The Real Honor Oak Recreation ground thread!

[computedshorty]

There might be a way in the future when they change the way we are disposed of, it will all depend on Costs, laughable as it was when the proposal of using a Cremetorium, was thought to be far too drastic, as the public had visions of seeing the actual cremation happen. Now it is a much used practice it is final and there is no cause feel guilty and to go to the cemetery to visit and lay flowers.

I predict that at a future date the situation will be solved by the Council supplying a BLACK WHEELIE BIN.

But there is always the drawback of the fortnightly collection.

[computedshorty]

There is of course the Conical Coffin. that is circular and upright with a pointed bottom and a thread running from bottom to top, the benefit of this is instead of lowering a normal coffin by the Bearers, it is possible for all the Mourners to participate by taking hold of the cross levers they can all screw clockwise the Coffin into the ground. This does become a great help in Exhumations they just unscrew anticlockwise the Coffin back up.

[ted15]

Please help save Honor Oak Recreation Ground

Southwark Council is currently consulting on plans to increase its cemetery space and one option it is looking at is a plan to use Honor Oak Recreation Ground as a cemetery. Fans of this wonderful green space desperately want to stop Southwark doing this. The council is holding a meeting at the recreation ground this Saturday 24 September between 1-4pm at which Lewisham and Southwark residents can discuss the council?s plans for the future of the park and we really want people to come along and show their support for the park.

We also need people to fill in the council?s cemetery consultation questionnaire before the closing date of 30 September at

http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200308/current/2231/the_future_of_southwarks_cemeteries/1

and to sign this petition: http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/savehonoroakparkrec

More information about the campaign can be found on the Friends of Honor Oak Recreation Ground?s blog: http://honoroakparkrecreationground.blogspot.com/

[edhistory]

Camberwell New Cemetery is not "full".

There is a large amount of space for further burials on/in the cemetery land temporarily being used for other purposes.

John K

[languagelounger]

Edited out because post was somehow duplicated.

[languagelounger]

People keep mentioning something that happened in 1901 as though Southwark Council are bound from the mists of history to close a park in 2011 in London zone 2..so here are a few gaps filled in from the intervening 110 years, which gives us a little more relevant info:

In 1937 the Honor Oak Estate was built next to Honor Oak Rec. It houses 3,000 people with a high proportion of children, most of whom don't have a garden or any other play space.

In 1939 the Honor Oak Crematorium was opened. It was presumed that fewer and fewer people would want graves once cremation was available. (70% of people in Southwark now opt for cremation).

In 1955 the then local authority started using some land at Honor Oak for burials without having gained planning permission. The burials weren't lawful so the London County Council and the Minister for Local Government became involved. They told the local authority to come back with plans for recreational use of the land, and only allowed 2 acres, where the burials had already been started, to be used as a graveyard. The Minister commented on the outstanding quality of the rest of the landscape and said that he did not want to see it covered in gravestones. (The only mention of any temporary use of land I can find relates just to the allotments. It says that the allotments were only a temporary use, for WW2 only. The Minister is said to welcome a proposal to return them to public open space, with a path running from HOP station through that land).

Honor Oak Rec was a very popular and well used park and there doesn't seem to have been any suggestion of it ever being anything else, after 1955/6, until 1990, when a few very reactionary people started demanding its use as a graveyard.

I suppose that for most of the period 1955 - 1990 we were living in a more modern and confident world where most British people still had a firm hold on the belief that ordinary persons were entitled to some basic decencies, like a public park, and any politician that went about trying to justify destroying one in favour of a graveyard, and moreover quoted 1901 to justify it, would have been regarded as bonkers. (1901 - life expectancy 45 for men and 49 for women, children left school at 10. No paid holidays. 6.5 day working week. No medical care if you weren't rich.)

I hope the current Southwark politicians will pay more account to all the current up to date research that tells us how essential having a local park is to people's health and well being, and how much harm that lack of active space does to children - is it too much to ask that there are some who actually care about this?

[edhistory]

Interesting opinion piece.

Long on assertions. Short on references.

John K

[nmb]

PaperBagBadger - How dare you presume that because I have different opinions and information than you that I'm part of Southwark Council?

I was a first-time poster because sadly I recently had need to use the cemetery and took an interest in current affairs. There is plenty of information being supplied by Southwark giving ALL the options including NOT using the Rec. Have you read this?

Some of the other posters have also had informative and constructive comments to make.

I have tried to look at ALL points of view with an open mind and if you had bothered to read my post properly you would see that. I do have an opinion but I'm not a 'NIMBY' and my opinion clearly isn't the same as yours.

For you to jump on first-time posters isn't very community minded is it?

NMB