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Lee Manor Society at the Manor House Gardens Festival

The Ice House will be open during the festival from 1pm to 4pm

If you are planning to go to the Manor House Gardens Festival tomorrow look out for the Lee Manor Society stall in the Community area.

Our volunteers will be on hand between 1 pm and 4.30 pm to update you on the latest on Leegate and parking, as well as the Society’s activities to preserve and enhance the local built and natural environment, including our work on tree-planting and refurbishing the Big Bed on the north side of the Gardens. There will also be some interesting old photos of the Lee area which you can browse.

The Ice House nearby will also be open from 1 pm – 4 pm. Entry is free though we welcome donations. On a hot day it could be an ideal place to visit as the temperature is always cool and you can see how ice was stored over 250 years ago. There will be volunteers there to tell you more about its history and its renovation by the Society.

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How often Leegate was bombed during WWII

The Leegate site, which is currently awaiting redevelopment, was pounded with German bombs during World War II, according to a fascinating report submitted to Lewisham Council.

It says there were 46 High Explosive bomb strikes within a 300-metre radius of the site.

The report, by the unexploded ordnance specialists Brimstone, adds “Two incendiary bomb ‘showers’ were also recorded within a 300m radius of the Site; one of these is partially recorded over the eastern extent of the Site.

“Furthermore, LCC bomb damage records structural clearance to a structure on Eltham Road in the north of the Site, with further structures in the south-western extent recorded as sustaining ‘general blast damage- not structural.’ The closest substantial damage within LCC mapping is approximately 20m west of the Site, where structures were ‘damaged beyond repair’”

The report is included in an application recently lodged by London Square to discharge a condition attached to the original planning consent for Leegate concerning possible UXBs – unexploded bombs.

The original condition said that “No demolition of structural elements of the existing buildings shall be carried out until an Unexploded Ordnance Threat Assessment has been completed, and (in the event that the Threat Assessment makes recommendations for further surveys and/or measures to protect the safety of the public, of future occupiers of the land and of workers on the site) then structural demolition shall be carried out fully in accordance with the recommendations of the Assessment(s).”

London Square is arguing that the risk of unexploded ordnance being found on the site is low to moderate and has proposed several mitigation measures if the requirement is dropped.

Brimstone’s report which you can read in full here is a treasure-trove for students of the history of Lee, and includes several wartime aerial photographs and maps of Leegate.

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Don’t miss it: The Manor House Gardens Festival on June 21st

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This article has been updated.

It’s coming soon!  The annual and much-anticipated Manor House Gardens Festival is on Saturday June 21st, starting at noon and lasting all day.

It is a free, family-friendly festival of culture, celebrating the incredible range of local arts and cultural talent in the Lee area.

As usual, there will be a main Stage for bands and performances, a children’s’ funfair, the Community Village with stalls run by local community groups, Food Stalls, a Bar and displays of Arts & Crafts.

The event is run entirely by volunteers and the money raised pays for the Festival with any surplus going to the Friends of Manor House Gardens whose volunteers keep the park looking sparkling.

Among the volunteers who work tirelessly in Manor House Gardens are members of the Lee Green Women’s Institute. They will be out in force at the Festival, showing off their talent for making delicious cakes!   They tell us there will be a wide range to buy on the day, at excellent prices. Make sure you get one before they all sell out!

Here is the confirmed rundown so far:

1.  12:00–12:40  DANCING W/IZZY   DANCE

2. 12:50–13:20  Mazaika (Duo)

3.  13:30–14:20   L C N   DANCING/SINGING

 4.  14:30–15:00  JukeVox Voices  CHOIR 

5.  15:10–15:40 MAHOGANY SOULZ   BAND

 6.  15:50–16:20   Soul Journey (David & Karen)  DUO

7.   16:30–17:00 STEEDTONE

8.    17:10–17:40   LONDON SOUL CHOIR

9.  17:50–18:20    LAURENCE O ’N THE BLISTERED MIRRORS   BAND

10.  18:30–19:00     unconfirmed   

11.    19:10–19:45+   FILTER FOUR   BAND (TALLIS)