The Greenwich Visitor

05/03/2018

You might have seen the little driverless delivery vehicles taking groceries to homes in Greenwich – one of four places across the country where testing of the futuristic robot vehicles is taking places.

And here's an interesting update... now you can test a self-driving shuttle too.

Here's the press release from the Government's GATEway project.

Let us know if you decide to have a go...we'd love to know what you think. Email [email protected]

Public invited to shape the future of driverless vehicles
· Public invited to try self-driving shuttles in Greenwich
· Real-world testing ground for future mobility

Greenwich, London, 5th March 2018 – In a world first, members of the public are being invited to test a fleet of driverless pods as part of a major research project helping to shape a new kind of transport. Over the next four weeks visitors and residents at the Greenwich Peninsula will have the opportunity to engage with the new technology and share their experiences.

The trials mark the final phase of the GATEway Project, which is using a fleet of automated pods to understand public acceptance of, and attitudes towards, driverless vehicles. The research has helped advance the UK’s position in the autonomous vehicles revolution through collaborations with developers Westfield Sportscars, Fusion Processing, Gobotix and Oxbotica. What makes this study unique is its primary focus on people: – throughout the Project qualitative research has been conducted by TRL, the University of Greenwich, Commonplace (an online consultation platform) and the Royal College of Art, exploring how we feel about using and sharing space with self-driving vehicles.
Richard Cuerden, Academy Director, TRL, explains “As we explore the future of mobility solutions, it is essential that we consider the experience and benefits delivered to the consumer. This is why understanding and exploring the public perception of automated services has always been at the heart of the GATEway Project.

This Project is enabling us to discover how potential users of automated vehicles respond to them, in a real-world environment, so that the anticipated benefits to mobility can be maximised. We see driverless vehicles as a practical solution to delivering safe, clean, accessible and affordable mobility and we are proud to be part of creating our future transport system.”

Over the past 5 months, the GATEway pods have generated considerable interest as they have travelled around the Greenwich Peninsula undertaking the first phases of the trial. Over 5,000 people have already registered their interest in taking part in the final phase of the trial and will have priority booking for one of several journeys undertaken each day.

Members of the public not registered will still have an opportunity to take part in this ground-breaking research, during a series of “drop in” sessions. Information about times and service availability will be shared online at https://gateway-project.org.uk or follow us on Twitter .
In this phase of the GATEway Project, four driverless pods will be navigating a 3.4km route around the Greenwich Peninsula, using advanced sensors and state-of-the-art autonomy software to detect and avoid obstacles whilst carrying members of the public participating in the research study.

Developed by British companies Westfield Sportscars and Heathrow Enterprises, and controlled by a state-of-the-art automation system created by Fusion Processing, the pods have no steering wheels or typical driver controls. Instead, Fusion’s software, CAVstar®, combines GPS with radar (for long range) and LIDAR (for close range) to enable the pods to detect and safely negotiate objects in their path. This also allows the pods to operate in adverse weather conditions and even in the dark - a global first for this technology in the UK.

Although the GATEway vehicle is designed to operate without a human driver, a safety steward will remain on-board at all times, complying with the UK’s code of practice on autonomous vehicle testing.

GATEway is jointly funded by government and industry. The government’s £100m Intelligent Mobility fund is administered by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) and delivered by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.

Contact them here: https://gateway-project.org.uk

15/12/2017

Fabulous food...fabulous offer!

17/08/2017

24/07/2017

Ever wondered who else reads The Greenwich Visitor? Is it a local paper? Or a paper for visitors? We're proud to say it's both. We work hard to make sure every story is useful to people who are here for life...or just for a day. We're unique!

Last night a reader sent us a picture of her and two friends on holiday in Austria (we love to see the GV somewhere exotic and, so far, have been taken to locations ranging from Mount Everest and the Arctic Circle via Sydney and the Blackpool Tower!). She told us what she does when our paper comes out:

"I used to live in SE10, but moved to Shooters Hill two years ago. I still make a point of tracking The Visitor down at the beginning of the month, and I collect about eight copies. I give one each to my old neighbours in Greenwich, who cannot get copies themselves. I give two to my brother in Gravesend and he passes one on to a friend in Birmingham. I also pass a copy to one of my walking friends. At Lake Achensee I gave the Visitor to the gentleman who took our photo who used to live in Greenwich. He was very grateful for it."

Not sure many publications here are as loved or useful – or as widely read. If you have a business or run an organisation then please remember that when you plan your marketing. If you book a campaign with us It means you're marketing in a publication that's valued and trusted and reaches a really wide audience – but one very focused on Greenwich and the surrounding area and the great things to enjoy here.

Email [email protected] or call 07802 743324 and be part of something people love.

23/07/2017

The weather's fine and you can still make it in time... Mycenae House in Westcombe Park, is a great community venue. Today it hosts a FREE summer ParksFest extravaganza with music, theatre, science, dance, wellbeing, food and a real ale bar. There's loads of live music – including Californian singer-wingwriter (and rising star) Tavia and Blackheath's now almost legendary Ronnie Ripple & The RipChords. The fun starts from noon. Oh... and there are Meerkats!

12/07/2017

If, like us, you believe Greenwich's industrial past is something to be proud of then you might like to support a campaign to stop this 1880s gas holder being demolished by Greenwich Council. There is just one week left of a very short (and not widely advertised) consultation period - so you must respond by Wednesday July 19.

We're not against new homes – they're needed as much here as anywhere – but we do think this monumental and revolutionary steel structure could be preserved and used. It's happened in Dublin, as our story says, so why not here? Why just put up more oblong blocks on the Greenwich Peninsula?

Inceidentally, the gas holder has its own special place in much history. It appeared in Blur's filmed their classic video for the song that is know as...Parklife. See it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSuHrTfcikU

So if all the people, so many people (see what we did there?) that like our gas holder look at the plans here –
https://consultations.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/kms/dmart.aspx?LoggingIn=tempVar&strTab=PublicDMart
– then either email planning.policy@ royalgreenwich.gov.uk
or call them on 020 8921 6235 then maybe we can save it.

There are other ways you can get involved too. A group called Save Our Gasholder has been formed and you can contact them on Twitter or on https://www.facebook.com/groups/saveegg

Former councillor and East Greenwich Industrial History expert Mary Mills is involved and can be contacted at [email protected]

Here's our story from this month's Greenwich Visitor – the only newspaper produced here in Greenwich and the one that really cares about the community we live in. We're in supermarkets and being distributed on the streets here ever day...

THIS is what could be achieved at the threatened Greenwich gasholder landmark – a beautiful glass and steel apartment complex INSIDE one in Dublin.
Architects O’Mahony Pike designed the glass and steel building in 2008 at The Alliance holder, built in the 1870s. There are 240 apartments on nine floors. Inside is a courtyard inside with gardens and greenery. It has underground parking with a spiral ramp. And it is said to have helped attract business to the area, including Google.
In Copenhagen a gasholder has been converted into the city’s new theatre. Closer to home, at King’s Cross in North London, Gassholder No8 has become a parks and event space.
But unless you speak up George’s Livesey’s revolutionary gasholder could be lost.
Greenwich Council says “the site could accommodate alternative, and more intensive uses” next to the proposed new Silvertown Tunnel if it is demolished. But industrial history expert and former councillor Mary Mills insists the gasholder should stay and be adapted.
She told The Greenwich Visitor: “The East Greenwich gasholder is one of the largest ever built. It was the second of a series by the extraordinary industrialist George Livesey which were revolutionary in design and construction. It was deliberately left very, very plain with no decoration and set a bench-mark for gasholder design which exploits the beauty of pure structural form. These ideas were beginning to be embodied in industrial and domestic design as the modern movement.
“Around the world architects, and designers are working out exciting ways of re-using the frames – and this one has huge merit in its innovative design and dramatic raised setting. There is no reason why something could not be done which would be economically productive. Something could be done here which would add excitement and interest to the changing landscape on the Peninsula, conserving an important part of our heritage and bringing credit to Greenwich for doing so.
“We need people to respond immediately to the Council consultation – which has a box for comments. It would also be useful to hear ideas from developers, artists and designers.”
The council consultation opened on June 14 and ends on July 19, with results due in August.
The East Greenwich gas holder was one of two built there by Livesey, making up the largest amount of safe gas storage in the world. The gasholder was bombed by the IRA in 1979 but survived. The second was demolished in 1986.

12/12/2015

Really thrilled to get this email from some a Greenwich couple who've read our paper since the very first edition back in November 2010. And we think they make a great point about the state of Cutty Sark Gardens, which our council spent around £3.2million on in 2012...and still doesn't work.


Hello Matt, from two Greenwich residents who love your paper –have read it since the first issue. It's brilliant and we really look forward to each edition.
Just a couple of things that you might have an insight into :
What is happening to the fenced off area (supposed to be a water feature!) in Cutty Sark Gardens It is an eyesore especially as it is one of the first things that visitors to Greenwich see.
Also the Christmas market in the same area – we were talking to some of the stall holders last week and they had been so disappointed at the lack of advertising. We live in the Borough and didn't know about it either.
One last thing: The gardens had a lot of time and effort spent on them for the Olympics but since then have been very neglected and a lot of the planting has died and it all looks very sad!
Thank you for your time.
Regards.
Ralph and Mary Allen

Thanks Ralph and Mary. Delighted that you're still enjoying the paper.
Funnily enough the Christmas Market was, we believe, a Greenwich Council initiative so, naturally, there was no advertising in The Greenwich Visitor!
And if you want to know more about the project here's the builder'd take on it: http://www.volkerhighways.co.uk/en/projects/detail/cutty-sark

The Cutty Sark Gardens Project is a £3.2m contract awarded to VolkerHighways for the refurbishment of the landscaping around the historical tea clipper. The project comprised of the removal of existing paving and replacing it with high quality hard and soft landscaping.

05/11/2015

Sometimes a reader makes everything worthwhile:

Dear Editor,
I would like to compliment you on your newspaper. I make the effort every month to go to Eltham to collect to from Sainsbury's. I read one and so does my neighbour. After we have read them I send the papers to one of my daughters, Vicky Findlay, living in Auckland, New Zealand and one to my cousin, Derek Jones, living in New South Wales, Australia.
Those papers are avidly read and then passed around amongst many expats from the Greenwich, Woolwich, Plumstead and Lewisham area. It's ironic that these 'free' papers cost me about £3.50 each to post but it is money well spent because they make many people happy and keep them in touch with their roots.
Thank you.
Regards from Diane Smith.

18/05/2015

You might have seen the huge pall of smoke over Charlton and the North Greenwich peninsula. The fire was at Sainsbury's depot by the Thames and some dramatic pictures and videos have emerged this evening.
Here's the London Fire Brigade report on the fire, and – at https://twitter.com/Kent_999s/status/600375739205165056 – a dramatic video of a lorry driver making sure the fire doesn't spread to their own vehicle.

Charlton – warehouse fire
18 May 2015

Ten fire engines and over 70 firefighters and officers were called to a fire in a large distribution warehouse on Lombard Wall in Charlton this afternoon.

At its height, the fire, which also affected six lorries, produced plumes of smoke which could be seen for miles around. Businesses and residents in the area were advised to keep doors and windows closed as a precaution and local road closures were put in place. London City Airport tweeted during the incident to confirm that the blaze was not impacting on flights.

The fire damaged six lorries and part of the warehouse and four people were assessed on the scene for smoke inhalation by London Ambulance Service.

Station Manager Bruce Grain who was at the scene said: "During its early stages this was a very intense fire. Crews wearing breathing apparatus attacked it extremely quickly and thanks to their efforts the fire was prevented from spreading any further into the warehouse and causing even more damage.

The distribution centre was fitted with a sprinkler system which activated and this also helped reduce the impact of the blaze on the main building.”

The Brigade was called at 1608 and the fire was under control by 1829.

Crews from Greenwich, East Greenwich, New Cross, Deptford, Plumstead, Lea Green, Poplar and Shadwell fire stations attended the incident. Crews will remain at the scene for some time to damp down the fire.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

More info: http://www.london-fire.gov.uk

15/04/2015

We told readers in February that the fabulous Queen's House in Greenwich was to close for a year for a major refurbishment. The project has finally been announced – and our story confirmed – by Royal Museums Greenwich, which manages the historic building. Here's their announcement in full. More info in May's edition. PS Go and take a look around in the next few weeks, so you see the difference in 2016!

THE QUEEN’S HOUSE CLOSES FOR REFURBISHMENT
· Reopens for the 400th anniversary in July 2016
· Painting returns after 360 years

In preparation for the 400th anniversary in 2016 of its commissioning and design the Queen’s House will be closed for refurbishment from 27 July 2015. When the House re-opens on 4 July 2016 visitors will be able to see Orazio Gentileschi’s Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife displayed in this iconic building for the first time since 1650. The painting, which is part of the Royal Collection, was one of a sequence commissioned for the Queen’s House by King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria.

Designed by Inigo Jones in 1616 for the wife of James I, Anne of Denmark, the Queen’s House was the first classical building in the country and is an acknowledged masterpiece of 17th-century architecture. The closure gives Royal Museums Greenwich the opportunity to refurbish galleries, including the King’s Presence Chamber and the Tulip Stairs, as well as introducing new displays and colour schemes, bespoke lighting and new interpretation. The window-glazing and flooring of the Grade I listed building will also be upgraded, improving both the external and internal appearance of the House.

The ceiling in the King’s Presence Chamber will be restored to its royal splendour, complementing the Queen’s Presence Chamber which was restored in 2013. Both rooms will have a bold new colour on the walls; bright blue for the King’s and bright red for the Queen’s, as befits their 17th-century majesty. These rooms will be adorned with paintings illustrating the kings, queens, consorts and courtiers associated with the House and Greenwich during this period, including Charles I and Henrietta Maria by Daniel Mytens, also generously loaned from the Royal Collection by Her Majesty The Queen. The focus throughout will be on the iconic people and events, artists, designers and architects that are key to understanding the building’s history, and its significance today.

Finding inspiration in the House’s past, the re-displays will also capitalize on the great strengths of the National Maritime Museum’s (NMM) world-class art collection, along with significant loans from both public and private collections. As an overarching principle the displays and interpretation will chart the changing relationship between the Queen’s House, the people who created it and those who lived and worked there, from royalty and courtiers to the Navy.

This exciting project gives Royal Museums Greenwich the opportunity to celebrate the international and historically important building for its 400th anniversary and for the House, in its modern role as the Museum’s prime fine-art venue, to showcase the NMM’s outstanding art collection.

The 17th-century Queen’s House, designed by Inigo Jones, was the first classical building in England, 1616–c.1638: it is known for its perfectly proportioned Great Hall, original marble floor and beautiful Tulip Stairs. Part of Royal Museums Greenwich, the House is a Grade I listed building of unique architectural importance and forms an important part of the UNESCO Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Visitors to the Queen’s House can see highlights from the National Maritime Museum’s fine art collection including royal and maritime portraiture, and the world’s finest collection of Dutch and English marine painting from the 17th century on.
Royal Museums Greenwich comprise the National Maritime Museum, the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the Queen’s House and Cutty Sark. Royal Museums Greenwich illustrate for everyone the importance of the sea, ships, time and the stars and their relationship with people. This unique collection of attractions, which form a key part of the Maritime Greenwich UNESCO World Heritage Site, welcomes over two million British and international visitors a year and is also a major centre of education and research. For more information visit www.rmg.co.uk.

04/12/2014

IT looks like it won’t just be tourists travelling around Greenwich in driverless buggies…
The home of the Prime Meridian has been selected as one of four sites in the UK – and the only one in London – which will be trialling “driverless” vehicles.
Three different types of vehicles (we don't know exactly what they are yet) will be tested here as part of an £8million GATEway scheme – Greenwich Automated Transport Environment.
Transport Research Laboratory, which is running the experiment, insists “Safety will be of paramount importance during the trials, which will not take place on public roads.”
More updates in next month’s paper.
But in the meantime, here’s Greenwich Council’s press release, and, below, the announcement from TRL.

Royal Borough of Greenwich
News Release
4 December 2014
Driving to work could become a thing of the past after Greenwich is awarded £8m to trial ‘driverless’ vehicles
Driving to work could become a thing of the past after Greenwich’s growing reputation as one of the UK’s leading Smart Cities saw it chosen to pilot ‘driverless’ vehicles in the UK.
The successful £8m bid, which was led by the Transport Research Laboratory with key partners including the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the University of Greenwich, will result in three different types of zero emission automated vehicles being tested in the home of the ‘prime meridian’ - the global reference point for time and navigation.
The trials will aim to demonstrate the benefits of ‘driverless’ vehicles to the public and the car industry, in order to try and ensure that the technology is adopted by car manufacturers around the world.
Safety will be of paramount importance during the trials, which will not take place on public roads.
Councillor Denise Hyland, Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, said:
“This is a fantastic coup for the Royal Borough of Greenwich and demonstrates our growing reputation as one of the UK’s leading locations for innovation. The businesses we are attracting here are helping to create job opportunities for local residents and are driving forward the borough's economic growth.
“Greenwich is renowned for many things around the world. Our historic borough is the home of time and the Prime Meridian has aided navigation around the globe. It is therefore fitting that the Royal Borough of Greenwich should be selected as one of the locations for trialling this new ‘driverless’ technology – and is the only place in London which will see these vehicles being trialled. We really are seeing cutting edge development coming to the area, all of which is aimed at making peoples’ lives easier and safer in the future”.
TRL Chief Executive, Rob Wallis said:“TRL has been innovating in the testing and development of automated vehicles for more than fifty years.The GATEway project will allow us to demonstrate new, innovative automated transport systems to drive safe, clean, efficient and flexible urban mobility. The combination of TRL’s independent expertise; robust, reliable testing protocols and driving simulation facilities alongside the diverse and high calibre qualities of our consortium means we can safely demonstrate automated vehicles to build acceptance and trust in this revolutionary technology.”


Greenwich’s digital credentials driven home after TRL-led consortium wins £8m trial to pilot futuristic automated vehicles
03/12/2014
The global reference point for navigation will test zero emission ‘driverless’ vehicles
A successful consortium led by TRL has been selected by Innovate UK to deliver the GATEway project (Greenwich Automated Transport Environment), one of three projects awarded to test ‘driverless’ vehicles in UK urban locations. The £8 million GATEway project will see three trials of different types of zero emission automated vehicles within an innovative, technology-agnostic testing environment set in the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
The project will build upon Greenwich’s reputation as one of the UK’s premier digital hubs and aims to leave the legacy of a driverless vehicle test environment in Greenwich attracting international manufacturers and associated industries to the UK.
The ‘prime meridian’ was established at Greenwich in 1851 and as such became the global reference point for time and navigation. It is therefore fitting that the GATEway project will see Greenwich start on the path to becoming an international hub for the testing of vehicles capable of navigating autonomously. The Royal Borough of Greenwich is an ideal location for the GATEway project. Greenwich has a rapidly growing population and is pursuing a cutting-edge Smart City agenda investigating the use of technology to address the needs of its residents. The GATEway project fits perfectly within this programme.
The Greenwich peninsula is home to the O2 arena, the world’s most popular entertainment venue and has road, underground, bus, taxi, river bus and cable car transport links. The GATEway project will therefore allow thorough investigation of how automated vehicles can add to a busy multimodal transport system.
In each of the three trials to be undertaken within the GATEway project, safety will be effectively managed through the careful choice of test environments, vehicle systems and testing protocols and by working closely with the relevant authorities.
The purpose of the project is multifaceted. It will demonstrate automated transport systems to public, industry and media stakeholders in the three planned trials. These will include various public tests of fully automated passenger shuttle transport systems and autonomous valet parking for adapted cars. In undertaking these tests, objective and subjective feedback on their use will be captured to build a detailed understanding of the extent to which these systems are used, trusted and accepted.
This will inform how such systems can integrate into and complement existing multimodal transport infrastructure and provide essential insights into the human factors issues that may be critical for the successful deployment of automated transport systems.
TRL’s full mission driving simulator, DigiCar, will be used in parallel to investigate driver behaviour with automated vehicles using a photorealistic 3D model of the Greenwich peninsula. Risk, liability and insurance issues will be specifically addressed whilst pedestrian models of interaction with automated vehicles will be developed alongside exploration of adaptation to traffic lights to enable safe and effective automated vehicle operation.
TRL is the lead partner of the GATEway project with the Royal Borough of Greenwich as the testing location and Smart City partner. Three large multinational organisations are involved, RSA, Shell and Telefonica, each with specific interests in how vehicle automation may influence their business models. In addition to experts from TRL, research capability is provided by the Royal College of Art, which is leading stakeholder engagement activities for the project whilst the University of Greenwich and Imperial College London will provide internationally recognised domain specialists in relation to pedestrian modelling and cybersecurity respectively.
The automated vehicle technology to be tested will be provided by Phoenix Wings, a company established in Greenwich that has been involved in worldwide demonstrations of automated transport. Crowd-sourcing experts, Commonplace, will use digital and social media tools to map public responses to the trial whilst additional vehicle adaptation and robotics expertise will be provided by GOBOTiX.
The project is to be supported by a diverse, high calibre advisory group, members of which will review project documentation and provide astute insights to ensure the project meets its objectives and delivers best value for Innovate UK.
The advisory group is to be chaired by Lord Borwick of Hawkshead,who has led discussion of vehicle automation in the House of Lords, whilst members of group include representatives from General Motors, ATOS Worldline, the AA, the Highways Agency and the RAC Foundation.
Dr Nick Reed, Principal of Human Factors and Vehicle Automation at TRL and technical lead of the GATEway project said:
“At TRL, we are delighted to have been able to bring together this superb consortium in response to the Innovate UK Driverless Car competition and excited to get started on delivery of this genuinely innovative project as one of the winning bidders. We have the perfect location in which to demonstrate automated transport systems and our vision is to bring international recognition to Greenwich, London and the UK through this project, establishing the UK as the global centre of excellence for the testing and development of automated vehicles.”
TRL Chief Executive, Rob Wallis said:
“TRL has been innovating in the testing and development of automated vehicles for more than fifty years. The GATEway project will allow us to demonstrate new, innovative automated transport systems to drive safe, clean, efficient and flexible urban mobility. The combination of TRL’s independent expertise; robust, reliable testing protocols and driving simulation facilities alongside the diverse and high calibre qualities of our consortium means we can safely demonstrate automated vehicles to build acceptance and trust in this revolutionary technology.”
Cllr Denise Hyland, Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich said:
“This is a fantastic coup for the Royal Borough of Greenwich and demonstrates its growing reputation as one of the UK’s leading locations for Smart City innovation. The growth of the digital industry is a significant strand of our regeneration plans for the borough and our aim of creating a thriving, cutting edge digital hub is already paying dividends. The businesses we are attracting here will help create job opportunities for local residents and drive forward the borough's economic growth.”