Brookmill Road Conservation Area AGM, followed by talk by Nick Higham

Brookmill Road Conservation Area (BRCA)

The Brookmill Road Conservation Area is in Deptford, SE London. Part of Deptford New Town, it was built on land owned by the Lucas family as an affordable and spacious alternative for working people of the mid to late 19th century. It comprises an ensemble of streets with rare consistency running between Friendly Street, Brookmill and Albyn Roads, and includes a major part of the local park. The architectural coherence of the streets lends great appeal to the area with housing of different scale and the landmark Brookmill Pub. Many of the properties endure as social housing today. The area's rare survival, unaffected by development, is due to limited tenure since construction and efforts of conservationists and the council to maintain its integrity. The conservation area was the second to be designated in Lewisham, an indicator of its significance as a heritage asset. The Society is committed to conserving its distinctive historic features and is an official consultee of the Council on planning and conservation matters.

For more information: www.brookmillroadconservationarea.org.uk

Annual General Meeting and Talk, Wednesday 19th June 2024

AGM 6.15pm, Talk 7.00pm, Close 9.00pm

Venue: Blueprint for all (Formerly Stephen Lawrence Building), 39 Brookmill Road, London SE8 4HU

Talk by journalist, Nick Higham.

The Mercenary River: Private Greed and Public Good - A History of London's Water.

We are delighted to announce as our speaker, Nick Higham, who will talk about the history of London's water.

Works to construct London's super sewer and renew the ring main are only too obvious in streets and parks today from Brockley to Deptford. But what's the history of London's water?

No city can survive without water, and lots of it. Today we take the stuff for granted: turn a tap and it gushes out. But it wasn't always so. For centuries London, one of the largest and richest cities in the world, struggled to supply its citizens with reliable, clean water. Come and hear Nick Higham's tale, based on new research, of remarkable technological, scientific and organisational breakthroughs: but also of greed and complacency, high finance and low politics.

Nick Higham is a journalist who has always been passionate about history. He spent 15 years as the BBC's arts and media correspondent, then a further 15 years there as a generalist, whenever possible smuggling history onto the air under the guise of news. Nick also presented 'Meet the Author" on the BBC News Channel for many years. He lives in London.

Event kindly hosted in partnership with Brockley Society and Your Space at Blueprint for All

The talk is free. Donations will be welcomed at the event.

Your Space offers co-working solutions from flexible hot-desking membership, natural light meeting rooms to a beautifully designed event space. To find out about current availability, email: yourspace@blueprintforall.org

www.blueprintforall.org/about-us/your-space/