Culture and Identity
Eltham has an unusually high quotient of green space, with large areas of woodland to the north and east, including the historic woodland of Shooters Hill and Oxleas Wood, the Woodlands Farm community holding, Eltham Parks north and south and extensive parkland heading into Avery Hill park. Thus it is both 'suburban' and 'urban', and it forms part of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, an Inner London borough.
The town centre supports a loyal core of shoppers, diners, and drinkers, but the nightlife is modest. In recent years there has been great effort by local town centre businesses and other important Eltham stakeholders, to drive business, community and tourism improvements, that will help sustain the town centre. These efforts have resulted in the formation of an Eltham town centre partnership (ETCP), chaired by an elected local stakeholder. Greenwich council have member and officer representatives and the University of Greenwich whose Avery Hill Campus borders the Town Centre is also represented. The ETCP have encouraged the development of A new town centre commerce Association - The Association of Commerce for Eltham (ACE). ACE has established a new Town Centre web portal, which, as well as providing a basic business directory also provides mechanisms for encouraging interaction between business and community groups. The ETCP is currently trying to encourage the University of Greenwich, to undertake research projects into business and community development, based on Eltham town centre.
Eltham residents occupy a housing stock of mixed age, particularly towards Eltham Park and the multiple streets with 'Glen' in their names, and there are some fine buildings scattered around the area. At least two roads, North Park and Court Road, contain million pound homes, and some of the older Victorian buildings have been subdivided into apartments.
On 24 April 1993, 18-year-old black student Stephen Lawrence was fatally stabbed on Well Hall Road. The crime quickly became one of the most high-profile racially motivated murders in modern Britain. Five teenagers were later accused of his murder but the case was dropped due to a lack of evidence. In 2011 as a result of new evidence coming to light, Gary Dobson and David Norris stood trial for the murder of Stephen Lawrence. They were convicted on 3 January 2012.
During the 2011 England riots, Eltham received national attention due to the fact that for three nights, a vigilante group of 200-300 people occupied the centre of Eltham, claiming to protect people and property from rioters. Extra police were sent to maintain order. The group gathered after rumours that Eltham would be the latest place to be hit by unrest. A small number claimed to be EDL members, others were supporters of local football clubs Charlton Athletic and Millwall. Police were forced to move the crowds on for fear of violence. Police were involved in minor clashes. Eltham did not have any riot damage.
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