Bye Bye to General Woodworks by Maureen D

 Last Stand of General Woodworks

 

The shop was set up by Harry Cohen and his wife Dora in 1947, when he came out of the Fire Service in WWII.  Prior to the war, he had run a general furniture business and so had a connection to the timber trade.  Timber was scarce at the time and a licence was needed to deal in or sell it.  Because of his previous business he was lucky enough to get a licence.

The business was always a family run affair, Harry ran the shop, Dora did the book-keeping. Later their daughter, Rita got involved in the books and sons, David and Michael Cohen, joined in due course on the shop floor. Later still, Rita's husband, Jeffrey Bentley, became a stallworth at the counter.  Dora celebrated her 99th birthday on August 2nd 2012 and was still keeping the books.

Rita, Dora and Jef

Early on, the business got involved in mail order timber, importing and exporting rare and exotic timbers all over the world.  In the 'Red Book' of the shop's history there were dockets, orders, invoices and thank you letters from every corner of the globe.  There was a long history of working with artists making sculptures and furniture.  In later years their timber and MDF cutting service was a highly skilled and valued resource for local crafts people and builders.  A visit to the shop on a Saturday afternoon was chance to see the full spectrum of Stoke Newington residents.  I always felt General Woodwork did its bit for feminism, as this was the shop to go to if you needed individual advice on how to go about a bit of house maintenance.  An abiding memory from the early eighties is the image of dungaree clad, black and decker wielding local women queueing up for advice. No matter how big or small the order was, the wry smile, the range of options, the advice were equally offered. In 1993 Channel 4 included a piece on the shop in a show made by Danny Baker, entitles One of Life's great Fallacies, the dimensions of a 4 x 2 timber. 

David

Michael

Jef

After 10 years of going in the shop we were on first name terms.  After 30 years, well, there was a lump in the throat, a tear in the eye as we said Goodbye and Thank you to a family who helped so much to enrich life on Stoke Newington High Street.

Thanks to local resident Maureen Diffley for putting this together.

Do you have any photos or anecdotes from your visits to General Woodwork Supplies over the years? If so please leave a comment and send images in to Lara.N16@googlemail.com

'My last purchase from General Woodwork' Helen Rawlinson

Other News:

The Pub Quiz has moved...

The LARA Pub Quiz has now been postponed to the New Year, so please keep an eye out for the date as it was very popular last year! The White Hart kindly offered their upstairs room for the event - always one for supporting the locals - check out the gig this Saturday from the blackboard painting front man Martin....

 The Customtones, are playing at the White Hart on Saturday, 9pm to 11ish with an interval at 9.45ish, admission free. They play a style of blues, rock, western swing on an eclectic mix of hand made and vintage Fender guitars. Good for a dance if you feel like putting on your sequin pumps!

The Big LARA Lunch 2012

Our annual Big LARA Lunch was a happy affair as usual, thanks to all the locals who joined us and brought delicious food - great to see many new faces too.

We had a last minute change of venue as we were too late for the license application in the WHRG (West Hackney Recreation Grounds) - it was all a bit of a last minute post summer panic! Thanks to vicar Niall Weir at St. Paul's for stepping in and offering the Churchyard.

Thanks to music man Jorge for entertaining the kids again (having his lunch at this point!)

 The kids had a field day with the chalk boards (Thanks to Martin) and Royal Mail (unwittingly) provided the gear for a good old fashioned sack race.

On your marks!

and final meltdown.

 We'll be back again next year!

The Big LARA Lunch and other news

LARA will be hosting its 3rd annual big lunch / picnic at St Paul's Church Grounds (Due to licensing issues it's no longer in the West Hackney Rec - now to be held where the Farmer's Market is on Saturdays)
We had a great time the last couple of years and the food has always been fantastic - thanks to everyone who turned up and joined in.
Basically bring a picnic blanket and food to share, come along and get together with your neighbours and have some fun.
We're hoping to have a few sporting activities, with the usual classics - sack racing, 3 legged, egg and spoon etc.
It's a completely free event, although donations on the day will be most welcome!

We will be setting up from 11am so if anyone is willing to come and lend a hand - we've got miles of bunting to put up and chairs and tables to lay out. Please just let us know.

Whoever brought along the table tennis last year - we'd love to see it again this year and if there's anything else anyone can offer sports activity wise, the more the merrier!

They'll be a giant chalkboard for the kids to get creative too.
All ages welcome.

If the weather is a bit grim we have kind permission from the vicar, Niall to use the Church Hall.

If you want to make a weekend of it, one of our residents will be spinning some tracks the night before.....

• Neighbourhood N16

A friendly local club night playing party tunes for music lovers in the basement of White Rabbit Bar (formerly Baby Bathouse).  Paul, Kate and Drew play classic danceable indie, pop, hip hop and disco. Are you ready for the floor?

• When:  Saturday 15th September 
• Where: White Rabbit Bar Basement, 125 Stoke Newington Church Street
• From 9pm 'til 2am
• 2 for 1 drinks before 10
• No Admission charge
• DJs Paul Morgan, Kate Wheeler, Droogle
• Indie, Electro, Retro & Pop
• https://www.facebook.com/events/508197192540455/ 

The LARA Pub quiz will be back for it's 2nd round so please add it to your diary.

LARA quiz night –10^th October - Upstairs at The White Hart - more info to follow

AGM meeting – October 17th, 2012; venue TBC

West Hackney Rec. News and help needed

Daniel Chapman of LDA Design says:: “We are trying to design a place that encourages visitors to come and enjoy the recreation ground. We want to create a series of experiences, spaces and landscapes which we hope will become a community hub, a reflective area and a bio-diverse space - hopefully something for everyone.”	Top design team appointed to prepare Heritage Lottery Fund bid to regenerate our local park LDA Design, whose recent work includes Clissold and Victoria Parks, were appointed by St Paul’s Church in May to prepare the main application to The Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant of over £600,000 to regenerate West Hackney Recreation Ground and the surrounds of St Paul’s Church.	Ollie Bayliss of West Hackney Recreation Ground User Group says: : “Plans are progressing really well for this exciting project and I hope everyone who lives in the area takes this opportunity to get involved, have their say and be a part of the redevlopment of what we hope will be a fantastic addition to the community.”
You can help to make this happen  by doing this one simple thing! Please, please, please go online to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WestHackneyRecreationGround and fill in the simple on-line quesitonnaire Doing this will tell our design team just what it is that local people want to see happening on this important site which is right at the heart of our local community. It will also tell The Heritage Lottery Fund that we care about this project and want to see it happen. Please send this on to your neighbours, to those in your street, to your friends who live locally and get them to fill it in to! Thank you very much! Niall Weir RECTOR OF ST PAUL'S CHURCH WEST HACKNEY niall.weir@mac.com 07840 762783 Remember, we need to have as many responses to this questionnaire as is humanly possible!

Wilmer Place: Sainsbury application submitted

Info from Stokey Local:

The developer has submitted a planning application for Wilmer Place

On 13th July the developers of Wilmer Place submitted a planning application to Hackney Council's Planning Office. Stokey Local became aware of the existence of the application on 18th July.

There will be a delay between submitting the application and it appearing on the Hackney planning website as it has to be validated before it is made public. This process is quite normal and often takes a few weeks for more complex applications such as this one.

So far no documents have been posted on the Hackney planning website. We will keep you up to date with developments as the application progresses and will be providing information which will help you to make a submission to the planning office.

The proposals, although there have been significant changes, are still going to damage the character of the area, and are an overdevelopment of the site (effectively building a housing estate on top of a large supermarket).

Once the application is validated it will be published and there will be a consultation period. We will be asking people to use the consultation period to make their views known. In the meantime the one thing that you can do that would be enormously helpful is to tell your friends and neighbours that the Sainsbury/WIlmer Place development is back and to forward this email on to friends, neighbours and family living in Stoke Newington and ask them to sign up to this email list. They will then automatically receive updates when we know more.

You could also post a message on your twitter or facebook pages so that we ensure that everyone knows to look out for the consultation period.

If you received this email direct, then you are already on our email list, if it was forwarded to you then you are not on our mailing, list, but we would invite you to join our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/eOEgg <http://stokeylocal.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c747f6d2c72e4ced2ac01c000&id=1361d85390&e=db0f4b3c5a>

If we all speak up, then we will be heard!

Thank you for your support.

Stokey Local

follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend <http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=c747f6d2c72e4ced2ac01c000&id=9cdee41f5a&e=db0f4b3c5a>

Spring Newsletter, 'is it an octopus?' and other events!

The latest LARA newsletter is out on email to our subscribers - you can read it here or just click on the Newsletter heading above. Catch up on our local news and what we are planning next - our picnic in the park, the next pub quiz and other local events such as film club, exhibitions, school fairs and more....
Something else that dropped into our inbox today, sent by a local mum drumming up support for a great local community nursery:

“is it an octopus?”

Art exhibition by parents and children of 'Grasshoppers in the Park' nursery

at:

cafe-bistro Nar

35 Stoke Newington Church Street

London, N16 …..

Busses: 73 / 476 / 393 / 106. Trains: Stoke Newington (overground)

from:

25th May - 31st July 2012

Opening times: 10am-11pm, Mon-Sun

“is it an octopus?” is an idea that came about from parents of 'Grasshoppers in the Park' community nursery. Whilst many parents involved in the nursery are creative professionals, the purpose of making something artistic together with our children for public display, is not intended as a showcase of artistic talent, but as a statement about the value of creativity through which the strong emotional bonds with our children are made.

find out about the nursery here: www.grasshoppersinthepark.co.uk

Transition Town Stoke Newington

This sounds like an interesting event :
See the flyer below or go to ttstokenewington.org.uk to find out all about it and book your place.

German Exchange

Hi, I’m posting this for my old uni friends in Berlin who are looking for a student / language exchange for their two daughters (14 and 16) for some time this year. They're a really nice, easy-going family who live in a great house just outside of Berlin. This might be a good opportunity for someone studying German at school. Please contact either myself or my friends direct (see flyer for details)  if you know anyone you know are interested.

Andrea

07941 076 368

Click to Open image/flyer and enlarge

Our Talented Community and Local Events

We have a new Noticeboard!
We've had a few requests recently to post about events, offers of work and recommendations for tradespeople etc. Here's an update of recent contacts.  Apologies for the late posting and if you would like to 'advertise' your local talent please read the info on our Noticeboard for the quickest way to do it - otherwise, keep sending in the emails and we'll post up whenever we can.

Latest requests:

Dear LARA,

I have been living on Bayston Road for 18 months and would like to extend an offer of Private Tuition to the residents of our area.

I currently tutor a 9yr old girl in Archway, preparing her for the 11+ exam in English, Maths, Science, Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning. I am an Oxford University English Literature graduate and have experience teaching English, Drama, and English as a Foreign Language from beginner to A level standard. I can also teach Spanish (I am a fluent speaker) and Latin (up to GCSE).

As I am local, self-employed and not paying fees to an agency, I can offer a friendly, flexible and reliable tutoring service at competitive rates. If you think this may interest the residents involved in LARA, do please pass on this email. I would love to hear from them. Last year I met lots of young people (ages 3-11) in Stoke Newington, leading the drama component of half-term and holiday creative workshops at Newington Dance Space on Church Street. I know the Easter holidays are coming up and this is a crucial time for revision and extra help outside of school! I am happy to provide more information or references on request.

Many thanks,

Lucy

Contact:
wray.lucy@googlemail.com

*******************************************

Babysitter Needed?

Dear LARA community,

We are 4 lively creative 20 something ladies living in N16 (Bayston Road) keen to gain some extra pocket money in the evenings and weekends. If you could put this up on your blog, we'd be chuffed to bits.

Thanks a lot,
The ladies of Bayston Road

(07929016002)

p.s Here's my personal photo blog if you are at all interested - caraguthriephotos.blogspot.com

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and finally not quite a local - but sounds interesting anyway!

 Dear N16 folks,

I live in france and teach english there, and am doing a Jazz poetry performance in Dalston on April 10. could you please inform your members of this event. people and come come along and have a good time in this nice little bohemian bar and we can chat about jazz and poetry and the Beat generation etc. below's the info:

Jazz Poetry Improv Ensemble

Servant Jazz Quarters | 10a BRADBURY STREET | DALSTON | N16 8JNApril 10, 8pm - 10.30pm

door fee: £5

Taran Singh, poetry (english, french, hindi)
Colin Webster, saxophones
Noel Taylor, clarinets
Ollie Brice, doublebass
Pharoah Russell, drums

Jazz Poetry Improv Ensemble brings together performance poetry and free jazz. Taran Singh performs poetry by the Beat Generation poets, black poets and original poems. The musicians improvise around the voice to create the sonic atmosphere that the context and the tone of the poems call for. Each performance is unique, cos entirely improvised in the moment. The poems are fun and the music runs the gamut from blues to jazz to funk to free jazz. Poetry in FRENCH, ENGLISH & HINDI. 

band website: http://taransfreejazzhour.com/jazzpoetryimprov
venue website: http://www.servantjazzquarters.com/events/jazz-poetry-taran-singh

A Big Cheers to the Pub Quiz!

Our first Lara fundraiser was a great success thanks to all the local residents that turned up on the night and made it a great evening. We had a full house and the competition was severe!

Jamie and Jim did a brilliant double act on questions and answers, whilst our youngest quiz master Arthur kept everyone entertained during the grand 'vintage' raffle.

Many thanks to the White Hart for letting us have their room upstairs (a fantastic room for a private party!) and a big thanks to all our committee for helping to set it all in motion.

We managed to raise £133 which will help towards promoting and funding our Big Lunch in the summer and any admin costs for future leafleting/newsletters etc. throughout the year.

Thanks for all the donations to the raffle - which included extra special home made marmalade, a box of chocs, various bottles of fine booze, a pair of genuine Ray Bans, a super stylish photo of the 'Carry On' star Charles Hawtry, a classic retro alarm clock (which went off mid game!) and the grand prize of a designer lamp by local lighting Queen Helen Rawlinson

and the winners ......

Drum roll..........
Top prize went to Rachel..or was it Jim?

If anyone can remember who actually won the quiz and team names, please add in the comments. We were the Tyssen Tearaways!

See you at the next one!

The LARA Pub Quiz

Just a reminder about the LARA pub quiz tomorrow night:

LARA PUB QUIZ + RAFFLE - Upstairs at the White Hart. 69 Stoke Newington High Street, N16. Wednesday 1st February 2012. 8.00pm start. £2 entry

Make up a team of friends and become Brain of Stoke Newington.

Fun! Pub grub! Competitiveness! Prizes! Meet and beat your neighbour!

Fundraiser for LARA (Leswin Are Residents’ Association).

Dont worry if you don't have a team, you can just turn up tomorrow and join in the fun.

Hopefully see you there.

LARA committee