Newham Planning and Historic Environment Tour

I've been meaning to post on this for a while. Last month I went on a bus tour of Newham Conservation areas and listed buildings with other Councillors.

Newham has 9 conservation areas and 114 listed buildings or groups of buildings. The oldest dating from the 12th Century.

Pictured in the collage include East Ham and Stratford Town Hall, a memorial to victims of the Titanic, the entrance to City of London Cemetery, historic railways stations, the Red House (no known socialist connection except it was once the home of a Mr Tuthill, the manufacturer of early trade union banners!) and the workers memorial statute in Three Mills Green (which isn't currently listed because it is less than 30 years old but I am looking into applying for this status because of the memorial flagstones around it which are)

Highlight of the tour was the Norman St Mary Magdalene Church in East Ham where we had a tour by its vicar (and local Councillor!) and Temple Mills.  Near to Temple Mills was the scene of the famous strike in 1972 (Chobham Farm warehouse) which led to the Pentonville Five trade unionists being imprisoned (including Vic Turner who later became Mayor of Newham).

Many thanks to the officers and local volunteers for organising a superb tour. The serious purpose of which was to make us aware of the rather complex and detailed planning regulations regarding historic buildings and conservation areas.

London Marathon 2012 Wk 16: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends"

My run of the week was on Saturday. I went from Forest Gate and through West Ham then on the Greenway towards Temple Mills. Picture to the right is of the beautiful memorial in Three Mills Green remembering the death of 3 workers at this site who died trying to save a work colleague.

"Of your charity pray for the souls of Thomas Pickett, Godfrey Maule Nicholson, Frederick Eliott and Robert Underhill, who lost their lives in a well beneath this spot on 12 July 1901. The first named while in the execution of his duty was overcome by foul air. The three latter successively descending in heroic efforts to save their comrades shared the same death…".

I then ran past Bow Locks and along the Limehouse Cut into Limehouse Basin while listening on headphones to James Corden who was the guest on Desert Island Discs.  He seems a decent bloke. The Cut was largely frozen. I was surprised to see on the way a site full of tanks and armoured vehicles which I assume belonged to some film company. At Limehouse basin I followed the Thames Walk to Canary Wharf then ran past Billingsgate Market and Tower Hamlets Town Hall (Mulberry Place). Across Canning Town flyover and then up into West Ham again then back home. I stopped off at the station to check on a ward problem. The run took about 2 hours 15 minutes and the last 30 minutes were very slow and very sore.

I am running the London marathon in April 2012 while sort of using the official advanced training programme and will be raising funds for Homeless charity for Young People "Alone in London". Click here to sponsor me.