Friends of The Durning Library
NEWSLETTER
167 Kennington Lane SE11 4HF
Tel: 020 7926 8682
No 56, November 2012
Check out our website: www.durninglibraryfriends.org.uk
Future
Monday
Events
Normally the third Monday evening in the
month 6.45 for 7.15pm at the Durning Library
Light refreshments. Everyone welcome. No admission
charge, but a £2 donation towards costs is invited.
Mon 19 November: Lambeth's first libraries: an architectural tour by Robert Drake,
secretary of the Twentieth Century Society. He talks about the development of Lambeth's
public libraries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, from an architectural and design
perspective.
.
Mon 10 December: Christmas Party and The Trouble with Keeping Mum.
Local resident Rosie Wallace, wife of MSP Lord Wallace of Tankerness, will read from her
new (second) novel, which comes out in paperback on 6 December. Her tales of the
problems facing a divorcee MSP trying to juggle son, mother, job and back-stabbing
colleagues as well as a life of her own are alternately hilarious and perceptive. We shall also
enjoy our usual raffle and festive nibbles.
Friends’ Committee
Mon 21 January: Alex Nickson, Policy and Programmes Manager for climate change
adaptation and water at the GLA, will provide a presentation on London's water issues where it comes from, where it goes to and what we need to do to manage the challenges of
climate change, population growth and an ageing water infrastructure whilst safeguarding
the environment and managing bill increases. The Mayor's London water strategy can be
found at http://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/water-strategy-oct11-exec-summ.pdf .
Mon 18 February: Jack Straw, long-term Kennington resident, an MP for 33 years and a
senior minister throughout the 1997-2010 Labour government, will talk about his recently
published memoirs, Last Man Standing, which describe his life from his childhood in
Epping Forest to his long ministerial career.
Priscilla Baines
Chairman
Kay Coombs
Secretary
Jeremy Orme
Treasurer
Elizabeth Barrott
Anne Burt
Sue Codrington
Veronica Ledwith
Tony Millson
Laura Swaffield
David Tisdall
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Enquiries: Kay Coombs
Telephone: 020 7735 3651
Email: kcoombsuk@yahoo.co.uk
Forthcoming events
Sat 24 Nov and 12 Jan: Digital Bazaar® from 10 to 12 am. Dec: no session. The Digital
Bazaar® is a friendly drop-in event where local people with knowledge about computers,
mobile phones, the internet, digital cameras, iPads, etc offer informal practical training and
advice to other local people. It’s fun, it’s free and it’s for everyone. The first 2 sessions were
a great success. All the ‘trainers’ are local people, so we need more volunteers at Durning
who are willing occasionally to spend 2 hours on a Saturday morning sharing digital skills
with their neighbours. If you are interested in taking part, contact Christina Burnett on
info@digitaltuesdays.co.uk or Audrey Hudson on AHudson2@lambeth.gov.uk
Seniors’ Group The group normally meets in the Library at 3.00pm on the third
Wednesday of each month.
21 November: Talk from Local Wardens
January: No meeting
19 December: Christmas party
21 February: Film about poverty
For further information contact Betty Severn on 020 7587 1391 or Audrey in the Library.
Refreshments kindly provided by Friends of the Durning Library.
Reading Group. The Durning Library Reading Group normally meets in the library on the
last Tuesday of the month from 7- 8.30pm. All adults are welcome to discuss the book for
the month in a very informal atmosphere over wine and nibbles. The group suggest a £1.50
contribution towards refreshments from everyone attending. For information about the
reading group please contact Michael Towsey at Clapham Library on 020 7926 0717 or email: mtowsey@lambeth.gov.uk.
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Opening Hours
Monday
1.00 pm – 6.00 pm
Tuesday
10.00 am – 6.00 pm
Wednesday
10.00 am – 8.00 pm
Thursday
closed
10.00 am – 6.00 pm
Friday
9.00 am – 5.00 pm
Saturday
Sunday
closed
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Library Staff
Michel Merson
Area Library Manager
Michael Towsey
Principal Librarian
Audrey & Eve (PT) Library Service Managers
David
Library Services Assistant
Friends of the Durning Library is a voluntary organisation which exists to promote and support our local library.
Annual subscriptions £3.00 to Anne Burt, Membership Secretary, 50 Vanbrugh Court, Wincott Street, London SE11 4NR
Chairman’s News
Recent Events
The Friends of Lambeth Libraries have continued
their regular meetings with Lambeth officials
responsible for the library service to review the
development of the library service, while the
Durning Friends are continuing their separate
meetings with the lead official responsible for the
Durning, Gareth Edmundson. His report below
summarises our progress so far. We are building
on the findings of the very successful open day on
26 September as the basis for an action plan for
the Durning. As a start, we are looking at the
possibilities for tweaking the opening hours so
that they correspond more closely with user
preferences. We are also awaiting the results of a
condition survey of the building. It is all taking
time but the meetings are constructive and we are
getting there, so please continue to watch this
space.
17 Sept: Tony Millson, a retired member of the Diplomatic Service entertained us with
some of the highs and lows of a career spanning 30 years. After studying Arabic fulltime for a year in Lebanon he spent two years working at the British Embassy in Tripoli
under Col Qadhafi’s rule. Later he was in Kuwait when Saddam Hussein invaded in
1990 and subsequently spent a difficult 3 months in Baghdad where he helped to keep
track of the hundreds of British hostages (human shields) taken by the Iraqis – not the
easiest period in his career. After Libya Tony moved on to Jordan where he helped run
the British aid programme. During his posting to the British Military Government in
Berlin he met Rudolf Hess in Spandau Prison. Temporary duty in at the UK Mission to
the United Nations in New York meant long days and nights on Security Council
business. His recollections of his time as Ambassador to Macedonia were colourful,
particularly the annual boar hunt. Rather more seriously, he also recalled his efforts as
High Commissioner in The Gambia to promote improvement in the human rights
situation. His talk brought it home to the audience that the diplomatic life is not always
an easy one – even social occasions are full of traps for the unwary.
Some of the Friends’ committee have made a
start at cleaning the stonework of the Durning
balustrade and we plan to do more, weather
permitting. We are very grateful to Jennifer
Dinsmore and her students at the City and Guilds
College who have provided very welcome
technical advice which we are following. We hope
that in due course the whole façade can be
professionally cleaned as that would greatly
enhance the appearance of the building.
Priscilla Baines.
PS. Elsewhere in this newsletter there is mention
of the Digital Bazaar and I can heartily
recommend it. I spent a Saturday morning
learning several things about my laptop that I
would never have found myself, so do use this
opportunity to improve a whole range of skills.
15 Oct: Troy Richards of the Golden Hinde Trust recounted the history of the original
Golden Hinde and of its successor, currently residing between the Globe and
Southwark cathedral. The design, the brainchild of Sir Francis Drake himself, went
against all the contemporary rules. In comparison with the huge vessels of both the
British and the Spanish fleets, the ship was tiny, with a very deep keel and well-founded
masts. With average speeds of 8-9 knots per hour rather than 2-4, it was much lighter
and more manoeuvrable than any other vessel on the seas in the 16th century. In 1577
Drake sailed around the world in 2 years 10 months – the first sea captain to do so. He
brought back about £26 million in booty, giving some to Elizabeth I and also to his
sailors. Initially at least he treated well the Blacks and Indians who helped him in his
travels, but later he became more heavily involved in the slave trade. In 1580 he
landed in San Francisco, where he is still much feted, and in 1581, on his return to
England, he was knighted. In the 2 years after Drake’s return London expanded fourfold because of the growth in the ship-building industry. The Golden Hinde II was built
as an exact replica some 40 years ago, but those skills have been lost today. It has
sailed the world twice and is due to sail around the British Isles in 2017. Given the
correct treatments it will probably exist for about another 50-60 years, although it does
require a lot of maintenance.
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At the AGM about one-third of those present said they would be willing in future to
receive the Newsletter by e-mail. If this would suit you, please notify our e-mail
address, friendsofdurning@gmail.com, as soon as you can.
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The Durning Open Day on 26 September was a
great success. The Durning Friends consultation
in January 2012 provided an excellent platform to
help us decide about the next steps for the
Durning Library. We collected a large number of
responses from the day and we are now working
together with the Friends' committee to produce a
report and action plan that we can be proud of.
The Council is well aware that there has been a
significant amount of consultation, engagement
and discussion about libraries over a long period:
now is the time for action.
More widely, the Cooperative Libraries programme continues to progress. On 22
October, Cabinet agreed the latest recommendations on the service; this included a
decision to not overturn the officer recommendation to remove the tree at the rear of the
Durning library building. The council has agreed to plant two suitable replacement trees
in the garden of Calstock House.
Over the coming weeks we will be looking at
everything - from opening hours to book
exchange schemes - that will help to make the
library offer at the Durning meet the needs of the
local community. We want to be clear about what
we want to change and how long some of these
changes will take so that everyone can be kept up
to date with what is happening.
It is expected that there will be a further report to Cabinet in December that will set out a
capital investment plan for our libraries and community hubs. Initially, it is expected that
the investment plan will prioritise investment in key modernisations, such as self service
technology, as well as stabilising and securing our existing buildings. As always we look
forward to working with Durning Friends, library users and the community in the coming
weeks and months.
Gareth Edmundson, Cooperative Services Manager, Culture & Communities
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VOLUNTEERS URGENTLY NEEDED TO HELP WITH FOOD
(costs refundable).
Please contact Elizabeth Barrott on 020 7793 7703
With more volunteers this becomes a very light “burden” – please offer your help.