A Seasonal Magazine for Churchill Gardens and Neighbours NEWS, VIEWS & VOICES BY RESIDENTS, FOR RESIDENTS WWW.CHURCHILLGARDENS.ORG.UK ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Churchill Hall, Wednesday October 18th at 7pm EVERYONE WELCOME! AUTUMN 2017 LITTLEHAMPTON HERE WE COME! Saturday 26th August saw two 53 seater coaches Families have enjoyed events like the one on take to the road to Littlehampton. Families Ebury Bridge and Peabody Ave/Close which from Peabody Avenue were joined by many from offered planting art activities and the one and Churchill Gardens and other local estates. It was only ‘Safari Pete’, which was lead by The Pimlico such a success and the families really enjoyed Toy Library and funded by Pimlico Million. the beach and crab fishing. The weather was amazing which was a bonus and a great time Jane Buttigieg. was had by all. One of the coaches was funded by Pimlico Million which in its first year has given over £25,000 to THE BIG LUNCH local organisations and individuals in Churchill Gardens, Peabody Ave/Close, Chelsea and The Churchill Gardens Residents’ Association, Wellington and Ebury Estates. We have also put Community Champions and the Pimlico Million on training in First Aid and look to offer much joined together for The Big Lunch in June. more in the second year of funding. If you would Neighbours brought food to share and enjoy, the like to find out more or have an idea which will local police weighed in and got busy colouring help make the area an even better place to live, and chatting, and the square came to life with contact our co-ordinator on 020 7828 9614 or laughter and balloons. Next year, the Big Lunch email: [email protected] might just get bigger - your Gazette will keep you informed We will be working with Community Champions to set up Walking Football and Fishing groups. We have identified mainly young people who would like to set up a business and are looking into how we can support them. We have brought many of the youth organisations together to help form a Youth Forum which will look at how we can all work together and share resources to help offer the best opportunities to young people. Gardening groups have been very successful and residents are really engaged with making their estate look brighter and inviting; we would like to bring groups across the area to help one another and form an open spaces group which will offer much more to our community. Dates for the first meeting TBC 2 A letter from the Chairman of the From the Editor Residents’ Association We’ve grown the Gardens Gazette by four pages Dear Neighbours, this time, which shows that there’s plenty to say, lots of news to share and exciting events Welcome to the Autumn edition of the Gardens to promote. Here’s a few answers to frequent Gazette. I am pleased to announce that the questions: Annual General Meeting of the Residents’ Association will be held on Wednesday 18th • Yes, there is a Residents’ Association. October, 7pm in the Residents Hall. As well as • Yes, it is open to EVERYONE - even if you providing and supporting activities and groups in are only living on Churchill for a few the Residents’ Hall, your committee have worked months, if this is your home, then come tirelessly over the last year monitoring the major along and take part. works program, PDHU heating, estate repairs • Yes, the Gazette is written by and the performance of CityWest Homes and residents and for residents. Westminster Council in general; many residents have reported their dissatisfaction with all the So if you have a grumble, a question, a funny above and unfortunately, we tend to agree with story, a photograph, a recipe, a poem - whatever, their opinion. send it along. All the views that are fit to print are welcome here. A major concern to us all should be the uncertainty of the rejuvenation of the Ebury Autumn means long winter evenings - plenty of Bridge Estate. As the agreed plans to only time to curl up and enjoy the Gardens Gazette. partially demolish the estate appear to have And maybe think about contributing to the next been thrown out of the window and the Council one. now wish to demolish the entire site for yet Jo Hines another luxury development, I think we all must acknowledge that Westminster City Council are solely motivated by financial incentives; it would The views expressed in this magazine are not appear the needs of their Residents are of no necessarily those represented by the Churchill consequence. Gardens Residents’ Association. We should not be complacent on Churchill Every effort has been made to trace copyright Gardens. Whilst the issue of rejuvenation of holders and to obtain their permission for the use of our estate has gone for now I doubt it has copyright material. gone away for good. We all need to be working together to let the Council know how proud we are of our community and that we will campaign Printed by: DMPS Printers, Croydon relentlessly to preserve our wonderful estate. Membership of a strong residents’ association has never been more important than it is now. Please do your best to attend the annual meeting and support the work being done on your behalf. We are always looking to increase membership What’s Aladdin doing on of the association and would welcome more residents to join the committee and assist in Churchill Gardens? supporting your neighbours. Turn to page 19 to find out! Kindest wishes, John Wyatt, Chairman CGRA 3 PARKER MORRIS AND CHURCHILL Sir Parker Morris was an iconic figure in the history of social housing. Here his grandson, Charles Parker was born in Manchester in 1891, the Jenkins, who recently visited Churchill Gardens, youngest together with a twin, of a family reveals that this estate is perhaps his most lasting of nine children. As his father died when he legacy was ten his mother was left to bring up the family on her own with a limited income. She In the 1970s I learnt that my grandfather, Sir considered Parker the ablest and somehow paid Parker Morris (1891-1972) who was town clerk of for a private education (there was then no free Westminster at the time, had taken the initiative secondary education) and for him to study law in choosing and preparing the site for Churchill at Manchester University. Throughout his life Gardens. He also persuaded Westminster he retained a strong sense of obligation to keep Council to select the architects Powell and Moya. in touch with his siblings and their families and help them if he could. However although he lived till I was 23 I only heard about it from other family After university and the First World War, he was members. Parker hardly ever spoke of his own articled to the town clerk of Salford. Then, as achievements. As an old man he was friendly, if town clerk of Chesterfield in the early 1920s, formal, and interested in other people and the he established a reputation for commissioning present, talking very little about himself. He did council housing (then a new concept). It must not come across as someone who would have have been in part this reputation that led him in taken the bold decision to choose then unknown 1929 at the age of only 38 to be appointed town young modernist architects for the largest clerk of Westminster where he remained until he project of his career. retired. 4 I am not aware of any major housing projects he was involved in before the Second World War, probably constrained by the availability of land, but his son David remembers the borough surveyor complaining that he was always giving him extra work by buying land when it became available. He did pursue other projects such as libraries and swimming pools and had good working relations with Herbert Morrison when he was Labour leader of the London County Council from 1934 to 1940 and then when as home secretary Morrison had responsibility for tackling the bombing of London. Late in his career Parker established a reputation as a housing activist who would “set alarm bells ringing” whenever he visited the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. Undoubtedly Churchill Gardens, as by far his biggest project played a big part in establishing that reputation. It was after he retired as town clerk that he was appointed by the Central Housing Advisory Committee to chair a group to make recommendations on standards of design for residential building. The committee worked for two years before publishing Homes for Today and Tomorrow in 1961. The report made detailed Parker had a clear idea as to what government recommendations covering space, heating, should do that might be described as a form safety and outside amenity space. Probably the of municipal socialism, but he never revealed most important were internal space both overall to anyone, even his closest family, whom he and for key rooms—it considered that as far as voted for at any election throughout his life. possible children and teenagers should have His conservative manners, style of dress and their own rooms. Particular attention was given use of language would probably have helped to kitchen design to make them practicable to reassure mainly Conservative Westminster for cooking and provide space for informal councillors about what he was doing. eating there as was becoming more common. It also prioritised space for then relatively new The Parker Morris standards were adopted as equipment such as washing machines and legal requirements for council house building refrigerators and for storage.