BBC Radio 4’s “Any Questions?” To be Broadcast During The General Election from Eltham’s Gordon Primary School

PRESS RELEASE no: 2015/03

25th March 2015

Gordon Primary School and The Progress Residents Association are delighted to announce that BBC Radio 4's Any Questions? will be broadcast live from the School on Friday, 17th April as part of the Progress Estate's 2015 centenary celebrations.   Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., from which time questions may be submitted.   The broadcast will start at 8:00 p.m. and end at 8:50 p.m., after which everyone attending (including the BBC's Team and the Panelists) is invited to remain behind for refreshments.

The broadcast is expected to take place during the 2015 General Election campaign.   Due to our proximity to London, we are hopeful the panel will include well-known politicians.

Although tickets are free, seating in the School’s Hall is limited.   Places may be booked by calling or texting one’s name, phone number and the number of tickets required to 07599 610262 or by emailing the same information to 2015tickets@gmail.com.   Tickets are to be collected on the day, at the door.

Those wanting details of all the Association’s 2015 events should click click on ‘2015 Ticketing info’.

PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS   There will be an opportunity for the press to take photographs of the panel during the warm-up session that starts at 7:30 p.m.   Photographs cannot be taken once the broadcast is underway.   Electronic photographs of the presenter, Jonathan Dimbleby, are available by email from pictures@bbc.co.uk or via the website www.bbcpictures.co.uk.   Photographers should make contact with the BBC’s producer when they arrive.   Members of the press who wish to stay for the broadcast must apply for tickets, as described above.

Note for Editors:

Originally named the Well Hall Estate, The Progress Estate was built in 1915 to provide housing for the many additional workers the Woolwich Arsenal needed to manufacture the armaments required by the services during the First World War.   Conservation Area status was granted in 1975, in recognition of its unique architectural character.

For additional information, please contact:

Keith Billinghurst

Progress Residents Association committee member

56 Arsenal Road

Eltham

London  SE9 1JY

tel: 020 8856 5593 or 07962 877389

email:               TheProgressEstate@Gmail.com

Twitter:             @ProgressEstate

Website:           www.progressestate.co.uk

Mayor To Open Progress Residents Association's Inaugural Centennial Event

PRESS RELEASE no: 2015/02

25th February 2015

PROGRESS HALL, ELTHAM SE9 1SL 

Mayor Mick Hayes

SATURDAY 21st MARCH 2:00 

The Progress Residents Association is delighted to announce that the Mayor of the Royal Borough of
Greenwich, Councillor Mick Hayes and the Mayoress, Mrs. Gillian Hayes, have accepted its invitation to attend its inaugural Centenary Year event.

The afternoon’s speakers are Russell Bowes, a prominent lecturer on Garden History, and BBC2’s Big Allotment Challenge growing expert Jim Buttress.   

Doors open at 1:30 p.m.   Tea/coffee/cakes will be served during the interval and the afternoon will include a raffle.   There will be a stall selling seasonal plants, supported by B&Q’s Eltham store, along with another selling herbs and herbal products.    

THIS IS A FREE EVENT although people are asked to apply for tickets so we have an idea of numbers for catering purposes.   There is also a maximum number of people the Hall can sit.   Call or text your name, phone number and the number of tickets you would like to 07599 610262 or email the same information to 2015tickets@gmail.com. 

Note for Editors:

Originally named the Well Hall Estate, The Progress Estate was built in 1915 to provide housing for the many additional workers the Woolwich Arsenal needed to manufacture the armaments required by the services during the First World War.   Conservation Area status was granted in 1975, in recognition of its unique architectural character.

For additional information, please contact:

Keith Billinghurst

Progress Residents Association committee member

56 Arsenal Road

Eltham

London  SE9 1JY

tel: 020 8856 5593 or 07962 877389

email:               TheProgressEstate@Gmail.com

Twitter:             @ProgressEstate

Website:           www.progressestate.co.uk

The Progress Estate Reaches its 100th Birthday

This, the first of our 2015 Newsletters, provides everyone with details of our first three celebratory events.

Below, you will find details of each. We ask that people apply for tickets, even for free events, for two reasons.   Firstly, it will help us with catering.   Secondly, fire regulations determine the maximum number of people for each venue.

Subsequent Newsletters will give details of the events being held later in the year.

For those with computers or smart phones (including computer access at Eltham Library), the very best way of making sure you receive these details is to:

- write to us at theprogressestate@gmail.com, providing us with your email address, or

- ‘like’ us on Facebook (100 years of the Progress Estate 1915 -2015), or

- follow us on Twitter @progressestate.

Be awarded a Beautiful Gardens certificate by Jim Buttress 

Guest judges will be looking at front gardens on our Estate throughout the year and the owners of the best will be presented with their certificates by Jim Buttress, former Royal Gardener and presenter of BBC Two’s The Big Allotment Challenge, at our AGM and Christmas Social on Saturday, 12th December.   

Jim will also be talking at our first event, the Garden Talk and plant sale, on Saturday 21st March so you could get a head start by coming to hear what he has to say.

Do you know a Good Neighbour?

During the year, we will also be seeking nominations for our Nominate a Good Neighbour scheme.   Its purpose is to give a public Thank-You to those people who devote time to helping others.   Those nominated will be invited to receive recognition of the assistance they provide, again at our AGM and Christmas Social on Saturday, 12th December. 

We will not of course announce or publish anybody’s name without their prior approval, because we know that many of these people do not seek recognition for what they do.

SATURDAY, 21st MARCH 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.

PROGRESS HALL, ADMIRAL SEYMOUR ROAD, SE9 1SL

RUSSELL BOWES: DIG FOR VICTORY AND JIM BUTTRESS OF BBC TWO’S THE BIG ALLOTMENT CHALLENGE 

Russell lives locally.   He will talk about the 1940’s when gardens saw clematis give way to cabbage, the Land Girls who helped to put food on the nation’s tables, the advice and propaganda given to gardeners and why Enid Blyton's rabbit was called "Stew".

Jim is a London Gardens Society committee member and a leading gardening authority.   Formerly a royal gardener, he is the growing expert on the Big Allotment Challenge.   He was superintendent of the Royal Parks for 25 years and has been awarded the Royal Horticultural Society’s Victoria Medal of Honour.

Refreshments, a raffle with a garden theme and plant cuttings on sale.

Please bring any cuttings or unwanted plants.    For help transporting them, please call 07947 043479.

Free tickets are available by calling or texting 07599 610262 or by email to 2015tickets@gmail.com.   

Please state your name, phone number, the Event’s name and the number of tickets you require. 

FRIDAY, 17th APRIL 6:30 – 8:50 p.m.

GORDON PRIMARY SCHOOL, GRANGEHILL ROAD, SE9 1QG

BBC RADIO 4’s ANY QUESTIONS?

A live broadcast during the 2015 General Election campaign.   The panel is expected to include well known politicians.   All questions are from the audience, on the night.

Wine and non-alcoholic refreshments will be available after the broadcast

We strongly recommend people pre-book tickets in order to avoid disappointment.  Please call or text 07599 610262 or email to 2015tickets@gmail.com stating your name, phone number, the Event’s name and the number of tickets you require.   

FRIDAY 22nd MAY 7:30 – 9:30 P.M.

PROGRESS HALL, ADMIRAL SEYMOUR ROAD, SE9 1SL

AN EVENING WITH OUR PATRON AND ANTIQUES ROADSHOW EXPERT JOHN SANDON

John will entertain us with anecdotes from the Roadshow.   Everyone is invited to bring along one item of china or porcelain for him to value.

Refreshments, and a raffle.

Tickets, £7.50/£6.00 concessions, are available by calling or texting 07599 610262 or by email to 2015tickets@gmail.com.   Please state your name, phone number, the Event’s name and the number of full price and/or concessionary tickets you require.   Payment at the door, either in cash or by cheque supported by a debit card (no credit cards please).

Summer Fete on Lovelace Green

The Progress Residents Association 2015 Committee is a small group of local volunteers who have planned events to celebrate the Progress Estate’s centenary.

On the 25th July 2015 we will be holding a Summer Fete on Lovelace Green in the estate.

This event will include Stalls, Food, Live Entertainment and lots of fun.

Would you be interested in having a stall at the event? 

Please contact us on the details below to confirm you would like to attend, we will need to know your stall size and any other special requirements you may have. Please note we cannot supply electricity for your stall. You may charge guests and the event for products or services. 

We will not charge stall holders to attend the event. As you can appreciate organising this event is costly, a donation from stall holders of any amount towards the expense would be greatly appreciated.

If you wish to sell or give away food we will need to see a copy of your food hygiene licence prior to the event.

If you have any questions associated with this or any of our events please do not hesitate to contact us via email details below. We hope that you will be able to support us in this way and we look forward to hearing from you.

The Progress Residents Association 2015 Committee
TheProgressEstate@gmail.com

Cover of an Early Well Hall Estate Prospectus

Historian Andrew Simpson flagged this gem after seeing this in the February issue of the Eltham Society Newsletter describing the Well Hall Estate (as The Progress Estate was known then) as "A Delightful Residential Locality"

Cover of an Early Well Hall/Progress Estate Prospectus

We are hoping that further pages of the Prospectus are still around, so they can be shared here.

Free Gardens and Garden History Talk

PRESS RELEASE no: 2015/01    

6th February 2015

With Russell Bowes and Jim Buttress
At the Progress Hall, SE9 1SL
Saturday 21st March 1400 - 1600 (Doors Open at 1330)

Spring is a time of regrowth.   Bulbs are already pushing their leafy noses through the soil, harbingers of the exciting things to come - primroses, daffodils, tulips, roses, hardy annuals, geraniums, fuchsias, dahlias and, of course, the wonderful colours of autumn.   Many of the plants we grow today were gracing gardens 100 years ago.   Fruit and vegetables can look just as good and have the benefit of providing food on your doorstep.

Russell and Jim will start our centenary ball rolling.   Russell, a prominent lecturer on Garden History, will be talking about how the nation Dug for Victory 75 years ago, reminding us of the role the Land Girls had in feeding the country, how gardens and parks were turned over to vegetable-growing and why Enid Byton’s rabbit was called Stew!

Jim Buttress

Former royal gardener Jim, the judging panel's growing expert on BBC2’s Big Allotment Challenge, is one of the UK’s leading gardening experts. He was superintendent of the Royal Parks for 25 years and his clients have included Her Majesty the Queen and his old friend the Queen Mother.   He will answer questions on any aspect of gardening anyone cares to ask.

THIS IS A FREE EVENT although people are asked to apply for tickets so we have an idea of numbers for catering purposes.   There is also a maximum number of people the Hall can sit.   Please call or text your name, phone number and the number of tickets you would like to 07599 610262 or email the same information to 2015tickets@gmail.com. 

Note for Editors:

Originally named the Well Hall Estate, The Progress Estate was built in 1915 to provide housing for the many additional workers the Woolwich Arsenal needed to manufacture the armaments required by the services during the First World War.   Conservation Area status was granted in 1975, in recognition of its unique architectural character.

For additional information, please contact:

Keith Billinghurst

Progress Residents Association committee member

56 Arsenal Road

Eltham

London  SE9 1JY

tel: 020 8856 5593 or 07962 877389

email:               TheProgressEstate@Gmail.com

Twitter:             @ProgressEstate

Website:           www.progressestate.co.uk

Downman Road

Downman Road

Rear of 23-26 Sandby Green - Bomb Damage

Rear of 23-26 Sandby Green

Phineas Pett Road

Phineas Pett Road

Lovelace Green

Lovelace Green - West Side - 1968

29 - 33 Lovelace Green - 1968

37-39 Lovelace Green dated 1968 (via Tricia Leslie)

Lovelace Green

Lovelace Green

Lovelace Green

Lovelace Green

29, 31 and 33 Lovelace Green (artist unknown)

Lovelace Green Summer Fete July 2015 Ⓒ Daniel Murphy

Lovelace Green Summer Fete July 2015 Ⓒ Daniel Murphy

Lovelace Green Summer Fete July 2015 Ⓒ Daniel Murphy

Brome Road

2 Brome Road - Bomb Damage

Progress Estate - Paths

Progress Estate

Progress Estate

Progress Estate

Moira Road

Moira Road

Moira Road

Moira Road looking east 1968

Some Significant Dates in the History of The Progress Estate

Keith Billinghurst highlights some events in the Estate’s history

1895
The Bexleyheath railway line opened on 1st May. It ran from Dartford to Blackheath where it interconnected with the North Ken to London line. Well Hall station (replaced in 1985 by the current Eltham station) was one of its six intermediate stations.

1910
The Tram service started between Woolwich and Eltham via Well Hall Road. The fare was 1d each way.

1914
Great Britain declared war on Germany on 4th August. By November, Woolwich was running out of houses due to the expansion of employment at the Royal Arsenal, the numbers of army recruits quartered in the town and the removal of families from married quarters.

1915
The Royal Arsenal expanded its workforce to 22,631 by January. This was more than double the 10,866 it had employed in August, 1914. Woolwich Borough Council were reluctant to build additional houses themselve




s, for fear they would be bound to maintain them after the war was over when the numbers employed at The Royal Arsenal were expected to fall back to peacetime levels. They brought the problem to the attention of Will Crooks, the Town’s Member of Parliament, in December, 1914. The Housing Act, 1914, had been passed on 10th August as a wartime measure. It permitted the Local Government Board to acquire land and build homes ‘for the convenience of persons belonging to the working classes’ for so long as the war endured.  Crooks’ intervention
persuaded the Board to build the Estate (then known as the Well Hall Estate and referred to in government accounts as the Woolwich Housing Scheme). The site was chosen for three reasons:

1. The land upon which the authorities wished to build the Estate was the nearest potentially available land to The Royal Arsenal of adequate acreage. They had experience of dealing with the landowner since Well Hall Road had been widened and straightened to build the 1910 tram service.
2. The tram service itself would convey workers to and from The Royal Arsenal.
3. The existence of the railway station at Well Hall meant it was logistically possible to deliver to the site the vast quantity of building materials that would be required in a short space of time.  

On 19th January, Frank Baines, Chief Architect at HM Ministry of Works, sent plans for the Estate ‘as a matter of extreme urgency’ to the London County Council’s Superintending Architect.  Construction work began on 8th February.

On 22nd, May, Mr & Mrs Sidney Aylward, moved into 238 (now 318) Well Hall Road, thus becoming the first people to live on the Estate.  Estate bricklayer Harry Crook died on 1st July as a result of injuries sustained when he fell from scaffolding.

All homes were completed before the year–end. At 31st December, only 50 were without tenants.

1916
On 24th March, Queen Mary arrived unannounced at 2 Broughton Road (now 496 Rochester Way) en route from Buckingham Palace to The Royal Arsenal where she was to visit the ladies working in the munitions factory.  

During the early hours of 25th August, bombs dropped from Zeppelin L321 demolished a house in Well Hall Road, killing the three residents outright.

1925
His Majesty’s Ministry of Works sold the Estate on 8th June to the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society for £375,000 and it was re-named The Progress Estate. In December, the Society sold about 470 vacant houses for between £500 and 700 each on 99-year leases running from Christmas Day.

1933
The redundant Royal Dockyard Chapel was moved from Woolwich to Rochester Way. It was consecrated as St Barnabus Church by the bishop of Southwark, Dr. Parsons, on 7th October.

1935
The Progress Hall was opened by Mr J. Shepard of the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society General Committee on 4th November.

1936
The Odeon cinema (subsequently renamed the Coronet) opened on 20th April, admission price 2d.

1940
High explosive bombs fell in Well Hall Road on 15th September, destroying tram tracks and overhead wires.

1941
Two fatal casualties occurred in Lovelace Green during a high-explosive bomb raid on the night of 19th April.

1943
Three people were killed when an incendiary bomb fell in Whinyates Road on 17th January.

1944
St Barnabus Church was gutted by incendiary bombs during an airraid on 2nd March.

1957
St Barnabus Church was rededicated on 22nd June after postwar rebuilding and repairs had been completed.

1971
The Estate was designated a Conservation Area by Greenwich Council’s Planning and Development Committee.

1999
The Inquiry into the Matters Arising from the Death of Stephen Lawrence was published on 19th February.  Requested by Jack Straw, Home Secretary, it made 70 recommendations.

2007
Greenwich Council adopted the Progress Estate Conservation Area Character Appraisal. As a result, home-owners need permission before making any alteration to the external appearance of their properties or removing trees, in order to maintain the visual integrity of the Estate.

2012
Two men were found guilty of the 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence in Well Hall Road, Eltham.

Maudslay Road

Maudslay Road (c1915)

Maudslay Road (c1915)

Maudslay Road (c1915-20)