Leyton and a Puzzle: Pictures from walks around parts of Leyton in August or September 1994 and a puzzle from south of the river.
New Spitalfields Market, Sherin Rd, Leyton, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-901-53
Traffic congestion, lack of space and outdated buildings led the City of London Corporation to relocate its wholesale fruit and vegetable market out of Spitalfields to a purpose-built 31 acre site in Leyton which opened in 1991.
Stratford Market, which had been founded in 1879 by the Great Eastern Railway as a competitor to Spitalfields also moved to the new site. According to Wikipedia, New Spitalfields Market “is Europe’s leading horticultural market specialising in exotic fruit and vegetables – and the largest revenue earning wholesale market in the UK.”
New Spitalfields Market, Sherin Rd, Leyton, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-901-43
There were plans for this, Billingsgate Fish Market (in the West India Docks) and Smithfield Market to move to a new consolidated site in Dagenham Dock and planning permission was given in 2021, but in November 2024 the City decided this was no longer economically viable. New Spitalfields will remain in use while there are now plans to relocate the two other markets to Albert Island at the east end of the Royal Docks.
Leyton, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-901-45
The market is on the east side of Hackney Marshes a short distance from the River Lea and I walked east along Ruckholt Road into Leyton. I think this building was probably in a side turning just off this road and I think has probably been demolished. But I was only interested in the colours an shapes.
A E Cornell, Furniture, 363, High Rd, Leyton, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-901-46
This shop is now occupied by Woodland Estate Agents who opened here in 2005 and the building looks rather less run-down. Of course I was attracted by the Union Flags in the windows and door as well as the Churchillian poster with its pointing finger, though I’m unclear what we should DESERVE. Perhaps someone will have memories of this shop.
Chinese Takeaway, Fish & Chips, London, 1994, 94-901-32
I think this was also in Leyton as another almost identical image is on the next frame of film to the picture of A E Cornell’s furniture shop. The Chinese Takeaway seems to have been at 17D and had a name ending in GARDEN. But of course my interest was mainly in the peeling mural of two rather strange-looking jockeys and horses on the side of the neighbouring bookies.
Frederick Place, Bloomfield Rd, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1994, 94-901-24
And finally a little puzzle from the same film but taken south of the river on Bloomfield Road in Plumstead. The L and the S are clear and there are hints of two other letters, perhaps an I and a T. There could have been other letters, out of frame to the left. The building has been demolished and replaced by new housing, though some parts of the unusual paving remain. I can’t remember now if I knew what the site was, but have a vague feeling it may have been a garage and there is still a garage at the back of the new houses.
Please comment if you know more about this or any other of the pictures. More colour from 1994 to come.
Woolwich Riverside and Royal Artillery: More pictures from my walk around Woolwich in August 1994
Waste Land, Woolwich Church St, Woolwich Ferry, River Thames, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1994, 94-807-42
This area, previously occupied by engineering works, has now been redeveloped with a luxury development of tall housing blocks on Mast Quay, “A magnificent crafted living space with panoramic views of the River Thames.”
As well as getting a free ferry, Woolwich also got a foot tunnel under the River Thames, opened by the London County Council in 1912. The tunnel is just over 500 meters long and remains delightfully cool on hot summer days.
Many cyclists also use the tunnel despite bylwws prohibiting cyclists. Electronic signs were installed in 2016 which used a computerised system to measure traffic and messaged ‘No cycling allowed‘ in red at busy times but ‘Please consider pedestrians‘ in green when the tunnel was fairly empty. Greenwich council was in favour of changing the bylaws to legalise this, but Tower Hamlets refused and the system was discontinued. Many cyclists still ride.
The tunnel provides a useful route across the river, particularly when the ferry is out of action, but most times I’ve used it one of both of the lifts at each end have not been working. I’ve never counted the steps but there are rather a lot of them, particularly when going up.
River Thames, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1994, 94-809-21
Downstream from the ferry in what in 1994 was I think an open area, once the site of Woolwich Power Station, demolished in 1978-9 though the coaling jetty in this picture is still there. There is still a riverside walk but most of the site is now occupied by tall blocks of flats.
River Thames, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1994, 94-809-22
A bridge here links the former coaling jetty with the riverside path.
Steps from Riverside Path, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1994, 94-809-33
This area is now covered by tall flats, though there is a small segment of parkland with fountains.
I cannot remember exactly where I found this mural of the Thames Barrier in Woolwich and I think it was soon demolished.
Royal Artillery Memorial, St George’s Garrison Church, Grand Depot Road, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1994, 94-812-52
Built for the garrison in 1862-3 it was hit by a V1 flying bomb in 1944 and the church was largely destroyed by fire. In 1970 more of the building was demolished but a canopy roof added to protect the apse and its polychromatic Victorian brick and decorations, with a memorial garden added in the former nave. It was listed in 1973. In 2011 it was transferred out of military ownership and since then there has been some restoration work, partly lottery funded.
Cannon, Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1994, 94-808-32
The barracks was the home of the Royal Artillery from 1776 until 2007. Its 1,000 foot long Georgian frontage is said to be the longest in Europe if not the world. Since 2007 most of it has been rebuilt behind this, and in 2016 the Ministry of Defence announced plans for all army units to move out by 2028.
The cannon is the “17.75-ton Bhurtpore gun, captured by Field Marshall the Viscount Combermere after the 1826 siege of Bhurtpore” and brought here in 1828. When the Royal Artillery moved out they took this and four other cannons with them, doubtless a vital part of our country’s defence.
The Woolwich Ferry: Continuing my walk in Plumstead and Woolwich in August 1994 I came to the Woolwich Ferry and couldn’t resist taking a ride across the river on it. And since I wanted to continue my walk in Woolwich, rather than in North Woolwich, I stayed on the ferry to come back.
Woolwich Ferry, River Thames, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1994, 94-808-41
There had almost certainly been a ferry across the Thames at Woolwich at least since the Norman Conquest, though the first written reference by name only came when it was sold together with a house by William de Wicton to William atte Halle for £10. In the early years of the 19th century there were three Woolwich Ferry Acts (1811, 1815 and 1816) establishing a commercial ferry.
These were passed in particular for the movement of troops and supplies from Woolwich Arsenal across the river. From 1846 there was also a rail connection from North Woolwich to Stratford and eventually there were three steam ferries on the route
Woolwich Ferry, Ambulance Station, River Thames, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1994, 94-807-11
After the Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was created in 1855 it had taken over toll bridges in West London and made them free to use. People to the east of London in Greenwich and Woolwich argued that they should also be able to cross the river without paying. Eventually in 1884 the MWB agreed and tasked Sir Joseph Bazalgette to oversee the provision of approaches, bridges and pontoons for the ferry. These were built by the still familiar name of Messrs Mowlem in 1887-9. (The company is no longer; having got into financial difficulties it was acquired by its rival Carillion in 2005.)
Woolwich Ferry, River Thames, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1994, 94-807-12
The London County Council was established on 21st March 1889, two days before the Free Ferry was due to open and so it was Lord Roseberry, the LCC’s first chairman who led the huge procession and festivities to the new ferry terminal in Woolwich and announced to a crowd of thousands “The free ferry is open to the public.“
There was only one paddle steamer working the ferry that weekend and it must have got very crowded. As well as those in Woolwich , “the Great Eastern Railway Company carried 25,000 people to its North Woolwich terminus, most of whom were intent on riding the ferry.”
Woolwich Ferry, River Thames, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1994, 94-807-13
The initial fleet of two paddle steamers soon became three and were replaced by newer paddle steamers in the 1920s. It was these that inspired the story and wonderful illustrations by Charles Keeping in his 1968 children’s classic ‘Alfie and the Ferryboat (1968), very much enjoyed a few years later by myself and my two boys. So of course we had to come to Woolwich and I took my first crossing with them in the early 1980s.
Woolwich Ferry, Ambulance Station, River Thames, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1994, 94-807-11
But by the time that book was published the paddle steamers had gone, replaced from 1963 by the diesel-powered double ended James Newman, John Burns and Ernest Bevin which enabled vehicles to drive up newly built causeways with hinged bridges and drive directly onto the ferries, greatly speeding up the loading. As they were double-ended vehicles could also drive off forwards on the other side and the ships did not need to reverse. They were steered from a central bridge over their roadways.
Woolwich Ferry, River Thames, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1994, 94-807-12
The ferries in my pictures continued in service until 2018, when the ferry closed down for four months waiting the arrive of replacements. These have had various problems with London May Sadiq Khan apologising and saying the new vessels “aren’t good enough.”
Woolwich Ferry, River Thames, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1994, 94-807-13
Woolwich Ferry, Ambulance Station, River Thames, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1994, 94-807-22
I had just missed the ferry and spent it walking around the area and taking pictures.
Woolwich Ferry, Ambulance Station, River Thames, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1994, 94-807-33
All of the pictures before this one have been of a vessel not in use, moored at Woolwich but in this picture you can see one ferry at the North Woolwich terminal and another approaching Woolwich, and I hurried up the approach to catch it. In my next post from 1994 I will include some pictures I made on the ferry.
Plumstead is a hilly place, rising quite steeply from the River Thames as I remember from my first visit to the area when still in short trousers, trudging up a long hill holding my mother’s hand to visit some distant relatives, whose names I no longer remember, nor exactly where they lived. Their back garden went up steeply behind the terrace house.
I don’t think it was this road was the one I walked up back then, but it was still hilly and you can see the houses going down on both sides and I think in the distance to trees and buildings on the other side of the river.
Park, Plumstead Common, Plumstead, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1994, 94-809-61
The previous picture was taken just a few yards from Winn’s Common, one of several areas also including Bleak Hill and The Slade which make up Plumstead Common. I think this is close to Lakedale Road and shows the foundations of a building with beyond it the rose garden in the next picture.
Park, Plumstead Common, Plumstead, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1994, 94-808-13
I made several other pictures on Plumstead Common, though I can’t remember exactly where on the common this was and can find no traces now of this sunken garden with walkways which must once have been covered by plants and flowers but seem to have left in a semi-derelict state, though there are still some rose bushes.
Here I deliberately tilted the panoramic camera to give a curved horizon rather than try to level it with a spirit level as I usually did, partly to include the lower edge of the bushes and small trees, but also to create a kind of enclosed space.
Across the common is a pub, the Woodman, one of the 5 Plumstead Common Idlers, ‘the Woodman who never felled a tree’ at 35 The Slade.
“The Star which doesn’t shine in the sky, the Woodman who doesn’t cut down trees, the Ship that cannot sail the seas, the Mill which doesn’t grind corn, and Who’d a Thought it!”
Radnor Crescent is some distance to the east on the edge of Winn’s Common and I’m not sure exactly which direction I was looking to make this picture, perhaps looking towreds Shooters Hill.
Waste Land, Woolwich Church St, Woolwich Ferry, River Thames, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1994, 94-807-42
From here I walked to Woolwich and the Woolwich Ferry. More pictures from Woolwich in a later post.
Belvedere Riverside & Plumstead: Some more pictures including some panoramas from my Thames riverside walk on Monday 1st August 1994, and a few from Plumstead a few days later.
Ford Ferry, Pier, River Thames, Belvedere, Bexley, 1994, 94-805-22
Ford at Dagenham was just on the opposite bank of the Thames, with a Ford ship moored in front of it and some ominous black smoke rising.
But although the Ford was only around 600 metres away, the fastest route for workers driving from here to the factory was around 15 miles. Taking the Woolwich ferry would take a couple of miles off this, but be slower.
Ford Ferry, Pier, River Thames, Belvedere, Bexley, 1994, 94-802-11
Many of Ford’s workers did live south of the river, either in Thamesmead or further away, and Ford provided a large suppposedly secure car park here from which they could walk down the pier to the Ford Ferry to take them across the river.
Ford had come to Dagenham in 1929 and opened the factory in 1931. They set up the private ferry for workers living in Kent in 1933. In its heyday it made 50 crossings a day taking as many as 1,500 workers to and from the plant, but after vehicle production ended with the plant turning to making engines it was only taking around 240 across and Ford discontinued it in 2003. Eventually they were forced to pay around half a million in compensation and to provide a bus service instead.
Much earlier there had been a Pilgrims ferry from Rainham to Erith, for pilgrims on their way to Canterbury, said to have begun in 1199 and to have continued in use until the mid 1950s.
Riverside Path, River Thames, Belvedere, Bexley, 1994, 94-802-12
Around here I turned back towards Erith, taking some more pictures on my way (some of which were included in my previous post.)
Riverside Path, River Thames, Belvedere, Bexley, 1994, 94-802-13
I can’t now remember exactly where on the path this was, but I think I walked all the way back to Erith and to the station there.
Penny’s Cafe, Motor Auctions, Manor Road, Erith, Bexley, 1994, 94-803-32
Finally from that day in Erith, one I took earlier around the start of my walk but failed to post previously. Manor Road leads out east from Erith and was then an industrial area.
This Café (and Motor Auctions) had also clearly once been a factory and still catered for workers in nearby factories. Facebook posts say it had been an engineering factory called Ivor & Jettage, that the café was full of boxing photos and that its yard, used for motor auctions and later car boot sales on Sundays, was in 2024 a scaffolding yard. But I have been unable to confirm this.
Nathan Way, Plumstead, Greenwich, 1994, 94-806-52
A few days after my Erith walk I was back not far away in Plumstead, and made just a handful of colour images including these three.
This picture was made from The Ridgeway a foot and cycle path on top of the Southern Outfall Sewer from Plumstead to Crossness. Nathan Way runs for around 600 metres just to the north of this and most industrial sites along here were demolished by 2015 and are being replaced by a huge estate of blocks of flats, Lombard Square, with 1,913 new homes. The first were finished in 2025.
Nathan Way, Plumstead, Greenwich, 1994, 94-805-24
Another image from The Greenway not far from where I made the panorama above. From 1888-90 here or close by Royal Arsenal football team played here at what became the Manor Ground. They moved next to Woolwich, becoming Woolwich Arsenal but soon found the rent there too high and moved back. They played their last game here in 1913 before moving to Highbury in North London – and of course losing the Woolwich.
Some industry remains at the east end of this stretch of Nathan Way but I’m not sure this includes any in my picture.
Nathan Way is a long road leading from Plumsteaad to Thamesmead and I think this may have been on the corner with Kellner Road.. But the name repeated on the lorry and the large modern shed behind as well as on what was perhas a small shed in the foreground was unmissable. I just had to make a Panorama.
Tony’s Snack Bar, Nathan Way, Plumstead, Greenwich, 1994, 94-805-26
I think the building at left it 115 Nathan Way, now occupied by Hydraquip Hose & Hydraulics, while behind are the roofs of Belmarsh Prison. But the picture is about the mobile snack bar here and the neat empty row of six white chairs for its then non-existent customers.
My walk continued on into Thamesmead but although I took quite a few black and white pictures I can’t at the moment find any more colour – and perhaps I took none.
Springfield Grove estate, Charlton Rd, Charlton, Greenwich, 1990, 90-1j-62
This estate was built on what had earlier been the site of the late 17th Century Springfield House, which was demolished just before the Second World War – the LCC had bought Stonefield Farm in 1927 for the Thornhill Estate. During the war there was a pig farm on the site. Springfield House took its name from a spring here which ran down in a valley here when the house was built. and though it is sometimes described as a wooded combe (dry valley) construction of the estate was held up in 1949 by the spring having to be stemmed and the ten blocks date from 1951-2.
The blocks were named with associations to previous Lords of the Manor of Charlton “Bayeaux – Bishop Odo of Bayeaux ; Downe & Ducie – Sir Wm.Ducie created Vise.Downe ; Erskine – Sir John Erskine Games – Wm.Langhorn Games ; Langhorne – Sir Wm.Langhorn, Mar – Earl of Mar (Sir J.Erskine) ; Priory – Priory of Bermondsey and Wilson – Sir Thos. Wilson 6th Bt. who married into the Maryon family, owners of the Manor & Estates.“
These ten brick LCC point blocks in the Sparingfield Grove Estate (also known as Thornill Estate which it adjoined) were built around 1950, and the view between the towers here is described in the conservation area document as the most dramatic of the “number of good panoramic vistas” from the escarpment here, with a view towards the Thames and central London. The estate was built by the LCC but was transferred to the London Borough of Greenwich when that was set up and then in 1999 to a housing association. In 2012 the blocks were clad hiding the brickwork, which although I think is aesthetically poorer will have been much appreciated by residents for increasing their comfort.
I walked along here, but perhaps the best way to appreciate the views is from the upper deck of a bus going along Charlton Road or Charlton Church Lane.
War Memorial, Drinking Fountain, Public Toilets, Charlton House, Charlton Church Lane, The Village, Charlton, Greenwich, 1990, 90-1j-54
The triangle in the middle of the junction between Charlton Church Lane and The Village would, apart from the traffic be a pleasant place to sit and there is now a seat between the war memorial and the drinking fountain, though I think you need to bring your own drink. Most of our old drinking fountains have been disconnected for hygienic reasons, though London does now have some new ones. At least in winter you can see a wide variety of architecture, though trees tend to block some views for the rest of the year.
The cattle trough which replaced the old village stocks must I think have been just out of my picture on the left and like the drinking fountain was erected to commemorate the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902, together costing £247 donated by local residents and Sir Spencer Maryon Wilson, 11th Bart – who gets his name on the side of the trough. The fountain was damaged in 1980 when a driver without tax or licence drove into it; Greenwich Council decided they could not afford the £3,000 needed to repair it, but local residents again reached into their pockets.
Charlton House, The Village, Charlton, Greenwich, 1990, 90-1j-66
Charlton House is said to be the “finest Jacobean mansion in all London”, designed by architect John Thorpe, said to have been the inventor of “humble and now-ubiquitous corridor” which allowed independent entrance to the various rooms of a grand house – previously each room had led through doors to the next in what was know an an enfilade.
The house was first opened to the public in 1909 with the one shilling (5p) entry fee going to provide free lunches for the children of Deptford. Now in public ownership for 100 years it is one of the few things that cost less than then, with house and grounds free to the public.
The large classical arch was once the entrance to the grounds but is now isolate, all on its own in a large area of grass.
Part of the house was badly damaged by wartime bombing in 1944 but has been carefully restored, and perhaps the only visible sign is a slightly lighter colour to the bricks used – and apparently the sundial between the first and second floor windows was fitted upside down.
The house was built by the crown for Prince Henry, the son of James I, and older brother of the future Charles I and his then tutor, Sir Adam Newton who was Dean of Durham, though hardly convenient for him as the 260 mile commute would then have taken several days. But I imagine he could claim his salary while working from home despite there being no internet connection.
The house has a grandly decorated doorway.
Roman Stone, Acorn, Charlton House, Charlton, Greenwich, 1990, 1990, 90-1j-45
Charlton was of course long famous for its Horn Fair, held not at Charlton House on the top of the hill but at Cuckold’s Point on the River Thames. It was described by Daniel Defoe as a “yearly collected rabble of mad-people” which “ought to be suppressed, and indeed in a civiliz’d well govern’d nation, it may well be said to be unsufferable” and at which “the women are especially impudent for that day; as if it was a day that justify’d the giving themselves a loose to all manner of indecency and immodesty, without any reproach“.
And in 1872 it was suppressed but a considerably “tamer version of the fair was re-established in 1973 in the grounds of Charlton House“. I went at least once and was disappointed, particularly by the lack of female impudence.
The ‘Roman Stone’ is not of course Roman, but an artificial stone probably bound together with Portland Cement (invented by Joseph Aspdin in 1824) much used for garden ornaments in the Victorian era and beyond. These materials can be moulded using sand moulds.
Woodland Terrace, from Maryon Park, Charlton, Greenwich, 1990, 90-1j-25
Woodland Terrace is in what was a large wooded area known as Hanging Woods which hung on the side of the slopes rising from the River Thames here. The main Dover Road runs through these woods and Shooters Hill was a popular haunt for highwaymen, though less popular for travellers. Hanging Woods was a wild wooded area good for the gentlemen of the highway to hang out and evade pursuit.
Maryon Park, Charlton, Greenwich, 1990, 90-1j-11
Maryon Park is a former quarry, part of Charlton sandpits on the edge of Hanging Wood, which the Maryon-Wilson family gave to the LCC in 1891. The sandpits were dug in the 18th and 19th centuries for sand in the local foundries and for making glass, and there were also chalk pits nearer to the river. One of the four pits, Charlton Station Pit is now The Valley, home to Charlton Athletic Football Club, and another, Gilbert’s Pit, is part of a nature reserve. The East Pit is Maryon Park, along with an un-quarried ridge on its west side.
Maryon Park, Charlton, Greenwich, 1990, 90-1j-15
On the Charlton Parks Reminiscence Project you can read a great deal about the history of the park which was opened in 1890. Serpentine fenced paths lead down from Woodland Terrace to the floor of the park below. The park’s moment of fame came in 1966 with the filming there in Michelangelo Antonioni’s ‘Blow Up‘ featuring David Hemmings, and Vanessa Redgrave. A YouTube video ‘Blow Up Revisited‘ intercuts scenes from the film with those taken in the same areas of the park in 2010.
I’d photographed the park in 1985 and in 1990 only too a few pictures of some of the fences before rushing to the station to catch a train towards home.
Around Shooters Hill Road: Continuing my walk on Saturday 20th January 1990 which began with the previous post, Westcombe Park and Blackheath 1990.
Heath House, 1 Shooters Hill Rd, Greenwich, 1990, 90-1i-34
This is an area full of mostly large houses, and this, at 1B Shooters Hill on the corner of Vanbrugh Terrace – the A2 ancient main road Watling Street from London to Dover via Canterbury – is one of the larger and is extended by the substantial conservatory.
According to its Grade II listing it was “built by Benjamin Cooke the cooper and shipowner of Dock Head, Bermondsey, about 1850” though the glazed conservatory was a later extension.
House, 19, Shooters Hill Rd, Greenwich, 1990, 90-1i-21
One of a long line of large houses on the north of Shooters Hill Road Grade II listed as 7-33 Shooters Hill Road. The listing is rather vague about dates, stating “2nd quarter of C19” and is mainly about the relatively minor differences between the pairs of houses mentioning the extra windows of 19 and its pair 21 at each side of the tympanum – probably why I chose this pair as one of two I photographed (the other not online.)
Houses, Stratheden Rd, Greenwich, 1990, 90-1i-24
I turned northeast from Shooters Hill up Stratheden Road, to photograph this impressive row of late Victorian large semi-detached houses leading up to St John the Evangelist Church. Two of the blocks at 15-17 have been joined with a new central entrance as Bardon Lodge.
St John the Evangelist Blackheath was designed by Arthur Ashpitel (1807–1869) in a largely Perpendicular style and was completed in 1853. It was built as a landmark to be seen from the west as the centre of the Vanbrugh Park development and is Grade II listed.
House, St John’s Park, Greenwich, 1990, 90-1i-26
This house immediately to the south of St John’s Church in St John’s Park was then surrounded by far more overgrown vegetation than now. There are two similar detached houses here and this is No 32. I saw it as a villa in some Gothic mystery – and may have deliberately chosen the viewpoint to exaggerate this.
These two detached villas are both locally listed and were built in 1873.
House, Vanbrugh Park, Shooters Hill, Greenwich, 1990, 90-1i-11
I’m rather surprised I didn’t photograph the rather fine pub on the corner as I turned from Stratheden Road into Vanbrugh Park, but my next frame was of these three storey houses at 30 and 31 Vanbrugh Park – there is another pair to their left.
I think these are probably late Victorian, built after many of the others in this street.
House, 90, Shooters Hill Rd, Charlton, Greenwich, 1990, 90-1i-14
Originally this was a semi-detached house, but the left half was lost with the construction of the ‘Sun in the Sands’ roundabout to take Shooters Hill Road over the the Rochester Way Relief Road which opened in 1988.
More Colour From New Charlton: I think all of these pictures were taken in May 1995, the panoramic examples being made using a swing lens panoramic camera, probably the Horizon 202 from the Krasnogorsky Mechanicheskiy Zavod (KMZ) factory in Krasnogorsk near Moscow. This uses clockwork to rotate a 28mm f2.8 lens around a little over 120 degrees, keeping the lens to film distance constant by having the film in a curve around the axis of rotation. The camera made negatives 58mm long and 24mm tall on normal 35mm film, giving around 20 exposures from a normal ’36 exposure’ cassette.
Willoughby Way, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95p5-671
The film was exposed though a rotating slit behind the lens and different shutter speeds were obtained by altering the slit width. There were only two rotation speeds and for the faster speeds – 1/60 s, 1/125 s, and 1/250 s – the rotation took around a thirtieth of a second, enabling me to use the camera without a tripod.
Thames Path, Lombard Wall, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95p5-662
The lens focus was fixed and I think I usually worked at f8 which meant everything from a few metres away to infinity was sharp. The camera had a spirit level as by keeping the camera level vertical lines were rendered straight in the image. Horizontal lines away from the centre of the image become curved as you can see in some of these images, and care in composition was needed to stop these effects dominating the pictures.
Mudlarks Way, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95p7-161
The image quality was much the same as that from my several times more expensive Japanese Widelux f8 swing lens camera, but the Horizon had a useable viewfinder and was easier to use handheld. Though I think for most of my walks back in 1995 I was still carrying a rather large, heavy and solid Manfrotto tripod. I liked it because it could hold the camera absolutely steady at my eye level – and unless there was good reason not to do so I always preferred to view from that height.
Andrews Sykes, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95c5-832
But I was also photographing with more conventional cameras, and usually had two Olympus OM4 bodies, one with black and white and the other with colour negative film. Although I had a fairly full range of lenses, the great majority of the pictures were made using an Olympus 35mm shift lens.
Bugsby’s Way, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95-5o-66, 1995, 95c5-825
In particular this allowed me to place the horizon in the images below or above the centre of the frame without tilting the camera which would have resulted in converging or diverging verticals. As well as shifting the optical elements up and down the lens mount allowed the lens to move to either side which also gave more control over framing.
Works, Mudlarks Way, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95c5-823
This area beside the Thames was then almost entirely industrial with aggregate wharves and some commercial premises. On other occasions I took more pictures along the riverside path which in the following year became a part of the Thames Path.
Rathmore Benches & Greyladies – New Charlton 1995: You can still see these mosaic decorated concrete benches on Troughton Rd and around the corner in Rathmore Rd. A short walk from Charlton Station, the building they are outside has for some years been the New Covenant Church Charlton.
Rathmore Community Centre & Rathmore Benches (Former Good Shepherd Mission Hall), 61a, Troughton Road, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95c5-714
The mosaic covered benches were installed here together with a mural on the walls behind in 1980. By 1995 the mural had been painted over but the benches remained, still in fairly good condition.
Rathmore Community Centre & Rathmore Benches (Former Good Shepherd Mission Hall), 61a, Troughton Road, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95c5-713
The benches were created as a part of a ‘Past, Present and Future of Charlton‘ project with the help of adults and children from the community centre by Greenwich Mural Workshop, who got funding to restore them in 2019 as they had suffered from wear and tear and some vandalism.
Rathmore Community Centre & Rathmore Benches (Former Good Shepherd Mission Hall), 61a, Troughton Road, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95c5-835
On the For Walls With Tongues web site of Greenwich Mural Workshop you can see pictures of the missing mural as well as the benches and learn more about their creation.
Rathmore Community Centre & Rathmore Benches (Former Good Shepherd Mission Hall), 61a, Troughton Road, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95c5-834
The centre had been built as the Good Shepherd Mission Hall and the Greenwich Local Heritage List states it is a 200-seater mission hall built 1900 to designs of architect J Rowland and was developed from Holy Trinity Mission run by Greyladies College.
Rathmore Community Centre & Rathmore Benches (Former Good Shepherd Mission Hall), 61a, Troughton Road, New Charlton, Greenwich, 1995, 95c5-833
Greyladies College for Women Workers was based in Dartmouth Row , in “a delightful country house, once the mansion of Lord Dartmouth, and stands on the breezy heights of Blackheath, in the midst of its own beautiful grounds, and with far-stretching views over the surrounding country to the Crystal Palace.“
“The great aim of the Greyladies’ College is to bring together lonely women working in isolation without a definite plan, and also women who are possibly daughters in a large family and find it difficult to separate themselves from social distraction in order to follow religious and philanthropic work.“
The Greyladies worked in 22 parishes in South London “helping in the work of the Church of England under the incumbents of the diocese.” The description of them in Volume 1 of Every Woman’s Encylclopaedia published in 1910-12 is fascinatingly and charmingly dated.
Deptford & Greenwich: Some pictures from two bike rides in April 2005, the second cut rather short by a puncture, around one of my favourite areas of London, mainly along the southern bank of the River Thames. The area has changed fairly dramatically in recent years with new blocks of riverside flats replacing riverside industry, much of which had already ceased work by 2005. I first photographed here around 1980 and it still now makes an interesting walk (or ride) and I’ve done most or all of it a few times since 2005.
River Thames and Drydock, North Greenwich.
As usual I’ll post a slightly amended version of what I wrote at the time on My London Diary together with links to that site which has some more pictures. But I didn’t write anything about the actual pictures except the captions.
Reflection of the Laban building in Deptford Creek, London.
It was a fine sunny day on Thursday 21 April 2005 and I put my Brompton folding bike on the train to Waterloo, then cycled east from there to Deptford and Geenwich, taking another trip along one of my favourite riverside paths around the Greenwich Peninsula.
Trinity Square, Southwark, London SE1. Church is now a rehearsal studio
North Greenwich is still interesting, although the area by the Dome is now rather bleak. Time went surprisingly quickly, and I had only got just past the Dome when it was time to make my way back.
Dry Dock, North Greenwich, London.
Just over a week later I tried to take up the ride from where I left off, but only made it as far as the footbridge over Deptford Creek, when I heard a loud bang as my rear tyre punctured. I should have stopped, mended the puncture and gone on, but I couldn’t face it.
Deptford Creek close to its junction with RIver Thames, Deptford, London.
I wheeled the bike to Greenwich station, got on the train and came home. One of my few gripes about the Brompton is that mending punctures is a bit of a pain; the small tyres are hard to take off and even harder to replace, and if you want to take the rear wheel off, it is a rather tricky business that I’ve yet to master. I have tyres with kevlar inserts that are supposed to be puncture-resistant, but they don’t seem very effective.
Canary Wharf and River Thames from North Greenwich, London
After I’d arrived home and had a cup of coffee, the puncture turned out to be a straightforward job.
Ship breaker’s yard, North Greenwich, London, April 2005Doorway, Albury St, Deptford,St Pauls, Deptford, London built by Thomas Archer in 1713Laban dance centreDeptford Creek
