No Blackheath fireworks again this weekend – and ever again?

Photo courtesy James Mitchell licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

They’ll be no fireworks on Blackheath this weekend for the third year in a row as one of south east London’s biggest events is now cancelled – and for good?

The display has seen a difficult last decade as first Greenwich pulled out of funding in 2010 with Lewisham continuing alone for most of the subsequent nine years until the pandemic.

Greenwich did make some minimal contributions during the 2010s but far from half the overall cost of staging the event.

Lewisham now state they cannot fund due to financial constraints.

They state they’re open to the idea in future “and remain open to offers of sponsorship and external funding”.

However with more cuts expected from central government and a recession on the way, the near term at least doesn’t look too hopeful.

Annual visit

Growing up the fireworks was an annual passage for much of my childhood. One of my earliest memories is squeezing onto an impossibly crowded bus from Woolwich.

From what I recall, none ran from Abbey Wood. This was probably before the 380 was introduced which ran from Abbey Wood to Blackheath.

Jumping off that packed bus, where I was at knee height to everyone standing around me into a brisk November night you could feel the excitement of thousands of people.

To lose that, and for kids today not to enjoy it is a crying shame.

Counter productive too, as it was a huge benefit to businesses and not only in Blackheath. In later years we’d meet in other towns for some food and drink before heading over.

Other fireworks events are paid for, such as the display at Danson Park in Bexleyheath.