Coordinates: 51°27′41″N 0°00′19″W / 51.461456°N 0.00537°W / 51.461456; -0.00537

Lewisham
Lewisham  Lewisham shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ385755
London borough	Lewisham
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	SE13
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Lewisham East
	Lewisham West and Penge
	Lewisham Deptford
London Assembly	Greenwich and Lewisham
List of places: UK • England • London

Lewisham /lˈʊɪʃəm/ is a district in South London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated 6.2 miles (10.0 km) south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.^[1]

History[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)

It is most likely to have been founded by a pagan Jute, Leof, who settled (by burning his boat) near St Mary's Church (Ladywell) where the ground was drier, in the 6th century. As to the etymology of the name, Daniel Lysons (1796) wrote:

"In the most ancient Saxon records this place is called Levesham, that is, the house among the meadows; leswe, læs, læse, or læsew, in the Saxon, signifies a meadow, and ham, a dwelling. It is now written, as well in parochial and other records as in common usage, Lewisham."^[2] "Leofshema" was an important settlement at the confluence of the rivers Quaggy (from Farnborough) and Ravensbourne (Caesar's Well, Keston), so the village expanded north into the wetter area as drainage techniques improved. In the mid-seventeenth century, then-vicar of Lewisham, Abraham Colfe, built a grammar school, primary school and six almshouses for the inhabitants. On 5 September 1711 William Legge, the Earl of Dartmouth became the (hereditary) Viscount Lewisham ^[3] The village of Lewisham was originally centred further south around the parish church of St Mary, towards the present site of University Hospital Lewisham. The centre migrated north with the coming of the North Kent railway line to Dartford in 1849, encouraging commuter housing. Lewisham was administratively part of Kent until 1889, and formed part of the Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham in the County of London until 1965.

Lewisham's High Street is particularly long and wide for a London suburb.^{[citation needed]} The town centre was hit by a V-1 in 1944 with over 300 fatalities. It devastated the high street, which was not restored to its former glory until the mid 1950s. This horrific event is commemorated by a plaque outside the Lewisham Shopping Centre (opened in 1977). The Sainsbury's store in Lewisham Shopping Centre was briefly the largest supermarket in Europe. The store still exists today and is small by modern standards. The area at the north end of the High Street was pedestrianised in 1994. It is home to a daily street market and a local landmark, the clock tower, completed in 1900 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The police station, which was opened in 2004 to replace the station in Ladywell, is officially the largest in Europe. ^[4] There is also another large police station in nearby Catford. There is planned regeneration of Lewisham town centre.^[5] There is a single skyscraper adjacent to the shopping centre which used to be owned by Citibank until they moved to the Docklands.

Almost all of the SE13 postcode district, which is associated with Lewisham, is within the London Borough of Lewisham, except for the Coldbath Estate and part of the Orchard Estate along Lewisham Road, which are covered by the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

Lewisham Cricket Club was one of the most prestigious London sides during the Victorian era. They played at Lewisham Cricket Ground from 1864, which lay north of Ladywell Road until its closure in the latter part of the 19th century. Lewisham Swimming Club was also very successful with several of its members representing England in water polo and other gymkhana events. The club still meets at Ladywell Swimming Baths, one of the public swimming pools in Lewisham which include Downham Health and Leisure Centre, the Bridge in Sydenham, Forest Hill Pools (closed for refurbishment) and Wavelengths in Deptford.

In 1977, the Battle of Lewisham^[6] (actually in New Cross) saw the biggest street battle against fascists since the Battle of Cable Street in 1936. Over 10,000 people turned out to oppose a National Front march which was organised on the back of increasing electoral success at that time.

Education[link]

Sixth form education providers in Lewisham include Christ the King Sixth Form College, and Crossways Sixth Form. Also, Lewisham College itself has locations across the borough. Lewisham is also home to Goldsmith's College and the Laban Dance College (part of Trinity College of Music) and Prendergast Hilly Fields Sixth Form.

Transport[link]

Lewisham, an important transport hub

Lewisham is a major local transport hub, lying on the A20 road towards Dover and at the start of A21 to Hastings, with its own large bus station alongside the railway station for National Rail and (the southern terminus of the) Docklands Light Railway services. London Overground lines run into the north of the borough at New Cross station and New Cross Gate station - once part of the London Underground East London Line, these stations became part of the extended London Overground network in 2010.

Lewisham rail crash[link]

Lewisham is also the site of one of the worst disasters on British Railways in the 20th century. On 4 December 1957 a crowded steam-hauled passenger express headed for the Kent coast overran signals at danger in thick fog near St. John's station and crashed into a stationary electric train for the Hayes branch line. The force of the impact brought down an overhead railway bridge onto the wreckage below. An electric multiple unit about to cross the bridge towards Nunhead managed to pull up in time. 90 passengers and crew died in the accident.

Notable residents[link]

Among those who were born in the London Borough of Lewisham, or have lived within the borders of the borough are:

Nearest places[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Lewisham Local History Society
• The Battle of Lewisham - an article on london based website libcom.org
• Lewisham Law Centre
• Lewisham cctv
• Lewisham at Surbubia
• Lewisham Photographs
• Lewisham Voices
• Lewisham Council
• Lewisham Forum
• 90 Years of Life in Lewisham

v t e London Borough of Lewisham Districts Blackheath Brockley Catford Deptford Downham Forest Hill Grove Park Hither Green Honor Oak Lee Lewisham Mottingham New Cross St Johns Sydenham (Hill) Attractions Horniman Museum Millwall F.C. Constituencies Lewisham West and Penge Lewisham East Lewisham Deptford Other topics People Public art Schools Parks and open spaces in Lewisham

Alley Oop is a syndicated comic strip, created in 1932 by American cartoonist V. T. Hamlin, who wrote and drew the popular and influential strip through four decades for Newspaper Enterprise Association. Hamlin introduced an engaging cast of characters, and his storylines entertained with a combination of adventure, fantasy and humor.

Alley Oop, the strip's title character, was a sturdy citizen in the prehistoric kingdom of Moo. He rode his pet dinosaur, Dinny, carried a stone war hammer and wore nothing but a fur loincloth. He would rather fight dinosaurs in the jungle than deal with his fellow countrymen in Moo's capital (and only) cave-town. In spite of these exotic settings, the stories were often satires of American suburban life.

Characters and story[link]

• Alley Oop - A time-traveling caveman
• Ooola - Oop's pretty girlfriend
• Foozy - Oop's pal, who talks in rhyme
• Dinny - Oop's pet dinosaur
• King Guzzle - Ruler of Moo
• Queen Umpateedle - Queen of Moo
• The Grand Wizer - Advisor to the king
• Dr. Elbert Wonmug - 20th-century scientist and inventor
• G. Oscar Boom - Rival and partner to Wonmug

The first stories took place in the Stone Age and centered on Alley Oop's dealings with his fellow cavemen in the kingdom of Moo. Oop and his pals had occasional skirmishes with the rival kingdom of Lem, ruled by King Tunk. The names Moo and Lem are references to the fabled lost continents of Mu and Lemuria.

On April 5, 1939, Hamlin introduced a new plot device, which greatly expanded his choice of storylines: a time machine, invented by the 20th-century scientist Dr. Elbert Wonmug, who bore a rather suspicious resemblance to the Grand Wizer. The name Wonmug was a bilingual pun on Albert Einstein; "ein" is German for "one", and a "stein" is a form of drinking mug.

Abducted to the 20th century by an early test of the machine, Oop was hardly upset by the incident and apparently did not find modern society to be any different from his own. He then became Dr. Wonmug's man in the field, embarking on expeditions to various periods and places in history, such as Ancient Egypt, the England of Robin Hood and the American Old West. Oop met such historical or mythical figures as Cleopatra, King Arthur and Ulysses in his adventures. In addition to the time machine, other science fiction devices were introduced. Oop once drove an experimental electric-powered race car, and in the 1940s, he traveled to the moon. During his adventures he was often accompanied by his girlfiend Ooola and by the sometimes villainous, sometimes heroic G. Oscar Boom (G.O. Boom), Dr. Wonmug's rival and occasional partner. A new lab assistant, Ava, joined the cast in recent years.

Syndication history[link]

Alley Oop's name derived from the "let's go" phrase allez, hop!, used as a cue by French gymnasts and trapeze artists.^[1] Initially, Alley Oop was a daily strip which had a run from December 5, 1932 to April 26, 1933. Beginning August 7, 1933, the strip was distributed by NEA syndicate, and the early material was reworked for a larger readership. The strip added a full page Sunday strip, on September 9, 1934. It also appeared in half page, tabloid and half tab formats, which were smaller and/or dropped panels. During World War II, the full page vanished, and newspapers were offered a third of a page version that dropped panels, so more strips could fit on a page.

When Hamlin retired in 1971, his assistant Dave Graue took over. Graue had been assisting Hamlin since 1950 and had been doing the daily solo since 1966, although co-signed by Hamlin. The last daily signed by Hamlin appeared December 31, 1972, and his last signed Sunday was April 1, 1973. From his North Carolina studio, Graue wrote and drew the strip through the 1970s and 1980s until Jack Bender took over as illustrator in 1991. Graue continued to write the strip until his August, 2001 retirement. Four months later, on December 10, 2001, the 75-year-old Graue was killed in Flat Rock, North Carolina when a dump truck hit his car. The current Alley Oop Sunday and daily strips are drawn by Jack Bender and written by his wife Carole Bender.^[2]

At its peak, Alley Oop was carried by 800 newspapers. Today, it appears in more than 600 newspapers. The strip and albums were popular in Mexico (under the name Trucutú) and in Brazil (Brucutu). In 1995, Alley Oop was one of 20 strips showcased in the Comic Strip Classics series of commemorative US postage stamps.

Licensing and promotion[link]

During the 1970s, Alley Oop was adapted to animation as a segment of Filmation's Saturday morning cartoon series Fabulous Funnies, appearing intermittently alongside other comic strip favorites: The Captain and the Kids, Broom-Hilda, Moon Mullins, Smokey Stover and Nancy.

In 2008, "to celebrate Alley Oop's 75th year," the Benders conducted a contest for "Dinosaur Drawings from Our Young Readers"; the entry Tyrannosaurus Rex holding a banner wishing "Happy Birthday" to Alley Oop, by 12-year-old Erin Holloway of Hammond, Louisiana, was published in the comic strip on 2009 January 17.^[3]

In 2002, Dark Horse Comics produced a limited edition figure of the character in a brightly-illustrated tin container. Alley Oop was issued as statue #28—part of their line of Classic Comic Characters collectibles.

Popular culture[link]

The long-running success of the strip made the character a pop culture icon referenced in fiction, pop music, dance and sports:

• An educated Neanderthal known as "Alley Oop" is a character in Clifford D. Simak's science fiction novel The Goblin Reservation (1968).
• "O. Paley" (a quasi-anagram of "Alley Oop") was the central figure in Philip José Farmer's The Alley Man, a 1959 novella about the last Neanderthal who has survived into the 20th century.
• The character was the subject of the 1960 #1 single "Alley Oop," which was the only hit for short-lived studio band The Hollywood Argyles. It was written in 1957 by Dallas Frazier, and musicians on the record included Kim Fowley and Sandy Nelson. Lead vocalist Norm Davis, who was paid a one-time flat fee of $25, is currently a poet and poetry teacher in Rochester, New York. The song was later covered by Dante & the Evergreens and George Thorogood & the Destroyers, and it was included in choreographer Twyla Tharp's 1970s ballet Deuce Coupe.

Collections and reprints[link]

Many Alley Oop daily strips and a few Sundays have been reprinted by Dragon Lady Press, Comics Revue, Kitchen Sink Press, Manuscript Press and SPEC Books. The following titles are all by V. T. Hamlin unless otherwise noted:

• Alley Oop and Dinny A Big Little Book #763 (1935) Whitman Publishing
• Alley Oop in The Invasion of Moo (1935) (Cocomalt Premium) Whitman
• Alley Oop and Dinny in the Jungles of Moo A Big Little Book #1473 (1938) Whitman
• Alley Oop and the Missing King of Moo A Penny Book (1938) Whitman
• Alley Oop and the Cave Men of Moo (Pan-Am Premium) (1938) Whitman
• Alley Oop and the Kingdom of Foo (Pan-Am Premium) (1938) Whitman
• Alley Oop: Taming a Dinosaur (Pan-Am Premium) (1938) Whitman
• Alley Oop sheet music (1960) Kavelin-Maverick Music (USA), Leeds Music (Australia, New Zealand)
• Alley Oop Coloring Book (1962) Treasure Books
• Alley Oop Fun Book (1981) Happy House Books
• Alley Oop: The Sawalla Chronicles" (1983) Ken Pierce Inc.
• Alley Oop #1: The Legend Begins (1987) Dragon Lady Press
• Alley Oop #2: Enter the Time Machine (1987) Dragon Lady
• Alley Oop #3: Oop vs. Hercules (1988) Dragon Lady
• Alley Oop Volume 1: The Adventures of a Time-Traveling Caveman (1990) Kitchen Sink
• Alley Oop Volume 2: The Sphinx and Alley Oop (1991) Kitchen Sink
• Alley Oop Volume 3: First Trip to the Moon (1995) Kitchen Sink
• Alley Oop: Book 4 (2003) Manuscript Press

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Caveman: V.T. Hamlin & Alley Oop (2005), an award-winning documentary by Max Allan Collins, narrated by Michael Cornelison and featuring interviews with Will Eisner and Dave Graue, was released on DVD by VCI Home Video in 2008.

External links[link]

• 1957 Alley Oop sequence
• Alley Oop
• Caveman: V.T. Hamlin & Alley Oop
• I Love Comix Archive: Alley Oop
• Clark J. Holloway on Alley Oop
• Alley Oop at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on April 4, 2012.
• University of Missouri: V.T. Hamlin Archives
• Alley Oop is a Texan? by C. F. Eckhardt