Category Archives: Eltham

Eltham Christmas Windows Art Trail

Community, Eltham, Eltham Arts

Follow the Festive Art Trail created by Eltham Arts with the local community, from Saturday 22 November 2025 up until the new year!

Pick up a map and follow the Festive Art Trail around Eltham High Street, featuring works of art created by local schools and the community (downloadable map here; printed copies available along the high street and in Eltham Library).

People took part in sessions at local venues while talented pupils at Deansfield, Haimo and Wyborne schools, as well as the SV-Academy, took part in workshops to create a range of art works – including European inspired crafts, Asian inspired stars, African inspired Angels and even a Gingerbread family and Village!

The project and workshops were designed and led by artists Diana Jones, Pragya Kumar & Ali Forbes.

You can see the wonderful Festive Art Trail window displays in locations up and down Eltham High Street.

There are 6 festive artworks to find at these locations:

  • Beyond the Fringe
  • Eltham Kutchen haus
  • Bob’s Your Uncle Cafe
  • Legends Restaurant
  • Community (Bexley & Greenwich Charity) Hospice Shop
  • Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe

and 8 Gingerbread Characters to find at the following locations:

  • Eltham Library Eltham Library 
  • Eltham GPO pub
  • Skybar
  • Bob Hope Theatre 
  • Fabulous Tea Room 
  • Mirto Bianco cafe 
  • Normans music shop
  • Rusty Bucket pub

How many window displays will you find? Visit them all and collect a small prize from the library!

At the same time on Sat 22 November there will also be lots of other fun festive events happenings in and around the High Street organised by the Royal Borough of Greenwich  – music, art, choir singalongs, dance – culminating in the switching on of the Christmas tree at 5pm.

Keep up to date on our socials on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).

With special thanks to the Eltham GPO, May Whit Cafe and Eltham Library for hosting the workshops.

Did you know that the concept and inspiration for the Gingerbread Family and art trail draws on both folklore and culinary history?

According to English Heritage, the tradition of shaping gingerbread into figures dates back centuries in England, Queen Elizabeth I is said to have had her bakers create gingerbread likenesses of her guests as edible caricatures.

In medieval England, “gingerbread” originally referred to a honey-sweetened paste (rather than the spice-laden confections of later centuries) and was transformed over time. As sugar and spices became more accessible, the art of gingerbread-making spread across Europe, evolving into decorated cookies, houses, and festive shapes, making it a perfect metaphor for craft, cultural exchange, and celebration.

In our project, the Gingerbread Man’s journey from English roots outward into India, Africa, and Europe mirrors the historical journey of gingerbread itself, from simple honey cakes in medieval England to a globally recognised festive tradition. Each window becomes a storytelling gesture in that evolution: from English folklore to cross-cultural decoration, celebrating the creative spirit shared across continents.

You can find out more about the fascinating history which inspired Eltham Arts in the project proposal here.

Arts and Wellbeing Week

Community, Eltham, Festival

Well, lots of people enjoyed the Eltham Arts ‘Arts & Wellbeing Week’ during 16 – 23 July 2022.
The week consisted of the Creating Connections exhibition, shadow puppetry workshop and lots of other creative activities during the week in the library.

The week ended with a day of music in Passey Place where the local musicians played songs on the theme of Joy and Nostalgia for the Eltham Arts Music Challenge 2022.

More details of the week’s busy schedule and the fantastic participants on our Events page.

You can WATCH a flavour of that fabulous arty week in the video here, including some of those musical performances on that sunny, hazy day…

https://youtu.be/qPgPCzWE-UE

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !

Community, Eltham, Eltham Arts, Wall Project

With 2018 coming to an end and our annual Festive Singalong at the Eltham Centre now completed it is time to look back at the year

It has certainly been an amazing year with our WALL project which started in 2017 (with the New Eltham Mural) and has run all this year involving over 2000 people of all ages !

The Writing on a Wall creative writing competition fired the creative imagination of our community producing hundreds of short stories and poems on the theme of Walls in our Lives and an awards night on World Book Night which filled Eltham library ! A book with a selection of entries will be out very soon.

We organised another Song Challenge this year on the WALL theme and the singer/songwriters were even more in number . The July day in Passey Place ‘Songs Across a Wall ‘ was enjoyed by all the community as friends, families and shoppers all stopped to congratulate and listen to the performers . What musical talent we have !

The award winning film on the walls and barriers to working class actors ‘The Acting Class’ by Inside Film was screened in March 2018 at Bob Hope Theatre, Eltham. This ended with a lively debate

All year the local community have joined together to produce bricks ! Not any old bricks , but works of art from cardboard shaped bricks, ceramics, mosaics, glass, crochet. knitted and resin. Almost a thousand of these  were made into a Community Wall in the SE9 Container Gallery . It was magnificent. The exhibition of the WALL project with the community wall, photography , ceramics and textiles was the highlight of the project , bringing together all the aspects of the project.

We have continued to support and celebrate all local creative groups and individuals through social media and attending events . The Life in Eltham column in the Greenwich Visitor spreads the word all over the borough as well.

It has been hard work for all the team and not without difficulties and problems , but with so much local enthusiasm and support we have reached the end of the year! What will 2019 bring?

Happy Christmas and a happy and creative New Year to all our network!

from Gaynor

Invitation to WALL Exhibition!

Community, Eltham, Eltham Arts, Wall Project

You are invited to the opening event of the WALL Project !

An exhibition by Eltham Arts

 A multi media project involving the Eltham Community

Is a WALL a barrier? A connector? The exhibition is the voice and the vision of our community.

The exhibition reflects the different projects that have come together over the last year. It has caught the imagination of the whole community. People of all ages have created bricks using various media, photographic displays, artworks in glass and resin, a mosaic and a fabric hanging. The wonderful Community Wall will be built in the gallery with bricks created by individuals and groups reflecting what our local community has to say. The exhibition explores what WALLS mean to us in our lives.

The opening event takes place:

on Saturday 22nd September 2018
at The SE9 Container Gallery, St Thomas More School, Footscray Rd, Eltham SE9 2SU
from 11am to 3pm
There will be refreshments!
WallBanner
We will also be celebrating the Five Year Anniversary of Eltham Arts.
RSVP for the opening event. If you are unable to attend on that day, the exhibition will be open to the public on the following three Saturdays ( 29th Sept and 6th and 13th Oct) from 10am to 4pm

Hope you can come along and celebrate the creativity of our Eltham Community.

PrepWallExhibit

 

Eltham Arts 2013-2018 Connecting the Community through the Arts

Community, Eltham, Eltham Arts, Newsletter, Uncategorized, , ,

Eltham Arts was founded by Gaynor Wingham in Aug 2013 following a successful community poetry competition ‘Celebrate Eltham in Verse’ which highlighted what a proud and creative community lives in Eltham and the SE9 area.2014-GaynorInLibraryBookLaunch

The aim was to connect the community through the arts. It has been a huge success and it is a good time to reflect and celebrate the last five years of Eltham Arts.  A small team of unpaid volunteers have achieved all of this with the support and love from the local community.

Creative Community Challenges

  • 2013 A Celebration of Eltham in Verse – Local writers invited to write poems to celebrate Eltham, Awards event for all ages on World Book Night. A published book with a book launch. An exhibition of entries:2014-BookCover-CelebrationElthamInVersePoetry
  • 2014 Tales of Eltham – Local writers invited to write short stories on the theme of ‘Eltham’ Awards event for all ages on World Book Night. A published book with a book launch. An exhibition of entries:Tales of Eltham front cover
  • 2015 Postcards from Eltham – Local artists invited to design a postcard about Eltham. Awards event for all ages on World Book Night. Published postcards. An exhibition of entries: PostcardsExhib
  • 2016 Eltham Arts Song Challenge – Local singer/songwriters invited to write and perform songs on the theme of ‘Winter’. Album produced and launched ‘Aspects of Winter – the Eltham Collection’. End of session 1
  • 2017 Eltham Arts Song Challenge – local singer/songwriters invited to write and perform songs on the theme of ‘a culinary nature’. Album produced and launched ‘A Plateful of Songs – the Eltham Menu’ GV-Article-EA-CD-Launch
  • 2018 Writing on a Wall – Local writers invited to write poems and short stories on the theme of WALLs in our lives. Awards night for all ages on World Book Night
  • 2018 Eltham Arts Song Challenge – Songs Across a Wall. Local singer/songwriters invited to write and perform songs on the theme of ‘WALL’ All day live music event in Passey Place, Eltham High St

 Eltham Arts Winter Festivals

  • For 23 days in November 2015 and 2016 produced two wonderful festivals with involvement of a huge number of local groups and individuals from Eltham and SE9. In 2015 there were over 120 events and over 150 in 2016. With music, theatre, exhibitions, an art trail, roving poets and many other events.
  • The Winter Festival involved thousands of local people in organising and attending events in their local area and to feel part of a thriving community
  • Terrific opening events in Passey Place and closing events in the White Hart pub. A great success.
  • Eltham Arts organised a wonderful professional opera evening in 2016 as part of the Festival photostableau

 Eltham Music Festival in Passey Place and July is … Eltham Music Month

  • 2014 Eltham Music Festival – Four Saturdays of live music in July by local musicians and choirs. Eltham Arts designed and publicised the programme with Royal Greenwich Regeneration staff
  • 2015, 2016 and 2017 Three Saturdays of live music in July by local musicians and choirs. Eltham Arts designed the programme with Royal Greenwich Regeneration staff and provided most of the publicity!
  • 2016 and 2017 ‘July is … Eltham Music Month’ programme drawn up and promoted with music events organised all over Eltham, including in the parks, pubs, heritage buildings and churches. The 2016 programme was supported by Eltham Ward Councillor funding. MuiscFest-Collage-Performers

 Xmas Festive Fun

  • 2015, 2016, 2017 Charity Carol singing in the Eltham Centre
  • 2014, 2015 Charity Carol singing in the White Hart Pub
  • 2014 Step in Christmas musical event. A first Xmas event for the newly reopened Severndroog Castle with Eldorado Extra. 24-XmasSingalong

 Arts talks and conference

  • 2014 Eltham Entertains – Five evenings of excellent talks and discussions on arts topics in Eltham Library
  • 2014 to date Linked authors to talk at Eltham Library and promoted local authors.
  • 2014 ‘Developing the Arts in Eltham. Free conference for the community with speakers and workshop groups to develop the Five Big Ideas.

    Eltham Arts Conference workshops
    Conference attendees discussing creativity in Eltham

 

Wall project 2017/2018 – multi media project involving all the community

  • Over the Wall and Far Away – mural on vacant shopfront in New Eltham which became the focal point for their Xmas lights celebrations
  • The Acting Class films. Organised a showing of an award-winning film at Bob Hope Theatre about class barriers in the acting profession
  • Writing on a Wall – creative writing competition. Poetry and short stories all ages. Awards night
  • Songs Across a wall challenge. Invited singer/songwriters to write songs on a WALL theme. All day event July 2018 in Passey Place Eltham
  • Bricks on the Wall – inviting the community to be part of a community wall project. Bricks produced in all types of media by all ages. Organised first Arts Award for y1 pupils at Haimo School.
  • WALL exhibition planned Sept/Oct at SE9 Container Gallery HungryTums-Progress-team

Support for local groups / individuals /regeneration

  • Set up a large arts network all over Eltham and SE9 for individuals to make links
  • Provides venues and information and a platform to enable musicians to showcase and build a business.
  • Social Media support to celebrate and promote what’s going on in Eltham and the SE9 area, Eltham arts local network members and businesses. Over 3200 twitter followers and active Facebook account. Newsletters, leaflets and posters.
  • Raised money for local and national charities and supported local fundraisers.
  • Eltham Arts awards 2016 to the White Hart, Eltham Library and SE9 Container Gallery.
  • ‘Life in Eltham’ monthly arts column in the Greenwich Visitor by Gaynor Wingham since Dec 2013 and features by Gaynor and others.
  • Partners in the redevelopment and regeneration of Eltham High St. Supported the development of Passey Place for community use.
  • Partners in community projects (e.g. Age Uk B&G Silver Sunday Yarnstorming )
  • Worked with the local police to organise the Eltham Park Festival in July 2017, bringing arts and music to the festival
  • Links with Eltham New Zealand since 2013. Hosted guests Sept 2017 and they have also organised similar projects inspired by us in their community to celebrate Eltham in Verse and the WALL project. Linked the two libraries in the UK and NZ.
  • Membership of GAVS, South Greenwich Forum and Eltham Town Centre partnership.
  • Set up stalls with free activities at local festivals
  • The Eltham Arts team attend many events provided by local partners, using social media to promote.
  • Help individuals to set up social media and support their initiatives
  • Encourage fun and creativity in Eltham and SE9IMG_4910

Songs Across a Wall – live event Sat 21st July at Passey Place, Eltham programme announced!

Community, Eltham, Eltham Arts, Wall Project

2018 July Music Month WALL event

ELTHAM ARTS SONGS ACROSS A WALL

PASSEY PLACE – 21ST JULY 2018

10.15 AM  DANIEL RUSSELL “Bridges over Walls”

10.30AM   JIM PARRY  ‘Once Upon a Wall Medley’

10.50AM   MARTIN GUHA  ‘I’m watching you’

11.10AM   JOANNA GIRDLESTONE ‘Thru the Lines’

11.30AM   CAROLINE KNOTT  ‘Walls (Too high to climb.. low enough to trip over’)..

11.50AM   ELEN BLANEY ‘You Must Decide’.

12.10PM   DAVID FOWLER  ‘Empty Towers’

12.30PM  INDIAN DANCE LED BY ARCHANA PATIL

12.50PM   ANGELA MCCARRON ‘Back To The Wall’.

1.10PM     TONY CLARKE  ‘Map of the world on her wall’

1.30PM     MARIANNE-ROSE TOVEY (LEXY) ‘Tongue And Groove’.

1.50PM     CON MALONEY ‘Billy’

2.10PM     JIM RADFORD ‘Walls of Fear’

2.30PM     KEITH FERRIS  ‘All Life Is There’,

2.50PM     ALAN CUMMINGS/LITTLE BEACH “Let The Walls Come Down”.

3.10PM     DAVE KENNINGHAM AND

ZAHIRA AL-ZAHIRA ‘The Wall’

3.30PM     LIAM FITZPATRICK ‘Across A Wall’

3.50PM     RON RICHARDSON ‘Blood on the Wall’.

4.10PM    INDIAN DANCE LED BY ARCHANA PATIL

4.30PM    FINALE

July is … Eltham Music Month

Community, Eltham, Eltham Arts, Eltham CD, Festival, Wall Project

2018 July Music Month leafletsOnce again in 2018 we have a fantastic range of community led music events in Eltham this July.  Ranging from jazz, folk, classical and rock , there is music in pubs, parks , churches and the town centre and local streets. All ages are catered for .There is even a Band for Babies event !

A highlight for us at Eltham Arts is the Songs Across a Wall event in Passey Place , Eltham High St on Saturday 21st July . Local singer-songwriters will entertain us all day with the songs they have  written for the Eltham Arts Song Challenge 2018 (plus a few more!) .  It will be a great day, so come along !

Here is the programme and venues. There may be more events – that’s what happens in Eltham. Ask in the poubs for what’s on offer there. There will be some open mic, so have a go as well ! During the month we will be using social media to highlight individual events and there are ‘July is …Eltham Music Month’ leaflets around the area . Spread the word.

July is … Eltham Music Month 2018

Sun 1 July Summer Sunday Music, Tudor Barn, Well Hall Pleasaunce 3 to 5pm

Sun 1st July Live Music at the Rusty Bucket Sonny and the Harp 5.30pm

Wed 4 July Folkmob at Blackheath Rugby Club 8pm

Sat 7th July Westmount Parade Open Day  Live Music 10amto 3pm

Sat 7th July Eltham Choral Summer Concert at Holy Trinity Church The Armed Man 7.30pm

Sun 8th July Summer Sunday Music, Tudor Barn, Well Hall Pleasaunce  3 to 5pm

Sun 8th July Live music at the Rusty Bucket 5.30pm

Mon 9th July Folk and Blues Night at Bob Hope Theatre bar 7.30-10.30pm

Wed 11th July Folkmob  at Blackheath Rugby Club 8pm

Thu 12th July Eltham Jazz Club  Art Themen and Steve Waterman 7.30pm

Sat 14th July Band for Babies by GAMD at Eltham Park Methodist Church 11am to 12noon

Sat 14th July Queencroft Festival  Live music 12 noon to 5pm

Sun 15th July Summer Sunday Music Tudor Barn, Well Hall Pleasaunce  3 to 5pm

Sunday 15th July Live Music at the Rusty Bucket Harvey Montague 6pm

Wed 18th  July  Folkmob  at Blackheath Rugby Club 8pm

Fri 20th July Severndroog  Summer Lates  Motown 6.30-10pm

Sat 21st July Songs Across a Wall day. Eltham Arts Song Challenge 2018 Passey Place 10am-5pm

Sun 22nd July July Summer Sunday Music, Tudor Barn, Well Hall Pleasaunce 3 to 5pm

Sunday 22h July Concert in Eltham Park South. Los Dawsons   3 to 4.30pm

Sun 22nd July Jazz in the Afternoon at Eltham Palace – Maja 12 to 4pm

Sun 22 July Music at the Rusty Bucket Ruta Di & Paul Baker 5.30pm

Wed 25th  July  Folkmob  at Blackheath Rugby Club 8pm

Thu 26 Eltham Jazz Club Nigel Price and Vasilis Xenopoulos 7.30pm

Sun 29th July Eltham Park Festival at Eltham Park South. Live Music 12noon -5pm

Sun 29th July Jazz in the Afternoon at Eltham Palace 12-4pm

Sun 29th July Summer Sunday Music, Tudor Barn, Well Hall Pleasaunce 3 to 5pm

Sun 29th July Music at the Rusty Bucket Marco Buono Project 5.30pm

Check local pubs for times and other events!

Follow our Eltham Arts social media and website for more information

 

Venues 

Eltham GPO, 4 Passey Place, Eltham SE9 5DQ

Eltham Palace, Court Yard , Eltham SE9 5QE

Eltham Jazz Club at Eltham Warren Golf Club, Bexley Rd, Eltham SE9 2PE

Eltham Park South, Glenesk Rd, Eltham SE9 1AN

Bob Hope Theatre, Wythfield Rd, Eltham SE9 5GT

Folkmob at Blackheath Rugby Club, Kidbrooke Lane, Eltham SE9 6TE

Holy Trinity Church , Southend Cres , Eltham SE9 2SD

Passey Place (Eltham High St), Eltham High St, Eltham SE9 5DQ

Queencroft Park , Queenscroft Rd, Eltham SE9 5EG

Rusty Bucket, Court Yard, Eltham SE9 5PR

Severndroog Castle, Shooters Hill, SE18 3RT

The Long Pond, Westmount Rd, Eltham SE9 1UT

Tudor Barn, Well Hall Pleasaunce, Eltham SE9 6SZ

Westmount Road, Eltham, SE9

 

 

 

Eltham Arts – Privacy Policy

Eltham, Eltham Arts

Due to the introduction of a new data protection law known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into effect on 25 May 2018 we have revised our Privacy Policy.

Eltham Arts value each and every person who is part of our Eltham Arts Network and your privacy is important to us. We enjoy keeping you updated and telling you about all the wonderful creative news in the SE9 area through our newsletter, social media and website.

Scope

Eltham Arts is a network of artists and people interested in the arts and who mainly live in the SE9 area. We do not have a formal membership. We do not have membership application forms, we do not take subscriptions and we don’t issue membership cards.

We define our membership as those who have asked to receive our online news letter

This privacy policy applies only to those individuals or organisations that are members or are users of our web site.

This privacy policy applies to our use of any and all information or data collected by us or provided by you in relation to your use of our website or our operations.

This policy applies only to the actions of EA members and/or users of our website. It does not extend to any website that can be accessed from our web site, including but not limited to, any links we may provide to other websites or social media websites. We have no control over these websites and are not responsible for their content. This policy does not extend to your use of such websites.

Application

Any one asking to receive our newsletter will be asked for their consent. An unsubscribe button is available to enable members to unsubscribe without any further action on their part.

All information will be sent by the Blind copy system to keep email addresses confidential unless members have agreed to share their address with others.

EA will not hold any financial information on any members and will not share any data with any third party without their consent or unless required to by law.

EA will not use any personal data for direct marketing by a third party.

In the event that EA ceases all data will be erased and not passed to any third party.

Only committee members or those designated by the chair for operational purposes only will have access to any information held by EA.

The chair is the designated officer responsible for the operation and application of this policy.

Eltham Arts Committee   May 2018

Writing on a Wall Awards 23rd April 2018

Creative Writing, Eltham, Eltham Arts, Wall Project

A fantastic response to our Writing on a Wall challenge. They were announced at a celebratory event at the Eltham Leisure Centre where the awards were presented.

Awards-CrowdClapping

Here are the results, with the top three in each category available to read here by clicking on the links!

Children’s Awards

Short stories:

1st        Dylan Dreyer (11) TheWall

2nd       Zacary Stewart (10) The Great Wall of Lego

3rd       Grace Abe (9) The Wall Standing Between Me and My Dreams

Highly Commended      Taite McQueen (9) Over the Wall

Highly Commended      Emma Yarrow (6) What can you see from the top of the wall?

Commended     Lottie Gillard (7) The Wall Cert

 Poetry:

1st  Issy Jones (10) WALL

2nd  Abdul Salim-Said (6) The Playground Wall

3rd Neil Kumar (6)  Magical Walls

Highly Commended Aimy Durand (11)   Overcoming Walls

Highly Commended Sadie Drummond (9) Over the Wall

Highly Commended Harry Siri (10) The Wall

Highly Commended  Macie Brennan (10) Walls around my Heart

Commended   Chloe Riley (10) The Wall

Commended Ben Evans(7) The Big Brown Playground Wall

Commended Eleanor Jackson (6)  The Playground Wall

Commended Guste Sinkevecute (8) Over the Wall

Commended Lola Garside (8) Over the Wall

Commended Maria Nicolaie (8)  Over the Wall

Commended Marietta Meyn (6 )  The Playground Wall

Commended Nadia Dziubich (7)  The Big Brown Playground Wall

Commended Priana Rettes (9) Over the Wall

Commended Tia Maile  (9 ) Over the Wall

Commended Willow Gage (8) Over the Wall

Commended Zachary Morgan (8) Over the Wall

Commended Agatha Stewart (6) The Playground Wall

Commended Roxanne Peters  (9) Over the Wall

 

Specials community awards:

Moatbridge School (Innovative Banner)

Elephant Class at Wyborne School (Class poem)

The Stewart Family (Creative Family)

Neil and Jay Kumar (Creative Family)

Thomas & James Malia and Oscar Sanford (Creative Family)

 

Over 18’s Awards 

Short Stories:

1st – Linda La Tour – The waiting wall

2nd Tony Clarke – The Photograph

3rd Elizabeth Isitor – The Safety of Broken Walls (The Biafran War)

Highly Commended :  Lizzy Smith – Waiting

Highly Commended: Maureen Stapleton – Good fences make good neighbours

Commended: Roberta Woods – Behind the Wall

Commended : Lizzy Smith – The Wall

Commended : Jasmine Alvis – Library Wall

Commended : Greg Byrne-  More Dead Than I

Awards: Poetry over 18:

1st  Dawn Winchester – No Flow

2nd  Ellese Elliott – Dam

3rd  Jill Carr – The Struggle Within

Highly Commended   Belinda Latchford – Courtyard

Highly Commended Miriam Long – A Mother’s Lament

Commended :  James Curtin – Breaking Wall

Commended: James Curtin- Summer Wall

Commended:  Alan Cummings – London Wall

Commended : Mick Cohen- Unite and Divide

Commended Anne Novis – The Lady of Eltham Palace

Commended : Natalie Peterson- The Truth behind my certificates

Commended : Miriam Long – The ancient stone wall

Commended : Angela McCarron – A wall is a wall

Commended : Christina Bullen – W.A.L.L

CollageAwardsEvent