The Dreary Christmas Lights of Sydenham Town

[michael]

- instead of pop up shops all of which are closed by the time I get home from work so Im still to see what they are all about.

Last Friday was late night shopping in Sydenham, this Thursday is late night shopping in Forest Hill until 9pm.
'Jill' is open this Friday until 9pm.
Saturday is the Forest Hill festive fair at the pools and Sunday is the Sydenham festive fair by the station.

Getting the shops open late, even if just a few times before Christmas is more important than sparkly lights in a high street where all the shops are closed or boarded up!
I hope you get the chance to see some of the positive changes the SEE3 team have been able to make to Sydenham and Forest Hill. I've been pretty impressed with the work they have done so far, including coordinating the traders more than ever before.

[leenewham]

Here here. Totally agree.

This is from the Butchers in Forest Hill:
- it feels like the question on nearly every customers lips is "are you going to stay ?" to which the official answer is we would love to and have taken on the pop up shop so well supported by SEE3 with the hope of being able to make it a permanent thing. If we continue to get the support we have so far, a few more weekday shoppers and a few other components come together we may well be seeing you all in the new year, so watch this space or the one at 49 London Rd.

What people think and what is reality totally differ. As an example, in one high street we are working with, in a pop up shop, residents were asked what they would like to see on the high street. 3 people said a 'Superdrug'. There is a Superdrug directly across the road from the pop up shop! It's been there over 10 years!

[multisync]

A lot of Sydenham people walk around in a dream world or have s--t in there eyes.

[leenewham]

I wasn't talking about Sydenham, I was talking about an area in North London. Is there something in your eye?

[gerispringer]

At his thread started about lights not the pop up shops! I agree that the pop up shops are a great step in the right direction and I have enjoyed perusing them. Brixton had some great pop up shops and restaurants. I agree people should be encouraged to be pro active and not just moany but quite often those in charge of lights might think we are happy with their choices unless we say something! It not always easy for people with jobs, families etc to get involved as much as they might like. We may do other things which are less noticed.

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[Chris Best]

I know people don't always have time to get involved in activities in the community but what residents can do is bring more footfall to the high street - so why not take a walk to Station Approach on Sunday between 10 and 4pm and take a look at the range of festive goodies. If we want more diversity in the high street then we have to support existing traders such as Kirkdale Bookshop which will open on Sunday, as well as new ventures.

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[Maria]

I think what is going on at the moment in our area is fantastic; have been convinced for ages S will become a wonderful, exciting, vibrant place to live and it's all beginning to happen much earlier than I thought!
And I love the street lights too: simple, elegant, understated.

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[owlwise]

I too am extremely embarrassed of the Christmas lights in Sydenham Road, as well as the pathetic lights on the Christmas tree outside the post office.

Penge managed to get some half decent lights and a big sign saying 'Seasons Greetings from Penge' why couldn't the Sydenham organisers have arranged something similar?? Their tree lights are much brighter too.

The lights on Sydenham Road are DRAB DRAB DRAB!!! I'm a bit angry and upset about it because we lost an opportunity to make it nice this year. Christmas comes once a year and no effort was made to brighten up the road with nice Christmas lights. We won the Portas funding. Where exactly is the money going?? Shouldn't it be going on precisely this sort of thing to encourage people to come to Sydenham and spend money here??

[Maria]

Owlwise: It is worth reading a multitude of posts in this forum about what exactly has been done with the Portas money in our area! You've no idea, there are so many fantastic initiatives going on at the moment you almost loose track!

As for the lights, well.... er.... I've only just before you written a post saying that I rather like them, so you may wish to qualify your opinion. What would happen to the world if we all had the same taste, hey? That would be very drab.....

[Weeble]

We won the Portas funding. Where exactly is the money going?? Shouldn't it be going on precisely this sort of thing to encourage people to come to Sydenham and spend money here??

Unless we're talking about the equivalent of the Blackpool illuminations I don't think a few lights of any description are going to encourage people to come to Sydenham. Interesting events, pop-up shops and the like might do though.

[owlwise]

'And I love the street lights too: simple, elegant, understated'.

Maria, 'understated' is an overstatement! IT'S CHRISTMAS PEOPLE!! FFS. This is the only time when you can get away with going over the top. If Penge can do it why can't Sydenham???

[Rachael]

The work that SEE3 has done is wonderful, and my criticism of the Christmas lights is made more vociferous by the contrast between the attractive pop-up shops and hubs and the new paving being laid by Riney and the frankly pitiful lights. They just don't feel in the regenerative spirit we keep talking up in Sydenham today. Complaining about the Christmas lights is not to decry the work of SEE3, but is in fact in support of it.

The tree outside the post office is magnificent. So why does it have one paltry string of not-very-bright lights that don't reach the top? It's embarrassing. And the problem with the wrap-around lights is that you can't see them at all in daylight. So until late-afternoon it looks like we have no lights at all.

[Maria]

"The tree outside the post office is magnificent" comments Rachel; Owlwise describes, on the contrary, "the pathetic lights on the Christmas tree outside the post office.

On the other hand, at least two posters earlier on stated that like the high street lights as much as I do and do not find them pitiful

Does this not therefore prove that taste is highly subjective and that there is no purpose, especially at this time of striving for peace and good will, to get angry, swear, or shout about something as trivial as this?

I for one will now be bowing out of this correspondence; but not before reminding myself that Christmas, for the sick, the vulnerable, the lonely and the old is the absolutely most difficult time of the entire year. I've been there myself: and I remember that the spectacular lighting of Regent Street etc did in no way make me feel any better at that excruciating time (quite on the contrary, actually). Now I thankfully feel a million miles away from that time, but my work at St Christopher never lets me forget it. Did the council save any money from the very minimalist and in my opinion lovely lights? then I sincerely hope they give it away to key, truly fundamental, causes.

Wishing you all a good Christmas

[Rachael]

"The tree outside the post office is magnificent" comments Rachel; Owlwise describes, on the contrary, "the pathetic lights on the Christmas tree outside the post office.

On the other hand, at least two posters earlier on stated that like the high street lights as much as I do and do not find them pitiful

Does this not therefore prove that taste is highly subjective and that there is no purpose, especially at this time of striving for peace and good will, to get angry, swear, or shout about something as trivial as this?

Please don't bow out before telling me who has been swearing or shouting about this, above and beyond expressing our opinions? Just to be clear, are you saying you like these lights and would prefer them to more elaborate ones? That you don't want any local residents to actively try to raise funds and get different lights? If so, that's certainly your prerogative. If we do get new lights, feel free to come back here and say how much you prefered the 'minimalist' lights

FYI, I said the TREE was magnificent. The lights on the tree are definitely not.

[gerispringer]

The lights at St Christopher's are lovely.

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[owlwise]

Thanks Rachael for agreeing with me about the dreary lights on the magnificent Xmas tree outside the post office. Now, if they were as bright as the ones on the St Christopher's Hospice tree, as gerispringer highlighted, that would be wonderful indeed.

[Maria]

ok - here is the time for an opinion re-appraisal and a heartfelt admission.

On our way to the strangest of museums last night, I had a more careful look at the christmas lighting around here.
I notice that even though I still like the white lights on the poles closest to where we live, looking further down the street we see what someone mentioned here: that some bulbs are of differing colour in some sort of ramdom arrangement with no ryme or reason as to why this would have happened.

As for the Christmas tree - well, it looked ok from my window but.... on closer inspection, yes many of you have been right all along, the lights are not even long enough to get to the bottom 1/3 of the tree and it looks ridiculous and incomplete.

So, I hereby declare, if I can help in any way in ensuring that in future we will have the lighting we deserve (still simple and magnificently elegant as St Christopher's ones for example) I will make a personal contribution.

[owlwise]

Thanks Maria. I'm pleaseed to hear that you are now in agreement. We need to somehow ensure that Sydenham Road never has these lights ever again. If it means doorstepping our local MP then so be it.

[Rachael]

Maria - what a very gracious post.

I understand that Riney paid for the tree and the lights on it. I wonder who was responsible for procuring the lights and NO decorations. As Riney are kindly sponsoring it, and the fabulous tree itself can't have been cheap, I'm sure they are as disappointed as us in the lights. Would any of the councillors care to 'illuminate' us (sorry)?

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[The Clown]

Whilst it continues to have a barrier around it denoting that us Sydenamites cannot be trusted not to get our soap in a lather and pull it down, the Christmas tree will fail to inspire.
Why can't they box it in properly? Lack of imagination and lack of care.
Budget properly next year...