We had stalls and activities aimed at children as well as the promenade walk along the heritage trail.

We were delighted that children who had taken part in the schools story-telling project and the Art in the Park workshops came along as well as people who had helped to make the heritage trail.

We estimate about 300 came along and took part in the launch activities: children’s races, flag making, brick making, popcorn and lemonade stall and heritage stall displaying more materials. Plus, there were more people who stopped to examine our pop-up map exhibition hanging in the trees.

Thank you so much to everyone who took part. We couldn’t have completed this project without your enthusiasm, energy and expertise. Well done to all.

You can read more about what happened on the launch day here.

7 June 2014

With fascinating talks delivered by our three leading published local historians – Stephen Humphrey, John Beasley and Tim Charlesworth – and a healthy hubbub of shared memories and stories, there was much to enjoy – not to mention photos, maps and refreshments.

The Friends are currently developing a heritage trail to be launched later this year, and would love to hear from you if you’re interested in getting involved.

Please contact: friendsofburgesspark@gmail.com

Listening to stories from the past involved a bit of ukulele and role play. After each story-walk, the pupils went back to the classroom to develop their creative writing skills. Their work will be incorporated into our future heritage walk.

The storytelling walk helped the children discover what the park would have been like before and after the war. They had to imagine the park as it would have been – full of houses, shops, factories and a canal. The storytelling sessions involved lots of role play, singing, creative writing, tasting and smells!

See more pictures of the children touring the park.

The traditional craft workshops run by Friends of Burgess Park as part of their history project Bridge to Nowhere were greeted with  enthusiasm and a desire to learn craft skills – especially knitting. The word got about and well over 30 people took part on the last day, with 100 participants over the three days. Local people got the chance to try out traditional hand sewing, embroidery and knitting, and canal style art. Most of the people taking part were born long after the canal closed, but were interested to learn more about it. The local residents are definitely keen to develop their craft skills to show and sell their work in the future.

Find out more about the workshops.

Over three days, participants got the chance to try out traditional hand sewing, embroidery and knitting , and on the last day, to have a go at canal style art. Most of the people taking part were born long after the canal closed, but were interested to learn more about it through the art work reference materials.

Jowett Street Park sits next to what was a spur of the Grand Surrey Canal which ran to Peckham from the Surrey Docks. It was a lovely friendly setting for the event. We were blessed with great weather and the support of Quadron staff who brought along the tables and gazebo each day. We were also very grateful to The Sojourner Truth Centre who allowed use of their facilities. A big thank you to them and to all the hard working volunteers.

Useful links

Fabric shop in Lewisham
https://rollsandrems.com/

For just about everything you need for crafts
https://www.homecrafts.co.uk/Sewing-and-Haberdashery/

Lovely site showing you all the embroidery stitches
https://www.embroidery.rocksea.org/

Please contact: friendsofburgesspark@gmail.com 

For the past few years, Friends of Burgess Park have organised open air film screenings in the park. In August 2013, our film choices reflected our focus on the past, with classic The Italian Job featuring local boy Michael Caine. Alongside the main film we also showed historical footage of the area. Our second film night (with additional funding) looked forward to the future, showing Inception together with a locally-made short about the development of the newly-opened BMX track in Burgess Park.

Check out details of the 2014 Film Screenings here