Camberwell | >Re-PHOTO

Hairdressers, Mansions, Baptists, Tiles & Greeks

The first part of this walk I made on Sunday 9th April 1989 is at Peckham and East Dulwich 1989.

*Hairdresser, North Cross Rd, East Dulwich, Southwark, 1989 89-4i-61*

I’d taken a picture of this poster in a hairdresser’s window when I’d walked along North Cross Road a couple of months earlier but hadn’t been entirely satisfied with it. In winter I had been working with Kodak’s TMAX400 and I think I felt that the fine graphic detail on the poster would be better on the more fine-grained TMAX100 I had switched to for the summer. The difference isn’t huge but it does show. The framing is also a little different, though in making this digital image I have made this version just a little more skewed than my usual slight lean. I blame it on living in a house where nothing is quite a right angle.

*North Cross Rd, East Dulwich, Southwark, 1989 89-4i-62*

I’m not sure what the shop at 65 North Cross Road was then selling but I rather liked the graphic on the window. It could have been, as it now is, another hairdresser. The doorway was for the flat above.

Fruit & Veg, Coldharbour Place, Camberwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-4i-63 — *Coldharbour Place, Camberwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-4i-63*

I think I may have jumped on a bus on Lordship Lane to take me to Camberwell Green. Coming up to London for many of these walks I used a Travelcard which had first been introduced by the Greater Londo Council in 1981 and had greatly simplified travel around London. At the beginning of 1989 it had been extended to cover British Rail services, replacing an earlier One Day Capitalcard. The GLC had lost a legal battle to cut London fares in 1982, and was abolished by Thatcher in 1986, with fairly disastrous consequences, but their rationalisation of travel continued. Without it I don’t think I would have been able to do much of my extensive work across London. Now it seems that Tory cuts are going to force TfL to get rid of it for those of us travelling into London.

This is the next frame on my film, and was made around a mile and a half away, probably around a 15 minute bus ride from the previous image. The picture was made from Coldharbour Lane looking down Coldharbour Place, which continues with a narrow alley to Denmark Hill. The large building at left was a garage and has now been replaced by a larger block of flats, but the buildings at the right which front onto Denmark Hill remain and the wall at right is now covered by the ‘Great Wave’ mural based on Hokusai’s iconic image.

*Denmark Place, Baptist Church, Coldharbour Lane, Camberwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-4i-64*

This Grade II listed church was built in 1823 and though some alterations were made in 1869 still looks remarkably like it did in Victorian times. I wounder why it has four doors along its frontage, and is without a central door. Possibly the doors at the left and right of the set may lead to galleries around the main hall, and some more strict churches had separate doors for men and women, but although the listed text has a fairly full description of the exterior it gives no clues for the reasons behind the design.

*Shops, Coldharbour Lane, Camberwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-4i-65*

A rather fine row of shops with flats above, Denmark Mansions at 78-96 Coldharbour Lane. These mansions replaced earlier semi-detached villas with front gardens on the street at some time around 1900 though I can find no exact date.

*Kenbury St, Camberwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-4i-51*

A derelict frontage in Kenbury St, just off Coldharbour Lane. This is part of Kenbury Mansions and has long been restored. These buildings are rather decorative fronts on a rather large solid block behind, each front door leading to half a dozen flats.

*Arcanum Works, Warner Rd, Camberwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-4i-54*

Arcanum means the mysteries or secrets of a subject but other than the name I’m unsure what was mysterious about the Arcanum Terrazzo & Stone Company Limited who shared this works with the Decorative Tile Company Limited and the yard at rear with Wandle Paving Ltd.

This building is still there, but is now the Glory Divine Christian Centre & Community Hall. The factory behind is labelled as a Brewery on the 1877 OS large-scale map, but by the time of the 1916 OS map had turned sour as a Vinegar Works.

*St Marys Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Camberwell New Rd, Camberwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-4i-55*

The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God, Camberwell is a church in the Archdiocese of Thyateira & Great Britain. Greek Orthodox Christians had begun to celebrate in nearby St Giles in 1962.

In 1963 they moved into and later bought the former Catholic Apostolic Church, Camberwell New Road built for this splinter group of Anglo-Catholics in 1877, architect J & J Belcher. They had worshipped there until 1961. The church was damaged by bombing in 1941 and lost the impressive frontage rising behind the cloisters which can be seen in an illustration on Archiseek.com – with almost half the former nave now being a courtyard.

*St Marys Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Camberwell New Rd, Camberwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-4i-42*

I peered into the rather strange buildings to take this picture of the cloisters which the Anglo-Catholics had required of the architect. The more recent addition at left is probably very practical but rather spoils the impression.

My walk will continue in a later post. The previous post was the first on this walk, Peckham and East Dulwich 1989.

High Rise, Houses, Car Parts, and a Club

Continuing my walk in Peckham in March 1989. The previous post on this walk was Asylum, Lorry Park, Works, Museum & Office Door.

Bird in Bush Rd, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-21 — *Bird in Bush Road, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-21*

I spent some time exploring the area around Malt Street and Ossory Road, now on the other side of Asda, where some demolition was taking place but took few photographs, none on-line, and then walked back along along the Old Kent Road to Peckham Park Road, going down this to Green Hundred Road. I found myself in a large area of council housing, much of which was fairly standard LCC five storey blocks dating from the late 1930s, solidly built, their height limited back then by the lack of lifts.

The foreground flats in this picture are from the late 60s and are on Bird in Bush Road, part of the GLC designed Ledbury Estate, and as well as these 4-storey maisonette blocks there were also four identical 14 floor H shape tower blocks, including this one, Bromyard House, which has its entrance on Commercial Way.

*Bird in Bush Road, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-22*

This picture was taken from close to the east end of Bird in Bush Road, and the building cut off at extreme left of the image is the former Arthur Street Board School (now Camelot Primary School.)

The design dates of these flats, also on the Ledbury estate, is from the early 1960s and was replicated across London by the GLC, using the prefabricated Danish Larsen-Nielsen system. After one at Ronan Point suffered a disastrous collapse following a gas explosion flats built using this system should have been strengthened, but somehow Southwark Council failed to do so on this estate. I’m not sure whether this had now been put right. but none have yet collapsed.

*Doddington Cottages, Commercial Way, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-24*

This semi-detached residence dating from 1836 which was Grade II listed together with the neighbouring Doddington Place around nine years after I took this picture.

The name possibly comes from Doddington Hall in Cheshire, built by Samuel Wyatt for Sir Thomas Broughton in 1777-90 and its parkland landscaped by Capability Brown. There is also Doddington Place at Doddington near Sittingbourne in Kent, but this was only built around 1870.

*Tustin Estate, Old Kent Rd, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-11*

The Tustin Estate is on the north side the Old Kent Road immediately west of Ilderton Road. It has three 20 storey towers, Windermere Point, Grasmere Point (in the centre here) and Ambleside Point, each with over 70 flats which were approved by the GLC in 1964. There are also six low-rise blocks on the estate.

According to Southwark Council, “In March 2021, residents voted in favour of demolishing and rebuilding the low-rise buildings in a residents’ ballot. This will include replacement council homes, additional council homes and key worker housing, shared equity homes and homes for private sale. There will also be a replacement school building, new commercial spaces and a new park. All existing residents will be able to move to a new council home in the first phase of the scheme.” I’m unsure how far this scheme has so far progressed and it remains to be seen whether the council will keep its promises, which it almost completely failed to do on some earlier schemes.

*Clifton Crescent, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-13*

I returned to Clifton Crescent which I had photographed earlier and too a rather better and closer picture of this magnificent curved terrace. As I explained earlier, it was Southwark Council’s decision in 1972 to demolish this crescent that led to a local action group which became the Peckham Society in 1975. Fortunately they managed to stop the demolition when only No 1 had been lost. They convinced the council that retaining and restoring the properties was a cheaper option, and the lost house was rebuilt and the entire crescent, Grade II listed thanks to their efforts in 1974, was restored by 1977. The Crescent was built in 1847-51 and represents an interesting transition between earlier Regency styles and the simpler Victorian terraces.

*Car spares, Loder St, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-15*

From there I made my way east, going under the railway on Culmore Road or Clifton Way and then south to Loder St. This whole area has been redeveloped since I made these pictures in 1989 and is now covered with low-rise housing. I made two pictures of this car breaker’s yard (you can see the other on Flickr).The tower blocks are those of the Tustin Estate.

Hatcham Liberal Club, Queen's Rd, New Cross, Lewisham, 1989 89-3d-61 — *Hatcham Liberal Club, Queen’s Rd, New Cross, Lewisham, 1989 89-3d-61*

I walked down to Queen’s Road, I think along York Grove, stopping briefly to photograph a street corner. On Queen’s Road before catching a bus I photographed the Hatcham Liberal Club, built in 1880 in Queen Anne Dutch style and Grade II listed ten years after I took this picture. It was one of the largest of a number of late Victorian working men’s clubs and became a popular venue with a large hall at the back available for hire for parties and gigs and also for until it closed in 2006. In 2009 most of the interior was converted into flats.

*Shops, John Ruskin St, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-3d-62*

I changed buses in Camberwell, where I made a slight detour to make another visit to photograph the row of shops on John Ruskin Street as the final picture of the day and this walk.

The first post about this walk was Shops, Removals, Housing and the Pioneer Health Centre. I’ll post about my next walk in 1989, in the City of London, shortly.

Asylum, Lorry Park, Works, Museum & Office Door

Continuing my walks in Peckham in March 1989. The previous post was Bird in Bush, Wood Dene, Asylum and a School.

*Caroline Gardens, Licensed Victuallers’ Benevolent Institution, Asylum Rd, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-53*

I stepped a few feet inside the Caroline Gardens Estate to photograph No 79A, which was one of two identical lodges at the ends of the main site. This one is at the north end and the plaque above the doorway has been restored and can now easily be read, ‘THIS LODGE ERECTED 1849 HENRY ENGLAND CHAIRMAN’.

*Caroline Gardens, Licensed Victuallers’ Benevolent Institution, Asylum Rd, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-54*

The corner of this lodge occupies most of the right half of the picture, looking down the rather uneven pavement with some vintage street lamps to more of the Asylum buildings. I didn’t go further into the estate as I think I felt this and the earlier pictures of it were enough. The buildings of the Licensed Victuallers’ Benevolent Institution (Caroline Gardens) in Asylum Rd are Grade II listed and as my previous post mentioned were acquired by Southwark Council in 1960.

Lorry Park, Asylum Road, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-55 — *Lorry Park, Asylum Rd, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-55*

The lorry park on Asylum Road was something of a contrast to the elegance of the Asylum buildings, though I liked its selection of lines and blocks, the trailers, the fence, barrier and posts and wires.

I can’t see any trace of this now and but I think it was probably on the east side of the street where there is now a large car park for Lidl.

*Wales Close, Asylum Rd, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-56*

On the west side of Asylum Road was this dead end back street, not named on my map from the 1980s but was where Wales Close is now. The tall blocks in the background are on the Ledbury Estate on Commercial Way.

Streets such as this were very much a reminder of London as a city full of industry with many areas like this full of small manufacturing businesses of all trades, as well as larger companies and great industrial estates.

*Livesey Museum, Old Kent Rd, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-43*

Asylum Road ends at the Old Kent Road and the Livesey Museum was at No 682, just a short walk towards central London. The Livesey Museum was commissioned by George Livesey, chairman of the South Metropolitan Gas Company, in 1890 as a library for workers of the local gasworks and later entrusted to the people of the old parish of Camberwell as a public library. It was damaged in wartime bombing but restored and opened as the the Livesey Museum for Children from 1974 to 2008.

Southwark Council wanted to sell the building off, but found that they were not the owners, as it was owned by a covenanted trust. It was squatted in 2010 but then became home to Treasure House, providing special education to vulnerable young adults in Southwark.

*Offices, Malt St, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-32*

I kept walking along the Old Kent Road towards Bermondsey, taking a few pictures including of Christ Church next to the museum and the murals on the North Peckham Civic Centre by Polish artist, Adam Kossowski. Plans for the demolition of this building were approved by Southwark Council in 2019, preserving the mural, listed in 2017.

I haven’t digitised my black and white picture as I thought I had taken better images in colour, but if so I’ve yet to digitise those either. The former North Peckham Civic Centre was the Twentieth Century Society’s Building of the Month for November 2020, and has been described as ” by far the finest 20th Century building on the Old Kent Road.” and was once described by Southwark Council as a building of ‘Architectural or Historic Interest’. But that seems not to be enough to save it, although it was still standing a few months ago.

The doorway to Offices I photographed at 500 Old Kent Road, on the side of the building in Malt Street has since disappeared, along with the row of late Victorian terrace housing in my next frame which I think were also on Malt Street. 500 Old Kent Road is now a part of the address of Asda Old Kent Road Superstore at 464-504, and Malt Street is considerably wider to give easier vehicle access to the Asda car park.

More on this walk in March 1989 to follow. The first post about this walk was Shops, Removals, Housing and the Pioneer Health Centre.

Vestry Road, Camberwell to Lyndhurst Grove, Peckham

The previous and first post on this walk was Aged Pilgrims, Sceaux, Houses & Lettsom.

*Vestry Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2d-53*

Vestries such as that in the parish of Camberwell St Giles were the bodies that provided municipal services before local government was organised into boroughs – and in this area the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell took over their duties in 1900. In the 1820s and 1830s the Vestry here was responsible for the closing down of Camberwell Fair, as a part of “widespread campaign in the early 19th Century, to impose social and moral control over the growing working classes“.

Perhaps Vestry Road got its name as the vestry bought the land and began the development there. The road is not present on Cary’s New Plan of London in 1837, but was present with these houses shown on the Ordnance Survey‘s map surveyed in 1869 to 1871, when the road ended a little past Grace’s Road. These houses were probably quite new then. The road was extended further south by thhe mid 1890s.

*The Maisonettes, Vestry Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2d-55*

The Maisonettes at the north end of Vestry Road face Lucas Gardens. They were built in 1907.

Immediately to the north of these maisonettes is the Camberwell Bunker Garden, on top of the now disused Southwark Borough Control Bunker, a cold-war control centre built underneath a now demolished health centre on the corner of Peckham Road and Vestry Road.

*Houses, Vestry Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2d-56*

This long terrace of mid-19th century working class homes at 2-24 is probably the earliest development on Vestry Road.

*Trees, Lucas Gardens, Vestry Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2d-42*

Around 1790 a terrace of 12 Georgian houses was built on the south of Peckham Road called East Terrace, and in the 1880s these became an extension to the Camberwell House Lunatic Asylum which had opened on the opposite side of Peckham Road in 1846. It was one of the largest asylums in London, with only that at Bow being larger.

The asylum remained private when the NHS was formed and closed in 1955. It had extensive gardens for its patients to roam, and those on the north side provided a site for the Sceaux Gardens estate while on the south they formed this public park, Lucas Gardens.

*House, Crofton Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2d-34*

I walked down Vestry Road to Lyndhurst Grove and then east along this to Crofton Road. There are a very large number of similar houses in this area and I cannot decide exactly where I made this picture. These houses are I think late Victorian.

House, Talfourd Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2d-36 — *House, Talfourd Rd, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-2d-36*

Charles Booth described Talfourd Road as ‘good middle-class‘ and it has a varied selection of houses. Some of these were already present on the 1860 map. Wikipedia lists two notable Talfourds:
“Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd (1795–1854), English judge, politician, and writer” and “Francis Talfourd (1828–1862), English lawyer and dramatist, son of Thomas”. Neither seems to have any obvious connection with Peckham, but the street seems to have been named after the judge.

Although my contact sheet labels this as Talfourd Road and it is certainly somewhere close I cannot find the exact location of this property.

House, Lyndhurst Grove, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-2d-24 — *Houses, *Lyndhurst Grove, Peckham,*, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-2d-24*

96 and 98 Lyndhurst Grove are rather easier to find, roughly opposite the end of Denman Road. According – as usual – to Wikipedia, John Copley, born in 1772 in Boston became 1st Baron Lyndhurst and “was a British lawyer and politician. He was three times Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain” and “Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman, PC was an English lawyer, judge and politician” and Lord Chief Justice between 1832 and 1850. This is a thoroughly legal area.

Aged Pilgrims, Sceaux, Houses & Lettsom

I began another walk from Camberwell on Sunday 12th February 1989, starting from a bus stop on Camberwell Road I made my way east towards Sedgemoor Place.

Almshouses, Aged Pilgrims' Friendly Society's Home, Sedgemoor Place, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2c-23 — *Almshouses, Aged Pilgrims’ Friendly Society’s Home, Sedgemoor Place, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2c-23*

The Aged Pilgrims’ Friend Society was established in 1807 by a group of Christians concerned about “the aged and infirm Christian poor”. William Wilberforce, best known as an anti-slavery campaigner, was its Vice-President in the early years. At first it provided life pensions to Protestants over 60 whose income was less than 5s (25p) a year and by 1825 had supported over 800 pensioners with pensions of five or ten guineas a year.

The Aged Pilgrims’ Friend Society were given a site in Camberwell by William Peacock Esq and raised the money to build their first almshouses there, opening in 1837 to house 42 pensioners. The Tudor-style building is Grade II listed. It was sold by the Aged Pilgrims’ Friendly Society who by then had added an ‘ly’ to there name in 1991 and is now flats.

Almshouses, Aged Pilgrims' Friendly Society's Home, Sedgemoor Place, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2c-24 — *Almshouses, Aged Pilgrims’ Friendly Society’s Home, Sedgemoor Place, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2c-24*

The Aged Pilgrims’ Friend Society were given a site in Camberwell by William Peacock Esq whose donation is recorded above the doorway and raised the money to build their first almshouses there, opening in 1837 to house 42 pensioners. The Tudor-style building is Grade II listed. It was sold by the Aged Pilgrims’ Friendly Society in 1991 and is now flats.

St Giles' Hospital, Havil Street, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2c-26 — *St Giles’ Hospital, Havil Street, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2c-26*

The picture shows the demolition of former workhouse and the start of the conversion to flats of the Grade II listed circular ward tower fronting onto Havil Street. This was built in 1889-90 for the Camberwell Workhouse Infirmary, later St Giles’s Hospital, architect W S Cross. Each fllor contained 24 beds radiating around a central shaft, in which heating and ventilation services were located. I had photographed this building on a walk a few weeks earlier and had gone back to see if work was progressing and I could get a better view.

*Statue, sculpture, Sceaux Gardens Estate, Peckham Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2c-12*

Plans for the Sceaux Gardens estate in the mature grounds of the former Camberwell House Lunatic Asylum were approved in 1957 and included two 15 storey tower blocks, Lakanal House and Marie Curie House. The estate was named after Sceaux near Paris which Camberwell had twinned with in 1954. I’ve visited Sceaux a few times and it has a rather better palace and park where festivals are held.

The Lakanal fire in 2009 killed 6 and injured at least 20 more; the recommendations from the enquiry were not implemented but would have prevented the later even more disastrous fire at Grenfell Tower. I think this block is probably Lakanal, but can find no details about the statue – and it certainly isn’t Lakanal.

Joseph Lakanal (1762 – 1845) was a French politician, and an original member of the Institut de France and one of the leading administrators of the French Revolution and responsible for educational reforms. He spent some time in the USA and helped to found and became President of what later became Tulane University before returning to France.

*Camberwell Church St, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2d-63*

I walked back west along Peckham Road to Camberwell Church St, pausing to take a couple of pictures not online and then this view of houses and a shop on the south side of the street, possibly at 70-72.

*Houses, Camberwell Grove, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2d-65*

I was on my way to Camberwell Grove to make photographs in the northern part of the street which I had not visited on my earlier walks. Just a few yards down the street I turned around and took this view looking up towards Camberwell Church St. At left is the path to Chamberlain Cottages mentioned in an earlier walk.

*Houses, Camberwell Grove, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2d-66*

A little further down I found this terrace with two porches on houses in the centre. Like most of the buildings along this part of the street this is Grade II listed, described as ‘Early C19 with some later C19 alterations’.

*Flats, McNeil Rd, Camberwell Grove, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2d-52*

The flats at left are 125-151 Camberwell Grove and you can see the spire of St Giles Camberwell in the distance. This is the Lettsom Estate, named after John Coakley Lettsom (1744-1815) who lived in Grove House, just beyond the southern end of Camberwell Groce, long demolished. He was Quaker physician and herbalist, who was friends with Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Johnson, Boswell and other leading figures of the day. This land had been a part of Lettsom’s estate.

When the flats were built in the early 1970s their scale was designed to match the nineteenth century housing along this section of Camberwell Grove – although they have four floors rather than the three in most of this. Their brickwork is also of a similar colour but they lack any of the interesting features of the older buildings and are relatively bland.

I made my way through the estate and on to Vestry Gardens where my next post on this walk will begin.

Denmark Hill, Ruskin and on to Dulwich

The previous post on this walk was Houses, Station, General Booth and more Houses.

I walked up Champion Hill to Denmark Hill and Ruskin Park, pausing briefly to take a photograph – not online – of what I later found to be a Grade II listed shelter before going further north towards the two hospitals further north.

*Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-32*

Donations of £40,000 from psychiatrist Dr Henry Maudsley (1835-1918) went towards the establishment of a specialist hospital for the early treatment of recoverable mental disease, which was completed in 1915 when it was requisitioned for use as a military hospital, finally opening for civilian patients in 1923. Architects were William Charles Clifford-Smith, EP Wheeler and G Weald.

Although I’ve visited several of my family over the years in various mental hospitals, none has been in the Maudsley, which is the leading mental health training school in the UK. This was perhaps fortunate as it’s treatments have often been controversial over the years.

*Statue, Robert Bentley Todd, Kings College Hospital, Denmark Hill, Camberwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-2a-34*

Surgeon Robert Bentley Todd (1809-60) became a Professor at King’s College London in 1836 and took the lead in setting up King’s College Hospital in 1840 in Portugal St. The hospital moved to this new building designed by William Pite on Denmark Hill in 1909. The statue of Todd, financed by donations from his colleagues and friends was placed in the lobby of the Portugal St hospital in 1861, the year after his death, and moved here in 1913. The statue was not made to be displayed in the open air and has eroded.

Kings College Hosptial seems a rather random collection of buildings, few of any architectural interest. The photograph shows the statue in front of the Guthrie Wing, an Art Deco building dating from 1937 which is a private patients wing inside the main hospital, but was moved elsewhere on the campus when a new ambulance entrance and A&E department opened in 1997.

*Rose Garden, Gateway, Ruskin Park, Camberwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-2a-35*

I walked back to Ruskin Park and made a second picture of the Grade II listed shelter from the Rose Garden, which was looking a little sad, with no blooms but just the pruned growths with the odd leaf remaining. The shelter and its flanking walls was Grade II listed as long ago as 1951 and was built in the late 18th century as a part of the house which once stood here.

John Ruskin (1819-1900) moved to Herne Hill when he was five and the family moved to 163 Denmark Hill in 1842. The following year the first volume of his influential Modern Painters was publishing, promoting the work of JMW Turner. In 1871 he sold the house on Denmark Hill and it was demolished in 1949. Ruskin Park opened in 1907.

One of the few volumes I saved from my father’s books after his death was his copy of ‘WORK; FROM THE CROWN OF WILD OLIVE’ by John Ruskin, a miniscule volume designed to fit the waistcoat pocket of a working man and published I think in the 1920s when my father was just such a young working man in his 20s. This roughly 3″ by 4″ book is the text of a lecture he delivered to the Working Men’s Institute in Camberwell in 1865.

Saint Faith's Church, Red Post Hill, Dulwich, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-25 — *Saint Faith’s Church, Red Post Hill, Dulwich, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-25*

I walked on southwards on Denmark Hill and then turned down Sunray Avenue to go down Red Post Hill. Early street direction signs were often painted red and one on the crossroads at the top of this road giving distance and directs to nearby villages was here by the mid-eighteenth century. It became a well-known local landmark by the 1800s, and the street it was at the top of was renamed from Ashpole Road (possibly also a reference to the post which could have been made from ash, a strong and durable wood) to Red Post Hill soon after. The post disappeared probably in the mid-nineteenth century, but in 2010 a new red post, the only one in London, was placed on the corner.

St Faith’s Church, North Dulwich began as an attractive Arts & Crafts church hall in 1908 which is now the neighbouring St Faith’s Centre. The church a large and rather plain brick box was only built and consecrated in 1957. On its west end is the sculpture at the right of my picture of Christ on the Cross with St John the Evangelist and St Mary Magdalene by Ivor Livi. The church no longer has what appears to be an excessively large flagpole.

*House, Red Post Hill, Dulwich, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-11*

The road has a number of large suburban houses, including a row of similar semi-detached houses to this detached property and its neighbour close to North Dulwich Station.

*Bistro Italiano, restaurant, East Dulwich Grove, Dulwich, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-12*

I don’t think Italian bistros were common – certainly not in the areas of London which I knew well, but I think this one stood out for the crudeness of its lettering and strange letter-spacing.

*Dulwich Hospital, East Dulwich Grove, Dulwich, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-13*

Like many hospitals, Dulwich Hospital began life as a workhouse infirmary, built for the Guardians of the Poor of the parish of Southwark St Saviour and opened in 1887, though the building has the date 1886 at left. It became a military hospital in the First World War and in 1921 was renamed Southwark Hospital, becoming Dulwich Hospital ten years later.

The ward buildings in this picture were demolished around 18 months ago.

*Dulwich Hospital, East Dulwich Grove, Dulwich, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-15*

The land for building the infirmary was sold with the stipulation that the public building erected “should be of an ornamental character” and local architects Henry Jarvis & Son did their damndest, though not entirely to my taste, receiving praise in the local press at the time. The hospital was built with a central adminstration building and long pavilions of ‘Nightingale Wards’, long narrow rooms with large windows for light and ventilation with beds along both sides. I spent around ten days in a similar ward in St George’s Tooting shortly before it was closed twenty years ago.

Until fairly recently this was still Dulwich Community Hospital, though most medical services had ceased in 2005. Part of the hospital has been demolished to build a school and health centre, but the buildings in this picture are still there.

To be continued. My account of this walk from 5th February 1989 began with A Pub, Ghost Sign, Shops And The Sally Ann.

Houses, Station, General Booth and more Houses

My account of this walk from 5th February 1989 began in Camberwell with the previous post, A Pub, Ghost Sign, Shops And The Sally Ann.

*House, Windsor Walk, Denmark Hill, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-51*

I ended my previous post with pictures of William Booth College and a statue of Catherine Booth. Before-crossing the railway I had gone down Windsor Walk, and the overall picture of the college was taken from there across the cutting containing the lines and platforms. Even from there the top of the tower was only just in frame, and unfortunately I cropped it slightly when I made the scan. I think more recent building at Denmark Hill station now partly obscures the view.

This impressive house at 16 Windsor Walk is a part of local development in the 1860s-80s, largely a speculative development built as private houses but many pressed into service in post-war years as nurses homes and medical centres for the nearby Maudsley and Kings College Hospital. Although this house looks in good condition, it deteriorated rapidly and was boarded up for years before extensive refurbishment in 2014-6. From the outside it again looks much as it did in 1989.

*House, Windsor Walk, Denmark Hill, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-53*

These houses at 17-18 Windsor Walk were also derelict a few years ago and have also been restored along with the next two properties on the street.

*Phoenix Firkin, Denmark Hill Station, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-55*

Denmark Hill Station and its offices were Grade II listed only in 1998. The buildings date from 1864-66 and were gutted by fire in 1980. By 1989 the station was home to the Phoenix Firkin pub, named as it had arisen from the ashes. It remains in business, though now called simply The Phoenix. Denmark Hill, a busy station, is entered through the southern part of the building at right, from which several people are emerging in my picture.

*William Booth statue, William Booth College, Salvation Army, Champion Park, Denmark Hill, Southwark, 1989. 89-2a-41*

The station buildings with their pub are on a bridge over the railway lines, here in a cutting, and this leads to Champion Park with its Salvation Army College. Here I photographed both the statue of Catherine Booth in the previous post and this one of her husband and co-founder of the Army, William Booth, born April 10th 1829. Promoted to glory August 20th 1912. Sculpture by George Wade, 1929.

Their two statues are situated symmetrically on the lawn in front of the college, close to the road.

*Canning Cross, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-43*

Champion Park leads to Grove Lane, and a few yards down from the corner is a narrow turning, Canning Cross, next to the George Canning pub, which leads to Stories Mews, and as a footpath only to Camberwell Grove. I took this picture from Canning Cross looking roughly north up Stories Mews, and although there has been considerable rebuilding in the area I think this view remains much the same.

Canning, a prominent Tory politician was until recently the British Prime Minister to have been in office for the shortest time, being Prime Minister for only 119 days in April to August 1827. But his time in office was cut short by his death and not as Liz Truss’s by disgrace. Canning was also the last PM to have fought a duel after he, then Foreign Secretary was challenged by the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. Fought with pistols on Putney Heath, Canning’s shot went extremely wide of the mark, but the war minister was a rather better shot and Canning was wounded in the leg.

*House, Champion Hill, East Dulwich, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-46*

I walked on down Grove Lane to Champion Hill, turning down here and going past a two houses in what seemed to me an Arts and Crafts style dating from 1907, as the lozenge on the central chimney records. Champion Hill is an odd street with several branches and a central cross-roads where all four signs point to Champion Hill. Fortunately I had a map and knew to turn right to take me towards Denmark Hill and Ruskin Park, where the next post on this walk will continue.

A Pub, Ghost Sign, Shops And The Sally Ann

My next opportunity for a walk in South London was on Sunday 5th February 1989 a week after my previous walk. I returned to Camberwell, getting off the bus from Vauxhall on Peckham Road at Camberwell Green and walked down Grove Lane.

*The Grove House Tavern, Mary Boast Walk, Camberwell Grove, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1i-12*

At the end of an alley leading to Camberwell Grove I found the Grove House Tavern, then a Taylor Walker pub. I liked the way its chimney seemed to complement the spire of St Giles’s Church on the other side of my frame and the rather elegant pair of houses facing the end of Mary Boast walk at 53 and 55 Camberwell Grove, both Grade II listed along with many other houses on that street.

Mary Joyce Boast (1921-2010) was a local history librarian, and became a great expert on the history of Southwark. She was the borough’s first Local Studies Librarian, but had retired a few years before I first visited the John Harvard Library on Borough High St. I think this passage was unnamed when I took this picture and only got a name after her death in 2010.

The fence at left stops the balls for a tennis club. There was a pub on this corner in 1826, though the building in my picture dates from around a century later and has a rather unusual Mansard roof. For a while it became the Grand Union, but was renamed Grove House in 2017 and was taken over by new management in 2021.

*Gone Fishing, Shop Door, Denmark Hill, Camberwell, Southwark, Lambeth, 1989 89-1i-15*

The curved building reflected in the glass here is the former Odeon Cinema on the corner of Coldharbour Lane. I had walked back up Grove Lane and then along Daneville Road to here. The handwritten sign ‘CLOSED EARLY – Gone Fishing’ seemed to me to reflect a very healthy attitude to life.

*Shop, Ghost Sign, Daneville Rd, Denmark Hill, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1i-16*

Looking back up Daneville Rd from the corner with Denmark Hill I photographed the faded wall sign for DAREN, the Best Brown Bread. Only faint traces of this ‘ghost sign’ now remain. The ‘lower ‘Great Expectations’ section was painted over in white and then around 2010 with a colourful graffiti mural, perhaps related to the GX Gallery to its right down Daneville Road. Later this too was painted over, and became ‘Muhammad Ali’ after his death in 2016, only to be over-painted again more recently.

‘Daren The Best Brown Bread’ was a non-wholemeal brown loaf baked from flour ground at the Daren Mill at Dartford in Kent, at the time it was painted as big a brand as Hovis. The mill went bankrupt in the 1930s and the brand merged with Hovis. Personally I think their loaves are rather like eating sawdust and stick to proper wholemeal, fortunately home-made.

*Former Odeon cinema, Denmark Hill, Coldharbour Lane, Camberwell, Lambeth, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-01*

Looking across Denmark Hill with Coldharbour Lane and Valmar Ave visible at right. The Odeon here was the largest Odeon built in London and opened in 1939, seating almost 2,500. It had entrances on both Denmark Hill and Coldharbour Lane, and had shops on the corner here. It closed in 1975 and was empty until taken over briefly in 1981 by Dickie Dirt selling cut-price jeans and other clothing. But they went bust and the former cinema was empty for another ten years until demolished in 1993, when a block of flats for homeless young people was built on the site.

Tony's Corner Shop, 108a Denmark Hill, Camberwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-2a-61 — *Tony’s Corner Shop, 108a Denmark Hill, Camberwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-2a-61*

Tony’s is still there on the corner of an alley off Denmark Hill, though the former cinema which housed the Camberwell branch of Dickie Dirts which can be glimpsed at top right has been replaced by a block of flats. The alley, Coldharbour Place, leads through to Coldharbour Lane. There are no longer windows on the side of the shop which is covered other and now painted with graffiti.

*House, Grove Lane, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-63*

I think I may have been attracted by the name to walk down Love Lane, though I took no pictures on it. On Grove Lane I photographed Cliftonville at No 83, a Grade II listed early 19th century villa with rather unusual ogge or ogive curves on the door and windows.

*William Booth College, Salvation Army, Champion Park, Denmark Hill, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-66*

I walked down Grove Lane and turned right into Champion Park to admire the Salvation Army’s William Booth College. Designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the college opened in 1929 and is a memorial to William Booth who died in 1912. It was completed in 1932 and has a similar monumental impressiveness to Scott’s power stations at Battersea and Bankside (now Tate Modern.)

The simplicity of this building was not by design but because of budget cuts which fortunately meant that originally planned Gothic stone detailing could not be afforded. This resulted in the Grade II listed building becoming a spiritual power station. It has recently been renovated and is still in use by the Salvation Army.

*Catherine Booth statue, William Booth College, Salvation Army, Champion Park, Denmark Hill, Southwark, 1989. 89-2a-41*

Mrs Catherine Booth was the wife of William Booth and co-founder with him of the Salvation Army. Known as ‘The Army Mother’ she died – or rather was ‘Promoted to glory October 4th 1890’. This sculpture by George Wade was erected in front of the new college in 1929.

This picture shows more of that Gothic stonework details that were meant to be rather more widely applied.

This walk will continue in further posts.

Windows, A Doorway, Horse Trough and Winnie Mandela

I went back to where I had finished my walk on 27th January 1989 two days later on Sunday 29th January, beginning with a couple of pictures of the former St Giles Hospital which I used in the final post on that walk.

*Motor Vehicle Spares, Southampton Way, Rainbow St, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1h-66*

I walked up Havill St to Southampton Way. Across the road was Rainbow Street with this building with bricked up windows and doorway on a large house converted to commercial use. Rainbow Street was not present in 1870 but appears on the map surveyed in 1893 and this building was almost certainly built between those dates, after the window tax was repealed in 1851 and so the bricking up of windows was for practical reasons – and clearly was the doorway.

This building is now home to a small 24hour supermarket on the ground floor with two of the top floor windows now opended up and a door replacing the right-hand ground floor window presumable giving access to living accommodation above the shop. The large notice area is still there, though without notices when I last saw it.

Rainbow Street was for some time the home of Great Train Robber Buster Edwards who many of us saw regularly at his florists stall near Waterloo after his release from jail in 1975.

*Doorway, 201 Southampton Way, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-1h-51*

Further south on Southampton Way was this house with iron screenwork, lions and mosaic path which made it stand out. In the background is the North Peckham estate. Unfortunately this doorway was altered around 2012. The estate was redeveloped under the Five Estates Peckham Masterplan approved by Southwark in 1995, which resulted in the net loss of 1184 social-rented dwellings. The chimney was for the estate heating system.

*Doorway, 201 Southampton Way, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-1h-52*

This house is at the corner with Peckham Grove and I think probably dates from the mid-19th century, possibly from around the time the houses nearby in Peckham Grove (now Newent Close) were developed from 1837 on. Unfortunately this doorway was altered around 2012, although the lions, steps and mosaic are still there. The houses around the corner were built in 1843 and are listed as is a lamp post on the corner outside this house.

House, Peckham Grove, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-1h-54 — *House, 46, Peckham Grove, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-1h-54*

This is now called “Listed House” and is at 46 Peckham Grove although its neighbours are also covered by the listing of 40-46 and attached railings. Built in 1843 and now flats.

*Lamp post, Horse Trough, flats, Southampton Way, Peckham Grove, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-1h-41*

And this is the Grade II listed Gothic Revival late 19th century hand pump converted in the 20th century to an electric lamp post, with a horse trough and drinking fountain beside it. Across Peckham Grove is the London Borough of Southwark’s Samuel Jones Industrial Estate and beyond that the North Peckham Estate.

The lampost and the rest of the corner along with tall chimney are still there, but the rest has been replaced by new housing.

The message on the horse trough, ‘”BLESSED ARE THE PITIFUL” – THE WORK OF ST LUKE’S BAND OF MERCY’ seems a little strange to me. It is a translation of Matthew 5 v7, more normally ‘Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy’ and means that those who show pity are to be blessed rather than those to be pitied. Some translate it as ‘Blessed are the humble’, but in this context it rather seems to me that St Luke’s Band Of Mercy were showing pride rather than humility. But horses need water and were doubtless grateful.

Men and women need water too. In my youth every park had its drinking fountain, providing not only water but also fun for kids as we used them to spray each other. Since then we have had decades of them being removed on grounds of hygiene (and I sometimes wonder how we survived back then.) Recently we have seen a huge fad of ‘hydration’, with people walking and running around our cities clutching water bottles – and the growing provision in a few places of free water bottle filling stations.

*Winnie Mandela House, Peckham Road, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-1h-44*

At the end of Southampton Way I came to Peckham Road and opposite me was Winnie Mandela House. Once described in the Daily Telegraph as a “viciously ugly 1960s office block” with a “shabby façade”, Winnie Mandela House looked more to me a 1930s art deco factory building, and not without its own charm.

Its former name was ‘Pelican House’, the words almost legible on either side of the clock, and now back under that name has been imaginatively converted to provide eighty new affordable housing apartments for shared ownership and rent for Amicus Horizon Group with the lower floors housing an arts café and gallery.

At right of this picture is the frontage of Kennedy’s Sausage Factory. Occasionally on my walks I felt hungry and would stop at one of their shops to buy a sausage roll. But they were closed on Sundays.

I crossed the road to take this second picture from the wide pavement outside.

The factory was was begun by The Surrey Association for the General Welfare of the Blind in 1885, and rebuilt in this form in 1936 (by which time it was the London Association for the Blind – and later became Action for Blind People) with new offices in Pelican House completed in 1952.

The factory employed blind men in the production of handmade baskets, the manufacture of casein and metal knitting needles, and injection moulded plastics. Production moved to Verney Road Peckham in 1974 and Pelican House was sold in 1976.

I find it hard to define a clear boundary between Camberwell and Peckham, and this part of the walk had been on the borderlands. From here on I was clearly walking into Peckham for the next part of my walk.

Art School Nude to Hospital Tower

The final set of pictures from my walk on 27th January 1989. The previous post on this walk is The Workhouse, Town Hall, Council Offices and Art School.

Sculpture, South London Gallery, The Passmore Edwards South London Art Gallery, Peckham Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1g-26 — *Nude, South London Gallery, The Passmore Edwards South London Art Gallery, Peckham Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1g-26*

A bronze nude by Karel Vogel was at the entrance to the gallery, and in 1989 seemed under threat by the tree emerging behind. I think both the sculpture and the tree behind it have gone although a large tree closer to the road remains. Vogel, (1897-1961) was a Czech sculptor who came to England fleeing the Nazis in 1938 and taught at the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts from 1948, and became in charge of the School of Sculpture there.

Perhaps his best-known work in this country is his 1959 Leaning Woman, Grade II listed in 2016, situated close to the A4 by St Peter’s Church in Hammersmith.

*The London Institute, Camberwell College of Arts, Peckham Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1g-11*

The Art School and gallery designed by Maurice Adams was built in 1896-8 is Grade II listed. It’s extravagantly baroque exterior includes a number of caryatids in supporting roles. ‘The Buildings of South London’, page 620, describes the 1960 addition at left by Murray, Ward & Partners as “totally unsympathetic” and it is certainly and doubtless intentionally a complete contrast. But it deserves to be seen and judged on its own.

*Guardians Offices, London Borough of Southwark, Havil St, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1g-14*

The Havil Street frontage of the Poor Law Guardians building whose frontage on Peckham Road featured in the previous post in this series. It was built in an vaguely Art Nouveau style in 1904. I found the octagonal building with the rectangular blocks behind with its rhythmic patterns of windows and odd towers, together with the odd street wall, its curves echoed by the hood around the doorway quite enchanting.

St Giles' Hospital, Havil Street, Camberwell, Southwark 1989-1g-15 — *St Giles’ Hospital, Havil Street, Camberwell, Southwark 1989-1g-15*

In 1889-90 a new 4-storey ward tower fronting onto Havil Street was opened for the Camberwell Workhouse Infirmary, later St Giles’s Hospital. Circular in design (which was fashionable at that time), it had cost about £14,500. Each storey contained 24 beds radiating around a central shaft, in which heating and ventilation services were located. This Grade II listed building is now flats. The pile of rubble behind the wall is from the demolition of unlisted hospital buildings.

St Giles' Hospital, Havil Street, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1g-16 — *St Giles’ Hospital, Havil Street, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1g-16*

Another view of the hospital tower seen from Havil Street. Designed by Robert P Whellock it is Grade II listed. This was the last picture I took on Friday 27th January 1989, but two days later, Sunday 29th I came back here to begin another walk, beginning with more pictures here and a little further along Havil Street and I’ll include these here.

St Giles' Hospital, Havil Street, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1h-02 — *St Giles’ Hospital, Havil Street, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1h-65*

Much of the former St Giles Hospital was in 1989 a demolition site with just the listed buildings being left standing. The area is now filled with rather dreary housing with two and three storey solid-looking blocks around ‘St Giles Tower’. I think this picture was taken from the corner of Brunswick Villas, just after I had made a picture (not on-line) of the Grade II listed Bethel Asylum for aged women founded by William Peacock in 1837 at 159-163 Havil Street.

*House, Brunswick Villas, (Brunswick Rd) Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1h-62*

I walked up Havil Street to the corner with Brunswick Villas, formerly Brunswick Road as the stone pillar still asserts. These houses are presumably a part of W J Hudson’s Brunswick Park development begun in 1847, though rather less grand than some.

From here I made my way towards Peckham – where my next series of posts on my walk on 29th January will begin.

My posts on this walk on 27th January 1989 began at St George’s, Camberwell, Absolutely Board & Alberto.