anyone else noticed the angle that tree outside whsmiths is sitting at ?
I drove past it last night and was thinking to myself it was about to fall over.
was it put up in such a hurry that they did not have time to straighten it up,

Strange angle and a generally budget-looking tree; little better than the poor and uninspiring Christmas lights. Typical London Borough of Lewisham. Over in Greenwich next to the Cutty Sark, they've a beautiful looking Chrismas 'tree' - why can't Lewisham pull their socks up and actually do something we can all be proud of?

Mr Grumpy you certainly live by your name. By the cutty sark slightly more trendy than outside W H Smith and Sons ( which on Sundays looks like a car park . Probably one of the religious vehicles knocked the tree. When is someone going to speak to the church about this blocking of pavement.

Why don't you speak to the Church, Brian, if it bothers you?

Agree - the tree also is badly positioned - it blocks the pavement nearest the road.

It is a shame as the tree itself is a good size and adds to the area - in fact why cant we have some evergreen trees planted around the station?

I agree, it's such a shame to have made half an effort. The tree has been leaning ever since it was first put up, and the lights are just awful. It gives a real 'don't give a ****' perception to the town centre (and it's embarrassing).

Is this a job for our Town Centre Manager?!

Glad someone has brought this up as I've been meaning to myself. Each year the tree is a shambles - the only positive thing to say about this year's tree is that it is at least big enough to not seem lost behind the lovely safety barriers.

Got me wondering if we should start up some sort of Forest Hill Christmas group to take on arranging and decorating the tree each year plus fund raising to provide for improved decorations. We've got some great and resourceful local businesses that have and are running special events at Christmas and other times (craft fair at the Hob, Christmas Fair at the pub behind the station, Havelock Walk Open Days etc) so there might be people ready and willing to help.

Have to say I completely agree with Happysnapper that the tree gives the impression that LBL cant be bothered with Forest Hill and I'd really rather not have the tree than have one that looks like ours has in the last few years.

Yep, the tree in Sydenham is a joke too.

To be honest I was pleasantly surprised there was a tree in the first place! Looks OK to me - cant believe that people moan about such trivial things. Its not as if Dartmouth Road is Oxford Street!

Go down the road to Lewisham and see what they got if you feel hard done by!

No, it really is a shambles.

On a positive note, though, if you stand at the till in the Jolly Bee chippy and turn round to look at the tree, it looks straight - not sure what this means!

Most likely it means you have just staggered out of the Hob....

Totally agree. The tree is embarrassing and if I were the town centre manager I would be ashamed. I mean, how hard can it be.

I have reported this on http://www.fixmystreet.com/

Xmas tree leaning towards the road and could potentially be dangerous to pedestrians or traffic. And it looks awful [the lean that is].

It might be a bit more productive than moaning about it on this thread. I expect that by mid-January the problem will be resolved.

I would urge everybody to use http://www.fixmystreet.com/ which now even has an iphone widget that allows you to take photos and report problems as you see them.

If you're all so bothered about it why don't you all club together and buy another one or go down and chuck a bit more tinsel etc over it. I personally think it would be far better to have our Christmas tree in Hornimans park as it would be safer to view it not to mention better surroundings.

P.s If I were in charge se23's Christmas tree would be enormous!

Looks more like the tree staggered out of the Hob, popped into the Dartmouth for a whiskey chaser then missed the last train home.

Could we not all just go down and try to straighten it up with a tow rope, or would that be tampering with Council property?

I agree it looks as if it was flung out of a lorry and left there. As we know all trees need a little dressing up and TLC. If you can't be bothered, it shows. At least its got rid of the man with the ghetto blaster for a few months.

The idea of a FH Christmas Society might be interesting. A theme could be chosen every year at Forest Hill Day. As with the Notting Hill Carnival, local people could toil and commune together to make decorations. Wouldn't that be a pip.

9th January... festive lights still ablaze...

Is it really just me that is bothered about this, or is twelfth night a thing of the past?

No, me too Foresters. I am constantly amazed that Lewisham is a four star local authority (must be something to do with Barry Quirk's connections in Whitehall)...don't they know or care that it brings bad luck to keep your Xmas decorations up after 12th night?

@ Roz

I will happily give 'em a few babules to brighten it up next year
Better still lets have an HOP tree instead

Errr.... Actually, there is a HOP tree!

It's opposite the wood furniture shop