Posts Tagged ‘Hoe St’

1995 Colour – Part 1

Thursday, January 9th, 2025

1995 Colour – Part 1: The first of a series of posts on my colour work, mainly in London, from 1995, 35 years ago and when I’d been working extensively with colour negative film for ten years, though still continuing to work with black and white.

1995 Colour - Part 1
Car Wash, St Paul’s Cray, Bromley, 1995, 95c01-122

Although I’d always taken both colour and black and white photographs since I began in photography, black and white had dominated my work. It was still the serious side of photography in the 1970s; almost all gallery shows then were black and white, and most publications were still only printed in monochrome, including photographic magazines, although some occasionally had a few colour pages.

1995 Colour - Part 1
Frost & Smith, Accident Repairs, Cray Rd, Bexley, 1995, 95c01-123

And back then, almost all professional colour was taken using colour slide film such as Ektachrome and Kodachrome. Films were mainly sold inclusive of processing and you sent away your exposed film and a few days later s box of slides came back through the post. Professionals might use Ektachrome and take it to a lab for processing, but that worked out more expensive, though you could get the results in an hour or so.

1995 Colour - Part 1
St Paul’s Cray, Bromley, 1995, 95c01-132

I was interested in colour but in the early years took far fewer colour images, largely because of the cost, though I did cut this down by buying colour film in bulk and home processing, though this needed much tighter control of time and temperature than black and white and the results were not always quite as they should have been.

1995 Colour - Part 1
Hi-Q, Tyres, Sevenoaks Way, St Paul’s Cray, Bromley, 1995, 95c01-133

Most photographers at the time felt that colour negative film was only for amateurs, but two things changed that for me. One was my frustration with transparency film which simply could not handle many of the high contrast scenes I was interested in, giving impenetrable shadows where I wanted detail and the second was seeing some prints produced by another photographer, printed on Fuji paper.

1995 Colour - Part 1
Opticians, Walthamstow, 1994, Waltham Forest, 95c01-141

There was a clarity about the colours that this paper gave when compared with Kodak, Agfa and the others, but the other great advantage was that there was little or no colour shift with exposure. This meant that I could dodge and burn prints with a similar creative control to working with black and white.

Chinese Takeaway, Hoe St, Walthamstow, 1994, 95c01-155

Some time early in 1985 I made the decision to switch entirely from transparency to negative for all of my personal colour work.

Belvedere, Bexley, 1994, 95c01-161

This post is the first of a number which will show some of my colour images from 1995.

Belvedere, Bexley, 1994, 95c01-163

These pictures were all made in December 1994 or January 1995 with some 1994 images only being processed in January 1995.

War Memorial, Callender’s Cables, Church Manorway, Belvedere, Bexley, 1994, 95c01-165

I’ll publish more in later posts, perhaps also including some of the colour panoramas I made. There is much more of my colour work on film in a number of Flickr albums.


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Sheds, Turnpike Lane, Saris & Shops – 1989

Monday, November 25th, 2024

Sheds, Turnpike Lane, Saris & Shops: You can read the previous post on my walk which began on Sunday 12th November 1989 at Salvation, Statuettes, a Sexy Model, Spendel & More where it starts halfway down the page. It had begun in Walthamstow where I made about a dozen images before catching the tube and returning to Turnpike Lane where I had ended my walk the week before.

Carr Portable Buildings, 66-68, Hoe St, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-11c-44
Carr Portable Buildings, 66-68, Hoe St, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-11c-44

On my way to Walthamstow Central I took this picture on Hoe Street on the corner of Gaywood Road where sheds like these were still being sold by Carr Portable Buildings Ltd until around 2008 and a couple of years later by Garden Design Services, though the site gradually became empty and was looking derelict by 2014. Two floors of flats above a ground floor shop built in 2018 now occupy the site.

I liked the horizontal divide with its upper level of sheds and plant containers which seemed to be a new ground level above the lower sheds.

Turnpike Lane Station, Turnpike Lane, Haringey 1989 89-11c-36
Turnpike Lane Station, Turnpike Lane, Haringey 1989 89-11c-36

On reaching Turnpike Lane I spent some time wandering around the station and bus station area. admiring the 1930s architecture designed by Charles Holden.

The station opened in 1932 and was the first Underground station in Tottenham. Previously the line had ended at Finsbury Park with further extension north having been vetoed by what had become the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). But the LNER lacked the funds to introduce better services on their lines and a campaign by residents of North London together with the Underground in the 1920s eventually led to the extension to Cockfosters being approved by parliament in 1930.

At Turnpike Lane Station the development also included a tram terminus – later used as a bus station and a number of shops. I think it is probably the largest of Holden’s many fine station projects on the line.

Saris, Shop Window, Westbury Ave, Turnpike Lane, Haringey 1989 89-11c-33
Saris, Shop Window, Westbury Ave, Turnpike Lane, Haringey 1989 89-11c-33

One of the many shops in the area around Turnpike Lane station which caught my attention particularly for the stylized ‘hair’ and eyes of the three mannequins iin the shop window. I covered the window glass with my hands and arms to prevent reflections but the chimneys of the street opposite intrude slightly at top centre and there is a strip of light at far right. I quite like the effect.

Shop window, High Rd, Wood Green, Haringey, 1989 89-11c-34
Shop window, High Rd, Wood Green, Haringey, 1989 89-11c-34

This was a strange shop display and one which I still cannot quite understand, with at least one ghostly pillar as well as those more obvious ones, with the foreground brightly lit one having a dim but otherwise identical repeat to its left. It’s hard to tell from my image what the goods on display are, some looking like buttons and others like earrings and jewellery. wit at extreme right perhaps some clothing.

Scales SuperMarket, West Green Rd, West Green, Haringey 1989 89-11c-22
Scales SuperMarket, West Green Rd, West Green, Haringey 1989 89-11c-22

A rather more down-market shop on West Green Lane a little to the south in Duckett’s Green – one of the other names considered when Turnpike Lane station was in planning.

I particularly liked the hand=drawn partly 3D lettering of the shop sign. Clearly this shop has been visited by supporters of Newcastle United – probably lost on their way to or from White Hart Lane.

There are still many small shops along West Green Road, but I think this particular one has gone. I didn’t walk far down West Green Road before returning to Turnpike Lane where this short walk ended as I had a meeting to attend.


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Car Park, Angel, Works, Off-Sales, Co-op & Carnival Hats – Walthamstow 1989

Sunday, November 10th, 2024

Car Park, Angel, Works, Off-Sales, Co-op & Carnival Hats: I started my walk on Sunday 5th November 1989 at Walthamstow Central Station, and walked west down Selbourne Road.

Car Park, Selbourne Rd, Vernon Rd, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-11b-15
Car Park, Selbourne Rd, Vernon Rd, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-11b-15

This is Sainsbury’s multistory Car Park on the corner of Selbourne Rd and Vernon Rd and there is a very solid looking rectangular box brick building under the curves of the incline up to the parking space, with anther rectangle, the back of the sign and a very small circle of a car tyre at the extreme right.

Angel, Cemetery, Queen's Rd, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-11d-51
Angel, Cemetery, Queen’s Rd, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-11d-51

I think I walked into Walthamstow cemetery to photograph the chapel there which I’ve not digitised but I also photographed several memorials including this one which I think attracted me because of the feathers on the wing and roses.

Industrial Estate, Lennox Rd, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-11d-52
Industrial Estate, Lennox Rd, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-11d-52

There is still a Lennox Trading Estate here, and I think the same gates, although the writing on it is smaller and more regular but otherwise everything looks much the same.

Lennox Road is a short street and its southern side has no buildings but simply the fence of Thomas Gamuel Park, which was re-designed in the 1990s. So the consecutive numbering 82-83 made some sense. The area to the west of the trading estate and the park has been comprehensively redeveloped with low rise housing around Lennox Road.

Thomas Gamuelwas a rich London grocer living in Walthamstow who bequeathed six acres of land known then as Honeybone Field and Markhouse Common, to six trustees, so that rent and profits from this land would be paid to the poor of the parish.”

Shop, Collingwood Rd, Chelmsford Rd, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-11d-54
Shop, Collingwood Rd, Chelmsford Rd, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-11d-54

Chelmsford Road runs down the east side of Thomas Gamuel Park and this former off-license on the corner looked as if it had recently closed with a notice on its side ‘SHOP / YARD & GARAGE STORE TO LET NO PREMIUM’.

The sign and the lamp at the corner suggested to me it had once been a pub rather than just an off-licence though the building seemed too small, but I can find no evidence for this. Both these and the shop front have now gone and the property is now residential including a first floor flat.

Former Co-op, Hoe St, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-11d-42
Former Co-op, Hoe St, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-11d-42

I walked down Collingwood Road into St Barnabas Road where I photographed the Safford Hall and the church (not digitised) and then made my way north to Queens Road to cross the railway line and get to Hoe Street, where I made this image.

The beehive was a common cooperative symbol and appears several times on this building along with its date, 1915. For many years it was all the London Co-operative Society store but now only a small section at the northern end is a part of the Co-op, Wathamstow Funeralcare. The London Co-operative Society was formed in 1920 by the merger of the Stratford Co-operative Society and the Edmonton Co-operative Society and I think this was built for the Stratford society.

Wholesalers, Albert Rd, Hoe St, Hoe St, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-11d-43
Wholesalers, Albert Rd, Hoe St, Hoe St, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-11d-43

A few yards north along Hoe Street I took a couple of pictures of the business on the corner with Albert Road

I loved the detailing here with a rather glum looking face holding up a column beside the door. Unfortunately I can’t read the first word of the name of the company here from the angle I photographed this or the next frame, just DISTRIBUTORS LTD. But it did seem a slightly unusual trade to be WHOLESALERS OF CARNIVAL HATS & NOVELTIES.

This property is now entirely residential a has a new fence on top of a low wall around it with a small garden area.

House, 62a, Stroud Green Road, Finsbury Park, Haringey 1989 89-11d-45
House, 62a, Stroud Green Road, Finsbury Park, Haringey 1989 89-11d-45

At this point I went to Walthamstow Central Station and took the Victoria Line to Finsbury Park. I can’t now remember why I decided to move to a different area but perhaps I simply thought the park at Finsbury Park would be a pleasant place eat my sandwich lunch. I left the station by the Wells terrace entrance and walked along to Stroud Green Road.

As well as the slightly unusual doorway, it seemed to be almost barricaded by the plants growing in front to the door, but the stairs on the outside suggested an alternative entry.

More from Finsbury Park in a later post.


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Mecca, Statues, Bakers, Ladders, Timber… 1989

Wednesday, July 3rd, 2024

Mecca, Statues, Bakers Ladders, Timber… Continuing my walk on Sunday September 3rd 1989 which had begun in Stratford, from which some images appeared in my web site and self-published book ‘1989’, ISBN: 978-1-909363-01-4, still available. The pictures here are in the order I took them. For those images which were in the book I’ll show the book pages here.

Mecca, Bingo Hall, 468, Hoe St, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-9a-11
Mecca, Bingo Hall, 468, Hoe St, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-9a-11

Back at the Bakers Arms after a little stroll on Leyton Flats I found this closed Mecca Leisure Bingo Hall on Hoe Street, its ground floor frontage covered with flyposting. Cinema Treasures says it opened as The Scala Cinema in 1913, was renamed the Plaza Cinema in 1931 and then closed, reopening in 1933. After its next name change in 1961 to The Cameo Cinema in 1961 it kept going for two years before becoming a Mecca Bingo Club. Left derelict for 18 years after this closed in 1986, it was taken over by a church in 2004, Grade II listed in 2006 and now looks much better. The listing text calls it the Former Empress Cinema and notes its still existing elaborate interior plasterwork.

Mecca, Statues, Bakers Ladders, Timber
Child mannequins, shop window, Hoe St, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-9a-12

London Master Bakers, Benevolent Institution, Lea Bridge Rd, Leyton, 1989 89-9a-13 1989 89-9a-13
London Master Bakers, Benevolent Institution, 551, Lea Bridge Rd, Leyton, 1989 89-9a-13 1989 89-9a-13

The London Master Bakers’ Pension Society (now the Bakers’ Benevolent Society) was founded in 1832 and in 1854 decided to build almshouses. The foundation stone for the first was laid in 1857 and the first block of 18 were finished by 1861 and the rest by 1866, providing homes for elderly poor bakers and their widows.

In the late 1960s the site was purchased, probably as a part of a GLC road-widening scheme and the Bakers moved out to new villas in Epping. The almshouses were saved from further threats to demolish them by Grade II listing in 1971 and were purchased by Waltham Forest Council for use as 1-bed flats.

Mecca, Statues, Bakers Ladders, Timber
Drew, Clark & Co, Ladders, Lea Bridge Rd, Leyton, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-9b-61

This is now Clow Group Ltd, Diamond Ladder Factory, still in this shop on the corner of Shortlands Rd.

Bakers Arms Tyre & Brake Co, 545, Lea Bridge Rd, Leyton,  Waltham Forest, 1989 89-9b-62
Bakers Arms Tyre & Brake Co, 545, Lea Bridge Rd, Leyton, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-9b-62

Rather to my surprise this corner of Russel Road and Lea Bridge Road still looks remarkably similar although the names have changed and the central buildings have been rebuilt, I think with a slightly wider pavement. But it still sells tyres and cars and there is still a shed on the corner, though no longer named the DUCK INN, and the buildings down Russell Road still look much the same.

Mecca, Statues, Bakers Ladders, Timber
Statues, Capworth St, Leyton, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-9b-64

House, 27, Capworth St, Leyton,  Waltham Forest, 1989 89-9b-66
House, 27, Capworth St, Leyton, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-9b-66

This house was demolished to build a modern office for the Capworth Panel & Timber Co Ltd, which was dissolved in 2012. As well as the main house all of the sheds and buidings at right also went.

The house had obviously seen grander days, and I wonder it it had originally had a carriage entrance at left where the brickwork does not quite match and the window and door are clearly much more modern, perhaps having been added at the same time as the first floor windows were given a makeover probably in the 1930s or 50s.

I still had time to continue my wandering around the area and take a few more pictures and will post a final set from this walk shortly.


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