JANUARY

More than 20,000 homes were left without power after fire ripped through an electrical sub station in Eltham High Street. Thirty firefighters, equipped with thermal imaging equipment, spent nearly two hours tackling the blaze, which left 25,000 Lewisham and Greenwich households without electricity for nearly nine hours.

Hundreds of people paid their respects at the funeral of Peckham schoolboy Damilola Taylor. A service was held at All Saints Church, in Plumstead, before he was buried at a nearby cemetery. The congregation included shadow home secretary Anne Widdecombe and Home Office Minister Paul Boateng.

FEBRUARY

The race to buy the Millennium Dome was back on after Legacy was stripped of its exclusive bidding status. The bid, backed by Labour donor Robert Bourne, would have created a hi-tech business park aimed at nurturing e-commerce and bio-science companies. The scheme would have created 8,500 jobs.

Bolting horses left seven people injured on a Hollywood film set in Greenwich. The accident happened, when a carriage toppled into a crowd of extras, outside the Royal Naval College entrance during filming for The Four Feathers. Filming with the star studded cast including Kate Hudson (pictured), Heath Ledger and Wes Bentley was suspended for a day.

MARCH

Supermum Edna Mansfield from Eltham was voted the UK's best mother in an Internet poll. The 61-year-old mother of five and grandmother of nine received the award after her daughter Karon Hudson nominated her on AOL's UK website. Her reward was £150 worth of hair salon vouchers.

As the foot-and-mouth crisis swept the region, parts of the borough were included in control zones. All of Thamesmead West, and the riverside along the A206 to Woolwich Ferry, were included in the Essex controlled area. All Ministry of Defence land, two animal farms, a deer park and a horse riding club for the disabled were out of bounds.

APRIL

Aviation enthusiast Russell Carpenter donated a supersonic gift to an aircraft museum in Malta. Mr Carpenter of Lannoy Road, New Eltham, spent three years lovingly restoring the front section of an F2 Lightening. The two-ton section was craned out of his back garden and over his house before being taken to the museum in Taqali.

Severndroog castle, which had stood empty for years, finally had a new king. A 150-year lease was granted to construction firm Mount Anvil Ltd by Greenwich Council. The Grade II listed triangular building, set in Castle Wood, was set to be used as the headquarters for its subsidiary Cathedral Group Plc.

MAY

Prime Minister Tony Blair visited Woolwich for a tour of Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Mr Blair, accompanied by his wife, Cherie, was in the middle of his election campaign and chatted to some of the hospital's 3,000 staff. He had previously visited the hospital when it was a construction site.

A Greenwich University student made waves at the Cannes Film Festival after his film was snapped up by a Sony film executive. Twenty-three-year-old Stuart Fenegan's project, entitled Suave Bastard, told the story of strife caused by a night on the town. His film was screened every day at the annual party.

JUNE

Speaking at the state opening of Parliament, the Queen, proposed bills including reform of the "double jeopardy" law where people cannot be tried for the same offence more than once. Such a change in law would mean Neil Acourt, Gary Dobson and Luke Knight, acquitted of murdering Stephen Lawrence, could face a retrial. A second trial would only go ahead if compelling new evidence became available.

Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs was taken from Belmarsh Prison to Woolwich Hospital, after a suspected stroke. Biggs, aged 71, had flown into Britain in May, leaving the safety of his Brazilian bolthole after 35 years on the run. He was believed to have collapsed after taking a bath in the prison's medical unit.

JULY

A pilot programme to clean up the borough started in Woolwich as part of a major regeneration initiative. The 50 Street Champions started patrolling the Woolwich Common area acting as a direct link between residents and Greenwich Council.

A Woolwich parachute team's popularity plummeted in Whitehall when they accidentally bombed Tony Blair's back garden. A weighted paper wind testing device used by the Royal Artillery's team failed to unravel and dropped through the clouds into the Prime Minister's backyard.

AUGUST

A newborn baby was found abandoned at a block of flats in Burrage Road, Plumstead, wrapped in a denim jacket. She was taken to the special care baby unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where staff named her Osie, which means good news in the Nigerian language of Igbo.

Holidaymakers came to the rescue of Woolwich tourists when their double decker bus crashed into a sea-side bridge. The bus became wedged under Southend Pier, and 20 passengers, including some children, were taken to hospital. The road also had to be closed while structural engineers assessed the full extent of the damage.

SEPTEMBER

The distraught family of a Plumstead teenager were outraged his killer would never be named. Terry Booker, 19, was stabbed in the heart by the 16-year-old after he asked for a kiss from his girlfriend. But a High Court ruling banned his name from being revealed a News Shopper request to have the ban lifted was turned down.

Greenwich Council revealed ambitious targets and forecast the creation of 25,000 new jobs for the borough over the next decade. The Draft Strategy for Economic Development outlined new investment, development of derelict land and tailored training to meet the needs of key growth sectors including construction, tourism and hospitality.

OCTOBER

Four youths who brutally used Charlton man, Darren Gardner's, head for penalty practice' were jailed at the Old Bailey. Stephen Parsons, 21, from Kidbrooke and Michael Hann, 19, of Rockingham Court, Beckenham, were given life sentences after being found guilty of murder. Donald Murtagh, 20, of Graveney Grove, Penge, received eight years while Daniel Hall, 19, from Penge, was jailed for seven years both for manslaughter.

Greenwich applied for the crown of city status as part of the Queen's golden jubilee celebrations. The town became one of 28 vying for the award. The winner will be announced in the spring.

NOVEMBER

The trial of gang members accused of plotting the robbery of the Millennium Dome started at the Old Bailey. The raiders used a James Bond-style approach to net the £200m De Beers diamond collection, which was foiled by a meticulous police operation. A JCB was used to smash into the tourist attraction and a speed boat was waiting on the river for a fast getaway.

A Plumstead doctor involved in professional controversy denied there had ever been an allegation against him. Dr Sisir Kumar Ghosh, who practices at the Plumstead Medical Centre, said he had never, in his entire career, been the subject of a complaint. But the General Medical Council confirmed Dr Ghosh was being investigated after a catalogue of complaints.

DECEMBER

Governors at Eltham Hill Technology College voted unanimously against splitting from Greenwich Council. The top school had considered becoming a foundation school as revealed in an exclusive story by the News Shopper. It would have been funded by Greenwich education authority, but would have owned and controlled its premises, and employed its own staff.

A tax on buying cheaper properties in several wards across Greenwich was scrapped. The move by Chancellor Gordon Brown, which will help residents get on the property ladder, was made in 19 of the borough's 36 wards. It meant that the one per cent tax levied on properties up to £150,000 was abolished.

December 28, 2001 16:30