Awareness of the Valley Party grew in the run-up to the election.
Thames Reports did a ten-minute piece that helped bring attention to the Greater London area.
If you have not seen the video before, then it is a great insight. Click on the link below, and if asked at any stage for a password, it is CAFC1990
Thames Reports item
Our thanks to Aliwibble and Lewis Coaches
For a link to other articles in this Valley Party series,
CLICK HERE 
Comments
Do you mean TV coverage? if so, I am fairly sure there wasn't any. There certainly were no video cameras inside the count. Thing is, no one expected us to do quite that well. Most of us didn't.
The nearest you get is Mark Mansfield' s audio recording. There were about 200 Charlton supporters at the count, and when the result came through that Simon Oelman had lost his seat, there was a deafening roar. Mark taped the moment, and put it on the premium phone line he'd set up,called ValleyCall, whose revenue helped us pay our bills. People called up, and played it back, often at their employer's expense, again and again....:-)
Sadly I haven't got it. But if anyone does have it, I'd be very keen to include it on the microsite I'm building about the VP.
Whatever happened to all those Charlton hooligans ... ;)
Don't I know it! He He - I worked for Greenwich at the time! Poetic justice.
Great Video Ali - some really good memories and a right old rogues gallery. Airman with hair as well (Yes I know I can talk).
This reminds me of the cray antics that these Greenwich councillors and there employees were engaged in in the mid 80s onwards...
It turned ordinary working class people against the council for some crazy left wing utopia, on behalf on the 'ordinary person' because they knew better.
Living in Springfield's I remember having a meeting over at Charlton house with Jim Gillman a councillor a decent bloke who was enrobbed with this sort of nonsense!.
No wonder the surrounding areas of Woolwich and Greenwich were such a shambles! no investor would get involved with this lot.
My Grandfather helped formed trade unions in Greenwich and worked for the council, as did my father, my Grandmother worked for the RACS in Woolwich life long labour supporters and trade unionists! they were sickened by the nonsense of this lot. Patronising in the worst type by coffee table socialists who never lived in the nightmare they created, the schools they ran, and the social landscape they demolished.......
Charlton and it's supporters should be proud of what it acheived.
Well at least the politicians now days are more trustworthy.....oh!
I remember how angry i was at the time when Greenwich Council were trying their best to stop us getting back to the Valley and all the airheads they interviewed complaining about what would happen if we moved back,Noise,Rubbish,Hooligans when all they were really worried about was the value of their house going down because it was near a football ground.
Forgot to add....great stuff
Top effort!
When you see people like Marsh and Oelman involved its no wonder we had such a struggle to get back.
Great to see Roger Alwen on there, one of the most important people in Charlton’s history.
Roger Alwen, what a man.
Also remember a fella called Andy Keen(Think he was one of the Valey Party?) on the bus with us he was as funny as fcuk!
Great great memorys for us oldens!!
Do not mean to pick holes,but Footscray does not have a station.Think again.
Glad you enjoyed the Valley Party stuff guys, but the kudos really should go to Lewis Coaches for still having the tape in the first place.
They seemed to regard it as a business, and part of the mixed economy, NOT in partnership with the community......
They would have preffered another crap council estate, to control even more people you can only assume!
What a shock it must have been to the system, and there little world when the community rejected there patronising 'we know better' mentality. They took the community for granted and no wonder Rosie Barnes got elected. In my opinion Charlton took an historic stand against this bullying and the people of Charlton and surrounding area should be proud of taking a stand against this nonsense, congratulations to the people involved.
Nice sentiment Ken. I'd really welcome reflections on he VP from everyone, and might come back when our webiste is ready to ask permission to reproduce your thoughts there.
That's really how they thought of us. When we first announced ourselves they were convinced we wouldn't be able to properly complete the process of registering candidates properly. Then the posters went up and suddenly they were looking around for hidden agendas and cash- Tory, BNP, Scientology, whatever. The idea that it was just ordinary people, driven to take extraordinary steps, never crossed their mind. I think it's called 'the arrogance of power"
They also provided one of my favourite moments of the campaign -which also shows why I'm lary of people who run their agendas in the media without revealing their true identities.
Because there was no internet, the Mercury letters page was a weekly battle ground. One week late on in the campaign, a guy called Paul Wheeler, apparently a local resident, wrote an "anti" letter in which he advised me to stick to my advertising "day job". I was ready to just ignore it, but when I walked into Dave and Mike's office, they were grinning, and the conversation went like this:
"I see our mate's been 'aving a go at you"
"Your MATE? you know him?"
"Sure. He works for Labour HQ at Walworth Road"
"Jesus. Can I reveal that?"
"Sure. He's a fookin Citeh fan:-)"
So I gleefully unmasked Mr Wheeler in the next Mercury, and the following day, Mike got a call in their office from their mate, who just said:
"There's only two fookers in the world could have told him that. You, and the fooker sitting next to ya"