Independent local news faces huge financial challenges in its work holding local power to account Dorothy from Salamander on Today programme 45:20 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Today - 29/08/2026 - BBC Sounds

News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

bbc.co.uk

The second entrance to Surrey Quays is looking close to finished- ar least from the outside. Benches installed and just a bit of landscaping missing. Meant to open in late 2026.

London Fire Brigade reporting another fire at Landmann Way, Deptford. 15 fire engines and around 100 firefighters deployed. www.london-fire.gov.uk/incidents/20...

Waste fire - Deptford

Fifteen fire engines are responding to a fire at a waste facility in Deptford

london-fire.gov.uk

St John's Society running a mural competition to complement an upcoming rain garden: st-johns-soc.org/mural?fbclid...

Brookmill Rain Garden Mural Competition - The St Johns Society

st-johns-soc.org

49th anniversary of the battle of Lewisham today, when Southeast London turned back the fascist National Front. Tune into Sister Midnight FM at 2 pm today to hear me and @transpontine.bsky.social talk about it and play some of the music of the time radio.sistermidnight.org

Dusk bird watching tour this evening on Sayes Court Estate, led by an expert team from Creekside Discovery and the National Trust. Disappointing amount of birds, unless you count all the carrion crows (which the kids on the tour did) but excellent night. They've flora walks coming up soon!

I do love the bougieness of the Brockley Farmers market. Tote bags from Fitzcarraldo, Granta, and Daunts spotted this morning. If I'd seen one from the LRB would've been a bingo in literary swag.

A two-way cycle path could be put in place across Blackheath as part of revived plans to create a better route for riders between Greenwich Park and Eltham. But Greenwich Council has backed away from earlier proposals to close roads to motor vehicles.

Cycle track could run across Blackheath as part of route to Eltham - The Greenwich Wire

A two-way cycle path could be put in place across Blackheath as part of revived plans to create a better route for riders between Greenwich Park and Eltham. But Greenwich Council has backed away from…

greenwichwire.co.uk

Summer Saturdays are for cycling: traded in the polluted A21 for the dappled forest paths of the N21 (mostly, except where we got lost), with a stop in at Standen House and Gardens.

Very pleased, I've a new piece of fiction out today in issue 3 of Outskirts Literary Journal. The whole issue is worth a read I (biasedly) think! My story takes place at a dog show in middle America www.outskirtslit.com/tomilyn-hann...

Healthy Street Scorecard results are in: Lewisham leads on school streets but the bigger picture shows stagnation as they remain bottom of inner London boroughs. My latest @salamandernews.org www.salamandernews.org/2026-07-heal...

Healthy streets 2026: Lewisham scores lowest across inner-London for 3rd year in a row

Despite its lead on School Streets, Lewisham's poor scores on controlled parking, protected cycling and traffic reduction kept it at the bottom of the league for inner London boroughs.

salamandernews.org

Enjoyed this bit of reporting in @vittles.bsky.social on where food waste in South London ends up, by Imogen West-Knights, following orange peels and a #Lewisham team. Six tea bags can power turning on a kettle once! www.vittlesmagazine.com/p/how-to-mak...

How to make bin 'soup'

Imogen-West Knights investigates the journey of food waste - from disposal, to recycling. Photographs by Wunmi Onibudo.

vittlesmagazine.com

Deptford's the Albany theatre is looking into building student accommodation to pay for infrastructure upgrades. Two drop-in sessions soon: at Deptford Lounge on Wednesday 15 July 2026 from 4pm – 7pm and the Albany on Saturday 18 July 2026 from 10am – 1pm www.thealbany.org.uk/about-us/tra...

Transforming our building - the Albany - The Albany

Find out about plans to refurbish and redevelop the Albany building.

thealbany.org.uk

Dodgy shops on your local high street? They're still paying rent. And what if they're actually *pricing out* the legitimate cafes, restaurants, thanks to the option of "simply not paying your taxes" and therefore having more budget to pay landlords. www.londoncentric.media/p/who-wants-...

Visited the new V&A East this weekend, and a design highlight was this 1984 poster showing some community spirit for a residents association in Tower Hamlets, designed by Tony Minnion.

Lewisham getting a pocket grant from the Mayor's Office boost for summer streets, creating #Sydenham Night Market. The new "market will host around 10 local traders each week alongside outdoor seating" June - August. Greenwich won bigger, for Woolwich. www.london.gov.uk/mayor-announ...

Another Waymo hits a biker. On the Old Kent Road. Waymo turning right. Bike going straight with right of way…

“That means that at the moment, for us as an organization who has two completed projects with genuinely affordable homes for local people, we don’t currently have a route to funding for new and for some existing projects as well" Great piece on affordable housing open.substack.com/pub/peteapps...

The Community Land Trust project, selling flats to Lewisham teachers for £215,000

Citizen's House was the result of a long community campaign. But the model which delivered it is under threat, without government changes

open.substack.com

Rain gardens bring traffic calming to Malpas Road. @tomilyn.bsky.social reports www.salamandernews.org/2026-06-broc...

Brockley: Rain gardens bring traffic calming to Malpas Road | Salamander News

The well-tended rain gardens at the intersection with Vulcan Road are helping reduce vehicle speeds and improve road safety.

salamandernews.org

Lewisham Greens hold on to the Crofton Park ward with a margin of just ten votes! @salamandernews.org has the story: www.salamandernews.org/crofton-park...

Crofton Park by-election: Greens hold on with wafer-thin majority

Lewisham Green Party candidate Esther Lie was elected with a majority of 10 votes, holding the seat which the Greens won on 7 May.

salamandernews.org

Standard sight at junction of Copperas Street and Creek Road: three signs for the national cycle network 21, and a nice crossing onto the CS4, but no actual space for #cycles. Definitely not a redundant route even with Church Street lanes open considering the sheer volume of creekside housing.

Tonight! Be there!

Tomilyn@tomilyn.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Local democracy needs indie news- come down to @thealbanyse8.bsky.social June 15th to hear from your two favourite local papers @salamandernews.org and @greenwichwire.bsky.social talk about it! It's free (like our coverage!) But grab a ticket to get a seat www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/why-local-...

After nearly seven years in London, I still hadn't been to Richmond Park (we've got our own deer over here...), so yesterday hopped on my bike and made our way there and back. Highlights: Dogs swimming in Battersea fountain, the sheer volume of people enjoying a stroll on the Thames path...

The Malpas road traffic calming is looking particularly beautiful this week. Urban design for people and bees!

Huge plumes of smoke can be seen across SE London from a fire at Landmann Way: www.london-fire.gov.uk/incidents/20...

Greenwich Council will finally introduce an initial 29 parking bays for Lime bikes – and is set to sign an agreement so Forest bike users will have to use them too. Objections from residents have held up progress on a further 26 bays. greenwichwire.co.uk/2026/06/03/l...

Greenwich's first 29 Lime bike bays confirmed - with Forest set to join too - The Greenwich Wire

Greenwich Council will finally introduce an initial 29 parking bays for Lime bikes - and is set to sign an agreement so Forest bike users will have to use them too.

greenwichwire.co.uk

Over a year since the hoardings outside NX Station were given an order to be taken down, and they're still there. www.salamandernews.org/unsightly-ne...

Local democracy needs indie news- come down to @thealbanyse8.bsky.social June 15th to hear from your two favourite local papers @salamandernews.org and @greenwichwire.bsky.social talk about it! It's free (like our coverage!) But grab a ticket to get a seat www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/why-local-...

Why local democracy needs indie news

Meet the team from Lewisham's Salamander News and Darryl Chamberlain from The Greenwich Wire.

eventbrite.co.uk

Happy election day! If you're still undecided, @salamandernews.org has been doing lots of coverage of Lewisham candidates and issues, includong indepth interviews with mayoral hopefuls: www.salamandernews.org/tag/local-el... Vote!

Detail of TfL's cycleway upgrades in Greenwich from May '27 sent via FoI It's appears rather unambitious at some awful junctions. No start on a lane to Greenwich Peninsula in contrast to Deptford where Lewisham requested one - then later built it out www.fromthemurkydepths.co.uk/2026/05/03/a...

A look at Greenwich Cycleway 4 changes planned by TfL from 2027 - Murky Depths

A look at how TfL are planning to change Cycleway 4 across Greenwich including some notorious junctions as scheme becomes permanent.

fromthemurkydepths.co.uk