2007 | >Re-PHOTO

Cut the Carbon March – 2007

Cut the Carbon March: Tuesday 2nd October 2007 saw the final stage of Christian Aid’s Cut the Carbon March of a thousand miles by marchers from around the world as well as the UK which had begun 80 days earlier in Northern Ireland. The march aimed to increase awareness of the growing danger of global heating with world temperatures increasing as we continue to put greenhouse gases into the air by burning fossil fuels, and to prompt the New Labour government led by George Brown into decisive action to end fossil fuel use. Among those who took part in 2007 were groups from countries already suffering from the effects of climate change.

Unfortunately although it did something to increase awareness it led to little real action and now when we in the UK are beginning to feel the heat we have a Labour government which is likely to approve the production of natural gas from the Jackdaw North Sea field and oil from Rosebank north-west of the Shetlands.

Here from My London Diary is my 2007 account of the Final Mile of the Christian Aid march with a few of the pictures – you can see more at christian aid cut the carbon march – final mile.

Christian Aid – Cut the Carbon March – The Final Mile

City Hall to St Paul’s Cathedral

Around a thousand supporters turned up on a dull damp Tuesday morning to accompany the Christian Aid ‘Cut The Carbon’ marchers on the final mile of a walk that had started in Bangor, Northern Ireland, then took them a thousand miles via Edinburgh, Newcastle On Tyne, Leeds, Birmingham, Cardiff, Bournemouth (for a meeting with George Brown at the Labour Party conference) and on to London (including a picnic at Battersea the previous Sunday.)

AA few of the international marchers had to go home before the end, but most, together with those from the UK, made it to the end, and spoke at the rally in the City Hall Scoop before the march set off.

The route led over London Bridge and then up past the Stock Exchange to St Paul’s Churchyard, where there were more speeches, particularly from a Muslim marcher, before a service in the cathedral.

As photography isn’t allowed at events inside St Paul’s (its one of the few places I’ve actually been thrown out of for trying to take pictures) I came home as people streamed inside. The marchers were due to meet with Hilary Benn afterwards to press the case for climate justice. [Benn was Secretary of State for International Development from 2003 until earlier in 2007 and was in October 2007 Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.]

Several speakers from this country and abroad had made the point that Britain lead the world in creating the problem when we began the industrial revolution and so should feel a great obligation to get things going to save the world from the disaster into which it is currently fast heading.

*Protesters at St Paul’s Cathedral send a clear message to Hilary Benn and the government to Cut the Carbon*

Other demonstrators at St Paul’s made the point that raising animals was an important factor in the high carbon footprint; growing and eating crops can be far less wasteful and polluting. [They pointed out that] Christian Aid’s development policies would be better directed to encouraging vegetarian and vegan production rather than the current reliance in some projects on raising animals for food.

Many more pictures at Christian aid cut the carbon march – final mile.

I was pleased that my exhibition of pictures of environmental protests at London as a part of Foto Arte in Brasilia in December 2007 was able to include the top picture in this post, showing the Brazilians from the Movimento Dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (Landless Workers’ Movement) leading the march with Tower Bridge in the background, and I think some from this group may have come to the talk on car culture I gave at the festival.

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Crime, Cleaners and Lewisham – 2007

Crime, Cleaners and Lewisham: On Saturday 15 September 2007 I went to Brent for a march against gun and knife crimes. Next I was in the City of London, usually deserted on a Saturday, but this was Open House Day and cleaners were taking the opportunity to protest at Lloyd’s of London where people were queueing to visit the buildings. Finally I travelled to New Cross where an event was taking place to remember the Battle of Lewisham on 13th August 1977, a month after its 30th anniversary.

Below are my three posts from My London Diary in 2007 (with usual corrections) and a few of the pictures and links to those I posted back then.

Not Another Drop – March against Gun and Knife Crime

Stonebridge Park, Brent

Crime, Cleaners and Lewisham - 2007 — *White doves were released just before the start of the march*

Brent has suffered more than most London boroughs from gun and knife crimes resulting in the deaths of far too many young men (and women) on its streets.

The annual police march was started in 2004 by Patsy Hopwood, whose son, Kavian Francis-Hopwood was shot dead on the Stonebridge Estate in 2003, and is part of the ‘Not Another Drop’ campaign organised by the Met and Brent Council.

Around 250 people including two large church groups set off on the march across the borough to South Kilburn.

More pictures on My London Diary at not a drop more

Cleaners picket Lloyd’s Building

City of London

Cleaners at Lloyd’s Of London – a bastion of wealth and privilege in the City – are among the lowest paid workers in London and don’t get sick pay or holiday pay.

Open House Day provided a good audience for the London Citizen Workers Association to publicise their appalling treatment.

[The cleaning at Lloyd’s – and almost all other office buildings is outsourced with cleaners being employed by contractors, notoriously poor employers.]

More pictures at Picket at Lloyd’s.

Remembering The Battle of Lewisham

New Cross to Lewisham

*Photographer Red Saunders talks about his experiences in Lewisham on 13 Sugust 1977*

It is now just over 30 years since the battle of Lewisham in which protesters humiliated the National Front when they attempted a march through the area.

*The event began outside the New Cross Inn*

Having escorted the National Front home, the police then turned on the anti-racist protesters, using horses, batons, and, for the first time on the British mainland, riot shields.

*Batwinder Rana describes what happened to him in 1977*

At this incredible outbreak of police violence, the community came out onto the streets and the police lost control. Lewisham now has a massive police fortress.

*Our route took us past Mr Brenton Pink’s painted house on Loampit Hill*

On a walk around the area, a number of those present [in 1977] talked about the event and their own experiences on the day.

*and on to Lewisham High Street where the police used riot shields for the first time on the UK mainland*

*Here more people shared their experiences and the event ended.*

On My London Diary you can see many more pictures including of others who spoke at the event at Lewisham77

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Great River Race & Malta Victory – 2007

Great River Race & Malta Victory: On Saturday 8th September 2007 I went to Ham, a mile or so upstream from Richmond, for the start of the Great River Race, a charity event on the River Thames first held in 1988. It is open only to fixed-seat traditional craft – including skiffs, cutters, Celtic longboats, currachs, and dragon boats (certainly not all traditional craft of the Thames.)

Each boat must all carry at least one passenger and a cox as well as those rowing or paddling. Later I photographed some of the boats as they passed through Central London but they were too spread out to make interesting pictures.

I was on my way to photograph the Maltese Victory Day procession from Westminster Cathedral, and left them some way down Victoria Street to photograph the statue of Nelson Mandela in Parliament Square which had been unveiled a few days earlier.

Here are some pictures from the day, along with what I wrote about them back in 2007. You can see many more pictures on My London Diary.

The Great River Race

Ham & Vauxhall

Great River Race & Malta Victory - 2007 — *Crews paddling up to Ham for the start of the race*

The Great River Race isn’t really a particularly great race, but there were well over 200 boats involved, and considerable competition. The event is a handicap, and also has multiple classes and boats start at different times – some over an hour before the fastest – but should all arrive at Island Gardens [21.6 mile away at the tip of the Isle of Dogs] at around the same time. The boats include some of historical interest as well as those built entirely for speed.

It’s a long course, and can get a little rough further down in poor weather, but today was a fine day and everyone started from Ham in good spirits – and a few already well-fortified. Sting came along and fired a cannon as a starting signal and then the boats made their way in number order down to the real start a few hundred yards down river, a few at a time according to their handicaps.

Media interest mainly centred on Sting and a high-powered crew of young ladies, The Sisterhood, who attracted a great deal of sponsorship. They have already made an enormous amount for charity with a fast paddle across the English Channel, but today turned out to be the second fastest ladies crew, their dragonboat being beaten by an outrigger canoe.

My personal favourites were a crew of Welsh ladies who seemed to have a more relaxed approach to the occasion. There did seem to be a great many participants from the Celtic fringes, as well as visitors from the continent.

After all the boats had left I [walked back to Richmond and] took the train to Vauxhall and saw the first few crews pass there, all still rowing well (the paddlers hadn’t yet caught up.)

Far too many more pictures on My London Diary

Malta Day Procession

Westminster Cathedral

September 8th is a holiday in Malta, celebrated as the Feast Of Our Lady Of Victories (it is also the Feast Of The Nativity Of The Blessed Virgin Mary), and was the day in 1565 when the Knights Of St John Of Malta defeated the Turks. By coincidence it is also the day in 1943 that the Italian occupiers of the island surrendered to the allies.

*Traditional dress on the steps of the Cathedral*

*The procession leaves Westminster Cathedral*

The Maltese in London celebrate with a Mass at Westminster Cathedral followed by fireworks and a procession carrying a statue of the Baby Mary (Bambina) from there to the Sacred Heart Chapel Of Ease in Horseferry Road.

More pictures

Nelson Mandela statue

Parliament Square

The statue had been unveiled by Prime Minister Gordon Brown on 29 August 2007, with Mandela, his wife Graça Machel and London Mayor Ken Livingstone among those present.

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South Africa Crime & I Love Peckham – 2007

South Africa Crime & I Love Peckham: On Saturday 11 August 2007 I photographed a march against crime in South Africa and then went to Peckham for the third ‘I Love Peckham’ festival. I wrote at some length about both events on My London Diary and reproduce that text in full (capitalised and spelling corrected etc) below with links to more pictures on that site.

ACT4SA March Against Crime in South Africa

Westminster

South Africa Crime & I Love Peckham - 2007 — *The march paused in front of South Africa House*

On Sat 11th there was a march organised by ‘Against Crime Together for South Africa’ through London from Temple Gardens next to Temple Underground Station to Whitehall Place. Most of those taking part were young and white, but there were just a few darker and older faces.

ACT4SA is a ‘Facebook’ group of expatriate South Africans living in London, and their aim is to be a non-political group actively working for a safer South Africa. Their attempt, particularly this march, has attracted both praise and criticism from both other expats in Britain and people back home.

Some in South Africa have suggested they should either come back to the country to help in the fight against crime or keep a decent silence about it abroad. A stated aim of the march was to support the South African Police, but at least one police superintendent there has spoken out against it.

After Mark Joubert was murdered in a Durban restuarant in May this year, around 15 of his friends living in London decided they would get together and do something to oppose the violence in their home country. Shannon Joubert, Mark’s sister, addressed marchers briefly at the start of the march, and a minutes silence was observed by the over 600 marchers at the end of the route in Whitehall Place in honour of mark and the “the 50 other South Africans murdered on average every day” in the country.

More pictures

I Love Peckham

Peckham

‘I Love Peckham’ is a festival backed by Southwark Council and based around the centre of Peckham. Although Peckham has had a bad press – particularly over the murder of young Damilola Taylor in November 2000, and more recent violence on the streets, many parts of it are pleasant streets and vibrant shopping areas. Recent investment – particularly since that murder – has led to a number of improvements.

*Sitting on an already rather full sofa in front of the beach*

One of the more successful regeneration projects has been in the Bellenden Road area which is home to a number of artists including Tom Phillips and Antony Gormley, both of whom have been involved in brightening up the streets.

But there are still estates with corners that can hide dangers, and times when its wise to cross the road to avoid the dealers in their cars. It’s an area where it pays to be streetwise.

As well as the activities in the square by the Library and at the top of Rye Lane there were also other events, including a series of shop window displays.

Like the other folks carrying built-in cameras on their latest mobile phones I did photograph some of these, but often felt that some of the other windows which had their normal displays were more interesting. But then I’ve always had an interest in shop windows, which feature strongly in my projects such as ‘Café Ideal , Cool Blondes and Paradise‘.

On the main stage by Peckham Library were performances by Indian musicians, a samba group and some young dancers from Peckham. Around the square were a number of sofas specially decorated for the occasion, many of which were greatly appreciated.

This was the third annual I Love Peckham festival, but the previous ones had been blighted by British weather; today the sun shone on us at least most of the time, and the beach at times looked almost tropical.

I stopped off on the way home at the South London Gallery, where the installation of Isa Suarez’s Human Rights Jukebox was coming to an end with a party. I was pleased I’d stopped by to watch the video of the event and to have a beer and talk to a few of those involved with the project, including Isa herself. I still find it mildly amusing to see myself on film, and there were glimpses of me (mainly my back) taking pictures, walking in the march, generally scurrying around and rather too lengthy a shot as I munched on a wholemeal sandwich.

Despite these few moments, it was interesting to see the event again and from a different viewpoint. I was sorry I had to rush off to be home with friends.

Many more pictures on My London Diary at i love peckham.

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Tour de France, More Cyclists & Flowers – 2007

Tour de France, More Cyclists & Flowers: On Sunday 8th July 2007 I began work in Woolwich where briefly cyclists flashed past me in the Tour de France, a few minutes from the start in Greenwich. From there I went to Hyde Park for another cycling event before meeting a friend to go to Hampton Court to photograph people leaving the flower show there.

Tour de Woolwich

Tour de France, Woolwich

Tour de France, More Cyclists & Flowers - 2007

After a time trial around London on Saturday, which I missed because I was at college, the Tour de France started for real at Greenwich on Sunday morning, after the cyclists had warmed up a little with a ride from central London.

I decided I’d like to see the real race, and chose Woolwich, just a few miles from the start as offering some decent viewpoints and also the background of the Thames for at least some of my pictures. [Though not those of the Tour itself.]

I arrived an hour or so before the riders, and found there were already people by the roadside sitting and waiting, building up to a fair crowd by the time the race reached us around 8 minutes after the start.

From the time I first saw the riders in the distance to when the last rider passed was 28 seconds, so I didn’t get a great deal of time to take pictures, although I soon ran out of space in the 21 raw shot buffer and had then to wait a second or so between shots.

Then the cyclists were gone, followed by car after car with spare bikes and it was time to go elsewhere

[I took a few pictures as I walked from Woolwich Arsenal station to the roadside point I had decided to view the race from, including of people waiting to see the race.

I was working with the Nikon D200, a great camera but with hindsight should have switched from RAW mode to jpeg when I would have been able to take many more frames as the cyclists flashed past. The pictures of the cyclists were made with my zoom telephoto lens at or close to its longest focal length at 200mm.

In retrospect perhaps I should not have pretended to be a sports photographer and gone instead for a single image looking down on whole the event from the hill above.]

More pictures on My London Diary: Tour de France, Woolwich

The Peoples’ Village

Hyde Park

Back in Hyde Park, another cycling event, the Peoples’ Village was taking place, with various events on a loop of track around the Serpentine and the southern edge of the park.

There were also a number of stalls and a giant screen showing the Tour.

*For a fiver, you could have your picture taken with a wax Lance Armstrong*

I ate my sandwiches on the grass watching [the screen], though just as I sat down the peleton decided it was time for a ‘natural break’.

Peoples’ village

Hampton Court Flower Show

Hampton Court

From Hyde Park I made my way down Oxford St to meet Paul, and we took the train [from Waterloo, after a pint or two in a pub] to Hampton Court to take some pictures of people leaving the Hampton Court Flower Show, carrying plants of various colours and sizes.

More at Hampton Court Flower Show.

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Canning Town Walk (2007): 9

9 Thames Barrier Park

The children’s fun area is a nice idea, [32 computer controlled fountains] but this works better at Parc Citroen in Paris, and hasn’t stood up to British weather or use. We just don’t have the same level of upkeep in Newham as does the City of Paris. Competitions such as was carried out for this are a good idea, but only if the judges think rather more about what the result will look like in ten years time rather than on the sketches. It is also unfortunately not possible to enter the Green Dock at the ground level at the north end and walk through it (there is still an entry at the south end.)

[The park is managed by the Greater London Authority and was built on one of the most polluted sites in the country, the former PR Chemicals factory, which took years to decontaminate.]

The sides of the dock were lined by a metal fence with lower wires, which have currently been removed. In their place the fence is lined by normal street safety barriers, tied together with plastic bags. Although it may be effective, it is visually unacceptable and hopefully the fences are to be repaired and these removed.

The two buildings in the park have a Japanese feel. One usefully houses toilets and a café, while the other was erected by Newham in memory of the victims of war. Its undulating seating was intended to carry on the wave theme of the Green Dock, but is perhaps of more interest to skateboarders than for comfort.

Walk along the edge of the ‘Green Dock’ to the riverside.

The park gives an excellent view of the Thames Barrier. Silvertown was one of the areas to be flooded in 1953, though rather less disastrously than Canvey, although some 1130 homes here were flooded. It took until 1982 for the Thames Barrier to be completed. Estimates of how much longer it will remain effective with the sea level rise due to global warming vary widely, but certainly at the moment it is getting used rather more often than was envisaged.

Walk back along the other edge of the Green Dock to the cafe and/or the station.

It’s some years since I’ve been back to the park, and it would be interesting to see how it has changed over the years. Perhaps I’ll find time this summer.

This walk will continue in a later post with Part 10: Riverside which mainly looks at views from the DLR.

You can read the whole document as I published it in 2007 beginning here and see more pictures I took in 2007 on My London Diary at Canning Town, Victoria Dock, Silvertown West.

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Canning Town Walk (2007): 8

8 North Woolwich Road

An elevated section of the Docklands Light Railway runs along the south side of North Woolwich Road. Opened in 2006, it currently runs to King George V station in North Woolwich, but tunnelling is in progress to take it under the Thames to Woolwich. [It opened in 2009]

Canning Town Walk (2007): 8 DLR under construction from Silvertown Way.
DLR under construction from Silvertown Way – 2004.

Turn left and walk east along North Woolwich Road; roughly 100 meters on is a site entrance which includes a monument to the Silvertown Explosion.

The Brunner Mond chemical works opened here at Crescent Wharf in West Silvertown in 1893, producing first soda and then caustic soda. But by 1914 the works was idle, and the government needed a factory to purify TNT. This was known to be extremely dangerous and a process that should be carried out in a remote area, and not in this highly populated area such as this. Dr FA Freeth, Brunner Mond’s head chemist later made his views about the process clear:

“It worked but was manifestly dangerous. At the end of every month we used to write to Silvertown to say that their plant would go up sooner or later.” But the Government, at a safe distance in Whitehall, decided that the risk was worth taking. It was the people of Silvertown who were, largely unwittingly, taking it.

“Sooner or later” turned out to be Friday 19 January 1917 when a fire caused 50 tons of TNT to explode. They heard the bang in Cambridge and Guildford. Around 70,000 properties were damaged, costing £2.5 million. Over 70 people were killed (12 of the bodies were never found) and 400 injured. Because of war-time restrictions, it was 3 days before the news was in the papers.

This site is now under application for development as Minoco Wharf. In January 2005 the Mayor removed its safeguarded wharf status, which will allow more freedom in its development. [Renamed ‘Royal Wharf’ and recently completed it includes 3,385 new homes, a primary school, leisure facilities and retail and commercial office space.]

A little to the west is Peruvian Wharf, which includes the site of the old guano works and Tate & Lyle’s Plaistow wharf. (Tate & Lyle have consolidated their activities at Thames Refinery to the east in Silvertown.)

The application to develop this site, which still has safeguarded wharf status, went to public enquiry and was refused in 2006. There are further applications, mainly for industrial use. The best views of these sites are from the DLR. [The site was bought by the Port of London Authority in 2016 and part leased to for an aggregate wharf and concrete batching plant.]

Continue along North Woolwich Road and walk up the steps immediately behind Barrier Point into Barrier Park.

Barrier Point residential development, architects Goddard Manton Partnership (they took some ideas from their earlier Pierhead Lock at West India Docks) is in two parts, the ‘Seven Steps’ garden apartments occupied in 2000, and the landmark tower completed in 2001. It provides 252 “concierged apartments” and attracted various awards, making it “the most decorated contemporary housing development” in Britain. It forms an impressive wall at right-angles to the Thames, with suitably maritime railings and decks, although these perhaps give it too much of a 1930s international modern feel. The tower, a shining white lighthouse, is a grand effect.

This walk will continue in a later post with Part 9: Barrier Park

You can read the whole document as I published it in 2007 beginning here and see more pictures I took in 2007 on My London Diary at Canning Town, Victoria Dock, Silvertown West.

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Canning Town Walk (2007): 7

7 Royal Victoria Docks from the footbridge

From the top of the bridge there is a splendid view in all directions. Starting at the ExCeL centre and moving clockwise we see:

ExCel, standing for Exhibition Centre London. This was an LDDC idea, but not completed and opened until 2000. It has attracted many hotels to the area – including the floating Sunborn Yacht hotel.

Canning Town Walk (2007): 7 Royal Victoria Docks from the footbridge

In the distance, you can see East London University, one of the developments on the Royal Albert Dock, which is worth a visit of its own, particularly for the group of cylindrical student residences, looking rather like oil storage tanks.

East London University and flight path beacons for City Airport, King George V Dock, North Woolwich

Closer than that, spanning the area and separating the Royal Victoria Docks from the two later Royal Albert and King George V docks is the Connaught Crossing, completed in 1990.

The large area on the right of the dock, including the area of water off from the main dock and the large bulk of Millennium Mills (built for Spillers flour in 1933) is the Silvertown Quays site, a £1.5 billion development that got planning permission in May 2007. This includes conversion of the mills into flats, 5,000 new homes, various community facilities, a lively town centre for Silvertown and the Biota! Project, a large aquarium designed by Terry Farrell & Partners for London Zoo. (though we don’t expect it to be anything like as good as The Deep in Hull!)

Close to the bridge is Eastern Quay (2003 Gardner Stewart Architects), constructed with a steel frame and is one of the first residential apartment blocks in the United Kingdom to have fully-glazed exterior walls. It uses advanced glazing technology to stop residents getting fried.

The large development, mainly of fairly small houses is Brittania Village, which began in 1994 with a Peabody development of 85 homes. The LDDC then made a deal with Wimpey for 777 more, along with some limited community facilities, including a primary school, in 1995. The area was completed with a few more Peabody trust and East Thames Housing Group properties.

Walk or take the lift down to dock level at the south end of the bridge, and walk through the arch at the centre of the semi-circular ring of shops.

Here there is a plaque marking the opening of the West Silvertown Urban Village by the government minister Selwyn Gummer in 1996.

Turn left and then right at the roundabout with a tall chimney and walk down Mill Road to the main road (North Woolwich Road.)

The large chimney in the middle of the roundabout dates from the 1930s. At the southern end of Mill Road are some workers cottages which appear to date from around 1900.

Cross the main road to the south side, taking great care. A suitably placed pedestrian crossing is only in planning application stage! [There is now a light-controlled crossing for pedestrians and cyclists.]

If you have plenty of time, you might like to make a detour to Lyle Park at this point, off Bradfield Road, a couple of hundred yards to the east. The park was presented to West Ham by Abraham Lyle & Son in 1924 and contains the fine metal gates from Harland & Wolff Ltd, ship builders, ship repairers and engineers in Woolwich Manor Way, Beckton from 1924-1972 (their actual shipyards were in Belfast and Govan.) The park also provides good views across the Thames to Greenwich Millenium Village and elsewhere.

This walk will continue in a later post with Part 8: North Woolwich Road.

You can read the whole document as I published it in 2007 beginning here and see more pictures I took in 2007 on My London Diary at canning town, victoria dock, silvertown west.

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Canning Town Walk (2007): 5

5 Custom House and Canning Town

Alight from the train at Custom House and walk out of the exit at the eastern end of the station, turning left (north.) While at the top level, you get a good view of the ‘Flying Angel’ Seamens Hostel.

The ‘Flying Angel’ was an Anglican Mission to Seamen, providing hostel accommodation, and was built in 1934-6. As well as the angel there is some good brickwork and a suitable weathervane.

Go down the steps and slope, cross over Victoria Dock Road, and turn right down Freemasons Road, walking down to the sculpture at the junction with Coolfin Rd.

Canning Town

Thanks to bombing in the Second World War, few older buildings in the area survive. On the corner of Freemasons Road, ‘The Barge’ is a good example of a Victorian pub (built 1862, then in Liliput Road, the sign dates from the early 1990s when it was renamed. Formerly ‘The Freemason’s Tavern’, it probably gave its name to the road on which it stands,) used as a hostel for the homeless, while the parade of shops is typically post-war and gives an accurate impression of the area, one of the most deprived. Canning Town South, where we are, was ranked by the Government in 2000 as the most deprived ward in London, and the 35th most deprived in the country.

The south east line of Crossrail (if ever built) is planned to run through Canning Town from Abbey Wood on the currently disused North London line, with a station here. It will then go into a tunnel to the Isle of Dogs and across London to Paddington, before emerging and carrying on to Heathrow and Maidenhead.

[Crossrail was completed and opened as the Elizabeth Line in May 2022 with a station at Custom House and has made an important contribution to transport in and around London.]

85% of the buildings in Canning Town were destroyed in the war. A little to the west is the Keir Hardie Estate, named after Britain’s first socialist MP, who was elected for this constituency of West Ham (South) in 1892, Hardie was a Scot who had started work in a coal mine, and in 1907 became the leader in the House of Commons of the newly formed Labour Party. The estate was developed along ‘garden city’ lines.

Dockers’ Memory

The sculpture on the corner of Coolfins road is by Paula Haughney and dates from 1995. It appears to be cast concrete, and the surface of the ‘brain’ is covered by various symbols related to dockers and the sea.

There is a further work by Haughney beside the bus shelter on the east side of Freemasons Road. Situated between Leslie Road and Ethel Road, the pavement contains figures of both Leslie and Ethel as well as a central motif that includes two knots and other devices.

Clever Road

We are close to a site that has had a pivotal role in architecture and town planning, a hundred yards or so to the north in Clever Road, although both the building concerned and the road have been removed.

At 5.45am on 16 May 1968, fifty-two year old Ivy Hodge decided to make an early morning cuppa. She struck a match and set off a gas explosion which resulted in the collapse of one corner of her 20 storey tower block, Ronan Point.

Although Ronan Point was repaired (it was careless building work rather than a design fault that cause the catastrophic collapse) it was the beginning of the end for high-rise system-built blocks. Ronan Point, together with the other 8 or 9 similar blocks in the Freemasons Estate, and many others around the country was demolished in the 1980s and replaced by the current 2 and 3 storey terraced housing.

Peter Woodhams

Canning Town made headlines again in 2006. Peter Woodhams was a local 22 year old whose car was hit by stones as he was driving around the area. He got out and confronted the stone-throwers, and was stabbed.

The police didn’t seem to take a great deal of interest in the incident, nor in further reports from Peter of abuse and other minor incidents from the same bunch of youths that became a regular feature when he visited the shops or walked around the area.

In August 2006, in another confrontation with some of the local youths, one pulled out a gun and shot him dead. An 18 year old was convicted of his murder in March 2007.

Walk back to Custom House Station and up the steps, but instead of descending to the platform follow the signs to the Excel Centre.

This walk continues in a later post with Part 6: ExCeL and Royal Victoria Square.

You can read the whole document as I published it in 2007 beginning here and see more pictures I took in 2007 on My London Diary at canning town, victoria dock, silvertown west.

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Canning Town Walk (2007): 4

4 DLR Beckton Branch

Pass through the station barrier and go up the two escalators to the DLR platform. Until the Bow Creek Walkway is opened this gives some of the best views of this part of Bow Creek.

Pura Foods

Across the railway track and the Bow Creek is the former site of Pura Foods, a large factory site which filled almost the whole of the area in the bend of the river north of the Lower Lea Crossing, and gave the area both a distinctive appearance and smell.

Canning Town Walk (2007): 4
Pura site in 2004 from the SW.

Pura, a leading supplier of edible oils and fats to the UK and for export, began as the Pure Lard Company, but is now a part of a large American company ADM. It moved out of the area probably because of the development value of the site, although there were some years of pressure from local residents in TELCO to improve its environmental act. It continues to process oils on sites further downstream, including Belvedere. Ships used to bring oils to Brunswick Wharf, close by on the Thames, with a pipeline connection to the site, filling the shining storage tanks.

Demolition of the works started around October 2006 and are now (June 2007) virtually complete. A revised planning application seems likely to be approved, if with some revisions. The proposed development is to be mixed use, including a primary school as well as up to 1800 residential units (mainly flats), offices, shops and restaurants, as well as other commercial, community and leisure space. It will be very different from the old site. [London City Island – which has a new bridge across Bow Creek, close to the riverside exit from Canning Town Station. You can now walk through the development and on down to Trinity Buoy Wharf at the mouth of Bow Creek]

Thames Ironworks

These occupied most of the land on the Essex side of Bow Creek, some of which you can see from the platform, as well as parts of the other side closer to the Thames.

Board a train for Beckton, getting off at Custom House

From the Train: Silvertown Way

Look through the windows on the left side of the train. You will see it passes the entrance and ventilation towers for the Jubilee Line tunnel under the Thames to North Greenwich. Beyond this, it runs alongside the largely derelict buildings behind Silvertown Way, before going under this to Victoria Dock Station.

Silvertown Way was the first flyover to be built in Britain, and was completed in 1934. It was followed in 1935 by the Silvertown Bypass, another similar concrete structure, distinguished by a fine bowstring bridge. Unfortunately this was demolished in the 1990s.

SBM Warehouses Ltd and Silvertown Bypass, Hartman Rd, Albert Rd, Silvertown, Newham, 1984 84-7n-31 — My picture from 1984

The increasing use of road transport was already leading to impressive congestion in the area around the Royal Docks, and these developments were necessary to keep the traffic moving.

[Construction of the London Cable Car began here in 2011 and it opened in 2012. Worth a ride as a tourist attraction it makes no significant contribution to travel in the area. The Crystal, completed in 2012, was commissioned by Siemens and designed by WilkinsonEyre as an exhibition centre and a think tank and since 2022 has been London’s City Hall.]

I’ll post Part 5 Custom House and Canning Town later, again with a few more pictures and comments. You can see the whole walk still on the former London Art Ca fé web site.

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