Gordonbrock Carnival

The FOBLC had a stall at the Gordonbrock Carnival on Saturday. Many thanks to all those who stopped by and to those who joined our fast growing membership.

ANNUAL REPORT TO AGM OF FRIENDS of BROCKLEY AND LADYWELL CEMETERIES JUNE 2008

The very first meeting of the group called Friends of Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries took place on 11th July 2007. Its Constitution was adopted on 16th October 2007, and its bank account established in March 2008.
The Friends group is made up of people with varied interests in the two Cemeteries, including grave plots, war graves and memorials, history, flora, fauna and bio-diversity, and a general interest in one of the “green lungs” of Lewisham Borough and London as a whole.
At the end of March 2008, the mailing list stood at 49 names, 13 of which were paid up members of the Friends.

The group launched itself into a flurry of activity, initially meeting every month in order to establish the constitution, and the work that the group would be doing.
For Healthy Brockley in September, the Dissenters’ Chapel was opened for a display of photographs taken within the Cemeteries, with a guided walk exploring the flora and fauna. Cemeteries’ Manager, Colin Burgess, was on hand to assist visitors with the location of graves and memorials.
Two “walkabouts” have been carried out to gain an overview of the different aspects of the Cemeteries, to assess the work that needed to be done, and to start to work out a management plan. This is to assist the cemeteries’ management in its cutting and management regime. This work will be ongoing, based on the 1995 survey by Nick Bertrand, and is expected to lead to a professional evaluation for which funds will have to be raised.
Two “work days” have taken place. The first was a litter-pick on Remembrance Sunday. The second in February, to remove invasive saplings, provoked negative public comments as the Cemeteries are in the recently-extended Brockley Conservation Area. Some people felt that the removal of any flora was detrimental to the Cemeteries and its wildlife. A Conservation Area Planning Application relating to the removal of invasive species of tree and other plants was submitted by the Council Officer responsible for Crematoria and Cemeteries, Shirley Bishop, to the Council’s Planning Office. A committee of councillors approved that application, so that future work can now take place without further planning permission. Of course, any future work planned by the Friends will take place only in close liaison with the Cemeteries’ management.

The Council’s Bio-diversity and Ecology Officer, Nick Pond, gave an informative talk to the group, both about his work and the challenges which lie ahead in the management of a working cemetery and a recognised Grade One Nature Conservation site.

The Friends successfully applied to the Council Localities’ Fund for a grant for noticeboards. These are to advertise the existence and work of the Group, and will be placed at the two main entrances to the Cemeteries. Initial research showed that perhaps the most suitable type of boards were outside the budget of £1000. Research is continuing, with any installation being dependant on a granting of Conservation Area planning permission.

A website and lively blogspot has been quickly established, managed by Patrick Napier, giving the public and members ready access to photographs and news. Several contacts have already been made by this means.

I would like to thank members for their enthusiasm in the still early days of this Friends group; also to Jeff Hart, the Co-ordinator of Friends Of Nunhead Cemetery for his help and guidance, and to Nick Pond for his advice; also to Colin Burgess and Shirley Bishop, the Council Officers responsible for the Cemeteries for their co-operation both in the past year, and looking to the future; and to Cllrs. Sue Luxton and Mike Keogh for being the catalysts for the establishment of the Friends group, and for their continuing support.


Geoffrey Thurley
Chair

Our first ever AGM

The Friends of Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries are nearly a year old and are delighted to be having our first AGM on June 17th.

The meeting will be held at 7.30pm at the Brockley Grove Depot, Brockley Grove,
opposite Crofton Park Baptist Church/ Huxbear Street, London SE4.

To see the Agenda click here

Ernest Dowson Contemporary Art Project

Six degrees of decadence: 31^st May - 7^th June 2008

Throughout the week of Brockley Max, Jam Circus will play host to Six degrees of decadence a new digital-based art project based on the life and works of the Poet Ernest Dowson which playfully explores ideas of connection, truth, history and technology.

Dowson was an English poet, novelist and writer of short stories associated with the Decadent movement and is buried in Brockley Cemetery just a few hundred yards from there. As a contributor to the 'Yellow Book' and 'Savoy' magazines of the 1890s and a member of the Rhymers' Club, he worked and socialised with better-known contemporaries such as Oscar Wilde and WB Yeats, and the artist Aubrey Beardsley, who illustrated several of Dowson's works. Despite such renowned acquaintances Dowson's own life mirrored Yeats' idea of 'the tragic generation' - destined for failure and in many cases early death - with Dowson dying penniless in 1900, aged 32.

The larger part of Dowson's life and works remain unknown to most people, however both he and his writing inspired many other people, words and works. This is the starting point of Six degrees of decadence.

Throughout the week they will trace some of the associations and influences of Dowson using the password for Jam Circus' wireless network. Each day the password will be changed to reveal a another Dowson connection. By logging onto the wireless network there you will be taking part in a collaboration that ultimately produces a new visual artwork; specific to Jam Circus, the week and the amount of time that you spend connected to the network. As with Dowson, what you choose to use the network for remains invisible to people, but the time you spend connected will impact upon the final work.

This is the first off-site art project of Tea Leaf Arts and the start of a series of commissions and public artworks that aims to engage broader audiences in the making, understanding and enjoyment of contemporary art using everyday technologies and places.

FOBLC stall at Nunhead Cemetery Open Day

The FOBLC had a stall at the Nunhead Open Day on Sunday, and was successful in gaining new members as well as creating awareness of our new group.

Ernest Dowson

FOBLC member Mike Guilfoyle is campaigning to get Lewisham council to recognise one of its most remarkable residents by naming a street after Ernest Dowson. Here Mike writes about the 'decadent' poet who lies buried in the Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries, with a bottle of absinthe by his grave to keep him company.

One of the most pleasurable spin-offs of having recently joined FOBLC was stumbling upon two of author Jad Adams books, one on the life & times of Victorian poet and writer, Ernest Dowson ( born Lee 1867- died Catford1900) 'Madder Music, Stronger Wine' and 'Hideous Absinthe' a biography of the 'Green Fairy' ( as Absinthe is popularly known). Ernest Dowson is buried in the cemetery, and was noted for his fondness for the drink. 'Indeed his racy observation, that 'absinthe makes the tart grow fonder' perhaps says something of why he was referred to as one of the 'decadent poets'. Being a depressive alcoholic laid low by consumption certainly appears to have resulted in his tragically early death aged 33 years. His other timeless but most quoted and borrowed lyrics, include' 'gone with the wind', days of wine and roses' and 'a stranger in a strange land'. He is even attributed as having coined the first known reference to 'soccer' ( socca). He was one of the very few friends who stood by the ailing playwright, Oscar Wilde, then living in exile in Paris. Jad Adams concluding line in his sympathetic biography is ' life presented him with suffering, and he returned it with beauty'. I was shocked to discover that within the borough , no existing street names as yet memorialise or celebrate his name. Although I have been assured via the Council that when new Lewisham street names are being researched that this situation might change. Ernest Dowson deserves to be better known today. Lets hope that this 'Morrissey' of his day is at least in the running for posthumous recognition, as one of the finest poets of the romantic late Victorian period.

Unseasonal snow covers the cemeteries on April 6th