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The membership year runs from 1st January, and only costs £6 for individuals £8 for couples or families, and £15 for organisations. Additional voluntary donations are always welcome.
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Council (LBHF)
The Society’s committee is of the view that as part of the renovation work, there is a great opportunity to improve the Bridge to make it better suited to future needs, requiring more space for pedestrians and cyclists, as mentioned in our last article. Our proposal is to widen the pathways to allow safe and satisfactory bidirectional walking on one side, and bidirectional cycling on the other, so that cyclists no longer need to compete with road traffic, significantly improving safety. Currently, because of the somewhat narrow walkways, it’s not possible to safely cycle or even pass easily when walking, certainly not in a wheelchair or buggy. We think this can be done both at modest cost (certainly compared with the 🔗Garden Bridge!) and largely independently of the planned repair works, so as not to lengthen the closure. We have a brief update on repair works at the foot of this article.
The bridge’s narrow pathways for most of the span measure approximately 1.6m, widening at the pillars to approximately 1.8m, but still too narrow for bikes to pass safely (one of the reasons cyclists have to dismount currently), let alone to support social distancing needed now, and possibly in the future. We’ve now looked at the structure in a little detail, and, as shown on the photos here, the pathways are supported by simple cantilevers, apparently bolted on.
Hammersmith Bridge – historical repairs (photo: Keepingthingslocal)
Steelwork underneath the bridge was repaired section by section in the 1970’s, and a new grid of substantial longitudinal girders replaced the originals (pierced where bridge hangers meet the deck). Historic photos (right) show the original, very much less substantial steelwork. Given the scope of the repair works, and amount of money and time to be spent on repairs, there seems little reason not to now consider the attached pathways in more detail, especially if the planned temporary bridge removes the need to keep it open during the works.
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The Council is struggling to finance the upkeep of its school estate, a portfolio which includes over forty primary schools. Limited funds have been available since the government Building Schools for the Future programme was terminated in 2010, and in March last year the Council introduced a “Community Schools Programme”, proposing to finance the improvement works by the building of affordable housing on school grounds. The programme starts with Flora Gardens and Avonmore Primary Schools.
Flora Gardens School Site
We are concerned at the direction of this policy: the unquestionable priority of good public education facilities does not justify the loss of public open space.
Public open space is sacred, it is a rare and precious commodity, and the acceptance of a practice which permanently removes the open space to alleviate a temporary financial shortfall is a mistake: it erodes the quality of our urban surroundings to the detriment of the public realm, and removes potential sites for future social facilities such as youth clubs and provision for the elderly, but also removes spare capacity essential to accommodate the likely increase in space requirements arising from the current review of school standards.
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Twenty-Twenty was named the “Year of the Tree” by the Tree Council, and moments before lockdown, in Davos the World Economic Forum announced the creation of the 🔗One Trillion Tree Initiative, following on from the UN Billion Tree Campaign of 2006. We’re hoping that H&F Council and residents will take the opportunity to participate.
In contrast, while Sheffield is normally noted for heavy industry, recently it became notorious for a rather different kind: the 🔗Sheffield Chainsaw Massacre seemingly more for the convenience of the PFI road maintenance contractor than for the public good, under a plan euphemistically called “Streets Ahead”. The 🔗before and after shots are alarming. Furthermore, Sheffield Council 🔗has been found to have misled residents over the state of some trees.
Here in Hammersmith, we recently praised the council’s street tree planting programme, particularly in the North of the borough, and the associated guerrilla gardening was nominated for an award in 2018. In 2019 however, tree fortunes reversed somewhat, and we had our own mini chainsaw massacre, where a number of street trees were removed by council contractors without notice.
Four were removed in a day at the West end of King Street. A mature tree outside the Sainsburys local was clearly dead, two were young but had died, apparently of neglect, and the 4th (pictured in the background) was partly diseased. The removal on safety grounds is obviously an overriding consideration, however the job was half-done, and nearly a year on, ugly and potentially hazardous metre-high stumps remain littering our pavements, not just in King St. but elsewhere in the borough. We have contacted the council’s arboricultural officer for comment on more than one occasion – so far without response.
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Hammersmith and Fulham Archives want to hear about people’s experiences during the pandemic. Working with our partner charity 🔗UNITED In Hammersmith and Fulham, the Archives is documenting the experience of the coronavirus pandemic of all those who live, work or play in the Borough.
All submissions will be deposited permanently in the Borough Archives as a community memory of this unprecedented time. The Archives staff are seeking selfies with personal stories, photographs featuring empty streets, children’s rainbows, your workplace or shop notices, and artwork or poetry. Details of what sounds like a fascinating community project can be found 🔗here
For those interested in family history, Ancestry Library Edition has kindly been made available remotely to library members during the H&F library closures – details 🔗here
TfL is planning a temporary footbridge parallel to Hammersmith Bridge at the request of H&F Council, to assure pedestrian and cycle transit throughout the repair programme. The aim is to give over the entire Bridge space to the continuing works, with the result that the total closure time could be reduced by 9-12 months.
In an online webinar on 3 April (replacing planned exhibitions which had to be cancelled), representatives of TfL and LBHF set out their scheme for a prefabricated steel structure supported by 2 piers in the riverbed, on the downriver side of Hammersmith bridge. It would be the same height as the Bridge and would have no impact on river traffic. The usable deck would be 5.5m wide and there will be separation of cyclists and pedestrians (no motorbikes allowed).
Access would be via Queen Caroline Street on the Hammersmith side via gradual ramps. It would take 6-7 months to complete, and planning permission would stipulate it being in place for up to 5 years, with the aim of re-using the structure elsewhere afterwards.
Keeping foot and cycle traffic flowing has to be a welcome initiative. The one downside is that the structure would close the Thames Path on either side, meaning a detour – possibly via the rear of Riverside Studios or past the Apollo and round by Fulham Palace Road on the North side, and via Riverview Gardens on the Barnes side.
Meanwhile the pedestals, hangers, chain bearings and hanger connections are being worked on and acoustic monitoring of the Bridge structure continues. A detailed Scope of Works together with costs is expected later in the spring. The new deck will be steel, with resin on top, which will perform far better than the asphalt over boards which were alarmingly visible previously. The repairs will give 60 years of design life.
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Committee and several members attended the recent 🔗Climate Change event at the Lyric to hear what the recently formed commission has been discussing, and to provide input. Sian Alexander, the Director of the Lyric, opened the meeting making the following points:
Fehinti Balogun
We were then presented with a personal story of the effects of climate change from actor Fehinti Balogun, making an informative and entertaining presentation. He touched on how climate change affects not only himself but his wider family here and abroad, highlighting that the issue is about eco, not ego. He’s been giving a similar presentation to schools in recent months.
He noted that the Commission is believed to only need 3.5% direct support from the population for success to be guaranteed by influencing all those connected.
Paul Beaty-Pownall
Paul Beaty-Pownall summed up and introduced the workshop sessions that followed. The audience were invited to participate and circulate through four separate discussion groups in order to gain ideas and recommendations from the participants.
We hope to see the report from the commission in the coming months to inform the Council’s progress in accelerating our local responses to Climate Change.
To visualise the extent of the problem, the UK’s current emissions of thousands of tonnes of CO2 per hour caused by electricity generation can be seen here
Along with others, the Society’s activities have been severely curtailed during the government’s enforced lockdown. We’ve found a little solace in the popular Zoom video-conferencing application (used with 🔗appropriate security precautions), and on Monday this week, keeping to schedule, managed our first online committee meeting – with 75% attendance.
The committee decided that the Society should use some of its limited funds to make a donation of £1000 to Hammersmith residents in need of support at this difficult time, via our local charity and affiliate 🔗Hammersmith United Charities which represents an excellent model of giving relatively small grants to local groups which know what practical help is needed and target it accordingly. The donation will be distributed through their 🔗Community Coronavirus Appeal, which is run in conjunction with the Council.
We have inevitably decided to postpone this summer’s AGM until government rules allow us to convene again. We’ll announce a new date when rules change. The Spring Newsletter, which would normally be posted out in April, will be published on this website, as a series of articles released over the coming weeks, with summaries and links emailed to members as usual.
We hope to be in a position to at least make nominations for the 2020 Environment Awards by reviewing what material is available to us via photos, and we encourage you to submit nominations by email if you have a suitable development in mind. We may not be able to visit them, or make a formal award until later in the year, but expect to be able to publish and consider the suitable nominations.
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As a trustee of 🔗United in Hammersmith & Fulham (charity no. 1187649) and a long standing committee member of The Hammersmith Society, I wanted to say something about the Appeal, which has so far raised £65k including gift aid. Firstly thanks to The Hammersmith Society for making a donation.
United is working in conjunction with the Council. We hope to raise more money as different phases of need emerge. We provide grants directly to groups supporting borough residents. This includes those particularly focusing on the extra needs of at-risk groups, including people who are:
So far we’ve been one of the fastest in London getting grants out to grass roots groups. Currently we have supported 21 organisations, awarded £20,450 and estimate we have reached 17,200 people in some way. Demand is increasing and we hold regular grant giving panels.
If you know groups doing good work who might benefit from the Appeal ask them to contact the Programme Manager Savraj Kaur – . If you would like to donate or know others who would want to help please go to: https://unitedhf.org/appeal/
Small Sites policy in the new London Plan
Today’s #archivejigsaw is a London Underground poster for the 1910 Japan-British exhibition held in London. The exhibition was an attempt by Japan to introduce its culture to the West, and included Japanese gardens with imported trees, bridges and stones: orlo.uk/ACsMS
— Hammersmith Society @(HammersmithSoc) 1 day ago
We are pleased to announce that the new @LidlGB store will be opening in Kings Mall on Thursday 11th March. 🛒 🛍️ Read the full announcement here ⤵️ bit.ly/3bhb87q
— Hammersmith Society @(HammersmithSoc) 6 hours ago
@grantshapps @CharlotteV And #hammersmithbridge - of course !
— Hammersmith Society @(HammersmithSoc) 8 hours ago
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