Poplar, Bow, Leyton, North Woolwich & Silvertown: These pictures come from a number of visits to areas of London working on several different projects and are my final selection of colour panoramas made in 1995. There are a few more colour images, including some panoramas I made in 1995 in the images in the Flickr album as well as many I have not digitised; some very similar to those online, others that I now find of less interest. Some of these were taken as a part of my project on the Greenwich Meridian in London – you can see a set of 16 images from this on the urban landscape web site.
Bow Locks, River Lea, Bow Creek, Bow, Tower Hamlets, 1995, 95p4-752
Bow Locks separate the tidal River Lea from the Lea Navigation and the Limehouse Cut which offers an alternative route to the Thames to avoid the winding and dangerous Bow Creek. First built in 1850 they were remodelled in 1930. At the highest Spring tides water from Bow Creek would overtop the locks and raise the level of the canals here – the locks were modified in 2000 to stop this and avoid the silting it caused.
London Galvanizers, Leven Rd, Poplar, Tower Hamlets, 95p4-743
The Poplar Gas Coompany built a local gas works here in the 1820s at the request of the Poplar Vestry after ratepayers lobbied them to provide gas street lighting. The site was cleared in 2011 and I was commissioned to photograph the removal of toxic earth from the site using barges on Bow Creek. Something around an eigth of the material was removed in this way, tides making the removal of more difficult. The original gasholders had to be built to special safety standards because of their proximity to the West India Dock wall. The last of the gasholders was removed in 2017.
London Galvanizers had modernised their galvanizing plant here in 1983-5 and were one of the most important jobbing galvanizers in London and the Home Counties.
This street corner is close to the Meridian and I had stood here for some time outside the Chinese restaurant which was having some joinery work done. I liked the contrast between its orange paint and the blue on the opposite corner and the warm brown of the Birkbeck Tavern at right. I think I had made at least one exposure when a young girl in a red coat on roller skates came to see what I was doing – and I made this exposure as a red car come around, filling an otherwise rather empty grey space.
The Meridian also passes through this cemetery and I chose a viewpoint which included the cemetery chapel with a fine group of monuments in the foreground, I think all for people of Italian origin.
Stratford Station, Great Eastern Rd, Stratford, Newham,1995, 95p4-963
I’m unsure what this railway building to the east of the station was, perhaps a 1930s signal box. Parts of this area have now been redeveloped, and this has been behind fences for more than ten years and could stil be there, as least in part.
King George V Dock, Woolwich Manor Way, North Woolwich, Newham, 1995, 95p9-171
Finally four pictures from a walk along Woolwich Manor Way, this taken looking westwards along the south side of the King George V Dock. You can see the bridge over the dock entrance at right and the City Airport terminal and Canary Wharf at the end of the dock.
Royal Albert Dock Basin, Woolwich Manor Way, North Woolwich, Newham, 1995, 95p9-161
At left is the old swing bridge that took the road over the dock entrance from the basin. To its right is the elevated DLR and the pumping station at the centre of the Gallions roundabout. Further on only two buildings were standing along the side of the Basin, the Gallions Hotel and the Royal Docks Pumping Station.
Containers, Woolwich Manor Way, North Woolwich, Newham, 1995, 95p9-162
Land to the south of the Royal Albert Dock Basin just east of Woolwich Manor Way.
King George V Lock, Woolwich Manor Way, North Woolwich, Newham, 1995, 95p9-153
This swing bridge across the dock entrance is still there.
Royal Victoria Dock, Silvertown, Newham, 1995, 95p11-262
This was taken from Silvertown Way, looking across the Royal Victoria Dock. There are still cranes along the dockside here but the foreground now has flats. The Millenium Mills are still there, but there is nothing in the picture where the Excel Centre now stands and none of the other new developments on the north side of the dock. The council flats at the right have been demolished.
You can see these and some other colour pictures I took in 1995 at 1995 London Colour.
More Colour From New Charlton: I think all of these pictures were taken in May 1995, the panoramic examples being made using a swing lens panoramic camera, probably the Horizon 202 from the Krasnogorsky Mechanicheskiy Zavod (KMZ) factory in Krasnogorsk near Moscow. This uses clockwork to rotate a 28mm f2.8 lens around a little over 120 degrees, keeping the lens to film distance constant by having the film in a curve around the axis of rotation. The camera made negatives 58mm long and 24mm tall on normal 35mm film, giving around 20 exposures from a normal ’36 exposure’ cassette.
Willoughby Way, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95p5-671
The film was exposed though a rotating slit behind the lens and different shutter speeds were obtained by altering the slit width. There were only two rotation speeds and for the faster speeds – 1/60 s, 1/125 s, and 1/250 s – the rotation took around a thirtieth of a second, enabling me to use the camera without a tripod.
Thames Path, Lombard Wall, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95p5-662
The lens focus was fixed and I think I usually worked at f8 which meant everything from a few metres away to infinity was sharp. The camera had a spirit level as by keeping the camera level vertical lines were rendered straight in the image. Horizontal lines away from the centre of the image become curved as you can see in some of these images, and care in composition was needed to stop these effects dominating the pictures.
Mudlarks Way, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95p7-161
The image quality was much the same as that from my several times more expensive Japanese Widelux f8 swing lens camera, but the Horizon had a useable viewfinder and was easier to use handheld. Though I think for most of my walks back in 1995 I was still carrying a rather large, heavy and solid Manfrotto tripod. I liked it because it could hold the camera absolutely steady at my eye level – and unless there was good reason not to do so I always preferred to view from that height.
Andrews Sykes, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95c5-832
But I was also photographing with more conventional cameras, and usually had two Olympus OM4 bodies, one with black and white and the other with colour negative film. Although I had a fairly full range of lenses, the great majority of the pictures were made using an Olympus 35mm shift lens.
Bugsby’s Way, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95-5o-66, 1995, 95c5-825
In particular this allowed me to place the horizon in the images below or above the centre of the frame without tilting the camera which would have resulted in converging or diverging verticals. As well as shifting the optical elements up and down the lens mount allowed the lens to move to either side which also gave more control over framing.
Works, Mudlarks Way, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95c5-823
This area beside the Thames was then almost entirely industrial with aggregate wharves and some commercial premises. On other occasions I took more pictures along the riverside path which in the following year became a part of the Thames Path.
Rathmore Benches & Greyladies – New Charlton 1995: You can still see these mosaic decorated concrete benches on Troughton Rd and around the corner in Rathmore Rd. A short walk from Charlton Station, the building they are outside has for some years been the New Covenant Church Charlton.
Rathmore Community Centre & Rathmore Benches (Former Good Shepherd Mission Hall), 61a, Troughton Road, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95c5-714
The mosaic covered benches were installed here together with a mural on the walls behind in 1980. By 1995 the mural had been painted over but the benches remained, still in fairly good condition.
Rathmore Community Centre & Rathmore Benches (Former Good Shepherd Mission Hall), 61a, Troughton Road, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95c5-713
The benches were created as a part of a ‘Past, Present and Future of Charlton‘ project with the help of adults and children from the community centre by Greenwich Mural Workshop, who got funding to restore them in 2019 as they had suffered from wear and tear and some vandalism.
Rathmore Community Centre & Rathmore Benches (Former Good Shepherd Mission Hall), 61a, Troughton Road, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95c5-835
On the For Walls With Tongues web site of Greenwich Mural Workshop you can see pictures of the missing mural as well as the benches and learn more about their creation.
Rathmore Community Centre & Rathmore Benches (Former Good Shepherd Mission Hall), 61a, Troughton Road, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95c5-834
The centre had been built as the Good Shepherd Mission Hall and the Greenwich Local Heritage List states it is a 200-seater mission hall built 1900 to designs of architect J Rowland and was developed from Holy Trinity Mission run by Greyladies College.
Rathmore Community Centre & Rathmore Benches (Former Good Shepherd Mission Hall), 61a, Troughton Road, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95c5-833
Greyladies College for Women Workers was based in Dartmouth Row , in “a delightful country house, once the mansion of Lord Dartmouth, and stands on the breezy heights of Blackheath, in the midst of its own beautiful grounds, and with far-stretching views over the surrounding country to the Crystal Palace.“
“The great aim of the Greyladies’ College is to bring together lonely women working in isolation without a definite plan, and also women who are possibly daughters in a large family and find it difficult to separate themselves from social distraction in order to follow religious and philanthropic work.“
The Greyladies worked in 22 parishes in South London “helping in the work of the Church of England under the incumbents of the diocese.” The description of them in Volume 1 of Every Woman’s Encylclopaedia published in 1910-12 is fascinatingly and charmingly dated.
New Charlton in Colour – 1995. New Charlton has now been given the new and more descriptive name of Charlton Riverside and is the area between the River Thames and the main road from Greenwich to Woolwich, Woolwich Road. The major feature of the area other than the river is the Thames Barrier, but although I photographed this in black and white it does not appear in my selection of colour pictures. I had photographed it in black and white and colour on several occasions since 1984 from both sides of the river and so felt no need to visit it again in 1995.
Eastmoor St, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95c5-743
I did find a very different barrier on Eastmoor Street, with this monumental slab apparently cut out to leave a gateway through this reflective red wall. Whatever its original purpose – I think perhaps an art work – it seemed to have served for target practice probably for bricks thrown by local youths.
Classic Car Restorations, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95c5-733
And I did photograph Thames Barrier Classic Car Restoration with its texts and pictures of cars on its wall.
Carpet Kingdom, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95c5-732
The redevelopment of the area had begun when the Thames Barrier was opened, but much was still industrial or derelict but large parts are now occupied by large retail units. Carpet Kingdom was one of the first to open, though I don’t remember exactly where. There is now a rather larger Carpet Giant in the area,
You can still see this giant mural, details from which are in my two pictures. It was painted on the wall of this house in 1976 by the Greenwich Mural Workshop in 1976 and has now faded considerably.
Mural, Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95c5-725
Just south of the railway line close to Charlton’s ground at The Valley and so in Charlton rather than New Chalton, I had glimpsed it in my journeys past on the train and so went to photograph it.
Annette, Hair Stylist, Valley Grove,Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95c5-724
Annette Hair Styling was just around the corner from the mural in Valley Grove, so also in Charlton rather than New Charlton.
Woolwich to New Charlton Panoramas: Continuing my occasional series of colour images from 1995 – I think this is the eleventh post – with some colour panoramas made in May 1995 on a walk from Woolwich to New Charlton.
River Thames, Church Hill, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1995, 95p5-342
My walk had begun when I got off the train at Woolwich Arsenal on my way back from Dartford on May 7th and I think these pictures were made that afternoon as I walked from there to another station keeping close to the River Thames. But I did but return to Woolwich the following Sunday, May 14th and some of these pictures could have been made then.
A path leads up from the roundabout at the start of Woolwich Church Street to Church Hill and St Mary Magdalene Church, built on a spur of high ground leading out towards the river. Originally this ground went rather closer to the Thames, but much of it was quarried for sand though the digging had to stop at the church. Although the present church dates only from 1727-39 there had been a church on this site since the 9th century if not earlier and it was probably a much earlier site of settlement.
The road in front of the church, Church Hill, gives a splendid panoramic view of the Thames. In 1995 you could still see the remains of Woolwich’s riverside industry, but by the time I photographed here again in 2000 all had gone and the area was empty and derilect. Now it is filled with four tall blocks of flats and some other housing.
Former Woolwich Dockyard Dry Docks, Europe Rd, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1995, 95p5-343
Woolwich Dockyard was the Navy’s most important dockyard for many years and ships were built here from 1512 to the Victorian era. By then it had become too small for the new ships and the Royal Dockyard closed in 1869. Parts remained in industrial use and a large area was bought by Greenwich Council in the 1960s where they built the Woolwich Dockyard Estate in the 1970s – part at the left of this picture. I think this is the Grade II listed Graving Dock.
Ernest Bevin, Ferry Boat, River Thames, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1995, 95p5-332
Taken on the Woolwich Dockyard Estate this shows one of the old dry docks and at a mooring in the Thames the Woolwich Ferry Ernest Bevin. You can just see part of the south ferry terminal in the centre of the image.
The ferry across the Thames became a free ferry run by the LCC in 1889 – two days after they had replaced the Metropolitan Board of Works who had organised and funded it. A number of public bridges had been built to make crossing the river in West London easy and free and it had been decided that there must also be a free crossing in East London. The Ernest Bevin was one of three ferries in the third generation of ships which came into operation in 1963 and it was replaced in 2019. All have been named after local figues and Bevin was elected as MP for Woolwich East in 1950.
These point blocks, close to Woolwich Dockyard Station were built for Greenwich Council are St Mary’s Towers, one of the more successful housing schemes of the late 50s and early 60s, opened by Princess Margaret in 1961. They remain now still in good condition and popular.
River Thames, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1995, 95p5-472
Back to the River Thames and another cleared area of the former Dockyard with a view across the river to Tate & Lyle’s Silvertown works.
River Thames, Warspite Rd, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1995, 95p5-433
Another former dockyard area still in industrial use. I think this is Thameside Wharf on Harrington Way. Some of the buildings here were once part of the Siemens Brothers Telegraph Works factory established in 1863 and became Thameside studios for artists around 1990.
Bugsby’s Way, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95p5-521
Bugsby’s Way took its name from this part of the River Thames known from around 1830 as Bugsby’s Hole or Bugsby’s Reach which probably got its name from this once “marshy area to the south of Blackwall Point where executed criminals were formerly hung in chains.” As E.W.Green suggested in 1948, ‘bug‘ was the old British (ancient Welsh) word for ‘spook’ or ghost, and what could be a better place to meet with ghouls. Bugsby’s Way was built across this marshy area by the London Borough of Greenwich in 1984.
Beatle Line Ltd, Bugsby’s Way, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95p5-511
Another picture from Bugsby’s Way. The Beatle Line perhaps got its name from the later meaning of ‘bug’, perhaps from a different Anglo-Saxon root, at first simply meaning beatle, though later coming into popular use for a wider range of species – including the famous moth found by Grace Hopper and colleagues in the Mark II computer at Harvard University in 1947.
Redbridge 1995 Colour: Redbridge is one of the boroughs in the north-east of London and not one that I visit very frequently. The only major town in the borough is Ilford, and had they called the borough that more people would know where it is.
North Circular, Mll, River Roding, South Woodford, Redbridge, 1995, 95p4-2073
Instead they named it after an area in the suburbs of Ilford, which got its name from a red brick bridge over the River Roding. It stood out as most other bridges were stone and shades of white. The bridge was demolished in 1921 but the name stuck.
Industrial Estate, Roding Lane South, Woodford Green, Redbridge, 1995, 95p4-2063
Much of the borough is covered by suburban sprawl, particularly from the interwar years, but significant parts of Essex’s Epping Forest remain, and where the red bridge once stood is now a huge road junction where the North Circular Road (here the South Woodford to Barking Relief Road) intersects with the A12 Eastern Avenue. And a little further north is Charle Brown’s Roundabout where the North Circular and other roads lead to the M11 in a complex interchange. The name came from the landlord of a pub, The Roundabout, demolished in 1972 to build M11 slip roads, and has no link to the more famous Limehouse pub.
Industrial Estate, Roding Lane South, Woodford Green, Redbridge, 1995, 95p4-2051
The extension of the Central Line of the London Underground system to here – the Hainault Loop – was held up by the Second World War but opened in 1947 with some fine stations including https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gants_Hill_tube_station Gants Hill whose underground concourse between the platforms is often said to be inspired by the Moscow Metro.
North Circular, Mll, River Roding, South Woodford, Redbridge, 1995, 95p4-2043
It was designed by Charles Holden, better known for his 1930s stations on the Piccadilly and other lines, and who was doubtless responsible in part for the advice given to Moscow in the early 1930s. In turn London Transport produced a report on the Moscow system and decided to build an underground Underground station on similar lines, designed by Holden.
Unlike his earlier stations, Gants Hill is almost entirely underground, with its ticket hall below the Gants Hill roundabout on Eastern Avenue. The line follows Eastern Avenue to the station after Gants Hill, Newbury Park where it comes to the surface and turns north until it exits the borough of Redbridge at Grange Hill.
Subway, North Circular, Gants Hill, Redbridge, 1995, 95p7-342
I think all the the pictures I made in 1995 were made on walks beginning and ending either at Ilford (on the District line) or stations on the Central Line, including South Woodford, Redbridge and Gants Hill.
Dartford 1995 Again – Panoramas: Part 9 of my occasional series on colour pictures I made in 1995.
Victoria Industrial Park, Victoria Rd, Dartford, 1995, 95p5-252
I enjoyed another walk in Dartford on Sunday May 7th 1995, beginning by taking black and white pictures of buildings around the centre before walking out to the northwest along Victoria Road.
Philips Norman, Cash & Carry, Victoria Rd, Dartford, 1995, 95p5-251
I went on to photographing in the industrial areas between Burnham Road and the Dartford Creek – the tidal River Darent.
Here I was able to make my way down to the west bank of the river and make more pictures.
River Darent, Riverside Wharf, Dartford, 1995, 95p5-121
At this wharf there had once been a fairly small dock which had been filled in but its gates were still there. I think it had perhaps been a dry dock used for ship repairs,
Dartford, 1995, 95p5-133
I think this is a site cleared for the development of a large housing estate, now on Lawson Road and Eleanor Close.
Dartford, 1995, 95p5-153
This long, empty road was University Way, a northern by-pass for Dartford, named in hope of a university that never arrived. Bob Dunn had been a Tory junior education minister who had campaigned for this development. MP for Dartford from 1979 to 1997 when he lost his seat to Labour, he died in 2003, only 56, and the road was renamed in his honour.
The bridge that takes Bob Dunn Way across the Darent was not built with navigation in mind, and makes it difficult for boats of any size to proceed up to Dartford. There has been for some years work being carried out to encourage navigation here, but boats have to look carefully at the tide tables to pass under the bridge. The Dartford and Crayford Creek Trust was founded in April 2016 to work to improve the navigation.
Roundabout, Hythe St, Victoria Rd, Dartford, 1995, 95p5-363
I walked back much the same way to this roundabout and went up Hythe Street in the centre of this picture.
River Darent, Nelsons Row, Dartford, 1995, 95p5-243
Hythe Street tok me to Nelson’s Row where I was able to cross the River Darent. There is also a public slipway here, cleared in recent years by volunteers.
Pipe Bridge, Riverside Path, River Darent, Dartford, 1995, 95p5-232
A few houses on the opposite bank are in Kenwyn Road. Past them you can see the derelict half lock which keeps some water in upstream when the tide flows out. Volunteer have put in considerable work to improve this lock in recent years and to revive navigation on Dartford Creek. In the distance is the Dartford Paper Mills site – closed in 2009 the site has been redeveloped.
Half Lock, Riverside Path, River Darent, Dartford, 1995, 95p5-223
Boats can navigate through the lock when the tide is high enough for them to get over the cill of the lock which holds back sufficient water for the river to be navigable upstream to the centre of Dartford.
Dartford Fresh Marshes, Dartford, 1995, 95p5-361
I turned around here and walked back to Dartford and the station. I’d made an early start to the day on the first train into London and there was still time to stop off on the way home and take a few pictures in Woolwich where I intended to return the following week.
1995 Colour – More from Dartford: The eighth part of my series showing colour images I made in 1995 continues with panoramic and normal images around Dartford. An earlier post 1995 Colour Part 4 – Around Dartford looked at some of the panoramas I made on a walk in March 1995 when I walked along the Darent and Thames Path to Littlebrook and Crossways. I returned to Dartford in April and May and made some more pictures.
Bow Arrow Lane Footbridge, Dartford Tunnel Approach, Dartford, 1995, 95p4-1072
Bow Arrow Lane Footbridge, Dartford Tunnel Approach, Dartford, 1995, 95p4-1073
Crossways, Dartford, 1995, 95p4-1062
I think this picture was taken on Cotton Lane. You can see the QEII bridge clearly and there are two lines of pylons. The storage tanks gleaming in the distance are on the north bank of the River Thames. There is no longer a rail siding here.
Philips Newman, Cash & Carry, Victoria Rd, Dartford, 1995, 95c5-764
1995 Colour – Kent Landscapes: Part 7 of my posts on my colour work in 1995. In the early months of 1995 I continued working in both Walthamstow, Chingford and other areas of North London but also made a number of visits south of the river to St Mary Cray, Belvedere and elsewhere. But most of my work was in black and white, though I’ve already posted a few colour images in this series.
River Darent, Dartford, 1995, 95p4-342
I took far fewer colour pictures and at the time kept few records of locations and dates of these, relying on the annotations I made on my black and white contact sheets.
Brooklands Lakes, River Darent, Dartford, 1995, 95p4-472
On April 1st 1995 I took the train to Dartford, a town I had previously photographed and visited occasionally to visit a friend. Dartford is just outside the east edge of London in Kent and at the west edge of an area beside the Thames which had for many years been the home of the cement industry with huge chalk quarries and riverside cement factories, the largest of which was still operation in the 1990s and which I’d photographed fairly extensively.
Farm, River Darent, Dartford, 1995, 95p4-473
I made a long walk around the area south of Dartford, beginning along the river that runs through the town, the Darent, but then through some of the countryside to the south.
As well as photographing traces of the cement industry – including a no longer working mineral conveyor which had carried chalk from a quarry to the factory I also photographed the two major roads which have impacted on the landscape south of Dartford, the A2 Dartford By-Pass and the M25 motorway.
Mineral Conveyor, M25, Hawley, Dartford, 1995, 95p4-433
You can see larger versions of the images by clicking on them which will take you to my Flickr album 1995 London Colour. More colour pictures from Dartford in a later post.
1995 Colour Part 6 – Waltham Forest: Continuing my series of colour pictures I made in 1995. The previous post, Part 5 – Waltham Forest looked at panoramic images I made in that London Borough, but I also made images in colour using one of my Olympus OM4 cameras with a normal aspect ratio.
Most of these images were made with wide-angle lenses , 21mm, 28mm and 35mm shift, but I also had a 50mm standard lens and a short telephoto. They were taken on various Fuji colour negative films but in the days before digital there was no EXIF data to record focal lengths or exposure details. Occasionally the 21mm revealed itself by recording one of my fingers in the right hand lower corner of the frame, a mistake rather too easy to make!
You can see larger versions of all these pictures and others from the same year in my Flickr album 1995 London Colour – from which the images in this post are embedded.
Some years later I covered a protest at Walthamstow Stadium against its demolition. The final race had been held in 2008 and planning permission was given in 2012 for its replacement by almost 300 homes, but the Grade II listed facade in my pictures here was retained.
Lea Valley Motor Company, Waltham Forest, 1995, 95c03-352
Keith Little, Turf Accountants, 81, Station Road, Chingford, Waltham Forest, 1995, 95c03-362
I imagine this shop window in Chingford may have been inspired by the races at Walthamstow Stadium.
Cuddles Creche, The Drive, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1995, 95c03-231
The illustration very much reflects the multicultural nature of London and I liked the name ‘Cuddles’. It was probably at times rather noisy inside and perhaps needed as the notice by the door stated you knock on the door rather than ring the bells between 12.30 and 2 pm.
There was quite a lot of fine work in shop windows in London, particularly in areas in the north east with large Greek, Turkish, Kurdish or Cypriot heritage communities.
Southend Rd, North Circular Rd, Walthamstow Ave, South Chingford, Waltham Forest, 1995, 95c02-335
The North Circular Road runs across the borough and is a significant barrier to movement with relatively few bridges crossing it. Getting to places just over the road can mean a significant detour for people on foot. This fine 1930s building was a dairy company which delivered milk over a wide area. It has now lost its green tiles and is a Holiday Inn.
More in a later post. You can also find black and white pictures I took in the same area in 1995, starting on page 5 of my album 1995 London Photos.
