History
Shortly after the merger a new coat of arms was created for the London Borough of Greenwich. A competition was held and won by the then designer, Mr. E. S. Curme from Woodford Green, Essex. The shape on the shield, which also formed a crest, was based on the crest and colours of Woolwich with two ships supporting a chevron symbolising the River Thames surrounded by trees and standing on grass and river banks denoting Greenwich.
The borough was formed from four local government districts centred on Charlton, Greenwich, Woolwich and Deptford, South Greenwich Forum (southgreenwichforum.co.uk). The area covered by the London Borough of Greenwich roughly corresponds to that covered by the Royal Observatoire from 1675 to 1842 when its activities were moved to Greenwich. The borough developed from the merging of the former areas of the metropolitan boroughs of Greenwich and Woolwich. It was one of six London boroughs to host the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, alongside Hackney, City of London, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Sutton.
Old Greenwich or sometimes Southwark Greenwich is generally described as being located south of the River Thames; however, where the river curves around the Isle of Dogs, east London, it is to be found to the north and west. In 1965, under the London Government Act 1963, the metropolitan boroughs of Greenwich and Woolwich became part of the newly created Greater London. In 1991 the borough was abolished and its former area became part of the eastern end of the new larger London Borough of Greenwich.
Geography
The first community here was a series of hamlets around the present day metropolitan centre. These were all absorbed into the growing metropolis at different times, and have been lost to the official system of addresses, except for New Charlton (the part of Thamesmead in Woolwich). However, each retains its own unique character, and the names are still in use. The Thames curves around the west, north and east sides of the borough, including an area where it forms London's largest island, North Woolwich.
The borough – like much of the Thames Gateway area – has faced considerable regeneration including the building of new entertainment venues such as the 02 arena and facilities for the 2012 Summer Olympics. "Bermondsey is an ancient parish which originally included the hamlets now known as Canada Water, London Bridge and Southwark. It was originally part of the county of Surrey (with which it was associated until 1888 when its vestry gained the independence of becoming a metropolitan borough in the County of London.
Civic Affairs
Greenwich has a strong tradition of local governance by a council cabinet and mayor, who are elected annually by councillors. The council leader is elected from among the councillors and is known as the leader of the council. The northern boundary with Greenwich is Woolwich New Road and the southern with Thamesmead is the River Thames. To the east lies Belvedere and Erith, to the south lie Plumstead, Shooters Hill and Abbey Wood. In 1770 the market still took place in the churchyard and a stone building to house it, called the Bath House, had been built.
Politics
Greenwich London Borough Council is the local authority for the Royal Borough of Greenwich in Greater London, England. The council is unusual in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of Greenwich, currently Danny Thorpe (Labour), rather than an indirectly elected leader and cabinet model. As such it is the only principal authority in London to have a directly elected executive (all other London borough councils form part of a leader and cabinet model).
Greenwich has historically been a Labour Party stronghold, and since the Second World War it has only ever had one Conservative MP (Bob Marshall-Andrews (who served as MP for several different constituencies in South London during his time in Parliament), who represented Greenwich from 1997-2005). At the local government level, the Conservatives have controlled the council for over twenty years. The current administration, led by Cllr Chris Roberts, was elected in 2014. Greenwich is divided into 11 wards for elections: Abbey Wood, Blackheath, Central, Charlton, East, Eltham North, Eltham South, Greenwich West, Island Gardens, St Pauls and Woolwich Common.
Each ward returns between 3 and 6 councillors to Greenwich London Borough Council. The mayor is elected by the whole borough. There have been some boundary changes since 2002. Greenwich is a part of the South East London Assembly constituency, which covers Lewisham and most of Southwark. The constituency sends three members to the London Assembly, with Labour holding two seats and the Conservatives one. Greenwich Council Leader, Denise Hyland, has been a councillor in Greenwich since June 2000 and was formerly leader of the Labour group until 2007.
Sport Within The Borough
Greenwich Leisure Limited GLL operate a large number of sports, leisure and cultural venues in the Greenwich borough: The O2 Arena, Meridian Water, Lakeside at English Riviera, Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) also operates a number of light industry estates throughout the Borough: Greenwich Peninsula; Blackheath Village (off-river Thamesmead); North Greenwich; Marshalsea Road (east Greenwich). There are also many independent sports centres including the Spa Centre in East Greenwich. Independent leisure and fitness groups include, Blackheath Rugby Club; The Eltham Society (also running tennis and skittles leagues); Victorian Amateur Wrestling Club; Holcombe RUFC and there is a sailing club on the Scilly Isles.
Transport
There are two River Thames foot tunnels in Woolwich. The Woolwich Foot Tunnel, designed by Sir Alexander Binnie and engineered by Mowlem & Co, was built between 1912 and 1913 by the Great Eastern Railway Company. It is one of three such tunnels opened in London under the recently completed Blackwall Tunnel, which forms part of the A102 road running between Golders Green in the north, and Elephant and Castle in Southwark. The tunnel runs from Pier Road on the south bank to Wellington Street on the north.
Ferry services also operate northwards from Island Gardens to the Thames Barrier. The Woolwich Ferry is a foot ferry, free of charge, for pedestrians and cyclists only, providing day and night crossings on a ten minute frequency. Greenwich Sports Centre boasts a 25-metre, 8-lane swimming pool, one of the few surviving GLL pools still to feature the flexible Diving Boards that were once commonplace. Greenwich Leisure Ltd. (known as GLL) are a public leisure provider with over 25 parks, activity centres and pools across London.
Places
Opposite Greenwich is a place that knows of human existence, which happens to be the case for several other nearby places in the Home Counties. Greenwich has attracted people since prehistory, being situated in a river valley near the point at which the River Thames was first crossed by a bridge; the site of the first bridge remains uncertain. Westminster has a unique land border with the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames along the southern boundary of Hyde Park.
It is bounded by Kensington and Chelsea to the west, Hammersmith and Fulham to the east, Tower Hamlets to the north and Islington to the northeast. There is also a Royal Borough of Greenwich NHS Trust, which manages seven London hospitals including the Greenwich Maternity Hospital. It is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in England. The trust has over 1,700 beds and around 2,000 staff. Greenwich is surrounded by other London boroughs: Tower Hamlets, Chelsea to the west and south west, Lambeth to the south east, Lewisham to the east, Greenwich and Deptford to the south, and Camberwell on the north.
Religion
At the 2001 census, there were 22,812 people living in Greenwich (8. 6% of the borough). Of these, a little under 25% described themselves as Christians—a majority of whom were Church of England (16%) with a sizeable minority of Roman Catholics (11%). Methodist, Baptist and other Protestant denominations were also represented. There are also several hundred Quakers. The predominant religion in Greenwich is Christianity—more specifically, the Church of England. The Greenwich borough has many churches, some of which are architecturally significant: the grade I listed St Alfege Church, designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor; and three other buildings that are listed grade II.
Mayor
The Mayor of Croydon for 2016/17 is Olu Babatola. He was elected at the annual meeting of the council on 21 May 2016. It was announced that he would take over from outgoing Mayor Cllr Alex Christie, who hoped to hand over to the first-ever female mayor, Councillor Lynne Hale (Conservative, Central ward). The Church of England is the established church in Greenwich, and copes with parishes in several parts of the borough. There are also other religious groups, including Jewish, Muslim and Hindu followers.
Executive
The Greenwich Council Executive Committee was first set up in May 1983, the same month as direct elections to the Council were introduced. The Executive comprises 24 Greenwich councillors and co-operates closely with officers so that they can best represent the views of the local community. It has four committees whose remits include transport, planning, communities and management services. The Leader of the Council is Cllr Danny Thorpe (Shooters Hill), and through the constitution of the council the Deputy Leaders are Cllrs Scott Ainslie (Lordswood and Welling), Sidney Brungraber (Limehouse South), Tom Davey (Blackfen North and Bellingham), Andrew Edwards (Shortlands on behalf of Bexley Labour Group), Denise Hyland (Crayford Rural East) and Janet Walton (Rainham North).
Following the 2018 elections, the 54 Labour Party members of the Council increased their number of seats from 23 to 34, giving them a majority on the council. The 10 Conservative Party members remained in second place on 14 seats. The Cabinet is composed of the Labour leader and nine other elected members. The new cabinet of in power since 2018. It is bounded by Blackheath to the north, Plumstead to the east, Lewisham to the south and Thamesmead to the west.
Coat Of Arms
The present coat of arms was granted on 10 May 2012,but has been in use since the creation of the London Borough in 1965. The shield is split into quarters by a grey diagonal band, representing the Thames. On each of these quarters is a symbol of one of the four boroughs from which the new council had been formed in 1965. On the top left is a cogwheel for the area that became Southwark, on the top right is an anchor representing Lewisham, on the bottom left is a river boat for Greenwich and on the bottom right is a hill with five windmills for Woolwich.
As a result of mergers with Wandsworth and Hammersmith & Fulham in 2000 and 2002 respectively,. "London Borough of Tower Hamlets" was the borough council from 1965 to 1970, and then again from 1974 to the present day. Before 1965 it was the municipal borough of Stepney. The coat of arms shows a red shield with three gold wyverns (a type of dragon). This is to symbolise the fact that Queen Elizabeth I met Wyverns on a nearby hill during a visit to the Tower in 1579.
The London Borough of Camden has no fewer than five logos, known as "coats of arms", which have been used to various extents since 1965, although when each logo was adopted is not specifically recorded. The main coat of arms is based on the design granted by letters patent issued by the College of Arms on 1 October 1965 and augmented with a representation of the Thames. Future London Boroughs The current proposal is that the borough will be within these boundaries.
Greenwich London Borough Council
Greenwich is presently governed by the Labour Party. The present Leader of the Council is Councillor Denise Hyland, and the present Deputy Leader of the Council is Councillor Danny Thorpe. Greenwich has a unique political history in that it was the only London borough to elect a councillor from the National Front in 1976 (when David east was elected), as well as being one of two councils (the other being Croydon) to vote against setting up the Greater London Council in 1965.
It was also one of only two London boroughs (the other being Lambeth) not to fall to Labour until 1971—Labour was only able to take control of Greenwich after winning five by-elections on the trot. In May. Greenwich London Borough Council was created in 1964 by the merger of Greenwich Borough Council and Woolwich Borough Council. It was envisaged through the London Government Act 1963 that Greenwich as a London local authority would share power with the Greater London Council.
The split of powers and functions meant that the Greater London Council was responsible for "wide area" services such as fire, ambulance, flood prevention, and refuse disposal; with the local authorities responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection. As an outer London borough council it has been an education authority since 1965. Greenwich London Borough Council is the local authority for the Royal Borough of Greenwich in Greater London, England.
Universities
The idea of a university in South East London had repeatedly been proposed prior to the foundation of the University of Greenwich, most notably at a meeting of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge held at Greenwich on 2 December 1891, in which Sir William Hart Dyke undertook to ascertain whether there was any demand for such an institution. The current location was identified roughly four years later as Walworth Road in Woolwich.
There are 27,700 students at 16 campuses in South East London, Kent or Medway. They come from 140 countries and speak 140 languages; 88% are undergraduates and the rest are postgraduate students or non-degree students. The university says that its campuses in Falmer, Avery Hill and Folkestone "deliver a wealth of opportunities to study outside the classroom". Proposed developments include. The oldest facilities are at Greenwich, Avery Hill and Medway. The university underwent a major restructuring beginning in the mid-1990s, with more recently completed projects including the Psychological Laboratory and the Business School.
River Crossings
A tunnel underneath the River Thames connects Greenwich on the north bank to the Isle of Dogs on the south. Possible designs for a Thames tunnel were drawn up in 1808 by William Jessop but no crossing was built at that time. In the 1980s, the Lea Valley was considered as a site for a crossing but only made it to the shortlist of two before being eliminated from further consideration. It seems that a crossing from Woolwich to East London was made more feasible when a new alignment of the North Circular Road between Bow and Stratford opened in 1991 through what was then undeveloped land.
Two railway tunnels cross under the River Thames at or near the north end of the central island. The first is the east-west Blackwall Tunnel, an undersea tunnel opened in 1894, taking rail traffic from Poplar in the East End of London to Greenwich, and then via a surface route to south Kent. The second is the Connaught Tunnel under Tower Hill. This was built as part of "tube" line that was planned to run through central London, but although completed to Aldwych as part of a deep level shelter during World War II, it has never been used for its original purpose.
Constructed between 1849 and 1869, the Woolwich Foot Tunnel is one of two roughly equidistant tunnels beneath the river from Central London and connects North Woolwich with Woolwich. In 1989, a private consortium proposed using one of the tunnels to build a monorail line connecting central London to Heathrow Airport via the centre of the city. The proposal was rejected, but it has inspired other proposals for urban public transport passing through these below-river tunnels.
There are two road crossings of the River Thames in Greenwich, both connecting the North Circular Road (A406) with the South Circular Road (A205) south of the Woolwich Ferry. The Blackwall Tunnel links the Isle of Dogs in the south and Greenwich in the west via a four-lane road tunnel underneath the river. The older Greenwich foot tunnel runs under the river east from the Isle of Dogs to a footbridge downstream. A bridge carrying the A206 road links Woolwich and Greenwich.
Railway Stations
There are two main railway lines that form part of the South-Eastern franchise. Both come close to the M25 motorway, with one of them crossing it (Croydon to Gatwick and Brighton). The other serves destinations in Kent, but has been proposed for closure since 2006, due to low usage. None of these stations are considered terminal stations; they are all within 1⁄ 2 mile (1. The station is operated by Southeastern and is in Travelcard Zone 7.
Services are provided by Thameslink and Southeastern, whose trains call at the station simultaneously outside of rush hours. This is one of the few stations where services on different operators'networks arrive and depart from adjacent platforms. The South Eastern Railway or SER was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1836 until the Grouping of 1923. The company originated as a renaming and reorganisation of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) in 1836 under the direction of its first chairman, Sir Bernard astley.
A few new stations opened in the London Borough of Bromley for the 2012 Summer Olympics. These are served by the nearby OLLS. Plans for a major road to replace the ferry connecting Pudding Mill Lane, with Blackwall, Thamesmead, Woolwich and North Woolwich, were proposed in 1968. Originally called the Blackwall Tunnel, it was designed as a two-way car and pedestrian tunnel by Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice. It was opened on 18 August 1971 by Princess Anne, The Princess Royal.
Tube/Dlr Stations
Greenwich Park is surrounded by a network of paths popular with runners and cyclists. The park's perimeter path is a distance of approximately 1. 5 miles (2. 4 km) and a circular walk can be completed inside the park in around 30 minutes. As well as being popular with visitors, Greenwich Park is also well used by residents of the surrounding neighbourhoods for dog walking and other exercise. The park contains many sports fields, pitches and courts.
The Park's boating lake has a centre for sailing (including the Optimist Dinghy) as well as rowing boats, canoes and kayaks which are available to hire. From Shooters Hill, views of Canary Wharf in London Docklands can be seen across the river to the. Aldgate East; Bow Church; Canary Wharf; Canning Town; Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich; Deptford Bridge; East India; Emirates Greenwich Peninsula; Greenwich (for DLR only); Island Gardens (DLR and Southern trains); Lewisham (Mid-Kent line & Southeastern); North Greenwich (Jubilee Line); Royal Victoria (DLR); Shoreditch High Street (overground only.
Formerly called Dalston Junction); Southwark London Bridge; Westcombe Park (the only station in the borough to be served by two lines). Greenwich station was first opened on Wednesday 3 August 1851 by the London and Greenwich Railway as part of the first section of the London-Greenwich line, and thus was the original terminus of that route. The station took its name from the adjacent Greenwich park and it replaced earlier plans to locate the terminus at Queen's Road (now part of Old Woolwich Road) in East Greenwich, or at Island Gardens on the River Thames (now the site of Island Gardens DLR station).
Bridge: North Greenwich tube station opened in 1999. DLR: Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich, Island Gardens and Millennium Village. Greenwich Park : Greenwich and Woolwich Arsenal. Island Gardens : Canary Wharf : North Greenwich, One Canada, Southwark Park, Royal Victoria,Canada Water. National Maritime Museum : Cutty Sark, Maritime Greenwich. One Canada Square : Canary Wharf /Sub-Surface Lines. There are 11 railway stations in the Royal Borough, providing services from Charing Cross, Cannon Street and London Bridge in Central London.
Travel To Work
One of the possible reasons for our tendency to travel to work in a car or van could be due to the fact that Norwich is close to two major trunk road networks (A11, A47). These trunk road networks also link up with the rest of the UK, as well as ferry ports and international rail stations. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced in February 2016 that cycling would be made a priority for new funding and planning.
Transport for London also expects cycling to become even more popular after the planned bike hire scheme is introduced in summer 2017. A high proportion of households in the city own a car; on average there are 1. 9 cars per household, the highest rate within the region. Within London, only Kensington and Chelsea has a higher rate with 2. 3 cars per household. I travel to work on the tube, bus, walking. It depends where I am staying at the time and what's gets me to work on time.
You just have to plan ahead because there are overcrowding issues with the train services in London. All trains are operated by Southeastern. Stations have a wide range of opening hours, with most open 24 hours a day. The area is notable for its several railway stations (despite the lack of tube stations), important in this part of London since many Southern trains terminate here. These include. Greenwich is divided into 16 wards, each electing three councillors.
Parks And Open Spaces
Greenwich is located in SE London, adjacent to South-East London. To the east are the Royal Borough of Greenwich and Bexleyheath, to the south there is Woolwich, and to the west East Greenwich and Charlton. The Thames Estuary forms the boundary with Essex in the East. There are a few Royal Parks. One of them is the Greenwich Royal Park, in the eastern part of the borough. Also, Greenwich Park, Blackheath and Wanstead Flats are open spaces in the east of the borough.
Greenwich is surrounded by much of London, with the exception of a small section to the south-east, and some areas north of the Thames. Some nearby places are. The Royal Borough of Greenwich (Royal Greenwich) was a former local government district in south-east London, England. It was headed by the Mayor of Greenwich. Greenwich is home to some of the most important historical buildings and monuments in London. Several of these are located within one area in Greenwich.
Entertainment District
The other major entertainment and leisure venue is the ExCeL exhibition centre. The Royal Docks are being regenerated (with Canary Wharf also playing a major part) to create a new business and residential district. Regeneration of the area began with the hosting of the London City Airport in March 2006; it was extended to include the whole Docklands area, taking in land formerly occupied by much of London's heavy industry. The site of West India Quay station serves as the eastern gateway to the ExCeL exhibition centre, alongside One Canada Square, Canary Wharf.
The O₂ is an entertainment district in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is located on the Greenwich Peninsula. The district houses a multi-purpose arena called "The O2" and an indoor entertainment complex called "The O₂ entertainment venue". The O2 was built as the Millennium Dome, a large dome-shaped exhibition space located on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East London to celebrate the turning of the second millennium, and was originally conceived as a temporary structure.
The O2 is an entertainment district in southeast London (Greenwich) that contains an indoor arena, a music club, a cinema, bars and restaurants, and the Millennium Dome, now known as the O2. Located at Peninsula Square (or The O2 Arena) in the Royal Borough of Greenwich (London), it is close to mass transit systems being within walking distance from. The O2 (formerly the Millennium Dome) is located on the Greenwich Peninsula. It includes an indoor arena, a music club, a Cineworld cinema, an exhibition space, piazzas, bars, and restaurants.
River Transport
In 1215 it was granted its first charter, and in 1421 was granted the right to charge a tax on goods loaded onto or unloaded from craft passing through the river. Although water transport remained a secondary means of transport for centuries, by the mid-16th century it had begun to eclipse the more expensive and less efficient transport via cart. In 1635, there were around 2,000 barges on the Thames, and well over 6,000 by the end of the century.
The figure represents a huge increase: in 1589 there were only 116 registered boats on the river (compared with 672 in 1810), half of which were only used for ferrying goods such as coal, wool and food. [8. The Thames Clippers is the newest player in London's river transport, with multiple routes between key locations on the Thames. The main service runs from Embankment through to Greenwich and Woolwich (including north bank lines) plus City Cruises'hop-on/hop-off services all year round.
There are also river buses, in particular, the river bus service to Greenwich provided by the local authority. Despite there being some night boat services that run after midnight, there are no 24 hour services. The night boats run hourly between 00:00 and 04:00 am. The Thames Clippers riverboats are catamarans with a capacity of 144 passengers. Tickets start at £5. 50, although end-to-end journeys are nearly twice that much. Location. The O2 is located on the Greenwich Peninsula, a site previously occupied by gas works that were built u.