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Newsletter Article A Villager's Notebook Cash Points in Dulwich Village multiply In the last issue we mentioned the efforts of the Dulwich Society to persuade Barclays Bank to install a cash machine on its premises. There have been letters and emails in support as well as objections to this. In the meantime the Crown & Greyhound has installed a cash machine in its premises which charge £1.50 per transaction. Cash can been withdrawn against debit cards at the Village Post Office free of charge during opening hours; but you might have to queue. The village newsagents also offer a cash machine on its premises. If you wish the Society to pursue its campaign with Barclays or object to this please email David Roberts - djroberts@mistral.co.uk. New Dulwich Estate Website The Estate has introduced a new website for anyone requiring information on the Dulwich Estate and the Scheme of Management. It can be accessed on www.thedulwichestate.org.uk Christ's Chapel open The historic 17th century Christ's Chapel in the Village is open on Tuesdays from 1.30-3.30pm until 25 March and then 2-4pm for the rest of the summer. Access may be gained via door into the Chapel from the Dulwich Picture Gallery Cloister. A sidesman will be on duty to answer visitors' questions. 'Who Do You Think You Are?' The Society is getting an increasing number of enquiries by people outside of Dulwich who are tracing their ancestors who were at one time residents. In the past the Local History Group has assisted such enquirers. The popularity of this pursuit, stimulated by programmes such as 'Who do you think you are?' and the availability of genealogical search engines has grown. The requests for information on former residents will in future be published in the Newsletter and the wider membership invited to participate in answering, if possible, such enquiries. Replies should be sent to the Editor by letter or email (greenbriane@aol.com) who will then forward them. Gillian Harris of Golant-by-Fowey, Cornwall is researching the life of her great aunt Isabella Woodman who was the principal of Woodlawn School in Dulwich Village at the turn of the nineteenth century. Gillian Harris is keen to hear from any reader who has any knowledge of Woodlawn School. Woodlawn was the name already given to three adjoining Georgian houses, now converted into two. The school was situated in what is now 103 Dulwich Village and lessons were frequently given in the large rear garden as the photographs Mrs Harris has sent show. Isabella Woodman was born on 11 December 1865 in Clapham, one of nine children born to Thomas and Mary Haines Woodman. She was called Belle by her family. Nothing is known of her schooling, but in 1891 the census recorded her as living in Lewisham, her occupation given as a 'kindergarten teacher'. At some point in the following five years Isabella became the principal of the kindergarten at 3 Woodlawn, Dulwich Village. According to an advertisement for the school in 1895, she held the Froebel Society's Certificate. The Froebel Educational Institute was inaugurated in 1892, but the college and school in West Kensington were not opened because of building delays, until September 1894. It would appear therefore that Isabella was within the first intake of students who trained and obtained the certificate. The photograph below shows the pupils working at tables in the garden. An early example of 'group work'? Gillian Harris says that she inherited one of the tables and had taught children herself at it. The whole top has an indented squared grid she thinks might have been used for mathematical work. The back is hinged, so that it can be tilted and perhaps used for art work. Woodlawn was one a numerous small private schools which existed in large houses in an around Dulwich at the time. There were over sixty such schools locally. These included schools in East Dulwich Grove, Half Moon Lane, and two on Dulwich Common. Scores on the Doors Those of us who travel to the USA will be aware of their 'scores on the doors' scheme whereby all restaurants are obliged to put a notice by their main entrance doors confirming the results of their last food hygiene inspection. This scheme is now up and running in England - see www.scoresonthedoors.org.uk and Southwark is one of the first two London Boroughs to make this information available on their website. This means you can check the hygiene standards of any local restaurant, food store, and even school dining rooms, before you visit. Southwark's website describes the criteria that their officers address on their site visits:
The frequency of inspections ranges from every six months for the highest risk businesses, to once every five years for the lowest risks businesses. The benefits to the public are obvious. By providing the public with useful information in a readily accessible location, the scheme should drive up standards of food safety and give the public the opportunity to make an informed choice about where they choose to eat. The scheme will also serve as a good advertisement for those food businesses that have high standards of hygiene. Well done Southwark! |
