The Greenwich Visitor

05/03/2018

You might have seen the little driverless delivery vehicles taking groceries to homes in Greenwich – one of four places across the country where testing of the futuristic robot vehicles is taking places.

And here's an interesting update... now you can test a self-driving shuttle too.

Here's the press release from the Government's GATEway project.

Let us know if you decide to have a go...we'd love to know what you think. Email [email protected]

Public invited to shape the future of driverless vehicles
· Public invited to try self-driving shuttles in Greenwich
· Real-world testing ground for future mobility

Greenwich, London, 5th March 2018 – In a world first, members of the public are being invited to test a fleet of driverless pods as part of a major research project helping to shape a new kind of transport. Over the next four weeks visitors and residents at the Greenwich Peninsula will have the opportunity to engage with the new technology and share their experiences.

The trials mark the final phase of the GATEway Project, which is using a fleet of automated pods to understand public acceptance of, and attitudes towards, driverless vehicles. The research has helped advance the UK’s position in the autonomous vehicles revolution through collaborations with developers Westfield Sportscars, Fusion Processing, Gobotix and Oxbotica. What makes this study unique is its primary focus on people: – throughout the Project qualitative research has been conducted by TRL, the University of Greenwich, Commonplace (an online consultation platform) and the Royal College of Art, exploring how we feel about using and sharing space with self-driving vehicles.
Richard Cuerden, Academy Director, TRL, explains “As we explore the future of mobility solutions, it is essential that we consider the experience and benefits delivered to the consumer. This is why understanding and exploring the public perception of automated services has always been at the heart of the GATEway Project.

This Project is enabling us to discover how potential users of automated vehicles respond to them, in a real-world environment, so that the anticipated benefits to mobility can be maximised. We see driverless vehicles as a practical solution to delivering safe, clean, accessible and affordable mobility and we are proud to be part of creating our future transport system.”

Over the past 5 months, the GATEway pods have generated considerable interest as they have travelled around the Greenwich Peninsula undertaking the first phases of the trial. Over 5,000 people have already registered their interest in taking part in the final phase of the trial and will have priority booking for one of several journeys undertaken each day.

Members of the public not registered will still have an opportunity to take part in this ground-breaking research, during a series of “drop in” sessions. Information about times and service availability will be shared online at https://gateway-project.org.uk or follow us on Twitter .
In this phase of the GATEway Project, four driverless pods will be navigating a 3.4km route around the Greenwich Peninsula, using advanced sensors and state-of-the-art autonomy software to detect and avoid obstacles whilst carrying members of the public participating in the research study.

Developed by British companies Westfield Sportscars and Heathrow Enterprises, and controlled by a state-of-the-art automation system created by Fusion Processing, the pods have no steering wheels or typical driver controls. Instead, Fusion’s software, CAVstar®, combines GPS with radar (for long range) and LIDAR (for close range) to enable the pods to detect and safely negotiate objects in their path. This also allows the pods to operate in adverse weather conditions and even in the dark - a global first for this technology in the UK.

Although the GATEway vehicle is designed to operate without a human driver, a safety steward will remain on-board at all times, complying with the UK’s code of practice on autonomous vehicle testing.

GATEway is jointly funded by government and industry. The government’s £100m Intelligent Mobility fund is administered by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) and delivered by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.

Contact them here: https://gateway-project.org.uk

15/12/2017

Fabulous food...fabulous offer!

17/08/2017

24/07/2017

Ever wondered who else reads The Greenwich Visitor? Is it a local paper? Or a paper for visitors? We're proud to say it's both. We work hard to make sure every story is useful to people who are here for life...or just for a day. We're unique!

Last night a reader sent us a picture of her and two friends on holiday in Austria (we love to see the GV somewhere exotic and, so far, have been taken to locations ranging from Mount Everest and the Arctic Circle via Sydney and the Blackpool Tower!). She told us what she does when our paper comes out:

"I used to live in SE10, but moved to Shooters Hill two years ago. I still make a point of tracking The Visitor down at the beginning of the month, and I collect about eight copies. I give one each to my old neighbours in Greenwich, who cannot get copies themselves. I give two to my brother in Gravesend and he passes one on to a friend in Birmingham. I also pass a copy to one of my walking friends. At Lake Achensee I gave the Visitor to the gentleman who took our photo who used to live in Greenwich. He was very grateful for it."

Not sure many publications here are as loved or useful – or as widely read. If you have a business or run an organisation then please remember that when you plan your marketing. If you book a campaign with us It means you're marketing in a publication that's valued and trusted and reaches a really wide audience – but one very focused on Greenwich and the surrounding area and the great things to enjoy here.

Email [email protected] or call 07802 743324 and be part of something people love.

23/07/2017

The weather's fine and you can still make it in time... Mycenae House in Westcombe Park, is a great community venue. Today it hosts a FREE summer ParksFest extravaganza with music, theatre, science, dance, wellbeing, food and a real ale bar. There's loads of live music – including Californian singer-wingwriter (and rising star) Tavia and Blackheath's now almost legendary Ronnie Ripple & The RipChords. The fun starts from noon. Oh... and there are Meerkats!

12/07/2017

If, like us, you believe Greenwich's industrial past is something to be proud of then you might like to support a campaign to stop this 1880s gas holder being demolished by Greenwich Council. There is just one week left of a very short (and not widely advertised) consultation period - so you must respond by Wednesday July 19.

We're not against new homes – they're needed as much here as anywhere – but we do think this monumental and revolutionary steel structure could be preserved and used. It's happened in Dublin, as our story says, so why not here? Why just put up more oblong blocks on the Greenwich Peninsula?

Inceidentally, the gas holder has its own special place in much history. It appeared in Blur's filmed their classic video for the song that is know as...Parklife. See it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSuHrTfcikU

So if all the people, so many people (see what we did there?) that like our gas holder look at the plans here –
https://consultations.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/kms/dmart.aspx?LoggingIn=tempVar&strTab=PublicDMart
– then either email planning.policy@ royalgreenwich.gov.uk
or call them on 020 8921 6235 then maybe we can save it.

There are other ways you can get involved too. A group called Save Our Gasholder has been formed and you can contact them on Twitter or on https://www.facebook.com/groups/saveegg

Former councillor and East Greenwich Industrial History expert Mary Mills is involved and can be contacted at [email protected]

Here's our story from this month's Greenwich Visitor – the only newspaper produced here in Greenwich and the one that really cares about the community we live in. We're in supermarkets and being distributed on the streets here ever day...

THIS is what could be achieved at the threatened Greenwich gasholder landmark – a beautiful glass and steel apartment complex INSIDE one in Dublin.
Architects O’Mahony Pike designed the glass and steel building in 2008 at The Alliance holder, built in the 1870s. There are 240 apartments on nine floors. Inside is a courtyard inside with gardens and greenery. It has underground parking with a spiral ramp. And it is said to have helped attract business to the area, including Google.
In Copenhagen a gasholder has been converted into the city’s new theatre. Closer to home, at King’s Cross in North London, Gassholder No8 has become a parks and event space.
But unless you speak up George’s Livesey’s revolutionary gasholder could be lost.
Greenwich Council says “the site could accommodate alternative, and more intensive uses” next to the proposed new Silvertown Tunnel if it is demolished. But industrial history expert and former councillor Mary Mills insists the gasholder should stay and be adapted.
She told The Greenwich Visitor: “The East Greenwich gasholder is one of the largest ever built. It was the second of a series by the extraordinary industrialist George Livesey which were revolutionary in design and construction. It was deliberately left very, very plain with no decoration and set a bench-mark for gasholder design which exploits the beauty of pure structural form. These ideas were beginning to be embodied in industrial and domestic design as the modern movement.
“Around the world architects, and designers are working out exciting ways of re-using the frames – and this one has huge merit in its innovative design and dramatic raised setting. There is no reason why something could not be done which would be economically productive. Something could be done here which would add excitement and interest to the changing landscape on the Peninsula, conserving an important part of our heritage and bringing credit to Greenwich for doing so.
“We need people to respond immediately to the Council consultation – which has a box for comments. It would also be useful to hear ideas from developers, artists and designers.”
The council consultation opened on June 14 and ends on July 19, with results due in August.
The East Greenwich gas holder was one of two built there by Livesey, making up the largest amount of safe gas storage in the world. The gasholder was bombed by the IRA in 1979 but survived. The second was demolished in 1986.

12/12/2015

Really thrilled to get this email from some a Greenwich couple who've read our paper since the very first edition back in November 2010. And we think they make a great point about the state of Cutty Sark Gardens, which our council spent around £3.2million on in 2012...and still doesn't work.


Hello Matt, from two Greenwich residents who love your paper –have read it since the first issue. It's brilliant and we really look forward to each edition.
Just a couple of things that you might have an insight into :
What is happening to the fenced off area (supposed to be a water feature!) in Cutty Sark Gardens It is an eyesore especially as it is one of the first things that visitors to Greenwich see.
Also the Christmas market in the same area – we were talking to some of the stall holders last week and they had been so disappointed at the lack of advertising. We live in the Borough and didn't know about it either.
One last thing: The gardens had a lot of time and effort spent on them for the Olympics but since then have been very neglected and a lot of the planting has died and it all looks very sad!
Thank you for your time.
Regards.
Ralph and Mary Allen

Thanks Ralph and Mary. Delighted that you're still enjoying the paper.
Funnily enough the Christmas Market was, we believe, a Greenwich Council initiative so, naturally, there was no advertising in The Greenwich Visitor!
And if you want to know more about the project here's the builder'd take on it: http://www.volkerhighways.co.uk/en/projects/detail/cutty-sark

The Cutty Sark Gardens Project is a £3.2m contract awarded to VolkerHighways for the refurbishment of the landscaping around the historical tea clipper. The project comprised of the removal of existing paving and replacing it with high quality hard and soft landscaping.

05/11/2015

Sometimes a reader makes everything worthwhile:

Dear Editor,
I would like to compliment you on your newspaper. I make the effort every month to go to Eltham to collect to from Sainsbury's. I read one and so does my neighbour. After we have read them I send the papers to one of my daughters, Vicky Findlay, living in Auckland, New Zealand and one to my cousin, Derek Jones, living in New South Wales, Australia.
Those papers are avidly read and then passed around amongst many expats from the Greenwich, Woolwich, Plumstead and Lewisham area. It's ironic that these 'free' papers cost me about £3.50 each to post but it is money well spent because they make many people happy and keep them in touch with their roots.
Thank you.
Regards from Diane Smith.

18/05/2015

You might have seen the huge pall of smoke over Charlton and the North Greenwich peninsula. The fire was at Sainsbury's depot by the Thames and some dramatic pictures and videos have emerged this evening.
Here's the London Fire Brigade report on the fire, and – at https://twitter.com/Kent_999s/status/600375739205165056 – a dramatic video of a lorry driver making sure the fire doesn't spread to their own vehicle.

Charlton – warehouse fire
18 May 2015

Ten fire engines and over 70 firefighters and officers were called to a fire in a large distribution warehouse on Lombard Wall in Charlton this afternoon.

At its height, the fire, which also affected six lorries, produced plumes of smoke which could be seen for miles around. Businesses and residents in the area were advised to keep doors and windows closed as a precaution and local road closures were put in place. London City Airport tweeted during the incident to confirm that the blaze was not impacting on flights.

The fire damaged six lorries and part of the warehouse and four people were assessed on the scene for smoke inhalation by London Ambulance Service.

Station Manager Bruce Grain who was at the scene said: "During its early stages this was a very intense fire. Crews wearing breathing apparatus attacked it extremely quickly and thanks to their efforts the fire was prevented from spreading any further into the warehouse and causing even more damage.

The distribution centre was fitted with a sprinkler system which activated and this also helped reduce the impact of the blaze on the main building.”

The Brigade was called at 1608 and the fire was under control by 1829.

Crews from Greenwich, East Greenwich, New Cross, Deptford, Plumstead, Lea Green, Poplar and Shadwell fire stations attended the incident. Crews will remain at the scene for some time to damp down the fire.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

More info: http://www.london-fire.gov.uk