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Neil Rhind

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Neil Rhind

Neil Biron RhindMBE(9 January 1937 – 10 February 2024) was an English journalist, writer and an authority on the social and historical development ofBlackheathand surrounding areas of south-eastLondon.

Early life

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Rhind was born and has lived most of his life inBlackheath, London.He is the youngest of four siblings born to Doris Pamela and William Alexander, a naval officer. DuringWorld War II,Rhind was evacuated and separated from his siblings for a time. He returned to Blackheath in 1951. Rhind was educated atSt Marylebone Grammar School.He married Elizabeth on 3 September 1960, had two children, and lived in The Lane in Blackheath's Cator Estate.[1]

Journalism career

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From 1957 to 1959, Rhind served inRAFair traffic control,mainly atUxbridge.[citation needed]He worked briefly as a librarian before joining the Odham Newnes Press where he worked as thePackaging Review Yearbookeditor.[citation needed]From 1963 he was assistant editor and then managing editor of theGood Food Guide.[citation needed]

In 1967 he became a freelance writer working as a press officer for theConsumers' Associationand press officer of theGreenwich Theatre,during and following its rebuilding and reopening. In 1969 he became press officer of the Blackheath Society.[citation needed]

From 1969, prompted by fierce local opposition to the Greater London Development Plan (London Ringways) and its adverse effect on Blackheath, Rhind became involved in documenting and protecting the social and architectural history of his home district, Blackheath andGreenwich.[citation needed]

Work on Blackheath

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In 1971 Rhind joined the Greenwich and Lewisham Antiquarian Society (renamed the Greenwich Historical Society in 1991) and was elected to its council in 1973. He succeeded Sir Leslie Monson as president in 1982, in turn being succeeded by Sir Robert Somerville in 1984. He gave two presidential addresses -The Cator Estate and Blackheath: Some Sporting Myths,andThoughts on Jack the Ripper, the Blackheath Connection,[2][3]later becoming a vice-president.[4]

Rhind joined the Blackheath Society committee in 1974, succeeded Ken Bound as chairman in September 1993, resigning in May 1998. He collated an archive collection of over 15,000 images of Blackheath which were being digitised and made available online.[5]In 2016 he was appointed president of the Society.

Rhind was a long-standing member of the Lewisham Local History Council (an advisory group set up byLewisham Council), and a member of the Greenwich Industrial History Society and Lewisham Local History Society. He was chairman of the Blackheath Schools of Art and Music Trust and founder of the Friends ofRanger's House.He was an honorary life member of the Westcombe Society and a past chairman of the London Borough of Lewisham Conservation Advisory Committee.[citation needed]

Rhind was a leading contributor to the Blackheath Conservation Area Appraisal[6]submitted to Lewisham Council in 2007.

Blackheath Preservation Trust

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Rhind was director and secretary of the Blackheath Preservation Trust from October 1972 to May 2001. The Trust was set up in 1938 to combat the demolition and destruction of buildings of architectural and historic merit. As secretary, Rhind was involved in work relating to the Blackheath Art Club,[7]Blackheath railway station/Chapman House, Brigade House, Brooklands House, The Cedars, Eagle House[8]in Lewisham, Martin House, Park Hall, Poplar Cottage,[9]Vanbrugh Castle,the Westcombe Woodlands,[10]andBlackheath Halls(in 1977, the BPT bought the property, then threatened with demolition by developers; the BPT retained the freehold until it was acquired byTrinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance). His interest in the preservation trust movement led to a time as an advisor to the Vivat Trust.[citation needed]

2012 Olympics

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Rhind was a supporter of NOGOE (No to Greenwich Olympic Equestrian Events) which organised ultimately unsuccessful opposition to the use of an area of Blackheath just outside theGreenwich Parkgates, known as Circus Field, forOlympic equestrianevents.[11][12]Campaigners claimed that it would be unlawful for theLondon Borough of Greenwichto give planning permission forLondon 2012to use the land because the enclosure of any part of the Heath, including Circus Field, would be contrary to theMetropolitan Commons Act 1866,which established the concept of metropolitan commons being available at all times for the benefit of members of the public.[13][14]A NOGOE petition gathered over 12,000 signatures,[15]but the argument was rejected by Greenwich.

Writing

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Rhind wrote several books, starting in 1968 withThe Consumer Wakes Up,[16]andMake Me Understand Pregnancy and Childbirth[17]andThe Greenwich Theatre Bookin 1969.[18]His output then mainly focused on subjects related to Blackheath, including two volumes onBlackheath Village and Environs.[19][20]Drawing on his research and writing, Rhind led numerous walks in the Blackheath area describing buildings of architectural or historical interest, and gave many talks on local history.

Honours

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Rhind was awarded an MBE in the1999 New Year Honoursfor services to the preservation of the historical character of Blackheath.[21]He was elected a Fellow of theSociety of Antiquaries of Londonin June 2005[22][23]and, in January 2011, appointed an Honorary Fellow of the University of London,Goldsmiths Collegefor his work in the conservation and historic research of south-east London.[24]On 17 May 2017, he was awarded the Freedom of the Royal Borough of Greenwich.[25]

Death

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Rhind died on 10 February 2024, aged 87.[26]

References

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  1. ^"Lane Handbook"(PDF).Weymede.co.uk.Retrieved18 January2017.
  2. ^Heard, Stawell."Mr Valentine's School".Casebook: Jack the Ripper.Retrieved17 January2017.
  3. ^Deborah, McDonald (2007).The Prince, His Tutor and the Ripper: The Evidence Linking James Kenneth Stephen to the Whitechapel Murders.McFarland. p. 218.ISBN9780786430185.
  4. ^"About us".Greenwich Historical Society.Retrieved17 January2017.
  5. ^"Blackheath Archive".Blackheath Society.Retrieved19 January2017.
  6. ^Blackheath Conservation Area Appraisal
  7. ^"59. Blackheath Art Club, 47 Bennett Park".Retrieved17 January2017.
  8. ^"Eagle House - Running Past".23 March 2016.Retrieved17 January2017.
  9. ^Eldridge, Frankie."Charlton".Retrieved17 January2017.
  10. ^"The Westcombe Woodlands – a Brief History".Westcombe Woodlands.Retrieved18 January2017.
  11. ^Powell, Rob (14 January 2010)."19th century law will 'scupper LOCOG's plans', says NOGOE".Greenwich.co.uk.Retrieved19 January2017.
  12. ^Gibson, Owen (23 March 2010)."London Olympics row over Greenwich Park role reaches climax".The Guardian.Retrieved17 January2017.
  13. ^Downes, Steven (16 January 2010)."London 2012 will break Victorian law if they use Greenwich Park claim critics".Inside the Games.Retrieved19 January2017.
  14. ^"Campaigners up ante over London Olympic equestrian plans".HorseTalk.co.nz.10 January 2010.Retrieved19 January2017.
  15. ^Beard, Mathew (7 October 2009)."Dennis is a menace to 2012 equestrian plans".This is London.Retrieved1 August2010.
  16. ^Rhind, Neil (1968).The consumer wakes up.Pergamon.ISBN0080142087.OCLC877274885.
  17. ^Rhind, Neil (1969).Make me understand pregnancy and childbirth.Dickens P.ISBN0850902142.
  18. ^Rhind, Neil (1969).The Greenwich Theatre Book (with Hilary Evans).Greenwich Theatre.ISBN9780950122007.
  19. ^Rhind, Neil (1976).Blackheath Village & Environs, 1790-1990, Vol 1 – The Village and Blackheath Vale'.ISBN0950513601.
  20. ^Rhind, Neil (1983).Blackheath Village and Environs, Vol 2 – Wricklemarsh & the Cator Estate, Westcombe, Kidbrooke and the Angerstein Encroachment.Bookshop Blackheath.ISBN0950513636.
  21. ^"Order of the British Empire - MBE Q - Z".BBC News.BBC. 31 December 1998.Retrieved17 January2017.
  22. ^"Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries (FSA)".Society of Antiquaries of London.Retrieved17 January2017.
  23. ^"Society of Antiquaries of London, Annual Report 2005"(PDF).Society of Antiquaries of London.Retrieved17 January2017.
  24. ^Greenwich, Royal Borough of."Freedom of the Borough".www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk.Retrieved7 July2024.
  25. ^"Neil Biron Rhind MBE FSA".The Times.15 February 2024.Retrieved15 February2024.
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