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Posts Tagged ‘Bermondsey’

Bermondsey – Rubber, Antiques, Murals & A Martyr 1988

Monday, July 18th, 2022

The previous episode of this walk was Bermondsey Street & Guideline Stores, 1988, and the first two pictures complete my post on that. Two days later I began a new walk a little to the north in Bermondsey.

Bermondsey St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10o-42-Edit_2400 — *Bermondsey St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10o-42*

Rubber, Antiques, Murals & A Martyr 1988

This row of frontages, rather tidied up, is still present on Bermondsey St, though I think there may have been considerable changes behind the facades. That at the right of my picture, then No 151 was a part of A E Bickel and Co Ltd, offering ENGINEERS TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT, INDUSTRIAL RUBBER GOODS and MANUFACTURERS OF INDUSTRIAL LEATHER AND CANVAS GOODS. This private limited company is still in business but describes this at Companies House as ‘Buying and selling of own real estate’ and there is a large development, Bickel’s Yard, with a private courtyard to the east of Bermondsey St along the north side of Bell Yard Mews.

Bermondsey St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10o-43-Edit_2400 — *Bermondsey St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10o-43*

At the centre of the picture on the corner of Newham’s St is Bermondsey Market Antiques Warehouse, in a Grade II listed early 19th century cloth factory, described as “Brown brick with stone Tuscan cornice and pediment. The building now houses a pan-Asian cocktail bar and grill. You can see from the signs at the left edge of the picture that a great deal of gentrification was in progress back in 1988.

John Felton Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10o-31-Edit_2400 — *John Felton Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10o-31*

My walk had ended at the south end of Bermondsey St, where I took a bus towards Waterloo, but two days later I was back in Bermondsey, this time getting of a bus on Jamaica Road and walking northe up George Row. Google Maps does not include John Felton Road, which was a short street running east from George Row and has been renamed Sugar Lane. This wall with a mural around some temporary open space has long disappeared with new building, but it is hard to know why Bermondsey has lost a reference to a man who stood up for his Catholic faith and paid dearly.

Catholic martyr John Felton was given a cruel execution for fixing a copy of Pope Pius V’s Bull ‘Regnans in Excelsis’ excommunicating Queen Elizabeth, to the gates of the Bishop of London’s palace near St. Paul’s. Felton’s family came from Norfolk but he lived at Bermondsey Abbey. His action was seen as a great threat to the Queen continuing to reign, an act of High Treason.

After being arrested and taken to the Tower of London he spoke of his glory in having made the Bull public, and took the diamond ring from his finger and sent it to Elizabeth to show he bore her no personal malice, but insisted she was a Pretender with no right to the throne.

He was tortured on the rack but refused to falsely implicate the Spanish Ambassador in his actions and four days later was drawn on a hurdle to St Paul’s Churchyard where he was hung briefly before being cut down alive for quartering. His daughter’s account of the event alleges that after the hangman had pulled out the heart from his body and was holding it alive he managed once or twice to utter the holy name of Jesus. His severed head and body parts were ‘carried to Newgate to be parboiled, and so set up, as the other rebels were’ as a warning to others. He was beatified in 1886 by Pope Leo XIII.

Felton had been a man of considerable wealth, and his wife had been childhood friends with Queen Elizabeth and a maid of honour to Queen Mary. As well as the diamond rign, said to be worth £400, his plate and jewels, valued at £33,000 were seized for the queen.

East Lane, John Felton St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10o-34-Edit_2400 — *East Lane, John Felton Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10o-34*

This long block of council flats on the Dickens Estate is Oliver House, now at the corner of Sugar Lane and East Lane, though there is no longer a mural on the wall as it was painted over around 2010. It was no great work of art and had faded badly but it seems a pity it has not been replace by something more colourful than a blank brown wall.

St Josephs, Primary School, George Row, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10o-21-Edit_2400 — *St Josephs, Primary School, George Row, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10o-21*

The Fosters pub on George Row was The George at 19 George Row, on that site since at least 1824. Still open in 1988 on the corner of George Row and John Felton Rd and Flockton Street it closed in 2001 was demolished in 2003.

St Joseph’s RC Primary School remains in use. The Convent of the Sisters of Mercy in Bermondsey was established around 1838 to serve the growing Irish Catholic population in the area and they set up a primary school in the area. Later they educated older children too. St Joseph’s was completed in 1913, and served for years as an All Age Mixed RC School. Catholic education in the area was reorganised in 1949 and it then became St Joseph’s RC Primary School. It now has some extensive new buildings as well as the old school.

George Row, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10o-22-Edit_2400 — *George Row, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10o-22*

The building on my right is Fleming House on George Row, part of Bermondsey Council’s Dickens Estate. At the centre of the picture is the fine warehouse still on the corner of Jacob Street, and at left the seven floors of Peter Butler House, built for Bermondsey Council in the mid-1950s as a later addition to the Dickens estate.

This walk will continue in a later post.

Tags:Bermondsey, Bermondsey Market, Bermondsey Market Antiques Warehouse, Bermondsey St, Bickel & Co, Fleming House, George Row, Jacob St, John Felton, John Felton Rd, London, London Photos, Oliver House, Peter Butler House, peter Marshall, RC Primary School, Southwark, St Joseph's, warehouse
Posted in LondonPhotos, My Own Work | 1 Comment »

Bermondsey Street & Guideline Stores, 1988

Saturday, July 9th, 2022

The previous post on this walk, Alaska, The Grange and Leather, 1988 ended at the London Leather, Hide and Wool Exchange in Weston St, Bermondsey.

Leathermarket St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-22-Edit_2400 — *Leathermarket St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-22*

I turned into Leathermarket St and a few yards down photographed this four storey building at No. 20-22 – this was the warehouse of leather factor, for once not a typo. Factors were agents who sold goods on commission, actually storing them in their properties, on behalf of the actual manufacturers of the goods. When I made this picture it was home to some studios and a couple of other businesses, each with a floor, though the basement was vacant, and you can see the lights are on through the second floor window.

The frontage can still be seen, looking a little tidier on Leathermarket St, and standing back you can also see the stepped back two-flor loft extension. The bricked up windons on the wall just visible at the left have now been covered with false black doors and at the centre of this wall is now an artwork by Joseph Kosuth, ‘A Last Parting Look (for C.D.)’ which consists of a quotation from Dicken’s Pickwick Papers, unveiled in 2006.

Morocco St, Bermondsey St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-23-Edit_2400 — *Morocco St, Bermondsey St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-23*

Taken from Morocco Street and looking across to 103 and 105 Bermondsey St the overall view at first glance remains now much the same as in 1988. The Grocer’s shop is now a café. But the lower building to the right, No 105, has mysteriously grown to be a replica of its neighbour, complete with fake crane on its upper storey.

And the pub at 99-101, of which only a small sliver is visible, was then the Yorkshire Grey – and a pub of that name had been there since at least the 1820s, though the building dates from 1908. For a while it became The Honest Cabbage restuarant and since around 2003 a Michelin rated gastropub, The Garrison.

Bermondsey St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-24-Edit_2400 — *Bermondsey St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-24*

78 Bermondsey Street with its jutting out first floor window and attic was one of the buildings in the area I photographed most, and was Grade II listed. It dates from the late 17th century though the shopfront is a twentieth century alteration. Just beyond are more offices of Ash & Ash, printers suppliers who occupied these premises and later became sellers of computer printers.

Although still listed at this address in web trade catalogues the offices their name is long gone from the shopfronts and there are other companies housed here including a dedicated Pilates studio. These buildings from the mid-18th century are also Grade II listed.

Bermondsey St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-26-Edit_2400 — *Bermondsey St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-26*

A more frontal view of 78 Bermondsey St. There are two logos on the plates by the right-hand door, one of which appears to be for IBI and another which looks familiar but I can’t for the moment place.

Bermondsey St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-13-Edit_2400 — *Bermondsey St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-13*

The notice states that these premises have been acquired for development. Thomson Bros Ltd, established in 1857 were packaging specialists and shared the gateway with Tempo Leather Co Ltd at 55 Bermondsey St. Thomsons had move to Bermondsey St in 1952. Their sign at right of the picture is still there and the fine Victorian facade has been restored, and this is now the entry to ‘The Tanneries’.

Bermondsey St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-16-Edit_2400 — *Bermondsey St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-16*

This frontage with an ornamental frieze about its first floor at 63 Bermondsey St is now an estate agents, established in 1998. To its right, Bramah House at 65-71 was in my pictures. It is said to be a former tea warehouse but recently renovated as offices for a number of companies, including architects. In 1988 the building was occupied by Turner Whitehead Industries Ltd, polythene converters.

I’m not sure what connection the building has with Bramah, who were one of the most famous names in tea, and in 1992 a Bramah Tea & Coffee Museum was opened not far away on Butler’s Wharf, later moving to Southwark St and closing in 2008 after its founder, Edward Bramah, died. Various of his ancestors invented the modern lavatory, the tea caddy and the Bramah lock and also include Sir Joseph Banks, who in 1788 suggested that tea could be grown in North East India, not just in China – with obvious advantages to the British Empire. The building in Bermondsey St was bought by life assurance company Canada Life in 2016 for £14.25 million.

Morocco St, Leathermarket St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10o-54-Edit_2400 — *Morocco St, Leathermarket St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10o-54*

Guideline Stores on the corner of Morocco St and Leathermarket St , just a few yards from Bermondsey Street is a rather strange building with its windowless rounded corner tower. A former spice warehouse said to date from the it was converted to luxury flats in 1997. No signage was visible on the white painted area but as a part of its gentrification, a painted sign ‘THE MOROCCO STORE’ was added by the developers, who also obliterated its previous name ‘Guideline Stores’. Its address is now 1 Leathermarket Street. The building is said to be Victorian, though some sources suggest it is older. Although several buildings around were listed this remained unlisted despite – or perhaps because of – its distinctive character.

My walk was now almost complete, but 2 days later on Sunday 30th October I returned to
Bermondsey for my next walk, and I will end this one and continue in Bermondsey in a later post.

Tags:Ash & Ash, Bermondsey, Bermondsey St, bramah house, cafe, estate agents, factor, gentrification, grocers, Guideline Stores, Josph Kosuth, leather factor, Leathermarket St, listed buildings, London, London Photos, Morocco St, Morocco Store, peter Marshall, Southwark, Tempo Leather, The Tanneries, Thomson Bros, Turner Whitehead, Yorkshire Grey
Posted in LondonPhotos, My Own Work | 1 Comment »

Alaska, The Grange and Leather, 1988

Wednesday, July 6th, 2022

The previous post of this walk, Alma Grove & Grange Road, Bermondsey, 1988, ended on Grange Road.

Alaska, The Grange and Leather, 1988: The area of Bermondsey south and east of Bermondsey Street used to be known as The Grange, though I think now estate agents have re-christened it Bermondsey Spa. It was once the farm or grange of Bermondsey Abbey which covered much of the locality from the Norman conquest until the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. Bermondsey Priory was established by Cluniac monks around 1089 and enlarged into an abbey around three hundred years later. Estate agents have renamed the area Bermondsey Spa.

Alaska Works, Grange Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10m-14-Edit_2400 — *Alaska Works, Grange Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10m-14*

The gateway on Grange Road with its carved seal was the works entrance to C W Martin & Sons Ltd who made products from sealskins, mainly imported from Alaska and Canada. The Alaska factory dated from 1869, though it was only taken over by Martin and a partner four years later. The seal skins were de-haired, dressed and died in the factory, which employed around a tenth of all UK fur workers. In its final years until it closed in the 1960s it was owned by Martin Rice Ltd.

Traditionally sealskin was used to make waterproof jackets and boots by the Inuit and other aboriginal people, and seal fur was used for warm coats. Sealskin made tobacco pouches for sailors and sporrans for Scotsmen. Although there are now bans in many countries on the export and import of seal pelts, the trade continues, and seal fur is still used as trims by some of the leading fashion brands.

Alaska Works, Grange Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-64-Edit_2400 — *Alaska Works, 61, Grange Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-64*

The market for seal products diminished in the twentieth century and Martin’s increasingly moved into other fur products such as sheepskin jackets and the cleaning of fur coats etc. In 1932 the factory was rebuilt in a striking Art Deco design by Wallis, Gilbert & Partners and it was partially rebuilt after being damages in fire damage. It closed in the 1960s. At some time the legend MARTIN’S on the tower was replaced by the ALASKA now present.

The building was redeveloped as offices in the early 1990s and converted to residential use together with new development on the former Grange Road Baths site later in that decade. Like many former industrial and commercial buildings of merit it reflects a long-held prejudice of the listing authorities and is unlisted. For many years too there was (and perhaps it persists) a peculiar snobbishness among architectural historians and critics against what the called ‘moderne’ buildings.

88-10n-55-Edit_2400 — *Jaguar Specialists, Grange Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 Car side and wheels on brickwork. 10n53*

Perhaps surprisingly, this house at 8 Grange Road with its neighbours in a row of four houses to the left of the picture was Grade II listed in 1972. They date from around 1800.

Jaguar Specialists, Grange Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-53-Edit_2400 — *Jaguar Specialists, Grange Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 Car side and wheels on brickwork. 10n55*

What attracted me was of course the unlisted (and since removed) part car body advertising the Jaguar Specialists above its ground floor windows. You can just see some marks left by this on the brickwork, but the name board has gone without trace. Above the archway at right is still the notice GREATER LONDON COUNCIL PRIVATE ACCESS DO NOT OBSTRUCT and there is not a gate across the entrance

Former, Bacon's School, Grange Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-42-Edit_2400 — *Former Bacon’s School, Grange Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-42*

Josiah Bacon who had become wealthy as a leather merchant left an annuity in 1703 of £150 a year to establish a Free School, at first in St Mary’s Church on Bermondsey St. It later moved to a building on Grange Road which was replaced by this one in 1890. The school moved to Pages Walk in 1962, later becoming a City Technology College. It moved to Rotherhithe in 1991 and is is now co-educational secondary school and sixth form with academy status since 2007.

London Leather, Hide and Wool Exchange, Weston St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-35-Edit_2400 — *London Leather, Hide and Wool Exchange, Weston St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-35*

I’ve written at some length before about the London Leather, Hide and Wool exchange in Weston Street. Leather traders had moved from Leadenhall Street in the City to a new Skin Market on an adjoining site in 1832-3 and 50 years later decided on building a new headquarters for the Leather Industry next door, engaging noted local architect George Elkington. Perhaps his flamboyant and eclectic design was made to please the committee responsible, and it was described as ‘an ornament to the district‘.

London Leather, Hide and Wool Exchange, Weston St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-34-Edit_2400 — *London Leather, Hide and Wool Exchange, Weston St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-34*

It’s overdone porch is supported by Atlas on each side, with a head in the centre that reminds me of Old Father Thames. Above the ground floor windows are five roundels representing various stages of the preparation and sale of leather; fellmongering to scrape the skins clean, tanning to harden the leather, flattening the skins, storing them for sale and finally a customer inspecting a hide.

London Leather, Hide and Wool Exchange, Weston St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-33-Edit_2400 — *London Leather, Hide and Wool Exchange, Weston St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-33*

Originally on the rounded tower at the corner with Leathermarket street there was a clock and above this a balcony and cupola, but these were not replaced after wartime damage. The building had a club area for the leather merchants on its first floor as well as public rooms and a tavern at the rear, now a pub. The exchange closed in 1912.

London Leather, Hide and Wool Exchange, Weston St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-21-Edit_2400 — *London Leather, Hide and Wool Exchange, Weston St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10n-21*

Bermondsey had a long history of tanning leather and in 1703 The Master, Wardens and Comonalty of the Art or Mistery of Tanners of the Parish of St Mary Magdalen Bermondsey of Surrey received a royal charter making them a guild responsible for the training of tanners and the inspection of tanning within a 30 mile radius of Bermondsey, which continued in force until 1835. Tanning was one of the major industries in the area, but the last tannery in the area closed in 1990. The guild still exists and awards bursaries and prizes etc to young people in the area.

My walk around the leather district will continue in a later post.

Tags:Alsska works, Bacon's School, Bermondsey, Bermondsey Spa, C W Martin & Sons, car body, fellmonger, fellmongering, fur, gateway, Grange Road, Hide and Wool Exchange, Jaguar Specialists, leather, Leathermarket, London, London Leather, London Photos, peter Marshall, sealskins, Southwark, tanners, tanning, The Grange, Weston St
Posted in LondonPhotos, My Own Work | 1 Comment »

Alma Grove & Grange Road, Bermondsey, 1988

Monday, July 4th, 2022

My previous post on this walk, West Lane & Spa Road Bermondsey 1988, ended in the Longfield esate on Fort Road.

Man, Pickaxe, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10m-51-Edit_2400 — *Man, Pickaxe, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10m-51*

I met this man working I think somewhere on the Longfield Estate, and as often happens he was interested in seeing me wandering around with a camera and stopped his work to pose for me.

Alma Grove, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10m-55-Edit_2400 — *Alma Grove, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10m-55*

Streets such as Alma Grove and one I had walked down earlier in the area Balaclava Rod clearly show that this area was built up around the time of the Crimean War of 1853-6. when Britain and its allies, France, the Ottoman Empire and Piedmont-Sardinia defeated Russia. It was a war largely about Palestine (then part of the Ottoman Empire) and the relative religious rights there for the Orthodox Church, backed by Russia and the Roman Catholic Church, but also against imperial expansion by Russia as the Turkish Ottoman empire was declining. The Allies landed in Crimea won a battle at Alma in September 1854, then managed to repel a Russian counterattack in October at Balaclava, but with heavy British losses.

The Crimean War was an important milestone in the history of photography as the first to be widely recorded in photographs, taken using the cumbersome wet-plate process by Roger Fenton, whose work was also a part of what was probably the first major mass propaganda exercise aimed at the growing British middle class and industrial working class.

The infamous Charge of the Light Brigade took place at Balaclava, and Lord Lucan who passed on the misleading order which led to it had his home close to where I now live. Though the local Lucan Arms pub named in his family’s honour is now ironically renamed ‘The Retreat’.

Grange Cafe, Grange Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10m-24-Edit_2400 — *Grange Café, Grange Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10m-24*

Walking westwards along Southwark Park Road takes you, after the junction with Dunton Road into Grange Road, where I admired the frontage of the Grange Café. THis later became the Jasmine Garden Chinese take-away and is now Chicken World, but has long since lost its interesting frontage, though the pillars at each end remain.

F T W, Motorcycles, Grange Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10m-25-Edit_2400 — *F T W, Motorcycles, Grange Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10m-25*

Although there was once a magazine ‘Forever Two Wheels’ or ‘FTW’ I suspect the name of this motorcycle shop on Grange Road probably came from the initials of its owner. Ii think this shop and the row of houses has since been demolished. As well as selling motorbikes it was also a bike breaker, stripping down bikes no longer in working order to sell as spare parts.

The Look In, Grange Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10m-26-Edit_2400 — *The Look In, Grange Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10m-26*

The Look In offering House Clearances and Removals was very firmly shuttered and closed when I made this picture in 1988. Certainly I couldn’t look in. It was next to F T W motorcycles. The shop at left appears to be number 85, but numbering in Grange Road is difficult to follow. I think these shops were shortly after replaced by a rather anonymous housing block.

F T W, Motorcycles, Grange Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10m-12-Edit_2400 — *F T W, Motorcycles, Grange Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10m-12*

As I was photographing the shop fronts this man came out from FTW Motorcycles and we talked for a few minutes, after which I asked him if I could take his photograph. I took two frames and both are just a little sharper on the shopfront than on his face.

I went on from here to take a number of pictures of the Alaska Works, where my next post on this walk will begin.

Tags:1988, Alma Grove, Alma Grove & Grange Road, Bermondsey, cafe, Crimean War, FTW Motorcycles, Grange Café, Grange Rd, Grange Road, houses, London, London Photos, peter Marshall, shop, Southwark, The Look In, worker
Posted in My Own Work | 1 Comment »

West Lane & Spa Road Bermondsey 1988

Wednesday, June 29th, 2022

My previous post on this walk was Thames, Rotherhithe & Wapping 1988 and ended next to the isolated former offices of Braithwaite & Dean, close to the Angel pub on the bank of the Thames.

Servewell Cafe, West Lane,Bermondsey, 1988 88-10l-34-Edit_2400 — *Servewell Cafe, West Lane,Bermondsey, 1988 88-10l-34*

I walked a short distance west by the river, photographing some recent flats on Bermondsey Wall East and the riverside warehouse at Corbett’s wharf, since discretely refurbished (not digitised) before turning down West Lane where there was more new housing and finding The Evangelical Church of the Deaf which I think was where there is now a new block of flats on Paradise Street.(also not digitised.)

The Servewell Cafe was then at number 14, and is now a few doors down in larger premises, its former site now an Indian Takeaway. The barbers on the corner remains a Gents Hairdresser, but the wool shop is now ‘glue bermondsey’ creative space.

Bermondsey & Rotherhithe, War Memorial, West Lane, Jamaica Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10l-35-Edit_2400 — *Bermondsey & Rotherhithe, War Memorial, West Lane, Jamaica Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10l-35*

The Bermondsey & Rotherhithe War Memorial is immediately in front of the shops on West Lane, close to its junction with Jamaica Road on a wide area of pavement. It was erected here replacing a temporary memorial in 1921 “to the honoured memory of the men of Bermondsey and Rotherhithe who fell in the great war 1914 – 1918” and later inscriptions were added for the Second World War, including “In remembrance of all those civilians and members of the civil defence and fire brigade services who lost their lives in this community 1939 – 1945.” The coat of arms is that of the former Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey with its motto ‘Prosunt Gentibus Artes‘ (arts profit the people). Among the sponsors of the memorial was the then owner of Peak Freans, Arthur Carr.

Scott Lidgett Crescent, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10l-36-Edit_2400 — *Scott Lidgett Crescent, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10l-36*

John Scott Lidgett (1854-1953) was a Methodist minister, educationalist and politician who was at various times the first President of the Methodist Conference, vice-chancellor of the University of London. He played an important role in the development of women’s colleges and university support for teach training. He became an alderman of the London County Council and led the Progressive Party on the LCC from 1918-28.

In 1891 he established the Bermondsey Settlement, the only Methodist settlement, and became its warden. Among those that this attracted to devote themselves to come and live and work in the community were Ada and Alfred Salter. The settlement closed in 1969.

These solidly built houses were a part of the continuing redevelopment of the area which had been begun by Bermondsey Council – with the Salters as councillors and later Mayor and MP respectively, beginning at Wilson Grove in 1927. In the ten years after the war, the council and the LCC built 9,600 homes.

Salvation Army, Hostel, Spa Road, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10l-11-Edit_2400 — *Salvation Army, Hostel, Spa Road, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10l-11*

The Salvation Army Social Services Hostel for Men on Spa Road was much needed in one of the country’s most deprived areas when this ‘elevator’, designed to both house men and provide some paid work to prepare them for work outside, opened in 1899. It was a waste paper depot and the men were employed in sorting the waste – recycling is nothing new.

Back in my childhood, before going to church my father would sort all the waste paper which had found its way into our house, flattening the sheets, piling them on top of each other before rolling them up and tying the roll with string, to be put out next to the dustbin for the council to collect.

The Spa Road hostel also housed some Belgian refugees in the First World War and Italian prisoners of war at the end of WW2. A laundry was added in the 1920s. By the time I photographed it the laundry had closed but the centre also offered other work, including basket-weaving, carpentry, candle-making, and picture-framing. It finally closed in 2001 and was demolished in 2003. The site is now occupied by a large block of flats.

Bermondsey Municipal Offices, Spa Road, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10l-14-Edit_2400 — *Bermondsey Municipal Offices, Spa Road, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10l-14*

Bermondsey Town Hall was only Grade II listed 10 years after I made this picture. It was built as an extension to the existing Victorian Bermondsey Town Hall in 1928-1930, architect Henry Tansley indulging in a deliberate recreation of the 19th century Greek Revival. I’ve not digitised the picture I took of its grand frontage, but only this image showing a detail of the building, including some of its listed railings.

Planning permission was granted in 2012 for the conversion of the building into 41 homes and is now rather confusingly called Old Town Hall Apartments.

BermondseyCentral Library, Spa Road, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10l-15-Edit_2400 — *Bermondsey Central Library, Spa Road, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10l-15*

Similarly I’ve yet to digitise the more overall image of the library which is in the background to this picture. The gate pier and railings are all that remains from another municipal building, the old Bermondsey Town Hall which was heavily damaged by wartime bombing and demolished in the 1960. The gate was kept when a new ‘One Stop Shop’ replaced the ruins, and it was retained when this was in turn demolished and replaced by ‘The Exchange’ around 2013. Its ground floor is now a Sainsbury’s Local.

Flats, Fort Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10m-65-Edit_2400 — *Flats, Fort Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10m-65*

I wanders a little around the area by Spa Gardens making an image of new housing in Hazel Way and old in Balaclava Rd and then this which I think is Dartford House in Fort Road, part of the Longfield Estate.

To be continued…

Tags:Bermondsey, Bermondsey Town Hall, cafe, Fort Rd, hostel, London, London Photos, Longfield Estate, peter Marshall, Salvation Army, Scott Lidgett, Southwark, Spa Road, war memorial, West Lane
Posted in LondonPhotos, My Own Work | 1 Comment »

Rotherhithe New Road & Southwark Park Schools

Tuesday, June 21st, 2022

Rotherhithe New Road & Southwark Park Schools – October 1988

Rotherhithe New Rd Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10k-31-Edit_2400 — *Rotherhithe New Rd Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10k-31*

I’m not entirely sure whether my next pictures, taken on Rotherhithe New Road were a part of the same walk as my previous post in this series, Down the Blue, Spa Road & Old Jamaica Road 1988 or the start of my next visit to the area from roughly where that ended.

This window was somewhere not far from Raymouth Road which I probably walked down to get to Rotherhithe New Road, and I liked the design of the window with its tall thin iron supports, though it was hard so see them through the branches – which perhaps added to their attraction. I can’t find the actual location and it may well have been demolished.

Debnams Rd, Rotherhithe New Rd Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10k-34-Edit_2400 — *Debnams Rd, Rotherhithe New Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10k-34*

This is the corner of Debnams Road with Rotherhithe New Road and it was obviously the ‘5 Star Batteries’ painting on the first floor wall together with the other signage that made me photograph it. 203-5 is now covered with pebbledash and for some years had an advertising hoarding on this side wall, but this is now gone. The premises have changed hands several times, and in recent years have been a glazing firm, an African Food Store and now ‘Posh Hair Salon’.

Rotherhithe New Rd Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10k-22-Edit_2400 — *Rotherhithe New Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10k-22*

Next to the railway arches on the south side of Rotherhithe New Road in what is now called Jarrow Road I couldn’t resist this smiling lorry for ‘Wood Be Good Paint Strippers’.

Rotherhithe New Rd Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10k-23-Edit_2400 — *Rotherhithe New Rd Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10k-23*

This obviously dilapidated building was on Rotherhithe New Road close to the railway bridges and I think was demolished to build the Rotherhithe Business Estate at 214 Rotherhithe New Rd. Unfortunately I have no idea what it had been – if anyone knows please tell me in the comments.

Cain Hill Cafe, Rotherhithe New Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10k-11-Edit_2400 — *Cain Hill Cafe, Rotherhithe New Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10k-11*

The Cain Hill Cafe which offered hot meals served all day, sandwiches and rolls was at the side of this railway bridge on Rotherhithe New Rd. This was demolished to give a wider entrance to the Rotherhithe Business Estate.

Southwark Park Schools, Southwark Park Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10k-12-Edit_2400 — *Southwark Park Schools, Southwark Park Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10k-12*

Southwark Park Schools on Southwark Park Road, Grade II listed as an early example of a London Board School by E.R.Robson 1873-4. This frontage is a part of the original building which was extended in the 1890’s and 1910, and sensitively comprehensively redeveloped around 2010 retaining the listed buildings.

My photograph shows one of the two ‘2 sculptural reliefs which depict children learning; to each an inscription panel with the words “School Board for London”
and “Southwark Park Schools“.’

From here I walked down to the River Thames, where the next post on this walk will continue.

Tags:5 Star Batteries, Bermondsey, Cain Hill Cafe, London, London Photos, lorry, peter Marshall, Rotherhithe, Rotherhithe New Rd, Southwark, Southwark Park Schools, window
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Down the Blue, Spa Road & Old Jamaica Road 1988

Thursday, June 16th, 2022

R & G Holden, Household & Fancy Goods, Southwark Park Road, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10j-31-Edit_2400 — *R & G Holden, Household & Fancy Goods, Southwark Park Road, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10j-31*

‘The Blue’, the area around the market on Southwark Park Road and Blue Anchor Lane gets its name from the Blue Anchor Pub at the corner of the lane. The pub is on the site of an ancient hostelry, marked on the earliest maps of the area dating from 1695 as the Blew Anchor. The area belonged to Bermondsey Abbey and attracted many pilgrims, some on their way to Canterbury. The anchor is thought to have not been any reference to the later nautical links of the area but to the many Anchorites, many of them women who were enclosed in religious buildings having withdrawn themselves from secular society to lead a life of prayer. Pilgrims would visit them to join them in prayer and seek advice. It was a practice largely when Henry VIII broke away from the Pope.

The market was along Southwark Park Road until a separate market square was created in 1976, but shops like this still spilled out onto the pavement.

Spa Rd Station, Former Railway Station, S E & C R, Priter Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10j-22-Edit_2400 — *Spa Rd Station, Former Railway Station, S E & C R, Priter Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10j-22*

London’s first railway station was a short walk away. The London and Greenwich Railway opened its Spa Road station in 1836 before it had completed the line into London Bridge. Although little more than a temporary halt and at first without platforms it remained open until 1838. A second Spa Road station was opened after the line was widened in 1842 and operated until 1867 when a new station was opened 200 yards to the east with its entrance in the railway arches on what is now Priter Road. This closed as a wartime economy measure in 1915. Some of the buildings of the 1867 station including this can still be seen in the railway arches and I photographed several of them as well as this one. The initials are for the South Eastern and Chatham Railway which was only formed in 1899, and until 1923 ran all the railways in Kent and to the Channel ports.

Spa Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10k-62-Edit_2400 — *Spa Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10k-62*

On my contact sheet I state that this remains of a former garage was on Spa Road and although I have no reason to doubt this the roads around here were confusing and the rail bridges all have a similar appearance. I took a number of very similar frames, obviously intrigued by both the broken boarding and the branches growing through it was well as the strange tower rising about a very tall brick wall on the other side of the road.

Rouel Rd, Frean St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10k-53-Edit_2400 — *Rouel Rd, Frean St, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10k-53*

The tower block in the background of this picture is Lupin Point on Abbey St, a 21 floor 61 m tall bock on Southwark’s Dickens Estate. This was made at the mouth of the bridge on Rouel Road, with Frean Street going off to the right. More recently this part of Rouel Road, was renamed Marine Street which previously had only started north of Jamaica Road (now Old Jamaica Road.)

This area has been redeveloped since I made this picture and the old housing replaced by a nine storey block so you need to go a little way along the road to see Lupin Point.

Old Jamaica Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10k-42-Edit_2400 — *Old Jamaica Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10k-42*

These buildings on Old Jamaica Road are long gone. In 1988 clearly Robinsons Motorcycles Cycles Mopeds was still in business with a row of machines outside and bike parts in the shop window and curtains on the floors above, but much of the rest of the block was ready for demolition.

Enid Garage, Old Jamaica Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10k-43-Edit_2400 — *Enid Garage, Old Jamaica Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10k-43*

Enid Garage on the south side of Old Jamaica Road was clearly a very basic concrete structure, its skeleton of beams exposed at the left. Behind are the railway arches and a long gantry across the tracks, still there. Enid Garage has gone and this is now the Old Jamaica Business Estate.

I think my walk continued to Rotherhithe New Road, where I’ll begin the next post in this series.

Tags:Bermondsey, Down the Blue, Enid Garage, London, London Photos, London's first station, market, mopeds, Motorcycles, Old Jamaica Road, peter Marshall, Railway arches, railway bridge, railway station, Robinsons, shop, Spa Road, Spa Road station
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Surrey Docks & North Bermondsey 1988

Monday, June 13th, 2022

I can no longer remember whether the short excursion to Greenland Dock from Rotherhithe came at the end of my previous walk or a few days later at the beginning of my walk on 28th October 1988, though of course it doesn’t really matter. The story of my previous walk began at Greenwich and Deptford Creek October 1988 and ended with Deptford to Rotherhithe October 1988.

I’m unsure now whether I took the fist few of these pictures at the end of my previous walk or at the start of my next one, but it hardly matters as they are in the same area and within a few days of each other.

Lifting Bridge, Dockside sheds, Redriff Rd, Rotherhithe, Southwark, 1988 88-10j-03-Edit_2400 — *Lifting Bridge, Dockside sheds, Redriff Rd, Rotherhithe, Southwark, 1988 88-10j-03*

This is one of the two bridges that linked the riverside areas of Rotherhithe and the Surrey Docks to the area around Lower Road and Surrey Quays station, then on the East London which ran between Shoreditch and alternately to New Cross or New Cross Gate, linking to the District line at Whitechapel. Both have been preserved, though not in working order and this one a short distance from it former site.

At the centre of the picture you can see the curved lower end of the bridge and below it the flat rail on which it rolled back to raise the bascule, with a heavy counterweight above so very little power was needed to raise the bridge.

Greenland Dock, Rotherhithe, Southwark, 1988 88-10h-12-Edit_2400 — *Greenland Dock, Rotherhithe, Southwark, 1988 88-10h-12*

Several relics from the working docks, including this capstan are still present at the east end of Greenland Quay.

Greenland Dock, Rotherhithe, Southwark, 1988 88-10h-13-Edit_2400 — *Greenland Dock, Rotherhithe, Southwark, 1988 88-10h-13*

Four people in kayaks link up and stop to talk to each other in Greenland Dock. I was standing at the end of Greenland Quay and looking towards the tower blocks of the Barkantine Estate on the Isle of Dogs across the Thames.

Southwark Park, Rotherhithe, Southwark, 1988 88-10j-62-Edit_2400 — *Southwark Park, Rotherhithe, Southwark, 1988 88-10j-62*

My next picture was made in Southwark Park, which I think I walked through to Jamaica Road. I’m not absolutely sure what the building in the background was, and I think the area it was in has now been re-developed. Somewhere in the north-east corner of the park it was probably a part of the former St Olave’s Hospital which closed in 1984 and was demolished and replaced by Ann Moss Way in the 1990s.

I seem deliberately to have tried to make this picture mysterious, taking three near-identical frames, an unusual number for me at the time when film was relatively expensive.

Major Works, James Jackson and Co, Jamaica Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10j-65-Edit_2400 — *Major Works, James Jackson and Co, Jamaica Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10j-51*

This works was next to Major Road, though I’m not sure if it took its name from the road or gave its name to it. It was demolished to build Bermondsey Underground Station on the Jubilee Line Extension which opened at the start of 2000. According to the text on its frontage the company was ‘Established 1827’ and made ‘Flooring Adhesives, French Polishes, Wax Polishes, Varnishes, Seals, Staines – Etc.’

Jamaica Rd area, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10j-51-2-Edit_2400 — *Jamaica Rd area, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10j-51-2*

Relatively few streets in the area aspire to a No 90 and none that I can find that look anything like this now. This was a part of a terrace of 5 similar houses starting at a street corner, with two pairs of doors on the street and one around the corner as another frame (not digitised) shows. It appears to be later Victorian and I suspect has been demolished. The gate was perhaps a 1930s addition.

Lockwood Square, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10j-52-Edit_2400 — *Lockwood Square, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10j-52*

Lockwood Square was a 1960’s addition to the council’s Southwark Park Estate with flats around a central grass area. There had been a Lockwood Street here and it was probably badly damaged by wartime bombing. The buildings are bounded by Drummond Road, Clements Road and Southwark Park Road. Some of the ground floor is garages and there are a few shop units. To the north is a play area and Saint Crispin with Christ Church Bermondsey and the similar block of New Place Square.

To be continued…

Tags:Bermondsey, capstan, council estate, Greenland Dock, Greenland Quay, house, James Jackson & Co, Jubilee Line, kayaks, Lockwood Square, London, London Photos, Major Works, peter Marshall, Southwark, Southwark Park, Southwark Park Rod, station, Surrey Docks, works
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Blessing the Thames & Southwark Walk

Friday, January 14th, 2022

*The Bishop of Woolwich throws a wooden cross into the River Thames to bless the waters.*

Sunday 14th January 2007 was a pleasant day for me. The weather was good, a bright winter day and I was up in London to photograph a very positive event, the Blessing of the River Thames, with plenty of time too for me to wander around one of my favourite areas of the city, south of the river in Southwark.

In the first ten years of this millennium I photographed a wide range of religious events that take place on the streets of London, particularly by Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims. But there seem to be rather fewer Christian festivals that are celebrated in public, though I think there have been more in recent years, with more public events in particular each year on Good Friday.

*The procession comes from Southwark Cathedral*

But the Blessing of the Thames is a recent addition, begun in 2004 by Father Philip Warner when he was appointed to the City of London church of St Magnus The Martyr, inspired by similar ceremonies he had experienced in the Orthodox Church in Serbia.

*And is met by those from St Magnus at the centre of the bridge*

St Magnus The Martyr was Sir Christopher Wren’s most expensive parish church and the traveller’s route into the City of London across the medieval London Bridge, in use from 1209 to 1831 led directly through its entrance porch under its tower after the church was rebuilt around 1676. Until 1729 when Putney got a bridge it was the only way across the river except by boat downstream of Kingston Bridge.

The church is one of the most interesting in London and well worth a visit, and among its treasures includes a very large modern model of the Old London Bridge. This was completed by ex-policeman David T Aggett in 1987, a year after his heart transplant, and found a willing home here after the Museum of London turned it down. A member and past Steward of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers, Aggett died a year ago at the age of 91.

You can find out more about the various editions of London Bridge from various bloggers including Laura Porter on Londontopia. Close to the south end of the bridge (which had a chapel on it dedicated to St Thomas which was the official start of pilgrimages to Canterbury) was the Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, until the dissolution in 1538 part of Southwark Priory and since 1905 Southwark Cathedral.

Processions from both churches met at the centre of the new London Bridge completed in 1972 for a brief service with prayers for all those who work on the river and in particular for those killed close to this point in the 1989 sinking of the marchioness close by, which climaxed with the Bishop of Woolwich throwing a wooden cross into the River Thames to bless the waters.

*Ofra Zimballsta, Climbers, 1996-8, Borough High St*

I’d come up earlier to take a walk around Southwark and Bermondsey and photograph some of the buildings, both old and new, in the area. Back in the 1990s when Desk Top Publishing was in its infancy I had written and published a walk leaflet (now a free download though a little out of date) on West Bermondsey which sold several hundred copies, and it was interesting to visit a part of this again.

When first produced, this walk was printed on a dot-matrix printer, though later copies were made on a black and white laser – an HP Laserjet 1100 still in use over 20 years later on my wife’s computer running Ubuntu.

I think I asked 20p for the leaflet, and using cheap third-party laser toners on cheap thin card it cost only a couple of pence to produce, though printing on dot-matrix was slow the laser speeded up things considerably – once the page was in printer memory it rattled off copies fairly quickly.

In 2007 there were few photographers at the Blessing of the River, but blogging was growing fast and more and more people were using camera phones. The following year I wasn’t able to get such good pictures as there were too many people jumping in front of me and obscuring my view. Photographers do sometimes get in each other’s way, but we do try to respect others, something which doesn’t even seem to occur to the newcomers.

But rather than go for a walk I did go with those celebrating the event and have lunch in the crypt of St Magnus, after which I took a few pictures inside the church, then rather thick with incense.

Scroll down the January 2007 page on My London Diary for more pictures of Blessing the Thames & Southwark Walk.

Tags:2007, Bermondsey, Bishop of Woolwich, Blessing the Thames, January, London, London Bridge, London Photos, peter Marshall, River Thames, Southwark, Southwark Cathedral, St Magnus the Martyr, Walk, walk leaflet, West Bermondsey, wooden cross
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9 January 2016

Saturday, January 9th, 2021

This was always the most depressing point of my year. Particularly back when I was still teaching full-time, getting up on cold dark mornings to go into work, at the start of the term which, particularly for those teaching classed facing exams in May and June, seemed to be longest and hardest slog of the year. We are actually just a few days past the latest sunrise of the year, (it is a whole 2 minutes earlier today) but its only really by the middle of the month it starts to be noticeable.

Usually we’ve put away the Christmas decorations, turned off the Christmas tree lights and put the tree outside, waiting for the energy to plant it in the garden. We’ve eaten the Christmas cakes (we usually have an iced fruit cake, stollen and Buche de Noel to get through, finished the meat, eaten the nuts and fruit, Bombay Mix and chocolates and are back on normal fare, with perhaps a dose of austerity to make up for the previous weeks of minor gluttony.

But this year has been different, with no family, friends and neighbours visiting to help us get through the Christmas bonus or see in the New Year. Everything has been flatter and less interesting, and I’m feeling bored. I exercise along routes I’ve cycled or walked close to home many times before, taking out my camera and making pictures largely out of habit rather than any great interest.

Back in earlier years, protests and other events were getting back into swing at this time of year after something of a hiatus over Christmas and the New Year, when most of us were busy with other things. I live just too far from central London to be able to easily take part in the New Years Eve events, and though for some years I went up the following morning to photograph the New Year Parade, in recent years this became too organised to be really interesting.

Saturday 9th January 2016 began for me with a rally and march against the axing of training bursaries for NHS nurses and midwives. As a part of their training they perform valuable work in hospitals, caring for patients, and the time involved means that unlike other students they are not able to get part-time work to support themselves.

The removal of the bursaries seems certain to result in much greater hardship and also in fewer students training as nurses – and we already have a shortage of nurses. It was a simple cost-cutting measure that only makes any sense as a part of the Tory plans to privatise our NHS by stealth, part of which involves putting greater pressure on the system so that more aspects of it can be put out to private tender. Many in government have interests in private health companies and favour a move away from the principles behind the NHS of a service based on clinical need free to all towards a US-style high-cost insurance-based system.

I left the march before it finished to join Class War outside the White Cube Gallery in Bermondsey St, one of the areas of London where gentrification is most apparent.

December 9th 2015: Class War protest Gilbert & George at White Cube Bermondsey

I’d come the previous month to photograph Ian Bone of Class War and Simon Elmer of Architects for Social Housing holding a short protest outside the gallery over the appropriation of protest slogans by Gilbert and George in the show taking place there, and the gentrification of the area. I wrote then:

Bermondsey, once a working class industrial area on the edge of London’s docks with many small workshops in yards off of Bermondsey St producing hats, leather goods and a more recent arrival, the print trade, has changed dramatically. Run down when I first photographed there in the 1980s (and produced an industrial archaeology walk leaflet, West Bermondsey – The leather area) it is now full of restaurants, galleries, designer clothes and other businesses catering for London’s new gentrification, with offices, design studios and expensive flats now having replaced most of the workshops.
http://mylondondiary.co.uk/2015/12/dec.htm#banners

In front of the gallery is their large open yard, and Class War had decided that as this is an area where many still live in council estates with notices on the green spaces ‘No Ball Games’ that this would be an ideal place to hold a game of football as a protest against gentrification. And I’d been invited to come along and take pictures.

Although they hadn’t been invited, the police had clearly heard about the protest and had come along too, along with some security staff employed additionally by the gallery. A large sculpture at one side of the yard had also been wrapped up to protect it from damage (and artistically that seemed to me a great improvement.)

Jane Nicholl performs ‘*The Finest f***ing Family in the Land*‘

There was some opposition – and a hapless young police woman tried to tell the protesters that kicking a ball around was reckless behaviour – but the protest continued. Here is my description from My London Diary:

The protesters deliberately kicked the football at police and security, encouraging them to join in the game. Some of them did kick the ball back, while others simply stood and let a protester come to collect it, sometimes holding it but returning it when requested.
But the protest outside the ‘protest’ show (entitled ‘Banners‘) was not just football, but there was some spectacular fire breathing along with a premiere performance of Ray Jones‘s latest song, ‘any chance of a sub?’ dedicated to Damien Hirst and accompanied by the dancing Lucy Parsons banner ‘We must devastate the avenues where the wealthy live’. (Jones, together with Ian Bone were formerly part of the Welsh punk band “Page 3”.) ‘Sid Skill’ had brought along a fairly lifelike black model bird (a fiver on eBay) which inspired a histronic performance from Ian Bone, about how the security men guarding the White Cube had murdered the last raven from the Tower of London, and that London was now doomed. Doomed I say, doomed.
Later, there were two spoken word performances, one by Jane Nicholl of a traditional verse, ‘The Finest f***ing Family in the Land‘, performed with great gusto and with the small crowd joining in, and the second of a rather odd poem about a raven, sent in response to a tweet about Ian’s performance at the protest by Ray Jones, which he read to us all. And the Womens Death Squad led a rousing performance of their anthem, ‘ Bunch of C***s‘
Altogether it was a ‘happening’ with arguably rather more artistic credibility than the rather sterile work on display inside the gallery, and one that was appreciated by some members of the public even though it lacked the Art World’s financial imprimatur.
Eventually it was time to leave – and for Class War to continue their celebrations in a local pub … On the way a number of Class War Womens Death Squad stickers somehow found their way onto street furniture, walls and estate agents windows, to remind the gentrifiers that Class War will be back.
http://mylondondiary.co.uk/2016/01/jan.htm#whitecube

More on My London Diary
Class War Footy at White Cube
NHS Bursaries March
NHS Bursaries rally before march

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

Tags:Bermondsey, cuts, fire eating, football, gallery, gentrification, midwives, My London Diary, NHS, NHS Bursaries, nurses, performances, privatisation, Tory cuts, White Cube
Posted in My Own Work, Political Issues | No Comments »

Re-photo