed in a crash.
12. Millwall set to be given green light to build homes around The Den (May 2)
Not really a Greenwich story, but one that’s significant for many SE Londoners – Millwall’s future at The Den secured after years of doubt. Sadly, we can’t say the same for Charlton and The Valley at the moment…
13. Blackheath rail tunnel closing for 10 weeks as boost to Southeastern Metro trains confirmed (March 1)
This one was revealed at the once-a-year meeting when Greenwich councillors quiz the transport operators. Another closure is due to come this summer.
14. Cash-strapped Greenwich Council to put car parks up for sale (October 9)
Money’s tight, times are hard… but these car parks are quite well used. It’s another one where you think of the council, “do you even know your own borough?” Either that, or there’s a panicky fire sale going on, and nobody really wants to admit to it. I suspect the latter.
15. Meantime brewery to move from Greenwich to west London (March 6)
This was a sad loss for many, even if they couldn’t remember the last time they drank a Meantime beer (or saw one on sale locally).
16. Blur’s Parklife on the Greenwich Peninsula – 30 years on (August 9)
It was heartening to see such a good response to this – I just wish I’d taken a camera with me when I stumbled across the filming on my birthday all those years ago.
17. Artfix café quits Woolwich after row with town centre landowner (June 27)
The arrival of Artfix seven years ago seemed to signal that Woolwich was turning a corner, so it was disheartening to see it go. There are some whispers that it may make a comeback – we’ll have to wait and see.
18. Greenwich Council shells out £87m on new homes from developers — including controversial Woolwich block (January 5)
A big expansion of the council’s housing programme included taking on part of the Greenwich Millennium Village and buying a nearly-finished block in Woolwich. Expect more deals like this as the council scrambles to cut its waiting list.
19. Greenwich Council houses approved for ‘village green’ in Blackheath (March 22)
Of all the planning stories this year, the biggest turned out to be one on a little street tucked away in a corner of Blackheath.
20. Greenwich Equestrian Centre sale condemned by sport’s governing body (December 6) Plans to flog part of the borough’s Olympic legacy would confirm that there really is a fire sale on at the council. As ever, a lack of openness, honesty and transparency about the issue won it opponents rather than friends. A call-in meeting about will be held next week.
Bubbling under: Lewisham’s mayoral election, The Valley ‘fan zone’, Euro 2024 at the O2, GreenWitch, Banksy.
What’s coming up in 2025?
The biggest individual story will be the opening of the Silvertown Tunnel – the biggest change to Greenwich’s local road network for nearly 40 years. What’s more, the last time London’s road river crossings were expanded, All You Need is Love by The Beatles was at number one.
The tunnel is likely to open in March – contracts for the buses that will run through it begin on March 1 and TfL’s financial estimates include some toll income for the financial year ending in early April.
For those who are unhappy about the tunnel, it’ll be a strange moment. The £2 billion question – will it screw up the roads? Probably not immediately, but TfL has form for underestimating demand for cross-river travel (think back to the Woolwich DLR extension) – the real reckoning will come in the months and years after. Watch southbound traffic in the evenings for an early clue. We’ll also have the first fines as a result of the Greenwich and Blackheath low-traffic neighbourhood – which could actually benefit from the tunnel’s opening.
But the theme of 2025 may well be more austerity at the town hall – with this year’s cuts taking effect, and more cuts to be unveiled in the coming weeks. It’s not going to be pretty. A rare piece of good council news could be the opening of the Woolwich leisure centre, still scheduled for the autumn.
We’ll find out what a planning inspector thinks of Greenwich Council’s demand to tear down the Mast Quay towers in Woolwich – we were the only local outlet to report from the public inquiry – while other planning issues to come are likely to include revised Morden Wharf plans for Greenwich and Faraday Works by the Thames Barrier.
We’ll do our best to keep on top of what happens. In the meantime, have a fantastic new year.
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