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By 7:30pm on Saturday 24 March, the Quiz was in full swing. A good time was had by all on our second quiz evening. We had 60 “quizzers” which were split into 9 teams and we also had 9 rounds including an interesting “sweet” round where teams had to identify various types of sweets – either by eating them or smelling them – most teams took the first option ! At the end of the quiz there were just 2 points between “Wizard of “0”s and “Cantium” with the former taking first place. The “Wooden Spoon” award was given to the “Games of Phones” who only had 4 members in their team and still managed a healthy score despite coming last. For a change the raffle prizes were wrapped in brown paper concealing the item so the winners had a surprise gift to open. Our Quiz Master and author was Neil who, despite our sound system producing rather loud noises on odd occasions, managed to preside over the proceeding with just the right amount of joviality needed. Profits from this event go towards maintaining the hall and perhaps to even providing a new sound system for our next quiz evening and future events! The Results Janet Stacey - Membership Secretary & Events Committee
The Christmas Fair was popular again with Sound Alliance & Father Christmas!
The raffle raised over £1800 - all proceeds in aid of the Greenwood Community Centre charity. List of prizes, sponsor and winners here A slide show of photos of the event can be viewed here Our Christmas tree was kindly donated by Chelsfield Turf (see below)
Her funeral took place at St Mary's Church, World's End Lane on Tuesday 28 November 2017 and was packed out with family and friends. Family members gave fond reminiscences of her full and varied life from childhood in the countryside to her six decades in Green Street Green.
Margot Rohan - Village Society Secretary 7 No Trumps, Wizard of O’s and Jean’s Jesters were among some of the teams who recently vied to be local champions at the GSG Village Society Quiz. Held on the 23 September 2017 at the Greenwood Community Centre, the quiz consisted of nine rounds of general knowledge questions that challenged even the most hardened “quiz wiz”.
During the half time break teams munched on some tasty fish and chips, supplied by Seabream in the Crescent, whilst trying to decipher a pictograph featuring 70 rock and roll bands, and competing in a round of heads and tails. With one round of the quiz to go two teams were neck and neck, and in a nail-biting finish, Gaye Bikers on Acid were crowned the winners, with one point separating them from second place, Famous Five. The Events Committee would like to congratulate all those who took part, the winners, and Margaret Lawrence, who was a fabulous Madame Quizmaster and kept energy and excitement levels high throughout. Please look out for further events in 2018 and, as always, we welcome any suggestions or ideas for future activities. Eleanor McIntosh, Entertainment Committee Dot Ryder’s party on Saturday, celebrating 6 decades of commitment to the community of Green Street Green, was well attended by nearly 50 members of the Village Society, as well as Dot’s family and close friends. As she is now in the second half of her 9th decade, she felt she might be slowing down a little, so she has decided to hand over the reins of her role as hall bookings secretary. Local ward Councillor, Keith Onslow, congratulated Dot on her many years of service to the community. He stressed that Bromley Council is keen to encourage volunteering in the borough and realises the valuable contribution people like Dot make. Dot Ryder has been a stalwart member of the Green Street Green Association, more often referred to as the Village Society, since its inception. She belonged to the flower club and the wine club. She was a great wine maker - under her stairs she had a minor brewery and would always offer visitors a drink. She was hall bookings officer for the Greenwood Community Centre and performed this role very proficiently for many years. She also organised a magnificent Christmas hamper for the Christmas raffles. Dot always carried out all her duties in a very quiet way. During WWII she served in the Wrens, where she met her husband, Arthur (who died in recent years) who was in the Royal Navy as a submariner. She is still a member of the Royal British Legion and a staunch member of St Mary’s Church. She remains a very interested and loyal member of our local community; a friend to many who now visit her at home. She always welcomes visitors with a smile and, in spite of her own health problems, never complains and enjoys a good conversation. She still visits the Pop In every month for a friendly chat. Her family is very supportive, with both of her daughters, Pat and Audrey, living locally . Tony Bradley, Honorary President of Green Street Green Village Society, added his own personal memories, including annual visits to Dot’s summer garden parties at her home. Dot was then presented with two large, heart-shaped, terracotta pots containing ‘Dorothy’ rose plants, together with a card signed by everyone. Margot Rohan - Village Society Secretary Greenwood Talks are organised by Green Street Green Village Society - the first one was on 17 April 2014 and the plan is to have 3-4 events each year. The admission cost is £2, including refreshments after each talk. Telephone: 01689 850 668 for tickets. NEXT ONE: TBA 26 February 2015 - 'The Darwin Family' We welcomed Barbara Stevens, our guest speaker at the Greenwood Community Centre. Barbara is a very well-known and respected speaker in our area. She has been a resident of Downe for 48 years and this time she spoke about Charles Darwin and other Downe dwellers. She gave us a potted history about Charles Darwin, his wife Emma (nee Wedgwood) and ten children, which is well documented, and suggested a visit to Down House was always worthwhile. Her talk was very informative, interspersed with her infectious laughter and her knowledge about various locations in Downe Village and who lived in the various properties was of particular interest. This was the third in a series of talks which I have recently arranged for the Village Society. It was a successful evening with nearly 60 people attending. I’m hoping to arrange more talks in the future – so watch this space…………… Alan Garelick - Events Manager, Greenwood Community Centre
22 March 2014 The Village Society now has a Social Calendar sub-committee, to organise a range of presentations to be held at The Greenwood Centre every 2-3 months. The first of these talks, 'Discovering Roman Bromley', will take place on Thursday 17 April at 8pm - you can indicate your intention to attend on Facebook. Dr Brian Philp is Director of ‘The Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit’ (KARU) and has been excavating Roman sites in Bromley and Kent for over five decades. He has lived in the Bromley area since childhood and moved to Green Street Green in 2012. He will be imparting his vast knowledge on Roman Bromley. Refreshments will be provided and tickets are £2, available from Alan Garelick - telephone: 01689 850 668. If you have ideas for future events, or have contacts who would be able to give an interesting presentation, please post information below or email us. 17 April 2014 - 'Discovering Roman Bromley' By 8pm there was standing room only at the Greenwood Community Centre, for the first 'Greenwood Talks' event, 'Discovering Roman Bromley'. Dr Brian Philp MBE spoke authoratively to a rapt audience about his historical excavations over the last five decades. He began with an explanation of the development of the Kent area since the ice age. There was a focus on Roman Britain, followed by the deterioration of our civilisation when the Anglo-Saxons settled here. Medieval Britain lost the advantages of Roman engineering and education which were not really matched until industrialisation in the 19th and 20th century. There have been many interesting archaeological discoveries in our local area over the last fifty years and Dr Philp was able to tell the stories of many of them, from his first-hand experience. He was instrumental in saving the Crofton Roman Villa from obliteration by the building of a car park. A commercial option would have cost £200,000 but Dr Philp and his team excavated the site and covered it under a metal-framed building for a mere £79,999! Another local area of great interest is in Keston, where the discovery of a Roman mausoleum in the grounds of a house owned by Bromley Council led to further discoveries of a Roman villa, a large timber building for storage, a smaller barn and an Anglo-Saxon dwelling. The discovery of a Roman bathhouse in Poverest Road led to excavations revealing an Anglo-Saxon burial ground close by. Dr Philp passed round an impressive flint tool over 100,000 years old, palm-sized but quite heavy and clearly manufactured by an ancient tribesman, despite years buried and smoothed by water. He also showed his first find, a large piece of Roman pottery which he discovered on a dig whilst still a schoolboy at Bromley Grammar School for Boys (in Hayes Lane and now a comprehensive). Finishing his talk, a series of slides showed the various sites during the excavations and the hour seemed over in the blink of an eye. Links to further information about local discoveries and places of interest to visit are listed below: Crofton Roman Villa Keston Roman Tombs Keston Roman Villa Poverest Roman Bathhouse LBB - Poverest Bathhouse Bromley Museum Kent Guided Tours by Dr Philp Council for Kent Archaeology Orpington & District Archaeological Society The Greenwood Centre is currently being refurbished. The outside has been painted. The colour was intended to be a pastel/light greeny-yellow but the outcome appears rather brighter! Does it glow at night?
The heating system has been replaced with a gas fan heater which is wall mounted, providing extra space at the back of the hall, from where the old radiators have been removed. Work is continuing... See photos below (click on images to enlarge): Following a very positive meeting this afternoon with Councillor Keith Onslow and Paul Nevard (Bromley Highways Officer), the Chair, Bob Trott, and Centre Manager, Eddie Sims, the Society is looking forward to an acceptable solution to this situation. Discussions indicate that the Council are considering moving the crossing a little further down towards Waitrose, between the public conveniences and the hall but the effect on the frontage parking on the opposite side of the road, needs to be taken into account.
Subsequently (a number of years ago) the Council moved the pedestrian crossing from its former location, south of Worlds End Lane, to the present one and there has seemingly been no problem until now. The Council's contention that the dropped kerbs cannot be used for vehicle access will also impact on the properties opposite the Greenwood Centre that own the land between the buildings and the pavement, as this is also used for customer parking. In the recent past council officers have discussed the grass area in front of the Greenwood Centre, which gets churned up by cars entering the parking area, without any suggestion of illegality. The Village Association has existed since 1952, owning the Village Hall - including access to the small parking area. The Association eventually 'handed over' the public footpath area to the Council - some time in the 60s, we believe. Of course the Council do not want the expense of moving the pedestrian crossing - but that is what they will need to do. It seems incredible that responsible council officers agreed the resiting of the pedestrian crossing to its present position without considering the legality of using an existing vehicular access to properties
A Freedom of Information request is being submitted to Bromley Council, to discover exactly when the pedestrian crossing was relocated to outside the Greenwood Centre and what considerations were taken into account in the site assessment. However, if this was carried out prior to 1965, it would have been under the Orpington Urban District Council, which may cause some consternation for Bromley officers, and the information may no longer be available.
(If anyone has information regarding this issue - such as when the pedestrian crossing was moved, please add a comment.)
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