RECENT MEETINGS
June 17th 2009
HAM, PETERSHAM AND THE RIVERSIDE.
Journeys down memory lane always find an appreciative Kingston Society audience. Never was this truer than at our June meeting, when the guide for a journey through 'Ham, Petersham and the Riverside - Then and Now' was Jenny Philpott, loyal supporter of the Kingston Society and a former Mayor of our Royal Borough. The origin of this illustrated talk lay in a collection of colour slides taken by Jenny in the 1960's. they include some historic shots, such as the views of the original Forbes House on Ham Common and of the interior of All Saints Church before it was turned into a private house.
With the aid of video expert Victor Bryant, Jenny has used her slides as the basis for an imaginative hour-long DVD. The 1960's images are contrasted with up-to-date scenes and set in context by aerial views from Google Earth. The aerial views showed how favoured we are in our green surroundings: as we hovered between Richmond Park and the river, Ham Common appeared like a great forest unrolling below. Striking too were the bird's -eye views into the grounds of great houses - not only familiar gardens like those of Ham House and Pembroke Lodge but also those behind whose walls visitors seldom penetrate, such as Park Gate House, the Cassell Hospital, the Star and Garter Home, Petersham Lodge, Montrose House.
Jenny Philpott's informed commentary included tales of some of the famous residents or visitors at these stately homes through the years: Van Gogh preaching in Petersham, Charles Dickens dining at the Star and Garter, John Gay rehearsing The Beggar's Opera at Douglas House, Beverley Nichols showing off his garden at Sudbrook House.
Chairman Jennifer Butterworth thanked Jenny for her 'professional and entertaining' presentation, and invited contributions to Jenny's chosen charity, the Shooting Star Children's Hospice at Hampton. Recognition of a good cause and the satisfaction of an enjoyable evening combined to produce a collection of £100.
During August we made our annual Kingston Society visit, this year to the charming town of Horsham and in the afternoon to the De La Warr Pavilion at Bexhill. It was a bright, sunny but very windy day which we all enjoyed very much indeed, forty-nine of us were on the trip. In Horsham we walked along Chart Way, with a mixture of very old and very new buildings, including a pub, shops and offices. The most dominant feature is the Royal and Sun Alliance building, whose large windows have white engravings based on scenes from the North Downs to the South Downs. We came to the delightful market square just past the Carfax and then went along to the Causeway, an ancient and tranquil road with a mixture of 15th and 16th century houses. In the more modern part of town we saw the forum which is a spacious piazza with some major shops. We were all surprised how interesting and attractive Horsham is, at almost every corner you turn it offers a surprise.
In the afternoon we visited the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea, a great contrast after sheltered rural Horsham. As we stepped off the coach, the sea "breeze" nearly blew us over! The pavilion was designed in 1935 by architects Eric Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff. It was re-opened in 2005 following a renovation after decades of neglect and damage. Mendelsohn dubbed the sleek and streamlined forrm of the pavilion as "horizontal skyscraper" and today its form remains iconic, simple and bold. Inside there is a feeling of glamour and spaciousness.
SEPTEMBER 16TH
FOCUS ON SURBITON meeting
A transient population ... too few family homes ... too many parked cars ... local apathy about the environment. These were just a few of the problems facing Surbiton listed by Jill Green, a member of the Conservation Area Advisory Committee for Surbiton, who was a guest speaker at our September meeting.
On the credit side Jill listed good shopping, good transport links and a magnificent riverside which rivals Richmond's in the extent of open land adjacent to the water. In a lively, interactive evening Jill put to the audience the challenges Surbiton faces in trying to conserve the good and combat the bad. The forum was timely, since Kingston Council's plan for a five year revamp for the centre of Surbiton had just been put out for consultation.
One of the success stories in Surbiton cited by Jill Green has been the enhancement of St Andrew's Square by restoring the lost railings. this Square, Jill claimed, is unique in our Borough and comparable to the grand squares of central London. the Clocktower has had its own restoration with a townscape award as has the front of the new Waitrose won plaudits.
Another success story was the saving of the Filter Beds from development, after a campaign in which Kingston Society stalwart Ken Peay played a major role. The future of the Beds is, however, still uncertain : though it is now protected as Metropolitan Open Land, there is still no funding to develop the site for recreational use.
Earlier the scene for Jill Green's talk had been set by local historian and tour guide John Pink. His command of the subject enabled him to rapidly summarise the salient facts about Surbiton, starting with the coming of the railway in 1838 and the growth of housing along and between its three major turnpike roads.
The choice of topic reflected our Chairman's concern that the Kingston Society should be seen to be representing the interests of the borough as a whole and not focussing too predominantly on central Kingston. New Malden, Chessington .... your turn will come!
GATEWAY TO KINGSTON
Our meeting in October heard John Miles, Chairman of Canadian and Portland Estates, present his proposals for redevelopment of the Bishop's Palace site on the riverside to the south of Kingston Bridge.
Mr Miles explained that his was a private company formed by three London families to invest in properties to keep. It was not their intention to develop and sell on. Their portfolio so far included a prestige property in Bond Street which was being upgraded to designs by Haworth Tompkins, the architects chosen for this scheme. On the Kingston scheme he had worked closely with Kingston Council who are anxious to impprove the river frontage. they wish the design to incorporate a "gateway" to the town as set out in the K+20 plan. The John Lewis building across the road has already set the scene for this ambition and Mr Miles was encouraged by RBK to complete the project.
The building as existing is one of the better post-war developments in Kingston but it suffers from the fact that the heavy red brickwork which faces the bridge and the river is without any relief and, apart from Frere Jaques restaurant at river level, there is no outlook from within the building complex to the outstanding views across the river towards Hampton Court.
This proposal leaves the existing structure virtually complete but opens the building up to provide extensive glazing to what is intended to be restaurants at several levels. When questioned Mr Miles assured the audience that this amount of additional restaurants was commercially viable. The ground level car park is to be removed at the insistence of the council and the current service yard replaced by a landscaped access to the riverside.
Another feature is the provision of an additional small floor to the roof to form a pavilion, part of the "gateway" requirement by the Council. the majority of the audience was fully in favour of the scheme, with the exception of the pavilion which was widely criticised, most vocally by George Rome Innes. He displayed photographs which he had taken crossing the bridge. On them he had drawn what he believed to be the effect of the pavilion at various points along the bridge obscuring the view of the parish church. He also maintained that the overall development was slightly higher than at present.
He spoke of returning home to find a cherished view obscured. John Miles challenged George's conclusions and promised to put him in touch with the architects in an attempt to resolve the dispute.
John Miles had a rough ride, which he handled with grace and humour, and he was warmly applauded at the end of the evening. How refreshing to meet a developer with such concern for good design and the environment.