Proud Places & Bowie’s House in Bromley

Last week we joined students from Ravens Wood School in Bromley to celebrate the music and legacy of their most famous student, David Bowie, for their wonderful ‘Ravens Woodstock’ event.

The event saw extraordinarily talented student performances of Space Oddity, Life on Mars, Starman and Rebel Rebel, poems by the school’s Laureate Kojo and the school’s English teacher Jimmy Bowman, a brilliant DJ set from Brixton Radio and anecdotes from David Bowie’s lifelong friend, collaborator, and former classmate, George Underwood, who returned to the school to share memories of their time together.

George Underwood recalled Bowie's first creative sparks as the schoolboy who would go on to become one of the greatest artists of all time – playful experimentation with different looks and even American accents.

“He came into school with a really short hair cut, a crew cut, he said: ‘It’s my (jazz musician) Gerry Mulligan period.’ Later on, David said to me: ‘Actually George, I tried cutting my own hair last night and it all went wrong.’ So he had to get the local hairdresser down the road to come and trim it, tidy it up for him. It was by mistake.’

Students from Ravens Wood School have been working with the Bowie’s House team on their youth curator programme, developing creative concepts for how the site can be interpreted and experienced by future visitors.

HOLT also partnered with award-winning songwriter and producer Eg White to give the school’s young musicians a unique opportunity to explore songwriting techniques and develop new creative work inspired by Bowie’s music.

Brixton Radio, a community radio station in south London, joined to support and inspire the students with radio broadcasting.

With such amazing young talent on show and more programming planned, the Bowie’s House project is a chance to develop south London's cultural identity alongside Bowie’s creative legacy.

Melanie Lester, Headteacher, Ravens Wood School said: "Ravens Woodstock was a wonderful celebration of music, creativity and community. Seeing our students perform David Bowie's music with such confidence, passion and professionalism was a real privilege, with outstanding performances in drama, dance and music. It was also a pleasure to welcome Ravens Wood alumnus George Underwood, David Bowie's lifelong friend. We are incredibly grateful to Heritage of London Trust and Brixton Radio for their continued support of our students and for helping create such a memorable evening. We couldn't be prouder of everyone who took part."

Billy August, 20, former student of Ravens Wood who returned for the event said: “David Bowie was a true inspiration. He just didn't care what anyone else thought about him through and through, and he made some of the best music ever. The fact that he went to our school massively inspires me. There's a piano here that he played. I used to play that when I came here. I’m very grateful to have been able to put some of his music back out there for the younger generation.”

Dr Nicola Stacey, Director of Heritage of London Trust, said: “We’re thrilled to have worked with so many amazing students from Ravens Wood School over the last few months. We’ve created a youth curator programme to help us develop ideas for the house and worked with a star songwriter to explore the secrets behind Bowie’s success. The school has incredible young talent already and it’s been fabulous to have them all involved in the project from the beginning. We look forward to building on our Proud Places work both with Ravens Wood and with other schools in the coming year.”