Posts Tagged ‘printers’

Scott St Chapel and Beverley Rd

Wednesday, March 27th, 2024

Scott St Chapel and Beverley Rd: More pictures I made in Hull in August 1989 before and after a week with family and friends in Scotland.

Mason & Jackson, Printers, Scott St, Hull, 1989 89-8f-43
Mason & Jackson, Printers, Scott St, Hull, 1989 89-8f-43

This building was on the corner of Scott Street and Carr St, a short street that ended at the Cottingham Drain.

It was builtaround 1803/4 as a Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, one of the first in Hull, and the first in the then fast growing area of Sculcoates and had seating for 531 worshippers. The plain brick was coated with stucco some time in the mid 19th century and the building is mentioned in the Hull pages of Pevsner. Later the population of Sculcoates fell as the area became more industrial and new Methodist churches opened elsewhere in Hull. By 1910 the chapel became a printing works, still in use by Mason and Jackson Ltd until 1997 – you can read more details and see pictures in Paul Gibson’s Hull & East Yorkshire History. Sadly efforts by Gibson and others to get this buidling listed were refused and it was bought and demolished to provide more lorry parking for Maizcor in 2001.

Mason & Jackson, Printers, Scott St, Hull, 1989 89-8f-43
Mason & Jackson, Printers, Scott St, Hull, 1989 89-8f-43

This had been the front entrance to the chapel on Scott Street.

Mason & Jackson, Printers, Carr St, Scott St, Hull, 1989 89-8f-45
Mason & Jackson, Printers, Carr St, Scott St, Hull, 1989

A view across Scott Street shows the Carr Street side of the building. Listing was denied on the that the building has been ‘too altered to qualify’, but I think this picture shows that the alterations were only superficial. Paul Gibson’s pictures show that many of the interior features remained. This wasn’t a great building, but a fine example of its type and one of the oldest remaining buildings in the Sculcoates area of Hull. As my picture shows it stood out from the other later buildings on the street some of which still survive.

Gatepost, Royal British Legion, Beverley Rd, Hull, 1989 89-8f-31
Gatepost, Royal British Legion, Beverley Rd, Hull, 1989 89-8f-31

There is an interesting block of 3 houses on Beverley Road immediately north of College Street, and it was that street name which gave me the clue tothe origin of this post, which dates from 1836 when Kingston College was built by Hull’s leading early Victorian architect Henry Francis Lockwood. The college was built just a little to the north and set back from the road and a few yards to the north two more pillars lake this do form a gateway to what is now Kingston Youth centre. The college didn’t last long closing in 1847 and its building was bought and turned into almshouses by Trinity House in 1851. At some time it became the Kingston Youth Centre and was badly mauled and had a sports centre added.

When the two houses at 46-48 were added inside the grounds of the college (then owned by Trinity House) in the 1860s I imagine this pillar was kept but its peer removed. This pillar is stuck rather oddly into the corner of the front yard of No 46, which is perhaps why it is in better shape than the two along the road.

The British Legion are no longer at Kingston Cottage at 44 Beverley Road, which is only locally listed. Also by Lockwood it was built as the Kingston College Lodge. As one of his earliest works it should be listed – at the moment it only has local listing. The college has been so much altered that it would be hard to make out a case for its retention in the lottery funded schemes to rejuvenate the area.

Bull Inn, Stepney School, Stepney Lane, Beverley Rd, Hull, 1989 89-8f-34
Bull Inn, Stepney School, Stepney Lane, Beverley Rd, Hull, 1989 89-8f-34

This grand Grade II listed Victorian style pub at 246 Beverley Road is not quite as old as it looks and was built in 1903 in red brick and terracotta designs of architects Freeman, Son & Gaskell to replace an earlier Bull Inn that had been on the site for around a hundred years. It closed around 2010, briefly reopened in 2011 and was converted to flats in 2017. I chose an angle for the picture which left the fine bull outlined on the shadow side of the more austere building on the opposite side of Stepney Lane, Stepney Board School.

Bull Inn, Stepney School, Stepney Lane, Beverley Rd, Hull, 1989 89-8f-34
Bull Inn, Stepney School, Stepney Lane, Beverley Rd, Hull, 1989 89-8f-34

Stepney Board School, built in 1886, architect W Botterill is also Grade II listed. Its Queen Anne style lacks the exuberance of the pub which had to attract customers while the school had school attendance officers to keep its numbers up.

Beverley Rd area, Hull, 1989 89-8m-26
Reynoldson St, Hull, 1989 89-8m-26

I think you were never far from a boat in Hull, but relatively few parked theirs outside the front door. I couldn’t remember exactly where I made this, but the next few frames I took were all on or just off Beverley Rd. Fortunately when I posted it on Hull: The good old days on Facebook, I got over 30 replies in the next hour telling me.

I kept only very brief notes while I was taking pictures feeling it a getting in the way of my creative processes. Often I’d done considerable research before going out to take pictures and had a good idea of what I would take photographs of, but there were always other things like this that caught my attention. Usually I could remember something about the when I’d developed the film and made the initial contact print, but not this time.

Still some more pictures from Hull before I returned to London.


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Dalston, Shacklewell and Stoke Newington – 1989

Saturday, November 25th, 2023

This post is the second and final part on my walk in Hackney which began with Dalston Doorcases to Marie Lloyd.

German Hospital, Chapel, Ritson Rd, Dalston, Hackney, 1989 89-7k-32
German Hospital, Chapel, Ritson Rd, Dalston, Hackney, 1989 89-7k-32

Founded in 1845 with German staff to provide medical services to German-speaking immigrants who had settled in parts of North London. English staff took over when the German staff were interned in 1940. It became a part of the NHS in 1948, and only closed in 1987. The Grade II listed buildings survive and were converted into affordable flats.

Man on van, Ridley Rd, Dalston, Hackney, 1989 89-7k-33
Man on van, Ridley Rd, Dalston, Hackney, 1989 89-7k-33

I wandered up into Ridley Road where business was beginning to slack off in the market for the day. This man having a cigarette sitting on the bonnet of a van saw my camera and asked me why I was taking photographs. We had a short talk and he insisted I take his photograph, so here he is.

Public Washing Baths, Shacklewell Lane, Shacklewell, Hackney, 1989 89-7k-34
Public Washing Baths, Shacklewell Lane, Shacklewell, Hackney, 1989 89-7k-34

I continued north to Shacklewell Lane and took this picture of the Public Washing Baths, built by the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney in 1931 when many houses in the area were without bathrooms. Many poorer families and single people lived in one or two rooms sometimes without any running water or gas supply in their rooms and shared lavatories and kitchens with other tenants of the buildings.

This bath house provided 24 baths for men, 16 for women and they will have been well used in the early years before slum clearance provided better housing for many in the area. They were damaged by bombing in 1940 and reopened in 1942 and only closed some time in the 1960s. It is now occupied by the Bath House Children’s Community Centre who bought it from Hackney Council in 2002. This is now part of the St Mark’s Conservation Area, designated in 2008.

Works, 124-128 Shacklewell Lane, Hackney Downs, Hackney, 1989 89-7k-36
Works, 124-128 Shacklewell Lane, Hackney Downs, Hackney, 1989 89-7k-36

Built in 1932 as the Albert Works for the printers Henry Hildesley by architects Hobden & Porri, it later became the Rona Fashions House of George Gowns Ltd, but by 1989 their name had been removed from the facade leaving the marks you can see on the horizontals of the building. I think it was then still in use for the rag trade but my picture has the end of the names ‘RONA ROON… and Bab… hidden by the trees of Shacklewell Green.

Robert William Hobden who died in 1921 and Arthur George Porri (1877-1962) whose practice was based in Finsbury Square were responsible for many commercial and public buildings across London in first third of the twentieth century but seem suprisingly little known – perhaps a good subject for some academic research.

Henry Hildesley the printers are best known for the many posters they produced, including some for London Transport and HMSO, with many produced to help the war effort in the 1940s. The building, now called Cotton Lofts is in the Shacklewell Green conservation area designated in 2018 and is now flats.

Houses, Perch St, Hackney Downs, Hackney, 1989 89-7k-22
Houses, Perch St, Hackney Downs, Hackney, 1989 89-7k-22

I can no longer remember the route I took to make the three final images in this post, but they were all made on 27th July 1989.

This terrace was built in 1882 and the conservation area statement calls it and other similar buildings in nearby streets “attractive and architecturally interesting”.

Former synagogue, Montague Road Beth Hamedrash, 62a Montague Rd, Dalston, Hackney, 1989 89-7i-16
Former synagogue, Montague Road Beth Hamedrash, 62a Montague Rd, Dalston, Hackney, 1989 89-7i-16

Founded in 1910, this Strictly Orthodox Ashkenazi synagogue owned by the Federation of Synagogues was closed and the membership merged with the West Hackney Synagogue in 1981. Used for some years by Roots Pool Community Association and Dalston Community Centre it was eventually converted into flats as Montague Court.

Shops, Cazenove Rd, Stoke Newington, Hackney, 1989 89-7k-26
Shops, Cazenove Rd, Stoke Newington, Hackney, 1989 89-7k-26

Possibly I may have taken a bus to pay a visit to Abney Park Cemetery, close to where this final image was made though if so I took no pictures on this occasion, or perhaps just to make this picture.

Shops were added in the front gardens of these houses built in 1878, and that now housing the artist’s house Madame Lillie was initially a carpentry workshop owned by the Wright family. In 1917, when Mrs Wright was a widow, her daughter Lillie opened a corsetry shop, which continued in business until she retired in 1970. In 1973 she sold the shop and house to her young artist nephew Paul David Wright. He converted the premises into studios for artists and a gallery space.

You can read the first part of this walk at Dalston Doorcases to Marie Lloyd.


Naked Ladies, 3 Doors & A New Walk

Tuesday, June 6th, 2023

Naked Ladies, York House Gardens, Twickenham, Richmond 1989 89-5a-53
Naked Ladies, York House Gardens, Twickenham, Richmond 1989 89-5a-53

I took few pictures in the rest of the month after my walk on Sunday 9th April 1989, my time being taken up with other things. I did make a few pictures on a CND demonstration in Lambeth with family and friends which I’ve yet to digitise, and some when the photography adult class on which I was assisting went to photograph Twickenham’s famous ‘Naked Ladies’, who now have a beer named for them. Some of my pictures of this were made on large format 4×5″ film so I could contact print them using historic processes such as platinum and kallitype, and I helped make at least one on 8×10″ for the tutor.

Upper St Martin's Lane, Covent Garden, Westminster, 1989 89-4l-13
Upper St Martin’s Lane, Covent Garden, Westminster, 1989 89-4l-13

And there were a few other pictures such as this, made on my way to the Photographers’ Gallery, then in Great Newport St, a short walk around the corner, or on my way to meetings in other parts of London, and a few closer to home.

Cowley Rd, Myatt's Fields, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-5a-35
Cowley Rd, Myatt’s Fields, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-5a-35

But my next walk to take pictures came on Friday 5th May when I rushed out of college after around four hours of teaching and jumped on a train to Vauxhall and a bus to the Oval, walking down Foxley Road, then Vassal Rd to Cowley Rd, eager to continue to photograph in the area around Myatt’s Fields. I paused to take half a dozen pictures on the way, but have yet to digitise any of these.

Cowley Rd, Myatt's Fields, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-5a-22
Cowley Rd, Myatt’s Fields, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-5a-22

The top end of Cowley Road is in the Vassall Rd conservation area and this terrace is a remnant of the Holland Town Estate development begun by Henry Richard Vassall, Third Baron Holland in 1818 when Camberwell New Road was laid out. This terrace is possibly from around 1830 and its Grade II listing describes it as Early-mid C19.

Cowley Rd, Myatt's Fields, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-5a-25
Cowley Rd, Myatt’s Fields, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-5a-25

No 25 at the right of the previous picture is the last house in this section of the street. On the west side of the road, behind me as I took the picture is a large block of redbrick five-storey council housing, Knowlton House, built by the LCC as part of the Cowley estate in 1934-6. There is another similar block, Stodmarsh House further south on the street.

The park here appears to have had a number of names and is now Eythorne Park, though Google Maps hedges its bets by also calling it Myatt’s Field Common Park and on the old A-Z I used on my walks it was Mostyn Gardens, given to Lambeth Borough Council in 1925 who passed on the the LCC in 1958. They extended and renamed it Melbourne Fields. Parts of it were built on in the 1970s the low-rise Myatts Field North council estate in the 1970s and disastrously redeveloped under a Private Finance Initiative programme hit by various cost-cutting directives and carried out with little or no regard for the residents.

Eythorne Rd, Myatt's Fields, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-5a-26
Eythorne Rd, Myatt’s Fields, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-5a-26

You can see these roofs over the mound in the park in the previous picture, though the park is now flat and surrounded by the redeveloped buildings. These buildings looked in good condition in 1989 and the estate looked well designed and a pleasant place to live. But years of neglect by the council meant that in 2004, as Zoe Williams wrote in The GuardianMyatts Field North in Lambeth, south London, was a byword for what goes wrong on a housing estate. It had been poorly maintained; the interiors were shabby. Garages had become hazardous and were out of bounds; shared spaces were desolate and only teenagers and children used them, “engaged in nothing very positive”, according to a council report at the time.”

The state of the estate in 2004 led residents to vote by a fairly small majority for the council’s plans for regeneration, “demolishing and rebuilding 305 homes, refurbishing 172“, but work only began in 2012, by which time the plans had been considerably altered with cuts to the budget. Five years later when Williams wrote her article the problems with the regeneration were clear, with the refurbished homes poorly plannede and shoddily implemented and the residents many complaints largely simply ignored.

Mike Urban’s 2020 photographs on Brixton Buzz, the prairie like fields of Eythorne Park, Myatt’s Field North, south London, give a good impression of the present state of the park.

St John's Schools, Camberwell New Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-5b-62
St John’s Schools, Camberwell New Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-5b-62

St John The Divine Junior Mixed and Infants School is still there on Camberwell New Road, though ILEA has long gone and the entrance to the school is now on Warham St, as it probably was when I took this picture. The church itself is a short distance away in Vassall St and is a good example of Victorian gothic by George Edmund Street. The parish was created in 1871.

The school, with buildings in Warham St (then James St) opened in 1872 for 400 children but this building on Camberwell New Road came some years later.

Shops, Camberwell New Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-5b-63
Shops, Camberwell New Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-5b-63

The school building in flanked on both sides by shops and is in the centre of a terrace. Edward Wells & Sons Ltd at 143-145 offered a wide range of printing services. I think the businesses closed soon after I made this and other pictures.

My walk will continue in a later post.


East Dulwich and Peckham

Thursday, December 15th, 2022

The previous post on this walk on Sunday 5th February 1989 was The Groves of Camberwell.

Printers, Chadwick Rd, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-2b-46
Cutts & Co, Printers, Chadwick Rd, Bellenden Rd, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-2b-46

Grove Park changes to Chadwick Road on a bridge across the railway which separates Camberwell from Peckham and continues on, with a considerably less wealthy vibe, one side with long terraces of two-storey two bed working-class houses which now sell for around £900,000.

The north side was more varied, with an industrial estate but nothing attracted my photographic interest until this printers and its multiple signs on the corner with Bellenden Road. The sign on the wall is still there but the rest have gone and the ground floor frontage on Bellenden Road looks very different.

The building is now home to MOCA London, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Londonfounded in 1994 as a project based museum which opened a project space here in the Bellenden Renewal Area in 2004.

Front Garden, Ady's Rd, East Dulwich, Southwark, 1989 89-2b-33
Front Garden, Ady’s Rd, East Dulwich, Southwark, 1989 89-2b-33

I turned south down Bellenden Road, made a couple of pictures on Maxtead Road and then went down Oglander Road and into Adys Road where I found this front garden. I couldn’t resist the two donkeys and the gnome in a small car in front of those net curtains. You can see the decorations by the windows of these late Victorian houses which also have fairly impressive rusticated doorways paired together down the street.

Padwick's Crash Repairs, 50 Oglander Rd, East Dulwich, Southwark, 1989 89-2b-34
Padwick’s Crash Repairs, 50 Oglander Rd, East Dulwich, Southwark, 1989 89-2b-34

Back on Oglander Road a little south of Adys Road was Padwick’s Crash Repairs at the end of a terrace of small houses. Those beyond the garage further down the street are larger and semi-detached. I particularly liked the faces on the two archways and the truncation of both archways, the decorage element at each end of the shopfront suggesting it might have been originally built like this rather than a later addition.

Coach entrances like this were common to many businesses in the days of horse-drawn vehicles – and this certainly predates the era of motor transport. This was once a diary and had large associated buildings in a yard behind. The ‘Old Diary’ was demolished in 2020 and I think is being rebuilt as a new gateway to a mews development behind.

Oglander Rd, Maxted Rd, East Dulwich, Southwark, 1989 89-2b-35
Oglander Rd, Maxted Rd, East Dulwich, Southwark, 1989 89-2b-35

The junction of Oglander Road with Maxtted Road, with Wingfield Street more or less opposite, and shops on the street corners. There is still a shop on the other corner of Oglander Road but this Auto Electrics and the ‘Bottle & Cork’ are now residential.

Faith Chapel, Danby St, Bellenden Rd,  Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-2b-22
Faith Chapel, Danby St, Bellenden Rd, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-2b-22

I went up Maxted Rd to Bellenden Rd where I photographed this chapel on the corner of Danby St. Previously this was Hanover Chapel, but was bought by the Pentecostal Faith Chapel in 1978 in a “grossly dilapidated condition, which took nearly a year to renovate.”

The church was built as a United Methodist Free Church and opened in 1885, eight years after its memorial stones had been laid. It had been planned with a spire which was never built. It was sold in 1920 to Hanover Chapel, the oldest non-conformist worshipping community in Peckham, Congregationalists with a history going back to 1657 when the dispossessed Vicar of St Giles, Camberwell the Rev. John Maynard founded a chapel or meeting House in Meeting House Lane.

Blenheim Grove, Rye Lane, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-2b-23
Blenheim Grove, Rye Lane, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-2b-23

I continue up Bellenden Road to Blenheim Grove, walking down this almost to Rye Lane where I photographed the rather fine building at 133 housing Murrays Meat Market and Ralph Haeems & Co Solicitors. Considerable renovation of this building, the entrance to Copeland Park, took place around 2018-9 and it is now ‘MARKET PECKHAM’, whose developer responded to public pressure to drop plans to turn it into luxury flats.

In earlier years from 1908 to 1915 this was the Electric Theatre – and after I took this picture the first floor became home to The Redeemed Christian Church of God-House of Praise.

Ralph Haeems, Blenheim Grove, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-2b-24
Ralph Haeems, Blenheim Grove, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-2b-24

I walked back down Blrenheim Grove, and made this picture of another building of Ralph Haeems & Co Solicitors at No 9. This early 19th century villa was Grade II listed in 1998 and was acquired by Southwark Council for use as offices in 2002. They ceased to use it in 2010 after the council acquired its new offices in Tooley St in 2007 and the council decided to sell it in 2011.

The building is now two residential properties, 9 and 91/2 Blenheim Grove.

My account of the walk in Peckham in 1989 will continue in a later post.


My account of this walk from 5th February 1989 began with A Pub, Ghost Sign, Shops And The Sally Ann.


Clubland, Electrical Supplies & Addington Square

Saturday, October 15th, 2022

This continues my posts on my walk in Walworth on 8th January 1989. The previous post was Walworth Road, Harker’s Studios & John Ruskin.


From John Ruskin Street I walked back to Camberwell Road and turned south to walk the short distance to the next turning on the west side, Grosvenor Terrace

Clubland, Grosvenor Terrace, Walworth, Southwark, 1989 89-1c-13
Clubland, Grosvenor Terrace, Walworth, Southwark, 1989 89-1c-13

Clubland, designed by Sir Edward Maufe was opened in 1939 as “the most celebrated and controversial venture in church youth work of the 20th Century“, launched by the Reverend James Butterworth (1897-1977) as ‘a house for friendship for boys and girls outside any church’. The old Wesleyan Methodist Church on the site whose small congregation mainly drove in from the suburbs was pulled down and replaced by this ‘Temple of Youth’. After bombing in the war, the building was rebuilt and reopened by the Queen Mother in 1964. It now has the message ‘METHODIST CHURCH’ above the door as well as the CLUBLAND’ sign.

Walworth Methodist Church, Camberwell Rd, Walworth, Southwark, 1989 89-1c-14
Walworth Methodist Church, Camberwell Rd, Walworth, Southwark, 1989 89-1c-14

Although the Clubland entrance remains the same, there is now a new Methodist Church here and this part of with its mission statement ‘CLUBLAND – LOYALTY & SERVICE’ as well as the dove dive-bombing the illuminated METHODIST CHURCH sign have gone. The boards showing the activities offered by the church include the Freddie Mills Club and Wesley Guild as well as services and youth club meetings. Both the sign in Japanese and the Bethel Apostolic Church and Calvary Healing Temple reflect the multicultural nature of the area.

Camberwell Rd, Walworth, Southwark, 1989 89-1c-15
Camberwell Rd, Walworth, Southwark, 1989 89-1c-15

These well-proportioned large Georgian terrace houses are still there on Camberwell Rd, most now divided into a large number of flats. The terrace of 15 houses is on the west side of the road south of Urlwin St opposite the end of Burgess Park. Most are now residential and one has been restored with the ground and basement floors and “a new rear extension to become an enterprise workspace for architecture and planning”.

Range Electrical Supplies, Camberwell Rd, Walworth, Southwark, 1989 89-1c-16
Range Electrical Supplies, Camberwell Rd, Walworth, Southwark, 1989 89-1c-16

This large property at 86 Camberwell Road is now at least 19 flats. According to the Survey of London, “No. 86 Camberwell Road and the buildings forming the entrance to the yard next to it were erected in 1814–15 (as No. 16 Grosvenor Place) for Messrs. Garland and Fieldwick, masons and builders. The firm continued to occupy the premises until 1869.” A plate shows a 1951 photograph when the buildings were occupied by a number of businesses, including one with ‘Branches Over South London ‘ selling ‘Gold Medal Poultry, Dog, Pigeon & Bird Food’ with the decorated building selling what appears to be ‘Feather Flake Flour’.

Range Electrical Supplies, Camberwell Rd, Walworth, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-66
Range Electrical Supplies, Camberwell Rd, Walworth, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-66

Although these finely decorated buildings are still there on the Camberwell Rd they have been smartened up and altered. The carriage entrance in the central section has disappeared and the smaller window above it replaced and this section of the building made symmetrical. There are also now two windows in the right hand section making this also symmetrical; both windows are new, but a reasonable match with the previous window. A discretely set back floor has been added on the right two-thirds of the building. There is no longer the large sign on the left wall of the front yard of the property which rather attracted me – and the wall has been replaced by a fence. It’s a decent conversion but I preferred the rather more quirky version in my pictures.

Fowlds & Sons, Manufacturing Upholsterers, Addington Square, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-51
Fowlds & Sons, Manufacturing Upholsterers, Addington Square, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-51

Since 2014 the ground floor of 3 Addington Square has been Fowlds Cafe, on the corner of Addington Square and Kitson Road but the upholstery business, a family business since 1926, apparently continues upstairs.

Addington Square, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-53
Addington Square, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-53

The rather curiously shaped Addington Square was developed between 1810 and 1850, and I think this at 13-16 was probably one of the fairly early groups of houses. The railings in front were only added around 1960 but are also included in the Grade II listing. Possibly they were a replacement for some removed for wartime metal appeal. I think all the houses in the central part of the square are listed.

Addington Square, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-54
Addington Square, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-54

At the north side of the square was the Camberwell Basin of the Royal Surrey Canal, completed in 1810, and the first houses to be built in the square, now 47 and 48, were for its engineer Nathaniel Simmonds. In 1820 one of south London’s first swimming baths opened beside the canal and a second came later. There were ambitious plans for the canal to continue, at first to Mitcham and further afield, but it never crossed the Camberwell Road. There were wharves for stone on the canal bank, with a small dock.

At the right of the picture where the baths and canal once were is now park. The baths had become very much out of date towards the end of the nineteenth century and had been converted into a laundry, but were demolished by Camberwell Council in 1901 for the site to become a refuse depot. In 1938 this became one of many parks created across the country as a memorial to King George V, and in the 1970s became a part of the Burgess Park. The square was in such a dilapidated state in 1970 that it needed a public campaign to stop the GLC demolishing it to become part of the new park that now surrounds it.

To be continued. The first post on this walk was Elephant, Faraday, Spurgeon & Walworth Road.


Morning Lane, Paint, Handbags and Printers

Sunday, May 8th, 2022

Morning Lane, Paint, Handbags and Printers – continuing my walk in October 1988 from where I finished the previous post, Shops, Houses, A Library, Car Sales 1988 on Morning Lane in Hackney.

Morning Lane, Hackney, 1988  88-10c-33-Edit_2400
Morning Lane, Hackney, 1988 88-10c-33

This row of shops is at 163-173 Morning Lane, a few yards west of Ponsford Street, and still looks much the same, although 173 at right, derelict in 1988 and its doors and windows covered with corrugated iron sheeting has been rebuilt with two extra floors, one set back in the roof, and has lost or covered up the rather attractive doorway between it and 171. Surprisingly Sang Kee is still there, with a rather brighter shop front, though the CHINESE FOOD TO TAKE AWAY is no longer advertised as HOT. The bookmakers and Property Consultants have closed, and although there were various fast-food outlets which replaced the Morning Lane Fish Bar I think these properties are now residential.

Morning Lane, Hackney, 1988  88-10c-35-Edit_2400
Morning Lane, Hackney, 1988 88-10c-35

This rather attractive building 1930s building on Morning Lane was demolished in 2008-9 to build the Cardinal Pole Catholic School. The school was named for the last Catholic archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Reginal Pole, archbishop from 1556 to 1558; the new building brought together the school which was previously on Parin three sites and was a part of the Hackney Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. When I photographed it was in use by Hackney Council and the row of posters outside warned of the dangers to local public services of government rate capping.

Morning Lane, Hackney, 1988 88-10c-21-Edit_2400
Morning Lane, Hackney, 1988 88-10c-21

Bergers came to Hackney from Shadwell in 1780, making dyestuffs and became a major manufacturer of paint and varnish from the 1860s. After various mergers etc they became Berger, Jensen & Nicholson and finally a part of Crown Paints, but they left the area in 1970. Most of their extensive buildings were demolished, but this handsome 1934 laboratory building at 205 Morning Lane survived until 2008, being used as a health centre and later taken over by Hackney Social Services.

Persaud Handbags Ltd, Rosina St, Homerton, Hackney, 1988 88-10c-24-Edit_2400
Persaud Handbags Ltd, Rosina St, Homerton, Hackney, 1988 88-10c-24

There is still a carwash on Rosina St, a short cul-de-sac south of Homerton High Street, though it looks rather different, and rather to my surprise the factory building behind is still standing, its front entrance in Shepherd’s Lane, and looking rather more dilapidated. Spitalfields Life ran a story, At Persauds’ Handbag Factory in 2011 showing work continuing in the building still run by the Persaud family under the name J&R Designs. Unfortunately the company was wound up in 2016, though the works appeared to be still in use in 2021.

Sedgwick St, Homerton, Hackney, 1988 88-10c-11-Edit_2400
Sedgwick St, Homerton, Hackney, 1988 88-10c-11

Sedgwick St also leads south from Homerton High St, with a footpath at its end leading under the North London Line at Homerton Station. I think everything in this photograph has now been demolished.

St Barnabas Hall, School. Church, High Street, Homerton, Hackney, 1988 88-10c-13-Edit_2400
St Barnabas Hall, School, Church, High Street, Homerton, Hackney, 1988 88-10c-13

St Barnabas Church was built on Homerton High St in 1845-7, designed in a late medieval style in Kentish Ragstone by Hackney-born Arthur Ashpitel (1807-69). The adjoining St Barnabas Hall and Schools were added in 1884, also in ragstone but in a Tudor style. According to its Grade II listing, part of the costs were provided by “Joshua Watson (1771-1855), the leader of an influential group of Evangelical churchmen known as the Hackney Phalanx.” The vicarage, forecourt wall and war memorial have separate Grade II listings.

Mackintosh Lane, Homerton, Hackney, 1988 88-10c-15-Edit_2400
Mackintosh Lane, Homerton, Hackney, 1988 88-10c-15

Mackintosh Lane is a narrow road parallel to Sedgwick Street a few yards to the east, with the two streets joining at the southern end immediately north of Homerton Station on the North London Line, now a part of London’s Overground. The buildings on the left – the east side of the street – which have a hanging sign for a printing works called either MB or M3 Printers have been replaced by flats, though one building just visible at the end of the street remains. Those at the right remain, extensively refurbished around 2013.

In 1940 the east side of Mackintosh Lane as listed on London Wiki was home to the following
1 Apex Insulation Co Ltd, insulating material manufacturers
1 Excelvac Flask Co, vacuum flask makers
1 Gainsborough Sheet Metal Works
3 Rowlands (Homerton) Ltd, leather goods manufacturers
5,5A & 6 Hirst Harold, leather manufacturer
6 Richford & Co Ltd, iron founders
Orcene Co Ltd (The), detergents
7 Parapads Ltd, tailors padding manufacturers
Cornish & Holland, pianoforte key manufacturers (Nestor works)
Marshall F H, cabinet maker.

Now Googling Mackingtosh Lane reveals a non-profit art gallery and “a truly unique wedding venue” in a”1950’s building … once a print factory loading bay”. Times change.