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the site of the old Parthenon Music Hall has been given the
Council's blessing and financial support. Municipal entertainment,
especially for the very young and the elderly, is a prominent feature
in the Council's policies.
Social centres providing for all shades of cultural and educational
tastes have been established at Charlton House, Kidbrooke House,
and West Greenwich House under the auspices of the Greenwich
Community Council in conjunction with the I.L.E.A. and, in this
connection, it can be stated that there are upwards of 178 clubs
and societies affiliated to this Community Council.
Besides Associations for rowing and barge sailing, the local
sports clubs include the famous Blackheath Football Club (the
oldest of all rugby football clubs) and the newer professional
Charlton Athletic Football Club. It is hard to believe that the
area supports 2 golf clubs, one of which is the Royal Blackheath,
the oldest golf club in the world. With royal sanction it was formed
nearly 360 years ago as the "Society of Blackheath Goffers" at a
time when James I was wont to play with his friends while holding
court at Greenwich. It is reputed that the army title of "Field
Marshal" which dates from 1736 was copied from the appellation
used by the Blackheath Club a century earlier.
Considering that the Borough is a constituent part of the
country's greatest conurbation, it is well served with parks and
open spaces. These are evently distributed throughout its area
and form 12.8% of its total acreage, equivalent to 6½ acres per
1,000 of its population. Shooters Hill, which encompasses Oxleas
and Shepherdleas Woods, Castlewood, Jackwood and Eltham
Common in total amounting to some 312 acres, gives a continuous
expanse of woodland as attractive and extensive as Hampstead
Heath. Greenwich Park, designed by Le Notre of Versailles fame,
with its historical associations and surroundings, covers an area
of 185 acres of rich fauna and flora. On its southern boundary
is Blackheath, one of London's most famous open spaces, 89 acres
of which are within the Borough providing unsurpassed facilities
for games, sports and amusements. Excellent recreation grounds
serve the Charlton area for, as well as the Maryon and Charlton
Parks, there is the Greater London Council's Play Centre and
Lido with its well-equipped open-air swimming bath, tennis courts
and bowling greens. In addition to 65 acres at Sutcliffe Park allocated
for a variety of sports, and a beautiful natural lake at the
Tarn, Eltham, the Council has control of attractive formal gardens
and grounds at Well Hall Pleasaunce. Among other delightful
attributes, Avery Hill grounds and nurseries serve as the headquarters
of the Education Authority's Nature Study Scheme
supplying "botany boxes" to the local schools. West of the Royal
Military Academy is Woolwich Common which has been the site