Significant progress has been made during December concerning the pool site, as detailed in the Press Releases with links below:
There is an exhibition of the plans, with artist’s drawings, at Cafe Sunshine (Riverside, adjacent to the playground) between 11 am and 3 pm on December 28, 30 and 31, and Jan 4, 7 and 8. On the January dates, the exhibition will also be at The Civic Centre.
Please go and have a look and record your opinion.
A few minutes after noon, the Mayor, Cllr Clare Head, formally declared open the Beach that has been made on Champion’s Wharf. However, children (and some parents) could not wait, and the huge newly created sandpit rapidly became fully occupied.
The Play Rangers, who are funded by The Lottery, were on hand to help with the discovery of buried pirates’ treasure.
A good time was had by all, and continues to be.
The “Play Beach” is there until 7 August.
23 July 2011
Dancers in period bathing costumes performed a series of scenarios illustrating in a light-hearted way the history of Twickenham Lido (choreographed by Rosie Whitney-Fish). This was part of the Locate Dance Festival taking place in the Borough this summer.
The audience followed the performers from the Eel Pie Island bridge, along The Embankment, onto the Playground and finally into the old Pool site itself. At each stop a separate vignette was danced.
Friends of Twickenham Riverside were among the audience, and were delighted that the performance gave an opportunity for many people to enter the as-yet closed part of the site to see it for themselves. The abundance of colour from the buddleia and wild flowers was quite striking.
29 June 2011
Lord True today unveiled a 6 ft X 4 ft frame in The Secret Garden, in which artwork will be displayed.
It is planned to change the picture about four times each year. The present picture is based on an original by Tillemans, as described in the illustrations
During the past week, the Friends of Twickenham Riverside has been keeping a close eye on the proposals put forward for the future of the Pool site in the Twickenham Area Action Plan.
The Plan was presented as an exhibition/consultation at The Civic Centre on June 11, and there was a follow-up session with the consultants on June 16.
The proposals are shown in a consultation leaflet “Twickenham Rediscovered”, that can be accessed on the Council’s website:
www.richmond.gov.uk/twickenham_aap_final_consultation_leaflet_june_2011.pdf
Three scenarios were presented, covering the whole of ‘Twickenham Town Centre’. For those who were not able to attend, we summarize below the key points in the proposals for Riverside.
It is important to appreciate that these proposals for Riverside can be considered in isolation from proposals for other parts of the town.
Descriptions of the scenarios are taken verbatim from the leaflet.
Scenario 1 (“Consolidation”):
new public open space/piazza with children’s play area, and replacement or reuse of existing buildings for community use or café/restaurant. Relocation of market.
Scenario 2 (“Enhancement”):
mixed use of Santander block and adjacent Water Lane frontage to include specialist retail/cafés and possible small cinema/residential above and civic space. Creation of public/space/piazza on riverside with potential for relocation of market and outdoor performances and events.
Scenario 3 (“Transformation”):
comprehensive approach to incorporate Santander building, parts of rear of King St frontage and service road and improve links between King St and Riverside. Possible uses to include retail/cafés/residential, civic space, public open space, piazza and performance space. Relocation of parking from Embankment to improve riverside environment. Refurbishment of King St frontage to create improved retail environment.
Friends’ comments
#1 opens up the whole site. The proposal closely resembles the TRTG plan that has received planning permission (09/0914).
#2 and 3 both depend upon the Council getting control of the Santander building and carpark. This is bound to take both time and money. Some building will be involved. What does “civic space” mean? Council offices? These are much longer term proposals – possibly 10 – 20 years. #3 also appears to involve felling the mature, protected hornbeams by the service road.
All three scenarios as they appear in the Exhibition involve closure of Water Lane to traffic: eg in #1 “Closure of Water Lane to turning traffic from King St, in both directions, to allow footway changes to create an improved pedestrian link to the Thames riverside”. What affect will this have on Eel Pie Island and those living on The Embankment?
We urge our members to read the document and fill in the on-line questionnaire:
March 31 2011.
Our picture shows Friends preparing the ground and sowing wild flower seeds on the site of the old pool. The results will be visible in the summer from the Secret Garden through the viewing ports.
Boris Johnson plants tree at Twickenham Riverside
On the March 10th, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, accompanied by Lord True, the Leader of Richmond Council, and Tony Arbour, our London Assembly Member, planted a tree in the newly opened “Secret Garden” on Twickenham Riverside.
The Richmond Youth Jazz Band added to the enjoyment of the occasion. Boris spent a considerable time chatting to members of the public. You can see and hear him congratulating the community groups for having “put the village back into the city” on this YouTube clip.
Lord True opens Secret Garden at Twickenham Riverside
On a cold, grey January morning, Councillor Lord True, Leader of Richmond Council, opened to the public another area of the old pool site on Twickenham Riverside.
This new “secret garden” (above), accessed from the decking outside the Sunshine Café, is 125 m2 in extent and continues the public open space across the front of the site, overlooking the river and Eel Pie Island.
The area had been cleared by members of BTCV (see our news item 22 October 2010), helped by Friends, and has now been laid out to lawn, wood chip paths, benches, tables, shrubs and trees. It is hoped that everyone, young and old, will enjoy this new garden.
Hoardings with inspection ports have been erected so that for the first time in 30 years nearly the whole derelict site can be viewed.
A large proportion of the whole site, too uneven to allow full access for the public at present, is the subject of a planning application submitted by the Twickenham Riverside Terrace Group.
You can see a video of Cllr True’s speech on You Tube or by clicking on the image below:
Sir Peter Wakefield 13 May 1922 - 1 December 2010
We are extremely sad to announce the death of Sir Peter Wakefield. He had been an active participant for many years in the fight to keep Twickenham Riverside for the community, and, despite other charitable commitments and his many other interests, he welcomed the opportunity to become a Founder member of the Save Our Riverside committee. He worked tirelessly to carry out its aim to protect the old swimming pool site from being taken over by developers. His quiet diplomacy and gentle manner, as well as his sense of humour, were invaluable in helping the team to achieve its aim of preserving the land on what he termed “this precious stretch of the Thames”. Later he became an active member of the Friends of Twickenham Riverside. His wise counsel and delightful personality will be sorely missed.
Photograph reproduced by permission of www.ocsociety.org.
The old pool site in 2008 - clearing the terrace.
The first area of the old swimming pool site to be opened up was the small terrace in front of the old toilet block. This next step is on a far larger scale -a strip about 12 m wide that is the continuation of the terrace outside Café Sunshine (formerly Arthur’s by the River). This has been fenced off and thus hidden from the public for some 30 years.
This is what the strip looked like in August 2008. Members of Save Our Riverside (left to right) Steve Roest, Jeremy Hamilton-Miller, Sheila Hale, Adrienne Rowe. By October 2010 there was considerably more growth.
The Council has asked BTCV to help clear this area prior to it being made accessible to all. Members of Twickenham Riverside Terrace Group (TRTG) and Friends of Twickenham Riverside were delighted to be asked to join them.
The BTCV team
We assembled in the playground at 10 am on Wednesday 20 October. The BTCV leader, Simon Hawkins, unlocked the new gates and let us and his ten helpers in.
The BTCV team (Simon, the leader on extreme left), two Riverside Councillors and members of TRTG and of Friends
Simon first gave a short and fascinating talk about how a wild area develops as time passes when left on its own (a botanical phenomenon known as “succession”).
Clearing buddleia from the old pool site
Then we all got to work clearing rubble, wood, roots, rubbish, brambles etc, and cutting down buddleia. Volunteers from BTCV, TRTG and Friends came and went during the day, by the end of which the strip had been cleared.
Once the existing fence parallel to the Embankment is taken down and moved across (this will have portholes in it, so that the public can see the rest of the site), and some safety measures taken, this new strip will be open to all.