New Cross Fire Memorial
Last week saw a group of Year 6 from Edmund Waller Primary School joining local pupil representatives from Addey & Stanhope Secondary School, Childeric Primary School, Grinling Gibbons, Lucas Vale, Our Lady & St Philip Neri Primary School, St James Hatcham CE Primary School, St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, and Twin Oaks Primary School to mark the anniversary of the tragic events of the New Cross Fire. This year was the 44th anniversary of the New Cross Fire, a tragic event that occurred on 18th January 1981. On that day, a group of young people, most of whom were Black, gathered to celebrate the birthdays of two teenagers at a house party at 439 New Cross Road. A fire broke out on the ground floor of the house, spreading quickly. Those trapped upstairs jumped from windows to escape. Tragically, 14 people lost their lives. There were strong reasons to suspect that it was a racist attack, but the police investigation focused elsewhere, and the cause of the fire remained undetermined.
Our Year 6 children, accompanied by Ms Rennie, prepared and shared a short poem and laid flowers at the memorial. Out intention is for Edmund Waller be part of this annual memorial, keeping the memory of this event alive and ensuring that the important issues, which are sadly still relevant today, remain discussed and understood by our children.
